EverQuest II

We here at Massively always have a soft spot in our otherwise cold and calculating hearts for players who take the initiative to help a fellow gamer out in a fun and creative way. So we couldn't let a story slip by about how a group of EverQuest II vets are planning to shower newbies with gifts and goodies in the hopes of fostering a better server community.

Jayne on EQII's Freeport server is helping to organize the return of the Pay It Forward player event, an activity that apparently got a lot of great responses the last two times around. What is Pay It Forward?

It's a day when adventurers and crafters come together to donate crafted goods, items rotting away in your bank, plat, rares, masters... you name it... to young adventurers, asking only that they perform some random good deed for a complete stranger in return.

He's asking that interested participants meet at the crafting area on the Isle of Mara tomorrow, February 4th, at 4:00 pm EST with gifts to hand out to low-level players.

A funny thing happened on the way to the forum, and you could almost hear the record scratch when it did. Players have been speculating on two things recently: the release date of GU 63 and the absence of Executive Producer Dave "SmokeJumper" Georgeson from the forums. As it turns out, SmokeJumper was simply on vacation, but his first post after returning created quite a stir. He reported a new timetable for game updates this coming year, and it's different from what had been announced.

Game Update 63 is now scheduled for April, not February. Furthermore, there are only three planned updates this coming year, rather than four, along with an expected expansion at the end of the year. Let's look at some reasons for the change in schedule and what it means to EverQuest II fans.

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The last time on the Perfect Ten, disaster struck the good ship Poseidon and the surviving readers were running out of air as they tried to escape the flipped-over vessel. Also, we were counting down the top 20 MMO themes, but that's of small consolation to the soon-to-be bereaved friends and families, don't you think?

Because we play these games extensively, it's not uncommon for MMO music -- and themes -- to become vilified by the sheer number of times we've heard them. That's a little unfair to a three-minute piece of soundtrack that slaves every day to feed his wife and kids, doing the best he can in a trying situation. So perhaps we can put aside melodic oversaturation to look at these tracks anew, shall we?

With half of them out of the way, it's time to look into the elite of the elite: the 10 best MMO themes of all time. According to me. A guy you don't know. You've got goosebumps, don't you?

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If you're a fan of Sony Online Entertainment and curious as to how free-to-play and RMT will affect its stable of MMOs in the future, ZAM's got a new interview that's worth a read.

The piece features Laura Naviaux, senior VP of global sales and marketing for SOE, and she shares an interesting nugget relating to digital currency and real-money player markets. "I think everybody gets excited about potentially being able to create user-generated content to sell it to their peers, etc. There are a lot of different ways to slice and dice that, and it's something that we're watching," Naviaux says.

She also speaks to the success of EverQuest II thanks to its free-to-play switch, as well as some of the more popular cash shop items (mounts currently account for approximately 25% of the game's revenue). Finally, Naviaux acknowledges the challenges inherent in the business model going forward, and how they stem in large part from knowing how much is too much. "I don't think that anybody wants a game where you can outright buy power that makes the game unfair and un-fun, and that is a line we don't want to cross. But there are a lot of shades of grey in there, and that's something we want the players to determine," she explains.

There's a dirty little secret going on in EverQuest II, and every now and then it bubbles up to the surface in forum complaints from players. With the arrival of Station Cash, the Marketplace, and Legends of Norrath cards, players have worked out a way to buy in-game coin with real money, without fear of getting banned. And with the transition to free-to-play, it seems like that practice has grown even more.

The problem is that there are several things that factor into the plat-for-cash scenario, so it's impossible to find a quick fix. Are we at a point that SOE should just put plat on the marketplace and be done with it? Let's look at a few reasons for and against it.

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So you're an armchair game designer, eh? Well, EverQuest II invites you to put your money where your mouth is -- at least as it relates to dungeon creation.

While Sony Online Entertainment's venerable fantasy title is no stranger to player-generated content given its spectacular player- and guild-housing mechanics, this winter's Age of Discovery expansion upped the ante a little bit in the form of the new dungeon maker toolset. The system is a bit rough around the edges, but it's nonetheless a fantastic first iteration that adds a lot of fun and replay value to an MMO that was already chock-full of both.

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Revamps, redesigns, and restructuring are facts of life when it comes to MMORPG fandom, and if you play these games long enough, sooner or later you'll encounter a portion of your favorite game that has been altered significantly.

Often these alterations take the form of class, skill, or ability changes, but occasionally a dev team will up and decide to remake part of the game world itself. Such was the case last month with EverQuest II's famed Freeport locale, and the sprawling capital city now features new textures, new quests, and seamless transitions between its various quarters (i.e., no more loading screens).

The lengthy list of Freeport changes comprise one of the best revamps I've experienced in many years of playing MMOs, and I can't wait to see what the EQII devs have in store for Qeynos. What about you, Massively folk? What's your favorite zone revamp?

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!

Looking for a new place to call home in the world of Norrath? Sony Online Entertainment has a couple of new prestige houses on the way that offer plenty of space and plenty of scenic views.

