This was just sent in for those who are interested. -------- There will be an online player gathering, open to all online gamers, on August 23rd and 24th in the metro Atlanta, GA area. All gamers are welcome to attend, and bring their families. There will be a luncheon on Saturday, August 23rd, followed by a trip to Stone Mountain on Sunday, August 24th. For details, visit this website.

Brad McQuaid, of Sigil Games Online, and formerly of Sony Online Entertainment, is accepting question submittals for another interview on the official Sigil Site. Head on over and submit some questions if you are interested.

Below are attached the screenshots from the E3 Press Kit for World of Warcraft.

blackorc.jpg	blackrock02.jpg	blackrock03.jpg	boat_transportation.jpg	dwarf_mining.jpg
dwarf_mining2.jpg	gryhonfly3.jpg	gryphon.jpg	gryphonfly1.jpg	magequest01.jpg
magequest02.jpg	magequest03.jpg	magequest04.jpg	monestary04.jpg	nightelf02.jpg
nightelf03.jpg	nightelf11.jpg	nightelf12.jpg	nightelf13.jpg	nightelforacletree.jpg
stormwindpanarama02.jpg	thunderbluff.jpg	tradeskillalchemy.jpg	warlock_and_skeleton_on_boat.jpg	warlock_with_raptor.jpg
wolfmount01.jpg

Luclin has been destroyed and the debris from the destruction has transformed the world of Norrath into a much harsher place. Of the cities we know, only Freeport and Qeynos still remain standing. Freeport has become the center of evil and the new home of the dark races. Qeynos continues to stand out as a beacon of civilization in a dangerous world. A new race of half man/half rat has emerged and all of the races, however reluctantly, look to the humans to lead them out of the darkness. The classes have learned to further specialize and new tradeskill only classes have emerged. This is the changed world of Norrath that you will find in Everquest 2. What does this mean to the players of Everquest? Well for those who decide to pick up this new offering, it looks like it will mean more fun and many, many more hours spent exploring the world of Norrath. I spent almost two hours in the Sony booth during E3 watching the demonstration and peppering the developers with as many questions as I could think about concerning what we can expect from this new world. Here is what I found. First let’s start with the graphics. Visually, this game is simply stunning. Since the specifications were not being released, I can only guess that to get this level of graphical detail you will need a very high end computer and video card. Lower end machines may not get the full effect, but than again, this may just be the excuse you have been looking for to go out and upgrade your computer. The world is vividly detailed. Unlike many of the new games coming out, EQ2 is being rendered completely by hand, with no auto-generated world areas. Much like the original Everquest, this lets Sony overwhelm you with one visual surprise after another. In this case, the graphics are so realistic that I could almost feel the characters getting wet when they entered the water. Humaniod movement, including that of all the player characters, has been rendered using motion capture photography, allowing a surprising sense of emotion and expression to come into the models, and an array of simply jaw dropping battle effects. The character models are themselves a work of art worthy of a museum. During the creation process, you can customize multiple aspects of the character. This is no longer a world of beautiful people. You can play anything from Tom Cruise to Freddy Kruger. I know I missed a few of the customizations available, but those I jotted down were sex, race, height, weight, musculature, age, hair style and color, facial hair style and color, skin color, eye, nose, ear and chin shape and size, and the ability to add scars, freckles, tattoos where you wish. There are probably tens of thousands of different looks you can create for your character. In fact, one thing that stood out to me is that they are seriously considering removing the names that appear over the player’s head in Everquest because they assume players will be distinct enough that you will be able to recognize them simply by their appearance. One of the great experiences of playing Everquest is entering a new zone and suddenly running into that amazing building or landscape or seeing a really cool looking creature you had never seen before. It looks to me like Everquest 2 is going to not only recapture that feel, but try to top it. The artists and animators have obviously spent an insane amount of time working on even the most minute detail of the world, and it really shows the effort. Captivating textures and shadows are everywhere, and every landscape they showed leapt to life before your eyes. In one scene, they showed a Treant that blended into the woods of the zone so well that it was a shock when it sprang to life next to the characters. During the battle, it then waved its branches and moved its leaves in an amazing display of animation. Another showed the dragon, Lord Nagafen, rendered in amazing detail as he moved around the screen and breathed fire upon his foes. Graphically, this is truly a step further towards total immersion into a fantasy world. More and more, online fantasy gains in reality. Of course, the real test of any game is how it plays. Graphics are great, but it is the story and character involvement that truly make the game. Unfortunately, not much of the game play was actually on display at E3, so I have to go off of what I learned by grilling the several producers I was able to corner. I have to say I liked much of what I heard, but I do want to inject a note of caution that words, no matter how enticing, cannot match the actuality of just logging in and playing the game. Much of what I say here must be revisited after I play the beta. According to the producers, Everquest 2 will contain much of what makes Everquest the game it is today. The biggest difference will be