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Drakkin Screenshots Print News | Mail News SOE has sent us some screenshots of the new player race, the Drakkin, as well as some information about them:
Drakkin Background
After Venril Sathir's curse was released into the Nest and destroyed the dragon eggs, it was clear that the future of dragonkind was in danger. With the next generation of dragons lost forever, Veeshan's bloodline was in jeopardy.Six dragons who were children of the Nest proposed a plan to their elders -- the creation of a race to protect dragons and the Wyrmqueen's bloodline, something they had seen done once before.
The six dragons were scoffed at by the elders of the Nest, but they were so adamant with the idea that the elder dragons ordered their exile so their ideas would not gain a foothold. To the elders, it was unthinkable. The six left the Nest and ignored the decree of the elders. They settled in the nearby Serpent Spine Mountains to carry out their plan to create a new race to protect the existence of Veeshan's bloodline on Norrath. They would create a race of dragon-touched humans and call them Drakkin which means �Dragon Child� in the language of the elders.
They called themselves the Circle of the Crystalwing, defining them as the future of dragonkind. The six dragons in the Circle: Venesh the Greenblood; Draton`ra, Master of the Void; Keikolin, Bringer of Enlightenment; Mysaphar, Seeker of All; Atathus the Red Lord; and Osh`vir the Windspirit.
In human form, the dragons traveled to Freeport and combed through the taverns and inns, looking for the right humans to suit this new race. The honorable dragons found many who sympathized with their plight and plans and agreed to help right the wrongs that mortals inflicted on dragons of the Nest by unleashing Venril's curse. Many humans considered it a great honor. The darker dragons were not so willing to negotiate and simply took the human subjects they desired. Each human taken was touched by the magic of a single drop of dragon�s blood across their cheek.
In only a matter of months, the dragon-touched humans began to experience changes, a coming-of-age that became known as the Awakening. It is then that the latent strengths they inherit from their dragon bloodline surface and they have a burning desire to better understand them. Their hair takes on new texture and color � the same color as the dragon who touched them. Parts of their skin show small, toughened scales, and runic patterns representing their new race began to show on their face, torsos and legs � all in the color of their dragon progenitor. Delicate horns appear in patterns on their foreheads. They are the essence of beauty to most who see them.
As their new traits develop, the drakkins yearn to meet their parents. They find themselves on a pilgrimage into the Serpent Spine Mountains. Their final destination is the ancient abandoned ogre city of Nokk, now alive with drakkin who call it Crescent Reach.
As they enter the Dragon�s Grove of the great stone city where their parents await them, their human past is lost forever. It is from their parents that the drakkin learn their purpose � to live and grow stronger to protect the future of Veeshan's bloodline on Norrath. With their new identity affirmed, their drakkin life truly begins.
SOE Aquires Worlds Apart Print News | Mail News Expanding again into different tiers of the gaming market, SOE announced today that it has acquired the Worlds Apart company, located in Denver, Colorado. This has led to the creation of a new SOE office, SOE-Denver.
Worlds Apart specializes in integrating playing cards and other items into video games, making this an interesting acquisition for SOE. Could it be that they plan on promoting collectable cards and collectable objects for EverQuest?
GENCON, Indianapolis, IN
Aug.,10, 2006
Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE), a global leader in the online games industry, today announced that it has acquired key assets of Worlds Apart Productions, a premier independent developer of online trading card games. Key employees of Worlds Apart will form the core of the new SOE-Denver, integrating into SOE's worldwide group of studios stretching from San Diego to Seattle, Austin to Taiwan. The acquisition will strengthen SOE's position as a leader in the online gaming space by allowing the company to extend the depth of its gaming offerings.
"This is a way to expand SOE's business into a very attractive market that is consistently growing at a fast rate," said John Smedley, president, Sony Online Entertainment. "With this acquisition, we've expanded the range of online games that SOE can offer, as well as offering entirely new play mechanics and activities that could be built into both current and future titles."
