European & UK Pre-Paid game cards: Use Them or Lose Them

From the SOE forum:

To our European customers,

We wanted to let you know that SOE will no longer be selling pre-paid game cards in Europe as of 07/20/12.

As we begin to transition our games to our European partner, ProSiebenSat.1 Games, customers will be able to take advantage of new methods of payment including pre-paid options, such as PaySafe, via their new ProSiebenSat.1 accounts.

IMPORTANT: For the few European customers who have already purchased an SOE pre-paid game card but have not yet redeemed it, please visit www.soe.com/gamecards now to redeem it! You must redeem any existing SOE pre-paid game cards before 07/23/12 [emphasis added]. If you experience any problems with your game card redemption, please contact SOE customer service at www.soe.com/support for assistance. Don't forget to mark your calendars for July 23rd 2012 and redeem your SOE pre-paid game cards before then!

Thank you for your continued support!

Sony Online Entertainment

UPDATE: Piestro, EverQuest Community Manager, answered some questions:

This is just for the cards purchased in Europe. With the current ProSiebenSat.1 Games deal, demand for SOE cards will be fairly low (ProSieben customers will have their own cards). Hence those cards are being phased out the market, and we wanted to make sure you were all aware. 

LoN Tiger Raptor Mount Color Change Unintentional, To Be Fixed

Posted by JGray, EQ Developer, on the SOE forum:

We're aware of the issue [Tiger Raptor color change] and are fixing it. It was not an intended change.

Double XP Weekend July 6 - July 8

From the SOE forum:

Starting at 10:00 am Pacific on Friday, July 6, 2012, and lasting until 11:59 pm Pacific on Sunday, July 8, 2012, we'll offer a Double Experience in EverQuest! Take advantage of this Double Experience Weekend and watch those XP bars skyrocket!

Jaggedpine Forest to Surefall Glade Teleport Crystal Broken, To Be Fixed

From Dzarn, EQ Developer, on the SOE forum:

The crystal at the outpost did (and is supposed to) send you back to Surefall Glade. I recently broke this when I was doing some work in Jaggedpine. I apologize for the inconvenience and will have the fix in soon™.

SOE Investigating Valley of Lunanyn Crashing

Many people have reported crashing when zoning into the Valley of Lunanyn.  JGray, SOE Programmer, is working on fixing the issue.

If you crash, please be sure to send in the information needed to help SOE fix it:

If it gives you the box to send crashing information to Sony, click Yes and you don't need to do anything else.

If, however, it doesn't give you that box, please look in your [EverQuest Client]\Logs directory and e-mail the dbg.txt and debug.dmp file to EQUserClient@soe.sony.com.  Also please include what you were doing before the crash.  They need this information after you crash but before you reload EQ.

LaunchPad Memory Problem Fixed, But Not Pushed To Everyone

SOE has fixed the problem with the LaunchPad not remembering your User name and/or Password. However, they have not pushed this fix to everyone, as many people are still reporting it.

To fix it:

•  Exit EQ completely.

• Go to your EverQuest folder.

• Delete all files with "LaunchPad" in the name (LaunchPad.exe, LaunchPad.dll, LaunchPad.ini) (LaunchPad.log don't matter).

• Delete the folder "LaunchPad.libs" (note that for some, if extensions are hidden in your Windows, it might be called just "LaunchPad"). Deleting the folder will also delete what is in it. Be careful you are only deleting the LaunchPad folder (and the contents of it), and not your entire EverQuest folder.

• Go to http://launch.soe.com/everquest/ and download the LaunchPad there.

• Run the downloaded file. When it asks you what to do, choose Repair existing EQ and pick your EQ from the drop down. Also, let it do the DirectX thing.

• LaunchPad should now remember your User name and Password.

You might not have to delete all the files I listed or do every step.  But I know this works.

UPDATE:  I've been told that just deleting the LaunchPad.Cache directory (Everquest->LaunchPad.libs->LaunchPad.Cache) fixes this and should be easier.  I'm unable to test this but if it works, that is better.

Patch Scheduled Wednesday, June 27, 2012

From the SOE forum:

All EverQuest Live Servers will be down on Wednesday, June 27, 2012 at 2:00 am US Pacific* for a Game Update. The servers are estimated to be unavailable for approximately 6 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

EverQuest Memberships with Station Cash Back Until Monday

From EverQuest on Facebook:

As previously mentioned, we plan to remove the ability to purchase EverQuest Memberships with Station Cash. We again apologize for any inconvenience caused when these were removed without warning last week. As promised, we reinstated them to give those customers who wished to the opportunity to purchase. On Monday 18th June, we will remove Station Cash Memberships while we assess the best way to move forward. As always, we thank you for your feedback!

Marketplace Items 1/2 Off for Three Days

Don’t miss the SOE Weekend Blitz half price sale!
Get half price on every station cash item in-game!
Hurry because this is a limited time event!  It ends on Monday June 18, 2012*

*Offer valid from 12:01AM PDT 6/16/2012 to 11:59PM PDT 6/18/2012; PC only.

"Who Are You Again?" LaunchPad Forgetting User

Since Thursday June 14, the LaunchPad isn't remembering who you are, even if you check the box to do so.

SOE has responded quickly to this issue:

We're aware of this situation and are working on our Launchpads to resolve it. I don't expect this will be a super quick fix but something that'll take a bit to address.

Crashing Issues Still Under Investigation

People are reporting crashing issues. Two kinds of issues seem to be occurring. One is simply having the game crash for no apparent reason. The other seems to be related to when people Alt-Tab. Both kinds of crashes seem to get one or both of the following error messages:

Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime Library
Runtime Error!
Program: game path\eqgame.exe
abnormal program termination

EverQuest Windows - Application Error
The instruction at 0x70cfba63 referenced memory at 0x70cfba63. The memory could not be read.
Click OK to terminate the program.

To report errors, you can send email to equserclient@soe.sony.com with as much information as you can of how it happened. Attach to your email your debug.dmp and dbg.txt files. They can be found in your Logs folder inside your EverQuest folder.

