If you’ve run Shard of Love a few times to get the Valorous Wings, and figured that’s all there was to the story, you may be surprised to know that there is a followup quest line A Goddess Risen. The quest series takes you to different instances, and culminates in a revitalized version of the Shard of Love. This quest series runs through February 6th @ 11:59pm PST.

If you are into unique Beastlord warder appearances, the emerald cave bats in the Faceless Oracle’s Demesne instance, available only during this event, might interest you.

Image courtesy EQ2 ZAM

From Isulith on the EQ2 Facebook page:

On Thursday, 12/29/11 we announced a Bonus Experience Weekend from December 30th – January 3rd. This was an error on our part; it was supposed to end on January 2nd. Because of our mistake, we are extending the Double XP until January 4th at 9:00 AM PST. We greatly apologize for the inconvenience and understand your frustrations. The Double XP is live again so go out there and get adventuring!

On December 21st, SmokeJumper announced a Double XP weekend from December 30th through January 2nd. On December 30th, Isulith updated this announcement to include January 3rd, extending the event to 5 days. So it was a surprise to us to login this morning and find that Double XP has ended. Perhaps the server hamsters did not receive the updated schedule. Hopefully, we can get an extra day added at some point.

This is being discussed on the EQ2 Forums

UPDATE: Double XP has been extended until January 4th @ 9am.

NOTE: Originally, Double XP was scheduled to run through January 2nd.  Apparently it’s now January 3rd.

From Isulith on the Official EQ2 Forums:

This coming weekend, from 12:01 AM PST on Friday, December 30th and ending at 11:59 PM PST on Tuesday, January 3rd, EverQuest II will be running a Double XP promotion (+100% XP). Take advantage of these four days and watch those XP bars fill up!

The bonus applies to AA, tradeskill, and adventure experience gained this weekend. Our French, German, Japanese and Test servers will also be enjoying the increase in XP gain.

Happy New Year and happy adventuring!

Time Zone Conversions

• PST: December 30 @ 12:01AM ~ January 3 @ 11:59PM
• EST: December 30 @ 3:01AM ~ January 4 @ 2:59AM
• GMT: December 30 @ 8:01 ~ January 4 @ 7:59
• CET: December 30 @ 9:01 ~ January 4 @ 8:59

From the EQ2 Forums:

Frostfell has come to Norrath and we’d like to celebrate it with you!

Hang out with members of the EverQuest II Community Relations team on select servers during this merry Frostfell season! We will be greeting players and handing out festive goodies on the following servers:

• Oasis – Thursday, December 22, 2011 at 5:30 PM PST
• Unrest – Thursday, December 22, 2011 at 6:30 PM  PST
• Permafrost – Friday, December 23, 2011 at 4:30 PM  PST
• Butcherblock – Friday, December 23, 2011 at 5:30 PM  PST
• Guk – Friday, December 23, 2011 at 5:30 PM  PST

The servers chosen for this event are ones that did not have a Nights of the Dead party back in October.

Have a happy holiday – one and all!

UPDATE: On the servers not listed:

Yes, we’ll open the lounge for the other servers. Check for the portals in Sinking Sands!

From SmokeJumper on the EQ2 Forums:

Since the holidays are upon us, we wanted to drop you a note so you could plan.

We’ll be running Double XP days from Dec 30th through Jan 2nd 3rd!

This is way more advance notice than we usually give, but well…we’ll be celebrating the holidays too, so we wanted to tell you now.

Time Zone Conversions

Barring any unforeseen changes, the Double XP weekend would be:

• PST: December 30 @ 12:01AM ~ January 3 @ 11:59PM
• EST: December 30 @ 3:01AM ~ January 4 @ 2:59AM
• GMT: December 30 @ 8:01 ~ January 4 @ 7:59
• CET: December 30 @ 9:01 ~ January 4 @ 8:59

If you’ve still got a bitter taste after Goddess Erollisi Marr‘s departure from the mortal world, don’t give up hope! There may yet be more more you can do…

Today opens a followup chapter to the Shard of Love and Erollisi Marr storyline. It takes you to a new version of the Shard of Love zone where many things have changed!

Seek out Aaronolis Swornlove in New Halas to get started on your journey and perhaps learn the truth of what happened to the Goddess of Love, Erollisi Marr!

UPDATE #2 from Bunji approx 6 hours ago:

The US patchers have finished updating. If you repatch you should receive the updated files for this zone. The international patchers are still updating (they may not receive the updated files until their scheduled Hotfix times).

From the EQ2 Forums:

UPDATE: Although not included in the notes, some of the Scout war runes have now been flagged to support Beastlords as per this post.

GENERAL

• All Membership levels may now claim Veteran rewards.

• Fixed a bug where expertise AAs would not load properly from a mirror.

• When using an AA mirror to switch profiles you will no longer be spammed with onscreen messages or having icons autopopulate into your hotbars.

