Patch Notes

Note that late 2002 is when the code split for Al'Kabor happened. The server's effective patch level is October (25th?) 2002 with December 2002 cut-off.

There are some additional bug fixes which Hobart implemented before the sunset based on community feedback, such as beastlord MGB, rogue double backstab fix, double pacify fix, and Plane of Time version being updated to July 2003.

A full list of Hobart's fixes and other EQMac specific patch notes would be nice to source if possible.

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Resources and notes:

https://www.takproject.net/forums/index.php?threads/request-alkabor-specific-patch-notes-history.15452/#post-83290

EverQuest® Macintosh Edition Update News 11/12/2003 thru 01/28/2005

https://www.takproject.net/forums/index.php?threads/everquest%C2%AE-macintosh-edition-update-news-11-12-2003-thru-01-28-2005.10396/

Archive of official SOE forums (2012 snapshot):

http://www.elitegamerslounge.com/home/soearchive

EQ Mac Announcements: http://www.elitegamerslounge.com/home/soearchive/viewforum.php?f=631

EQ Mac General Discussion: http://www.elitegamerslounge.com/home/soearchive/viewforum.php?f=631

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Patch notes (top-level heading for everything)

EverQuest® Macintosh Edition Update News 11/12/2003 thru 01/28/2005

The official patch notes files from 2003-2005 for Al'Kabor

EQMac Patch news 01/28/2005

(There was no text in this patch note)

Server Update 01/20/2005 3:00 pm

- Reverted some spells that were broken last spell update. They include Alter Plane Hate, Sacrifice, Illusion Scaled Wolf, and some others. - Added group exp modifiers. A bonus percentage of 20, 40, 60, 80, and 80 will be added for groups of 2 or more. The percentage bonus for a group of 6 is the same as a group of 5. - Added a general 20 percent bonus modifier for all exp gained. - Names and guild names above characters heads should look better. - The Story dwarf in PoK should give out AA's for completing flags.

Server Update 12/07/2004 3:00 pm

- General update of Plane of Knowledge which will introduce new quests and fixes for existing quests. - Missing spells like Illusion Scaled Wolf are now on vendors. - Parchement quest NPC's have been updated to reflect reward changes that were put in place on the PC version. - Hollowshade has been updated which should correct issues related to the war script.

Server Update 12/06/2004 10:00 am

- Plane of Tactics is now open to all those 60 and above. - Bor Wharhammer will now give out emblems for ornate armor for those above level 55. You no longer need to be tier 2 flagged.

Client Update 12/03/2004 12:00 pm

- Chat channels have been fixed. Type /help chat in game for a list of commands. - Horse crash bug when zoning is fixed. - /track crash to desktop is fixed. - (Beta) Windowed Mode is enabled. To turn on windowed mode add the line "WindowedMode=TRUE" to the default section of your eqclient.ini.

Client/Server Update 10/21/2004 4:00 pm

- Items and Spells have been updated. Look for new item effects and stats along with various spell updates.

Client Update 08/25/2004 12:00 pm

- New Miles Library Sound files have been updated. This should correct most sound related issues.

Server Update 08/06/2004 3:00 am

- The Song: Wind of Marr has been added. Bards will now be able to scribe and memorize this song.

EQMac Server Update 08/02/2004 6:00 pm

- The Tier 2 Plane of Powers zones are now open to all those who meet the level requirements. - Samhain and the Turmoil Toads will no longer attack the Broken Golem, leaving him for all of you Wizards to take care of. ~ The EQ Mac operations team.

Hollowshade Changes 01/05/2004 5:38 pm

We have performed some database changes to Hollowshade, these should fix the current bugs in the zone ~ The EQ Mac operations team.

Server Downtime 11/24/2003 10:40 pm

Tuesday, November 25th at 3:00am Pacific Standard Time, the Al'Kabor server will be brought down for maintenance. The estimated server downtime will be 30 minutes ~ The EverQuest Operations Team

Server Downtime 11/19/2003 6:04 pm

Thursday, November 20th at 2:00am Pacific Standard Time, the Al'Kabor server will be brought down for maintenance. The estimated server downtime will be 60 minutes ~ The EverQuest Operations Team

Al'Kabor Maintenance - Nov. 20th 11/19/2003 3:30 pm

The Al'Kabor server will be brought down for maintenance on Thursday, November 20th at 2:00 AM Pacific Standard Time. Server downtime should be no more than 60 minutes. Thank you

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Aggregate patch notes from Live PC EQ, 1999-2007.

Compiled from: http://everquest.allakhazam.com/history/patches.html

1999 through late 2002 PoP release

April 6, 1999 News Bit from John Smedley

Music works on all sound cards. If you still aren't getting music, double check to make sure that music is turned on in-game. In addition, you may not have correct drivers, and/or you may not have it set properly. In any case, either call our tech support or go to the tech support area in chat. Please be advised that music DOES have a performance impact on the game, although it is a small one.

Frame Rate Speedup - Our resident graphics genius sped up the game a fair amount. Those of you in areas like Greater Faydark should see some real improvements.

Corpse Bug - We've been tracking a nasty little bug that would make corpses disappear. I'm sure many of you know firsthand about this one. We finally nailed it and it should be safe to die again ;)

There's a whole bunch of other stuff that has been fixed as well and is listed in the patch message.

Just as an FYI we did find a server-side bug that's been fixed and we will probably have to down the servers one at a time to update since this bug is one that really needs to be fixed.

One final Item: Yes, glide on banshee's is coming back. It should be in later this week.

- John Smedley, President and CEO: Verant Interactive, Inc.

April 29, 1999 News Bit from John Smedley

Here's a summary of what was done in the last 2 days

1) We did a major hardware upgrade to our primary router here in San Diego. 2) We worked with CERFnet to do a router upgrade to their facility here in San Diego. 3) We moved Karana over to CERFnet 4) We brought up Rodcet Nife

I think you will find now that the packet loss should be basically gone... at least on our end. We were definetely causing some of the loss before (only when we hit major numbers) but now things are very, very clean running and that is with 23,582 people on just as I write this (a new record).

Does this mean that EVERYONE'S Packet Loss is gone? Absolutely not. BUT, I did some surveys in most of the worlds and about 750f the people told me their Packet Loss was great. If you are having problems now, do a traceroute to chat.everquest.com and send it to the email address traceroute@verant.com and we will take a look. We take our customers connections very seriously, and if a whole lot of people on one network are having a problem we will do our best to look into it. It doesn't mean we can always get the reaction we want (some networks are just plain bad) but many times we can help find a legitimate problem and help correct it.