that the original Everquest was never thought to be a long lasting, adaptable game, and thus the coding of the game has made it very difficult for the current EQ team to make some of the changes the players want. EQ2 will be made from the start to adapt and change and evolve, and thus it should be much easier to develop this into the ideal MMORPG. Everquest 2 will remain a zone based game, and will not move to the seamless world that is popular in most of the new generation of MMORPG’s. This means that the current game play styles that have evolved in Everquest to take advantage of the zone lines will continue to work in EQ. Personally, I think that is a good thing. Zoning and Everquest are synonymous and I am glad that will continue. EQ2 is also going to remain class based, not skill based. Thus, unlike a true skill based game where you really have no idea of the capabilities of a stranger when considering grouping with him, you will know the basics of what any character can do simply by knowing his class. I have always maintained that this is part of what keeps Everquest popular, and again am glad to see them retaining this element. There will, however, be more specialized classes than in EQ, and thus more ways than ever to play the game. The class system is set up so that when you start out a character you simply choose a race and start playing. You can then choose to start specializing. Over time each general class branches into more specialized subclasses. Thus a fighter can become a monk and a monk can become a ninja or pugilist. There will ultimately be 48 different classes that you can play. Leveling will be faster than in EQ, mainly because the game will start with a base of 100 levels rather than the 50 of the original Everquest. It is expected that it will take about the same amount of playing time to reach level 100 as it did to reach 50 in the original version of Everquest. They have also pre-designed the game so that expanding the level cap will not break the game like it first did with EQ. Combat will retain much of what is now available in EQ, but there will be some changes. Expect a similar give and take amongst the classes and similar set of skills and spells, but with a number of new things thrown into the pot. I think the producers realize that the combat system of Everquest is one of its strong suits in comparison with the rest of the MMORPG’s, and they don’t want to mess with it too much, but at the same time they see an opportunity to add more depth to the system. I kind of gathered that this was still being tweaked and that it could see some significant changes in beta. The experience system is going to get a major revamp. Those who have played EQOA will recognize the new group experience system. Currently in EQ, when you kill a Mob, the experience of the mob gets divided up amongst the group after getting a bonus based upon the number of people in the group. Thus, killing a mob solo is still the best way to get the most xp in EQ, if you can do it and avoid the down time. In EQ 2, much like currently in EQOA, you will actually get about the same amount of experience that you would have gotten if you had killed the mob solo. Thus, a character who joins a group and suddenly starts killing yellows and reds will gain a significantly higher amount of experience than if he simply hunted on his own. The result is that while you can play solo, you will gain both experience and loot much faster in a group. The plan for the world in general is to make it more dynamic. They are going to give the players much more leeway in what they can do to try to take away from the total hunt and kill focus. Trade skill players will be able to advance totally on their knowledge and skill within the trades, and will no longer have to rely upon hunting and killing to level up. Players will be able to own and personally customize apartments and houses and guilds will finally get guild houses. The guild houses are something Everquest players have been clamoring for years to get and it looks like they will get it in spades in EQ2, with a large amount of customizability and some sort of location system that will help guilds establish their pecking order amongst the other guilds on the server. In addition, players can own their own ships and use them to explore the oceans. I am assuming that means certain sections of some zones will only be able to be reached by player owned shipping. They can also stage shows such as poetry readings or music and even sell tickets to other players to come watch the event. Dungeons will have a new customization feature as well. While the bulk of a dungeon will remain communal, the final battle will spawn off a separate group dungeon to allow multiple parties and even multiple raids handle the same battle at the same time. Thus, if you plan your raid and assemble your guild and reach the final goal only to find some other guild there ahead of you, you simply let them zone into the final battle and then zone into your own version and you can both fight the fight parallel to each other without the long wait and scheduling hassles that currently plaque Everquest. There will even be some scripted animations, such as walls falling down or buildings burning, that happen during the fight and reset for the next one. This was part of the demonstration they showed at E3 of a fight with the dragon Nagafen. Walls shook and fires raged as Lord Nagafen fended off a battle with a group of players. There was a much higher level of realism to the battle when the very environment reacted to what was going on. Another major difference between EQ2 and EQ is the addition of item decay. Like many of the features of EQ2, you can actually look to EQOA to see how this will work. I gathered that item decay in EQ2 will be almost identical to how they have it in EQOA. As they get used, items will reduce in quality and after a time, you will need to take them