Bristlebane Day is back! From Friday, March 25th through Thursday, April 7th, enjoy one new quest, a new collection, more merchant goodies and perfectly serious items to craft, as well as content from previous years. On Friday, April 1st we’ll celebrate The Highest of Silly Days in the Enchanted Lands with our good friend Imenand.

Niami has posted pictures of the new recipe and merchant items over on EQ2 Traders. TLE servers will have a special Bristlebane Day themed merchant, a Gigglegibber goblin, in both Freeport and Qeynos.

Guide Sections:

• Achievement List
• Quest List
• New Content
• Returning Content

Too many alts? Get the Bristlebane Day quest tracker! Print it out or copy it to your own Google Drive by going to the File menu and choosing “Make a copy…”.

The monthly Moonlight Enchantments event begins tonight! The grottos open up on the 20th at 12:01am PT and close on the 21st at 11:59pm PT. The time applies directly with no conversion for all servers.

Achievement: Shinies Beneath the Moonlight
Merchant Items: See on EQ2 Furniture | EQ2 Traders Corner | EQ2 Design Gallery

It seems that after a decade of development effort (2006-2016), including four separate reboots, all financed largely by the success of EverQuest and EverQuest II, which had been increasingly strangled for resources, development on EverQuest Next has once and for all been cancelled. This comes as little shock to us at EQ2Wire as there has been almost nothing revealed about the game since the smoke-and-mirrors PvP presentation at SOE Live 2014. Further, all discussion of EverQuest Next had been banned from the official EQN forums for almost a year now (as RadarX pointed out to me, it’s now allowed with the game’s cancellation). A game in active, transparent development would not see these two things happen.

From Daybreak Games President Russell Shanks:

To Our Daybreak Community,

I’m writing today to let you know that, after much review and consideration, Daybreak is discontinuing development of EverQuest Next.

For the past 20 years EverQuest has been a labor of love. What started as a deep passion of ours, as game creators, grew into a much larger passion shared by you, millions of players and Daybreakers alike. Watching EverQuest’s ability to entertain and bring people together has inspired and humbled us. It’s shaped our culture and has emboldened us to take aggressive risks with our game ideas and products. When we decided to create the next chapter in the EverQuest journey, we didn’t aim low. We set out to make something revolutionary.

For those familiar with the internals of game development, you know that cancellations are a reality we must face from time to time. Inherent to the creative process are dreaming big, pushing hard and being brutally honest with where you land. In the case of EverQuest Next, we accomplished incredible feats that astonished industry insiders. Unfortunately, as we put together the pieces, we found that it wasn’t fun. We know you have high standards when it comes to Norrath and we do too. In final review, we had to face the fact that EverQuest Nextwould not meet the expectations we – and all of you – have for the worlds of Norrath.

The future of the EverQuest franchise as a whole is important to us here at Daybreak. EverQuest in all its forms is near and dear to our hearts. EverQuest and EverQuest II are going strong. Rest assured that our passion to grow the world of EverQuest remains undiminished.

Yours truly,

Russell Shanks
President, Daybreak Games

MMORPG has been granted an interview with Russell Shanks which you can read here.

Meanwhile, Landmark will officially launch as a live game in Spring 2016 according to EverQuest, EverQuest II, and now Landmark Executive Producer Holly “Windstalker” Longdale on the Landmark forums:

To Our Loyal Landmark Community,

You read the title right: Landmark is LAUNCHING this spring and I’m thrilled to be on this adventure with you!

Event season is in full swing and next up is Brewday! This year the event will begin at 12:01am PT on Thursday, March 3rd and conclude 11:59pm PT on Wednesday, March 17th. There are new merchant items, one new collection, and a new tradeskill book this year, in addition to previous content.

Niami has posted pictures of the new recipe and merchant items over on EQ2 Traders. The TLE servers will have a special Brewday themed merchant, a boozy celebrator, in both Freeport and Qeynos.

Guide Sections:

• Bar of Brell Locations
• Achievement List
• Quest List
• New Content
• Returning Content

Too many alts? Get the Brewday quest tracker! Print it out or copy it to your own Google Drive by going to the File menu and choosing “Make a copy…”.

