EverQuest II — Behind the Scenes: Bringing back the Meat Beast!!

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Art, Appearance, Housing, Daybreak Cash

Oh. My. God.

When Beastlords were added to EQ2, the first thing an alarming number of people wanted to tame was Bristlebane‘s very own Bovinasauros Rex or the Meatbeast! Inexplicably, a month later the Meatbeast was taken away and there were rumblings that not all on the EQ2 team were quite so excited about the idea of players running rampant with them. We thought that was the end of it, but the Walter Bishopesque love for the Meatbeast in the EQ2 community just wouldn’t die! After a year of players clamoring, the Meatbeast was once again available to Beastlords and all was once again right with Norrath. We celebrated, smiled, and moved on. But not the insane evil genius EQ2, Senior Animator Tom Tobey and his cohort Christopher Atkins, Character Artist.

Just in time for the April Foolishness of Bristlebane Day, they have given us a full quart’s worth of hilarity. I could describe it, but you’re better off just watching the funniest video SOE has ever released. If you don’t die laughing, then I don’t know what to say…

Today, Meatbeast baby pets in five different colors are available for your house, and more importantly, you can now get a Meatbeast mount either a Cow or Bull for 1,950SC. I’m logging in right now!

Read More on the EQ2 Forums

P.S. for ONE DAY ONLY (April 1st) if you really must, you can get a pink Meatbeast mount.

   

Game Update 66: Scars of the Awakened Due April 30th

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Art, Appearance, Housing, Game Updates & Maintenance, Grouping, Itemization, PvP/BG/Proving Grounds, Raiding


Logo mockup by EQ2Wire

From Holly “Windstalker” Longdale on the EQ2 Forums:

To all Norrathians,

The Velious saga continues! New lands and adventures will be uncovered on April 30 with Game Update 66 entitled EverQuest II: Scars of the Awakened!

Ever vigilant, Norrathians march united under the banner of the New Combine army, deeper into the perilous continent of Velious.

Finally, the army breaches the borders of a region known as Cobalt Scar – a majestic, lush, but tormented region. And from within dark passages in the surrounding mountains, the inhabitants of Sirens Grotto beckon to all.

Grab yer best stein! Brewday — March 7 – March 18

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Art, Appearance, Housing, Live Events, Tradeskill

From the EQ2 Forums:

Many moons ago, the Dwarves started Brewday in honor of Brell. Now, each year, portals appear in Antonica, Commonlands, Haven, Greater Faydark, Timorous Deep, and Frostfang Sea to lead you to the Bar of Brell, where new and classic adventures await those thirsty and foolhardy enough to enter!

Otengard Brauer has also set up a Beer Garden in the Butcherblock Mountains, but the ale seems to have attracted some goblins. Help him while competing against others in an effort to rid the area of the most goblins. And as you’re crawling through the bars and drinking holes throughout Norrath, be sure to keep your eyes peeled for special items of interest to collect!

Brewday begins on March 7th, 2013 at 12:01 am 1:40am Pacific Time and runs until March 18, 2013 at 11:59 pm Pacific.

Guides

For more about this annual celebration, visit these sites which have been updated for the 2013 event:

Time Zone Conversions

  • PST: March 7 @ 7:00am ~ March 18 @ 11:59pm
  • EST: March 7 @ 10:00am ~ March 19 @ 2:59am
  • GMT: March 7 @ 15:00 ~ March 19 @ 7:59
  • CET: March 7 @ 16:00 ~ March 19 @ 8:59

Game Update 65.5 Update Notes: Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Art, Appearance, Housing, Game Updates & Maintenance, Itemization, PvP/BG/Proving Grounds, Raiding, Tradeskill

From the EQ2 Forums:

NEW RAID ZONES

  • New x2 raid zone Wurmbone’s End: Nox Incessit (with normal and challenge versions). Entrance located in Jarsath Wastes.
  • New x4 raid zone The Dreadcutter: The Pirate Kings. Entrance located in Obol Plains on the dock.

