Upcoming DoT Hate Change

In the near future, we're going to make a change that will reduce the amount of hate generated by DoTs so I wanted to give a head's up. For most damage spells, they generate aggro based on the base amount of damage they do. DoTs do this as well, generating hate based on their damage every tick, but they also generate initial aggro worth one tick of damage when they first land. This means that they basically have one extra damage tick's worth of aggro at all times.

We're changing things so that you won't gain aggro based on the DoTs damage until it actually does its first tick of damage which will bring them in line with other damage spells for the amount of hate they generate.

- Rashere, EQ Lead Designer

The full thread is here.

DoT Shielding Still Broken

Although the April 18 patch message reported some fixes to DoT shielding, it appears there are still a few problems with it. It seems that while it works now for DoTs cast on you, when the mob that cast it dies, it stops working.

Just checked with code and they've got a fix for this already.

- Rashere, EQ Lead Designer

No word on when the fix will go live.

The full thread is here.

Frostcrypt Trash Mobs on Steroids

Normal mobs in Frostcrypt have been taking steroids, according to reports. Norrath Mob Anti-doping officials have begun an investigation after hearing they were hitting for upwards of 10k.

We've been able to reproduce this problem (as was stated in the Maximum Redfang!!! thread) and it has been given to the coders so they can look into it.

Thanks for the heads up on this issue! - Maddoc, Assistant Lead Designer

The full thread is here.

Massive Changes Coming for Cultural Armor and Tailoring / Smithing

SOE has announced that they will be making some huge changes in Cultural Armor as well as the skill up paths for Tailoring and Smithing.

The changes are too large to detail in this post so you should check out the announcement here.

More Skin to Vines Changes Due

The druid spell Skin to Vines has never worked properly. After several fixes, SOE has announced that they will be making another change. Hopefully, with this change, the spell will finally work properly.

Since Skin to Vines now turns undead and summoned creatures into plants and stops other abilities from working, it seems the cure was more harmful than the affliction. With some new functionality we received a few days ago I was able to change Skin to Vines such that it works on everything except undead and summoned creatures. This should go live in our next major patch. Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks!

Prathun, EQ Designer

The full thread is here.

Additional information:

Good point. Changed it to affect everything but Summoned, Construct, and Undead. Thanks! - Prathun, EQ Designer

DoT Shielding Fixed?

Fast updates on this one...

Code has found and fixed the issue. DoT Shielding was only working if you cast a spell on yourself or in a PvP situation. After the fix, DoT shielding will properly work on any spell NOT cast on you by yourself and will continue to work in PvP.

Rashere, EQ Lead Designer

The full thread is here.

SOE was not clear it is already fixed in the game or if it will go out in the next patch.

Progression Servers To Merge

On March 28, 2007, we will be merging the EverQuest Progression Servers. Characters will be moved from The Sleeper server to The Combine server and The Combine server will retain its name. The Sleeper server will then be closed.

We will not be doing the low level character wipe at the time of the merge. We will re-evaluate the situation after the merge and determine if the character wipe is needed.

The scheduled downtime is from 4:00 am Pacific Time to 12 noon. We will provide the answers to other questions as needed before the merge as needed.

The full article is here.

Fabled Augments Bugged

The fabled augments can't currently be inserted, but they should be fixed in the next patch.

The 35 AC aug from a 55ish level NPC was a mistake, the 35ac is meant to be 35 endurance and it will be changed in the next patch.

- Merloc, EQ Designer

The full thread is here.

8th Anniversary Events Live

SOE has announced a number of things to commemorate the eighth anniversary of EverQuest. Of main concern is the Fabled mobs and a new scavenger hunt.

Anniversary In-Game Events - We have introduced dozens of Fabled Luclin NPCs, we brought back all the fabled fiends of years past and there is a new scavenger hunt! Speak with Tyla Filinav in the Nexus if you are interested in helping her collect a few things. These Anniversary Festivities will be available from March 16, 2007 through April 16, 2007.

Read all about it as well as some messages from current and former developers here.

EQ With All Expansions for $19.99

Apparently SOE has secret plans to release a new edition of EQ with all expansions. I call the plans secret since the press release seems to only be found on Casters Realm and no where else. EverQuest.com and EQ Players have no word on this.

EverQuest® The Anniversary Edition includes all expansions ever created for EverQuest® making it the largest compilation of MMO expansions ever

EverQuest The Anniversary Edition will only be available at participating retail locations and is scheduled for release on April 23, 2007, for the suggested retail price of US$19.99.

