From the EQ2 Forums:

Hey all,

Don’t miss your last chance to finish up special rewards from The Race to Trakanon Event Server. This server is scheduled to close in January 2017.

Transfer tokens will go out to players on The Race to Trakanon server on Thursday, December 1 at (or around) noon PST. Players on this server can use this token to transfer to a server of their choice. If you do NOT use your transfer token before the server closes, your character will be moved to Stormhold.

From Kander on the EQ2 Forums:

From the EQ2 Forums:

The [Stormhold TLE] community has voted again and decided to remain in the Rise of Kunark era for the time being. Take this time to continue enjoying Kunark and all it has to offer!

The final results for those of you interested were 39% of participants voted to unlock the next expansion.

From the EQ2 Forums:

ZONE POPULATION / PROGRESSION
Veeshan’s Peak [Raid]
Adjusted Silverwing’s script to account for charmed targets in regards to memwipes.

BATTLEGROUNDS
Fixed a bug that allowed some players to enter with a mount activated.
Handcrafted food and drink no longer give blue stats in Battlegrounds.

ITEMS
Fixed the DPS amount on several Rise of Kunark era weapons.

Original notice:

US Servers: 7:00~9:00am PDT | 10:00am~Noon EDT | 15:00~17:00 BST | 16:00~18:00 CET
EU Servers: 9:00~11:00pm PDT | Midnight~2:00am EDT | 05:00~07:00 BST | 06:00~08:00 CET

US Servers: 7:00~9:00am PDT | 10:00am~Noon EDT | 15:00~17:00 BST | 16:00~18:00 CET
EU Servers: 9:00~11:00pm PDT | Midnight~2:00am EDT | 05:00~07:00 BST | 06:00~08:00 CET

From the EQ2 Forums:

BATTLEGROUNDS

• Corrected an issue that allowed adornments to apply in Battlegrounds.
• Many consumables have been reduced in power while in a Battleground match.
• Increased the amount of tokens rewarded from the Battlegrounds Quests.
• Battleground missions are now repeatable quests, and no longer subject to mission timers.

ABILITIES

• Joust now has a range of 35
• Fixed an issue with Accuracy from Strength that prevented it from applying.

ITEMS

• Fixed an issue that prevented Aura of Immolation from applying.
• Mastercrafted food and drink should once again apply it’s bonuses on Time-Locked servers.

Players on the subscription-required Race to Trakanon and Stormhold (Time Locked Expansion) servers have been requesting changes to itemization which would bring Heroic and Raid gear (specifically the iconic Mythical weapons that conclude the Kunark storyline) above the level of Solo and Crafted gear. We got an answer of sorts on that question today from RadarX on the EQ2 Forums:

You are taking a few liberties with this statement but to reiterate Kanders post and to ensure there aren’t concerns this hasn’t at least been communicated, there are no plans to do further itemization on current content. As with each expansion the team will work on what they feel is the most important and impacting gear but a complete overhaul is unfeasible.

While we can appreciate the concern and passion, but our next itemization focus will be on the next expansion.

Acquiring Mythical weapons and the defeat of Trakanon on the Race to Trakanon server seems designed to dovetail into this EverQuest II’s thirteenth expansion — Kunark Ascending — expected this November — which is rumored to include an Epic Weapon 2.0 questline.

US Servers: 7:00am-1:00pm PDT | 10:00am-4:00pm EDT | 15:00-21:00 BST | 16:00-22:00 CET
EU Server: 7:00am-1:00pm PDT | 10:00am-4:00pm EDT | 15:00-21:00 BST | 16:00-22:00 CET

From the EQ2 Forums:

It looks like the Rise of Kunark expansion, which was up for its third unlock vote on the Stormhold server, has squeaked by with the exact percentage needed to unlock. If the vote had gone the other way, it would be a full three months before the next one. From the EQ2 Forums:

The results are in! The community has voted and it looks like everyone is ready to assail Chardok and conquer Karnor’s Castle! The Rise of Kunark expansion will launch at noon PT on August 16th.

The final results for those of you interested were 66% of participants voted to unlock the next expansion.

The Stormhold Time-Locked Expansion server is back at the voting booth for its third ballot asking whether the Rise of Kunark expansion should be unlocked. The imminent launch of the Race to Trakanon server did little to encourage voter turnout as the last Stormhold vote failed with only 46% voting in favor of unlocking Kunark. Now, for the first time in the EQ2 TLE server’s history, it looks like this server may be stuck on its current expansion for three more months. To unlock an expansion, a supermajority (2/3rds) must vote YES.

