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Calthine has posted some great survival tips for the coming Fan Faire convention. If you plan to make it, or just want a funny read: http://eq2.zam.com/story.html?story=18064

Some of you will be thrilled to know that FreeRealms is out of Beta and now LIVE. I have not kept up to date on FreeRealms since its splashy debut at FanFaire ’08, but it certainly showed a lot of promise in the initial demo and playthrough. There are a gazillion things you can do once you login. You can race cars, buy and care for a pet, go out adventuring, questing, and exploring, craft, play minigames (checkers, chess, cards, puzzle games, etc.) chat with friends, put on a concert, etc. It’s The Sims meets Guitar Hero meets Petz...

On April 22nd, 2009, Allakhazam (now known simply as ZAM) relaunched their EQ2 Portal. First announced at Fan Faire in August ’08, the new website is the first (and possibly only?) fan site with live data feeds directly from EQ2. This means that EQ2 Zam has live Broker search which are on just a few minutes delay. Also, loot drops from the various dungeons now have actual percentage drop rates. As of April 28, EQ2 ZAM’s live data is only available for US servers. No word on when EU and other servers will be providing this data. I will...

From EQ2 Forums: From 3:00 AM PDT until 6:00 AM PDT on Thursday, April 16, 2009, the EQII servers will be undergoing maintenance and will be unavailable. Also beginning at 3:00 AM PDT on Thursday, April 16, 2009, SOE Account and Commerce flow, Station Store and the Station Marketplace will be unavailable due to maintenance. We expect this maintenance to take approximately 5 hours. This might also cause some forum accounts to temporarily lose permissions, due to the inability to verify account status while the maintenance is taking place. This is only temporary and normal permissions will return automatically...

TerraNova has a posting from one of the researchers on this EQ2 data dump on record. From the report linked here, I find the relevant quotes: Players were sampled across the game’s servers by inviting all players to participate in a survey if they logged in during the study time window. After providing consent, players completed an online web-based survey that took about 25 minutes. Players…were promised a special in-game item as compensation. This item, the “Greatstaff of the Sun Serpent” was created by Sony for this unique use. According to the Sony team, the item was made to...

Want these mounts? \aITEM -1230427643 -1500374663:[Saryrn Deathcharger whistle]\/a (evil version in-game link) Invite a friend, recruit them into EQ2, and off you go! Details at EQ2Players.

From WorthPlaying Sony Online Entertainment has signed a distribution agreement with Valve to bring its MMO titles to Steam, starting with the EverQuest and EverQuest II collections, as well as Vanguard: Saga of Heroes and Pirates of the Burning Sea. “We are always looking for additional ways to introduce our great catalog of games to new audiences. It’s hard to think of a larger group of PC gamers interested in multiplayer games than those connecting to Steam,” said John Smedley, president of SOE. Inexplicably, old versions of EQ and EQ2 are being offered through Steam as well. Users have...

December 18, 2008 Update A ton of changes small and large have been implemented throughout Norrath, “as a special gift from the developers” The master scroll drop rate in Desert of Flames has been increased to more closely match those of the rest of the game. The twin dragons in the Pedestal of Sky now drop 3 pieces of fabled armor. Godking Anuk now drops 3 pieces of fabled armor. When clearing a filter your last scroll location will be restored. Collections can be sorted by: Ready to turn in status (Default) Name Level Category Progress – sorts by...

On December 11th, Allakhazam had a developer chat with the EQ2 development team on Dec 11th. Some relevant quotes: Anon: Is there any plan to at Raid x 2 content to TSO? Ilucide: Yeah, absolutely. Though not necessarily ‘part’ of TSO, we will be adding a pretty nice sized chunk of x2 content in the not-so-distant future. Keep your eyes peeled, it will be part of a larger content release with a new x4 zone, and a whole bunch of new solo content in Lavastorm for level 80ish players. Ilucide: Timetravelling and Kander are hard at work on the...

