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EverQuest, EverQuest II repeal F2P restrictions on class, race, and more
What single action could unite all Norrathians in grand celebration? In the words of Mel Gibson's William Wallace: Freeeeeeeeeedoooooooom. It's no secret that EverQuest and EverQuest II have had fairly restrictive free-to-play models, with severe limitations that unfortunately deterred some players from trying or sticking with the games. Although teased with a wide variety of races and classes, free (once called bronze) and silver players could choose from among only a few without dipping into their wallets. Other restrictions included limited bag slots, little to no shared bank access, and a very low cap on active quests. But if those restrictions are what put you off, fire up that launchpad again because I've got good news for you: SOE has taken a giant eraser and wiped them right off of the free-to-play matrices. And now is a good time to get back into the games as the EverQuest franchise is set to commemorate its 14th anniversary with celebrations in both games. In my interview with Dave Georgeson, the man at the helm of all things EQ, I scouted out the specifics of the F2P restrictions that will lift come the middle of next week. Georgeson also revealed some incoming updates for EQ as well as discussed the special events marking the anniversary that will kick off on March 16th. And you just know I tried to slip in a question or two about EQ Next.
EverQuest producer's letter talks Shadows of Fear update
Fifty years from now, when we're old and gray and Massively is on version 3.0 and has discussion forums, my successor will be writing about an EverQuest producer letter update. This is because EQ simply will not die, and we fully expect at least one of the game's servers to survive global economic catastrophes, the onset of VR gaming, and various nuclear winters. The latest letter comes to us courtesy of producer Thom "Phathom" Terrazas, who spends a good bit of virtual ink outlining things like Hero's Forge armor, the Shadows of Fear update with its new zones and storyline, housing tweaks, and additions to the dev team. That's not all that Terrazas talks about, either, but you'll need to head to the official EQ website to read the rest.
The Perfect Ten: Creative MMO minigames
Few people are without opinions on minigames in MMOs. Some love 'em, some hate 'em, and some just ignore 'em. Some even despise that I won't type "th." Takes all types, really. Personally, I'm all for including new types of enjoyable systems that can be repeated, particularly if it benefits my character in some way. There's also this perception that minigames are just for kids. It's true that more kid-centric titles like Free Realms and Clone Wars Adventures thrive on minigames like you thrive on deep-fried butter balls, but these little diversions exist all over the place in "grownup" titles too. Holidays are a favorite time to trot them out, although there are plenty that exist year-round. Today we're going to look at 10 creative minigames that have tickled my fancy over the year. Yes, I used the word "fancy." Whatcha gonna do about it?
One Shots: Interior decoration
You can go after a game's mechanics, a game's sound, and even a game's grammar, but when you go after a game's looks, well, then you're treading on One Shots territory. And when that happens, you'd best tread lightly, my friends. Reader John took umbrage with Matt's take on Vanguard, especially in regard to its art design, and sent in proof to rebut it: "Having started a new character in Vanguard over the weekend, I set out to prove that, just perhaps, Vanguard isn't quite as ugly as Matt Daniel seems to think. It would be a shame if people got the wrong impression, after all." Personally, I adore Vanguard's aesthetic, but not everyone shares that opinion, nor should he -- to each his own, right? Hit the jump to see John's screenshot in its full glory as well as many other terrific player-submitted pictures!
EverQuest answers questions about the addition of Krono
If you play EverQuest but not the sequel, EverQuest II feels like the younger sibling that gets everything it wants. A new graphical engine, more expansions, more developer time, it's not fair. And then the game gets the option for players to buy game time and sell it for real currency in the game, which is just so unfair. But if you buy into this hypothetical pseudo-sibling rivalry, good news -- the Krono option is coming to classic EverQuest in the near future. An official FAQ has been posted explaining how Krono works and how players can use them to purchase time with in-game money or vice versa. The FAQ also clarifies that purchased Krono works in both EverQuest II and the original EverQuest so long as you purchase one directly; if you trade it to another player it's tied to the game where you made the trade. Take a look at the full FAQ and start enjoying the freedom to pay with your game subscription through in-game farming.
