We start getting our first looks under the hood of the next expansion pack

Carolyn Koh continues to quiz SOE developers on EverQuest II. Today, we chat with Akil Hooper the Design Supervisor for Echoes of Faydwer. Below you'll learn about Fae flying, why we got more mounts, the adornment system and more.

The Fae may not be able to fly per say, but we do want to give them other benefits of having wings.

The return of the gods is going to be directly tied to the action of the players. The events in the Fallen Dynasty, the return of the gods, the introduction of the Fae, and the opening of Faydwer are all tied together. Players will be involved in this storyline as it unfolds. Beyond that... well, you'll just have to wait and see. ;)

Right now the current plan is to set them back as if they had never picked their first religion. If they've hurt their faction with their second religion they will probably have a longer road to travel until they are forgiven and their new deity is willing to accept them.

It is similar to the EQ augmentation system, yes. Adornments will only be created via tradeskills. We have no plans to drop many, if any, adornments in the world. Although, some components used to make Adornments may be dropped. Adornments in EQII will also be easier to understand than EQ Augmentations. For instance, instead of putting a Gleaming Stone of Enchanting Light on your mace for +1 damage, you might be able to put a spike on it for +1 piercing damage.

Mounts are a really good way to distinguish your characters. The new horses should replace some of the old horses, and they will move more like an actual horse would. Mounts may show up in some different places. For example one deity may give their followers an ability to summon a mount which would give attacking benefits as well as movement benefits. There may be some additional benefits for new mounts, but those are ideas we are still working on.