to either a player or NPC tradesman to get fixed. Items will be given a durability value and a set number of hit points. Ones of higher durability will decay slower and ones with more hit points will take longer to reduce to uselessness. This is basically a way for the developers to drain money out of the economy to try to fix the deflation that is found in most other games, including Everquest. It also gives tradesmen another vital role in the game economy. How effective this will be remains to be soon. However, they do have the advantage of having EQOA using the same system, which will allow them to tweak the EQ2 system as they see how it evolves in the other game. Quests will also see some changes in Everquest 2, although the basic system will stay pretty much the same, with you able to go up to random NPC’s, hail them and accept a quest from them. Unlike Everquest, players will be given a quest book that will keep track of which quests they are working on and where they are in each quest. I didn’t see an example of this book, so I am not sure about the detail level. I would assume it will be similar to how they do it in EQOA where as you complete a step the book updates to tell you what you are supposed to do next without giving so much detail that you just step through blindly with no thought. One nice change is that you will no longer have to search for the perfect trigger word in EQ2. Instead, there will be dialogue boxes that step you through each step of the quest. The quests will also form a much larger part of the newbie experience. One of the points of emphasis in the discussion I had was how they want to make EQ2 less intimidating to start for the new gamer, while not forcing the experienced gamer to go through a series of easy quests he would just as soon avoid. Thus, they plan on using an adapted form of what you now get in EQOA. A new player will immediately receive a quest from his guild master and can then play through a series of quests that both gain him skills and equipment and teach him how to play the game. This to me is one of the best features of EQOA and I am glad to see them bringing it over to EQ2. It gives you a sense of purpose the minute you enter the world and helps immerse you into the game in a way that is both fun and educational. However, unlike EQOA, where the low level quests can get kind of tedious on your third or fourth character, experienced players will be able to skip past the newbie quests without experiencing any penalty or missing any spells or abilities only available through those quests. An improved newbie experience is actually quite vital to this game. As they explained it, they understood that a game like Everquest 2 would get a fairly unique blend of experienced players who know the game system in good detail and new players who have been lured in by the reputation of the original Everquest. They are attempting to gear the game so that both types of players could dive in at the level they feel comfortable and just start playing. This is one reason you don’t choose a class at the beginning. The thought is that a new player will not really know what class he wants to play, so he can just get in and play a while and decide over time what suits him best. I think this is a great attitude to have and hope they can actually pull it off. You may have noticed somewhat of a theme through this preview. I know I noticed a theme as I listened to them describe many of the proposed changes to Everquest 2. It dawned on me that we already had a way to get a preliminary glimpse at many major features of the EQ2 game play through the current version of EQOA. Thus, I asked if EQOA was actually a bridge in ideas between EQ and EQ2 and they said that in some ways it was. Some things, like the combat system in EQOA, are not going to translate, since those are geared towards the console nature of that game, and of course the graphics and design are completely different. But many other features of EQOA – such as the experience system, item decay, the quest system, the newbie experience and others -- seem to be finding their way into EQ2. Which others will also follow remain to be seen. I found this interesting to note, and as a person who happens to really enjoy EQOA, I also found it to be encouraging. Finally there is that crossover between EQ and EQ2 that was announced last week. I asked several people for more detail on this feature and eventually came to the conclusion that nobody really knows what it means. It may be that it was more of a marketing decision than a programming decision and none of the designers really know yet what they are going to do with it. The best impression I got was that in certain limited zones where only quests could be done, you would be able to chat with friends playing Everquest and that certain actions they would do would help you complete a quest in Everquest 2. Nobody really seemed comfortable saying more than that, so I guess we have to wait and see what actually gets developed. This is it. I have seen the future of Norrath and it looks like it may well be the future of Online gaming as well. Everquest 2 has the look and feel of a real winner. The graphics are amazing, character customization is incredible, and the game itself looks to be shaping into a truly fun experience. Of course, it is still early in development. Beta testing is not scheduled to start until at least this summer, and more likely won’t actually start until sometime this fall. Many things can change, but if this continues to develop and expand like it has up to now, look out everyone. This may well be a game that will dominate the next four years of your life in the same way that the original Everquest has dominated since it came out in 1999. Kiss the wife and kids goodnight and make friends with the late night pizza delivery guy, because you are going to stay in Norrath a whole lot longer than you originally thought.

