EverQuest: Gates of Discord Wrap Report

Earlier this year, Sony Online Entertainment released EverQuest: Gates of Discord, the seventh expansion pack for its landmark persistent state title, which celebrated its fifth anniversary in April. On the west side of Antonica, the community of Nedaria's Landing experienced unprecedented levels of excitement and activity after the rumors that began in a prior add-on, The Ruins of Kunark, were found to be true. The lost continent of Taelosia had been rediscovered. As you would naturally expect, adventurers from all across Norrath were immediately keen to journey there in search of wealth and glory. However, neither would be achieved easily. The new land, once thought to be peaceful, was now inhabited by the Legion of Mata Muram, a huge, belligerent invasion force bent on wreaking chaos and devastation. Reclaiming it would involve a great and very dangerous expedition.

It's pretty much a consensus opinion among industry observers that older online worlds possess a critical advantage because of their accumulated depth of content. In Gates of Discord, the team emphasized this already considerable strength by adding a lot more, perhaps the most among the various add-ons to date. For instance, it implemented a total of 20 new zones, 10 instanced plus 10 traditional, including a large ship city area, dingy sewers, temple ruins, secret catacombs and vast marshlands. The powerful new Berserker class fits players who enjoy swinging mighty two-handed axes or hurling large objects, and 100 new Alternate Advancement abilities offer further alternatives for characters' skill progression. After having seen the product gain a warm reception from the game's massive community, we turned to Lead Designer Oliver J. Smith and Executive Producer Robert Pfister for the team's perspective.

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The Project Gates of Discord is an expansion pack for all players of EverQuest. Most of the content created for the expansion was designed for high-level players (50+). However, this expansion also introduced many low-level features for everyone to use. The features included a new player class known as the Berserker, Tribute benefits that allow personal enhancements to your character, leadership abilities that enhanced situational awareness, alternate advancement, items / spells / tradeskills / etc., and a continuing storyline that brings players into an all new area of Norrath known as Taelosia.

The title itself comes into play with the storyline that's presented. An army of invaders from the Realm of Discord has breached the portals into Norrath. However, due to unexplained problems, the portal collapses and traps them on the continent of Taelosia. Players must go there, defeat the army of invaders, and help rescue their friends from the Wayfarers Brotherhood.

The Team The EverQuest team is located in sunny San Diego, California. The core members of the team have been involved in designing the game for several years. Many of the designers, programmers and artists have been with the team for the past three years, and have been involved with five or six of the past expansions. The development team itself is roughly 50 members large.

Outside of the development team, there are several departments that have a hand in putting an expansion together. Quality Assurance tests the expansion's content and features to ensure that they are as bug-free as possible. Platform, marketing and PR help get the word out about our product, Ops takes care of all the server / client-side data, Customer Service assists all customers as quickly as possible, and even beyond those teams, there are many other people who lend a hand in putting together a smooth launch.

High-Level Goals The following lists the basic goals of the Gates of Discord expansion pack: - Continue EverQuest's current storyline - Create content for characters of all levels - Introduce a new playable class - Leadership Experience / Abilities - Alternate Advancement - Tribute benefits

From a high concept point of view, the team wanted to put together an expansion that appealed to all level ranges. We wanted to give players the option to gain personal, group or guild advancement by playing within the Gates of Discord.

Additionally, the team wanted to have Gates of Discord stand out from previous expansions by introducing new and exciting features that haven't been seen before. We also wanted to introduce a new threat to the world of Norrath, one that is beyond any members of the pantheon the players have previously encountered.

Development Timeline The overall storyline for EQ is always being developed. Past events, player interactions, storylines, future expansions - everything is always being reviewed to expand on the storyline of EverQuest. There generally is no set beginning and end time for expansion design work. It's an ongoing process to record the past and future events of the world of Norrath!