September 13, 1999

Bug Fixes: - Players levitating should be easier for other PCs to see. - When charmed/feared and killed players should not be returned to the character selection screen. - Lore items in containers that are dropped should not be destroyed. - Charged items, such as the Staff of the Observers, should correctly report the number of charges remaining after zoning. - Corpses should remain lootable even if a player goes linkdead while looting - A player under the effect of charm or fear can no longer open their spellbook or sit in order to escape the effects of these spells. - A player using online help should no longer be locked into the help screen if another party initiates a trade. - Non-melee items equipped in weapon slots should no longer mutate if the pc is charmed. - Extremely large NPCs, ie Vox, should not suicide when stuck.

New emotes: - Here is a list of new emotes that have been added to the game: agree, amaze, apologize, applaud, plead, bite, bleed, blink, blush, boggle, bonk, bored, brb, burp, bye, cackle, calm, clap, comfort, congratulate, cough, cringe, curious, dance, drool, duck, eye, gasp, giggle, glare, grin, groan, grovel, happy, hungry, introduce, jk (just kidding), kneel, lost, massage, moan, mourn, peer, point, ponder, puzzle, raise, ready, roar, salute, shiver, shrug, sigh, smirk, snarl, snicker, stare, tap, tease, thank, thirsty, veto, welcome, whine, whistle, yawn.

PVP Changes: - In order to make PVP combat between spellcasters and melee types more viable some changes to PVP spell effects have been made. All damage spells cast in PVP combat will do less damage to the PC than the same spell would do to an NPC. When a PC is under the effect of a root-type spell there is a 20% chance that they will break free when a direct damage spell is cast upon them.

Spell Changes: - Levitate: All players may now cancel this effect. - Paralyzing Earth now Wizard and Necromancer useable. - The Mana cost on some Magician damage shields has been slightly reduced. - Alter Plane: Hate and Alter Plane: Sky have been changed into higher level spells. - Succor: Ro (Druid) is now a level 39 spell (previously a typo as a level 49 spell. - Curse of the Simple Mind (Enchanter) now lowers both Int AND Wis. - Selo`s Consonant Chain (Bard) should now work better. - Shadow Vortex (Necro) is more effective. - Screaming Terror is now an all or nothing save. This should stop the 'train' problems that it was causing. - Gravity Flux will now research correctly for Wizards. - Lich and Bond of Death are now researchable for Necromancers check your tomes. - The different types of Words of Collection and Words of Acquisition are now more easily identifiable. - Dead Man Walking (Necromancer) has been renamed Dead Man Floating. - Ignite Bones (Necromancer) has had the movement component removed. This means that it will no longer break root and snare spells, and that it will now stack with the darkness line. - Syvelian`s Anti-Magic Aria (Bard) has been fixed. - A bug in some of the AoE code has been fixed. AoE spells will now effect more monsters. - Some Magician Summoned items are now lore items. Items that have turned lore have had other small benefits added to them. - Dance of the Fireflies (Druid) has been changed from Divination to Conjuration. - Rangers have gained the spell Dance of the Fireflies (level 15) - High Level Enchanter Illusion spells have had the remainder of their effects implemented. - Magi research components have been added to more monsters throughout the world. - There is a new pet command: /pet taunt and /pet notaunt. Pets default to /pet taunt - The Rods for the Ice Comet quests will now pop much more often. - Envenomed Breath (Shaman) has had its damage raised slightly. - Scourge (Necromancer and Shaman) has had its damage raised slightly. - Enchantment of Light and Enchantment of Brilliance (Enchanter) have been replaced by new enchantment spells. These spells have been added to a hidden vendor somewhere in the game. - New quests for Necromancers to research their pets have been added.

Pets: - High level pets (44th and 49th lvl spells) do less damage - Pets will now navigate some outdoor and dungeon areas better

DoT Changes: - If the monster is in melee with you, there is no change to how a DoT spell works. - If the monster is running away from you (fear, wounded, etc.), there is no change to how a DoT spell works. - If the monster is moving when the damage from the DoT is applied (happens every few seconds), it will take 66% of the damage that it would have taken. - DoT spells have all had their duration slightly increased. If the monster moves for 18 seconds during a fight, it will take as much damage from the DoT as it would before the patch. If the monster moves for less then 18 seconds during a fight, your DoT will do more damage then it would have done before the patch. If the monster moves more then 18 seconds during the fight, it will take less damage then it would have before the patch.

September 22, 1999

Magic: - Illusion: Werewolf (enchanter) now stacks with other attack speed spells. - Casting times on the higher level Ward series (Cleric, Magician, Necromancer & Druid) have been slightly lowered. - The Lich (Necromancer) spell will now provide more mana. - Surge of Enfeeblement (Necromancer) should now work consistently. - Enchanter Wolf Illusion is now Outdoors only. - Paralyzing Earth can now be scribed by Necromancers. - Thicken and Crystallize Mana now produce their proper potions. - All research quest combinations should now work. - Eyes of the Cat now provides infravision as the description states.

General: - Summoned food and water will now disappear when the user logs out. - If the player is under the effect of Minor Illusion, and exits the game, upon reentry to the game, the Minor Illusion icon will remain. - Summoned items will no longer remain indefinitely when placed within a bag in the bank.

September 28, 1999

The following changes have been implemented with the latest patch, most importantly, changes to corpse resurrection. It should be noted that all corpses generated previous to this patch may not be resurrected, however, all corpses generated from this point forward may be resurrected with the changes listed below applying.

- Corpses that are older than 2 hours cannot be resurrected. - Corpses that are produced from a duel cannot be resurrected after 10 minutes.

General Enhancements - A Yes/No request window is now brought up when ever turning in the PK note to the Priest of Discord. - It is now possible to manually reorganize icons within the spell book. This may be performed by right-clicking on the currently placed icon (the icon will then be highlighted), then right-clicking on the desired slot you wish to move it. - Pet damage inflicted during PvP combat has been slightly reduced. - It is now possible to place items marked as "No Drop" in the bank. - NPC corpses will only remain for 8 minutes, even while looting. - If a party member goes link-dead, the remaining members will be notified. - Pets with less than 20 hit points cannot receive hit point buffs. - When viewing an invisible PC with See Invisible, the name will be shown in parentheses over the character. - All beneficial speed spells may be canceled left-clicking on the spell icon. - We have also made revisions to the /text command section of the EverQuest manual.

