October 2, 2024 - October Producers Letter

[Riou]

The time has come to reflect on what has happened in the last few months as the last tendrils of summer change to the cooler, final months of the year. My first order of business is to remind everyone that fundraising is underway for Extra Life! We are already over $56K towards our $150K goal this year, and I have no doubt we will surpass that goal with ease. We have some wonderful group, individual, and fundraiser incentives. Be sure to check out the Extra Life Guide for how to join Team Darkpaw if you have not done so yet. Thank you to those of you who have already donated or started fundraising; you should have received your keys if you met any of the incentive amounts by August 31. If you haven't seen your keys, please reach out to Extra Life Support. 
 
Next, let's recap what has happened since my July Producer's Letter. Some annual events returned, such as Scorched Sky bonuses, Death, Death, Death, and Living Legacy Raids. We also saw door 7 of the Anniversary Tower unlock, our monthly Year of Darkpaw giveaways and special marketplace items, as well as had another soundtrack with some of your favorite music added to streaming services. And I cannot forget that July also saw Thornblade merged into Mischief.

August was chock full of happenings too, with the Year of Darkpaw giveaway and marketplace item, as well as the unlocking of door number 8 in the Anniversary Tower and another soundtrack release. Gigantic packs were introduced with some never-before-seen pack sizes of much-needed potions. The annual Stone Cold Summer quests and Labor Day Experience events were run, and The Burning Lands expansion items were put into the Marketplace for a limited time.

September continued our monthly Year of Darkpaw updates, Anniversary Tower door unlocks, and soundtracks on streaming services. Marcia Attamilgad briefly brought back her Talk Like a Pirate Day goodies, Fall Fun events have begun, and Laurion's Song is discounted 25% until our new expansion comes out! Speaking of the Year of Darkpaw, you can still get the Fippy Fest digital packs until December 31st at midnight PST! Rounding out September are the shiny new forums. Be sure to head there and see what they're all about. 

Completed
July:

    The Year of Darkpaw
        Monthly collection, giveaway, limited edition items
        Anniversary Tower
            July quest, Heroic Adventure, and merchant items added
        Added June giveaway item for purchase
        Soundtrack Volume 7
    Server merge - Thornblade to Mischief
    Scorched Sky bonuses
    Death, Death, Death event returned
    Living Legacy Raids event returned
    Extra Life incentives announcement

August: 

    The Year of Darkpaw
        Monthly collection, giveaway, limited edition items
        Anniversary Tower
            August quest, Heroic Adventure, and merchant items added
        Added July giveaway item for purchase
        Soundtrack Volume 8
    Stone Cold Summer event returned
    Gigantic Packs were introduced
    The Burning Lands items marketplace sale
    Labor Day event

September: 

    The Year of Darkpaw
        Monthly collection, giveaway, limited edition items
        Anniversary Tower
            September quest, Heroic Adventure, and merchant items added
        Added August giveaway item for purchase
        Soundtrack Volume 9
    New EverQuest Forums were introduced
    Fall Fun events began
    Laurion's Song 25% discount sale
    Talk Like a Pirate Day event returns

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

Upcoming
October: 

    The Year of Darkpaw
        Monthly collection, giveaway, limited edition items
        Anniversary Tower
            October quest, Heroic Adventure, and merchant items added
        Adding September giveaway item for purchase
    EverQuest's 31st expansion beta + Pre-Order opens
    Nights of the Dead event returns

November: 

    The Year of Darkpaw
        Monthly collection, giveaway, limited edition items
        Anniversary Tower
            November quest, Heroic Adventure, and merchant items added
        Adding October giveaway item for purchase
    Champion's Festival event returns
        HAPPY 20th ANNIVERSARY EVERQUEST II!
    Extra Life Game Day
    Raid, Raid, Raid! event returns
    Feast of Giving event returns

December: 

    The Year of Darkpaw
        Monthly collection, giveaway, limited edition items
        Anniversary Tower
            December quest, Heroic Adventure, and merchant items added
        Adding November giveaway item for purchase
    EverQuest's 31st expansion launch
    Frostfell event returns
    New Year's event returns

Continuing throughout the rest of the year:

    Server performance improvements
    Ongoing conversion of Suite windows to the New UI Engine
    Anti-cheat improvements

Now, what you've all read this far to find, the sneak peek into our upcoming expansion! As you already know from Fippy Fest back in June, the name of this expansion is The Outer Brood. Let me set the scene on what's to come, read on adventurers! 

In the sky over the hills of the long-ignored Hodstock looms a massive behemoth. A creature so large that it appears to have an entire city on its back. Terrifying monsters fly down from that city. Beasts that have never been seen in Norrath before! Where have they come from, and what could they possibly want?

Norrath has faced assault before, but this time the foe is different. Some farseers have spotted what can only be dragons in the sky around the great leviathan as it floats at the top of the sky. These beings are so large that few elder Norrathian dragons would stand above its knees! All around the massive leviathan flows a force that defies the understanding of any magic users of Norrath, with power exceeding anything they have seen before. Norrathians of all types, mortal and Dragon alike, have banded together to face this unknown power and attempt to drive them back to wherever they came from. Can you lead the charge against such danger, one that seems to have caused even the fiercest elders of the dragon clans to hesitate?

Reunion time is here,
Jenn Chan
Head of Studio