So I don't "do" MMOs, but evidently just because the sequel to an MMO comes out does not mean that the original dies out. I suppose that makes sense since people still want to play the original with their original characters. As such, Sony Online Entertainment has just announced at their community address at Fan Faire 2009 that both Everquest and Everquest II will be getting new expansions.

Those that are still trudging around the original Everquest, which has now been around for ten years, will be getting an expansion called "Underfoot." The expansion, which takes its name quite literally, will feature new underground zones for intrepid heroes to explore.

For those rolling around in Everquest II the expansion will be called "Sentinel's Fate" and will increase the level cap to 90 and will allow higher-level players to gain experience by playing older, lower-level areas. Rumors are also buzzing around the web that achievments might be intergated into the game as well. Obviously there will be new content in with it too.

Many MMOs have attempted to take the crown from World of Warcraft, but as with nearly all attempts to beat a product that has already cornered a market, such games have been unsuccessful. Nevertheless, there are some that believe they have what it takes to knock Blizzard down, albeit with unconventional methods.

Everquest lead designer Ryan Barker believes that WoW will be beaten, and it'll be by "something totally different that we haven't even thought of yet." 

"At some point someone will dwarf those numbers with a game," he suggests in an interview with Videogamer. "If we can get past some of the barriers that are keeping people from playing with their friends, just because their friends happened to start the game before they did, and maybe started on a different server or whatever, if we can start to get rid of some of those social blocks, I think it can get even better."

According to Barker, it is a social networking site like Facebook that will provide the key: "Facebook doesn't care how long you've been on Facebook ... Things like that show us that there are a lot of people out there that are interested in being involved in an internet community, especially with all the apps on Facebook, in playing casual games. At some point someone's going to do an MMO that really caters to that group, and is going to have a billion subscribers or whatever. There's another ceiling somewhere that we haven't hit yet."

World of Facebook confirmed? We shall see.

I was a day-one Everquester. Stood in line for that shiny blue box, took it home, installed it, patched the sh*t out of it, lost sleep, got fat, and then quit it forever. But it was good times. Very few games since have had the power to draw me in and keep me hooked.

Everquest just celebrated their 10th anniversary in March of this year, and a new documentary called Evercracked! The Phenomenon of EverQuest details the making of that series from its very beginnings.  The full-length film will debut at the 2009 Fan Faire in Las Vegas on June 26th, and we have a trailer for you below the jump.

“EverQuest was such an influential title; many people don’t realize just how daunting of a task it was to create,” said Jace Hall, President of HD Films and host of this documentary. “With this documentary we were able to tell the epic story of the game and the people behind it while incorporating the light-hearted signature of the Jace Hall Show.” view full story + comments

Everything else is on Steam. Why not some Evercrack too?

Okay, so no one calls it that anymore. I did for the longest time. You see, I was the first person in line to pick up my preorder copy of EverQuest at my local games joint. Yes, I drove there, I gave the game store girl some cash, she put it in a bag, I took it, jumped into my car, drove home, installed it, patched it, and then proceeded to get fat from not moving for months, consuming Mt. Dew and low-quality pizza daily..

If Sony Online Entertainment's MMOs were available via digital content delivery ten years ago... well, I would have been even fatter. 

Now is your chance to get fat with your choice of EverQuest, EverQuest II, Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, or Pirates of the Burning Sea, all available via Valve's fantastic online games delivery service, Steam.

To kick off this partnership, Pirates of the Burning Sea, Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, EQ Secrets of Faydwer and EQII Rise of Kunark are being offered via Steam for a special introductory price during the first 10 days the games are available online. On top of that, the recently released expansions EverQuest Seeds of Destruction and EverQuest II The Shadow Odyssey are available for purchase now.

In 2008, Sony Online Entertainment announced "Station Voice" for EverQuest II and Star Wars Galaxies players. Yes, it's exactly what it sounds like -- in-game voice chat for SOE's massively-multiplayer online titles. 

Alright, so voice chat -- big deal, right? I'm with you, but the technology -- designed by Massachusetts-based Vivox -- is pretty impressive. Working directly with SOE, Station Voice integrates seamlessly into the gaming experience, with intuitive chat menus and high-quality sound. 

But what was most impressive was a concept for future tech that we were shown at CES -- the ability to dial into in-game voice chat via your phone. The idea is that players can communicate with party and guild members while not actually being in the game. This could come in handy if you're randomly disconnected from a game, or if you simply want to communicate regarding game plans. Or, you know, if you want to use Queen Antonia Bayle of Qeynos for your "Phone a Friend" Lifeline on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. 

