Feldon
It’s now been three months since the very public acquisition of Sony Online Entertainment by investment firm Columbus Nova. In the aftermath, John Smedley, President of the renamed Daybreak Games, has spoken to gaming press about the benefits of the changeover and the freedom now afforded to developing on platforms other than PC and Sony’s Playstation consoles. Earlier this month, Daybreak President John Smedley and Laura Naviaux, senior VP of global sales and marketing, decided it was time to get their message out about the future of the new company. They spoke to a number of sites including PC Gamer, Venture...
Month: May 2015
UPDATE: Here’s the official announcement: We’ll be streaming on Thursday, June 4, 2015 starting at 1PM Pacific* on the EverQuest 2 Twitch channel. Join Holly “Windstalker” Longdale, Robert “Caith” Fouts, Kyle “Kander” Vallee, and Ry “Roshen” Schueller for this stream as we show off just a few of the things coming up for EverQuest 2, and chat with players live via Twitch chat. Join us for this stream, and log into Twitch to chat with us and other players. We look forward to talking with YOU during this stream! From Holly “Windstalker” Longdale on twitter: We have lots of news for #eq2 next week...
From the EQ2 Forums: US EverQuest II Live Servers will be brought offline on Wednesday, May 27, 2015 at 7:00AM PDT* for an update. Estimated downtime is approximately one hour. EU EverQuest II Live Servers will be brought offline on Wednesday, May 27, 2015 at 9:00PM PDT* for an update. (Approx. 5:00AM London Time on May 28, 2015). Estimated downtime is one hour. Alle deutschsprachigen Server werden um 6:00 CET am 28.05.2015 zwecks einer Serveraktualisierung heruntergefahren. Die vorgesehene Stillstandszeit wird etwa 1 Stunde(n) betragen. Le serveur de langue française sera arrêté à 6:00 CET le 28-05-2015 pour une mise à jour...
From the EQ2 Forums: Attention players: we will perform a general maintenance beginning at 7:00AM PDT* on Wednesday, May 27th. The current estimated downtime for this maintenance is two to five hours, depending on the service. This maintenance may impact the following Daybreak services across all games: Commerce functions, including purchases, for all games Game & Web logins for all Daybreak sites Forum access (login, posting, and viewing abilities) for all Daybreak games. Thank you for your patience as we complete this maintenance. ~The Team at Daybreak
Today marked the launch of EverQuest’s newest time-locked Progression server, Ragefire. This server adopts many if not all of the designs and rules of the game as it existed at launch in 1999. According to reports on twitter, things have not all gone according to plan as players quickly reached high levels and other glitches. Regardless, the idea of progression servers reinforces the idea that nostalgia doesn’t fade away when brought into the light. In celebration of the Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night kickstarter, I re-played Castlevania: Symphony of the Night through to 200.6% completion for the third time...
From the EQ2 Forums: POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION F.S. Distillery: Distill or Be Killed [Heroic] A stuck rum bottle during the encounter with Grogmogo can now be interacted with. ABILITIES / ALTERNATE ADVANCEMENT Beastlord Feral Stance will now apply final ability damage to pets when over level 96. Paladin Corrected an issue with Amends III that caused it to lose effectiveness when upgrading from expert to master. Master and Grandmaster are now more potent. Conjuror Earthquake will now also interrupt. TRADESKILLS The recipe for Unyielding Will (Grandmaster) is now located in Fighter Grandmaster Recipes Volume IV. ITEMS Pure Malice...
Dethdlr
From the EQ2Forums: POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION General Werner Thunderleg will now cast Total Domination correctly. F.S. Distillery: Beggars and Blighters [Raid] Kildiun the Drunkard has had his health increased. MERCENARIES Katastra Vilehex now has a more tank focused buff package. ITEMS Corrected an issue with Offensive Focus effects that prevented them from working for some classes. Sigil of Defiance will now grant melee skills and defense instead of casting skills.
One of the more interesting features teased at the Altar of Malice systems panel at SOE Live 2014 last summer was the concept of Adornment Set Bonuses. As described, players who applied adornments from the same set would receive a lucrative bonus effect or set of stats. However when the Altar of Malice expansion arrived, the set bonuses were found to be relatively limited and even nonsensical, leading most players to ignore them and freely mix-and-match adornments to min/max their characters. Players guessed that an interesting idea on paper hadn’t turned out to be compelling enough to require another...
From the EQ2 Forums: POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION Phantom Sea Werner Thunderleg can now be found hanging out in Kithicor Forrest in the Phantom Sea. F.S. Distillery: The Rum Cellar [Solo] Fixed a crash in the Rum Cellar solo instance. ABILITIES / ALTERNATE ADVANCEMENT Scouts Scout Offensive stances will no longer spam requires level 96 when zoning. Warden Dawnstrike Strike, Icefall Strike and Whirl of Permafrost now do more damage. Inquisitor Strike of Flames, Invocation Strike, Strike of Corruption now do more damage. Druid Howling with the Pack will now heal mercs.
Last summer, EQ2 player Errrorr created a thread championing a new type of player mount — ducks. For forty-three pages, hilarity ensued. However the thread was put to bed by lead animator Tom “ttobey” Tobey in January of this year when it became clear from higher ups that we’d likely never get such a mount. Theories were bandied about that sales of the bunny mounts had not been sufficient to justify their development effort. It may have been felt that these more frivolous and genre-bending mounts just didn’t resonate with players. Personally I stick with flying appearance mounts so...
From the EQ2 Forums: POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION Phantom Sea T’Kaela should no longer have an incorrect Rum Cellar requirement. F.S. Distillery: The Rum Cellar [Solo] At no time will death result in being stuck in the storeroom. The damage inflicted by Aerial Attack has been slightly increased. F.S. Distillery: Distill or Be Killed [Heroic] The cannon used against The Red Corsair will no longer be stuck in operation by another member of your party when it shouldn’t be. Charanda will no longer be stuck immune in either the normal or challenge mode encounters. Brokenskull Rum Party – No...
As we reported earlier this week, Daybreak Games President John Smedley recently gave an interview to GamesIndustry.biz which included the following comments: “I firmly believe the days of the WoW-style MMO are over,” Smedley said. “And that means we have to change with the times. Luckily, we were kind of early on that bus as opposed to late. But we’re changing what we’re making. Look at H1Z1. Is it an MMO? Sure, by definition, but I would consider it a session-based online game with a lot of people. And I say that because the average life expectancy in H1Z1...