EQ2 Devs are quick on the draw and have already remedied some issues that were present in the July 28th Fan Faire Feedback update and made some other cool changes as well. Each of the items in these two updates may appear small, but they are almost all from player feedback and make the game better. It’s great to see.

General

• Choosing a bad name when using the CTS token should now give an appropriate error.
• The Scroll of Smoldering Tactics and Scroll of Smoldering Blessing now properly display their bonuses in the Persona window.
• The Abyssal Carpet mount can now be summoned without equipping it.  It is now slightly faster and adds an additional bonus.
• Smoldering shards should be slightly easier to acquire in both Chardok and Sebilis.
• The Carpet of El’Khazi can now be converted to a house item.
• The plushies of the Parade Halasian Draft Horse are now correctly dark coloured.

With apologies to Dylan Thomas, it appears that the instant no-carry cast-anywhere torch which we have all been granted (press Alt-L) does not always respect the wishes of its owner. It seems that its flame will not remain quelled for long, and folks have reported spontaneous re-ignition of their torches at the least opportune times.

I’ve heard this makes PvP quite a bit more interesting.

A hotfix is expected soon.

If you have not already read Niami Denmother’s writeup of Tinkerfest over at EQ2 Traders, you should check it out. It spells out exactly which Tinkerfest items you will only be able to acquire during this week+ long event (vendor only), and which ones are also craftable by Tinkerers with a skill of at least 25/400 (approximately 1 hour’s crafting).

Note that even the crafted recipes each require one Shiny Tinkerfest Cog which can be harvested in Steamfont up at Gnomeland Security, as well as the celebration hubs in each of the 5 major cities. I should hope there is plenty enough time between now and the end of the event for folks to harvest enough of these cogs to decorate even the largest guild hall.

Fan Faire Feedback Update

At the most recent Fan Faire, many of you presented us with a ton of useful feedback.  We’ve tried to address many of your great ideas and suggestions in the below changes.  Thanks to everyone who attended and provided feedback and to those of you who provide feedback through all the other channels!

GENERAL

• There is now a flight post from the Bellywhumper camp out to the Dragon’s Rest Shallows for easier access to the Order of Rime camp.
• Those who have achieved some faction with the Order of Rime can now use the Order’s warbirds to travel back and forth from Fens of Nathsar to Jarsath Wastes.
• A Call of Rime bauble is now available from Melimy Yolta, in the Fens of Nathsar Rime camp!
• Non-charged mounts can now be stabled in your home!  Just examine your whistle, drum, or carpet to place the item in your home.  Examine the stabled mount again when you want to ride your mount once more!
• Guild hall harvesting minions now also harvest imbue materials.
• Boomba now offers a much wider selection of pickles.
• Player-written books will now be editable when transferring to another server.
• Players now have a personal torch that does not clutter their hands.  Use ALT+L to light your way.
• Guild mail can now be sent to specific ranks.  Click the to button on the send window and select which ranks you wish to spam . .. Err mail.
• Added an indicator (white star) on the target window. This should only show up if the NPC gives AA experience and not show up if you’ve collected it.

ITEMS

• The Firiona Vie Statue now has 100 status reduction.
• Collection items from The Shadow Odyssey dungeons have now been added to the Collection Burynai.

LAVASTORM

• Najena’s elevator in Lavastorm can no longer change directions while traveling to a new floor.

MOORS OF YKESHA

• A mysterious new stranger has appeared in the Moors of Ykesha. Rogues and predators may visit him to exchange their hybrid shard armor for class shard armor.

MUNZOK’S MATERIAL BASTION

• During the final Munzok fight, Munzok’s various adds should no longer cast any spells players can cure.  Cures can be focused on spells and effects cast by Munzok himself.

NEKTROPOS CASTLE

• The Swine Lord should spawn a bit more frequently in Nektropos Castle.

VOICE

• The voice system has been upgraded to correct a number of disconnection issues.