Fennin Ro Specific Enhancements - Experience and looting rights is now awarded based on group aggregate damage (i.e. If a group's combined damage if greater than an individual player, the group members will be given the exp. and looting rights). We will be gathering the results of this data throughout the day, and if need be, incorporate this change on other "live" servers.

October 13, 1999

Optional Patch

- A new zone, The Temple of Solusek Ro, is now available via the optional patch.

General Enhancements - Experience and looting rights are now awarded for group aggregate damage. This is now true for ALL servers. We still consider this change in 'TEST' and will conduct a poll as to whether it positively addresses the kill stealing situation in approximately 2 weeks. - As mentioned on Saturday, Rubicite armor will no longer spawn. The new class specific quests to obtain the new armor are now in for each class that could wear Rubicite. - Journeyman's Boots will no longer spawn where they did but rather are the products of a quest. - To address trade fraud (players removing items/money immediately prior to trading to deceive the other player), items/money may only be removed by clicking on the "Cancel" button. - When receiving a text message from either an NPC or PC speaking in a language other than "Common Tongue", if the user's language skill is high enough, the language being spoken will be noted preceding the text. - The fishing pole will now appear in the player's hand whenever the fishing skill is used. - A number of quests were both added and enhanced throughout the zones.

Trade Skills - A number of new items have been added to Blacksmithing.

Spell Enhancements - Some of the Items that Magicians summon with their spells have been made better or had their effects increased. - Fufil's Curtailing Chant, Tuyen's Chant of Flame and Tuyen's Chant of Frost have all had their effects slightly increased. - The Burnout Series has had the negative HP component reduced (improvement) and the stat buff increased (improvement). Because of this, the spells are no longer permanent. They now have a 15 minute duration. Burnout III has also had its casting cost reduced. - Illusion: Werewolf attack speed component now works as intended. - Insipid Weakness will research as intended.

November 1, 1999

[Kunark News Release]

EVERQUEST POSITIONED TO AGAIN CONQUER ONLINE WORLD WITH EVERQUEST: THE RUINS OF KUNARK EXPANSION PACK - Expansion Pack Features All-New Continent, More Than 20 New Adventure Zones and an Enhanced 3D Engine - FOSTER CITY, Calif., November 1, 1999 -

989 Studios, a Sony Computer Entertainment Group Company, announced today that its highly anticipated EverQuest®: The Ruins of Kunark™ expansion pack, which is an add-on to the most successful online role playing game ever released - EverQuest -will be available in March 2000. The expansion pack will provide the more than 225,000 current EverQuest gamers with an all-new continent, more than 20 new adventure zones, numerous characters, an additional playable race and an enhanced 3D engine.

"EverQuest has a wildly devoted fan base who are constantly craving new challenges and experiences in the massive world of EverQuest," said Jeffrey Fox, vice president, marketing, 989 Studios. "EverQuest: The Ruins of Kunark continues the legacy of EverQuest and takes it many steps further with a more detailed world that offers 40 percent more gameplay and breathtaking graphics."

EverQuest: The Ruins of Kunark takes players on a mystical quest to the continent of Kunark, home of the Iksar race. On the continent, players face all-new challenges and rewards in their quest for dominance and survival. EverQuest fans can get more information and an early look at EverQuest: The Ruins of Kunark by visiting the exclusive expansion pack web site at www.everquest.com/kunark.

Existing EverQuest players will be able to purchase the expansion pack directly online; pricing information is currently under discussion. New players will be able to purchase a retail version, which will include all aspects of the original EverQuest, along with the increased features included in the expansion pack EverQuest: The Ruins of Kunark.

989 Studios - EverQuest: The Ruins of Kunark

EverQuest: The Ruins of Kunark Key Features

New continent "Kunark," located south of Faydwer More than 20 new adventure zones featuring both beginner and advanced zones including: lakes, jungles, crypts, caves, dungeons, ancient towers and underground castles New playable race, the Iksar (Lizardman) A new cast of visually stunning non-player characters; grey dragons, reptilian monsters, giant scorpions, man-eating plants and more More object animations featured throughout Kunark that include earthquakes and other violent natural phenomena A highly detailed world with three times the amount of polygons and larger textures than the EverQuest world All-new ships that will sail from both Antonica and Faydwer to Kunark Newly created art by famous fantasy artist Keith Parkinson Increased level difficulty range allows players to advance further in the game.

The most successful online role-playing game ever released, EverQuest features a multitude of adventures and quests with an interactive storyline that evolves according to a player's individual decisions. Players can choose to begin the game in any of the three continents, with more than 90 adventure zones and 13 cities. Each of these continents feature: diverse species, economic systems, alliances and politics. Throughout this adventure, players form groups, strategic alliances and gather magical artifacts in their perilous and exciting quest to conquer the world of Norrath.

The Station@sony.com is the official provider of EverQuest, with software updates and news about the game, message boards and other community features, as well as an easy-to-use billing system for EverQuest's monthly subscription fee of $9.89.

Verant Interactive is an independent development studio that develops cutting-edge online games. Based in San Diego, California, Verant Interactive has a staff of over 70 employees who consist of the development teams responsible for the online games Tanarus and EverQuest.

989 Studios, a Sony Computer Entertainment Group Company, is a wholly- owned division of Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. and is the third-largest PlayStation® software publisher in North America. Headquartered in Foster City, California, with additional development studios in San Diego and Santa Monica, 989 Studios develops software for the PlayStation game console and online markets. 989 Studios is a recognized leader in the entertainment software industry, with top franchise titles such as NFL GameDay™, Twisted Metal®, Jet Moto®, Cool Boarders® and EverQuest™.

December 1, 1999 7:00am

The following changes and enhancements have been introduced with the latest patch:

Monk Enhancements -The Feign Death changes which were mentioned on November 16th are now live.

