EverQuest Underfoot, available today at EverQuest.com for $39.99, substantially adds to Norrathian real estate by going deeper underground than ever before. Players can expect to encounter plenty of new creatures as they venture forth, hunting for tradeskill recipes so they can make the powerful new items afforded by the addition of Master Tradeskilling.

Other new additions include an expanded target window, which lets players assign group members to specific roles for ease of targeting, and an achievement system, much like the one already implemented in World of Warcraft.

"Celebrating a decade of EverQuest throughout this year has reinvigorated our community and development team alike, and that passion is clearly on display with the latest expansion," said Thom Terrazas, Producer, Sony Online Entertainment. "Underfoot presents a world unlike anything you've experienced in Norrath, providing a deep and fun experience for all our players."

I've not played EverQuest for years, but there are times I miss my bard something terrible. Then I remember this, and the melancholy fades.

The nature of Alexander Stern's visual impairment isn't clear from the report, whether that is total blindness or partial blindness, or some other form of sight disability. But his suit, filed in federal court in California, claims that Sony has ignored repeated requests to modify its games - the suit seems to focus on SOE's MMOs - and that the realms Sony maintains here are essentially public accommodations as defined by the ADA.

Stern repeatedly asked Sony for the addition of visual cues to point out destinations for gamers with "disability impaired visual processing." The suit mentions World of Warcraft and another game that, through the allowance of third-party modifications or other features, make their games more accessible to the visually impaired.

There's also a claim that by not making accommodations for the visually impaired, Sony essentially deprives Stern and others of fair participation in selling off in-game items over SOE's official auction site.

Sony told GameSpot it doesn't comment on pending litigation.

Whatever the merits of the suit, and I'm sure our team of lawyers will robustly discuss them in the comments below, the action is intriguing to me in that it seems to depend on finding a virtual environment is a public accommodation. I can't even begin to argue coherently that it is or isn't or should or should not be. A judge could find that an MMO is a public accommodation and Stern could still lose, but such a ruling could have larger ramifications that outlive this case, for more than just Sony.

Visually Impaired Gamer Sues Sony Online [GameSpot, thanks Roberto E.]

First of all, thank you all for the kind words and well-wishes directed towards Emily and I. As I said in the article, I've made reference to my time in EverQuest on Kotaku in the past, but being with Emily after eight years and realizing just how big an impact the game had on my life was the impetus for the story.

In talking to my friends, family, and former employers over the course of writing the article I gained a much deeper understanding of how I affected the people around me, doing something I felt didn't matter to anyone but me. It's been a very sobering experience.

Many of you have written to say that you relate to my experience, and in a way it's good to know that I'm not the only one. Of course I knew I was not the only one, but to hear from people who I feel I have a connection to through Kotaku brings it to a whole new level.

Some of you wrote asking for advice on how to overcome your own personal game addiction. I'd say that by even asking for advice, you've already taken your first step. I know the whole "admitting you have a problem" line seems old and tired, but it still rings true. During the period I describe, I never once felt that I was doing something wrong. It was my body, my time, and my money, or lack thereof, which I realize now was an extremely selfish way to look at things.

By just asking the question you're on your way. All I can suggest is that you get friends and family actively involved in getting you away from the computer, the console, or your handheld. Go out of town. Stay at someone else's house.

Mind you, I am not a doctor, or any kind of qualified therapist. Your best bet is to get on Google and do a search. Unless you are addicted to Google. In that case, just ask random people in the street.

Many of you were curious if I still played MMO games, and I do. I've just developed a different sort of personal philosophy towards them in the past few years. I've forced myself to see them as a diversion. I've convinced myself that the next level isn't going to go away if I don't play for a week. I used to worry about friends surpassing me; now I tell myself we're all going to end up at the level cap eventually.

I guess what I really wanted to do in this post was to let you all know that I received your emails, and I've read them as well. If I don't respond personally, it's just because I am incredibly busy playing video games for work. If it helps at all, I'd rather be reading a book.

Oh, and Emily says thank you as well. She was completely tickled by the overwhelming response, which instilled in her a new level of respect for my little writing thing. We've decided that if we ever break up, my next and all subsequent girlfriends will have to assume the name Emily, so the story can continue, shades of the Dread Pirate Roberts.

During the course of my tenure at Kotaku I've referenced my days in EverQuest on many occasions, but I've never elaborated on what went down back then. Recent events in my life have brought that period to the fore, and I've decided to share my experience with our readers.

