EQII Expansion: Desert of Pokemon

Again, I know I'm a little late on this one. But, last week SOE announced the upcoming expansion, Desert of Flames, and the upcoming adventure pack, the Splitpaw Saga. You can read the press release here.

Here is the PvP quote: "Players of all classes can collect new creatures and pit them against each other in special arenas in the newly discovered city of Maj’Dul. Rather than watching the battle from the sidelines, players become the champion, slinging spells and wielding weapons in a variety of combat scenarios. Player characters can also take their chances against these fearsome creatures, or even challenge other players in battles for fame and glory."

Very confusing. Is this going to be Neopets or Pokemon? Do we gotta ' catch em all? Hold on, I have to consult my Pokedex, I mean EQdex. Snorlax, I mean Smedlax, I choose you! Cheap marketing ploys activate!

But then they say you can fight with your regular character, though I have a feeling it will be something odd only because they have been so enigmatic about the whole thing. It doesn't seem like there will be group PvP which is too bad. Edit: I believe I was incorrect in my initial assumption and group PvP will be included. This should be a lot of fun as I have a lot of confidence in my usual group of compatriots and I am really looking forward to testing our mettle against others. I actually don't mind a little Pokemon action either, I just think it's odd.

The desert setting for the expansion should be nice. Yes, it does sound like Vanguard's Qualia but it's just a natural extension of the fantasy setting. The Splitpaw setting of gnolls in caves is less appealing.

The new voice emotes will give me more of a reason to play with the game sound down and Winamp sound up.

The guild vaults will be nice but I really hope guild housing is also included as this is one of the most common complaints I hear.

I like the idea of scalability of mob levels mentioned in the Splitpaw section - COH has scalable instanced zones and it works great. Am I wrong to think all instanced dungeons should have this feature? If anyone knows of any negatives feel free to set me straight. I mean if they are going to be instanced anyway - why not have them scale to your party?

I really don't get the big focus on climbing up walls and moving crates. It's fine I guess, but this isn't Tomb Raider. I haven't noticed anyone gushing about the breakable walls they implemented in the Vampire pack. And I can only imagine the pathing problems this will create for mobs.

The expansion will move the level cap to 60, a much needed boost, as the level 50's (of which I am nearly one) are getting impatient. But I fear it won't be long before people are stuck at 60 for a good amount of time.

All in all, I think the expansion is timely and fairly priced. The adventure pack sounds good if you get it for free with Station Pass, but they did raise the non-Station Pass price a few dollars to $7.99.

In any event I am looking forward to hearing more news and bringing it to you when I do. I expect some reports will soon emanate from the cloud of champagne and cocaine that surrounds E3 so I'll be watching carefully.