From the Stormhold server launch announcement comes this curious clause:

Players will have the option to vote to unlock content on Stormhold (PvE) and Deathtoll (PvP) servers every 30-days. The voting period will last a week, and if the server votes not to unlock the next expansion, the vote will start again after 30-days.

If the server chooses not to unlock content three times in a row, the votes for the next expansion will change to 90-days in-between votes. This will reset back to 30-days in-between votes after an expansion is successfully unlocked on your server.

Players must be within 20 levels of current content cap to be eligible to vote.

Not surprisingly, the impending vote (which will conclude this Friday August 5th), has garnered loud responses from both sides of the aisle. The first thread on the topic “3rd RoK Vote – 3 more months of EoF if it fails” contains most of the discussion for-and-against. A second thread also gathered some comments on the subject. And finally, a third thread includes a YouTube video promoting the idea of unlocking. I suppose it’s fitting in an election year that campaign videos would be popping up!

US Servers: 7:00~9:00am PDT | 10:00am~Noon EDT | 15:00~17:00 BST | 16:00~18:00 CET
EU Servers: 9:00~11:00pm PDT | Midnight~2:00am EDT | 05:00~07:00 BST | 06:00~08:00 CET

From the EQ2 Forums:

Set your sights on Greater Faydark because the Kelethin City Festival returns from August 1-7! Spend City Tokens on local specialties, generic festival goods, and more. Make sure all your characters have finished the Kelethin Postage Collection, speak to Kella Swampfoot to assist with festival quests, and achieve 94 seconds or less in the local Aether Race to earn the Bixie Barnstormer title.

Kelethin City Festival 8/1 – 8/7! This is the first time Stormhold has been able to enjoy it in Kelethin! #EQ2

— Nathan McCall (@kaitheel) July 31, 2016

WHEN: 12:01am PT on August 1st – 11:59pm PT on August 7th
WHERE: Greater Faydark, Green Knoll, /way 536, 44, 53
QUESTS: Special Delivery, Special Order Crafting, Special Order Gathering
ACHIEVEMENTS: Delivery Ahoy, Harvesting Hoopla, Kella Caffeinated, Requisition Acclamation
MERCHANT ITEMS: EQ2 Traders | EQ2 Furniture

US Servers: 7:00~9:00am PDT | 10:00am~Noon EDT | 15:00~17:00 BST | 16:00~18:00 CET
EU Servers: 9:00~11:00pm PDT | Midnight~2:00am EDT | 05:00~07:00 BST | 06:00~08:00 CET

From the EQ2 Forums:

GENERAL

• Fixed an issue where Aerakyn’s would sometimes show mirrored particle effects at their feet.
• Fixed a UI related crash in the client.

Event Server: Race To Trakanon

• Tinkering trainers are now available on the Race to Trakanon server!

ZONES / POPULATION
Lesser Faydark

• Tunare’s Battleweary ability should not trigger as quickly allowing more time to complete the encounter.

Sundered Splitpaw

• Encounters within Sundered Splitpaw will set a zone lockout timer when killed.

Agnostic Dungeons

• Adjusted difficulty scaling in agnostic dungeons that can scale to level 100.

ITEMS

• Scourge Watchman’s Quiver is now 36 slots.

and…

ITEMS

• Marketplace quivers are now able to hold both arrow and throwing ammo types.

With the advent of the EQ2 Census service which allows us to build websites like EQ2U and Dragon’s Armory, we’re able to track the progress of players on the new limited-time Race to Trakanon server as events unfold. If you want to check things out as they happen, click on the button below to taken to our EQ2U Race to Trakanon Leaderboards page:

The Race to Trakanon server is also included in our EQ2U Leaderboards site which lets you see PvE, Quests, Collections, Crafted Items, Rare Harvests, and other trackables as characters complete them. Check it out!

From EverQuest2.com:

Norrathians, a new adventure is awaiting you on the first EverQuest II event server,Race to Trakanon, which is available NOW!

Remember, on event servers, you can earn rewards based on your achievements that can be claimed on another regular live server!

AND if you log in during the first fourteen days (from now through Tuesday, July 26, 2016 at 11:59PM PT) and get to Level 10, you will get a SUNBRITE CLOTHWORK PEGASUS!

