Feldon
So there’s been some confusion on the EQ2 forums about this section of Holly’s initial announcement: First, for a limited time, players can create a Heroic Character for free. Oct. 1 until Oct. 15 is our “Hero’s Call” event which invites new players to create one free new Heroic Character per household. Existing accounts can create or upgrade to a Heroic Character for free too! This breaks down into two distinct things: Existing accounts, which will each be entitled to create one Heroic character New accounts will be entitled to create one Heroic character per household Clearly, this only restricts...
From the EQ2 Forums: GENERAL Resolved a common issue that would cause Call of Veteran (and other travel methods) to think players were still in combat when they were not. POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION The Dreadcutter: The Pirate Kings [Raid] The encounter should no longer occasionally reset when witchdoctors spawn. BATTLEGROUNDS Gears of Klak’Anon Damage from the relic will no longer be attributed to the player holding it.
In a perfect world, SOE would have the vast resources it would take to go back through EverQuest II’s 9 years of content and rework it so that it’s all fresh, challenging, and relevant again. But we live in the real world, and for many new and returning players who want to play with their friends, level 1-85 is now a relic, a reminder of days when heroic bands of gnolls traveled the Antonican countryside flattening all who stood in their way. The meaningful, perilous, and team-building adventure in that challenging content has faded with the passage of time...
It’s a slow EQ2 news week, and an interesting article came up about Diablo III, a game whose Auction house aligns with a desire expressed by a small but vocal group of EverQuest II players: Fully tradeable Fabled/Mythical raid drops, sellable on the broker. So what’s the verdict? Effective March 2014, Blizzard will be phasing out their Gold and Real Money Transaction Auction Houses. The video their lead designers have released (and which I have embedded below) leaves no doubt about how the Auction house was impacting Diablo III… From Ars Technica: The blog post and embedded video note that Diablo...
From the EQ2 Forums: ITEMS When examining a pre-adorned item, the classes that can equip the item should properly display. BATTLEGROUNDS Gears of Klakanon The damage received from holding the relic has been reduced. The relic now gives a toughness debuff that increases in effectiveness over time. The relic now gives a lethality buff that degenerates over time, eventually becoming negative. The amount of points required to win has been reduced to 650.
From the EQ2 Forums: Looking for an experience boost or maybe another character slot? Move that alt you’ve been sitting on to another server. Get a discount for a short time only beginning September 11th and ending September 15th!
As a result of the recent SOE layoffs which saw the departure of long-time Community Managers Virrago and Zatozia, there has been some reshuffling of responsibilities. Among these changes, Tony “RadarX“ assumes the role of EQ2 Community Manager. Here’s his introductory post on the EQ2 Forums: The position of Community Manager for EverQuest II has a proud tradition with some great folks who have the opportunity to interact with a passionate community. This week marks the “changing of the guard” for a few communities and I’ll be replacing Dexella here on EQII. No she isn’t gone or critically injured, although if she...
Players trying to login to EQ2 for the last 3 hours are receiving this error: Login rejected: The client’s version does not match the server’s. Please re-run the patcher. This is being discussed in these threads: https://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/index.php?threads/server-downtime-notice-tuesday-september-10-2013.539333/ https://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/index.php?threads/login-rejected.539348/ https://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/index.php?threads/login-servers-down.539342/ From Piestro at 9:45am PDT: We’re currently involved in investigating the causes of this issue, and will do our best to update you when we have more information. From RadarX at 10:13am PDT: We are currently looking into an issue with the patch and will update this thread as we have more information. Thanks for your patience! and: We understand...
From the EQ2 Forums: POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION Siren’s Grotto: Dissension Pysllon’Ris’ abyssal titan and kelp fiend adds have had their health reduced by 30%. Pysllon’Ris’ abyssal titan and kelp fiend adds should no longer automatically kill certain classes. ABILITIES / ALTERNATE ADVANCEMENT It is now possible to cast abilities whose mana costs have been reduced to zero (either via AAs, the Enchanter ability “Channeled Focus”, or similar modifications) when the caster has zero mana. ITEMS [eq2u]Swallowed Helmsman’s Compass Needle[/eq2u] has been returned to its correct stats. The potency on Perpetual Lamentation now properly stacks with other effects. The...
