It’s that time of year again Norrathians and potential Norrathians! Frostfell is in full swing, and while you’re probably busy doing the Christmas events in every other game, you honestly shouldn’t neglect the awesomeness that is Everquest 2, especially considering all of the changes this year. As you know, Frostfell was introduced in 2006, and with each new expansion, new content is added to the event. There are many things to enjoy about this time of year, though admittedly, we most look forward to stocking up on those stupid snowballs so that we can hurl them at the tanks during raids until they turn around and demand to know whose doing it. I’m not saying I did that, I’m really not, but I did that. A lot. In any case, this year there are tons of things to look forward to, but if you’re new in town, you’re probably wondering what Frostfell is. Well, it’s a magical thing, that much is certain, but let’s takes a look at it from a distance.
To put it mildly, Frostfell is simply a magical time of year in which players are afforded the opportunity to travel through a magical cupboard in any major city and enter the Frostfell Wonderland Village which is a series of islands connected by rainbow bridges; all very adorable unless you’ve recently lost a pet. Each island contains a series of different activities whether it be crafting, questing, or both. Around the village you will find various wrapped gifts, most of which contain crafting materials with the exception of one at the bottom of the entrance ramp which we’ll get to in a moment.
As you first enter the zone you will probably notice it is devoid of quests, save for one which is offered next to the Frostfell Workshop door, and in a dialogue where the NPC breaks the fourth wall, you’re sent into a dungeon which involves not only defeating a serious of heroic encounters, but also building a bridge from mysteriously glowy planks. This dungeon used to be very difficult, but now that we have mercenaries you can pretty much jog through it as if you are out for your casual Sunday walk. Don’t worry, it still at least looks scary.
As we said previously there are a number of quests to be completed in the village but you must first speak with the NPC Jingle to start the quest ‘A Deepice Mystery’, in which 90% of the relevant NPC’s in the Frostfell Wonderland Village have been frozen in ice. This will require traveling to both Lavastorm and Everfrost in order to bring back samples of the named mobs in the quest description, and then returning so that you can set out to kill more mobs within the village. Once you have completed the quest however, the NPC’s will be unfrozen and you can get down to the business of questing.
You’re probably familiar with the famous Charles Dickens book, ‘A Christmas Carol’, a story in which an investment banker named Scrooge is forced into reliving his past and seeing his future by three different spirits who take him on a cosmic journey, at the end of which he sees the error of his ways and becomes a better person. It’s a heartwarming story, but Everquest 2’s Frostfell operates on the assumption that while Scrooge did undergo this experience, he did not actually renounce his selfish ways. In fact, he viewed the event as a mere annoyance and as such, the three spirits, apparently sponsored by a larger organization, continued to come back year after year which eventually began to cut into Scrooge’s time, and consequently, his bottom line. After you unfreeze him, you have the opportunity to take a quest from him that actually involves possessing his body and undergoing the experience for him. Seriously.
Each part of the quest changes a bit every year, but the one recurring theme is budget cuts. As Scrooge refuses to renounce his ways each year, money is taken from the budget for this elaborate illusion, meaning not all of the parts are entirely accurate. For example, one year Tiny Jim was played by an ogre rather than a small child. This time he was a child, and one of the tasks was to give him a gift. Well, the ghost of Frostfell Present had no idea what to give a child, so you end up giving Tiny Jim a bottle of bourbon, and I really hope he survived it.
In the Frostfell future area you were tasked with traversing a labyrinth in which you would encounter several people from Scrooge’s future, including tax collectors, his ex-girlfriend, and the ghost of Tiny Jim who claims he would have grown to ‘six sprockets tall’ had Scrooge paid his father enough to seek medical treatment for his condition. Completing the full quest gives you a choice of rewards, though most people will probably choose the Frostfell Token which allows you to purchase items from the Frostfell vendors, like cloaks, snowglobes, candles, and all manner of other festive items. There are many other quests, of course, but that’s the one that stands out the most to me.
Like we said, each year new quests are introduced into the Frostfell celebration, so it should be no surprise that this year, you need to find a brand new NPC named Jarith Icewing, a Frostfell apprentice that has been dreaming of a sad gnome girl. Your job? Cheer her up! There are five quests which include:
Now that does sound exciting, but we would like to let you knowt aht in order to participate you’re going to need to make sure you have the latest expansion, Terrors of Thalumbra. The 12th expansion is out right now, and if you don’t already have it, then you’ll be glad to know that it’s a bit cheaper than the previous expansion at about $34.
The Wonderland Village is not the only place to seek out Frostfell cheer. When you first log into the game, the splash screen gives you the option of heading right to the Daybreak Marketplace where you can purchase a festive baby Burbur (an item introduce in the ToT expansion pack), and you can pick up a Cheer-ific Burbur Basket, with each basket granting you one random holiday Burbur. You can buy as many baskets as you want, but you cannot choose which Burbur you are granted. We would say choose wisely, but that really doesn’t apply here does it? Who cares, house items!
For those who are more interested in building a winter wonderland, there are several Sylvan Forest housing pieces in the Player Studio section of the store, made by player Neko Zero. These would look absolutely wonderful on the Tenebrous Isle prestige house, so get them while they last. Keep in mind that these items WILL be retired on January 7, 2016, so you have until at least next year to pick them up. Once you have them, you can enjoy Frostfell all year round in the privacy of your own instance, or you can invite others to enjoy it along with you. Heck, why not just open your house to the public and create an amazing winter retreat for everyone?
In case you don’t know what the TLE server is, it is actually two servers, Deathtoll and Stormhold, which have been locked to the state of Vanilla EQ2, and as such, many of this year’s Frostfell activities simply cannot be unlocked. Unfortunately, most of the existing Frostfell attractions are part of ‘future’ expansion packs, meaning those players on the TLE servers are stuck with the events from the current expansion. Don’t worry, Daybreak has found a way to bring new Frostfell cheer to the TLE servers in these retro times.
Daybreak is introducing Frostfell trees in both Freeport and Qeynos on the TLE servers which come with three merchants selling house items and holiday themed weaponry so that you can enjoy the holiday in your own way. These trees, and merchants, will disappear at the same time as the rest of the Frostfell events on the live servers, so hurry up and get in there; you have lots of time to enjoy the holiday, but don’t wait until the last minute!
Frostfell comes around but once per year and everyone has a different way of enjoying it. Find your way whether you do all of the quests, or just a few of them. Most definitely, make sure you do the Scrooge quests, because quite frankly, they’re what keep me coming back every single year. After all, you have to laugh, even when you’re faced with the underfunded ghost of Frostfell Past.
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