Ok, so I'm a few days late...

But this is pretty big news. It's not like I can compete with Tobold and Darren anyway, they'll always scoop me. :)

The big SOE announcement was for Legends of Norrath. Legends of Norrath is, to put it simply, an online CCG in the vein of Magic: The Gathering Online. A proven business model.

But wait, there's more. In addition to playing this game online normally, you can also play from within EQ2. Your character can sit down in-game and play LoN with other characters using a built-in version of the standard LoN client.

You can find cards and packs of cards dropped by mobs and trade in-game. Certain rare cards can be redeemed for in-game items like mounts, cloaks, and probably lots of cosmetic items.

SOE may be the Evil Empire, and Smedley may be their Darth Vader, but this is a bloody brilliant idea. I mean, seriously, an MMO with a full CCG inside of it? That's like wrapping cocaine in bacon. MMOs and CCGs have been the two most powerfully addictive gaming experiences to come down the pike in decades (much like cocaine and bacon), and to fully integrate them in both directions is insidious. I thought the WoW CCG was a great idea, and that has half the integration that LoN promises to have.

I don't play EQ2, since it came out too close to when WoW stole my soul for a year. I've never seen anything that made me want to play it, but this is tempting.