It seems that a LOT of people have been raising a stink and filing /bugs and /petitions about how easy it is to get void shards in certain TSO dungeons. I will admit that the current situation is exploitable in a couple of different ways. The first exploit that people discovered was the sharing of cleared instances so that other members who had not initially been present during the group could come into the zone and get harvest/clickable updates and get their Void Shard. The first attempts by SoE to close these exploits was to close the Lava Wall...

From http://forums.station.sony.com/eq/posts/list.m?topic_id=144049 First of all wanted to say “what a crazy launch”! Many of the developers have spent countless hours in the Station Wallet design and implementation. Our morning started pretty early (1am) and we wanted to make the downtime as quick and painless as possible. As part of our new update roll out we aim to have the servers back up at 8am so that everyone can jump back into the game after getting a few hours rest I know that Station Cash surprised many of you and I can assure you that we planned it that way! We...

It’s interesting to see this posting from John Smedley, President of Sony Online Entertainment from Dec 22, 2007: I’ve been a regular lurker on this site for a while but I wanted to step in here and dispel something that’s just plain not true – I don’t have my name highlighted here, but anyone that doubts it’s me can email me at [email protected] and I’ll happily reply. We aren’t going to be allowing RMT in any way, shape or form on the non-exchange enabled EQ II servers. Period. End of statement. EQ2Flames Posting by Smed He responded today with:...

Here’s the FAQ: http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/posts/list.m?topic_id=438343 Here’s the Official Website: http://www.station.sony.com/stationcash/ Conversion Rate for Dec 9, 2008 is $1 (or 1 Euro) for 100 Station Cash. But what I think most people are interested in is the LIST of items. Cosmetic Pets Knight of Shadow’s End Summons a pet shadow lich knight Duration: until Cancelled 400 Zhog, Groz’s Little Brother Summons a pet Zhog, Groz’s Little Brother Duration: until cancelled 700 Equipment Seafury Buccaneer Armor Crate a 7 piece set of statless/appearance armor with only one adorned shoulder. 1000 Tunarian Alliance Armor Crate a 7 piece set of statless/appearance armor (identical...

Although there have been ways to get plat with money (for instance, buying packs of LoN cards and then selling them in-game), selling looting rights to items, and “buying” mythicals, there has been no official RMT in EQ2 other than the Station Exchange servers (which fell under the management of LiveGamer last year). Until now. The servers are presently down and the Live Server has the following Update Notes: Live Update December / 9 / 2008 STATION CASH Station Cash is a new virtual currency from SOE that has been created to allow for the purchase of premium in-game...

Frequent readers of EQ2Wire may be wondering where to buy the Ykeshan Warbears which were teased at Allakhazam last month. I know several folks were looking forward not only to the 65% runspeed but the various buffs available on these warbears. A price of 50 void shards was given by Kiara late in the “Retail vs. Download” firestorm for this bear, but as yet nobody has been able to buy them. Turns out this was a bug. In a future hotfix, they will be available from the Void Shard Miscellania Merchant for 50 void shards. EQ2 Forums: Void Shard...

Frostfell Frostfell appears to be in full testing mode, with some new zones and quests being added. There is supposed to be a group instance similar to the Haunted Mansion during Halloween. Update Notes Mobs in TSO dungeons will have an appropriate number of hitpoints for mentored instances; Tupta, Grobb, and Survival Accord faction merchants require less faction to sell; [Dec 3 2008] Stability update for Windows Vista; [Dec 2 2008] Fix for Repeatable Missions; [Nov 25 2008] As you know, I had further problems with these Repeatable Missions. I was unable to get either the mission for Deep...

Hey folks, I’m back from Big Bend National Park. First up, the bug with Void Shard Missions being unrepeatable was supposed to be corrected on the 25th. EDIT: This is still broken, as I am unable to get missions for Deep Forge or Tradeskill Group Missions. I hope it is properly fixed in the near future. In other news, a bug with the amount of AoE damage being put out by the boss of the Atrocious Amalgam in Miragul’s Phylactery : the Anathema will be corrected in the next hotfix. Thanks Kander! There were reports that the “Daily Double”...