This year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo might as well have been renamed the MMO Entertainment Expo (ME2?), because Massive Multiplayer Online games dominated the show. By my count, there were well over 100 titles being demonstrated in one form or another at the expo. Of course, most of these will never actually make it to production, and of those that do, some are inevitably going to fail, simply because the market just can’t possibly handle that many titles. So which ones are you going to be playing in 2004? Which ones are going to go down in a fiery ball of pitch? Which ones may just sneak in there and find a willing audience? Because E3 only shows the working parts of the games, and deliberately hides the warts, it is difficult to predict how good a game will be based upon what you see here. Nevertheless, that’s what you are reading this for, so I will give it my best shot. Because there are so many to cover, I am only going into small detail on most of the games, and am only covering what I consider to be the best of the lot and ones most likely to eventually get released. Some of these games will get individual follow-ups later this week or next. Games you may as well order right now. The Best of E3. I normally try to pick a single best of show, but in this case there were two games that really blew me away, and I hate to even try to pick between them. My guess is that you will end up playing them both, because even though they are both MMORPG’s, they look like they will have different styles and game play. So here are the two games I expect everyone to be playing next year at this time. Everquest 2. This game looks fabulous. The graphics are just gorgeous and the character customization is so detailed that they are actually considering leaving the names off of the heads under the assumption that you will be able to recognize other players by look alone. I said much the same thing about it last year, but put it in the too soon to tell category due to a lack of any information on game play. Even though this year’s demonstration again had very little of the actual game play included, I am much more encouraged that this will be the blockbuster its namesake wants it to be. This is because after a long talk with the developers, I came away with a good impression of where they were taking the game and I liked what they were telling me. Much of what makes EQ so good today should be incorporated into EQ2, with hopefully a few major improvements added on top. Expect major improvements in graphics and the game engine in general, but do not expect major switches in how the game works such as switching from a class based game to a skill based one or the elimination of special drops and quests. Hopefully, much of what you have grown to love in Everquest should find its way into the new game as well. Still there will be some major differences. I hate to make this a teaser, but I intend to do a write-up specifically on this game later this week. I have a lot of information for you. This one looks like a real winner. They say coming winter, 2003, but I would guess winter or spring, 2004 is probably more realistic. Whenever it comes out, save up your platinum and put it on your must buy list. World of Warcraft. Unlike EQ2, this game was actually being played at E3 and, judging by the hoards of players waiting to get to a machine, it looks like a smash hit. The graphics are simply stunning and the world is immense and varied. Basically, if you have played Warcraft 3, you should have a pretty good idea about how World of Warcraft will play and feel. But they have not just stopped with the Warcraft 3 interface. They have improved on it significantly and given it a smooth, easy to use UI that even a true newbie will have little difficulty figuring out. Commands, emotes, spells, abilities and more are both easy to find and easy to use, letting you concentrate more on what else is going on in front of you. The battle system is faster than EQ, but is much closer to the traditional RPG combat than to Diablo. Quests are detailed and let you know the potential reward before you choose to accept the quest. Plus, you travel from place to place on the back of a griffin. How cool is that? I get the impression that this game will be friendlier to the new and casual player than EQ2 will be, but neither game is far enough along to really say how they will compare. Both look great to me. Put this one on your 2004 shopping list as well. If you are like me, you will probably end up playing both. Games you may find too tempting to pass up: Anarchy Online – Shadowlands. Yes that Anarchy Online - the one of the disastrous launch. Over the past year, more and more buzz has developed over Anarchy Online, mostly along the lines of “hey this game doesn’t suck after all”. I think this buzz is going to suddenly broaden into a roar. Shadowlands is technically an expansion of AO, but because it will contain the original game and the Notum Wars expansion, it is really more of Anarchy Online 2 than just an expansion of an existing game. Judging from the demonstration we got, this may be the best Science Fiction MMO on the market right now and it is only getting better (and yes I am including SWG in this assessment). Shadowlands, scheduled to ship this July, is actually adding a fantasy element to the game that is equally as large as the entire original game. The