..................................................................... ------------------------------ January 22, 2004 ------------------------------ We have made a few changes to remove some exploits in our continuing effort to remove any loopholes in EverQuest. In this update we have removed the charm exploit in Plane of Tactics by changing the way that charm works. This change should not affect those who use charm in the manner for which it was intended. We have also changed the profit margin of many tradeskill items when sold to NPC vendors. It is our hope that these changes and your continued community efforts will help to put a stop to those who do not wish to play fairly. - Changed Charm spells so that NPCs spell use will now be interrupted once the charm has expired. - We have modified the sell back value on many tradeskill items to prevent excessive profit. - Please note that many items will now show as being usable by berserkers. This does not necessarily mean the items will be equippable by berserkers when Gates of Discord launches. ** Gates of Discord ** www.gatesofdiscord.com The latest expansion to EverQuest - Gates of Discord - is available for pre-order and incremental download! Be the first in your guild to pre-order Gates and begin the incremental download now! This new expansion boasts: -100 new Alternate Advancement abilities. -Leadership experience to unlock many group- and raid-enhancing tools. -20 new zones -- 10 new instanced zones and 10 new traditional zones, including a huge ship city zone to gather your party and launch expeditions. The new combat zones are for characters level 50 and over. -New Berserker class -- ravage your enemies with two-handed axes or by hurling large objects. -Discover the newly found continent of Taelosia and discover the secrets of Norrath's future! -20 all-new NPC models make for hundreds of challenging encounters unlike anything seen before in EverQuest. -New Tribute System to enhance gameplay with beneficial attributes, skills, or effects. -Dozens of new and exciting story-driven quests and content for the hardy adventurer. -New tradeskill recipes to produce hundreds of new items. -Unearth arcane spells, mighty weapons, and other hidden treasures! Pre-order yours today by pressing Pre-order at the server select screen, or at https://store.station.sony.com! ** Incremental Download for Gates of Discord ** We have begun introducing the Gates files in small bits. This is the most convenient way for you to get the files you'll need for the new expansion. It is a lot easier to download these files in smaller chunks than to download them all on the day of release. You can get the files incrementally from the EverQuest updater. The obvious way to begin downloading the files is to click "yes" when the dialogue box pops up asking you if you'd like to incrementally download Gates. If you've already told that dialogue never to appear again, you can get the files in a few easy steps: - Run the EverQuest Updater - Click the Advanced button - Click the checkbox next to Gates of Discord - Click Save - Click Download. This will catch you up on the downloads you have missed and will update you as we add files to the updater. This will make your download much smaller the day Gates launches, or the day you purchase the digital version of the expansion. The anticipated release date -- February 10th, 2004 -- is subject to change. If the anticipated release date changes, we will announce a revised release date via a patch message. ..................................................................... ------------------------------ January 30, 2004 ------------------------------ Tonight we have a small update to fix some general bugs. We are again changing charm (in exactly the way we thought we had last week) No this is not deja vu. You should also look for changes in that evolving zone of Nedaria's Landing. I wonder what is going on there? - An update to the zone, Nedaria's Landing. Make sure you check it out. - Charm spell change: If an NPC is in the middle of casting a spell when charm is broken, it will interrupt the spell. - Some general bug fixes. Make sure you log onto the Test server to see what other changes we are cooking up. Our next Scheduled update is planned for February 10th. Remember Gates of Discord is coming soon. Go to www.gatesofdiscord.com or EQlive.station.sony.com for more information. ..................................................................... ------------------------------ February 3, 2004 ------------------------------ LIVE CHAT with the EQ Development Team Tonight, February 3rd 6PM PST, the EQ Dev team will be holding an EverQuest: Gates of Discord live chat. Go to EQlive.station.sony.com for details. One week left to Pre-order EverQuest: Gates of Discord, the next exciting expansion for EverQuest. Make sure you check it out. ..................................................................... ------------------------------ February 10, 2004 ------------------------------ Greetings Norrath, Highlights for today's update: * EverQuest: Gates of Discord goes live! * The Casino is back and waiting for you high rollers. Go to Shadowhaven to try your luck. * Tradeskillers rejoice, the new UI is here! * Nedaria's landing has evolved further. Gates of Discord Launches! ------------------------- EverQuest: Gates of Discord Available Now! Epic adventures now await you in EverQuest: Gates of Discord, the seventh expansion pack now available for EverQuest. Discover the lost continent of Taelosia and come face-to-face with invaders from the realm of chaos. Join armies of adventurers on their quest to unearth long-hidden artifacts of power from temple ruins, secret catacombs, dank sewers and vast marshlands. Should you fail, Norrath, its inhabitants, and its gods may fall under control of the forces of Discord! Gain Entry into the Gates of Discord! Download now direct from the Station Store Purchase at your local retailer (retail boxed version includes special in-box and in-game item, while supplies last) Exciting New Features! 