As of about 30 minutes ago, an in-game message was received indicating that Battlegrounds have been restored to service. More as we have it…
Customer Service are still in the process of handling all those Petitions and support requests to un-stick characters that got stuck in the Battlegrounds Lobby.
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Battlegrounds Disabled, Characters Stuck in Lobby
From the in-game EQ2 MOTD:
The Battlegrounds are temporarily unavailable. Attempting to zone into the BG lobby will cause your character to become stuck. Please refrain from going to Champion’s Respite until the battlegrounds are available once again! If you are currently stuck, please petition a GM. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Battlegrounds Tokens 2g on PvP
Players are reporting a bug that made it to the PvP servers (Nagafen and Vox) from Test causing Battlegrounds tokens to cost just 2 gold pieces on PvP servers. Who knows how many players will transfer to Nagafen for the nearly-free gear.
AA XP Display Bug
Players are reporting receiving the message “You convert 1 experience into AA experience!” with their AA slider set to 100%. This would seem to be a display error as I personally tested killing a few mobs and received the normal amount of AA XP (about 1/3% for a group of 3 mobs in Velious).
New Adornments System
So far, the new Adornments display is receiving mixed reviews.
New Public Quest in Eastern Wastes Postponed
During Destiny of Velious beta, there was a third Public Quest in Eastern Wastes. As it did not appear today with Game Update 60, we must assume that it has been delayed further.
From Piestro on the EQ2 Forums:
In applying Game Update 60 we have found an issue with Battlegrounds affecting our International and EQ2X players. Battlegrounds have been temporarily disabled for these players as we address this issue, and we will let you know when we have it resolved.
After the jump, your full Game Update 60 Notes for today, May 31st, 2011…
Today, arguably the largest Game Update we’ve seen in years hits the live servers. Game Update 60 adds 4 new dungeons, 4 new raid zones, more crafting, more quests from a solo shard quest to a Heritage Quest, major changes to PvP from gear to itemization to mechanics, not only a new Battlegrounds lobby, but a 4th Battleground 18 vs. 18.
We are still waiting for the full list of Game Update Notes, but in the meantime, here’s just a quick bullet point list of what we can expect:
New Level 90 Dungeons and Raid Zones
The Crystal Caverns will naturally be familiar to those who adventured through Velious in EQ1.
The Fortress of Drunder consists of 3 new group dungeons, 3 new x4 raid zones with both regular and challenge modes, a new x2 raid zone, as well as a crafting zone. Drunder zones are only accessible via flying mount.
Remember those Temporary Flying Mounts available at all levels during the Destiny of Velious launch party? They’re back!! Although there’s been no announcement on the EQ2 forums, players noticed that these mounts are once again available from the Marketplace for 0 (zero) SC. Just type /marketplace , choose Mounts, then Premium, then Flying Mounts.
UPDATE: The free temporary flying mount appears to be part of this weekend’s Memorial Mania TRIPLE StationCash event, as the EverQuest2.com Announcement has been updated with info on all the in-game items available in all SOE games.
From EverQuest2.com:
As you may have heard in Podcast #110, Dave “Smokejumper” Georgeson has been promoted to Executive Producer! After the podcast, EverQuest Community Manager Eric “Piestro” Cleaver took the opportunity to sit down with Dave and find out a little more about his new role and what this means for the EverQuest franchise.
Piestro: How about EverQuest II? Will you still be actively involved with that game?
Smokejumper: I’m still very much attached to EQII and work closely with the leads on that project. We recently promoted Emily “Domino” Taylor to become the Associate Producer on EQII, specifically to shore up the fact that I would have less time in each day to spend on EQII. So far, it’s been working very well. The team didn’t skip a beat during the transition, and in fact, things are probably better now than they were previously because we’re able to split up the tasks and I can focus more on the game’s quality and business direction.
Piestro: Is EQ going to shift directions now and be more like EQII?