Go here to read the full press release.

Allegedly, this was sent out in the Station Newsletter. Since I subscribe to the EverQuest Newsletter (I still haven't received any yet) and not the Station Newsletter (since I have zero interest in their other games), I was unaware of this information.

Developers' Chat March 21st

Click here for a log of the chat.

No Reward for The Domes Are Cracking Mission

Yes the reward is missing. I don't know how it happened but I'll take the hit for this one. We'll need a patch to get this fixed but I've already made the change on Test. As soon as I know when we can fix this I'll let you guys know. - Nodyin, EQ Designer

The full thread is here.

Bazaar Items Lose Pricing

In a stealth 'update', items placed for sale in the bazaar must have their prices input again.

Due to the method for storing bazaar prices, any prices on bazaar listing has been removed. You will need to relist your bazaar items with new prices. We apologize for the inconvenience this causes. Going forward there should be no further issues with pricing being removed from items. - Kytherea, EQ Community Relations Manager

The full thread is here.

Note that the prices should be saved in your bazaar log file, so check your Log folder and you should be able to find them there. However, you have to manually input them into EQ.

Some people have created some programs to automate fixing this. Go here to read the thread.

Melee Bind Coming to Katta Castrum

Currently, melee types can't bind in Katta Castrum, even though it is a city.

I'll change it so you can bind there.

- Rashere, EQ Lead Designer

The full thread is here.

Station Access Subscription Price Increase

Note: Be aware that this only applies to people with a Station Access subscription, which allows them to play many SOE games for one price. It does not apply to those people who only play and pay for EverQuest.

February 28, 2007
_____________________

News for Station Access Subscribers

We want to give you some important information regarding your Station Access subscription. Effective April 2, 2007, the new monthly subscription rate will be US$29.99 per month (not including applicable taxes).

We know that rate adjustments are never popular, but the increase is driven by our desire to provide our Station Access subscribers with a consistently high quality entertainment experience, as evidenced by our most recent addition to the Station Access subscription plan, Vanguard: Saga of Heroes™.

You don't have to do a thing; you will automatically be migrated to the new monthly subscription rate under your existing subscription plan when your current subscription plan comes up for renewal on or after April 2, 2007.

We appreciate your support and continued participation in our community.

Station Access subscriptions are recurring, meaning you will continue to be billed at the appropriate subscription interval, until you affirmatively cancel your subscription. Subscription fees are subject to tax and value-added tax, as applicable. The subscription charges are in addition to the cost of the games that are part of the Station Access subscription plan. All game software is sold separately.

For more information, please visit: www.stationaccess.com.

Deathknell Flag Problems

Several problems with the Deathknell flags have been reported. Several fixes have been put into place, others will require a full patch.

Read the full thread here.

Forage for Everyone

A forage AA will be made available to everyone in the next few months if things go as planned. We didn't get the code changes we needed to make this work for TSS and it wasn't something that I could do for TBS.

- Nodyin, EQ Designer

The full thread is here.

Darkened Chanting Woodspirit in Plane of Storms Bugged

The Darkened Chanting Woodspirit is for the shaman epic 2.0. This mob has several issues that prevent a shaman from completing this part of the epic.

Thanks for posting. I've looked into it and it has been fixed. The change will be live in the next couple of days.

Vahlar, EQ Designer

The full thread is here.

Quest Fixes Due Next Patch

The Cleansing the Island quest requires that you say to the researcher "vials" and "special potion" for the cures and disguise potion to turn you in to the various animals of the island. He then gives you a stack of 50 cures and one special potion. However, the text never mentions this.

I've added information to his task text that mentions that you have to ask for the potion and the vials. This will go out with the next full update.

- Absor, EQ Designer

The full thread is here.

The Secret of Sunset Ridge? quest requires that you hand in the Sunstone Sun Charm that you handed in on a previous mission. Needless to say, since you handed it in earlier, you don't have it now to hand in.

Well that was pretty stupid of us. That happened because of a lack of communication between two designers (my bad).

I've fixed the Sunstone Savages task to not require handing in the Sunstone Sun Charm, but that will have to be updated with a full update, and I don't know when that will happen.

- Absor, EQ Designer

The full thread is here.

Charm Augment Removal Problem

I'm not sure if this is something new, but it seems like augments with extra text are not displaying solvent information.

I'll ask code to look into it and correct the display so that it displays the solvent type as well.

- Merloc, EQ Designer

The full thread is here.