While how it will work isn't completely nailed down, it looks as if SOE and Vivox will offer local players you'll be able to call. After entering a personal pass code, you'll navigate a few menus to direct you to your destination and before you know it, you're in. 

This phone-to-game functionality is scheduled to be included in SOE games that utilized Station Voice, like EverQuest II and Star Wars Galaxies some time this year.  

In a recent interview with MTV Multiplayer, Sony Online Entertainment president John Smedley revealed that all future SOE MMOs would be making their way to consoles and that some sort of Everquest title is in the works. The progression from PC to console is the result of clever coding that can be applied to both mediums with little trouble and apparently little cost.

From the interview:

...we developed our codebase such that the engine will run on across both [platforms]. So there was some up front investment, certainly, but we’ve invested in making sure that the technology runs on both. We’re adapting controls and some of the communication features but we’re trying to keep the same primary game.

When asked if it was safe to assume that all future SOE titles would be on a console, Smedley replied with a firm “Yes.” While an interesting statement on its own, it wasn’t until Smedley said that the popular MMO Everquest had “not seen its last game” that I got excited about the prospect of SOE doing console titles.

What do you guys think? Does SOE have the capacity to deliver a decent console MMO? Is there even a need for another Everquest yet?

[Thanks LordBane!]

Long, long ago -- back before the anticlimactic experience that was Y2K -- a fantasy MMORPG called EverQuest was released, and, unlike rival MMO Ultima Online, was in 3D (it was a semi-big deal at the time). Although EverQuest, or “EQ” as its inhabitants lovingly called it, had nowhere near the amount of subscribers that World of Warcraft does today, it helped to draw many gamers (myself included) into the at-the-time newfangled MMO fad, and helped set the bar for what was to be expected in the genre.

To this day, it stands as the only MMORPG that I’ve played for any sizable amount of time (around twoish years) and while I may have eventually gotten burned out after numerous late-night grinding sessions, it looks like some Norrathians are still happily spamming /auctions in Greater Faydark, as Sony Online Entertainment has just announced the game’s fifteenth expansion. Labeled Seeds of Destruction, it will give players the ability to recruit NPC hirelings, raise the level cap to 85, and duck tape another 20 zones onto the ever expanding multiverse.

EQ’s sequel, EverQuest II, will also be getting a new expansion. The Shadow Odyssey will be the game’s fifth expansion, and promises its own bundle of 20 new zones, which contain plenty of recycled “nostalgic” dungeons from its predecessor. There will also be new creatures, hundreds of new quests, and an increase to the achievement level cap.

Seeds of Destruction is slated to come out October 21, while The Shadow Odyssey will be arriving almost a month later on November 18. Are any of you out there still playing EQ or EQ II? Have you long since moved on to greener MMO pastures?

view full story + comments

Sony Online Entertainment has announced that seven members of their art team will be featured in EXPOSÉ 6, an annual publication featuring “the best of the best” in digital artwork. Selected from a pool of several thousand competing entries, the following six pieces of character art from SOE’s Legends of Norrath online trading card game will be appearing in the videogame section. Check out the gallery for a closer look.

• Legends of Norrath "Mayong Mistmoore" by Derek Herring
• Legends of Norrath "Oathbound" by Clint Langley, Rob Tepper, Deanna Dolph and Lagi Apostolou
• Legends of Norrath "Gnoll High Shaman" by Patrick Ho
• Legends of Norrath "Play Dead" by Roel Jovellanos
• Legends of Norrath "Queen Cristanos Thex" by Derek Herring
• Legends of Norrath "Ariseph, Mistress of Verse" by Derek Herring

SOE’s art team also has the distinction of having more artwork accepted than any other videogame company. “We are flattered that some of our art is being viewed as some of the world’s best,” said director of Artistic Development Joe Shoopack.

EXPOSÉ 6 is available from the publisher’s Web site or these retailers. view full story + comments

While it's almost a decade too late to capitalize on Everquest's dopamine-fuelled popularity, news just came in via AICN that the movie based on the game based on dozens of movies based on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien has picked up a writer.

Michael Gordon -- best known for the script for the innacurate history lesson turned comic book turned movie 300 -- has been hired to write an adaptation for the film, which considering just how little the game has in the way of plot should be the literary equivalent of etching The Old Man And The Sea in a block of granite with his penis. Avi Arad, former head of Marvel Studios, has also signed on to produce the flick, though that really only reveals that we can expect a cameo from Vinnie Jones in a role to be determined almost entirely by Internet memes.