Looks like we can expect some improvements later this week or early next week in the XP earn rate of both adventuring and tradeskills in EQ2, as well as some other fixes. Today’s complete Test Update Notes can be found on the forums, but we excerpt a few below…

GENERAL

• Rejoice! Exiles can now use the shared bank!
• Exiles can now change suffix titles!
• SOE Live Request: Players may now drag game commands such as “Summon Mount,” “Melee Attack,” “Ranged Attack” etc. into the Edit Macro window to create a step with the appropriate command.

POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION

Brokenskull Bay: Spoils of Maraud [Contested Heroic]

• Poochy has attended some anger management classes making him less aggressive.
• Deckmaster Vasril should cast his curse less often and will not hit quite as hard.

TRADESKILLS

• Altar of Malice tradeskilled food now correctly increases health regeneration.
• Fixed many Grandmaster recipes that were uncraftable.
• Advanced Adornments Volume 11 should now be more common.

QUESTS

• Altar of Malice missions, repeatable quests and all Tradeskill Writs will now multiply experience rewards based on your experience modifiers such as veteran bonus, vitality, or potions.
• Wheel of Misfortune – Repairing the broken wagon wheel in any zone will update the quest.
• Ring of Dain Frostreaver VI – The Ring War Remnants public quest is no longer required to spawn Narandi the Enraged.

In order to institute Quality of Life tweaks and changes to Itemization, Class Balance, and overall gameplay, the EQ2 team launched Focused Feedback threads a few weeks back on a number of topics. We still have time to post our comments in these threads:

• Focused Feedback – Fighters
• Focused Feedback – Priests
• Focused Feedback – Mages
• Focused Feedback – Scouts
• Focused Feedback – Tradeskills
• Focused Feedback – Itemization
• Focused Feedback – UI and General Gameplay
• Focused Feedback – PvP

From Caith on the EQ2 Forums:

Update: We will be keeping all focused feedback thread open until January 5th, 2015 at which point we will be locking the threads to move onto the next phase.

Last year, Frostfell only received a short window of testing, so we’re happy to report that this highly-anticipated annual event has appeared early on the Test servers. Live Event maestro and Senior Designer Nathan “Kaitheel“ has this report:

Frostfell is now active on Test!

There’s plenty of Frostfell cheer throughout Norrath this season! Gigglegibbers and Frostfell elves are busy celebrating the holiday within the player cities, and encouraging everyone to visit the Frostfell Wonderland Village, accessed through the Magic Closets in Qeynos Province District, Freeport, Haven, Kelethin, Neriak, Gorowyn and New Halas. There you can assist Frestishan, Candice Cheriweth, Gardy Ex-Giftgiver, Mr. McScroogle, Queen Bunny, and Snarf Frostfoot with some holiday tasks, but only after you release them from their deep freeze! For those that have a talent for crafting, you can help Sogs Frostfoot, or gather presents to craft wondrous new Frostfell goodies for yourself. Don’t forget to log in each day and claim your extra-special Frostfell present from everyone’s favorite Frostfell Gigglegibber, Santa Glug!

Looks like SOE is expanding its Player Direct program which seeks to highlight player-made content such as fansites, Youtube videos, Twitch streams, and more on official SOE communication channels. From Colette “Dexella“ on the EQ2 Forums:

Every player has a unique experience, story, and point of view, especially when it comes to games. The types of players who create streams, videos, articles, memes, and more share a deeper, richer story with their communities. That is the heart of our newly expanded Player Direct program.

Today is the last day to run the Altar of Malice solo quest lines, heroic zones, or do the tradeskill questline and get rewards for your live characters.

You Beta Believe These Rewards are Awesome

From Afista on the EQ2 Forums:

The Beta server will be coming down tomorrow morning with the game update. It will not be coming back online after tomorrow’s All-Access launch of Altar of Malice.

From Afista on the EQ2 Forums:

Beta testing for the Altar of Malice expansion is in full swing and now open for everyone to try out! Joining the Beta server for testing is a great chance to take a look at all of the incredible things coming with Altar of Malice, and also an excellent opportunity to give us your feedback about the expansion before it launches on November 25, 2014. In addition to seeing these gorgeous lands before launch, you can also take some loot home to your live characters just for participating in the Beta action! Take a look at the rewards players can obtain for their live accounts by Beta testing overland, heroic, and tradeskill content.

This Char-Ferrin, Hound of Despair ground mount is rewarded to players who Beta-test solo overland content in Altar of Malice. Intimidate your enemies by riding into battle on this ferocious hellhound! If the flaming eyes and spiked mane aren’t enough to scare you, maybe the razor-sharp teeth will awaken your senses.

