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The Tattered Notebook: Exploring GU 60
Game Update 60: The Children of War went live last week, and with it came a plethora of new content and some big changes to the game. Rallos Zek has begun preparations for his march on the Western Wastes, and Drunder is the new front line for the impending war. There are new heroic instances, new raid content, and even a new battleground scenario. In addition, there were some itemization changes, new battleground gear, and adjustments to the adornment interface. In this week's Tattered Notebook, we'll look at a few of the highlights from EverQuest II's latest update.
The Tattered Notebook: Five zones that deserve a revamp
Recently, EverQuest II developer Kyle "Kander" Vallee tweeted his followers asking for input on the following question: "What #EQII zone would you love to see revamped into new heroic content?" That's a tough but really fun question. Over the years, EverQuest II has added so many overland and instanced zones that there's no shortage of choices. A quick glance at the dungeon list at EQ2i shows well over 100 major heroic instances and open dungeons for groups. If you add in the list of minor instances, like the Splitpaw adventure pack instances or the Fallen Dynasty trials, it's easily over 120. In fact, there are so many group zones that it's nearly impossible to level up and see them all (I vote for a new in-game dungeon listing for the next UI revamp!). I've played through a good chunk of these zones and put together a list of the top five dungeons that deserve a makeover. Read on for the full list!
One Shots: Welcome to free-to-play week!
We're kicking off One Shots free-to-play week with a postcard from Norrath, courtesy of Carolina: Lindirien the Fae and Griz, having some good times in EverQuest II Extended. You have to play through through Frostfang Sea's starter area to be able to locate Griz in the picture. Are you ready to show off your favorite free-to-play title? Send a screenshot to us at oneshots@massively.com along with your name, the name of the game, and a description of what we're seeing. We'll show it off here on One Shots and give you the thanks! %Gallery-112285%
The Tattered Notebook: Dave Georgeson on EQII's Children of War
Even though Destiny of Velious has only been out for a couple of months, EverQuest II is about to see some big improvements and new content in the upcoming Game Update 60, Children of War. Despite the recent cuts to Sony Online Entertainment's staff, the team working on EQII seems more focused than ever, and over the past couple of weeks, fans have received a constant stream of information on both near- and long-term plans for the game. In this week's Tattered Notebook, Senior Producer Dave "SmokeJumper" Georgeson was kind enough to take some time to talk about the future of EverQuest II. In a bit of a surprise, he discusses how the team will continue to release Velious content in the form of regular updates rather than a larger part II as originally planned. He also gives some detail on highlights from the next update as well as future plans. Multiple housing, deity changes, the Freeport revamp -- Georgeson sheds some light on all that and more. Read on for the interview!
New EQII producer's letter outlines roadmap for 2011
Recent layoffs at SOE may have caused a certain amount of trepidation in terms of future development on some of the company's most popular titles. Thankfully, the most recent Producer's Letter from Dave "SmokeJumper" Georgeson should put many EverQuest II players' minds at ease. He took some time to sit down and give us an outline of plans the EverQuest II developers have for 2011, indicating that things are very good for the game's future. Those who purchased the most recent expansion, Destiny of Velious, will be glad to hear that en route is even more content that will further expand on the Age's End Prophecy storyline. That content will only be available to those who picked up the expansion, however, so if you've been thinking about getting it, now would be a good time. Next up, it appears that Freeport is going to be getting a pretty heavy makeover both in terms of layout and what it will offer to players -- along with becoming a single zone open to flying mounts! We don't want to spoil you for all the interesting information mentioned, so if you're curious, head over to the EverQuest II site and check out the newest Producer's Letter.
The Tattered Notebook: The value of vanity
I always knew Gnomes were evil, but a Gnomish pirate?! This was too much. As much as I wanted that new horse of a different color mount from Bristlebane Day, I could barely stand the thought of having to go toe-to-toe with the cabbage-scented Captain Gnoggin. In a lopsided battle, I emerged victorious, and as I did my turn-in for the new Bristlebane Day quest, I was reminded that EverQuest II offers an enormous variety of unique house items and appearance clothing. Cosmetic items might not offer any real advantage in progression, but they speak to the depth of content in the game and the quality of life that players enjoy. Being able to create an amazing home or make yourself stand out with a unique look is a real luxury for players. In this week's Tattered Notebook, we'll look back at the evolution of vanity items in game and take a look at a few easy ways that players of all levels can add a little bling to their lives.