100 new AA abilities 20 new zones with all-new NPCs New Tribute System and Leadership Experience Ravage your enemies with the Berserker Purchase EverQuest: Gates of Discord now and receive great discount offers from Creative Labs and Kingston. Special restrictions apply. (visit www.everquest.com for more details) Return of the Casino ------------------------ ** Play King's Court in Shadowhaven! ** Shandeling's Roost in Shadowhaven again houses a game of chance. To play you will need to buy a King's Court Token. You then take this token and turn it in to any of the dealers. Based on what your hand turns out to be, you will be awarded a prize. The highest hands will return a gold ticket as the prize. This Ticket can be turned in to win prizes such as a Guise of the Deceiver, Fungus Covered Great Staff, or Holgresh Elder Beads. Good luck to all that play! Tradeskill UI now live ------------------------ Opening a tradeskill container will now open a new user interface. In the window you will find an area that has all recipes that are currently available to you. This includes recipes that are at your skill level as well as some above it. Clicking on a recipe will display what items are necessary for its completion. Clicking the "combine" button will extract those required items from the player's inventory, and perform the recipe combine, placing the results on the player's cursor. The new system is nice and neat, with no dragging and dropping unless you want to try a combine that is way out of your league, which uses the old style of combination. Item Changes ------------------------ - The name of Berserker armor has been changed to Bladesmans armor. - The beastlord epic weapon will no longer "proc" for wielders below the 46th level. - Many text changes in item descriptions. General Bug Fixes ------------------------ - A Tormentors hoof is now flagged as a tradeskill item. - Chaotic Stab, a rogue AA, will no longer cause full damage on frontal attacks. - Altered some NPC factions in the Plane of Tactics arena to prevent a problem with charm. Combat Abilities ------------------------ - Fixed some text on the Focus Will Discipline. - Assassins Strike should now work correctly. - Sneak Attack should now work correctly. - Thief's Vengeance is now working correctly. - Indirection should now work as intended. Spells ------------------------ - Corrected a few spell descriptions. - Corrected some spell sound effects. - Arachnae Venom and Fellspine should now stack with the warriors provoke abilities. ..................................................................... ------------------------------ February 11, 2004 ------------------------------ -Corrected an issue with Qinimi that would not allow characters lower than 60th level to enter the zone. -Addendum to 2/10/2004: No change was made to the Chaotic Stab ability. ..................................................................... ------------------------------ February 12, 2004 ------------------------------ Tribute Update The Tribute system as it was released has caused a greater variance in favor distribution than was intended. In order to make the system more healthy, fair, and balanced, there will be changes made over two updates -- one today and one next week. The following changes have been made today: - Favor Maximum: There will be a maximum limit of 200,000 favor that a player character can have available at any time. If a player has accumulated more than 200,000 favor at the time of this change, the character will retain its favor, but will not be able to add to it until it falls below 200,000. - Favor Value Adjustments to Items: Some items have had their favor value adjusted to be more appropriate. For this update, this will not affect the favor amount that a player has gained by handing in items that have had their favor values adjusted. For next week's update, we will be adjusting each character's favor amounts based on any items that were handed in to Tribute Masters that have had their favor values adjusted. We hope you continue to enjoy the benefits of the Tribute system and Gates of Discord. In other words: Play, raid and be merry, for tomorrow we nerf. ..................................................................... ------------------------------ February 18, 2004 ------------------------------ We found a bit of code that was, occasionally, causing random zone crashes and corrected it. We are still working on the second part of the 1017 problem and hope that many of you found some relief in the changes we made last night. Thanks again for your patience. We're working hard to solve the problem. Monks once again irresistible. (Phantom abilities should no longer be resisted.) Small change to berserker epic text. ..................................................................... ------------------------------ March 10, 2004 ------------------------------ Headlines ------------------------ Combines work again! Melee Part II! A new story has been added to your storybook! The grammar police have invaded EQ and they have made many minor spell, item and quest text fixes that are too numerous to list here. We'd like to thank all of the players that took time to provide feedback regarding the melee changes. We'd also like to send a special thanks to all of the players that helped us test the additions on the Test and Beta servers. All of the input we received helped to shape the improvements you've seen in the melee classes. Please continue to give your feedback on the melee system or anything else that you feel requires attention. It does make a difference. Over the last several months there have been several new additions to EverQuest aimed at increasing the desirability and relative power of pure melee classes. - Discipline timers were revamped, allowing greater freedom and frequency of use. - Endurance bar was added as a limited resource to power melee abilities and disciplines. - Warriors received an innate 5 percent increase in their ability to absorb damage. - Warriors received the Incite line of abilities, giving them a new tool for aggro management. - Monks received the Phantom Call line of abilities, giving them a new tool for pulling. - Several new disciplines were introduced for all three classes. The endurance system and the separation of the discipline timers have provided us with new tools to add interesting and powerful abilities in the future for melee classes. You can count on seeing new disciplines and abilities as the game progresses and as situations arise that require new abilities to effectively balance class power. We will continue to evaluate the melee system for both balance and enjoyment. We will also continue to review and make changes to each individual class as needed. Class balance is an important part of any multiplayer game and requires constant attention. Thanks for helping make EverQuest a great game. Items ------------------------ We have replaced the spell-like effects on items which produced the following effects: Attack, HP Regen, Mana Regen, Haste and Damage Shield with actual statistics. The effects on the item have not changed they are just set up in a new way that we hope will allow for more item functionality in the future. Several Gates smithed weapons have had their damage and delay adjusted to be more in line with the difficulty in crafting them. The Copper Hammer of Striking will no longer proc for wielders below level 50. The Wailing Coral Staff is now two handed blunt. Bolas are now one-handed projectile rather than ammo. Bola ranges have been adjusted slightly. All bolas that can proc will now do so. All items that had the "Cleave" series of effects removed, have had them returned. The drop rate for the following Epic Quest items has been increased slightly: - Essence of a Vampire - Decrepit Hide - Staff of Elemental Mastery (earth) Expedition zones ------------------------- You will now have to wait 5 minutes before you are able to accept another expedition zone. Tradeskills ------------------------- In order to correct many of the issues with the new tradeskill interface it was necessary to remove all learned and favorite recipes. However the system should now work better overall. The sell prices for Saltwater Tuna and Saltwater crab, as well as the price for any item made from them, have been reduced. Rainbow Trout should now be tradeable. If you are not a gnome, you should no longer be able to tinker with a deluxe toolkit kit. If you are a gnome, please tinker away. You should now be able to properly search for recipes. The trivial level for brewing Fish Wine has been adjusted. Berserkers ------------------------- Some berserker abilities have had their endurance cost changed. The duration of Confusing Strike has been reduced. Berserkers should no longer be told that they can bash at level 6. The berserker guildmaster in the Plane of Knowledge has been taught throwing and parry and is ready to train berserkers in their use. Spells ------------------------- Some Gates of Discord spells should now drop a little more often. Several heal spells for Gates of Discord have been modified slightly. The shadow knight Ancient Spell: Bite of Chaos should now work as intended. NPC's ------------------------- Hierophant Granix should now give the correct text in Cabilis. Trimdet Trueheart in Abysmal Sea is less of a snob and should now speak with you correctly. If you tell Brevik Kalaner in Abysmal what items you [need back], he will return to you any items you've just given him. Tribute ------------------------- A few items have had their tribute value adjusted. Gift of the Enchanters should now work correctly. You should no longer be able to donate containers with items inside for favor. Persistent Boon should now give the proper effect. Alternate Advancement ------------------------- Dire Charm will no longer reset after being resisted as the ability was successfully initiated. Dire Charm should now reset when used on an NPC that is too high in level. Miscellaneous ------------------------- Corrected a faction issue with the wizard epic. The monk "Phantom" line of abilities should no longer be resisted in the level 65 "hard" LDoN Adventures. The rogue's "Assassin's Strike" skill line ability will be re-introduced with the next update. The Shining