EverQuest Franchise Holiday Contest! :: ZAM

EverQuest Franchise Holiday Contest!Dec 20th, 2013 at 12:33 PM by Cyliena

SOE and ZAM team up to give the community some awesome prizes!

UPDATE: Winners have been announced!

Thank you everyone for your entries! It's definitely been a trip down memory lane reading so many wonderful stories. The contest has now ended and we'll be finalizing the list of all qualified names before randomly selecting winners in a blind drawing.

Winners will be announced by 11:59pm Pacific Time on Tuesday, December 31, 2013. Winners will also be notified via Private Messaging (PMs) on ZAM that they have won. We will update this article and post a new one as well informing everyone of the results!

This holiday season, Sony Online Entertainment and ZAM want to share the holiday spirit with the community with an epic contest! It doesn't matter if you play EverQuest, EverQuest II or want to dive into EverQuest Next Landmark, there is something for all Norrathians here. We have one grand prize and three Station Cash prizes from SOE, as well as a bonus for ten lucky people from ZAM!

GRAND PRIZE: One winner will receive codes to the collector's editions of the most recent EverQuest and EverQuest II expansions, Call of the Forsaken and Tears of Veeshan (a $90 value each), as well as a code for the EverQuest Next Landmark Trailblazer Founder's Pack (a $100 value; total prize value of $280)
Three more winners will each receive one $10 Station Cash code (worth 1000 SC)
Ten more winners will each receive three months premium on ZAM

Continue after the jump for details on how this contest will work!

How to Enter

Log in to your ZAM account (registering is free!)
Post a comment at least 3-5 sentences long (minimum) in the comments section of this article
The comment should focus on your favorite location in Norrath, in any EverQuest franchise title. Why is it your favorite place? Did something fun happen to you or your guild there? Do you just love the environment or lore of the location? Are you new to Norrath, but want to talk about a location you are excited to visit in-game?
You can supplement your comment by linking to a video or picture of this location! It's not required and won't affect your entry into the contest, but it's a lot more fun to share!
Deadline for entries is 11:59pm Pacific Time on Friday, December 27, 2013... that means you have one week to enter!
Only one entry per person, please!

Due to the amount of entries we have, comments may take a bit of extra time to load... patience, grasshopper!

How We Judge

As long as your entry meets the contest guidelines above, you will be entered into a random blind drawing!
Winners will be announced by 11:59pm Pacific Time on Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Codes for the Grand Prize and Station Cash will be sent to the appropriate winners via private message on ZAM by 11:59pm Pacific Time on Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Winners of the three months of premium on ZAM will have it added to their account and will be notified of their win via private message on ZAM. This has to be done manually, so there may be additional delay.

Obligatory Information

No purchase necessary, but you need to register for a free account with ZAM if you haven't yet
You must have an account with SOE to be able to redeem the codes. They will not work for PSS1 account holders.
We don't care which country you're in as long as you have an SOE account
The contest begins whenever this article goes live on Friday, December 20, 2013 and ends at 11:59pm Pacific Time on Friday, December 27, 2013
One entry per person
ZAM staff and their immediate family are not eligible. Sorry, hubby!
SOE employees and their immediate family are not eligible. Sorry, Roshen!

That's everything! You can enter the contest for yourself, or to try and win an awesome gift for a friend or loved one -- either way, we can't wait to read everyone's stories!

Disclaimer: I'm aware that the picture above doesn't reflect the recent EverQuest and EverQuest II expansions... what it does reflect is my favorite locations in those games! =)

Ann "Cyliena" Hosler, Managing Editor

Follow me on Twitter: @Cyliena

Tags: contest, EverQuest, EverQuestII, News

Comments

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Haha Crushbone...

# Dec 20 2013 at 4:08 PM Rating: Good

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It's been awhile that I can recall my experience in Crushbone.. Y'know back in the day, this WAS the place to be to make some friends to do some content with. I remember creeping through the woodlands, pretending that I was an assassin as I would slaughter an orc ... one by one. It was thrilling for me ... until the rest of their buddies showed up and mauled my newbie face. Man, good times... good times.

Favorate Location Contest Entry

# Dec 20 2013 at 4:07 PM Rating: Good

1 post

I pretty much grew up in EQ1. I was 11 in 1999, when it came out and played from launch until 2004 when EQ2 came out. I've played a lot of MMO's since then, but Norrath always has a really special place in my heart. (And fangirl squeeeeee, have you seen what EQN is going to be?!?!?!)

