As the year comes towards its end we find ourselves in a time of reflection. A year has passed and our beloved game has grown by leaps and bounds. Levels raised, caps shattered and achievements stretched to further tailor our avatars to our play styles, the game we play now has twisted and changed so that it is now no longer recognizable as the game we played at the beginning of 2007.

So when I was asked to reflect on EverQuest II's journey through the long year, I was absolutely against it.

And then they offered me money, so I bring you HAPPILY, a year in review. Let's start, shall we?

Echoes of Faydwer - Okay, technically it hit at the end of 2006, but let's be honest - it wasn't TRULY conquered by the majority until well into 2007.

Fae peppered the lands of Norrath in brightly colored wings that set off haircuts that were harvested directly from Hot Topic. Names like "TinnkerBelll" in every shape and format reminded us of how unoriginal the world could be, and snowballs were nerfed and made "fairy safe" all because someone had to go on a zone wide killing spree of the fairy folk.

Which SHOULD count as a "highlight". I mean, you haven't lived until you've loaded up with the original snowballs, climbed high into the fairy city and watched in awe and amazement as you arrive just in time for a "long distance jump off".

Ah fate, a cruel mistress.

Still, aside from crumpled, splattered and confused fairies, Echoes of Faydwer brought it's share of controversy as well. Avatars that should have been invincible - decidedly NOT, falling to the most tenacious and blood thirsty of guilds. Exploits born out of luck or fear such as "yelling" the Segmented Rumbler in the Emerald Halls so that you could pass through zone, and not its digestive tract, or even the resetting or ignoring of "server firsts" by those who truly set them.

Yet through the controversy, the exploits, and the fairy murdering snowballs from Hell, Echoes of Faydwer blossomed. Expanding and bettering our world - and most importantly, our game play. So while it was born in 2006, no look back on 2007 would be complete without a tip of the hat to Echoes of Faydwer and all of the joy and play time it has brought us.

Unrest - With GU #32 came a "free" update and expansion to the world of Norrath as "The Estate of Unrest" opened its doors to those who would try to best it. If there is one thing in this world that geeks love more than their game fix, it is a "free" update TO that game that centers around what else?

Phat Lewts.

And Unrest offered it in abundance...IF you could survive long enough to enjoy your riches. Set towards what was at the time "end game" the Estate of Unrest offered something that no other expansion or update had ever offered before.

A chance to crap yourself.

Creepy dolls coming to life, disembodied whispers and howling, ghostly laughter mocking the fact that you just turned on every light in the room in which you sat. If you allowed it, the zone could easily submerge you in its doom and gloom and suck you into the game play.

From dopplegangers that came out of a blinding fog and took on the appearance of your group mates to a phantom ghostly overlord who could see you behind your glassy portal into his world, the zone was and is, in a single word...

Wussifying.