From the EQ2 Forums:

GENERAL

• Fixed an issue with Guild Halls.
• Fixed an issue causing the streaming client to use old assets.
• Fixed an issue which could cause the streaming client to crash on startup.
• Fixed a disconnect bug where some characters would get dropped to character select upon login.

Players will now be prompted for a one-time, free item unattuning:

• If you answer yes, all items will be immediately unattuned.  Any equipped items will be popped into overflow.
• If you answer no, items will not be unattuned and you will not be asked again.

I could write 50,000 words about the disappointing Game Update 61, with referenced links to the nearly 100 forum discussions about its flaws, plus countless player and developer quotes. But what difference would it make?

Despite a 2-day delay, and despite pushback from both Developers and Testers warning that the update still needed weeks, possibly a month of work to meet any reasonable measurement of build quality, Game Update 61 was released Thursday, August 25th.

It was clear on Monday the 22nd that there was no way the Reitemization of EQ2 would be completed in time for Game Update 61’s launch. Not only were thousands of items still in a bugged or unusable state on the Test server, but the scope of the project seemingly kept growing. Despite the incredible time pressure of trying to re-do 50,000 items in a span of 2 months, the project grew as the release deadline loomed. We were more alarmed than impressed by news that Sentinel’s Fate had been added to the already overwhelming slate.

Due to the widespread changes to Itemization in Game Update 61 for level 20-90 items (including Sentinel’s Fate and Velious gear which were rushed for inclusion), a complementary Global Unattune was provided.

This was supposed to include every item including Equipment, Appearance, Inventory (bags), and your Bank. However this did not quite work out that way, at least not permanently. Players have discovered that when they login for the first time, most or all of their items are Unattuned, but if they log out that character and log back in, all Bank items get Reattuned. Why?

Rothgar explains:

The issue is that there’s an in-memory representation of an item and a database representation of the item. The bug lies somewhere between the in-memory item getting unattuned but the database update is failing. Unless you do something to force the item to be saved, which doesn’t happen unless you modify an item (damage/repair, use a charge, etc) then the item [won’t stay unattuned]

So when you login, the script is telling your computer that the items are unattuned in your Bank. But nobody’s telling the database server. So the next time you fetch your character, everything’s all attuned again. Clear as mud?

Game Update 61: “The War of Zek”
UPDATE NOTES

A GENERAL SUMMARY OF WHAT’S IN GAME UPDATE 61:

• All dungeon and overland loot items have been re-itemized. What does this mean? It means loot everywhere should be legitimate for the level it drops for, no matter where you go now. Go explore some nooks and crannies you haven’t seen for a long time and get off the Golden Path! The loot’s good again.
• The Velious saga continues as you journey past the Citadel of Drunder to the Plane of War itself in a new dungeon and raid, and a continuation of the Signature quest line.
• New dynamically-scaling dungeons have been added. These scale to your group between levels 60-90 and are designed as new single group heroic content that’s more re-playable. We’ll be watching your reactions to these initial two dungeon experiments and improving on these in the future!
• The new House Rating System lets you publish your house so other players can rate it, as well as adding house leaderboards, easy access to housing, and more! (And we increased House Ownership limits to 20, instead of 10!)
• If you ever wanted to show EQII to your friends, it’s now very easy. Push a button, record, and post your footage to YouTube with our new Video Capture system.
• The Eastern Wastes area in Velious now has a lot more overland content added to it (the new quests start at the Ry’Gorr keep).
• A big revamp of the class AA tree so that it’s easier to select the AAs you want, and adding more utility to the AAs that were weak previously.
• Many stats have been un-capped so that they have meaning as your characters progress. This doesn’t result in massive power increases, but it does let all stats continue to have meaning as you earn new items and power. Additional mechanics changes were made to increase power for many classes. (See below for things like spell auto-attack, flurry improvements, etc.)
• Tradeskillers now have their own AA tree to chase!
• And yes, Fae and Arasai now have a level 85 quest that can unlock their ability to FLY!

After the jump, the full detailed Game Update 61 “War of Zek” Notes…

Summoners, Enchanters, and Shamans have been curious at exactly how Shared Pet Stats work. Fortunately some details have been provided by Maevianiu on the EQ2 Forums:

NOTE: Any buffs that affect a group/raid do not transfer from the owner to the pet (that would be doubling up) but single target ones that grant the stats below should go to both the owner and the pet when cast on the owner.

The following stats are copied from the owner to the pet:

Attributes, potency, ability mod, crit bonus (pvp and pve), crit chance, toughness, doublecast chance (pve and pvp), ability casting speed, Ability Recovery Speed, Ability Reuse Speed, Spell Reuse Speed.

