Feldon
On the EQ2 Forums by Kander: Changes to Zaalax, Xaalax, Saalax and Yaalax: * They no longer mitigate significant amounts of elemental damage. * The strength of the knockback on Zaalax’s Crushalanche spell has been reduced. * Call of the Underfoot curse now lasts longer before going off * Players now have more time to move away from Zaalax’s fissures before being hit by a seismic shock * The splits off Zaalax now have lower maximum health. Incidentally, the X,Y, Z encounter does indeed have loot. and… We are hoping for tomorrow with these changes. Watch for the patch...
Month: August 2010
Our article on how XP Bonuses are calculated and stacked has stirred up a hornet’s next on both sides of the table. So I’m going to link to EQ2 ZAM’s own writeup which includes more developer quotes (including excellent comments from Rich Waters, EQ2 Lead Designer) to try to sort out the mess. Experience Bonus Changes and XP Bug Explained @ EQ2 ZAM Short Version If you absolutely must have the reader’s digest edition, most XP will be restored to how it was before Game Update 57. That means increases to bonuses for Vitality, Mentoring, Bonus XP weekends, and...
On the EQ2 Forums by Amnerys: They should only be in game for the winners right now. I hope we can take care of that for you tomorrow. I believe the paintings should be available to everyone at the next City Festival, which will be in Neriak starting on the 1st of September. We do love the work you all submitted though and can’t wait for you to see it in game! So exciting!!
UPDATE: This article has been superceded by an article at EQ2 ZAM which explains the bug. In short, with the exception of Recruit-a-Friend, current XP earning rates are being restored to the same levels as before Game Update 57.
Players have been noticing a substantial reduction in XP since Game Update 57 went live. Rich Waters, Lead Designer of EQ2, has stepped up and posted a report: We’re checking into this now – if players are getting less experience than they were before the update, it is a bug and we’ll get it fixed promptly. There are not different experience formulas for EQII live and EQII Extended. Both games have the same leveling rate, and barring any bugs, it should be exactly what it was before today’s game update. When we finish investigating, we’ll post more information. Rothgar...
EQ2Wire is currently trying to get to the bottom of a rumor regarding possible changes to Adventure (Combat), Alternate Advancement (AA), and Tradeskill XP. In the mean time, we’ve got some hard facts. An unexpected feature of today’s Game Update 57 seems to be the doubling of all Combat, AA, and Tradeskill potions. 27.5% potions became 55% potions. 55% potions became 110% potions. Left: the 55% XP potions “Draft of the Wise” and “Draft of the Skilled” provided as veteran rewards for every year of subscription. Right: the 1000SC ($10) 110% “Flask of Advancement III” which boosts XP for...
From the EQ2 Forums: As happens in the world of technology, we’ve experienced some unexpected glitches and unfortunately we will be delaying the launch of EQ2X. We are now hoping to launch on Thursday, August 19th. We apologize for the inconveniece, and thank you for your patience. Please watch this post for updated information as it is available.
Due to a code bug which allowed the EQ2X Marketplace to appear on international servers, all international servers are now down for a patch. From Amnerys: All international servers were just taken offline (earlier than planned) due to today’s patch. It was unplanned but necessary, and we apologize for the inconvenience. We are hoping to have all international servers back online by 1PM PDT (9PM GMT). Please watch this thread for updates.
EQ2Players is now reporting that all U.S. servers (EQ2 and EQ2X) are up and running with Game Update 57. Europe-based servers will be updated later today on their usual schedule. EQ2X Marketplace Momentarily Appears on Runnyeye/Splitpaw? Speaking of Not In My Back Yard (NIMBY), the EQ2X Marketplace (with mastercrafted and powerful items available for purchase) briefly appeared on European servers Runnyeye and Splitpaw before they were brought back down. We’ll update you as we hear more. Update from SmokeJumper There was a code bug with the international servers. They are coming down now so we can correct. Free-to-play items...
You might have heard that EQ2’s User Interface is getting some spit and polish. With today’s Game Update 57, the default User Interface (UI) for EQ2 is getting some subtle and some not so subtle tweaks. Major additions include the introduction of an “EQ2 Dock” to replace the existing EQ2 “start” button and XP bars. Also, the Character, Inventory, and Options have been merged into a single Character superwindow accessible by pressing “C” (Crouch has moved to “Z”). Bags have been streamlined, the Welcome window has received a facelift, the Map window now shows some key update locations (not...
Although Niami has advised that she is still working on adding more information to her Game Update 57 article, if you are up early and want to keep up on everything EQ2 Tradeskills, by all means check out her Game Update 57 Tradeskill Preview @ EQ2Traders!
Today marks the introduction of Game Update 57 to the live servers. Key features of this update include: The EQ2 User Interface has received a facelift, with a new toolbar, a refresh of various windows, and a merged Character/Inventory/Profile window. The default theme is red, but easily switchable to blue by typing /loadui and choosing the Blue graphic set. More character classes are now neutral and may start in either good or evil cities. Spell animations and effects have been revamped. Intrazone travel now supports path linking. Travel within Kingdom of Sky has been improved. Erudin group instances (level...