In November of 2000, my life was going well. I had a lovely girlfriend, a serviceable vehicle, and a job that paid more than enough for me to survive while catering to my increasingly expensive video game habit. Within four months, it would all be gone.

Good Intentions

At the time I was sharing an apartment with a friend of mine named Dustin. Dustin was a great guy, but he spent his entire downtime sitting in front of his computer, playing a video game called EverQuest. I had encountered the game before, having participated in the beta for Sony Online Entertainment's massively popular multiplayer game, but once the game went live I lost interest. I just couldn't see myself paying a monthly fee just to play a computer game. Oh, how things have changed.

Having nothing much else to do at the time, I'd sit and watch Dustin play. He'd explain what his Monk character was doing in the game. I was a spectator as he progressed, learning to feign death, earning new weapons, and taking on greater challenges as he got closer and closer to the level cap.

So when I wasn't spending time with my girlfriend, Emily, I would watch Dustin play. Or I would tool around on various text-based MUSHes and MOOs online, role-playing with people all over the world. I'd been into science fiction, fantasy, and comic books since I was very young, so slipping into an imaginary world came easy to me. Perhaps a little too easy.

Towards the end of 2000, Emily and I broke up. The reasoning behind this is far too stupid to delve into…let's just say we were both young and a bit foolish.

I became depressed, and Dustin had just the thing to cheer me up.

The Scars of Velious expansion for EverQuest came out in December of 2000. My roommate, perhaps tired of my moping over my lost love, picked up a copy of the game for me as a Christmas present. I installed it, created a half-elven Bard, and soon our apartment had two guys in the living room at all hours of the day, faces bathed in the glow of monitors.

Within a week, the game that hadn't affected me at all nearly two years previously had become an important part of my life. Soon, it would become my life.

If I wasn't asleep or at work, I was playing EverQuest. The former was becoming a rarity. I would go into work, and I would still hear the sounds of EverQuest orcs in my head. All I had to do was close my eyes and I was speeding through the Greater Faydark zone, killing pixies and turning in quest items.

In January of 2001, a man with a tow truck came to my place of employment and took my car away. I had fallen behind on payments without realizing it, and Nissan had decided they wanted my Sentra back. My first thought as I watched the tow truck drive away was how many hours walking to and from work would take from my EverQuest time.

I worked at a company called FranchiseOpportunities.com, maintaining and creating websites, but increasingly my time there was spent either communicating with my EverQuest friends or browsing websites for tips on the best equipment and techniques for grinding experience points and gold. It was impossible for my co-workers not to notice. In February of 2001, Joseph Lunsford, the owner of the company, called me into his office.

"It wasn't an easy decision," Lunsford told me this month when I went to see him and talk to him about the person I used to be. "You were was amazingly bright. I was convinced there wasn't anything you couldn't do. You showed so much promise, but your interest in work just fell off. Projects started taking longer to get done, and it was obvious your head wasn't in it. You left me no choice."

I was in tears back then. I felt unbelievably pathetic. I had no car. I had no job. Joe had handed me my last paycheck and about $120 he had in his wallet, and sent me on my way. I took a taxi home, broke the news to my roommates (we had moved into a three-bedroom to split the bills three ways), went into my bedroom, started up EverQuest, and forgot about everything.

According to Dr. Hilarie Cash, the executive director of the reSTART internet and gaming addition recovery program and co-author of the book "Video Games & Your Kids: How Parents Stay in Control," retreating inside a video game to avoid real world problems is a common cause of "video game addiction."

"I would definitely call it video game addiction, which is a subset of internet addiction. Many of the things [you] described to me are typical of a video game addict, particularly the way that real life shrinks away for the addict, living more and more in the virtual world."

And that's exactly what I was doing. I had been a confident and outgoing young man who enjoyed hanging out with my friends, spending hours chatting about absolutely nothing while smoking cigarettes and drinking countless cups of Waffle House Coffee. Now my social dealings involved helping online friends camp a rare monster spawn, or discussing class balance on my guild's chat channel.

Going outside was only necessary when I ran out of smokes or beverages. I lived off $.30 pot pies from Wal-Mart and cheap bags of rice. I was taking care of my most essential needs, but only barely. Often times I would fall asleep in my chair in front of my computer with EverQuest running, waking up hours later to start the cycle all over again.

Even now my memories of the period are a blur of Oasis runs, power leveling, and experience grinding. My mother remembers those days much more vividly.

