As the last remnants of 2023 float by like a long-forgotten song on a breeze, I would like to take a stroll through memory lane and recap the year. Like every year, there were ups and downs, and I appreciate all of you being here with us throughout it all.
2024 will be a momentous year for EverQuest, as the game we all know and love celebrates 25 years of development. Not to mention EverQuest II will be celebrating its 20th year! We will not let either celebration go gently into that good night either. We have so many plans, events and more for the Year of Darkpaw: An EverQuest Celebration! But more on this later.
Fundraising for Extra Life was amazing this year, and the in-game bonuses were the highest that have ever been offered. You can still donate towards the individual incentives until December 31, 2023, at 11:45 p.m. PST. Laurion's Song, the 30th expansion, was released last week. With it came a level cap increase to 125, Alternate Personas, new zones, collections, quests, missions, spells, and AAs. Oakwynd, a unique TLP, launched in May amid a flurry of conversations and debates about some of the rules and bonuses available on it. There was content added to many of the in-game events, such as Erollisi Day, Brew Day, Tempest Festival, Stone Cold Summer, and Scorched Sky. New Pride Month metamorphs, UI engine changes, as well as Claws of Veeshan becoming free to all round out the bigger beats of 2023.
I'd like to thank everyone from the beta and test servers for testing the Direct X 11 API port and reporting issues you've found; we are still working on addressing some important bugs and will provide a date for its release once those issues are resolved.
Here is 2023 in a nutshell:
January
Night of Shadows Tier 1 Raids Unlocked
February
New Content for Erollisi Day
Night of Shadows Tier 2 Raids Unlocked
March
Night of Shadows Tier 3 Raids Unlocked
New Content for Brew Day
EverQuest's 24th Anniversary Celebration - New quests and a mission.
Bristlebane Day Returned
Stomples Day Returned
April
Extra Life fundraising and Daybreak Games Super Team page
May
New content for Tempest Festival
New UI engine released
New Evolving Ruleset TLP, Oakwynd, launched
June
New Pride Month Familiars
Hardcore Heritage
New Raid Banner
Claws of Veeshan free for everyone
July
Scorched Sky event, bonuses, and new bags
Coirnav was merged to Vox
August
Living Legacy Raids with new Metamorphs
Extra Life Incentives revealed
New Quests and Mission implemented for Stone Cold Summer
September
DirectX 11 API Port on Test server
October
2023's Expansion Beta + Pre-order
November
First Annual Champion's Festival
Extra Life Game Day
Extra Life in-game bonus week
New Content for Feast of Giving
December
Launch of Laurion's Song - EverQuest's 30th Expansion!
Now back to the Year of Darkpaw: An EverQuest Celebration! We have been thinking up and making ready all sorts of fun things for the entire year. To start things off, beginning on January 1st and continuing until January 31st we'll be giving away a classic style Orc Warrior metamorph wand. New collections will also take you back to some of the most nostalgic zones in EverQuest's history. There will also be a limited time Argent Clockwork Bear Saddle for sale. You'll want to login in January before these things go away. That's not all, we have much more in store for next year so be on the lookout for more to come.
2024 towers above past years,
Jenn Chan
Head of Studio
