Launch Dates and some teasers about these popular games!

EverQuest, Everquest II, EverQuest Next, and DC Universe Online ... we've got the scoop from last night's welcome reception!

I swear, if one more person asked about EverQuest Next, I was going to start screaming! Most of the information for these popular SOE titles were content release dates and promises of more to come tonight. Rest assured, ZAM will be there to cover it!

On the transition to F2P and EverQuest: John Smedley, president of Sony Entertainment Online, announced that the trandition to F2P had served the EQ series amazingly. EQ's unique IP log-ins per day have gone up 50% since the transition, while EQ2's unique daily log-ins have rised 300%.

SOE Player Studio: SOE will (as of 10/19/12) be accepting custom, user-created items and designs, giving the user 40%, and actually buy the license to use the item from the user themselves, meaning the user will own the item legally and be paid for their work if it is used by SOE. Currently only items for EQ and EQII are being accepted.

EverQuest: Rain of Fear will be released on November 28th.

EverQuest II: Chains of Eternity will be released on November 13th.

DCUO's new DLC: Home Turf was announced last night. It will be released in early 2013, and is the largest DLC to date. A partial list of features is in the screenshot below; the DLC's main focus right now seems to be player housing, which will be open to duels with other players. More information can be found in the official DCUO press release!

EverQuest Next: The crowd waited in breathless anticipation for Smedley to unveil the news about the next EQ game. Fans expecting new screenshots or even a trailer were met with something quite different.

... Crickets chirping.

Smedley went through some of the teaser images that had been shown previously for the game and said "We blew these up." The team decided to scrap everything they had done, because while the new game would have been "slightly better than what came before," it was in danger of becoming "EverQuest III, not EverQuest Next." He attempted to comfort disappointed fans by informing them that the game is slated to be the largest sandbox MMO ever created and by the next Fan Fair, SOE will have a hands-on demonstration. EQ Next looks to be SOE planting a flag in the ground for its vision of the MMO genre in general.

ZAM's Editor in Chief, Scott Hawkes, spoke to John Smedley today about EQ Next and its scope is exciting. Smedley talked about how far the sandbox of EQ Next would go, including players being able to destroy large parts of the game's landscape.

Keep an eye on ZAM for more of that one on one interview direct from SOE Live in Las Vegas.