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

From the EQ2 Forums:

GENERAL
TLE Servers

• The ‘Restore Items’ tab on the character window is now available.

POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION
Altar of Malice [Raid]

• Tserrina should once again cast her Malicious Shadows and Malicious Strife spells.
• Ritual Keeper V’derin should more reliably cast his Rain of Malice ability.

Precipice of Power [Raid]

• Once spawned, avatars should now respawn if they sense they have not been defeated and reset for any reason.
• Teleporters to avatar islands no longer deactivate when an avatar is engaged.

ABILITIES / ALTERNATE ADVANCEMENT
Summoner

• Flash Cast no longer references Empower Servant, as summoner pets no longer consume power when using abilities.

Channeler

• Enhance: Marisha Kur’s Blessing will now correctly enhance Marisha Kur’s Blessing.

PVP

• Players can no longer flurry in PvP combat.
• Players will now require more spell resists to reach the resistance cap in PvP combat.

TRADESKILLS

• Ensured all timed writs in the level 40 range for all crafting classes have no less than 3 parts and therefore will receive fuel cost reimbursement in 3 parts.

QUESTS

• Insulated Warmers – The root of the World Tree has begun providing sap, once again.

Legends of Norrath hasn’t had a development team at SOE/DGC for a couple of years now, and the LoN forums were blown away by RadarX earlier this year without explanation, however the game continues to have diehard fans (including EQ2Talk’s Dellmon). This weekend, a Marketplace sale is being held for Legends of Norrrath booster packs and bundles as well as XP and Vitality potions for EQ2.

One problem: Legends of Norrath players are running into an issue where they are blocked from redeeming more than a few Legends of Norrath card packs after having purchased them.

UPDATE: Windstalker is now personally looking into this issue of being blocked from redeeming packs:

It looks like our fraud detection software got a little overloaded with LoN redemption over the weekend and some folks may have been unfairly flagged as fraudulent claimers. Our CS Team is aware of the issue and will work on it asap.

From Daybreak Games Content & Social Media Manager Dexella on the EQ2 Forums:

Hail Norrathians!

The heat of summer is slowly beginning to dissipate. Before we know it, the rustle of leaves and the chill of Nights of the Dead will fill the air, and soon after, the jingle of Santa Glug’s sleigh will be heard…

But summer has not left us yet! And to savor the last bits of August, there is a SALE this weekend in the Marketplace.

From 12:00PM (Noon) Pacific on Friday, August 28, 2015 through 12:00PM (Noon) Pacific on Monday, August 31, 2015 the following will be available at deep discounts:

• Legends of Norrath booster packs
• Legends of Norrath booster bundles
• XP Potions (including Vitality Potions on Stormhold & Deathtoll!)

EQ2 player Blade Parker reported the issue with being unable to redeem packs:

“You have been blocked from redeeming loot. Please contact support if you have any questions.”

I am receiving this error when trying to redeem my LoN loot. Is there any chance I can have my ticket addressed and be unblocked before the sale is over? I don’t really want to buy anymore if I’m not allowed to claim the loot. Thanks.

Alas Customer Service ticket response times are in the 5-7 days range, and all most of Daybreak Games’ Community team are currently in Seattle at PAX Prime, so there’s zero  little chance this will be resolved before the sale ends.

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

From the EQ2 Forums:

GENERAL

• (Full Install only) For those having trouble validating an existing assetslib.vpl file on startup, you can now add ‘cl_force_paklib_create 1’ to your eq2.ini file to force re-creation of this file.

POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION
PvP General

• Fixed a bug where some guards would get confused when pets start attacking Exiles.

Precipice of Power [Raid]

• Heart Stutter should no longer hit players outside the raid engaged with Cazic-Thule.

ABILITIES / ALTERNATE ADVANCEMENT

• Fixed a crash issue related to Charm abilities [on Deathtoll PvP TLE server]
• Focus Aim should no longer spam requires time locked server.

ITEMS

• Chakram of Souls will now work correctly with thrown item abilities such as Mantis Star.

QUESTS

• The Veil Hunter can once again be possessed for the quest, Entering the Veil.

