House of Thule Half Price At Steam and Direct2Drive

House of Thule can be purchased at Steam for $19.99. The following things are assumed, it would be best to ask Steam and/or SOE to confirm them:

a.) Limited time only. Most likely this offer will end after the holidays.
b.) For new accounts only. The page claims it will not work for current accounts. I would suggest checking with SOE if you have a current account and wish to upgrade it to HoT.
c.) You must provide a valid credit card to register and play.
d.) You must sign up and install Steam.

Also note that many people are reporting problems downloading and installing EQ through Steam. It is currently suggested that you begin the downloading through Steam, once the download reaches 1-2%, you can right click the expansion in your Steam games list, then "View game properties", one of the tabs has the key which you can enter via the "accounts" page on Sony station.

At that point, you can download EQ through the Sony Station Launcher and then enter the key you need.

Underfoot is also on sale for $9.99 from Steam if you prefer to get that instead. If you get HoT, it includes Underfoot and all other expansions.

This thread on the SOE forums explains more.

UPDATE: Direct2Drive also has EQ at half price, plus a extra 10% discount code "Grinch".
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Patch Scheduled December 15, 2010

An emergency patch is due:

All EverQuest Live Servers (except Al'Kabor) will be coming down on Wednesday, December 15, 2010 at 5:00 am US Pacific (US Pacific-PST is -8 GMT: 6:00 am MST, 7:00 am CST, 8:00 am EST, 1:00 pm GMT, 2:00 pm CET) for an update to resolve a few emergency issues. The servers are estimated to be unavailable for 3 hours. We apologize for the inconvenience. Keep an eye on the EQ Players website and the forums for status updates and for news if additional downtime is needed.

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Servers To Be Down Thursday, December 9, 2010

In addition to the patch on Wednesday December 8, there will also be a server downtime on December 9.

All EverQuest Live Servers (except Al'Kabor) will be coming down on Thursday, December 9, 2010 at 1:00 am US Pacific (US Pacifc-PST is -8 GMT: 2:00 am MST, 3:00 am CST, 4:00 am EST, 9:00 am GMT, 10:00 am CET) for SOE Network Maintenance. The servers are estimated to be unavailable for 11 and ½ hours.

This downtime is separate from the Game Update downtime on Wednesday, December 8th. We apologize for the inconvenience. Keep an eye on the EQ Players website and the forums for status updates and for news if additional downtime is needed.

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Ninja Nerfs to Alleviation Effects

On the Test Server, Sympathetic Alleviation items from Underfoot are now not working on 87+ spells.

From the thread, we discovered that all older Alleviation Effects have been either nerfed or will be nerfed.

The lack of patch notes on this change was an oversight on my part. This was a change that was meant to be made back before HoT launch, at the same time I changed the Agreeable Alleviation spell line to cap at 86. The truth is that we simply made these spell lines too good and we needed to close them down. HoT augs have a similar mana return line, just not with as high of a return.

I know this will not be a well received change but it's a necessary one. Sorry for the confusion.

- Chandrok, EQ Developer

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Frostfell Coming December 8, 2010 through January 8th 2011

Frostfell Preview!
(December 8, 2010 through January 8th 2011)
Frostfell Overview

As the season of Frostfell slowly peeks over the horizon, several of your fellow Norrathians are making their way to the major cities and the Plane of Knowledge in search of adventurers willing to help them with their holiday tasks.

Frostfell will be celebrated throughout Norrath and beyond from December 8, 2010 through January 8, 2011. Various activities and events will be available at different intervals throughout the season, so make sure you're ready to join in the fun on day one.

Two new adventures, Operation: Jolliness and Gathering Holiday Cheer, are coming as well as the old quests returning.

Read the SOE official post here.
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Alas poor Enrage.. I knew it...

Though we're past design lock for the December patch, I thought I'd pass along that with the January patch, we're removing Enrage from NPCs from the game entirely.

- Elidroth Renato (Doug Cronkhite), Game Designer, Sony Online Entertainment, LLC

Read the entire thread on SOE forums here.
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EverQuest Switching to LaunchPad 3

On December 1, 2010, EverQuest will be switching over to the LaunchPad 3 version of the download client. The older versions will no longer work to download and patch EverQuest.

In order to help with this transition, please share your feedback about any issues that you currently experience with LaunchPad 3. LaunchPad 3 can be accessed through this link.

Note: LaunchPad 3 is not the same as Station Launcher.

The above quote is from this thread on the SOE forums.

Note: Station Launcher is separate from LaunchPad and should continue working.

UPDATE:

The launchpad upgrade will likely not happen until January.

- Steven S. Klug, EverQuest Lead Programmer

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DoT duration issues with multiple casters

Currently, the first caster to land DoT "A" on a mob will have it land with all extension bonuses (AA/potion/etc). The second, third, and beyond casters to land DoT "A" will have it land for only base duration.

I had QA verify this before Thanksgiving, which they did, and it's now in the coding bug queue, but I have no view into where it is on their priority list. I'll see if I can get some info.

- Elidroth Renato (Doug Cronkhite), Game Designer, Sony Online Entertainment, LLC

From this thread on the SOE forums.
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Patch Scheduled December 8, 2010

From a SOE forums post:

The next patch is Dec. 8th.

