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EverQuest Online Adventures (EQOA) is a fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) for the PlayStation 2. EQOA is one of the few MMORPGs released on a video game console. It is part of the EverQuest franchise that is well established on the PC.
Popularity
Like other commercial MMORPGs, EQOA charges a monthly fee (currently $10 USD) in addition to purchasing the game software. SOE had predicted 100,000 subscribers by March 2003, but they later reported having only 40,000 to 50,000 subscriptions. The figures were not helped by mediocre reviews and the steadily gaining popularity Final Fantasy XI, another fantasy MMORPG available on the PS2.
Setting and gameplay
EverQuest Online Adventures is set in Norrath 500 years prior to the original EQ in the "Age of Adventure". The world features many places familiar to fans of the original and most of the differences were explained in the lore of EverQuest.
The gameplay is similar to EverQuest in its focus on character development, player versus environment combat, quests, exploration, grouping, and socializing.
Development
EQOA was developed and published by Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) and first released on February 11, 2003. A second edition, EverQuest Online Adventures: Frontiers, was launched later that year and replaced the original.
EverQuest Online Adventures: Frontiers, was launched on November 17, 2003. Frontiers added another playable race, the Ogre, and character class Alchemist, as well as many quests and items. The level cap was raised from 50 to 60. Also added was the continent of Odus and a newly-opened territory of Tunaria known as Rathe Mountains, as well as high-level raid-specific zones in other locations including Plane of Sky, Lavastorm Mountains, and a subset of the Plane of Disease known as Last Home. Certain portions of Tunaria itself that existed previous to the release of EQOA: Frontiers were also revamped for higher-level players given the increase in the level cap. In August 2004, Sony Online Entertainment introduced a new series of quests for players of various levels between 30 and 60 to partake in the ability to transform into lycanthropes (having a choice of becoming a werewolf, wererat, werelion, or weregator), or a lycanthrope hunter.
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