Feldon
From EverQuest2.com: SOE Community Webcast: SOE Live Registration Opens Registration is about to open for SOE Live! In this week’s webcast, Linda “Brasse” Carlson (Director, Global Community Relations) will chat with the Events Team, Jen Belfield (Director of Marketing Services), and Lauren Zeiger (Events & Strategy Partner Manager) about SOE Live. The gals will give you a live demo of our new registration process on our brand new site! If you are planning on attending SOE Live be sure to join us on Thursday, June 28, 2012 at 4:00pm Pacific. This webcast will last approximately 20 minutes. Time Zone...
Month: June 2012
Game Update 64 “Qeynos Rises” has arrived on Test and Test Copy and the Notes for this update have been posted on the EQ2 forums. GU64 is expected to hang around on Test for about a month before going to the Live servers. Among a number of other changes, GU64 sees Qeynos rebuilt as two zones. North and South Qeynos become the Capital District, Elddar Grove and Qeynos Harbor become the Provinces. Changes to Battlegrounds, PvP, and Fighters are all headlines, with the curious change that Plane of War has been opened to all.
From the EQ2 Forums: POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION Halas and Darklight Wood Newbie experiences in New Halas and Neriak have been updated to make them more rewarding and fun. Neriak’s Darklight Wood got a much-needed art overhaul which adds to the ambience of eeeeevil. New and better armor sets are available to level 20 and we will be recommending players opt for New Halas or Neriak upon entering the game their first time.
Xelgad (by way of Ashlanne) has posted some additional information about the upcoming Fighter changes that come with Game Update 64. But first, Piestro has some comments about rushing to judgment: Obviously this is a change that we knew people would be passionate about. Of course until people see the actual changes any evaluation of their impact is premature. The best way to move forward is to write down your concerns, and then formulate a test plan based on those concerns. That will give you the best possible start to actually testing the changes, and seeing what their actual...
From the EQ2 Forums: Hey all, Xelgad here! I wanted to explain some of the improvements to our Character Development window that you will be seeing on Test Server soon. The biggest change is that class foci from armor will instead be granted through the Character Development window. Carried over from tier to tier for years, these foci have become part of the standard class more than a reward for acquiring high end gear. You can choose one bonus every nine levels, starting at level nine. (Do you really want this? Of course you do!)
On June 21, 2012, Dave “Smokejumper” Georgeson (Executive Director of Development) discussed the upcoming Game Update 64, specifically PvP, Battlegrounds, and Fighter changes with Akil “Lyndro” Hooper (Lead Designer), Mike “Xelgad” Ganz (Associate Game Designer), and Brian “Omougi” Ferguson (Associate Game Designer). Game Update 64 will be hitting the Test and Test Copy servers next Tuesday. NOTE: Make sure you’ve got your volume turned down as the video opens with a loud throat clearing.
In addition to the Qeynos Revamp and some tweaks to the Fighter archetype, Game Update 64 will bring significant long-awaited changes to PvP and Battlegrounds. From the EQ2 Forums: With GU64 we are working hard to improve our PVP experience. Our goal is to make our PVP more accessible, more rewarding, and ultimately more fun!
From the EQ2 Forums: GENERAL The in-game browser files have been updated. If you experience any problems with the in-game browser, help UI, or customer service petition functions please post your details here: http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/posts/list.m?topic_id=519345
EQ2 ZAM has reported on an e-mail correspondence which some European players have received about the upcoming changeover. Their article on the subject: Earlier this year Sony Online Entertainment announced their partnership with ProSiebenSat.1 to distribute SOE games in Europe. Today Eurpoean Everquest II players woke to an email announcing that the EQII PSS.1 transition will be starting in 30-60 days. The letter details the countries effected and the finer points of the processs for non-recurring memberships and All Access accounts. A translation of the letter can be found below. We also reccommend the ProSiebenSat.1 Games Group FAQ on...
