The lands of Norrath are still expanding. Faithful followers of Sony Online Entertainment's incredibly popular MMORPG -- EverQuest -- are about to get the chance to open another expansion pack for their beloved game. Lost Dungeons of Norrath is different, however, than the previous four expansions. Focusing firmly on single group dungeon crawls, LDoN brings some cool new technologies to the table. GameSpy recently got to speak with Lead Designer, Shawn Lord, about LDoN. Read on to get the exclusive scoop on what you and your EQ-happy friends can expect to find to later this fall.

GameSpy: What's the idea behind LDoN?
Shawn Lord: The Lost Dungeons of Norrath is designed to bring back the thrill of the dungeon crawl. There's a certain sense of danger that comes along with being a small group of heroes traveling into the depths of a dark cavern seeking adventure. LDoN is built for single groups of characters that want to push their way through a dungeon from beginning to end. There won't be any "camping" of spawns. To further your adventure you'll have to forge ahead and see what lies in wait for you in the gloom around the next bend.
GameSpy: Please explain how the new "Dynamic Dungeon System" technology works.
Shawn Lord: Your group can approach certain NPCs who will ask them to perform a task or explore a location. If the party leader accepts the adventure, the party will be given what is, essentially, a key to the dungeon. All members of the group will be able to enter that dungeon to face the dangers there, but other player characters will not. These dungeons will be created on the server specifically for their use, and will only exist as long as the characters are having their adventure.
GameSpy: Will the dungeons feature randomly generated elements?
Shawn Lord: Random would not be the proper word to describe it. No content is completely random; we prefer to make certain that all the content is hand-crafted. These dungeons will not be randomly generated from parts, but factors such as the level of the party and the type of adventure that they want to undertake will determine what sort of encounters they have.
GameSpy: What are the party size constraints of entering a dynamic dungeon?
Shawn Lord: Parties of five or six characters will be able to travel the Lost Dungeons.
GameSpy: Why did you decide to go down this path with the new expansion?
Shawn Lord: Many players, when looking back at their most exciting gameplay in EverQuest, will remember the time that they spent pushing themselves and their friends to work together and do something that was challenging. We're the same way. Our personal play experience has taught us that some of the most exciting encounters in EverQuest occur when a small group of friends fight their way to the boss of a dungeon and defeat him. After producing an expansion that had a lot of content for guilds to enjoy, it just seemed like the right time to go back to the basic single-party adventure.
GameSpy: How many new locations, creatures, quests, and monsters will LDoN bring to the table?
Shawn Lord: More than 40 adventure zones, dozens of new NPCs and, well, the whole thing is about quests that take you into these new zones with a goal to accomplish.
GameSpy: Can you tell us exactly what the "Adventure Rewards" technology will dor How does it work?
Shawn Lord: You will be able to earn status with the characters that act as the major focus of this storyline. You'll develop an interesting relationship with them over time. As you prove yourself to them, they'll allow you to pick from a large variety of rewards.

We wanted to make sure that everyone felt they were getting a little something from each play session. In Lost Dungeons, every member of the group will be rewarded for their participation in a number of ways. Each time you work through an adventure, you'll get experience, find coin and rare items, and earn a little credit towards a bigger reward.