Spell Enhancements -Tishan (Enchanter) and Malise (Magician/Shaman) spells now stack. -The Pet bug (where if you have a pet, certain monsters can attack its owner anywhere in the zone) has been fixed. -Alenia`s Disenchanting Melody (Bard) should now work. -Screaming Terror (Necromancer) has changed. It is no longer a "Run Away" Fear spell - instead the targeted creature will cower in terror until it takes damage (similar to the Enchanter's Mesmerize spell). -The Environment limit (Dungeons only) has been removed. -Pact of Shadow (Necromancer) now has a 12 second recast time -Summon Waterstone (Magician) has been added to the game.

- The EverQuest Team

December 8, 1999 7:00am

The following general enhancements have been introduced with this patch.

- /Pet No Taunt and /pet taunt now works - Bard Levitation is now working as intended. - A number of spears are now available to the Shaman class. - Dazzle and Entrance (enchanter) have had their casting times reduced. - A number of NPC guards have received an increase in stats. - Screaming Terror is now functioning as intended.

Zone Specific Enhancements As previously mentioned, Paw becoming a mid-level dungeon is imminent. So heed our earlier warning!

Both Fear and Hate planes have been enhanced, in terms of how often loot is dropped by NPCs.

Race Enhancements Barbarians, Ogres and Trolls may now slam magic mobs when equipped with magic shoulders.

- The EverQuest Team

December 14, 1999

- A revision was made to a bug with Dragons, which was introduced with the patch last week. - The new Necromancer spell, Summon Corpse, is now live and functioning as intended.

December 21, 1999

After a week of thorough testing, the Summon Corpse spell is now functioning properly (we promise!), and available on all servers.

- In addition, it is now possible to cast Cancel Magic on non-grouped players on the PvP and PvP-teams servers. - All changes were made on the server-side, therefore no patch is required.

From everyone on the EverQuest team, and Verant Interactive, we would like to wish all of you safe and happy holidays.

February 3, 2000 8:00 am

The following changes have been implemented on the live servers:

Spells - Lay On Hands: Enhanced to heal more hitpoints per level. - Enveloping Roots: Casting time reduced to match Immobilize - Skin Like Nature: Small Damage Shield added. This will stack with other shields. - Insidious Fever: Casting time reduced. - Insidious Malady: Casting time Reduced. - Burnout series: Negative HP component removed to bring it in line with the Necromancer's Intensify/Augment death series.

Songs - Syvelian's Anti-magic Aura: Potency increased. - Shauri's Sonorous Clouding: Now also grants See Invisible. Party members can now see each other while under the effect of this song.

Additionally, the following songs have been given a slightly larger radius:

- Selo's Accelerando - Agilmente's Aria of Eagles - Shauri's Sonorous Clouding - Tarew's Aquatic Ayre

PvP-Teams Change Customers on the PvP-Teams servers have been plagued by a tactic known as "Bind Rushing". Casters would bind themselves in a hostile area or dungeon, and attack everyone of an opposing race in the area. Sooner or later the caster would die. They would then respawn, memorize a few spells, then jump back in to attack their wounded opponents.

As a first step in combating this practice and improving life for those on the PvP-Servers, casters will now respawn with zero mana after being killed by another player in a duel or open combat.

This code is new for those on Tallon and Vallon Zek. It has been in place for some time on Rallos Zek and works very well there.

The Plane of Sky All spells that grant levitation will no longer function in the Plane of Sky. This affects spells cast by Wizards, Enchanters, Shamans, Druids, Necromancers, and Bards. The Plane of Sky is designed to be completed in certain fashion, and the existence of these spells allowed the islands to be completed out-of-order.

A teleporter will be placed on the first island in the next patch to allow people access to the room below.

- The EverQuest Team

February 17, 2000 7:00 am

Announcements The City of Paineel, home to the infamous Heretics of Erudin, is now available via the Optional Patch. In addition, Erudites may now also be Shadowknights in addition to the other classes available to them. All Erudite Necromancers, Shadowknights, and Clerics who worship the God of Fear, Cazic-Thule, now start in the City of Paineel. As such, if you wish to create a character of this type from this point forward, you must download the Paineel zone-files via the Optional Patch.

Please note that if you downloaded the Paineel zone files recently, you must run the Optional Patch again to insure you have the correct version of the files.

In related news, all of the entrances to the Qeynos Catacombs have been fixed.

Enjoy!

The following changes have been implemented on the live servers:

Spell Changes - The recast delay for many of the Shaman buff-spells have been reduced. - "Reoccurring Amnesia" has had its casting time reduced. - "Yaulp" and "Augmentation" should now stack. - "Solidarity of Vision" has had its duration increased. - The Druid spell, "Skin Like Nature", has been returned to its former status due to popular opinion. As such, the damage-shield component has been removed and the regeneration component has been re-applied. - "Sense Magic" has been replaced in all cases by the "True North" spell. If you have already inscribed the "Sense Magic" spell, the spell icon will now automatically reflect "True North". - A bug that existed with several damage-shield spells, causing their damage to be subtracted rather than added when stacked, has been corrected. The spells will now stack properly. - The "Feign Death" spell, when cast by a Necromancer, will now have a fixed duration. The Necromancer will receive several warnings prior to the spell wearing off. This change was necessary because some Necromancers found a way to gain experience through their pet while being AFK for an extended duration, such as being in bed for the night. Note: This does not affect Shadowknights or Monks. - New Necromancer spells are now in game. Check your spell vendors. - Alchemy has been revamped. Check with your local Shaman. - DOT (Damage Over Time) spells will no longer hinder camping.

General Changes/Fixes - The dungeon of Paw has again received a minor update to slightly reduce the difficulty of the zone.

- All known issues with the SBLive soundcard have been corrected.

- From this point forward, deleting a character will cause all corpses belonging to that character to likewise be deleted. This change was made primarily to stop a no-drop transfer bug. It also has the added effect of cleaning up corpses for characters that people no longer intend to play.

- Crippling Blows will now display the correct damage in the "You have scored a Crippling Blow (###)" line.

Corpse Looting Exploit Recently, an exploit was discovered that allowed certain unsavory individuals to loot the corpses of other players without their consent. The precise symptom of this is that the owner would find their corpse stripped of everything except for no-drop items, and items in a bag with no-drop items. This exploit was fixed in this patch.

If you were affected by this exploit recently, you are entitled to a reimbursement of your lost items assuming that we still have a record of what you had. Please contact a GM in-game to arrange for an investigation.

During the course of the investigation, people who have exploited this bug will be subject to disciplinary action by our GM staff up to and including item wipes, suspension, and/or banishment.

