From RadarX on the EQ2 Forums:

Finish up your holiday shopping and clear your calendar as this weekend starting Friday, December 20th at 12:00 PM PT you’ll get double experience from Adventure, Tradeskill, Alternate Achievement, and Guild Experience! This event will run through Sunday, December 22nd at 11:59 PT.

Also, to help everyone ring in the new year and finish out Frostfell, we will have a 50% Rebate Sale on many of our items on Tuesday, December 31st at 12:00 AM PT to Wednesday, January 1st, 11:59pm PT. You only have two days so don’t miss out on this great opportunity!

Double XP Time Zone Conversions

• PST: December 20 @ Noon ~ December 22 @ 11:59pm
• EST: December 20 @ 3:00pm ~ December 23 @ 2:59am
• GMT: December 20 @ 20:00 ~ December 23 @ 7:59
• CET: December 20 @ 21:00 ~ December 23 @ 8:59
• AEST: December 21 @ 5:00am~ December 23 @ 4:59pm

StationCash 50% Rebate Time Zone Conversions

UPDATE: As per the revised announcement, this is a TWO day event.

• PST: December 31 @ 12:00am ~ January 1 @ 11:59pm
• EST: December 31 @ 3:00am ~ January 2 @ 2:59am
• GMT: December 31 @ 8:00 ~ January 2 @ 7:59
• CET: December 31 @ 9:00 ~ January 2 @ 8:59
• AEST: December 31 @ 5:00pm ~ January 2 @ 4:59pm

From Holly “Windstalker” Longdale‘s twitter:

For those curious, here’s a look at the new winter prestige home coming with Frostfell. So cool. 😛 *cough* #eq2 pic.twitter.com/ajzYrZ53ZP

— Holly Longdale (@WindstalkerEQ2) December 4, 2013

View the full image after the jump..

Looks like there will be a Cyber Monday sale after all.

Announcement posted by RadarX:

There has never been a better time to move on up to a new Prestige Home in EverQuest 2! Stop tripping over weapon racks and give your pets more room to roam in. Between now and Noon PT December 3rd, you can grab a house for 15% off!

Don’t settle for a simple five room when you can own Personal Grotto! Head to the Marketplace and get yours while you can!

From Holly “Windstalker” Longdale‘s twitter:

Prestige Houses are 15% off until noon tomorrow PST! #EQ2

— Holly Longdale (@WindstalkerEQ2) December 2, 2013

The Marketplace section of EQ2U has been updated to reflect this sale.

As we’ve discussed in the past, Sony Online Entertainment got itself into a huge pickle with their unintentional devaluation of their StationCash currency. An overeager Marketing Dept held numerous Double and Triple StationCash promotions which devalued much of the StationCash entering SOE’s economy to just 1/4 of its value.  This created an untenable situation and at SOE Live, SmokeJumper was heard to say “We were losing our shirts”.

Compound this with the fact that Walmart demands special incentives from their vendors to carry product. The popular 1500 StationCash cards with 500 SC bonus further amplified the devaluation effects.

We are just speculating at this point, but we’re going to call August 2013’s Best Buy Double StationCash deal to be SOE’s last such weekend. This is frustrating due to how few locations bothered to stock the cards.

From the EQ2 Forums:

We’ve confirmed this in-game, but this also appeared on the EQ2 Forums:

Save space and Station Cash and take advantage of a 25% off a number of bags and backpacks in the Marketplace. Available from November 30th @ 12:01 AM PST until November 30th @ 11:59PM PST this is available for one day only so ensure you stock up today!

Time Zone Conversions

• PST: November 30 @ 12:01 AM – 11:59 PM
• EST: November 30 @ 3:01 AM – December 1 @ 2:59 AM
• GMT: November 30 @ 8:01 AM – December 1 @ 7:59 AM
• CET: November 30 @ 9:01 AM – December 1 @ 8:59 AM

From EverQuest2.com:

Black Friday is a day to get the best deals in your favorite SOE games, so we’re helping you out by offering 30% off Station Cash purchases! Just buy Station Cash in-game or via https://www.soe.com and you’ll get 30% off the price!

