Virtual Blood Drive in Celebration of Wars Sheol

From EQ Resource:

In Everquest and Everquest II he played a dark elf warrior named Wars Sheol, but in real life he battled cancer his whole life.

Wars was born with Xeroderma PigmentosumPigmentosum (XP)(Xeroderma Pigmentosum (XP) http://www.xps.org/), a rare form of skin cancer. Later, he was also diagnosed with Accute Myelogenous Leukemia (http://www.clevelandclinicmeded.com/medicalpubs/diseasemanagement/hematology-oncology/acute-myelogenous-leukemia).

He beat the odds and lived longer than the world of medicine expected. As a child he participated in a research project that has helped children born with cancer have better lives. He fought hard against the diseases that stalked him. But Wars' fight ended on 2/9/2013.

His in game greeting was always "WARS!!" He was willing to help other players do a raid, camp a mob, get experience points, or farm for trade skill ingredients. His home in EQ was a castle and was featured in the Norrathian Home Show.

He did not just play EQ and EQII - he was involved in making the game better; volunteering to serve on the Community Round Table and he helped beta test several expansions. At a Fan Fair, he was part of a group that suggested explaining Fippy Darkpaw's suicidal run.

Always soft spoken but outgoing, he met everyone as a friend. He also loved pictures - he really enjoyed posing with the Firiona Vie models and all of his friends.

When the doctors told him that he only had weeks to live, in typical Wars fashion, he looked for a way to reach out and help others. Having had a lifetime of transfusions, he knew that a pint of blood could make life better. In lieu of flowers, he asked his friends and family to donate blood at the American Red Cross. Those of us who are his friends are calling on the gaming community to join the drive.

If giving at the American Red Cross, please ask the American Red Cross for a card and write that you are giving for "EQ-WARS!". Those cards will be directed to his family. If you prefer to donate directly to a local community blood bank or cancer center, that is good too. No matter the venue, if you donate blood in Wars' honor, please send an email to eqwarsblooddrive@gmail.com with the state in which you donated. His family will be kept informed about the number donations reported to the email address.

Feel free to spread the word about this virtual blood drive to your guild and any gamer friends. Let's make the expression "going viral" mean something good!

In game he chose to be warrior; in real life he showed grace, courage and nobility while facing a really big boss mob. Whether you personally played with Wars, met him at a Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) gathering, or just want to help, please consider donating blood to help us build a positive living legacy in honor and celebration of a gentle giant who called himself WARS!!

Thank you,
Adisson - EQ, Xegony Crystilla, EQ, Erollisi Marr
Cleranee EQ Xegony Dulcolax, EQ, Xegony
Guilian Rumrunner, EQ, Xegony In Via Damnum Guild, EQ Xegony
Jmorgana EQ Xegony Jethal Silverwing, EQ II
Kalbit EQ Xegony Larksong, EQ, Xegony
Maddoctor EQ Xegony Majandra, EQ, Xegony
Moltok, EQ, Xegony Mrizx, EQ, Xegony
Muffinstalker, EQ, Xegony Raeril, EQ, Xegony
Senwars, EQ, Xegony Teodor Aurora, EQ, Xegony
Tekilla, EQ, Xegony Wolana Phoenixfyre, Xegony
Xensothertoon on Xegony Zanzemara Aurora, EQ, Xegony
Zoraab, EQ, Xegony

14th Anniversary and Shadows of Fear Announced

SOE has announced plans for the 14th Anniversary celebration and for part two of RoF: "Shadows of Fear".

The 14th Anniversary will begin March 16 and will bring back all the old anniversary quests and have new ones.  Included will be some 2012 SOE Live player created quests.

Also, the Epic Weapon Ornamentation quests will finally go live for the anniversary.  If you have an epic weapon, you can do quests to get an ornamentation to make your current weapon look like your epic.

We knew that there were pieces missing from Rain of Fear.  Well, they are scheduled to arrive in April and are entitled "Shadows of Fear".  It will be free for all those who purchased Rain of Fear.

Read more about this and other news in the forum post by EQ Producer Thom Terrazas.

Signs of More RoF Content To Come...

