April 4, 2024 - April 2024 Producer's Letter

[Riou]

It is once again time to review what has happened, what is happening now and what is coming along down the line. But, before I get to what will be coming along, let's review all that has occurred already during this extremely momentous year...

PAX East ran from March 21 through 24, and as many of you know, we had a panel there as well as an after-hours meetup. If you missed us at the panel, you can find a recording of it below! It was wonderful seeing so many of you at both the PAX panel and at Harpoon Brewery. I am so excited about Fippy Fest, which is fast approaching. However, in case you missed it, there is a post that gives more details about what you get with an in-person Fippy Fest ticket purchase. There is a plethora of real-life loot, as well as all the digital loot from the VIP digital pack. So much great stuff! If you don't want to miss any of the good times, please be advised that the tickets nearly are half gone. They will only be sold until 11:30 p.m. PDT on April 21, 2024, or until they are sold out (whichever comes first) so be sure to grab yours before they are all gone. Don't let these parties happen without you being in on all the fun! Don't worry if you can't make it in-person though; there will be a livestream of the event that everyone can watch. Tons of fun will be had by all, both in-person and digitally. If you choose to make a digital pack purchase, you will also be able to post your questions in a special forum where it can then be read aloud on stream and answered by the game team.


Plus: there is still time to grab the 25th Anniversary giveaway items if you haven't got yours already! Everyone who logs in until April 20 at 11:00 p.m. PDT will get a Royal Silver Crown. All-Access members will not only get the crown, but they will also get a Darkpaw Torch Ornament as well as a Goblet of Adventure II and a Level 100 Heroic Character!


I am so thrilled that you all are enjoying the Swag Store. We are busy gathering all the ideas you've been passing on to the Community Team to see what we can use in Season 2! You all have had some great ideas so far; keep them coming and be sure to reach out to our Community Manager Angeliana if there are things you would like to see if you have not done so yet.

With all the events going on, it's easy to miss, but we're also hiring! If you fancy yourself a tinkerer (engineer) or a storyteller (designer), look at our openings. If you have ever wanted to help create the EverQuest experience that you love so much, there has never been a better opportunity to become a member of the EverQuest game team than right now.

Now, for a few things that have happened that were not on the roadmap. Each month during the Year of Darkpaw, during our scheduled monthly update day, we run a Lore & Trivia Contest in the forums. The winner of the day's contest will get a prize from a small pool of available items. It's just a little something to pass the time while you wait for the game to unlock. The Community Team is also running a Jigsaw Puzzle event across our social media channels. Each day, a piece is unveiled, and another task is posted. The person who wins the daily task not only gets to choose the next piece to be removed but they also get a point for the day.  The three people with the most points per platform will win a nice pack of items, that's nine total winners! This will continue until June 13th with the winners being revealed at Fippy Fest.


Finally, Rathe Day is coming on April 22nd! Participate in this event and learn a thing or two about conservation while you're having fun.

Here's a quick look back at the roadmap from January through March.

January:
    The Year of Darkpaw
        Year of Darkpaw Swag for sale
        Monthly collection, giveaway, limited edition items
        Anniversary Tower
        January quest, Heroic Adventure, and merchant items added
        Soundtrack Volume 1 released on streaming services
        Ask Me Anything forum thread
    Laurion's Song Tier 1 Raids unlocked
    DirectX 11 API Port launches

February:
    The Year of Darkpaw
        Monthly collection, giveaway, limited edition items
        Anniversary Tower
        February quest, Heroic Adventure, and merchant items added
        Soundtrack Volume 2 released on streaming services
        Adding January giveaway item for purchase
    Laurion's Song Tier 2 Raids unlocked
    Erollisi Day event returns

March:
    HAPPY 25th ANNIVERSARY EVERQUEST!
        New anniversary content
    The Year of Darkpaw
        Monthly collection, giveaway, limited edition items
        Anniversary Tower
        March quest, Heroic Adventure, and merchant items added
        Soundtrack Volume 3 released on streaming services
        Adding February giveaway item for purchase
        Ask Me Anything responses posted
    Laurion's Song Tier 3 Raids unlocked
    EQ Swag Store Launch
    Brew Day event returns
    Bristlebane Day event returns
    Stomples Day event returns

The following is what is coming up between this month and 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
    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
    New Progression Servers Launch

June:
    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
    Pride Month Familiars
    Hardcore Heritage event returns
    Scorched Sky event returns

Now that all the formalities are out of the way let's talk about the big announcement for this quarter. It's time to reveal the Time Locked Progression servers' rulesets for 2024! I hope you all are as excited as we are for these rulesets.

With Mischief and Aradune being the two most popular server rulesets from their opening day to today, this was an easy enough choice to make for such a celebratory year. So, without further ado, our new TLP servers are Tormax, a Traditional Time-Locked Progression server and Teek, a Random Loot Free-Trade Time-Locked Progression Server. Both will have Relaxed True-Box, starting with the traditional True-Box rules and relaxing the True-Box rules further over time. Both servers will start with the Ruins of Kunark unlocked with expansion unlocks then happening at a standard cadence. Both will launch on Wednesday, May 22, 2024!

That's not all either. This year we're introducing a name reservation system that will launch on April 24. Those characters with 200 days or more played time will be the first with the opportunity to reserve their character name on these servers. As we get closer to launch, the played time restriction will lower for the next round and so forth. So be sure to get in those hours if you want to be in the first round to reserve your name on the new servers!

Lastly but not least, I want to thank all of you for being with us during this banner year and helping us celebrate twenty-five glorious years of this amazing game. I am thankful that each of you is here to mark this outstanding year-long celebration! And now, of course...

It's time to answer the Call,
Jenn Chan
Head of Studio