Log into participating SOE games throughout the weekend for more deals and fun!

Don’t forget Cyber Monday is coming!

*Offer valid between 12:01AM PST 11/29/2013 to 11:59PM PST 11/29/2013. Excludes purchases of Station Cash by SMS payment.

Commentary

In fact, the best deal we got this year was Double StationCash exclusively from Best Buy midway between this year’s SOE Live and the layoffs. Like an overused background character, is it too early to write off Double and Triple StationCash as dead for good? With just 3 months until EQN Landmark goes Alpha, SOE is likely keeping a tight rein on any possible devaluation of their account-wide currency.

From the EQ2 Forums:

All gamers know it’s not a holiday until you see your favorite MMO decked out for the season! This year, Sony Online Entertainment invites you to get in the spirit by creating holiday-themed items for your favorite games.

Since the unveiling of the Player Studio program, your fellow players have shown off their creativity and talent by creating in-game items for EverQuest, EverQuest II, PlanetSide 2, and Free Realms. In addition to epic bragging rights, creators get a split of the profits for sales of their item, which is pretty much the definition of “win/win.”

For more information on the program and game-specific submission guidelines, check out the Player Studio homepage. If you’re interested in making some holiday magic (and money!), send in your themed items by November 30, 2013.

From the EQ2 Forums:

Purchase and receive $5 off on either a $15 SOE or a $15 PlanetSide 2 Game Card from any participating U.S. GameStop or EB Games Canada from November 4th, through November 24th, 2013.

A trip to your local GameStop or EB Games might be in order so you can get a head start on your holiday shopping! Pick up one of these bad boys up for that special gamer on your list or tuck one away for your own stocking!

*Offer valid from store opening on November 4, 2013, through store closing November 24, 2013, while supplies last.

EB Games Canada UPDATE

The initial announcement I quoted included EB Games in Canada, but the revised announcement excludes EB Games, so it looks like they are not part of this promotion.

At SOE Live this year, the ability to store Mercenaries on EQ2 characters was announced to deafening applause. The feature was reconfirmed in an October Producer letter. So when Tears of Veeshan beta opened, players quickly found the new interface allowing them to store Mercenaries, along with a few surprises in the implementation (and cost) which have spawned a multi-page discussion.

IMPORTANT NOTE: This is a BETA feature and as such may change between now and live, so readers should not make any assumptions about pricing, etc. until Tears of Veeshan launches on November 12th.

NOTE: The Mercenary window has been substantially upgraded since this screenshot was taken.

Nothing in Life is Free

First up, Mercenary Unlocks are not free. Mercenary Unlocks are currently priced at 100SC ($1) each. When they first appeared on Beta, they were set to 250SC each, so pricing is subject to change before launch.

What’s the difference between Unlocks and Slots?

From Ry “Roshen” Schueller on the EQ2 Forums:

How will you celebrate the scariest time of year in Norrath? A variety of Player Studio artists came together to create some supernatural additions to the Marketplace for this spooky holiday.

Organ of Enchanting Darkness by NEKO ZERO

This ancient organ was once used to create haunting tunes during secret ceremonies. What music would you want to hear played on its keys? This impressive piece was the winner of the Player Studio Dawn of the Dark Elf competition!

Our invite was once again misfiled, but if you are curious to catch all the info about Heroic Characters, including a few quotes from Holly “Windstalker” Longdale and Dave “SmokeJumper” Georegeson, you’ll want to check out the writeups by Cyliena (ZAM) and MJ (Massively) who endured SOE’s PR firm to bring you the scoop!

