2022 is flying along and this year has been amazing! Since the last letter, we've adventured with Living Legacy Raids, earned some ancient items and elusive achievements during Stone Cold Summer, enjoyed some in-game bonuses, and released level 100 Heroic Characters. Whew, that's a lot! But we're not done and have some big plans for what's to come.

I want to point out our discount event going on right now for Terror of Luclin. Your last day to get these items at these prices is October 10, 2022. You know the time of year that we're entering (expansion season), and we really want to see everyone get as prepared as possible for what's to come! Before I dive into that, though, let's review what has already happened and what's remaining on this year's roadmap.

2022 Roadmap Update:

    Completed:
        July:
            Server Merge of Phinigel and Miragul to Vox
            New Overseer Achievements and Reward Improvements - Through Account-Wide Achievements for Events
        September:
            Heroic Characters Update - New Heroic Characters start at level 100
            Time-Locked Progression Server Expansion Unlocks Moved to Thursdays
    Coming Up Soon:
        October:
            2022's Expansion Beta + Preorder
            New Content for Nights of the Dead
        November:
            Extra Life - Help us raise funds for the Children's Miracle Network
            New Content for Feast of Giving
        December:
            2022's Expansion Launch
            New Content for the New Year's Event

We're partnering with Extra Life again this year to help raise funds for Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego. Donations go to the selected children's hospital that the fundraiser selects, so if you'd like to help raise funds for a different hospital join the Darkpaw Games fundraising team and select that hospital. Children's hospitals perform such an important role in our communities. They literally are the difference between life and death for some children. On a very personal note, my family would look very different today if not for the lifesaving services that Rady Children's Hospital provided. The official Extra Life Game Day is November 5, 2022, and we have some plans to make this year bigger than before. Stay tuned for that update!

Okay, now onto the things you've probably been waiting for. Starting on October 11, 2022, beta for the next expansion begins! It's going to be your first chance to get a sneak peek, help us test, and earn yourself a sweet beta reward. This is also the same day pre-orders for the next expansion will open, so you can reserve it and get that pre-order bonus for yourself before it goes live. Lead the charge!

Speaking of expansion, expansion, expansion... I'm so excited to reveal the name and logo. Break out a torch and be sure you're armed and ready: Night of Shadows is coming!


Spoiler alert! There will be no spoiler alerts. You'll have to jump onto Beta or wait for our official announcements to learn more. Rest assured that, yes, shadowy dangers and challenges are about to unfold.

2022 is nearly long-and-gone but don't get too comfortable as we approach our holiday season. There are still plenty of in-game events to accomplish and roadmap milestones to be met. Thank you again, my friends, for all your involvement, dedication, and passion!


 
Can you owlbear the wait for Night of Shadows?

Head of Studio
Jenn Chan

0 comments | Write Comment

 All EverQuest Live Servers will be brought offline on Wednesday, September 21st, 2022 at 6:00 AM PT* for an update. Downtime is expected to last approximately 6 hours.



Check this out and more in our EQ Calendar (Be sure to set it to your time zone [in settings on the Calendar] for your times!).


Achievement Changes: https://achievements.eqresource.com/achievementshistory.php?mdy=09212022
DBStr Changes: https://spells.eqresource.com/dbstrhistory.php?mdy=09212022
EQStr Changes: https://spells.eqresource.com/eqstrhistory.php?mdy=09212022
Faction Changes:
Spell Changes: https://spells.eqresource.com/history.php?mdy=09212022


Update Notes:
September 21, 2022
_____________________
*** Highlights ***
- Added the ability to output a filtered (Complete, Open, and/or Locked) list of your achievements using either a new button in the achievements window or the slash command: /outputfile achievements.
- Level 100 Heroic Characters are now available on servers that have unlocked Torment of Velious.


