EverQuest

What single action could unite all Norrathians in grand celebration? In the words of Mel Gibson's William Wallace: Freeeeeeeeeedoooooooom.

It's no secret that EverQuest and EverQuest II have had fairly restrictive free-to-play models, with severe limitations that unfortunately deterred some players from trying or sticking with the games. Although teased with a wide variety of races and classes, free (once called bronze) and silver players could choose from among only a few without dipping into their wallets. Other restrictions included limited bag slots, little to no shared bank access, and a very low cap on active quests.

But if those restrictions are what put you off, fire up that launchpad again because I've got good news for you: SOE has taken a giant eraser and wiped them right off of the free-to-play matrices. And now is a good time to get back into the games as the EverQuest franchise is set to commemorate its 14th anniversary with celebrations in both games.

In my interview with Dave Georgeson, the man at the helm of all things EQ, I scouted out the specifics of the F2P restrictions that will lift come the middle of next week. Georgeson also revealed some incoming updates for EQ as well as discussed the special events marking the anniversary that will kick off on March 16th. And you just know I tried to slip in a question or two about EQ Next.

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Selling power is a much quieter controversy than it used to be. I've been in gaming long enough to remember when selling anything desirable at all was taboo. At the same time, it's always been OK to sell some things like subscriptions or special boxed editions, proving that MMO gamers and others are brilliant at segmenting their rage. If it's a cool, special box with a neat virtual item inside, it somehow does not fall under the same umbrella as selling powerful, useful items in game. I think it does. But geeks in general are good at justifying poor behavior if they get what they want; just ask the hackers and file-swappers.

Still, it doesn't matter how we feel about selling power because the industry is already moving in the direction of selling power, lots of power. EA recently announced that every title it produces from now on will feature microtransactions. While that doesn't guarantee the sale of powerful items, I can promise that it will include some. This train ain't stopping. Sure, the console community seems a bit late to the party when it comes to the power-selling controversy, but that's likely because of MMOs' always-on multiplayer mode.

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Fifty years from now, when we're old and gray and Massively is on version 3.0 and has discussion forums, my successor will be writing about an EverQuest producer letter update. This is because EQ simply will not die, and we fully expect at least one of the game's servers to survive global economic catastrophes, the onset of VR gaming, and various nuclear winters.

The latest letter comes to us courtesy of producer Thom "Phathom" Terrazas, who spends a good bit of virtual ink outlining things like Hero's Forge armor, the Shadows of Fear update with its new zones and storyline, housing tweaks, and additions to the dev team. That's not all that Terrazas talks about, either, but you'll need to head to the official EQ website to read the rest.

Few people are without opinions on minigames in MMOs. Some love 'em, some hate 'em, and some just ignore 'em. Some even despise that I won't type "th." Takes all types, really. Personally, I'm all for including new types of enjoyable systems that can be repeated, particularly if it benefits my character in some way.

There's also this perception that minigames are just for kids. It's true that more kid-centric titles like Free Realms and Clone Wars Adventures thrive on minigames like you thrive on deep-fried butter balls, but these little diversions exist all over the place in "grownup" titles too. Holidays are a favorite time to trot them out, although there are plenty that exist year-round.

Today we're going to look at 10 creative minigames that have tickled my fancy over the year. Yes, I used the word "fancy." Whatcha gonna do about it?

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I was going to update you fine folk on my adventures in rolling my 17,000th EverQuest II alt for this week's Tattered Notebook, but SOE decided to drop a Fan Faire Live date on us, which sort of mucked up my nefarious plans.

Why do we care about SOE Live? Well, there are multiple reasons, but the most important one is that instead of having to wait until October, we now get to see (and touch!) EverQuest Next in early August!

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While we've known that SOE Live was moving location and dates this year to Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas from August 1st through the 4th, we now have official confirmation from the studio itself.

SOE Head of Global Relations Linda Carlson drafted up an accompanying post about the upcoming convention that includes several pictures from previous years. "We're all gamers too," she writes, "and can hardly wait to hang out with you again! Everyone at the company LOVES going to SOE Live, the one event each that focuses solely on our players. We have everything in common!"

Carlson explained that the change in venue was made for several reasons, primarily to keep costs down, have more flexible meeting space, and experience better air quality. She confirmed that, as in previous years, kids will get in free to the event.

If you play EverQuest but not the sequel, EverQuest II feels like the younger sibling that gets everything it wants. A new graphical engine, more expansions, more developer time, it's not fair. And then the game gets the option for players to buy game time and sell it for real currency in the game, which is just so unfair. But if you buy into this hypothetical pseudo-sibling rivalry, good news -- the Krono option is coming to classic EverQuest in the near future.

An official FAQ has been posted explaining how Krono works and how players can use them to purchase time with in-game money or vice versa. The FAQ also clarifies that purchased Krono works in both EverQuest II and the original EverQuest so long as you purchase one directly; if you trade it to another player it's tied to the game where you made the trade. Take a look at the full FAQ and start enjoying the freedom to pay with your game subscription through in-game farming.