Roshen has posted an EU server consolidation FAQ on the EQ2 forums. It also mentions the RU servers merging into Splitpaw, and Sebilis merging into Antonia Bayle.

EverQuest II is best with friends! Over the course of the next few months, we’ll be bringing players from our EU servers together. We’ll be consolidating servers, as we did with the US servers last year.

We want to wrap this up this spring, and this is the time frame we’re currently working towards:

• Russian servers (Barren Sky and Harla Dar) are scheduled to be merged with Splitpaw on Thursday, March 31, 2016.
• By the end of April, we plan to consolidate Splitpaw, Storms, and Valor into a new server!
• We’ll be merging Sebilis (our Japanese server) into Antonia Bayle. This is scheduled to happen after the EU server consolidation.

Russian characters and guilds on these servers will be required to be renamed into names that work within the English alphabet. In-game text and all support for the game on these servers will be provided in English.

After the merge of our Russian servers (Barren Sky and Harla Dar), you may see strange symbols or boxes when looking at the list of homes to visit, the location of items on the broker, or players in your guild. This will be the case while these characters are being renamed into names that work within the English alphabet.

Players should pick up soulbound (NoTrade) items from shared housing (such as Guild Halls) BEFORE the merge. This will prevent losing ownership of placed items during this merge.

We’re happy that our EverQuest II players will continue to have a home as they continue their adventures in Norrath. We appreciate your continued support!

Check out the entire FAQ here.

UPDATE: Maevianiu addressed some language concerns:

Everyone will be able to chat, and shout and etc in any language. It is just the names that we cannot support, we looked into redoing all of our translation engineering to support multiple languages, but it was too much for the resources we have available. So all of the game text will be in English, and character names will be in English alphabet.

Akella also posted their own announcement for the Russian server merges. You can thank Google translate for Splitpaw’s voracious appetite:

It’s time to stock up on blue marble – the Neriak City Festival returns to Darklight Wood from March 1-7! Spend City Tokens on local specialties, generic festival goods, appearance clothing, or food & drink. Make sure all your characters have finished the Neriak Postage Collection, speak to Kella Swampfoot to assist with festival quests, and achieve 89 seconds or less in the local Aether Race to earn the Fearless Flyer title.

WHEN: 12:01am PT on March 1st – 11:59pm PT on March 7th
WHERE: Darklight Wood, outside Neriak, /loc -554, -53, -74
QUESTS: Special Delivery, Special Order Crafting, Special Order Gathering
ACHIEVEMENTS: Delivery Ahoy, Harvesting Hoopla, Kella Caffeinated, Requisition Acclamation
MERCHANT ITEMS: EQ2 Traders | EQ2 Furniture

From the EQ2 Forums:

The monthly Moonlight Enchantments event begins tonight! The grottos open up on the 20th at 12:01am PT and close on the 21st at 11:59pm PT. The time applies directly with no conversion for all servers.

Achievement: Shinies Beneath the Moonlight
Merchant Items: See on EQ2 Furniture | EQ2 Traders Corner | EQ2 Design Gallery

US Servers: 7:00~8:00am PST | 10:00am~11:00am EST | 15:00~16:00 GMT | 16:00~17:00 CEST
EU Servers: 9:00~10:00pm PST | 12:00~1:00am EST | 05:00~06:00 GMT | 06:00~07:00 CEST

From the EQ2 Forums:

Erollisi Day went live on Thursday, February 4th and will run until Wednesday, February 17th. From Roshen on the EQ2 Forums:

Love is in the air, fair Norrath, and with good reason – it’s time for Erollisi Day!

And this year, our hearts are bursting because we’ve got NINE new achievements, two new quests, and a new tradeskill book full of delightful new things to craft!

From Thursday, February 4th through 11:59PM PST on Wednesday, February 17th, you can experience the fun and frivolity of the Erollisi Day holiday! Enjoy your favorite returning quests (how IS your romantic reputation doing?) and try your hand at the new quests for handsome rewards. And keep racking up those achievements! Who will help the Doomed Lovers if not you, dear hero?

