As we began 2023, Night of Shadows was fresh content for EQ, and in EQ2, we were still working through Renewal of Ro. 

With the release of the Roadmaps at the start of the year, it gave a hint of some big headlines coming to both games. 

Several of those announcements in the roadmaps for both games made our top ten, including the first entry in our countdown.

Number 10 : New UI Engine for EverQuest

The User Interface for EverQuest is a complex hodgepodge of features added over the last 25 years, and to be honest, it needed some work.

So it was a surprise when Jenn Chan revealed in the roadmap the endeavor to rework the back end User Interface Engine for the game.

This is a kind of a multi year plan. First, let’s get everything into the UI engine.

Jenn Chan

Different parts of the UI have been ported over the last year, and it paves the way for the *possibility* of a new UI in the future. 

Number 9 : Extra Life Fundraiser

Over the last few years Daybreak and Darkpaw have been involved with the Extra Life fundraising campaign. The event was such a success in late 2022 with highly sought-after in-game incentives, that the Darkpaw Team went all in for 2023.

More individual and collective in game incentives were announced, and the team was so successful they added stretch goals to extend beyond their initial goals. And the community responded.

In all, Darkpaw Games along with their streaming partners managed to raise over $130,000 for the Extra Life charity for Children’s Miracle Network.

Number 8 : Revelation of EverQuest: Dungeons

An entirely new EverQuest game was in development, but was later scrapped. And I’m not talking about EverQuest Next.

EverQuest Dungeons was the name given to a secret, but now canceled game set in the EverQuest universe. We learned of the game through the artist behind some of the concept art developed at the start of the game’s development in 2017 and 2018.

When asked about the project, Daybreak commented saying:

Number 7 : Darkpaw Swag Store

After initially being announced in the 2022 EverQuest II roadmap, the Darkpaw Swag Store officially arrived in 2023!

It was first teased in our interview with Jenn Chan on The EverQuest Show.

Initially the store has only had EverQuest II items, as a way to show EQ2 a bit more attention in the merchandise area, but expectations are that this swag store could become the location for the future.

Number 6 : Tradeskill Depot Exploit

In late 2023, the economies of many of the servers took a dramatic hit when an exploit involving the Tradeskill Depot became widespread. 

Duplication of items using the Tradeskill depot came to a head over the Thanksgiving holiday, which complicated the response from Darkpaw and its communication of how it handled the exploit.

In the end, offenders were banned and Darkpaw released a statement on the Tradeskill Depot Issue, but by that point the economies of some of the newer servers like Oakwynd had taken a severe hit.

Number 5 : Ballads of Zimara – 20th Expansion for EQ2

While it wasn’t a shock that a new EverQuest 2 expansion was released in 2023, the milestone 20th expansion for the EverQuest sequel makes for the number 5 spot on our countdown.

The expansion launched in November and has overall received positive reviews. The art and style of the expansion has been overwhelmingly player-approved, along with a more casual balance to the expansion.

Raids are still on the way for Ballads of Zimara in 2024,  

Number 4 : Year of Darkpaw Announcement

The excitement over the 25th anniversary has been building for some time and the official word was that big plans were in store.

At the end of 2023 we got a surprise Producer’s Letter announcing that 2024 would be The Year of Darkpaw: An EverQuest Celebration.

With EverQuest celebrating 25 years and EQ2 approaching 20 years at the end of 2024, the plans should be big.

We’ve already gotten a taste of what’s ahead, with regular rewards available for logging characters in at various times throughout the year, as well as new content, collections and more.

But most hopefully, we’re still waiting on a big announcement for how Darkpaw is celebrating the anniversary. My hope is for a real life fan event, but as of yet, no announcements and time is running short.

But whatever is planned or announced you can be sure The EverQuest Show will be there to cover the entire Year of Darkpaw!

Number 3 : Oakwynd Time locked Progression Server

The arrival of a new TLP server is now the highlight of each year for EverQuest players, especially those that enjoy the TLP playstyle.

And this year, Oakwynd started making waves before it was even fully announced.

In an EverQuest Show exclusive, Jenn Chan first teased the TLP by giving us a small hint of what was to come.

Then the server information was announced, with Oakwynd as the server name, and an evolving ruleset that included some new ideas. 

With each expansion, a new perk or modifier would be unlocked. The server would also have Encounter locking as well as a Legacy character experience bonus for max level characters on that account.

On May 24th the server launched. The encounter locking and legacy experience have certainly been an interesting addition to EQ, and the evolving ruleset adds another intriguing aspect to the expansion unlocks.

Number 2 : Laurion’s Song/Alternate Personas – 30th Expansion for EQ

After years of Nostalgic expansion revisits, we visit some place fairly new with EverQuest’s 30th expansion. Laurion’s Song has a very smart mix of new content, lore-based review of places we’ve sort of been before or know about, along with recapturing a feeling of how old EQ felt.

It’s a brilliant balance that for the most part has received positive reviews among players. 

Not to mention the art style which has been the stand out for this year’s expansions for both EQ and EQ2.

But along with the content for Live players comes something for all players including those on TLPs. The addition of Alternate Personas. The ability to create different classes for your individual character, while retaining things like achievements, tradeskills and flagging.

Though the feature encountered some difficulties in Beta, it appears to be working smoothly now and it has its place in the playstyle of Live players and TLP players alike.

Number 1 : Franchise announcement from Ji Ham

Late summer brings a usual quieter time in the cycle of EverQuest information release.

But not this year. The most significant news about the EverQuest franchise in recent year came from an investor presentation by the CEO of EG7. EG7 is the company that owns Daybreak Games Company, and it’s subset partner studios that develop games and manage their live services, like Darkpaw Games.

In that investor presentation, Ji Ham announced the plans for developing franchises for the future of their gaming assets. At the top of the list and of great value to the company was the EverQuest franchise, with a promise of a commitment to keep the games healthy, funded and active.

But the biggest take away was a plan to develop the next installment in the franchise of EverQuest. A potential new MMO to be developed over the next few years, with a target date of 2028 or later.

Any potential new EQ game information is always met with hesitation and skepticism, especially given the track record with EverQuest Next and the revelation of EverQuest Dungeons, but news of franchise expansion is some of the most exciting news to come to Norrath in recent memory.