Rogue Enhancements Rogues received several enhancements as part of this patch:

- The chance to score a critical hit with a throwing weapon has been increased significantly.

- When throwing a weapon from behind the NPC in question, a rogue now has a chance to score a "Deadly Strike", for enhanced damage above and beyond that of a critical hit.

- A new rogue-specific ability has been added to the "Hide" skill. It is called "Evade". This skill has the effect of lowering the amount that the targeted NPC hates the rogue, and has the potential of making the engaged NPC switch to another target (preferably a tank) within the rogue's group. It is essentially a "reverse taunt". This ability helps mitigate the negative effects of the rogue's exceedingly high damage- output potential. It also will in-turn help the rogue do even more damage as the NPC is much more likely to expose its back. It is engaged by targeting the NPC you wish to "Evade" and pressing the "Hide" button. As a note, you must not be in combat mode in order to use this ability.

Mistwalker The Mistwalker will once again cast its spell as often as it used to prior to the last patch. However, the resulting pet will now automatically "dissipate" after one combat round. The change that reduced the "proc" percentage on the weapon was made due to an unintended interaction between the pet and the target when several users of this weapon were attacking the same target. Since the new pet now automatically dissipates after one round, the reduced "proc" percentage was no longer necessary.

Class-Specific Armor Quests Class-Specific armor quests, especially those belonging to Clerics, Paladins, and Shadowknights, have been reduced in terms of how long it will take the average person to acquire the armor. These classes, and others that found particular pieces of their armor exceedingly difficult to obtain should find it much easier now.

In addition, a bug that hindered completion of the Bracer of Ro quest for some races has been corrected.

Tallon Zek Loot rules for PvP deaths on the PvP-Teams server, Tallon Zek, have been changed from "Coin + 1 item" to "Coin Only". This change was made to study the impact of loot-rules upon server population in reference to the loot/efficiency disparity between caster and melee characters. This change is a test, and may or may not be retained or rolled out across the other PvP servers, pending the results of the server population study over the next few weeks.

Plane Changes Several changes have been implemented in the Planes as part of this patch:

- Characters will now lose all enchantments upon entering the Plane of Sky.

- Due to the fact that the levitate-series no longer works within the Plane of Sky, a teleporter has been placed to allow entrance into the quest room.

- A teleporter has been placed within the Plane of Hate in order to give non-casters a way out of the zone besides death, potion, or group teleport.

Loot Messages Messages indicating what has been looted from a corpse will now be broadcast to everyone within the looters group. This change was made due to public request and to encourage trust within the group. We may, in the future, employ filters to allow people to choose whether or not they wish to receive loot messages.

Fiery Avenger The greatly anticipated defining blade of the Paladin, the "Fiery Avenger", is again available within game via a quest. The first devout Paladin to wield this blade and be validated by a GM in-game will be publicly congratulated within a patch message and on the Official EverQuest web-site at www.everquest.com.

- The EverQuest Team

February 23, 2000

Today's patch was primarily comprised of server-side changes in preparation for the release of EverQuest: The Ruins of Kunark. Only one gameplay-affecting issue was updated as a result of this patch:

- Being killed by another player in a duel will now cause you to re- spawn with zero mana.

This change was implemented to counter a strategy used by casters where they would duel to reduce downtime between fights, thus allowing groups to engage creatures that they normally would not be able to.

- The EverQuest Team

March 29, 2000

This morning's update consisted primarily of server-side changes to improve performance of the game engine in general. No items, spawns, spells (with the exceptions below), etc., were changed as a result of this patch.

Area Effect "Fear" spells will no longer work in PvP. This affects a bard song, as well as the Cleric "Wave of Fear" spell.

Corrected a bug with some of the Resurrection spells that caused them to return too little experience.

We plan on publishing data and item changes next week if all goes well on the Test server. We apologize to those who are inconvenienced by having to wait for the expected changes.

- The EverQuest Team

April 10, 2000

Patch Day The following is a list of changes that were implemented on the Live EverQuest servers today:

Spells - You will now receive a message when attempting to mesmerize a creature that is immune to that type of spell. - You can now right-click-and-hold on bard songs to determine what instrument skill is used by the spell. - Dyn's Dizzying Draught has had its casting time lowered significantly. - Corrected a bug in the Druid root + damage spells (Enveloping roots series) that caused the spell's damage to have a chance of breaking the spell. They work much better now. - The Magicians Phantom Armor series now grants HP regeneration. - The Druid spell, dance of the fireflies, has been changed from "Outdoor only" to "Night only". It may now be cast in dungeons. - Corrected a typographical error that allowed high level magicians to inscribe the Malosi spell. It was not intended for magicians under level 50.

General Changes/Fixes - Items have gained the ability to be restricted by Deity. If a deity restriction is placed upon an item, it will show when you right-click- and-hold on the item. - The AC on the mid-level cleric quest armor has been increased. - The Terror Mask will now cast "Fear" instead of "Call of Bones" as previously announced. The "Call of Bones" effect was placed on this item by mistake. - The Mempo of Likato now grants AC. - The Quest for the Short Sword of Morin has been fixed. - Some spawn-time problems in Mistmoore have been repaired. - Five spawn-time problems were identified in regards to the Armor of Ro (Paladin) quests. They have been fixed and Paladins should have a much easier time of obtaining their armor. - Pets should now attack Willowisps on command. - Many spell-gems and icons have been changed to reflect the appropriate action of the spell. Be sure to reacquaint yourself with your spell line-up. - Fixed a bug that caused targetable bard songs to ignore the instrument in use.

Kerra Ridge Kerra Ridge has been completely revamped. The target level-range for the zone has been slightly increased. In addition, many new quests have been added to the zone. The faction for Kerrans has been changed so that those who killed them indiscriminately before today's update can take part. Be warned that the Kerrans still do not like everyone.

Paw Paw has received another minor difficulty adjustment. In addition, item drop percentages have been increased.

The Plane of Hate The Plane of Hate has received an item-drop/spawn-time revamp. Take care in your exploration of this zone as many things have changed.

- The EverQuest Team

April 17, 2000 4:00 pm

EverQuest: The Ruins of Kunark (upgrade) should now be arriving on doorsteps around the world. Please note that attempting to create an Iksar character will not work until the expansion zones are officially opened within the next week.

