Goodbye 2023, Hello 2024!

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. 

Orc Warrior metamorph wand

2024 towers above past years, 

Jenn Chan 
Head of Studio 

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