Smokejumper: Absolutely not. EQ is its own game and we are unlikely to do anything stupid like trying to make it more like “XYZ Game,” regardless of which game we’re talking about. In fact, the team is already focused on the next expansion pack, so there are unlikely to be a large number of changes happening anytime soon. But we are discussing some fun stuff to begin after the expansion. More on that later…
You can read more Questions & Answers at EverQuest2.com.
From EverQuest2.com:
The Children of War, or Game Update 60, will go live on Tuesday, May 31, 2011. The US servers will be offline at the usual Tuesday update time of 7:00 am PDT and are expected to be back online around 10:00 am PDT.
The update notes will be available in the Update Notes forum, and a feedback thread will be unlocked once the update has been completed on the US servers.
We’ll post any downtime updates in the Official News and Announcements “Server Downtime for the Children of War” thread.
If you firmly believe that all races and classes should be playable in all cities, today we are one step closer. Starting with Game Update 60 on May 31st, Ratonga will be tolerated welcomed in Qeynos and Kelethin.
From EverQuest2.com:
Celebrate With the Ratonga: May 31 – June 6, 2011
Word is spreading fast among the citizens of Qeynos and its allies: ratonga have begun to openly enter the cities, and the guards are no longer turning them away at the gate. With Game Update 60: The Children of War, ratonga will now be considered a neutral race and may start life in any city of Norrath.
EQ2Wire would like to know, will you attend Fan Faire 2011?
Do you have a question you’d like asked at Fan Faire by EQ2Wire? If so, post it in the Comments, or send us an e-mail!
If you are in the US and were planning to stock up on and redeem a bunch of StationCash cards this weekend, you might not be aware that the Wal-Mart exclusive StationCash cards, which reward not 1500SC but 2000SC for $15, have been confirmed to triple in value when redeemed during this weekend’s Triple StationCash event.
Between 12:01 AM PDT May 27, 2011 and 11:59 PM PDT May 30, 2011, redeem any SOE Pre-Paid Game Card and get TRIPLE Station Cash for a limited time only!
While any StationCash card can be redeemed for StationCash in EQ2, even cards branded for DCUO or FreeRealms, Krakus of Butcherblock has confirmed that the $15 Wal-Mart StationCash card will yield 6,000SC when redeemed this weekend.
If you watched yesterday afternoon’s SOE Fan Faire webcast, then you already know that Linda “Brasse” Carlson will be stepping up as this year’s official Host of Fan Faire. A Jace Hall-free weekend in Vegas is certainly something to celebrate with lots of Dwarvish Ale. 
I’ve been wracking my brain on stuff that I can say that won’t get me fired! We’ll see how that turns out. I’ve already got approval from Legal on a couple of them. Now we just have to get approval from Community and Smed.
If you just can’t get enough of Thurgadin, City of the Coldain Dwarves in Velious, and wish you could take some of it home with you, take heart. The Thurgadin Grand Hall joins the Kromzek House as one of two new houses now on the Test and Test Copy servers.
The voluminous Thurgadin Grand Hall will make you wish indoor flying were possible, as the new house contains both the Remembrance Park and an enlarged version of the Mercantile area of the city of Thurgadin.
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A seventh Prestige Housing portal has appeared on Test and EQ2Wire went to check it out.
The new Enchanted Kromzek manor joins the largest Prestige Houses including the sprawling Mistmoore Estate.
The EQ2 special in-game item for our Fan Faire attendees has just been announced on SOE’s Facebook page.
- “Prismatic Cloud” – This magical rainbowed mount is sure to carry you all the way!
It’s hard to believe that it’s been a week and a half since EverQuest II service was restored, and harder still that EQ2 was offline for 12 days, an exceptional operational gap for a game modeled on “sticky” customers who login daily to check in on and advance their characters.
During the downtime, EQ2Wire wanted to give the EQ2 team an opportunity to come out from behind the bushes and share a bit of what they’ve been working on and maybe break some of the tension. After all, the EQ2 team had only just taken the wraps off 3 months of hard work by unveiling Game Update 60 on the Test servers. The Shutdown arrested feedback just a scant 72 hours after testing had begun.
