Karen Bryan over at Massively has turned in another great expose on the deafening silence on the upcoming release of EverQuest II: Destiny of Velious. While expectations are ridiculously high and fed primarily by nostalgia, you would think there would be SOME more information about the game at this point. Remember, last year at this time, we’d learned some things about the expansion, started to receive zone and lore previews, etc. We know hardly anything about the Destiny of Velious expansion which was not released at August’s Fan Faire.

One month.

That’s all that’s left before EverQuest II’s new expansion, Destiny of Velious, goes live. I’ve been looking forward to this expansion since 2009, when rumors first emerged that there was some work on Velious content quietly going on. It’s my favorite content from EverQuest, and it really marked a Golden Age for those who look back fondly at the game.

But with one month left, I’m left feeling frustrated and concerned. There’s just too much silence about the expansion and too many questions left unanswered. Read on to see why the blank slate of Destiny of Velious is a troublesome sign for players.

Continue Reading The Tattered Notebook: How Not to Sell an Expansion at Massively.

GameStop.com has further details on the EverQuest II: Destiny of Velious retail release…

Thanks to an eq2wire comment from Tom, we now know that EverQuest II: Destiny of Velious is now available for pre-order from Amazon.com for $39.95 and will include two in-game items.

• Standard of the Dain Cloak
• Velious Portal Painting

From EverQuest2.com:

EverQuest II – Destiny of Velious will be available for pre-order beginning on Tuesday, January 18, 2011! This exciting new expansion to the world of Norrath will be released on February 22, 2011.

We’ll have more information about the pre-order options on Tuesday, so be sure to check EverQuest2.com for all the details. For more information on Destiny of Velious, please see Announcing EverQuest II – Destiny of Velious.

Keep watching EverQuest2.com for more official information about Destiny of Velious, and don’t miss the new DoV note from Dave “Smokejumper” Georgeson, EverQuest II Producer, over on the forums. Click the “Join the Discussion” link for your version of EverQuest II below to read the note and chime in the conversation.

There is no word on whether Destiny of Velious will have a Retail box or be Digital Download only, if the Retail box will contain any special items, and whether last year’s frustrating staggered start date plan will be repeated.

From SmokeJumper on the EQ2 Forums:

As you know, we’ve been working hard on the “Destiny of Velious” expansion pack. It was originally scheduled for release on Feb 8th, but after getting feedback from players, spending time playing the game internally, and discussing ways to make things better, we’ve decided to move the release date back to Feb 22nd instead.

Feb 22nd gives us another couple of weeks for polish, tuning, and a honing of the fun factor for the expansion. We think the wait will be well worthwhile.

Check EverQuest2.com for the announcement on pre-order dates! And also stay tuned for an announcement about a raft of cool events coming out in the week after DoV becomes available!

On a side note, we’ll be adding another batch of players into the Closed Beta on Jan 24th, so if you put in an application and haven’t been accepted yet, don’t give up yet. Your time may be coming!

You would think that the Non-Disclosure Agreement for the EQ2 Destiny of Velious beta had already been lifted, given the Youtube videos and unintended leaks on EQ2’s own and other sites. But we can assure you it remains firmly in place. Today, we plant tongue firmly in cheek and deliver another illustration brought to us by CheesePirate.com.

The Destiny of Velious NDA is likely to be lifted towards the end of January. Until then, please be aware of the legal ramifications it may have for you, not to mention losing access to EQ2 and SOE games, should you choose to leak information which has not been released by SOE.

Last night, the Destiny of Velious beta forums were taken offline and then restarted from scratch under the EQ2X Forums. It has been indicated that this change was to allow EQ2X players to contribute their feedback and reports in the Beta forums. However this means all discussions and threads about the Beta will need to be restarted, as the current Forum software lacks the ability to move threads from one game to another. Users who have signed the NDA and wish to participate in the Destiny of Velious beta forums must now first navigate to the EQ2X forums and, if necessary, re-register their account to access them.

From the EQ2 Forums:

Attention Fan Faire attendees! Are you in the Destiny of Velious Beta test? Do you want to be?

So far, fewer than 200 Fan Faire 2010 attendees have been flagged because they either haven’t filled out a Beta application, or because they haven’t yet accepted the NDA. If you would like to participate in the EQII Destiny of Velious Beta, these are two things you need to do before we can flag you for access!