EQ2 Programmer Maevianiu has been working over the last few months on some significant performance tweaks to the EQ2 client and server, including at least one change that touched 10 year old code. As a part-time semi-amateur coder, that scares me deeply. So I’m gonna say it’s uberimportant that players login to Beta and test everything out to make sure these changes don’t impact any existing systems. It won’t just be a testing session though as it looks like there’s going to be quite a turnout of EQ2 devs on the Beta server today!

From Maevianiu:

We have our first round of performance increases on Beta right now. There are more coming, but this first round we want to do some load testing and get it out to live as quickly as we can. This affects every aspect of the game: quests, tradeskilling, items, combat, pvp-combat even housing. So we need to test as many different things as possible.

Please join us on the Beta server, Wednesday, August 27th starting at 3PM and going on until whenever!

Gninja is promising Punch and pie!

We did not promote this news at the time, but there are a number of cool fixes on the Test server which should hopefully go live after SOE Live. Chief among these are significant optimization of the EQ2 client so players should get smoother framerates. Also, players had assembled a list of quest starters that, through revamps and NPC shuffling were no longer attainable. These plus many more bug fixes and a few nice convenience features are now sitting on Test. It’s almost like one of the big bug stomps we used to see.

Here are just some of the notes from the Test Update Notes posted in late June:

GENERAL

• Made some optimizations to the client to improve performance.
• Changing your settings under the “performance” tab in the options menu to High, Very High or Extreme should have performance improvements on higher end machines and should have improved shadow quality on “Extreme” setting. NOTE: you will have to re-select the option if you had it already selected to see these changes.
• Added the ability to filter stoneskin chat messages to Combat > Stoneskins.

MACROS

• Macro ‘Use Item’ option now allows you to use food and drink items. The macro will always attempt to use equipped food / drink items first, if you have the same item both equipped and in your inventory.

REFORGING

• Added Show Equipped Only filter to reforge / restore.

ITEMS

• Using an adornment will now display a selection window listing applicable items in your inventory. You may still choose to manually apply the adornment from this window if you wish.

QUESTS

• Earn even more achievements for completing Heritage quests!
• Many quests removed from Vermin’s Snye are once again available.

There are over 100 more items in the complete Test Update Notes post.

Not everyone reads the EQ2 Forums, but those who do have likely had their fill of disruptive, attention-seeking posters who derail one discussion after another. Further, such posters cherish the knowledge that they can push the buttons of other players and goad them into confrontation, and then laugh when well-intentioned players trying to confront this behavior are banned for their trouble. Some would say to just use the Ignore feature, and that works for the individual, but as someone who has administrated forums for 12 years, I can tell you that such posters can be very effective at poisoning even the nicest community.

If you see a poster who is attention-seeking or posting random gibberish nonsense, that is disruptive behavior as per the Forum Rules and should be addressed using the Report function.

Trolling is posting provocatively with reasonable expectation of provoking an emotional response (intentional or not). Trolling can include.

• Non-constructive feedback or comments.

If you feel that my posts on the EQ2 forums fit this definition, then by all means use the Report feature or, if you prefer, shoot me a PM or e-mail and I will constructively address my viewpoint with you.

Not content with bringing a monthly Webcast to EverQuest II, EQ2 Community Manager Margaret “Luperza” Krohn is going above and beyond and giving us a second mid-month pure Q&A session to get to the questions that didn’t fit in last week’s program, and any other questions people have!

From the EQ2 Forums:

This month on EverQuest IIInsider Q&A:

• Cast: Margaret Krohn, Kyle Vallee, Michael Ganz, and Nathan McCall!
• Q&A: We’re going to be answering your questions LIVE! Ask about anything! if you can’t make it, feel free to leave us a question in the discussion thread or on Twitter, Facebook, and or Google Plus by Tuesday, June 17th, 2014 at 10:00 PM PDT. 

Where: http://www.twitch.tv/ everquest2

When: 06/18/2014 2PM – 2:30PM PDT

Don’t forget to use our hashtag #EQ2Insider and follow us on Twitter @EverQuestii, and @PurrfectStorm

If you want to know what EverQuest II Insider is or how you can be a part of it, go here!

Questions for this upcoming webcast are being collected in this thread!

On Wednesday, April 2nd, 2014 at 2:00 PM PDT, EQ2’s new community manager Margaret “Luperza” Krohn (aka PurrfectStorm), hosted the first EverQuest II Insider livecast on Twitch. This 1 hour broadcast included EQ brand manager Adam Key, Holly “Windstalker” Longdale, Akil “Lyndro” Hooper, Chris Garlick, Gary Daugherty, and Nathan “Kaitheel” McCall.

Alas, a recording of the livecast was not preserved either by SOE or Twitch (due to a settings glitch), so this episode joins Doctor Who and other vital shows as missing presumed wiped.