- Steven S. Klug, EverQuest Lead Programmer

UPDATE:

All EverQuest Live Servers (except Al'Kabor) will be coming down on Wednesday, December 10, 2010 at 12:00 am US Pacific (US Pacifc-PST is -8 GMT: 1:00 am MST, 2:00 am CST, 3:00 am EST, 8:00 am GMT, 9:00 am CET) for a Game Update. The servers are estimated to be unavailable for 8 hours. Keep an eye on the EQ Players website and the forums for status updates and for news if additional downtime is needed.

NOTE: It is assumed that it is an error that the SOE post says "December 10" rather then "December 8".
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"EverThanks" Begins

From November 22nd to November 30th some special events happen on Norrath.

* From Tuesday, November 23rd to Monday, November 29th, the Symbol of the Sated will be available on the Marketplace at no cost. This symbol causes those around you to yawn as if sated.

* From 12:00 noon (PST) on Tuesday, November 23rd to 12:00 noon (PST) on Monday, November 29th faction hits, both positive and negative, all across the world will be increased.

* From 12:00 noon (PST) on Tuesday, November 23rd to 12:00 noon (PST) on Monday, November 29th, several rare encounters will increase the rate of their appearance.

* The Haunting of Norrath events return on Monday, November 22nd and will remain until November 30th. UPDATE: Not all Halloween events will return, only the two new ones for 2010 that were bugged.

The entire SOE article is here.
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Some Itemization Errors To Be Fixed Next Patch

Some belts are missing potion belt slots, and cultural seals and gloves with the wrong focus effects are on the list to be fixed.

For more, click these links about the belts, the seals, and the gloves.

UPDATE: In addition, the HoT augs currently flagged as Range will have the 1H restrictions changed so they actually fit in ranged weapons next patch. This is reported in this thread.

MORE:

The lack of type 3 slots on [HoT] shields was an oversight on my part. This will be fixed in the next patch.

- Chandrok, EQ Developer

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Enchanter Glyph Spray To Be Fixed In Next Patch

From this thread on the SOE forums:

It's been fixed internally, and had the agro modified significantly. It should be nicely usable with the next full patch.

- Elidroth Renato (Doug Cronkhite), Game Designer, Sony Online Entertainment, LLC

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Morell's Castle Raid On Hiatus

From this thread on the SOE forums:

It has come to our attention that we may have to change the requirements to enter the raid in Morell's Castle. It looks as though someone (me) made some poor decisions about what should be required to get the raid. It all works as designed, but the design isn't very good. Essentially, it's way too easy to get into. The requirements, as they are, would pretty much destroy the raid progression. So it needs to be changed.

So we have given Towerguard Melbur a vacation until we get it fixed.

Also, we have made some fixes to the raids in Sanctum Somnium that we can't push live until our December update. This adds incentive to prevent folks from accessing the Castle raid, so that we can have time to get those fixes in as well.

I'm sorry about the mistake. We're figuring out what changes need to be made now, but can't actually make them without a full patch, and that will happen in early December.

I am extremely sorry about this error and the delay it will cause the guilds that are pushing up to those raids.

Thank you for your patience.

- Absor, EQ Developer

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Target Ring Bugged, To Be Fixed Next Patch

Various memory management problems, which are reflected with a bugged target ring, should be fixed in the next patch.

Found the problem. This will be fixed next patch.

- Steven S. Klug, EverQuest Lead Programmer

This thread on the SOE forums discusses the issues.
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Shadowrest Being Removed With January Game Update

From this SOE forums post by Zatozia, Community Relations:

Greetings Everyone!

The Shadowrest zone where old corpses go after the timer runs out will be going away with the Game Update in January 2011. The zone is no longer needed due to corpses not having items anymore.

If you have questions regarding this zone please respond to this thread and we'll try to get answers for you.

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Patch Scheduled November 10, 2010

From the in-game Welcome to EverQuest window:

Events of: 11/10/2010
Live Update
Start Time: 01:00 AM
Ending Time: 08:00 AM
Description: The next live update is scheduled for this date.

UPDATE:

All EverQuest Live Servers (except Al'Kabor) will be coming down on Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 1:00 am US Pacific (US Pacifc-PST is -8 GMT: 2:00 am MST, 3:00 am CST, 4:00 am EST, 9:00 am GMT, 10:00 am CET) for a Game Update. The servers are estimated to be unavailable for 7 hours. Keep an eye on the EQ Players website and the forums for status updates and for news if additional downtime is needed.

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Important Spell Reward Change

From the in-game Update Notes:

11/03/2010

*** Important News ***

In next week's patch we are adding the Wave of Dreams spell to the same reward option as Denon's Dirge of Disruption and we are adding Sotor's Chant of Flame to the same reward option as Lyssa's Lively Crescendo.

If you have not yet turned in a Glowing Dream Fragment to get either of those two spells, please wait until the patch to do so. If you have already turned in dream fragments, CS is currently in the process of reimbursing you for the fragments you turned in. Please hold onto the new dream fragments to turn them in after the patch.

If you turned in fragments for either of these spells and have still not been reimbursed after next week's patch, please petition for replacement fragments. Please do not petition until after the update.

The EverQuest Team

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Halloween Quest and Group Mission To Be Fixed, Will Re-Occur Thanksgiving Week

Last week our patch person, Aristo, was on vacation.

I tried to muddle through a hotfix.

It seems I got old data hotfixed into Plane of Knowledge.

We are working on a hotfix to get the proper data in. I am trying to streamline it to a few hours, but it may be as late 4am 11/3 (about 12 hours from this post)

We are also going to have this even re-occur thankgiving week since it had so many issues during its normal time.