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

From the EQ2 Forums (posted today at 12:30pm PDT):

GENERAL

• Players may now claim [eq2u]a D’Morte insignia band[/eq2u] from the entrance to The D’Morte Burial Chambers if they do not currently possess one.
• Players may now claim [eq2u]a darkened azure shard[/eq2u] from a gnollish terraporter if they do not currently possess one.

Stormhold

• Players may once again visit published houses from anywhere.

ITEMS

• Darkruned Blood Iron armor now has both str andwis.

 

Believe it or not, it’s almost time for the first vote for whether the first EQ2 expansion “Desert of Flames” will go live next month or be held back. Players already voted on the first two Adventure Packs “Splitpaw” and “Bloodline Chronicles” and they will go live this August 20th. Remember it’s a Time-Locked Expansion Server, so it’s up to popular vote for how quickly the server progresses, not one raid guild clearing content.

From the EQ2 Forums:

Good day, Stormhold and Deathtoll inhabitants!

I’ve received a lot of questions about the shape of things to come on the TLE servers, so here’s a few answers.

ADVENTURE PACKS VOTE RESULTS: YES!

We sent out a vote for the Adventure Packs — “Splitpaw” and “Bloodline Chronicles” – asking if you’d like us to release them before the first expansion release, Desert of Flames. The final tally was YES with 80% of the votes.

Both of the Adventure Packs will release this Thursday, August 20 during an update and will be live approximately 9am PDT.

US & EU Servers: 7:00~8:00am PDT | 10:00~11:00am EDT | 15:00~16:00 BST | 16:00~17:00 CET

From the EQ2 Forums:

GENERAL

• Fixed an issue where renaming a guild would revert after a server restart.

TLE General

• Fixed an issue where players could visit published houses from anywhere.

ABILITIES / ALTERNATE ADVANCEMENT
Assassin

• Villainy – Corrected a bug that granted more mitigation than intended below level 80.

Ranger

• Hunter’s Instinct – Corrected a bug that granted more mitigation than intended below level 80.

Popular tech blog VentureBeat has dropped a lengthy interview with members of the EverQuest II team to retrace how the Isle of Refuge newbie zone and Far Journey boat tutorial were resurrected, and then the ensuing shenanigans as the team tried to maintain the secret even as players stumbled upon more clues that what had once been deemed “impossible” was in fact going to launch just hours later.

While it was a team effort, ultimately we have EQ2 designer Carlos “Gninja” Mora to thank for performing archaeology on parts of EQ2 that hadn’t been seen in eight years, and for then recognizing that what at first seemed to be insurmountable roadblocks preventing the zones from running properly could be fixed. Months of hard work by a dedicated group (most of the EQ2 team has continued working full blast on this fall’s Campansion) led to an overwhelmingly successful launch of two Time-Locked Expansion Servers for PvP and PvE. We’ll never have the game as it was at launch, and how many would truly want that (spirit shards and subcombines anyone?), however enough changes and limits have been applied that thousands of characters have been created and played on the new TLE servers just in the last few weeks.

Without further ado, a few quotes from the VentureBeat article, which is a great read and can be found here:

Game companies don’t often get to play a happy trick on their customers.

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

From the EQ2 Forums:

GENERAL

• Addressed an issue causing some client performance issues. [as discussed here]
• Fixed an issue where consumables could give incorrect bonuses after zoning.

CENSUS API

• Added total kills and KvD to census data for characters. [additional PvP Leaderboards]

POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION
PvP General

• The payments made by the exiles to buy off non-city guards have expired. Non-city guards will no longer assist exiles in PvP combat.
• Ravens’ Roost has hired a few high level guards.

Ssrez’Ras: Chamber of Stasis [Heroic]

• Deviator Yothsra can once again be slain.

ABILITIES / ALTERNATE ADVANCEMENT
PvP

• Summoner pets will no longer apply state effects in PvP combat.

ITEMS

• Woven Rawhide armor has had its tint corrected.

Also…

Winds of Obol adornments have been rewritten to grant a flat 25% Potency for each group member who has one adorned. They can be used alongside Truespirit’s Legacy. This replaces the old buff which granted +25% potency but only to offensive spells and combat arts. The old effect frequently dropped on zoning and was the subject of numerous bug reports.