Love is in the air: Erollisi Day has returned! This year the event will begin at 12:01am PT on Thursday, February 4th and conclude 11:59pm PT on Wednesday, February 17th. There are two new quests, a new recipe scroll, several merchant items, and a handful of achievements to enjoy on top of all previous returning content.

Guide Sections:

• Achievement List
• Quest List
• New Quest Walkthroughs
• Returning Quest Walkthroughs
• New Merchant Items
• New Recipe Items
• History and Trivia

Too many alts? Get the Erollisi Day quest tracker! Print it out or copy it to your own Google Drive by going to the File menu and choosing “Make a copy…”.

Set your sights on Greater Faydark because the Kelethin City Festival returns from February 1-7! Spend City Tokens on local specialties, generic festival goods, and more. Make sure all your characters have finished the Kelethin Postage Collection, speak to Kella Swampfoot to assist with festival quests, and achieve 94 seconds or less in the local Aether Race to earn the Bixie Barnstormer title.

WHEN: 12:01am PT on February 1st – 11:59pm PT on February 7th
WHERE: Greater Faydark, Green Knoll, /loc 536, 44, 53
QUESTS: Special Delivery, Special Order Crafting, Special Order Gathering
ACHIEVEMENTS: Delivery Ahoy, Harvesting Hoopla, Kella Caffeinated, Requisition Acclamation
MERCHANT ITEMS: EQ2 Traders | EQ2 Furniture

From the EQ2 Forums:

January is coming to an end, Norrathians. Here’s even more incentive to venture out into the world of Norrath this weekend: DOUBLE BONUS EXPERIENCE FOR MEMBERS!

From 12:00PM PST (Noon) on Friday, January 29, 2016 through 12:00PM PST (Noon) on Monday, February 1, 2016, all servers (yes, including Stormhold and Deathtoll) will have double bonus experience for All Access Members! Double Experience will be applied to Adventure, Tradeskill, and AA.

Take some time and end January stronger than ever! We’ll see you in Norrath.

Not a member yet? Visit https://www.everquest2.com/membership to sign up and enjoy the Double Bonus XP!

Remember now with Tithe and the Deity System for Terrors of Thalumbra expansion owners, this essentially makes for a Double Tithe weekend. Keep checking your Deity Window every hour or so to make sure you are spending your deity points on Crit Bonus, Potency, Stamina, or the various miracles.

Time Zone Conversions

• PST: January 29 @ Noon – February 1 @ Noon
• EST: January 29 @ 3:00pm — February 1 @ 3:00pm
• GMT: January 29 @ 20:00 — February 1 @ 20:00
• CET: January 29 @ 21:00 — February 1 @ 21:00

The monthly Moonlight Enchantments event begins tonight! The grottos open up on the 20th at 12:01am PT and close on the 21st at 11:59pm PT. The time applies directly with no conversion for all servers.

Achievement: Shinies Beneath the Moonlight
Merchant Items: See on EQ2 Furniture | EQ2 Traders Corner | EQ2 Design Gallery

From the EQ2 Forums:

If you’re able to find a free moment this holiday, we’re offering BONUS EXPERIENCE, DOUBLE PERSONAL STATUS, and DOUBLE GUILD STATUS to our All-Access members starting at 12:01AM PST (midnight) on Friday, December 25 and running until 11:59AM PST (noon) on Monday, December 28, 2015.

The XP and Status bonuses will be available for All Access members on ALL servers. This includes our players on Time-Locked Expansion servers.

Not currently an All-Access member? There’s no better time to sign up!

If you’ve been saying to yourself “I’ll buy a Marketplace mount when pigs fly”, now’s your chance…

From EverQuest II’s twitter:

Additional Frostfell themed items are available in the Marketplace starting TODAY! Which items are your favorite?

— EverQuest II (@everquestii) December 15, 2015

From the EQ2 Forums:

As we get ready for the winter holiday, we’re offering 100% BONUS EXPERIENCE to our All-Access members starting at 12:01AM PST (midnight) on Friday, December 18 and running until 11:59AM PST (noon) on Monday, December 21, 2015.