- Ngreth, EQ Developer

From this SOE forums thread.

UPDATE:

Greetings!

The Haunting of Norrath event will automatically end on November 7th. However, due to the issues experienced, the EQ team has decided to return the Haunting of Norrath over the period of November 22nd to November 30th.

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Hotfix - November 2, 2010

*** Hotfix ***

- Removed see-invis flags from NPCs in the upper floor of House of Thule as it is primarily a travel zone.
- Tick Tock - Corrected an issue that was causing the raid to hang before getting to the clock phase.

From this SOE forums post.
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Experience in HoT Instances Unintentionally Low

It was an oversight.

- Ngreth, EQ Developer

The full thread on the SOE forums is here.
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EQ Halloween: October 24 - November 7

From this SOE forums thread:

Halloween events turn on on the 24th and run until Nov 7th.

Look for an article on the Players page outlining this year's events

- Kiara, EQ Community Manager

The article to come soon (it is hoped).
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Patch Scheduled October 21, 2010

Greetings all,

The servers will be down for a brief update to correct some minor issues.

The downtime should last the usual time (from about 1am PDT until 8am PDT).

We'll post more information (including notes) closer to Thursday.

From this SOE post.

EDIT: Time of patch was changed (SOE updated their post).
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SOE Creates AA Status News Thread

Much like my postings in the beta forums for House of Thule.. I figured it'd be a good idea to have a single place you could reference for AA updates. So.. this is it. I'll try to post here at least a couple times a week to let you know what's up..

- Elidroth Renato
-----------------------------
Doug Cronkhite
Game Designer
Sony Online Entertainment, LLC

The thread can be visited by clicking here.
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Server Side Lag Reported

Many players have been reporting cases of "lag" where the game seems slow to respond to commands. Among other things, clicking a spell gem and waiting from 1 to 2 seconds before it begins to cast, clicking a clicky object and having the same, and many other "lagging" things.

If you have noticed this, you can help SOE diagnose and solve it.

I'm trying to collect data on specifically where, when and how is it happening and was just pointing out that giving me a ping time that's higher than what you're used to but still quite excellent doesn't really help identify the problem. So for those having issues:

What server?

What zone?

What time of day?

What kind of internet connection?

And perhaps even what part of the world you live in?

- Steven S. Klug, EverQuest Lead Programmer

Help Mr. Klug by reporting your lag experiences by making a post on the SOE forums in this thread.

Note that this is not about poor frame rates due to lower end graphics cards or processors. This is only for reporting issues that the game server itself is being slow.
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Graphic Display Settings 101

SOE is in the process of updating their information on setting your game graphics for the best balance between quality and performance.

Graphic Display Settings 101 will help you adjust your settings. Several parts should be expanded and improved soon.
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Some House of Thule Acknowledged Bugs, Patch Date To Be Decided

Here are some of the bugs that SOE has acknowledged that have come up since the ''House of Thule'' release.

* Doing a server transfer in a neighborhood or housing zone can make it so your character cannot login with going home.

* Texture streaking issues with Pixel Shader 1.4.

* Can only seem to open 34 bags at a time. There are now 36 bag slots. 24 in bank, 10 on character, and 2 in shared bank = 36.

* Bazaar Trader: With a full inventory of trader satchels (including the new HoT slots), only 40 items showed in trader window. Right clicked a trader satchel to check that it was full, got kicked out of the game.

* The named rotdog 'Rend' in The Grounds is pretty much unbeatable atm. It turns invulnerable after 30sec like it's supposed to, but when it does its model changes from the red rotdog to a "doug" (unarmored human) and the mechanism to remove the invulnerability (mezing it) does not work.

We haven't yet announced when the next patch will be. We're still assessing what needs to get fixed, etc.

- Steven S. Klug, EverQuest Lead Programmer

Read about these and more, and add any not already known to SOE at their Update Bugs 10/12/10 forum thread.
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House of Thule Collector's Edition Bag Problem

For House of Thule the "Collector's Edition" offered some extras, at an extra price.

One of the extras was a 20 slot bag, instead of the 16 slot bag that the regular edition offers.

However, SOE stated on at least one of their promotions that the Collector's Edition would offer both bags.

Some players have received both, but some have not. As a result, there are a number of unhappy customers.

SOE has announced that all Collector's Edition customers will now receive both bags.

Last I heard they were flagging all collector's edition purchasers with the 16 slot bag. So if you bought the collector's edition and didn't get the 16 slot bag, please /petition about it.

- Steven S. Klug, EverQuest Lead Programmer

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SOE Posts House of Thule Housing "How To"

House of Thule House "How To"
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New Game Graphics Settings May Cause Lagging

Two new options were added under Display > Advanced. "Enable Post Effects" and "Enable Bloom Lighting".

Steven S. Klug, EverQuest Lead Programmer, has mentioned:

If you have bloom lighting turned on that can slow down some kinds of video cards. Try turning it off in Options->Display->Advanced.

Still awaiting comment on the Post Effects.

UPDATE:

You shouldn't need to turn off post effects as they are only used under certain circumstances. But it may provide a slight boost for some people with old graphics cards (nvidia 5xxx series being the big offenders).

- Steven S. Klug, EverQuest Lead Programmer

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Server Restart and House of Thule Pre-Launch Celebration Extended Due To Outages

We apologize for the network connectivity problems experienced over the weekend. Our operations guys and the upstream provider are working to get them fixed.