First up is the Storm Tower Isle, an evil-themed island refuge with a Tower of Bone replica and a bunch of pristine beach, salt spray, and stormy atmospherics. Next is the Secluded Sanctum, and long-time EverQuest II players will recognize it as a portion of Sullon Zek's dungeon. SOE left the canopy beds and raised dais in place, and we can't wait to see what some of Norrath's premier interior decorators do with the place. Both homes will be available in the Station Cash store very soon, and you can get a guided video tour after the cut.

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Last week, EverQuest II rolled out two new Marketplace items: the nightmare flight wings and the Pegasus feather flight wings. At first, I didn't think much of it because it was just another flying mount, but as I watched the promotional video, it seemed strangely out of place for characters of all races to be sprouting wings and flying around of their own power.

While many players are excited about the new flight wings, others question whether they fit into the lore and the world of EQII. And this isn't the first time an item has left players with tilted heads and confused expressions. Read on for a collection of oddities from the world of Norrath!

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Sometimes I honestly wonder what goes on in the minds of the decision-makers at Sony Online Entertainment.

Case in point is the recent decision to add wings to EverQuest II's cash shop. I'm not opposed to cash shops per se, and I'm not opposed to flying mounts or the formerly nifty race-specific quest that allowed Arasai players to earn a pair of functional wings at high level.

Now, though, any old ratonga, iksar, or troll can fork over 20 bucks and take to the skies with angel's wings on his back, and while the EverQuest universe has fairly inconsistent lore on occasion, I can only conclude that someone at SOE thought it would be funny to mess with franchise fans a little bit. If not, surely there are more fan-friendly ways to go about designing cash shop items or new means of transportation.

This isn't the first time SOE has indulged its baser shark-jumping instincts, either. Ask a Star Wars Galaxies vet about the infamous Ewok-themed Valentine's Day if you need another example. And therein lies today's Daily Grind. Do you think that developers troll their fans?

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!

EverQuest II is one of the most feature-rich MMOs in existence. One of the few things it doesn't didn't have is the ability for players to sprout wings and take to the skies. Oh sure, there are some pretty spiffy flying mounts, and there is even a quest line that grants Fae and Arasai avatars the ability to use their faerie wings for something other than looks.

Today, though, Sony Online Entertainment is raising the bar via new sets of wings that are available to any character (of any race). These aren't just crappy looking social add-ons, either, but slickly animated functional wings on par with those in Aion or Perfect World. The catch is that they're only available in the Station Cash marketplace, and they'll set you back 1,950 points (about 20 bucks). Check out the video after the break for a brief demonstration. Also keep in mind that you'll need a character of level 85 or higher to use them.

[Source: SOE press release]

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Following a rocky and often-troubling year for Sony Online Entertainment in 2011, it's got to be good to have a clear win for the team. So we certainly can't begrudge SOE President John Smedley from climbing to the mountaintops to trumpet EverQuest II's success following its full free-to-play transition last month.

According to a series of tweets, Smedley says that the numbers are looking impressive: "We are seeing some amazing growth in EQII. 40% increase in daily logins since going F2P, 300% increase in new players, and 200% increase in item sales. Plus we have added a lot of new subs. All during the time that some really good competition hit the market."

Smedley also says that SOE is "very excited" with its partnership with ProSiebenSat.1, which grants exclusive publishing rights in Europe to eight of the studio's titles, including EverQuest, DC Universe Online, and Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures.

If there's one thing you can say about EverQuest II, it's that it has a community that's as varied as cogs in a Gnomish do-hickey. There's a substantial and long-time community of hardcore players, made up of people who must also be math majors because the number crunching that's involved is impressive. There's also a good-sized portion of the playerbase that prefers the non-combat features, like crafting, decorating, and more recently, dungeon designing. (Some players have made a fortune hiring themselves out to decorate others' homes, for example.) In a previous column, I talked about whether there will be a strain on the team to continue making quality content for the broad spectrum of players, but this week, I'd like to look at it from a different perspective.

Two of EverQuest II's newest features, the housing leaderboards and the dungeon maker leaderboards, are both designed similarly, with rankings, a hall of fame, and a voting system for various categories. But the leaderboard listings for each system look very different, and while the housing directory tends to be a good representation of EQII players' creative genius, the dungeon maker boards haven't reflected that as much. Read on to see why, and to look at what, if anything, should be done about it.

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If you are perusing this column, chances are you are a fan of virtual worlds and the sandbox genre. Join the club! (Dues will be due on the third Tuesday.) The aspect that compels many aficionados to delve into a game is the ability to make an impact on the world in some small respect instead of making them into Hive Member 1593072 running a static, predetermined gauntlet. How that impact is accomplished, however, varies; there are multiple features that can facilitate it, and which ones are considered most important depends on the player.

With the loss of one of the best sandbox games just last month, some players may be feeling a void. Others still are looking/hoping for the "ultimate" sandbox that contains nearly every virtual world feature. Certainly, there are some upcoming games that make some drool-worthy promises, but what about playing something now? There are actually games out on the market that have at least one aspect of the genre, if not more.

To start off the new year, Some Assembly Required looks at some of the top features of virtual worlds and lists games that incorporate these features. While this list isn't exhaustive (considering the sheer number of games when you include all of the smaller free-to-play titles, I'd run out of column space!), it is a comprehensive enough overview to point you toward some games worth playing that perhaps you hadn't considered before.

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