From the EQ2 Forums:
The Lucan D’Lere and Crushbone servers will be taken offline at 12:00am PST on Wednesday, February 16th and will be offline for an estimated 24 hours. The merged Crushbone server should be back online sometime around 12:00 am PST on Thursday, February 17th.
A brief update from the EQ2 Forums:
The merge has been postponed temporarily while we work out some of the back-end logistics. We will update again when we have more information.
The Itemization Battle
When examining any piece of equipment, players must evaluate whether that item is an upgrade for their class based not only on their existing stats, but also whether the stats and effects on that item are of benefit to their class. The character’s spells, combat arts, AA setup, and existing gear must all be considered. Choosing item upgrades has never been an exact science.
At one time, all 5 main stats including Intelligence, Wisdom, Stamina, Agility, and Strength had a part to play in the effectiveness of an item for every class, not just hybrid classes. This is not to mention +Health, +Power, Offensive and Defensive Skills, and the various Resists. The last 3 expansions have added or greatly expanded upon effects such as Crit Chance, Multi Attack (formerly Double Attack), Crit Bonus, Potency, AOE Autoattack, Flurry, Strikethrough, etc.
The video of the Destiny of Velious webcast #1 which took place on January 29th has now been posted.
From EverQuest2.com:
Upcoming Dev Chat Webcasts:
This Friday, February 4th, members of the EQII Development Team will join us again to talk about itemization in Destiny of Velious. This is the second in our series of four Live Webcasts leading up to the Destiny of Velious launch! Be sure to tune in to learn more about the upcoming features and get the scoop straight from the people who work on EQII every day.
- Friday, February 4 at 4:00 pm PST: Join Dave “Smokejumper” Georgeson and Rich “Waters” Waters as they talk about itemization in Destiny of Velious. They will again be answering questions from our players, so submit your questions through the forum links below.
- Friday, February 11 at 4:00 pm PST: Topic TBA
- Friday, February 18 at 4:00 pm PST: Topic TBA
Upcoming topics will be announced soon. Tune in on Facebook or on Stickam to watch the second webcast this Friday!
The Runnyeye to Splitpaw European server merge has been announced. This server merge was initially delayed because of the necessity of a database upgrade to support the merged server. All told, Splitpaw will be down for virtually all of February 2 and 3. For some folks, February will only have 26 days this month. Details after the jump.
We haven’t posted about City Festivals in a while so thought we’d repost this one.
If you have completed city tasks such as tradeskill writs and adventure writs, you’ll notice you have received City Tokens. These tokens can be used to buy items from the travelling merchants of the City Festival. Each month, a few unique items are available only to each city (including themed tiles, dividers, and columns), as well as a selection of items which are always available. This month, the festival is parked at the gates of the City of Kelethin in Greater Faydark.
Legends of Norrath brings a unique time-limited in-game item to EQ2 this month. Naturally the folks at SOE would like us to play Legends of Norrath and buy lots of packs of cards. But they keep adding more and more tantalizing items and whether you play LoN or not, we thought we’d post this as it may be of interest to housing designers.
From EverQuest2.com:
The Station Store has been stocked with the great T-shirts, Sweatshirts, and Hoodies from Fan Faire. Alas, the Hooded Sweatshirts are only available in 3XL, but other items are available in a range of sizes. If you’ve been looking for a good EQ2 shirt, check out the Station Store.
We’ve just finished watching a live Webcast of Dave “SmokeJumper” Georgeson and Salim “Silius” talking about the upcoming Destiny of Velious expansion, including player-submitted questions. What follows is a rough transcript. We recommend listening to the recording to get a complete picture of what was said.
(left to right) Greg Agius [EQ2 Brand Manager] interviews Dave “SmokeJumper” Georgeson [EQ2 Senior Producer] and Salim “Silius” [EQ2 Developer, Itemization], about the upcoming Destiny of Velious expansion including reader questions.
