f13.net

Producer's Letter - May 2007
Names have power.

It's strange how the sound of a single word or the sight of a particular arrangement of letters on a page can instantly give rise to a wide array of feelings.

Some names have more power than others.

Neriak.

It's an exceptionally strong name. For me, at least, it's in hearing it out loud. Three syllables that contain a sense of dark malevolence, raise tales of intrigues unending, and bring forth images of a race of people whose ambition is outmatched only by their ruthlessness and cunning.

There's another name that may not be familiar, but it too plays a significant part in what's coming.

Arasai.

It's a lighter sound, which is fitting for what it describes. It also sounds as if that lightness has been twisted. Meticulously developed, or crafted, if you will. Like a fine weapon on display.

As many of you have no doubt guessed, I'm talking about the next major live content release for EverQuest II. We've talked a lot over the past year about our commitment to making sure there's always something interesting going on in Norrath. What's coming takes that even further.

With Echoes of Faydwer, we had hoped that people would enjoy a return to a more traditional MMO starting experience, and were pleased with the results. We got a lot of positive reaction by introducing the starting city of Kelethin inside of Greater Faydark, as well as a new race, the Fae.

Later this month, we'll be releasing the largest free content addition that EQ2 has ever seen. The complement to that experience: The city of Neriak, the large outdoor zone of Darklight Wood, and a new playable race, the Arasai, one of the races who will be able to start there.

These zones are another collaboration with our SOGA studio in Taiwan, the same studio that developed the characters and environments for The Fallen Dynasty. Their artists working in conjunction with our designers and artists have really brought Neriak back to life.

We decided to go this direction for a couple reasons. As we were developing the storyline for Faydwer, we saw the potential both in gameplay and story development for a dark, twisted shadow of the Fae, and we've wanted to explain a few important things about this area of the world for quite some time.

We pick up the story of Neriak 300 years ago.

It was no secret even then that Queen Cristanos Thex of Neriak was the embodiment of malevolent ambition. So close to the crown and ultimate power over her own kind, but it was destined to pass her by. When King Tearis' time came, the empire would fall to the hands of her son, Prince Talvus Thex.

While the War of the Fay raged, with the Crown Prince and his father otherwise occupied in Faydwer, the Queen saw her opportunity and exploited it mercilessly. It wasn't long before both King Tearis and his son fell to mysterious circumstances in combat.

Cristanos seized the power she had long desired, ending the Thex Dynasty in one final, brutal stroke.

("Two, actually," she would later recount to her most trusted priestess.)

Neriak, however, would not remain unscathed for long under her rule.

It's not entirely certain what allowed the Leatherfoot Raiders of Rivervale to pose the threat that they did to Neriak. Some say it was assistance from foreigners from the outermost quarter of the city, others whispered that the Teir'Dal had been betrayed by those who remained loyal to the King, and yet others credit the assault on Nektulos by the Kithicor Rangers. In the end, it was no matter. The effect would be the same.

At Cristanos' order, the high priestess Tseralith made use of an artifact known as the Hand of Malice summoning forth a beast of great destruction to seal Neriak off from the invaders.

The surviving invaders gave the ruins that resulted the name "Fallen Gate," and soon abandoned them to the spirits that rose from the destruction.

Unbeknownst to the attackers, however, the grand expanse of Neriak Proper was entirely spared.

Sealed off from her enemies, her people and homeland assumed destroyed, Cristanos has had nothing but time. Freed from influences of the outside, Cristanos only grew more and more malicious, soon thinking of herself as the divine manifestation of Hate to her people – a god in her own right.

To her, you see, the Dark Elves are the "correct" way that Elves should have developed, though most of the races of Norrath consider them a wicked perversion of High Elves.

One day while toying with one of the captured Fae spirit buds she frequently tormented to amuse herself, she realized how perfectly fitting it would be to fix what the old gods had gotten wrong, and set the evolution of the Fae along their "correct" course as well.

The screams, it is said, were legendary.

If you're interested in what happened next, you'll just have to see it in game for yourself.

We'll see you there.

- Scott

Should be interesting how this plays out with the Thexians, if she's really gone over the edge and thinks she's subsumed Innoruuk's role. Thexians want to find Neriak...but will they like what they find?

Given that my main in EQ1 (on the Innoruuk server, no less) was a dark elf necro, and my main in EQ2 is a dark elf SK (just outlevelled my old BC wizard before shutting off combat exp for the last week+)...sounds good to me.

In theory, anyway. In practice, I doubt I'll ever be high enough level or group enough to check out the cool stuff. As always.

I'm embarassed to post my stupid EQ name. One thing with that game, it took so long to level up, you were pretty much saddled with a bad choice at character creation :P

My dark elf necro was...Singoth *cringe* Used to run with Crusaders of Ilk, a decent guild that got folded into the Elder Tribunal. Politics led me to leave that guild and never join another one except our scwewy BC endeavours. You probably didn't know me, as I wasn't into the "social" raid scene.

Very pre-PoP. I originally played on Tarew Marr but traded my wizard for my old UO account I had sold to a friend. That wizard was my beta character up through a couple months of release (rubicite fever was disgusting and I quit). I started up around Kunark with the necro on Inny because my rl friend (the eqholic) was playing, played for about two years past Kunark, into Velious and the Furry expansion.

Funny/saddest moment on the Innoruuk server. Verant was trying to run an RP event, I forget the actual story now. At one point Innoruuk's daughter was in Rathe Mts to pick a champion for her father. She chose a monk of Quellius. Seriously, what's up with that? God of Hate picks some Kane figure instead of the throngs of loyal dark elves gathered.

The EverQuest II team is extremely happy to announce the following addition for update #35, expected to launch toward the end of May.

Coinciding with the release of the dark elven city of Neriak as well as the new race to be found therein, the Arasai, your EQ2 and/or Station Access account will be gaining at least one new character slot.

We will be adding one slot to the standard EverQuest II subscription, increasing the base number of character slots available to 7.

Station Access members also see their limit increase by an additional slot.

To summarize, with update #35 the EQ2 subscription plans will have slots available as follows:

    * Standard EQ2 Subscription: 7 character slots
    * Station Access Subscription: 12 character slots

Good hunting, be it in Darklight Wood or elsewhere.

- Scott

Still less than what EQ had/has.

Time to dig up my EQII disks.

Or play me.

I was annoyed when I went to go make a toon in Neriak and it said I still had to get the new content.  I guess some people don't want the zone?  I find that pretty unlikely though.

Getting Your Client Ready for Neriak
Neriak comes to the live servers on Wednesday the 23rd, with Game Update #35! Due to the fact that this update includes a large amount of new data for download, the data for Neriak and Darklight Wood has been reserved as optional content. All players are capable of downloading and exploring these new zones and to do so you will need to change your Preferences in the EQII Launcher.

To do so select 'Preferences' from the list of buttons on the left side of the game launcher, and then ensure that the box for 'Additional Live Game Content' is checked.

They did post this in EQII players a few days prior to the launch:

It's  nice having new starting areas for both good and evil characters.  Got reallly sick of the Isle --> Freeport newbie cycle when creating alts.

See...I loved the Isle. The old, original Isle, with the level cap and whatnot. It's the closest I ever came to playing the mmo the 'right' way. I'd group for group stuff (the ghost, the cave), I farmed the shit out of the rare spawns to exploit their loot tables (my kerra ranger still wears the gooey earplug haste item).

I miss the old Isle.

Does your affianced know you swing both ways?  Probably be a good idea to let her know now rather than tossing a box of latex gloves and a tube of lube at her on your wedding night...

Twinked, level locked, AA'd out level 30s kill me. Easily.