Bloodstone will now be restricted to 2-handed weapons. Any who have placed this augmentation in a 1-handed weapon will find the augmentation on their cursor when they log in. If you find that you have no practical use for the 2-handed augmentation, please petition and a suitable 1-handed replacement will be made available to you. - The EverQuest Team ..................................................................... ------------------------------ March 16, 2004 ------------------------------ *Highlights* EverQuest 5th Anniversary Return of the Casino (Again) Check with the Town Criers for the latest edition of the Norrath newspaper! EverQuest Celebrates Five Years. Join us for the 5th Anniversary in-game celebrations for EverQuest. Over the course of the next few weeks you will be able to join in a massive scavenger hunt, battle fabled NPCs with upgraded loot, experience enormous firework displays and defend your city against armies of skeletons. *It's Back! (Again)* The Casino is back and ready for you to try your luck. You can check it out in Shadowhaven. Good luck! *Spells* Added a new magician spell, Elemental Draw, which is available in the East Commonlands. Changed the following shaman healing spells. -Daluda's Mending - previously Plague of Daluda -Breath of Trushar -Quiescence ..................................................................... ------------------------------ March 23, 2004 ------------------------------ Headlines DirectX 9 is now REQUIRED to play on all SOE EverQuest servers and Venril Sathir! Stormhammer received a new adventure zone. Another story for you to peruse in your storybook. Screenshots in .JPG? What will they think of next! More Grammar changes (no not Grandma, Grammar) DirectX 9 -We have added more detail to the gamma correction slider, which means you may need to adjust your gamma settings which are located under video options -All zones will temporarily have the same sky while we refine DirectX 9 functionality. -Corpses should now be easier to target. -We have added a new command, /rewind, which should free your character if they become stuck in geometry. -There are now independent window resolutions for full screen and windowed mode. Stormhammer If you are a Legends subscriber you can visit the Lost Pyramid of Galuuk Korr. This midlevel adventure zone will allow you to explore a monument from the lost elvish city of Takish Hiz! Now you must find what was left beneath the sands. Good luck. Screenshots -Screenshots will now save to a "Screenshot" folder in your EQ directory -You can now change the format your screenshots are saved in by adding the "ScreenshotType=" line in your eqclient.ini file, which is in your EverQuest directory. To save in jpg format you would change or add the line to read "ScreenshotType=jpg". Supported formats are bmp, jpg, tga, dds and png. Screenshots will continue to save in bmp format unless this line is added. Items -More items have had endurance added to them. -Some Fabled items have been tweaked a bit. -Added recommended levels to some fabled items. -You will now need to be of at least the 50th level to complete the beastlord epic. NPC -Guards in Everfrost Peaks will once again help those in trouble. -Soulbinders should now show in the Find window. -Fabled NPC's will now appropriately reflect their difficulty. Spells -Elemental Draw will no longer Crit on your pets. Miscellaneous -Uqua should be a bit more playable now. -Ikkinz raids have been upgraded slightly. ..................................................................... ------------------------------ March 25, 2004 ------------------------------ Headlines -Refining some DX9 functionality. -Some adjustments have been made to pets. -Some general bug fixes. -Added a new rogue discipline line, Assassins Strike. The tomes can be found in the East Commonlands and the Plane of Knowledge. DirectX 9 -The center of collision for all players -We have made improvements to position processing which should alleviate some of the problems related to getting stuck in geometry. -Improved collision and movement when near overhangs. -The auto-duck mechanism is now an user-enabled option. It can be set in the General tab of the options window. This feature forces your character to duck automatically to get into small places. If set to off, you will need to manually duck to enter those places. It is "on" by default. -Warping of very small NPCs (e.g., giant rats in Qeynos) has been resolved. -Rain now has visible weather. Pets 60+ player pets have been improved in a number of ways. Most notably, the effects of pet foci will be more dramatic as a player progresses with more powerful equipment. There have also been a number of inconsistencies between different tiers of pet foci that have been fixed. All of the existing foci should never show a power decrease in any aspect when upgrading from a lower tier foci to a higher tier foci. The most dramatic changes in pet stats are in the following aspects: Level - Most tiers of Foci will add one level to the pet. Max HP - Most tiers of foci will add max hit points to the pet, some tiers are more dramatic than others and follow a similar rate of progression to player characters as they gain equipment equivalent to the pet focus items. Mitigation (AC, Agility) -- Most tiers of foci will add mitigation to the pet. Some tiers are more dramatic than others and follow a similar rate of progression to player characters as they gain