QUESTS

• Hallmark quests can now be deleted from your quest journal. Note: Hallmark quests have never counted towards your quest limit, so deleting them will not make room for additional quests.
• If you have the right Rime faction to get a quest from Rantiri Skelbre, Kraytoc Killingfrost, Kellaen Mednevn or Kyena the Eastern Lord, but you do not have the Rime illusion on, they will now tell you that they must recognize you in order to proceed.
• If you meet the requirements for Rime quests in other zones Bragek Joll, Thress Kivatei, and Pylemea Stoerki will now tell you to travel to another zone to get a quest from specific NPCs.
• The quests “Kill ‘em All” in Fallen Gate can now be obtained by players above level 25.
• The quest “The Summoning” in Nektulos Forest can now be obtained by players above level 37.
• The quest “Trinkets of the Dead” in Nektropos Castle can now be completed.
• Billy in Nektropos Castle should be a bit easier to find for the heritage quest “A Missing Mask”. He can now be hailed by clicking on him instead of having to use the ‘H’ key
• The quest “Bag of Parts” in Baubleshire can now be completed at any level.
• The Shady Swashbuckler in Nektulos Forest can now obtain Berik, Sword of Thunder for those who have already completed the quest.

Tinkerfest is here!! The gnomes of Norrath have resurrected their holiday from more than 500 years ago. This celebration of all things gnomish will bring you new gnomish house items, new shinies to collect, and lots of fun! Look for signs of celebration in gnomish hangouts – Gnomeland Security in Steamfont Mountains, Temple Street in Freeport, Baubleshire in Qeynos! The festivities will run from 12:01am July 24th until 11:59pm August 3rd PDT. See you in Norrath!!

Read More

Tinkerfest at EQ2Traders

Miragul himself has returned to Norrath and can be found residing in Miragul’s Planar Shard, a new x4 raid zone connected to Everfrost. The zone features a variety of encounters, some of which can be completed in normal mode, or for those seeking additional challenge and rewards, hard mode.

This zone shares the artwork of the Crucible.

The Thursday July 16th Hotfix corrects two issues I discussed yesterday.

First, being unable to use the Automated Character Transfer Service (available by purchasing a Character Transfer Token through StationCash) due to ‘ghost mails’ stuck in their mailbox.

Second, the Research Assistants not granting the spell if you are logged out of the game or not in the same zone as a Research Assistant when the research completes.

Here are the July 16th Hotfix Notes:

GENERAL

• The “/clear_mailbox” command will now allow players to delete all mail, including ghosted mail from their character. NOTE:  After using the command the mail icon in the Spell Effects window will remain until the player logs out and then back in.
• An issue that was causing researched spells from research assistants to not be granted upon completion has been fixed.

Research Assistants

Many players are reporting that their Research Assistants which they hired paid quested for coaxed hailed to get Master spell upgrades are being rather possessive with the results of that research and not giving up the spell.

Rothgar shed some light on the issue, specifically that this problem will occur only when you are logged out of the game when the research completes, and you change zones, or login and out without immediately claiming the spell. In other words, unless you are either logged in, or camped in a zone where you can retrieve your researched spell at the time that the research completes, you will need to /petition to get it. I’m getting dizzy!

So anyway, a hotfix is imminent, but in the mean time, if you didn’t get your spell, simply /petition and GMs have been empowered to credit the spell to your account.

Order of Rime Icemares

As a reward for completing the Order of Rime quests, a fantastic mount was added in Gu52 — An Order of Rime Icemare (  ) purchasable for 40p. However some felt that it did not have bonuses and characteristics befitting mages and priests, so another mount was added in yesterday’s hotfix — An Order of Rime Mystic Icemare. If you wish to trade up to the Mystic version, and don’t want to pay another 12p in trade, you can use the /petition system to contact Customer Service and request that they swap out the request. Discussion Here

The Shadow Odyssey Signature Quest

The Shadow Odyssey introduced a challenging Signature Quest which rewards those who can successfully complete all 20 dungeons in The Shadow Odyssey with a powerful charm, and irreplaceable cloak from Queen Antonia Bayle or the Overlord Lucan D’Lere themselves.