*** Quests & Events ***
- Mata Muram (Raid) - Added a speculative fix to ensure Mata Muram does not target people in 'hover mode' with his gaze.
- Free the Goranga (Raid) - Targets of the shadow chains effect will no longer be hit by the moonfall effects, so they can run as far away as they would like. Messaging has been added to let the target know when the chains protect them from the moonfall.
- Theater of Blood Access - The Twisted Harmonic Chime will now attune to you. Click it to attune, then click it again to teleport. You will only need to complete the attune step once.
- Kreljnok's Sword of Eternal Power - The map in East Wastes will no longer lie to you about Larnik's location. Additionally, Larnik can now be found after 4 to 6 hours following his last defeat.
- Demiplane of Blood Progression - Congealed Blood of Redfang, Rune-Etched Stone, Shrunken Head, and Sister's Handkerchief are five times more likely to drop from the creatures that drop them.
- Added an additional Eye of Yar`Lir and Eye of Vishimtar to the chest that drops in their raid.
- Essedera should be available again in Eastern Wastes (Torment of Velious).
- Altered the method used to give rewards for Terror of Luclin raids. The new method should be more tolerent of characters who are zoning at the time the rewards are granted. This includes flags and point currency but not the chest.


*** Spells ***
- Corrected an issue where hate could overflow to a lower value in a very long fight.


*** AA ***
- Activated abilities will be less likely to apply their reuse timer if they are interrupted by the caster zoning.


*** NPCs ***
- Marcia Attamilgad has decided to change the price she'll pay for a few items that aren't as rare as they once were.
- Phinigel Autropos, Dracoliche, Dread, and Terror are now immune to crowd control effects.


*** Progression Servers ***
- Mount blessings for knight classes should now apply during the intended active expansions on progression servers.
- Evolving items on Level Locked servers can now evolve when the owner is up to 10 levels lower than the item's required level.
- Teleport items rewarded on Vaniki have had their recast timers reduced, can be placed in housing, and no longer share recast timers with other teleport items.
- Elder Animist Dumul in Shar Vahl will accept the Copper Medal of War at level 50 on most servers or 40 on level capped servers.


*** Miscellaneous ***
- Made improvements to how achievements are processed to further reduce zone lag.
- Experience gain messages will now also display the percentage gained. This change currently only applies to regular experience (not AA).
- Return Home should refresh in some cases where the zone you are trying to enter is unavailable.
- Fixed a crash that could occur when removing an overflow item.
- Creating a Heroic Character on the Test server will now decrement your count of Heroic Character Consumables Pack.
- The safe point in Chardok has been moved to the zone-in point when entering from the Burning Woods.
- Some typos have been resolved in Shar Vahl flavor text. This does not affect any quest lines.


*** UI ***
- Your current target should now be highlighted with an outline of their consider color in the Extended Target Window.
- Updated the default location for hotbars 1-4 and updated bars 3-4 to show by default.
- Fixed an issue that would add a duplicate item when using Link All from the Advanced Loot Window.
- Updated the Bazaar and Merchant windows to include commas in the price of items.
- Clicking on the Extended Target Window but not on a target should keep your current target and no longer target yourself.
- Updated the Combat Skills Window to save the sorted column.
- Right-clicking a combat ability hotkey will now open up the Combat Skills window and select that combat ability.
- Alphabetized the list of commands when using /help.
- Updated the Claim window to better indicate if a feature is unavailable to claim.
- Fixed a problem with the Chat Options button on the Login Server's chat window being inaccessible.
- Added tooltip information explaining what the aggro numbers in Group and the Extended Target windows mean.
- Added the ability to output a filtered (Complete, Open, and/or Locked) list of your achievements using either a new button in the achievements window or the slash command: /outputfile achievements.

- Changed -
EQUI.xml
EQUI_AchievementsWnd.xml
EQUI_AdvancedLootWnd.xml
EQUI_CharacterCreate.xml
EQUI_CharacterListWnd.xml
EQUI_ClaimWnd.xml
EQUI_Inventory.xml
EQUI_PlayerWindow.xml
EQUI_TargetWindow.xml


*** Previously Updated *** 
- Fixed a bug that could result in unexpected results when making a tradeskill combine.
- The progression AA Gift of the Dark Reign, Tenacity of the Dark Reign, Embrace of the Dark Reign, Power of the Dark Reign, and Fervor of the Dark Reign now require level 60.


- The EverQuest Team

0 comments | Write Comment

Fall Fun is back again and Norrathians are the soul beneficiaries. Much like last year, we’re cranking up bonuses to rare spawns, faction gains, lockout timers, and experience gains. Here’s a breakdown of what you can expect from this year’s event:

All times for when specific bonuses start is 12:00 a.m. PDT and they all end at 11:00 p.m. PDT.

    200% chance for rares to spawn and to faction gains and losses – September 13 to September 26, 2022
    50% reduction in lockout timers – September 27 to October 10, 2022
    150% experience gains – October 11 to October 24, 2022


Fall Fun is all about the fun so get out there and have . . . well, fun!