The Sony/SOE security breach precipitated a communications blackout that fell over the company like a cone of silence, almost completely cutting off SOE from its customers. We submitted some questions a few days after the outage and are now able to share the responses with you. Due to the timing (and lawyers), there will be few revelations, but it’s still worth a read.
Check out SmokeJumper’s responses to our questions after the jump…
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We’re still 1 week away from Game Update 60 and Today’s update fixes a few outstanding bugs, specifically a Public Quest Participation loot bug, as well as handing out those five 7-day Research Potions to make up for the Research Assistants going on holiday while the servers were inaccessible.
The full Update Notes after the jump…
From EverQuest2.com:
We’re back up and Early Bird pricing has been extended until May 31st! We’ve been busy planning and have announced several updates to the schedule and will continue to do so over the coming weeks, so please continuously check back for details! Thank you again for your patience and we look forward to seeing you in July!
All-Access Passes to the expanded SOE Fan Faire are now available for purchase at the early bird price of $119.00 USD which includes access to developer forums, panels and roundtables along with goody-bags and giveaways.
Attendees who register after May 6, 2011 can purchase an All-Access Pass for $129.00 USD.
Less than 7 weeks out, we are rather short on details about the Fan Faire itinerary of events. Still if you want to save $10, you’ve got until May 31st to register at the reduced rate.
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Before it was so rudely interrupted by a few hackers you might have heard of, the StationCash “May Madness” deal had been announced and was slated to run from May 2nd-5th. Prior to Friday’s announcement, players noticed that May Madness was indeed in effect and we now know it will run until May 25th.
Discounts cover a wide range of services including Character Slots, Guild Renames, Character Transfers, Character Name and Race Changes, as well as Vitality, Evac, and Tracking potions. Check out the EverQuest2.com article for the complete list of discounts.
And starting on May 27th, SOE will be having its first Triple StationCash event. This event will unfortunately be limited to StationCash cards only, making it mostly a North American event.
Between 12:01 AM PDT May 27, 2011 and 11:59 PM PDT May 30, 2011, redeem any SOE Pre-Paid Game Card and get TRIPLE Station Cash for a limited time only!
Visit your favorite Station Cash Card retailer to stock up on cards now and be ready to redeem when the event begins next weekend!
Clearly this is a measure to try to get enough sales volume on the cards to persuade retailers to continue to stock the cards (or restock in the case of retailers who have dropped SOE’s cards). Note that most StationCash cards are branded FreeRealms, with newer multi-game cards that double as StationCash or a monthly subscription to specific SOE games. ANY card you buy with “StationCash” and a value written on it can be used. StationCash cards can be redeemed at SOE.com.
As part of the Welcome Back program for the Legends of Norrath card game (available in EQ2 by typing /lon, or using the standalone LoN client), EQ and EQ2 players can claim a Choose Your Own Loot card which, when Redeemed within the Legends of Norrath window, offers a choice of some 16 in-game items from cloaks, to house items, to a rent-free New Halas house, to new serpent wraps for your character’s arms.
Additional information about the Legends of Norrath Welcome Back program is available here.
This story was first brought to our attention by Kaozz on her site ECTmmo.com. If you’d like to check out the article, it’s LoN= More EQ & EQ2 Welcome Back Goodies!
From EverQuest2.com:
Hello, Norrathians!
We’re incredibly glad to have our worlds back online again and we really appreciate you all being so patient with us while we strengthened the castle walls.
It’s been quite odd working on the game without it running. We’re glad you’re back!
So, you’re probably wondering, “What has your Dev Team been doing for the last couple of weeks?”
Here’s a small list of things that happened during that time:
- Figured out the Fan Faire panel details. The “New Stuff” panel is going to be a heck of a show this year, I think.
- Continued brainstorming on a major new feature set (which we intend to unveil at Fan Faire.)
- Detailed out the mechanics change plan for the coming year (we’ll be sharing these plans with you soon and think you will really like what we have in store.)
