So the beta launcher is finally un-betaed! Sony has officially pushed the Station Launcher into the "final version," dropping in voice chat, simplified menus, faster servers for downloads, and the ability to run the launcher without administrative rights as well.

The fun stuff, however, is really contained within the voice update. This new voice, dubbed "station voice," lets you communicate with friends from within the game or outside of the game. Creating a room from outside of the game is done with your in-game character, letting people who are on the station launcher join you, or people inside of the game join your room from the inside, no launcher required.

Plus, the other new features like the upgraded servers that will give more downstream bandwidth for game updates, are certainly nothing to sneeze at.

This doesn't mean that Sony is done with upgrading and changing the launcher, as they've already pledged to continue taking user feedback and pushing that into their product to constantly make a better launcher.

For the full patch notes, check them out on the EverQuest forums, located in this thread.

Sony Online Entertainment Fan Faire 2009 is happening in Las Vegas, and of course they've had a number of things to unveil so far. SOE president John Smedley gave his community address last evening, and other speakers made an appearance as well. We've got a few highlights from SOE Fan Faire 2009 for you:


Smedley jumped right in by talking about the state of the SOE game lineup and some of the new directions they've explored with them in this past year. One of those new directions has been the introduction of Station Cash, and he talked about the growing adoption of Station Cash among SOE game subscribers in EverQuest and EverQuest II, as well as how it will soon be tied into new services and customization options. He announced a partnership with Hewlett-Packard which will allow players to purchase matte print images of art from the games using Station Cash. You'll be able to have your own character rendered in a high-quality art print, or even have your entire guild depicted and sent to you as a hardcopy art book.


On the topic of EverQuest, remember that mention we had of SOE trademarking new EQ properties? It turns out these are the new expansions: EverQuest: Underfoot and EverQuest II: Sentinel's Fate. Smedley kicked off the EQ announcements by reflecting back on 10 years of EverQuest and looking to where the IP is headed in the future. EverQuest II producer Alan "Brenlo" Crosby discussed the game's sixth expansion, Sentinel's Fate, where players will travel to the land of Odus and see what's happened there since The Shattering.

He dropped a few details about this next expansion, slated for a February 2010 launch, and the updates they plan to release between now and Sentinel's Fate. These updates will include the ability to downtier characters, allowing you to go back and replay older content, plus achievements are coming to EverQuest II. In addition, the EQ II level cap will increase by ten levels.

SOE hasn't forgotten about their long-term fans either, those who have stuck with the original EverQuest through the years. EverQuest producer Thomas Terrazas announced the sixteenth EQ expansion, Underfoot, which will launch in November 2009. Underfoot will feature 12-15 zones at launch, with bonus zones and additional content to release in April of 2010. Underfoot will have twice as many weapons as any of the previous 15 expansions, a new focus targeting window (allowing you to add specific targets to your list, monitor health of friends and foes), and achievement tracking that will help players remain aware of the objectives to be completed in their progression path. "In other words," Terrazas said, "you won't have to go looking online on somebody else's website so see what you need. It'll be in-game."

Fan Faire 2009 attendees will get both expansions for free.

Sony Online Entertainment's fantasy MMOs EverQuest and EverQuest II may be due for new expansions if what Kody over at Curse has unearthed holds true. SOE has filed trademarks for two new EQ properties with the US Patent and Trademark Office. They are EverQuest: Underfoot and EverQuest II: Sentinel's Fate.

It's a good find, but more of a tease than anything right now as no further details are available about either expansion. As Curse notes though, SOE Fan Faire is very close, just over a week away, and an announcement could be made then.

Have a look at what Kody has to say about the potential for new EverQuest expansions in his post at Curse.

In recent years, there has been a dramatic increase in the development budgets of new MMOs. To stay ahead of the technological curve, a large portion of the budget invariably goes toward the graphics department. Studios produce impressive graphics engines and mountains of art assets in an effort to make their game one of the most visually impressive out there. Amidst all the fuss over graphics and gameplay, audio is often overlooked and underfunded. It's been shown that good music and sound effects can have a significant impact on the perceived quality of a game. This is something that some development studios recognise and support but many continue to neglect this vital part of the gaming experience.

In this article, I examine the importance of good audio in an MMO and explain the underlying psychology involved.

With the ridiculously low price on EverQuest II this weekend on Steam - you really can't beat $10 for The Shadow Odyssey, especially when it comes with all prior expansions and a month of game time - several folks are headed back to the lands of Norrath again. Hopefully some of them will send in their own One Shots, but for now we have this nice image "overlooking the Vista of Antonica right outside the valley leading to Thundering Steppes" as today's contributor Horgrim the Coercer from the Antonia Bayle server tells us.

Do you have a lovely, peaceful vista from your favorite game? Perhaps you'd like to show us how you're spending your "virtual summer vacation"? If you've got a PRT SCRN button, 15 minutes, an MMO and email, there's no excuse! Snag a cool screenshot and send it to us at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, the name of the game, and a brief description.

From movies and books to computer games, the concept of the sequel is firmly embedded in the entertainment industry. It's usually a much safer bet to make a new part to an existing successful intellectual property than it is to back an untested product. In the games industry, sequels are a great way to make more money from the same game concept but as usual MMOs have proven to be something of a different animal. Subscription MMOs don't conform to the same rules as non-subscription games, favouring recurring orders and longer-term customer commitment over single purchases. While development studios often take sequels for granted, I'm forced to ask whether MMOs should have sequels at all or if a different paradigm is more appropriate.

In this article, I explore the games industry's obsession with repetition as I ask the question "Should MMOs have sequels?"

