After six years attending gaming conventions, namely Fan Faire and then SOE Live, one learns to carry a healthy dose of skepticism into any keynote or panel. The Age of Discovery (2011) and Chains of Eternity (2012) panels dazzled us with glitzy new features, beautiful new zones, and tweaks to itemization and mechanics. But by and large, these nips and tucks to itemization have remained in the well-worn rut of “Stamina + Main Stat increasing on a straight line” introduced with the Destiny of Velious expansion.

In Kyle “Kander” Vallée‘s interview with EQ2Talk this spring, he candidly shared his frustrations with Stat Consolidation and his plans to bring back Player Choice and Variety in itemization. But while I had reason to be excited for the Tears of Veeshan Itemization and Mechanics panels at this year’s SOE Live, I wasn’t fully prepared for the daring long-term plan for Itemization with which we were presented. I observed a confident, unified development team laying out their vision for a future in which choice is put back into player hands, and where the complexity that has always set EQ2 apart from more “accessible” games such as WoW is embraced rather than smoothed over.

From the EQ2 Forums:

Important: We will perform maintenance beginning at 4:00 AM Pacific on November 11, 2013. We expect this maintenance to take approximately 4 hours. This will impact the following services:

• Account management
• Commerce transactions — including purchases on our websites and in-game Marketplaces
• All SOE Forums — Login for all SOE forums may be affected, you may lose permissions and experience occasional disconnects
• Login for all SOE games
• Players who are already logged in may be disconnected and unable to log back in until 7:00AM PST

We apologize for this interruption and will resume all affected services as soon as the maintenance is completed.

Time Zone Conversions

• PST: November 11 @ 4:00am ~ 8:00am
• EST: November 11 @ 7:00am ~ 11:00am
• GMT: November 11 @ 12:00 ~ 16:00
• CET: November 11 @ 13:00 ~ 17:00
• AEST: November 11 @ 11:00pm ~ November 12 @ 3:00am

The EQ2 Team have let us go behind the scenes and see how the art and animation for the upcoming Tears of Veeshan expansion came together.

The hits keep on coming, as Dellmon and Aliscious from the popular EQ2Talk podcast have landed an unprecedented third interview with EverQuest II Senior Producer Holly “Windstalker” Longdale. Their past interviews with Dave “SmokeJumper” Georgeson, Kyle “Kander” Vallée, and Holly have been a joy to listen to, including the kinds of detailed questions we all wish we could ask these folks.

Don’t miss this week’s episode from EQ2Talk.com!

EQ2 Talk is thrilled to have EverQuest 2 Senior Producer Holly “Windstalker” Longdale back for the third time! Tune in as she lets us sneak a peek at EQ2’s upcoming expansion, Tears of Veeshan. Holly provides a lore primer on the Vesspyr Isles, reveals details about flagging, and talks about the much anticipated Dungeon Finder 2.0. She also offers an inside look at heroic characters, leveling and the new channeler class.

Click here to listen to Episode 72

From Erin Oakley on the EQ2 Forums:

First announced at SOE Live 2013, the Channeler is a new player class coming on November 12 with the EverQuest II Tears of Veeshan expansion. Here’s an overview of this unique DPS healer:

A Priest with a Bow?

You heard right! The Channeler uses magically-charged shots to deal damage and heal their Construct and party members. Channelers can also wear leather armor, allowing them to take a few extra hits and keep on firing.

EQ2 ZAM has checked in with the second half of their Tears of Veeshan interview:

In the conclusion to our interview with the EverQuest II team, we take a look at Game Update 68 features, future updates and Player Studio.

Tears of Veeshan is not the only thing launching on Tuesday, November 12. Game Update 68 is happening at the same time, which will add two new features: Tier 4 Guild Halls and Mercenary Slots.

In the final part of our interview with the EverQuest IIteam we spoke to them about these features, tried to discern some information on the future and briefly discussed Player Studio.

Read the full article over on ZAM!

Anything can change in Beta, but at least right now on Tears of Veeshan beta, a new “Point of Need” option is being tested in the Revive window:

The large “Revive Instantly!” text and  Double Up icon at the bottom of the window ONLY APPEAR when the player selects the small yellow “Revive Instantly!” text within the list of revive spawn points. In last year’s Chains of Eternity beta, I believe this feature was much more “in your face” as I recall the large double arrow icon and text appearing at all times.

