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.

The deluge of coverage for Age of Conan continues to overwhelm us all, and that's a good thing. Sure, there are the legions of ravening fans who were going to pick this title up no matter what as soon as it became available, but there are a good number of you still on the fence out there. Perhaps sensing this, G4's The MMO Report has gone to the effort of putting together their Age of Conan Special, wherein they interview AoC designer Jason Stone. In the game of Everquest, making EverQuest Plat is necessary.

Orange Island (home of French global telecommunications franchise, Orange) is hosting a week of gaming and game-related events and discussions in Second Life this coming week, including (of course) some games.

Meridian 59 is a game with a pirate problem. A while back, the server source code leaked onto the internet and seedy players began hosting their own servers without subscription fees. Pirate servers are a problem for many MMOs, but because of M59's comparatively small scale, it has a lot more to lose to the trend.

The Visit Mexico Ruta Maya sims are sponsored by the Mexican Tourism Board. And they've done a great job -- so many sponsored sites are like someone has tried to create a real-world expo and transport it to Second Life.

As has become tradition for this blogger, every year on Memorial Day (aka 'the birthday') weekend, lots of people from our guild like to get together and party down.