Feldon
Nights of the Dead is now live! The event runs through November 9th. The zones were not available first thing this morning, but this issue has been addressed.
Art, Appearance, Housing
From EQ2Players: The leaves are turning and the air has become crisp in the land of Norrath. Ghoulish activity has started to increase. It can mean only one thing; the return of the Nights of the Dead. Norrath’s annual Halloween celebration will be returning from 12:01am PDT on October 16th and will run through 11:59pm PST on November 9th. New this year: New Haunted Hedgemaze in Nektulos Forest! New holiday collection. New Headless Horseman in Nektulos Forest. New rewards for some of the old Nights of the Dead Events! New illusions from the goblins. New costume illusions available from...
Here are your EQ2 Update Notes for October 7: GENERAL Legends of Norrath (LoN) cards and booster packs that drop in game are once again tradeable. ACHIEVEMENTS The Maj’Dul Monitor Achievement now accepts quests completed in the Courts. MIRAGUL’S PLANAR SHARD The dire and alpha snowbeasts associated with Enraged Haladan now have somewhat less health. Hard Mode: Brilliant Adepts have less health. Boreas and Argos should no longer cast Trio of Teeth on players while they are leashed. Curse of Confusion now lasts 18 seconds rather than 30 seconds. PALACE OF THE ANCIENT ONE Anashti Sul will no longer...
Imago-Quem has posted more screen snapshots of Shaders 3.0, the graphical upgrade coming to EQ2 in Game Update 54. I believe these are all images of North Freeport. “Day” Before | After “Rainy” Before | After “Night to Morning” Before | After “Indoors” Before | After Previous screenshots shown of Nektulos Forest: “Nek Castle” Before | After “Nmarr’s Ascent” Before | After “Nek Forest 1” Before | After “Nek Forest 2” Before | After “Underwater” Before | After
Memory Issues Despite the updated EQ2 Client, some players are still reporting issues with running out of memory in EQ2. One workaround users are reporting, is to periodically minimize and then maximize the EQ2 application. This seems to reclaim some memory. The EQ2 dev team continue to search for the cause of these issues and intend to release another updated EQ2 client in the next few days. Chronomage Missions Thanks to Atan for testing out and reporting back on the Chronomage Missions. If you read EQ2Wire, you know that 3 new NPCs have been added in East Freeport (on...
Bonus XP Weekend To coincide with Game Update 53, we’ve got a 40% bonus to all forms of EQ2 experience weekend! This applies to Adventuring, Alternate Advancement (AA), and Tradeskilling. Kiara posted the announcement on the EQ2 Forums. Remember folks, if you are between level 10 and 79, you can now adjust the amount of combat and quest XP gets converted into AA XP. I’ve found this to be quite lucrative when doing quests which already award a high percentage of AA and quest XP. 🙂 It was quite nice to login and see: There will be a bonus...
The Shard of Love A lot of folks have been asking me where the Shard of Love is and how to get there. First, it should be noted that the Shard of Love is not a group zone like any of the other group zones in The Shadow Odyssey or Rise of Kunark. The Shard of Love is a very casual group zone that can be completed with 3-4 players. It scales to level (50-80) and rewards appearance items, house items, and reusable cast items. It does not reward the typical armor, jewelry, weapons you are used to in...
Shards of Destiny (Game Update 53) goes live tomorrow, Wednesday September 23rd. Most notably absent from the Game Update 53 notes are whether the Avatar Gear changes are going live, and whether the Racial Traits received any changes based on the significant feedback posted on the forums. If you want to read the full Gu53 Update Notes you can read them by clicking right there. I did some significant cleanup for readability and a few clarifications. It’s worth a read, even if you’ve read the official notes. HOWEVER… we do understand that the full Update Notes are a lot...
UPDATE: Servers will go down September 23rd from 6am to 10am PDT. And you can read the complete update notes from EQ2Players. However you might want to read my revised notes… NOTE: I have gone through these notes and slightly improved them for readability specific to issues I’m familiar with. If that bothers you, go and click on the EQ2Players link above.
Thanks to Mistal who got the scoop over on Test about what House Items we might be seeing in the Nights of the Dead event this fall. I believe this is on top of all the rewards from last year, but don’t quote me. EQ2 Forums
If you meet these criteria: Live in the U.S. Have access to a big-box store or games store. Desire some item or items on StationCash. then you may be interested in the retail-only “Double StationCash” deal cooked up by the EQ2 Marketing Department. Head to Wally World, Buy More, etc. and look not for the 30 day EQ2 cards, but the FreeRealms-branded 500, 1000, or more SC cards. If you redeem them this weekend, you will get double credit. You can then spend those points at any time. More Details at EQ2 Forums (and for a snapshot of what...
While we wait the last 1 1/2 hours for the EQ2 servers to come back up, I thought some of you might like to check out a few more tidbits expected to come in Game Update 53 at the end of the month. I’ve focused on new features here. If you want, you can read the full EQ2 Test Update Notes courtesy of EQ2 ZAM. GENERAL Runic Deflection should proc slightly more reliably. House layout files now properly save the scaling of an object. The save_layout and load_layout commands now properly save and load positions of NPC amenities. ACHIEVEMENTS...
Niami Denmother has checked in her extensive Crafting Preview for the Shards of Destiny (Gu53) update. There’s a lot to see here, so check it out at EQ2 Traders!
