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everquest

SOE Cheers 1 Million Legends of Norrath Matches With Oathbreaker Release

Sony Online Entertainment announced the release of the fourth EverQuest: Legends of Norrath set, Oathbreaker, which completes the story arc that began in LoN's Oathbound, providing a "dramatic finale" for characters.

SOE said new gameplay will be introduced to build on the old system and allow for more strategies and combos in the online card-based strategy title. It adds 250 new cards, new loot and promo cards, and a new island guardian, Chel'Drak the dragon turtle (is it a dragon or a turtle? Seriously, man).

According to SOE, LoN players have thrown down over a million matches since the title launched nine months ago. Oathbreaker's to be the last release before the August tournament at Gen Con Indy - wannabe competitors must qualify by July 12-13. Why not try, if you're into it? There's $100,000 at stake!

Full details after the jump.

More »

EQ's Legacy

Come Back To EverQuest, Play For Free

Former EverQuest players, Sony Online Entertainment would like you to return to your roots. It's announced a new program called "Living Legacy," through which EQ subscribers with inactive accounts who left with all their bills in order can come back from now until the end of July - totally for free.

Returning players also get the EverQuest II: Rise of Kunark compilation plus bonus items at no cost, and they can keep it all if they convert to a paying subscription, and current players who bring in a friend get free game time when their subscription runs out.

SOE's also planned events and content for current and new players aimed at commemorating the games' almost ten-year lifespan. Hit the jump for the full announcement.

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soe fan faire 2008

SOE Fan Faire Registration Is Go

SOE is now accepting registration monies for their 2008 SOE Fan Faire, being held August 14th through the 17th at the Las Vegas Hilton in beautiful downtown...you know. $89 gets you an All-Access pass, which secures you a sneak-peek at "three monumental new games in development". Interesting.

The pass also gets you into the Free Realms beta test, a beta for an upcoming EQ2 expansion, gifts, in-game items, and the chance to listen to John Smedley talk for a bit.

Of course if you'd rather miss out on all the All-Access goodness you can pick up a day pass for $39, which just seems like a giant waste of time and money. Head over to http://www.soefanfaire.com/ and mention my name when you register to receive the awkward joy of having my name on your attendee badge. I've been doing it for years, and look where it's gotten me!


sony online entertainment

SOE Dates 2008 Fan Faire

Sony Online Entertainment has given a date to their annual parade of pale-skinned shut-ins, blinking as they emerge into the bright sunlight, the SOE Fan Faire. This year's convention will be help August 14th through the 17th at the Las Vegas Hilton. This means we are definitely skipping a repeat of last year's Quakecon / Blizzcon / Fan Faire debacle, as QC is running two weeks earlier. Plenty of time left for Blizzard to muck things up though.
"Fan Faire is by far the best vacation destination for SOE gamers, their families and friends," said Alan Crosby, Senior Director, Global Community Relations, Sony Online Entertainment. "This is the ultimate party for gamers and a great chance to meet up with their online friends in the real world."
This year's 4-day event will feature demos of The Agency and Free Realms, a talk from SOE President John Smedley, chances to meet and chat with developers, and plenty of geeky hobnobbing and drunk singalongs. I wanna go! More »

only in brazil

Brazilian Government Bans Counter-Strike, EverQuest, Fun

The South American nation famous for its ability to create great soccer players, attractive swimsuit models and land that used to be rainforests has brought the banhammer down upon two of the world's most popular online games. Both Counter-Strike and EverQuest, each now nine-years old, were said to promote "the subversion of public order, were an attack against the democratic state and the law and against public security" by the judge enacting the ban.

According to the AFP report on the matter, the prohibition on selling CS and EQ was actually passed in October of 2007, but was only recently enforced by PROCON, the national consumer protection agency. Good work, Brazil. Glad all of your problems are sorted out now that the video game police are tackling the tough issues!

Members of the Kotaku Brazilian Connection wrote in to let us know about the ban. Their letters are after the jump and provide some insight into the local video game market.

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game design

'What's In A Death Penalty?'

The death penalty of various MMORPGs is a topic of interest to many people - I've seen a number of thought provoking posts, and what more cheerful topic than death of your virtual avatar right before the holidays? Elder Game has a look at the death penalties of WoW and EQ2 and the ramifications of the death penalties, which often spin off to unexpected territory (like the way people play the game): More »

everquest ii

Exclusive EQII Item In Massive Online Gamer

The latest issue of Beckett Massive Online Gamer magazine should be out wherever fine bookstores see fit to carry it, and inside you could very well find a key code that unlocks a special in-game item in EQ2 - an animated portrait of Venril Sathir. I'm sure it will make an excellent conversation piece during your many in-game social events. Um, yes. I know it's a silly little portrait, but fans of the game go nuts over this sort of thing. I played the game for a year and never once had anyone else in my house, but trust me, it was full of magical wonders the likes of which you had never seen, which made me feel warm and fuzzy inside. The promotion itself is interesting. Free in-game stuff is an awesome marketing tool. Can you imagine if Blizzard put random free junk codes in boxes of Rice Krispies? The world's children would be forced to eat store brand rice cereal out of a resealable plastic bag. Hit the jump for details on the special issue, which many or many not require subscribing to the magazine itself. More »

promotions

Magazine Offering Exclusive Everquest II Download

In their issue hitting stands the week of November 28th, Massive Online Gamer magazine will be offering a code that can be redeemed for a limited edition Everquest II item—a portrait of warlord Venril Sathir. But for those with ants in their pants, new online subscribers can get the code emailed immediately upon writing that check. Not being Everquest II players, we can't really assess the importance or value of such a downloadable good. But it's a clever marketing strategy on MOG's part. While reading Kotaku, our readers are sometimes gifted with free syphilis, but the promotion hasn't been all that well received.

