“Oathbreaker has played a significant role in the sequence of Legends of Norrath development both internally and with the player community,” said Scott Martins, director of development, SOE Denver. “With over 250 new cards to enhance your strategies, Oathbreaker is a perfect point to jump into the game, just in time for the monthly Legends of Norrath Championship Series, which is set to culminate in August in Indianapolis at Gen Con Indy 2008. At that event, 32 players will compete for a total prize pool of $100,000!”

Currently slated to launch on June 19th, Oathbreaker promises to complete the main Inquisitor storyline that all started in Oathbound, Legend of Norrath‘s first card set. Below is the complete list of new features to look forward to:

New Cards – More than 250 new cards for your online arsenal! Collect all 210 base set cards, four starter decks featuring 16 new quests and three random rares, 10 scenario rewards, fantastic new loot cards for EverQuest and EverQuest II and lots of new promotional cards.

Play For Free – SOE is providing all registered LoN users even more complimentary content and bonus features in the game client, including ten new scenarios that tell the tale of Oathbreaker and a brand new raid. Go to www.legendsofnorrath.com for complete details.

New Raid Play – In the Antechamber of Fate, up to four players can face off against the powerful island guardian Chel’Drak, the dragon turtle!

New Gameplay – “Charge” is a new keyword that provides additional bonuses to cards while players have, or get rid of, their charge tokens. Re-linkable navigation offers greater flexibility in play by allowing linked cards to be linked again to a new target.

New Faces – Explore new unit types, legends, keywords and abilities for your favorite EverQuest and EverQuest II classes, with the introduction of “unarmed” Monks, Coercers, Templars and Beastlords (with their warder pets)!

Every holiday season, Sony Online Entertainment treats subscribers to fun game themes, events, quests, gifts and other festivities, and this holiday season will be no different. SOE has today revealed an overview of all the holiday activities that are going down this month in the online worlds of EverQuest, EverQuest II, Legends of Norrath, Star Wars Galaxies, Vanguard: Saga of Heroes and Pirates Constructible Strategy Game Online, starting with today’s kick-off of the Frostfell celebration in EQII. Info and start dates for all in-game holiday activities can be found after the break.

Holiday Game Play Features:

EverQuest:
Winter brings many joyful celebrations to locations around the globe, and the world of Norrath is no exception. This year’s Frostfell promises festive décor and special events within EverQuest. Starting mid- December, EverQuest players will face new challenges as the holidays approach, along with a very special rescue. It appears that someone has been kidnapping the Snowdwarves of Norrath, Santug’s toy-making helpers. Without these helpers, Santug cannot make his deliveries to all good Norrathian girls and boys, preventing the festival of Frostfell. Without Frostfell, winter will never end and Norrath will be trapped in an endless season of cold and darkness! Zoog in Great Divide is seeking help to discover where Santug’s helpers have been taken, free them, and ultimately face the one who is behind this sinister plot.

EverQuest II:
Frostfell is set to begin on December 12th in EverQuest II and boasts new recipes, decorations and quests to be discovered by curious residents. Players will encounter gift-giving Gigglegibber within Freeport, Qeynos, Kelethin, Neriak and Gorowyn handing out daily gifts to all. Players will be able to enter the Frostfell zone via closets within Freeport, Qeynos, Kelethin, Neriak and Gorowyn. Within each zone, residents will find holiday themed fun for tradeskillers and quest goers alike. There will be something new for everyone, as well as the return of some previous favorites!

Legends of Norrath:
This holiday season Legends of Norrath players will be able to save the jolliest of Norrath denizens, Santug Claugg, from the clutches of the cold-hearted Grinnuch. Starting December 21, players will be overcome with the holiday spirit thanks to a special Legends of Norrath holiday story, featuring The Grinnuch and his army of miscreants as they try to ruin Frostfell for all the girls and boys of Norrath. Each time you defeat The Grinnuch in the “Saving Santug” scenario with a new deck archetype, you will free Santug and earn a special Santug Claugg promotional card!

Star Wars Galaxies:
Citizens of Star Wars Galaxies will have even more to enjoy this year as they celebrate Wookiee Life Day across the galaxy in mid-December. Major cities in the galaxy will light up with the dazzling glow of the gigantic Wroshyr Tree, which offers gifts to all who visit it! This year’s celebration will feature an incredible visual spectacle centered on the tree itself with its dazzling display of light effects and beautiful holiday melodies performed by the Figrin D’an band to accompany this phenomenal display. Gifts galore will bring the festive air of this fantastic holiday to each and every citizen.

