Here is a letter from EverQuest producer Chris Lena, as seen on EQLive:

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The beta for the upcoming expansion, The Serpent's Spine, has now begun. There is a lot of testing to be done considering we are including a whole new newbie experience with the Drakkin as well as content for every level in the game. This is not to say that we have ignored those folks on the bleeding edge of content. Along with the increase of the level cap will be dual track end zones that will be the most challenging content this game has seen. I would go as far as to say the most challenging content any MMO has seen.

Also, at the time of the expansion launch we are going to be rolling out a bunch of changes to the live game. These are all currently being tested in beta so all are subject to change. These changes will be available to all players whether or not they choose to purchase The Serpent's Spine. Here are just a few of the big ones:

Graphical revamps of Highpass Hold, East Commons, West Commons, and possibly one or two others.

We have redone the character creation screen to streamline it and update its look. If you wanted to it will now be possible to create a character and enter the game on a single screen.

Altering death so that you will "hover" over your body for a while. This will allow you the time to get resurrected without having to zone 2 or 3 times.

Introducing the concepts of being in and out of combat so we can use that mechanism to lower downtime in between fights.

Boats! They are coming back.

Both progression servers are still going great and both are still sporting very healthy populations. The numbers are showing that these servers have also brought a lot of people back to the game. I know the servers haven't been perfect and they don't fulfill everyone's desires but the bottom line is it has been great for the overall health of EverQuest. July was the best month we have had in a long time thanks to the folks coming back to check out those servers.

All in all things are really going great leading up to the launch of The Serpent's Spine in September. One thing we are doing to keep the momentum going is web advertising. So, keep your eye out for some snazzy web ads in the coming weeks.

Chris "Raghnell" Lena
EQ Producer