Earlier this evening we held another fantastic chat with the devs at EverQuest, and there were some great questions from the community:

<Destinova> *Dexar* Will there be instanced group missions in the new expansion?
<Rashere> Sure will. We've tried to cover the gamut of play styles with this expansion, so it includes both static zone content and group-based missions.

For that and more, be sure to check out the full log her, and join us for our next chat with the developers! Watch our news for the next scheduled date!

Tonight we had our monthly House of Commons chat with the developers of EverQuest, and as always it was a great turnout, with a great result of excellent questions and feedback!

For those that missed it, however, the complete chat log can be found here.

Be sure to join us next month, on July 18, 2007, in Stratics IRC, for the next fantastic House of Commons Developer Chat!

We hope to see you there!

Please join us on Monday, June 18th, 2007, for a House of Commons with the developers of The Sims Online at 6:00pm Pacific / 9:00pm Eastern in the #StraticsHoC channel on Stratics IRC.

You can connect to one of our IRC servers through the use of your favorite IRC client or you can visit our Downloads section to choose a suitable client. Connect to irc.stratics.com port 6668 or whichever server is closest to you:

• stratics.frws.com port 6668, USA - Colorado
• irc.glowfish.de port 6668, EU - Germany
• stratics.afraidyet.net 6668, USA - Atlanta
• irc.gamers-irc.org 6668, USA - Colorado

You may also connect through our handy Java link which may be found right here. You must have Java installed to use this which can be downloaded from the Java homepage.

We will be discussing Player concerns and the future of TSO with the developers, and open chat will be in our IRC channel #Sims-Online before, during, and after the House of Commons.

We hope to see you there!

n May 15, 2007 join WoW Stratics for a House of Commons with the Developers of World of Warcraft at 3 PM Pacific / 6 PM Eastern / 11pm British Summer Time (BST, London) and 23:59 Central European (Summer) time in the #StraticsHoC channel on Stratics IRC.

You can connect to one of our IRC servers through the use of your favorite IRC client or you can visit our Downloads section to choose a suitable client. Connect to irc.stratics.com port 6668 or whichever server is closest to you.

• stratics.frws.com - USA
• irc.stratics.com - USA
• irc.gamers-irc.org - USA
• us.irc.stratics.com - USA
• irc.us.glowfish.de - USA
• irc.glowfish.de - Germany

Java Clients:

• webchat.chat.stratics.com -USA
• webchat-us.glowfish.de - USA
• webchat-de.glowfish.de - Germany

You may also connect through our handy Java link which may be found right here. You must have Java installed to use this which can be downloaded from the Java homepage.

Please note: Questions for this HoC can only be submitted before the chat. No questions will be taken during the chat. We will have [QT]'s available 48 hours before the HoC chat is scheduled to start. You can submit your questions at that time to any user with a [QT] in front of their name. [QT]'s are Question Takers who also have operator status in the #StraticsHoC channel.  To submit your questions just type the following command:  /msg [QT]Bot# Question here. All questions will be recorded automatically, in order to ensure this please submit one question per line.

Open chat will be available for discussing World of Warcraft in our IRC channel #worldofwarcraft before, during, and after the chat.

We hope to see you there!

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Earlier this evening we held a House of Commons Developer Chat with the developer team from EverQuest. Many questions were asked and answered such as:

Preston - *Chanaluss* Are the stories of Venril, Lanys, Firiona,and Morden going to continue in the near future?
Vahlar - The storylines we've been developing over the past few years are definitely not over and will be addressed as we go on. I'm mostly the gatekeeper for that lore and I do present storylines to the team when we discuss future content.
Vahlar - Rashere is also well aware of them and we determine which we want to address, even if they are storylines from many years ago, like the Combine, Shissar, and so on. So, I can say with a reasonable amount of confidence that you will see these storylines addressed. When, I cannot say.

To read the full log, please go here. And we hope to see you at our next EverQuest Developer Chat; Check back here for that upcoming date!

The Buried Sea introduces players to a new type of inventory slot called a Power Source which is used for new equipment available in the expansion, known as an Energeian Power Source. Energeian Power Sources are similar to a magical battery and come in a variety of types such as: fire, cold and light. Within the expansion, a new type of armor is available called Energeiac Armor which, while relatively basic by itself and suitable for a player to wear out in Norrath, is built to be powered by an Energeian Power Source and comes into its full power when that is the case.

For example, when a fire-magic power source is equipped the armor gains offensive stats, increasing stamina, strength, and endurance but weakens the wearer's ability to resist cold-based attacks. Power sources can be changed out at any time, allowing the player to quickly customize their entire armor set to best match the conditions they are fighting in.

Do you ever feel like your game needs a little more content? You know, that feeling you get when you are up against your 10th NPC that is named "Mr. Johnson" and aren't really sure why you are killing him again. Fear no more fellow gamers, for your solution is here: EverQuest the Buried Sea!

You are one of the many players of EverQuest, and are about to embark on a new adventure. This game has had many expansions, with each one providing new content and new stories for adventures. The Buried Sea is another phenomenal experience for players to love.

EverQuest has always been chock FULL of content, and they continue their tradition with their newest expansion The Buried Sea. Follow with Stratics on an Exclusive Tour of this amazing expansion.

Earlier this evening we held a House of Commons Developer Chat with the developer team from EverQuest. The topic was their upcoming expansion: The Buried Sea. Many questions were asked and answered such as:

Calelena *Wycca* Will we be seeing some in-game events to launch TBS? Ie something lore related that explains it, and something that can be fun?

Vahlar Yes, live events will unfold as we get closer to the release of the expansion. What you will see is something world-changing that we've never done before. I think it's fun as heck. For you it will be mysterious. There is a lot of lore around these events, but it will be up to players to investigate and unravel it.

To read the full log, please go here. And we hope to see you at our next EverQuest Developer Chat; Check back here for that upcoming date!

Gamers have always been fighting to be recognized as intelligent individuals who are competitive. The fight started before a computer game existed, but the thoughts are still there, even with World of Warcraft and their billions of players. One of the first individuals to fight for video games, and those that play them was Raph Koster.

Despite gaming being a bit more accepted in our culture, I think there's still plenty of resistance overall to regarding games as a medium comparable to any other. I also think there's a persistent notion within the industry that they don't deserve to be, and we need to get over that.

Read more about his past, the present, and where gaming is going tomorrow.