Vanguard: Saga of Heroes:
This year, the holidays will bring great joy to the heroes of Telon, who will be richly rewarded for their brave deeds and loyal service throughout the year. The spectacular rewards, kicking off mid-month, include a variety of special items such as a new Reindeer mount which, for a limited time, gains the magical ability to fly. To brighten everyone’s day, or night rather, certain cities will be decorated with holiday lights bringing the joy of the holidays to every citizen. If players have been good the past year, they might even find themselves presented with gifts when near such decorations. Finally, just wandering around the countryside this holiday will be rewarding as heroic helpers, also known as Customer Service Reps, will be dropping holiday-themed items such as cookies that will offer special buffs and bonuses.

Pirates Constructible Strategy Game Online:
This holiday season Pirates Constructible Strategy Game Online players will be able to deck their opponent’s halls with the mighty Zeus! A special digital promotional ship, the Zeus, and its captain, King Blackheart, will be gifted with each purchase of ten Pirates digital game packs from the Pirates CSG Online Store between December 21, 2007 and January 7, 2008. The Zeus is a 10-masted Chinese junk ship that has been captured by King Blackheart to use in his nefarious schemes. If a player’s Zeus wins a boarding roll you can take as much treasure as you want from your opponent’s ship. King Blackheart gives gifts just like Santa Claus! Blackheart can give the Zeus or any ship in your fleet an extra action. That means you can fire all ten of the Zeus’ cannons twice! Not many fleets can withstand that kind of pounding.

Forsworn, the first expansion to the EQ– and EQII-based Legends of Norrath online trading card game, has been officially unveiled by Sony Online Entertainment and is on pace to launch in December. Following up on Oathbound, Forsworn is the second chapter in the Legends of Norrath story and will deal out a number of exciting new features, including team-based 2 vs. 2 games, co-op “raid” games against tough AI opponents, 235 new cards, 22 new loot items apiece for EQ and EQII, and an updated client enhanced with various other gameplay and multiplayer options and new content and bonus features. 58-card digital starter decks and 15-card digital booster packs will be available at the SOE Station Store for $9.99 and $2.99 respectively beginning December 18th. Hit the jump for a peek at some card artwork from Forsworn and details on the upcoming Legends of Norrath Championship Series, On Demand Tournaments and Loot Tournaments.

“The instant success of the game’s first set, Oathbound, led to the decision to release Forsworn before the end of this year. Forsworn will continue to provide players with high-quality gameplay and a rich storyline that enhances a compelling stand-alone game or the already seamless experience from within the worlds of EverQuest and EverQuest II,” said Scott Martins, Director of Development, SOE. “Forsworn expands the Legends of Norrath experience with something for everyone. We’re particularly excited about kicking off the Legends of Norrath Championship Series in early December. With a total prize pool in excess of $100,000, this series adds another viable element of competitive play to the game.”

Legends of Norrath Championship Series:

Starting in December Legends of Norrath players can truly test their strategic skills and throw down in the Legends of Norrath Championship Qualifier tournaments. Running monthly, each of these events will have no entry fee and will feature a prize pool of approximately $5,000 USD. Winners of these monthly qualifier events will receive an automatic entry into the Legends of Norrath Championships at Gen Con Indy 2008 in Indianapolis, IN where they will compete for cash and prizes in excess of $100,000 USD.

On Demand Tournaments:

Starting November 17th, Legends of Norrath players can also start their own tournaments or enter other player-initiated tournaments 24-hours a day, 7-days a week. These 8-player events feature a variety of play formats including Constructed Deck and Booster Draft formats. In Booster Draft, players can open several packs of cards and only play with the cards drafted for their deck– a pure test of calculated skill! Scheduled tournaments for larger numbers of players are set to run each week so that players can compete in tournaments with several hundred players at a time.

Loot Tournaments:

Monthly loot tournaments pit individual player skill against each other as they compete for promotional cards, sealed packs and loot to be used in EQ and EQII. Just for entering, players will receive a special loot and promo card that can only be obtained through such Loot Tournament events. Players who place well can win additional prizes such as packs, promotional cards and/or loot.

Following last week’s launch for the EverQuest and EverQuest II subscribers, the EQ-based digital online trading card game Legends of Norrath is now available to the masses in a free stand-alone version. The client can be downloaded at no charge from the Legends of Norrath website, though you’ll have to fork over some cash to purchase cards, which run $9.99 for a 55-card digital starter deck and $2.99 a pop for 15-card booster packs.

“When we showed Legends of Norrath at GenCon last month, it was just as big a hit with hobby and strategy gamers as it has been with our EQ and EQII players,” said Scott Martins, Director of Development for SOE-Denver.  “We’ve had a great run so far with the exclusive access we’ve provided for our existing fans, and can’t wait to bring it to a much wider audience with today’s release.  New players will be able to enjoy the game in a single worldwide community with thousands of people that span its own client as well as both of our EverQuest MMOs.”