• Heroic Characters Come to EverQuest II @ ZAM
  
• Interview expounds on today’s Heroic Characters patch in EverQuest II @ Massively

And is it just me, or are the 3 screenshots provided by PR kinda the opposite of what you’d expect to see in marketing Heroics? The exclusive armor set and free flying mount, especially on characters ALL BY THEMSELVES are probably the sorest subject for existing players. I guess I can see that players want to know what their $35 (3,500SC at full price) gets them, but I certainly wouldn’t have featured a Solo character in all 3 screenshots.

In response to a number of questions by players about Heroic Characters on the EQ2 Forums, Caith and RadarX had some answers…

Q (by Errrorr): When will Channellers become available as heroic characters?

We don’t have a date on when Channelers will become available as a Heroic option.

Q (by Errrorr): Is it possible to have certain long and tedious questlines already completed (For example Speak as a dragon)?

Heroic characters are not going to have any quests completed for them. If a quest is so tedious as to be off putting, and is also something that cannot be avoided, I would rather look at the quest itself. I’m not sure To Speak as a Dragon would qualify in my estimation, but it’s something that we can look at.

Q: Does the Heroic Character purchase apply to the character slot, or to the character?

If you unlock a heroic character, and then delete it, it goes away. Whether that character is purchased, or unlocked as your one free, the result is the same. To unlock another heroic character to replace the one you just deleted would require you to purchase it at that point.

The reason we have a try before you buy option is to give people a chance to experiment with classes before unlocking them. Please use some care with which character you want to unlock as your free choice.

and later…

If you delete the free unlock, then no, you do not get another one to replace it.

UPDATE:

The EverQuest 2 Servers will come down on Tuesday, October 1st at 7:00AM Pacific Time* for an update. The expected downtime is approximately 5 hours. 

From the EQ2 Forums:

GENERAL
Memberships have changed!

• We’ve removed Item restrictions from Free and Silver accounts.
• Permanent 10% Mount speed and 15% Coin Loot Bonus to Gold membership!
• Destiny of Velious expansion content is now free for everyone too!

HEROIC CHARACTERS & 1 FREE HERO’S CALL OFFER
Heroic characters can now be created! Answer the Hero’s Call!

From now until Oct. 15, you can take part in our 1 FREE HEROIC CHARACTER ‘Hero’s Call’ Offer. All existing accounts created prior to Sept. 22, 2013 will have access to 1 free Level 85 Heroic Character! All accounts created after Sept. 22, 2013 will get access to 1 free account per household. These free Heroic Characters will be unlocked permanently!

In a perfect world, SOE would have the vast resources it would take to go back through EverQuest II’s 9 years of content and rework it so that it’s all fresh, challenging, and relevant again.

But we live in the real world, and for many new and returning players who want to play with their friends, level 1-85 is now a relic, a reminder of days when heroic bands of gnolls traveled the Antonican countryside flattening all who stood in their way. The meaningful, perilous, and team-building adventure in that challenging content has faded with the passage of time and increase in stats. Today, levels 1-85 still have a great story to tell for those who wish to take things slowly, but for many new and returning players, they stand as a contextless roadblock between them and playing with their friends.

3 years ago, Dave “SmokeJumper” Georgeson publicly floated the idea of Insta-85 characters. He was shouted down, and clearly the EQ2 community wasn’t ready. But in the intervening years, it seems players have come around and recognized that level 1-85 has become a solo tutorial at best which ill-prepares players for playing their characters in any kind of challenging setting, whether that’s advanced solo, grouping OR raiding.

So fast foward to today, and the exact details of Heroic Characters — aka Insta-85 Characters — have been posted on EverQuest2.com for all to read. My impression of the program is positive and, at first blush, SOE has clearly learned from past “Winback” programs.

Heroic Characters are open to all players!

whether you’re…

• an established player who wants to try out your 10th alt
• considering returning to the game after a year or two off and don’t want to spend hours solo questing to catch up with your friends
• a newish player wanting to really try out the game without having to first grind thousands of mobs or solo quests.

