‘Tis the season once again for Santa Glug gifties, ice dragons, crafting binges, and more. Frostfell kicks off following an update on Thursday, December 10th (eta 8am PT/11am ET) and runs through 7am PT/10am ET on Thursday, January 7, 2016. Last year’s content makes a return appearance, and due to my insane finals week I’m going to just point you here for those older guides (the 2014 quest tracker is here).

Frostfell won’t be on the TLE servers, but look for Frostfell trees in Freeport and Qeynos, where merchants will be selling seasonal items! Read more here.

This year Frostfell has a hoard of new items—gifts, crafted, purchased, and craft rewards—which you can check out on Niami’s EQ2 Traders Frostfell write-up. There are five new quests, but only if you own the Terrors of Thalumbra expansion, as they require access to the city of Maldura. You begin the new series by speaking to Jarith Icewing at 334, -24, -1512 in the Frostfell Wonderland Village. Continue reading below for the  walkthroughs.

Button up that winter coat – the New Halas City Festival returns from December 1-7! Spend City Tokens on local specialties, generic festival goods, appearance clothing, or food & drink. Make sure all your characters have finished the New Halas Postage Collection, speak to Kella Swampfoot to assist with festival quests, and achieve 104 seconds or less in the local Aether Race to earn the Snowflake Chaser title.

Be sure to check in with the merchants to see if there’s any new items this month!

WHEN: 12:01am PT on December 1st – 11:59pm PT on December 7th
WHERE: Frostfang Sea, near the Cairn of the Huntress, /loc 26, 148, -82 (Kella is found at /loc 99, 151, -135)
QUESTS: Special Delivery, Special Order Crafting, Special Order Gathering
ACHIEVEMENTS: Delivery Ahoy, Harvesting Hoopla, Kella Caffeinated, Requisition Acclamation
MERCHANT ITEMS: EQ2 Traders | EQ2 Furniture

All hail the Overlord – the Freeport City Festival returns to the Commonlands from November 1-7! Spend City Tokens on local specialties, generic festival goods, appearance clothing, or food & drink. Make sure all your characters have finished the Freeport Postage Collection, speak to Kella Swampfoot to assist with festival quests, and achieve 119 seconds or less in the local Aether Race to earn the Portal Jumper title.

Be sure to check in with the merchants to see if there’s any new items this month!

WHEN: 12:01am PT on November 1st – 11:59pm PT on November 7th
WHERE: Commonlands, near The Crossroads, /loc -563, -49, -427
QUESTS: Special Delivery, Special Order Crafting, Special Order Gathering
ACHIEVEMENTS: Delivery Ahoy, Harvesting Hoopla, Kella Caffeinated, Requisition Acclamation
MERCHANT ITEMS: EQ2 Traders | EQ2 Furniture

A recent beta forum discussion revealed that crafting and adventure writ status will not contribute to progress starting at guild level 101. EQ2 Senior Designer Gninja explained the reasoning behind the change:

Repeatable quests such as writs do not add to guild exp once you hit guild level 101. We are adding a lot more ways to get status from normal gameplay though. It was just way too easy to sit and do writs over and over to level the guild making having a leveled up guild a little less meaningful.

He came back to clarify the position a bit better:

The plan is to make status gains come from a lot of different places. Having lots of things you can do is a good thing. Having one thing you can do over and over without any sort of limiting factor is different. These things are still being adjusted so hang in there.

Commentary

From Cyliena:

I’m sure Feldon will have choicer words about all of this, but as a member of an extremely small guild, this change will make guild leveling quite difficult. Whatever method is provided will end up being grinded out, so I’m unsure how this change will make leveling a guild more “meaningful”. -Cy

From Feldon:

The EQ2 team has twice tried to stomp out old “grindy” ways of playing EQ2 and encourage playing of newer content:

• Removing Plat from older zones like Protectors Realm
• Removing adventure XP from out leveled dungeons

The first was successful. The second was strongly derided and silently reverted this summer. I wonder which route this “new improved” guild leveling avenue will take.

Announced yesterday on the EQ2 Forums:

As part of Fall Frenzy leading into our next expansion, we have something special planned for players every week as we lead into our launch.

Starting NOW and going until noon pacific on Friday, November 6, 2015 we’ll have double Ferrins activated in-game. This means double DOUBLE Ferrins for All-Access members!

Don’t miss your chance to stock up on Far Seas Ferrin this week!

As we head into the next expansion, we’ll have special promotions for players each week. Learn more about Fall Frenzy here!

Players who help test out the upcoming Terrors of Thalumbra expansion on the Beta server can earn several rewards including (for adventurers) a new mount! The rewards are one per account, but additional rewards can be earned by running another character through the content.

NOTE: Thanks to ArtifactX for providing screenshots of the in-game rewards.

All ToT Quest Lines	All ToT Heroic Dungeons	All ToT Tradeskill Quests

All Daybreak sites and games will be under a 2+ hour maintenance window on Thursday, October 29, 2015. Login servers and account management may be unavailable during the maintenance.

Updated Info

As of 4:45pm ET:

This morning’s maintenance is now complete. You should be able to access account management & creation.