For unknown reasons, the quest reward was changed in Gu52, and players completing this lengthy quest were offered the choice of either the cloak or the charm. This has now been fixed, and you can use /petition to request both rewards. Be sure to specify which cloak and which charm you want.

Automated Character Transfers

July 14th saw the re-introduction of Automated Character Server Transfers, which have been unavailable for over a year now. The price also drops to$25, which will make it appealing to many folks I’m sure.

There is one bug that some folks are encountering. If your in-game mailbox has ever gotten completely full (who hasn’t?), you may have some “ghost” e-mails stuck in there which will prevent you from being able to buy a Character Transfer Token. Please /petition to get this sorted out.

Customer Service

I would like to ask everyone for a little extra patience with Customer Service this week. I’ve just outlined 4 situations where CS will have to deal with /petitions. I can only imagine they are completely swamped this week.

Before I start the notes, July 14th marks the availability of the Automated Character Transfer Service. For $25, you can transfer your character from one server to another. Check out the “Station Marketplace” within EQ2. I don’t have a current link for you as far as this announcement, but I can confirm that the items appeared on the Station Marketplace for me this morning.

July 14th Update Notes

GENERAL

• The Firiona Vie statue distributed to Fan Faire attendees is no longer a LORE item.

EMPEROR’S ATHENAEUM

• 4 Warriors are no longer control immune. Enchanters, show us what you got!

KURN’S TOWER

• The ominous shadow reavers in the Kurns x2 will no longer use Theer Strike.
• Haggle Baron no longer respawns adds until his final phase at 10%
• Haggle Baron should no longer ever spawn red and blue bubbles on top of each other.

MUNZOK’S MATERIAL BASTION

• Umzok now casts his AOE spells at level 88 so players can use potions to dispel them.  The activated automatons he uses during the fight now have less health, and will take longer to automatically buff Umzok during the fight.
• The giant Cyclops summoned via the Channeling Crystal of the Sullonites will no longer be susceptible to damage prior to possession, so the rare times it would attack the raid rather than assist them, should be gone.
• During the final Munzok fight, the abyssal channeling proc that charmed tanks use is no longer focus damage, it should be mitigateable as mental damage now.  Energized Void Ripper adds no longer cast frenzied slice, so players will no longer briefly become immune to beneficial spells due to this innate.  The unstable void protrusions they leave on their death now has a larger protective radius and the abyssal rager adds (these are NORMAL adds, not punishment adds) have less health and spawn with slightly less frequency than before.

PVP

• Charm I and II now have the appropriate duration in pvp.

QUESTS

• The Order of Rime now offers a mystic icemare suited more for priests and mages who have proven their worth to the Order.
• Players should now be able to choose between one Ethernaut item, and one cloak from the city leaders when completing the Shadow Odyssey signature quest line.  Professor Fondfate’s dialog should now reflect the change of how the reward it given out.
• The ghost dwarf for the quest, “Enduring Friendship” should no longer attempt to complete the quest for players who are not on it.

SPELLS
Necromancer

• Miragul’s Dark Heart Summoning will now properly overwrite older Dark Hearts.

Shadowknight

• Mortal Embrace will now scale properly across all versions.

VENRIL SATHIR’S LAIR

• Venril Sathir no longer punishes players via Qxzytl’s Conversion if they have too much mana.
• The ornamental statues in his encounter now have reduced health and do less damage.

YKESHA’S INNER STRONGHOLD

• The froglok cavalier, footsoldiers and bodyguards that accompany Ykesha will no longer memwipe to players banished to the back of the zone.