combination of the original SF game and the new fantasy elements makes this a truly unique offering. With two years to polish it up and a strong, growing community already playing, Anarchy Online is looking like a game worth checking out. Dark Age of Camelot – Trials of Atlantis/Foundations. This is an actual expansion, but is worth mentioning. Actually it is two expansions, one of which is free. The Foundations one will add player and guild housing, and is looking really nice. Players can add merchants, banks, portals, trade skill vendors and more to their house and customize it in a whole slew of ways - and this is the free expansion. The expansion you have to buy addresses the major complaint players have had about DAoC – the lack of high end content. This whole expansion is basically geared towards the level 50 players who want a set of PVE zones which really challenge them. It adds 3 new races, new ways to build up a level 50 character, a new set of zones, quests and items for high level players and significantly improved graphics not only to the new zones but to the old zones as well. For the Camelot player, this is a must have expansion. Others who have skipped past this excellent game, may decide that this is now the time to try it out. Mythica. Microsoft’s next foray into the MMORPG world is a different take on the genre, and has the potential to be really cool, or really bad. Right now, it is just too hard to tell, but what they were showing at E3 was pretty impressive. The two things single player RPG’s have always had over multi-player games is the ability to force the player into a story line enhanced by cinematic cut scenes and the ability to permanently change the landscape based upon the actions of a single party. Microsoft is trying to bring that into the multiplayer game. Thus, the big concept for this game is the ability to spawn off a whole dungeon for your party that will be a linear dungeon with cut scenes and changing scenery. Whether this concept will succeed and more importantly add enough content to keep people playing is still to be seen, but what was shown at E3 was impressive enough to keep an eye on. City of Heroes. This looks like it could be a huge sleeper hit. What was being shown at E3 still was missing enough of the actual game play elements to make me cautious about this. I am not really sure how you can categorize superheroes. Nevertheless, for those who love comic books, the concept of a world where you can play a true comic superhero is hard to pass up. I liked the look of this. It had a dark feel about it, very much like you were truly entering into the pages of the comics. As this game proceeds into beta, it is definitely one that you will want to keep an eye on. Everquest Online Adventures - Frontiers. As with the AO expansion, this is more like EQOA 2 than just an EQOA expansion, since the original game will be included in the disk you buy. The biggest thing going for this is an upgrade of the graphics engine. The new look of the game is great. It also features new zones, a new race (Ogres), new quests and items and musical themes for both the new and existing zones. The level cap is going from 50 to 60 and other content is getting added to improve on the high end game. For those of you who have not yet checked out this excellent MMORPG for the PS2, this is definitely something you will want to look at. Current players will want to get this as well. Games with potential: Horizons. It seems like this game has been in development forever, and the game shows some of the ravages of the long development period. Still, this is the only game where you can actually play a dragon, which is definitely cool. They also have created a world that will be completely developed by the players over time and seem to have some unique ideas on how to run this type of game. It may be that the game play may overcome some of the other shortcomings and this could turn out to be a major sleeper hit. Beta is supposed to start within the next few months. Wait for it to start and then ask your friends if it is worth buying. Or tune in here and we will tell you once we get a chance to actually play it. Lineage 2. The original Lineage is supposedly the most popular MMORPG ever released, with millions of players logging in from all over Asia. Given that type of track record, it is hard to criticize this version. What was being shown at E3 was not really enough to judge the game one way or another. It seems like it is still a ways from being complete, so this is a game to remember and to possibly check on next E3. Warhammer Online. Similar to Lineage 2, this game was in the very early stages of development and thus it was difficult to get more than a cursory idea of what the game will eventually be like. Still, as a single player game, Warhammer was one of the best, so it will be interesting to follow this MMO as it develops. Priest. This is a very unusual game, which already makes it stand out from the mass of MMORPG’s being developed. Priest is a PvP oriented MMO shooter game set in a kind of demonic version of the wild west with a primary focus on head to head and guild to guild combat. It looks pretty cool and may well find a market out there. We really want to like these, but… Star Wars Galaxies. Yes this is supposedly going to be released next month, and yes there are something like 400,000 copies already pre-ordered. So why