"Mike was unavailable for most of that period," she recalled recently. "There was no way to contact him, except to do a 'drive by' preferably with a bag of groceries in the back seat. I remember trying to talk to him. Such a fine mind and wild sense of humor; all covered up and hidden deep inside again. He listened half-heartedly and was easy to anger. He was going down fast, even to the point of telling how it really was and not just what you wanted to hear."

Hearing her talk about it now, I can barely believe it had gotten so bad, but I tend to hold on to positive memories more than the negative ones. Like the day Emily came back.

Brief Hope

It was three months after I was fired that Emily decided to give us another chance. I wasn't the same man she had been with before. I was relatively skinny, and my hair had grown ridiculously long. As we lay curled up in bed one evening she commented on how my belly had disappeared, which tickled me to no end. It seems perverse to me now. It wasn't as if I had been dieting or exercising; I was taking pride in my own malnourishment.

My existence slowly started gaining some semblance of a real life again. Emily went out one afternoon and brought me a stack of job applications, which motivated me to go out, get my hair cut, and go to my first job interview at a Fast Signs down the street. Looking slightly more human and feeling more alive than I had in months, I got the job on the spot. It was amazing how fast things had turned around. Unfortunately, it wouldn't last.

In an odd twist, my EverQuest friends were now worried about me.

I hadn't been around, and they missed my sense of humor and my enthusiasm. My ability to twist four Bard songs at a time didn't hurt either. These people needed me. I was important to them, and I couldn't let them down. Looking back, I can't believe I missed the irony there.

So I started playing EverQuest again. At first it was only on the nights that Emily couldn't make it over, but soon I was back to my regular play schedule – every waking hour. I was regularly late to work, and called in sick at least once every two weeks so I could stay home and play.

Then came that fateful night.

The woman I had once told was the love of my life was sitting undressed in my bed not a foot away from my computer desk, begging me to join her, and I kept putting it off. I was so close to level 40 I could taste it. I was in the Dreadlands, kiting large enemies back and forth, killing them slowly with my Bard songs. I still remember the urgency I felt, along with the annoyance that this woman was trying to keep me from reaching my goal. Couldn't she understand how important this was to me?

She had certainly tried.

"Back then I just figured I was dating a gamer, and that's how it was going to be," she said to me recently. "I hadn't dated many guys at that point, and my older brother was the same way. He worked, came home, and played video games."

Eight years later it became obvious that my lack of attention toward her weighed far more heavily than either of us had suspected.

One morning in late September of 2001, I called my job and quit. Whatever justification I had for this at the time doesn't matter. The reason I quit was because I was tired of making excuses for being late, and I just wanted to play EverQuest.

Emily and I had grown further apart. During my time at Fast Signs I purchased an old car from my sister, only to discover I couldn't get insurance for it due to my driver's license being suspended over a previous ticket, ironically issued for driving without insurance. Rather than actively working to fix the problem, I slipped deeper into depression. I would let Emily take the car, driving it with a "TAG APPLIED FOR" plate on the back, but wouldn't go anywhere with her for fear of being pulled over and sent to jail. Instead, I would stay home and play EverQuest.

The last time I would see her — until 2009 —was two days after her birthday in early October. I had let her take the car to her party, but refused to go with her. She reacted by keeping my car for two days without contacting me. I responded by telling her to return the car and the keys and get out of my life. She did just that.

And I kept playing.

A New Beginning

December rolled around again, one year after I had taken my first steps into EverQuest's world of Norrath, and I had completely changed. I went from being a strong independent person to a gaunt, unshaven, unshowered recluse, completely withdrawn from the outside world.

My roommate, once one of my greatest friends, was threatening to throw me out of the apartment if I didn't find a job. But I had absolutely no motivation. The only time I left my dwelling was to scavenge for food at my parents' house, or to grab a quick shower, as our apartment's hot water had been turned off.

I remember feeling like a ghost, drifting through the waking world unnoticed. Luckily for me, my mother was looking out for me as best she could.

"He didn't look like Mike anymore," she remembers now. "He was scary and pitiful. I was afraid he was suicidal or dying of some mysterious disease. It broke my heart and I knew that coming home and taking the pressure off would be the best medicine for him."

And so on January 1st, 2002, at the age of 28, I moved back in with my parents. It wasn't an instant cure for my addiction – as soon as I convinced them to let me order DSL I was back online again – but something had changed. I started spending more time hanging out with my parents and less time sitting in my computer chair staring at little computer people doing little computer things. I had responsibilities. I had a support system. I had a stable platform to launch myself from instead of the quicksand I felt I had been standing in before.

