SOE Fires People, Stifles Discussion

From the SOE EQ forum:

Today we announced a reduction in our workforce at SOE. As a company, our goal is to focus on our core expertise of MMO games and as part of these efforts, we had to make the difficult decision to eliminate positions to help reduce costs, streamline our employee base and strategically align resources towards our current portfolio of games and upcoming slate of MMOs, including EverQuest Next Landmark and EverQuest Next. We deeply value our employees and are grateful for all they’ve contributed to our company and games. They will be missed by colleagues and friends, and we wish them well in the future.

Out of respect for our employees, we request that you do not discuss personnel matters on our forums. Thank you for your understanding.

What does it mean? Who knows, we are not allowed to ask.

I can understand not wanting 500 forum posts of rumors flying asking who was laid off and what it means for the future of EQ, but we are left with nothing but questions.

How will it affect EQ?   We don't know.  Only SOE knows and they aren't talking.  But it sure doesn't look good.

Hardcore Heritage Lord Nagafen Raid Due, Soon™

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

Hello,
The Nagafen HH raid has been taken offline temporarily until we are able to address a zone crash bug. We're sorry for the inconvenience. It should be back up early next week, and we'll extend the duration of the event to make up for the downtime.
-Prathun

UPDATE: The raid is back but it still has problems:

Here's the thing.. The event isn't crashing. In reality, the zone isn't crashing either. Something is causing the static zone AND the instance to freak out so badly that the world server disconnects the zone. It's still up, but not responding to anything because the CPU is running at 130% and is just going NUTS. It's hung, but never actually explodes.

Worse.. because the zone never actually crashes, there is no crash log, so chasing what's going on is that much harder. We've found ZERO repeatability on this. In fact, neither myself, nor QA has EVER been able to make it do this. We literally can't make it happen. I've looked over every single element of this raid, regardless of how small or big it might be. I can find nothing wrong with my event. We're still trying though. Today was obviously a rough day though all around. I wish I had a better update.

As for the duration of the event, we're going to leave it up longer. We're going to make sure you guys get plenty of time to play with it. I've also reduced the lockout timer on the event to 2.5 days (something we're eventually going to do with ALL limited duration events).

Call of the Forsaken Beta Begins

From a SOE EQ forum post by Phathom, EQ Developer:

Hello all!

Tomorrow [August 21], we will be launching the Call of the Forsaken Beta and we will be sending out notices to let you know when you can download and help test the new expansion. Beta will last for approximately 4-6 weeks. We have a lot of people signed up ready to test things out so to keep the numbers steadily trickling in, we will be steadily flagging accounts into Beta. If you not get an invitation to join the beta tomorrow, keep on the lookout for an invitation over the next couple of days or next two weeks. Everyone that signs up for beta within this next week, will get into the beta before it ends.

Thank you for helping us test this expansion, the 20th expansion for EverQuest!

See you in Norrath!

Patch Scheduled Wednesday August 21, 2013

Still lacking details, but from a post on the SOE EQ forum by Prathun, EQ Developer:

We are updating on the 21st. The changes to the Creep Reaper toilers should be in place when the servers come back up.

Tier 4 Progression Charms Bugged, To Be Fixed

The Rain of Fear tier 4 charms that improve as you progress are currently not giving the stats they should. Posted on the EQ forum by Chandrok, EQ Developer:

There was an error with the stat calculations of tier 4 progression charms. They will be working correctly next patch.

Heart of Fear Live

From the SOE EQ forum:

Heart of Fear Launches Today!
We're excited to bring you the conclusion of stories you have been experiencing for the past three years with the Heart of Fear today!

Three years ago, new mysteries began with the House of Thule expansion. These mysteries have extended into the next two expansions, Veil of Alaris and Rain of Fear and the highest drama concludes within the Heart of Fear launch today. You can experience the final stories as you adventure deep within the Heart of Fear and discover the final questions focused around Cazic Thules remaining power.

Access to Heart of Fear
With your purchase of the Rain of Fear expansion, you recieve content released with the Rain of Fear in November 2012, the Shadow of Fear released in April 2013 and ultimately the Heart of Fear released today.

Enjoy your adventures in Norrath and thank you for checking out the Heart of Fear!

Patch Scheduled: July 16

From the SOE EQ forum:

All EverQuest Live Servers will be brought offline on Tuesday, July 16, 2013 at 4:00 am US Pacific*. 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

It is expected that Heart of Fear (Rain of Fear Tier 4) will be released with this patch.

Stone Tear Changes in July Patch

In a SOE EQ forum thread about the Stone Tear evolving item, Dzarn, EQ Developer, announces some changes to make things a little easier for those working on it, as well as an increased final item.

I found some time to work on the tear.

First the bad news. The evolving item system does not function if the item is an augment. The way the system is coded requires that an evolving item be in an equipment slot for it to work. So you have my apologies that that item is still eating your ammo / charm / face slot. [Note that once it fully evolves to level 20 you can change it to a Type 3 augmentation]

Next, the less bad news. I've again dropped the experience scale required to level the tear from 1-20, somewhat dramatically. Halfway through what used to be level 17 will now be level 20...

[He posts a chart displaying the changes]

Finally I've adjusted the relative experience given by the Fragments of Legendary Alaran history so running the task is an even more rewarding endeavor than it has been...

[He posts a chart displaying the changes]

Another change I've sneaked in. Alaran and Undead Alaran NPCs in Veil of Alaris and Rain of Fear non-raid zones that are at least level 90 now have a small percent (1% in VoA and 1.5% in RoF) chance of dropping a Fragment of Legendary Alaran History.