At SOE Live 2012 in the Business of EverQuest Franchise panel, Dave “SmokeJumper” Georgeson talked about how Point of Need features could be a financial boon to SOE without being nearly as obtrusive as the paywalls of other Free-to-Play games. This Revive feature seems to build on existing Point-of-Need features including Researching spells and, more recently, Map Travel.

EQ2Wire Asks

What do you think of the new Revive Instantly feature? Is it still obtrusive or has a reasonable compromise been struck?

As one door closes, another opens. While we’re in the final week of the Nights of the Dead celebrations (the event concludes when Tears of Veeshan goes live on Tuesday, November 12th), we’re already looking ahead to the Heroes Festival which this year has new rewards, quests, and a new achievement. While the Heroes Festival event will run from Friday, November 15th until Monday, November 25th, you can test it now by logging into the Beta server!

Here are the Beta notes for Heroes Festival from Kaitheel on the EQ2 Forums:

The Heroes’ Festival has begun! A call has gone out to all Norrathian adventurers to commemorate the years of questing, raiding, tradeskilling, house decorating and socializing. Celebrators, happy to share in the festivities, can be found in the cities of Qeynos or Freeport.

New Features for ’13!

• New Holiday Achievement:
  • Badge of Heroics – complete all repeatable holiday quests
• New holiday quests:
  • “A Heroes’ Feast in Qeynos”
  • “A Heroes’ Feast in Freeport”
• New reward choices have been added to some returning quests:
  • “Festive Flames in …” now rewards a Token of Heroism
  • “Aggressive Advertising in …” now rewards a Token of Heroism
  • “Missing Decorations in …” now rewards a Token of Heroism
  • “Shattered Remains” now rewards 5 Token of Heroism
  • “A Dream Adventure” now rewards either a Print of Antonia, or a Print of the Overlord
• New Merchant Items for Token of Heroism
  • Verdant Crystal Egg – sells for 1 event coin
  • Frozen Crystal Egg – sells for 1 event coin
  • Burnished Crystal Egg – sells for 1 event coin
  • Hero’s Memorial – sells for 3 event coin
  • Cryptographer’s Coverings – sells for 5 event coin
  • Vibrant Banner of Antonia – sells for 15 event coin
  • Vibrant Banner of the Overlord – sells for 15 event coin

We don’t know the classes, and we don’t know if they require Age of Discovery, but here’s a teaser of the ten-year veteran rewards for EverQuest II:

As we approach the anniversary of EverQuest II, this means a brand new Veterans Reward to say thank you to those who have been with us for so long! This year you’ll be able to grab your very own unique mercenary who will bring the might of justice or dominance of oppression to your next encounter!

EQ2Wire Note: Veteran reward time is calculated based on active account time, plus 90 days for each of these four expansions if you purchased them (Desert of Flames, Kingdom of Sky, Echoes of Faydwer, and Rise of Kunark).

Here is a sneak peek of what you can expect:

Update from Solisnight:

• Lord Valkiss Ssi’sh is a Shadowknight in the Mercenary Basement of Freeport, Same Skills as Vittia Direshadow. Not available in Qeynos even after hiring.

Update from Solisnight:

• Lady Liae Croae is a Paladin in the Mercenary Basement of Qeynos, Same Skills as Krivix Honorclaw plus Elixir of Resuscitation (Pally Rez). Not available in Freeport even after hiring.

From EQ2 ZAM:

In the first part of our interview with the EverQuest II team, we take a look at the new content, progression and more.

Tears of Veeshan is quickly approaching, with less than one week remaining to pre-order EverQuest II’s 10th expansion pack. As the launch date of Tuesday, November 12 looms, we took some time to speak with the EQII team about Tears of Veeshan and beyond.

Read the full article over on ZAM!

 

From Ry “Roshen” Schueller on the EQ2 Forums:

Kerafyrm has turned Temple of Veeshan into a floating fortress!

Suspended by Kerafyrm’s magic, the Temple of Veeshan hovers ominously above Norrath. The first Tear of Veeshan has increased Kerafyrm’s power by an order of magnitude, and he is using the power of the Tear to force Temple of Veeshan through the veil between Norrath and Ethernere.