As for the Alt-Tab issue, Technical Support Representative Alexander S posted the following:

Hello My friends! I understand there's been quite a bit of you guys experiencing crashing issues when Alt tabbing. I encourage you each to send support tickets so we can find a correlation between the computer's experiencing this. Since this isn't happening to all the players, then we will need to do some research by gathering DXdiag/Msinfo information from players who are experiencing this issue. With your Cooperation, we will be able to get this resolved! Thank you again for your patience!

He posted also links explaining how to gather the info:

How to Contact Support: https://help.station.sony.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/28939

How to Create a DXDIAG/MSINFO https://help.station.sony.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/28973

UPDATE:

J. Chan, Lead Programmer for EverQuest, replied to a player's questions:

If it gives you the box to send it [crashing information] to Sony, you don't need to do anything else.

If however it doesn't give you that box, please look in your [EverQuest Client]\Logs directory and e-mail the dbg.txt and debug.dmp file to EQUserClient@soe.sony.com.  Also please include what you were doing before the crash.  We'll want this information after you crash but before you reload EQ.

The standing around crash and the alt-tabbing issues are separate issues and we're trying to track them down separately.

Berserker Decapitation, Off With It's Head?

The Berserker AA Decapitation is not working.  Elidroth, EQ Game Designer, announces they are investigating:

OK.. so I've gotten our coding staff involved in figuring out why this isn't working properly. The data is exactly the same between beta and live, and while it works perfectly on beta, it isn't triggering at all on live. It's frustrating to say the least.

I'll let you know as soon as I find out something more.

Six Days of Double XP Begin Wednesday

From EverQuest Community News:

Starting at 12:01 pm Pacific (Noon) on Wednesday, May 23, 2012, and lasting until 11:59 pm Pacific on Monday, May 28, 2012, we'll offer a Double Experience in EverQuest! Take advantage of this special extended Double Experience Weekend and watch those XP bars skyrocket!

Veil of Alaris On Sale For A Limited Time

The Veil of Alaris expansion is on sale for about half price [$19.99] from May 18, 2012, and lasting until 11:59 pm on May 20, 2012.

From EQ Community News:

Haven't yet taken a peek behind the Veil of Alaris? Well now is the time! Starting at noon on May 18, 2012, and lasting until 11:59 pm on May 20, 2012, we're giving a deep discount on Veil of Alaris and the Veil of Alaris Digital Collector's Edition.

Don't wait too long to pick up a copy of Veil of Alaris though, because this deal won't last forever! Head to the Shop or grab a copy in the in game Marketplace now!

Fix to Constant Crashing Issue on Test?

Reports have come in about a large increase in the game crashing over the past few weeks.  SOE has posted that they have made some changes on the Test server which may help:

Modified how we handle memory management to help reduce our memory footprint. This effects all of the models and animations for everything in the game. This will also help with current systems that are currently crashing due to out of memory issues.

It is hoped that we might see these changes go live in the June patch.

Some Belts to Gain Potion Slot in June

Many belts give you an additional potion belt slot when you wear them.  But a number of belts have been reported that do not do so, although players seem to feel they should.

Chandrok, EQ Developer replied to the concerns in this SOE forum post:

The potion slot was simply overlooked. It will be added in the next patch.

It is unknown which belts will get a potion slot.

Maintenance Scheduled Tuesday, May 15, 2012

From the SOE forum:

Important: We will perform maintenance beginning at 6:00 AM Pacific* on May 15, 2012. We expect this maintenance to take approximately 90 minutes. This will impact the following services:

• Login for all our games will be affected
• Commerce transactions, including purchases on our websites and in-game marketplaces will be unavailable
• Forums will be read-only
• Account management will be unavailable

We apologize for this interruption and will resume all affected services as soon as the maintenance is completed.

*Convert to your local time

Low AA Bonus XP to Increase in June

Currently, if you have under 2500 AA, you get bonus AA XP.   The bonus degrades linearly from 500% [normal xp times 5] at 0 AAs, to 100% [normal xp] at 2500 AAs.

Elidroth, EQ Game Designer, posted the following on the SOE forum:

OK. So I'm taking the bonus to 4000AA, with a 1000% bonus degrading linearly to normal XP at the 4000 mark.

June patch.

Patch Scheduled Monday, May 14, 2012

From EverQuest Community News:

All EverQuest Live Servers will be down on Monday, May 14, 2012 at 11:00 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

UPDATE from SOE:

Was a typo in the announcement, the downtime starts at 7AM not 11AM.

Also, this is hardware maintenance to hopefully help alleviate some of the problems that have been happening recently.

Also, the approximate downtime changed from 4 to 6 hours.

Patch Scheduled Wednesday, May 9, 2012

From the SOE forum:

All EverQuest Live Servers will be down on Wednesday, May 9, 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 EverQuest website and the forums for status updates and for news if additional downtime is needed.

*Time Zone Converter

Double XP in Five Zones Until May 9th

From EverQuest Community News:

There's little better than a weekday surprise, and we've decided to bring you a little weekday Double Experience action! It's available in just a few select zones, so make sure to get in on the party while it lasts!

From now until Wednesday, May 9, 2012 at 3:00 am Pacific* all players will receive Double Experience in the following zones:

• Kaesora
• Sebilis
• The Buried Sea
• Fortress Mechanotus
• The Grounds

Enjoy!

*Convert to your local time

Triple Station Cash on 4/28/12 Only

From EverQuest - Community News:

Get TRIPLE Station Cash for 24 hours only!

Hurry! This offer ends at midnight!

*Valid from 12:00AM PDT 4/28/2012 through 12:00AM PDT 4/29/2012. Excludes purchases of SC made by SMS.

EQ Coming Down the Entire Day on Monday, April 23, 2012

From EQ Community News:

Maintenance Notice: Monday, April 23, 2012 – 24 Hours!

