Sorry folks. Fought with the asinine sound control panel in Windows 7 for over an hour. Could not get it to record it’s own output. Recording Wave Out is 2 clicks on my XP laptop, but it crashed this evening after 7w3d2h without rebooting. Oops.
Last week, SOE got the webcast up on YouTube within 90 minutes so maybe they’ll be quick on the draw again.
Also there will be another webcast hosted by Massively’s Karen B. tomorrow night.
If you have been holding out on buying the Destiny of Velious Collector’s Edition wondering what the ‘special effect’ on the house item ‘Tserrina’s Wedding Present
‘ is, now we know. From the EQ2 Forums:
The item has the same buff as “The Spear of Sentries”, the deity prelude award for Marr. It is house placeable only (not guildhall), but has no recharge time, and can be used by anybody who visits the house.
MMO news conglomerates Massively and MMORPG.com have scored exclusive interviews and screen shots of the upcoming EQ2 expansion Destiny of Velious.
If we or any other EQ2-specific fan site is provided with screen shots or other content, we’ll be sure to let you know.
After previous indications that only Australia’s pricing of Destiny of Velious was being looked into, today brings the news that UK pricing will see an adjustment as well. From the EQ2 Forums:
UK Customers:
The DoV collector’s edition is now priced at 44.99GBP. The standard edition remains at 29.99GBP. Both prices include the required 20% VAT Tax.
Australia Customers:
The DoV collector’s edition is now priced at 67.95AUD. The standard edition is now priced at 45.95AUD.
NOTE: Customers who have already pre-ordered will be charged at the new lower rate.
Do the Math
With this change, the UK now has complete parity with the US on the pricing of the Destiny of Velious Collector’s Edition:
$60 + 20% VAT = $72.
£44.99 = $71.90.
Europe and Australia are still a bit higher, about $5-8. And this does not take monthly subscriptions or StationCash into effect, which have long since been overpriced.
We applaud this change to fair pricing, and would have willingly held Wednesday’s article for comment had we known this news was coming.
From EverQuest2.com:
When adventurers seek out the lands of Velious, they’ll soon discover that Lodizal, a great and ancient turtle, will transport them to the lost continent.
After yesterday’s update activated the Erollisi Day event, some players were reporting crashing issues in Halas. Others reported issues in Antonica as players were able to spawn unlimited gazebos. An interim fix for the Halas issue was implemented, with today’s update providing a more permanent solution. Also, last year’s quests are now repeatable. All of the issues with Erollisi Day were spelled out in this thread.
From Rothgar on the EQ2 Forums regarding crashes when entering New Halas since Erollisi Day was hotfixed:
Just an update to say that we are troubleshooting the problem and will let you know as soon as we have a fix available.
The American prices for the Destiny of Velious digital downloads are well known — the regular edition is $39.99, while the collector’s edition runs $59.99. We are very happy to see that the days of preferential treatment for the Retail version are over. Last year’s 7 day retail headstart and the confusion leading up to the launch for European customers was the source of much frustration, so we are quite satisfied with this year’s simplified options. So then all is wine and roses, right?
Well, it may surprise American players to learn that customers in some other countries are seeing prices up to 33% higher for the collector’s edition than US customers are seeing. Here is the current pricing for the digital collector’s edition outside of the US:
From EverQuest2.com:
On February 7, 2011, all players who met Beta eligibility qualifications will be accepted into the Destiny of Velious Closed Beta. The flagging process should be completed around midnight (12:00 am PST on February 8th).
If you registered for the Destiny of Velious Beta and accepted the NDA prior to February 7, 2011, as well as met all of the Beta eligibility qualifications, you will be added to the Destiny of Velious Closed Beta, which begins February 7 and runs through 11:59 pm PST on February 14, 2011.
Please remember that the NDA is still in effect throughout the duration of the Closed Beta, and all experiences in the Beta are to be kept private until the NDA is lifted.