We ask that if you attempt to create an Iksar character out of curiosity that you do not proceed past the "History" page (the page that speaks of your lifestyle) in the character creation process. Once at this page, please use the "Back" button to get back to the character creation screen. Pressing "Next" on this screen will cause the name you have selected to go into the "used name" list, making it unavailable for future use.

We appreciate your cooperation.

- The EverQuest Team

Today's Patch Today's patch consisted of preparations for the launch of Kunark, as well as some new art. The following spell changes were also included:

- Corrected a bug with a new bard song that allowed them to charm anything, such as deities and dragons. - Added a lesser included wisdom effect with "Brilliance" as well as a lesser included intelligence effect with "Insight". These spells will no longer stack.

- The EverQuest Team

April 19, 2000 4:00 pm

As part of the emergency update completed last night, a change was implemented that increases the amount of damage done by someone wielding a 2 handed weapon.

This change was made due to a statistical imbalance in the way that damage is calculated at the mid-to-upper levels. A person wielding a one-handed weapon of a given ratio was able to do more damage than when wielding a two-handed weapon of the same ratio.

We would like to stress that no change has been made to the amount of damage done by people wielding one-handed weapons. The net result of this change is that people choosing to wield two-handed weapons will now do more damage than they did before.

-The EverQuest Team

April 21, 2000 7:00 am

Greetings everyone!

This morning's update is one of the final updates necessary for the EverQuest: The Ruins of Kunark launch scheduled to take place on Monday.

As part of this update, a new EverQuest Patch Program was sent to your system. For those who have installed the Ruins of Kunark, this update has added a button labeled "K-Patch" to the patch program control panel. Within these patch messages, Ruins of Kunark players may be asked from time to time to press the "K-Patch" button following the download of the regular patch. This will allow them to download Kunark- related updates when they are required.

If you have not installed EverQuest: The Ruins of Kunark, you will not see a "K-Patch" button.

In addition to the Kunark-related changes made today, a bug that lowered the maximum damage of two-handed weapons that was introduced earlier this week in the Emergency Update was also corrected. Finally, the art update yesterday implemented a solution that we've been promising: Male barbarians can now see their shields.

We continue to appreciate everyone's patience while we get the servers ready for Kunark.

Thank you.

- The EverQuest Team

April 24, 2000 3:00 pm

Hello All,

Due to the unfortunate problems we have had with our order processing system, it doesn't look like every person that ordered Kunark will receive it in a timely fashion. We sincerely apologize for this unanticipated problem. We expect that roughly 90% of the people who ordered will be receiving their orders by today.

Because of the problems we have had we will be refunding anyone who ordered Ruins of Kunark on or before Wednesday April 19th and does not receive their orders by today for their shipping costs, as well as crediting their accounts for one month of gameplay. This applies to International orders as well.

We'll be taking care of these refunds via email at kunarkrefund@verant.com, and it will be necessary for anyone that wants to take advantage of this refund to send us your Station Name, billing name and address on the account and the date you placed the order. Please also include "Kunark Refund" in the subject line.

We are very sorry for the problems that have come up.

The EverQuest Team

April 27, 2000

Hello all,

I wasn't able to get this in the patch message this evening, but I'd hope you'd help spread it around. I'm also having new /MOTD's put on the servers to be sure that people get the word.

/movelog registered accounts from Veeshan and Bristlebane will be moving to Saryrn, Xegony and Bertox to The Seventh Hammer.

I'd like to remind everything that corpses will not follow the account, so everyone will want to make sure that there corpses are looted, or they will be lost. I'd also like to note that more people requested the move than we will be able to accommodate, and we appreciate everyone's understanding in this matter.

-Gordon

May 16, 2000 10:00 am

Patch Day General Changes - Sounds have been updated for NPCs in Kunark. Your Iksar should no longer sound like humans. - Dark Elven worshipers of Solusek Ro and Bristlebane will no longer be natively KOS to the outpost in the Overthere. Take care that if you have taken actions allowing you to be judged sufficiently by your deeds, you may still find yourself KOS. - Increased the number of frightfingers in the Plane of Fear. Previously only 3 frightfingers would pop per respawn. - Several problems with the guards that were buffed up last week have been addressed. Some guards that should not have been buffed have been fixed. In addition, due to the level of the new guards, they all gained the ability to innately see-invisible. The level of those guards has been reduced so that they no longer automatically get this ability, making it a bit easier to sneak by them. - Many quests have been updated and/or fixed, both in terms of ease of completion and reward.

Item Updates - Corrected a typo that had the Canyoneer's Pike marked as NO RENT, causing it to disappear on logout. - Corrected the model for the Axe of the Iron Back. It was showing as a 2H sword when equipped. - The Halcyon Broadsword was mistakenly marked as an artifact. This has been corrected. - Corrected item icons for various pieces of Burynai Hide Armor. It was displaying improperly in the inventory slots. - The Skull Mask of Innervation has been changed so that it must be worn to activate its effect. - Corrected a problem with the Scourgetail Whip whereby the damage and delay figures were transposed yielding a 30 damage, 5 delay weapon. - The "Illusion: Iksar" spell scroll is now droppable/tradeable. - The Goblin Eye Poker now looks like a dagger instead of a small sack. - The Cone of Mystics, which incidentally also looked like a small sack, now looks as intended. - Corrected a typo that had the Goblin Skull Crusher's effect set to the "Lull" spell, which is not appropriate for a melee weapon. The "Lull" effect has been replaced with an appropriate effect. - The Pouch of Mistletoe Powder will now impart its effect on the targeted character. - Mosquito Wings are available in game once again. - Many items had incorrect usage restrictions, and have been repaired.

As always, we strive to avoid making negative changes to items that already exist in game. However, there are cases where a particularly unbalancing error has been made, such as with the Scourgetail Whip mentioned above, where the item in question must be fixed in interest of maintaining game balance.

We will continue to repair problems, add content, and enhance gameplay in both Kunark and EQ proper. We appreciate everyone's support.

Thank you,

The EverQuest Team

May 25, 2000 8:00 am

Patch Day Greetings all! The following changes have been implemented on the Live servers:

Spells/Songs - Voltaic Draught, a high level wizard direct damage spell was improperly saving versus resistance to cold. It now appropriately saves versus magic. - The higher level bard song by Brusco was improperly healing the target instead of damaging it. This has been corrected.

Items The Shadowknight class-specific quest armor, Darkforge armor, has had its weight decreased substantially.

