Feldon
At long last, Player Studio is opening up to other countries! First mentioned in SOE President John Smedley‘s Ask Me Anything this January, SOE has now officially announced in a press release that EverQuest, EverQuest II, Planetside 2, and presumably EverQuest Next and just plain Landmark players in Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom will soon be able to create and submit items and earn money back for their artistic contributions to these games!
General
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...
Bristlebane Day went live last week, and the ever-reliable EQ2 ZAM and EQ2 Traders were on hand to provide detailed updated guides to ensure that players don’t miss out on any of the fun, including any new additions for 2014. From EQ2 ZAM: Bristlebane Day returns tomorrow, Friday, March 28th, and runs through Thursday, April 10th. There’s new recipes, new rewards, and a new event currency! Keep your eye out for interesting Patchcraft mobs all over Norrath and earn your Patchcraft Slayer achievements! All your favorites from last year return, some with new rewards. On April 1st things really get...
In my Spring weather-fueled absence from Norrath, I’ve missed more than a few announcements, so let’s get caught up, shall we? From the EQ2 Forums: A flying meaty monstrosity has been spotted…and spotted…in the realm of Norrath! It would seem Bristlebane takes small statures to heart given the size of the little wings on these brand new barnstorming Bovochs! To share his glee and innovation, Bristlebane has made his flying Bovoch’s available to those brave enough to take one to the air during the most hilarious of holidays from Friday, March 28th, 2014 to Thursday, April 10th, 2014! The...
From the EQ2 Forums: WEEKLY FEATURE Bristlebane Day event starts on 3/28! POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION Tears of Veeshan Corrected an issue that was causing some spells to ignore wards. Temple of Veeshan: Guardian’s Edifice Klandicar and Zlandicar should no longer heal from non-player kills. Zlandicar’s spell “Necrotic Evisceration” can now trigger reactive spells. Klandicar’s spell “Cognitive Evisceration” can now trigger reactive spells. Klandicar’s spell “Chaos Storm I” has been changed to “Chaos Bolt I” and can no longer be area effect blocked. Klandicar’s spell “Chaos Bolt I” can now trigger reactive spells. Merig, Harin, Gerid’s spell “Commanding Leadership”...
Community Managers for EverQuest (Ry “Roshen” Schuller), EverQuest II (Margaret “Luperza” Krohn), and EverQuest Next & EQN Landmark (Colette “Dexella” Murphy) held a webcast on Twitch today to talk about the Year of EverQuest, including updates about the franchise, and with specific news about each game. Wikia Launches EverQuest Portal First up, Simon Cox, Director of Programming at Wikia was on the phone to announce a new feature from Wikia that ties all the EverQuest games together. Developed in partnership with SOE, the new site called EverQuest Portal is a cross-game metasite for the entire franchise. To promote this new feature, Wikia...
From the EQ2 Forums: All EverQuest 2 Servers will come down on March 20th, 2014 at 7:00 AM PDT for an update. The expected downtime is approximately two hours. WEEKLY FEATURE Two new Heritage Quests are now available for players to pursue: Speak to Loremaster Dorondal in icy Thurgadin. He has many treasures to offer, and among the most valuable lies Zlandicar’s Heart. If you can find what he’s looking for, the Heart will be yours! High among the cliffs of Steamfont, a gnome sits, wondering at his fate. Unable to descend the sheer rock wall, he puts pen...
From the EQ2 Forums: Got your eye on something special in the Marketplace? This is your lucky week! From Thursday, March 20th, 2014 at noon to Sunday, March 23rd, 2014 at 11:59PM PDT, all players will have access to a 30% instant rebate. *Note: Instant rebate excludes services, features, and heroic characters.
From the EQ2 Forums: It’s Brewday once again in Norrath, and there’s nothing like the Dwarven celebration of Brell and beer to bring your spirits up! Adventurers across Norrath are invited to sample exotic brews, complete festive quests, and visit the mysterious Bar of Brell. New for 2014: Beer Tokens: Better than real money (because beer!), this special currency is a new quest reward option and can be used to purchase event-exclusive items. Brewday Recipes: Take a break from drinking to craft some brand new Brewday items! Balin Copperfoot in the Bar of Brell has copies of “Brewday...
