SOE Fan Faire 2008, Day One in Review


The first day of SOE's 2008 Fan Faire has come and gone, actually it's still going if you want to catch the open bar courtesy of SOE. And the drinks are well earned by the crew of SOE and the developers who have made this year an excellent event while showcasing an amazing amount of information in one day. With my head already spinning from the amount of content, it will only get worse (in a good way) tomorrow as we fill in a lot of the details that were disclosed in John Smedley's Annual Community Address.


In addition to the bombshells John Smedley dropped at the community address, today's events included complete walk-throughs of the new Station Voice, Station Launcher, The Agency, Free Realms, and of course DC Universe Online. There was a tremendous amount of information shared and I can't do them complete justice in one news article, but I promise to elaborate after additional presentations tomorrow.

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Matt Wilson shows why The Agency is putting the "Oh!" in 007.

I can already hear the gasps of uncertainty and curiosity at the previous bombshell comment. Maybe bombshell isn't completely accurate, maybe Mr. Smedley dropped something more akin to cluster bombs that held several smaller explosions. First I have to give props to Alan "Brenlo" Crosby the Director of Global Community Relations of SOE for getting the mood set prior to John Smedley taking the stage. If ever a guy wore his passion on his sleeve, Brenlo is that guy. Not only was the on-hand crowd excited, but more than 5,000 people listening in over the Station Voice in Everquest II and SWG had to feel the juice. Once whipped into a frenzy, the crowd was ready for Mr. Smedley and the SOE team as they delivered the following tidbits of information:



The fifteenth expansion for Everquest, Seeds of Destruction will launch on October 21st, and all Fan Faire attendees will receive a free digital copy. The new zones will allow players to revisit yesteryear when Qeynos was just a few huts formed together as the start of a town. The biggest news though is that mercenaries will be available for hire as support characters. The mercenary NPCs will be available in towns as soon as the expansion launches. Seeds of Destruction will be available for beta next week, and all players will get a limited sneak peak nearer to launch.



The new Everquest II expansion The Shadow Odyssey is also slated to launch this year on November 18th. Again, all attendees of Fan Faire will receive a free digital copy of this expansion. Many players have already begun to feel the presence of the Void Storms and Void Beasts which are the prelude to the new zones and dungeons comprising the Shadow Odyssey. In addition to twenty new zones (yes twenty) and sixty new achievement points (yes sixty), players will also be able to return to previous content and re-experience it for rewards. Another major advancement are the much anticipated Guild Halls. This fifth expansion will be open for beta signups in the next few weeks.



Mr. Smedley and various teams spent considerable time discussing Free Realms. All I can say is that Free Realms is so much more than just a teen/tween game. The depth and breadth of the gameplay and social aspects are astounding. I will go into with more depth during my follow up report after the hands-on session tomorrow, but let me set a few things out for you to consider (in addition to all the traditional features); each character has a Myspace-esque presence, pets are all unique in look and attitude (and they pee and poop), a development team was brought in just to create the racing mini-game that strives to be Mario Kart-level fun.

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The DC Universe Team. See, Jens isn't that tall.



More news coming from SOE has me scratching my head slightly. SOE has partnered with the ZAM network to create an Everquest II database that far exceeds anything else. It will include SOE giving ZAM direct data feeds as ZAM populates the database with typical character and mob info, but it will also host live broker data. Live broker data available over the web is a new step in bringing the games to a browser near you - wonder if you sold that item or if some rare item is available? Check the online database and see. Other enhancements include ways to evaluate the best upgrade path for your character so a player can find the best gear and how to obtain it.


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What SOE event is complete without a picture of someone hot, and yes the ladies look good too.



Not to be outdone, Star Wars Galaxy is five years old and celebrating with a whole new game inside of its game, the Champions of the Force trading card game. A brief demo was provided and shows the same great polish as the Legends of Norrath but uses epic characters Darth Vader and of course Luke Skywalker. To call these card games don't do them real justice, they are interactive games that use rectangular shape icons that just look like cards, well, maybe it is a card game, but with pizzaz.



In addition to the community address, I attended some excellent panel sessions on DC Universe Online where I learned that secret identities will indeed play a major role in the gameplay. More information on DCUO and the Agency and why SOE wants to control communication and socialization like the PS3 controls media at your television all coming up tomorrow.






-Jay "Medeor" Johnson


To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our EverQuest II Game Page.

Last Updated: Mar 29, 2016

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