As another gaming year spins to a close, we here at the Institute for Digital Interactive Entertainment have been holding our archaeological department hostage with a trained buffy-tufted marmoset until it delivered a final report. After hours of begging and infected monkey bites, the head of that department, Prof. Justin Olivetti, Ph.D., handed us a scrap of urine-soaked paper with the following article inscribed.

While the Institute strongly suggests that you ignore this report and instead work on your button-mashing exercises, the board of directors stated that all such papers must be posted for the public to see.

This report is presented in the Yetbari typeface and contains a sequential series of items that number between 11 and 13.

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Each week in The Guild Counsel column, I try to take a common issue or newsworthy topic that's related to online communities and look at it in depth. Often, the reader discussion that follows has led to some very valuable insight into guild leadership and has even spawned new topics for columns.

This week, I'd like to look at three noteworthy topics that have often popped up among reader comments: nostalgia in MMOs, the clash between "the brotherhood" and "the game," and why guild leadership often feels like a thankless task. Let's look at a few reader responses to these topics and consider the larger issues with MMOs and guild leadership today.

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I am a complete sucker for three things: novelty soft drink flavors, Tom Servo's singing voice in MST3K, and end-of-the-year lists. Egads, I love the end of the year just for the lists alone. Everyone does them (copycats!), and I like to see how my opinions stack up against them. Plus, often I learn of cool things that happened or came out during the past year that I missed.

So this is my list. My end-of-2012 list. I am devoting the 26th Perfect Ten of 2012 to the top 10 moments in MMO gaming and blogging. It was a rollercoaster of highs and lows, and looking back, I don't think I could've predicted half of the major events that happened in this industry. That's what I like about this gig: It keeps me on my toes.

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John Smedley's MMO revival tour continues, with the latest stop being an interview at Polygon. The SOE CEO lends some context to impressive numbers recently released by the firm touting the success of its new business model intiative, and he also evangelized about the future of the company and EverQuest Next.

Since switching to F2P across its extensive MMO portfolio, SOE has seen DC Universe's daily revenue increase by 700%, EverQuest II's registration numbers triple, and EverQuest's registration numbers tick up by 350%. Oh, and PlanetSide 2? It's seen 1.6 million players registered thus far, 250,000 of whom log in daily. "Free-to-play is just too good of an idea," Smedley says. "The idea is just so simple. It democratizes and capitalizes, makes true capitalism out of the MMO gaming space."

He goes on to say that the MMO industry is stuck in a rut that SOE helped create via design choices made in the original EQ. "We need to change the way we do this," Smedley says. "We're building a sandbox and giving players the tools to help shape the world that they're in. That's the direction we're going in with EverQuest Next; trying to make a world that players create while being in a living, breathing world around them. It's not just a prop for them to walk around in, which is really what all of today's MMOs are. Their worlds are nothing more than a movie set."

Just a few days ago, SOE launched the first wave of items submitted by players through Player Studio. EverQuest, EverQuest II, and Free Realms all have player-made items for sale in the Marketplace; the players who created the items receive 40% of the revenue. EverQuest launched its first player-made weapon, the Stormlord's Bludgeon; EverQuest II featured the Heroic Salesman's Chest and Cloak of the North Star; and Free Realms revealed the Swirly Railed Gazebo and Happy Heart T-Shirt.

We had a chance to talk to Rick Reynolds, Senior Manager of SOE's E-Commerce team, and Joe Shoopack, Director of Artistic Development, both of whom have played key roles in the successful launch of Player Studio. They shared insight into what goes on behind the scenes after a player submits an item, and they hinted at future plans for the system. Read on!

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During SOE Live, we got a more in-depth look at Sony Online Entertainment's Player Studio, a new feature where players can design items to be sold to others in game via the marketplace. Today, EverQuest, EverQuest II, and Free Realms will see some of those player-created items go live!

When checking the in-game store today, EverQuest II players will find the cloak of the North Star and the heroic salesman's crate. Free Realms fans will get to choose a swirly-railed gazebo or a happy heart T-shirt. In EverQuest, hammer users will have a new skin they can slap on their weapon.

Although this first wave of Player Studio items is not very extensive for any of the games, SOE has over 60 other trinkets spread across the three games ready to go, and more stuff will be introduced each week. Be sure to check the Tattered Notebook this Saturday for even more details and an interview with Rick Reynolds, SOE's Senior Manager of E-Commerce and Joe Shoopack, Director of Artistic Development!

In this Very Special Edition of Massively Speaking, Bree and Justin hold a wake for a certain superhero MMO that's passed into the night. We were there until the bitter end, my friends, except for Justin who valued sleep and didn't want to stay up until 3:00 in the morning. But he was there in spirit -- oh yes he was!

It's not all tears and booze, of course; we have plenty of other stories to talk about, including the return of a long-lost profession, an expansion launch, a free-to-play conversion, and why MMOs are now being held up as art.

Have a comment for the podcasters? Shoot an email to podcast@massively.com. We may just read your email on the air!

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