"The team here in Denver couldn't be more pleased to become part of the Sony family," said Scott Martins, director of development, SOE-Denver. "We're really looking forward to building on the synergies between our team's technology and design experience and SOE?s properties and infrastructure."
Based in Denver, Colorado, Worlds Apart Productions has been building and operating online games for 10 years. Specializing in online digital property games and role-playing games, Worlds Apart has accomplished a history of steady growth and successful, well-designed game titles that offer deep game play and attract strong player communities. Worlds Apart's Star Chamber received the honor of placing 9th in Computer Game Magazines Top 10 Computer Games for 2005 as well as "Best Independent Game" of 2005.
The company's Collect! Trade! Play! (CTP) Platform is a cost-effective infrastructure for the development of online collectible-object based games. It offers a modular, data-driven development and prototyping environment, as well as rapid time-to-market for full commercial releases. Worlds Apart uses CTP as the foundation for the translation of paper trading card games to online form, as well as for the creation of original properties.
SOE-Denver's core technologies have far-reaching potential, such as the ability to integrate board or card games into existing SOE online games, as well as the creation of new games altogether. SOE live game development teams will begin meeting with SOE-Denver to be introduced to their technology and begin exploring ways to integrate this valuable resource into SOE games. The Worlds Apart Productions brand may continue to be utilized by SOE in future releases.
August 8 Producer's Letter Print News | Mail News Did you think it would ever happen? Boats are coming back to the game! Not only that, a change in the death mechanism where you can "hover" over your corpse while waiting for a rez (shades of EQ2 here, it's a nice feature). And perhaps the most important change, in and out of combat states ... that means less downtime!
So many of these new features are a result of player feedback. The devs continue to achieve their ongoing goals of making the game more streamlined and removing tedious downtime through unncessary zoning, character creation, and time consuming rest periods.
Of course, the boats are exactly a time consuming rest period, so if you miss that, you can ride the boat around and learn some languages.
But I will let Chris Lena say all this in his own words:
Producer�s Letter � August 8, 2006
The beta for the upcoming expansion, The Serpent's Spine, has now begun. There is a lot of testing to be done considering we are including a whole new newbie experience with the Drakkin as well as content for every level in the game. This is not to say that we have ignored those folks on the bleeding edge of content. Along with the increase of the level cap will be dual track end zones that will be the most challenging content this game has seen. I would go as far as to say the most challenging content any MMO has seen.
Also, at the time of the expansion launch we are going to be rolling out a bunch of changes to the live game. These are all currently being tested in beta so all are subject to change. These changes will be available to all players whether or not they choose to purchase The Serpent's Spine. Here are just a few of the big ones:
Graphical revamps of Highpass Hold, East Commons, West Commons, and possibly one or two others.
We have redone the character creation screen to streamline it and update its look. If you wanted to it will now be possible to create a character and enter the game on a single screen.
Altering death so that you will "hover" over your body for a while. This will allow you the time to get resurrected without having to zone 2 or 3 times.
Introducing the concepts of being in and out of combat so we can use that mechanism to lower downtime in between fights.
Boats! They are coming back.
Both progression servers are still going great and both are still sporting very healthy populations. The numbers are showing that these servers have also brought a lot of people back to the game. I know the servers haven't been perfect and they don't fulfill everyone's desires but the bottom line is it has been great for the overall health of EverQuest. July was the best month we have had in a long time thanks to the folks coming back to check out those servers.
All in all things are really going great leading up to the launch of The Serpent's Spine in September. One thing we are doing to keep the momentum going is web advertising. So, keep your eye out for some snazzy web ads in the coming weeks.
