New Community Connecting the Dots Blog Entry - Thank You For Your Feedback!

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Greetings Everyone,

This year, Brenlo won't be able to MC the Best of the Best due to his transfer to the EQ II team. So that leaves us with a void to fill.

We have someone internal to be an MC, however, I'm in search one or two people to help him out!  If you're going to be at Fan Faire, don't have plans to fight in the battle, and want to help work the crowd as a commentator, respond to this post to let me know!

The EQ Best of the Best will be occurring on Saturday, June 27tth, from about 9:30am to 3:30ish pm.

Don't forget that five new items are available in the EverQuest Marketplace this week! For more information on these and other items available on the marketplace, log in to EverQuest and use the /marketplace command.

Highlight of New Marketplace Items

If you need a little convincing that Fan Faire is the place to be this June, or if you're already planning to go and you just want to add a little jolt to your excitement, then we've got some fuel to add to the fire! Here are our Top 10 Fun Things To Do at Fan Faire 2009!

Top 10 Fun Things To Do at Fan Faire

The EverQuest Blog has been updated with a status of the new server poll and news about a change on the EQ team.  View the Blog

Meet Time Lord Speedy Gonesolaz of Fennin Ro   Server: Cazic Thule Guild: Hellfire Club

Where in the real life world do you live?
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

How long have you played EQ?
Since I was in grade six; about nine years now.

Read More

From 9:00 PM PDT until 11:00 PM PDT on Thursday, April 30, 2009, SOE Account and Commerce flow, Station Store and the Station Marketplace will be unavailable due to maintenance. We expect this maintenance to take approximately 2 hours.

This might 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.

The recent issues with redeeming Loot Cards for Legends of Norrath have been resolved.  If you continue to experience issues with the process, please let us know on the Legends of Norrath forums.

Thank you for your patience!

Free Realms Launches! 

We are pleased to announce that SOE's new fun and interactive online game where family and friends can play together in a safe and wholesome environment is now live! Free Realms is a whimsical virtual world, loaded with fun for gamers of all ages. Whether you want to race karts, raise a pet, explore mystical forests or chat with friends, in Free Realms, you can do it all.

Read More

We are currently experiencing an issue redeeming loot cards for Star Wars Galaxies TCG and Legends of Norrath.  We hope to have a hotfix tomorrow, Wednesday April 29, 2009 to correct the issue. If the ETA changes, we will post an updated status message.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

We are aware of the issue that is preventing the purchasing or redeeming of the loot cards for the Legends of Norrath.  We are working on the issue but do not have an ETA on when we expect the problem to be resolved. We'll post another message when the status changes.

*** Highlights ***

- Pet hold can now be used with charmed pets again (as long as the owner has the AA).
- Put separators back into raid window. Separators will now appear between sorting groups for all sorting criteria except for "by name."

*** Quests & Events ***

- Added a check to make sure there are miscreants in Shadow Haven when they are supposed to be there.
- Bristlebane's party will now show up in, er, minitab as expected.
- Added a default "Hail" dialog to each kill target in the Justice of the Tribunal 10th Anniversary task that will let you re-engage if you already hailed that NPC but failed to kill him.

*** NPC ***

- Modified the spawn rates of several NPCs in Fabled PoP that drop the "Swarm Pet" Weapons to normalize the rate that they appear. Most spawn rates were increased but some were reduced that were appearing too frequently.

*** Tradeskills ***

- Fixed the broken coffin poison bottle.  Now it can make any NORMAL poison combine as well as the original coffin bottle combines.
- The following spell research recipes now create a duplicate (tradable) scroll instead of the original (no-drop) scroll.  For real this time!  Skill: Champion's Aura, Skill: Poison Spikes Trap, Skill: Master's Aura, Skill: Bloodlust Aura, Spell: Blessed Aura, Spell: Decrepit Skin, Spell: Aura of the Muse, Spell: Elddar's Grasp, Spell: Puratus, Spell: Moonshadow, Spell: Ghost of Renewal, Spell: Mind Shatter, Spell: Chaos Flame, Spell: Iceflame Guard, Spell: Mind Flay, and Spell: Spirit of Oroshar.