Important: We will perform maintenance beginning at 12:01AM Pacific* on April 23, 2012. This will impact the following services:

• Login for our games WILL be affected from 12:01 AM Pacific* to approximately 11:59 PM Pacific*
• Commerce transactions, including purchases on our websites and in-game marketplaces will be unavailable between from 12:01 AM Pacific* to approximately 11:59 PM Pacific*
• Account management will be unavailable starting 12:01 AM to approximately 11:59 PM Pacific*
• All Games will be unavailable starting 12:01 AM to approximately 11:59 PM Pacific*

We apologize for this interruption and will resume all affected services as soon as the maintenance is completed.

*Convert to your local time

"Emergency" Patch Scheduled Thursday, April 12, 2012

From the SOE forum:

All EverQuest Live Servers will be down on Thursday, April 12, 2012 at 5:00 am US Pacific* for a Game Update. 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.

*Time Zone Converter

Although no reason was announced for the patch and it doesn't state it is an "emergency" patch, it is believed that the reason for it is to fix the "Worn" Focus Effects bug and other problems.

"Worn" Focus Effects Broken

It appears that items with an effect that contain the word "Worn" in them are not working after the latest patch.   An example would be arm armor with, "Effect: Cleave IX - 05 (Worn, Casting Time: Instant)".  This affects everyone, but melee classes seem to have the greatest loss of power.

It is assumed that this bug crept in when SOE removed the necessity to equip most clicky items in order to click them.

More on the issue can be found on the SOE forum here , here and here.    No word yet on when it will be fixed.

Fan Faire Finally Announced, Given Name Change

Danicia, SOE Community Relations:

Mark your calendars for October 18-21! Sony Online Entertainment is bringing all the fun of Fan Faire back to Bally’s Las Vegas with a new name, SOE Live!

The official web site is www.soe.com/soelive

Prestige Tag Bugged / Too Low Level?

From Elidroth, EQ Developer, on the SOE forum:

From what I understand, the major cause for problems were a bug with powersources causing all your armor to be labeled as Prestige even when it shouldn't have been.

The level at which the Prestige flag is set is going to be a topic of discussion at our weekly meeting tomorrow morning, but nothing that comes out of that meeting will be in the Thursday patch. That will have to wait until the next patch.

Patch Scheduled Thursday, March 22, 2012

From the SOE forum:

All EverQuest Live Servers will be coming down on Thursday, March 22, 2012 at 2:00 am US Pacific* for a Game Update. The servers are estimated to be unavailable for approximately 6 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

Some Augs Marked Prestige By Mistake

There are about 5,000 threads on the SOE forum complaining that far too many items are marked "Prestige".  The Prestige tag means that you must be a Gold member to use the item.

While the main issues have not been addressed by SOE, Elidroth, SOE Developer, did mention:

A lot of the augs were mistakenly flagged as Prestige. It's something I'm going to bring up in our weekly systems meeting.

I'll let you know where we're going with this as soon as I can.

Double Station Cash in EQ for 24 Hours

From the SOE forum:

In celebration of EverQuest’s 13th anniversary and transition to Free to Play. Your. Way. We will be offering double Station Cash! Hurry, only valid March 16, 12pm PDT to March 17, 12pm PDT*

*Excludes purchases of Station Cash by SMS

Note that you have to buy your Station Cash through EverQuest at http://everquest.station.sony.com/shop.

If you already have SC cards you can redeem them through http://everquest.station.sony.com/shop or in-game to qualify for the double Station Cash.

New 13th Birthday Anniversary Celebration Quests to Be Around Longer, Old Ones Shorter

From this SOE forum post:

The 13th anniversary events this year last for 13 weeks.  The older events should last 1 month.  The usual reason for the extension is when there are gating [sic] bugs.  Those were fixed for previous ones.  We of course hope we have none for the new ones.

In previous years the anniversary events lasted for six weeks, so the older events will actually be around for two weeks less than previous years.

EverQuest's 13th Birthday: Two Weeks of Bonus XP, Increased Rare Spawns, and More

From the SOE forum:

To help celebrate EverQuest's 13th birthday, there will be bonus experience, an increased spawn rate on rare mobs and a special 13 themed marketplace sale. These specials will run 3/16/2012 through 3/31/2012.

Yet to be answered, the percentage of bonus xp and if the dates are for the bonus xp and spawn rate or just the marketplace sale.

UPDATE: It appears that the bonus xp will be an additional 30% and that both the bonus xp and rare spawn rate increase will be from 3/16/2012 through 3/31/2012.

EverQuest's 13th Birthday Anniversary Celebration Begins March 16

From EQ Players News:

We're celebrating EverQuest's 13th birthday! Beginning at 12:01 AM PDT on Friday, March 16, 2012, we will be launching EverQuest Free to Play. Your Way. This year we are combining it with one of the most exciting things to happen in the history of EQ. Mark your calendars and get ready for one huge celebration, with 13th Anniversary events and the transition to free-to-play both coming on March 16!

To celebrate EverQuest's 13th birthday, players will be able to embark on anniversary missions and quests. Stop by the Plane of Knowledge to join the celebration. Just look for the festive anniversary décor to get started.

There are thirteen new themed quests, including a spectacular mission as some of the greatest villains of EverQuest, a raid to stop a familiar face from gaining ultimate power, and over 40 events from past anniversaries.

Events will be updated as they are discovered at Fanra's EverQuest Wiki Anniversary page. Naturally, expect sites like Allakhazam to also have info.  Checking several sites as well as the official SOE forum tends to work best if you want to know about the latest info.

EQ To Be Down All Day Thursday For Free to Play and Anniversary Patch

From EQ Players News:

On Thursday, March 15, 2012, at 12:01 AM PDT* (midnight) the EverQuest servers will be taken offline in preparation for the launch of EverQuest Free to Play. Your Way. Downtime is expected to last until Friday, March 16, 2012, at 12:01 AM PDT (midnight).

This year we are combining the Anniversary update with EverQuest going free-to-play, so the servers will be down for a full 24 hours. More information about the 13th Anniversary will be posted later this week.

While the servers are down you can join us on the EverQuest forums, the EverQuest Facebook page, and on the EverQuest Twitter feed for updates, games, and more! We will also have an EverQuest Anniversary webcast on Twitch.tv starting at 4:30 PM PDT, and we will release an EverQuest themed podcast.