Gaming Mags Woos Subscribers With Everquest In-Game Item
[gamelife]


profitquest

EverQuest: The Movie Grinds Closer To Reality

Convinced that stalwart EverQuest-ers would be willing to transplant asses from computer chair to movie theater seat, Sony has signed on 300 screenplay contributor Michael B. Gordon to pen a film adaptation. According to a report from Variety, the EQ flick will be distributed by Columbia Pictures and produced by Avi Arad, responsible for just about every single Marvel film in existence and Bratz: The Movie. In good hands! More »

card games

Legends of Norrath OTCG Live

The war between the forces of Order and Chaos begins today! Sony Online Entertainment proudly announces the launch of their new Everquest online trading card game, Legends of Norrath. Starting today, players can visit www.legendsofnorrath.com and download the game client absolutely free! Of course, the cards will cost you to the tune of $9.99 for a 55 card starter and $2.99 for 15 card booster packs, but it will all pay off in the end when you can brag that you own the entire 375+ cards in the Oathbound set. Then of course your friends will ask to see them, and you'll have to explain that they're digital and don't actually exist outside of a computer somewhere, but I'm sure they'll be as impressed as they were when you told them about your internet girlfriend. Before I get angry comments, let it be known that I plan on playing as well, so I'm as big a dork as you are. Probably bigger. More »

gallery

Rise of Kunark Screens

While I impressed over the demo of Everquest 2's upcoming Rise of Kunark expansion I was given at E3 this year, SOE's media kit put the ass in assets, with only a few meager images that didn't even count as screenshots. Finally they've released some beautiful images of the lost continent, with distinctively Sarnak architecture that has me looking back fondly to the days when I would sit endless hours outside the Sarnak fort in the Lake of Ill Omen, listening to people hate each other in the OOC channel. Ah, memories.

clips

With This Click I Thee Wed


We mentioned a couple weeks back that a couple got married both in real life and in Everquest at this year's Fan Faire. Now we have the video, complete with storm trooper wedding march, to prove it.

trading cards without bubble gum

John Smedley Talks Legends of Norrath

MMOG Nation has posted a great interview with Sony Online Entertainment's John Smedley about the recently announced Everquest online trading card game, Legends of Norrath: Oathbound which our own Crecente actually got to play last month. In case you haven't gotten a chance to read Crecente's hands on and you're too lazy to click over to it or the MMOG Nation interview, here's a quick explanation of the game in Mr. Smedley's own words. More »

fanfaire07

The Smed Talks to Fan Faire

John Smedley is at Fan Faire talking to the masses about the past, present and future of all things Sony Online Entertainment. I'll be remote liveblogging it for those of you too lazy to watch it yourself. More »

feature

Everquest's Online Trading Card Game Unveiled

I had a chance, last month, to meet with Sony Online Entertanment's Denver studio and check out their now-announced online trading card game: Legends of Norath: Oathbound.

The Legends of Norrath game is based on the worlds of Everquest and Everquest II and, in an interesting twist, will be playing inside both of the massively multiplayer online games at in-world taverns and such.

Oathbound, the first set in the Legends of Noorath game, has more than 350 virtual cards in it and comes in both 60-card starter decks and 15-card booster packs. The Oathbound set was designed to tell the story of the servants of the Tribunal that rules the Plane of Justice. These masked and hooded servants swear an oath to Justice and must help preserve the balance between Order and Chaos.

More »

with this click on thee wed

First-Ever Fan Faire Wedding

This Saturday two Fan Faire attending will be tying the knot in both the real world and the virtual one.

The wedding ceremony will take place at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino during the annual event's Grand Banquet. The couple, clad in Everquest II costumes, will exchange vows in front of a pastor and inside the game at the same time using two computers perched on the alter.

The whole thing, set to take place on Saturday at 9 p.m., will be broadcast during the Grand Banquet. Here's hoping that at least one of them look like Antonia.


i knew it

IBM - MMO Players Can Make Corporate Leaders

Eric Lessner is a member of the IBM think-tank Institute of Business Value, and as part of a study collaboration with MIT and Stanford, studied Everquest and WoW players. And he saw the games as excellent preparation for the business world.

For example the ability to bring together distributed groups of individuals - often who are on a volunteer or semi-volunteer basis - to be able to make more rapid decisions under conditions of uncertainty. To incorporate and use different sources of data and make decisions rapidly. To recognise people for their contribution. To be able to motivate.
Chalk up another win for videogames by anonymous expert who is smarter than you, making total the tally:

Gamers 10,271 Stupid People 0

Gaming's business end [via maxconsole]


e307

Less Is More For Everquest

I got a chance to catch up with Everquest Senior Producer Clint Worley at E3 to chat about the state of Everquest the first, an eight year old MMO that is now readying its fourteenth expansion, Secrets of Faydwer. The expansion itself pushes the game's level cap to 80, which makes my moldering level 54 bard incredibly sad, especially considering how terribly behind I am in add-ons, not being able to keep up with the vigorous two a year schedule. Well that two-a-year schedule is now a one-a-year cycle in response to fans of the game that had the same trouble keeping up as I did. Worley said that the focus would be on keeping players in the game and continuing to provide premium free content throughout the year to reward the die-hard fans that make up a subscriber base still larger than its successor, Everquest 2. So what about us old-timers interested in getting back into the game? From now on, every new expansion will be packaged with all the expansions before it, making catching up as easy as waiting for Secrets of Faydwer to hit stores this November. Is that the sweet sound of Selo's I hear in my future?