The Game Archaeologist's top MMO stories of 2012
As another gaming year spins to a close, we here at the Institute for Digital Interactive Entertainment have been holding our archaeological department hostage with a trained buffy-tufted marmoset until it delivered a final report. After hours of begging and infected monkey bites, the head of that department, Prof. Justin Olivetti, Ph.D., handed us a scrap of urine-soaked paper with the following article inscribed. While the Institute strongly suggests that you ignore this report and instead work on your button-mashing exercises, the board of directors stated that all such papers must be posted for the public to see. This report is presented in the Yetbari typeface and contains a sequential series of items that number between 11 and 13.
The Perfect Ten: My biggest gaming moments in 2012
I am a complete sucker for three things: novelty soft drink flavors, Tom Servo's singing voice in MST3K, and end-of-the-year lists. Egads, I love the end of the year just for the lists alone. Everyone does them (copycats!), and I like to see how my opinions stack up against them. Plus, often I learn of cool things that happened or came out during the past year that I missed. So this is my list. My end-of-2012 list. I am devoting the 26th Perfect Ten of 2012 to the top 10 moments in MMO gaming and blogging. It was a rollercoaster of highs and lows, and looking back, I don't think I could've predicted half of the major events that happened in this industry. That's what I like about this gig: It keeps me on my toes.
Smedley: MMOs are stuck in an EQ-inspired rut, 'nothing more than a movie set'
John Smedley's MMO revival tour continues, with the latest stop being an interview at Polygon. The SOE CEO lends some context to impressive numbers recently released by the firm touting the success of its new business model intiative, and he also evangelized about the future of the company and EverQuest Next. Since switching to F2P across its extensive MMO portfolio, SOE has seen DC Universe's daily revenue increase by 700%, EverQuest II's registration numbers triple, and EverQuest's registration numbers tick up by 350%. Oh, and PlanetSide 2? It's seen 1.6 million players registered thus far, 250,000 of whom log in daily. "Free-to-play is just too good of an idea," Smedley says. "The idea is just so simple. It democratizes and capitalizes, makes true capitalism out of the MMO gaming space." He goes on to say that the MMO industry is stuck in a rut that SOE helped create via design choices made in the original EQ. "We need to change the way we do this," Smedley says. "We're building a sandbox and giving players the tools to help shape the world that they're in. That's the direction we're going in with EverQuest Next; trying to make a world that players create while being in a living, breathing world around them. It's not just a prop for them to walk around in, which is really what all of today's MMOs are. Their worlds are nothing more than a movie set."
SOE launching first Player Studio items for EQ, EQ II, Free Realms
During SOE Live, we got a more in-depth look at Sony Online Entertainment's Player Studio, a new feature where players can design items to be sold to others in game via the marketplace. Today, EverQuest, EverQuest II, and Free Realms will see some of those player-created items go live! When checking the in-game store today, EverQuest II players will find the cloak of the North Star and the heroic salesman's crate. Free Realms fans will get to choose a swirly-railed gazebo or a happy heart T-shirt. In EverQuest, hammer users will have a new skin they can slap on their weapon. Although this first wave of Player Studio items is not very extensive for any of the games, SOE has over 60 other trinkets spread across the three games ready to go, and more stuff will be introduced each week. Be sure to check the Tattered Notebook this Saturday for even more details and an interview with Rick Reynolds, SOE's Senior Manager of E-Commerce and Joe Shoopack, Director of Artistic Development!
Jukebox Heroes: Reader requests
One of my favorite parts of doing this column is reading your comments every week. I've discovered that there are several other gamers who are passionate for this type of music and have plenty to say about these songs. There's a lot of memories that are triggered by these tunes as well, and I love hearing about them. Unbeknownst to you but totally beknownst to me, I've been collecting comments regarding your favorite songs in the game's we've covered so far. My opinions on the best of every soundtrack isn't the be-all, end-all, after all. Sometimes you guys and gals show me a song that I overlooked or perhaps didn't appreciate the first time I heard it. So what I've decided to do is turn your favorite songs into an occasional column, and this here is the first. Instead of focusing on just one MMO this week, we'll be looking at six additional tracks from titles we've discussed over the past few months. If you were gnashing your teeth that I overlooked an MMO classic, then you might just be in luck today!
