Editing EverQuest II (section)

==History==
[[File:E3 2006 medusa costume.jpg|thumb|Promotion at [[E³ 2006|E3 2006]]]]
SOE markets ''EverQuest II'' not as a direct sequel, but as a "parallel universe" to the original ''EverQuest''. It is set in an alternate future of the original game's setting, having diverged at the conclusion of [[EverQuest: The Planes of Power|the ''Planes of Power'']] expansion (the lore is explained in an in-game book). This allows both development teams to pursue whatever direction they want to take without impacting the other, and allows players of the original ''EverQuest'' to continue receiving updates without forcing players down a specific path. In that sense, they are two completely separate games bound together by name only. Players of the original ''EverQuest'' will find many familiar places and characters, as well as "heritage items" that are similar in name and function to items known from ''EverQuest'' and can be gained via heritage quests.

In Europe, the game was published by [[Ubisoft]], followed by [[Koch Media]]. As of 2010 it lacks any European publisher and is distributed in Europe only as a digital download.

In February 2005, ''EverQuest II'' ran a promotion with [[Pizza Hut]] to allow players to order pizza from within the game. Players could type "/pizza" into the chat bar, which would open the online ordering section of the Pizza Hut website.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://everquest2.station.sony.com/pizza/ |title=EverQuest II - /pizza |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050428085144/http://everquest2.station.sony.com/pizza/ |archive-date=April 28, 2005}}</ref> This promotion has since ended, but generated significant press for the game.

In June 2005, SOE introduced [[Station Exchange]] to ''EverQuest II''. Station Exchange is an official auction system - only on designated servers - allowing real money to be transferred for in-game money, items or characters.

In March 2006, SOE ended its [[EverQuest II: East|Chinese/Korean operations]] for ''EverQuest II'', which were supported in the region by [[Gamania]]. The beta period for the game in China/Korea ended on 29 March, and on 30 March, all Chinese/Korean accounts were moved to the US servers of the game.

''EQuinox'', an official magazine of ''EverQuest II'' published by SOE, was released on August 9, 2007.

In December 2008, SOE introduced Station Cash, a [[virtual economy|real-money trading]] (RMT) feature.

In January 2009, SOE together with Valve made ''EverQuest II'' available on [[Steam (service)|Steam]].<ref>As reported on eq2players.com [http://eq2players.station.sony.com/news_archive_content.vm?month=012009&id=2043 eq2players.com news archive]{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref>

In July 2010, SOE released a separate version of ''EverQuest II'' called ''EverQuest II Extended'', a free to play version of the game funded by micro-transactions or optional subscription play. The free to play version was run on a separate server from the subscription servers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://everquest2.com/free_to_play/extended_faq|title=EverQuest II Extended FAQ|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100922093217/http://everquest2.com/free_to_play/extended_faq|archive-date=2010-09-22}}</ref>

By November 2011, ''EverQuest II'' was going free to play following a similar path as ''EverQuest II Extended''. As of the following month, with the release of GU62 and ''Age of Discovery'', ''EverQuest II'' was updated from being a subscription based game to a free to play title with optional subscription.

Later, in February 2015, SOE's parent corporation, Sony Computer Entertainment, sold the studio to investment company Columbus Nova and it was rebranded as Daybreak Game Company, which continues to develop and publish ''EverQuest''.

At the end of October 2012, ''Krono'' was added as an experiment. ''Krono'' works like the ''Plex'' currency in ''[[Eve Online|EVE Online]]'': it allows players to buy an in-game item for real money that adds 30 days of Gold subscription to the account. ''Krono'' can also be traded between players, sold via the Broker or gifted to another player's account. ''Krono'' is also a much safer way of purchasing game time than purchasing SC cards from players in the game, which may or may not sell a valid code for the players.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.everquest2.com/news/article?month=102012&id=51436|title=Krono are Now Available!|date=30 October 2012}}</ref>

===Audio===
A small number of NPCs use actual voices. The actors used for these parts included [[Hollywood (film industry)|Hollywood]] stars such as [[Heather Graham]] (as Queen Antonia Bayle), [[Christopher Lee]] (as Overlord Lucan D'Lere) and [[Minnie Driver]] (as 'Dancer'). [[Wil Wheaton]], [[Dwight Schultz]], [[Richard Horvitz]], [[Alan Dale]] and [[Danica McKellar]] are also part of the cast. According to SOE, in October 2004, ''EverQuest II'' featured 130 hours of spoken dialog recorded by 266 voice actors.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0428505/fullcredits?ref_=ttfc_ql_1 |title = EverQuest II (Video Game 2004) - Full Cast & Crew - IMDb|website = [[IMDb]]}}</ref> More dialog has been added since release as part of regular game updates. In September 2005, ''[[EverQuest II: Desert of Flames]]'' added player voice emotes. It also features voice actors [[Peter Renaday]], [[Colleen O'Shaughnessey]], and [[Nick Jameson]].

