July 2, 2024 - July 2024 Producers Letter

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Hail, Norrathians! We are smack dab in the middle of summertime, and so much has happened since I last touched base. The Year of Darkpaw has passed the halfway mark and is still going strong! Door number six has unlocked with door seven close to unlocking in The Anniversary Tower and there's still time to catch up if you've missed a door or two! I can't forget to mention all the EverQuest music being released to streaming services as well as all the monthly item giveaways, and there is more to come.

Our Extra Lifefundraising page, along with the globalDaybreak Games Super Team page, is up and ready for you to join and begin your yearly fundraising for The Children's Miracle Network. Extra Life fundraising and donation incentives will be posted next month at the latest. If you want to ensure smooth delivery of your keys, make sure you're donating or creating your fundraising account under the Darkpaw Games team.

We celebrated Rathe Day for the first time in EverQuest this year, and we debuted our new Name Reservation System, which allowed people to reserve their character name in preparation for the new TLPs. But that's not all, Teek and Tormax servers went live, and Terror of Luclin went free to play. We also had a fun Free TLP Weekend, and a nice Memorial Day Bonus event in May. Level 50 Heroic Characters were also made available on TLP servers too! I'd be remiss in failing to mention the great new Server Selection window that came out last month too! Let's check out what else has happened since my last Producer's Letter.

The social media puzzle event ended, and the winners were announced at Fippy Fest by our host Robb Ellis. A huge congratulations to the winners and thank you to all who participated. ICYMI, the big reveal was that the uncovered maps were drawn by Rick Schmitz, the artist who drew the original maps! Those maps are available in the Darkpaw Games Storefront in cloth form, if you haven't gotten yours yet, don't delay. Go grab them now!

Speaking of Fippy Fest, I am thrilled to announce it was a huge success. I had such a great time hanging out with our Ambassadors, Robb Ellis of the EverQuest Show, and both game teams. A huge thank you to the San Diego Comic-Con Museum for allowing us to use their amazing facilities, both indoors and outside, for our two-day event! We had wonderful music provided by Courtly Noyse, who learned to play the EverQuest Theme. There was great food, amazing conversations, and tons of fun during the two-day event. A special thank you to The Prado at Balboa Park, for allowing us to have our "Fippy Feast" there to close out night one. The food was exquisite, the staff was exemplary, and the historic building was breathtaking. We can't forget to give a shoutout to Battlemage Brewing Company for the creation of the Corpse Run Beer (with our help) and for allowing us to hang out there as we closed out our second day. You can find the entire Livestream of day two on our YouTube channel and here is a shorter two-day recap video for you to watch.

If you missed out on the in-person event, you will still be able to purchase the Fippy Fest digital packs through the end of the year! Each pack consists of the items for both games! There are some fantastic mounts, hats, paintings, and tons more!

Here's a quick look back at theroadmapfrom April through June.

April:
    The Year of Darkpaw
        Monthly collection, giveaway, limited edition items
        Anniversary Tower
            April quest, Heroic Adventure, and merchant items added
        Adding March giveaway item for purchase
        Soundtrack Volume 4
    Tempest Festival event returns

May:
    The Year of Darkpaw
        Monthly collection, giveaway, limited edition items
        Anniversary Tower
            May quest, Heroic Adventure, and merchant items added
        Adding April giveaway item for purchase
        Soundtrack Volume 5
    New Progression Servers Launch
    Level 50 Heroic Characters
    Free TLP Weekend

June:
    Fippy Fest in-person event and Livestream
    The Year of Darkpaw
        Monthly collection, giveaway, limited edition items
        Anniversary Tower
            June quest, Heroic Adventure, and merchant items added
        Adding May giveaway item for purchase
        Soundtrack Volume 6
        Social Media Puzzle Event ends
    Pride Month Familiars
    Server Select Screen Revamp
    Hardcore Heritage event returns
    Scorched Sky event returns
    Terror of Luclin goes free to play

And now it's time to tell you all about the great things coming up next! First, Thornblade players will be moving to a new home as the server ismerged to Mischiefthis month. Never fear, however, if you do not wish to move to Mischief, you are welcome to use a free transfer to move to Firiona Vie prior to merge day.

From now through September, we will have a number of your favorite events making a return, as well as more updates to the Anniversary Tower, more music released on streaming services, more giveaway items, monthly collections, limited-edition items, and much more.

Speaking about more, we will have a panel at San Diego Comic-Con on Friday, July 26, 2024, from 12:45 p.m. through 1:45 p.m.! Join a host of Daybreak Games developers as we each take the stage on the topic of Revolutionizing Legends: The Evolution of Iconic Online Games by sharing specific perspectives on the development of renowned long-running titles such as The Lord of the Rings Online, Dungeons & Dragons Online, DC Universe Online, Magic: The Gathering Online, and EverQuest. Come find out what keeps these games ticking year after year, and what the plans for their futures are! We will be in room 6BCF at the San Diego Convention Center!

The following is what is coming up between now and September.

July:
    The Year of Darkpaw
        Monthly collection, giveaway, limited edition items
        Anniversary Tower
            July quest, Heroic Adventure, and merchant items added
        Adding June giveaway item for purchase
    Server merge - Thornblade to Mischief
    Scorched Sky bonuses
    Death, Death, Death event returns
    Living Legacy Raids event returns

August:
    The Year of Darkpaw
        Monthly collection, giveaway, limited edition items
        Anniversary Tower
            August quest, Heroic Adventure, and merchant items added
        Adding July giveaway item for purchase
    Extra Life incentives announcement
    Stone Cold Summer event returns

September:
    The Year of Darkpaw
        Monthly collection, giveaway, limited edition items
        Anniversary Tower
            September quest, Heroic Adventure, and merchant items added
        Adding August giveaway item for purchase
    Talk Like a Pirate Day event returns

The Outer Brood ™ is the name of this year's expansion, and we teased a big surprise in the form of a very large dragon at Fippy Fest. But what else can I tell you about the expansion? I can tell you that the beasts you will encounter speak a long-dead language which very few can understand. They will appear in droves in a seemingly unending assault on Norrath, but why? What could their grievance possibly be? It will be up to you to seek the answers to these questions and more. Will you answer the call?

Tracking down this golden signal,

Jenn Chan

Head of Studio