That this is open to all players should go a long way towards eliminating the past ill feelings as some players were showered with rewards, while veterans were left out. This isn’t the first such turn, as we’ve seen an increasing appreciation of Subscribers with programs such as “Gold Rush“. Those players who pay $15 month-in and month-out may not splurge for big ticket Marketplace items, but they’re here year-after-year, supporting SOE.

After the jump, Holly’s producer’s letter and the Heroic Characters FAQ…

From the EQ2 Forums:

Looking for an experience boost or maybe another character slot? Move that alt you’ve been sitting on to another server. Get a discount for a short time only beginning September 11th and ending September 15th!

I’m not late on this announcement at all!

From the EQ2 Forums:

Get double Station Cash® when you redeem SOE Game Cards from any participating U.S. Best Buy store for Station Cash from Friday, August 16 to Sunday, August 18, 2013. You can purchase your SOE Game Cards from participating Best Buy stores any time, but to get double Station Cash you must redeem them before the offer ends at 11:59PM PDT on August 18, 2013.

Reminder: You only get double Station Cash when you redeem SOE Game Cards from a participating U.S. Best Buy store between 12:00AM PDT on August 16 until 11:59PM PDT on August 18, 2013.

From the EQ2 Forums:

In this Marketplace update, we have a couple terrific new Nightborne weapons designed by Player Studio artist Albert Soto Jr.

In addition to the new Player Studio items added to the Marketplace today, we are reintroducing the Equipment Unlocker Pack to the Marketplace for 150 Station Cash. Each Equipment Unlocker Pack can unlock five pieces of equipment that normally cannot be equipped due to account level restrictions. The goal of reintroducing this item to the Marketplace is to make things easier for our players that want to unlock specific pieces of equipment for their characters, or players that want to gift Equipment Unlockers to their friends!

Players can also get individual Unlock Equipment Items from the Marketplace for 40 SC each.

  

Join lead artists from Sony Online Entertainment including Tim “Haohmaru” Heydelaar (EQ2), David “Covic” Brown (EQ2), Kevin Lydy (EQ), and Tramell “T.Ray” Isaac (PS2) as they talk about the Player Studio program with Director of Artistic Development Joe “Rystall” Shoopack and Player Studio head Rick “Storn” Reynolds.

They walk through the item submission and approval process, including iterations and common choke points as first drafts become fantastic items that are successful and profitable for players and SOE alike.

NOTE: This video does not include the brief Powerpoint presentation shown at the beginning of the panel, which highlighted the winner of the Dark Elf Player Studio competition.

During the Expansion panel at SOE Live, the issue of returning players was raised, specifically the cost-prohibitive need to buy two expansions just to get back into the game. This is something we’ve been asking about since the day the EverQuest II:Age of Discovery expansion was announced. We always wondered — could we just buy the features we want like Reforging, Mercs, and Beastlords a la carte? It looks like all the roadblocks have been cleared and this will now be happening!

Holly responded that, in the near future, Age of Discovery will be broken up into separate features to buy. Also, Destiny of Velious will soon be included in the Free-to-Play entitlements. Included in all this news was that the 280 AA bauble — currently only available for buying Chains of Eternity — will also be made available as a separate item.

From Holly “Windstalker” Longdale‘s twitter:

I did say Destiny of Velious will be rolled into F2P and AoD will be split into features to buy! 280AA bauble too! #eq2 #SOELive

— Holly Longdale (@WindstalkerEQ2) August 3, 2013

From the EQ2 Forums:

What do Norrathians and Superheroes have in common? A truly heroic fashion sense. No matter which world you call home, every hero knows that no outfit is complete without a cape.

To celebrate the cape-wearing characters of the San Diego Comic Con, all cloaks in the EverQuest 2 Marketplace are 50% off from Thursday, July 18 through Sunday, July 21. In addition, cloaks from the Vault of Serillis will be available during the sale, so don’t miss your chance to add these rare items to your collection. And at these prices, you can get a cloak for every occasion:

For the big raid: The Cloak of the Dragonslayer

From the EQ2 Forums:

If you’re a Player Studio artist (or know someone who is interested in becoming one!), this is a quick call to action for you. 