Within two months I had found myself a job at a local gas station. Later that year I started speaking with Joe Lunsford again, proving myself through contract work until he decided to hire me on again in 2003. So I once again had a job, a girlfriend, and eventually my own apartment, sans roommates. That's where I was in 2006, when Brian Crecente contacted me and asked me if I wanted to write for Kotaku. That's where I am now.

It would be easy for me to pin my problems on EverQuest, and society in general would accept it without question. I could say I fell prey to an addictive video game that nearly ruined my life, but I would know that wasn't the case.

I hid. I ran from my problems, hiding away in a virtual fantasy world instead of confronting the issues that might have been easily resolved if I had addressed them directly. As far as I am concerned, the only thing Sony Online Entertainment is guilty of is creating a damn good hiding place. It was my responsibility to control how much I played, and the SOE spokesperson I contacted regarding my story agrees.

"EverQuest is a game," the Sony Online rep told me. "The majority of the hundreds of thousands of subscribers play the game in moderation enjoying the gameplay as well as the community interaction the game provides. As with any form of entertainment, it is the responsibility of each individual player to monitor his or her own playing habits and prioritize his or her time as necessary. It is not our place to monitor or limit how individuals spend their free time."

Dr. Hilarie Cash agrees as well, though she suspects that game developers are actively engaged in trying to make their games more addictive.

"Some blame can be laid at the feet of developers, making a conscious effort to make their games more addictive. It's analogous to the tobacco industry, trying to make tobacco more addictive. It works to their benefit. That having been said, it's up to the individual to take responsibility for how they play."

During our conversation, Dr. Cash also likened gaming to gambling. Some people can walk into a casino, lose $5, and call it quits. You have to know your own limits, and be conscious enough of them to know when you are in danger of going too far.

My own solution to my potential for MMO addiction is rather simple. I've managed to turn a habit that once interrupted my work into something I actively have to do for work. It's no longer escapism if I am doing my job. Perhaps I am fooling myself, but if I am going to be that gullible I might as well take advantage.

As for Emily, she's sitting behind me as I type this, playing Peggle. I'd ask her to come to bed, but I know how important getting to that next level can be.

To me, MMO writing seems tough. There's just so much text to take into account like menu text, quest text and dialogue trees (to say nothing of scripting actual cinema scenes and race- or class-specific flavor text). Keeping the tone and pace of a game consistent across all of that and actually crafting a basis for a story or an instance sounds especially daunting. So no wonder both Seamster and Danuser had tons of examples of writing gone wrong in MMOs.

Here's a good bit:

Writers should "get over themselves", [Danuser] stated plainly. Instead of trying to saddle any single player with an epic destiny, the gameworld itself should provide a backdrop for collaborative heroism. Framing the narrative to promote teamwork, and creating narrative events that challenge the playerbase as a whole, allows for the epic tales writers crave.

Check it out, if you've got the time or possibly the aspiration to become an MMO writer.

GDC Austin: Writing for MMOs: You're Doing it Wrong [Gamasutra]

More than just an art book, this large, hard-bound special edition tome is filled from cover-to-cover with the history of the EverQuest franchise, from the original release to the coming of EverQuest 2. You'll find developer interviews, box art, concept art, and developer commentary that will have a lapsed player itching to get back into the fray.

Or at least it had this lapsed player itching. SOE delivered a copy of the book to me late last week, and I've had a hard time putting it down. It's been years since I traveled Norrath, but half a decade of my life is contained in those pages, and the reminiscing is fine.

You can purchase the book for $34.99 directly from SOE by clicking the link I cleverly hid in this sentence.

Pure West's Second Skin looks the lives of gamers and virtual world residents as they live out their lives playing World of Warcraft, Everquest, and of course, Second Life. It touches on the topics of addiction, online romance, and the community feeling and sense of camaraderie that can be fostered by a group of people essentially only connected to each other through the internet.

Since first reading about the project back in 2006, I've pretty much lived through most of this documentary, having put my Everquest addiction behind me well before that. Back then I thought it would be interesting to watch in order to see how those people live. Now I'm going to pick it up to see if I spot anyone I know.

Along with the DVD release on August 25th, Second Skin will also see a limited theatrical run, so check your local papers, just in case. Check out a sneak peek at the first five minutes of Second Skin below.