NEW BAG SORTING, SWAPPING AND DUMPING FEATURES
Bag Sorting:
Open up the Bag Options window from the button on each bag to access the filters that you’d like to set for a respective inventory bag. After setting your options, hit the “Sort” button on your Character window. This will send a command up to the server with “/sort_bags name”.

  • In addition to sorting by “name”, you can type the sort_bags command yourself and put “level” to sort by level of the item instead.
  • Any option that you set for filtering items will also affect which bag the item goes to upon looting!
  • If you’d rather a bag not be sorted, feel free to mark the bag as a “Skip”.

New Player Studio Cloaks, Marketplace Items

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Art, Appearance, Housing, Daybreak Cash, Player Studio

I had every confidence that Player Studio would demonstrate the creativity and artistic talent of EQ2 players, but I continue to be impressed by what is being approved and added on an almost weekly basis.

From EverQuest2.com:

Four new cloaks created by a player — Lyranny — are now available in the Marketplace!

Halasian Wolfskin Cloak (Top Left)

Erollisi Courter’s Cloak (Top Right)

Golden Sun Cloak (Bottom Left)

Halasian Loyalist’s Cloak (Bottom Right)

January 15, 2013 Update Notes – Dungeon Maker, Guild Depot Permissions

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Art, Appearance, Housing, Game Updates & Maintenance, Itemization, Tradeskill

From the EQ2 Forums:

GUILD HALL AMENITIES
Depots

  • You can now set tradeskill access separate from withdrawal and deposit access on each Depot’s UI.
  • Transmuting components are now labeled properly and can be added into the harvest depot by selecting the appropriate choice in the deposit dropdown.
    • Treasured – Fragments and Powders
    • Legendary – Infusions
    • Fabled – Manas

ITEMS

  • Augmented Blessing and Augmented Smite no longer stack proc chance. They now increase in effectiveness for each similar effect you wear.
  • Augmented Blessing and Augmented Smite no longer proc in PVP combat.
  • Augmented Blessing and Augmented Smite’s “On Damage Received” effect can now only trigger once every 15 seconds.

DUNGEON MAKER

  • XP for weaker creatures has been reduced in dungeon maker dungeons.

Update Notes: Tuesday, December 18, 2012 — Guild Depots

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Art, Appearance, Housing, Game Updates & Maintenance, Grouping, Itemization, Live Events, Raiding

From the EQ2 Forums:

GUILD HALL AMENITIES

Depots

  • The maximum number of different resources that you can store in a Guild Harvest Depot has been increased from 200 to 1000.
  • Several new Depots have been added as guild amenities! Check the “Depot” tab in your guildhall amenity list for details.
  • The maximum number of items in a single depot stack has been increased from 20,000 to 99,999.
  • Set Access now works with storage containers for the purpose of withdrawing items from the containers. Deposit remains open to all.
  • Storage containers will now show the minimum level to use an item instead of the item level if there is one specified.
  • You can now use the Deposit All button on depots to deposit every valid component from your bags.

Frostfell 2012 Preview @ EQ2Traders

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Art, Appearance, Housing, Live Events, Tradeskill

Whew! With a little over 12 hours to spare before Frostfell 2012 goes live, I finally have the Frostfell 2012 crafting preview done! I bet you folks didn’t think I’d have it done in time – I know I didn’t think I’d finish it before tomorrow! Fortunately, I had some phenomenal help from a pair of SOE Frostfell Elves with regards to most of the images, and I think I caught all the high points.

I take full responsibility for the ogress images that make you want eyeball bleach – I thought they’d help keep you from going into sugar shock as you look at all the nummy Frostfell goodness found in Frostfell 2012 Vignettes

Check out Niami Denmother’s Frostfell 2012 Preview!

Mega Update Notes: Thursday, November 29, 2012

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Art, Appearance, Housing, Game Updates & Maintenance, Grouping, Itemization, PvP/BG/Proving Grounds, Raiding

The Thanksgiving holiday falling just after an expansion is always a pain. Just when we need those Tuesday/Thursday updates the most, the fixes start to thin out, or are postponed. But for those who have been waiting patiently (and even if you haven’t), the time is finally here for the post-Chains of Eternity Mega Patch. Tomorrow’s update contains a ton of fixes to issues that have been brought up repeatedly in /bug, here, and on the forums.