*** Pets ***

- Pet hold can now be used with charmed pets again (as long as the owner has the AA).
- Now only PC pets will display their owner's name under them.
- Telling your pet to attack another target when focus is turned on will now cause it to switch targets and focus exclusively on the new target.
- Fixed a bug where telling your pet to attack a new target when focus is turned on would fail if the pet hated the new target the most already (even if the new target was not already its target).
- Casting swarm pets or familiars should no longer disrupt the state of the buttons on your pet window when you already have a normal pet up.
- Pet target hit points are now updated even if you are not targeting the pet's target.
- Fixed several other bugs that were causing the buttons in the pet window to become out of sync with the server or to reset upon zoning.
- Qattack will now only change the pet's target if the pet did not already have a target.  This is contrasted with the regular attack command which will force the pet to change targets (if focused or not).  Qattack now simply adds the target NPC to the pet's hate list, so that it will attack that target at a later time when its other targets are dead.

*** UI ***

- Put separators back into raid window. Separators will now appear between sorting groups for all sorting criteria except for "by name."
- When sorting by group, empty slots should always be shown after filled slots for each group. Also group leaders should always be at the top of each group.

- When sorting by anything but group, all the empty slots are removed and not displayed.

- Changed -

SIDL.xml

*** Previously Updated ***

- Fixed a problem with Atler Flamejabber.  He should now reappear in his correct location after someone has completed his quest.
- Nettle Higglesbury should now correctly gather some rabble rousers around him once he's finished his pie.
- Fixed an issue with Bristlebane's parties not showing up as expected after 20 hours.

- The EverQuest Team

Please note that the Guild Application tool on the EQPlayers website is no longer used for guild creations.

Players can now get their guilds created in-game by using the Guild Management window. When opening the Guild Management Window (Alt + G) when you are not in a guild, you will be asked if you would like to create one. All existing guild naming rules still apply. Only one guild is permitted per server per account. Guilds cannot be created while in a shroud.

We'll be removing the link from the page as soon as possible.

In case you didn't see the news, we're having a party on the Test Server at 5:00pm Pacific Time!

 Join us for an Anniversary Celebration

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of EverQuest, the Community Team hosted the First Annual Mr. and Miss Norrath Forum Challenge. EverQuest community members submitted their best character screenshot to get a chance at becoming Mr. or Miss Norrath 2009. Now it's your turn to participate by voting for the winners on the EQ Official Forums.

View the Miss Norrath Finalists

This poll ends on March 25th

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of EverQuest, the Community Team hosted the First Annual Mr. and Miss Norrath Forum Challenge. EverQuest community members submitted their best character screenshot to get a chance at becoming Mr. or Miss Norrath 2009. Now it's your turn to participate by voting for the winners on the EQ Official Forums.

View the Mr Norrath Finalists

This poll ends on March 25th

These screenshots come from Zatozia's vault of random screenshots. Where was that screenshot taken? What's that NPC doing in the screenshot? Maybe Zatozia doesn't even remember where she was when she captured it. Do you know?

This week it will be harder to guess the location of the screenshot. If nobody guesses the correct places, additional clues will be revealed!

The image links have been updated to a large version.

All EQ Servers are currently unavailable due to the Game Update.

Status Update 8:58am QA is currently going through their checks.

*** Highlights ***

- Guild Creation Tool: Players can now get their guilds created in-game by using the Guild Management window. When opening the Guild Management Window (Alt + G) when you are not in a guild, you will be asked if you would like to create one. All existing guild naming rules still apply. Only one guild is permitted per server per account. Guilds cannot be created while in a shroud.