In a thread on the SOE forum, player Axxius goes over the signs that more Rain of Fear content (tiers 3 and maybe 4) are on the way:

The facts:

1. RoF was released Nov 28. There were 3 portals in SL with nothing but the base, and the NPCs at them saying that they were building them. The big shard in the middle was askew and not really big.
2. Exactly 30 days later, on Dec 28, the 3 portals became 1/3 built, the NPCs near them started giving hints about their destinations, the big shard became bigger and vertical, and a new NPC appeared near it talking about the Heart of Fear.
3. Exactly 30 days later, on Jan 27, the 3 portals became 2/3 built and gained emotes for trying to enter them, the big shard became even bigger and also gained an emote for clicking on its supports.
4. Feb 26 is 30 days after Jan 27. (what? it IS a fact! )
5. In the podcast after the release of RoF SOE producer mentioned that there will be additional content releases between the expansions.
6. RoF T2 contents ends in a mystery: an entity named Lupex steals the fear shard that was used by King Xorbb and disappears. The lore text suggests that we will soon meet Lupex again. King Xorbb doesn't have any of the endboss attributes, that whole ordeal was just a story of 2 halfings getting into something much bigger than they intended. The main storyline of the expansion (assembling the crystallized essence of Fear to bring back Cazic-Thule) remains unresolved.
7. The main artwork for RoF depicts Terris Thule, Morell Thule, Brell and Tunare fighting against an army of what appears to be Alarans in a place that looks similar to Plane of Fear. None of the content of the T1 or T2 zones relates to that in any way. None of those 4 gods appear in T1 or T2.
8. Multiple SOE devs mentioned on twitter/facebook that they are working on new zones. When asked about letting players test it, the answer was 'we'll consider it'.
9. EQ client supports 5 new zones that are not patched in yet (1 of them was patched to Beta near the end of RoF beta testing): Chelsith Reborn, Plane of Shadow, Plane of Mischief (new), The Heart of Fear, and Burned Woods. The first 4 of them are perfect match for the destinations suggested by the NPCs at the incomplete portals and the big shard.
10. Shard's Landing uses Terris Thule, Shissar Emperor and some other models that currently do not spawn there.
11. New focuses higher than T2 and new spells with names and descriptions suggesting new boss fights have been added in the last patch.

The speculation:

1. New content is most definitely coming.
2. There will be tier(s) higher than T2.
3. Portals to at least 3 new zones should open on Feb 26.

SOE declined to comment at this time.  They often don't like to announce things until they are "ready".

I do consider it highly unlikely the new zones will open on February 26. I expect it to be March at the very earliest and more likely May (March and April are usually busy with anniversary stuff).

Berserker Usable RoF 2Handers To Get Boost

From Chandrok, EQ Developer, on the SOE forum:

All 2h weapons that are usable by berserkers will be retuned to the correct ratios for their tiers. Obviously T2 weapons will be better than tier 1. Here's a list of the weapons that are changing. Although some of these are slower than a berserker would want to use, these will all be adjusted up.

Meljeldin, Bane of Giants
The Frozen's Grudge
Kreztik's Blistering Judgment
Strength of Valor
Dragoncold Lance
Shadeblade
Frosthewn Greathammer
Unspoken Deliverance
Draining Ire of the Glen Liege
Weight of Duty
Enkindling Pike

Hero's Forge To Go On A Diet

So far only seen on the EQ Producer's Twitter account, news that at least some of the Hero's Forge armor graphics will someday not look like you are wearing five sets of underwear underneath them.

 From Thom Terrazas' Twitter account:

Human female, Current plate - Future plate

Current chain - Future chain

Iksar female: Current plate - Future plate

"Splash" Spells Broken, Enkindling Pike Nerf Intended, Collection Spawns Look Different

All "splash" type spells appear to be broken.  From a post by Elidroth, EQ Developer, on the SOE forum:

It's actually looking like all free-target spells aren't working. We're looking into it.

The WAR PAL RNG SHD BER weapon Enkindling Pike was nerfed.  The damage was changed from 265 to 257.  From a post by Chandrok, EQ Developer, on the SOE forum:

This was an intentional change that happened at the same time as the change to Meljeldin, Bane of Giants. It was my error that this was not mentioned in the patch notes.

So far the February 13 patch seems to have fixed most Collection items.  The spawn points of them now look different:

Some Collection items are still bugged.  This thread on the SOE forum covers most of the issues, if you don't mind searching through a (currently) 12 page thread.

Patch Scheduled Wednesday, February 13, 2013

From the SOE forum:

All EverQuest Live Servers will be brought offline on Wednesday, February 13, 2013 at 4:00 am US Pacific* for a Game Update. The servers are estimated to be unavailable for approximately 4 hours. Keep an eye on the EverQuest website and the forums for status updates and for news if additional downtime is needed.

*Time Zone Converter