At its Fan Faire in Las Vegas, Sony Online Entertainment announced the 16th expansion for EverQuest, will be released in November. Called "Underfoot," it allows players to explore new underground zones.

EverQuest II gets its sixth expansion in February 2010. Called "Sentinel's Fate", it increases the level cap to 90 and allows players to gain experience playing older, lower-level content with high level characters. Word also has it that achievements will be integrated into that game, too.

Expansions Announced for EverQuests [Eurogamer]

While I find the story of EverQuest's origin interesting enough without Jace's particular brand of humor, perhaps the attendees at the SOE Fan Faire in Las Vegas on June 25th through the 28th don't. That makes sense. I mean, they're only trekking halfway around the country in many cases to pay homage to the game and possibly get a little Wood Elf action.

"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. "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."

How do you folks feel about Hall's light-hearted signature?

While Amanda is far too young to remember, I was there for the launch of the original Everquest. I wrote about the beta before the game was launched. I spent a good four to five years immersed in it. I lost at least one job over it, but to be honest the job did kind of suck.

I did all that, and yes...I danced. I might have been a half-elf and not a human, but the cabbage patch is the universal language in the world of Norrath.

Other festivities, both virtual and real-life are planned for EverQuest — most notably, a party at Fan Faire 2009 in Las Vegas this June and the declaration of Sony Online Entertainment Day in San Diego, California. That's what happens when you win an Emmy, kids, people notice you. Eventually.

EverQuest went live March 16, 1999 and rose to gamer fame over the next decade, spawning 15 expansions and a full-blown sequel that still feeds on the souls of the unwary MMO gamer.

EverQuest 10th Anniversary [via GameSpot, the guys who first awarded it Game of the Year]

That's exactly what San Diego City Council are doing. Next Tuesday (the 10th), city council member Carl DeMaio will formally proclaim March 16 as "Sony Online Entertainment Day", to mark the company's contribution to the city's coffers (SOE HQ is located in San Diego) as well as the 10th anniversary of the launch of Everquest, still the biggest title SOE have ever put out.

Sure, that flagship series isn't what it once was - remember when World of Warcraft was just another Everquest competitor? - but this is as much in recognition of past deeds as it is current relevance.

March 16 To Become SOE Day in San Diego [Voodoo Extreme]

A meeting last week of the American Association for the Advancement of Science said that Sony, when approached about access to the game's data, simply said, "Sure, why not," when asked if it was available for research.

One researcher, who's studied shopping cart abandonment at Amazon as "a virtual event without a real-world parallel," found himself with an enormous set of data regarding similar behavior - individual players dropping out of a game, what that meant for their peers and for the community on the whole.

Another scientist studying social interactions was able to examine how and why players became involved in partnering or trading interactions, and how the actual players physical proximity to one another (same time zone, or geographic area) affected that. He also found that, even adjusting for their low representation, women were more likely to avoid interacting with other players. Wonder why.

The data set spans four years and is so large that researchers have had to inspect large hunks of it rather than writing algorithms that pass through the entire database. But they have come up with some very detailed pictures of the user base:

The average age of players turned out to be 31. "These aren't just pasty white teenage boys in a basement-to be sure, they're there, but they're not typical," he said. The older players tended to play more than the kids and, although the total hours played seem large, he said that the time mostly displaced either TV watching or movie going. And the surveys showed that those who viewed TV news in the first place continued to do so, suggesting that gamers really slotted EQ2 into their entertainment time.

Mostly, the gamers seemed healthy; their body mass index was better than the US average and, although they were slightly more depressed than average, they were also less anxious.

Buried among those happy, average players was a small subset of the population-about five percent-who used the game for serious role playing and, according to Williams, "They are psychologically much worse off than the regular players." They belong to marginalized groups, like ethnic and religious minorities and non-heterosexuals, and tended to use the game as a coping mechanism.

Science Gleans 60TB of Behavior Data from Everquest 2 Logs [Ars Technica]

Joining the Steam library as of right now are EverQuest, EverQuest II, Vanguard: Saga of Heroes and Pirates of the Burning Sea, as well as the latest expansions for EQ and EQ II.

Naturally, Valve and SOE are offering deals on the newest inductees to Steam, selling much of this stuff for as low as $14.99. Make with the questing!