That said, a few resourceful players who watched the Livecast were good enough to take notes and so we can paraphrase them below:

• Holly and Akil talked about current topics including Bristlebane Day, as well as previewing some Player Studio items that will be coming soon, including a very nice looking yacht or fishing boat with oars and other gear. Luperza mentioned that Player Studio topics will be covered in their own livesteam.
• We got to hear the ‘April Fool’s intro music’ (archived for posterity on Zam) and the new meatbeast vid was also shown (if you haven’t seen it then look here).
• Holly talked a little about All-Access (subscription, Krono, or Prepaid cards)
  • All Access players will get access to new zones / heritage quests 1-2 weeks earlier than other players.
  • Those with new All Access account will have double xp weekends.
  • More All-Access exclusive items on the loyalty merchants.
• The schedule for updates will be more public so that we can see how Smokejumper’s weekly/monthly update idea is working.
• EverQuest II Roadmap/Blueprint — Upcoming plans for EQ2 with feedback from players.
• Contested HighKeep Previewed
  • new skeleton models like crawling, one legged and some even use their head as weapon [IMG]
  • quests: drop quests, quests from items, daily missions for etyma (2 mission givers: 1 at entrance, 2nd at the entrance to picklaw part)
  • plunderable loot which you can place in your house
  • some items might be marked with our name (there is special achievement for marking all of them: Vandal title)
  • achievement for killing all nameds in the zone
  • hidden rare trophies in the trash – if you gather all you get Body Snatcher (?) title
  • new armor appearances
• New High Keep Guild Hall
• Player Studio will open up (later this year) to submissions from Germany, UK, France for players with an SOE Station account.
• Developer picks for Housing Leaderboards — returning soon.
• New Raid zone (ToV Wing 3) — Next Month
• 10 More AA points (requires level 95)– next week.

Thanks to Sambril, Kinya of Babagra Polish EQ2 fansite, and Errrorr for their note-taking!

From Kyle “Kander” Vallée on the EQ2 Forums:

We are opening a new area here on the forums for the sole purpose of getting raid feedback quickly and easily in order to assist us to make changes, tweaks quicker and more effectively and vastly improve future raid content.

This area will be by invite only and will be for raid leaders and raiders who are participating in the upper echelon of raid content. This is area will be a direct link to the development team. We want it to feel open and constructive.

The goal is to have a limited amount of participants so we can moderate it and post frequently without having to dig through tons of threads and posts. So we will have limited slots.

If you are interested in participating in this forum and wanting to contribute to the betterment of all raid content, please contact me directly with your in-game name, guild, raid position and current raid progress.

kvallee (at) soe.sony.com

Commentary

You may ask why a raid council like this is needed. Raid guilds tend to be guarded about their strategies, as for them, competition is important. And game developers tend to not want to give away entire strategies of fights, as players are supposed to be figuring this out. Such an invite-only forum will allow a level of honesty and brainstorming not possible on a public forum.

Also, all the information will be in one place, so it will require less digging by developers and so should result in a net gain in development time on raiding AND other forms of gameplay.

This is not an elevation of one playstyle over others, as these days, the raid content is adapted so that soloers and groupers get to experience it, rather than entirely separate content being developed for all 3 play styles. Even so, I predict people will flippantly ask for a Solo Council, Tradeskill Council, or Group Council in the comments.

One of the most intriguing things about the recent Tears of Veeshan expansion is, there are at least seven different “Stat Packages” for quested and dropped gear. Not only are these items intended to have their stats fiddled with through Reforging, but most restrictions on equipping items have been dropped, save for the armor’s material (Cloth, Leather, Chain, Plate). This plethora of choice has been a blessing for most, but a curse for some with unlucky dice.

When an Advanced Solo or Heroic mission is completed, each player receives an Ornate Chest with an item having one of the following “stat packages”:

DPS with AoE Spec, DPS with MA Spec, DPS with Haste Spec, Main Tank Spec, Off Tank Spec, Potency/Reuse (Caster), Potency/Ability Mod/Health (Melee Caster)

Depending on your luck with the magical dice, some players are positively swimming in gear that does not fit their stat and growth needs, especially tank/mitigation items for Clerics and Druids, caster items for Scouts, and, melee battle priest type gear for healers who prefer to go the spell route.

This has been a frequent topic of discussion on the EQ2 Forums, with a chorus of players asking for a Heroic Equipment Exchange Merchant. Great idea, but putting in one-for-one exchange merchant would completely short circuit the progression of the expansion and let players run just 7 zones to get a full set of Arcane or Potent gear.

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:

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.

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 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.