Finally I've added some additional stats to the tear as it progresses, which is mainly moot because only the defense skill mod will benefit you if the item is equipped in the ammo slot, but it adds an extra incentive to reach level 20 for the augment version of the item.

Double XP: July 4 to July 7

From the SOE EQ forum:

It’s a Double XP Weekend! Starting at 12:01 am on Thursday, July 4th you’ll enjoy earning twice the XP as you adventure in Norrath. But don’t miss out! This bonus will go away Sunday, July 7th at 11:59 pm PDT.

Heart of Fear Beta Officially Opens

From EverQuest - Community News:

Well, that moment is now. We are opening up Beta today – Officially! If you have signed up for Beta with Rain of Fear and/or Shadow of Fear, you can get into the last saga of the Rain of Fear, the Heart of Fear.

The Heart of Fear is a story that started with the House of Thule Expansion in 2010. It continued with the Veil of Alaris in 2011 and has carried through the Rain of Fear expansion in November. We have subsequently delivered the final chapters of this plot in the Shadow of Fear Game Update in April and you discover the climactic ending within the Heart of Fear coming this July.

All Extended Target AAs to be Auto Granted in July

Elidroth, EQ Developer, posted on the SOE EQ forum:

Just a heads up.. I'm auto-granting these AA starting with the July game update. This is a UI feature and really doesn't belong locked behind gameplay.

No AA points will be refunded if you've already purchased these in the past.

Before anyone asks, we want to do the same with Leadership AA, but this is something out of my control, and will require code time to implement properly. It IS however, on our to-do list.

Beta Server for Rain of Fear Tier 4 Update Up, Unofficially

From the SOE EQ forum comes the news that the Beta Server is up, but not officially.  Those who were in the Beta for Rain of Fear / Shadow of Fear should be able to check it out.

The usual rules and cautions apply, nothing is set in stone yet.

The Beta forums will be up for those in the Beta, once SOE officially opens Beta.

Important Ssraeszhian Armor Bug Fix Coming In July

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

As many of you know, the Hero's Forge Ssraeszhian Armor was mistakenly flagged as being usable by all classes for all armor types. While this is a situation we need to fix, at the same time we don't want to penalize those of you who have already acquired some of this armor. As a result, the following solution will go into effect with the release of the July game update:

All existing pieces of armor will be renamed, and will no longer drop from NPCs in Norrath. We will NOT be removing these from the world, and anyone who has these pieces now may keep them. A new set of identical looking, but correctly flagged armor will begin dropping in its place. Achievements will also be revised to point to the new replacement armor.

Double XP Weekend - May 24-27, 2013

From the SOE EQ forum:

It’s a Double XP Weekend! Starting Friday, May 24th you’ll enjoy earning twice the XP as you adventure in Norrath. But don’t miss out! This bonus will go away Monday, May 27th at 11:59 pm PDT.

Emergency Server Downtime: Friday, May 24, 2013

From the SOE EQ forum:

All EverQuest Servers will be brought offline on Friday, May 24, 2013 at 6:30 am US Pacific* to address a pressing issue. The servers are estimated to be unavailable for approximately 1.5 hours (90 minutes). We apologize for the inconvenience.

But good news! During this downtime, we will also activate the Memorial Day Weekend Double Experience Bonus a few hours early! Enjoy the boost throughout the long weekend.

Keep an eye on the EverQuest website and the forums for status updates and for news if additional downtime is needed.

*Time Zone Converter

Patch Scheduled Tuesday, May 14

From the SOE EQ forum:

All EverQuest Live Servers will be brought offline on Tuesday, May 14, 2013 at 5:00 am US Pacific*. The servers are estimated to be unavailable for approximately 3 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

SOE Discusses Content Release Plans

In a SOE forum thread, Piestro, EQ Community Relations, discusses SOE's plans to release content:

We've changed the way we release content. For the last couple years we released an expansion with a big chunk of content. Then we waited another year and did it again. This created a system of content glut followed by content drought. It wasn't a bad system, but it didn't accomplish all our goals.

We've moved to Expansion + Game Updates. This was intentional, and is meant to address the issues that arose in the system above. Rain of Fear is the first time we've done this, but it's our plan from this point on*. This way we can continue to provide people with new things to do at different times of the year.

This is going to take a little work, before things run as smoothly as they did with the old model. We were used to the old model, you were used to the old model. Change can be a little difficult sometimes. Definitely give us your feedback on what you'd like to see.

*Normal caveat that this can change in the future, and 10 years from now you can't hold this post up as evidence that we've promised to do this forever and ever. If we find better solutions, we may change the way we release content again, and again, and again.

Patch Scheduled Wednesday April 24, 2013

From the SOE forum:

All EverQuest Live Servers will be brought offline on Wednesday, April 24, 2013 at 5:00 am US Pacific*. The servers are estimated to be unavailable for approximately 3 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

Patch Scheduled April 17, 2013

From the SOE forum:

All EverQuest Live Servers will be brought offline on Wednesday, April 17, 2013 at 3:00 am US Pacific* for the Shadow of Fear 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

EverQuest Forum Downtime: Thursday, April 11, 2013

From the SOE EQ Forum:

We will be doing some work on the EverQuest forums on Thursday, April 11, 2013. The forums will be inaccessible from 12:00 pm (Noon) to 4:00 pm PDT*. We apologize for the inconvenience, and look forward to chatting with you again once the forums are back up and running!

During the forum downtime, you can find news and updates on our website, Facebook, and Twitter.

*Convert to local time