Unfortunately the outages are triggering a memory problem on the world servers and we have had some instability issues. I am having operations shutdown and restart the servers at 5am PDT to make sure the servers are stable for the Monday before expansion launch.

I wanted to let you know we have decided to extend the xp, rares, and faction bonuses until Monday night when the servers go down to prepare for House of Thule launch.

I'll be sure to set the bonuses again by 6am PDT.

- Steven S. Klug, EverQuest Lead Programmer

The SOE forums thread is here.
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House of Thule Launch Information

From this SOE forums post:

House of Thule launches on Tuesday, October 12th!

We're all very excited and hope you are too.

The EQPlayers page will come down on Sunday, October 10th and will not be available again until launch. This will also affect the welcome screen. We'll be posting updates on the forums and on our Facebook page. You can also find us on Twitter!

The servers will be coming down around 10pm PDT on Monday, October 11th.

Pre-orders for House of Thule will no longer be available as of 11:59pm on Monday, October 11th, so if you haven't pre-ordered yet, make sure you do it before then!

At this time, Fan Faire attendees will have their accounts entitled with the expansion, so if you don't see it there yet, don't worry!

Members of the Community team will be arriving at a ridiculously early hour to prep for the Ustream event that starts at 6am PDT. We'll be providing updates on the downtime via Ustream chat, posts on the forums, and updates on Facebook!

We're planning to bring the servers back up at 8am PDT, provided that the gnomes don't get into the works and delay things!

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No Plans to Open Old Flagged / Keyed Zones

With the past few expansions, SOE has opened up older zones by removing flagging and keying requirements. With House of Thule there are currently no plans to open up any more zones.

Read about it in this thread on the SOE forums.
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House of Thule Pre-Launch Celebration

From this SOE forum post:

YOU ALL ARE INVITED TO OUR PARTY!!!!!

Special invitation from EverQuest Producer Thom "Phathom" Terrazas

To Celebrate the HoT Expansion Launch next Tuesday and to thank everyone for their dedication to EverQuest, we are throwing you a bit of a party starting tomorrow.

Starting at 10:00am PDT, Friday October 8 through October 11 at 10:00am PDT, we will be delivering the following:

1. All Accounts Closed (but in good standing) will be given access to the game!

2. Double Experience!!

3. Rare Mob Spawns Increased!!!

4. Faction Gain Increased!!!!

....and our guide program is on full alert for games, quests and tomfoolery!!!

So Enjoy! ---and thank you on behalf of the EverQuest Team!

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"Cloudy Orb of Dreams" Rumors Fly

The "Cloudy Orb of Dreams" is the reward for completing the House of Thule achievement "In the Absence of Fear". It has one charge of "Stare Into the Orb".

Currently, no one knows what it does.

Rumors are flying about what it might do. Currently leading the pack is the rumor that it gets you into House of Thule early, perhaps on October 6th.

No word from SOE on what it does.

Add your opinion at SOE's official forums by posting a reply to this post: Cloudy Orb of Dreams
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Death Bloom to be Nerfed

From this post on SOE forums:

I know this isn't going to be popular amongst the Twitch crowd.. but unfortunately Death Bloom is going to be scaled back. It's currently too strong. I'm not really sure how I fat-fingered the mana/s numbers, but I did.

What I'm looking at doing is increasing the reuse time as well as reducing the mana per tick regenerated.

Elidroth Renato
-----------------------------
Doug Cronkhite
Game Designer
Sony Online Entertainment, LLC

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Invasion of the Fearless Task Bugged, Fixed

Invasion of the Fearless is a group task that is part of the in-game Achievement currently listed for House of Thule called "In the Absence of Fear". It is part of the Prelude Events for the launch of House of Thule.

Many people are unable to see the fires they are required put out. Also, every time you fill up or empty a bucket it moves out of your inventory and onto your cursor. So you then have to put it back in your inventory.

Elegist, EQ Developer has posted:

We've made changes, and we're preparing for a hotfix to increase the amount of time you have to find the fires to 30 minutes. Also, the fires will have actor tags on them, allowing people without particles turned on to see them. Every 2 minutes, guard Aerryn will tell you how many fires are still burning, and there won't be more than 12 up at a time. HP and attack power on all the mobs have also been lowered.

At this time there is no word if SOE even realizes that the bucket problem should be resolved.

Elegist has responded on the bucket issue:

We're testing the changes on Stage right now. There is also a fix in there that should prevent the fire starters from spawning on top of you, and it will also keep them from wandering near the Qeynos gate or going into the basement.

Edit: Unfortunately, we can't change the way the bucket works, since technical limitations don't allow us to hotfix items. You can try placing the bucket on the hotkey bar. When you want to use it, right click on it. Then, when it appears on your cursor, just click the left mouse button while you're still hovering over the bucket hotkey.

UPDATE:

9/28/2010

*** Hotfix ***

The following changes have been made to the Invasion of the Fearless mission to address its difficulty:

* You now have 30 minutes to put out all of the fires in Qeynos.
* Every two minutes, Guard Aerryn will let you know how much time you’ve taken as well as how many fires are still burning.
* Fires now have non-particle effects on them, so those without the ability to see particles should still see the fires.
* There will now only be a maximum of 12 fires burning at once.
* Your enemies have been weakened.
* Fire starters no longer have a chance to spawn directly on top of your group when you talk to Guard Aerryn. They also will not start fires near Guard Aerryn or in the basement of Crow's pub.