Holly “Windstalker” Longdale has broken her forum silence with a flurry of posts today. Chief among them were a couple of comments on the level 91-92 XP grind, specifically a thread where players expressed their frustration at Withered Lands quests giving less XP than simply grinding in level 80-90 dungeons. From the EQ2 Forums: To respond to the [original poster] specifically, we want the current content to be meaningful and rewarding, including quests. We will have a solution for our expansion which of course means that we acknowledge there is an issue we need to resolve.
From the SOE Forums: Changes are coming to PVP and fighters class for EverQuest II. Host Dave “Smokejumper” Georgeson (Executive Director of Development) is going to discuss the upcoming changes with Akil “Lyndro” Hooper (Lead Designer), Mike “Xelgad” Ganz (Associate Game Designer), and Brian “Zuglash” Ferguson (Associate Game Designer). They have lots of details to share about PVP, fighters and more. EverQuest II fans do not want to miss this webcast. Join us on Thursday, June 21, 2012, at 4:00 p.m. US Pacific Time* on Twitch TV! The webcast is expected to last about 20 minutes. For PVP fans and fighters...
Although MMO players who desire voice chat have always had the option of third party voice chat services such as TeamSpeak and Ventrilo, their offerings have always stood behind daunting licensing terms and high monthly fees. In mid-2008, SOE sought to give players an in-house option: free in-game voice chat provided by Vivox. The Vivox service has had its ups and downs, but we can only assume that it is widely used. Sometimes, a certain amount of fiddling with firewall or sound card settings has been required, or a cycle of leaving and re-joining channels to force a connection,...
One month ago (May 20th, 2012), SOE offered a 50% Rebate on the entire StationCash Marketplace. When compounded with Triple StationCash weekends and Walmart 500SC Bonus cards, this meant $15 could buy one year’s EQ2 subscription. On June 8th, EQ2 Subscriptions vanished from the StationCash Marketplace. After an outcry, SOE President John Smedley stepped in and admitted that the pricing of EQ2 Subscriptions was being impacted by various SC discounts and sales, and then announced that EQ2 Subscriptions would be restored to the Marketplace for a one week grace period so players who wanted to fund EQ2 Subscriptions with...
From Piestro on the the EQ2 Forums: Don’t miss the SOE Weekend Blitz half price sale! Get half price on every StationCash item in-game! Offer valid from 12:01AM PDT 6/16/2012 to 11:59PM PDT 6/18/2012; PC only. Time Zone Conversions PDT: June 16 @ 12:01am ~ June 18 @ 11:59pm EDT: June 16 @ 3:01am ~ June 19 @ 2:59am BST: June 16 @ 8:01 ~ June 19 @ 7:59 CET: June 16 @ 9:01 ~ June 19 @ 8:59 After the jump, EQ2 Subscriptions for StationCash come to an end, and what you need to know about Account and...
File this under better late than never, but Game Update 64 will be rolling out much-needed changes to the Itemization of Drunder raid zones. New items are being added throughout the Drunder raid timeline which will more closely resemble what players have come to expect in Skyshrine zones. In addition, some of the items that people still desire out of Drunder, specifically the insanely rare Mythical weapons will become more common. From Kander on the EQ2 Forums: Sullon’s Spire [Challenge], Tallon’s Stronghold [Challenge] and Vallon’s Tower [Challenge] Raids will have new itemization with GU 64. Item scope will be...
Dungeon Maker “Play as a Character” has arrived on Test for the second time, but with a totally new Level Agnostic mechanic that turns the concept of Mentoring on its ear, by interactively adjusting the damage and heals of grouped characters in real time. The claim is, that a level 30 and level 92 will be able to group together, heal, buff, and do DPS effectively. And careful reading of the June Update indicates that Battlegrounds will soon inherit the same Level Agnostic mechanic, so proper testing of this functionality on Test is a good idea. From Maevianiu on...