From the EQ2 Forums:

GENERAL

• Fixed a display issue where starting equipment was not showing correctly during character create.
• Fixed an issue where some nameplates would show incorrect names.

Time-Locked Servers

• Fixed an issue where the house item edit mode wheel was not responding.

Time-Locked PvP

• PvP kills will now reduce faction with city guards.
• Guards in city zones will now assist citizens in PvP if that citizen is attacked while in proximity of the guard.

POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION
PvP General

• Guards in City Zones will now come to players’ aid in PvP combat more often. If a guard, in a city zone, AKA carnage flag zone, witnesses any hostile act against a player of his or her city faction they will assist that player.
• NOTE: Guards in non-city zones such as Antonica and Commonlands are not affected. Only in city zones like Halas and Darklight Woods.

TRADESKILLS

• Fixed a bug where all of your tradeskill abilities would be greyed out when you start tradeskilling.

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

From the EQ2 Forums:

TIME-LOCKED SERVERS

• Mitigation will no longer display as debuffed (red) on the TLE servers due to the server mitigation reduction.
• Repeatable quests will now give a reduced coin reward.

Time-Locked PvP

• Server mitigation reduction will no longer effect PvP combat.

LIVE EVENTS

• Chris Weathers is now selling the “Kelethin Mossy Table” for City Token, as intended.
• The Tome of Tinkering – Quest is now listed in the World Event category in the quest journal.

ITEMS

• Corrected an issue that prevented [eq2u]pyrorock dust[/eq2u] from dropping.

From the EQ2 Forums:

Greetings Norrathians!

Here’s a quick update on what’s coming up for EQ2.

Server Consolidation

EverQuest 2 is best with friends, and in August we’re working on bringing players from different servers together!

Our engineers have continued with database work that will allow not only cross-server dungeons and true cross-server battlegrounds, but also server consolidation. It’s a very complicated process, but we are targeting the end of August for US Servers to start testing at the very least.

From the EQ2 Forums:

PVP General

• Fixed an issue where players could mentor below the minimum PvP mentor level while inside PvP exempt zones.

Time-Locked PvP

• Pumice stones are now available from gratified merchants.
• Qeynos and Freeport now correctly flag opposing faction players for PvP.

ABILITIES PvP

• Evac spells will no longer work on characters that are in PvP combat.

ITEMS

• [eq2u]Spirit Totem of the Wolf[/eq2u] will now grant a small “in combat” speed bonus.
• Fixed a bug with personal depots that increased status and coin rent for the houses they were placed in.

MARKETPLACE

• Increased the size of the depots on the Marketplace. Their description now displays how many items they will contain.

The EQ2 team are slowly unlocking various creature comforts on the Time-Locked Expansion servers, including a few fluff Marketplace items, while Veteran Rewards and XP/Vitality potions currently remain off-limits. Some of these items were the subject of an in-game poll.

One of the items that got the thumbs up from players were Personal Harvest Depots/Stashes for player housing (Guild Halls remain unavailable, possibly forever). Players were disappointed at the status cost and the very limited number of slots (30) stored by the 1,000 DBC ($10) item. Fortunately, we can expect an improvement to these items.

From Caith on the EQ2 Forums:

We’ll be upping the numbers on the harvest depots in the next hotfix, at the same time as removing the errant status and rent increase on them.

There will also be new depots with the current capacity made available, appropriately priced.

We’ve had Leaderboards functionality on EQ2U for about a year now but we didn’t provide PvP leaderboard tracking…until now! In honor of the new Time-Locked Expansion Deathtoll PvP server which has so far been incredibly popular, we’ve added City Kills, Wild Kills, and Deaths for PvP servers on our Leaderboards. We’re also working with the EQ2 team to add some additional stats to track.

Examples:

• PvP Kills (Wild) Worldwide
• Top 100 Questers on Antonia Bayle
• Achievements Complete Worldwide

If you haven’t checked out our Leaderboards feature, we show the top 100 characters on each server and worldwide for a variety of stats for die-hard crafters, questers, harvesters, collectors, and achievement-chasers!