- Pet Window Improvements: The functionality of the Pet Window has been improved by allowing players to customize each button individually. These changes also allow players to add commands that they pick up via AAs. We've also added some new commands including a pet hold command. (See UI: Pet Window Improvements below)

- Enhanced Raid Window: We've updated the raid management window to allow for sorting and expedition / shared task management improvements. Also added AFK, dead, and out of zone status. (See UI: Enhanced Raid Window below)

*** Items ***

- Nakk's Enduring Bauble now looks just like the gem from a ring, instead of a ring.
- The Durus Faycite Shard: Gorenaire's Chant of Frost, and Durus Faycite Shard: Talendor's Chant of Flame now increase the duration of their respective songs by 1 tick instead of increasing the damage.

 
*** Spells ***

- Cantata of Rodcet now increases HP and Mana regen by 61/70/75 and 50/58/62 for Ranks 1/2/3, up from 51/60/65 and 42/50/54
- Fixed a problem with Performance resonance that was causing it to focus a number of effects that it shouldn't have.
- Lowered the endurance cost on Wheel of Fists to 253/288/307 down from 316/360/384.
- Lowered the endurance cost on Whorl of Fists to 308/351/374 down from 385/439/468.
- Modified the stacking order of the Calanin's Synergy discipline to better stack with other similar abilities including the effect from Deceivers Blight Strike and other spells that use the same effect.
- Talisman of the Stalwart scrolls can now be scribed by druids.
- The combat proc granted by Arcane Arietta will now cause additional damage for bards based on their wind instrument mods. This only effects the procs for the bard herself, and not the rest of the group.
- The endurance cost for Calanin's Synergy has been increased to 385/439/468 up from 308/351/374. The duration in the effect has been increased by 6 seconds.
- The Twincast Self Buff spells are no longer focused by duration extension focuses.

*** Tradeskills ***

- Fixed a bug with the Pure sealed power-sources made via tradeskills. They were opening one tier behind where they should (so the Tier 1 took Tier 2 raid to open.)  They should now open properly with the proper tier of content.
- Fixed an issue with Dull, Murky and Foggy Sealed Energeian Orbs that could prevent them from opening properly.
- The following spells created by spell research now create a duplicate scroll instead of the original scroll. The original scrolls are now no trade. This does mean that you may have a no trade version currently, unfortunately there is no reasonable solution for a refund that is not able to allow players to create infinite scrolls. This change is intended to prevent players from creating infinite scrolls for free. Skill: Champion's Aura, Skill: Poison Spikes Trap, Skill: Master's Aura, Skill: Bloodlust Aura, Spell: Blessed Aura, Spell: Decrepit Skin, Spell: Aura of the Muse, Spell: Elddar's Grasp, Spell: Puratus, Spell: Moonshadow, Spell: Ghost of Renewal, Spell: Mind Shatter, Spell: Chaos Flame, Spell: Iceflame Guard, Spell: Mind Flay, and Spell: Spirit of Oroshar.
- The research spell Odium can now be researched by priests as intended.

*** NPCs ***

- Dragorn Muramites should be providing a normal amount of experience again.
- Fenden Helter has decided to mark down many of his items.
- Additional items have been added to Fenden Helter in Dragonscale and are available for purchase.

*** AA ***

- Modified how the AAs Animation Empathy and Advanced Pet Discipline function to support the new Pet changes to the User Interface and Pet controls.
- Replaced the Skill Cap adjustments on Third Spire of Ancestors and Third Spire of the Savage Lord with a bonus to minimum damage to avoid certain stacking conflicts.
- Adjusted the stacking order on Rogue's Fury to better stack with various Rogue disciplines, including Deadeye and Deadly Precision.

*** Miscellaneous ***

- Made various zone stability improvements.

*** UI: General ***

- Enhanced the Raid Window. (See UI: Enhanced Raid Window)
- The Pet Window has received a revamp! (See UI: Pet Window Improvements)
- Added chat window text output for users being invited to raids even when the raid confirmation popup is turned on.
- Added a button in the options general tab that toggles display of pet owner names on pets.
- Fixed a bug that sometimes caused two players to appear to share ownership of the same mercenary when they zoned simultaneously with unsuspended mercenaries.
- You should no longer be spammed with focus effect messages when you have an active mercenary .
- For custom UI creators, ListboxColumns can now have their own tooltips instead of just the Listbox.