From RadarX on the EQ2 Forums:

All EU Servers will come down at 5:00 PM PT (2:00 AM CET) on 05-11-2013 for a brief update. Downtime is anticipated to be approximately 3 hours.

Time Zone Conversions

• PST: November 5, 2013 @ 5:00pm
• GMT: November 6, 2013 @ 1:00-4:00
• CET: November 6, 2013 @ 2:00-5:00

From the EQ2 Forums:

GENERAL

• Fixed an issue related to spells causing lag in certain situations.

At SOE Live this year, the ability to store Mercenaries on EQ2 characters was announced to deafening applause. The feature was reconfirmed in an October Producer letter. So when Tears of Veeshan beta opened, players quickly found the new interface allowing them to store Mercenaries, along with a few surprises in the implementation (and cost) which have spawned a multi-page discussion.

IMPORTANT NOTE: This is a BETA feature and as such may change between now and live, so readers should not make any assumptions about pricing, etc. until Tears of Veeshan launches on November 12th.

NOTE: The Mercenary window has been substantially upgraded since this screenshot was taken.

Nothing in Life is Free

First up, Mercenary Unlocks are not free. Mercenary Unlocks are currently priced at 100SC ($1) each. When they first appeared on Beta, they were set to 250SC each, so pricing is subject to change before launch.

What’s the difference between Unlocks and Slots?

From the EQ2 Forums:

The whereabouts of High Keep had been unknown for many years. Recent events have uncovered its location, but it is no longer the High Keep of legend.

This was posted last week, but better late than never. 😉

From the EQ2 Forums:

Testing for EverQuest II’s 10th expansion, Tears of Veeshan, is in full swing on the Beta server. Not only can you get a preview of what’s to come by heading over to take a look, but also earn rewards that you can claim on your live character!

There are three separate rewards that you can earn for testing different facets of the expansion:

[eq2u]Blessed of Veeshan Reward Bundle[/eq2u] is for testing overland quests in Vesspyr Isles.

[eq2u]Thread Jumper’s Reward Bundle[/eq2u] is granted for testing and completing all of the Heroic dungeons.

[eq2u]Indomitable Reward Bundle[/eq2u] is granted for raid testing with a member of the development team.

So head on over to the beta server and join the fun!

Sokokars Take Flight

First ever flying Blessed Sokokar mount. (heroic version)

[eq2u]Fuzzlecutter’s Bottled Brilliance[/eq2u]

From the EQ2 Forums:

cl_ignore_merc_chatter true

It seems yesterday’s fixes to EU server hardware did not have the desired effect, as players on Splitpaw, Storms, and Valor have continued to report issues of long zone times (10+ minutes), unavailable zones, Broker nonresponse, mini-rollbacks, and so on. RadarX posted a comment this afternoon:

Appreciate you guys reporting this. We are noticing an issue and have a group of folks tackling it now. There are no plans for server transfer tokens, etc… at this time. Our intentions are to fix this problem permanently. I’m going to ask you focus the feedback on what you are experiencing.

We’re not sure if this is an intended fix, but it seems that beyond the usual downtime for tomorrow’s update note, there is a maintenance window scheduled tomorrow for both US and EU servers. From the EQ2 Forums:

All servers will be taken offline for maintenance on October 23rd, 2013 to address an outstanding technical issue. US servers will be unavailable beginning at 7:00 AM PT and are estimated to be down for approximately one hour.. EU servers will be unavailable beginning at 6:00 AM CET (5:00 AM GMT) and are estimated to be down for 2 hours.

In several threads on the EQ2 Forums, players have documented a bug first reported today that has low level characters being auto-granted high level spells which they cannot use. The new spells replace the older ones on player’s hotbars, yet cannot be cast due to level restrictions. The temporary workaround is to crack open one’s Knowledge book and rummage around for the the level-appropriate versions.

• Today’s Update Broke Something Bad — Getting Spells Not My Level
• Zoned and Got Spells I Cannot Use
• I Can’t Use Half My Spells Now

The issue has been brought to the attention of EQ2 developers and we’ll update as we hear more.

Some update notes are more vague than others, especially when dealing with exploits, but tomorrow’s update documentation may set a new standard for obfuscation:

GENERAL
Fixed an issue related to creating new characters.