Check this out and more in our EQ Calendar (Be sure to set it to your time zone [in settings on the Calendar] for your times!).

0 comments | Write Comment

New level 100 Heroic Characters are dropping next week in EverQuest! If you’ve been around for a while, you’ll remember that we added Heroic Characters in 2014 at level 85. Well, soon you will be able to purchase a Heroic Character that starts at level 100.

Let’s break down the benefits you can look forward to with a new Level 100 Heroic Character. Here’s what you’ll receive upon purchase:

    25,000 Platinum
    Selyrah Mount
    One Extra Mercenary Slot
    Two 40-Slot Bags
    Spells
    Thousands of Auto-Granted Alternative Advancement Abilities (AA’s)
    Full Set of Equipment, including weapons, armor, Power Source and Charm
    Food, Drink, and Ammo
    200 Bayle Marks


As a reminder, here’s what you get with a Level 85 Heroic Character (original FAQ found here):

    15,000 Platinum
    Jungle Raptor Mount
    Two 24-Slot Bags
    Spells
    Thousands of Auto-Granted Alternative Advancement Abilities (AA’s)
    Full Set of Equipment, including weapons, armor, Power Source and Charm
    Food, Drink, and Ammo
    100 Bayle Marks


FAQ
For the new level 100 Heroic Characters, here are some frequently asked questions and answers:

Q: Will I be getting a free level 100 Heroic Character?
A: Not at the release of this feature.

Q: How much will the level 100 Heroic Characters cost?
A: They will cost 4000DBC and can be purchased in the Services section of the Marketplace. The existing Level 85 Heroics will remain at their current price of 3500DBC.

Q: What happens to the level 85 Heroic Characters that I have purchased but not used?
A: These can continue to be used to create a level 85 Heroic Character on servers with Call of the Forsaken unlocked.

Q: What happens if I upgrade a paid (not free/trial) level 85 Heroic Character to level 100?
A: You'll get refunded a Level 85 Heroic Character (without the consumable pack).

Q: What expansion is needed to unlock the new Level 100 Heroic Characters?
A: Torment of Velious (with Level 85 Heroic Characters still set to open on progression servers at Call of the Forsaken).

Q: Can I use a Level 85 Heroic Character if I already used a Level 100 Character?
A: No.

Q: What zone will the new Level 100 Heroic Characters start in?
A: They’ll start in Shard’s Landing with access to use all of the portals.

Q: Will there be any new quests for the level 100 Heroic Characters?
A: No.

If you’ve ever wondered how far you can take your adventuring in Norrath, look no further! Level 100 Heroic characters will be available on September 21, 2022 once scheduled downtime is complete. Click here if you need to re-up your Daybreak Cash. You can also click here to check out the original level 85 Heroics. Happy hunting!

0 comments | Write Comment

Since you've toiled and fought your way through so much this year, we're once again going to celebrate you-our players-with extra experience gains through the weekend! Starting today, you can earn 100% extra XP doing anything in game. This weekend bonus will end on September 6, 2022 at 11:00 p.m. PDT.

Thank you for being part of the EverQuest family and for all you do. Enjoy!



Check this out and more in our EQ Calendar (Be sure to set it to your time zone [in settings on the Calendar] for your times!).

0 comments | Write Comment

All EverQuest Live Servers will be brought offline on Wednesday, August 17, 2022 at 5:30 AM PT* for an update. Downtime is expected to last approximately 9 hours.



Check this out and more in our EQ Calendar (Be sure to set it to your time zone [in settings on the Calendar] for your times!).


Achievement Changes: https://achievements.eqresource.com/achievementshistory.php?mdy=08172022
DBStr Changes: https://spells.eqresource.com/dbstrhistory.php?mdy=08172022
EQStr Changes: https://spells.eqresource.com/eqstrhistory.php?mdy=08172022
Faction Changes:
Spell Changes: https://spells.eqresource.com/history.php?mdy=08172022


Update Notes:
August 17, 2022
_____________________
*** Highlights ***
- Made several improvements to achievement processing to improve zone latency.
- The Darkened Sea expansion bundles will be available from August 17 through August 30.
- Increased the default number of available Extended Target Window slots to 20, and removed the alternate ability requirement.