The Tattered Notebook: Game improvements and a fundraiser for Japan
With the past week filled with PAX East and then an avalanche of PAX write-ups, I felt myself playing a bit of catch-up in EverQuest II. The playerbase is well into Velious content, so we're starting to hear lots of feedback and see lots of fine-tuning. With two updates this past week and Game Update 60 right around the corner, it's time to do a little spot check on what's going on in EverQuest II. Read on for a closer look at changes to public quests, primal velium shards, and a new daily shard quest. Also, find out how you can help with Japan disaster relief through a new in-game fundraiser.
SOE offers bonus Station Cash for using game cards
Paying for subscriptions with a credit card is definitely fast and easy, but if you're a regular Sony Online Entertainment game subscriber, you might want to consider switching to a game time card this month! As a way of rewarding players for picking up and paying with universal game cards, Sony Online Entertainment is giving players $10 worth of Station Cash (1,000 SC) just for redeeming a $15 universal game card. The nice thing about these cards? They can be redeemed for either a month's subscription to an SOE game or 1,500 Station Cash. However, to get the bonus cash, you'll have to redeem your card between 3:10 a.m. EDT (12:10 a.m. PDT) on March 17th and 2:59 a.m. on March 21st (11:59 p.m. PDT on March 20th). Along with getting an extra Station Cash reward for using a universal game card during those days, players will be entered into SOE's Luck of the Irish sweepstakes, the details of which should be out sometime this week. We'd also note that SOE's disclaimer indicates that the promotion is only available to gamers in the United States/District of Columbia and excludes Puerto Rico and other outlying territories. Keep your eye on the forums or the SOE Facebook account for all the sweepstakes information and official rules.
The Tattered Notebook: Brew Day
It's spring in Norrath, but if you're out adventuring in Velious, you might not realize it. Thankfully, Brell Serillis is helping us remember that sometimes we need a break from all the snow and ice, and what better way to celebrate than pouring a nice foamy mug of Tumpy Tonic or Minotaur Hero Brew! That's right, EverQuest II's festival of Brewday is back, and in this week's Tattered Notebook, we're going to search for the best brews, don our beer goggles, and even do a little cow tipping. Read on for a look at some of the quirky quests and boozy rewards that come with Brell's spring holiday.
EverQuest becomes ever after: A talk with Linda Carlson of SOE
When it comes to getting involved with community, Sony Online Entertainment's Director of Global Community Relations Linda Carlson knows it well. Most often seen tromping around conventions dressed as her beer-craving Dwarven alter-ego Brasse, Carlson was a fixture at SOE's Fan Faire events and author of her own gaming comic long before she ever started working for the studio. As we had the chance to find out recently, this was due at least in part to EverQuest changing her life many, many years prior. While these days meeting up with someone you've met online is considered fairly commonplace, when you look back to the earliest days of MMO gaming, it generally was not something many people did. Even if you did meet someone from "on the computer," they tended to be folks from one or another BBS -- local connections that were easily made and just as easily dismissed. The idea of not only meeting someone online in a romantic fashion but leaving the country you live in to see him/her was considered completely insane. "What if you don't get along? Or what if he/she is a murderer?" your friends might ask, since this was all really new territory and nobody quite knew what would happen. Still, some early MMO gamers like Carlson gathered up their courage and took that gamble. In honor of Valentine's Day, we interviewed Carlson about how her EverQuest connection became an "ever after" -- join us after the break!
Massively's guide to Valentine's Day festivities
Ah spring! 'Tis the time when young men and women's thoughts turn to love -- or at least scoring some nifty holiday-themed loot! This year there's quite a bit going on. Some events are old familiar ones that have stood the test of time. Others offer new twists and things to do for those who have been there, done that. If you aren't feeling the love bug biting, there's even the odd anti-Valentine's-type event, perfect for those who would rather rain destruction down on the head of anyone foolish enough to approach him with anything heart-shaped or pink. Curious as to what's going on? Check out our listing below -- and feel free to chime in if you know of a fun event others should check out! Rip out your Fallen Earth character's heart for Valentine's Day (February 11th-13th) What's better than surviving a nuclear holocaust and wandering your way across a blasted brown landscape rife with societal collapse? Why, sharing said wanderings with someone you love, of course (or at least, someone you lust after in that we've-got-to-do-this-for-the-future-of-mankind sort of way). In a novel spin on the traditional mid-February holiday, Icarus Studios is presenting Fallen Earth's Valentine's Day Massacre event, and clones everywhere can literally offer their hearts as a sign of affection (and a +3 stamina buff). Vindictus spreads the love with new update and holiday (February 1st-15th) Quirky events have quickly become one of Vindictus' staples. Right now players can participate in V-Day events for special rewards. If fishing and chocolate hunting isn't your bag, you can simply purchase a Valentine's Package at the Supply Depot for "sexy Valentine's themed Inner Armor." Cute undies, in other words. Valentine's events will end after the 15th, so players are encouraged to partake sooner rather than regret it later. Time for love in Final Fantasy XI (February 1st-15th) Valentine's Day is almost here, that special time of year when you attempt to distill the essence of a romantic relationship into chocolate form. And if you were hoping to escape from the day within Vana'diel, your efforts are rather misdirected -- Valentione's Day coincides nicely with the holiday in the real world, with just as much saccharine summation of liaisons in Final Fantasy XI.
