Feldon
It’s time for another in-game poll for EQ2 players. The two questions in this month’s poll address the recent Game Update 63: Skyshrine content as well as the upcoming Game Update 64: Qeynos Reborn. None of the questions touch on the quality or content of the question, only asking players to identify what content they have or have not been playing. NOTE: As mentioned in the past, only the first poll entry for each account is measured. After the jump, we provide the questions for posterity’s sake…
game update 63
If there is one thing that must surely keep the producers and designers of MMOs up at night, it’s the pace at which players complete their content. It takes months and months to conceptualize, design, create, populate, and script quality MMO content. The producers and designers always start out with the best intentions of wanting their content to be fun and for the rewards to be commensurate to the challenge. But those goals must at some point take a back seat to the First Commandment of MMO design: Thou shalt make content that lasts!
Game Update 63: Skyshrine has now been launched on all U.S. Servers. EU servers (Splitpaw, Storms, and Valor) have 14 1/2 hours to wait until they get to play this update. Pay no attention to the Server Status widget and page at SOE which are reporting all servers down.
EQ2Wire is proud to present our Game Update 63: Skyshrine Frequently Asked Questions guide. UPDATED April 24, 2012. After the jump, find out how to reach the Withered Lands and Skyshrine, what kind of solo, group, and raid content is available, a bit more about Prestige Points, and how to get started in Game Update 63 regardless of your play style!
From Piestro on the EQ2 Forums: On Wednesday, April 18, 2012 at 5 AM London Time the Splitpaw server will come down for Game Update 63: Skyshrine. Expected downtime is approximately 5 hours. We haven’t heard of “London Time”, and we’re not sure why only the Splitpaw server is mentioned. Maybe Piestro meant to say: On Wednesday, April 18, 2012 at 5:00 British Summer Time (6:00 Central Europe Time) the Splitpaw, Storms, and Valor servers will come down for Game Update 63: Skyshrine. Expected downtime is approximately 5 hours. We apologize for patching the European servers nearly a full...
Cyliena of EQ2 ZAM has once again turned out comprehensive coverage of an EQ2 Game Update. This time around, we get full coverage of the zones and quests that make up Game Update 63: Skyshrine. You’ll find full walkthroughs of the Withered Lands quests and more information on this update. Game Update 63 Coverage at EQ2 ZAM
From the EQ2 Forums: On Tuesday, April 17, 2012 at 7 AM Pacific* all U.S. EverQuest II servers will come down for Game Update 63: Skyshrine. Expected downtime is approximately 5 hours. UPDATE: EverQuest2.com has this update about Splitpaw: Important: On Tuesday, April 17, 2012 at 5 AM London Time* the Splitpaw server will come down for Game Update 63: Skyshrine. Expected downtime is approximately 5 hours. LATE UPDATE: Game Update 63 has been delayed to April 18th, 2012 for EU servers!! Time Zone Conversion PST: April 17 @ 7:00am~12:00 Noon EST: April 17 @ 10:00am~3:00pm BST: April 17...
Dave “SmokeJumper” Georgeson, EverQuest Franchise Director of Development, steps up and hosts the second Game Update 63: Skyshrine Preview Webcast, with guests Holly “Windstalker” Longdale, EverQuest II Senior Producer, and Akil “Lyndro” Hooper, EverQuest II Lead Designer. After the jump, notes about the Game Update 63: Skyshrine Part 2 Webcast, as well as hints about Prestige Classes, the Qeynos Revamp, and more!
So if you’ve clicked on this article looking for a transcript of last month’s Game Update 63: Skyshrine Part 1 webcast, we have a last minute change. This won’t be a transcript but a summary. If this seems like bait-and-switch, realize that we tuned into the webcast to see: Holly “Windstalker” Longdale, EQ2 Senior Producer Akil “Lyndro” Hooper, EQ2 Lead Designer Dave “SmokeJumper” Georgeson, EverQuest Franchise Director of Development and there was a slight change in the guest list to: Kyle “Kander” Vallee, Assistant Lead Designer Dave “SmokeJumper” Georgeson After the jump, what we were able to take away...