It was really difficult for me to decide which place to choose for this contest. I though about Kelethin, mostly about getting lost there and about how relieved I would be to see the platforms up in the trees when I was running around in the Faydark... also lost. I thought about the EC tunnel, and visiting there as a low level begging buffs off of the high level characters so I could power-level myself. I thought about a lot of places but I suppose if I had to say one, favorite place it would be the Chessboard in Butcherblock. I don't know why, but it just really appealed to me. Why is there a giant chessboard? Who plays with a chess set of that magnitude? Even the giants I saw would be pretty hard-pressed to move those pieces. Also, whats up with the really tall skeletons? I really loved EQ for putting places like that around with no explanation for us to just discover and wonder about.

For nostalgia, I give you the BB Chessboard :) https://tagn.files.wordpress.com/2006/12/eq1chessboard02.jpg

EverQuest Franchise Holiday Contest!

# Dec 20 2013 at 4:00 PM Rating: Good

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Freeport, and its surrounding zones, the desert of Ro and the Commonlands. Why? Because i love the atmosphere of the place. When I started playing Everquest back in '99 it was my starting city, my first steps into Norath were here, and any new character i started, I would start them here. There are many wondrous places in Norath that I'm fond of, but the memories of freeport are hard to top. Thanks for this contest, good luck to us all :)

EQ2 Favorite Locations in Norrath

# Dec 20 2013 at 3:58 PM Rating: Decent

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I don't really have a favorite spot in Norrath. I have some places where I have some great memories with friends and guild mates. One of them would be our attempts at Lavastorm and doing the dungeons zones. #1 some of us were a little tipsy. #2 I laughed so hard the whole time that I lost my voice for a week. Our adventure began with my daring one of my guildmates to jump in the lava to see if he died. Well he did it and he died. We all laugh. Then we proceeded to the dungeon. The adventure of getting in there was after getting stomped on several times by an epic and me not paying attention to my parties health cause I was too busy laughing at everyone telling Yo Mama Jokes was a long and arduous journey. We get in the dungeon zone make it all the way to the top of the volcano without incident and I being the uber healer and giggling hyena by then stepped off the bridge to my doom hence destroying our chance to face the final boss. It was a great night and I will never forget it!!

Favorite Place in EQ

# Dec 20 2013 at 3:55 PM Rating: Good

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3 posts

While I have a lot of very memorable places from leveling up through EverQuest 1, the zone that takes the cake is easily Crushbone! I started off playing EQ with very little knowledge of what to expect. Crushbone was the first real experience I had as far as "group" content was concerned, and I'll never forget the many hours spent there. For the low level I was at the time, it was both rewarding and dangerous. Although I had my fair share of deaths, I'll never forget my time spent in Crushbone.

https://www.everquest.com/images/articles/unique/ecrush.jpg

My favorite adventure in Crushbone was when I joined a group who ventured in towards the castle and settled down in a new camp; the Throne Room! It was my first time both being that far into the zone and being in a safe atmosphere, where we didn't have to worry about being run over by any trains at any given moment. We spent several hours leveling up, getting a little bit of loot, and generally just having fun sharing our stories and jokes with each other. It was an amazing experience and it really started my enjoyment of the game. After a while, Emperor Crush finally spawned for our group and we managed to take him down.

I've always enjoyed going back to the places I leveled up when I started EverQuest, and Crushbone is a place that I always love to visit.

EQ1 Favorite Location

# Dec 20 2013 at 3:50 PM Rating: Good

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My favorite zone in all of everquest is probably one of the most boring, North Ro. North Ro was where I really learned how to play the game on my Dark Elf Necromancer. I loved the atmosphere, enemies, and especially the music. Some of my fondest EQ memorys come from North Ro, and to this date no MMORPG has captured that desolate North Ro feeling.

Favorite Place

# Dec 20 2013 at 3:41 PM Rating: Good

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I would have to say Terens's Grasp on top of the mountain in the Kylong Plains on EQ2. It is a beautiful place full of snow and trees. The best thing about it is that there is a wizard portal there. You can just zone in, jump on a gliding mount, and soar down to the plains below.

Favorite place

# Dec 20 2013 at 3:39 PM Rating: Good

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3 posts

My Favorite place in Everquest isn't some dungeon or planar realm. it's a little space in Butchblock mountains, out of the way, on the Ocean of Tears. it's got just one willow tree there, and it's my favorite becuase it is where myself, and my long time lady, named Justwysper, got ourselves ingame married. weeks were spent getting hte blue playermaned plate armor to match her robe of the Oracles, more spent getting rings from the Tower of Frozen Shadow...but it was a wonderful event. The guide was late, but a guildmate stepped up to perform the ceremony, and it's always going to hav a specail place. I even tried to find it in Eq2, but sadly the place isn't there, the Rending apparently destroyed it, But it still has a place in my memory and my heart as the favorite place in all Norrath.