The updates include:

  • [eq2u]Call of the Veteran[/eq2u] is back working as it was before.
  • Jarsath Wastes Sokokar Trainers are back.
  • Gathering Goblin produces less rares, particularly roots.
  • Trichromatic Adornment Removers that will remove Yellow, Red, and Green adornments have been added as Tinkering recipes. This is in addition to the existing adornment removers which can remove yellow, red, or combinations thereof.
  • Spirit Stones (green adornments) now have better in-game display.
  • Items made with Refined materials, or which have been Experimented upon can now be linked in channel. Further, they now display correctly (instead of just showing the base item) when listed on the Broker.
  • Numerous Fixes to Chains of Eternity Zones and Quests

The complete Update Notes after the jump…

Update Notes: Tuesday, November 13, 2012 “Chains of Eternity” / GU65

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Art, Appearance, Housing, Expansion News, Game Updates & Maintenance, Grouping, Itemization, Live Events, Raiding, Tradeskill

From the EQ2 Forums:

Chains of Eternity is EverQuest II’s 9th expansion! In Chains of Eternity, adventurers will travel to the realm known as Ethernere in their quest to stop the siphoning of souls from Norrath. Here, the heroes will fight to save not only the mortals of their world, but prevent the imbalance in Ethernere, as well as meet the God of the afterlife, Drinal, the Silver Reaper. They may yet find the answer lies not in fortunes and portents, but deep in Norrath’s past. Adventurers will also uncover all new areas in the mortal realm of Norrath.

The fate of the living and the dead are in your hands, heroes! Are you up to the challenge before you?

EverQuest II: Chains of Eternity Zone Preview

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Art, Appearance, Housing, Expansion News

From the EQ2 Forums:

EverQuest II is preparing to launch its ninth expansion, Chains of Eternity™! This expansion will take intrepid adventurers into Ethernere. Part of this expansion is the two new overlands in the spirit realm: Obol Plains and the Eidolon Jungle.

Nathan “Kaitheel” McCall, Game Designer; Maria Del Casino, Senior Environment Artist; Brandon McDonald, Environment Artist; and Chris Atkins, Character Artist talk about what went into creating the lush environments of Eidolon Jungle and Obol Plains. They may have started with Loping Plains and the Feerrott, but after all the changes, they are almost entirely new zones. The incredible art and animation coming from the EQ2 team continues to astound me.

First PlayerStudio Submissions Have Been Approved

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Art, Appearance, Housing, Player Studio

Linda “Brasse” Carlson has tweeted some interesting news:

ZAM: Nights of the Dead Screenshot Contest

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Art, Appearance, Housing, Daybreak Cash

From EQ2 ZAM:

To celebrate Nights of the Dead, ZAM has acquired TWENTY-FIVE exclusive Royal Mummy Wrap Crate codes to give away AND some Station Cash! All you have to do is bring us your best EverQuest II Nights of the Dead themed screenshots, and you could be sporting this bejeweled version of the Mummy Wrap with a pocket full of SC!

Full instructions and rules are here. But here’s the short version:

Register on ZAM. Upload your most awesome Nights of the Dead themed screenshots here. Wait until November 2 when we’ll give prizes out!

Feel free to link and discuss your favorites in this thread on the EQ2 ZAM forums.


EQ2 Anything Goes Q&A Panel

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Art, Appearance, Housing, Daybreak Cash, Daybreak Live (SOE Live/Fan Faire), Game Updates & Maintenance, Grouping, Itemization, Raiding, Tradeskill

I don’t want to misquote anyone, so I am transcribing the most clear-cut questions and answers. Anything else will be in the transcript video.

Question about tradeskillers making kilts and getting more styles.

Q: Freeport and Qeynos lets anyone do writs. Neriak is more picky. Gorowyn is selective as well. Can this be made more consistent?