The music for the game, over ninety minutes' worth, was composed by [[Emmy]]-award-winning composer [[Laura Karpman]] and recorded by the FILMharmonic Orchestra Prague under her direction. Karpman said that every place has a theme, its own separate, unique feeling - from a quasi-African savanna to a Babylonian city. Their goal was to bring a cinematic feel in the music. Purchasers of the ''EverQuest II'' Collector's Edition received a soundtrack CD as part of the package. The expansions, ''Echoes of Faydwer'' and ''Rise of Kunark'', included many themes from the corresponding zones in the original ''EverQuest'', arranged by [[Inon Zur]]. With the ''Rise of Kunark'' expansion came a major update to the combat music. A new system was added with 14 contextual combat themes. The strength of the enemy or enemies and tide of the battle determine the tone of the combat music. The previous combat music consisted of just a few linear pieces.

===Expansions===
{{main|EverQuest II expansions}}
{|class="wikitable sortable"
! #
! Title
! Type
! Release date
|- bgcolor=#ffffdd
| - ||data-sort-value="Bloodline Chronicles"|''[[EverQuest II expansions#The Bloodline Chronicles|The Bloodline Chronicles]]'' || Adventure Pack || {{dts|2005-03-21}}
|- bgcolor=#ffffdd
| - ||data-sort-value="Splitpaw Saga"| ''[[EverQuest II expansions#The Splitpaw Saga|The Splitpaw Saga]]'' || Adventure Pack || {{dts|2005-06-28}}
|- bgcolor=#ddffdd
| 1 || ''[[EverQuest II: Desert of Flames|Desert of Flames]]'' || Expansion || {{dts|2005-09-13}}
|- bgcolor=#ddffdd
| 2 || ''[[EverQuest II: Kingdom of Sky|Kingdom of Sky]]'' || Expansion || {{dts|2006-02-21}}
|- bgcolor=#ffffdd
| - ||data-sort-value="Fallen Dynasty"| ''[[EverQuest II expansions#The Fallen Dynasty|The Fallen Dynasty]]'' || Adventure Pack || {{dts|2006-06-14}}
|- bgcolor=#ddffdd
| 3 || ''[[EverQuest II: Echoes of Faydwer|Echoes of Faydwer]]'' || Expansion || {{dts|2006-11-14}}
|- bgcolor=#ddffdd
| 4 || ''[[EverQuest II: Rise of Kunark|Rise of Kunark]]'' || Expansion || {{dts|2007-11-13}}
|- bgcolor=#ddffdd
| 5 ||data-sort-value="Shadow Odyssey"| ''[[EverQuest II: The Shadow Odyssey|The Shadow Odyssey]]'' || Expansion || {{dts|2008-11-18}}<ref name="TSO">{{cite web|url=http://eq2players.station.sony.com/news_archive_content.vm?id=1851|title=EverQuest II Players - The Shadow Odyssey|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080819000651/http://eq2players.station.sony.com/news_archive_content.vm?id=1851|archive-date=2008-08-19}}</ref>
|- bgcolor=#ddffdd
| 6 || ''[[EverQuest II: Sentinel's Fate|Sentinel's Fate]]'' || Expansion || {{dts|2010-02-16}}<ref name="sentinels">{{cite web|url=http://everquest2.station.sony.com/expansions/sentinelsfate/index.vm|title=Sentinels Fate -new expansion announced|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090629060215/http://everquest2.station.sony.com/expansions/sentinelsfate/index.vm|archive-date=2009-06-29}}</ref>
|- bgcolor=#ddffdd
| 7 || ''[[EverQuest II: Destiny of Velious|Destiny of Velious]]'' || Expansion || {{dts|2011-02-21}}
|- bgcolor=#DDE1FF
| 8 || ''[[EverQuest II: Age of Discovery|Age of Discovery]]'' || Feature Expansion|| {{dts|2011-12-06}}
|- bgcolor=#ddffdd
| 9 || ''[[EverQuest II: Chains of Eternity|Chains of Eternity]]'' || Expansion || {{dts|2012-11-13}}
|- bgcolor=#ddffdd
| 10 || ''[[EverQuest II: Tears of Veeshan|Tears of Veeshan]]'' || Expansion || {{dts|2013-11-12}}
|- bgcolor=#ddffdd