Aside from the 3 new TSO dungeons located in the Void (including Obelisk of Ahkzul), the other 17 TSO dungeons located around Norrath each contain a “bonus” void shard quest. Find the key and loot it, and your party each get void shards. Until a bug is fixed, the group leader must temporarily switch looting to “Lotto” before everyone clicks on the chest. Each of these chests has a key hidden somewhere in the zone. Some are harder to find than others, and fastidious EQ2 players have been documenting and reporting the locations of these “key” mobs and some...

The TSO Mission system is, how shall we say, VERY buggy at the moment. Especially if someone shares a mission with you. Some people are getting totally locked out of missions if someone shares the Double Void Shard mission from Moors of Ykesha and they complete it. Quest Sharing is often not giving people the items necessary to do the missions (Holy Water, etc.). All of this is being investigated by the Developers according to Kiara: http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/posts/list.m?&topic_id=436585

I have been pleasantly surprised by the range in difficulty of the TSO Dungeons. Other than my my previous blog entry, which left no ambiguity about my opinion of Befallen, players have been presented with a lot of choices about these dungeons. Don’t give up just because you do a few runs and die a lot! The most important point I can get across is that some Void Shard quests only require killing 1-2 of the easier names, some require none at all. I could see a mastercrafted/legendary group of 4 determined players completing some of these Void Shard...

Let’s take a look at The Void: Obelisk of Ahkzul. Yes, it does not reward void shards, so you may have trouble getting pick-up group members excited about attending, but with the high likelihood of Ornate chests, and a bonus chest waiting for you, the rewards are still worth it. The names are of a reasonable difficulty. You must clear the first room entirely and then Executor Vark will shove off, clearing the way to zone into the next room. The second room, clear the possessed trolls around the pond in the middle to spawn Proto-Ravager. This room does...

This zone itself is a puzzle, where you have to clear names and open pressure relief valves to unlock further parts of the dungeon. A bit like Tomb Raider or Legacy of Kain really. The zone opens with a brief cinematic showing you the whole zone before Najena’s henchmen fill it up to the brim with lava Fitzfangle <Foreman> Clear the trash and open the 4 steam vents (ignoring the warning that only the Foreman is permitted to open them!). Naturally, this will make Foreman Fitzfangle very unhappy with you. Every 20-30 seconds, he will spawn 6 bombs. These...

Today’s post is all about the asterisk. Because there should be an asterisk next to the Blue Square next to Befallen: Cavern of the Afflicted. Here’s what I can determine: Befallen: Cavern of the Afflicted is easy IF you have: Shadowknight or Berzerker (with Mythical) Illusionist (with Mythical) Warlock (with Mythical) Swashbuckler (with Mythical) Inquisitor (with Mythical) Dirge (with Mythical) Sense a theme? 🙂 We tried it with Ranger, Wizard, Illy, Templar, Fury, and Shadowknight. Except for the SK, we were all single-target DPS, and it showed. Did I mention that Befallen respawns as fast as a contested dungeon?...

Three of us got together today and did one of the Tradeskill Group Instances, specifically the Shipyard Cove. The quest starts in Isle of Mara (Village of Shin) and all members must be a level 50-80 tradeskiller and have first completed the quest Ship Out in the Moors of Ykesha. There are a couple of other quests in Isle of Mara you’ll definitely want to check out too, including Rush Orders and a soloable quest that rewards a Far Seas token. Click on everything you can in the upstairs area of the Isle of Mara dock alehouse so you...

I seem to remember commenting on the Beta forums about 3 weeks ago that an awful lot of items have Shield Block and were very desirable for tanks. Fireflyte said he would probably be reducing it on some items. Well… Originally posted by Fireflyte: I’m making a number of changes to the items currently available for purchase with void shards. The majority of the changes are improvements to the advanced armor sets, however I wanted to drop in a quick warning about a couple of changes that could affect the desirability of certain items: The Shield Block effect is...