*** UI: Enhanced Raid Window ***

- Updated the raid management window to allow for sorting and expedition / shared task management improvements. Also added AFK, dead, and out of zone status.
- Created the /comparetaskraid (Shared Task - Raid) and /compareexpedraid (Expedition - Raid) commands to list the players that are not in both lists.
- Updated the expedition window to allow for simplified raid and shared task invitations.
- Updated the shared task window to allow for simplified raid and expedition invitations.
- The group numbers in the raid window are now color coded in order to better differentiate between groups when sorting by group.
- Column headers now each have their own tool tip.

*** UI: Pet Window Improvements ***
 
- You can now assign buttons to all pet commands in the pet window.
- Pet target will be displayed under your pets hp bar so you will always know who your pet is attacking.
- Added toggleable buttons throughout the pet UI for sit/stand, follow/guard, focus, hold, taunt, and spell hold.
- Added new pet text based commands. You will now be able to toggle all states off or on, or simply toggle the state with a pet text based command. For example, /pet focus on, /pet focus off, and /pet focus.
- Added a new pet attack command to switch your pet to attack the new target regardless of AA's or level; great for new and low level players. The old command will still exist as qattack.
- Added a pet hold functionality.
- New pet focus + pet hold functionality (call this pet state "pet convergence" ). Now, when you turn on both the focus and hold states, your pet will attack SPECIFICALLY what you want it to and when finished won't attack or aggro or do anything else.
- Improved /pet back off. Fully clears the hate list and stops your pet from doing whatever it was doing before.
- Pet follow is now on by default when entering zones.
- Added the pet owner's name below the pet name text (i.e., "Soandso's pet").
- When right clicking a pet button, commands not available to you are filtered out.
- Added messages your pet will say when issued different commands to clarify the intended behavior.
- The state of all pet buttons are now persisted across zoning and logging (except sit and follow that default to their appropriate settings when zoning).
- The UI layout of the pet window is now stored across zoning and logging.
- Integrated pet help has now been implemented and put into the EverQuest pet info window. Click the question mark next to the pet close box to access the pet help dialog.
- When enchanter pets are summoned, they properly only have the Get Lost command, unless they have the special grant pet command SPA/AA.
- Pet spell hold is now available as a command in the pet window.

- New -

EQUI_GuildCreationWindow.xml

- Changed -

EQUI.xml
EQUI_DynamicZoneWnd.xml
EQUI_HotButtonWnd.xml
EQUI_OptionsWindow.xml
EQUI_RaidWindow.xml
EQUI_TaskWnd.xml
SIDL.xml

- The EverQuest Team

All EverQuest Live Servers (except Al'Kabor) will be coming down around 2:00 am PDT (PDT is -7 GMT: 3:00am MDT, 4:00am CDT, 5:00am EDT, 9:00am GMT) on Thursday, March 12, 2009 for a Game Update. The servers are estimated to be down for about 8 hours.

All EverQuest Live Servers (except Al'Kabor) will be brought down around 3:00 am PST (PST is -8 GMT: 4:00am MDT, 5:00am CST, 6:00am EST, 11:00am GMT) on Monday, March 9, 2009 for an Emergency Game Update. The servers are estimated to be down for about 2 hours.

Massively.com begins their EQ Anniversary coverage by spotlighting one of EverQuest's original artists: Kevin Burns. Kevin has been with SOE since the days before EverQuest, and has created some of the most well-known zones in the game, such as Freeport, Erudin and Highpass Hold.

Read A Decade of Norrath: Q&A with EverQuest's Kevin Burns

Massively.com begins their EQ Anniversary coverage by spotlighting one of EverQuest's original artists: Kevin Burns. Kevin has been with SOE since the days before EverQuest, and has created some of the most well-known zones in the game, such as Freeport, Erudin and Highpass Hold.

Read A Decade of Norrath: Q&A with EverQuest's Kevin Burns

The Adventure Before the Merge

Challenge: Write a story about your favorite character's adventure the night before the merge.  