For those who started their MMO love in EverQuest but have moved on, you may never have experienced the re-imagined spaces updating the world we remember, now residing in EverQuest II. That's why we're glad to see today's foreboding One Shots sent in to us by Jonathan C. He writes in: This shot is what one sees as one enters the "Deep Forge" instance, off Lavastorm in EverQuest II. The Overseer is there waiting for us to come take a crack at him. I just love the atmosphere of EQ2's "fire zones."

We love to see screens from MMOs both big and small, but we need you to send them in! It's really easy to do - just drop an email to oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name and a quick description. We'll post it out here for everyone to check out, and give you the credit.

E3 may be the show on everyone's minds right now, but SOE is doing what they can to make sure that people don't forget that they have their very own event later in the month. They've put up a preview of some of the digital schwag that attendees will receive for coming to SOE Fan Faire 2009, and the new rule this year is that you'lll be able to get one in-game item for each game you have an active account for -- no need to choose just one anymore.

The preview has pictures and some details about the items, and there's one in particular that will probably get the most attention: the Dianoga Dumpster for Star Wars Galaxies players will spit up collection items if fed once a week for a month, and besides that, it just looks kinda cool. Other neat items include a statue of Firiona Vie for EverQuest II, and a flying dragon mount for Vanguard, although, that one might divide people due to its bright pinkish-purple color. Registration for the fan faire is still open, so if you simply must have a pink dragon, now's the time to book.

It's not just new dungeons and adventuring quests that will be hitting EverQuest II in the next big patch, Game Update 52; there'll be plenty for those with a crafting bent as well. Niami Denmother of EQ2 Traders Corner had an early look at some of what will be available and has shared her impressions with the community. We already found out that the player-written books in GU52 will come from crafters, and Niami's preview includes screenshots of a variety of different bindings that can be made (by Sages level 50+, by the way).

There will also be some revamping of crafted hex dolls and ranged items, and the new stats should please most. Existing hex-dolls will be upgraded to the new stats upon logging in after GU52's release, but the ranged items will not, just in case some people like the stat distribution of their current gear. The last thing we get to see in Niami's sneak peek is a screenshot of some player-crafted furniture. SOE was quick to mention that this is not all the new furniture that GU52 holds, but the preview should be enough to get people to dust off their crafting equipment ahead of time. Make sure to check out the screenshots of the other goodies that will be available.

We heard last week that there are going to be a few new zones in EverQuest II's Game Update 52, and now the EQ2 Players community site has a preview of one of them for us to wrap our eyeballs around. The zone in question is Kurn's Tower: Breaching the Void. It's one of the two single-group instances from GU52 and not the x2 raid instance (although the raid instance is also part of Kurn's Tower). In terms of how difficult Breaching the Void will be, the preview tells us that "adventurers who can tackle Miragul's Phylactery: The Crucible should find that Kurn's Tower: Breaching the Void is a good test of their skill."

So what's actually inside? "There are three levels that will need to be conquered and along the way, there will be puppet strings to be cut as well as some other pitfalls. Be sure to bring your parachutes! This is just the beginning of a monumental story, so expect a twist at the end of this dungeon that will lead you onwards and upwards." It sounds like groups will need to work with the Burynai to progress through the dungeon too. There are a few screenshots of the instance available for viewing at the EQ2 Players preview page.

As we found out earlier, Bruce "Froech" Ferguson is no longer the producer for EverQuest II. Before he left though, he penned one last Producer's Letter to the community to discuss some changes to item procs that will be coming with Game Update 52. It seems that items from The Shadow Odyssey that proc damage were getting a little out of hand, and a few nerfs will be applied to keep things under control.

There are two main changes that will be made: firstly, critical damage will be removed from an item's base proc; secondly, the values of procs will not be subject to most modifications any more, meaning that generic bonuses will not make the procs bigger. Ferguson says that if these things are fixed, then items can be introduced later with intentionally large procs without fear of them growing too big through the aforementioned mechanics. In relation to these changes, some Predator spells will also be adjusted.

Aside from item proc issues, the letter still does not tell us where Froech will be headed next, apart from confirming that he will remain in the SOE family.

It looks like it's not just EverQuest that is getting a new producer -- Alan "Brenlo" Crosby, formerly in charge of the Community Relations team, will be assuming the role of Senior Producer for EverQuest II. He made this fact known himself on the official forums, which is fitting considering his previous title. His introductory post explained that, although his current and former jobs technically differ quite a lot, the underlying skills required for both fall under the area of management, so the move wasn't as strange as it might seem to some. He's chuffed about what's coming up in Game Update 52, and he mentioned that Game Update 53 is just as exciting -- but we probably won't see anything about that one for a while yet.

Brenlo will be taking over for Bruce "Froech" Ferguson, who was in the senior producer role for about a year and a half. The forum post does mention that Froech will still be with SOE, but it doesn't reveal where. As for the Community Relations team, Richard "Greeblen" Schmelter will be filling Brenlo's old position.

EverQuest II's Game Update 52: Monument and Might is almost ready to roll out on the Test server, and the official community site has put up a preview of some of the highlights of the patch. There seems to be a focus on the Rise of Kunark areas for this update. Here's what the preview tells us is coming:

• The player-written books we had a look at last month
• A new zone called the Emperor's Athenaeum in Charasis
  
• A group instance called Kurn's Tower: Breaching the Void
• A x2 raid zone also based on Kurn's Tower
• Research Assistants that can upgrade spells and combat arts
• Over 80 new quests in the overland zones of RoK

We spotted a post from Kiara on the forums saying that these things are planned to be on Test next week if possible, so it won't be long until we know a lot more.