From the EQ2 Forums:

BETA TESTING REWARDS

• If you’ve earned a Beta reward bundle, you may now claim them on live (via /claim under the ‘Beta Reward’ section). Note: You may only have one of each beta bundle reward in your claim window at a time. Once you claim that bundle, you may then earn another of that same bundle.

GENERAL

• Fixed a bug causing you to not be able to research your spells if you have a lower level player targeted.

ABILITIES / ALTERNATE ADVANCEMENT
Paladin

• Fixed a situation where a Paladin’s Marr’s Favor could critically heal them.

LIVE EVENTS
Nights of the Dead

• A Nights of the Dead merchant has been convinced to part with the “[eq2u]Dedicated Jack-o-Lantern[/eq2u]” for 50 candy corn.

QUEST

• Printing Pressganger: Now correctly offers a forearm reward for priests.
• Fire and Ice: King Drayek should no longer break his script if damaged too quickly.

UPDATE at 4:00pm PDT (23 Oct @ 0:00 BST; 1:00 CET) from RadarX:

Everything we are seeing from our end and from talking with players indicates this particular issue has been resolved. If you still are seeing significant load times for zones, please begin a new thread. Thanks!

UPDATE at 5:00pm PDT (22 Oct @ 1:00 BST; 2:00 CET) from RadarX:

Unfortunately there were some hardware issues that were only affecting the EU servers. The problem surrounding this hardware has been identified and it is being replaced as soon as physically possible. An interim solution has been rolled out which should resolve the issue until a permanent fix can be made.

Original article:

On Friday, issues were reported with the EU EQ2 servers, namely Valor (DE), Splitpaw (UK), and Storms (FR). Zoning times were up to 10 minutes, characters were reported missing, and some zones were simply unavailable. Despite initial success with bringing servers back up, the problems have continued over the weekend, with server mini-rollbacks erasing character progress, players stuck in guild halls, and more zones being entirely unavailable.

Kander posted this on the EQ2Forums:

Greetings and welcome to the Tears of Veeshan open Beta!

First, let me thank you all for choosing to come and help us. We are grateful for your time, and will see that you are justly rewarded!

We have a lot to test with this expansion, and we appreciate all of you who are helping us.

You can access Vesspyr: the Eternal Broodlands via the dragon rings or druid rings.

All heroic and advanced solo content is accessible directly from specialized entrances in the overland.

Here is the zone list:

• Nexus Core [Heroic]
• Nexus Core [Advanced Solo]
• The Fractured Hive [Heroic]
• The Fractured Hive [Advanced Solo]
• High Keep[Heroic]
• High Keep[Advanced Solo]
• High Keep: The Pickclaw Depths [Heroic]
• High Keep: The Pickclaw Depths [Advanced Solo]
• Izshrash’Khar: Stratum of the Protectors [Heroic]
• Izshrash’Khar: Stratum of the Protectors [Advanced Solo
• Ssrez’Ras: Chamber of Stasis [Heroic]
• Ssrez’Ras: Chamber of Stasis [Advanced Solo]
• Temple of Veeshan: Halls of the Betrayer [Heroic]
• Temple of Veeshan: Halls of the Betrayer [Advanced Solo]
• Temple of Veeshan: Laboratory of Mutation [Heroic]
• Temple of Veeshan: Laboratory of Mutation [Advanced Solo
• Temple of Veeshan: Vulak’Aerr’s Dominion [Heroic]

From RadarX’s Twitter:

Today is your last opportunity for a free Heroic Character!  You have until Midnight PST to claim your level 85! [RadarX]

From the EQ2 Forums:

Open Beta for EverQuest II: Tears of Veeshan will open tomorrow, on Tuesday, October 15, 2013. This is a great chance for players to check out the new Channeler class and new dragon-themed Alternative Advancement (AA) systems for each archetype. We’d love your feedback on these features, as well as other parts of the expansion! Beta will last until the launch of Tears of Veeshan onTuesday, November 12, 2013!

How to copy your Live and/or Test character over to the Beta server:

• You can click the ‘Beta Copy’ button on the character create screen to copy the currently selected character.
• You can log in your character and then use the /beta command.