From the EQ2 Forums: Skyshrine, the ancient city of dragons, will make its way to the EverQuest II world in Game Update 63. In this week’s webcast your host Dave “Smoke Jumper” Georgeson (Director of Development) chats with Holly “Windstalker” Longdale (Producer), and Akil “Lyndro” Hooper (Lead Designer) about the level increase, the prestige system, tradeskills, and more! Do you have questions for our guests this week, this is the place to ask them! Join us on Thursday, April 12, 2012, at 4:00 p.m. US Pacific Time* on Twitch TV! The webcast is expected to last about 20 minutes. Be there...
First reported in July 2011 and again in November 2011, tradeskillers have been reporting the disappearance of recipes from their recipe books, making crafting of those items impossible. Players had found various workarounds to get the recipes to (sometimes) appear, but there was no easy fix. Petitioners were informed that even if a GM made the recipe visible again, it would eventually disappear due to the same bug. The issue was raised again in January of this year, and then last week, Omougi, EQ2’s tradeskill developer, indicated that the issue was being looked into. And here’s the latest update...
From EverQuest2.com: With all the new Heroic and Raid content being released in Game Update 63: SKYSHRINE, we just had to go over and get the inside scoop from Assistant Lead Designer Kyle “Kander” Vallee. Piestro: How difficult is the heroic and raid content available in Game Update 63: SKYSHRINE? Is this targeted at only the more advanced players or will this content be suitable for every skill level? Kander: We are really making an effort to see that heroic content is broadly accessible to everyone and try to cover every play style, from the causal solo player to the group player who wants...
From Lyndro on the EQ2 Forums: The new AA curve is mostly based on the amount of AA experience most people earn when they reach 90. For people who start up new characters (new players or alts), we’d much prefer they have fun playing the game rather than mentoring down to grind their way up to 280. This isn’t really compelling gameplay, and we don’t see a whole lot of value in perpetuating it. We’d much prefer that when the bulk of people “finish” (Finish is a tough term to define and is loaded and open to lots of...
New Drakota Mounts with Game Update 63: SKYSHRINE! Everyone loves mounts, and Game Update 63: SKYSHRINE does not disappoint in this regard. With the inclusion of the new Drakota Mounts, players will have new choices for their steed to convey them throughout Norrath. Available in a number of different ways, everything from Collections and Quests to drops in Heroic and Raid instances, you’ll want to pick the Drakota that is right for you. There are even some named Drakota for those of you who are searching for the truly unique and most prestigious of mounts! Discuss this on the...
From Piestro on the EQ2 Forums: As to PvP changes, at one time these were tenatively planned for GU63. Unfortunately the scope of GU63 meant that PvP changes would not be feasible to include, because GU63 has so much in it already. I don’t want to go ahead and promise they’ll be in GU64 (because it’s too early for that), but this is a matter I will continue to discuss with the Development team. I’ll continue to note feedback we recieve and bring issues up on a regular basis.
If you’ve been concerned about how much AA XP grinding you’ll have to run this upcoming Double XP weekend to prepare for Game Update 63, it looks we’re about to be graded on a curve. As per a Test Update Note and discussion thread on In Testing Feedback, it looks like the AA Experience Curve is being flattened: We have modified the AA XP tables reducing the amount of experience necessary for advancement levels 1 to 280. When you log in your character they will be converted from the old tables to the new tables this will cause most...
Eric “Piestro” Cleaver interviewed Brian “Omougi” Ferguson on the EQ2 Forums about the upcoming Game Update 63: As we continue on towards the release of Game Update 63: SKYSHRINE, I sat down with Game Designer Brian “Omougi” Ferguson to talk a little bit about tradeskills. Tradeskills are a big part of GU 63 and he had a lot of exciting information to share! [Piestro] So tell us a little bit about tradeskills in GU 63. What can tradeskillers expect to see once the Game Update is released? [BF] Game Update 63 contains the first step into the 10th tier...