| 11 || ''[[EverQuest II: Altar of Malice|Altar of Malice]]'' || Expansion || {{dts|2014-11-11}}<ref name="aom">{{cite web|url=http://massively.joystiq.com/2014/08/15/soe-live-2014-everquest-iis-altar-of-malice-expansion-includes/|title=SOE Live 2014: EverQuest II's Altar of Malice expansion and a new playable race|access-date=2014-09-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141011220755/http://massively.joystiq.com/2014/08/15/soe-live-2014-everquest-iis-altar-of-malice-expansion-includes|archive-date=2014-10-11|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|- bgcolor=#ffffdd
| - || ''[[EverQuest II expansions|Rum Cellar]]'' || Adventure Pack || {{dts|2015-04-28}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://eq2wire.com/2015/04/21/rum-cellar-highlights-what-you-need-to-know/ |publisher=EQ2Wire |title=Rum Cellar Highlights: What You Need to Know |date=April 21, 2015 |access-date=November 3, 2018 |author=Feldon}}</ref>
|- bgcolor=#ddffdd
| 12 || ''[[EverQuest II: Terrors of Thalumbra|Terrors of Thalumbra]]'' || Expansion || {{dts|2015-11-17}}
|- bgcolor=#ddffdd
| 13 || ''[[EverQuest II: Kunark Ascending|Kunark Ascending]]'' || Expansion || {{dts|2016-11-15}}
|- bgcolor=#ddffdd
| 14 || ''[[EverQuest II: Planes of Prophecy|Planes of Prophecy]]'' || Expansion || {{dts|2017-11-28}}
|- bgcolor=#ddffdd
| 15 || ''[[EverQuest II: Chaos Descending|Chaos Descending]]'' || Expansion || {{dts|2018-11-13}}
|- bgcolor=#ddffdd
| 16 || ''[[EverQuest II: Blood of Luclin|Blood of Luclin]]'' || Expansion || {{dts|2019-12-17}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://massivelyop.com/2019/11/27/daybreak-announces-december-launch-dates-for-everquests-torment-of-velious-and-everquest-iis-blood-of-luclin/ |title=Daybreak announces December launch dates for EverQuest's Torment of Velious and EverQuest II's Blood of Luclin |date=November 27, 2019 |author=Royce, Bree |access-date=November 30, 2019 |website=Massively Overpowered}}</ref>
|- bgcolor=#ddffdd
| 17 || ''[[EverQuest II: Reign of Shadows|Reign of Shadows]]'' || Expansion || {{dts|2020-12-15}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.everquest2.com/news/ros-launch-date-key-art-2020 |title=Reign of Shadows launches December 15! |date=December 1, 2020 |access-date=December 1, 2020 |website=EverQuest II Official Website}}</ref>
|- bgcolor=#ddffdd
| 18 || ''[[EverQuest II: Visions of Vetrovia|Visions of Vetrovia]]'' || Expansion || {{dts|2021-12-01}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.everquest2.com/news/visions-of-vetrovia-release-date |title=Are You Ready for Visions of Vetrovia? |date=November 17, 2021 |access-date=November 25, 2021 |website=EverQuest II Official Website}}</ref>
|- bgcolor=#ddffdd
| 19 || ''[[EverQuest II: Renewal of Ro|Renewal of Ro]]'' || Expansion || November 30, 2022<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.everquest2.com/news/eq2-producers-letter-september-2022 |title=EverQuest II Producer's Letter September 2022 |author=Chan, Jenn |date=September 27, 2022 |accessdate=October 5, 2022 |website=EverQuest II Official Website}}</ref>
|- bgcolor=#ddffdd
| 20 || ''[[EverQuest II expansions|Ballads of Zimara]]'' || Expansion || November 29, 2023<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.everquest2.com/news/eqii-producers-letter-100323 |title=EverQuest II Producer's Letter 2023 |author=Chan, Jenn |date=October 4, 2023 |accessdate=October 4, 2023 |website=EverQuest II Official Website}}</ref>
|- bgcolor=#ddffdd
| 21 || ''[[EverQuest II expansions|Scars of Destruction]]'' || Expansion || November 20, 2024<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.everquest2.com/news/eq2-sod-launch-date |title=Scars of Destruction will be launching soon! |date=November 6, 2024 |accessdate=January 18, 2024 |website=EverQuest II Official Website}}</ref>
|}