• Note: This challenge is ONLY for characters on Druzzil Ro (Xev) or The Combine that existed before the server merge and that survives the server merge - doesn't get purged for being under level 10. Having to get a name change due to the merge is acceptable.

Duration: Submissions for this forum challenge will be accepted up until Thursday, March 5th at 10am PST. (PST is -8 hours GMT: 11:00 am MST, 12:00 am CST, 1:00 pm EST, 6:00 pm GMT)

Reward:  Based on the number of submissions received, we will determine winners and put them into placement.

• First Place Winners will receive an in-game title (last name title) and a choice between Zatozia's Pail of Chocolate Ice Cream or Zatozia's Pail of Rainbow Sherbet
• Honorable Mentions may be chosen to receive recognition only.

Feedback:  Feel free to offer your feedback on the submissions of others. We enjoy reading the comments on entries for these challenges just as much as the entries! Just remember to be constructive.

Due to the Server Merge between Druzzil Ro and The Combine, the EQPlayers website will be undergoing maintenance between 2am and 8am.  The site is expected to be down most of this maintenance timeframe however, it may be brought back up at points throughout the period.

The server merge between Druzzil Ro (Xev) and The Combine servers will take place on March 4, 2009, beginning at 2 a.m. PST. The merge will join Druzzil Ro (Xev) and The Combine, making one server that will be titled "Druzzil Ro (Xev, Combine)." The merge is expected to last approximately six hours. The server is expected to come back up around 8am PST.

Feel free to use this new thread for discussing the actual Server Merge.   For the benefit of your fellow community members that are undergoing the merge, please do not use this thread to discuss other issues regarding servers, polls or anything else that is not directly related to the merge.

Status Updates will begin at 7am.

Thank you and happy merging!

Status Update 6:09am:  I didn't receive any emergency phone calls over night so as far as I know everything is on track. Once I get into work I'll give a more accurate update.

Status Update 7:10am: The downtime has been extended by 3 hours to accomodate the unexpectedly large amount of time to transfer the data.  Our current estimated time for server unlock is 11am.  We'll let you know if this new time is at risk of being pushed further.

Status Update 7:54am: Status has not changed.  We still expect the server to open at 11am

Status Update 8:11am:  No change in status.  The server is still expected to open at 11am.

Status Update 8:36am:  No change in status.

Status Update 8:51am: The downtime has been extended until 1pm PST.  There's a chance that the server will open up sooner but we wanted you to be prepared just in case.

Status Update 11:53am: No change in Status.

Status Update 12:33pm: QA has finishing their run-throughs.  I'm just waiting to see the email stating to unlock the server.
Status Update 12:42pm: Druzzil Ro is being unlocked in 3... 2... 1....  ok maybe it takes longer than that but its being unlocked now.

For those of you who are waiting, here is a special forum challenge just for you!

Challenge: The Adventure Before the Merge

On Tuesday, March 10th at 10:00 a.m., San Diego City Councilmember Carl DeMaio will present John Smedley with an official proclamation that names March 16th as "Sony Online Entertainment Day" in the City of San Diego. This proclamation serves to commemorate the 10th anniversary and launch of EverQuest on this day as well as the continued support and dedication SOE shows to the city and community of San Diego!

You're invited to join us for this historical event! If you're in the San Diego area, we'd love to see you there.

Date: Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Time: The meeting starts at 10:00 a.m. and the proclamation will be shortly thereafter, but it is advised to arrive early to find parking and get through security.

Location: 202 C St., 12th Floor Council Chambers

Let us know if you think you might make it!

New items are now available on the EverQuest marketplace! For more information on these and other items available on the marketplace, log in to EverQuest and use the /marketplace command.

Hey there,

It’s time to help your friendly neighborhood Torturess again.

What zones have libraries in them?  Which libraries do you think are the prettiest?

Updated:  Downtime changed to 2 a.m.

