Hello,

I was asked to introduce myself shortly after Kendricke and Zobek agreed to let me write for Clockwork Gamer. I thought about it for a while, what to write, what was important? I wasn’t sure if I should give everyone background on the person behind the computer, or if it would be more appropriate to explain my experiences with Massive Multiplayer Online Games. In the end I thought it best perhaps to do both.

Let me start with the person behind the computer. My name is Thomas, I am a 25 year old programmer working with databases and web programming. I graduated about 3 years ago with a degree in computer science. I married my lovely wife just after graduating, and we are the not so proud owners of one crazy dog. Yes thats right, he is spoiled and disobedient.

Enough about my “real” life though, on to the more interesting question of what makes me qualified to write for a gaming web log about my experiences and thoughts? Well not much really. I have played Everquest 2 for a few months now, and before that I played Eve Online, World of Warcraft and Planetside. I never played the original Everquest, so my take on Everquest 2 is completely unaffected by previous experience with the lore, legend and even game play of the original game. Still I like to think that I am smart enough to have an opinion on almost anything, yet I have gotten wise enough to realize that opinion isn’t always right.

So what I hope to present in my articles is just that, the opinion on a gamer who has played his fair share of games in the past, and will continue to play games in the future. This opinion won’t always be right, since it is opinion after all. I do hope that will leave plenty of room for people to form their own thoughts and ideas about the topics at hand, and to disagree with me when it is needed.

Per this quote from Kirstie at the official forums:

If all goes well, most of your curiosity about GU39 should be answered today as I’m in the process of getting it up to the Test Server.

Now, there’s a lot of speculation on what’s coming with Update 39.  For myself and Zobek, our money is on Shard of Fear. 

That’s right.  Shard of Fear is coming in Update 39.  I’d put money on it.  You should, too. 

• Shard of Fear files started appearing in EQ2 root files shortly before Update 38. 
• Shard of Fear was mentioned at FanFaire as coming “soon (TM)” but that it would not be part of Rise of Kunark.
• Most importantly, Shard of Fear was mentioned in a recent email to former players as being “unearthed” in “Update 39″.

Well, that last one pretty much removes any doubt, now doesn’t it?

So, what will the Shard of Fear bring?

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Think like a wise man but communicate in the language of the people.

-William Butler Yeats

MMO’s require a lot of patching.  These games require constant ongoing design attention, due in large part to the nature of the constantly evolving worlds.  Thousands of players inhabit the servers, which require regular upgrades and maintenence.  There’s no way around it - where there’s an MMO, there’s bound to be patching.

With these patches, come change.  Sometimes, these changes are fairly innoculous.  Other times, they can be earth shaking.  Unless a player happens to be one of those relatively few who regularly keeps up with forums and news sites, many of these changes are going to slip under the radar.   

So knowing this, why is it sometimes harder than it needs to be to find the patch notes? 

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