The EQ2 Wire

“EverQuest Next” is the official title of EverQuest Next

Feldon — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 21:45:52 +0000

A lot of things will be demystified about EverQuest Next on August 2nd, 2013 at SOE Live, but one of those things won’t be the game’s name. That was done today on Dave “SmokeJumper” Georgeson‘s twitter. When asked if EverQuest Next is the working title, or the official title for the game, Georgeson replied:

@Filthy_Heathen its official. “EverQuest Next”!

— David Georgeson (@DaveGeorgeson) June 18, 2013

One thing we still haven’t seen is — the game’s logo. The one above is a mockup I did over a year ago.

EverQuest II Launching with ProSiebenSat.1 Games on June 20th

Feldon — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 21:41:20 +0000

From the EQ2 Forums:

Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) and ProSiebenSat.1 Games Group will be furthering their partnership with the launch of EverQuest® II on or around June 20, 2013. As we approach the transition, we want to clarify some final points. We have put together an updated FAQ that further addresses some of the most common concerns and questions from our online player community.

Importantly, we want to address up front the most common concern that players have had, which is server accessibility. SOE and ProSiebenSat.1 Games have determined that it is in the best interest of the players and the community to allow players to continue to play on any server regardless of where they live. That means that European players will be able to play on U.S. servers and vice versa.

Again, we appreciate you sharing your thoughts and opinions with us. Your feedback is valuable to us in the ongoing effort to make your experience with SOE and PSG more enjoyable. We love our European players and look forward to our community of gamers growing through this partnership!

Thank you!

When will EQII be transferring its EU services to ProSiebenSat.1 Games Group?
On or around June 20, 2013.*

I am a European player with an existing SOE account. How will this shift impact my account?
It won’t. You will continue to play with your existing SOE account.

Under the partnership with ProSiebenSat.1 Games, what will happen if I elect to create a new account with PSG?Any current SOE player in the EU may create, if they wish, a new account with ProSiebenSat.1 Games. However, existing characters, game progress, and Station Cash cannot be transferred from SOE, so this would be a brand new account.

Will new EU accounts be given the option to sign up with either SOE or ProSiebenSat.1 Games?
New European players will need a PSG account to play EverQuest II, DC Universe Online, and/or PlanetSide 2. European players can access other SOE games through an SOE account.

Will I notice any difference in my gameplay?No. Gameplay will not be affected by the partnership. In addition, European players will still be able to access Legends of Norrath from within EverQuest II, which is also included in the PSG partnership. LoN rewards for EverQuest II are available for PSG players.

What servers will be available to me as an SOE player? As a PSG player?All US servers, along with the French, German, UK, and Japanese servers, are available to customers of both SOE and ProSiebenSat.1 Games.

With this partnership in effect, will there be a European Customer Service team?
Yes, ProSiebenSat.1 Games will have a dedicated Customer Service and Community team for their partnered SOE games.

Will account information be shared with ProSiebenSat.1 Games?
No personal information will be shared.

Can EU players continue to use Station Cash?
European players playing through a SOE account will continue to use Station Cash. European players playing through a ProSieben account will be able to use a new virtual currency similar to Station Cash called “Seven Cash.”

Will we have to use a new launcher?
Yes, European players using a PSG account will receive a new launcher similar to the one in use by SOE to provide a secure and reliable login process. Using the European launcher will be mandatory for PSG customers since the launcher will also be used to deliver game patches and news updates.

Will European players still have access to the SOE forums in order to interact with the Developers? If not, how will Players be able to communicate with and provide feedback to SOE?
European players will have their own localized forums and service, and existing European players with SOE accounts will also still be able to access the U.S. forums.

Which European territories will be included under this new partnership between SOE and ProSiebenSat.1 Games?
SOE has secured a multi-year partnership with ProSiebenSat.1 Games Group to distribute online U.S.-based games in more than 40 European territories, including Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. Other countries may be added later.

*date is subject to change

EverQuest II Forums appear on Pro7Sat.1/Alaplaya Website

Feldon — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 21:38:53 +0000

A tip of the hat to Kinya who pointed out to us this morning that EverQuest II forums have appeared in English, French, and German on the Alaplaya forums.

SOE Maintenance June 18, 2013 at 7~9 AM PDT

Feldon — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 23:16:44 +0000

From the EQ2 Forums:

Important: We will perform maintenance beginning at 7:00 AM Pacific* on June 18, 2013. This will impact the following services:

Account management will be unavailable for 30 minutes.

Commerce transactions, including purchases on our websites and in-game marketplaces, will fail until 7:30 AM Pacific Time*

Pay Pal and SMS Transactions will fail until 9 AM Pacific Time*

Login for all SOE forums may be affected. You may lose permissions and experience occasional disconnects from 7 AM Pacific until 9 AM Pacific*

Login for all SOE games may be affected from 7 AM Pacific until 9 AM Pacific*

Players who are already logged into game may be disconnected and unable to log back in until 9 AM PDT*

Update Notes: Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Feldon — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 21:07:11 +0000

From the EQ2 Forums:

GENERAL

Fixed an issue with pet auto assist related to click-through targeting.