Mark your calendars and get ready for one huge celebration, with the 13th Anniversary events and the transition to free-to-play both coming on March 16th!

*Time Zone Converter

There is some confusion as to whether this is Thursday or Friday, as the statement by using the word, "midnight", makes it unclear.

Currently, no one at SOE has clarified the issue.  However, from posts by players on their forum, it appears that the game will be down on Thursday and the use of the word, "midnight", by SOE was a mistake by them and it should never have been added to the statement.

UPDATE:  Assuming that SOE got it correct, the latest information on the Anniversary Celebration states it begins on Friday, so we can assume that the downtime will be all day Thursday and the servers are planned to be up on Friday.

EQ Down Again (March 7), Hopefully Back in an Hour

From the SOE forum:

The EverQuest US servers will be taken offline for a quick server re-start at 12:45 PM PST. The downtime is expected to last one hour. Antonius Bayle will be taken offline for a quick server re-start at 16:00 PM PST. The downtime is expected to last one hour.

All US servers will be down from 12:45 PM PST until 13:45 PM PST. Antonius Bayle will be down from 16:00 PM PST until 17:00 PM PST.

We apologize for this interruption and will open the servers as quickly as the maintenance is completed.

*Convert to your local time

EQ Down March 5-6 for Maintenance - EXTENDED

From EQ Players News:

Maintenance Notice: Monday, March 5, 2012

Important: We will perform maintenance beginning at 11:00 PM Pacific* on March 5, 2012. Login for all games will be unavailable starting at 11:00 PM on March 5, 2012, to approximately 5:00 AM Pacific* on March 6, 2012. There will be extended downtime for account management and commerce transactions, and the forums will be read only, until approximately 7:00 AM Pacific* on March 6, 2012.

EverQuest will also have server maintenance during this downtime. Povar and Antonius Bayle will be taken down at 03:00 AM. Once the login maintenance is complete, Antonius Bayle and Povar will be open for play. Players that log into the Test server before the maintenance starts should not be impacted.

All of the other EverQuest servers will be taken offline at 12:00 AM Pacific* on Tuesday, March 6, 2012. The estimated downtime for this maintenance is 12:00 AM to approximately 04:00 PM Pacific* on March 6, 2012. If the maintenance is completed early the servers may be opened up before the estimated time.

We apologize for this interruption and will resume all affected services as soon as the maintenance is completed.

*Convert to your local time

UPDATE:

All of the EverQuest servers (except for Antonius Bayle) were taken down at 12:00 AM Pacific* on Tuesday, March 6, 2012. The servers are being moved to a new location and having all of their hardware upgraded. This downtime has unfortunately taken a little longer then planned. The new estimated time for completion and reopening of the servers for play is 12:00 AM PST March 7, 2012.

We apologize for this interruption and will keep you informed if this information changes.

*Convert to your local time

Other People Crashing When You Zone In or Get Rezzed?

It's been noticed that rezzing someone (or even someone just zoning into a zone) has been causing other people to have their EverQuest game crash.

It appears the cause is the rezzed or zoning person having a Sepulcher ornament on their gear.  Removing the ornament seems to fix the problem.

Beyond an off-hand remark in this forum thread, I've found nothing else on the issue.

Double Station Cash Game Stop Weekend

From the SOE forum:

Buy SOE Pre-Paid Game Cards at participating GameStop locations now and redeem between Feb 24th and Feb 26th* to get Double Station Cash! Redeem in-game or at www.soe.com/gamecards

*Redeem between 12:01am Pacific Time 2/24/2012 and 11:59pm Pacific Time 2/26/2012.

President's Day DOUBLE Experience Weekend (oh, and Marketplace sale)

From EQ Players:

This weekend only*, we’re giving you up to 30% off services available in the EverQuest marketplace. (Check out the list below to see the items that qualify for this sale)

Spend your three day weekend filling up your experience bar! From 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time on February 17, 2012 through 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time on February 20, 2012, we'll dramatically increase experience gains from mob kills to make your holiday weekend extra special! Make sure you log in during Bonus Experience** and enjoy the extra ding!

*Promotional offer valid from 4:01AM PST 2/17/12 to 11:59PM PST 2/20/12 only

**Experience awarded per kill will increased by up to 50%; 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.

UPDATE:

Double experience has now started. Enjoy!

-Piestro
EverQuest Community Manager 

SOE Still Silent Regarding 2012 Fan Faire

Except for a poll created in August 2011 and a post in the poll thread explaining the reasons for the dates in the poll, SOE has remained silent on information regarding the 2012 Fan Faire.

Right now, it is unknown if there will even be a 2012 Fan Faire, as the lack of information does not bode well for it.

Many people have to request vacation days well in advance for their jobs and every day of SOE delay means less people will be able to attend.

Fanra's EverQuest Wiki now has a Fan Faire page which will be updated as (if) SOE posts more (any) information.

UPDATE:  In this SOE forum thread, Where Art Thou Fan Faire Info?, Piestro, EQ Community Manager, replied:

...As to not having dates and such announced this early, there are many more constraints we face that are not transparent to the players. Getting contracts signed, buy in from all internal and any external partners that need to be involved, etc. We understand people's desire for this information and will get it out as soon as we can.

EQ Mac To Continue, For Free

From the SOE forum:

After announcing our intention to sunset EverQuest (EQ) Mac in January, the response we received from the passionate EQ Mac community has resulted in our decision not to sunset the game at this time. Moving forward, we will be removing subscriptions from EQ Mac so that it will be a free game that everyone can continue to play and enjoy. We will look closely at Mac for our future titles.

Linda "Brasse" Carlson Director, Global Community Relations, SOE

Anchors Away!

Currently houses and plots (including guild) are limited to one Primary anchor and one Secondary anchor.

In response to player requests, Chandrok, EQ Developer, announced:

Good news everyone! The restrictions limiting the number of anchors that can be placed will be lifted next patch.

For those who don't know, an anchor allows any character to port to their anchor once every 72 minutes.  Anchors can be placed in your house or yard, or guild house or yard.   Anchors and the device to port to them are sold by the Loyalty vendors for Loyalty Tokens (Crowns) .

