I sat down with several EQOA developers while at E3 and discussed both the new Frontiers version of EQOA and other upcoming changes to the game. Sony likes to call this new edition of their MMORPG for the PS2 a second edition rather than an expansion. The reason is that the disk will contain everything that was contained in the original version of EQOA, with quite a few new and enhanced features. Players who have the original version will still be able to play with those who get the new version, but they will be excluded from the new zones and from playing the new race, and will of course not get the other new features packaged on the new disk. From the looks of it, this will be a nice addition to what is already a very good game. So what can you expect to be added with this new addition? Well, before I get to that, I’ll cover what is getting patched in before the new addition. The Sony producers were very eager to point out that many of the most anticipated enhancements are getting patched in over the summer before this disk even gets released. These include new trade skills such as jewelry crafting, armor crafting, weapon crafting, tailoring, and carpentry, a new high level raid zone and new items and quests. The new zone, called the Isle of Dread, is expected to be available in June and will be a high level, multi-group, raid zone the likes of which EQOA has not yet seen. Also being added over the summer is a built in auction feature where players will be able to place items they find or create up for an e-bay style auction. So what is going to be on the actual Frontiers disk? The first thing will be a complete revamp of the graphics engine. The new zones will have more detail in them than the existing ones. What they were showing at E3 looked very good. It doesn’t bring EQOA up to the level of EQ or other PC games, but it gets it a step closer. Plus, it is not just the new zones that will be affected. All of the existing zones will be populated with new flora, to give them a fuller, more realistic feel. The other major graphics change is the revamp of the characters. The new disk will give you far more customization of the look of your character than is now available in EQOA. Moreover, they intend to introduce this in much the same way Luclin was introduced in EQ, letting existing characters get a face change option to change their current appearance to the new models. All in all, everything should look much better with the new engine in place. Two other major changes with the new addition affect the level cap and the skill slots. The current cap of 50 will be raised to level 60 in the new edition. Unlike when they did this in Everquest, the game was designed right from the start with the idea that they would eventually be raising the cap. Thus, the classes and zones were supposedly pre-balanced to take the new cap into consideration. So if you have reached level 50, don’t despair. You will soon be able to go higher. The other major change is the addition of 5 more spell/skill slots. Right now you can only memorize 5 spells or skills, and choosing between what you actually have and what you can quickly use on demand can be very difficult and annoying. Frontiers is going to double this and give everyone 10 slots for memorizing their spells and skills. Personally, I’m almost as excited about that addition as all the other ones put together. As with any expansion – err, second edition – there are going to be lots of new zones, new items, new spells and a brand new race (the Ogre) and class (Alchemist) to play. Alchemist is going to be a class that creates a variety of potions and uses them in much the same manner as the spells of the casting classes. There will also be a new soundtrack. The music will apply to the old zones as well as the new ones. There will be music for battles and situations and also just for ambience as you walk through certain areas. The new zones are geared around two areas. The first set of zones are located around the new race, the Ogres. The lore is that the Ogres feel comfortable enough to venture forth into the world and thus the lands once closed off by them will now become open. Ogres, of course, are an evil race of mostly warrior types, and can generally be described as a large, powerful and not too bright. Players who buy Frontiers will be able to roll up and play new Ogre characters. Expect the city of Oggok to make its first appearance in the world. The other new zones will revolve around the voluntary exodus of the Erudites to their new home in the continent of Odus. For those who know the lore of EQ, this is before the Vah Shir were exiled to the moon Luclin, so there should be plenty of cats to deal with on Odus. I am told that Highbourne will still remain even after the majority of Erudites leave, so those who are playing an Erudite and don’t get Frontiers will still be able to do the current sets of quests. Over the course of the summer, expect there to be events leading up to the Erudite migration. I am told they have a number of things planned. There are also some new zones separate from those two events. There will be at least one Plane that you can enter. The one I was told about was the Plane of Sky, realm of the god Veeshan. This is going to be laid out similar to how the Plane of Sky is in the PC version of Everquest, though I am told that there are going to be some significant differences as well. Basically, it is a string of Islands, each of which requires you to accomplish something in order to move further into the zone. I also expect that the dragon, Lord Nagafen, Everquest’s original master nemesis, will make his appearance in this new version. All in all, there will be a significant amount of high end content added with this addition. If you currently play EQOA, this looks like a nice set of additional features that will really enhance the playing experience. The new graphics look very nice and the new features, especially the level cap and extra spell slots, are well worth the additional costs. Plus, everyone likes new zones, classes, races, quests, items, and so on. More is always better. If you haven’t tried out EQOA yet and are a fan of role playing games, this is definitely something you should consider. Once you have experienced the interactive aspects of multiplayer gaming, those single player games will never feel quite good enough, and on the PS2, you really can’t do any better than EQOA.