Fan Faire 2009 presented a lot of ideas and plans for the future. A scant few were nailed down to a specific time frame. We know that we are getting the Shard of Love and Miragul’s Shard in Gu53, as well as the amazing Shaders 3.0 graphics tweaks. However the rest of Gu53 and any part of Gu54 remain a mystery.

You’ll be happy to know that the AA XP Slider is slated to be contained in Gu53! Obviously there is still some time between now and September, so this may change, but this is certainly good news that we will not be waiting until February for these changes.

I think this, more than anything else, will bring folks back to the low level dungeons in EQ2. It will give folks complete flexibility to group with friends for AA, quest, etc.

July 7, 2009 Hotfix Update Notes

EMPEROR’S ATHENAEUM

• 4 Warriors in Emperor’s Athenaeum should reset less frequently.
• 4 Warriors have fewer buffs—especially defensive ones.

FENS OF NATHSAR

• Kaluhm the Northern Lord now drops his treasure correctly.
• Pulnil the Haggler is less confused about the quests he can offer and advance for those that have completed the quest “Everyone Loves a Snitch”.

GUILD HALLS

• Players at trustee or higher access can change the appearance of mailboxes placed within their guild hall.

ITEMS

• Focus: Lich III on necromancer item sets will now function properly.
• Focus: Bane of Warding V should now properly increase the amount of the ward.
• Scaling on a number of house items from the monthly “moonlight enchantments” live event has been adjusted.
• The cloaks from Munzok’s Material Bastion now have custom appearances!

KURN’S TOWER

• Sir Rouland now casts a detrimental warning on players he is about to kick off the platform (in addition to the onscreen message).
• The energy bursts in Sir Rouland’s encounter tic for 30% of a player’s max health, down from 40.

_________________

By the way, I have to say that Emperor’s Athenaeum is a pretty inventive zone. 3 of the boss fights have some real creativity to them. The cheering crowds in the Drago’s Arena I found really quite contagious. So much so that I typed /cheer myself!

Finally, if you submitted any questions to the EQ2 Team about the present and future of the game, or even if you didn’t, check out the June 2nd 2009 “Dev Answers” thread.

The bug that was preventing the Tradeskill Bonus XP in certain instances such as Guild Halls has been corrected. In addition, this July 4th weekend has been changed to award a +50% bonus to Combat XP, Adventure XP, and Tradeskill XP. Although EQ2Players and the forums were accurate, an e-mail that went out could have been interpreted to suggest that Combat XP was getting a bonus this weekend.

Thanks Rothgar (source)!!!

Several folks are reporting that bonus Tradeskill XP is not working in certain guild halls or instances but only on outdoor crafting tables. Check your Tradeskill XP bar carefully to see if you are getting the bonus.

Note that the e-mail notifications that went about were vague and suggested that July 4th weekend was offering bonus XP for adventure and tradeskilling. In fact this is the first AA bonus XP weekend ever offered for EQ2, along with Tradeskill. Combat XP is not currently getting a bonus this weekend.

For the first time ever, EQ2 will be having a Bonus AA XP weekend. Tradeskillers will also get some XP love as well. Posted by Kiara on the EQ2 Forums:

To commemorate the holiday weekend, we’ll be turning on bonus AA and Tradeskill exp starting at 4:00PM PDT tomorrow Thursday, July 2nd and running until 10:00AM PDT Monday, July 6th.

For the UK servers it will run from 12:00AM (midnight) Friday July 3rd until 8:00PM Monday, July 6th for folks residing in London (presuming I did my conversions correctly).

Thanks and happy gaming!

Every EQ2 news site has been abuzz with the news about Sentinel’s Fate as well as changes and new zones expected between now and then.

• Naimi Denmother’s (EQ2Traders) Fan Faire 2009 Writeup
• EQ2 Mechanically Speaking Panel @ Zam
• EQ2 Fan Faire 2009 Report @ EQ2Zam

If you have a fan site news link that you think I should be mentioning, please let me know!!

Some concept art from EQ2 Sentinel’s Fate has been posted at EQ2Players.