Now there are a few nice items you can get beginning at level 20, in addition to the usual ability to claim potions for combat experience and crafting experience bonuses. If you bought the retail version (this does not seem to be part of the digital download), you get a dire bear, which is a pet that follows you about for the first 20 levels and then you can ride from level 20 on. The bear will evolve as you level up, gaining armor, and generally keep pace with you.

Principal to the expansion is the inclusion of the dragon-kin race, the Sarnak, and their homeland of Timorous Deep. The Sarnak are a race that players had requested and it is evident that time went into both the look and animations. Particularly noteworthy is the counter (lizard-like, or think crocodile) animation of the tail when swimming. And the way the helmets are matched to the head, weaving around the horns, is also a nice creative touch.

Desert of Flames was the first over the counter title, introducing an Arabian-type landscape, deeper factional standings, in-city combat and dueling (along with a host of other changes), but Kingdom of Sky has added so much more to the whole world of Norrath.

While EverQuest II has had other downloadable content, Echoes of Faydwer is the third major expansion for Sony's massively multiplayer online game. This time the expansion returns to the world below, opening up new zones with a new race available at the character creation and quests available for players of all levels. The tree city of Kelethin is a new starting city and the Fae, tiny winged folk (no, they don't really fly, they sort of hover and falling damage is negated through their racial traits) offer a wealth of new color to the racial landscape.

Now it should be noted that while DoF adds content tailored specifically for upper level players (which anyone who has a lower level toon can access if they have the expansion and a bit of a death wish), the upgrade also affects those without the expansion.

One of the pleasures of every E3 is finding those diamonds in the rough, the games that you notice out of the corner of your eye and that look like they have a lot of promise. In the game of Everquest 2, making EverQuest 2 Plat is necessary.

We were hoping to get our hands on a work-in-progress build of Disciples III over at Moscow-based developer Akella's corner of Kentia Hall at E3. In the game of Everquest 2, making EverQuest 2 Plat is necessary.

Though best known for its PC strategy and role-playing games, Moscow-based developer Akella will soon be hitting the PlayStation 2 with Swashbucklers: Blue vs. Grey, an action role-playing game set during the Civil War.

At E3 2006, Russian developer/publisher Akella showed off a futuristic real-time strategy game called Heavy Duty, in which war is waged quite literally on a global scale.

You'd figure a company with a name like Wargaming.net must know its subject matter, and this company is now working on a fairly ambitious turn-based strategy title we got to see at E3.