*** Items *** 
- Made Eye of Yar`Lir and Eye of Vishimtar quest items.
- 10th Anniversary Firework Focus items have had a typo corrected in their lore text.


*** Tradeskills ***
- Failing a combine due to insufficient skill will now also display the minimum required skill.


*** Quests & Events *** 
- Miragul's Reanimation Formula will now drop from appropriate level 60 Lost Dungeons of Norrath adventures.
- Updated a dialog trigger on Baenar Swiftsong to make it easier to experience the rest of the story they give.
- A Journey Home (Raid): Charm and fear will be removed from players before the chest spawns to prevent an effect on a charmed player killing the chest.
- Removed respawn of NPCs from many mission and raid zones.


*** Spells ***
- Reduced the level of the Planes of Power imbue spells by five levels.
- Updated Outrider's and Blackguard's Synergy to work properly with the appropriate skills.
- Spell damage applied to an NPC target, without a caster, will now use the correct damage reporting channel instead of say.
- Added messaging to the Heals (You) and Heals (Others) channels when a debuff with counters is cured.
- Fixed a bug that caused some bolt and area effect spells to display a small bag.


*** AA *** 
- The progression AA Gift of the Keepers, Valor of the Keepers, Embrace of the Keepers, Power of the Keepers, and Sanctity of the Keepers now require level 60.
- Fixed an issue with incorrect ranks of AAs being purchased when using the Buy All button on a mercenary AA.


*** NPCs ***
- Shadow Valley - A remnant of shade can now be tracked.


*** Overseer *** 
- The button to retire a selected Agent will now be disabled for Agents that cannot be retired.


*** Progression Servers *** 
- Updated the required level of Vaniki's Challenge: Defeat Defense of the City.
- The tutorial will now allow level 6 to 14 players to zone into it on Vaniki.
- Removed the AFK kick from Vaniki.
- The level 60 progression reward has been changed to the Visage of Vaniki. You should receive this reward even if you received the other. We will not be reclaiming the other reward. Enjoy!
- Moved the availability of the Heroic Character quests to when Call of the Forsaken opens instead of when part 2 opens.


*** Miscellaneous ***
- Increased the max number of items that can be sold in one barter transaction from 20 to 100.
- - Holding shift while selling to a buyer will now work if you have less of the item to sell than the transaction cap.
- When you fail to cast a spell that requires out of combat, your timer will be updated.
- Improved the way that achievements are processed in order to reduce zone latency.


*** UI *** 
- Corrected an issue where your Heroic Character count would not update correctly at the character select screen.
- Increased the default number of available Extended Target Window slots to 20, and removed the alternate ability requirement.
- Added chat messages when cancelling or completing a trade.
- Updated trade chat messaging to include the quantity of items or coin offered. These messages will now display for both the sender and recipient using the System Messages chat filter.
- The aggro meter is now available when players reach level 20 instead of when Rain of Fear launches.
- The Randomize Loading Music setting should now work properly when unchecked.
- When a selected quest advances to a step involving a different zone, the quest journal will now keep the same quest selected.


- The EverQuest Team

0 comments | Write Comment

All EverQuest Live Servers will be brought offline on Wednesday, August 3, 2022 at 5:30 AM PT* for an update. Downtime is expected to last approximately 4 hours.

This extended downtime is so we can work on back-end platform services.



Check this out and more in our EQ Calendar (Be sure to set it to your time zone [in settings on the Calendar] for your times!).

0 comments | Write Comment

Mergers, Death, Pride, and more!

EverQuest is still going strong thanks to all of you! As we inch closer to another year older, we cannot help but reminisce about our years together. It is a wonderful past steeped in rich lore and fantasy, sweetened with friendships and love for the game we all hold dear. As we continue to grow our game family and strengthen the bonds that hold us together, we would like to let you all know that we appreciate you greatly and are thrilled you have chosen to continue your travels through Norrath with us.
As most of you will recall, we shared our roadmap for the year in January. We received a great amount of feedback, and we thank you for that. In case you missed it, you can visit the original article at EQ Roadmap 2022. We have continued on-course, mostly, as well as remained working on smaller fixes and improvements. Read more in the links below.