If you are creating Nights of the Dead/October-themed items, please get those items submitted by September 2, 2013. You’re welcome to submit earlier, of course, but that’s the cut-off for this year’s holiday.

For more information about Player Studio, visit this section of the website. If you’re interested in taking part in the Player Studio discussion, make sure to visit the Player Studio forums.

Thanks. Can’t wait to see what you come up with! (personally, I would like some awesome creepy house items…you know, in case you’re taking requests…)

From the EQ2 Forums:

Get a FREE small Slurpee drink on 7-Eleven Day!

All guests visiting any 7-Eleven on July 11th, 2013, between 11AM and 7PM, will get a FREE small Slurpee drink – and this year it’s in a bigger cup! In addition, get a bonus 500 Station Cash when you redeem an SOE Game Card from any participating U.S. 7-Eleven store for Station Cash on 7-Eleven Day.

Reminder: You can purchase your SOE Game Card from participating 7-Eleven stores any time before the offer ends (11:59PM PDT on 7/11/13), but you only get your 500 SC bonus if you redeem between 12:00AM PDT and 11:59PM PDT on 7/11/13.

There are not one but TWO deals on StationCash this July 4th, and only on July 4th!

If you purchase StationCash at SOE.com, or using any of the in-game purchase screens, you get 40% off your StationCash purchase.

If you redeem any 1,500SC / 30 day card from retailers like Walmart, EB Games, etc. then you get 1,000SC bonus. So a Walmart 1500+500 card ($15) would redeem for a total of 3,000SC including the bonus. So it’s almost a Double SC day if you have a Walmart handy.

From SOE.com:

We’re celebrating our players this July 4th! For 24 hours*, get 40% off when you buy Station Cash with your Credit Card or Via PayPal.*

Do you have a $15 SOE Pre-Paid Game Card? We want you to enjoy the celebration too! Get an extra SC1000 when you redeem your $15 SOE Pre-Paid Game Cards on July 4th* only!!

*Offer valid only from 12:00am PDT July 4th, 2013 until 11:59pm PDT July 4th, 2013. Excludes purchases made via SMS

Here are the update notes for July 2, 2013 from the EQ2 Forums:

GENERAL

• Fixed an issue with the housing and dungeon leaderboards.

POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION
Siren’s Grotto: Dissension [Raid]

• Overlord Talan will no longer gain double crit avoidance if he levels up in challenge mode.

Antechamber of the Automaton [Challenge Duo]

• Fixed a bug that would occur when K’zan attuned both players in the duo to a color over the course of the fight.
• Zone now drops coin. Temp adornments are now 100% drop rate.

Furnace of Ages [Challenge Duo]

• Zone now drops coin. Temp adornments are now 100% drop rate.

Abyssal Aqueduct [Challenge Duo]

• Zone now drops coin. Temp adornments are now 100% drop rate.

ABILITIES / ALTERNATE ADVANCEMENT
Enchanter

• Sever Hate can no longer be resisted.

MARKETPLACE

• House items purchased off the marketplace can now be placed in guildhalls.

ITEMS

• Heirloom tags now propagate from adornments.

NOTE: The Heirloom tags/adornments line is a late entry posted at 10:00am today PDT.

StationCash Items in Guild Halls

That last note will probably lead to much excitement and rejoicing in the EQ2 decorator community, as the inability to place most StationCash Marketplace items in Guild Halls has been a point of consternation. However I see the flipside of the issue — people will place $100 or more SC items in a Guild Hall, then have a falling out with the guild leader, or the guild simply falls apart, and next thing you know, they’re kicked from the hall with no access to said items.

I’ve always believed that items placed in a House or Guild Hall by a friend are a donation, but it’s a different story when real money is involved.  And I always felt that Marketplace items in Guild Halls shouldn’t happen until some kind of interface is provided to retrieve said items, even if you have been banished from the guild hall they have been placed in.