From EverQuest2.com: Skyshrine, the ancient city of dragons, will make its way to the EverQuest II world in Game Update 63. In this week’s webcast your host Linda “Brasse” Carlson (Director of Global Community Relations) chats with Holly “Windstalker” Longdale (Producer), Akil “Lyndro” Hooper (Lead Designer), and Dave “Smoke Jumper” Georgeson (Director of Development) about the level increase, the prestige system, tradeskills, and more! Join us on Thursday, March 29, 2012, at 4:00 p.m. US Pacific Time* on Twitch TV! The webcast is expected to last about 20 minutes. Be there to hear about some of the exciting content in Game...
From EverQuest2.com: Get a first glimpse of the next EverQuest II Game Update – Skyshrine. Our talented Senior Artist, Tad Ehrlich, takes you through the Skyshrine courtyard giving a taste of this exciting new content coming this April. The Destiny of Velious saga continues as adventurers breach the barriers of the Withered Lands seeking entrance to Skyshrine, the glorious ancient dragon city! The great citadel of Skyshrine has long housed the group of dragons known as the Claws of Veeshan behind its massive walls and arcane protections. Now, the unthinkable has happened — it has become besieged by powerful...
From Karen Bryan at Massively: As Massively reported this week, EverQuest II Game Update 63 is inching closer to going live, and it’s bringing some exciting changes. There are new zones, instances, quests, and lots of dragons on the way. For old Velious fans, the return of Skyshrine will be a welcome sight, although there’s new danger and turmoil both inside the city as well as through the land that surrounds it. We’re beginning to get more specifics on what is included in this update, and this week’s Tattered Notebook offers a rundown of what’s revealed so far. The...
Lead Designer Akil “Lyndro” Hooper was interviewed by Piestro about Game Update 63. From EverQuest2.com: With the announcement of Game Update 63: SKYSHRINE, players have been speculating on the details. In the interest of answering some questions that were on players’ minds, I sat down with Lead Designer Akil “Lyndro” Hooper to ask a few questions about general design related topics for GU 63. We’ll continue to get into the meat of this game update in the coming weeks with specific subjects like Tradeskilling and more. Piestro: I’ve been looking over lists of items included with this Game Update,...
Game Update 63 “Skyshrine” rolls out to the live servers on April 17th, but parts of it are now available for testing on the Test and Test Copy servers. In addition to the new Velious zones and a level cap raise to level 92, some of the biggest news is the opening of a new “Prestige” AA tab. From Xelgad on the EQ2 Forums: Hey all, it’s time for some new character progression, and this time there’s no NDA! With that in mind, the majority of this stuff still needs tweaking, polishing and balancing before it’s ready for live...
From Xelgad on the EQ2 Forums: Prestige Points are basically Alternate Advancements that you earn automatically as you level. Details coming later this week. We’re hoping to have a lot of people on test over the next month, and I think our community team is even working on some rewards for players who are able to make it over there. To update your Test Client in Launchpad 4, click on the tools icon in your normal live launcher -> Select Game Version -> Public Test -> Apply. Looking forward to seeing what you guys think!
Dethdlr
SOE has laid their cards on the table for Game Update 63. First up, a level cap raise to level 92. No, that’s not a typo. As of April 17th, players will be able to gain 2 more levels, as well as a new form of player advancement called ‘prestige points’. GU63 brings the promised Destiny of Velious content of new group and raid instances, a variety of solo content includind a new overland zone and more! Also Age of Discovery owners will be able to tame new Beastlord warder types. Game Update 63 hits Test on Thursday, March...
Niami Denmother has turned pink at the prospect of the returning Brewday 2012 events. To find out what’s new with this year’s event, look no further than her Brewday 2012 Crafting/Housing Preview. In other news, Omougi, EQ2’s new Tradeskill Developer has announced that carpenters will be gaining access to eleven (11) sets of Building Blocks to be crafted with common materials.