UPDATE: As seen on SOE's Facebook page, forum maintence downtime has been extended to 11am Pacific.

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SOE will be performing maintenance on all SOE forums beginning at 7:00 AM Pacific on March 8, 2012. All forums will be unavailable for 3 hours during this maintenance.

Here's our handy Time Zone Conversion Tool to help you plan!

SOE will be performing maintenance beginning at 11:00 PM Pacific on March 5, 2012. This will impact the following services:

• The following games will be unavailable starting at 11:00 PM on March 5, 2012 to approximately 5:00 AM Pacific on March 6, 2012:
  • Free Realms
  • Clone Wars Adventures
  • DC Universe Online
  • PoxNora
  • EverQuest II - (Antonia Bayle, Sebilis and Nagafen will not be affected)
  • EverQuest (Povar and Antonius Bayle will be taken offline at 3:00am PST)
  • Magic the Gathering Tactics
• Account management will be unavailable starting at 11:00 PM on March 5, 2012 to approximately 7:00 AM Pacific on March 6, 2012
• Commerce transactions, including purchases on our websites and in-game marketplaces will be unavailable between 11:00 PM on March 5, 2012 to approximately 7:00 AM Pacific on March 6, 2012
• Forums will be read-only starting at 11:00 PM on March 5, 2012 to approximately 7:00 AM Pacific on March 6, 2012
• Login for ALL games will be affected from 11:00 on March 5, 2012 PM to 5:00 AM Pacific on March 6, 2012 (players already logged in should not be impacted)
• EverQuest will also have server maintenance during this downtime. Povar and Antonius Bayle will be taken down at 03:00 AM. Once the login maintenance is complete, Antonius Bayle and Povar will be open for play. Players that log into the Test server before the maintenance starts should not be impacted.
• All of the other EverQuest servers will be taken offline at 12:00 AM Pacific on Tuesday, March 6, 2012. The estimated downtime for this maintenance is 12:00 AM to approximately 04:00 PM Pacific on March 6, 2012. If the maintenance is completed early the servers may be opened up before the estimated time.

Here's our handy Time Zone Conversion Tool to help you plan!

Sony Online Entertainment announced today on the EverQuest Online Adventures website that it is closing four of its game services:  EQOA, Cosmic Rift, Infantry, and Star Chamber: The Harbinger Saga.  These games will close for good on March 29, 2012.

EQOA players will be granted 3 months of Gold Membership in both EverQuest and EverQuest II. These gold memberships will be available starting on Friday, March 16, 2012. You can find out more about the end of EQOA in the official EQOA Closure FAQ.

See the entire announcement after the jump or on the EQOA Official Site.

UPDATE: SOE sent an email to EQOA players.  You can see the entire text of the letter on page 2.

UPDATE:  According to the EQII Facebook page, this promotion has been extended through 11:59 PM PST on March 1!

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SOE will be running an "Extra Day Extra Station Cash" promotion on Wednesday, February 29, 2012. This offer is valid from 12:01am PST on 2/29/2012 to 11:59pm PST on 2/29/2012 only. The offer is not valid for purchases made by SMS or with pre-paid game cards.

• Buy $5: Get 600 SC (100 bonus)
• Buy $10: Get 1,250 SC (250 bonus)
• Buy $20: Get 2,500 SC (500 bonus)
• Buy $25: Get 3,250 SC (750 bonus)
• Buy $50: Get 7,000 SC (2,000 bonus)
• Buy $100: Get 14,000 SC (4,000 bonus)

Once it kicks off just login to your account on SOE's web site to take advantage of this promotion!

SOE will be performing maintenance beginning at 2:30 AM Pacific on February 28, 2012. This will impact the following services:

• Account management will be unavailable starting at 2:30 AM to approximately 8:00 AM Pacific.
• Commerce transactions, including purchases on our websites and in-game marketplaces will be unavailable between 2:30 AM to approximately 8:00 AM Pacific.
• Forums will be read-only starting at 2:30 AM to approximately 7:00 AM Pacific.
• Login for our games will be affected from 2:30 AM to 7:00 AM Pacific (players already logged in should not be impacted.

Here's our handy Time Zone Conversion Tool to help you plan!

