Feldon
I’d like to take a moment and express my sincere gratitude to Ferrek who took my We Need Screenshots call to arms as a personal challenge and set out to document every Insect and Arachnid that could be found in Norrath! Every screenshot and note on the Insects tab (as well as numerous contributions elsewhere in the Warder guide) was submitted by Ferrek. I’m happy to announce that our Beastlord Warder Guide now sports 39 Insect appearances. Note: 6 of the appearances are “bone spiders” and right now, charming any of them results in a grey beetle, but hopefully this...
age of discovery
We promise we’re not late on posting this! The video appeared on Youtube on December 6th but it was not promoted on EQ2’s Facebook page until last night… Note: Contrary to the video’s implication, you cannot tame elephants.
Jump to EQ2Wire’s Beastlord Warders Guide >> This Guide is would not be possible without Whilhelmina‘s fantastic Beastlord FAQ she wrote during Beta. Introducing Beastlords Beastlords really are a very different class, which means we get a whole new set of UI elements. This includes a Beastlord Bar, a Savagery Bar, a new tab in the Character window for keeping track of all your Warders (pets), and a large blue Weakness paw icon which comes up whenever your Warder pet is ready for you to fire off an coordinated attack. If all of this were available at level 1,...
A few (22) hours behind schedule, EverQuest II has launched their Age of Discovery expansion, which includes the Beastlord class, Item Reforging, Tradeskill Apprentices, Mercenaries, and the Dungeon Maker. Today also marks the introduction of a revamped Freeport, with new questlines starting at level 20 and every 10-20 levels until level 80. Also, EverQuest II has now gone entirely free-to-play. The Freeport server joins the other EQ2 servers as a regular server, and players can start on any server they like, either at the Free, Silver, or Gold levels. Heck even Frostfell goes live today. If you are an...
Beastlords may be the most complex, configurable, dynamic class in EQ2 for the foreseeable future. To try to explain this class without using screenshots is damn near impossible. And due to the surviving conditions of the NDA, we are forbidden to use any of our screenshots. So we are going to wait another day so we can start putting out complete articles that fully explain the Beastlord class, Reforging, Mercenaries, etc. with pictures. In the mean time, we leave you with these artistic impressions of the Beastlord interface…
A late night tweet from Domino indicates that the last batch of players who signed up for the Age of Discovery beta and signed the NDA are now welcome to try out the beta. There was a glitch with some of the invite emails but if you fit the above, download the Beta patcher anyway and give it a try! Everyone who registered can get into beta but some emails were delayed 🙁 The last should be catching up now. Patcher: ow.ly/7NH4i EQ2 Beta Launcher EQ2 Beta Streaming Launcher Note: Once the patcher starts, you should copy the paks...
From the EQ2 Forums: EverQuest II Behind the Scenes Videos: Beast Lord Warders & Mercenaries We’ve got a special treat for you! Check out our two new EverQuest II behind-the-scenes videos, covering two of the awesome features coming with the new expansion: Age of Discovery! That’s right – we’re be taking an inside look at beast lords and mercenaries! Beastlord Warders by Akil “Lyndro” Hooper Mercenaries by Carlos “Gninja” Mora Direct Links: http://youtu.be/AOhi4_g82oM & http://youtu.be/vCt4sI-Hcps
We are happy to present our EQ2Wire Exclusive: Beastlord Warders Guide. Check it out!
As of 6:20pm PST last night (3:20am my time), an announcement (also here) indicating that the Age of Discovery NDA has lifted. As we found out last year, this doesn’t actually mean the whole NDA has been lifted. Due to a Survivorship clause, in fact just two passages of the two page document have been rescinded. We are allowed to talk about what we experienced in Beta. The gag order is lifted. We get our voice back. But anything else such as quotes from the Beta forums, screenshots, videos, etc. are still verboten. Now there’s a noble goal behind...