Back: Carlos “Gninja” , Holly “Windstalker” , Akil “Lyndro”
Front: Kyle “Kander” , Nandy “Zoltaroth” , Mike “Xelgad“

So Kinya from the Polish EQ2 fansite Babagra.pl caught something during the SOE Live 2013 keynote specifically the EverQuest II segment — that the Channeler class will not only be playtested here on Saturday in a 4 hour open workshop/panel, but that the class will be available on the EQ2 Beta server. The Beta server is currently down, but hopefully it is brought up at least for Friday-Sunday:

@EQ2Wire Windstalker said “we also are openning Channeler on Beta during SOE Live for evryone to try”…

— Kinya (@BabaGraPL) August 2, 2013

From Zoltaroth‘s twitter:

@zoltaroth: Working on the network / lag issues in #EQ2 as fast as we can Forum thread is here: http://t.co/GCkv4dykHc if you have any tracerts plz post

Game Update 67: Darkness Dawns has now hit the EQ2 Beta server and here are the Update Notes. Game Update 67 is expected to go live July 23, 2013.

Fabled Dungeons

• Fabled Clefts of Rujark (accessed from Sinking Sands)
• Fabled Scornfeather’s Roost (accessed from within Fabled Clefts of Rujark)
• Fabled Djinn Masters Prism (accessed from the ‘Fabled Dungeon Portal’ in Pillars of Flame)
• Fabled Pedestal of Sky (accessed from the ‘Fabled Dungeon Portal’ in Pillars of Flame)
• Three New Contested Avatar Raids: Pit yourself against three new contested avatars in the overlands – Prexus, Solusek Ro, and Drinal!

Arena of the Gods

• The Arena of the Gods is a raid instance that allows 24 players to challenge any of the 9 avatars that are in game (includes the new contested avatars released in this GU). Once you kill an avatar and are rewarded, you can continue to practice the encounters as much as you want (there is a 3-day lockout timer for rewards).

From Holly “Windstalker” Longdale‘s twitter:

Want to help out? We are updating our Test server with GU67 content next Monday, July 8! #EQ2

— Holly Longdale (@WindstalkerEQ2) July 2, 2013

There have been some changes to the SOE Live 2013 schedule, including some reshuffling of LoN, DCUO, and Dragon’s Prophet panels. Most notably, the addition of 3 2 new panels:

• Friday 5-6pm — EverQuest II: Super Secret Testing Session 1
• Saturday 2-6pm — EverQuest II: Super Secret Testing
• Sunday Noon-1pm — EverQuest II: Super Secret Testing Feedback Panel

The Test server was updated last night with a number of tweaks, fixes, and improvements.

First up, the Housing and Leaderboards windows have been merged into a new megawindow. From Ahma:

We’ve added a new window: Housing and Leaderboards. This UI element, which can be accessed via the EQII menu and from the Housing and Leaderboards buttons to the right of the EQII menu, combines some old windows and allows easy access to many housing related features. It allows you to manipulate all your current houses, browse and buy new houses, visit houses associated with the current zone you are in, and view the current housing leaderboards. Please check it out and give us your feedback!

Next, the monthly Moonlight Enchantments event is gaining 2 new quests and 23 new item rewards:

• “Comforting Confections” – Speak with Shasta Evergreen in the Enchanted Zygomyd Grotto
• “Blooming Good Tea” – Speak with Odeyana in the Enchanted Fay Grotto

A few years ago, travel within EQ2 was only slightly arduous. Players often had to travel to Nek Forest, Thundering Steppes, or Moors of Ykesha to then bounce off to places farther afield. EQ2Wire even published a World Travel Map (and gave away copies at Fan Faire) which suggested the easiest means of travel.

Then over time, recast times on Guild Hall and Call Home spells got shorter, and travel restrictions lessened. Then came a major streamlining which eliminated all bells (and carpets) in favor of a single universal World Travel Bell on almost every dock which will take you almost anywhere in Norrath.

Eventually, players were able to purchase stacks of five Portable Globe of Swift Travel that allow us to summon a World Travel Bell anywhere. If you thought the streamlining was finished, you’d be wrong. It looks like those portable globes are about to undergo “point of need” streamlining. On Test, you can now click on your Map and travel, for a fee.

From the EQ2 Test Forums:

Greetings Testers,

Today’s Test update brings instant travel! You can now click on your map, click on the Quick Access Teleport button in the upper-right corner, and choose where you want to go.

This feature will cost Station Cash once it hits the other servers but it is currently free for you to check out on Test. Please play around with it and give us your feedback!

Thank you.

EQ2Wire Comment: Undoubtedly, the introduction of this feature will coincide with the removal of those Portable Globes, so I’d stock up now.

UPDATE from Ahma:

To clarify this, instant travel will only allow you to go to existing travel locations (druid rings, wizard spires, and bells). Beyond those, you will not be able to choose a specific location within a zone.