UPDATE, Feb 27: Linda "Brasse" Carlson, Director of SOE Global Community Relations, expanded on Smed's post on the official forums:

SOE and ProSieben worked throughout the weekend to develop a plan that will allow our players to access and play on any server regardless of where they are in the world. Our community is our top priority and rest assured, all of your concerns have been heard. We continue to work together with ProSieben and appreciate your patience as we work around the clock to work out critical technical details. We will share more information as soon as possible.

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UPDATE, Feb 27:  This just in over Twitter from John Smedley, CEO of SOE:  "We've come up with a plan to allow ALL players to play on any servers they want. More details to follow." Stay tuned for details when they are available!

 

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When Sony Online Entertainment announced their partnership with ProSiebenSat.1 to distribute SOE games in Europe the SOE gaming communities exploded with questions and concerns. Today SOE released a FAQ which answers those questions.  Highlights include the segregation of Euroean and American servers, and the exclusion of the original EverQuest from the deal.

 

We highly recommend you read the ProSiebenSat.1 Games Group FAQ on the Station.com or your favorite SOE game forum. 

Sony Online Entertainment announced today that it is now accepting applications and submissions for its 2012 Gamers in Real Life (G.I.R.L.) Game Design Competition. Since its inception in 2008, the G.I.R.L. program has granted scholarships to four winners through its annual "Game Design Competition," each of whom has made an impact within the gaming and art industries.

SOE will award one winner of the 2012 G.I.R.L. Game Design Competition with a scholarship in the amount of $10,000 to be applied towards tuition and other educational expenses at the winner’s school of enrollment. Winners will also be given the opportunity to participate in a paid internship of up to 10 weeks at SOE’s headquarters in San Diego for hands-on experience working on one or more of the company’s games.

Submissions for the 2012 G.I.R.L. Game Design Competition will close on March 29, 2012. To apply, applicants must register with Scholarship America®, SOE’s scholarship administrator, and submit their application for evaluation, as directed here: https://www.scholarshipamerica.org/gamersinreallife/

To follow G.I.R.L. on Twitter, go to https://twitter.com/SOE_GIRL or to join G.I.R.L. on Facebook, go to http://www.facebook.com/pages/GIRL-Gamers-in-Real-Life/.

Sony Online Entertainment will perform maintenance beginning at 6:00 AM Pacific on February 16, 2012. This will impact the following services:

• Account management will be unavailable starting at 6:00 AM to approximately 7:00 AM Pacific.
• Commerce transactions, including purchases on our websites and in-game marketplaces will be unavailable between 6:00 AM to approximately 7:00 AM Pacific.
• Forums will be read-only starting at 6:00 AM to approximately 7:00 AM Pacific.
• Login for our games will be affected from 6:00 AM to 7:00 AM Pacific (players already logged in should not be impacted).

Here's our handy Time Zone Conversion Tool to help you plan!

Sony Online Entertainment will be performing maintenance beginning at 7:00 AM Pacific on Wednesday, February 8, 2012. This will impact the following services:

• Account management will be unavailable starting at 7:00 AM to approximately 8:00 AM Pacific.
• Commerce transactions, including purchases on SOE websites and in-game marketplaces will be unavailable between 7:00 AM to approximately 8:00 AM Pacific.
• Forums will remain open during the downtime however you may lose permissions and experience occasional disconnects between 7:00 AM to approximately 8:00 AM Pacific.
• Logins for all SOE games MAY be affected from 7:00 AM to approximately 8:00 AM Pacific.

Here's our handy Time Zone Conversion tool to help you plan! 

Source:  Station forums

Sony Online Entertainment will be performing maintenance beginning at 7:00 AM Pacific on January 25, 2012. This will impact the following services:

• Account management will be unavailable starting at 7:00 AM to approximately 8:00 AM Pacific.
• Commerce transactions, including purchases on SOE websites and in-game marketplaces will be unavailable between 7:00 AM to approximately 8:00 AM Pacific.
• Forums will remain open during the downtime however you may lose permissions and experience occasional disconnects between 7:00 AM to approximately 8:00 AM Pacific.
• Logins for PoxNora®, Star Wars®: Clone Wars Adventures™ and Free Realms® will be affected from 7:00 AM to approximately 8:00 AM Pacific.

Here's our handy Time Zone Conversion tool to help you plan! 

Source:  Station forums