The EverQuest Team

For more information on this task, visit the Invasion of the Fearless page at Fanra's EverQuest Wiki.
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House of Thule Prelude Events

From SOE:

Many adventurers have noted that something odd is afoot in Norrath. People are acting strangely indeed!

Normally reasonable people seem to be more aggressive and Norrathian heroes have noticed many strange behaviors in their home towns!

Currently in the game is most of the In the Absence of Fear achievement that currently shows up in the House of Thule section of your in-game achievement window.

According to SOE, on Monday, September 27 the "third part" of the Prelude Events will happen. The "fourth part" will happen on Monday, October 4.

See Fanra's EverQuest Wiki for information on In the Absence of Fear and House of Thule.
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Patch Scheduled September 15, 2010

From SOE forums:

Greetings Norrathians,

We'll be having a hotfix on Wednesday, Septemper 15th to address some issues with the Loyalty Reward program as well as a few other necessary fixes.

The servers are currently scheduled to come down at 12 Midnight [PDT] and be down for an estimated 8 hours.

These times may change, and we will update this thread with any adjustments.

Thank you for your patience and happy gaming!

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Illsalin Models Broken, To Be Fixed

There seems to be a graphical issue with the Illsalin models.

The thing with the Shiliskin should be fixed with the next update.

- Absor, EQ Developer

UPDATE: As of September 14, 2010, this bug is still not fixed.
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Server Merge and Server Launch September 8 (plus a progression server in the future)

From SOE General Dev Updates:

Mayong Server Merge Next Week - (Tunare Server) - Next Wednesday, 9/8/10 during our game update, we will be merging the Mayong Server into the Tunare Server. The Tunare Server will likely be down longer than the other servers to finish the merge. More information will follow on the exact time frames.

New Server Launching Next Week - We will be launching a brand new server with our Game Update on Wednesday 9/8/10. Trakanon is the name chosen by you in our poll results. Character Transfers will not be permitted to Trakanon but we may allow it some day in the future.

Progression Server - A progression server has been asked to be launched for quite some time. When we did the polls last year, the Mayong 51/50 server was chosen as the front runner and a progression server was chosen as a runner-up. The Mayong launched and had a great turnout but we are ready to turn a new page with that server and move onto the next best thing. After popular demand and much feedback by you, we believe a time-locked progression server is the best one to launch next. So we're discussing the best time to launch and best roll out plan to unlock each expansion so that content is maximized and accomplished and balanced so that you are not rushed nor left behind.

Scheduling for a Progression Server - We are currently all hands into development on our House of Thule expansion (launching October 12, 2010) and we are giving it as much attention as needed to ensure a great launch. Focusing on a progression server launch will have to come after the House of Thule, where as a schedule will be determined at that time. We have a time frame in our minds that makes sense to us and with our schedule but we will hold off on announcing that time frame until after a successful expansion release.

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Patch Scheduled September 8, 2010

While not officially announced, per se, it appears there will be a patch on this date.

Next Wednesday, 9/8/10 during our game update...

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Labor Day Bonus XP Weekend

Kiara the EverQuest Community Manager has posted that there will be a holiday experience bonus. How much the bonus will be is still to be announced:

YES!

Official announcement coming soon.

In the meantime the info will be:

September 2nd at noon (PDT) until September 9 at 10am PDT.

UPDATE: It has been announced that it will be a 50% bonus:

Experience Weekend Week - In honor of the Labor Day holiday 3-day-weekend, this Thursday we will be turning up the experience gain and it will run through the following Wednesday Night. (yes, we've heard many comments that not all players are available on the weekend - so cheers to you and to those that will be playing this weekend!) The experience increase will be turned on before noon (PT) on Thursday, 9/2/10 and will be turned off on Thursday 9/9/10 morning no later than 10:00am. The experience increase will be 50% during this time frame!

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Patch Scheduled August 18, 2010

From the EverQuest Players Network Status page:

All EverQuest Live Servers (except Al'Kabor) will be brought down at 2:00 am PDT (10:00 am UTC) on Wednesday, August 18, 2010 for an update. Estimated downtime is 6 hours.

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20% Underfoot Experience Bonus to End August 18

I seem to have missed the announcement on the bonus, so here it is with the date on when it ends.

Greetings Norrathians!

We're excited to announce that from July 28 through August 18, we're going to give you a 20% boost to experience in all the Underfoot zones.

If you've been wanting to make that final push to level 85, but just haven't had the time or felt like your experience bar was crawling, now is the perfect time to show the Underfoot who's boss!

Perhaps you are at the level cap, but have some friends who are lagging behind. This is perfect time to help them catch up to you and experience all that Underfoot has to offer.

The Underfoot zones are:

* Arthicrex
* Brell’s Rest
* Brell’s Arena
* Brell's Temple
* The Convorteum
* The Cooling Chamber
* The Foundation
* Fungal Forest
* Kernagir, the Shining City
* Lichen Creep
* Pellucid Grotto
* The Underquarry
* Volska's Husk

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"Hardcore" Versions of Dungeons Coming in August and September

From this post on the SOE forums:

Greetings Norrathians!

We are proud to bring you, back by popular demand, the buffed up versions of your favorite dungeons!

From August 18 through September 6 - Cazic and Blackburrow

From September 1 through September 13 - Lower Guk and Unrest

- Kiara, EQ Community Manager

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Giants, Giants, Giants! Is Back (by mistake)

With little fanfare, the Giants, Giants, Giants! quest is back in the game. Get it, as before, from Tzudani, Emissary of Veeshan, who stands in the Plane of Knowledge near the Guild Lobby.