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

Gen’ra: Stinging urchins spawn less frequently in the Gen’ra fight.

You are no longer able to use the Conch of Reverberating Echo if Gen’ra has been killed in either version.

Using the Conch of Reverberating Echo no longer despawns Diviner Gelerin. Normal progression will still need to be maintained as if the zone were a new zone for any bosses after Gen’ra.

Challenge Duo Zones

You must be grouped with your partner when fighting the Duo Bosses or bad things will happen!

Abyssal Aquaduct [Challenge Duo]

Tuatog the Tidal Lord now properly attacks targets who try to break line of sight.

ABILITIES
Bristlebane Miracles

Scales of Justice can no longer critically heal.

MERCENARIES

Fixed an issue where mercs would lose their customization.

ITEMS

Siren’s Grotto: Dissension: Challenge Mode loot has been improved to better match the effort.

QUESTS

Sometimes You Feel Like a Knut – The helmet, Griz, is now appearance only.

PlayerStudio: “Dawn of the Dark Elf” Item Creation Competition

Feldon — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 17:16:53 +0000

“Dawn of the Dark Elf”
The First Player Studio Item Creation Competition

From June 15 to July 15, 2013, Dark Elf-themed items submitted to Player Studio will be eligible to enter our first Player Studio art competition.

For EverQuest II, categories could include cloaks, weapons, shields, furniture & house items, hair styles, and even headgear (submitted as hair.) Our Art Director judges will be looking for excellence of technical execution, artistic quality, adherence to the Dark Elf theme, and crowd-pleasing originality. There is no limit on number of entries.

All entries must be received by 11:59pm PDT on Monday, July 15, 2013. In the case of multiple submissions of the same item, the most recent before the deadline will be the only submission considered in the judging. Resubmissions after July 15 at the request of SOE will not disqualify your entry.

Winner will be announced on Monday, July 29, 2013.

Judges: Joe Shoopack, Dave Brown, Kevin Lydy, and Tim Heydelaar.

Curse, MMORPG.com Have Seen EQNext — Head & Shoulders Above Any Game @ E3, World’s Largest Sandbox

Feldon — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 16:42:11 +0000

How do you get media companies drooling over your next hot MMO property?
Simple! Show it to them when everyone else (even employees at your own company) can’t!

If you read our transcript of the EverQuest “What’s Next” Show, then you already know that Donovan Duncan, VP of Marketing for Curse, admitted that he is “One of the only people in the world who have seen EverQuest Next”.

With today’s MMORPG.com E3 2013 Awards, Bill Murph has confessed that he is also “in the loop”:

Say what? You thought this one wasn’t at E3? Well, really… it wasn’t in any official capacity. But we were treated to an early look at what SOE has planned for the game’s unveiling in August and we were quite simply blown away by every little detail we saw. This is going to sound like a cop-out, but we can’t say why we are choosing EQN as our Best of Show because we’ve been sworn to secrecy until the big debut in August. What we can say is that we saw grand plans for the world’s largest sandbox and it was more than enough to stand head and shoulders above any game we saw at E3. When Sony pulls back the curtain later this summer, you will not be disappointed.

EverQuest Next is this year’s E3 Best of Show, and in just a couple months you’ll all understand why. We promise.

EQNWire.com won’t be getting any sneak previews, but we’ll be right there along with you when EverQuest Next is unveiled for the first time to the public at 11:00am August 2nd at Planet Hollywood Hotel in Las Vegas!

EQ2Wire Gets a Facelift!

Feldon — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 03:43:36 +0000

It’s hard to believe it’s been almost 5 years since EQ2Wire launched. To celebrate, it’s time for a fresh coat of paint and a little remodeling here and there. I hope you find the new site easier to navigate, and still easy find the wall-to-wall EverQuest II and EverQuest Next coverage you have come to expect.

This is just Phase One. Phase Two will see the launch of an EQNext site, with cross-posting capabilities, as well as a full live blogging platform. EQ2Wire and our EQNext site will be THE place to be on August 1st-4th as we provide full coverage of both games for the entire weekend!

Game Update 67: Darkness Dawns — July 30th

Feldon — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 20:04:21 +0000

From the EQ2 Forums:

We are pleased to announce our next Game Update titled “Darkness Dawns” coming on July 30! For our 67th game update we have great stuff in store for you!

We are really excited about a new story quest line that will pick up from our last game update in April (GU66: Scars of the Awakened). We can tell you that there is an EPIC event brewing in Cobalt Scar that could turn the world on its head and YOU are the catalyst.

