Sony
Online Entertainment made it perfectly clear today in Las Vegas
that they are not about to leave
style="font-style: italic;">EverQuest
behind. At last night's Opening Address at SOE Fan Faire, John Smedley
announced the upcoming
style="font-style: italic;">EverQuest
expansion, House
of Thule. Today
style="font-style: italic;">EQ
Producer Thom Terrazas and a team of seven other developers and
designers on the
style="font-style: italic;">EverQuest
team divulged more information as to what players can expect with the
new expansion.
Players will have a level cap increase up to level 90. Not only will
this provide more spells for players to learn but it will also make
easier some of the current content that some players have difficulty in
beating.
One of the more fun aspects of the expansion is that player housing
will be added to the game. Now players will be able to own their own
homes in Norrath. The housing system in
style="font-style: italic;">EverQuest
will share some similarity to that of
style="font-style: italic;">EverQuest II
with upkeep and escrow balances, but there are some fundamental
differences too that promise to make player housing a fun and somewhat
unique system.
A zone will be made available with 73 plots of land.
Players can then
purchase the plots and build their homes on them. As an added bonus the
plots aren't just for houses. Also available will be lawn ornaments and
decorations that can spice up a player's property. Included will be
plant life and ornaments. Plots will also be able to support two houses
if players wish. Every character can own up to two plots, so there will
be plenty of space to build your landscape.
Furniture for the houses will be made by various crafting skills and
will also be available on vendors and in the Station Marketplace. All
non-lore weapons can be mounted and placed on the walls. Be careful
though. Some items will cost their own upkeep to maintain in addition
to the property upkeep costs. If upkeep isn't paid the items will
simply be placed in the closet (for indoor items) or the shed (for
outdoor items). The items will not be lost, simply just kept in the
virtual container until upkeep is paid again.
What if a player buys property and never uses it? Not to worry, as
there will be inactivity time outs which will open up the property for
sale again. The previous owner will have all of their items shipped to
them in a storage crate for the next time they log on.
Players will be able to have pets in their homes, and there is even
talk about possibly adding a "banker pet" which will allow the owner to
bank in the comfort of their own homes.
Each home comes with extra storage slots to hold personal items, and
this feature falls in line with another anticipated aspect of
style="font-style: italic;">House of Thule:
expanded inventory. In addition to more storage slots available to
players in their homes, every character will gain two additional main
inventory slots on their character. 12 and 14 slot bags will start
dropping in Norrath, and fans who purchase the expansion will receive a
free 16 slot bag for their character with their purchase. Larger
containers will become available as the game matures, but SOE will be
keeping close watch to make sure to meet a comfortable balance.
What else does
style="font-style: italic;">House of Thule
have in store for players? There will be 13 new zones including one new
raid zone. Feerrott is undergoing a revamp with improved graphics.
Within the zone a house will appear which contains the answers to some
mysterious events that will be happening in Norrath as some well known
NPCs will have fallen into a permanent sleep.
The zones are based around these NPCs nightmares. For example, one zone
will be Al'Kabor's nightmare in which he has gained enough power to
destroy the world. In the zone Norrath will have been shattered and all
that remains are many chunks of land forming islands that players may
explore. Each island will have very identifiable landmarks indicating
which part of Norrath the chunk of land has come from.
In Erud's nightmare Erudin has lost the war with the heretics and
Erudin is burning. In Miragel's nightmare players can explore Miragul's
mind.
Overall there is a lot for
style="font-style: italic;">EverQuest
fans to look forward to with
style="font-style: italic;">House of Thule,
as the cheers from the crowd today at Fan Faire indicated. Stay tuned
to Ten Ton Hammer for more details over the next few days.
To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our EverQuest Game Page.