The Tattered Notebook: More on flying mounts, public quests, and prestige homes
SOE has been slowly getting new information out about Destiny of Velious. As part of an ongoing promotion to showcase the upcoming expansion, Senior Producer Dave "SmokeJumper" Georgeson and Greg "Rothgar" Spence took part in the second installment of the Destiny of Velious webcast. They took the opportunity to elaborate on topics from the first show and also revealed some exciting new features. In this week's Tattered Notebook, we'll look at the highlights of last Friday's webcast. Read on to hear more about flying mounts, prestige housing, and public quests.
One Shots: Relaxing with an old friend
Every day we get tons of great screenshots from readers both old and new. However, among those emails are names that immediately jump out, such as today's One Shots contributor, Johanis -- a man who has sent in dozens of images to share his adventures with us over the last few years. Today we have a recent screenshot from EverQuest II and a note to tell us about what he's currently up to. Johanis writes: "Here is Pollo -- my level 32 Wizard in EverQuest II. While he was busy doing quests and harvesting materials in Butcherblock Mountains, he decided to stop and enjoy the scenery -- something none of us does enough." Would you like to share some images of your recent adventures? We're always on the hunt for more screenshots of the many different MMOs out there -- but we need your help. Email your screenshots in to us at oneshots@massively.com along with your name, the name of the game, and a description of what we're seeing. We'll post it out here and give you the credit for sending it in! %Gallery-112285%
The Game Archaeologist and the NeverEnding Quest: Your journeys
I have to say, this month's been everything I'd hoped it would be for EverQuest. As with many of these older MMOs, my working knowledge of EQ was spotty and anecdotal at best, and I'm personally glad to rectify that. EverQuest's always felt like a "You had to have been there" club to me, one that stopped accepting members a long, long time ago. It's great, therefore, to see that there's a thriving community, a rich history and an uplifting future in store for the game. Above everything else, I've come to realize just how crucial EverQuest was -- for better or worse, depending on your perspective -- to the development of the MMO genre for the past decade or so. If SOE never created EQ, just how different would our games be today? It's incredibly hard to imagine. As we continue our EQ month here at The Game Archaeologist, we have two things on the immediate agenda. The first is to share a few of your personal journeys that you emailed my way, and the second is a look at how you can plug in with EverQuest if you've never done so in the past. It turns out, quite fortuitously, that this is looking to be one of the best times to do so. Read on, courageous gamer!
EverQuest II offering bonus experience
Once all the presents have been opened, the fruitcake has been eaten (or relegated to the duty of propping open a nearby door), and many folks are back to work, it might seem a bit glum after the weekend's festivities. Thankfully, if you're an EverQuest II or EverQuest II Extended player, you'll have something to look forward to. Sony Online Entertainment has decided to offer up a great late present to its loyal players in the form of four days of bonus experience! From 12:01 a.m. PST on Monday, December 27th until 11:59 p.m. PST on Thursday, December 30th, players will be treated to a whopping 100% bonus on experience. According to the EverQuest II site, that covers all AA, tradeskill, and adventuring experience gained during that period and will cross to the French, German, Japanese and test servers as well as the main EverQuest II and EverQuest II Extended servers. So get ready to celebrate the last week of 2010 with some free epic extra experience in Norrath.
SOE's super offers for super fans
Sony Online Entertainment wants to give the superfans more reasons to log in to their favorite games this Cyber Monday. Most of the SOE titles, like EverQuest, EverQuest II, Everquest II Extended, Clone Wars Adventures, Free Realms, and Pox Nora, are offering discounts on Station Cash as well as other special offers starting November 29th and ending December 3rd. Just $37.50 US buys you 5,000 Station Cash, while $65 US buys you 10,000. That means you can finally purchase that sparkle pony cat you always wanted. In addition to these offers, each SOE title has its own daily deal. Free Realms is giving triple member discount on items. EverQuest, EverQuest II, and EverQuest II Extended have 50% off a daily featured item. Clone Wars Adventures is giving away special discounts to members. And PoxNora will not be left behind with offers ranging up to 50% off game items. Log in to your Station account for more information on these offers or visit the games' respective websites.
