Feldon
Since there seems to be some doubt… Kiara has reported in as of 11:30AM PDT. The NDA for Sentinel’s Fate is officially lifted! All of you, who have been (not so) patiently waiting can spill the beans! Those of you who didn’t wait and were breaking it all along… Coal in your stockings. This means ANY issues discussed in Beta, in the Beta forums, etc. can now be discussed.
Commentary
When Commission crafting was altered in March 2009 to prevent crafters from using their own Void Shards and other NO TRADE/HEIRLOOM materials for other players, it closed the book for several crafters on this highly profitable market. However it was quickly discovered that a crafter could still use their own shards if the customer had at least the requisite number of shards in their own inventory to make the item. This was accomplished by swapping out ingredients in the Commission Materials window. Today’s Hotfix marks the closure of this exploit: Patch Notes January / 26 / 2010 GENERAL You...
Saints be praised! (No, not those Saints) As I was ducking in and out of Fish’s Alehouse and Inn, trying to keep out of sight, not one, but 13 parcels of mail addressed to one “Feldon @ EQ2Wire” (that’s me!) arrived at the front desk. After bribing tipping the innkeeper, I opened the packages to discover that each contained a detailed illustration of an escape route to South Qeynos! With the navigational guidance of my enterprising readers, I was able to avoid the Qeynos Harbor guards and use my tinkered spring shoes to make it to the secret exit!...
It seems sanity has prevailed at SOE. From EQ2 Forums: The status of retail distribution for Sentinel’s Fate at launch internationally is still uncertain. However in an effort to properly serve our international community we have partnered with several digital distributors who will be providing the expansion to our international customers only starting on Feb 16th 2010. The digital downloads will be IP locked so that only the international community can take advantage of this. When it became apparent that whoever at SOE Marketing signed deals with Amazon, GameStop, and Best Buy forgot about the rest of the world,...
illustration by Dozer Mount Up EQ2 has yet to fill out its stable of player mounts with the variety available in other MMORPGs. The hygiene-challenged Wargs and motion sickness-inducing Rhinos weren’t my up of tea. When I heard that EQ2 were getting Dire Bears, I was thrilled, until my hopes were dashed when the Sabertooth/Werewolf-like mount was revealed. In lieu of a desirable fluffy travel companion, I’ve limited myself to running barefoot. I’ve long since outgrown the 40% speed of the venerable Carpet of El’khazi, wrangled from the ever-sarcastic flying carpet dealer in Sinking Sands, the 48% upgrade in...
There have been a lot of reactions to the clarification of just what types of multiboxing are permitted in SOE games and which aren’t. What most of these reactions have lacked is perspective. A careful read of the key pards Kiara‘s post in another thread on the multiboxing subject: That is what allows us to nuke the farmers and plat sellers that we all loathe so much. If you’re not doing something you shouldn’t be doing, multi-boxing is fine. People are over-reacting and troll-feeding. Please stop trying to read into it anything that says we’re going to start nuking...
The biggest loss of functionality on EQ2Players for many viewers was the ability to lookup Alt characters. This is used by guild recruiters to weed out players with a known history of troublemaking and guild bank plundering. So we’re happy to report that this functionality has been restored to EQ2Players. DarkViper has been reporting steadily on fixes to the site: The team is actively working on adding in quite a few new features, they’re just not ready yet The community team will be posting a list of the features soon with when you can expect them. Players are asked...
DarkViper, from SOE’s Platform (websites, forums, etc.) department has responded to widespread criticism of the EQ2Players revamp which went live last week: Everyone, thanks for the feedback on the web site. With Station Players becoming a free service, I hope you’re checking out all of the sections of the site if you’ve never had access to it. It’s important to keep hearing this feedback so we can continue to evolve the site. To address the browser crashing: We’re already planning on making a version of the site that is ‘lighter’ for the in-game browser. It has always been the...
