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| Dennis Rubinshteyn |
Everquest II 61st update details and other upcoming information.
06.09.11 - 4:26 PM
Today, I went into the Sony Online Entertainment booth and sat down with a representative for Everquest II, who gave me the lowdown about the current state of the game. They're currently actively pushing new content, and they gave me a preview of their upcoming 61st update.
The next update will further continue the story of their latest expansion, Destiny of Velious, which was released last February. SOE will continue with the latest expansion story until February 2013. The main draw of the next patch, however, is a focus on content that doesn't involve killing monsters and getting loot. They're working on adding several mini-games for players to partake in when they don't feel like grinding or while killing time waiting for another player. They already have a flying mini-game available where players go through a racing course on their mounts while competing for prizes. Just partaking in these mini-games will give players EXP, and doesn't involve any danger whatsoever.
The games to be released later are called Leapers and Gliders. They are similar to the flying game, but use lower level mounts and the racing structure differs. The Leapers game uses level 30 mounts and involves players jumping from platform to platform to reach the finish line first. Gliding uses level 60+ mounts and involves players leaping into the air and gliding towards a marked spot to land as close as they possibly can to it. These games are not just for getting experience and killing time, however. SOE will also be promoting competitions and events to win special prizes as a means of keeping players interested in the side content.
The next update also touches upon a bit of the house decoration to keep players interested in that aspect. Players can now rate other people's homes, leave comments about them, and check a leaderboard established to rank players with the nicest homes. Eventually, a player can sell his/her home to other players too.
Though Everquest II is almost seven years old, SOE regularly continues updating the game, at least a little every month and a half or so along with larger updates every three months. More information about upcoming updates can be read from the Everquest II website.