With ''EverQuest II'', [[Sony Online Entertainment]] introduced the concept of Adventure Packs (an innovation created by [[Sean Kauppinen]], who was the head of international Product PR at the time). Adventure Packs are meant to be smaller "mini-expansions" to the game, adding a plot line with several zones, new creatures and items to the game via digital download. These smaller Adventure Packs come with a smaller fee ranging from [[US$]]4.99 to US$7.99, but recently the development team has decided to release free zones and content instead of making adventure packs. Some recent releases include a new starting city, Neriak, with a new starting race, Arasai;<ref name="GU35">{{cite web|url=http://eq2players.station.sony.com/game_updates_details.vm?id=35|title=EverQuest II Players - Game Update #35|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011094551/http://eq2players.station.sony.com/game_updates_details.vm?id=35|archive-date=2007-10-11}}</ref> and new high level dungeons, The Throne of New Tunaria<ref name="Throne_preview">{{cite web|url=http://www.igxe.com/news/game-news-1232.html|title=EverQuest II: Game Update 36 Peek and Screenshots - igxe.com}}</ref> and the Estate of Unrest.<ref name="GU32">{{cite web|url=http://eq2players.station.sony.com/game_updates_details.vm?id=32|title=EverQuest II Players - Game Update #32|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011101509/http://eq2players.station.sony.com/game_updates_details.vm?id=32|archive-date=2007-10-11}}</ref>

Similar to other games, expansions can be bought in stores or downloaded through a digital service. The retail versions often come packaged with a bonus feature such as a creature that the player can put in their in-game house. Expansions generally introduce many new zones with new plot lines, features, creatures, items, cities and often come with a boost in the level cap or a new player race. Currently, all players have been given the expansions preceding ''Destiny of Velious'' as part of the base game. Access to levels above 92 and their respective zones require the purchase of the ''Tears of Veeshan'' expansion, which includes the previous ''Chains of Eternity'' expansion. Free to Play accounts have access to the same areas as subscription accounts, but have certain restrictions in place. Many of the free to play restrictions have been removed, including bag slot restrictions, coin restrictions, quest journal limits, race and class restrictions, and gear restrictions, but other restrictions such as the inability to buy or sell items on the broker as a free player, having spell tier restrictions, and being unable to move the alternate advancement slider remain.

* ''[[EverQuest II: East]]'' was created for the East Asian market (mainland China, Taiwan, South Korea) but it was terminated as a separate edition on 29 March 2006. ''EverQuest II: East'' players were moved to standard servers. The special character models created for the game had already been included in the standard edition as a client-side option since 2005.
* ''EverQuest II Extended'' - in early 2010, Sony Online Entertainment consulted the ''EverQuest II'' player population to determine the extent of support for adding a free-to-play model to ''EverQuest II''. The resulting product, ''EverQuest II Extended'', was unveiled in the summer at FanFaire 2010. A significant game update coincided with the beta release of ''EverQuest II Extended'', which revamped the game's user interface and newbie experience and revised many of the previous rules related to character creation. In December 2011, free-to-play access was added to the existing ''EverQuest II Extended'' servers and the former ''EverQuest II Extended'' Freeport server was added among them.

===Scholarly research===
''EverQuest II'' has been used by academics to study a variety of phenomena; for example, that virtual economic behavior in ''EverQuest II'' follows real-world patterns in terms of production, consumption and money supply;<ref>Castronova, E, Williams D, Shen C, Ratan R, Xiong L, Huang Y, Keegan B. 2009. As real as real? Macroeconomic behavior in a large-scale virtual world New Media & Society. 11:685-707.</ref> and observations that less than one percent (0.43%) of all the players are Platinum Farmers and more than three quarters (77.66%) of all Platinum Farmers are Chinese.<ref>Muhammad Aurangzeb Ahmad, Brain Keegan, Jaideep Srivastava, Dmitri Williams, Noshir Contractor, “Mining for Gold Farmers: Automatic Detection of Deviant Players in MMOGS” Proceedings of the 2009 IEEE Social Computing (SocialCom-09). Symposium on Social Intelligence and Networking (SIN-09). Vancouver, Canada, August 29–31, 2009.</ref>