Sony Online Entertainment [Steam]

Basically it works like this: Players order a special in-game item from the Marketplace using Station Cash, and Sony donates $10 to the Child's Play Charity. EverQuest II players will be able to buy a special Child's Play Bouncing Baby Bear Cub pet, which EverQuest holdouts can get their hands on Child’s Play Guktan Shield Ornamentation, seen below.

“SOE and our players have been staunch supporters of this charity since 2003, and with the integration of Station Cash into our online games, teaming up with Child’s Play for this online campaign was an easy decision,” said John Smedley, president of Sony Online Entertainment.

It's a brilliant way to help out a deserving charity, while making more players aware of the SOE Marketplace. Everybody wins!

SONY ONLINE ENTERTAINMENT TO HOST FUNDRAISING DRIVE FOR CHILD'S PLAY CHARITY

Month-long Campaign To Raise Funds Through EverQuest® and EverQuest® II

SAN DIEGO, CALIF. – Jan. 16, 2009 – Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE) is making it easier for players of its popular online video games to support charity in its Child’s Play 2009 Winter Charity Drive – and get cool new in-game items in the process.

In a month-long fundraising campaign beginning on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009, SOE will donate $10 each time an EverQuest® or EverQuest® II player buys a specific Child’s Play item on the Marketplace with Station Cash (SC), SOE’s recently introduced in-game currency.

To support the ongoing efforts by Child’s Play to improve the lives of hospitalized children worldwide, EverQuest players will be able to buy the Child’s Play Guktan Shield Ornamentation, and EverQuest II players can purchase the Child’s Play Bouncing Baby Bear Cub.

“SOE and our players have been staunch supporters of this charity since 2003, and with the integration of Station Cash into our online games, teaming up with Child’s Play for this online campaign was an easy decision,” said John Smedley, president of Sony Online Entertainment.

Founded in 2003, Child’s Play is a game industry charity that is dedicated to providing children with toys and age-appropriate games at more than 40 hospitals worldwide.
For more information, visit www.childsplaycharity.org and www.station.com.

Yes, Legends of Norrath is an online collectible card game with a story, Against the Void is the second chapter in a three-part epic involving the Ethernauts, with elements that should be familiar to players of the Everquest 2 expansion The Shadow Odyssey. Along with advancing the story, the new expansion adds new [;ayer avatars, 16 new loot cards, new game mechanics, and of course, more than 280 new cards.

With the Legends of Norrath card game proving so popular, SOE is also extending it's 5 booster pack per month promotion for current paying Everquest and Everquest II subscribers, meaning that even if you don't wish to participate the cards are still there...waiting....watching.

THE ODYSSEY OF THE ETHERNAUTS CONTINUES IN LEGENDS OF NORRATH AGAINST THE VOID

Five Booster Pack Promotion to Continue

DENVER, COLO. – Jan. 15, 2009 – Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE) announced today that the Ethernauts’ journey continues with the sixth Legends of Norrath™ set, Against the Void.

Scheduled for release next month, Against the Void pushes the epic story of the previous set, Ethernauts, into dark new territory, while also adding more than 280 new gameplay cards, 16 new loot cards for both EverQuest® and EverQuest® II, two new playable avatar races, and 10 brand-new scenarios.

In response to Legends of Norrath’s overwhelming success, SOE is also extending its five booster pack promotion so that all EverQuest® and EverQuest® II subscribers with paid subscriptions in good standing will receive five digital Legends of Norrath trading card booster packs per month at no additional cost.

“The response to the five booster pack promotion has exceeded our expectations, which is why we’re continuing it with Against the Void,” said Scott Martins, director of development for SOE Denver. “We love seeing all the new faces in our lobbies and tournaments, and there really is no better time for new players to try Legends of Norrath.”

Against the Void Features:

The Story of the Ethernauts Continues – Against the Void is the second of three chapters in the epic Ethernauts storyline! Players of EverQuest® II The Shadow Odyssey™ will instantly recognize the characters and settings from Ethernauts and Against the Void, and learn more about the backstory of the most recent MMO release.

New Cards – More than 280 new gameplay cards are available through booster packs, tournaments, promotions and scenarios.

New Gameplay – Cards with the new keyword “Attuned” change factions to match the player’s avatar, opening up exciting new gameplay strategies.

New Loot! – How would you like your very own traveling band? Or turn yourself into a Voidman Warrior? Or ride through Norrath on a Fiery Dire Bear or White Lion? This is all possible with 16 new loot cards each for EverQuest and EverQuest II.