equipment equivalent to the pet focus items. Damage Output - Generally the pets did not receive a significant change in their damage output, although there are certain pets that have had their max hit and offense increased. Overall, the player pets have received a significant boost. There are instances where you will see no change in a specific aspect of a specific pet. For example, the Rathe’’s Son pet summoned with Minion of Eternity has not received an improvement in max hit points, but it has received a significant mitigation improvement. These changes affect the pets summoned by the following spells: Ward of Xegony Child of Ro Servant of Marr Rathe’s Son Legacy of Zek Saryrn’s Companion Child of Bertoxxulous Spirit of Sorsha Spirit of Arag The most profound changes were made to the magician pets as they were most in need of improvement to maintain class balance. Beastlord and necromancer pets also received upgrades, but not of the same magnitude. -- The EverQuest Team ..................................................................... ------------------------------ April 13, 2004 ------------------------------ The Graveyard zone, Shadowrest, is now live! We have introduced the new graveyard zone, Shadowrest, to the live servers. The zone will allow adventurers whose corpse has decayed, after 7 days, to retrieve it. They will merely have to greet the appropriate NPC in one of the following zones to activate their transport to Shadowrest; East Commonlands The Plane of Knowledge Toxxulia Forest Qeynos Hills The Feerrott Butcherblock Mountains The Field of Bone Shadeweavers Thicket Misty Thicket We hope you enjoy this new addition to EverQuest! The EverQuest Team ..................................................................... ------------------------------ April 14, 2004 ------------------------------ Headlines! - You can now set hot keys to cycle through targets! Collision and Targeting - We have improved Collision. - We have improved targeting. - Auto-rewind has been disabled. Auto-rewind has been disabled. Auto-rewind has been disabled. - Short races should be able to manage steps and slopes more easily, so gnomes and halflings will again be under foot. - Arrows should no longer make NPCs look like porcupines. Please note that we have nothing against porcupines and consider them a fine animal. You will now have the option to bind cycle through PC and NPC targets to a hot key of your choice. You can hit your select nearest target key at any time, during cycling, to reset the cycle. Quests Some changes have been made to the "Breakdown in Communication" quest. Drops should be more plentiful but may come from different NPCs. Hide and Invisibility - There are now fewer mobs that can see through invisibility and detect rogues in Ferubi and Barindu. Go rogues! - Smith Rondo should ignore players that are invisible or hidden. Lost Information from previous updates - 60+ focused mage pets are now summoned with a full set of phantom plate equipped. - Guildmasters and Merchants in Knowledge are now findable. - The Succor point in Ferubi has been moved to the Qinimi zoneline. ..................................................................... ------------------------------ April 21, 2004 ------------------------------ Headlines! - Boat Gnomes are now available all the time. (and I thought gnomes were only good as appetizers) - A new edition of the newspaper is available in your home town. Come and get it! Boat Gnomes The boat gnomes and other alternate means of travel are now available. During this period of gnome servitude, the boats will be in drydock and receiving some much needed repairs ..................................................................... ------------------------------ April 28, 2004 ------------------------------ Headlines! - A new storybook has arrived! Make sure you read it to find out what Tondal is up to now. - A new adventure zone is live on Stormhammer! - A new adventure zone has moved from Stormhammer to Live! - What are the "HOT SPOTS"? - Plane of Knowledge open to everyone! New Adventure Zone goes to Stormhammer - We have added a new adventure zone which should be a challenge for 2 groups of about 50th level. A party of adventurers is missing and was last seen working with the undead. Will you brave the catacombs to find them? New Adventure Zone moves to Live - The adventure zone currently on Stormhammer will move to live servers. You can visit the Lost Pyramid of Galuuk Korr. This midlevel adventure zone will allow you to explore a monument from the lost elvish city of Takish Hiz! Now you must find what was left beneath the sands. Good luck. Hot Spots Try out the new Hot Spot zones which give a boost to Experience while adventuring in them, in a similar manner to Paludal Caverns. The current Hot Spots are: - The Castle of Mistmoore (20th to 30th level) - The Lair of the Splitpaw (35th to 45th level) - Dulak's Harbor (40th to 45th level) - The Tower of Frozen Shadow (30th to 35th level) - The Gulf of Gunthak (35th to 40th level) - Hate's Fury (55th to 60th level) - The Crypt of Nadox (50th to 55th level) - The Torgiran Mines (45th to 50th level) These Hot Spot zones are generally aimed at characters level 20 to 51. The Hot Spot zones will shift from time to time, so watch for messages giving clues as to where the new ones may be. Plane of Knowledge All EQ characters can now access the Plane of Knowledge whether they have purchased Planes of Power or