EverQuest Rain of Fear round up and launch-day video
Grab your umbrellas, folks, because the Rain of Fear is finally here! Yes, EverQuest's 19th expansion is live on servers now, and all the Erudites, Dwarves, Frogloks, Iksar, Ogres, Humans, and 10 other races can dive in and sink their teeth into all the new content. With new zones, a new collection systems, offline selling, and more, there is bound to be something for everyone. Have a question about one of these new features? Or maybe you are stuck in the real-life office grind and can't log in yet? Either way, you can get the scoop on the new expansion in the many opinion pieces, videos, hands-on experiences, and reveals after the break. And as an added bonus, watch the brand-spanking-new launch-day trailer! Then, if that still isn't enough, listen to the EQ soundtrack until you can get home and get in-game.
New EverQuest dev video tours new Rain of Fear zones
With EverQuest's big Rain of Fear expansion hitting live servers tomorrow, players are eagerly awaiting the chance to dive into the new zones and get their questing on. Can't wait to experience all the new landscapes, ogle the new mobs, and check out all the scenery that awaits? Then sit back and watch Sony Online Entertainment's new video tour of the upcoming areas. For just over five minutes, you can soak up the visuals of Shard's Landing (which is billed as "the place you will probably die the least"), Breeding Grounds, Valley of King Xorbb, Eventil the Vile Oak, and more while listening to various devs offer commentary. See them all for yourself in the video after the break. And for more details on what's coming, check out Massively's tour with the devs. [Source: Sony Online Entertainment press release]
The Perfect Ten: Holiday shopping for the MMO gamer
With Thanksgiving almost under wraps in the states (Canada got an earlier patch of Thanksgiving because the devs love that country), the starter pistol is about to go off for the busiest shopping season of the year. Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and oh-crap-it's-Christmas-Eve-and-only-a-gas-station-is-open are all shopping experiences ahead on the calendar, but perhaps the most challenging experience is that of buying the perfect gift for an MMO gamer. Sure, you could just phone it in and buy a time card, some cash shop points, a subscription or two, or even a Prima strategy guide if you really hated the person, but a proper MMO gift goes beyond that. For a great gift, you need to put in some effort and actually research the field... or just be lazy and use my following guide. We both know which option you're going to choose. So while you slowly digest that turkey and moan about having to waddle your butt down to Best Buy at 3:00 a.m., why not allow me to help you with a few shopping suggestions? For this list, I wanted to focus on game-specific merchandise that isn't t-shirts, game cards, or CafePress coffee mugs. I mean, this shirt is the bomb and all, but we can do better!
Jukebox Heroes: EverQuest II's soundtrack, part 2
Last week, the laid-back folks at Sony Online Entertainment released the 118th expansion for EverQuest II, Chains of Eternity. Fortunately, it's available as a digital download so you won't have to suffer the embarrassment of a store clerk yelling, "PRICE CHECK ON 'CHAINS OF ETERNITY' FOR THIS PERVERT HERE -- THE ONE IN THE 50-SHADES-OF-GREY COAT" over the loudspeaker. Even more fortunate, for us, is that the expansion continues to grow EverQuest II's already immense symphonic library. SOE's been adding to the score with not only the game's expansions but also several of the larger content updates, and it's absolutely impressive to behold. As in most scores, there's a lot of forgettable noise that could probably be replaced by humming bees, but there still remains quite a few great tracks to appreciate, cherish, and adopt into one's own music library. Instead of focusing on the game's initial soundtrack, we're going to be skipping around to look at many of the terrific pieces of music that have come out of Norrath post-2004.
EverQuest, Ultima Online, and World of Warcraft among Time's top 100 games
We tend to think of MMOs as being different from other video games, but the genre has had a pretty major impact on all areas of gaming. As a result, it's no real surprise to see that three of the all-time most important MMOs show up on Time's recent list of the Top 100 Video Games of All Time. EverQuest, World of Warcraft, and Ultima Online are all included on a list that honors everything from Oregon Trail to Katamari Damacy and Pac-Man to Batman: Arkham City. The entries on EverQuest and Ultima Online both make note of the longevity and long-term success of the older titles, while the World of Warcraft article homes in on the diverse audience attracted to MMORPGs (something arguably true of the former titles as well). While other MMOs didn't make the list, it's well worth taking a look at the full article if you want a walk down video game memory lane.