Ready or Not, Game Update 61 is going live tomorrow, August 23rd, 2011 Thursday, August 25th, 2011.

The EQ2 design and mechanics teams have been working nose-to-the-grindstone for at least 2 1/2 months Reitemizing EverQuest 2. That’s every weapon, cloak, charm, piece of jewelry, armor, etc. We’re talking 50,000 items — the sum total of 7 years of overland zones, dungeons, and raid zones. To do so and make no mistakes would be a statistical improbability.

On June 24th, the first pass on reitemizing Mastercrafted gear appeared on Test. Silius (who has since moved up from “itemization guy” to Mechanics Lead) expressed appreciation for the bug reports that came in, but then 8 weeks of silence set in. To date, few of the bugs reported had been corrected, and there was little to no developer guidance on the testing process, such as when another pass of changes would be pushed to test. At press time, Mastercrafted gear remains an unfinished work, with frustrating inconsistencies and unavoidable gaps.

During this time, drops from Group instances and Raids, as well as Quest gear from levels 20-80 started have also gone under the knife. We’ve seen the expected stats changes, yet some of the tweaks have been more unpredictable, with items flip-flopping class or even archetype.

The question on everyone’s minds is, will the itemization be ready by tomorrow?

With GU61 right around the corner (Tuesday, 23 Aug 2011), SmokeJumper has posted a note on the official forums warning players of some of the changes that will have an immediate impact on players. Read on to see what Smokejumper had to say and our commentary on ways to prepare.

Having used my adornment calculator for a while now, there have been a few times where having the short descriptions in the drop down lists instead of the name of the adornment has been frustrating.  Usually, this is when I’m trying to put in what I currently have adorned, rather than starting from scratch.  The descriptions work well when you’ve never adorned a particular slot, but there are times when you don’t need them and would rather see the adornment names.  For example, if I wanted to send a link to someone that shows my current adornments, I would first need to enter all the ones I’m currently wearing.  Sometimes that’s easier by using the short descriptions but a lot of times it’s easier to go by the name of the adornment.  Now, you have a choice.

You can now choose which way you want the adornment calculator to show the drop down lists.  And you can change it back and forth at any point without losing what you’ve already chosen.   Just click the radio button for “Adornment Descriptions” or “Adornment Names” just above the list of adornments.

Enjoy!

After a growing silence about key parts of Game Update 61, specifically unexpected mechanics and itemization changes in high level gear, Salim “Silius” Grant, EQ2 Mechanics Lead, has stepped up and provided a detailed response to the issues as laid out so well by a determined player, Nevao in a thread entitled May we have a “State of the GU” post?

Responses from Silius are in red:

• Itemization Changes
  Tier 3 to T8 revamp? Last time I checked there were still reports of items with insanely out of whack stats given the tier (mid-tier items with 40+ weapon skills for example) and items that were previously open to multiple classes now restricted to just a few (either directly or through stats). Where are we on this and are the devs happy with where it’s going?

• Stat values are being tweaked and fixed when we find the bugs.
• The goal of reitemize was to make items relevent to our current mechanics. This means that items will become polarized to the more archetypical setup we use now.

Moments ago, we spoke with Gninja on Test, who has been working hard on spot-checking and fixing any gaps in the Reitemization of level 20-80 items. He’s also been talking to players, examining linked items, and checking bug reports. He also linked some of the loot from Dynamic Dungeons and some higher level items which have gotten new effects.

From the EQ2 Forums:

If you have specific examples [of itemization issues] please PM them to us. We can take alook at them on a case by case basis. I should also be available on the test server looking for feedback/issues in the next day or two. Thanks for the work you guys have put into it thus far!

I also ask that you make sure they are still a valid issue before sending the info as we have caught a bunch of the issues and already pushed them to test server with the fixes applied.

For those of you who don’t have 77 minutes to listen to this week’s SOE Podcast, we’ve listened for you and provide details of the “War of Zek-cast”. First, a few bullet points…

• Vanguard: Saga of Heroes is still expecting 2 entirely new content updates this year, in addition to a number of Bug Bash updates to fix long-standing bugs with the game.
• Tiffany “Amnerys” Spence, EQ2 Community Manager, is expecting twins and so will be taking some time off from managing the EQ2 forums. Others will step in to tackle this job.
• The Beastlords Prelude Event launches with Game Update 61 leading up to the expansion.
• Velious Dungeon Rare Encounters — All current Velious group dungeon zones now have a 25% chance to include an all new named encounter.

EQ2Wire Transcript

After the jump, we provide a loose transcript of Linda “Brasse” Carlson interviewing Dave “SmokeJumper” Georgeson (whom you all either love or loathe as the case may be) and Akil “Lyndro” Hooper (returning as EQ2 Lead Designer after an extended break).

