After arguing that they should shut down EQ1 (a point, as I said in comments, more directed towards change for the better than an actual desire to see Norrath die), I’m really happy to see EQ2 getting major revamps. I’m very impressed with the way SOE has handled Everquest 2’s development in the last six months. After all the additions they’ve already made, they’re now rolling out hardcore PvP rules-set servers and a complete revamp to the way that character creation is handled. Combined, these are changes approaching the level of the Combat Upgrade in Star Wars Galaxies.

The PVP servers will go online about the same time as the Kingdom of Sky expansion is released and the servers are merged. While I’m still firmly rooted in Azeroth, I’m definately going to roll a new character on one of the PvP servers to try out the new chargen and Player vs. Player combat.

The new chargen, if you haven’t already read the details, essentially strips out the waiting period on your endgame character class. Instead of starting with a general class and taking two steps to reach your final role, you’re going to be able to pick your class from the start (ala EQ1). This will allow players to more fully try out character classes from the start, and should lead to more diverse groups even at low levels.

Chris Kramer mentioned the chance to get a preview of some of this stuff, and I’m hoping I get to. Very interested in seeing it in action. Good work again, SOE.