In addition, Druids and Wizards get spells that allow them to port themselves or their group to their own anchors, as well as to TL group members to either the caster's or the member's anchors.

EQ Players to Work?

Although SOE refuses to give an ETA, they are working on a new and improved EQ Players site.

What will it be like?   So far only SOE knows.

It can be expected some time after the March Free-to-Play update goes into effect.

The only answer received as to exactly when is: Soon™.

Many Questions Remain on Free-to-Play, Some Answered

The biggest controversy surrounds the "Recruit-A-Friend" (RAF) program, which promised bonus experience "forever" if you or your friend created a linked account.    With Free-to-Play (f2p), SOE announced that "forever" really means, "until we change our minds".

Since a number of people opened new accounts, spending hard earned money to do so, solely on the basis that they would gain the bonus experience, they are rather upset.

SOE's current response seems to be "caveat emptor" (let the buyer beware).

They also claim that code limitations prevent RAF from working with EQ once they enable f2p, even on paying accounts.   They continue to refuse to refund money spent by those who were deceived into thinking "forever" means what dictionary.com claims.

In addition to the RAF issues, Piestro, EverQuest Community Manager, also commented on some other questions:

Game code and mechanics. We're still looking into ways around the code limitations [preventing RAF from working]. Our goal is the middle of this week for an update on the situation, even if it will be "still trying".

Veteran Rewards: Free and silver accounts will accrue time.

Fellowship XP sharing: I'll defer to the devs on this one, I suspect yes to at least join and share xp. I'd expect them to be able to create fellowships as well but am not sure.

Loyalty: The maximum earning rate (velocity) for free and silver accounts is capped at a significantly lower value, but they will still accrue loyalty points. Bags of plat will not be exploitable under the system though.

Character and Server Transfers: As far as I am aware these will be allowed as normal. It hasn't specifically come up in any meetings I've been a part of.

*These statements are a reflection of my understanding at the current time. During the final phases of implementation they may change.

All this and far, far more than you want to read of people complaining is in this thread on the SOE forum.

The Traitor Revealed Mission Bug To Be Fixed

The Erillion, the City of Bronze group mission The Traitor Revealed has been shown to have a bug where the first step, "Let Archon Xalvir escort you", refuses to update.

Upon the bug being reported on the SOE forum in this thread, Chandrok, EQ Developer, replied:

Your conclusion appears to be correct. I'll be changing area update coordinates so it works properly.

Monk Suppressive Strike Limited, To Be Fixed "Soon"™

From Elidroth, EQ Developer in this SOE forum thread:

Just a heads up.. The team has decided that Suppressive Strike is too powerful to remain in game. So I'm going to be removing/refunding the ability.

To fill the void/problem of monk pulling casters, I'm going to be creating a new ability that effectively works like the SK's Hate's Attraction, flinging the NPC to you. This resolves a number of issues that came up with the way Suppressive Strike works. Yes, I'm aware of the possible issues the fling can have and does have with the SK ability, but this is really the only solution the team came up with.

You can expect this for the February patch.

Later he amended his post with the following:

The HA type ability got held up due to other things which took priority. Nothing I could do about it. Sometimes, when your boss comes in and says "Do this.. now" you have to drop what you're working on and do it.

UPDATE (post by Elidroth, EQ Developer):

It's pretty simple.

The silence caused the NPC to not be able to cast spells, but it didn't stop it from TRYING to cast. So basically, it would just stand there and do nothing at all. It was possible to completely stop an NPC from doing anything at all while you beat on it mercilessly.

As for the cost, I completely agree 15aa is too high. For march [sic], I'll refund this version of Distant Strike, and create a new one at a more reasonable cost. I'll also have the HA type ability in place. That one might cost a bit more

EverQuest Patcher / Login Down For Some

For some players, attempting to log into EQ gets a network error.  In addition, they can not reach the SOE EverQuest forums.

Since some people have no problems, while others had the problem but it disappeared, while others still report being unable to log in, it appears that it is somehow related to SOE's network as it connects to various ISPs and/or geographical locations.

Bypassing the LaunchPad and patcher and directly logging in seems to enable everyone with a problem to log in.

How to bypass the LaunchPad and patcher:

1. Go to your EverQuest folder (if you aren't sure how to get there, the LaunchPad has a "gear" icon on the lower left side, press the gear to bring up the Advanced settings menu, then click on Open Game Directory) . 
2. Find the file "eqgame.exe" (it may be listed as just "eqgame").
3. Make a shortcut to desktop for it by right clicking it, choosing Send to, and picking Desktop (create shortcut). 
4. Right click the new shortcut on your Desktop and choose Properties. 
5. Change the Target to: C:\whatever is here leave alone \ whatever is here leave alone \eqgame.exe patchme.  

In other words, leave the Target exactly how it was, just add patchme to the end (leaving a space between eqgame.exe and patchme).

NOTE: If the Target is in quotation marks you need to add a space and patchme after them. For example: "C:\whatever is here leave alone \ whatever is here leave alone \eqgame.exe" patchme. 

See this link if you want pretty pictures.

Remember to only use this for now. Don't use it after SOE fixes the problem. Because you need to have an up-to-date patched EQ to play after they patch.

Patch Scheduled Wednesday, February 8, 2012

From EQ Players:

All EverQuest Live Servers will be coming down on Wednesday, February 8, 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.