As we reach August’s midway point, we are potentially in the “home stretch” on Game Update 61. If internal schedules hold true, we could see the next update pushed to live servers in 2 weeks. This is usually the point where player anxiety levels are highest, as what’s on Test seems  incomplete and not ready for prime time. Although it’s a well-worn cycle, the question is always “Will it be ready?” Will 2 weeks of dev crunch time result in a solid Game Update 61?

Level 20-80 Reitemization

We’d caught hints, but Fan Faire brought confirmation that level 20-80 gear was being reitemized.

When I first heard this announcement, I hoped that this would be done with a light touch. Despite organic development over 6 years, through several different producers, the itemization in EverQuest II from level 1-80 has been one of its strengths. Only through several revamps has Mastercrafted armor managed to disturb this progression. A revamp of level 20-80 gear should provide an opportunity to the EQ2 team to put this right, all while re-aligning Mastercrafted armor where it belongs, behind Legendary and Fabled dungeon drops. With a few minor tweaks, mostly adding Agility to any item wearable by Scouts, Intelligence to Mage-equippable items, and so forth, itemization would, at least from level 1-80, work with the changed mechanics, without losing its uniqueness.

From the EQ2 Forums:

POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION

Temple of Rallos Zek: Foundations of Stone [Challenge]

• Challenge Mode Statue of Rallos Zek no longer has a Knockback effect associated with his Titanic Swipe AOE.

Hot off the presses, er patcher, here are the Game Update 61: The War of Zek Update Notes from the Test Patcher. Game Update 61 is expected to reach the Live servers near the end of August.

Game Update 61: “The War of Zek”

PLANE OF WAR

The time is near for the great Fortress of Drunder to reveal its true purpose to all. The very bedrock of the Eastern Wastes shudders and rocks as a massive planar portal rips itself open within the fortress walls. The sounds of war echo through its halls as the God of War himself prepares his innumerable armies to march across the frozen face of Velious and seize control of the lands of Norrath for all eternity.

The Plane of War is a normal and challenge mode raid.

Elements of War is a normal and challenge mode heroic experience.

Bunji dropped the news that Game Update 61 is hitting Test today:

We plan to push the current GU61 content to Test tomorrow morning.

GU61 (or most of it) is scheduled to hit Test around 7-8am PST tomorrow morning, 7/28.

What’s in Game Update 61?

• Dynamic Dungeon: Silent City [60~90]
• Dynamic Dungeon: Djinn Master’s Prism [60~90]
• Plane of War: heroic dungeon (normal and challenge)
• Plane of War: x4 raid (normal and challenge)
• Reitemize Level 20-90 dropped, quested, and crafted Items
• Alternate Advancement (AA) Revamp, especially Subclass (Monk, Templar, Paladin, etc.) tree.
• Tradeskill AAs [25 pts]
• House Rating System
• Dungeon Finder — Dungeons of any level, same-server only
• Fae/Arasai Flying
• New content in Eastern Wastes
• Beastlord Prelude Event for Good or Evil (Exile may choose one)
• Velious Signature Quest continues

The disclaimer above makes it clear that not all of Game Update 61 will be on Test today, but we’re anxious nonetheless. Read more about Game Update 61 in the Fan Faire EQ2 Panel.

Note: The Freeport Revamp, Tradeskill Apprentices, Item Reforging, Mercenaries, Design Your Own Dungeon, Beastlord Class, etc. are all part of the EverQuest II: Age of Discovery expansion to be released this November.

Here’s our sixth video from SOE Fan Faire 2011 “EverQuest II: Mechanics”.

If you’d like to view the transcript from this panel, check out our EQ2 Panel #5 – Mechanics writeup. We’ll upload an HD version of this video soon.

Today’s Update includes numerous tweaks to the harder Velious dungeons, further reducing the difficulty of many zones, as well as the aforementioned reduction in the cost of Velium Shard armor (Ry’Gorr armor is now 25 shards per piece, 20 if crafted). A glitch with Leaper or Glider mounts and pets (especially Coercer pets) has also been resolved.

If you’ve been thinking of plunking down your hard-earned Velium Shards on Ry’Gorr armor, or burning up stacks of Legendary and Fabled gear from Drunder zones to get enough ore to craft Drunder armor, you may want to wait.

Wednesday July 13th’s Test Update Notes included an item we initially overlooked:

ITEMS

• The first two tiers of Velium Shard Armor should now require less Velium Shards.
• The amount of ore obtained from smelting down a piece of Drunder loot has been doubled.