Q: A Krono is $17.99. Why is it more than 30 days sub costs at Walmart for $14.99?
A: We don’t endorse the selling of cards in-game, but it’s a completely supported in-game method of trading in-game subs.
Q: Are you going to try to stop selling cards for plat?
A: No.

   

EQ2 Art & Animation Panel

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Art, Appearance, Housing, Daybreak Live (SOE Live/Fan Faire), Expansion News

Just starting the EQ2 Art & Animation panel.

20121019-115710.jpg

Dave “covic” Brown, Tom Tobey, Aaron “Gnobrin” Bisnett, Chris Myers

Lotsa slides.

This is a visual panel, so not going to be a lot of updates.

How we create a 3D environment

Showing a flythrough of a new outdoor 3D dungeon that’s being worked on.

The expac will have 9 individual dungeons (not repurposed)

StationCash: Nights of the Dead Unicorns, etc.

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Art, Appearance, Housing, Daybreak Cash

From the EQ2 Forums:

Be on the lookout for frightfully fun items in the Marketplace, including a herd of unicorn mounts! One new unicorn mount will be released each week.

Some of these items will be available year round. From Ahma on the EQ2 Forums:

Some Nights of the Dead items on the Marketplace will be available for a limited time only, like the Tricks and Treats house decorations that have returned from previous years and the new cordon house decorations released this year. (This is a good chance to get your Spooky, Sinister, and Creepy Tricks and Treats if you weren’t able to get them before, by the way!)

Other new Marketplace items, though they’re released during Nights of the Dead, will be year-round items, like the unicorns.

Nights of the Dead Returns to Norrath — Oct 11 ~ Nov 5

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Art, Appearance, Housing, Live Events, Tradeskill

From the EQ2 Forums:

The skies darken and a blustery wind blows across the land, sending shivers down the spines of all Norrathians. Though it was long ago, the memory of the undead assaulting the city of Maj’Dul is strong. And goblins and ghouls and all things frightful are once again emerging from the shadows on the anniversary of this event! It’s time for Nights of the Dead!

Whether you’re the crafting kind or a daring adventurer, there are new and exciting additions for 2012 as well as returning favorites! There’s something for everyone as all of Norrath comes together to enjoy this holiday!

Update Notes: Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Art, Appearance, Housing, Game Updates & Maintenance, Raiding

From the EQ2 Forums:

ITEMS

  • The Qeynos Ceremonial Plate Helm should now have the correct appearance.
  • Avatars: Evasion of a Dauntless Champion’s proc now has the proper icon.
  • Avatars: Vallon’s Hoop of Concentrated Convergence’s effect, Concentrated Convergence, will now only drop if you take significant damage to your max health.
  • Avatars: Rings of Planar Scrutiny – Scrutiny of the Hounds now also grants 1100 ability mod.

EverQuest II: Chains of Eternity Expansion Details

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Art, Appearance, Housing, Expansion News, Grouping, Itemization, Raiding

From EverQuest2.com:

Death is rampant across Norrath. Citizens are suddenly falling dead as their spirits are torn from their bodies. No one on Norrath seems to understand why the souls are being pulled from the mortal plane, but all signs point to a massive disturbance within Ethernere, the realm of the dead. The heroes of the world must travel to Ethernere to find the cause of the unbalance in the Grey Wastes, and discover what has become of its caretaker – the mysterious being known as Drinal. If the heroes can return balance to Ethernere, the siphoning of souls may be halted. Should they fail, both the living and the dead will suffer a dismal fate.

Introducing EverQuest II: Chains of Eternity! This is the 9th expansion of the revolutionary EverQuest II franchise. This expansion contains must-have features such as level increases, prestige abilities and new game items only available with this expansion, such as adornments that become more powerful with your character. Also, explore new content in two spirit-realm versions of familiar lands, and experience adventure with new dungeons and quests. Put right the imbalance in the Ethernere!

EverQuest II: Chains of Eternity, Level 95, Prestige Abilities, Organic Adornments (November)

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Art, Appearance, Housing, Expansion News, Game Updates & Maintenance, Grouping, Itemization, Raiding

From Holly “Windstalker” Longdale on the EQ2 Forums:

Greetings Norrath!