New Playable Avatars and Characters – Against the Void introduces new Fae and Arasai playable avatars, and features units representing Knights, Gnomes, Orcs and Iksars.

New Scenarios – Against the Void will offer 10 brand-new scenarios, continuing the story of the Ethernauts and offering exciting loot for completing certain milestones. You’ll have to fight your way through a variety of different enemies before the final battle with Sartar the Unrivaled, a mighty Iskar hero!

Five Booster Packs per Month Extended! – SOE is extending its five booster pack per month promotions to EverQuest and EverQuest II subscribers with current, paid accounts in good standing. This is a great way to quickly build a collection of cards to bring into Legends of Norrath and begin playing.

Legends of Norrath Against the Void will be available in February in 15-card booster packs for $2.99 USD (plus applicable taxes). Also look for the Ethernauts Legendary Starter Pack for $19.99 USD (plus applicable taxes).

Developed at SOE’s Denver studio, Legends of Norrath is the only online trading card game based on and playable from within SOE’s popular EverQuest and EverQuest II MMOs, as well as from a free stand-alone client using a free SOE Station Account ID (available at www.station.com). Players can challenge opponents on their game server and across other EverQuest and EverQuest II servers.

To get started, players can for free, test their skills 24 hours a day against AI and real opponents, and then head over to the tournament lobby to compete. Tournament eligibility is limited and subject to Official Rules. Residents of certain territories are ineligible to participate in LoN tournament play. Please see the for details. For a schedule of events, rules and further details, see the or the . For more information on Legends of Norrath, visit the website at www.legendsofnorrath.com.

Yes, Everquest is 10 years old, and Sony Online Entertainment is celebrating their baby with a massive hardcover book detailing the rise and leveling off of their biggest, brightest MMO star. At a private event held at CES, the company presented the cover art for EverQuest: The 10th Anniversary Collector’s Edition, a gorgeous piece of work created by master artist Donato Giancola. Meanwhile, Firiona Vie stood to the right, possibly hoping that no one who knew her would ever see this picture.

It's actually a rather nice costume, and the book sounds interesting as well. Just not quite as interesting. It'll be available later this year from BradyGames for $49.99.

EVERQUEST®: THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY COLLECTOR’S EDITION BOOK EXCLUSIVE COVER ART UNVEILED AT CES IN LAS VEGAS

Sony Online Entertainment Kicks Off Anniversary Celebration for Legendary Online Video Game

LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Jan. 9, 2008 — It has been a decade since Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE) rewrote the rules and forever changed the video game industry with its massively multiplayer online game, EverQuest®.

To celebrate the historic milestone, today SOE held a private event at the Consumer Electronics Show to unveil the exclusive cover art being used for an upcoming book that recounts how the story of Norrath became a global phenomenon and attracted millions of players.

The art for EverQuest: The 10th Anniversary Collector’s Edition, created by master artist Donato Giancola, shows iconic elf princess Firiona Vie leading a band of adventurers into battle against an evil wizard and his enormous dragon ally in the Swamp of No Hope.

“We are thrilled that a talented artist such as Donato has created an exclusive masterpiece in honor of the celebration of the EQ legacy,” said John Smedley, president of Sony Online Entertainment. “The cover brings together a special selection of EverQuest artwork and documents the quintessence of an intensive creative process over the last decade.”

EverQuest: The 10th Anniversary Collector’s Edition celebrates EverQuest’s legacy by taking a look at the past, present and future of the brand. The book, written by veteran video game book author Rusel DeMaria, includes essays and photographs of the events, products, personalities and art that graced the world of Norrath over the years. Rich in vivid detail, each page will help tell the story of the evolution and its place in our culture.

SOE will also hold special events around the country in honor of the 10th Anniversary of EverQuest throughout 2009.

The book, published by BradyGames, will be available for purchase online and at select retailers in North America later this year for a suggested retail price of $49.99. Pre-orders are available at www.bradygames.com/everquest10.

About the artist:

Donato Giancola balances modern abstract concepts with realism in his paintings to bridge the worlds of figurative and non-representational arts. From “The Lord of the Rings” to Gericault’s ”Raft of the Medusa,” Donato’s influences encompass visits to the local game shops and pilgrimages to the greatest of museums. Donato recognizes the significant cultural role played by visual art and makes personal efforts to contribute to the expansion and appreciation of the science fiction and fantasy genre that extend beyond the commercial commissions of his clients. To those ends, the artist teaches at the School of Visual Arts in New York City and appears at various institutions, tournaments and conventions, from San Diego to Rome to Moscow, where he performs demonstrations in oil paint and lectures on his aesthetics.