If you attended Fan Faire 2010, you will be admitted into the Beta program as a thank you for attending. However, you must still register and accept the NDA. Please make sure that you click this link and register with the same account that you used to register for Fan Faire.

We are hearing reports from the community that the Destiny of Velious EQ2 Beta is now underway. As the Beta is under strict NDA, that is the limit of what we are able to report, however as we get closer to release, we’ll post any free-and-clear information we get our mitts on. 🙂

If you have not already filled out the Destiny of Velious beta application, you may do so here. If you went to Fan Faire you should be flagged by the end of the day today (January 5, 2011).

From SmokeJumper on the EQ2 Forums:

The first 1000 folks (well, actually a few more than that, but roughly a thousand) have been authorized for the “Destiny of Velious” Closed Beta.

You should be receiving emails at the email address you have registered for your Sony Station Account. If you have not receive such an email by the end of the day today (1/4/11), then you weren’t accepted into Closed Beta…yet.

Depending on how many folks pile into the beta, and how many testers we need, we may authorize extra groups of people later this month. Stay tuned for more details!

Those of you that made the cut…congrats! We’ll see you on the beta forums and on the Beta server!

It’s unclear if that 1,000 figure includes or excludes Fan Faire attendees.

From SmokeJumper on the EQ2 Forums:

Fan Faire folks will be authorized to enter the beta on Jan 5th with everyone else but are automatically authorized (after they fill out the application!)

Smokejumper posted this announcement today on Everquest2.com:

The time for Closed Beta testing of “Destiny of Velious” is upon us!

Applications are now open and available at the following link:

https://account.station.sony.com/au…9&theme=station

Go there, complete the application process, and your application will go into the queue for approval. (Hint: You’re not finished applying until you accept the NDA.)

We’ll be reviewing applications starting on January 3rd, and Closed Beta will begin on January 5th. If you are approved for beta, you’ll get an email letting you know, so check your email (out-of-game only) between the 3rd and the 5th!

PLEASE NOTE: Despite the fact that the beta registration site says that the beta runs from 12/21 to 1/4, the beta will actually run from 1/5 to 1/31. You’re seeing incorrect dates on the current reg site and that will be fixed shortly. Notifications of beta acceptance will not *begin* to be sent until 1/3/11.

Update:  Smokejumper posted this additional tidbit for all the Fan Faire Attendees:

Fan Faire folks will be authorized to enter the beta on Jan 5th with everyone else but are automatically authorized (after they fill out the application!)

Yes, even though you automatically get into the beta, you still have to sign the NDA that is included in the application.

If you feel that EQ2’s expansion betas have been unnecessarily long, we have some great news for you. For everyone else, prepare for a rather abrupt beta this time around. According to SmokeJumper, the Destiny of Velious beta will start “when we come back in 2011”.

From EverQuest2.com:

On Wednesday, December 15, qualifying EQII and EQ2X accounts who have met the requirements for Velious Winter Rewards will find a new bag in their /claim window which contains two new items; a Coldain Butler and a Scars of Velious in-game painting.

Photos and Details after the jump.

Karen Bryan, known to us for her involvement in the A View from the Top and Shut Up We’re Talking podcasts, has been providing interviews and in-depth coverage for Massively for several months now, and today she weighs in with an exclusive interview with Dave “SmokeJumper” Georgeson regarding the upcoming Destiny of Velious expansion.

The Tattered Notebook @ Massively — Interview with Dave Georgeson

Usually, people want to know the story behind the music. But in this case, it may be the music itself which has more to reveal about the upcoming Destiny of Velious expansion.

As first reported on the EQ2 forums, last night’s Test Update patch included music files tied in to EverQuest II’s seventh expansion. The following zones were represented (categories are mine amd subject to change):

Dungeons/Raid:

• Kael Drakkel
• Fortress of Drunder Tower
• Tower of Frozen Shadow
• Velkator’s Labyrinth
• Velkator’s Labyrinth: Kraytok’s Fortress

Overland:

• Deep Gorge
• Iceclad Ocean
• Othmir Camp
• Rygorr Fortress
• South Velious
• The Great Wastes

City:

• Thurgadin

Unknown:

• Rallos Zek

Add this to what we already know from Fan Faire 2010.  We were informed that we could expect at least 10 Instanced Dungeons, 1 Massive Contested zone, 2 Overland zones, and 6 Raid Instances. Concept art was shown for:

• Kraytok’s Fortress Spire & Forgotten Pools
• The Ascent
• Thurgadin
• Fortress Spire

Unique Housing?

