The Avatars Awaken in PoxNora Expansion

PoxNora players can look forward to new player avatars, 70 new runes, new gameplay mechanics and options, as well as other exciting new features as the ninth expansion for the popular online strategy game goes live today.

Ancient Awakenings™ is the ninth expansion from Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE)'s Tucson studio, formerly the Octopi, LLC development team.

"Ancient Awakenings adds several features off our 'most requested' list," said Dan Kopycienski, director of development for SOE Tucson. "Expanding the rune dock is going to change the mechanics and flow of the game in exciting new ways, and the avatars provide a whole new strategic dimension to gameplay."

  Ancient Awakenings Features:
  --  New Runes - More than 70 new runes to collect, including 40 champion
      runes across 26 different races and eight classes. Ancient Awakenings
      also introduces the "Undertortoise," a champion rune inspired by the
      PoxNora player community.
  --  Meet the Avatars - Ancient Awakenings introduces the "avatar" game
      mechanic. Player shrines can now transform into strategic units that
      gain multiple levels of experience.
  --  Rune Dock Enhancements - The default rune dock will be increased from
      20 runes to 30 runes, allowing users to create more versatile
      battlegroups. Rune docks will also be sortable, giving players an
      easier way to find the rune they are looking for.
  --  New Campaign - Campaign consists of four encounters to help introduce
      the avatars and their story.
  --  New Trial Options - New players can choose a preconstructed
      battlegroup to play for no additional cost. These battlegroups cannot
      be traded but, for the first time, each champion in the battlegroup
      will be able to gain up to 50 experience points, allowing new players
      to experiment with champion upgrades. At any time, these players can
      purchase the deck for $9.99 (plus applicable taxes), and retain any
      experience and upgrades they have earned.
  --  Expansion Box Set - Players can purchase an expansion box set that
      contains 10 booster packs and a cool exotic!


  About Ancient Awakenings

In Ancient Awakenings, prophecies from thousands of years past speak of ancient warriors who would come down to aid their subjects in battle. These mighty demigods, sealed in stone, awaited release into our world. Each nation would see an ancient warrior revived and, with each revival, that nation would receive powerful allies. The titans, the elements, the heroes and the guardians would clash, bringing cities to the ground and raising cities to the sky. All of this would lead to something terrible. The prophet said that a silence would swallow warriors and Nora, with entire nations slipping into a dark void. Perhaps this fate can be averted. Time will have its say, as it always does.

PoxNora is an online multiplayer turn-based strategy game playable on Windows and Macintosh computers. To get started, players can download the client for free at http://www.poxnora.com/.

About Sony Online Entertainment

Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE) is a recognized worldwide leader in massively multiplayer online games, with hundreds of thousands of subscribers around the globe. SOE creates, develops and provides compelling entertainment for the personal computer, online, game console and wireless markets. Known for its blockbuster franchises and hit titles including EverQuest®, EverQuest® II, Champions of Norrath®, Untold Legends™, and PlanetSide®, as well as for developing Star Wars Galaxies™, SOE continues to redefine the business of online gaming and the creation of active player communities while introducing new genres on various entertainment platforms. Headquartered in San Diego, CA, with additional development studios in Austin, TX; Seattle, WA; Denver, CO; Tucson, AZ and Taiwan, SOE has an array of cutting-edge games in development.

SOE, the SOE logo, EverQuest and PlanetSide are registered trademarks of Sony Online Entertainment LLC. Untold Legends and Legends of Norrath are trademarks of Sony Online Entertainment LLC. All other trademarks and trade names are properties of their respective owners.

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SOURCE: Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE)

CONTACT: Shannon P. Drake of Sony Online Entertainment, +1-303-512-3118,
sdrake@soe.sony.com

Web Site: http://www.poxnora.com/