The Sunbrite Clothwork Pegasus will be available to be claimed on each character on your account! This is a limited time offer, so you must log in to the server and get to Level 10 by Tuesday, July 26 in order to claim one for yourself!

This special server is available to members. Not a member yet? Visitwww.everquest2.com/membership to learn more about the benefits of membership, including access to special servers like this one!

Want more details on Race to Trakanon? Visit our announcement article here.

Check out the Race to Trakanon Updated Frequently Asked Questions page.

Check out our EQ2U Race to Trakanon Leaderboards page!

After some initial hesitation to do so, the EQ2 team have released results (with a percentage!) of the Time-Locked Expansion server poll for unlocking the Rise of Kunark expansion. Interestingly the Race to Trakanon server will launch on Tuesday, and all expansions up to and including Kunark will be available from Tuesday. Characters will be rewarded for being first or in the first 30 characters to achieve specific achievements.

From the EQ2 Forums:

The results are in! The community has voted and only 46% voted to unlock the next expansion so the server will remain on the current expansion.

We’ll announce the next vote when it’s approaching!

US Servers: 7:00~9:00am PDT | 10:00am~Noon EDT | 15:00~17:00 BST | 16:00~18:00 CET
EU Server: 9:00~11:00pm PDT | Midnight~2:00am EDT | 05:00~07:00 BST | 06:00~08:00 CET

From the EQ2 Forums:

ZONES / POPULATION
General

• Veeshan’s Peak, Chamber of Destiny, and Venril’s Lair no longer require flagging to enter if on a non-TLE server.

Stygian Threshold [Heroic] and [Agnostic]

• Killing either of the two fairies, Diurna or Nocturna, while they are casting their shield spell will no longer keep the remaining fairy invulnerable for the remainder of the fight.

Maldura: District of Ash [All Versions]

• Gavitzle will always retreat regardless of the rate of damage inflicted upon him.

Kunark

• Raid encounters in Kunark which were previously invulnerable can once again be damaged.

Today, a new EverQuest II server is opening called Isle of Refuge. Similar in almost every way to existing live servers such as Antonia Bayle, Maj’Dul, Halls of Fate, Skyfire, and Splitpaw, this new server does have one unique difference. All non-Marketplace items which are flagged HEIRLOOM can be freely traded between players as well as bought and sold on the broker. This harkens back to the days of Kingdom of Sky when almost all loot was tradeable.

In response to some questions about whether the new Isle of Refuge server shares anything in common with Stormhold, the Time-Locked Expansion server, we got some answers from RadarX:

Will there be an EU Free Trade server?
There will not be an EU Free Trade server at this time.

Can I buy a Krono / Heroic Character / House / Mount on the Marketplace?
The Isle of Refuge does not have a limited marketplace. Anything that you can purchase on a normal server can also be purchased on Isle of Refuge with the sole exception of a character transfer token as these could not be used.

Is Isle of Refuge a Progression server?
No, The Isle of Refuge has access to all expansion content.

US Servers: 7:00~11:00am PDT | 10:00am~2:00pm EDT | 15:00~19:00 BST | 16:00~20:00 CET

EU Servers: 7:00~11:00am PDT | 10:00am~2:00pm EDT | 15:00~19:00 BST | 16:00~20:00 CET

Update from RadarX:

A few technical issues have delayed this update an additional 2 hours. We’ll update you if an additional delay is necessary!

From the EQ2 Forums:

ZONES / POPULATION

• Scourge Keep: The lockout timers for Scourge Keep [Heroic] and Scourge Keep [Advanced Solo] have been reduced to 3 hours.

Zek, The Scourge Wastes: The Siege [Raid]

• Santifier Goortuk should no longer increase his resolve values as if he was in challenge mode without Fergul the Protector being present.

QUESTS

• Justice for JoJo? – Coltang will appear even if your mercenary or pet helps you along the way.

HOUSES

• Fixed an issue causing house portals to stop functioning.

 

From the EQ2 Forums:

A new day is dawning in Norrath. Head back to the beginning, gear up and group up, and race with your fellow adventurers! Do you and your friends have what it takes to make it to defeat the final event boss before others on the server? Do so, and you will be handsomely rewarded! (And there are rewards aplenty even if you’re not FIRST!) EverQuest II’s first event server, The Race to Trakanon, is scheduled to open on Tuesday, July 12, 2016.

What are Event Servers? What is the Race to Trakanon Event Server?