Dethdlr
From the EQ2 Forums (emphasis added by me): Mighty Norrathians! Since SOE Live and Game Update 67: Darkness Dawns there’s been a lot of focus and excitement here about Heroic Characters and this year’s expansion, Tears of Veeshan. We’re well on our way and working hard! To begin with, we have some date adjustments. Our expansion launch date has moved out a bit to mid-November and our Level 85 Heroic Characters are likely coming in the first week of October. We got some great feedback on Heroic Characters and we wanted to polish it up to make it more user-friendly...
From the EQ2 Forums: TRADESKILLS When commission crafting helms of Psionic Shielding the crafter should no longer be able to use their components in place of the commissioner’s materials. QUESTS Corrected an issue where the visual and audio notifications for quest updates would not trigger.
There could be a hidden danger lurking on your character… A tragic mistake that could be costing your character dearly… CONFLICTING PROCS ! Many Procs/Effects in EQ2 will not stack with other procs of the same name (or same type) on other items or adornments. In the past, it has been difficult to find out if you have two or more of these overlapping procs/effects which aren’t giving you any additional benefit. EQ2U‘s new Procs & Adornments Report feature lets you see at-a-glance, which Procs you have (both on items and adornments), as well browse your complete Adornments list....
From Holly “Windstalker” Longdale‘s twitter: Double XP Weekend starts tonight at 5pm through Monday at midnight PDT! #EQ2 — Holly Longdale (@WindstalkerEQ2) August 29, 2013 Time Zone Conversions PDT: Thu Aug 29 @ 5:00pm ~ Mon, Sep 2 @ 11:59pm EDT: Thu Aug 29 @ 8:00pm ~ Tue, Sep 3 @ 2:59am BST: Fri Aug 29 @ 1:00 ~ Tue, Sep 3 @ 7:59 CET: Fri Aug 30 @ 2:00 ~ Tue, Sep 3 @ 8:59 AEST: Fri Aug 29 @ 10:00am ~ Tue, Sep 3 @ 4:59pm Update with official announcement: In EverQuest, enjoy Double XP beginning at 5:00pm...
From Polygon.com: In a company-wide email that was forwarded to Polygon, Sony Online president John Smedley expressed intense distaste for having to lay off employees, calling it a “horrible, sickening experience.” According to Smedley, while many of the company’s games are performing well, layoffs were necessary to bring expenses in line with revenue. “For the past year we’ve done everything possible to avoid this situation,” said Smedley. “We rightfully should have done this nearly a year ago but we have been fighting very hard to keep this from happening.” “I know most of the people we’re laying off today....
After a hard-fought public relations battle, players in France, Germany, and other European countries were allowed to continue playing EverQuest II with their SOE/Station accounts. However that may be a Pyrrhic victory, as it has always been SOE’s intention to hand off support in these other languages to ProSiebenSat.1. Today comes the announcement that the French, German, and Japanese EQ2 official forums are being shut down. Players needing support in French or German will need to reach out to other players, seek help on Wikis or other forums, or attempt to find help on the Pro7Sat.1 forums. As for Japan,...
From Linda “Brasse” Carlson on the EQ2 Forums: Today we announced a reduction in our workforce at SOE. As a company, our goal is to focus on our core expertise of MMO games and as part of these efforts, we had to make the difficult decision to eliminate positions to help reduce costs, streamline our employee base and strategically align resources towards our current portfolio of games and upcoming slate of MMOs, including EverQuest Next Landmark and EverQuest Next. We deeply value our employees and are grateful for all they’ve contributed to our company and games. They will be missed by colleagues and friends, and...
From the EQ2 Forums: POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION Siren’s Grotto: Dissension [Raid] During the Hydra fight mages & priests can now damage the kelp fiend adds, while fighters/priests and scouts can damage the abyssal titan adds. The Fabled Djinn Master’s Prism The Djinn Master now allows multiple scepters to be active during his fight. He will no longer ignore scepter effect when it is on more than one player. ITEMS Level 90+ regenerating ward adornments will now disable if the owner mentors below level 90.
