EverQuest Going Free to Play

The biggest news in years, EQ is going F2P (free-to-play) sometime in early March 2012.

What does this mean?  For hardcore players there will be little change, as a paying subscription is still needed for the full game.  The main change is that the game can get new players to "try out" EQ without cost.

The free game is very limited and will not be something considered by the vast majority of current players.  The best thing for current players is the hopes for new blood in the game as well as monthly free Station Cash to purchase game extras.

Although the F2P status is still with many questions and subject to change at any time, currently it appears that for "Gold" members (those with an auto-pay $14.95 per month account):

Any player with a recurring membership will receive 500 Station Cash per month as long as they stay on an auto-renew payment plan. If you have a recurring membership but you cancel or purchase a non-recurring membership, you will no longer be on an auto-renew payment plan and you will immediately stop receiving the monthly Station Cash bonus even if you have time left on your existing membership.

There are still a lot of questions and everyone should expect some changes as SOE attempts to roll out EQ F2P  over the next few months.

Read the announcement from EQ Producer Thom Terrazas here and the details here.

New LaunchPad Coming Week of January 30, 2012

From EQ Players News:

During the week of January 30, 2012, EverQuest will be upgrading to LaunchPad 4! LaunchPad 4 offers many advantages over previous versions of our LaunchPad software, in that it handles data quicker, more efficiently, and takes less time to update your game.

So what do you need to do to get LaunchPad 4, you ask? It’s very simple. Just continue to use your current launcher for EverQuest as normal, and when EverQuest upgrades it will be automatically downloaded to your computer and installed.

Check out this link for the full information and answers to some questions.

Patch Scheduled Wednesday, January 11, 2012

From the SOE forum:

All EverQuest Live Servers will be coming down on Wednesday, January 11, 2012 at 3:00 am US Pacific* for a Game Update. The servers are estimated to be unavailable for approximately 5 hours. Keep an eye on the EQ Players website and the forums for status updates and for news if additional downtime is needed.

*Time Zone Converter

All Characters To Get Origin AA Automatically At Level 5

From the SOE forum post by Elidroth, EQ Game Designer:

I'm moving Origin to level 5, auto-grant with the January patch. It's also getting the reuse timer reduced to 30 minutes. The idea of not being able to get back to bind is an outdated concept and basically is just annoying.

Increased Rare Spawns for Frostfell and Double Experience for New Years

From the SOE forum:

Increased Rare Spawns December 23, 2011 to December 26, 2011

Who do you want to see coming down the chimney of your Guildhall this year - Santug Claugg? Only if he’s dropping phat loot! The rare mobs of Norrath have decided to make the rounds this year and will appear quite a bit more often for a limited time!

From 11:00 a.m. Pacific* December 23, 2011 until 11:59 p.m. Pacific* December 26, 2011, we’ll turn up the spawn rate, so get out there and work on your Hunter Achievements!


Double Experience** December 30, 2011 to January 2, 2012

New Year’s Eve is the time to make resolutions… and great experience gains! From 11:00 a.m. Pacific* on December 30, 2011 through 11:59 p.m. Pacific* on January 2, 2012, we’ll dramatically increase experience gains from mob kills to help start the new year with a ding! Make sure you log in during Double Experience** and reap the rewards of EverQuest at New Years!

*Convert To Your Local Time Link

**Experience awarded per kill will be doubled; please note that other modifiers and caps will still be in place and will affect experience gain normally. As a result, total experience gains may vary slightly, depending on each individual’s situation.

Frostfell returns to Norrath December 8, 2011

From this SOE forum thread:

It’s that time of year again, when Santug Claugg gets ready to give presents to the deserving, and sometimes less than deserving, adventurers of Norrath. Starting December 8, 2011 and running through January 8, 2012, Frostfell will be upon us!

All your old favorite quests will be returning this year, whether it be aiding the Frostfell Goblins in saving Santug or commencing Operation: Jolliness to keep Santug in good spirits. There are also a number of New Year’s Adventurers available, so don’t forget Pizimp Nobbletod.

