Dethdlr
Want some Battlegrounds items but can’t stand some of the zones? Having trouble getting into some of them as often as you’d like? If so, then changes may be coming your way soon that will solve those problems. It looks like soon you will be able to exchange your tokens for “Battleground Tokens” which can be used to purchase items instead of the three different types. Bunji wrote over on the EQ2Players forums: Test needs another update before the token exchange will be working correctly. This should be in the next Test update: You may now exchange your Gears,...
PvP/BG/Proving Grounds
Feldon
If you’re familiar with the Battlefield of Ganak, the Capture-the-Flag arena for PvP/Battlegrounds, you’ll know that players have demonstrated an uncanny ability to collect the opposing team’s flag and then hide somewhere that the other team cannot reach. Various tools have been used, from in-game tinkered spring shoes, to 3rd party jump/hack/positioning software. There was a thread soliciting feedback on how the EQ2 team could solve this problem. Already, there is a Truancy system in place, where if enough players vote that a player has gone AFK simply to collect Battlegrounds tokens. So how could this new problem of...
Remember when Player-vs-Player was the red-headed stepchild of EQ2? Remember when there wasn’t even a PvP developer, but instead those tasks were delegated to developers who already had a full workload? Fast forward to today and one of the areas of the game getting the most attention is the PvP side, including those issues that extend into Battlegrounds. So let’s go down the list of responses so far from PvP developer Olihin…
Today marks the introduction of Game Update 57 to the live servers. Key features of this update include: The EQ2 User Interface has received a facelift, with a new toolbar, a refresh of various windows, and a merged Character/Inventory/Profile window. The default theme is red, but easily switchable to blue by typing /loadui and choosing the Blue graphic set. More character classes are now neutral and may start in either good or evil cities. Spell animations and effects have been revamped. Intrazone travel now supports path linking. Travel within Kingdom of Sky has been improved. Erudin group instances (level...
Sometimes people don’t believe it, but I know for a fact that developers at Fan Faire really do listen, or at the very least take extensive notes which they reflect upon when getting home. Some changes are relatively easy and make a lot of sense when the context is explained interactively in a conversation with the developer. Of course big sweeping changes are unlikely while the developers are already in full press mode working on the next expansion, but it’s great when open discussion at Fan Faire can trigger a small but significant improvement. So enough of that… Olihin...
Now for the slides from the PvP/Battlegrounds panel. It’s really recap of what’s been done in the past year and then opening up the floor to questions. No big revelations but a lot of questions were asked, as you can read about in my notes from that panel.
Apologies for any typos. They jacked up the AC in here!! Remember folks, lots of EQ2 t shirts, hoodies, and polos.
The Battlegrounds and PvP Panel, moderated by Olihin. Nandy “Zoltaroth” Szots, Greg “Rothgar” Spence, Paul “Frizznik” Carrico, Mike “Xelgad” Ganz, Juan “Olihin” Cardenas.
Druidess
Our own Druidess gives her perspective on the long-term effects of StationCash and what Free-to-Play means for the future of EverQuest II. Since SoE decided not to sugar coat the news on F2P, I figured I’d return the favor and save the sugar for cookies I plan on baking later.
Game Update 57 is now up on the Test and Test Copy Servers and we’ve got the Update Notes. We’ve already taken some new screen shots of the new default interface including the new pictorial tutorials for new players. User Interface – One of the touted features of Game Update 57 is the revamped User Interface. The Persona and Inventory windows have been merged into a Character window. The XP bar has become a sort of “dock” at the bottom of your screen. All buttons and window corners have been rounded off. And for the most part, everything that...
Some very interesting comments on the EQ2 Forums regarding players wanting to transfer off PvP servers from Rothgar: We’ve been discussing our server transfer policies over the past couple of weeks but don’t have anything to announce yet. We’ve commented on this subject in the past and are aware of the desires for people to have more open transfer policies between PvP/PvE and LG/Standard servers. As soon as we have something to tell you, it will be announced. But for now, understand that your voices are heard. This may also have some ramifications for LiveGamer <-> Standard servers, but...
Breaking News from the SOE Block Party. Reporting by Serianna. a big hint about larger item limit in houses, possibly from being able to use a 2nd expander. new zone is going to be a guk zone. possibly going to see a differentation in the lower guild halls (halas to look more like the halas housing etc) but still in way early stages on that. not green lighted but devs pushing for it. new crafting quests in mid teirs. some big announcement coming tuesday from smokejumper. also talk about making BGs more dynamic. traps, levers, movable objects etc. with...
Despite some valiant attempts, players on UK servers are not yet able to jump into Battlegrounds against US players. Hopefully this will change next Tuesday. From Rothgar: We will try again with the next hotfix which is scheduled for Tuesday.