SOE has clarified their policy on using third party software to broadcast or duplicate keypresses on multiple computers for multiboxing purposes. An exclusive EQ2Wire Commentary… It Started with /Follow Since the first time someone discovered the /follow command in EverQuest II, ingenuous players have been fascinated with the possibilities of building a force of players all under their control. Naturally, it started with having a healer tag along to spot heal mobs that were too challenging to solo. Then players realized they could handle 3 or even 4 toons on separate accounts playing simultaneously with multiple keyboards and strategically...
EQ2Players has undergone a revamp and the results went live this morning. Actually, it’s more than just a revamp. All trace of EQ2Players has been wiped away! This is now the main EverQuest2 website. Searching The first thing we noticed is that to Search for Characters, Guilds, or Items, you must either be on the Home page, or click the Search link in the upper right corner. It used to be possible to search from anywhere on the site. We also noticed that simply typing a character name and pressing Enter no longer works. You must now specify Character,...
We are thrilled to present the first snapshot of the new in-game Highland Stalker mount exclusively available to players who purchase the EverQuest II: Sentinel’s Fate Collector’s Edition ($69.99). The announcement from EQ2Players: This is the Highland Stalker mount! The Highland Stalker will be available to characters from level one through level 90 and will have a 50% 65% boost to run speed. One important thing to note about the Highland Stalker: This mount is exclusive to the Collector’s Edition of Sentinel’s Fate. There will be no other Highland Stalker mounts! Also, here is a photo of the Highland...
Class Balance As many readers of EQ2 Forums and EQ2Flames have sussed out, Chris Kozak (known on the forums and in-game as Aeralik) stepped down in his position of Game Mechanics (class balance, mechanics, etc.) in early November. Today’s Producer’s Letter announces his replacement, the scrapping of the unpopular Gear Scaling system and Fighter Revamp, and the rescheduling of Shaders 3.0 to Game Update #55: Alan “Brenlo” Crosby, Senior Producer of EQ2, has posted a Producer’s Letter for December 2009: Hello Norrathians! Lots going on in the EQII world! We are just about to release our next update, Will...
EQ2Wire has been trying to get some answers about the EverQuest II: Sentinel’s Fate Pre-Order for the past 2 1/2 weeks. We contacted the SOE PR department with a detailed list of questions. We received an e-mail which quoted the Press Release but which did not answer any of our submitted questions. We sent an e-mail to SOE President John Smedley on November 19th with those same concerns and additional questions. At present, we have received no response to this e-mail. Where do we Stand? Going into December 2009, just where do American, North American (Canada, Mexico), and International...
Specifications: 17.5 lb brined turkey, mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, gravy, green beans, all from scratch.
We’ve seen an excellent response to the first ever EQ2Wire Reader Survey with nearly 200 submissions. This will help us guide the site into the new year and the next expansion of EverQuest II. On the subject of EQ2Wire adding updates on Twitter (without affecting our regular site updates), you’ve spoken loud and clear. 81% of readers don’t use Twitter and only 7% of readers would change their visiting habits if we offered a Twitter service. Your votes on what kinds of articles, news, strategy guides, and amount of commentary we provide will help shape the future of EQ2Wire....
EQ2Wire is working on a story covering the overseas marketing and distribution strategy for EverQuest II’s sixth expansion — EverQuest II: Sentinel’s Fate. While there have been some concerns expressed on the EQ2 Forums regarding the 7-day headstart release strategy of Sentinel’s Fate from American customers (specifically within the 48 contiguous states with guaranteed arrival by February 16, 2010), specifically from American customers who have traditionally purchased the Digital Download, this has been nothing compared to the outcry from hundreds of international EverQuest II customers. According to the EQ2Players Announcement, the only means for EQ2 players outside of the...
On the EQ2 Forums, some discussion has sparked about the planned push to get EQ2 in retail stores and improve the experience for new players. I authored a post that I thought might be worth repeating. What is the Experience for New Players right now? Visit a half dozen retailers and not find any copies of EQ2 except maybe a dingy old cobwebby copy of Kunark priced $50. Let’s say you do manage to find a recent copy of EQ2 and take it home. You dutifully install 11GB of data off two DVDs. Then you fire it up and...