Within hours of our reporting on some drawbacks to the otherwise fantastic revamp of housing throughout Norrath, Haohmaru chimed in indicating that he agrees with some of the concerns folks had both with the size of the Qeynos addition, as well as the loss of space in the Kelethin acorn. He’s already posted screen shots of some additional changes he’s made on the EQ2 Forums. The additional room in Qeynos is quite nice, and the changes in the Kelethin 3 room acorns should go a long way towards addressing some of the issues. Sorry I didn’t get this posted...
There have been mixed reactions to the additional rooms which have been added to housing throughout Norrath. They say no good deed goes unpunished. 🙂 Seriously, I do understand the plight of owners of 3-room acorns in Kelethin who took advantage of the unique geometry of these houses to craft some truly fantastic homes who are now affected by how the 4th room was added. Specifically, the ceiling was lowered, and a ramp was added where there was previously space. Fortunately, Art Lead Haohmaru has been quick to respond on the EQ2 Forums that this is something he will...
Think you’ve seen all there is to see in Antonica? Think you’ve explored every ice floe of Everfrost? Now you can be sure! The new Achievements system coming with Gu53 will allow you to, at-a-glance, determine if you have discovered every Location there is to discover in Norrath. This is broken down by Zone. One of my top requests over the years has been a means to figure out if we have already toppled the reign of a specific enemy, or named monster. We saw improvements here, with the addition of a white star above the name of any...
If you have not read the EQ2 forums much, you might not know Rothgar. He has been working very hard on improving the User Interface of EQ2. Specifically cleaning up and improving windows. It was a pleasant surprise to me that the oft-forgotten Claim window has been rebuilt using existing assets, namely the Station Marketplace. It’s a lot easier to navigate and can be browsed by Expansion, special Events, and you can easily view which Claim Items you have already acquired. New Claim Window Although some alternate User Interfaces have existed which provide a more advanced Quest Journal such...
Now that the Norrathian Health Department has certified that beasts of burden may be housed in Guild Halls and Personal Homes alike, many citizens have been having a tough go at corralling and feeding their 4 legged friends. Fortunately, carpenters have discovered a variety of recipes that will aid in this endeavor and perhaps keep the mess to a minimum. 🙂
Shards of Destiny (Gu53) appeared on Test just moments before midnight last night. This update is expected to go live in late September (the initial date was September 22nd, but this was an internal target). Here are the Test Update Notes: Test Update August / 27 / 2009 FEATURED Achievements The new achievement system gives players a fun new way to track their accomplishments! Most achievements will award players with achievement points that can be used to compare their progress against other players. Some harder to complete achievements will offer non-stat item rewards. The basic categories are General, Quest,...
EQ2 Housing is getting an upgrade! The biggest changes include the Faydwer acorns which have received a nice window which looks out into Kelethin. And the Maj’dul apartments which have been lacking in charm have really opened up with skylights and the like. Here at EQ2Wire, we’re anxiously awaiting Gu53 being pushed to Test (scheduled for today) so we can go grab screen shots of all the new housing options. There have been some unconfirmed reports that existing spaces were reduced to make room for the new areas. We’ll be checking this out Preview at EQ2Players
Rothgar brings us an update on Game Update 53. The EQ2 Team wants to get Gu53 on the test server soon, to allow 1 full month of testing. However Shaders 3.0 won’t be ready within the next few days. As a result, Shaders 3.0 are slipping to Gu54 expected in November. If you attended our last Fan Faire or have been following the forums you’ve probably heard about a major overhaul to the EverQuest II rendering engine where we are upgrading all of our existing shaders from version 1.x to version 3.0. This upgrade will result in a performance...
It’s the 20th of the month, and that means it’s time for Moonlight Enchantments again! Some incredible house items and a few unique mounts can be obtained in the Grottos of Norrath. These mushroom rings will appear in five locations (click the Grotto name for a list of rewards): Enchanted Dryad Grotto: [Antonica – Archer’s Woods] (-696, -4, 621) Enchanted Brownie Grotto: [Darklight Woods – Werewolf area] (16, -32, -236) Enchanted Zygomyd Grotto: [Nektulos Forest – Barren Sky spires] (-368, 1, -680) Enchanted Naiad Grotto: [Enchanted Lands – Bonemire spires] (-282, 6, 13) Enchanted Fay Grotto: [Greater Faydark –...
Even though we do not have a specific release date for Gu53 (Shards of Destiny), “late September” has been posited as a timeframe we should be watching for. As we approach the duly appointed time, more information is coming out about what we can expect in this update. Unless you follow the EQ2 Dev Tracker, you’ve probably missed some salient details. … Skill Up Catch Up Not every EQ2 player has access to a Guild Hall, specifically the Training Dummy amenity. This is relevant because at the great speed most folks now level up into their 50’s or 60’s,...
As announced at EQ2Players… EQII’s next Game Update #53, Shards of Destiny, is slated to go live in late September. We will be bringing some exciting new content to the world of Norrath with Shards of Destiny. Erollisi Marr’s influence is felt once more in Norrath. Our players will be able to explore the Shard of Love and learn more of the popular goddess’ story. The Shard of Love is a single group zone. There will also be a new x4 dungeon to test your skills. Miragul’s Planar Shard will continue the story of the powerful mage. There are...
If you’ve ever wanted to look at the artwork that goes into conceptualizing or marketing EQ2 or other SoE games, now’s your chance at the new SoE Art Portal. If this is part of the Fan Faire-announced plans to provide mail-order high quality posters and prints of this artwork, then I’m rather excited and intend to do some shopping when this next phase becomes available.