We’ve got a rollup post of news from the weekend on a few different topics. UK-US Battlegrounds might be finally getting the necessary kick in the butt to start working tomorrow. There might be a solution in the pipeline for players on distant servers unable to acquire Smuggler’s Den Tokens. Tinkerfest is coming to Test with new quests and rewards. And finally, a new Class Mechanics forum has mysteriously appeared on the EQ2 Forums.
Rothgar has posted on the EQ2 Forums: It looks like we’re going to have to bounce the US Battlegrounds world in order to get all of this [thje US-UK Battlegrounds bridging] working. and We are locking US Battlegrounds in order to bounce them in 30 minutes for a configuration change. Estimated downtime after the 30 minute lock is about 15 minutes.
At 11pm PDT on June 9th, 2010 (7am GMT on June 10th, 2010), several EQ2 servers were brought down for maintenance: Befallen, Permafrost, Crushbone, Mistmoore, Oasis, Runnyeye, Splitpaw, Innovation, Valor, Storms, Battlegrounds UK, Battlegrounds DE, and Battlegrounds FR The original announcement indicated that maintenance would take 7 hours. All servers were up after ~13 hours, with a total downtime of ~15 hours for Runnyeye, Innovation, and some of the Battlegrounds servers. So what was this maintenance all about? And did it include the US-UK Battlegrounds bridging we’ve been hearing about?
Here are your hotfix notes for Thursday, 10 June 2010:
UK and US Battlegrounds Playing Nice Together (or not!) At the end of April, Rothgar posted news that a future update will allow players on UK servers (Splitpaw and Runnyeye) to join U.S.-based Battlegrounds (provided client-server versions are in sync). Here’s his post back then: I just wanted to let you guys know that we’ve been making some changes on the backend that will allow UK players from Runnyeye and Splitpaw to play on the same Battlegrounds servers as the North American servers. Since there is no language issue to overcome, this only leaves the problem of hotfixes and...
Here are your hotfix notes for June 3, 2010: GENERAL Effects can once again proc on an AE autoattack. DRUID RING EVENT Tunarian supply officers will now buy items for coin, like many other merchants. The druid portal to Nektulos Forest now lands adventurers closer to the druid ring. An issue preventing players from harvesting magiliths after they died has been fixed. The bug that prevented looting A Floret of Growth with certain group loot settings has been fixed. SPELLS Ancestral Sentry can once again be cast on raid and group friends. It can no longer be cast on...
Today’s Hotfix (Patch) fixes a bug in the Druid Ring Live Event, and includes tweaks to itemization, the new PvP Warfields, and numerous bugs in the Icy Keep raid zone. We also include the hotfix notes from May 27, 2010 which somehow got left out. May 27th’s hotfix notes make mention of a change to Procs which were not working on spells. However, this change resulted in certain procs, specifically Pestilential Rain and Torrent, no longer working properly for melee. You can read more about this issue on the EQ2 Forums. Xelgad has responded: Thanks for all of the...
Olihin has checked in with some fixes and improvements for PvP and especially Warfields which will become available next week. From the EQ2 Forums:
After the jump, we’ve got the complete Game Update 56 Notes for May 25, 2010:
Game Update 56 next Tuesday will include a new scenario specifically for the PvP servers. Antonica and Commonlands will become home to Warfields, a scheduled PvP campaign with specific rewards. Here’s PvP developer Olihin‘s update notes: PvP WARFIELDS Antonica and Commonlands have once again become hotbeds of conflict! Will your lands be overrun or will your forces prevail against the siege? Warfields are Good vs. Evil faction based. Rewards will be Discord Tokens with a higher quantity to the winning team. The event will stagger between Antonica and 2 hours later in Commonlands and last for 30 minutes. The...
European EQ2 players wanting to experience Battlegrounds have had to deal with a series of compromises. Battlegrounds are divided not only by language (French, German, Russian) but region (UK vs. US). As a result, some servers have had such a small pool of players to choose from, that 24 x 24 Battlegrounds have been impossible, locking players out of acquiring some 40% of the gear and rewards available for Battlegrounds. Rothgar has given us the first bit of concrete good news about solutions to these issues: I just wanted to let you guys know that we’ve been making some...
The Promise of Battlegrounds The promise of Battlegrounds has been the opportunity to meet players from other servers and challenge them in meaningful PvP combat. It has been a great time-killer while attempting to form up groups. It has been a fun exercise for guilds from different servers wanting to face off in battle. And it has been an opportunity (perhaps too good of one) to gear up. However this promise has largely gone undelivered to the European community. Aside from localization issues (language, number and date formats), European servers almost always undergo software upgrades at a different time...