We are into Q4, the traditional time frame for expansions from three of the Daybreak fantasy MMORPGs.  LOTRO had their full announcement and pre-order kickoff two weeks back.  Now it is time for EverQuest, the elder game in the Daybreak stable, which  yesterday announced that the thirty-second expansion for the game, Shattering of Ro, was up and available for pre-order.

The lore behind the expansion is explained as follows:

Druzzil Ro is dead! Adventurers stand accused. Rampant storms of broken magic sweep across Norrath.

Primordial tempers flare and battle lines are drawn as an enraged Solusek Ro invades the Plane of Growth. Rallos Zek and Innoruuk have already joined the invasion, but Tunare does not stand alone. Mithanial Marr has come to her aid while Quellious seeks an altogether different alternative to war. Amidst this turmoil, the rest of the pantheon watches and waits, but there is an ominous silence from the Underfoot.

Planar conflict seems inevitable as the gods rally their allies and followers. Will you heed their call to either uncover the truth behind these catastrophic events or fan the flames of war?

It sounds like we’re back to the planes, an ever fruitful and influential aspect of EverQuest and Norrath.

The high level features for the expansion follow a pattern now as familiar as the planes themselves.

• Level cap increase to 130! – Gain a new level of power for your characters.
• 6 Expansion Zones – Experience new zones in the Planes. Experience a plane under war, a plane destroyed by disaster, and more planes involved in the conspiracy.
• New Raids, Quests, Collections, and Missions
• New Spells, Combat Abilities, and AAs
• New race and class combination: Vah Shir Druid – For the first time, Vah Shir can be Druids! Balance is their song, the wilds their choir, the moon their guide—the Vah Shir druid calls, and the spirits answer…
• 2 Additional Shared Bank Slots – More space in your bank to share items among your characters.

The level cap increase has become a matter of course, an accepted aspect of the expansion cycle, though EQ expansions do still land without one, as last year’s The Outer Brood did.  But AAs and gear stats increases never satisfy the way raw levels do.  Also, EQ has a… different… relationship with character boosts.  You can only boost to level 100.

New zones, raids, quests, collections, missions, spells, abilities, and AAs though, those are all par for the course, a required element of an expansion at this point.

A new race and class combo… well, I guess that is becoming a regular thing.  Last year we got DarkElf rangers.  This year Vah Shir druids.  Now I feel like I need to go through the race/class combo grid to see what might be in store for next year.

Two additional bank slots though… that sounds trivial but is probably the biggest crowd pleaser in the pack.  With the game coming up on its 27th year and with how many players are pack rats, storage space is always on the wish list.  I recall Holly Longdale at one point describing how the database team groans every time they want to add more inventory to character accounts.  They didn’t put up a big enough fight this time I guess.  Yay for us!

Pricing for the expansion remains the same.

• Standard Edition – $35
  • Expansion Content
  • 2 Additional Shared Bank Slots
  • Pre-Order only: Shattered Weapon Ornament
• Collector’s Edition – $70
• Standard Edition items plus:
  • Goblet of Adventure III
  • Shattering of Ro Painting
  • Stormrider’s Rucksack
  • Runed Strong Box
  • Spectral Horse Saddle
  • Metamorph Wand: Cloth Butterfly
  • Contract of Candlefolk (one per character)
  • Tunare’s Lily (one per character)
• Premium Edition – $140
• Collector’s Edition items plus:
  • Goblet of Adventure III
  • Shattering of Ro Painting
  • Stormrider’s Rucksack
  • Runed Strong Box
  • Spectral Horse Saddle
  • Metamorph Wand: Cloth Butterfly
  • Perfected Augmentation Distillers
  • Shared Goblet of Adventure III
  • Giant Bee Saddle
  • Metamorph Wand: Magic Storm
  • Visage of the Candlefolk
  • Mithaniel Marr’s Strategy Table (one per character)
• Family and Friends – $250
• Premium Edition items plus:
  • Tradable: Shattering of Ro standard edition expansion
  • Tradable: Level 100 Heroic Character
  • Tradable: Spectral Horse Saddle
  • Tradable: Giant Bee Saddle
  • Tradable: Runed Strong Box
  • Overseer Agent Pack Overseer Agent Pack
  • Rodcet Nife Heritage Crate
  • Race Change Scroll

As in past years, the Family and Friends package is primarily distinguished by the inclusion of an in-game tradable copy of the expansion itself, as well as other in-game tradable items including a level 100 character boost, in addition to a few special additions to sweeten the deal.

If you’re a long time player who keeps current with the content on live, you have some options, from a reasonably priced content only box to something with all the goodies.

In addition to the special pre-order only cosmetic item, a pre-order purchase also buys you into access to the expansion beta.

There was a time when I though EverQuest might pack in the whole expansion thing at around the ten year anniversary.  Now we’re coming up on the 27th anniversary and the expansion train appears to be carrying on.  It is a bit formulaic at this point, but if they are able to sell $250 copies, it is clearly still working.

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