"I just got back from the China Joy show in Shanghai. That show is very, very cool. The noise from the booths is deafening. You will literally see two companies with full-on bands on stages 30 feet from one another, both going at a volume that will blow out your eardrums. All of this is taking place in one of the most amazing cities on this planet � Shanghai. Imagine taking the Manhattan skyline and expanding it to the square mileage of Los Angeles and it�s a good start. It�s pretty hot there this time of year � it felt like what the surface of Venus must feel like � but it didn�t stop the masses from visiting this show. I�ve never seen more people packed into a convention in my life.
As an American, it really is quite a sight to see how big online gaming is in the Asian market. The closest comparison is probably E3 for online games - with Chinese style. There were three very large exhibit halls filled with online games from all over the world."
Please join us on Thursday, August 10th, for a House of Commons chat with the developers of EverQuest at 5pm PDT / 8pm EDT in the #StraticsHoC channel on Stratics IRC.
You can connect to one of the IRC servers through the use of your favorite IRC client, such as mIRC, ircle, xchat, or whichever you prefer. Connect to irc.stratics.com port 6668 or whichever server is closest to you:
stratics.frws.com port 6668, USA � Colorado
irc.glowfish.de port 6668, EU � Germany
stratics.afraidyet.net 6668, USA � Atlanta
irc.epaxsys.net port 6668, USA � Colorado
You may also connect through Stratics' handy Java link which may be found right here. You must have Java installed to use this which can be downloaded from the Java homepage.
General chat relating to EQ will take place before, during, and after the chat in room #EverQuest. We hope to see you there!
Jonric: Will there be many new items such as weapons, armor, etc? What are some interesting ones players can expect to see?
David Ford: Visually speaking, there are a number of really great looking held items that will be found in The Serpent's Spine. One I really like is a Lava dagger that has flowing magma that runs through the blade itself.
We will be itemizing the expansion from level 1 onward, so there really won't be any type of item that exists in EverQuest that you can't find somewhere in this expansion. Not to say that every item will be duplicated, but the variety will be quite large.
Jonric: To what extent are you aiming at high- vs. mid- and low-level characters, and at acquisition vs. retention? To what degree is the content oriented towards group vs. solo play?
David Ford: To specifically answer the portion of your question about group versus solo content, EverQuest has always and likely will always be founded on the group, be it a single group of players or multiple groups of players working together to defeat an encounter. That being said, there was a definite push with The Serpent's Spine to provide content for smaller groups of players, and even some solo content - although the topic of solo is a sticky one because in EverQuest, an encounter that one player can solo might destroy another based on differences in class, level, gear, etc.
SOE Block Party Report Print News | Mail News SOE ferried over 500 people to their offices for the first SOE block party, in connection with Comic Con. On had were SOE staff members and special guest fantasy novelist R.A. Salvatore!
Can EQ Stand the Test of Time? Print News | Mail News There is always a perennial thread about "will EQ survive?" which I think first surfaced about December of 1999... obviously it has survived the test of time since we are still going strong almost eight years later.
In the most recent thread, newly hired developer and long time community Merloc had this to say to the EQ Community:
"When I applied to work on the EverQuest team, I specifically let them know that I wasn't interested in working on a dying game. I really think that EverQuest has a lot of life left in it, and so far everything I've seen seems to support that assumption. There is planning for expansions two out from Serpent's Spine, and I don't see any signs of giving up the ghost.
I think most people would agree that EverQuest has improved with age; although now, unlike the early days of EQ, there's a lot more competition out there... Which means we have to work harder to stay competitive. Having an inside look at the next expansion, I'm really confident it will be successful, in terms of improving the game.
I just logged into my old online text based MUSH that I played heavily for several years before EverQuest, and it's still doing quite well... MMOs seem to have the potential to last much longer than traditional games, so I hope that EQ will last a lot longer."
The complexity of EverQuest will always sustain it as a challenging, interesting game. Thanks Merloc for letting us know that the developers are just as passionate about the game as the players.
Just as they did with Freeport, they have kept the sense of the old zone and improved the graphics tremendously. Bet you forgot what an interesting town High Pass Hold actually is!