• Fixed a bug where the character tree would not show in the respec window when attempting to purchase AA respecs.

PLAYER HOUSING

• Prestige house portals should no longer disappear when placed.

From the EQ2 Forums:

GENERAL

• Fixed a bug with the 48 hour grace period for trade for some no-trade and heirloom items.

• Magic Carpet guild hall amenity now has Fens of Nathsar as a destination.

• Fixed a bug where loading a profile from your Mirror of Reflected Achievements would reset your AAs instead of loading the profile.

From the EQ2 Forums:

Age of Discovery is the eighth expansion of the groundbreaking EverQuest II franchise.

Age of Discovery offers never-seen-before features including user-generated content and the re-imagining of the Beastlord class from the original EverQuest release.  You can make your mark in-game by creating your very own Dungeon, hire some much needed help for your heroic battles, push tradeskilling research to new heights, customize your weapons at the forge, and of course, play as a Beastlord. There’s a lot to like about this expansion!

From EverQuest2.com:

We know you’ll probably be stuffing your face with Turkey over the next few days, so why not also stuff your experience bars? That’s right – we’re having a Double XP weekend!

This weekend, from 12:01 am PST on Thursday, November 24th, until 11:59 pm PST on November 27th, we will be running a true Double XP (+100% XP) promotion. The bonus applies to AA, tradeskill and adventure experience this weekend. Our French, German, Japanese, and Test Servers will also be enjoying the increase in XP gain. Huzzah!

So have a very Happy Thanksgiving and when you’re done eating with the family, we’ll see you in Norrath!

Time Zone Conversions:

• PST: November 24th @ 12:01 am to November 27th @ 11:59 pm
• EST: November 24th @ 3:01 am to November 28th @ 2:59am
  
• GMT: November 24th @ 8:01 am to November 28th @ 07:59
  
• CET: November 24th @ 9:01 am to November 28th @ 08:59
  

From EverQuest2.com:

SOE would like to take this opportunity to wish all of those who are celebrating Thanksgiving a very happy one this year! May you all have a great holiday, be safe, drink beer eat hearty and game hard!

Please note that Customer Support will be closed on Thursday, November 24, 2011 so our employees may spend the holiday with their families. On Friday, November 25, phone support will be closed but Live Chat and Email Support will be available during our normal business horus. Email chat will be available as usual on Saturday, November 26, 2011.

To keep with the festive mood, we invite everyone to listen to the GobbleCast 2011, SOE Podcast’s special Thanksgiving episode for this year.

Introduced in 2009, the Heroes Festival is a celebration of EverQuest II’s anniversary. From EQ2 ZAM:

The Heroes’ Festival, an annual live event first introduced in 2009, will make its return on Friday, November 18th. Freeport and Qeynos will be filled with festivities to celebrate the 7th anniversary of EverQuest II.

Heroes’ Festival 2011 will run from 12:01am PST on November 18, 2011 through 11:59pm PST on November 28, 2011.

No new quests have been introduced for 2011.

Time Zone Conversion:

• PST: November 18 @ 12:01am – November 28 @ 11:59pm
• EST: November 18 @ 3:01am – November 29 @ 2:59am
• GMT: November 18 @ 8:01 – November 29 @ 7:59
• CET: November 18 @ 9:01 – November 29 @ 8:59

I have to give props to SOE for doing a solid job putting together all the FAQs, Announcements, and information being posted today (even if some of it has frustratingly changed at the last minute). It has been a lot clearer than past announcements. That said, we can’t help but notice three different answers to a simple question:

What’s the release date for EverQuest II: Age of Discovery?

Pre-Order Announcement — Winter 2011

EQ2 CM Announcement — November 30, 2011

SmokeJumper’s Producer’s Letter — early December

If you’re confused, trust me, you’re not alone.

UPDATE from SmokeJumper:

We are saying “early December” at this time to give ourselves a bit of breathing room. It may come in earlier than that if the stars align nicely.

It looks like any kind of big news affecting EverQuest II: Age of Discovery might have to wait until tomorrow Thursday.

Here’s SmokeJumper‘s announcement of the Eight Year Veteran Rewards (which we covered on Saturday) and a free Lucan D’Lere Statue:

Huzzah and yippee-ki-ay! We’re seven!

The EverQuest franchise is near and dear to our hearts here at SOE and we really appreciate all of you that have also grown to love Norrath over the years.

As a small token of our appreciation, and to tie in with the “Freeport Reborn” game update coming up soon, there is a zero cost item in the marketplace for you. It’s a statue of Lucan D’Lere suitable for your guild hall or home (and it’s a twin for the Antonia one coming out next summer when we do the Qeynos revamp). For a limited time, we’re giving it away free of charge, so get it while the gettin’s good!

