EverQuest: Lost Dungeons of Norrath Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a review strictly of EverQuest: Lost Dungeons of Norrath (LDoN). As this package does not include the basic game, and is only an expansion, this is not a review on the game as a whole.
While there is a lot of talk about how one can do many different things in EverQuest, for everyone but the most obsessive tradeskillers, it comes down to killing things and taking their stuff. The various expansions have let players do this in the jungle, on a frozen continent, do it on the moon, in a pirate stronghold, or in the homes of the gods themselves. In all of these locations, players move through areas shared with other players -- sometimes only a handful of other players, but in some cases up to 100 or more people interested in the same content.
This new expansion breaks that model for the first time, by creating content on the fly for players, in the form of dungeons for groups numbering 3 to 6, that ONLY exists for them. (Other players get their own instanced copies of these dungeons to explore.) While some players feel this flies in the face of the Multi-User Dungeon game tradition that EQ grew out of, it's a welcome change to not have to look over one's shoulder for other players at all times, or to have to compete over special "named" monsters and such.
The five LDoN dungeon "themes" (groups of different layouts in related dungeons) dynamically create content for groups from levels 20 to 65. The good news is that this makes the expansion potentially useful for the vast majority of players. In practice, however, it means players will be seeing a LOT of the same stuff, over and over again, as the creatures in a level 20 version of Deepest Guk are the same as in the level 65 version, just with different names and of a lot higher level.
The much-ballyhooed adventure points received for these adventures is something of a mixed bag as well. While it does allow players to save up for loot they want (in a codified version of a system a lot of player guilds have come up with on their own), the points were never really balanced for any characters other than the highest level ones -- it will take rougly 24 missions for a level 20 shaman to save up for a level 24 Spirit of Shrew spell (an indoor-useable movement speed increase spell that also allows its subjects to see in the dark -- quite a nice spell for low level characters), and by the time they've earned all these points, they will likely be level 29 or 30. Things get better after level 60, but prior to that, there is a great deal of this head-scratching lack of math on the part of the development team.
Likewise, the "interactive objects" -- chests and vases that players can open up and loot -- are better in theory than in practice. While they add a much-needed dimension to EQ, these items are relatively rare and almost are always trapped (including many with traps that can kill a group more or less instantly). In addition, two thirds of them require spells to deal with, and these spells are even more expensive than other low level spells, meaning most groups under level 60 simply won't be able to access this content. And, assuming all those hurdles are overcome, the loot inside ranges from OK (the same as any named NPCs in the dungeon might have had on them) to a mere handful of coins, calling into question as to whether the extraordinary efforts needed to open them were worth it after all.
Having said all that, the dungeons themselves are a great deal of fun, and offer 90 minute bursts of intense excitement, with rewards of several types awaiting successful adventurers. LDoN is not perfectly implemented (both Velious and the Planes of Power were far better designed and offer much more to a player), and is perhaps somewhat light on content for the cost, but overall has to be counted as a success, and is superior to both Legacy of Ykesha and the deservedly derided Shadows of Luclin expansion.
Recommended for EQ players between the levels of 20 and 65 who group up often and who already own Scars of Velious and the Planes of Power expansions.

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