EverQuest II Message Board

SOE send word that the latest update to ageing fantasy massive ‘em up Everquest II will give players a shoe-in at higher levels. They explain: “for a limited time new, returning and current players can create one permanent Heroic Character for free.” This option will be available from now until the 15th. Beyond that, a new Heroic Characters Programme will allow you to try a level 85 character for free, and to buy in should you so wish. All this is in preparation for getting the community buffed and with a level 85 tan ready for November’s high level expansion, Tears of Veeshan.

I’ve posted a video of the SOE Live panel explaining the upcoming expansion, below.(more…)

Who needs power-leveling when you can just spend $35 on a developer-sanctioned level 85 character? Bypass those pesky levels with EverQuest II's new Heroic Characters feature. Read more...

#sonyonlineentertainment Over the past couple of years, Sony Online Entertainment has transitioned all of their MMORPGs into free-to-play games, relying on microtransactions and a cash shop to make their money. Now, they've announced a plan that would let players make real-world money from SOE's cash stores, too. More »

The continued support and updating for EverQuest II never fails to surprise me. The MMO is now eight years old, but still played and receiving regular updates and content, and now some tech that I’ve not seen used elsewhere. They’re awkwardly calling it SOEmote, a thing where a webcam pointed at your face will translate your expressions onto your in-game character. You can see it in action below.

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OK, so I actually sort of love the idea behind EverQuest II‘s latest bit of technical wizardry, but well, when I say “wizardry,” I mean less Gandalf and more the really clumsy kid from Harry Potter - millennia before he became improbably talented. Basically, though, EverQuest II will – via mic and webcam – soon be able to read your vocal and facial cues and translate them 1:1 into Norrath. Conceptually, that’s great! So long, demons of anonymity. Meet one of mankind’s most primal, utterly essential roots of communication. But, uh, can we maybe try this again in ten years or so? And without the frog person?

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JESUS CHRIST WHAT IS HAPPENING TO THAT FROG MAN'S FACE KILL IT WITH FIRE.

#everquestii Emotes in MMOs are no new thing. Interacting with players online just isn't the same if you can't dance with them every once in awhile. More »

#everquestii It was a crappy, gray, rainy day in January, 2005. I was in New York visiting my then-boyfriend, on my the week of break left before my final semester of grad school started back home in Boston. Although I had the luxury of a student schedule, he had to go to work, leaving me to entertain myself for the day. More »

#everquestii Long-time Everquest II player Carri Hoover has a son not quite as old as the game is. Sadly, however, six-year-old John Hoover is terminally ill, with doctors estimating he has only weeks left to live. More »

Proving once again that more people will try your product if they don't have to pay for it, Sony Online Entertainment president John Smedley has announced a huge player increase for EverQuest 2 since it went free-to-play in December. Smedley revealed on Twitter that the player base has increased by 300 percent, with daily logins going up by 40 percent.

Smedley also revealed that item sales have gone up 200 percent, proving another, more modern adage: More people will buy your product if they don't have to buy all of it. Fascinating!

I still can’t quite shake off the strangeness of receiving information about a game that came out seven years ago. But EveryQuest II lives on, and of course last month became free to play. But that’s not stopping the updates, and the next is the ability to fly! Treading on Aion’s toes, the old man of online gaming has added wing-ed combat, and just general flying around, looking faintly ridiculous. For those who still doubt, there’s video proof below.

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#everquest EverQuest II ushers in a new age of player-created content with its new Dungeon Maker system, a ridiculously easy and entertaining way to amaze and kill your friends. More »

If you can’t or won’t afford The Old Republic but are grumpily hanging around comments threads wishing you too were off on online adventures, it’s worth remembering that exactly 312,129 MMOs have now gone free to play. No lightsabers, but also no queues. One of the more recent of these is Everquest II, the at-the-time ambitious fantasy world that’s probably slightly annoyed that its precusor still co-exists alongside it. Below is a narrated video tour of some of the new stuff in the free to play to play update, the Age of Discovery expansion, the new class Beastlords, a dungeon designer tool and a major overhaul of key city Freeport. This is actually my first peek at the game in quite some time – it’s really quite pretty, in a slightly austere way.(more…)

Everquest II's been out for years, but, like many other MMOs in recent times, has finally gone free-to-play. Anyone can now download the EQII client as well as all the expansions up to Sentinel's Fate. Also included is the Freeport Reborn game update...

#everquest From the generic fantasy city of the original EverQuest to the grungy spires of EverQuest 2, the city of Freeport has never quite captured the spirit of being the home to everything evil on Norrath. Until now, that is. More »

Another day, another gobbet of news about pricing options in an MMO. This time it’s Everquest II, which has been running two parallel worlds, one for subscribers and a lesser world for those who want their fantasy for free. Confusingly, the slimline free world is called Everquest II Extended, presumably because Everquest II Shrivelled didn’t focus test well. Soon, that world shall be no more and subscribers will find themselves playing alongside all manner of freeloaders as the playerbase is merged. Non-subscribers will find some features limited, including access to the new Age of Discovery expansion. More details and a trailer below.

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#everquest Last year EverQuest II dipped its toes in free-to-play waters splitting its services into two separate games: The regular EverQuest II, and the limited free-to-play EverQuest II Extended. Next month the game puts that silliness behind it and dives in head-first. More »

Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE) today announced the availability of The War of Zek, the 61st game update for the legendary PC massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) EverQuest II. Catapulting players into the next chapter of the Age's End Prophecy storyline from the Destiny of Ve...

#deals With the impending demise of Star Wars Galaxies and perhaps the dawning realization that the best games it has to offer are free-to-play, Sony Online Entertainment ditches the Station Pass in favor of SOE All Access, allowing players to access nine online games starting at $19.99 a month. More »

Sony Online Entertainment, LLC (SOE) today announced Game Update 60, The Children of War, for EverQuest II, is now available for PC. Continuing the Age's End Prophecy storyline first introduced to players in the EQII: Destiny of Velious (DOV) expansion pack released earlier this year, the milestone update to the iconic massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) delivers fresh content for all players, including unseen battlegrounds and improvements to PvP...

John Blakely, a nine-year veteran of Sony Online Entertainment and most recently its vice president of development, has apparently left the company for casual-games behemoth Zynga. Blakely's LinkedIn resumé has him departing SOE as of last month to become general manager at Zynga. Blakely had worked on Everquest II and D.C. Universe Online. His departure is another bad sign for a division beset by bad news of late, from layoffs following DCUO's release to the ongoing PlayStation Network breach and outage. Kotaku has commented SOE for official confirmation. More »

#relationships Research suggests that family communication improves if the group are playing online video games together, but if a single member is gaming, it suffers greatly as the gaming becomes a substitute for healthy communication. More »

#itonlydoesoffline Sony's security problems continue to mount, as the intrusion that brought down Sony Online Entertainment this morning is linked to the theft of more than ten thousand customer credit card numbers. More »

Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE) today announced the landmark 60th game update for the iconic massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), EverQuest II (EQII) The Children of War. Scheduled to arrive to the world of Norrath on May 17, 2011, the update will continue the storyline intro...

The MMO that keeps on giving.

The fabled MMO keeps on trucking.

Gamers can now experience the world of Norrath without a subscription in the new free adventure service.

#sonyonlineentertainment Continuing a trend started by D&D Online and Lord of the Rings Online, Sony Online Entertainment is launching a free-to-play version of EverQuest II, completely separate from the existing game. EverQuest II producer David Georgeson explains why. More »

Come on ride that mount. Come on and ride it.

The quest that keeps on going.