2005 in Retrospect

The Big Events of Last Year

by: Tony "RadarX" Jones

2005 like every year, had its ups and downs along with it's monumental events. Hurricane Katrina devastated the southeast, gas prices soared through the roof, George Lucas completed his Star Wars epic, and Tom Cruise officially went off the deep end. Like the rest of the world, we in Everquest 2, also had our monumental events in 2005. No, not the rare Tier 6 resource you found and sold for 1.5pp. I'm talking about those events that affected us all, and made sweeping changes to the game. Remembering back over last year was an interesting , and sometimes traumatic exercise, so join me on this little journey down memory lane.

Finding the Frogloks

It had been promised at launch. Somewhere in the game, an epic quest awaited to release the Froglok race and make them playable. There was rampant, and sometimes very angry, speculation as to whether the content was actually available at launch, but only one thing was painfully clear: SOE was very tight lipped.

Day after day, week after week, I remember the threads on the Everquest 2 Forums. Such intelligent topics as "Where r teh Frogloks?!?!" and "SOE sux! We aren't getting what we paid for!" chronicled the lack of this race in the game. However , towards the end of March, clues began to be discovered, and theories were postulated. The Developers finally came clean on 04/13 admitting the Frogloks were not in game, but would be added in Live Update#8 (when in fact they didn't make it until Live Update #9). This angered a number of villagers who proceeded to mob Moorgard's announcement post. He stated there would be a world event that would provide the opportunity for each server to unlock this race and it would be coming soon. I would love to go in more detail about the drama surrounding this, but it is making me nauseous, in fact I think I just threw up a little in my mouth... excuse me for a moment . Suffice it to say, eventually the quests were completed and these unusual creatures are now in game.

Getting from A to B

Those of us who had played Everquest 1, or even wandered over to World of Warcraft frequently, commented how small the early Everquest 2 world felt. Not small like the tiny cubicles that people are chained to, but not as expansive as most people would like. It seemed there were only a few zones that could be utilized until you completed access quests.

Don't get me wrong, I like the idea of access quests, but it can go too far. Everquest 2 did allow you automatic access to a zone once you reached a certain level, but if you weren't that magic level you were required to do the quest . This annoyed some people, and in my opinion , for good reason. I don't think it should take me 3-4 hours to do a quest so I can head to a new zone.

Fortunately, it appears SOE got the message, and removed the access quests. Are there some downsides to this? Sure, there was that whacky level 15 Shaman I saw in Everfrost (which is a level 40-50 zone) one night. It might also have people rushing past content a little faster than they should, but it really opened up the game and gave it a larger, more world-like feel .

Playing in the Sand

Expansions! Who does not like expansions (other than the people who whine about why other stuff isn't fixed first)? Everquest 2 had its first full expansion pack released the last quarter of 2005 and it was a nice one , in my opinion. Aptly titled the "Desert of Flame" it provided a content injection to a hungry subscriber base and quite possibly revitalized the game.

The most noticeable change to DoF was the enormity of the zones and lack of transitions between them. Sinking Sands and Pillar of Flame are ginormous, providing few places you can stand without something to attack. A system of transportation using carpets, new collection quests (darn you SOE! Do you know how hard difficult it is to keep your group alive when there are cries of "Ooooo SHINIE!" every few minutes??), and a whole slew of new creature types , made these zones both challenging and interesting.

The new city provided in the DoF expansion demands singling out. It was broken up into three factions that players can join and build faction with . Each of these factions has a court where all the basic functions such as banking, armor repair, a merchant, and mail can be utilized. New housing, an arena where pets can fight, and guard towers whose faction can be changed are just a few more of the features. The best of all this? It fits into one zone.

The Great Nerf

To correspond with the release of DoF, another major transition for Everquest 2 took place, to the horror of many. SOE did their best to sugar coat it, attempted to show the benefit of it , but the outcry was there. With more nerfs than your local Toys R Us, Live Update #13 smacked around every class like a red-headed step child in one way or another, and completely changed the strategies of every experienced player.

Who got hit the hardest? That ' s really up to debate. Some will say Guardians, some Paladins, and some Templars (who still complain about it to this day...let it go guys). There was drama, martyrdom, quitting, re-rolling, and ranting. Some of us participated, while others sat back with the largest tub of popcorn we could find. Honestly? Some of us might have instigated conflict and still feel a little guilty about it. What isn't up for debate however, is that SOE was serious about providing challenging content to all classes and a little bit more balance in the game.

Moving On

Although 2005 has come and gone, we all have fond (or angry) memories that will stay in our minds for years to come. It could be camping that heritage quest creature in a vain attempt to repress what you saw Tom Cruise do, or watching a groupmate who has been hit with "knockback" sail gracefully off a 4 story building. It amused you, it angered you, or it reminded you that you had to go the bathroom. What were some of your best memories of 2005?

Questions or Comments? Think I missed something more important? Feel free to email me at [email protected].

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

Last Updated: Mar 13, 2016

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