Favorite Places

# Dec 20 2013 at 3:36 PM Rating: Good

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Having been a player of both EQ and EQ2, and being completely excited for the launch of EQ Landmark and EQ Next, I have many places I would call favorites of all the lands. If I had to choose just one, I honestly couldn't do that. I can however, narrow my favorite places down to my absolute favorite to each game.

In Everquest, my favorite zone was Hollowshade Moor. I absolutely LOVED helping the different factions win the "war" going on between the three of them. I would usually help the owlbears the most, but on occasion I would help the shade or the grimlings.

In Everquest 2, my absolute favorite place was Nektropos Castle. I ran that zone/instance so many times, I could run it in my sleep. I loved the concept of having the zone be a puzzle and that you had to figure out the puzzle in order to advance in the zone. Along this same concept was The Estate of Unrest, which was my second favorite zone in EQ2.

I look forward to playing Landmark and Next at launch and having the opportunity to explore the new lands and help influence the way the lands look.

~Adonia, Ratonga Brigand

Favorite Locale

# Dec 20 2013 at 3:35 PM Rating: Good

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Scholar

28 posts

I am a long time EQ1 player right up to RoF and after trying very hard with Shard's Landing (which would be my EQ1 favorite) and making tons of progress for myself, I tried to catch up my now boyfriend and could not do it. I always had an interest in EQ2, but I took advantage of the new game and level playing field and now I just love it. I was always a lore junkie for EQ1 and learning all the EQ2 translation is fantastic and one of my favorite locations is now Lesser Faydark. Never been one for Druidism in EQ1, the lore and story of Wuoshi and Tunare's Bloom of Growth is pretty fascinating and the fact that the Faydarks are beautiful visually makes Lesser Faydark my little piece of Halfling Warden Heaven, even if I do worship Bristlebane.

favorite place

# Dec 20 2013 at 3:35 PM Rating: Good

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My favorite place is EQ variant of Western Wastes. Reason being is while guiding folks to ToV for a raid, many were just blindly following me or auto-following me and due to the snow storm I didn't see the cliff edge as we jumped off into the valley with ToV's entrance. Being a monk, I lived.. no one else did. Was the funniest thing I've ever seen playing an MMO.

grobb

# Dec 20 2013 at 3:26 PM Rating: Good

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One of the favorite zones in original everquest has to be Grobb ( https://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/zone.html?zstrat=8 ). My first character was a troll and as a kid this game just blew my mind. Grobb and innothule swamp always felt like home to me. When my character reached a higher level i took a liking to just slaughtering dark elf guards, why i'm not sure it was fun ha ha. Then the day came where those fu**ing froglocks took over grobb. this was a terrible day for my people and me. sense i had such a bad reputation with dark elves i was stranded without a home town. i had no where to train my character or anything until eventually the planes came out making my life a thousand times easier. to this day i would like to see froglocks removed from the face of norrath. and then i will be happy. Until then i try to kill every froglock in game i can.

Favorite Fishing Spot

# Dec 20 2013 at 3:24 PM Rating: Good

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My fondest memory of a place would be Plane of Tranquility. My wife and I would often go there to chill out. Many times we'd just love to fish here. Not that the fish were great but the music and the scenery were extremely peaceful. We'd sit for hours talking and fishing. Oddly enough this is also how I got her to come back again after 6 years! Off to PoT for more fishing! So far so good! I think I'll see if we can find a new spot in some of the new expansions that she might enjoy.

Favorite Locales

# Dec 20 2013 at 3:23 PM Rating: Good

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My favorite location in EverQuest II is the Greater Faydark. I was so happy to be able to play fae, and the starting zone there is very Fae. I can spend hours leveling up new characters, just to enjoy the scenery there (and still feel like I'm doing SOMETHING).I love the city of Kelethin, and the whole Living in the trees aspects.

In Everquest, my favorite location would also be Greater Faydark. I made many friends while I was in Felwithe, and many times my guild had scavanger hunts in the Greater Faydark. I knew the area so well, I did very good in those guild activities :).

Butcherblock, Gateway to new lands

# Dec 20 2013 at 3:22 PM Rating: Good

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Scholar

16 posts

I would say my favorite location was butcherblock mountains. I remeber back in EQ1 having my character run from greater faydark to butcherblock mountains. I remeber the thrill and excitement as I was trying to get to the boats so I could travel to freeport. I died many times in my trek and was amazed at finally reaching this safe area from the wilds in EQ1.