As an added bonus, starting on December 14, 2011, a brand new Frostfell quest will be released! Santug Claugg has become obsessed with the Braxi and wants them to pull his sleigh. Unfortunately there has been an incident with the ship transporting the Braxi to Santug and as a result, Braxi and Gigglegibber Goblins are scattered on beaches throughout Norrath. Make sure to seek them out!

Mercenary Rosters To Come For Real Life Cash Only

Well, the long awaited ability to have several mercs and swap them out as needed arrives on Test Server. However, in a surprise (although it shouldn't be, considering SOE actions lately) it was announced that they will only be available for Station Cash.

One of the most anticipated features we planned to implement this year for EverQuest is now on the Test Server: Mercenary Rosters! No longer will you have to settle on just one Mercenary, but instead you'll be able to maintain a full roster of mercenaries and switch between them as needed. Log on to the Test Server today to see this feature in action and give it a whirl

When Mercenary Rosters travel to the Live Servers, they will be available for purchase via the in game Marketplace in various sizes depending on your personal needs and desires. We can't wait to hear what you think of this new feature and see how you all use it!

See you all on Test!

Follow the flames as players let SOE know how they feel on the issue on the SOE forum thread.

UPDATE:

As I mentioned yesterday, we were still discussing the options and/or availability of obtaining Mercenary Slots via game play methods. Today, we finished up those conversations and have this information to share with you.

There will be two methods (two slots) that you will be able to obtain an additional mercenary slot:

• One will be given for doing VOA content
• & another will be given for tradeskilling

In addition to this, we are also considering having rentable mercenary slots obtainable by numerous ways (not just by means of the Marketplace). Something similar to a 2 hour rentable mercenary that you can either pick the race/class OR...we may have the race randomized.

We're still discussing/considering these final details but at minimum, we will have the first 2 methods available to you by our January update.

As we get closer to the release, we will update you with more details.

Guild Hall Alchemy Table Graphic Bug to be Fixed

Right now the Guild Hall Alchemy Table looks like a large bag.  SOE has posted:

We're aware of the issue with Alchemy tables and it is on a list of bugs to be addressed.

New Guild Hall Soon to be Available for Platinum

In response to player outrage over the lack of a new style of guild hall obtainable without spending Station Cash, SOE responded:

Hey folks,

I wanted to post here and let you know the status of Guild Halls.  With the release of the expansion, Guild Halls beyond the basic model were always intended to be available as an addition through Station Cash. We wanted to deliver the core functionality (placing your guildhall in a neighborhood and being able to place objects in the guild hall as you choose) to everyone, along with cosmetic options available through the Marketplace as upgrades.

Based on some of your posts it seems there was some confusion about whether any new Guild Halls would be available for platinum. We have decided to add another Guild Hall in addition to the ones we have available already in a future content patch, probably the December patch, but as this is still in the development process we can't quite confirm the exact timing yet. The new Guild Hall will be made available in game through purchase with platinum. We greatly look forward to seeing all the creative efforts of the housing community, either with the current Guild Halls or the one forthcoming.

Regards,

-Piestro
EverQuest Community Manager

Shatter the Veil Achievement Bugged

According to SOE:

We'll be updating the requirements for this one, not everyone is getting it who should have gotten it.

Sorry for the confusion!

Exact details about what is needed to obtain it are still lacking.

Valley of Lunanyn Crashing Bug to be Fixed

At least one cause of the crashing that almost everyone experiences in the Valley of Lunanyn will be fixed in the November 22, 2011 patch.  Here is the post by Steven S. Klug, EverQuest Lead Programmer:

I identified what's causing this over the weekend.  There are some particle effects abusing memory in that zone.  A fix for this should be going out tonight.   But in the meantime if you turn your environment particles off, I believe it should fix the crashing issue until the particle fix goes out.

Crashing? Here's What You Can Do To Help Stop It

There is a thread on the SOE forum on this issue. SOE seems to think it is a problem that we should work around.  Still, they will fix it if we can get them some information to work with.

Here are the highlights:

The best way to reduce crashing due to memory issues is to change the Memory Mode to "Least memory usage". We're still a 32-bit game so EverQuest can only use 2 gigs even if you have 36.

To change this:

1. Open the options to the Display Tab.
2. Click the "Advanced" button.
3. In the "Advanced Options" window, change click on the combo box below "Memory Mode*" near the bottom left hand corner.
4. Select "Least memory usage:.
5. Type "/camp desktop" in your chat window.

