They are saying each canine has its day, however for EverQuest’s Fippy Darkpaw it seems it is an entire 12 months. The Yr of Darkpaw celebration kicked off this month with promotional occasions, collectibles, and bonus dungeons for tenacious adventurers nonetheless enjoying EverQuest to sink their gnoll fangs into. The enjoyable will proceed with new time-locked servers midyear and an growth for each video games this winter.
EverQuest turns 25 this 12 months, and contemplating what number of of my early life I spent sitting on my butt meditating to get mana again, it warms my coronary heart to see the sport I like nonetheless kicking all these years later. EverQuest’s head of studio Jenn Chan tells me 2024 is all about having an enormous, yearlong get together.
“We wish folks to have a good time 25 years of EverQuest, 20 years of EQ2, get in contact with previous associates once more, make new associates, and expertise a pleasant mix of nostalgia and new issues,” Chan mentioned. Amongst all of the MMOs I’ve performed, EverQuest stays the highest of the heap with regards to getting folks smooshed collectively to work on stuff. As a substitute of spending a whole bunch of hours working by solo quests or MSQs, in EQ you can begin grouping instantly.
I knew that numerous folks nonetheless performed, partially as a result of for just a few years not too long ago I used to be one in all them. I spent most of lockdown enjoying the holy heck out of Challenge 1999 Inexperienced, nevertheless it’s not simply the personal servers which have of us hanging out.
I spent somewhat time final week on one of many stay servers, and never solely was it approach simpler to start out out with high quality of life enhancements like a tutorial dungeon and a free mercenary pal that I did not have again within the day (no extra operating for my life from a single bat at stage 1), however there have been numerous gamers to talk with in case I had any burning questions.
EverQuest’s twenty fifth anniversary roadmap
Darkpaw Video games despatched over a roadmap for each video games in 2024, and it is stuffed with stuff to take a look at. Listed below are a number of the highlights:
- Particular occasions just like the Anniversary Tower and Heroic Dungeons
- Occasion unique mounts and clickies just like the Argent Clockwork Bear Saddle and the Orc Warrior metamorph wand
- New TLPs in Might (rulesets to be introduced)
- New growth launch in December
EverQuest 2’s twentieth anniversary roadmap
EverQuest 2, to not be outdone, can also be having a banner 12 months. EQ’s child brother is not fairly sufficiently old to go to the bars, however at 20 continues to be an elder statesman of the MMO world. The year-long celebration for this sport is somewhat darker in tone, as brokers of the gods are as much as some type of mischief and it is as much as the gamers to cease them. I am at all times a fan of killing gods—they’ve the very best loot. My boy Innoruuk coughed up the earth employees so I might get the server-first magician epic on Inexperienced, even!
Heading up the studio named after the illustrious Fippy Darkpaw cannot be straightforward, however Chan has taken Fippy’s ‘By no means Give Up’ motto to coronary heart. I requested what it was like helming a mission with a lot historical past. “It is an entire lot of feelings, the primary one which involves thoughts is that it is humbling. It is humbling to be part of one thing that has touched so many various folks over the course of their lives.”
It is definitely touched mine—a few of my greatest associates I met enjoying the sport, and reconnecting with folks enjoying EQ actually helped me keep centered particularly within the first months of lockdown.
I requested for some hints concerning the expansions set to reach in November (EQ2’s twenty first) and December (EQ1’s thirty first), however Chan would not say a phrase—we’ll simply have to attend till later this 12 months to search out out extra about them. I am going to for positive be trying out a few of EverQuest’s anniversary occasions within the meantime, possibly knock one other epic quest off my bucket checklist. And talking of epics, EverQuest’s builders despatched over this candy splash artwork for the Yr of Darkpaw celebration with a bunch of characters from EQ and EQ2 throwing up epics in pleasure. I am informed there’s an easter egg within the graphic, however I have not been capable of finding it but. Perhaps you possibly can assist.
