About a dozen fansite folks milled around excitedly in the Moors of Ykesha as Christine “Kiara” Renzetti summoned us in from all over Norrath for the Beta tour of The Shadow Odyssey.  Moors of Ykesha is the (very) large overland solo-content zone for the expansion.  Current estimates give the number of quests available around 400.  We were greeted by Lindsay Morgan  “Miss Doomcookie” Lockhart, the zone designer and the developer responsible for all the pre-TSO lore at EQII Players.  She told us that the Ykeshan landmass is about the same size as Fens of Nathsar, but there's action in the waters, making it actually larger.  The continent was once attached to the south east of the Desert of Ro, and is where Grobb and Gutka used to be.  It's home to Clan Ykesha and the Rellosian Ogres, who turned from Rallos Zek to Cazic Thule to survive the Greenmist.  It's also home to the Gunthak pirates.  

Morgan also worked on the Signature quest, and tells us it involves some of the toughest zones in the expansion.  At launch there will also be six new Heritage Quests which tie in EverQuest lore, and of course two new Diety quest lines. 

We were joined by Brett “Breb” Schienert as Kiara began taking us through the exciting new group content.  These zones all scale to the level of the first person zoning in (most start at level 50), so remember to mentor down before you zone.  There are a ton of new collection quests, and it was fun watching Niami Denmother scamper from shiny to shiny. 

Last week I had the opportunity to talk with EverQuest II's Producer, Bruce Ferguson, about all the different ways that EverQuest II has evolved over the years. With "The Shadow Odyssey " right around the corner, I found this to be a great topic to share with the community. In the Interview, Bruce shares his thoughts on class balance, tradeskills and how the team continues to keep the game fresh for players. Enjoy the interview and stay tuned for our exclusive expansion coverage, later in the week.

Allakhazam : Hey Bruce, thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy day to sit down with us to talk about the Evolution of EverQuest II. I know everyone on the team is frantically putting the finishing touches on The Shadow Odyssey, so we appreciate it all the more.

Bruce : It's honestly a pleasure. We certainly enjoy the support we get from you guys, and it seems like many of our players do as well!

Allakhazam : It’s been nearly four years since EverQuest II launched. The game has changed a lot. What are some of the most important changes or evolutions to EverQuest II in your mind?

SOE has posted a preview of the zones Lower Guk and Guk Stronghold in the upcoming The Shadow Odyssey expansion, which is expected to be released on Nov. 18.

The preview is full of EverQuest lore and descriptions, including the awakening of Warlord Ykesha by adventuring trolls in Guk Stronghold and the clan of undead trolls and frogloks that fight under his command in Lower Guk.

For the full post, check EQ2 Players or keep reading below.

This just in from SOE!  Take a look at some of the zones coming with EverQuest II's highly anticipated fifth expansion!

After teasing the community mercilessly, Kiara brings us the Official Beta Invite !

Since today is Talk Like a Pirate Day (yeah, we totally planned it this way) the rest of our message will be brought to you in pirate speak!

Aye, please remember that registration int' the beta program does not guarantee admittance, but only puts ye int' the pool from which players will be randomly selected t' take part in the program. Also please remember that takin' part in our beta program means that ye accept the terms o' our Non-disclosure Agreement; e'erythin' included within the software and on the beta forums is co'ard by that agreement until otherwise stated. No aspect o' the beta program may be discussed on any public message shanty men; only on the pri'ate beta section o' the official E'erquest II forums. Ye'll ne'er get me buried booty!

If you don't speak pirate, try this link!