The server merge between Druzzil Ro (Xev) and The Combine servers will take place on March 4, 2009, beginning at 2 a.m. PST. The merge will join Druzzil Ro (Xev) and The Combine, making one server that will be titled "Druzzil Ro (Xev, Combine)." The merge is expected to last approximately six hours.

Not sure if your account is ready? View the tip of the week on preparing your character for the server merge.

These screenshots come from Zatozia's vault of random screenshots. Where was that screenshot taken? What's that NPC doing in the screenshot? Maybe Zatozia doesn't even remember where she was when she captured it. Do you know?

Hope over to Massively.com as Massively celebrates 10 years of EverQuest

Beginning at 3 PM PST on Monday, March 2, 2009, SOE Account and Commerce flow and the Station Store will be unavailable due to maintenance. We expect this maintenance to take approximately 4 hours.

This might 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.

Mr. & Miss Norrath 2009

Forum Challenge

Challenge: To celebrate the 10^th anniversary of EverQuest, we are holding the First Annual Mr. and Miss Norrath Forum Challenge. EverQuest community members submit their best character screenshot to get a chance at becoming Mr. or Miss Norrath 2009.

Please follow the rules below:

• Community members are permitted to submit one screenshot for Mr. Norrath and one screenshot for Miss Norrath per account. You cannot submit two entries for one or the other. (Example: you cannot submit two screenshots for Mr. Norrath)
• Community members are permitted to submit an updated screenshot throughout the submission period but the update image must be for the same character as the first submission.
• Screenshots must be in JPG format and must be exactly 300 pixels in width x 400 pixels in height, no exceptions. (300x400)
• The character in the screenshot is not permitted to be changed, however, if you wish to change the background portion, you may do so.
• When posting your screenshots, the following information is required:
  • Character Name:
  • Server:
  • Guild Name:
  • Level, Race, Class, Male or Female

Duration: Submissions for this forum challenge will be accepted up until Monday, March 16th at 10am PDT. (PST is -7 hours GMT: 11:00 am MDT, 12:00 pm CDT, 1:00 pm EDT, 5:00 pm GMT)

Judging/Voting:  All screenshots will be reviewed by the EverQuest Community and Development teams.  Ten finalists for Mr. Norrath and 10 finalists for Miss Norrath will be selected. Then, the EQ Community, that’s you, will view the finalists and vote for Mr. & Miss Norrath!

The winners will be announced on Wednesday, March 25th and featured on EQPlayers website.

Reward:

• Mr. & Miss Norrath winners will receive:
  • A specific in-game title.  Information about the title will be disclosed later.
  • 5 AA points
  • The choice between Zatozia’s Pail of Chocolate Ice Cream or Zatozia’s Pail of Rainbow Sherbet
  • A permanent Illusion Item – The winner will be able to choose one of the following:
    • Mask of the Devious (gnome)
    • Lens of the Evil Eye (evil eye)
    • Fairy Wing (fairy)
    • Tharkis' Platinum Stud (orc)
    • Fendrakyn's Shattered Shard (Imp)
    • Docleaf's Shattered Shard (Imp)
    • Lepracon's Pot of Gold (Scaled wolf)
    • Amulet of Necropotence (Skeleton Illusion)
    • Guise of the Deceiver (Dark Elf Illusion)
    • Ball of Golem Clay (Earth Elemental Illusion)
    • Undershore Spirit Patch (Water elemental Illusion)
• Runner Ups - Finalists (#2 to #10 for each) will receive
  • 3 AA points
  • The choice between Zatozia’s Pail of Chocolate Ice Cream or Zatozia’s Pail of Rainbow Sherbet

Feedback:  Feel free to offer your feedback on the submissions of others. We enjoy reading the comments on entries for these challenges just as much as the entries! Just remember to be constructive. 

Good Luck!

Due to issues that some people were having posting on the forums, the deadline for this challenge has been extended until 10am US Pacific Time on March 16, 2009! 

Everyone should now be able to post in the thread.  Don't forget though, you MUST upload the pictures elsewhere before sharing the link.  We cannot access your home computers.

 If you are having trouble finding where to upload pictures, try using  http://photobucket.com/