Suggestion: Expansion concept about High Keep and Highpass Hold

79. Expansion concept about High Keep and Highpass Hold

I think that the trend for EQ goes more to small zones, to keep the zone amount and quality stable. The servers do lack the population for big zones; so it would be a waste of ressources. Big zones can also create more lag. It would be nice for EQ3 to have such stuff.

I like your picture of Highpass Hold and High Keep. It would be interesting if it would have different vertical levels like ToFS (mini zones inside a zone), and not all as one big zone. 3 level up as one zone, and 5 level down as separate zones, with a big dungeon and cave world underneath, that does get progressively harder. A bit like Eye of the Beholder, Ultima Underworld, and other classic harcore RPGs. Friendly garden, court, and top floors, and evil underground zones full of monsters including the Pickclaw goblin clan. Mobs on horses and other mounts, are also a cool idea. Even a LDoN style expansion could be realized with that, with short ways to the different zone themes/levels. I think that we have the pattern for a new expansion in HoT style, just better !


Main story
A demon overlord from the nether realms far below High Keep got summoned during a shamanic ritual by the Shralok orcs. The demon can only stay a few minutes per day inside the pentagram, where it is able to communicate. It is promising the orcs much power and treasures, if they would remove a magical barrier that is keeping him and his demonic followers locked in the nether realms (underground lava pits). That barrier is far below High Keep, between a large cave area (zone 6) and the lava pits of the nether realms (zone 7). The demon instructed the orcs to join forces with the Pickclaw goblins and the Mucktail gnolls to storm High Keep and kill it's guards, who act as guardians and block the way to the underworld.


Zone 1 - Easy difficulty - Solo/Molo content
Big outdoor zone with the castle walls, and attacking gnoll and orc invaders outside of the walls, at the gates, at the garden (behind the keep), at the court, and at the ground level of the castle. The zone is similar to original High Keep and does include the surrounding Highpass Hold areas that are close to the keep. A kitchen and a dinner hall should be added. A library would be also there. The united forces of Mucktail gnolls, Shralok orcs, and Pickclaw goblins do have overtaken some parts of the zone, including the court and the garden, and some of the upper floors (zone 2). Many "show" fights like in EoK Frontier Mountains, everywhere. Highpass guards vs gnolls, orcs, and goblins. Corpses and wounded NPCs laying around.


Zone 2 - Easy difficulty - Solo/Molo content
Three floors going upstairs as another zone, with a casino, princess rooms, sleeping rooms, guard rooms, treasure chamber, etc. Not really big, as it is also not very big in original High Keep. The top floor does include a lookout tower with a scenery view of Highpass Hold and surrounding regions like the Icefall Glacier, Blightfire Moors, Commonlands, and the plains of Karana. Maybe as a video sequence or a scrolling picture, but it could also be a circular wall tapestry that is being placed around the tower, just like it had been done already several times with the character selection themes. It would be a novum to have that ingame. Gnolls, orcs, and goblins would roam the two lower floors, while the upper floor would be well guarded and locked by steel gates and barricades, only passable by the player characters and the Highpass guards.

Some faction is required to get access to the top floor, which would be acquired by killing gnolls, orcs, and goblins, and turning in their scalps and right goblin ears (not left ears) to Captain Orben, Captain Ashlan, and Captain Bosec. A new faction and new scalp items are required to prevent cheating. The top floor does contain the residents of High Keep and Highpass Hold, including the banker and merchants (for T1 armor), which had fled from the invaders.


Zone 3 - Medium difficulty - Group content
Underground floor #1. The cellar with a prison and the vacant underground bank, and a Pickclaw goblin labyrinth made of connected rooms. The banker and some of the guards have fled to the top floor (zone 2). The whole area is being overrun by Pickclaw goblins. Captain Bosec has moved upwards to the ground level (zone 1), where he is fighting against the invaders, together with other guards. This zone will be much bigger, with more rooms, than the original basement.


Zone 4 - Medium difficulty - Group content
Underground floor #2. Going deeper downstairs. The first new area that is not part of original EQ. The forgotten cellars and underground mines (50/50) with more Pickclaw goblins including their bosses. A big two headed giant rat would be a named mob in the cellar area. Wet dripping stone tunnels with a few torches mounted on the walls every now and then. Many broken and unbroken barrels, chests, cobwebs, a few spider mobs, rats, and not much wood wall elements there anymore. The smugglers from Stanos' Circle of Unseen Hands do also have a hideout there, with a secret (underwater ?) tunnel leading to Highpass Hold, which also the goblins do use, to get outside the keep from time to time. There is also an underground tunnel passage to the Runnyeye Citadel through the mountains. The players are able to use lorry cars, which are connecting the mining area of High Keep with Runnyeye.


Zone 5 - Medium difficulty - Group content
Underground floor #3. The Crypt. Could be also reached from the garden (zone 1) with a mausoleum building as it's entrance, so it would have two zone connections (zone 1, zone 4). Ghosts, ghouls, zombies, skeleton knights, and a few vampires and skeleton knights on skeleton horses as boss mobs.


Zone 6 - Hard difficulty - Group and raid content
Underground floor #4. Cave area with mixed content for strong groups and raids. Many nasty monsters like giant spiders, vampire bats, reptiles, evil eyes, illithides, drachnids, and dark elves (on lizard mounts), that can reach that area by an underground connection (river ?) from the Depths of Darkhollow. Could be a reminiscence/tribute to Menzoberranzan (Forgotten Realms: The Dark Elf Saga) with a dark elf temple, dark elves (clerics, warriors, shadow knights), and a drachnid queen as zone boss. These dark elves would either worship Innoruuk, or being an exotic cult that is worshipping a drachnid godess (raid and zone boss).


Zone 7 - Hard difficulty - Raid content - Progession locked
Underground floor #5. The nether realms. Cave and dungeon area with minotaurs, medusae, imps and other demons, including an underground lava river, lava falls, and lava pools. It is locked behind a magical barrier, which does entrap the demons there. The players can only get access to this zone by doing some progression tasks. A reminiscence/tribute to Diablo. Would have a "butcher" (Grummus/Paffa NPC model) as raid boss, and music that does remember to Diablo 1. The demon overlord does also reside there, and is the final boss of the expansion.

Nice ideas. I suspect the reality however will be a couple more rooms off the LS Inn hub with some new progression and merc quests and that will be that. Gear will be the same cookie cutter stuff +some stats.

I wish it were different, but I'm not sure the level of investment is there for a 25 year old game, more is the pity.

The devs usually do start working on new expansions in june, which does mean that there is a half year of overlapping content. The next expansion for december 2024 will be finished soon, and the expansion after that is most likely already in the works or will start very soon. If this suggestion is being considered as a good expansion concept, the earliest release date would be in december 2026, but most likely a few years later or never, as the devs sure have a lot other concepts in the pipe already.

It would be great if Daybreak Games would consider more progressive ideas like on-demand and player made expansions, that could be bought directly from the ingame marketplace. A construction set software for custom player made expansions would be so interesting. Only the sky should be the limit !

Pretty sure members of the dev team start working on new expansion content long before June and the planning stage for it starts long before work on it starts. The expansion content for 2024 has long been set in stone and I am guessing the same could be said about expansions past 2024.