Event servers are something new for EverQuest II. Each event server will only be available for a limited time, and it’ll be set in some previous era of EverQuest II content. The Race to Trakanon will be set in Rise of Kunark.

Based on your achievements on an event server, players can earn rewards that can be claimed a character on another server of your choice.

Event Servers require an All Access Membership, and will only be available for a limited time.

From the EQ2 Forums:

Welcome to Isle of Refuge.

No, not THAT Isle of Refuge. Well, not quite anyway. This Isle of Refuge is a new special server launching on Tuesday, June 28, 2016.

How will this server be different from Live servers or other special servers (such as TLE Progression and Event servers)? Here’s how:

Isle of Refuge is what we call a “Free Trade Server.” This means that almost all items can be traded freely between players. There are a few exceptions – Heirloom items purchased via a merchant or in the marketplace, granted from repeatable quests, or received via /claims will remain Heirloom.

When Isle of Refuge launches, there will be no transfers allowed on or off Isle of Refuge. This is a new Norrathian community being formed, and we want you all to have the opportunity to build relationships and a thriving player economy. There are no plans to EVER allow transfers off the Isle of Refuge server, though we may open transfers TO this server at a future date. While we’ll have news regarding transfers to Isle of Refuge in the future, at launch all characters will begin a new journey on the server.

A few other things to note about Isle of Refuge:

• There will be limited account bonuses and/or claims at the launch of the Free Trade Server.
• There will be no Battlegrounds access on the Free Trade Server.
• To play on the Free Trade Server, you must be an All Access Member.

US Servers: 7:00~9:00am PDT | 10:00am~Noon EDT | 15:00~17:00 BST | 16:00~18:00 CET
EU Servers: 9:00~11:00pm PDT | Midnight~2:00am EDT | 05:00~07:00 BST | 06:00~08:00 CET

Some nice updates today. Fixes for Amenities placed in the Premium Highhold Guild Hall. The Scourge Keep daily mission has been made less painful (no longer requires 100 kills). Spellbook resetting should come to an end. And those who use Jesdyr’s Layout Editor for arranging items in their houses and guild halls will no longer require a workaround step for loading and saving layouts. From the EQ2 Forums:

ZONES / POPULATION
Scourge Keep [Both Versions]

• The damage shield component of Banshee Skin cast by Rinis the Everslaved can now be bypassed by pets and mercenaries if their owners meet a specific requirement.

HOUSING

• Fixed a bug where the Unique house ID would get saved out improperly.

GUILD

• The Grotto Sailing Ship guild amenity may now be moved after purchase.
• Corrected an issue with amenities in the Highhold Guildhall being placed in an odd location.

QUESTS

• The ethereal daily mission for Scourge Keep, Sanctify or Die, will only require the death of either Sanctifier Maknok or Sanctifier Yegigoth.

SPELLBOOK

• Fixed a bug where characters who had a lot of spells in their spellbook would have it get jumbled when zoning, or logging back in. After this patch. Sort your spellbook once to your liking, then zone to make sure it saves out and you should be good to go!

TLE

• Avatar of Growth’s health has been reduced.

EVENT SERVER

• Merchant Rilsk in the Kylong Plains has a sneak peek of many rewards soon to be available during the Race to Trakanon!

There was no downtime notice, but…

US Servers: 7:00~8:00am PDT | 10:00am~11:00am EDT | 15:00~16:00 BST | 16:00~17:00 CST
EU Servers: 9:00~10:00pm PDT | 12:00~1:00am EDT | 05:00~06:00 BST | 06:00~07:00 CST

From the EQ2 Forums:

From the EQ2 Forums:

Happy Springtime, Norrathians!

Time is zipping by as usual! I wanted to drop in and let you know what we’ve been up to.

As you continue with the Terrors of Thalumbra expansion and take part in GU100, the team has been toiling away on future plans. And what are those? Well….

By the end of June we are going to introduce two new servers! We wanted to hear what kind of servers the community wanted so we recently ran an in-game survey. Given the results, we decided to launch two servers, each with different rules. There will be details coming soon, but here’s the summary:

Thanks to a player who sent us this screenshot…

Player Poll

Which of the following two prestige servers would interest you more?

• No-Hierlom: All Heirloom items can be traded freely between players.

• Race to Trakanon: A seasonal server race to Kunark end game to earn exclusive rewards redeemable on live servers for all participants.

• Both: I want to have access to both, though I know they will be separate servers.