No word yet on how long it will be around, so get it while you can.

For more information on this quest, visit the Giants, Giants, Giants! page at Fanra's EverQuest Wiki.

UPDATE: It seems that the quest was not supposed to be back, it is a bug. Here is the official word:

This event is NOT supposed to be up. Unfortunately I probably can't kill it before the weekend (it's not generally a good idea to make a last minute change on a Friday...).

If you do the event, we take no responsibility for the problems it might cause with the rewards. Do it at your own risk.

- Absor, EQ Developer

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Old Man McKenzie to Change in September

From this SOE forums post:

We have decided not to give Old Man McKenzie a sabbatical, but changes will be coming to what he does.

The major issue we have is that he gives a HUGE amount of reward, both in experience and items for absolutely zero risk except possibly a small amount of wasted time if you somehow manage to fail.

A smaller issue is people not learning how to play their own class, but this is only a small issue in our opinion, and probably not widely prevalent. We are sure it happens sometimes, but it is not the majority of the cases.

So, in the September patch, we will remove ALL experience rewards from the missions that Old Man McKenzie offers. We may bring the experience back in a modified form in the future, including requiring that you actually participate to gain the experience, but that particular point is still under discussion.

This will leave the monster missions as no risk way of gaining high value items. We continue to have no plans to raise that amount of brews given. If you think the item is valuable enough, then you will need to repeat the mission enough times to get the item. We still consider it too easy to get these items, even with the requirement to grind for a while to get some of them.

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Next Expansion Officially Announced

From EverQuest News:
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EverQuest® House of Thule™ is the seventeenth expansion of the groundbreaking EverQuest franchise. Now in its unprecedented twelfth year, EverQuest continues to add immersive gameplay, captivating storytelling and exciting worlds to its legacy, now set in a never-before-seen dreamland full of mystery and adventure. House of Thule offers an expansion rich in content and packed with game-changing features including a level cap increase and the addition of player housing, which new players, veterans and MMO fans will relish.

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SOE is now accepting Beta sign ups for House of Thule.
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From EverQuest News:
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We are now accepting sign-ups for the EverQuest® House of Thule™ expansion beta. The beta period is expected to begin on Monday, August 9, 2010.

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Go here for more information.
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UPDATE:  More information on  House of Thule can be found at Fanra's EverQuest Wiki's House of Thule page.
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Off Line Trading Under Consideration

From this thread on SOE forums:

We are still considering doing the "Linkdead Broker" thing where you can leave your broker up but be signed off the computer. We just have not been able to get it into the schedule. This will allow folks to turn off their computers when they are brokering, but their account will be logged in.

We will not be doing a fully offline broker model like other games at this point. The resource requirements are huge, and we cannot justify it.

- Ngreth, EQ Developer

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Archery Haste Bugged

It appears there is a bug with Archery. Haste does not work correctly with it.

SOE has posted about it here:

QA has confirmed that Archery and haste have an issue. It is now a bug in Code's Queue.

- Ngreth, EQ Developer

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Gnomish Arcanus Magical Experience Of Norrath XP Bonus

From the Official SOE EQ forum:

We’ve tasked one of our best tinkerers to create a new experience modifying device for your benefit and would like to unveil the Gnomish Arcanus Magical Experience Of Norrath (GAME-ON for short) device today. Not realizing that our tinkerer splits his time as a prankster, we’ve discovered that the GAME-ON device is set to random experience. The best that we can tell right now is that it is set no higher than a 50% experience boost and no lower than 25%. It appears that the GAME-ON device is set to turn on at 10am this morning (Pacific Time) and to shut down at 10am on Wednesday (also Pacific Time). As we get more data, we will share it with you. Otherwise, please accept this as a token of our thanks for your patience and dedication to EverQuest.

- Phathom, Senior Staff

You can read the full thread here.
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Patch Scheduled July 14, 2010

From the EverQuest login screen:

GAME UPDATE NEWS: The next Game Update is currently planned for July 14, 2010.

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Larger Bags Coming Some Time After August

From the EverQuest Producer’s Letter – May 2010:

Inventory Improvements

Much like adding mercenary types, another subject that you voted for was improved inventory. I’m happy to inform you that we have plans to improve your inventory with larger bags!

All I have to say is “About Time”! I don’t know how many times I’ve had to leave a group or area recently just to go sell or delete something to make room for a better item. Ugh! This is going to be nice! There are some additional inventory improvements we’re making but due to final designs not being complete, I’m limited as to what I can say today. Soooo…. if you haven’t heard the update on this subject in the next couple of weeks, you may have to head up to Las Vegas for the Fan Faire in August to hear about them first hand, straight from the horse’s mouth!

Well, that’s a couple of things I wanted to bring you up to speed on and there will be more items to update you on in the very near future – So on behalf of the EverQuest Team, I want to thank you for your continued support and passion for EverQuest. It truly is an honor to be able to work with a team that is as passionate as the customers that play our game.