The Bonus XP will be available for All Access members on ALL servers. This includes our players on Time-Locked Expansion servers.

Not currently an All-Access member? Now’s the time to sign up!

NOTE: It seems that XP bonuses on the TLE servers are capped at 40%.

From the EQ2 Forums:

For the first time, we’re putting the most popular pack of Krono – the 5 Krono pack – on sale! Beginning at 12:00AM PST on Friday, December 11 through 11:59PM PST on Sunday, December 13, you’ll be able to purchase the bundle of 5 Krono for only $69.99 USD*.

Currently available in EverQuest and EverQuest II, Krono are in-game objects that can be redeemed for 30 days of membership time. They may be purchased from the Daybreak marketplace for real money only, or from other players via the broker or private trades for in-game currency.

The Krono sale will be happening via the in-game marketplaces in EverQuest and EverQuest II, and on the web. For questions about Krono, visit the FAQ on either www.everquest.com/krono or www.everquest2.com/krono.

*International currency prices may vary.

Commentary

The normal price for five Krono (redeemable for 30 days of All Access non-recurring subscriotion) is $84.99 which works out to $16.99 a month, a buck off the single Krono price. With this sale, Krono are going for $13.99, at least if you live in the USA.  A player in Sweden reported that the price of 5 Krono has actually gone UP with today’s sale.

‘Tis the season once again for Santa Glug gifties, ice dragons, crafting binges, and more. Frostfell kicks off following an update on Thursday, December 10th (eta 8am PT/11am ET) and runs through 7am PT/10am ET on Thursday, January 7, 2016. Last year’s content makes a return appearance, and due to my insane finals week I’m going to just point you here for those older guides (the 2014 quest tracker is here).

Frostfell won’t be on the TLE servers, but look for Frostfell trees in Freeport and Qeynos, where merchants will be selling seasonal items! Read more here.

This year Frostfell has a hoard of new items—gifts, crafted, purchased, and craft rewards—which you can check out on Niami’s EQ2 Traders Frostfell write-up. There are five new quests, but only if you own the Terrors of Thalumbra expansion, as they require access to the city of Maldura. You begin the new series by speaking to Jarith Icewing at 334, -24, -1512 in the Frostfell Wonderland Village. Continue reading below for the  walkthroughs.

Button up that winter coat – the New Halas City Festival returns from December 1-7! Spend City Tokens on local specialties, generic festival goods, appearance clothing, or food & drink. Make sure all your characters have finished the New Halas Postage Collection, speak to Kella Swampfoot to assist with festival quests, and achieve 104 seconds or less in the local Aether Race to earn the Snowflake Chaser title.

Be sure to check in with the merchants to see if there’s any new items this month!

WHEN: 12:01am PT on December 1st – 11:59pm PT on December 7th
WHERE: Frostfang Sea, near the Cairn of the Huntress, /loc 26, 148, -82 (Kella is found at /loc 99, 151, -135)
QUESTS: Special Delivery, Special Order Crafting, Special Order Gathering
ACHIEVEMENTS: Delivery Ahoy, Harvesting Hoopla, Kella Caffeinated, Requisition Acclamation
MERCHANT ITEMS: EQ2 Traders | EQ2 Furniture

A few months back, Mercenary Packs were made available from the EQ2 Marketplace, giving players a chance to acquire their mercenary of choice. They are made available in packs of 3 or 7. This weekend, these packs are now on sale. From the EQ2 Forums:

From 12:01AM on Friday, November 27th through 11:59PM on Sunday, November 29th, all Mercenary Packs will be on sale in the EverQuest II Marketplace for 50% Off! Don’t go into holiday battles alone; have a merc by your side!

Read More on the EQ2 Forums, including details of today’s 25% off StationCash sale.

For those rare few of you who got Daybreak Games’ e-mail about the upcoming Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals (I did not, and one other person I spoke to only got ONE e-mail despite having 7 accounts), this will be old news. For everyone else, it looks like Daybreak Cash will be 25% off on Black Friday (November 27, 2015) and you’ll be able to get three months of All Access for just $29.99 on Cyber Monday (November 30, 2015).