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See: EverQuest

The Game Archaeologist: EverQuest II East

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Publishing a video game globally is a monumental task, more so if it is a live online game such as what you’d find with MMORPGs. With different countries and regions come various traditions, prohibitions, language barriers, government restrictions, playstyle expectations, and financial models that must all be sorted out and overcome for these games to come out.

One of the most famous examples of adapting an MMO for use in another country is how World of Warcraft had to make significant graphical changes to its death-themed imagery (including its Forsaken race) in order to get approval to operate in China. Censorship aside, many studios have adjusted their games to include elements appealing to a certain country in order to get more fans (such as WildStar’s panda explosion).

Today we’re going to look at a short-term oddity in EverQuest II’s history, when SOE attempted to expand the game into the east — and how that rebounded back to impact the west.

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EverQuest II’s Tinkerfest offers new quests, achievements, pets, and craftables

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Tinkerfest is live in EverQuest II once again as it always is in summer — “like clockwork,” Daybreak dad-jokes.

“Take up your favorite wrench and celebrate all things gnomish, be they metal, combustive, mathematical, experimental, or a combination thereof! Adventures, rewards, buyables and crafted items await you, both new and familiar. You won’t want to miss all of the fun at Gnomeland Security, your headquarters for all things Tinkerfest, in Steamfont Mountains.”

There is new stuff to toy with this year, including a new hack-‘n’-slash public quest in Antonica and the Commlands, a new achievement, new merchant items, and a new crafter recipe booklet. EQ2 Traders has pics of new toolboxes, a distillery, and metalwork arches, plus a buyable backpack, minipets, and a sweet fabled-tier familiar for high-end tinkers.

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The Stream Team: Kicking butt with an EverQuest II butt-kicking mount

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Thanks to EverQuest II’s newest progression server, Fallen Gate, Massively OP’s MJ has earned the amusing Pedipowered Posterior Punter. And she can’t wait to get her butt kicked all over the map for you! The team also needs to finish up the Lavastorm Heritage Quests so it can move on to less heated environments; MJ is ready for the cool breezes of Everfrost! Tune in live at 9:00 p.m. as MJ kicks her way through more HQs.

What: EverQuest II
Who: MJ Guthrie
When: 9:00 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, July 18th, 2017

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RIFT brings on a new community manager

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ArcheAge isn’t the only game at Trion Worlds that’s shuffling around its community team these days. RIFT announced last Friday that it brought on board Jennifer “Yaviey” Bridges to be the new community manager for the fantasy MMO.

Bridges said she has worked on several MMO community teams to date including EverQuest II, WildStar, and Lineage II and was a RIFT player back in the early days of the title.

“If you couldn’t already guess, MMORPGs are my jam,” Bridges wrote. “They’re my absolute favorite type of game for a variety of reasons. I love the communities in them, I love that you can constantly strive to be better at something, and questing in general always feels so epic.”

This move doesn’t mean that Linda “Brasse” Carlson is out as a RIFT community manager. Bridges confirmed that Carlson will continue to manage the team while doing “cool creative stuff” in the meantime.

Source: Official forums

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The MOP Up: Crash Force offers arena fun at a discount (July 16, 2017)

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The MMO industry moves along at the speed of information, and sometimes we’re deluged with so much news here at Massively Overpowered that some of it gets backlogged. That’s why there’s The MOP Up: a weekly compilation of smaller MMO stories and videos that you won’t want to miss. Seen any good MMO news? Hit us up through our tips line!

This week we have stories and videos from TERA, Master X Master, Eternal Crusade, Warface, Portal Knights, MapleStory, Crash Force, Drone, Neverwinter, Elsword, EVE Online, Warframe, Final Fantasy XIV, EverQuest II, World of Warships, Path of Exile, and Eternal Crusade, all waiting for you after the break!

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Global Chat: Learning from Master X Master

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We’ve certainly remarked several times on Massively OP how much like an MMO Master X Master is, even though it firmly checks the “MOBA” box on its census form. With so much similarity and bleedover between the gameplay genres, is there something that MMOs can learn from this title?

Occasional Hero seems to think so and has pulled out three lessons from his experience, including altaholic pride: “As someone who loves playing an army of alts rather than a single character, I really like the idea of a game with a whole bunch of characters that I can switch between as I feel like it. It’s one of the reasons why I love Marvel Heroes so much, despite the fact that the gameplay revolves around doing the same content over and over. And the reason why playing a bunch of different characters/classes is fun in a game like Marvel Heroes or Master X Master is that they each have a unique gimmick.”

Join us for more interesting MMO discussions from gaming blogs after the break, including a strange revival for EverQuest Online Adventures, a new way to experience World of Warcraft, and first steps into Secret World Legends!

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Pantheon’s Brad McQuaid on skill memorization, mana management, and combat prep

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When an MMO is deep in development, it’s natural for players to want to know the answers to everything, down to the tiniest detail, like can I have a purple mohawk, can I build an empire doing nothing but selling pie, and can I gank elves with impunity?