SPOILER: At the end of GU66, players uncovered an artifact of power — a Tear of Veeshan — that will lead into the story quest line in Darkness Dawns. The events you will experience are jaw-dropping and the team has been pouring its energy and passion into making this very special — from art to dialogue. You, our hero, will be central to the story that will change the world!

Here are some of the features we have lined up for Darkness Dawns!

1. Fabled Dungeons: We’ve taken some dungeon favorites from the very first EQII expansion “Desert of Flames” and created additional versions of them with current high-level content and loot. You can experience Clefts of Rujark, The Djinn Masters Prism, Scornfeather’s Roost, and Pedestal of Sky at a high level range!

2. Character Advancement Templates (CATs): With the vast amount of points to spend on Adventure and Tradeskill Alternate Advancement and Prestige Abilities, it can be very tedious to spend all your points and decide the best way to specialize your character. We have a great new feature to solve all that!

With Character Advancement Templates players can select fully completed character builds that will spend advancement and ability points as they are earned with a scrollbar that shows how all past and future points are allocated. Each character will have access to pre-built templates from us that can be exchanged and rebuilt at will with no need to pay any re-specialization fees.

The player can also save three custom templates on our servers to be used anytime, anywhere the player logs in. Not only that, players can save unlimited builds locally to upload and share. Changing templates requires a cast time and for the player to be out of combat.

The data format (xml) of the templates will be made available soon for fansites and players who may want to start tinkering with CATs in advance. (Meow.)

3. Three New Contested Avatar Raids: Pit yourself against three new contested avatars in the overlands – Prexus, Solusek Ro, and Drinal!

4. The Arena of the Gods is a raid instance that allows 24 players to challenge any of the 9 avatars that are in game (includes the new contested avatars released in this GU). Once you kill an avatar and are rewarded, you can continue to practice the encounters as much as you want (there is a 3-day lockout timer for rewards).

The loot from the arena avatars is not as powerful as loot found on contested avatars, but worth getting. The arena avatars are the identical avatar fights from the overland zones so you can train your raid force for the real deal!

5. Tradeskill & PvP: We’ve got new high-end tradeskill apprentice goodies and new PvP rewards too.

I’m so proud of this team! They give their all to bring you new content at this unprecedented pace of updates. We are working on a few things for SOE Live too and will have some cool expansion and feature announcements and previews. We’re putting some final touches on the heroic Dreadcutter tournament zone right now too that will be a lot of fun with a prize pool of $10,500! Join us for SOE Live: www.soe.com/soelive.

And finally, on June 21, we’ll be starting our Summer Gold Rush promotion. Until Sept. 21, existing and new Gold members will get access to a 4-hour daily spell (in your spell books or in an available hotbar slot) that gives you +15% Coin Loot, +10% Experience, and +5% Mount Speed while it’s active!

We will be talking a lot more about Darkness Dawns and SOE Live over the coming weeks, so stay tuned for more details.
See you in game!
Holly Longdale aka Windstalker
Sr. Producer, EQII

and an update about the Loyalty Reward system which was shelved this spring:

So it’s clear, we will continue to offer some kind of commemorative item each year for veterans, but the other system we were working on is still undergoing some thought. We want to be sure we are creating a rewarding, fun system — not one that feels like an obligation or “work.” It’s a delicate balance and we continue to address and discuss it and test it. When we all feel jazzed about it, we’ll launch it. No ETA right now though.

StationCash: GameStop & EBGames $5 Off Deal

Feldon — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 17:32:17 +0000

Typically, SOE does such a great job marketing their StationCash deals that they don’t need my help, however for those looking for the best deal on StationCash, this might just be the best yet:

From Friday, June 14th through Sunday, June 16th, 2013, GameStop and EB Games locations will be offering $5 off any SOE $15 pre-paid game card.

* Offer valid from store opening on June 14, 2013 through store closing June 16, 2013. Valid on SOE pre-paid game cards purchased at participating GameStop and EB Games retail stores in Canada and the USA only.

UPDATE from Ashlanne:

Our Retail Partner in Canada, EBGames, has experienced difficulty in giving customers this discount and we are therefore extending the promotion through store closing Monday, June 17th, to give our customers the opportunity to purchase.

Doing the Math

This probably doesn’t sound that special until you do the math. $30 buys you 4,500SC which triples to 13,500SC when redeemed on a Triple SC Weekend. Compare this to the Walmart 1500+500SC cards which triple to just 12,000SC when redeemed on the correct weekend. It turns out that the GameStop/EB deal is better:

GameStop/EB ($5 off) $10 for 1500SC $1 = 150SC	Walmart (+500SC cards) $15 for 2000SC $1 = 133SC
Tripled: $30 = 13,500SC	Tripled: $30 = 12,000SC

- Morgan “Number Cruncher” Feldon