Understandably, some players are taking a look at Game Update 54 (aka the Great Bug Stomp) and not seeing a lot of new content. Part of the issue is, normally, we would be just 2 weeks away from an entirely new expansion at this point. However Sentinel’s Fate won’t hit until February. Also, it is now unclear just when we can expect Shaders 3.0, although I’m hopeful that we’ll get it as an early Christmas present. Of course, we have Frostfell 2009 to look forward to this December. If this year has proven anything, it is that live events...
Note: No EverQuest II content. When FreeRealms was launched in April 29, 2009, Sony Online Entertainment pondered the question: Can a Massively Multiplayer Online game produced and sold in America support itself with Real Money Transactions (RMT)? On November 2nd we found out the answer: Effective November 2nd, the free-to-play classes available to NEW players of FreeRealms will shrink from Ninja, Chef, Postman, Kart Driver, Demo Derby Driver, Brawler, Adventurer, Card Duelist and Miner to just Adventurer and Card Duelist. Starting November 2nd, all players will be able to sample all character classes up to Level 5. Existing free-to-play...
After reprinting the excellent Letter to SoE written by Shianne (Spritelady), we here at EQ2Wire weren’t expecting much of a response. So today’s detailed feedback from timetravelling was a real eye-opener. As he says, there is a fine line between challenging and frustrating. Some fights in TSO are just plain annoying with the unbelievable amount of curing they require. Nobody is asking for easier fights, just ones that are not hair-pulling annoying, fights that healers are quitting over. Here’s the refreshing quote from EQ2 Forums: A good thread with some excellent feedback! From the population side, we are definitely...
If you have been following the increasingly train-wrecky Legends of Norrath Affects Gameplay topic on EQ2 Forums, you know that the Legends of Norrath card game is on the cusp of making powerful items available within the EverQuest 2 universe. Already, by purchasing booster packs of cards (at $2.99/ea) and/or playing the LoN card game, one can acquire cloaks, mounts, appearance items, potions, and other items within the EQ2 world. So far these items have drawn the line at being comparable to dungeon/raid drops. Many have argued that EQ2’s $15/month subscription + $50/year expansion cost should be more than...
Most of my gametime these days is either raiding with my Ranger, or leveling my Dirge alt. I do live events (looking forward to Nights of the Dead), but otherwise, I’m fairly bored with the runaround quest lines. Groups in the 20’s-60’s are few and far between, but that is an issue for another blog post… Our guild is currently running Ward of Elements (I have all but shoulders and the cloak from Aiden) and we do as much x4 raiding as we can with 2 1/2 groups. That’s the first 3 named of Tomb of the Mad Crusader...
And that concludes the EQ2 ZAM Chat. Guests were: Alan <Brenlo> – EQ2 Producer Brett <timetravelling> – Dungeons/Content Nathan <Kaitheel> – Live Events/Quests <Gninja> – Quests, Zone Design, Live Events Greg <Rothgar> – Lead Programmer Paul C. <Frizznik> – Mechanics Paul M. <Cronyn> – Lore, Content, Quests Emily <Domino> – Tradeskills Rough Chat Logs of this event are now available at EQ2 ZAM. Some of the topics that stuck out to me: Brenlo: At the moment we have no plans to (have) LON cards (drop from mobs). That is why we went to giving each active player 5 packs...
Well, now we know the real reason that Avatar Loot was nerfed. It wasn’t because it was “overpowered” or because it would “break the next expansion”. It was so similar items could be put on the endboss of an instance. As posted by Jasuo on the EQ2 Forums, two of the charms dropped by Miragul in Miragul’s Planar Shard (x4 raid zone) are very similar to Avatar Charms: and yes, we will be back later today to talk about the new EQ2 zone which requires a LoN item to access.
Much has been made of the difficulty, and more importantly the limited desirability of the loot that drops in the new raid zone — Miragul’s Planar Shard — which arrived in Game Update 53. Players capable of killing these mobs already have access to far superior gear, and indeed some of these items were not as good as Ward of Elements or even group instance drops. Significant changes are expected to both the difficulty of the zone and the quality of the loot in tomorrow’s Hotfix. Gninja advises us that further changes to the difficulty of the zone should...