We haven’t known what to make of another small batch of files found in this package. We’re talking about:

• home_majdul_library.vpk
• home_neriak_opera.vpk
• home_qeynos_dojo_SG.vpk

Remember at Fan Faire, we were told “We also hope to start looking at options for more unique “Prestige Housing” which would be specially themed houses you could choose instead of normal city housing.” The first of these was the Skyblade Skiff and Crag Estate. Perhaps these offer a clue to the next 3 housing options?

If you’ve been hoping for any hint of class tweaks we’ll see in Velious, Xelgad has posted an early preview. Naturally this does not include any mention of new AA lines or other abilities we may gain.

We’re still three months from the Destiny of Velious launch, and more sweeping changes than the ones listed below were made in less time, so take this as an early teaser, subject to change. In short, there is great news for Illusonists and Summoners, and some news for other classes as well.

A thread was created on the EQ2 Forums a couple of weeks ago entitled “Why is there no hype about Velious?” which elicited responses from Amnerys and Rothgar indicating that we’re still 3 months away and not everything is nailed down. This thread raged on.

However the real discussion about the EverQuest II expansion Destiny of Velious and future of Norrath beyond its release has been happening in the elephantine Server Merges Announced by Email thread, which has become sort of an omnibus discussion between SmokeJumper, Rothgar, and the players.

Last night we received an e-mail with some surprising new information about events leading up the the EverQuest II: Destiny of Velious expansion. They include up to six gifts for players with active subscriptions (accounts in good standing) through December, January, and February, as well as rewards for players who purchase the Destiny of Velious expansion.

To get the two unique December gifts, you must have:

• EQ2 or EQ2X account with Gold or Platinum active on December 14th.

To get the two unique January gifts, you must have:

• EQ2 or EQ2X account with Gold or Platinum active on January 17th.

To get the two unique February gifts (Ice Wolf Mount and Freeblood race), you must have:

• EQ2 or EQ2X account with Gold or Platinum active on December 14th.
• EQ2 or EQ2X account with Gold or Platinum active on January 17th.
• EQ2 or EQ2X account with Gold or Platinum active on February 8th.
• Purchase the Destiny of Velious expansion by December 31, 2011.

Update: Lambda has read the fine print and it suggests that Destiny of Velious could be activated anytime by December 31, 2011 to receive the February rewards, if you fulfill the other requirements.

Here’s a look at that Ice Wolf Mount:

And if you caught the Photoshop Disaster above where the wolf appears to only have 3 legs (debateable depending on the angle, although this really points more to the fact that the original wolf models in EQ2 desparately need a revamp), you’re not alone.

Emily “Domino” Taylor, Tradeskill developer for EQ2 has been fielding some intense comments from players regarding the first ever Tradeskill Heritage Quest coming to EverQuest II: Destiny of Velious, specifically the Coldain Prayer Shawl quest. This was previously an adventure quest in EQ1 so some players have expressed their concerns about this being a tradeskill quest rather than for adventurers.

You can follow this discussion of the Coldain Prayer Shawl Quest on EQ2 Forums.

Here is the 4-part Destiny of Velious panel for EQ2 from Saturday at Fan Faire 2010. I cut out my own off-the-screen capture of the Destiny of Velious preview trailer because it has been released to the press in High Definition.

[EQ2Wire] EQ2 Expansion “Destiny of Velious” Panel (playlist)

Here’s a canonical summary of the SOE Community Address.

At under 50 minutes, this has to have been the shortest Community Address in the history of SOE Fan Faire events. We were advised to expect a ‘light’ event, but nothing could prepare us for nearly 20 minutes of banal, juvenile humor and heavy promotion for all things Jace Hall Productions. If you saw EverCracked, you get the idea.

Our friend Farrel over at Epic Slant has done a great article on player expectations for the Destiny of Velious expansion.

Velious is not something you do lightly. It was the defining expansion of EverQuest and to put it on such a short product cycle is dangerous.

Velious was one of the largest content additions ever to hit EverQuest. The whole expansion was simply massive in scale. Three major cities were added, several open world zones, shared access dungeons and a raid zone that could support more than a single guild at a time. The EQ2 trend of “two over world zones” and some instances will not work here.

