You killed your raid content mobs, you topped out your player versus player (PvP) rewards, you leveled to the cap only a month after the last expansion and, in only a few weeks (or days), the newest content addition to the game is coming out; the dreaded expansion.

Most MMOs that offer expansions which increase the level cap cause depreciation of old content. Let me explain. While features or content are not removed, and backwards compatibility is maintained, the content previous to the expansion often becomes obsolete or out of date. There is little reason for players to go through old content when there's obviously a new and better way of doing things.

Blizzard has prepared for Wrath of the Lich King (WotLK) by making previously challenging raid encounters significantly easier, forcing some folks to cry foul as their hard work becomes "cheapened". The drops now pull from the same loot tables as they did before the change, but with significantly less risk and challenge.

So my question to you is, do you care?

Some of the folks on our World of Warcraft board discussed this very thing last week, and the replies, barbed though they were, elicited strong responses on either side.

There's an all new Ring of Scale scenario going on right now in Legends of Norrath. You can log on and play the role of Jaled-Dar, the mighty-flying dragon of the Ring of Scale, until Dec. 15 at 2 p.m. PDT. If you defeat Ganak, you'll win the Visage of the Ice Golem loot card for EQ or Vision of Fury loot card for EQII based on your loot preferences.

In Kunark long ago, the winged dragon lords of the Ring of Scale waged war with the airborne Iksar army mounted on their flying Sokokars. Ganak – son of Atrebe and emperor of the Iksar – met with Jaled-Dar – mighty-winged dragon of the Ring of Scale – in a legendary aerial duel over the Field of Bone. They were both incinerated by magic and fire as a result of this battle. What if one had prevailed? How would history have been changed?

From the patcher:

*** Hotfix ***

*** Tradeskills ***

- Merchant Woad now carries the new energeian supplies.

*** NPCs ***

- Wisps in Oceangreen Hills will no longer assist catapults and should be slightly less common than before.
- Poachers and diseased animals should be more commonly found in Oceangreen Hills.
- Javrik K`Than is no longer immortal.

*** Quests ***

- Fixed a bug with Captain Tillin in Oceangreen Hills. He will now always give out his tasks in order.
- Reanimated Bone Dust should be slightly more common than before.
- Made several tuning changes to the Safe Passage mission.

*** Events ***

- The dwarves in the Showdown at the Crystal Core raid now insist on staying near their post and will no longer chase players too far from their camps.
- The adds in the “Showdown at the Crystal Core” raid will now spawn a bit more quickly. This is to boost the difficulty closer to the intended difficulty.

~ The EverQuest Team

Now that the latest EverQuest expansion, "Seeds of Destruction", is available for all; we'd like  to shine the light on an artist that's done so much to make Norrath so fun to look at. His name is Kevin Lydy and he's a Senior Artist at Sony Online Entertainment. Having worked on many of EverQuest's expansions (as far back as Omens of War), he has a profound understanding of the living, breathing world that we love to much. Below is a brief Q&A with Kevin; check it out!

When did you join the SOE family?
Technically I joined SOE sometime around 2000.  But I’d worked at SISA/SCEA for a number of years prior to that.  A couple of years before that I was working freelance and, along with my good friend Dok Whitson, created the original EverQuest logo.

On the heels of EverQuest's newest expansion launch, we are giving away 10 keys to Seeds of Destruction All-In-One Compilation Packs. These All-In-One Packs feature the base game and all 15 expansion packs, including the all-new Seeds of Destruction (thirty (30) days game time included for new accounts only).

This contest is open to any premium Allakhazam member. Here is how to enter: 

• Go to your Allakhazam user control page .
• Under "Premium Giveaway Options", uncheck the "Opt Out" box.
• Under "Games You Play", check off "EverQuest".
• Click "Save User Settings" and that's it.
  • If you've previously opted into contests, you are already entered for this one.

If you are not a premium member but wish to enter, you can click here to go to our sign-up page and sign up. As a premium member, you not only get access to Allakhazam contests and giveaways, but also features such as advanced item, quest, and bestiary searches; the elimination of ads; as well as a host of other features listed here .

We will draw 10 random winners on Friday, November 7, 2008. Good luck!