If you missed the merriment last week of Kander and Gninja running around Stormhold, the new Time-Locked Expansion server, and telling funny anecdotes, the video is now online! Although players had quickly figured out on Tuesday morning that Queen’s Colony and the Outpost of the Overlord (collectively the Isle of Refuge v2) were returning, it was a surprise to all that the Far Journey boat trip also came back as the first thing new characters experience.

The livestream video is mostly the guys having a good time and talking about what it took to bring these zones back. Most of the EQ2 team have continued working on expansion 12 (which goes into beta in October and launches in November) while a few members worked to get these TLE servers. The stream doesn’t contain any surprise news.

Here are the update notes applicable to all servers from the EQ2 Forums:

GENERAL

• Fixed a bug where occasionally an entity would spawn and show an incorrect name for a moment before switching to the proper name.

PVP

• The infamy progress bar has been removed.

ITEMS

• Ankh of Ydall will now correctly apply its crit bonus to the group.

Here are the update notes applicable to Time-Locked servers:

Most of today’s updates seem to apply to the Time Locked Expansion servers. I’ll ask about the update notes clarifying which updates apply to TLE vs Standard servers.

From the EQ2 Forums:

POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION
General
Lava will once again…huuuuuuurt.
Evils may now return to Antonica from Frostfang Sea via the bell.

Queen’s Colony
Direspike is no longer able to be charmed.
Players can now switch to a groupmate’s instance by right-clicking their name in the group window.

ITEMS
The Finsher IV should now provide the correct amount of potency.
Characters with exploited copies of Far Journey Backpack will have them deleted from their inventory.

QUESTS

Journey is Half the Fun: The Feerrott leg of the race has had its timer set to a more realistic timer.

Bumping this up so people see it…

From the EQ2 Forums:

We’ll be streaming from the new Time-Locked expansion server Stormhold on Wednesday, July 22, 2015 starting at 2PM Pacific* on the EverQuest 2 Twitch channel.

Join Holly “Windstalker” Longdale, Kyle “Kander” Vallée, Carlos “Gninja” Mora, and Ry “Roshen” Schueller for this stream as we share some behind-the-scenes information on how the Time-Locked Expansion servers came together, and hang out on the Stormhold server.

Join us for this stream, and log into Twitch to chat with us and other players. We look forward to talking with YOU during this stream!

Time Zone Conversions

• PDT: July 22 @ 2:00pm PDT
• EDT: July 22 @ 5:00 PDT
• BST: July 22 @ 22:00
• CEST: July 22 @ 23:00

EQ2 Lead Designer Kyle “Kander” Vallee took a few moments away from watching players gallivant around the resurrected Queen’s Colony and Outpost of the Overlord newbie zones to grant us an interview about today’s exciting launch of two new Time-Locked Expansion servers Stormhold (PvE) and Deathtoll (PvP)!
EQ2Wire: How long have you been working on the Time-Locked Expansion servers?

Kander: Since early June.

Q: What role did the success of EverQuest’s own TLE servers have in opening the door for these servers in EQ2?

K: We realized a lot of players are looking for a familiar experience and enjoy the excitement of a new environment, energy, and community dynamics.

Q: What’s the difference between a Progression server and a Time-Locked Expansion server?

K: On a Progression server, players have to accomplish certain goals and kill certain targets before content/expansions unlock. In EQ2, a Time-Locked Expansion server means the players will vote on when the next expansion unlocks without a requirement to beat certain targets or encounters.

Keep reading our interview with Kander after the jump…

Actually a little bit ahead of schedule, the EverQuest II Time-Locked Expansion Servers are now live! At the Character Selection/Creation screen of the US English client (if you are an EU player you’ll have to switch to US in the Launchpad) , you now have the option of creating a Time-Locked character as shown here:

Here’s the official announcement from the EQ2 Forums:

Are you ready to go back to the beginning? To get a fresh start on the shores of Norrath? Today is the day! The NEW Time-Locked Expansion servers are now available! Found the communities of Stormhold (PvE) and Deathtoll (PvP) from the start.

The time-locked expansion servers offer a unique EverQuest 2 experience different from the traditional servers. You must be an All Access member to play on these special servers, which are locked to a period on EverQuest 2’s history. As time passes, additional expansion content will unlock on these servers. Unlocking preferences are determined by each server community, so YOU get to vote and help determine your server’s future!