From EverQuest2.com: We are extremely pleased to bring you the new Dungeon Maker feature set. For the first time, you and your fellow players can create new content for the game, play through a constantly changing list of player-created dungeons, and get rewards whether you are a dungeon builder, adventurer, or both! We recently ran groups of press folks through a “tour” of the Freeport revamp and the AoD feature set. We ended each tour with a demo of Dungeon Maker and what it could do, and we were met with a lot of excitement about the potential once...
From SmokeJumper on the EQ2 Forums: I’ve said this before, but it gets lost on these boards, so I’ll throw it out there one more time. Warning: This isn’t short. The second half of Velious was designed to be a separate expansion pack. We fully intended *and started* to create “Velious Part II” so we could launch it next year. But we decided it would be a lot cooler, and honestly, a lot better business, to release new content constantly throughout the year, so that you always have something new to look forward to and to play, rather than...
From the Society for the Preservation of Superlatives EverQuest2.com: Let’s journey down the path to the Age of Discovery! Join Dave “SmokeJumper” Georgeson (Executive Producer), Greg “Rothgar” Spence (Lead Programmer), Akil “Lyndro” Hooper (Lead Designer), and Emily “Domino” Taylor (Associate Producer), along with your host Linda “Brasse” Carlson (Director, Global Community Relations), to learn all about the thrilling features due in EverQuest II’s next expansion, Age of Discovery. We’ll also share a little insight into the Beta process, how the team has been using your feedback, and what changes are being made! Join us on Tuesday, November 29, 2011, at...
So I wanted an EverQuest II: Age of Discovery wallpaper for my desktop. I change wallpapers often, and thought hey, I’d like to get in the mood. Usually by this point, we’ve received some promotional material for the upcoming expansion, namely high resolution wallpapers, screenshots, etc. Since I haven’t seen hide nor hair of anything like that, I put together my own 16:9 widescreen EverQuest II: Age of Discovery wallpaper using key art provided to Zam. This is an unofficial wallpaper, but if you’d like to adorn your desktop, feel free to download! Download Age of Discovery Wallpaper (1476...
Last night, Linda “Brasse” Carlson (Director, Global Community Relations), Greg “Rothgar” Spence (EQ2 Lead Programmer) and Akil “Lyndro” Hooper (EQ2 Lead Designer) hosted a Webcast about the upcoming Dungeon Maker feature (previously known as Design Your Own Dungeon) in the upcoming EverQuest II: Age of Discovery expansion. Note: Dave “SmokeJumper” Georgeson was not able to make the webcast. Note 2: For the first ~5 minutes of the webcast, Rothgar’s mic was not working at all. At this point, he and Brasse started sharing a microphone. Note 3: Throughout the webcast, Rothgar refers to the Avatars you use to play...
To date, we still don’t have an exact launch date for EverQuest II: Age of Discovery. Well, we have a date — November 30, 2011 — but then we’ve seen two other more general time windows of “early December” and “Winter” which might well invalidate it. If Age of Discovery really hits on November 30th, then this would mean there are 11 days to go til the expansion launches and 2 of those days have become national holidays in the USA — Thanksgiving (a harvest festival) and Black Friday (a capitalism festival). If the Age of Discovery beta is...
From an e-mail I just received! NOTE: For most players, you do not need to do anything, as this entitlement will automatically be added to your account, but check your SOE.com account over the next week or so to make sure this is added.
One tantalising bit of information from tonight’s AoD/F2P Webcast was that the Age of Discovery Beta may start allowing Fan Faire attendees in tonight. It’s unknown how quickly others will be brought into the beta. Also, we were told that while Beastlords, the Freeport Revamp (a GU62 feature), Mercenaries, Tradeskill Apprentices, and Reforging would be in the Beta now (or soon), Design Your Own Dungeon won’t hit Beta until next week, to focus testing attention on the previously mentioned features. UPDATE: We have it on good authority that Fan Faire attendees are now receiving invites to the Age of...
