Everquest II: making the old (Everquest) new again

MMORPG.com managed to catch Sony Online Entertainment’s Scott Hartsman during CES 2007 in Las Vegas. Not that Scott needed any cornering, as he’s quite pleased with how EverQuest II: Echoes of Faydwer is turning out afterall. As for the meat of the cornering interview: the return of the Estate of Unrest.

Which is to say, it ain’t returning… yet, since it didn’t make it in time for the Echoes launch. BUT it will be provided for free in the next scheduled update of EQII this February. Okay, so when the Estate opens up in February, will it be as homey and familiar as it was in the first EverQuest? “The biggest hurdle we have to overcome in defining the old zones is how to re-introduce the zone in EverQuest II without copying EverQuest,” Scott tells MMORPG. Beyond a few (and obvious) similarities, such as the hedge maze, the entire zone itself has been expanded for its EverQuest II appearance.

The Estate will be “a playground” for those levels 65-70, so to the lower-levelled: you have been warned. There will be a number of mini-bosses in the zone, as will be trains, but they won’t be as epic as in the first EQ and not as aggro (at least not through floors).

Finally, speaking of meat, we now quote the MMORPG writer who says thus:

WellÂ… thereÂ’s the matter of a really buff, manly-man drool-worthy Fae maleÂ… but when Scott puffs out his chest and tells me how buff his Fae is, how can I gainsay him?

Okay, too much info.

MMORPG.com managed to catch Sony Online Entertainment’s Scott Hartsman during CES 2007 in Las Vegas. Not that Scott needed any cornering, as he’s quite pleased with how EverQuest II: Echoes of Faydwer is turning out afterall. As for the meat of the cornering interview: the return of the Estate of Unrest.

Which is to say, it ain’t returning… yet, since it didn’t make it in time for the Echoes launch. BUT it will be provided for free in the next scheduled update of EQII this February. Okay, so when the Estate opens up in February, will it be as homey and familiar as it was in the first EverQuest? “The biggest hurdle we have to overcome in defining the old zones is how to re-introduce the zone in EverQuest II without copying EverQuest,” Scott tells MMORPG. Beyond a few (and obvious) similarities, such as the hedge maze, the entire zone itself has been expanded for its EverQuest II appearance.

The Estate will be “a playground” for those levels 65-70, so to the lower-levelled: you have been warned. There will be a number of mini-bosses in the zone, as will be trains, but they won’t be as epic as in the first EQ and not as aggro (at least not through floors).

Finally, speaking of meat, we now quote the MMORPG writer who says thus:

WellÂ… thereÂ’s the matter of a really buff, manly-man drool-worthy Fae maleÂ… but when Scott puffs out his chest and tells me how buff his Fae is, how can I gainsay him?

Okay, too much info.