You can read more about High Pass Hold and High Pass keep in our wikki.
Meet the Kyv Print News | Mail News I would like readers to meet a friend of mine, the Kyv (otherwise known as Ezedriel and Ridefort) who is the featured player on EQPlayers this week.
Ridefort is a great loremaster and has contributed to much of the lore library for Luclin and later expansions.
Epic�s Next-Gen 3D Engine to Power Several of SOE�s Next-Gen Online Games
SAN DIEGO, CA � July 20, 2006 � Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE), a global leader in the online games industry, today announced a licensing agreement with Epic Games to use their Unreal� Engine 3 technology for the development of content for some next-generation console and PC-based games. SOE will utilize this technology for a number of future projects, including the DC Comics-based game currently under development at SOE-Austin.
�Our development teams are very excited about harnessing the power of Unreal Engine 3,� said John Smedley, president of Sony Online Entertainment. �The combination of a top-notch graphics engine and a robust set of design tools will enable our teams to deliver incredible and innovative game content for next-generation consoles and the PC.�
This agreement allows Epic Games to include another impressive name to an already extraordinary list of licensing partners.
�Sony Online Entertainment has a reputation for delivering detailed, truly engaging, interactive online worlds� said Mark Rein, Vice President, Epic Games, Inc. �It is a great privilege for us that they�re using Unreal Engine 3 to help create their next generation projects.�
As many of you know, we try to include a piece of fan fiction in the monthly newsletter. If you are interested in writing something and possibly having it in the monthly newsletter, please submit your original short stories to cdelzer@soe.sony.com with "EQ Fan Fiction" as the subject.
A few guidelines:
1) You may not use any Norrath Historic characters in your stories such as Firiona Vie.
2) Stories will not be used in which the current world of Norrath is altered such as Nagafen going on a rampage, leaving Nagafen's Lair and destroying Rivervale.
3) All stories must be PG rated. If you wouldn't let your children read it don't submit it!
4) Any and all submissions made by you to Sony Online are subject to the Station Terms of Serrvice. This can be found at
http://eqlive.station.sony.com/support/rulesandpolicies.jsp (Please make sure you read this before submitting stories so you
know exactly what you are agreeing to by sending us your stories.)
5) We would prefer stories of 2000 words or less.
6) With each submission include a title for the short story, your in game name to which the story will be credited to, your server and guild name if you wish.
There is no deadline date for short story submissions. You are welcome to submit stories at any time and we will choose stories from the pool we have for each newsletter.
Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about submitting short stories for the newsletter.
And of course you can always post your Fan Fiction on our site, same goes for the PG rating, but other than that you can destroy Rivervale if you want to!
DVD To Include SOE MMO Games, Movie Trailers and Bonus Features for Gamers
Fort Lauderdale, Fla.� July 18, 2006�MASSIVE Magazine, published by the theglobe.com and the editorial staff of Computer Games Magazine, today announced a collaboration with Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE), a global leader in the online games industry, to release an exclusive gaming DVD which will be included in the premier issue of MASSIVE Magazine, set to launch in September 2006.
The DVD will include free trials of some of the most popular Sony Online Entertainment massively multiplayer online (MMO) games and services. Trials will include EverQuest II, EverQuest, Star Wars Galaxies, SOE Comic Book Creator, The Matrix Online, PlanetSide and more.
In addition to trial MMO games, the co-branded DVD will also include special offers, trailers and videos, including access to the Beta test of Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising�, Medieval Weapon (the EverQuest II-powered Machinima series produced by g-NET for Spike TV) and a trailer for the upcoming Sony Pictures Animation release Open Season.
The new publication along with the exclusive DVD will be available at all major retailers, including Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million. For more information about MASSIVE Magazine, please visit http://www.massive-magazine.com
Progression Servers: Kunark to Open Print News | Mail News The Progression servers, the Sleeper and the Combine, are moving along at a breakneck pace. Players have completed the steps to opening the Kunark expansion, killed Nagafen numerous times now, and are just waiting for the developers to open up Kunark. I understand that the target date for opening the Kunark expansion is July 28.