We hope you enjoy Destiny of Velious, and we look forward to reading your feedback on the private Destiny of Velious Beta Forums.
On February 7, 2011, all players who met Beta eligibility qualifications will be accepted into the Destiny of Velious Closed Beta. The flagging process should be completed around midnight (12:00 am PST on February 8th).
If you registered for the Destiny of Velious Beta and accepted the NDA prior to February 7, 2011, as well as met all of the Beta eligibility qualifications, you will be added to the Destiny of Velious Closed Beta, which begins February 7 and runs through 11:59 pm PST on February 14, 2011.
Please remember that the NDA is still in effect throughout the duration of the Closed Beta, and all experiences in the Beta are to be kept private until the NDA is lifted.
We hope you enjoy Destiny of Velious, and we look forward to reading your feedback on the private Destiny of Velious Beta Forums.
Believe it or not, the Destiny of Velious Webcast #2 for February 4th has already been posted on Youtube. This was recorded at SOE, so it has smoother playback than the webcast.
(left to right) Greg Agius [EQ2 Brand Manager] interviews Dave “SmokeJumper” Georgeson [EQ2 Senior Producer] and Greg “Rothgar” Spence [EQ2 Lead Programmer], about the upcoming Destiny of Velious expansion including reader questions.
Download Destiny of Velious Webcast #2 MP3 for February 4, 2011.
EverQuest II, Destiny of Velious, and the contents of this webcast are copyright Sony Online Entertainment.
This was a LIVEBLOG of the Destiny of Velious Webcast #2 (February 4th).
Chat today was originally going to be Itemization. Instead, it was about Flying Mounts.
From Rothgar on the EQ2 Forums:
Things are going very well and considering the extra time we expected from moving the data a long distance, we’re actually running ahead of schedule. Our QA department is checking things out now and if we don’t find any issues we hope to have the server up early.
Thanks for your patience during this downtime!
and later:
Update:
We are still having some issues with the chat portion of the merge, its just taking a little longer than expected to move friends lists, mail, etc.
Everything else looks good so as soon as I have more info, we will let you know.
With 6 and 7 room houses now outstripping the storage capacity of even medium-sized Guild Halls, some players figured out that the StationCash Marketplace Item Expanders could be placed in guild halls.
Today’s hotfix changes that:
- Fixed a bug where players could use marketplace item expanders on guild halls.
- Players who have done that will have the item expander applied to their personal house when they next zone into their personal house and the item expander will be removed from the guild hall.
- If this puts a guild hall over its item limit it will still have the items but you will not be able to add more items until the item count is reduced.
- The character house item bonus from the marketplace expander now properly applies to your home and shows in the total number of bonus items in the UI.
Instead of two downtimes, the Runnyeye -> Splitpaw merger will happen in one fell swoop.
From the EQ2 Forums:
The Runnyeye and Splitpaw servers will begin merging on Thursday, February 3, 2011.
Runnyeye will be taken offline for the last time at 2pm PST (10pm GMT) on Thursday, February 3.
Splitpaw will be taken offline at 9pm PST on February 3 (5am GMT on February 4).
Splitpaw will then undergo the regular weekly hotfix before merging. Once the hotfix has completed, the server will stay offline for another estimated 27 hours while the merge takes place.
The merged Splitpaw will be offline for an estimated 27 hours and is scheduled to come back online as soon as the merge has completed. We estimate an uptime of around 8 am GMT on February 5.
From SmokeJumper on the EQ2 Forums:
There are now official EQII Mobile forums so we can discuss the app and troubleshoot issues.
It’d be fantastic if you could direct all conversation on EQII Mobile to that location so the dev team (AFK Interactive) can pull out issues and resolve them as quickly as possible.
Thanks all!
From Kaitheel on the EQ2 Forums:
Barring any unforeseen issues arising, the current plan is:
- Erollisi Day will be activated on all servers (international and & test included) Wednesday Feb 9th.