Merc Healer Fixes Coming Soon(tm)

Currently on Test Server:

*** Mercenaries ***
- Several changes have been made to Healer Mercenaries:
- After level 85, healer mercenaries no longer cast the Promised or Elixir lines of spells. These spells may return in the future when mercenaries learn to cast them more effectively.
- After level 75, healer mercenaries no longer cast Complete Heal.
- When at full health and mana, healer mercenaries will no longer sit.
- Healer mercenaries now respond more quickly when the main tank in their group enters combat.
- The power of the healer mercenaries' spells have been slightly increased.
- The Reactive stance has been modified to favor constantly casting direct heals without regard for mana cost.
- Note: At the moment, mercenaries have trouble healing players that have high-HP regen buffs on them. Until this changes, avoid using spells such as Splendrous Guardian, Spiritual Enrichment, or Promised Renewal if you want your mercenary to heal you. [Bold added]

In addition, from Elegist, EQ Developer in the same thread:

In general, the healer mercenaries have trouble handling most regen buffs or deferred heals. The code fix for this appears to be relatively simple, but we have to make sure our changes don't adversely affect other aspects of mercenary behavior. We are trying to put in a fix for this by the time Free-to-Play goes live. Until then, though, if you are having trouble getting your mercenaries to heal you, try dropping some of your regen buffs or not using deferred heals. If you can, experiment with different healing spell combinations and post your findings. [Bold added]

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.

SOE Warns Berserkers Not to Buy New Ranks of Frenzied Volley

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

BERZERKERS!

There is a bug with ranks 5, 6, and 7 of Frenzied Volley that will effectively cause you to stop proc'ing this effect at all. I will be fixing this the next time we patch following launch of VoA.

DO NOT BUY ranks 5, 6, and 7 of Frenzied Volley until after I can get it patched.

Tier 1 VoA Focus Effects Level to be Changed

For some strange reason, Tier 1 VoA group and raid gear have level 90 on the focus effects, with the effects degrading on spells above level 90.

This will be changed sometime after launch, according to Chandrok, EQ Developer:

While changing the focus to 90 did make sense at the time, we've decided to change it back to 95. Having the focus at 90 really doesn't make the armor appealing to anyone and we want it to be useful. This will happen sometime soon after launch.

Patch Scheduled Tuesday, November 15, 2011 for VoA Release

From SOE forums:

All EverQuest Live Servers will be coming down on Tuesday, November 15, 2011 at 12:00 am Pacific 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.

HoT Armor Prices and Deadly Guild Lobby Virus to Change in First Patch after VoA

Two changes that are coming to EQ in the first patch after VoA is released (exact date unknown, assumed to be mid December).

First, the prices for NPC armor templates for House of Thule armor will be reduced:

This is a valid request in light of the lowered priced on VOA templates. I was already planning to lower the costs but it won't be done before launch. You should see the changes in the first patch after launch.

Next,  Virulent Pustules / Contagious Pustules will no longer spread among players in the Guild Lobby:

As amusing as this "feature" is, I will be closing the loophole that is allowing people to bring it to the guild lobby. This will happen in the first patch after the expansion launches.

Veil of Alaris NDA Lifted

From this post on the SOE forums:

As of 10:30am Pacific Tuesday, November 8, 2011 Beta participants are now released from the confidentiality requirements of the EverQuest Veil of Alaris Beta Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA). Thank you to everyone who waited patiently for the NDA to be lifted before sharing information with their friends!

Please note that even though the NDA has been lifted, there are still some limitations. Specifically the Veil of Alaris Beta forums remain under restriction. You are not permitted to share (especially via copy and paste) information from that section of the EQ Forums.

Thank you for participating in the Veil of Alaris Beta. We can't wait to see you in Alaris once it goes live!

-Piestro
EverQuest Community Manager

Corpse Experience Wipe November 15, 2011

From the SOE forums:

As part of the launch of EverQuest Veil of Alaris we will be wiping corpse experience on Tuesday, November 15, 2011. This is something we have done a number of times with previous content launches and should be expected with future content releases.

Please make sure to ressurect [sic] all corpses with experience that you would like to retrieve before the downtime on November 15, so that you have full credit for any experience you have earned.

Major Changes to Task and Mission Experience Beginning November 15

There are several changes being made.  Of importance right away, banked HoT and VoA group missions need to be claimed before November 15 or no experience will be granted.  Banked HoT and VoA solo missions will give less experience if claimed after November 15.  "Banking" such rewards has become a common way to get a head start on new expansions.

HoT and VoA Group mission rewards banked before November 15 will not grant any experience, and HoT and VoA solo mission reward experience will be reduced, if claimed after November 15.

More changes are being made:

• Experience Rewards
• For group tasks not in instanced zones, experience will be awarded to all group members within 300' of the final step in the Task. This is usually a Hail or Delivery, and in the few cases where a Task ended on killing a NPC these tasks will receive an additional step.
• For group Tasks in an instanced mission, Task experience will be handed out upon opening of the chest. Experience will be shared with group members within 300' of the chest.
• Characters will need to be living at the time experience is awarded, please make sure to resurrect anyone in the party who may have met an untimely end before you trigger the experience award.
• Other Rewards
All rewards other than experience including progression flags, coin, and any items will be shared as they always have been. No changes to rewards other than experience are being implemented.
• House of Thule Experience Changes
• As stated above, House of Thule Tasks (solo and group) are currently awarding too much experience. Experience for House of Thule Tasks will be reduced by approximately 50%.

Given these changes we highly recommend claiming any unclaimed Task rewards before November 15. If you claim previously completed Tasks after November 15, your awards will be affected in the following ways:

• Previously completed Solo Tasks will receive the modified experience rewards.
• Previously completed Group Tasks will receive no experience reward, as the Task Rewards will have been significantly modified.

Read the entire post, as well as further explanations, on the SOE forum thread.

November 1st Early Morning Maintenance

From this SOE forum post:

We will perform maintenance on all games and services beginning at 4:00 a.m. US Pacific Time on November 1, 2011. You may experience the following:

• Logins for all games, websites, and forums may be unavailable between 4:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. US Pacific Time.
• Commerce transactions, including purchases on our websites and in-game marketplaces, may be unavailable between 4:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. US Pacific Time. 

We apologize for this interruption and will resume all affected services as soon as the maintenance is completed.

Halloween Task "The Hunt for Tattooed Flesh" Bugged

It appears that there are problems getting the task.

We're looking into the issue with this line of quests. I don't know if we will be able to get a fix in before they end though.

-  Chandrok, EQ Developer

From this thread on the SOE forums.

VoA Discount Through Station Cash

It seems that it will be possible to buy Veil of Alaris using Station Cash, thereby getting a discount over the standard price.

