Feldon
Kudos to Xalmat who worked overtime the moment Gu53 hit the Test Servers to create an Comprehensive Guide for the new Achievements system that EQ2 will be receiving. As mentioned, this will be a way to track all kinds of in-game tasks such as killing 10,000 undead, completing 20 Heritage Quests, clearing Veeshan’s Peak, crafting 1,000 combines, Discovering all the locations in Lesser Faydark, etc. For some of them, the journey is the reward, for others there are more concrete rewards like Titles, Clothing, House Items, etc. This is also a replacement for the Slayer Title system. P.S. This...
Year: 2009
Within hours of our reporting on some drawbacks to the otherwise fantastic revamp of housing throughout Norrath, Haohmaru chimed in indicating that he agrees with some of the concerns folks had both with the size of the Qeynos addition, as well as the loss of space in the Kelethin acorn. He’s already posted screen shots of some additional changes he’s made on the EQ2 Forums. The additional room in Qeynos is quite nice, and the changes in the Kelethin 3 room acorns should go a long way towards addressing some of the issues. Sorry I didn’t get this posted...
There have been mixed reactions to the additional rooms which have been added to housing throughout Norrath. They say no good deed goes unpunished. đŸ™‚ Seriously, I do understand the plight of owners of 3-room acorns in Kelethin who took advantage of the unique geometry of these houses to craft some truly fantastic homes who are now affected by how the 4th room was added. Specifically, the ceiling was lowered, and a ramp was added where there was previously space. Fortunately, Art Lead Haohmaru has been quick to respond on the EQ2 Forums that this is something he will...
With the Racial Trait changes in Game Update #53, each race is consigned to being the best at one or two specific class archetypes. Aeralik has weighed in on EQ2 Forums exactly which race corresponds with which archetypes: Scout package – Arasai, Fae, Dark Elf, Wood Elf, Gnome, Ratonga, Halfling Mage Package – Arasai, Dark Elf, Gnome, Ratonga, Iksar Priest Package – Fae, Wood Elf, Halfling, Dwarves, Froglok, Ogre, Barbarian, Toll, Sarnak Fighter Package – Sarnak, Ogre, Troll, Barbarian, Iksar, Froglok, Dwarves Well Rounded Pack ( combination of all 4 ) – Human, Kerra, Half Elf Priest/Mage Specialty( specialized...
Think you’ve seen all there is to see in Antonica? Think you’ve explored every ice floe of Everfrost? Now you can be sure! The new Achievements system coming with Gu53 will allow you to, at-a-glance, determine if you have discovered every Location there is to discover in Norrath. This is broken down by Zone. One of my top requests over the years has been a means to figure out if we have already toppled the reign of a specific enemy, or named monster. We saw improvements here, with the addition of a white star above the name of any...
If you have not read the EQ2 forums much, you might not know Rothgar. He has been working very hard on improving the User Interface of EQ2. Specifically cleaning up and improving windows. It was a pleasant surprise to me that the oft-forgotten Claim window has been rebuilt using existing assets, namely the Station Marketplace. It’s a lot easier to navigate and can be browsed by Expansion, special Events, and you can easily view which Claim Items you have already acquired. New Claim Window Although some alternate User Interfaces have existed which provide a more advanced Quest Journal such...
Alrighty, you want it, we got it. Here are the Racial Traits we will be seeing in Game Update 53. It’s a huge change, and provides a ton of options. Everyone gets a free respec, and honestly, we’ve gone from traits that make each race have an obvious class associated with it, to being perhaps a little too Cut-and-Paste and not daring enough. I know some people will always choose race for lore reasons. They like ratongas, they like high elves, etc. Just like min/maxers will always choose race for the bonuses (and then use illusion totems). So I...
Now that the Norrathian Health Department has certified that beasts of burden may be housed in Guild Halls and Personal Homes alike, many citizens have been having a tough go at corralling and feeding their 4 legged friends. Fortunately, carpenters have discovered a variety of recipes that will aid in this endeavor and perhaps keep the mess to a minimum. đŸ™‚
Shards of Destiny (Gu53) appeared on Test just moments before midnight last night. This update is expected to go live in late September (the initial date was September 22nd, but this was an internal target). Here are the Test Update Notes: Test Update August / 27 / 2009 FEATURED Achievements The new achievement system gives players a fun new way to track their accomplishments! Most achievements will award players with achievement points that can be used to compare their progress against other players. Some harder to complete achievements will offer non-stat item rewards. The basic categories are General, Quest,...
EQ2 Housing is getting an upgrade! The biggest changes include the Faydwer acorns which have received a nice window which looks out into Kelethin. And the Maj’dul apartments which have been lacking in charm have really opened up with skylights and the like. Here at EQ2Wire, we’re anxiously awaiting Gu53 being pushed to Test (scheduled for today) so we can go grab screen shots of all the new housing options. There have been some unconfirmed reports that existing spaces were reduced to make room for the new areas. We’ll be checking this out Preview at EQ2Players
An unintended effect of the August 26th Hotfix is that Quest Sharing is now completely broken. With the exception of daily Missions, quests of any kind and any level cannot currently be shared. The window appears for the other player, and they can click Accept, but the quest never gets added to the Quest Journal. UPDATE: This issue will be addressed in a hotfix Tuesday morning.
