There isn’t a developer making PC RPGs who hasn’t invoked Tolkien, so we might as well too. Anybody passingly familiar with the events of The Hobbit will know that dragons are attracted to conspicuous wealth like slugs to beer, taking huge mounds of coins and jewels for beds, though they cannot tell 24 carat from gold-painted carrots. So it should come as no surprise that as EverQuest’s subscription numbers dwindle with age, one of its most iconic worms should fly up into the air and settle on the peak of a new MMOuntain.
The dread Nagafen has come to Dragon’s Prophet. Albeit briefly.
Dragon’s Prophet’s Berlin based publisher, Infernum, have cut a deal with SOE to bring the dragon to their MMO Monster Hunter for one day only. This morning, two ‘dragon packages’ are available for purchase via the game’s store. Each will yield a handful of items and an egg. The first will hatch Indigo Flare, a much sought-after lizard among the Dragon’s Prophet community. The second will hold Nagafen – one of the “most iconic dragons in RPG history”.At €34.99, he’d have to be.
A third package contains both dragons, as well as all of their accompanying items. But the three bundles will only be available until 23:59 CET (10:59pm UK time) tomorrow.
“For every RPG and fantasy fan, Nagafen is an infamous name to hear,” write Infernum. “The fearsome EverQuest dragon has already swooped in and crushed the dreams of countless heroes, with only the best of them managing to defeat him.”
In his original setting, Lord Nagafen was one of EverQuest’s first four raid bosses, and for a while considered one of the toughest encounters in the game. Once the level cap was increased from 50 to 60 in the game’s first expansion, however, he became small fry for the game’s top players – leading SOE to introduce a raid level limit of 52.
I’d recommend reading the lore synopsis on Nagafen, for a story that’s closer to Greek myth than Tolkien. Do you have any fond memories of lives lost in the great beast’s lair?