Thurgadin shard armor currently costs anywhere from 33 to 90 shards per-piece when purchased from the vendor, with a reduced cost when crafted. The new prices on Test are a flat 33 shards per piece, and we can assume that the crafted armor will require 25 shards per piece. With the ease of acquiring gems to make Ry’Gorr armor in the Kael Drakkel zones (especially Iceshard Keep) we still consider Thurgadin armor a poor investment, but the pricing is at least a bit more in line with the quality.

Ry’Gorr armor has also gone under the knife, with its vendor cost of 52 shards per piece slashed to just 25 shards per piece plus the required gem. Crafters will be able to make Ry’Gorr armor for just 18 20 shards per piece once this change reaches live. Yellow adornments remain 5 Velium Shards each.

As we documented in our Heroic Velious Armor guide, Drunder armor requires not only 25-45 Velium Shards per piece, but also a handful of Rage-Filled Ore, Warborne Ore, or several Brick of Bloodmetal which can only be acquired by breaking down Legendary or Fabled loot drops from Drunder heroic zones. Currently, Fabled items broken down by a skilled crafter result in 6 ores/bricks while Legendary items produce 3. According to the Test notes, these amounts would double to 12 ores/bricks from Fabled items and 6 ores/bricks from Legendary.

Once these changes make it to Live, I’ll update our EQ2Wire Guide to Heroic Velious Armor & Jewelry.

I’ve posted our first video from SOE Fan Faire 2011 “EverQuest II: Freeport and Beyond” which is an overview of everything we can expect from the EQ2 team until November 2011.

If you’d like to view the Slides from this panel in higher quality, check out the updated EQ2 Panel #1 – Freeport and Beyond writeup. We’ll upload an HD version of this video soon.

Starting Saturday’s EverQuest II Q&A Panel…

Update: This is a video of EverQuest II Panel #7 “Q&A #2” added on July 24, 2011.

Starting the EverQuest II: Itemization, Class Balance, Mechanics panel…

Salim “Silius“, Carlos “Gninja” Mora, Greg “Rothgar” Spence, Paul “Frizznik” Carrico, Mike “Xelgad” Ganz

Starting the EverQuest II: Freeport and Beyond panel…

Pre-panel Buzz: EQ2Players is being replaced with a new site. Sometime this year, it’s a priority, which it hasn’t been before.

Dave Georgeson starting the panel. There’s so much info, they’ll be giving that first and then Q&A at the end.

Update: This is a video of EverQuest II Panel #1 “Freeport and Beyond” added on July 14, 2011.

There is a lot of psychology at work in getting a player to come back, month-after-month, year-after-year, to a single game. I wasn’t there, but I’m guessing that the designers of the original EverQuest probably didn’t have the luxury of having a behavioral psychologist on staff to tell them where to put the roadblocks, the sticks, and the carrots, let alone exactly how to balance everything to build a “sticky” audience that would still call EverQuest their ‘home’ 12 years later.

The irony of Destiny of Velious is that it is one of the best expansions we’ve had in years. There is a ton of content, the quests are well-written, and the dungeons are a bit more interesting than in the past. Sure, the creative design of the dungeons and intricate raids have resulted in months of fixes and patches which wouldn’t have been seen in more mundane zones. But above all else, most players have found the dungeons and raids interesting. The major malfunction with Velious has been Itemization.

Class-specific red adornments have been added to the EQ2Wire Adornment Calculator by Dethdlr.

That’s 221 adornments added to the existing 175 for a total of 396 T9 adornments.  And I still haven’t added the ones that drop from the public quests.

Choose your class in the class dropdown to have that class’ adornments added to the proper dropdowns.

Rather than converting the class specific red adornments from their names to what they do, I’ve just included the names in the dropdowns. For one thing, this should help with those that don’t stack. For another, it means you don’t have to wait for me to find time to convert 221 adornment descriptions into text that will fit in the dropdowns. Once you click calculate, you can hover your cursor over the item names to see the tooltip popup of each adornment or click them to see them on Zam.

I haven’t decided yet if I’m going to try and convert them or just leave them as is. I’m leaning towards leaving them as is.

Also, the in-game item links will be added as time allows for the new adornments. There are 221 of them and I can only cut and paste for so long before falling asleep. 🙂  If you click through to Zam though, they should have the in game links already.

Let me know if you find any errors/bugs. I still need to indicate the items that only work on shields, but that will most likely be another day.

Let me know if you find any errors (other than the shield/secondary slot issues, I already know about that).

Update: 96 additional adornments have been added that can be purchased in Thurgadin after completing The Fallen Swords questline.  This brings the total up to 492 T9 adornments.  Thanks to Maikeruu for emailing me the info.