Everquest: Secrets of Faydwer

Rating Teen Genre role-playing Publisher Sony Online Entertainment External Links Official Everquest Website

On March 16, 1999, the world was forever changed with the release of Everquest by Sony Online Entertainment and Verant Interactive. For eight years now SoE has been continuously producing expansion after expansion. Now with the release of their newest expansion, Secrets of Faydwer, Everquest is still fighting to keep their position as one of the top titles in online gaming.

Everquest: Secrets of Faydwer is the fourteenth expansion to the genre-defining series. Acts of vengeance from enemies old and new! The clockwork armies of the evil gnomish necromancer Meldrath the Malignant gather in the Steamfont Mountains, awaiting his order to invade the kingdom of Ak’Anon. The launch of his great air fortress Mechanotus has torn open the earth, exposing new paths into the unexplored regions of the ancient continent of Faydwer.

Rediscover Faydwer as you adventure in the nearby Loping Plains, home to the soul eating wereorcs of Bloodmoon Keep. Strive to end the torment of humans and elves cursed for centuries in the Hills of Shade. All the while, an ancient menace stirs east of the Dragonscale Hills, where the prismatic dragon Kerafyrm the Awakened plans his revenge. Characters can now advance up to level 80 as they battle to triumph over the rising menace. Along the way discover Heroic items that push abilities to new heights. This new expansion also includes dynamic high level raid content, new spells, and new Alternate Advancement abilities to rejuvenate even the most hardened warrior.

It’s been three years since I cancelled my EQ account. I’ve got to say the game has evolved in ways I never saw coming. With the available 16 races and 16 classes to match, I was almost unable to decide what I wanted to play. But of course I still have my love for gnomes and chose a Gnomish Wizard. Though I didn’t get much into the expansion parts of the game due to starting a new character, I did get to talk to a few people at the level cap to get their thoughts on the game. Some had been playing for a few months, some since the games creation. Overall there outlook on the game was simple, it’s still fun. They shared with me that they have tried other games such as WoW or Guild Wars, even EQII, yet something kept dragging them back, whether it was the months of play time, the fear of starting over again, or maybe just losing there character to inactive accounts. But they still play to this day and say SoE is doing a great job.

For those of you wondering, with the purchase of Everquest: Secrets of Faydwer you get Everquest Classic and all 14 expansions so there is no need to dig out all of your old scratched CDs. Also the game comes with many in game rewards such as a unique in-game worg mount. While the game takes almost ten gigs of memory, I’d say it’s worth the space. So take a drive out to your local game store and dive into a new world awaiting their next hero.