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Game Update Coming in June

From the EverQuest Producer’s Letter – May 2010:

Coming up in June, we will be releasing our next Game Update: Rage of the Mercenaries! Rage of the Mercenaries fills that special need that has been missing for some of you. A Healer or Tank Mercenary has been the standard but if you don’t need help in those categories, a DPS Mercenary may just do the trick. Thus, the DPS Mercenary will be unveiled in two distinct flavors: A melee damage dealer and a caster damage dealer. Both of these mercenaries bring extra damage output to any party they are in. The melee damage mercenary will do consistent damage, while the caster mercenary will do its damage in shorter bursts, needing more rest. Both mercenaries will have a standard balanced mode where they do damage, but try not to get too much of the target’s attention. Both mercenaries also have a burn mode where they will not conserve mana or endurance, and pay no attention to hate generation, but will deal as much damage as possible, as fast as possible. This may cause them to gain the attention of the target. Finally, the caster damage mercenary will have a mode where it attempts to preserve mana. This mode will do less damage, but will allow it to last longer.

These mercenaries will initially be available at all of the standard mercenary merchants, in all of the standard races. It will also be spread into the already available special mercenaries obtainable through Legends of Norrath and special rewards.

These Mercenaries are on the Test Server now, so check ‘em out now and feel free to give us your feedback before they go live!

* Also releasing in Rage of the Mercenaries, we will have new Hot Zones created for levels 20 through 75 with new quests/rewards and the current Hot Zones will go back to normal (what they were before they were made into Hot Zones).

* The Welcome Screen is getting a great new look to give you more game relevant information and better functionality that you have requested. A Calendar has been added that will contain pre-populate events and dates to keep you better informed of future events. Uncompleted Achievements will now be visible on the Welcome Screen to see challenges that you should accomplish. Thirteen additional pieces of flair will be released at the same time with a few more coming very soon afterwards to fit in line with some future features we have in store for you.

* The Marketplace will be getting some additional features that will help you find what you’re looking for (categorization, searching, etc…). We think you’ll also like the new Item Preview feature that allows you to see what the item looks like in game before you purchase it.

You can read more about this on SOE's official Rage of the Mercenaries page.
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Server Merges Between June 22nd and July 6th, 2010.

Between June 22nd and July 6th SOE will be merging various servers.

Go to the EQ Players Server Merge News web page to learn more.
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EQ Memorial Ding!

From the EverQuest Producer’s Letter – May 2010:

Memorial Day Weekend!

On Wednesday, May 12, 2010, EverQuest launched the EQ Memorial Ding! promotion on the EverQuestLive Facebook page.

This promotion allowed you the community to throttle the XP bonus on Memorial Day Weekend by “Liking” our EverQuestLive Facebook page. In just under one day, we were able to accomplish four out of the first five goals of the promotion (I told everyone we underestimated your power!) …and the fifth goal was crushed within a mere days after the promotion launched, way before the deadline on May 27th. Nice going everyone! Because of the success of this promotion, we may be adding more benefits with some loftier goals.

Along the way to reaching each of these goals, we are giving out some reward items via the Marketplace. Since the five goals were met this past week, we have turned on eleven rewards for you to purchase for no cost. These items will remain through the Memorial Day Weekend for you to pick up so don’t wait too long to log in and claim your gifts before they are taken down. They will go away on June 1st, 2010. [emphasis added]

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Patch Scheduled June 9, 2010

GAME UPDATE NEWS: The next Game Update is currently planned for June 9, 2010.

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Patch Scheduled May 12, 2010

From the log in screen Update Notes:

GAME UPDATE NEWS: The next Game Update is currently scheduled for May 12, 2010.

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Experience Increased for Anniversary Sewers Task

From the Welcome to EverQuest in-game window:

HOTFIX - April 9, 2010
- Raised the experience modifier in Karl Kranigan's lair in the Freeport Sewers.

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Underfoot Group Armor Bug

From Ngreth, EQ Developer:

I looked and the data on the servers does *NOT* match the data that I intended to be in the game.

SO. this armor set will be changing. It will be more like the original poster stated, where each piece is an upgrade.

the visible armor in Underfoot, once IN Underfoot gear, is intended to be a piece by piece upgrade, as well as a set upgrade. This is *NOT* true when going from SoD to Underfoot, but once in underfoot each piece is an upgrade over the previous piece. Going from SoD to Underfoot you do need to look at the armor as a "set" to see an upgrade, and even then it would be possible to pick and choose pieces from SoD to get certain stats to be better than lower tier Underfoot, probably at a sacrifice of something else. This is also *NOT* true for non-visible armor, where you need to be looking more towards sets, and you may not get a piece by piece upgrade, and may even see some weirdness in sets depending on which piece you pick.

From this thread.
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Chests Added to Some Underfoot Missions, More Due Soon

From the Welcome to EverQuest in-game window:

More Treasure? - Yup! We've added treasure chests to several of the Underfoot missions. The missions in Brell's Temple, Fungal Forest, Volska's Husk, Lichencreep and Convorteum all drop chests. With our next update we'll be adding similar rewards to the rest of the Underfoot missions. So grab some friends and have some fun!

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Hotfixes and Veteran Reward Problems from Welcome to EverQuest In-Game Window

HOTFIX - March 23, 2010
- Corrected an issue causing the Distribution Facilitator to not give a gold abacus to everyone who needed one.

HOTFIX - March 25, 2010
- The Tribunal's most wanted have lost their ability to land furious blows.
- Lowered the aggro and assist ranges of many NPCs in Convorteum.
- Changed the locations where a Clockwork Magma Meter MCMXCIX stops in order to reduce the duration and difficulty of his quest.

Message of the Day
We are still working to correct the ongoing issues with players' Veteran Reward time, and appreciate everyone's patience while we resolve this issue. At present, CS is only able to update Veteran Reward time for accounts which have purcased a 1-2 year supscription and have not yet received their first years' time.