do I have it listed all the way down here? Why isn’t this a best of show blockbuster? Well, for a game so widely anticipated and so close to release, SWG had almost no presence at E3. What does it say about the fact that they didn’t want to show this game to the public at the world’s largest gaming showcase? What does it mean that the little access they did have was on a machine hidden away in the nvidea booth and not even marked as showing SWG? Why was that hidden machine limited to just letting you stand back and watch small portions of the game being shown by a Lucas employee? Why didn’t they let anyone actually get on the machine and play the game? Even World of Warcraft, which is not even scheduled to start beta until several months after SWG is supposed to be released had a playable game out on the floor. Why indeed? I think I will just let you ponder those questions and come to your own conclusion. Final Fantasy XI. Yes this is probably the most famous RPG series of all time, but I have to say I wasn’t massively impressed with what they were showing at E3. There are eventually going to be PS2 and PC versions of this game. The graphics seemed kind of tired to me and while there was not really enough going on to judge the rest, even the game play seemed kind of drab to me, with what seemed like a very limited set of things you could actually do and kill. Still, this game has been out a while in Japan and is pretty popular there, and if nothing else, the name alone should drive some significant sales. So right now my opinion on this is kind of a wash. This is one I will definitely want to play again once it is in beta just to see where it is going. Too soon to tell: Guild Wars. The MMO world can definitely use a couple more true PvP games, so this one has promise simply on that premise. This game looked nice, but it is early in the development stage, so we can only wait to see if they can pull off the rest of the concept. Shining Lore. I am personally not a fan of the cartoon style graphics used in the game, but there are many who like it. The main concept of this game was that you can create literally hundreds of thousands of different character types within the world. Dark and Light. As far as I know, this does not yet have a publisher, but it wasn’t a bad looking game. Their big concept was that they claimed they could handle an infinite number of players on a single server. Sigil’s Mystery Game. This is worth mentioning just because Sigil Games happens to consist of a large number of the original Everquest design staff. They did not have anything to show at E3, but Brad McQuaid, Jeff Butler and several others were often seen wandering the floor looking at what the competition had to offer, and when asked about their plans, they just smiled and said to keep tuned into their website. I personally can’t help but be intrigued at what this group will manage to come up with once they are far enough along to actually show something. As I said at the beginning of this, there were dozens more MMO games being shown at E3 that are not even on this list. I think I have covered the biggest ones, but I am bound to have missed at least one. I am also giving my opinion of the games based upon what is usually at best a half hour showing from a developer and limited actual hands on playing time I also need to repeat that what you get at E3 is almost certainly not what you will actually get when the game is released. This show is all about sales and putting up your best front, so keep that in mind when reading any review coming out of E3, including this one.

Atari sent us notice that Horizons is entering beta testing. Here is the entire note, in case you are interested in participating: Horizons: Empire of Istaria Beta Test Start your coffee brewing because Atari is poised to bring you a beta test for a highly detailed MMORPG with combat based adventuring and an equal emphasis on trade based community building. With 8+ races and flexible class development your Half-Giant wizard could have a side job as tattoo artist run out of your own house on your own land. Please help us refine this new exciting land. To register for the beta test, go to www.betatests.net to sign up. If you have already applied for the Horizons beta test on www.Istaria.com, go to www.betatests.net for further information, and to update your profile. If you have already registered as a betatests.net tester for a previous Beta, please log in to www.betatests.net and update your profile. We are planning to open this beta test by the end of May so remember to bookmark www.betatests.net and return often for updates.

For a game which is supposedly releasing in about a month, Star Wars Galaxies has a shockingly small presense at e3 this year. The Sony Online Entertainment pavilion (as always) is limited access, and LucasArts excels in telling people to "go away, we don't know you" - but! burried in the back of the NVidia display area in the Main Hall is one terminal with a fellow running Demo's of Star Wars Galaxies. So for those who were planning on being at E3 - and were hoping to get a look at this much Hyped game - you can find it by looking for NVidia on the Conference Map. --Illia

There was a message posted today on the EverQuest Live site today that I thought would interest many of you. The following is the best news, I am so ready for this and will be one of the first in line...