Go for the gold: Win a 30 day gold subscription to EverQuest II Extended
It's official: free-to-play EverQuest II is live and out of beta. While we just got done catching up with Dave "Smokejumper" Georgeson, we have one more EverQuest II related piece of news up our sleeve. We have 30-day gold subscriptions to give away to EverQuest II Extended! If you've been considering trying out EverQuest II or EQ2X but didn't want to pay a subscription fee or purchase items from the marketplace, then why not take a shot at winning one of the 15 gold subscriptions in today's contest? It only takes a minute (and a Massively.com commenting account) to enter, and you might just walk away with a code for a free month! Interested in entering or learning more? Then skip along after the break!
One Shots: Fear the frog
There's no doubt that a bunch of people have stampeded over into the lands of EverQuest II Extended to see what the experience is like. We know we've heard some interesting tales back from those first intrepid explorers. Apparently somewhere along the way they're running across a frog (likely a Froglok) who seems to be rather, shall we say, forgetful when it comes to things he wants you to do. You know the type: NPCs who send you somewhere, only to have them send you right back, leaving you to wonder why they didn't just give you a shopping list in the first place. Today's tale of forgetful frog frustration comes to us from Mike, who writes in to tell us a bit about his experience: "Hey! Just thought I'd share this shot of my new experiences in Norrath. Since EQ2 went F2P I decided I'd give it a try. To show my appreciation I threw them a few bucks and got the Silver account. Here is my MMO alter-ego Ocholivis standing atop a local peak overlooking the starting area below, contemplating his adventure thus far and wondering why that frog guy from the camp has sent him up here on yet another ridiculous errand. So it goes." Have you found a forgetful NPC? Would you like to show off what you're doing? We love to hear about our reader's travels. Email your picture and travel tale to us here at oneshots@massively.com along with your name and the name of the game. We'll post it out here and give you the credit for sending it in. Couldn't be easier! %Gallery-85937%
One Shots: The asylum awaits
With SOE having now rolled out the EverQuest II Extended servers into a soft launch, there are tons of folks heading into Norrath to check out the game. Meanwhile, life continues as normal on the EverQuest II servers, with higher-level groups heading into strange dungeons. One such example is the spot we see in today's One Shots, courtesy of fellow MMO blogger Ratwarlock, who also goes by Araxes on the Antonia Bayle server. He notes that this "is from the interior of the Necrotic Asylum, another of the 6-man instanced dungeons" from The Shadow Odyssey. Ratwarlock also assures us that the dungeon this was taken in is "one of the harder ones!" Calling all MMO players! We need your screenshots for One Shots. If you've seen anything fun, imposing, interesting, or silly, we want to hear from you. If you haven't, gather up your group of friends and go have some fun -- then send some screens of that in! All MMOs -- from large-budget to tiny indie, East to West -- are welcome. Send them to us here at oneshots@massively.com along with your name/server/game and a quick description of what we're seeing. Reader submissions keep One Shots running, so send some in today! %Gallery-85937%
EverQuest II Extended sounds the call to soft launch [Updated]
It's weird to think that it was less than a month ago when we first heard that SOE was going to launch a free-to-play version of its popular EverQuest II. It's weirder still when you consider just how fast EverQuest II Extended progressed to the open beta launch stage, as the F2P experience became available to the public yesterday with Platinum membership arriving at the end of the month. This isn't the first time SOE has experimented with various plans to lure players into Norrath, including a 14-day free trial and the EQII Passport limited subscription. Unlike those previous plans, EverQuest II Extended is being treated as a wholly separate game on unique servers, and is offering free play without a time limit. SOE claims that this is a first for the industry: two versions of the same game operating in parallel in order to offer players a choice between payment plans. One interesting aspect of the Extended beta soft launch is that there will be no wipe -- on the contrary, any characters, progression and purchases made by players during this period will carry over to the live version. Extended offers a variety of payment options, from completely free to a full year's subscription, depending on your level of interest. Even if you're an EQII newbie, there's no reason to avoid checking out the game to see if it might tickle your fancy. [Update: SOE has contacted us to let us know that they're calling this a launch now, instead of an open beta, due to the fact that no character info is being wiped. The post has been updated to reflect the new terminology]