Later in EQ2 I found the first zone that pushed the vertical limits in the game. It was amazingly done and I remeber tecking up the mountainside to relieve the gateway to my first major experience in the game. Looking down upon the waters below I marveled at how far things had come and enjoyed the nostalgia of my first experience reborn.

Halfling High Dive

# Dec 20 2013 at 3:20 PM Rating: Decent

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My fondest memory is one day there was a call from a GM for people to make a level 1, naked, halfling and then get to Firiona Vie. Now I had only been playing a week. But, I wanted to go. I created my naked halfling paladin and then started running to FV. When I got there the GM let us know what we were doing. The GM called the even the naked halfling high dive! What would happen was the GM would teleport a halfling on top of one of the statues around the lake. The jist, jump off and who ever made it into the water won a prize. It was so hilarious to watch naked halfling jump to their doom one after the other. When it was my turn I got up there and just remember thinking, this is nuts you cannot make that water. Well with sprint button held down I ran and jumped. The fall seemed to be in slow motion. I was thinking holy cow I am going to make it! Then splat! Dead. But my hand was in the water! didn't count. After getting revived, I watched for the next 20 minutes. Then finally someone made it. He got a title and some food or something. It was magnificent. It made FV my favorite area, well until the evil took over.

Feels like home

# Dec 20 2013 at 3:20 PM Rating: Good

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My first and favourite solo character in Everquest 2 was started in the New Halas beginner area during the Erollisi Day festival. Following the quest line through the snowy landscape to New Halas and helping the pilgrims who were travelling to the shrine of Erollisi Marr provided the foundations for my character's developing backstory. I arrived in New Halas in time to help with the quest to discover the return of Erollisi, and my character therefore became a worshipper of the goddess of love and the hunt. As such, I have a great fondness for New Halas, with its eclectic mix of races and delightful snowy homes. I love the New Halas home design (and my character is a dedicated carpenter). I still feel most "at home" in New Halas.

Najena > All

# Dec 20 2013 at 3:16 PM Rating: Good

ZAM Administrator

4,580 posts

I'm an enchanter, newly trained in the 2nd Gate of Neriak, I have reached sufficient skill to venture beyond the familar woods of Nektulos. (I had grown weary of hunting leatherfeet invaders anyhow). I cast an invisibility spell on myself and race through the lava-strewn mountains. I've been dared to enter the sorceress' lair...

past the broken entry door (what manner of beast tore such a huge door asunder?) I make my way inside. My invisibility serves me ill as I am attacked by skeleton sentries in the first hall. The battle is difficult, but Jabober and I survive. I sneak along narrow corridors, mold and decay on the brick.

I see nightmares terrors, and elemental beings, butchered dwarves hung from meat hooks and ogre guards, fortunately they cannot see me. I stealthily choose targets. I must kill these ogre guards for keys without them alerting their comrades. I push deeper into the squalor and find a froglok wizard. I run for my life. Many seasons later I will return for revenge.

My mission against the sorceress is a long-drawn affair. Her ogres are foolish, but everpresent. I despise Moosh. I mock the high elf captive and disgusting halfling. I leave them in the cells to rot after destroying the magicians who do not serve King Thex.

The sorceress' lieutenant is a miser. She has knowledge of magic boots but will not yield them too me. My visits become less friendly, but she cannot keep me locked out. I will break her and destroy her master.

Goblins and Spiders in the deep caves keep me at bay for years. I use my beguiling ways to make a deal with a visiting priestess. I own a Blued Hammer! A rare treasure of Norrath. It will not help me in my crusade, but it encourages me.

I slay the traitor sorceress. I wear her robe back into Neriak, the black silk shines with the sum of my life work to date. I have conquered Najena, in the name of Hate.

[Nearly every character I have ever played has spent time in Najena. It's a great compact zone, that is way bigger than most realize. It's scary in old gear, at the right level. My old chanter main died there so much I would be down xp after a night's play. I still love the place, and every expac has me hoping they extend the lore and the zone as there is dead end halls and so much they could do with it].

Honourable mentions: Old Seb, Lower Guk, Blackfeather Roost, Plane of Hate, Tower of Frozen Shadow

Magical Memories

# Dec 20 2013 at 3:15 PM Rating: Good

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The EverQuest zone I will always hold dear would be South Karana. It's never been one of the zones with beautiful dungeons and incredible hairy drooling monsters however it holds wonderful memories for me.