Posted on http://www.facebook.com/EverQuestLive:

EverQuest ‎[Piestro] Yes the new expansion will be available on launch day for SC

Yesterday, Station Cash was half price. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that you could do this until now. But there might be another Station Cash offer before launch date. In any case, most of us have some Station Cash, because they gave us all some for free, this will give a discount.

It is expected to cost 4300 SC.

Triple Rare Spawns and Free Marketplace Items for Halloween

From this SOE forum post:

Triple Rare Spawns

Starting at 12:00 p.m. PDT* on Friday, October 28, 2011 and lasting through Monday, October 31, 2011, mobs flagged as rare will be spawning at triple their normal rate. Need a few last pieces of gear to get you ready for Veil of Alaris, or maybe you want to finish up some Hunter achievements? This will be your chance to get them!

 On the subject of free marketplace items Piestro, SOE Community Relations said:

You have to log in each day to find out what they will be. I know at least one would be something you will probably enjoy ish.

UPDATE:  In addition, Double Station Cash October 29, 2011, 12:01 AM PDT through 11:59 PM PDT; when you redeem any SOE Pre-Paid Game Card or buy Station Cash, excludes purchase by mobile/SMS.

Veil of Alaris Release Date Tuesday, November 15, 2011

From SOE:

We are very proud to announce that EverQuest Veil of Alaris will be launching on Tuesday, November 15, 2011!

EQ Halloween Sneaks In

Without notice, EQ Halloween returns. If it follows the dates of previous years, it should run from October 24th through November 7th. Fanra's EverQuest Wiki has some quests listed.

UPDATE: SOE finally breaks their silence and announces that it will, indeed, run until November 7. It appears that there are no new Halloween quests for 2011.

Veil of Alaris Pre-Order Now Available

From SOE:

Hail Norrathians!

The EverQuest team is proud to bring you our 18th expansion, Veil of Alaris! Starting today, October 18, 2011, you're able to pre-order your copy of Veil of Alaris. Pre-orders will end on November 14, 2011.

View this SOE forum post for details.

Server Side Lag "Fixed"

Players have been reporting massive server side lag.  According to this post by Steven S. Klug,
EverQuest Lead Programmer, the problem has been identified and fixed:

Ok, we believe we have identified the main cause of this.  Please let me know if you continue to see severe lag like this.  Sorry for the issues!

House of Thule Raid Completion Titles Being Fixed

SOE is manually going through the servers and adding these titles.  From a post by Head GM Kaeldread, EQ Customer Service:

I just wanted to give everyone an update on this.

Yesterday our Dev team discovered the issue and is correcting it. However, it would take a patch to push it out to live. So, we are having a GM's go through and grant this manually.

Read the entire post here for full information and a timetable for each server.

Sony Reports Hacking Attempt May Affect Small Number of Players

From the SOE forums:

We want to let you know that we have detected attempts on Sony Entertainment Network, PlayStation Network and Sony Online Entertainment (“Networks”) services to test a massive set of sign-in IDs and passwords against our network database.   These attempts appear to include a large amount of data obtained from one or more compromised lists from other companies, sites or other sources.   In this case, given that the data tested against our network consisted of sign-in ID-password pairs, and that the overwhelming majority of the pairs resulted in failed matching attempts, it is likely the data came from another source and not from our Networks.  We have taken steps to mitigate the activity.

Less than one tenth of one percent (0.1%) of our PSN, SEN and SOE audience may have been affected.  

Philip Reitinger, SVP and Chief Information Security Officer, Sony Group, goes on to mention:

As a preventative measure, we are requiring secure password resets for those PSN/SEN accounts that had both a sign-in ID and password match through this attempt.   If you are in the small group of PSN/SEN users who may have been affected, you will receive an email from us at the address associated with your account that will prompt you to reset your password.

Similarly, the SOE accounts that were matched have been temporarily turned off.  If you are among the small group of affected SOE customers, you will receive an email from us at the address associated with your account that will advise you on next steps in order to validate your account credentials and have your account turned back on.

Read the entire post here.

Patch Scheduled Wednesday, October 12, 2011

From EQ Players news:

All EverQuest Live Servers will be coming down on Wednesday, October 12, 2011 at 3:00 am US Pacific (US Pacifc-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 a game update. The servers are estimated to be unavailable for 5 hours. Keep an eye on the EQ Players website and the forums for status updates and for news if additional downtime is needed.

Veilbreaker Executive Escape Device Bugged

The Veilbreaker Executive Escape Device is one of the items you can purchase with your rewards from the Veil of Alaris pre-launch quests.  It is a clicky port to Steamfont with an 8 hour recast time.

Currently, once you use it, you are unable to use most other clicky devices (including mounts) until the 8 hour recast time elapses.

Piestro, EverQuest Community Manager, commented on the issue on the SOE forums:

Update on this issue. The Escape device is fixed internally, however it will require server downtime to patch. As such it will be at the next regular patch time (tentatively scheduled for next week).

Login to be Down for About An Hour on Thursday, Oct 6, 2011, 9 AM PDT

From the in-game Message of the Day:

MESSAGE OF THE DAY: Greetings Norrath! Game login and Marketplace will be down for about an hour on Thurs, Oct 6 at 9 AM PDT.

Update -  SOE posted in their forums:

Beginning October 6, 2011 at 9:00 a.m. US Pacific login for all servers, subscription and commerce services will be unavailable for maintenance. We expect this maintenance to take approximately an hour and a half. This may also cause some forum accounts to temporarily lose permissions, due to the inability to verify account status while the maintenance is taking place. This is only temporary and normal permissions will return automatically once the maintenance is complete.

We apologize for this interruption and will resume all affected services as soon as the maintenance is completed.

Chief Foreman Salli, Hobbs, Return to Steamfont

With the return of Chief Foreman Salli and the arrival of Hobbs, the VoA pre-launch quests are now fully functional.

Chief Foreman Salli on Vacation, Making Some VoA Pre-Quests Non-Functional

In reply to a SOE forum post about the missing Chief Foreman Salli, Piestro, EverQuest Community Manager, replied:

He [sic] should now be missing on all servers. He'll be making a triumphant return next week [Oct. 2-8] hopefully.