Not an All Access Member yet? Click here for more information and to purchase membership!

Make sure you join the Development team on Stomhold on Wednesday, July 22, 2015 starting at 2PM Pacific on theEverQuest 2 Twitch Channel!

Will you choose the PvE server Stormhold or the PvP server Deathtoll for your new Norrathian adventure? Either way, you have an exciting journey ahead!

After this morning’s patch of the live servers at 7:00am PDT, EverQuest II players are noticing a curious selection at the Character Select screen. TLE servers aren’t scheduled to launch til Noon, but players can step through the process of creating a TLE character and see which choices are available, including a few surprising ones. It’s conceivable that this is a bug or glitch.  This topic is blowing up on the forums in a half dozen threads including this one.

Keep in mind that server/content launches are always tricky and there are any number of things that can delay them from CDN propagation issues to the Login servers misbehaving to Build issues, there are a lot of moving parts. DO NOT take this time as set in stone, but… it looks like the EQ2 team are hoping to launch the new TLE servers tomorrow at Noon Pacific. From the @everquestii twitter stream:

@vitosauras We’re aiming to have Stormhold and Deathtoll servers up by noon PDT https://t.co/51ggemkHwz

— EverQuest II (@everquestii) July 20, 2015

There’s some downtime today in preparation for the TLE servers. We don’t expect update notes. From the EQ2 Forums:

US EverQuest II Live Servers will be brought offline on Monday, July 20, 2015 at 7:00AM PDT* for maintenance, in preparation for our Time-Locked expansion server launch. Estimated downtime is approximately one hour.

EU EverQuest II Live Servers will be brought offline on Monday, July 20, 2015 at 7:00AM PDT* for an update. (Approx. 3:00PM London Time on July 20, 2015). Estimated downtime is one hour.

Alle deutschsprachigen Server werden um 16:00 CET am 20.07.2015 zwecks einer Serveraktualisierung heruntergefahren. Die vorgesehene Stillstandszeit wird etwa 1 Stunde(n) betragen.

Le serveur de langue française sera arrêté à 16:00 CET le 20-07-2015 pour une mise à jour du serveur. Le temps d’arrêt sera d’environ 1 heure.

From the EQ2 Forums:

Are YOU ready for the new Time-Locked Expansion servers? Stormhold (PvE) and Deathtoll (PvP) Servers open on Tuesday, July 21, 2015!

 

Play on NEW Time-Locked Expansion servers and get a fresh start in EverQuest II. Be part of a vibrant community from the start and have your voice be heard as you decide each server’s destiny.

These are special servers that are only available to All Access members. If you aren’t already an All Access member, sign upand begin your adventures in Norrath… again!

Want to get a sneak peek of these servers? Our Time-Locked Expansion Server beta is still available so you can test out these servers and give us YOUR feedback. Find out more about the beta here.

From the EQ2 Forums:

Want to get a preview of the new Time-Locked Expansion (TLE) servers, and give us your feedback? If so, you’re in luck because the TLE beta servers are now LIVE!

Note: An All Access membership is required to access these beta servers. Progress made on the beta servers won’t carry over when these servers go live. When Stormhold (PvE) and Deathtoll (PvP) open to players, these will be fresh servers and all players will have the opportunity to start here together!

Your beta feedback is important to us, and it helps us make our game better!

How to provide testing feedback:

Use the /bug or /feedback command in game to open a window and submit information.

EQ2Wire: Time-Locked Expansion Server Beta Instructions to Patch in 30 Minutes or Less!

Other Important Information:

• We’ll be testing a queue system for EverQuest 2 during this time. Don’t be alarmed if you have a short wait when logging into these beta servers.
• Beta installs into a subfolder that takes about the same space as your live game version.
• Remember to set the ‘Version’ back to your regular setting to access your normal server.
• The Beta server may not be accessible at all times, as patching and beta server maintenance will occur whenever it’s necessary (and sometimes without notice).
• The Beta server is wiped periodically, meaning Beta characters may be deleted with or without notice.

So what are you waiting for? After you patch, we’ll see YOU in the beta!