not! General - We have decreased load times when zoning. Gates Sewers and Vxed - Rare NPCs in the Gates sewers and Vxed will not spawn at the creation of the expedition zone. They will now spawn after the zone has been occupied for some time. Items - Skill percent-mods now work for Ammo slot items. - Grand Tunic of the Oracle and the Grand Robe of the Oracle have had a type 7 augmentation slot added to them. - Lungi of the Forbidden will display a robe graphic once again. Monks and Beastlords will be able to swap the robe in for a leather looking BP with the same stats by visiting Garath the Trader in East Wastes. You will be able to swap the items back and forth with Garath for your desired look. (Lungi? Lungi? What is a Lungi?) Spells - Characters in illusion form can again be targeted. - Bull Rush is now a magical resist. Please do not use in a china shop. - Balance of the Nihil has had its Mana and Slow percentage increased. Tracking - More NPC's in Qinimi now leave tracks for trackers to find. Firiona Vie - The Shuriken of Eternity and Ton Po's Mystical Pouch are now no-drop. ..................................................................... ------------------------------ May 5, 2004 ------------------------------ Happy Cinco De Mayo! EverQuest 2 Beta Sign Ups are now open! Make sure you sign up for the exciting EverQuest 2 beta! Join the folks who have already added their name to the rapidly growing list for this amazing beta opportunity. Go to www.everquest2.com and click on the beta link to get your chance at a beta slot! I hope to see you in the beta! Sign up now, tomorrow may be too late. Headlines! - You now have the ability to remove your own surname! - All characters will regen HP faster when sitting! - /rewind is back and ready for action! Surnames You can now use the /surname command to remove your own surname and add a new one. Please remember to read the naming policy as listed on EQlive.station.sony.com as it applies to both first names and surnames. You will still need to ask for CS assistance if you wish to have a name with double capitals or special characters. Please note that this command can only be used to remove or change your surname once per week. HP Regen - All characters should now regenerate HP faster when sitting. The longer you sit, the faster you regenerate! - You will not receive increased regen while under the effects of a DOT or while feigned. - You can now bandage yourself up to 70% of your HP. Folks with the appropriate AA abilities can bandage above 70%. - You can now bandage while sitting. /rewind /rewind is back and should help if you find yourself stuck. This is not an automatic rewind, you will have to execute the command. We are continuing to work on other collision issues and hope to no longer need /rewind in the near future. This command is only able to be used once every 30 seconds, and in order to make use of it, your character will need to be stationary for at least 30 seconds. ..................................................................... ------------------------------ May 12, 2004 ------------------------------ Headlines! Gates of Discord content retuned! Gates of Discord - Zone experience modifiers were increased in all zones from Tipt/Vxed and beyond. - Natimbi, Qinimi, Barindu, Riwwi, and Ferubi should be tuned more appropriately for their intended level ranges. - NPCs will no longer hit for max damage as often. Knights in particular should find it easier to tank the NPCs they previously had difficulty with. - Ikkinz -- Guilds no longer have to flag every member in order to complete the Ikkinz trials. Only one person needs to complete all events/raids to start the seventh Ikkinz trial. At that point, all players who complete the seventh trial will get full credit for the zone. - NPC innates have been adjusted to behave a little more reasonably. - Zone travel has been made easier. Animal aggression was lowered by changing their faction and See Invis percentages were reduced on several NPCs. - Spell drops have been increased. - Increased the rate of cash drops. - The mini bosses in Qvic now have a more appropriate respawn rate. Their item drop rate has been increased to compensate for this. - Breakdown in Communication quest now has improved rewards! Collision More improvements to the collision system should make it a lot more difficult to get stuck. Misc. The Eye of Zomm will once again open closed doors. ..................................................................... ------------------------------ May 27, 2004 ------------------------------ Omens of War has a new expected live date of August 31, 2004. We appreciate your pre-order and if you wish to leave it in place, you do not need to do anything. We will not charge your credit card until the day the expansion actually goes live. If you wish to cancel your pre-order you may follow the steps below. You may cancel your pre-order at any time prior to the live date. Directions to Cancel Pre-Order 1. Visit Station Store https://store.station.sony.com/index.jsp 2. Go to Billing Info and sign in 3. View Current pre-orders 4. Click Cancel button; you will receive a cancellation email 5. Return to Station Store and re-purchase this product using the most up to date information. Thank you! Headlines! Exclusive in-game Shield in July 2004 issue of PC Gamer New Tutorial now live! CS Assist allows use of Knowledge Base in-game Exclusive Shield from PC Gamer Attention EverQuest