From Holly “Windstalker” Longdale on the EQ2 Forums: Another month has zipped by already! We wanted to wait until after E3 to share a few more details about what we’re up to and what’s coming up this month. By now you may have heard about the SOE corporate initiative called SOEmote(tm) that will launch in EQII later this month. SOEmote uses a webcam and microphone to project your facial expressions, including talking and voice, onto your character in real time! It’s used in groups and also allows you to broadcast to your guild, almost like a webcast. We’re all...
In today’s update for June 13, 2012, EQ2 finally ditches its ancient Mozilla web browser in favor of the Awesomium browser, powered by Webkit (Safari/Chrome). EVE Online recently adopted this browser. This should resolve numerous problems with viewing complex websites in the in-game browser. Armor distribution in Skyshrine zones have been rebalanced to match group/raid distribution. Some Skyshrine group mobs will start dropping Primal Velium Shards, while Skyshrine raid encounters will hand out Pure Primal Velium Shards. And finally, today marks the introduction of Quest Target Icons. If you enable this setting, you will be able to see an...
SOE President John Smedley has personally addressed the removal of EQ2 Subscriptions from the StationCash Marketplace: Quick note – I’m sorry we didn’t do a good job of messaging this. It was handled while we were at E3 and that was bad. Very simply put we pulled the non-recurring subscriptions because we want a closer look at the numbers and how our overall pricing of subscriptions is impacted by it. I don’t want anyone thinking they were pulled because of double DC promotions or anything like that. We know what we’re getting into when we run those promotions. We’ve...
UPDATE According to SOE President John Smedley, EQ2 Subscriptions will reappear on the Marketplace for 1 week to allow players to buy their subscriptions. EverQuest 2 subscriptions unceremoniously disappeared from the StationCash marketplace yesterday, and players have had plenty to say on the subject. The removal was not unanticipated, but doing so without advanced warning, an announcement, or even an acknowledgment, is yet another betrayal of player’s trust in SOE.
We didn’t get a Game Update this week, partly due to E3, but we can now look ahead to Test to what’s coming next week. Highlights from the Test Update Notes on the EQ2 Forums: POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION Withered Lands Named within Withered Lands should all respawn correctly now. Challenge Mode Raid NPC?s (x4 epic) Challenge mode raid NPC’s have had their max health reduced.
While they aren’t glamorous, Content and Itemization are the meat and potatoes of the modern MMO. The thankless job of adding and maintaining these core items may not elicit splashy E3 announcements or garner press attention, but neglect them for a moment, and players will arrive at your gates brandishing pitchforks. Players have been unable to ignore the skewed armor distribution of Skyshrine. In particular, the new solo, group, and raid zones all seem to heavily slant towards priests and fighters. Normally we would be able to confirm this data using Zam’s drop information statistics which they periodically receive...
This weekend, if you redeem $15 StationCash cards, you will be credited with 1,500SC plus 500SC bonus, for a total of 2,000SC. This works out to a 33% bonus — or if you prefer, a 25% discount. After Double and Triple StationCash weekends, 50% off sales, and Rebates, it will be interesting to see how much pent up demand is satisfied with the relatively meager discount this go-around.
From Massively: Roleplaying is the red-headed stepchild of MMO design considerations these days, but at least one studio hasn’t forgotten immersion enthusiasts. Sony Online Entertainment has announced a new EverQuest II feature called SOEmote which converts your webcam input into avatar facial expressions. The suite also gives users the option to modulate their voice to something appropriate for their character. “Any game that calls itself a roleplaying game absolutely needs this feature. For other games, it’s just a really good idea that your players will want. Pick a character. Pick a class. And then be that character instead of...
It seems that the laundry list of bugs which arrived with the untested Poet’s Palace Dungeon Maker layout has gotten some attention. Brasse made this post on the EQ2 Forums: First off, thank you for all the detailed /bug reports, and Cyliena’s excellent summary. These have been invaluable for our Dev Team, and the epitome of constructive feedback. Simply telling us we suck, on the other hand, is not particularly helpful. =P Sorry for not posting earlier, but the EQII Devs have been actively looking into these issues since Piestro and I got into office this morning, diligently examining...