The “Very Exciting News” Webcast (which with today’s revelation of EverQuest II going fully Free-to-Play was naturally on that subject) finished a little while ago on Twitch.tv. The new webcasting service produced a MUCH more reliable video picture and better sound quality as well. The webcast included Dave “SmokeJumper” Georgeson, Emily “Domino” Taylor, and Linda “Brasse” Carlson. Lots of questions were asked from SOE’s Facebook page, including a question I submitted and heck I even won some StationCash for submitting a question. In case you’re wondering, my question was: When is the new EQ2Players site being launched? and the...
If you’ve been waiting to buy EverQuest II: Age of Discovery and were expecting to get Destiny of Velious included, get ready for a surprise! Here’s the original announcement about the Age of Discovery Pre-Order: Digital Collector’s Edition 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, a Cloak of the Truespirit, Dungeon Maker Unique Monster Spawner #1, Dungeon Maker Unique Monster Spawner #2, Armored Flying Pegasus Mount, Unique Beastlord Warder Pet, Lavastorm Prestige Home, Custom Dungeon Maker Map Layout, and a...
From EverQuest2.com: Pre-Order EverQuest II – Age of Discovery Today!EverQuest II – Age of Discovery is now available for pre-order! This exciting new expansion to the world of Norrath will be released on November 30, 2011. Digital Collector’s Edition $59.99 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, a Cloak of the Truespirit, Dungeon Maker Unique Monster Spawner #1, Dungeon Maker Unique Monster Spawner #2, Armored Flying Pegasus Mount, Unique Beastlord Warder Pet, Lavastorm Prestige Home, Custom Dungeon Maker Map Layout,...
Are you ready for some concrete info about Beastlords? The decision to bring Beastlords to EverQuest II was made less than a month before Fan Faire according to an SOE source, and a lot of things were said at Fan Faire, including what type of armor and weapons they’d use, what class they’d be, and how Warders would work. Now that the team has been working on them for four months, there have, not surprisingly, been a few changes. Here is EQ2’s Lead Designer Akil “Lyndro” Hooper talking about Beastlords on EverQuest2.com: Q. What is a beastlord? What makes...
So we’ve just posted our transcript of last night’s Freeport Revamp webcast. If you don’t want to read the whole thing and just want the top five items you should know, here you go: 5 You will not be able to fly/leap/glide in Freeport. This is something that was promised by SmokeJumper at this year’s Fan Faire before the art team had put in the development hours. They found that framerates were absolutely abysmal if you were able to fly, leap, glide, etc. 4 You will not be able to start characters in Freeport. The revamped Freeport provides a...
Brian “Omougi” Ferguson has spilled the beans on Tradeskill Apprentices at EverQuest2.com: What exactly IS a tradeskill apprentice? A tradeskill apprentice is an NPC that you can hire to work for you in your house. You will need to be tradeskill level 10 or higher before you can work with a tradeskill apprentice. Who are these tradeskill apprentices anyway? The first tradeskill apprentices available for hire will be Coldain dwarves. Now that Velious has been reconnected to the rest of Norrath, the Coldain are eager to learn the advances in tradeskills that have taken place during their years of...
If you’ve been following the somewhat unfortunate adventures of the Gnoob the Gnome character, you’ll recall he had a big part to play in the introduction of Mercenaries to the original EverQuest when it was faced with its own problem of no new blood to help new or returning players leveling up alts. There have been over a dozen Gnoob videos in the past but this one touches on the upcoming Age of Discovery and its Mercenaries feature. It’s worth a watch and comes with a laugh. From EverQuest2.com:
The upcoming Age of Discovery expansion will include the Mercenaries feature. These player-controlled (or perhaps just guided, depending) NPCs will help players in groups or raids, for a small fee. You can read a lore-based/mock interview with one of these upcoming mercenaries at EverQuest2.com: Recently, we have caught word that mercenaries will start to offer their services in Norrath come the end of the year. We were lucky enough to grab an interview with one of these soon to be job-seeking mercenaries! Her name Vittia Direshadow and she is a Teir’dal Shadowknight. She’s quite scary-looking but assures me she...