About the author:

Rusel DeMaria is the author or coauthor of more than 60 books, most of them in the gaming field, including Myst: The Official Strategy Guide, which sold more than 1.2 million copies, as well as one of the most comprehensive histories of the industry, High Score!: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games. He founded and served as creative director for the most successful strategy guide publishing imprint in the industry and is a former senior editor and columnist for several national video game magazines.

About Sony Online Entertainment:

Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE) is a recognized worldwide leader in massively multiplayer online games, with hundreds of thousands of subscribers around the globe. SOE creates, develops and provides compelling

entertainment for the personal computer, online, game console and wireless markets. Known for its blockbuster franchises and hit titles including EverQuest®, EverQuest® II, Champions of Norrath®, Untold Legends™ and PlanetSide®, as well as for developing Star Wars Galaxies™, SOE continues to redefine the business of online gaming and the creation of active player communities while introducing new genres on various entertainment platforms. Headquartered in San Diego, CA, with additional development studios in Austin, TX, Seattle, WA, Denver, CO, and Taiwan, SOE has an array of cutting-edge games in development.

SOE, the SOE logo, EverQuest and PlanetSide are registered trademarks of Sony Online Entertainment LLC. Untold Legends and Legends of Norrath are trademarks of Sony Online Entertainment LLC. All other trademarks and trade names are properties of their respective owners.

Every once in awhile I log into EverQuest and race my bard across the landscape at ridiculous speeds. Then I get bored and go back to waiting for Wrath of the Lich King.

EVERQUEST® FRANCHISE REACHES VIDEO GAME MILESTONE

EverQuest® Seeds of DestructionTM Marks the 15th Expansion for Genre-Defining Online Game

SAN DIEGO, CA. - Oct. 21, 2008 – Online gamers can now experience EverQuest® Seeds of Destruction™, the brand-new expansion from the genre-defining video game. Seeds of Destruction is the unprecedented 15th expansion for EverQuest, and is available via digital download at www.everquest.com for the suggested retail price of $39.99.

“With EverQuest rapidly approaching its 10th anniversary next March, the legacy of the franchise continues to grow along with the amount of new content offered,” said Clint Worley, senior producer, EverQuest. “Seeds of Destruction will take players back in time where they can discover new storylines, adventures and zones.”

About EverQuest Seeds of Destruction
The timelines of the world of Norrath have been destroyed completely. The only objects left are the drifting asteroid shards called The Void. Portals in The Void allow players to travel into the past and potentially alter the world of Norrath as we know it today. Revisit the Plane of Time, Bloody Kithicor or the Field of Bone to help stop the forces of Discord.

For the first time ever, players will have the ability to hire non-player characters (NPCs) to aid them in their heroic endeavors in Seeds of Destruction. These mercenaries will be valuable player assets as they thwart the efforts of Discord’s Dark God. This expansion also includes a level cap increase to 85, dynamic high-level raid content, new spells and updated alternate advancement abilities.

EverQuest Seeds of Destruction Feature Set:
• Mercenaries: Player-controlled NPCs are now available and will not only scale to the appropriate level but also think and act for themselves with limited player guidance. Designed for extra support or extra muscle in PvE encounters, mercenary archetypes include a variety of classes from all playable races.
• Level Cap Increase: Players can now achieve level 85 with new high-level item sets, new alternate advancement ability lines and new spells.
• 20 New Zones: Experience reimagined classic content and brand-new realms for adventurers to explore, including the eerie wasteland of the Void, the Battle of Rathe on the Plane of Earth and the ultimate Heart of Darkness in the Plane of Discord.
• Access to All Previous Content: Includes all features and content from the 14 previous expansion packs.
• Legends of Norrath: Includes strategic online trading card game, digital starter deck, booster pack and loot item.

For more expansion information from EverQuest Seeds of Destruction and a free trial of EverQuest, visit www.everquest.com.

“Apparently he’s got you supporting him and taking care of the house. I wonder what level that is in the real world,” Dr. Phil quips.

Other stories include a 41-year-old man who accumulated $24,000 in debt and attempted suicide, the author of the book "Game Widows", and the return of special guest Liz, whose 21-year-old son killed himself while playing Everquest. Hit the link for the full show notes.

Virtual Chaos [Dr. Phil via Game Politics]