All games age, some age more gracefully than others but they all age in both years since release and the player base. This November, Everquest II turns ten and after a decade there have been many changes, updates and additions to the game. Some have been a welcomed by players and some have been dreaded. The strength of Everquest I and II is that neither game forces a player into the “end game raid” model. If you like to quest and enjoy good stories, then Everquest (either version) is a good choices.
I had every intention of discussing this with the Everquest II team in Las Vegas this weekend but that didn’t happen. So, I’m going ahead with the blog idea on my own, this will be limited to Everquest II. There are so many wonderful quests that have fallen off the new player radar. There are multiple reasons for that: the revamped 1-20 questing zones, the rush to reach the end game, discouraged because zones seem empty, etc. There are all kinds of lore and quests that get lost due to the sheer scope of the lore in the game.
I’ve got characters with scattered levels from 10 to 95. There are so many wonderful quests that get ignored and if more people were aware or reminded they existed, the game would be fresh and new all over again.
The one lesson I wish EQ2 would learn from World of Warcraft is the public, social media presence and interaction of their game historian with the community. He actively discusses lore and questions with the community. I no longer play WOW or have any interest in going back, but I loved those discussion about WOW lore. Hell, I admit I sometimes read the feed when I’m bored and can’t sleep.
So, here’s my plan. I’m going to pick one character a week and have them do something off the beaten path that isn’t readily apparent. I’ll do my best to explain the lore or how it ties in with the larger picture (assuming I know how it ties in and if I don’t I’ll freely admit it). It would have been most excellent to have done this in collaboration with the EQ2 team but hey, it isn’t a perfect world and I’m going to give it a go. I know there are new and returning players to the game, so hopefully they will find it helpful.
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