Additionally, the new “eight-year” veteran reward is now available also, so those of you that have been with us the longest will start earning those rewards as you hit your own eight-year mark. *

It seems that SOE has also been caught up in the difference between when the US goes off Daylight Savings Time (changed in 2007 to the first Sunday in November) and Europe which goes off Daylight Savings on the last Sunday in October.

It’s now 1 hour and 20 minutes past the scheduled time for SOE’s Bonfire Night celebration on the Splitpaw server and there’s no sign of an event happening.

Hey it could happen to anyone…

From EverQuest2.com:

A couple of weeks ago, we invited EQII players to participate in a Haunted Homes Decorating Forum Challenge. All participants used their own homes, their own currency, and their own items to decorate with the Haunted Homes/Nights of the Dead theme.

We received about 118 qualifying entries. It was an amazing turnout and as such, it was very difficult for the Community Team to judge so many fantastic houses. Thank you to everyone who participated and we are hoping to do this type of contest again soon.

From Everquest2.com:

SOE Trick-or-Treat Event is Here!

It’s time to trick-or-treat in your favorite games*! Today through October 31, 2011, get treats and tricks when you visit your participating games each day. For EverQuest® II and EverQuest® II Extended, check the mailbox for your tricks and treats!

For more details visit www.soe.com/trickortreat.

Participating games include: EverQuest EverQuest® II,;EverQuest® II Extended, Free Realms®, Star Wars®: Clone Wars Adventures™, PoxNora® and Magic : The Gathering – Tactics™

Note: This actually started on Friday, Oct 28, 2011

From Everquest2.com:

Trick-or-Treat! Double Your Treats on 10/29/11!

What better way to fill your Halloween goody bag than with DOUBLE STATION CASH®! Get Double Station Cash on Saturday October 29, 2011 starting at 12:01 AM PDT when you redeem any SOE Pre-Paid Game Card or buy Station Cash*.

Plus, we have more tricks and treats in participating games throughout the SOE Trick-or-Treat Event! For more details visit www.soe.com/trickortreat.

*Offer runs October 29, 2011, 12:01 AM PDT through 11:59 PM PDT; excludes purchase by mobile/SMS.

Participating games include: EverQuest® EverQuest® II,;EverQuest® II Extended, DC Universe™ Online, Free Realms®, Star Wars®: Clone Wars Adventures™, PoxNora® and Magic : The Gathering – Tactics™

From the EQ2 Forums:

There have been several reported issues of players who are unable to get the Nights of the Dead quests from Ponchy. If you have done them in previous years, there seems to be a bug where it won’t let you get them again. While we are working on fixing this, please petition Customer Service to have the old quests removed. We greatly apologize for the inconvenience and will message again when we have this working normally.

From the EQ2 Forums:

We are inviting the most fearful, dreadful and simply awful creatures to the frighteningly decorated Community Lounge to celebrate the Nights of the Dead holiday with us. Show off with your costume creations, partake in a variety of unique drinks, and meet new players!

From the EQ2 Forums:

DUNGEON FINDER

• Dungeons are now broken into categories.
• If a player declines a DF offer, they must wait 15 minutes before they can queue again.
• The dungeon finder will now give an indication of how many players of each archetype are queued for each dungeon.
• Any member of the group can now set group options, but everyone in the group must vote on the changes before they apply.

LIVE EVENTS

Nights of the Dead

• The headless Horseman should once again be patrolling Nektulos Forest.
• An Essence of Fear and an Eerie Essence are now being offered to everyone correctly upon completion of the quest “The Troubling Truth”.
• An Essence of Fear and an Eerie Essence now have appropriate descriptions.
• The “Petrified Bone Tile” can now be scaled even larger.

ITEMS

• Titaniir, Aether Strike has been returned to a 4 second delay.

QUESTS

• The quest “Researching Lavastorm: Relics of Battle” once more rewards the Flame Researcher’s Robe.

The Nights of the Dead festival returns to Norrath today with a new quest and zone of mayhem as well as past events, craftable items, etc. Nights of the Dead is expected to run from Thursday, October 13 @ 12:01am PDT (08:01 BST) to November 7 @ 11:59 PST (07:59 BST).

EQ2 ZAM has a detailed writeup of all the recurring Nights of the Dead quests, collectibles, and craftable items as well as what’s new this year. There are so many quests involved in Nights of the Dead that EQ2 ZAM provides a printable NoTD Quest Tracker for the completists.

• Nights of the Dead 2011 @ EQ2 ZAM

In case you missed it, Niami Denmother’s Nights of the Dead Preview is up over at EQ2 Traders.

• Nights of the Dead 2011 Preview @ EQ2Traders

• New Nights of the Dead 2011 Crafted Items

Nights of the Dead returns to Norrath next Thursday October 13th through November 7th with new quests, new crafted items, and more fun.

• Nights of the Dead 2011 Preview @ EQ2Traders

• New Nights of the Dead 2011 Crafted Items

“plants vs zombies” event image courtesy EQ2Traders