— Daybreak Games (@DaybreakGames) October 29, 2015

Players are currently experiencing issues getting through the login server across all Daybreak games. On Twitter, Daybreak has stated that they are currently looking into the problem.

The team is continuing to investigate login errors. Thank you for the reports and your continued patience while we work to resolve it.

— Daybreak Games (@DaybreakGames) October 29, 2015

We are investigating the reported login issues across games and forums. Thanks for your patience.

— Daybreak Games (@DaybreakGames) October 28, 2015

The beta copy backlog has been processed and requested copies are now available on the Beta server.

All the current /beta copies are completed for Terrors of Thalumbra beta. If you have not been copied than you should re /beta again.

— Kyle Vallée (@EQII_Kander) October 28, 2015

Nights of the Dead is creeping into Norrath, and this year the merchants will be stocked up with new goodies (which Niami has pictures of over on EQ2 Traders) and costume illusions. Previous quest content and achievements make their return, and crafters now have a new recipe book to spook their house guests with. There are no new quests, collections, or achievements this year.

The event runs from 12:01am PT on Thursday, October 8, 2015 (3:01am ET) and concludes at 11:59pm PT on Monday, November 2, 2015 (2:59am ET on Nov 3rd). TLE servers are excluded from world events.

Credits

This editorial is non-game specific and solely based on insights and opinions from its author.

One comment I receive a lot when I explain my job to others is “That’s awesome! How do I get into doing that?!” There is no perfect answer to this query, and despite how awesome working in this industry sounds and really is, it’s hard work and not quite as glamorous as you may be envisioning in your head.

Working on a gaming fan/press site requires a lot of dedication outside of game(s). We don’t actually spend most of our day playing these games for hours on end (unless we’re working on a review). Often, we find that there’s only a handful of time to spend in-game while dedicating the majority of our workday to emails, writing breaking news about games we may or may not actually play, writing guides, participating in social media, and so on. It doesn’t matter if you’re the editor-in-chief or a contributing writer; as a friend succinctly told me, “Everyone in the gaming press has to wear multiple hats, from the smallest fan site to the largest press operation.”

It’s time to grab some white marble – the Qeynos City Festival returns to Antonica from October 1-7! Spend City Tokens on local specialties, generic festival goods, appearance clothing, or food & drink. Make sure all your characters have finished the Qeynos Postage Collection, speak to Kella Swampfoot to assist with festival quests, and achieve 134 seconds or less in the local Aether Race to earn the Bridge Buzzer title.

Last month’s festival had new items, so check in with the merchants!

WHEN: 12:01am PT on October 1st – 11:59pm PT on October 7th
WHERE: Antonica, outside North Qeynos, /loc 6, -14, -61
QUESTS: Special Delivery, Special Order Crafting, Special Order Gathering
ACHIEVEMENTS: Delivery Ahoy, Harvesting Hoopla, Kella Caffeinated, Requisition Acclamation
MERCHANT ITEMS: EQ2 Traders | EQ2 Furniture | EQ2 Design Gallery

The monthly Moonlight Enchantments event begins tonight! The grottos open up on the 20th at 12:01am PT and close on the 21st at 11:59pm PT. The time applies directly with no conversion for all servers.

US Servers: 7:00~8:00am PDT | 10:00~11:00am EDT | 15:00~16:00 BST | 16:00~17:00 CET
EU Servers: 9:00~10:00pm PDT | 12:00~1:00am EDT | 05:00~06:00 BST | 06:00~07:00 CET

From the EQ2 Forums:

GENERAL
TLE Servers

• The ‘Restore Items’ tab on the character window is now available.

POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION
Altar of Malice [Raid]

• Tserrina should once again cast her Malicious Shadows and Malicious Strife spells.
• Ritual Keeper V’derin should more reliably cast his Rain of Malice ability.

Precipice of Power [Raid]

• Once spawned, avatars should now respawn if they sense they have not been defeated and reset for any reason.
• Teleporters to avatar islands no longer deactivate when an avatar is engaged.

ABILITIES / ALTERNATE ADVANCEMENT
Summoner

• Flash Cast no longer references Empower Servant, as summoner pets no longer consume power when using abilities.

Channeler

• Enhance: Marisha Kur’s Blessing will now correctly enhance Marisha Kur’s Blessing.

PVP

• Players can no longer flurry in PvP combat.
• Players will now require more spell resists to reach the resistance cap in PvP combat.

TRADESKILLS

• Ensured all timed writs in the level 40 range for all crafting classes have no less than 3 parts and therefore will receive fuel cost reimbursement in 3 parts.

QUESTS

• Insulated Warmers – The root of the World Tree has begun providing sap, once again.

It’s time to stock up on blue marble – the Neriak City Festival returns to Darklight Wood from September 1-7! Spend City Tokens on local specialties, generic festival goods, appearance clothing, or food & drink. Make sure all your characters have finished the Neriak Postage Collection, speak to Kella Swampfoot to assist with festival quests, and achieve 89 seconds or less in the local Aether Race to earn the Fearless Flyer title.

Last month’s festival had new items, so check in with the merchants!

