Aproximately one and a half week into the expansion most of our guild have breached the level 70 barrier, and without further ado, our exploration of discord commenced tonight within the Muramite Proving grounds. So far these guild trials have proven themselves to be highly innovative, offering both a challenging and enjoyable raid event. Our first completed trial was the test of specialization which was completed sans too much adversity on our second attempt, though admittedly, the lockout timer on these trials can be somewhat of an annoyance. Shortly thereafter we attempted the trial of power, and I think that I speak for the entire guild when I proclaim this to be one of the best encounters ever made in Everquest history. Play nice policies definitely come into play as you attempt to best a guild equipped in full old world planar armour and their original epic weapons. Sadly these remnants of a lost age proved to be beyond our abiLities tonight, though hopefully we can prove worthy adversaries should we meet anew. The test of adaption was next on our agenda, and already some tendencies from the GoD expansion became evident as we bested our second trial of the day.

New epic quests were also introduced with the Omens of War expansion, and like many a guild we have gotten a few of them completed, namely the Shaman, Wizard and Beast Lord one. Zorrbald has also wielded his new weaponary, though I had not been able to catch him online for a brief photo session, thus we will have to manage without the latest iksar fashion.

In lieu of the anticipated Omens of War patch, six of us toyed with the idea of making a dedicated exp team attempting to reach level 70 in the shortest amount of time possible. Once obtaining the first level we decided to continue our session as long as the experience gained remained somewhat equivalent to the starting amount. Personally I would never have expected myself to have the endurance to complete such a task, though as the night passed by, we found ourselves still online, the result being Mitnick, Bendail, Nineveh, Myrian, Missbailey and Frezzer being the first six to adorn themselves with the Omens class title, respectively listed in chronological order.

In the red corner, still undefeated after 785 encounters serverwide, the warden of the north, the taelosian roadblock, the phonetical impossibility, Pixxt Kretv Kraxt!

As we draw nearer to yet another everquest expansion, I would like to take a brief minute reflecting upon the most recent one, namely the Gates of Discord. Despite the arduous critic it has received, supposedly being the direct cause of Afterlife, Fires of Heaven and similar guilds throwing in their towels, the taelosian continent has definitely had its moments.

Initially, the idea of deeming six trials a necessity for zoning into Kod'Taz were far from trailblazing following the flagging tradition of the Planes of Power. However it seems fairly obvious that several tuning issues were overlooked when you consider the fact that upon release, merely warriors had the ability to tank these trials, and obviously a cleric to keep up with the healing required. An enchanter present would also increase the rate of success, leaving half the group open to the various classes in need of the trial in question.

Once having gained access to Kod'Taz, these necesseties became more evident, in some cases actually depending on two clerics and two warriors for certain single group events in the zone. Though when a guild became eligible for raid events, the first two were quite entertaining, yet the third trial soon became the complete reciprocal. The test of transcendence was far from finished, and who can forget the infamous brawn, intelligence, wisdom messages that supposedly was more than ample information in order to unlock the mysteries of this event.

Uqua sadly became the next bottleneck, far from remotely possible, guilds were oblitterated seconds post of zoning in, and eventually this was the most obvious cause of dismay amongst the users, causing a mass exodus from the game, and continuous praise for the upcoming Blizzard title, World of Warcraft.

Qvic was a rather refreshing change, no initial bugs, and quite an original encounter found in Cynosure. The flaw of this zone though, was the entrance to the next tier, namely Txevu. Endless trains have been endured from various guilds running through this zone at random, on too tight a schedule to engage in a clearing, followed by a coth sequence. Simplicity at best would be merely adding a portal stone at the Qvic zone in, granting access to the zone in area of Txevu, requiring minimal clearing, though with the requirement of having the Cipher of Txevu to operate it on a regular basis.

Inktu'ta was without a quiver of doubt the highlight of the Gates of Discord expansion, original challenging encounters, deeming the tactical aspect of the fight equivalently important to mere damage output. Having said that, the idea of rendering 90% of the raidforce useless against Zun'Muram Tkarish Zyk is far from what makes the required number of 50 people log on for this time consuming encounter.

Our most recent complaint lies within the walls of Tacvi, thus the opening paragraph. For those of you unfamiliar with Pixxt Kretv Kraxt, guilds serverwide have pretty much agreed upon the fact that she is unbeatable until either the release of OoW, or until developers find it in their time to properly tune the final phase of this expansion, a task which unfortunately is far from the topmost priority at this stage of Everquest.

Albeit the negative aspect has been somewhat overwhelming, GoD has most definitely been a challenge unlike any expansion to this date. I must admit that the developers in general have done a top notch job in designing diverse encounters needing more than brute force. The general consensus still stands though, unfinished content has wreathed a most unhappy userbase, and has directly caused a major part of the old school players to
look elsewhere for onling gaming.

Omens of War will be a welcome change to our raiding agenda, and its contents and availability will to a huge extent decide the future of Everquest, though this is merely my personal opinon. Concluding this rant, I would like to mention the fact that I have personally taken over Reffi's most excellent progression page, and have of late been receiving many an email. Hopefully this page will continue to be the primary source of progression data during the exploration of the new expansion as well. The page can be accessed by clicking here