Alan “Brenlo” has chimed in on the EQ2 Forums with the news that GU53 will be appearing on Test servers tomorrow. He’s also spilled the beans on Hot Zones and what this means for you. Tomorrow morning, Shards of Destiny is going to the Test server! Woo Hoo! We hope you are as excited as we are to see the new content and try it out for yourselves. I encourage you, if you have time in your busy schedules, to jump onto Test and try the new content out. We would love to hear your feedback and the more...
We’re now less than 6 months from EverQuest II’s Sentinel’s Fate expansion and Domino, EQ2 Tradeskill Developer, is starting to dig deep into Transmuting. If you’d like to see her preliminary ideas and give feedback on the EQ2 Forums, you should check out the EQ2 Tradeskill forums. And here’s a completely unrelated Fan Faire photo:
Rothgar brings us an update on Game Update 53. The EQ2 Team wants to get Gu53 on the test server soon, to allow 1 full month of testing. However Shaders 3.0 won’t be ready within the next few days. As a result, Shaders 3.0 are slipping to Gu54 expected in November. If you attended our last Fan Faire or have been following the forums you’ve probably heard about a major overhaul to the EverQuest II rendering engine where we are upgrading all of our existing shaders from version 1.x to version 3.0. This upgrade will result in a performance...
Here are your EQ2 Patch Notes for August 26th: ACHIEVEMENTS Fury Enhance: Hibernation should trigger properly when falling below 15%. ITEMS The focus effect on the Robe of Shifting Visions will increase the damage properly now. MISC The Welcome Screen now lists the current Daily Double. Rothgar reports further at the EQ2 Forums: Also, the Welcome Screen has been updated to include information about the current Daily Mission as well as support for upcoming Hot Zones.* My understanding is that Hot Zones will be a rotation of zones that offer extra XP, AA XP, or other rewards.
At the first of every month, the EQ2 forums accumulate questions for developers. Answers to the questions posted around the first of July have now been posted. There’s nothing earth-shattering this month, despite the large number of questions answered. You can read it yourself here: Dev Q&A 2009.07.01 Answers @ EQ2 Forums
And care of EQ2Players, we’ve got our first screenshot on the Self-Mentoring NPC we’ll be seeing in Game Update 53 (Shards of Destiny). It looks like there will be a small gold (5g for any level) and status cost for using the NPC. Check out Kiara’s entertaining parable about this new feature of Gu53 at EQ2Players.
Greetings Norrathians! There will be a bonus applied to AA experience this weekend, starting at 1:00 p.m. PDT on Friday, August 21st and ending at 10:00 a.m. PDT on Monday, August 24th. Happy and safe adventuring! ~from EQ2Players~
It’s the 20th of the month, and that means it’s time for Moonlight Enchantments again! Some incredible house items and a few unique mounts can be obtained in the Grottos of Norrath. These mushroom rings will appear in five locations (click the Grotto name for a list of rewards): Enchanted Dryad Grotto: [Antonica – Archer’s Woods] (-696, -4, 621) Enchanted Brownie Grotto: [Darklight Woods – Werewolf area] (16, -32, -236) Enchanted Zygomyd Grotto: [Nektulos Forest – Barren Sky spires] (-368, 1, -680) Enchanted Naiad Grotto: [Enchanted Lands – Bonemire spires] (-282, 6, 13) Enchanted Fay Grotto: [Greater Faydark –...
Even though we do not have a specific release date for Gu53 (Shards of Destiny), “late September” has been posited as a timeframe we should be watching for. As we approach the duly appointed time, more information is coming out about what we can expect in this update. Unless you follow the EQ2 Dev Tracker, you’ve probably missed some salient details. … Skill Up Catch Up Not every EQ2 player has access to a Guild Hall, specifically the Training Dummy amenity. This is relevant because at the great speed most folks now level up into their 50’s or 60’s,...
Ratwarlock has chimed in with an article covering the appeal and drawbacks of both Instance and Contested Dungeons. It’s worth a read over at his site RatWarlock.Wordpress.com. Sentinel’s Fate (The 6th EQ2 Expansion expected in February 2010) will ship with one large progressive contested dungeon (reportedly twice the size of Sanctum of Scaleborn, with a progression of shareable quests available as you traverse the depths). Our Stand EQ2Wire believes that both types of dungeon have their place. Folks have gotten a bit burned out on having to “stick to the script” each time they group up in the ~20...
As announced at EQ2Players… EQII’s next Game Update #53, Shards of Destiny, is slated to go live in late September. We will be bringing some exciting new content to the world of Norrath with Shards of Destiny. Erollisi Marr’s influence is felt once more in Norrath. Our players will be able to explore the Shard of Love and learn more of the popular goddess’ story. The Shard of Love is a single group zone. There will also be a new x4 dungeon to test your skills. Miragul’s Planar Shard will continue the story of the powerful mage. There are...
If you’ve ever wanted to look at the artwork that goes into conceptualizing or marketing EQ2 or other SoE games, now’s your chance at the new SoE Art Portal. If this is part of the Fan Faire-announced plans to provide mail-order high quality posters and prints of this artwork, then I’m rather excited and intend to do some shopping when this next phase becomes available.
Not even Noon struck when the splintered shards of the puzzle had been assembled. This the third tablet of a series. The first two were provided by Cronyn.
In my travels through Norrath, it is my thirst for knowledge that keeps me engaged, keeps me searching. Sometimes I will stumble upon a scrap of information which may at first prove impervious to understanding, but with further study may yet yield answers. I have discovered such a puzzle and present it to you.