WHEN: 12:01am PT on September 1st – 11:59pm PT on September 7th
WHERE: Darklight Wood, outside Neriak, /loc -554, -53, -74
QUESTS: Special Delivery, Special Order Crafting, Special Order Gathering
ACHIEVEMENTS: Delivery Ahoy, Harvesting Hoopla, Kella Caffeinated, Requisition Acclamation
MERCHANT ITEMS: EQ2 Traders | EQ2 Furniture | EQ2 Design Gallery

The monthly Moonlight Enchantments event begins tonight! The grottos open up on the 20th at 12:01am PT and close on the 21st at 11:59pm PT. The time applies directly with no conversion for all servers.

Achievement: Shinies Beneath the Moonlight
Merchant Items: See on EQ2 Furniture | EQ2 Traders Corner | EQ2 Design Gallery

Attention players: we will perform a general maintenance beginning at 7:00AM PDT* on Tuesday, August 11. The current estimated downtime for this maintenance is two to four hours, depending on the service.

This maintenance may impact the following Daybreak services across all games:

• Game logins for all Daybreak games
• Forum & Web logins for all Daybreak games
• Commerce and account management for all Daybreak games

PLEASE NOTE: This is not a game-specific maintenance. There will be no update or patch notes.

Thank you for your patience as we complete this maintenance.

~The Team at Daybreak

Time Zone Conversions (assuming 4 hours)

• Tue Aug 11 @ 7:00am ~ 11:00am PT
• Tue Aug 11 @ 10:00am ~ 2:00pm ET
• Tue Aug 11 @ 15:00 ~ 19:00 BST
• Tue Aug 11 @ 16:00 ~ 20:00 CET

Set your sights on Greater Faydark because the Kelethin City Festival returns from August 1-7! Spend City Tokens on local specialties, generic festival goods, appearance clothing, or food & drink. Make sure all your characters have finished the Kelethin Postage Collection, speak to Kella Swampfoot to assist with festival quests, and achieve 94 seconds or less in the local Aether Race to earn the Bixie Barnstormer title.

There are new vendor items at the festival this month!

WHEN: 12:01am PT on August 1st – 11:59pm PT on August 7th
WHERE: Greater Faydark, Green Knoll, /loc 536, 44, 53
QUESTS: Special Delivery, Special Order Crafting, Special Order Gathering
ACHIEVEMENTS: Delivery Ahoy, Harvesting Hoopla, Kella Caffeinated, Requisition Acclamation
MERCHANT ITEMS: EQ2 Traders | EQ2 Furniture | EQ2 Design Gallery

Attention players: we will perform a general maintenance beginning at 6:00AM PDT on Tuesday, July 28. The current estimated downtime for this maintenance is two to four hours, depending on the service.

This maintenance may impact the following Daybreak services across all games:

• Game logins for all Daybreak games
• Forum & Web logins for all Daybreak games
• Commerce and account management for all Daybreak games

PLEASE NOTE: This is not a game-specific maintenance. There will be no update or patch notes.

Thank you for your patience as we complete this maintenance.

~The Team at Daybreak

Time Zone Conversions (assuming 4 hours)

• Tue July 28 @ 6:00am ~ 10:00am PT
• Tue July 28 @ 9:00am ~ 1:00pm ET
• Tue July 28 @ 14:00 ~ 18:00 BST
• Tue July 28 @ 15:00 ~ 19:00 CET

As of 7:21am PDT, the maintenance is complete:

The general Daybreak maintenance is now complete. There may be game-specific maintenances still in process for @everquestii and @H1Z1game.

— Daybreak Games (@DaybreakGames) July 28, 2015

News broke tonight that John Smedley has stepped down from leading Daybreak. This action follows the recent DDoS attacks, as well as his social media outlash and subsequent deletion of accounts. Taking over the helm for Smedley is COO Russell Shanks, who has been with Daybreak since it was 989 Studios.

A Daybreak spokesperson stated that “John Smedley will be taking some time off from the company for the near-term and transitioning to a different role to be determined. Upon finalization of his plans, further communication will be provided.”

Further from MassivelyOP:

Smedley oversaw the company’s transition from Sony-owned Sony Online Entertainment to Columbus Nova-funded Daybreak Game Company earlier this year. He made headlines this summer after he spoke up —forcefully — about his harassment at the hands of Lizard Squad e-thugsresponsible for the bomb threat that diverted his plane nearly a year ago, among other alleged crimes. In apparent retaliation, the hackers assaulted Daybreak’s game servers with multi-day DDoS attacks and offered a $5000 reward for the defacement of Smed’s father’s grave.

Last week, he deleted his Twitter and Reddit accounts, saying he would “miss the interaction with […] players” but wanted to avoid distractions that stopped him from doing what he liked doing: making games.

The monthly Moonlight Enchantments event begins tonight! The grottos open up on the 20th at 12:01am PT and close on the 21st at 11:59pm PT. The time applies directly with no conversion for all servers.

Achievement: Shinies Beneath the Moonlight
Merchant Items: See on EQ2 Furniture | EQ2 Traders Corner | EQ2 Design Gallery