I started playing EverQuest about a month after launch. Those days were truly magical as I had never seen anything quite like this game before.
I decided at the time that I would form a guild. Back then getting a guild created was a process. It was being in game at the exact time as the SOE person who's job it was to create guilds.
For whatever reasons their schedule and mine never seemed to mesh. Thus, after about 2 months of waiting I was really losing hope along with losing potential guild members as well.

One evening I was running through South Karana and someone is running behind me yelling "stop stop".
Standing behind me as I would later learn was Michelle Butler. She was dresssed in the most beautiful green armor I had ever seen. I stand there looking at her and wondering who is person and what do they want.
She smiles, bows, creates my guild on the spot and poofs. I was the happiest little druid in EQ that night.

Over the next couple years there were many memorable guild weddings, guild wars and some fantastic and creative roleplay story lines that on many an occasion brought the whole server together. Most of them taking place in South Karana due to the vastness and beauty of it.

Many years have passed since then. Some old friends have moved on, new friendships have been made, new guilds have been formed and our roleplay community is just a bit smaller. These days I find myself visiting The Karana's to reminisce and visit those old memories.

So the next time you find yourself running through The Karana's on your way to conquer bigger things and you happen to see a little druid sitting by the lake alone, wave as you go by.
Or if you happen to have the time to stop, we can chat about the good old days of EverQuest and how far we've come so many years later.

Edited, Dec 20th 2013 4:33pm by DeeSun

Greater Faydark For the Win!

# Dec 20 2013 at 3:12 PM Rating: Good

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1 post

I have to go with Greater Faydark because it was the first zone I ever really played in EQ1. The music was instantly memorable and the sense of mystery was heightened by the mist in the air. I remember being so worried that I would be killed immediately if I wandered of the path too far. Also, Kelethin was the only city you could enter without zoning, and that was a big plus. I have fond memories of spending time on Orc Hill in groups and waiting for mobs to pop. And Gfay really had a sense of immensity in that game, especially in the early days before compasses. It was painfully easy to get lost out there in the mist. When I moved on to EQ2, I was ecstatic when the "Echoes of Faydwer" expansion was released and I could once again go to the Faydark, which was beautifully designed in that game. Still, I suppose nothing will ever equal my first adventures all the way back in EQ1 wandering the trail between Kelethin and Felwithe and trying to stay alive.

The Oasis of Marr

# Dec 20 2013 at 3:11 PM Rating: Decent

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The Oasis of Marr

First of all, the zone was always full of energy, new characters were getting their feet wet in the zone. being 2 zones from Freeport. The northern part of the zone was easy but as you traveled further south watch out for sand giants and spectres, trains to the docks were all to common.

It is my favorite zone, not because of the constant happenings (but it helps), but because of an event my guild (Bastion Amici) held there a long time ago. We were a small guild and were looking for more members so, we set up an aid station at the docks. We would heal and SoW people and we let everyone know we were in the zone. Now in those days if you were non aggro or invis, you could give mobs items and those items would drop when the mob was killed, so, we had a living treasure hunt. We would place items on a mob and if the person brought us that item, we would hand out a prize.

We had a blast trying to keep up with the trains, heals and the prizes. We met some great people that day and still maintain some of those friendships, long after we have gone on to other games.

It is sad that this zone was rezoned..... in an expansion, it will forever have a place in my gaming memories.

Ah, the Antonica waltz...

# Dec 20 2013 at 3:10 PM Rating: Good

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I was just a young gnome finding her way through the world, long before I could call myself a wizard, when I met the handsome wood elf in the Willow Wood. We tackled the bears near the Steppes tower, died so very many times in Stormhold, and talked for hours while camping in Varsoon's. Our friendship solidified as we fought through Nek Forest's gloom, and one sunset evening on the beach in Antonica, with that lovely waltz as accompaniment, we decided to meet in person. My wood elf, now my real-life husband, and I are eagerly looking forward to building our home in EQN Landmark, and I hope it looks out on that small, sandy beach in Antonica.

My favorite place in Everquest

# Dec 20 2013 at 3:08 PM Rating: Good

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It's a hard decision to choose my favorite place in Everquest. The first one that comes to mind is Lesser Faydark. There was this little jerk of a brownie who lived there that killed me over, and over again when Adiyen was a baby druid. Eventually, I surprassed Thistlewood Underbush in power and was able to hunt the evil little thing down. He died. A lot. I funded my gear upgrades for several levels with his death.

Even later, I would have a bad raid night and I would hunt Thistlewood down, murdering him before he could even squeak. Revenge over and over again felt good, and made an irritating day much brighter. Also, as an avid baker, brownie parts were used to make chocolate, and chocolate sold very well to the RP folks. :)

So my favorite was Lesser Faydark. I knew it like the back of my hand.

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