The festivities of Brewday returned to Norrath today and will run through March 17th. As posted on the EQ2 Forums by Calthine of ZAM: Brewday kicks off on March 6th and your faithful ZAM staff has been working hard to bring you all the help you need. While drunkenly stumbling through the Bar of Brell we helped Mraugl Stonecrusher investigate the strange noises under the bar andserved a lot of drinks! In the Butcherblock Mountains the pesky goblins trying to ruin the local Brewday festivities can once again be gleefully knocked over by clover carpets. The event also features a new crafting scroll, Brewday Accoutrements...
Since EQ2 is going to have weekly updates going forward, we might as well get an acronym going for it. So… This Week In Norrath, we can expect: This week Lvl. 85 Heroic Channelers are coming as well as bug fixes! Brew Day, Chronoportal, and Bristlebane Day holidays in March too! #eq2 — Holly Longdale (@WindstalkerEQ2) March 2, 2014
UPDATE from SOE President John Smedley: EQ2 EU folks.. please try the world channel chat now. — John Smedley (@j_smedley) February 6, 2014 Original article follows… SOE has been collectively working days, nights and weekends to get EQNext Landmark up and stable. In addition to the enviably sized EQNL team, Platform, Ops, and Customer Service have all been burning the midnight oil to provide a smooth experience for those ~20,000 players who bought into Alpha. Still, EQ2’s EU players not being able to join world channels in the US, or Test regions has been a frustrating problem and one...
Erollisi Day went live this morning, and ZAM and EQ2Traders have already posted their guides with the new event information. From the EQ2 ZAM announcement: Erollisi Day is an annual Live Event which coincides with the Valentine’s Day holiday. It is held in honor and celebration of Erollisi Marr, the Goddess of Marksmanship and Love and sister of Mithaniel Marr, the Truthbringer. The Sisterhood of the Erollisi, along with Aaronolis Swornlove, are active participants in the act of spreading her word of love. Should you need a hand looking for roses to give away, sorting out the Chronomages, or...
For two months, players on EU servers (Splitpaw, Valor, and Storms) have been cut off from the rest of the EQ2 servers, unable to participate in world channels such as Homeshow, Test, and the multitude of Class-specific channels. Each week, there has been flickering hope that this isolation would end, yet each week, there has been no sign that the issue is a priority. First reported on the EQ2 forums on December 4th, players on EU servers noted that they were no longer able to join world chat channels from servers outside their region (Test, US, or Beta), and vice...
Aspiring graphic artists who happen to live outside the USA have been stymied by SOE’s regional restrictions on Player Studio. It’s our understanding that tax and accounting laws have so far kept the program from opening up to other countries. With Player Studio being a core part of the upcoming EQNext (sources pointing to a 2015 nod) and EQNext Landmark (going Alpha this month and in wide release sometime in April), it seems that a corner may have been turned and PlayerStudio availability in the EU may be on the horizon. As a happy side benefit, this will hopefully open...
From the EQ2 Forums: Is your Vitality in the dumps? Low XP gain keeping your character from enjoying Norrath? Don’t settle for normal speed progression! This weekend only, take advantage of 30% off Services* and Potions to ensure your character receives nothing but the very best! This sale will begin at 12:00 PM PT, January 17th and be available until 11:59 PM PT, January 20th. * Heroic Characters and 280 AA Bauble not included What’s On Sale? Character Slots Reforging Uses (you can use Plat or SC any time you reforge your stats) XP Debt Removers XP Potions Vitality...