2022 Roadmap Update:

    Completed:
        April:
            23rd Anniversary Celebration
        May:
            New Progression Servers Vaniki and Yelinak
            First Annual Tempest Festival
        June:
            Pride Month with New Familiars
            Torment of Velious Free-to-Play and Call of the Forsaken Items Available
            New Scorched Sky Celebration
        July:
            Server Merge of Phinigel and Miragul to Vox
            New Overseer Achievements and Reward Improvements

    Coming up soon:
        September:
            Heroic Characters Update - New Heroic Characters will start at level 100.
            Time-Locked Progression Server Expansion Unlocks Moved to Thursdays
        October:
            2022's Expansion Beta + Preorder
            New Content for Nights of the Dead

One of the items listed in the previous Producer's Letters was the merging of Phinigel and Miragul to Vox. It was slated to have happened by June and was postponed. This delay was necessary to ensure the merger would go smoothly and to avoid possible issues which were imminent. Thank you for your patience and supportive words as we completed this merger.

The deathstravaganza of the Death, Death, Death! Event started on July 20, 2022 and will be running until August 9, 2022. Pull yourselves up by your bootstraps and let the games begin! A quick reminder that this event is about you killing the most old-world bosses in the fastest time and not your own character's death.

We also had some unlocks happen on July 20, 2022. Aradune and Rizlona servers unlocked The Serpent's Spine and Yelinak unlocked the Ruins of Kunark. On July 27, 2022, Mangler will unlock the Veil of Alaris. As noted above, TLP Expansion unlocks will be moved to Thursdays starting in September. This change is happening to avoid conflicts with patches on Wednesdays and expansion launches on Tuesdays.

In other news, Darkpaw Games, as part of Daybreak Games' DE&I initiative, recently pledged a donation of $5,000 to The San Diego LGBT Community Center. One of the many projects this organization works on is helping to solve the housing crisis in San Diego.

Later this year, in November, we'll be teaming up with Extra Life again to help improve kids' health. The official Extra Life Game Day is November 5, 2022, and we're planning some fun things for everyone, so be on the lookout for the announcement! If you would like to know more, please visit our Extra Life Announcement from 2021. Fun times, great games, excellent cause!

"What creatures will you encounter in the upcoming expansion?"

That's still not all. We have more exciting news to share, so keep reading! The next expansion is coming along very well. Environments, characters, and much more have been completed already. We should have it ready for beta testing by October. Are you ready for adventure? We certainly hope you are; you never know what lurks beyond the shadows.


Knight-y Night,
Jenn Chan
Head of Studio

0 comments | Write Comment

G’day Norrathians!

We have a lot happening on July 20, 2022, during our scheduled downtime, so we’d like to give you a rundown on how things will be done on that day.

First thing first, the downtime will start at 4:00AM PDT* and the estimated downtime will be 24 hours. While we cannot say at this time that it will or will not take the full 24 hours, we want to be certain that enough time is given to make sure things are not rushed and everything is checked properly.

Please check the following schedule regarding the unlocking of The Serpent’s Spine on Aradune and Rizlona as well as The Ruins of Kunark on Yelinak.

If servers are safely able to be unlocked before 4:00 PM PDT*:

    All servers except Aradune, Rizlona and Yelinak will be unlocked
    Aradune, Rizlona and Yelinak will unlock at 4:00 PM PDT*
        This is to provide people time to gather their guilds and start the expansions at the same stating time.

If servers are safely able to be unlocked at 4:00 PM PDT*:

    All servers will be unlocked

If servers are safely able to be unlocked after 4:00 PM PDT*:

    All servers except Aradune, Rizlona and Yelinak will be unlocked
    Aradune, Rizlona and Yelinak will unlock 1 hour after the other servers
        This is to provide people time to gather their guilds and start the expansions at the same stating time.

As always, we appreciate your understanding and patience.
Thank you and happy hunting,

Your EverQuest Team



Check this out and more in our EQ Calendar (Be sure to set it to your time zone [in settings on the Calendar] for your times!).

1 comment | Write Comment

The Scorched Sky Celebration just got hotter! Starting today and ending on July 8, 2022 at 11:00 p.m. PDT, all characters will earn 76% bonuses to experience gains, faction, and rare spawns. So, as you're out there in Norrath showing your allegiance to Fennin and Solusek Ro, why not reap some extra rewards?
Enjoy, and on behalf of the entire EQ team, Happy Scorched Sky!



Check this out and more in our EQ Calendar (Be sure to set it to your time zone [in settings on the Calendar] for your times!).

0 comments | Write Comment