The Runed Fighter's Staff, previously useable by Monks and Warriors, has been restricted to Monks only. The statistics on this staff are much more powerful than normally allowed for warriors. This change is retroactive and will be reflected on items currently in inventory. Though we strive to avoid negatively adjusting items after they have been earned, this item presented a balance issue, making the change necessary. We apologize to warriors that currently own this weapon.

A data error with the Symphonic Saber, causing it to report "Item out of charges", has been corrected. Due to the dynamics of this particular issue, current owners will need to contact a GM to trade this item out for a new, properly working version of the item.

The Burning Rapier (rogue weapon) has been enhanced. In addition to an increase in statistics, it received a stronger spell effect. The lightsource effect on the weapon has been removed due to an aesthetic rogue desire to be "sneaky" :)

The effect on the Hangman's Noose will now work properly.

General Changes - Some NPCs in Dalnir were casting spells much too powerful for their level. They have been adjusted. - Pathing information has been updated in Highkeep. NPCs and pets should have a much easier time of navigating the zone. - Some Quest-NPCs were not spawning properly in Rathe Mountains. These issues have been corrected. - A handful of problems reported with research practice via the Concordance of Research have been corrected. All practice-rune recipes should now work correctly. - Gorilla's in Burning Wood now have a new texture set that properly reflects their undead status. - Fishing should now work properly in Kunark zones. - /yell now reports the proper direction to people hearing the yell. - Corrected a bug that gave some races the impression that they were allowed to start their character in Cabalis. They were never actually allowed to create the character there, however the indication that they could has been fixed. - Corrected sound issues that were causing some crashes to the desktop in certain cases.

We are in the process of patching music files (*.XMI) for zones in which music does not currently work. There are 55 small files (around 2K each) that will be patched over the next couple of days to enable music in all of the affected zones.

The zone of Timorous Deep has been tuned and itemized. Certain aspects of the changes have made certain areas of the zone more dangerous, but the reward should be well worth the risk. Feel free to visit this zone and search out its treasures at your leisure. Note: These changes went in on Monday.

Upon investigation, we discovered a deficiency with the amount of experience being rewarded in many Kunark zones (mostly dungeons). The affected zones have been updated, and adventurers should notice the greater experience reward in return for the increased risk and challenge associated with these zones.

- The EverQuest Team

June 6, 2000 8:00 am

Patch Day Greetings! The live servers have been updated to reflect the newest data on the Test Server:

General - Some new spells are available for the hybrid classes. Check your Kunark spell vendors. - Found and corrected a problem causing people to fall to their deaths upon zoning. The majority of these issues should no longer occur. - Corrected outstanding issues with several quests, including the Brain Bite, Shackle of Rock, and the Barnal Flamehands quest. - Increased treasure in many Kunark zones including The Emerald Jungle, Sebilis, and the Frontier Mountains. - Upon review we've increased the drop-rate of level 51+ spells in Kunark. They should be more plentiful now. - Updated pathing information in many zones, making it easier for pets and other NPCs to get around the zones.

Items - A problem with the spell effect for the Luminary Two-Handed Sword. Current owners of this weapon will need to contact a GM to trade their sword out for a working one. - The Gunthak Harpoon is now rentable. It will remain in your possession when you leave the game. - A couple pieces of Blood Ember armor have been reduced in weight. - Reduced the weight on several Monk weapons found in Kunark.

PvP Teams Servers (VZ/TZ) and Illusions Due to an outstanding bug that allowed a player to permanently mesmerize or stun opposing team members when coupled with an illusion, illusions will now automatically cancel when the person wearing the illusion casts an offensive spell upon any player-character. Players should keep this in mind before attacking with spells in an area where their faction standing is less than desirable.

Illusions are defined as any spell that makes a character look different than they actually are. This includes all racial illusions, as well as other illusions such as Treeform, Wolfform, and the Call of Bones series.

Risk and Reward The concept of risk and reward is very important to the game of EverQuest. Ideally, situations that provide a greater reward should also provide substantial risk. Over the past several weeks, we've been identifying areas in game where risk and reward are at a disparity, and making necessary adjustments.

In most cases, those adjustments are in favor of increasing the reward for a specific action. For example, we recently increased the experience awarded in many Kunark zones to offset the sometimes- considerable risk associated with adventuring there. We also do this quite frequently by increasing the reward associated with a quest by enhancing the item, as we did last week with the Burning Rapier quest.

However, in some cases there are instances where reward is far in excess of the risk involved, and we will be correcting these issues like those above as we come across them. For example, there are many cases where a solitary and stationary outdoor creature has a "fast spawn", yielding the reward of fast experience-gain without the commensurate risk.

Though it is not our policy to announce changes to individual NPCs, we did want to let you know that you will see risk/reward disparities corrected over the next several weeks.

PvP Teams (VZ/TZ) Character Transfers As many people playing upon the PvP-Teams servers are aware, Vallon Zek and Tallon Zek have different rules regarding looting rights from PvP combat. Vallon Zek allows the victor to loot all coin plus one item from the fallen, whereas Tallon Zek allows only coin-loot with no right to loot items.

Due to the fact that the looting rules were changed on Tallon Zek post- production, we've decided to allow characters on both servers a one- time character-move. Registration for the move will open at 6:00pm PDT on Friday, June 9th, 2000, on both servers, and will be open through 12:00pm PDT on Monday, June 12th, 2000. You can register for the move by executing the "/movelog yes" command during the registration window. There is no limit to the number of people that we will allow to move between Tallon and Vallon Zek, so there is no reason to rush to enter the command.

Please remember that once you register for the move, your decision can not be rescinded. The actual character-move will take place sometime next week, at a time to be announced later. Please keep in mind that corpses are not moved in a character-move, so we'd recommend against leaving unclaimed corpses around after Monday of next week if you've asked to be moved.

Questions about the move process will be addressed in the Gameplay Message Forum available via www.everquest.com.

- The EverQuest Team

Updates Not Included in This Patch Message:

• Banshee Aura has had its duration increased.
• Scale of Wolf and Spirit of Scale will no longer be canceled by being

the target of a melee attack. Ranged attacks and spells will still cancel the spell.

• Shaman can now cast Charm Animal
• Some enchanter and shaman spells have had their casting times/mana

costs altered.

• Augment, Glamour of Kintaz, Rapture, and Clarity II have had their

mana cost lowered.