Already there are complaints from the more casual and slower-leveling players that things are happening too fast, but EQ players have never held back from a challenge and it's to be expected that things would end up this way.
Given a task to complete, such as defeating boss mobs or solving quests to open up each expansion, what else could happen but a mad dash to be first on the server? That's the nature of the EQ player -- the game has always been about challenges and overcoming difficulty, and that's what EQ players love about it. The reward is character progression and for those elite few, name recongnition as being one of the best players or a member of a top guild.
EQ has the unique quality of being a game that is not only challenging, but rewards players who employ effective playing strategies and understand how to get the most out of each class both individually and as a team. Leadership, persistence, networking with other players, and good strategizing is rewarded in this game. The Progression servers bear this out.
I will say that I am still dawdling under level 10, and there seems to be no problem getting a group on the Combine, at least. The lower level population still seems very strong and even as new people move up, others start characters which keep the lower level zones full. Unlike the regular servers, it is still fairly difficult to twink a character and move up quickly. Undeniably, the camaraderie and social aspects of the game at the lower levels is flourishing, which is very much what the progression server idea was about.
When the servers opened, no one thought that we could go back to the time when everything was unknown. That's not what these servers are about, anyway. They are about adding a more difficult dimension to content that has long been deserted by the majority of the playerbase. Many people I have grouped with never even saw that content when they started. Now, they are enjoying trains in Crushbone and soon Kunark Castle. That's what is good about the Progression servers: enjoying old content made interesting again, enjoying the chatter of 100 people in a newbie zone, and facing the challenges of progressing without all the help of newbie armor, PoK ports, and high level buffs.
Site for Disabled Gamers Print News | Mail News We are all different people behind the keyboard -- young, old, and sometimes disabled. Gaming is a great platform to bring people together.
A site has been brought to my attention, AbleGamers.com, for those gamers playing with disabilities. Looks worth checking out, even if you aren't disabled. A great community building idea!
More on the Drakkins[ Comment ] Print News | Mail News Dev Vahlar gives us more info on the new player race, the Drakkins, which are a human race touched by dragons (not a dragon race touched by humans, big difference!):
There's a lot of speculation on the drakkin, so I thought I'd give you their background here and show a couple of concepts. The drakkins are dragon-touched humans. They retain most of the their human physical attributes and take on traits of the dragon that created them -- like unique runic patterns of scales on their faces, chests, arms, and legs. Some vulnerable parts of their bodies take on some scale qualities but they are subtle and difficult to distinguish from normal skin. The drakkin also get small horns on their foreheads in a variety of arrangements. No tails, no wings. They have created amazing armor for themselves as well. Because their skin is scaled in some areas, like their sides and ribs, their armor is built around it, revealing their scale patterns underneath.
Two concept art pictures are shown at the end of this article!
What, you ask, in the world is the 2006 SOE Block Party? The 2006 SOE Block Party is going to be a gathering of players, developers, and all of our friends to drink, talk, and be merry. It's going to take place during the San Diego Comic-Con and, best of all, it's completely free! We'll have more details for you soon, but for now I'll give you the Ws (and an H, and an AF).
Who:
You, your friends, and SOE.
What:
The 2006 SOE Block Party
When:
Saturday July 22nd, 2006. 3:00pm - 7:00pm
Where:
Sony Online Entertainment
8929 Terman Ct.
San Diego, CA 92121
Why:
Meet SOE staff, tour SOE buildings, free food, drinks, games, music and prizes. To have fun!
How:
Take a bus (look for the signs) from Comic-Con to SOE at 3:00pm - 5:00pm. Buses will go from SOE back to Comic-Con at 5:30pm - 7:00pm
