Every time a bell rings, a Fae gets their wings!

by: Tony "RadarX" Jones

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It's that time of year again in Norrath, Frostfell! It’s the second year for this joyous holiday, so I anticipated gifts and…well gifts. I have to admit, after the Halloween events, my expectations weren't really high. I know they were busy with the expansion, and didn't have a lot of people to spare on pumpkins and scarecrows, so I was expecting last years content revisited. Now I wrote this from a Qeynos perspective, because thats just where my character is (relax the other cities have it too). I made my way across Qeynos Harbor to the bank and surprise, surprise a Frostfell tree. I found some elves (who consequently have what appears to be peppermint gas coming off of them) under the tree but oddly enough no quest? I circled around the tree in desperation until I came to something out of a place,. a magical closet. Knowing this is what got Lucy into trouble, I selected it and awaited my fate.

The closet takes you to an entirely different zone. I don't mean a tiny instance where you kill 5 things or find a quest NPC, I at least saw 5-10 other players running around. There were a number of islands all connected by rainbow bridges. And the best part of these islands, they had presents! Ohhhhh I scurried to the nearest one and harvested it. Yes, I spent the next 30 minutes running around the instance in the tradition of Randy from a Christmas Story going “Oh look thats miiiiine!” into spatial chat and getting presents.

When you first walk into the zone, you'll see a bunch of creatures dancing around the fire. I was curious why they were dancing so I decided to see if I could go up and ask them. Apparently when you get to a certain proximity of the fire you spontaneously start dancing. “Ahhh magic shoes! Get them off!” I yelled to a few players nearby. It was little added touches like this which impressed me with the zone.

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Don't Do it Lucy!

I made my way to the “rainbow” slide to get things rolling. While it didn't seem like I was really sliding, I think they did a great job trying to make it seem like I was. Oh and just and FYI, the slide needs a safety sign. Jumping on the slide? Can kill you if you are low enough level. Do you KNOW how embarrassing it is to die in a zone where there are no monsters, traps, or cliffs of any kind?

In the center island, there is another Frostfell tree, and as I watched a reindeer soar across the sky, I thought "Wow...I wonder where Santa's sled crashed." The elves under the tree mumbled something about “McScroogle” which I took to mean they were after my presents. I screamed “MINE!” took the gift the Frostfell Giftgiver offered and scurried away. On the back island you'll find an old gnome named Mr. McScroogle. I started to write a walkthrough for this quest, but really it's not bad. Mr. McScroogle gets bothered every year so he wants your help with it. Umm...ok.

Poof! You are inside Mr. McScroogle's room....AS Mr. McScroogle. I have to admit it's a little unsettling looking at the ghostly form of my character standing in front of me. You are going to be visited by three Frostfell ghosts. Past, present, and future who will try and change your mind about Frostfell. On a side note, whoever wrote the sarcastic dialogue responses, you are by far my hero of the season. Despite coming down with something and feeling all around sick, I laughed out loud a number of times through the quest. There are some classic lines given at times, and while it doesn't change the outcome, it's nice to have a selection of responses.

After completing the quest, Mr. McScroogle is satisfied and rewards you with a cool book and a cloak! Overall I'd have to say this was a well planned out Frostfell from SOE. The problem is, I'm not done! There are more quests! I was temporarily distracted by utilizing the stacks of snowballs I picked up to pelt...well everything.

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The Magical Frostfell Village

Getting back on topic, I made my way to North Qeynos to find this other quest I heard rumors of. I found Gh'lad Tydingz (who has spelling issues apparently) in front of what was the haunted house (472, -340 in North Qeynos). I don't know if this scales to level, but he sent me to Greater Faydark to smack some stuff around and return. Completing this quest will reward you with a cool Frostfell tree for your room, the next quest a wreath, and the final the ability to “light” your tree.

Amazed... and I've been playing this game too long to still get amazed. This is by far the best free content SOE has ever released for the game. I didn't even cover dozens of awesome gifts, crafted items (turkey anyone?), or the tons of decorations all over Qeynos. If you've been grinding things out in Echoes of Faydwer, this content will you give you a refreshing change of pace. Look for these wonderful Frostfell events to hit the Live servers the week of December 18th. Happy Frostfell everyone!