During this weekend's Fan Faire, Sony Online announced plans to release EverQuest: House of Thule, the 17th official commercial expansion pack to the company's flagship MMO that started in 2001. Sign ups for beta testing the expansion have already begun on the EQPlayers.com web site and the beta itself will start on Monday.

Perhaps the big new feature in this expansion pack is the addition of player housing for EverQuest subscribers, something that players of the game have been wanting for a long time. Look for an increase to the level cap for players along with the usual mix of new monsters, quests and items. Fan site EQWire.com states the expansion is due for release on October 14.