GameGossip: Is EverQuest II going to have the same sort of immersive feel that EverQuest had and if so, why?

We've handcrafted a deep, entertaining world that's alive with characters and adventure. Immersion is one of our central design tenets, and our photorealistic graphic engine and NPC voiceover dialogue are two of the key elements which allow us to achieve that. But ultimately it comes down to quality content that's fun to play, and there is no other gaming company that can match us in that regard.

EverQuest II is set 500 years after events in the original game unfolded. Since the Age of Turmoil, Norrath has seen the Age of War and the Age of Cataclysms. These major events culminated in the Shattering, in which the moon of Luclin exploded and rained devastation down upon the lands. It is a very different world than existed in EverQuest, yet there are many elements that players of both games will find familiar.

EverQuest was a game that defined the MMO genre in many ways, and it's tough to say whether any other game will have as huge an influence. Our focus with EverQuest II is to build on that foundation and expend the marketplace to a new generation of gamers who might never have tried this genre before, so in that sense I believe our game will also be one of the cornerstones of online gaming.

Initially you choose one of four adventure archetypes, or you can dedicate yourself to crafting if you like. As you advance in levels, you make further choices that pick a class and later a subclass which define your abilities. So you might start off as a fighter, then advance to crusader, and then to paladin. We introduce you to basic game elements, then let you advance in a way that feels like a natural progression that makes sense for your character.

We have streamlined our user interface to make it easy for new gamers to understand and use--the goal is that you should be enjoying the game, not struggling with controls. Our tutorial guides players through the basics of interacting with the world and introduces some of the storyline that will be evolving throughout the game. Then we take you to the Isle of Refuge where you will interact with other players and really get a feel for what the game is about. The goal through all of this is to immerse the player into our world and really make the adventure come alive. We intend for new players and veterans alike to be blown away by our game and become enthralled by the Norrath of the future.