EverQuest II is a 3D fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) originally developed and published by Sony Online Entertainment for Microsoft Windows PCs and released in November 2004. It is the sequel to the original EverQuest, released five years earlier, and features updated graphics and more streamlined gameplay compared to the previous entry, as well as an abundance of voice acting with contributions from actors such as Christopher Lee and Heather Graham. In February 2015, Sony Online Entertainment's parent corporation Sony Computer Entertainment sold it to investment company Inception Acquisitions, where it continues to develop and publish the game under its new name, Daybreak Game Company.
The game is set in an alternate future 500 years after the events of the first EverQuest, and is meant to run alongside its predecessor without interfering with the original story. It features characters and locations from the original that have been altered by centuries of war and cataclysmic destruction. While the title did receive favorable reviews upon release, it was notably less influential to the genre than the previous installment, and it faced heavy competition from other MMORPGs, such as World of Warcraft, which was released two weeks after EverQuest II. While originally subscription-based since its launch, a free-to-play version with its own dedicated server was released in July 2010 called EverQuest II Extended. In November 2011, the subscription service was cancelled in favor of making all remaining servers free-to-play with microtransactions as the revenue stream.
Gameplay Within EverQuest II, each player creates a character to interact in the 3D, fictional world of Norrath. The character can adventure (complete quests, explore the world, kill monsters and gain treasures and experience) and socialize with other players. The game also has a 'tradeskill' system that allows players to create items for in-game use. Players can make items such as spells, potions, armor and many other items. The player chooses their character's race and type, which affects their abilities. Characters collect experience to advance in level. EverQuest II enables social interaction with other players through grouping and the creation of guilds. Like players, guilds can gain experience and levels, partially from players completing special tasks called Heritage quests, but primarily from guild-oriented quests and tasks called "writs", and gaining guild experience by killing epic monsters. Higher guild levels open up special rewards unavailable to non-guilded characters, and cause certain other rewards to cost less. These rewards include housing options, mounts, house items, apparel, and special titles. Although EverQuest II focuses on player versus environment (PvE), dedicated player versus player (PvP) servers were added in February 2006. EverQuest II has a heavy focus on quests; more than 6,000 exist. The EverQuest II feature set has expanded since its release in 2004.
Players must choose a 'race' when creating a character. The choice of races include human, barbarian, dwarf, erudite, ogre, iksar, troll, gnome, half elf, high elf, halfling, Vah Shir, wood elf and dark elf (which were available in the original EverQuest) along with new options such as the Kerra (a cat-person similar to the Vah Shir of the original EverQuest), the Ratonga (a rat-like people), the Sarnak (a dragon-like people) and the Fae and Arasai (fairy-like people). The Froglok race was originally locked until a special server-wide quest was completed to make them playable. Some races are restricted to certain starting cities, based on their alignment, but can turn traitor and move to the opposing city. There are four "archetypes" in EverQuest II - Fighter, Scout, Priest and Mage. When EverQuest 2 was launched, a player chose the character's archetype during the initial character creation and then chose a 'class' at level 10 and a 'sub-class' at level 20. This system was changed in 2006 so that a character's final class is chosen at creation.
Acquisition of equipment is a major focus of character progression. EverQuest II has no experience loss or lost levels from dying. Upon death, characters respawn with their gear intact at specific revival locations, with a minor experience debt to be repaid. Gear is fully functional until its condition runs out after 10 consecutive deaths, and is repaired to 100% for a fee. Players can form groups of up to 6 players, or raids of up to 24 players (i.e., four groups). Monster encounters are classified into corresponding categories of difficulty, and tend to drop corresponding tiers of treasure. Player interaction is encouraged by integrated voice chat, a built-in mail system, global chat channels, and a global marketplace. A looking-for-group tool is provided for adventurers, and looking-for-work for crafters. EverQuest II has strong support for guilds. Each guild has an experience bar and earns guild levels (up to 150). The guild gains experience when its members perform tasks that earn city status. Higher guild levels unlock new items, mounts, houses, guild halls, and other privileges for its members. Guilds get a hosted website and forum, as well as a guild bank with officer controls. Guild recruitment tools are integrated into the game. Players can also maintain houses. A secure commission system allows players to sell their crafting skills to other players, or use the common market system to sell finished items.
History
SOE markets EverQuest II not as a direct sequel, but as a "parallel universe" to the original EverQuest. It is set in an alternate future of the original game's setting, having diverged at the conclusion of the Planes of Power expansion (the lore is explained in an in-game book). This allows both development teams to pursue whatever direction they want to take without impacting the other, and allows players of the original EverQuest to continue receiving updates without forcing players down a specific path. In that sense, they are two completely separate games bound together by name only. Players of the original EverQuest will find many familiar places and characters, as well as "heritage items" that are similar in name and function to items known from EverQuest and can be gained via heritage quests.