- Erollisi Day will be deactivated at the end of day on Sunday Feb 20th for most servers.
- For servers that are affected by merges during the event’s time period, we will extend Erollisi Day to the end of day on Monday Feb 21st.
Also, if you have a bunch of tokens from other seasonal events taking up valuable bag space:
There is going to be an NPC that exchanges any of the different love loot (notes or candy) for a single type. It’ll function exactly like the [Nights of the Dead] candy trader did. That should help with the inventory!
Revising a previous announcement, here is a notice from the EQ2 Forums:
This is a notification that Splitpaw will be updated at 12:00 AM London Time on 02/02/2011. The estimated downtime will be 18 hours.
– SOE Operations team
A new date for the Splitpaw/Runnyeye merger has yet to be announced.
From the EQ2 Forums:
All SOE forums will be undergoing maintenance on Wednesday, February 2, 2011, from 10:00am PST until around 11:00am PST [18:00~19:00 GMT].
During this time the forums will not be accessible. We will return to regular functionality as quickly as possible.
We apologize for any inconvenience!
From the EQ2 Forums:
The Lucan D’Lere and Crushbone servers will be taken offline at 12:00am PST on Wednesday, February 16th and will be offline for an estimated 24 hours. The merged Crushbone server should be back online sometime around 12:00 am PST on Thursday, February 17th.
A brief update from the EQ2 Forums:
The merge has been postponed temporarily while we work out some of the back-end logistics. We will update again when we have more information.
The Itemization Battle
When examining any piece of equipment, players must evaluate whether that item is an upgrade for their class based not only on their existing stats, but also whether the stats and effects on that item are of benefit to their class. The character’s spells, combat arts, AA setup, and existing gear must all be considered. Choosing item upgrades has never been an exact science.
At one time, all 5 main stats including Intelligence, Wisdom, Stamina, Agility, and Strength had a part to play in the effectiveness of an item for every class, not just hybrid classes. This is not to mention +Health, +Power, Offensive and Defensive Skills, and the various Resists. The last 3 expansions have added or greatly expanded upon effects such as Crit Chance, Multi Attack (formerly Double Attack), Crit Bonus, Potency, AOE Autoattack, Flurry, Strikethrough, etc.
The video of the Destiny of Velious webcast #1 which took place on January 29th has now been posted.
From EverQuest2.com:
Upcoming Dev Chat Webcasts:
This Friday, February 4th, members of the EQII Development Team will join us again to talk about itemization in Destiny of Velious. This is the second in our series of four Live Webcasts leading up to the Destiny of Velious launch! Be sure to tune in to learn more about the upcoming features and get the scoop straight from the people who work on EQII every day.
- Friday, February 4 at 4:00 pm PST: Join Dave “Smokejumper” Georgeson and Rich “Waters” Waters as they talk about itemization in Destiny of Velious. They will again be answering questions from our players, so submit your questions through the forum links below.
- Friday, February 11 at 4:00 pm PST: Topic TBA
- Friday, February 18 at 4:00 pm PST: Topic TBA
Upcoming topics will be announced soon. Tune in on Facebook or on Stickam to watch the second webcast this Friday!
The Runnyeye to Splitpaw European server merge has been announced. This server merge was initially delayed because of the necessity of a database upgrade to support the merged server. All told, Splitpaw will be down for virtually all of February 2 and 3. For some folks, February will only have 26 days this month. Details after the jump.
We haven’t posted about City Festivals in a while so thought we’d repost this one.
If you have completed city tasks such as tradeskill writs and adventure writs, you’ll notice you have received City Tokens. These tokens can be used to buy items from the travelling merchants of the City Festival. Each month, a few unique items are available only to each city (including themed tiles, dividers, and columns), as well as a selection of items which are always available. This month, the festival is parked at the gates of the City of Kelethin in Greater Faydark.
