Twenty-three full expansions for the MMORPG EverQuest have been released. Expansions are purchased separately from the original game and each other and provide additional content to the game (for example: raising the maximum character level; adding new races, classes, zones, continents, quests, equipment, and additional game features). Additionally, the game is updated through downloaded patches.
Expansions usually cost in the range of US$29.99 to US$39.99 and are shipped in boxes to stores, but can also be downloaded through a digital service. The retail versions often come packaged with a bonus feature such as a creature that the player can put in their in-game house. Expansions generally introduce many new zones with many plot lines, new features, many new creatures and items, new cities, and often come with a boost in the level cap or a new player race. While it may be easier to download the expansions digitally, traditional retail offers more content.
The first expansion pack for EverQuest was EverQuest: The Ruins of Kunark, released on April 24, 2000. It introduced a new land area to the game, the continent of Kunark, which had been previously unexplored. Through a mix of in-game events and fiction published on the web by Verant Interactive, the storyline of the discovery of Kunark was established.
In terms of the game, The Ruins of Kunark had a very different visual feel compared to the original zones in EverQuest: the color palette was more vibrant and many of the models used for the monsters were more detailed. This detail was most evident in the Iksar, a new playable race of lizard people introduced with the expansion. The Iksar had a number of racial advantages, including the ability to stay underwater for longer periods of time, additional regenerative powers, and an armor bonus. This was balanced by the fact that they were hated by all of the other races in the game and that there were very few places they could go without being attacked. They also could not wear plate armor.
The Kunark expansion also increased the maximum level a character could attain from 50 to 60, and introduced a substantial number of new and powerful monsters for characters above level 50 to fight. The most notable of these was Veeshan's Peak, a zone populated by dragons that was, at its release, declared to be the hardest zone that would be put into EverQuest. Another notable and deep dungeon is Sebilis, the lair of the undead dragon Trakanon, which required players to level past the previous limit and obtain improved gear introduced in the expansion.
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