I don’t know the answers to these questions when it comes to Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen, and if Brad McQuaid does, he’s probably not going to tell you either. In fact his latest dev blog explains why it’s pointless to get too deep into the details right now, in spite of the fact that the community is antsy to know everything about spells and abilities and how it all works.

“It makes more sense to discuss the high-level vision and the philosophy and goals regarding these systems than the specific details and mechanics,” he writes.

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Perfect Ten: EverQuest’s EverExpanding franchise

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When Daybreak announced last year that it was cancelling the highly anticipated EverQuest Next project, the series’ forward momentum lurched to a halt. This wasn’t helped by other EverQuest entities that have been retired over the past few years, leaving only the two aging flagship MMOs to carry on the legacy of the franchise.

For franchise it is. It might be fuzzy in people’s memories (or simply absent from them), but there was an era where EverQuest was the MMORPG at the top of everything, and Sony Online Entertainment wasted no time in capitalizing on its popularity. Spin-offs, sequels, and alternative versions spawned into being, creating a library of EverQuest games.

In fact, there are more than enough to fill up a full list of 10 titles — and then some! So today let’s look at some of the lesser-known entries in EverQuest’s ever-expanding franchise and muse about what might come to this series in the future.

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The Stream Team: Earning an EverQuest II kick in the pants on the new progression server

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EverQuest II is offering a unique event for the opening of its newest progression server, Fallen Gate. Everyone who reaches level 10 before July 11th will earn a Pedipowered Posterior Punter. This punny mount can be claimed on any server, and Massively OP’s MJ just has to have it, so she’ll be on the new server leveling up. Join us live at 8:00 p.m. and earn one of your own as well!

What: EverQuest II
Who: MJ Guthrie
When: 8:00 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, July 4th, 2017

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EverQuest II kicks off new progression server after short delay

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Following a brief delay yesterday, EverQuest II’s newest progression server is up and running.

The time-locked expansion server will start subscribers over at the earliest era of the core EverQuest II experience, after which expansion content will unlock at the rate of one every 12 weeks. The Fallen Gate FAQ has all of the information you’ll need to make a decision whether or not to roll a character on this server.

One of the key incentives for starting over on this special server is to gain rewards for all of your characters: “Heritage Quests are a staple of adventure in EverQuest II and we have some exciting rewards for those who complete them on Fallen Gate. Completion of any HQ on the Fallen Gate server will not only provide the normal reward, but also make a level appropriate version available for all your characters! Time to take those Journeyman’s Boots off the shelf put them to good use!”

Source: EverQuest II

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The Stream Team: Lavastorm Heritage Quests in EverQuest II

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Massively OP’s MJ has been slowly streaming through all of EverQuest II’s Heritage Quests (slowly, because there are more than you can shake an Iksar at!). The group is finally finishing the level 50s, and that puts them smack dab in the middle of the fires of Lavastorm, and one of the ways to try and save time is by running multiple HQs concurrently.  Currently the crew is Lavastorming, working to finish all three in that molten land. Can they finish one up tonight? Join us live at 8:00 p.m. for some hot adventures.

What: EverQuest II
Who: MJ Guthrie
When: 8:00 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, June 27th, 2017

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EverQuest II answers all of your progression server questions

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Next week, EverQuest II is opening up Fallen Gate, a new “time-locked expansion server” that’s going to function a little bit differently than other progression servers have in the game’s history. Essentially, it’s going to unlock new expansions every 12 weeks and allow players to complete heritage quests to earn rewards for all of their characters across all of the game’s servers.

If you’re curious about the finer details of this new server and are weighing your decision whether to roll a character or not, you’re probably going to want to read the FAQ that the team put out yesterday that clears things up.

The team did mention that combat encounters are going to be a bit tougher on this server. “While items drops are not the same as they were in the early days of EverQuest II, both items and encounter power have been adjusted to approximate the play experience of launch. So while items have more stats, such as DPS, potency, or critical bonus, the encounters have been tuned to expect those stats, so the fight balance should be relatively the same.”

Source: EverQuest II

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EverQuest II creates a new type of progression server

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EverQuest II is no stranger to Daybreak’s penchant for creating and operating progression servers. But after all of these years, is there a way that such a server can be made in a way that feels fresh and interesting? The team thinks so.

Coming on Tuesday, June 27th, the Fallen Gate progression server is slated to open up to the public and offer players additional incentive to roll up a character. “This will be a time-locked expansion server where expansions unlock automatically. In addition, Fallen Gate will have a new twist on heritage quests. Completing a heritage quest on this server will not only provide the quest reward — but an additional reward on EVERY server you play on,” Daybreak explained.

All races and classes will be available on Fallen Gate, and the server’s expansions will unlock at a steady rate of every 12 weeks. It does require a membership to join in the fun, so free players are not welcome to participate.

Source: EverQuest II

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