We realize that many of you will want to play both EQ and EQII, so we're introducing the SOE All Access™ subscription. It allows you to play a large mix of our most popular offerings for only $21.99 per month. Our Legends customers will receive this same access to our games at no additional charge. This makes it affordable and easy to play SOE's games, including: EverQuest® (both PC and Mac version when it's released) EverQuest II® (when released) EverQuest® Online Adventures™ PlanetSide™ Station Pass™ Games (Infantry™, Cosmic Rift™, Tanarus®) Please note that Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided™ will not be a part of this package, nor will partner published games be included. You will also need to buy the retail version of any game you don't already own.

You can read the entire message here. You can view the official press release here.

Thanks to Vuu for submitting this wonderful news we have all been waiting for. The specs have now been posted by Q-3PO on the official SWG boards.

1.04 What are the minimum requirements? Computer 100% DirectX 9.0 compatible computer Operating Systems Windows 98 SE, Millennium, 2000, and XP CPU Required: Intel PIII 933 MHz or AMD Athlon 900 MHz Recommended: Intel P4 1.5 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 1500+ Memory Required: 256 MB RAM Recommended: 512 MB RAM Graphics Card Required: 32 MB 3D Graphics card with Hardware Transform and Lighting (T&L) Capability Recommended: 64 MB 3D Graphics card with Vertex Shader and Pixel Shader (VS/PS) Capability Sound Card Required: PCI, USB or Onboard Audio Device CD-ROM Required: Quad Speed CD-ROM drive Input Device Required: Keyboard and mouse Connectivity Requirements Required: 56K modem or faster Internet connection DirectX Microsoft DirectX 9.0 is included on this CD. NOTE: DirectX may require the "latest" updates for your operating system. This may also include the latest drivers for your particular motherboard, sound and video hardware. Installation Installation requires 2.0 GB of free hard drive space. It is recommended that you have at least an additional 500 MB of free space available after installing the game for the Windows swap/page file and additional patch downloads. Supported Chipsets at the time of release: ATI Radeon 7200/7500 ATI Radeon 8500/9000 ATI Radeon 9500/9700 Matrox Parhelia NVIDIA GeForce 256 NVIDIA GeForce 2 family NVIDIA GeForce 3 family NVIDIA GeForce 4 family NVIDIA GeForceFX family Additional Chipsets supported.

The complete post can be found here.

Here's the press release for this one. They seem to be coming fast and furious this week: SONY ONLINE ENTERTAINMENT UNVEILS LATEST VIDEO GAMES AT 2003 ELECTRONIC ENTERTAINMENT EXPO -Incredibly Successful EverQuest(r) Franchise Sees New Directions While PlanetSide Prepares for Launch- SAN DIEGO, CA - May 12, 2003 - Sony Online Entertainment Inc. (SOE), a worldwide leader in massively multiplayer online gaming, introduced several new video games and provided details on soon-to-be-released titles during the 2003 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). The new games announced include Lords of EverQuest(tm), a real-time strategy (RTS) game for the PC and EverQuest(r) Online Adventures: Frontiers(tm), an expansion for North America's only massively multiplayer online (MMO) game for the PlayStation(r)2 computer entertainment system. Additionally, SOE provided new information for upcoming titles PlanetSide, the first massively multiplayer action game set in a persistent world and EverQuest II, the parallel universe to the original EverQuest PC MMO role-playing game (RPG). "The coming year is going to be huge for us," said John Smedley, president, Sony Online Entertainment. "The launch of PlanetSide is happening within days of E3 and the reactions to the game during Beta have been incredibly strong. EverQuest II will be happening later this year, with a whole new universe for both those new to MMOGs and hardcore EQ fans to explore. We're also taking the EQ brand in new directions, both on the PlayStation 2 and on the PC." Sony Online Entertainment is located at Booth 846 in the South Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center during E3 from May 14-16. A brief synopsis of each title follows: PlanetSide Release: May 19, 2003 Platform: PC Genre: MMO Action Game PlanetSide(tm) will make history when it launches on May 19, as the world's first massively multiplayer online first-person action game. The groundbreaking game will allow hundreds of thousands of players to fight online in an all-hours-of-the-day massive war. Characters gain experience with every conflict, and can become one of the best in more than 30 combat specialties, including infantry, sniper, stealth commando, engineer, hacker, medic, pilot, driver and more. The company also announced that it will partner with Team Sound to add squad-based voice chat functionality to PlanetSide, further enhancing the experience of fighting together with your squad and growing as a team. EverQuest II Release: Winter 2003 Platform: PC Genre: MMORPG Scheduled to launch in Winter 