Download Destiny of Velious Webcast #1 MP3 for January 29, 2011.
From EverQuest2.com:
Join members of the EQII Development Team as we talk about Destiny of Velious in a series of Live Webcasts! Learn more about the upcoming features and get the scoop straight from the people who work on EQII every day.
- Friday, January 28 at 4:00 pm PST [29 Jan at Midnight GMT]: Join Dave “Smokejumper” Georgeson and Salim “Silius” Grant as they talk about Destiny of Velious zones, raids and more. They will be answering some questions from players as well, so submit your questions right here in this thread.
- Friday, February 4 at 4:00 pm PST [5 Feb at Midnight GMT]: Topic TBA
- Friday, February 11 at 4:00 pm PST [12 Feb at Midnight GMT]: Topic TBA
- Friday, February 18 at 4:00 pm PST [19 Feb at Midnight GMT]: Topic TBA
Upcoming topics will be announced soon. Tune in on Facebook or on Stickam to watch the first webcast this Friday!
What to Expect (Commentary)
We have been present during past webcasts of this nature, and we can recall numerous delays, glitches, and technical faults. If you are expecting a smooth, well-rehearsed presentation, you may be disappointed. Of course we may be pleasantly surprised, but how many times can Lucy fool us with the football trick? Either way, we’ll be recording and reviewing these broadcasts for any interesting details.
Yesterday’s launch of the EQ2 Mobile service for Android, Blackberry, and iPhone platforms pushed the EQ2Mobile data server to the limit. Users received several different errors including “Unexpected token stream” which indicated that the mobile data server was down. One issue noticed immediately by players is that old, deleted characters still appear in the character list. Some players are reporting 40-60 characters in their list including ones which have long since been deleted.
EQ2Mobile leverages the new Data Feeds service which will eventually replace the outdated platform running EQ2Players.
From EverQuest2.com/Mobile:
EQII Mobile is a new cross-platform mobile application that bridges the game world and the real world. EQII Mobile allows you to connect to EverQuest® II remotely and interact with various game features while communicating with other players in-game. Whether on the road or in your on home, EQII Mobile links you to information and social tools that keep you connected.
Available for Android, iPhone, and BlackBerry devices on or around January XX, 2011. Direct purchase links to web stores will be added in the order of when the multiple device applications are released (each device has different release schedule).
From Apple’s iTunes website:
EverQuest II, the subscription and free-to-play MMORPG, brings to you EQII Mobile for iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. EQII Mobile allows you to connect to EverQuest® II remotely and interact with various game features while communicating with other players in-game. Whether on the road or in your own home, EQII Mobile links you to information and social tools that keep you connected. EQII Mobile is a must-have tool on your quest to conquer Norrath.
Today’s surprising announcement (in light of comments last week about the unliklihood of characters being able to own more than one home in the forseeable future) is that in a future update, players will be able to own multiple houses. The announcement also confirms the names of some of the upcoming Prestige housing which we first picked out of vpk updates, namely the Dojo and Opera House. Along with the Skyblade Skiff, Freeblood Manor, and the Everfrost Summer Home (Miragul’s Managerie) this will bring the Prestige housing options up to 5.
From EverQuest2.com:
The following items are included in the Retail Version of Destiny of Velious. There are no Pre-Order exclusives for our Retail Version and this is the only version available as a printed box copy, so no matter when you purchase this version, whether you reserve a copy today or purchase it after launch, these items will always be available to those with the Retail copy.
Standard of the Dain (Retail Exclusive cloak)
Karen Bryan writing for the Tattered Notebook at Massively has turned in her followup article on Velious, this time delving into the institutional memory of what the Scars of Velious expansion meant for players of the original EverQuest, and how we really need for history to repeat itself.