On Friday June 4th, 2010, Lord of the Rings Online (LotRO) made news by announcing that the entire game was going to a Free-to-Play (F2P) model. Players can maintain a subscription, and receive most of the game and game items, but they’ll need to spend real money to get access to new items which appear on their marketplace.

This begged the question of whether other games such as EverQuest, EverQuest II, or World of Warcraft would move to a F2P model, and if they did so, whether it would be gamewide or if we would see the addition of new isolated F2P servers.

F2P Goldmine?

Thus far, it remains unclear if F2P has been the financial goldmine that SOE expected when they spent millions developing and marketing their kid-friendly FreeRealms. The game is popular, but it’s unknown outside SOE if enough people are buying items in the Marketplace to continue the experiment. Already, there has been one major revamp to FreeRealms, shifting the target audience from 10-15 downwards by making gameplay, combat, and quest completion easier.

Thus far, every addition of RMT elements to EQ2 has been extremely unpopular with players, at least in discussion forums. Applying a F2P model to established Subscription-based MMOs seems to be the “third rail” in MMO discussions. LotRO has jumped into F2P headfirst, marking some classes as premium, reducing character slots for non-paying customers, and putting powerful items in the marketplace.

During the Stratics interview at E3, the Free-to-Play question was raised, and Dave Georgeson (EQ2 Senior Producer) took a swing:

The current subscription model isn’t going to change. The people that are playing the game as it stands right now really like the way it is. They don’t want us to sell items for power in the marketplace. They want to be able to earn their way through and achieve things on their own. They don’t really want people to be able to get ahead with their wallet. So the existing business that we have right now is not going to change. If we were to do something outside of it, it would be completely separate.

Georgeson had a followup clarification on the EQ2 Forums:

We will not be changing your subscription model. We’ve heard you folks loud and clear that you do not want items with stats introduced, you don’t want players buying their way to power, etc. Your world will stay the way it has been and we will continue to support it with new content, items, etc.

Commentary

At first glance, this would seem to shut the door on F2P in EverQuest and EverQuest II’s future. However careful consideration of the interview and reading of these comments would seem to leave a crack open for the possibility of Free-to-Play appearing on isolated servers, much as the  Bazaar and Vox servers allow isolated RMT in EQ2. Clearly we’re in the realm of speculation here.

By the way, some are using the acronym FTP to describe Free-to-Play, however FTP is so widely used for File Transfer Protocol, we will be using F2P.

Expansion Date Guesstimations

We have been guesstimating that the 6th expansion for EverQuest II: Destiny of Velious would make an appearance this November. However based on Georgeson’s comments in this most recent interview, we’re now estimating that the expansion will not hit until early 2011. We’re a little over 1 month away from Fan Faire (August 5-8) so no doubt this date will be locked down before then.

In a recent post on the EQ2 Forums, Dave “Covic” Brown brought us news that he’s been able to bring on an apprentice to help with character design. Covic has now elaborated on what that will mean for the Destiny of Velious expansion:

I have an apprentice working on wieldables right now. His stuff is awesome. We are really trying to have every drop you get from the next expansion be new geo (geometry). There will be re-textures of the new geo, but little to no use of old geo if we can help it. He has already made items for 1h swords, 2h swords, 1h crush, 2h crush, pike, spear, shields (bucklers and round), and daggers. He still has to do some bows, and I think he has done some staffs already.

No word on crossbows or nunchucks just yet.

From EQ2 ZAM:

EverQuest II players have long hoped for an expansion returning players to Velious.  Scars of Velious, the second expansion in the original EverQuest, was a favorite of long-time players.  With the appearance of the the icy Order of Rime last summer many players were sure Velious was coming, and were surprised when Sentinel’s Fate took EQII players to the lost island of Odus.
Astute player Vulkoor found some interesting files downloading in April, which included othmir (an otter race from Velious) and Tserrina the near-legendary boss of the original Tower of Frozen Shadow.  The appearance of Coldain dwarves in New Halas (now on the EQII test servers), have expectations high.

Today, observant (and persistant) players found an entry at the United States Patent and Trademark Office.  Sony Online Entertainment has applied for the trademark on EVERQUEST II DESTINY OF VELIOUS.

While we’re sure SOE will not announce the 7th EverQuest II expansion before they’re ready, we feel confident in predicting that yes, the next expansion will return us to the land of snow bunnies and Thurgadin, frost giants and the Temple of Veeshan.

With the entire EQ2 team now back to work on EQ2 content, hopefully we get the Velious expansion we’d all like to see.