Players! Exclusive in-game EQ Shield in the July 2004 issue of PC Gamer! You can now claim this special shield by picking up the July issue of PC Gamer. Go to the box on page 33 and use the TOP code to redeem your special shield. To claim this prize, simply log into EverQuest, click on accounts, click the special button and then enter the shield code in the space provided. Tutorial - Does your significant other find EQ too hard to learn? Our new Tutorial is Live and ready to teach them to play. Creating a new character will give you the option to go through the new tutorial. You can choose to leave the tutorial at anytime and can return until your character reaches level 5. The tutorial will walk you through gameplay with easy to follow instructions in text and voice. - Hybrids will now receive mana at level 1 as they now receive a spell in the tutorial. CS Assist A new CS tool is available for use and should provide you with a better interface when petitioning. You can also access our self help option through the knowledge base. You can bring up the new window by pressing the 'P' key, typing /petition, or clicking the "Customer Service" button from the help window. Cabalis Quests Iksar Warriors and Necromancers have some quests to finish! Iksar Beastlords have a new quest. UI Changes - There's a new button in the Options->Display tab to toggle between full screen and windowed mode. - Presto Change-O! There's a new button on the bazaar window to hide all traders. Clicking a trader in the search window will make them appear (limited to the last trader you clicked) - New text filters have been added for Pet Crits, Pet Rampage/Flurry, System Messages, Focus Effects, Exp Messages, and Who list. - The Guild Management window should be better organized. - There's a new /outputfile command to allow creation of text-file dumps of your Guild, Raid, Inventory and spell books. Improved Collisions - Most collision issues should now be resolved. - Collision system improvements have made elevators much safer. - Getting out of water should be a little easier for short races. We wouldn't want all those Halflings to drown, now would we? - Rogues should be able to more easily exit water while sneaking, although I think it would be hard to sneak with wet trousers. Misc. - You now have the ability to "AutoBank" in the Bank Window. - Casting a spell while sitting will stand you up. - Camping while standing will sit you down automatically. - NPC's will not begin regenerating immediately if fleeing or combat ends. - Improved the Iqthinxa Karnkvi event in Qvic ..................................................................... ------------------------------ June 2, 2004 ------------------------------ Collision fixes collide with servers! Collision - When you are summoned by NPCs or players smaller than you, the collision system will now scan a limited area near the destination to find a place to put you so that you will not be stuck in the terrain. - A problem related to collision data being out of sync on the client and server has been corrected and should solve the problems many of you have been seeing with NPCs being pushed into walls. - The sunken NPC and character problem has been much improved. You will still find the occasional NPC at a spawn point that is sunk or elevated slightly, but the NPC should move normally once engaged. Cabilis Quests - The Battle plans from Dalnir should be a little easier to obtain. - The loyal follower in Dreadlands should no longer be a merchant with an empty inventory. - The traitor necromancers seek should be a little easier to find. - Wyzith's belongings should now combine correctly. -- The EverQuest Team ..................................................................... ------------------------------ June 16, 2004 ------------------------------ Headlines! -Collision sees more improvements. -A portal to Gunthak has been added to the Plane of Knowledge. -/guidehelp is now available! -Gates of Discord sees more changes. Collision Updates Many remaining collision issues have been fixed. -Floating NPCs in the Plane of Disease should be more down to earth. -NPC warping should be reduced. -The Emerald Jungle should no longer have NPCs below the world -You should once again collide with the dock in Natimbi. -The entrance to Najena should be easier to navigate. Gunthak Portal -We have added a tome to the Plane of Knowledge to allow for faster travel to and from Gunthak. Enjoy. * Gates of Discord -Increased the drop rate of quest items, for the Breakdown in Communication quest, in the sewers and mountain passes and Ikkinz. * -Increased the number of items that drop from the Qinimi and Barindu events for the Breakdown in Communication quest. * -Increased the drop rate of Breakdown in Communication quest items off the Yxtta bosses as well as making it possible to get them off other NPCs in the zone. -The Ikkinz Chamber of Might and Tipt boss mobs will now behave a little smarter when facing a strong defense. Beware! -Some tuning changes have been made to the Ikkinz single group trials and Tipt. -Changed the NPCs that guard Txevu so they are a longer re-spawn allowing you to get stragglers thru the zone much easier once you kill them. -Pathing in Txevu should be better. * -The bonus reward at the end of Inktu`ta will spawn in a chest instead of being handed directly to the player that triggers the dialogue. -Gates NPCs that dropped spells will now drop a token, which