2003, EverQuest II is a parallel online universe to the hugely successful gaming phenomenon EverQuest. Featuring breathtaking graphics and a vast, beautiful game world to explore, EverQuest II sets new standards in graphical realism as players are immersed in the game's powerful epic storyline with thousands of players online. Not only will current EQ fans enjoy the new game, but players new to both the world of Norrath and MMO games will find the game much easier to navigate and play. Based 500 years after EverQuest, EverQuest II is a new and different game experience in a changed world marred by a fantastic life changing event. Players enter this world by creating their own unique character from 16 races and 48 classes and using a powerful facial customization system for unprecedented player individuality. Lords of EverQuest Release: Fall '03 Platform: PC Genre: Real-Time Strategy (RTS) Lords of EverQuest is the next-generation of real-time strategy game. Inspired by the lore of the online gaming phenomenon EverQuest, Lords of EverQuest features an enthralling storyline drawing you into the world of Norrath to change the fate of the world. Take command of one of 15 Lords from the dawn of Norrath and lead an army against your enemies in a race to claim a lost artifact. Featuring three different unique factions with which to do battle, and a beautiful game world filled with breathtaking environments, you are able to command more than a hundred troops comprised of Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Fiends and even Dragons! After the story is over, the game has just begun as players take the game online and play via SOE's upcoming matchmaking service. EverQuest Online Adventures: Frontiers Release: Fall '03 Platform: PlayStation(r)2 Genre: MMORPG EverQuest Online Adventures: Frontiers expands the rich, vibrant fantasy world of Norrath with uncharted territories to explore, new items and spells to acquire, fierce creatures to battle, and a new playable race, ogres. The game also adds graphically enhanced player models and armor, allowing for greater character customization than ever before. Using the Network Adaptor for the PlayStation 2, EverQuest Online Adventures: Frontiers connects seamlessly via modem or broadband to the Internet, directing players to dedicated EverQuest Online Adventures servers. Gamers simply insert the disc and the adventures of Tunaria are just a few button pushes away. EverQuest: Evolution Release: Fall '03 Platform: PC Genre: MMORPG EverQuest: Evolution is the perfect starting point for players new to the world of EverQuest. This boxed collection gathers everything a gamer needs to enter the world of Norrath in a single package. The original EverQuest and the first five expansions, The Ruins of Kunark, The Scars of Velious, The Shadows of Luclin, The Planes of Power, and The Legacy of Ykesha, are gathered together, along with two maps of the various continents. About EverQuest Developed and published by Sony Online Entertainment Inc. (SOE), EverQuest launched in 1999 and has since become both a gaming and cultural phenomenon. The game has sold more than 2 million copies while continuing to grow with award-winning expansions The Ruins of Kunark(r), The Scars of Velious(r), The Shadows of Luclin(tm), The Planes of Power(tm), and The Legacy of Ykesha(tm), making it the largest online 3D fantasy world ever created. During peak periods, more than 118,000 simultaneous adventurers have explored the fully detailed world of Norrath, filled with monsters, magic, adventure and more. The active global EverQuest subscriber base of more than 430,000 players is comprised of people from 40 different countries including North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Sony Online Entertainment is committed to bringing EverQuest to various entertainment platforms, releasing titles such as EverQuest(r) Online Adventures(tm) for the PlayStation(r)2 computer entertainment system, EverQuest for the Pocket PC and EverQuest: Hero's Call for wireless phones. This Fall, SOE will launch the highly-anticipated sequel, EverQuest(r) II, on PCs around the globe. About Sony Online Entertainment Sony Online Entertainment Inc. (SOE), a subsidiary of Sony Pictures Digital Inc., is a recognized worldwide leader in massively multiplayer online games. SOE creates, develops and provides compelling entertainment for the personal computer, online, game console and wireless markets. Known for its blockbuster franchise, EverQuest(r), SOE continues to redefine the business of online gaming and the creation of active player communities while introducing new genres on various entertainment platforms. Headquartered in San Diego, CA, with additional development studios in Austin, TX and St. Louis, MO, SOE has an array of cutting-edge online games in development such as PlanetSide(tm), Star Wars Galaxies(tm) and the highly anticipated EverQuest(r) II. EverQuest is a registered trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. SOE and the SOE logo are registered trademarks and PlanetSide is a trademark of Sony Online Entertainment Inc.