Dethdlr 
Update: “Unlocking US live servers now.” – Bunji
Update: Downtime is now expected to extend until Noon Pacific time. However, the link to purchase the Rum Cellar Campaign is now active, so we can pretend that’s the pre-order time window. 🙂
Today marks the launch of the Rum Cellar Campaign which can be purchased here.
For those that haven’t been following along, the Rum Cellar Campaign is the first attempt at delivering Downloadable Content (DLC) for a price, rather than through traditional expansions (not counting the old Adventure Packs that were meant to be in addition to expansions, not a replacement for expansions). It contains the “Far Seas Distillery” with 1 Solo, 1 Event Advanced Solo, 1 Heroic, 2 Event Heroics and a large Raid version for $15 ($13.50 for All Access). Altar of Malice is required and should be available as a bundle for those that have yet to purchase AoM. There will be another large Campaign this fall around the usual expansion release time. The content released throughout the year in these Campaigns should add up to what we might have traditionally seen in a yearly expansion.
Roshen posted this on the EQ2Forums:
US EverQuest II Live Servers and website will be brought offline on Tuesday, April 28, 2015 at 7:00AM PDT* for the Rum Cellar Campaign Patch. Estimated downtime is approximately three hours.
Players will NOT be able to play this campaign until after this patch has completed, even if they purchase the campaign prior to this maintenance.
EU EverQuest II Live Servers will be brought offline on Tuesday, April 28, 2015 at 7:00AM PDT* for this update. (Approx. 3:00PM London Time on April 28, 2015). Estimated downtime is three hours.
Alle deutschsprachigen Server werden um 16:00 CET am 28.04.2015 zwecks einer Serveraktualisierung heruntergefahren. Die vorgesehene Stillstandszeit wird etwa 3 Stunde(n) betragen
Le serveur de langue française sera arrêté à 16:00 CET le 28-04-2015 pour une mise à jour du serveur. Le temps d’arrêt sera d’environ 3 heures.
Update notes for this downtime can be found in the Game Update Notes forum once they’re available.
Keep an eye on the EverQuest II forums for news if additional downtime is needed.
EDIT: Approx downtime is now three hours.
EDIT 2: This downtime will affect the website as well.
Update: As part of the launch festivities, Daybreak Games will be livestreaming as well:
Don’t miss today’s EverQuest 2 stream! To celebrate the launch of the Rum Cellar Campaign, we’ll be streaming today, Tuesday, April 28, 2015 starting at 11AM PDT* on twitch.tv/EverQuest 2
Waiting to hear comments on this. Worth the cost for the solo/duo player?
Wasn’t Bloodline Chronicles the first DLC you had to pay for at one point?
Good point. What I meant was, this is the first attempt to replace expansions with DLC. The adventure packs were in addition to expansions. I’ve updated the article.
Ironically, as of last night before the projected 3hr downtime, there was still no information on WHEN we could order the DLC. We can’t do it while they’re updating, because EVERYTHING is down…
I would like to hear what people think of the DLC as well. Right now I am just not sure it is worth it, although I will prob have to get it just because we raid.
The price they are charging in the UK (presumably due to the addition of tax, despite ti not being mentioned) equates to $18, before All-Access discount.
Those solo/adv solo zones are gonna have to be damn sweet to make them worth $9 a zone for a primarily solo player…..
So, for the first time in ages, I am not getting an expansion. Nagafen really doesn’t need more instances. Or I guess I should say, I don’t need it.
Since I didn’t purchase, I won’t be bogged down with a large download will I?
You have to download either way.
download was like 30 seconds. so not sure I ended up with anything. Was good to go very quick
as a euro player, interesting to see that Daybreak kept the overly inflated US exchange rate for expansions… working out 30% more for euro players than US…..
Pretty sure the euro price includes the VAT, it’s just not broken out separately.