In Europe, the game was published by Ubisoft, followed by Koch Media. As of 2010 it lacks any European publisher and is distributed in Europe only as a digital download.
In February 2005, EverQuest II ran a promotion with Pizza Hut to allow players to order pizza from within the game. Players could type "/pizza" into the chat bar, which would open the online ordering section of the Pizza Hut website. This promotion has since ended, but generated significant press for the game.
In June 2005, SOE introduced Station Exchange to EverQuest II. Station Exchange is an official auction system - only on designated servers - allowing real money to be transferred for in-game money, items or characters.
In March 2006, SOE ended its Chinese/Korean operations for EverQuest II, which were supported in the region by Gamania. The beta period for the game in China/Korea ended on 29 March, and on 30 March, all Chinese/Korean accounts were moved to the US servers of the game.
EQuinox, an official magazine of EverQuest II published by SOE, was released on August 9, 2007.
In December 2008, SOE introduced Station Cash, a real-money trading (RMT) feature.
In January 2009, SOE together with Valve made EverQuest II available on Steam.As reported on eq2players.com eq2players.com news archive
In July 2010, SOE released a separate version of EverQuest II called EverQuest II Extended, a free to play version of the game funded by micro-transactions or optional subscription play. The free to play version was run on a separate server from the subscription servers.
By November 2011, EverQuest II was going free to play following a similar path as EverQuest II Extended. As of the following month, with the release of GU62 and Age of Discovery, EverQuest II was updated from being a subscription based game to a free to play title with optional subscription.
Later, in February 2015, SOE's parent corporation, Sony Computer Entertainment, sold the studio to investment company Columbus Nova and it was rebranded as Daybreak Game Company, which continues to develop and publish EverQuest.
At the end of October 2012, Krono was added as an experiment. Krono works like the Plex currency in EVE Online: it allows players to buy an in-game item for real money that adds 30 days of Gold subscription to the account. Krono can also be traded between players, sold via the Broker or gifted to another player's account. Krono is also a much safer way of purchasing game time than purchasing SC cards from players in the game, which may or may not sell a valid code for the players.
Audio A small number of NPCs use actual voices. The actors used for these parts included Hollywood stars such as Heather Graham (as Queen Antonia Bayle), Christopher Lee (as Overlord Lucan D'Lere) and Minnie Driver (as 'Dancer'). Wil Wheaton, Dwight Schultz, Richard Horvitz, Alan Dale and Danica McKellar are also part of the cast. According to SOE, in October 2004, EverQuest II featured 130 hours of spoken dialog recorded by 266 voice actors. More dialog has been added since release as part of regular game updates. In September 2005, EverQuest II: Desert of Flames added player voice emotes. It also features voice actors Peter Renaday, Colleen O'Shaughnessey, and Nick Jameson.
The music for the game, over ninety minutes' worth, was composed by Emmy-award-winning composer Laura Karpman and recorded by the FILMharmonic Orchestra Prague under her direction. Karpman said that every place has a theme, its own separate, unique feeling - from a quasi-African savanna to a Babylonian city. Their goal was to bring a cinematic feel in the music. Purchasers of the EverQuest II Collector's Edition received a soundtrack CD as part of the package. The expansions, Echoes of Faydwer and Rise of Kunark, included many themes from the corresponding zones in the original EverQuest, arranged by Inon Zur. With the Rise of Kunark expansion came a major update to the combat music. A new system was added with 14 contextual combat themes. The strength of the enemy or enemies and tide of the battle determine the tone of the combat music. The previous combat music consisted of just a few linear pieces.
Expansions
# Title Type Release date - The Bloodline Chronicles Adventure Pack - The Splitpaw Saga Adventure Pack 1 Desert of Flames Expansion 2 Kingdom of Sky Expansion - The Fallen Dynasty Adventure Pack 3 Echoes of Faydwer Expansion 4 Rise of Kunark Expansion 5 The Shadow Odyssey Expansion 6 Sentinel's Fate Expansion 7 Destiny of Velious Expansion 8 Age of Discovery Feature Expansion 9 Chains of Eternity Expansion 10 Tears of Veeshan Expansion 11 Altar of Malice Expansion - Rum Cellar Adventure Pack 12 Terrors of Thalumbra Expansion 13 Kunark Ascending Expansion 14 Planes of Prophecy Expansion 15 Chaos Descending Expansion 16 Blood of Luclin Expansion 17 Reign of Shadows Expansion 18 Visions of Vetrovia Expansion 19 Renewal of Ro Expansion November 30, 2022 20 Ballads of Zimara Expansion November 29, 2023 21 Scars of Destruction Expansion November 20, 2024 22 Rage of Cthurath Expansion December 10, 2025