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Anniversary Quest Rewards Bugged

At least two anniversary quest rewards have been reported as bugged.

The Steel Behemoths raid reward is not being give to any characters who are dead when the final mob dies. SOE has responded that a fix is planned to be pushed live on the morning of March 18. Players who have already done the raid and not received their reward may be out of luck and forced to do the raid again if they want their reward.

The SOE forum thread on the Steel Behemoths bug is here.

UPDATE: This problem should be fixed as of the March 18th Hot Fix:

Karl Kranigan will now give rewards to folks that happened to get themselves killed while defeating his Behemoths if they ask him for a [reward].

The Dragons, Dragons, Dragons task reward is also reported to be bugged. It does not seem to be properly updating if you have done the task last year and you do it again this year. Word on when a fix will go live has not been seen.

The SOE thread is here.
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11th Anniversary Begins

Starting 3/16/10, get in on the 11th anniversary in-game events until 4/26/2010

From the SOE EQ 11th Anniversary page.
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Patch Scheduled April 14, 2010

From the EverQuest LaunchPad login screen:

The next Game Update is currently scheduled for April, 14, 2010. Details will be made available as we get closer to that date.

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Emergency Patch March 12, 2010

All EverQuest Live Servers (except Al'Kabor) will be coming down on Friday, March 12, 2010 at 3:00 am PST (PST is -8 GMT: 4:00 am MST, 5:00 am CST, 6:00 am EST, 11:00 am GMT, 12:00 pm CET) for an Emergency Game Update. The servers are estimated to be unavailable for 5 hours. We apologize for the inconvenience. For accounts actively participating in the 3 day Underfoot access promotion, we are extending the access through Saturday, March 13th instead of Friday, March 12th due to the issues experienced.

From the EverQuest Discussion Boards.
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Some Tier 9 (Damascite) Underfoot Clay Bugged

it looks like head and legs are going to be "flaky" all of the "head" recipes are using the "leg" clay. The leg recipes are also using the leg clay... which is where things could act unpredictably, no telling which one the code search will hit first (possibly head...)

I am putting in a fix, but... I am not sure when that fix can be pushed to live, so... be careful with leg combines...

- Ngreth, EQ Developer

From this thread.
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More Underfoot Stuff Due in April

Exactly what is coming is unknown but some new AAs for sure.

Working on new stuff for April patch. It's coming.

- Elidroth Renato (Doug Cronkhite), EQ Game Designer

From this thread.
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Patch Day March 10, 2010

From the EQ forums:

All EverQuest Live Servers (except Al'Kabor) will be coming down on Wednesday, March 10, 2010 at 12:00 am PST (PST is -8 GMT: 1:00 am MST, 2:00 am CST, 3:00 am EST, 8:00 am GMT, 9:00 am CET) for a Game Update. The servers are estimated to be unavailable for 8 hours. Keep an eye on the EQ Players website and the forums for status updates and for news if additional downtime is needed.

The patch message can be read here.
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EQ 11th Anniversary Coming March 16th

From the SOE EQ Dev blog:

Next month [meaning March] we will be hitting our 11th Anniversary for EverQuest!!! Woot! I know where I was 11 years ago – Where were you? We’ll have to get Zat to collect your feedback on your initial steps into EverQuest way back then. I know we’ve got a few stories we can share with you… it should be pretty interesting.

Next month we will launch some new content and features for the Anniversary, turning on some previous content while giving it a twist and packing anything else in there that we can think of.

We’ll have more details about March and what is to come after, very soon.

The "more details" have not been forthcoming. Requests to SOE for more information have been ignored.

It is not known exactly when the events will start and end, however, according to one source it begins the same time every year, on March 16th, at midnight PST. Estimates on how long it will last range from one month to six weeks.

UPDATE: SOE has posted info. Go here to their 11th Anniversary page.
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This blog has moved

This blog is now located at http://fanraeq.blogspot.com/.

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http://atlantiseverquest.blogspot.com/atom.xml.
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Convorteum Secrecy Lifted (Maybe)

SOE has been silent on when to expect the new Underfoot zone, Convorteum. However, according to massiveonlinegamer.com, they have released some info.

EQ Players still says nothing. What is the truth? Who knows, but SOE sure doesn't make it easy for their players to find out anything.

Here is what massiveonlinegamer.com claims SOE has said:

The new exclusive Convorteum zone add-on for EverQuest Underfoot is scheduled to release on March 10th, 2010. Experience the latest and greatest expansion content with the never before released zone and a new bonus item. Underfoot just got bigger and better.

In an effort to resist the wrath of Brell, a new fortress has been constructed. Fueled by the resentment of his creator, The First Creation is plotting his vengeance. Discover the dangers of Convorteum!

In addition, massiveonlinegamer.com states:

That's not all, of course. The new add-on boasts six new raids, multiple new quests, and one new mission for players to take advantage of.

You can read what massiveonlinegamer.com says here.

EDIT NEW NEWS: We finally have official word on when it will go live:

It will be up tomorrow [March 10, 2010] following the patch when it opens to everyone (who meets the flag requirements). Right now we took it down because it has very, very old data.
- Aristo, EQ Designer

From this thread.
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UI changes coming in March update

I just wanted to give some warning. The March patch will have some changes to the inventory window (new stats pane) and mercenary UIs (alt currency cost displays). These may or may not break your custom UI. The changes are now on test, so check them out before patch day. - Steven S. Klug, EverQuest Lead Programmer

The full thread is here.
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