everquest-ii posts

It's September 29 which means that this is the second-to-last day for Direct2Drive's daily PC game price cuts as part of its Summer Ends promo event. From now until 1 pm on Thursday two more games are getting deep PC game price cuts. One of them is Prey, the other first person shooter that 3D Realms started and then canceled before being revived by another developer (in this case Human Head). The game is priced at just $7.50 for the next 23 hours.

The other game on sale is EverQuest II: Sentinel's Fate, the latest retail version of Sony Online's MMO that contains the original game and all of its expansion packs. You can get the game now for a mere $4.95, a whopping 88 percent price cut.

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.

The annual Sony Online fan gathering Fan Faire is currently under way in Las Vegas and it looks like the MMO publisher is taking the opportunity to give fans attending a glimpse into the future of the company's flagship series EverQuest. During a panel at Fan Faire, Sony Online talked about a new MMO game that at the moment is being called "EverQuest Next" as an internal title among the development team.

Fan site EQ2 Wire covered the panel which yielded few details, perhaps because Sony Online has admitted the game is still early in its development. The report states the new game will be a "reimagining" of the EverQuest series rather than a direct progression of EverQuest 1 and 2. The game will also be developed with Player Vs Player features in mind and with "more engaging" combat. The picture you see above is supposedly an in-game screenshot from the project.

[Via Massively]

A revival of a 1999 first person shooter classic and the latest expansion pack for a long running MMO are the highlights of this week's new PC game releases:

Aliens Vs Predator: Developer Rebellion returns to the movie-based first person shooter series they first create back in 1999. Sega is the publisher of the game which once again pits the vicious Aliens against the cunning Predators and the heavily armed Colonial Marines in both single and multiplayer action. The PC port is the third PC game released in stores that supports Direct X 11 graphics.

Firsr revealed last January, Sony Online has now announced that their long awaited hardcover book chronicling the first 10 years of their flagship MMO EverQuest is now available for purchase. EverQuest: The 10th Anniversary Collector's Edition book, published by Brady Games, is priced at $34.99, a much cheaper price point that what was first announced ($49.99).

The book tells the story of the creation of one of the first MMOs on the market (and the first ever to use 3D graphics) which launched in 1999 as well as the making of its sequel EverQuest II (released in 2004). Interviews and commentary from the game's development team are featured as well as concept artwork, promotional images and more.

Sony Online Entertainment is holding its annual Fan Faire event in Las Vegas this weekend and during the event the publisher revealed the next commercial expansion packs for both of their Everquest PC MMO games. The original Everquest title gets its 16th commercial expansion with Everquest: Underfoot. It will have the usual additions (new locations, monsters and more) when it's released in November.

The new expansion for Everquest II was also revealed during the event. Titled Everquest II: Sentinel's Fate, this expansion is not due for release until February 2010 but will raise the game's current level cap to 90. You can check out some concept art for the expansion at the game's official web site.

Who knew that microtransations would have a busy news day today? Our sister site Massively reports that Sony Online has launched Station Cash, which allows players of Sony Online's fantasy MMOs Everquest and Everquest II to purchase in-game items for real money. Massively has a lot more info on how this new system works.

In related news, VentureBeat reports that the downloadable game service GamersGate has launched their own microtransaction service which they are calling Microsuite. The service will allow game developers and publishers put in microtransactions for in-game items which can be bought in the game itself or in the game's lobby screen. GamersGate expects the first Microsuite enabled games to be released in early 2009.

Last week Blizzard got the attention of the world when it released its second MMO expansion pack for World of Warcraft. Now Wrath of the Lich King is dealing with two more expansion pack launches today for Sony Online's Everquest II and Turbine's Lord of the Rings Online.

Turbine's expansion, Mines of Moria, continues the storyline of J.R.R. Tolkein's fantasy triology with new character classes, locations and more. Our sister site Massively has a ton of info about the expansion as they do for Everquest II: The Shadow Odyssey, the latest commercial expansion for the 2004 released fantasy MMO for Sony Online. In this case the servers for this expansion go live at noon PST today.

Last last night we revealed Sony Online's plans for new expansion packs for both Everquest and Everquest II that will be released this fall. Now we can present the first screenshots for both titles; and Everquest: Seeds of DestructionEverquest II: The Shadow Odyssey.

As we announced last night, both expansion packs will add lots of new content to Sony Online's two long running MMO titles including new zones, creatures, quests and other additional features. They also open up all of the content for the game's previous expansions along with access to the Legends of Norrath online trading card game. The Everquest fans who are attending this weekend's Fan Faire event in Las Vegas will get access to both expansions for free when they are released. Our sister site Massively has lots of coverage from Fan Faire including interviews about the expansions.

Sony Online may have a number of new MMO projects like The Agency and DC Universe Online but they are still supporting their flagship game titles Everquest I and II. Tonight the publisher officially announced their plans for expansions to both titles that will be released this fall.

Everquest: Seeds of Destruction will be released on Oct. 21 and increase the level cap to 85 while adding things like AI mercenaries that players can use in quests along with 20 new zones. The expansion will also add access to all of the previous expansion packs and will include the Legends of Norrath online trading card game.

Everquest II: The Shadow Odyssey will be released on Nov.18 and will include over 20 new zones, an achievement point cap increase to 200, new dungeon adventures and more. Again, all content from all the previous Everquest II expansions will be accessed as can the Legends of Norrath game. Check out our sister site Massively who will have lots more info on both of these new expansion packs.

[Via email press release]