From the EQ2 Forums: All EU servers will be unavailable for a very important technical (database) maintenance on January 22nd beginning at 2:00 AM CET (5 PM PT January 21st). Downtime is anticipated to be approximately 12 hours. There are no gameplay changes associated with this maintenance Time Zone Conversions PST: Jan 21 @ 5:00pm ~ Jan 22 @ 5:00am CST: Jan 21 @ 8:00pm ~ Jan 22 @ 8:00am GMT: Jan 22 @ 1:00 ~ Jan 22 @ 13:00 CET: Jan 22 @ 2:00 ~ Jan 22 @ 14:00 AEST: Jan 22 @ 10:00am ~ Jan 22 @...
From the EQ2 Forums: This is last chance to brave the chilly winter wonderland and save Frostfell if you haven’t. Spend your Frozen tokens to stock up on decorating items or grab one of the other unique items available on the vendor but do it soon!
From SOE President John Smedley‘s twitter: We have decided to treat krono and our prepaid cards exactly like a recurring sub in terms of benefits. — John Smedley (@j_smedley) January 8, 2014
SOE President John Smedley continues to peel back the curtain on the thinking behind Subscriptiongate and why he is trying to make this right for loyal customers, while addressing the Accounting and Tax Law issues which SOE could ignore no longer. First up, Smed posted his philosophy on game development and how these Subscription changes were never about squeezing players for more revenue: When I read through all the posts here and on our forums, it never ceases to amaze me how people can think we’re just money grubbing jerks because we’re trying to make money. I can tell you...
Last Friday, SOE announced changes to their Subscription services, replacing the 500 SC/month allowance for having a Gold Subscription in any of SOE’s games with a monthly voucher to buy ONE item per game, up to 2,000SC, to exclude Player Studio, “bundles“, and an unknown array of other items, presumably “Services“, Experience items (280AA bauble), and expansion unlocks like Mercenaries. Players who buy a number of 100-200SC items would have lost out with the deal, as the voucher only applied to a single item with exclusions. And while it’s a small pool of players, Vanguard players on an All Access subscription...
After last week’s changes to Gold Subscriptions for EverQuest, EverQuest II, DCUO, PlanetSide 2, and All Access passes were announced, I was certain that regardless of how much player feedback came out against the changes, little would change. After 6 years, I guess I can still be surprised by Sony Online Entertainment. Just over 1 hour ago, SOE President John Smedley took to Reddit (once again bypassing the forums), to announce the restoration of the monthly 500SC stipend, AND some remarkable changes to All Access. This not only gives us back everything we asked for, but goes to the...
SOE President John Smedley has taken to his favorite “bypass the Marketing/PR Machine” venue Reddit and posted some personal thoughts on the Subscription changes recently announced for EverQuest, EverQuest II, Planetside 2, DCUO, and all of SOE’s games under the All Access umbrella. It’s written from a PlanetSide 2 angle, but it is applicable to EQ2 as well. From Reddit: Hello everyone, I hope you all had a Happy New Year! we’re here back working hard to make cool stuff. I wanted to give a little more insight into our thinking regarding the changes to the upcoming subscription plan....
Massively‘s MJ Guthrie has checked in with her thoughts on SOE’s announced removal of 500 StationCash/month allowance for Gold subscribers to its games: While I had another, happier topic all ready to ring in the new year, SOE surprised us with a questionable decision this week that I felt necessitated an immediate response. So today we’ll focus on this hot topic instead: All change is not good. And SOE’s announced change in membership benefits for EverQuest II is really not good. Previously, with the removal of the remaining free-to-play restrictions, EQII subscribers saw their benefits whittle down to essentially a buff to mount speed...
The two-day StationCash Instant Rebate event is now active, and over 1,000 items can now be purchased for half their normal price. Rebates are a marketing tactic intended to drive sales of StationCash, since players must typically purchase more to buy discounted items. If a mount is 1,950SC, then you’ll need the full amount to buy it, but you’ll immediately receive 975SC back. This rebate event runs all day December 31st and January 1st, ending at 11:59pm PST What’s on Rebate? most Appearance Clothes/Armor Kilts, Cloaks, Shields, Weapons, Jewelry Racial Heritage Armor most House Items House Pets and Plushies Building Blocks Furniture many PlayerStudio...