If you can no longer enter the game to change this, change find GraphicsMemoryMode and make it look like "GraphicsMemoryMode=0" in your eqclient.ini file.

There was a bug related to players with large guild sizes and that was fixed in the patch this morning [Friday, November 18, 2011]. If you are still crashing with the same frequency (after changing your memory mode) then please send your dmp files to equserclient@soe.sony.com.

In addition to sending your dmp files, please send them the following:

Can you give me a rundown of your full system spec please? I'll forward it over to the coders who can look at it.

• CPU
• Motherboard
• Video card
• RAM
• Operating System

Also include any other details that are out of the ordinary about your system.

So, to sum up, if you are crashing a lot:

1. Set your Memory Mode to "Least memory usage".
2. Send SOE as much information as you can on the crashes. The more email they get on the issue, the more likely they are to fix it; and the more information they have, the more chance they can track it down.

Hot Button Window Shape Bug to be Resolved Soon

Currently, some people have a bug where after they change the shape of the Hot Button Window it resets itself after they log out.

JChan, EQ Developer, reports that the fix:

Unfortunately not it didn't make it to today's patch.

Issues with Special Mercenary Contracts

From this SOE forum post:

Hey folks,

Just to let you know, there are issues that may prevent some special mercenary contracts from working currently. We're aware of this issue and working on a fix, potentially for the planned 11/22 patch. Sorry for any inconvinience [sic], these items will be restored to full functionality as soon as possible.

Thanks,

- Piestro
EverQuest Community Manager

Patch Scheduled Tuesday, November 22, 2011

No official word, but according to this post by Ngreth, EQ Developer:

It may go in with tonight's emergency patch, if not it will be in the patch on the 22nd.

UPDATE:  Additional "confirmation" from this post by Piestro, SOE Community Relations:

We're aware of this issue and working on a fix, potentially for the planned 11/22 patch.

UPDATE:  Finally, official word:

All EverQuest Live Servers will be coming down on Tuesday, November 22, 2011 at 4:00 am US Pacific* for a emergency maintenance. The servers are estimated to be unavailable for approximately 4 hours. Keep an eye on the EQ Players website and the forums for status updates and for news if additional downtime is needed. 

Miragestone Bug Destroys Stacks, Merchant Price Lowered

From this SOE forum thread, Ngreth, EQ Developer, comments on the issue:

The stack size change was a mistake.  They will be returned to 100 stacking.  You can petition for replacements.  You may want to wait until the stack size is returned.  It may go in with tonight's emergency patch, if not it will be in the patch on the 22nd.

The price change was intentional.

Some Valley of Lunanyn Tasks Not Updating Language

From this SOE forum post by Piestro, SOE Community Relations:

Yes, we've determined there is an issue with possibly 3 kill tasks. Good part is the fix should be retroactive as long as you click on a book.

Emergency Patch Scheduled Friday, November 18, 2011

All EverQuest Live Servers will be coming down on Friday, November 18, 2011 at 5:00 am US Pacific* for a emergency maintenance. The servers are estimated to be unavailable for approximately 3 hours. Keep an eye on the EQ Players website and the forums for status updates and for news if additional downtime is needed.

From this SOE forum thread.

SOE Reports Some Spawn Times Slower Than Intended

In a SOE forum thread about the slow spawn times of living steel, molten steel, living blades, empowered blades, a steel cyclone and a steel hurricane in Argath, Absor, EQ Developer stated the following:

Actually, those NPCs spawn very, very fast.  Unfortunately, there is some sort of issue with the large number of people in those zones that we've not seen before causing them to spawn super slowly.  We're looking at a way to fix it soon.

It is unclear if the "zones" he is referring to means that there are problems with spawn timers in other zones as well.

Wizard "Unresistable" Snare Nerfed

The Wizard Atol's Shackles spells have been nerfed.  They will no longer snare any mob.   Elidroth Renato (Doug Cronkhite), EQ Game Designer, commented in this SOE forum thread:

It's still unresistable to anything that isn't flagged immune to runspeed changes, which it should have never been usable on in the first place.