The time has come! We are very proud to announce our next expansion, EverQuest II: Chains of Eternity!

The team is hard at work developing our ninth – yes, our ninth – expansion and implementing the finer details, several of which I will go into here.  When the expansion launches, Norrathians will pass into Ethernere, the realm of the afterlife, where all spirits pass after death on their way to their final resting place.

Recently, something has gone horribly wrong in Ethernere and it is bleeding through in the mortal plane.  Over the summer months, evidence of ripples between the realms was in evidence as items with ethereal energy appeared upon the dead.  As the tears between the realms widen, it will be up to the heroes of Norrath to save the immortal and mortal realms from collapse!

The adventures in this expansion will be great ones! The team is spending a lot of time ensuring that you experience the story, rather than merely read it, so I won’t give it all away in this letter.  As for features and details, we’ve got a lot to crow about.  We hope players enjoy it as much as we’ve enjoyed weaving it together.

Cross Over to More Content

In two re-imagined Ethernere overlands inspired by Feerrott and Loping Plains, players will find a region in chaos.  The natural ebb and flow of spirits passing through the Ethernere to each spirit’s final resting place is corrupted and on the edge of destruction, threatening every mortal’s life and afterlife.  Through the trials of nine new instanced dungeons, players will attempt to mend the end of all things.  Prelude content and dungeons give insights into the threat from the other side while telling all new stories – including advancing the story behind the Ages End Prophecy.  Players meet new creatures from the beyond and face a whole host of new challenges.

Update Notes: Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Art, Appearance, Housing, Game Updates & Maintenance, Itemization, PvP/BG/Proving Grounds, Raiding

From the EQ2 Forums:

GENERAL

  • Fixed an issue that prevented voice overs working with socials.

SOEMOTE

  • Added a video input device selection dropdown for SOEmote in the Options (Advanced) – SOEmote.

POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION

City of Freeport

  • Vhishall, Freeport furniture merchant, now offers a selection of paintings for those that have completed particular quests in the city of Freeport.

Plane of War x4 Raid

  • In the general Teku fight warboars have less health and run slower, war wraiths will turn to face attackers sooner than before.
  • Eriak the Fetid – Echo of Terror adds will no longer cast demonic flames as soon as they spawn.

Update Notes: Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Art, Appearance, Housing, Game Updates & Maintenance, Grouping, Itemization, PvP/BG/Proving Grounds, Raiding

From the EQ2 Forums:

GENERAL

  • An Auto Attack timing window has been implemented into the default UI.  You can enable / disable this feature under User Interface – Game Windows – Show The Autoattack Timing Bar.
  • Fixed an issue with the age slider for male / female humans.
  • Fixed some customization issues with Darkelves.
  • Fixed an issue with skirts on humans and elves.

Regular Models or Alternate Models or ?

Written by Flourchild on . Posted in Art, Appearance, Housing, Commentary

We all know about the Alternate Models. Some of us love them, some of us hate them, some of us just don’t care. But which is used more often? Do people use one over the other or a combination of both? Are people really happy with the way the models are set up right now or would they like to have a third option? If you’re one of those hoping for a third option, you may get your wish…or maybe not.

Play as your Character comes to Dungeon Maker

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Art, Appearance, Housing, Game Updates & Maintenance, Grouping, Tradeskill

First mentioned by SmokeJumper shortly after the Age of Discovery expansion was released, SOE has now introduced the ability to Play as Yourself in player-made Dungeon Maker dungeons. The secret is an advanced auto-mentoring system which allows for Level Agnostic play. That functionality will also roll out this month with a revamp to Battlegrounds that brings players of different tiers together.

We have commented in the past on the extreme limitations of designing Dungeon Maker content, which rarely rises above placing enemies strategically and hoping for the best, but being able to play as your own character instead of driving avatars is a huge step in the right direction. Play as your Character also nicely dovetails into last week’s announcement of the winners of the Dungeon Maker contest.


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