Mage Pet Bug to be Fixed in October Patch

From the Daybreak forum:

"There is a known bug causing Theft of Essence to slow pets rather than haste them. It will be fixed in the next full patch." — Dzarn, EQ Developer

Next Expansion "Launching at the End of the Year"

From a post by Roxxlyy, Daybreak Community Relations, on the EQ forum:

Though we haven't announced any details yet, the next expansion will be launching at the end of the year.