- Worked out a very cool set of tradeskilling quest changes to make those more interesting.
- Made a quick UI change to the AA trees so that unavailable abilities are greyed out. (Kind of a “no duh” change, but it’s nice.)
- Freeport artwork concepting has been going well and the first architecture changes have started.
- And of course, there’s a lot more, but details will roll out as we get closer to their release.
Less than a week after restoring its PlayStation Network and Qriocity services, Sony temporarily took down the password reset pages to fix a vulnerability that allowed hackers to change a user’s password if their birthdate and e-mail address were known. These data were among the pieces of information believed to have been obtained by the attack last month.
There has been no known effect on Sony Online Entertainment and by extension EverQuest II, however this new problem has players nervous that Sony has not taken appropriate steps to lock down the most critical points of attack such as the Password Reset page.
“We temporarily took down the PSN and Qriocity password reset page,” Sony spokesman Patrick Seybold said in an update posted at the PlayStation blog.
“Contrary to some reports, there was no hack involved,” he explained. “In the process of resetting of passwords there was a URL exploit that we have subsequently fixed.”
From EverQuest2.com:
Beginning at 7 AM PDT (15:00 BST, 16:00 CET) on Thursday May 19, 2011, the Login Server, SOE Account and Commerce flow and the Station Store will be unavailable due to maintenance. We expect this maintenance to take approximately 2 hours. This may also cause some forum accounts to temporarily lose permissions, due to the inability to verify account status while the maintenance is taking place. This is only temporary and normal permissions will return automatically once the maintenance is complete.
We apologize for this interruption and will resume all affected services as soon as the maintenance is completed.
An issue brought to my attention by Cyliena of EQ2 ZAM and Tuatha of CheesePirate.com involves Player-written books which have lost their Edit rights since the Server Merges last December. This is not an issue that has gotten much attention, but after 6 months, maybe it’s time to shine a bit brighter spotlight. Because the books are no longer editable, it’s not only impossible to edit them, but copying them is difficult as the text cannot be selected — it must be retyped word-for-word. This problem is being discussed on a thread on the EQ2 Forums.
From Cyliena:
My main character, Cyliena, has written four books. Of these, three of them she cannot edit or copy anymore. The only difference with the book I can still edit is that it’s one of the Frostfell greeting cards. The other three are using Strengthened Leather Notebook, Bristled Leather Notebook and Etched Leather Notebook. Other players on my server are having the same issue, will prod them to post their experiences as well.
edit: Figured I’d mention that I did not lose my name in the merge, nor was I ever in danger of losing it during the original EF name script error as EQ2Players shows that I’m the only Cyliena in existance.
From Tuatha:
I have 16 finished and half finished titles on 3 different characters that can not be copied or edited anymore after the Blackburrow-Everfrost merge. The 4th character has 3 titles that can still be edited and copied.
None of these characters lost their names in the merge.
In an interesting turn of events, Bronze and Silver players of EQ2X are being given 30 days of Gold access as part of SOE’s “Make Good” program. You’ll recall that Bronze is the free-to-play level of service, while Silver pay a one-time fee. Although players of both Bronze and Silver levels can and do buy various race and item unlocks, some have played EQ2 entirely for free. From SmokeJumper on the EQ2X forums:
Hi, folks,
We don’t want the Silver and Bronze members to feel like they’re being left out in the cold on this Make Good program that we’re running currently. Gold and Platinum members are already receiving 45 days of membership for free. So we’re going to do something similar now for Silver and Bronze members.
Obviously, Silver and Bronze members don’t pay for subscriptions, so extending “free time” to them is meaningless. Therefore, for the next 30 days (starting today), we’re going to treat all Silver and Bronze members as if they are Gold members instead.
Thus, Silver and Bronze members have 30 days to use the broker freely, equip and use items, use any class packs, etc.
All Silver and Bronze members have all rights and privileges of Gold members until June 17th.
Enjoy!
If you have been considering playing EQ2, I can’t think of a better offer. If only there was a way for EQ2X players to transfer their characters to the live servers.