 This means several pre-quests can not be obtained and others can not be completed.

Veil of Alaris Pre-Quests Coming October 1st

From EQPlayers News:

The Gnomes are about to commence work on their greatest project ever! Join them Saturday, October 1 through Sunday, November 14, 2011.

Deep in the valleys of the Steamfont Mountains the Gnomes are preparing perhaps their most ambitious endeavor to date, the construction of a massive airship. Does this have anything to do with the Emissary of Brell? Where do the Gnomes plan to travel? Has the King of Ak'Anon contrived some plan of his own? Journey to the land of the Gnomes and investigate their enterprise. Perhaps you could lend a hand, as the gnomish people have been known on occasion to be generous to those who assist them.

Go forth and find the answer to this gnomish enigma! Seek the Chief Engineers for revelations on the future of Norrath!

Dragons, Dragons, Dragons! Quest Bug To Be Fixed

At various parts of the quest you are required to hail the Emissary to continue.  It has been reported that the Emissary is missing during several stages.

Absor, EQ Developer, replied to the issue in this SOE forum thread:

We are working on a fix for this.  Hopefully we'll get it out tomorrow [Tuesday].

SOE Webcast Reveals Some Veil of Alaris Plans

On September 22, 2011, SOE had a webcast which announced several features planned for VoA:

• Improved Taunt.  An ability that the mob ignores its hate list and will attack whoever used the ability.  The Warrior version is called Undivided Attention.  Paladins and Shadow Knights also get a version.
• Free Target.  This enables you to target areas.  One use is to spawn Auras.  Shaman will be able to spawn their Malos Idol in a spot away from them.  They will no longer have to run up and plant it.
• AAs - Monks are getting a new pulling tool.  Temporarily named Constrictive Dark, it is a single target silence whose main purpose is pulling caster mobs.
• Bard instruments to be improved.  They will extend songs of that type by 1 tic and the melee damage bonus is going from 25% to 30%.
• Devs will now have NPC generated parses to better evaluate raids and group content.
• New Power Sources under consideration, but will not happen by VoA launch.
• Tier 1 VoA gear will be minimum level 85 and attunable.  Although the content is designed more for level 90 toons.
• Higher levels of Tribute.

Of course, everything is subject to change as they continue development of VoA.

If you wish to waste 21 minutes to hear what you just read above, you can view the webcast here.

Emergency Patch Wednesday, September 21, 2011

From an in-game system wide message:

all EverQuest is having an emergency patch at 6:00am on Wednesday, September 21st. Downtime is expected to be two hours.

All times should be assumed to be Pacific time (USA).

UPDATE:  SOE has posted the full information on their forum:

All EverQuest Live Servers will be coming down on Wednesday, September 21, 2011 at 6:00 am US Pacific (US Pacifc [sic] -PST is -8 GMT: 5:00 am MST, 8:00 am CST, 9:00 am EST, 2:00 pm GMT, 3:00 pm CET) for a game update. The servers are estimated to be unavailable for 2 hours. Keep an eye on the EQ Players website and the forums for status updates and for news if additional downtime is needed.

Giants, Giants, Giants! and Dragons, Dragons, Dragons! are back through Tuesday, October 11, 2011

SOE announces:

Everyone loves killing giants and dragons so we thought it was time for the Giants, Giants, Giants! and Dragons, Dragons, Dragons! tasks to return! How well can you do in these limited time challenges? Find out before Tuesday, October 11, 2011!

Veil of Alaris Beta Registration is Live

From EQ Players news:

We are now accepting sign-ups for the EverQuest® Veil of Alaris™ expansion beta. The beta period is expected to begin on Tuesday, September 13, 2011.

As with previous years' beta, the sign-up process has been made easier for you… and for us! Once you sign up, the system places you in a pool of potential beta testers. When the invite stages occur, beta testers will automatically be selected from that pool. We will, however, still be limiting the number of participants during different beta stages—the difference is that now you don't have to wait for a window of opportunity to sign up. The beta sign-up page will remain open until the beta ends. Once you sign up, you do not need to sign up again.

Go to this link to read more and sign up.

Patch Scheduled Thursday, September 15, 2011

From the SOE forums:

All EverQuest Live Servers will be coming down on Thursday, September 15, 2011 at 3:00 am US Pacific (US Pacifc-PST is -8 GMT: 4:00 am MST, 5:00 am CST, 6:00 am EST, 11:00 am GMT, 12:00 CET) for a game update. The servers are estimated to be unavailable for 5 hours. Keep an eye on the EQ Players website and the forums for status updates and for news if additional downtime is needed.

Power Outage in San Diego Shuts Down EQ

A widespread power outage across San Diego has shut down EQ Thursday afternoon (September 8, 2011). No information on the cause or when power will be restored is yet available. For more information on the power outage, it is suggested that you Google, "San Diego power outage".

UPDATE: Customers should expect to be without power for hours, possibly through the night and into Friday. SDG&E (San Diego Gas and Electric) said 1.4 million customers have been affected by the outage.

UPDATE:  As of Friday, September 9, EQ should be back up.

Older Focus Effects Will Not Be Increased When Level Cap Raised

Veil of Alaris will include an increase of the level cap to 95. Currently dropping focus effects degrade when used for spells above level 90 (or lower). In the past, SOE has gone back to the previous expansion when there was a level increase and changed some of the focus effects on the older items. This enabled them to still be useful.

This time SOE has announced that they will not do so for Veil of Alaris.

From this thread on the SOE forum:

I spoke with the Dev team at length about this issue today, and there was a lot of discussion including what our historical actions in this regard have been, how doing so would relatively effect casters (with their disproportionate power gain at the begining [sic] of expansions due to spells being easier to aqquire [sic] than gear) vs. melees, and a number of other issues.

After weighty consideration, and possibly a bit of shouting, the Dev team has decided in this case to not increase the caps on current focus effects.

Thanks,

-Piestro, EverQuest Community Manager