From EverQuest2.com: PAX Prime When: August 30 through September 2, 2013 Where: Washington State Convention Center in Seattle Washington Who: Linda “Brasse” Carlson, Trammel “TRay” Isaac, Rod “Dartok” Haza, Terry Michaels, Jeff “JButlerSOE” Butler, and Dave “SmokeJumper” Georgeson Panels include “As Beta as You Wanna Be”, “The Future of Online Games”, careers in the game industry, “Live at PAX Prime”, and “Veterans in Gaming”. Dragon Con When: August 30, 2013 through September 2, 2013 Where: Hyatt Regency, Marriot Marquis, Hilton, Sheraton, and Westin Peachtree Plaza in Atlanta Georgia Who: Tony “RadarX” Jones, Aimee “Ashlanne” Rekoske, Colette “Dexella” Murphy, and...
A curious tweet from Holly “Windstalker” Longdale last night has us wondering… @diverscuba23 details coming this week! We are working out those things. Trying an 85 will definitely be free. — Holly Longdale (@WindstalkerEQ2) August 26, 2013
You’ve likely heard whispers of just how powerful Refined and Experimented items can be, but until you’ve seen the final “as delivered” stats on the best examples of said items, either in a screenshot, or by examining another player in-game, it’s hard to know just how awesome these processes are. A Refining/Experimentation Primer If you grasped everything in Niami‘s EQ2Traders primer on the subject back when the Chains of Eternity expansion was new, then you already know the how-to and formulas at work here, but if not… A Refined item is a Mastercrafted weapon, armor, or piece of jewelry which has been...
From Holly Windstalker Longdale‘s twitter: Doing some usability testing on heroic characters tomorrow to help define some features. More news to come soon! I promise! #EQ2 — Holly Longdale (@WindstalkerEQ2) August 23, 2013 We’ll be using a snowy pegasus flying mount for the Heroic Characters! #EQ2 pic.twitter.com/NOg7sOTDTw — Holly Longdale (@WindstalkerEQ2) August 23, 2013 What we know about Heroic Characters or Insta-85’s: Create a Character at level 85 Free (not StationCash) An AA profile will be pre-selected for the character Hotbars will be pre-arranged/setup Exclusive Class-Specific armor set You will get a flying mount (as shown above) This...
Join members of the EverQuest II Art & Animation team including Tim “Haohmaru” Heydelaar, Tom Tobey, Dave “Covic” Brown, and Aaron “Gnobrin” Bisnett as they talk about what it takes to create new zones, characters, and weapons for EverQuest II, as well as previews of upcoming zones and artwork! This video includes: a detailed reveal of the reimagined Bixie characters a behind-the-scenes look as the team at first worked towards a different visual approach for Siren’s Grotto before building what was eventually delivered flythroughs of upcoming Highkeep, Temple of Veeshan, and Nexus zones in EverQuest II’s 10th expansion: Tears...
From the EQ2 Forums: POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION Plane of War Rallos Zek now drops his cloaks 100% of the time. The Fabled Clefts of Rujark The encounter consisting of Crushbone Adepts, Gak, Nihx, & Shrakt should now start to respawn again based on its respawn timer under the condition that Ambassador Vuzur is not currently spawned. The Fabled Djinn Master’s Prism Base population Djinns have lower health. Each mini boss now drops a Scepter of Unchained Melodies, all 3 can be activated in the final fight. ITEMS “Power of the Freeblood” is now Lore. The Wurmslayer can now...
I’m not late on this announcement at all! From the EQ2 Forums: Get double Station Cash® when you redeem SOE Game Cards from any participating U.S. Best Buy store for Station Cash from Friday, August 16 to Sunday, August 18, 2013. You can purchase your SOE Game Cards from participating Best Buy stores any time, but to get double Station Cash you must redeem them before the offer ends at 11:59PM PDT on August 18, 2013. Reminder: You only get double Station Cash when you redeem SOE Game Cards from a participating U.S. Best Buy store between 12:00AM PDT on...
Dethdlr and I are thrilled to introduce support for Alternate Advancement Profiles to EQ2U. The new row of buttons just above your AA tabs let you view your Current AA Spec or view the contents of one of your three Stored profiles: It’s important to note that your Current AA Spec can either be one of your Stored AA profiles, or a Server-defined Template. It is our intention in a future update (once we get the right data) to light up your currently active Stored profile once we can determine it.