Starseeker
Community. What does that word really mean in an MMO? We don’t live in the same neighborhoods, nor even know each other outside a virtual world, so what does a gaming community mean to those playing the game?
Would EQ2 benefit from its Lead Designer (Rich Waters) having a presence on the EQ2 Forums? This straightforward question is the subject of a colorful new forum thread on the EQ2 Forums. The Lead Designer is as much a gatekeeper for the development of a game as the Senior Producer, and so they need to have a good working relationship. I’m sure it’s been too short a time to know how things are gelling on the current EQ2 team, but a more accurate term for the previous setup might be “curdled”. Recent prominent departures which have shaken the EQ2...
Sometimes people don’t believe it, but I know for a fact that developers at Fan Faire really do listen, or at the very least take extensive notes which they reflect upon when getting home. Some changes are relatively easy and make a lot of sense when the context is explained interactively in a conversation with the developer. Of course big sweeping changes are unlikely while the developers are already in full press mode working on the next expansion, but it’s great when open discussion at Fan Faire can trigger a small but significant improvement. So enough of that… Olihin...
The team over at EQ2 ZAM have buckled down and delivered complete documentation to the new Tradeskill quests being added in Game Update 57. These quests now fill out the entire level 10-90 range in EQ2 with at least a few Tradeskill quests on each tier so you have some options other than discovery XP from new combines and grinding Rush Order writs. Of course these quests provide new rewards, including a 25% runspeed mount which, for some players who have low level adventurers but high level tradeskillers, will be quite useful. These new level 10-30 tradeskill quests will...
From Amnerys: All U.S. EQII servers are scheduled to come down on Wednesday, August 18 at 5:00 AM PDT for Game Update 57. Servers are expected to be offline for around 4 hours, coming back online around 9:00 AM. The UK servers will be updated according to the usual schedule. Notable Norrathians Paintings What about those Notable Norrathians paintings? Kaisha has dropped some hints regarding how the 10 winning paintings will become available. If our interpretation is correct, it looks like they may be available from the City Festivals for 10 city tokens each. Tribute to the Huntress and...
Emily “Domino” Taylor, Tradeskill developer for EQ2 has been fielding some intense comments from players regarding the first ever Tradeskill Heritage Quest coming to EverQuest II: Destiny of Velious, specifically the Coldain Prayer Shawl quest. This was previously an adventure quest in EQ1 so some players have expressed their concerns about this being a tradeskill quest rather than for adventurers. You can follow this discussion of the Coldain Prayer Shawl Quest on EQ2 Forums.
Gary Daughtry, graphic artist/animator on the EQ2 Team, set about to revamp the spell animations, specifically the particle effects, for Game Update 57, currently expected to go live tomorrow. The intention has been to reduce the number of “pyrotechnic”, “over-the-top” effects and create something more gradual, with larger effects based on the tier and level of the spell. However players have been expressing their displeasure with the sometimes sweeping changes.
Here is the 4-part Destiny of Velious panel for EQ2 from Saturday at Fan Faire 2010. I cut out my own off-the-screen capture of the Destiny of Velious preview trailer because it has been released to the press in High Definition. [EQ2Wire] EQ2 Expansion “Destiny of Velious” Panel (playlist)
Here is the 6-part Question & Answer panel for EQ2 from Saturday at Fan Faire 2010. [EQ2Wire] Fan Faire 2010 – EQ2 Q&A Saturday Panel (playlist)
I have just posted all 6 parts of the EQ2 Mechanics / Class Balance panel from Fan Faire 2010. [EQ2Wire] Fan Faire 2010 – EQ2 Mechanics Panel (playlist)
A View From the Top‘s Karen and Adam sat down with Paul “Frizznik” Carrico, SOE’s Lead Mechanics Designer at Fan Faire. On this episode they discuss a few different aspects of EverQuest II, the upcoming Velious expansion, and even a little about EQ2 Extended. Take a moment to listen to Frizznik’s thoughts on the game. Thanks to Kiara and Calthine for putting the meeting together. Listen to A View From the Top Episode #15
EQ2Wire was borne out of the desire and thrilling concept of having a LIVE blog of Fan Faire. For the last 2 years, the EQ2-related panels have been about 50-50 with 50% presentations/content, and 50% Questions & Answers. This year, the panels were significantly lighter on content, with closer to 75% of each panel focused on Questions & Answers. This put me, as the sole blogger trying to tackle 6 panels, at a genuine disadvantage. As I found out during Fan Faire, Questions & Answers are much more difficult to capture and blog live without inaccuracies and misinterpretations slipping...
If you checked out our Fan Faire Banquet & Costume Contest, you’ll know that “Billy” was the popular winner, by far. “Billy” (played by Marlee of Mistmoore) has posted a comment to the EQ2Wire with more info: Billy won a a $200 gift card and $10 in Station cash. It was the wickedest fun I have had in a long time and I hope I provided good entertainment. I was proud to represent my guild (Company of Wolves), server (Mistmoore), and raid alliance (Fortune Hunters of Mistmoore). And the coolest thing? I could scratch myself in public and get...