Scars of Velious was a big expansion for EverQuest — literally. Overland zones like Western Wastes and the Great Divide were so large that it was easy to get lost. Dungeons like Temple of Veeshan and Kael Drakkel were the size of small cities and could house multiple raids each night. And everything you fought was enormous, from the Velium spiders of Velketor’s Lab, to the Giants of Kael Drakkel, to the Dragons that seemed to be everywhere. But this expansion was about more than Dragons and snow.
The 10th Ring War. It was big. It was open. It was dynamic content before the phrase was even coined. Dozens, sometimes hundreds of players would take part in driving back waves of giants as they sprinted towards Thurgadin, and everyone who passed through could see and take part in the action. It provided so many opportunities for individuals to be the hero, and we relished the chance to share our tales of heroism afterwards. There are several reasons players loved Velious, but the 10th Ring War is probably at the top of the list.
Continue reading The Tattered Notebook: Why Velious is so Important at Massively.
Screen shots have now been made available on EverQuest2.com revealing the Destiny of Velious Digital Download and Digital Collector’s Edition special items. While the headline of the linked article suggests that one must Pre-Order to receive any of these rewards, I suggest reading the last 2 paragraphs of the article which clear everything up:
The Digitial Collector’s Edition is a Station Exclusive and is specially priced at $59.99 for pre-order only. This version includes the base game, all seven expansions, three adventure packs, a Loyal Snow Hound, four different Velious Portal Paintings, Tserrina’s Wedding Present (house item), Cryomantic Armor Crate, an Everfrost Summer Home, and a Stormfeather’s Brood Guardian mount appearance. Items are awarded one per character. New accounts will also receive a free 30-day subscription.
Please note that after the pre-order period ends, the price of the Digital Collector’s Edition will increase to $89.99 and the Loyal Snow Hound will no longer be available.
Screen shots and more details after the jump…
From the EQ2 Forums:
Due to the EQII Russian server merge (The Nexus and Barren Sky) on January 25, 2011, chat services will be unavailable for Valor (DE), Storms (FR), Splitpaw (UK) and Harla Dar (RU) for at least 12 hours.
We expect chat to be affected from 3:30 PM PDT on 01/25/11 until 4:30 AM PDT on 01/26/11 (26/01/11 00:30 – 26/01/11 13:30 C.E.T ~ 01/25/11 11:30 PM – 01/26/11 12:30 PM London time).
This announcement did not mention Runnyeye or Innovation, but we’re assuming they will be affected as well. Update: Runnyeye and Innovation are not affected because they are not located in the US.
From SmokeJumper on the EQ2 Forums:
We’re adding in a new surge of 1500 players into Beta today, so check your email box if you applied to the Beta.
Additionally, any Fan Faire folks that got missed in the last sweep, should be added in today.
Enjoy!
Today we explore something near and dear to a growing number of crafters — the ability to “break out” of houses and build truly unique structures.
Rhyme‘s Mid-Century Modern house on Guk (More Screenshots)
There has been precious little information posted about the upcoming EverQuest II: Destiny of Velious expansion. Most of the facts and figures we have about it date back to Fan Faire of August 2010. In spite of some major leaks by SOE, we are going to stay on this side of the NDA and stick to answering what we can based on facts in evidence and a little bit of deductive reasoning.
Please note this article has been written without conference or verification by SOE and may contain errors.
After the jump, our preliminary Frequently Asked Questions about Destiny of Velious…
SOE have delivered some more screen shots of the upcoming EverQuest II: Destiny of Velious expansion which we present below.
In addition, SOE have posted a new Destiny of Velious Pre-Order video.
Akella has announced that the two Russian PvE EQ2 Servers (Nexus and Barren Sky) will merge on January 25, 2011.
We are getting word that some players have now received their Ice Wolf Pup pet and 2 hour XP potions for their January Velious Reward. Remember, if you have an active sub on December 14, January 17, and February 22, then when you purchase Destiny of Velious (up until December 31, 2011) you will receive the February rewards, including an Ice Wolf Mount.