Some Assembly Required: Player-generated content at SOE Live
By now, everyone has made it home from SOE Live... yes, even that one fellow who kept disappearing, seduced by the one-armed bandit. As my first foray into the annual self-described "family reunion," I wasn't sure what to expect. I'd hoped there would be some news to pass along. If nothing else, a tidbit or two about any title -- be it EverQuest II, PlanetSide 2, or DC universe Online -- would justify my trip out there to me. But what I got wasn't just some news; it was great news! Although the lights of Vegas are fading from memory, the hope for player-generated content burns brighter than before. From keynote addresses to panels to interviews, Sony Online Entertainment's focus on emergent game play and various sandbox features showed a dedication to gaming beyond just the hack-and-slash treadmill grind. Can we hear a hallelujah? With so much news coming out of the convention, there wasn't time or space to do much more than just report on the facts. Here, I have the opportunity to sum things up and even add my own impressions of the event! I might even toss in an anecdote or two to illustrate what made this such an incredible experience that I am hooked and will return each year.
Jukebox Heroes: EverQuest's soundtrack
I've always felt that MIDI tunes were to computers what chiptunes were to 8-bit and 16-bit consoles. Before storage media expanded and technology increased to the level of using regular instruments, practically every PC game had a MIDI soundtrack at its back (as did quite a few early and misguided websites). MIDI wasn't a file format that stored recorded music; instead, it was a file full of instructions for your computer to assemble a tune on its end. I never really liked MIDI songs the way that I enjoyed old console soundtracks. Songs done in MIDI have a distinct and somewhat unpleasant, flat tone to them, although sometimes composers were able to finagle toe-tapping tunes with it. It certainly is nostalgic to hear, however, to those of us who played games in this era. Before MIDI faded out at the end of the 90s, some of the earliest MMOs released with their scores done in this format. Ultima Online (which we'll get to later on) and EverQuest were two such titles, and today we're going to listen to what EverQuest sounded like back in 1999. The original score was composed by Jay Barbeau, who has since released a remastered soundtrack called The Original, Opus I. But we're not going to go for that remastered stuff; let's listen to the sounds of the past, shall we?
SOE Live 2012: Building your business and selling homes with Player Studio
We've all had that moment. In your mind's eye, you see the perfect item; whether you are a decorator or adventurer, you've imagined that one item that would look perfect in your EverQuest II house or on your EverQuest character. But alas, since you aren't on the development team, your awesome idea could not be realized. That was then; this is now. With the new Player Studio announced last month, that idea can not only come to fruition but net you some cold hard cash as well. So how does one transition from imaginer to bustling entrepreneur? Devs hosted a panel at SOE Live 2012 that discussed the steps of getting an item from your mind's eye out into the Marketplace for others to buy and enjoy. But what if instead of imagining new items, you take existing items and create incredible displays that are the envy of others? Devs announced a feature that will allow decorators to fully furnish a home, bundle it up, and offer it for sale via the Marketplace as well. After the informative panel, I caught up with Producer Holly Longdale and director of of the EQ franchise Dave Georgeson to uncover even more details about the opportunities available with Player Studio.
SOE Live 2012: Dave Georgeson on the business side of the EQ franchise
There were many terrific panels this year at SOE Live, and as usual, there's a very good dialogue between the players and the developers on a variety of issues. Among them was one that looked at the EverQuest franchise from a different perspective than usual. Instead of discussing expansions, class balance, game mechanics, or itemization, it addressed the business model behind the games. Over the past two years, both EQ and EQII have seen enormous changes, but even if you go further back, you'll see a dramatic transition away from the traditional subscription model. Dave Georgeson, Director of the EverQuest franchise, gave a talk that shed some new light on the philosophy behind some of the changes. In addition, he outlined some upcoming changes to the SOE update cycle, marketplace, and other areas of monetization. We've got all the details below, and some of the changes are not at all what you'd expect!
The Daily Grind: Is EverQuest a sandbox?
Our coverage of John Smedley's SOE Live keynote elicited some curious comments, chief among them the notion that EverQuest is a sandbox title. This sentiment followed on from Smed's announcement that EQNext has been remodeled from an EQIII evolution to a sandbox revolution, as some of our readers said that that's a return to the franchise's roots. While it's true that the definition of sandbox is somewhat malleable and subjective, we're curious to know how you can stretch it to include a level-based title with class-based gameplay that largely revolves around killing and looting. Sure it was less directed than modern themeparks, and there was a lack of documentation/communal knowledge that made early gameplay challenging, but a sandbox? Really? What do you think, Massively readers? Is EQ a sandbox, and if so, what makes it one? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