can be turned in for a class appropriate spell. * The Plane of Time -We have made changes to the scripting for the Plane of Time, which will allow the server to shut down unused instances of the zone. This will remove the problem of waiting for an instance that another group has finished to shut down, before you can start your attempt. * The Plane of Hate You can now access the Plane of Hate by talking to Relm M'Loch in the Plane of Tranquility and handing her a Fuligan Soulstone. * Items ----------------------- -The Tainted Axe of Hatred has had its damage increased. -Many Gates items have had their weight reduced. * -The Muramite Death Shroud is now equipable by beastlords and has a wind instrument modifier. * -The Onyx Ring of Prayer now has a stringed instrument modifier. * -The drop rate has been increased for the following items in the Plane of Hate * The Shattered Emerald of Corruption Decrepit Hide Staff of Elemental Mastery: Earth Essence of Vampire Eye of Innoruuk -The Diamond Tipped War Javelin should now look more javelin like. * Berserkers -Berserker snare now has a set duration. * -Berserkers should no longer get stuck during their epic quest. -The following effects now lower hate instantly rather than over time: * Diversive Strike Distracting Strike Confusing Strike Guidehelp -The "/guidehelp" command is now available. The /guidehelp command is for quest/event feedback, wedding requests and questions regarding quests/events. Please be aware that all Customer Service issues must go through /petition for resolution. There may only be 1 request in the guidehelp queue at a time for each player. Raid Management -Raid leaders now have the ability to add notes to the raid window. There is now a tabbed window in the Raid window, clicking on the Notes tab will show all the raid members in a single list, with notes next to their name. The Raid leader can click on a player, and change that player's note in the edit box below the list. The note will show on all raid members' raid windows. * -Added an MOTD to Raid Window. On the Notes tab there is a window for an MOTD at the bottom. The Raid leader can edit this MOTD, and the new text will show on all Raid members' Raid windows. * -The escape key will now close your Raid Window. -Raid Leaders can now remove members from the raid, even across zones. * Tradeskills -There have been several upgrades to Gates Tradeskilled items. * -Gates smithed weapons have been adjusted. * -Gates fletched arrows have had their damage increased and are now magical. * -Tradeskill drinks from Gates of Discord have had their duration enhanced. * Stopcasting We have added a /stopcast command -- This command will not work when riding a horse. * Undead Pets Pets no longer go away after their master has feigned death for more than 2 minutes. * Lay on Hands and Harm Touch Lay on Hands and Harm Touch will no longer affect corpses. * Corpse Dragging We have increased the range of the /corpse command * Spells Many damage shields have had their damage and duration increased. * Increased the regeneration rate on the following spells: -Regrowth of the Dar Khura -Regrowth of the Grove -Regrowth -Replenishment -Blessing of Replenishment Modified the heal rate for the following spells: * -Supernal Elixir -Quiescence -Holy Elixir -Breath of Trushar -Supernal Cleansing Lowered the mana cost on the following spells: * -Black Steel -Ancient: Chaos Vortex -Sun Vortex Increased the duration and mana cost on the following spells. * -Falcon Eye -Eagle Eye -Hawk Eye Bards Bards should no longer use instrument animations when wielding items other than instruments. (No more stabbing yourselves in the head with your Epic!) Character Creation The character creation process now has Voice Over to guide you through new character creation. Mouselook Mouselook is much smoother and variable via a slider in the options window. If you use mouselook, make certain you adjust the new settings. Tutorial All characters should start with the tutorial bank items. Filters -The Focus effect should now filter haste messages. * -The Damage Shield filter should now work correctly. -- The EverQuest Team * Denotes an item that was requested by the EverQuest community. ..................................................................... ------------------------------ June 30, 2004 ------------------------------ Headlines Download EQ Trilogy and play for 30 days free! EverQuest: Platinum offers EQ and all 7 expansions in one box. The Guide Program is looking for volunteers. EQ Trilogy. Have friends interested in EQ? Have them try the new EQ Trilogy download. You can now download EQ Trilogy and try out an EQ account for 30 days free. See www.everquest.com for more on this exciting offer. EverQuest: Platinum EverQuest: Platinum is the most comprehensive collection of EverQuest expansions yet! It includes Classic EverQuest and all seven expansion packs! Go to www.everquest.com for details on the complete EQ collection. The Guide Program is looking for volunteers A new era dawns for the EverQuest Guide Program! Magic and fun shall be spread throughout the world like you have never seen before. The EverQuest Guide Program has a new focus creating and participating in dynamic content such as quests, events, and other role-playing activities. Are you prepared to join us? Visit https://guide.everquest.com/guideapp/ for your application today! .....................................................................