• Root spells that cause damage (Druid roots, Hungry Earth) now work

properly.

June 15, 2000 8:00 am

Patch Day Hello everyone,

Over the past few weeks, a portion of the EQ team has been working on The Hole, in preparation of its release in the near future. Even so, a number of changes and additions were made in today's patch. Most of the changes are in regards to quests:

- The "Fleshy Orb" quest has been completed - We've received word that "Fabian" has been spotted somewhere on Norrath. - Froglok Foragers and Hunters should been seen more regularly. - Lord Grimrot should be seen more frequently. - Skill in tailoring is no longer required to craft The Robe of the Lost Circle.

A few items have also been changed this week:

- The Robe of the Lost Circle has been enhanced. - The Staff of Temperate Flux and the Rod of Insidious Glamour now have a short casting time associated with their activatable effect (See Below). - The Gunthak Harpoon is again NORENT, meaning that it will disappear when you log off (See Below.)

Casting Times on Staff and Rod We received word a few weeks ago that some people were using these items to "spam" other players with their spell-effect messages, causing them to disconnect. Though /ignore will allow you to filter out text messages caused by people on your /ignore list, it will not allow you to filter out spell-effect messages for spells cast upon you.

The short casting time should prevent the problems associated with the targetable and activatable effect on these weapons, however you will have to stand still to use them now.

Gunthak Harpoon In the last item patch, we made the mistake of making this weapon "rentable", meaning that it does not disappear upon logoff. Basically, one of our game designers heard that the weapon was NORENT, concluded that it must be a bug, and took the initiative to fix it. Unfortunately, the stats on this weapon, despite its disadvantages of weight and its non-magical composition, make it much too powerful for its location and difficulty in obtaining it.

For these reasons, the weapon is once again NORENT, and will disappear the next time that you log out. This is a retroactive change and will affect weapons already in possession. We do apologize to those who acquired it within the last week expecting that it would be a permanent weapon.

Chat / Login Process The Chat and Login server components are now completely separate, meaning that players will no longer have difficulty logging in due to an excess of people in the chat server.

- The EverQuest Team

June 22, 2000 9:00 am

Today's Updates The Hole We are pleased to announce the opening of The Hole, a high-level dungeon on the continent of Odus. The Hole is a complementary addition to EverQuest, available to all subscribers regardless of their Kunark status. The files necessary to enter The Hole are available via the "Optional Patch" button at the bottom of the patch program interface. The files are quite large (about 9MB total), so if the download is going slowly, you may want to postpone downloading the files until later.

As mentioned above, The Hole is a high-level dungeon, designed to support characters starting at about level 40. It should be regarded as extremely dangerous. As a note, jumping in The Hole from Paineel is NO LONGER A SHORTCUT TO TOXXULIA FOREST. The GMs will not recover corpses for people who fall, or jump, or attempt to levitate into The Hole.

Vallon Zek is now Coin-Only As we announced earlier this week, due to the number of people specifying interest in "coin-only" loot on Vallon Zek, versus those wishing to retain item- loot, we have implemented "coin-only" looting rules for PvP combat on Vallon Zek.

Resurrection Previously, players had to be resurrected within two hours after death in order to receive any experience back as part of the resurrection. Due to the increased size and difficulty associated with Kunark zones, we've raised this limit from two hours to three. This should assist players and make it easier for them to obtain an experience-returning resurrection within the time limit.

Warping We put in some code that should help decrease the "ghosting" (NPCs appearing to be some place they aren't) being reported in some of the larger Kunark zones. Please let us know how this goes.

Locked Doors We noticed few weeks ago that it is common practice to use NPCs to open locked doors rather than by using the services of someone that is able to pick locks. In order to protect and increase the value of the abilities of the lock-picking classes, NPCs have gained the ability to walk through locked doors without opening them.

Vox and Nagafen Over the past couple of weeks, we've received more and more reports of these dragons being bested by smaller and smaller groups of higher- level (high 50s) adventurers. As we've always felt that Dragons should be special encounters that require a large number of people, we were left with some choices.

One choice available to us was to increase the power of the dragons to a level where the level 60 folks would find them challenging. This would have the disadvantage of forever placing them out-of-reach for those who did not buy Kunark, and place them further out-of-reach for those who did, but are just now approaching the levels where they could go on Dragon raids. Another possible solution was to make the dragons flee (depop) when engaged by a more powerful group of people. This would have the undesired effect of allowing some people to deny others the experience of fighting a dragon.

Instead of raising the bar as mentioned above, we've instead decided that dragons, or at least these two dragons, should have the magical ability to pick their own fights. Players of level 53 or above will now encounter some difficulty when attempting to assist in combat with these dragons. This should help 40s and low 50-level characters with their chances to encounter a dragon without worry of getting forced out by much higher level players. In addition, it also has the added effect of creating a natural progression from the younger dragons of Antonica to the elder and more formidable dragons of Kunark.

-The EverQuest Team

June 29, 2000 7:00 am

Patch Day Though today's patch is primarily comprised of fixes to various bugs that have been reported by the players, we're also pleased to announce a few enhancements:

- Ranger spell "Jolt" now has a lesser casting time. - Many new recipes for the "Make Poison" skill are now in game. Features include: Several new poison books, stackable components, new suspensions, some purchasable components, and players now have the ability to purchase vials. Please check your vendors. - Increased spell-drop percentages in three difficult Kunark zones where drops were less than should be expected. - Corrected an error in the drop rate for a couple cleric spells making them unavailable.

Quest Fixes - Fixed the "Minotaur Horns" Quest - Fixed a misspelling in the guild-note for Erudite clerics worshipping Cazic-Thule. - Fixed a misspelled keyword in the Trueshot Longbow Quest. - The guild note for gnome clerics now states the appropriate gender for the guildmaster. - Fixed the "illegible cantrip" Quest. - Fixed the "Hunt for Meat" Quest. - Removed Jinkus Felligan's doppelganger from Halas. - Fixed the "Travis Twostring" quest. - Fixed the "Algthin Dasmore" quest. - Fixed the "Gather Components" quest. - Fixed the "Lion Meat" quest. - The Fleshy Orb quest and "Fabian" should really be fixed now. These were not correct after the last patch due to a data export issue.

Item Fixes - Fixed spelling of "Basilisk Egg" - The Brass Ring is now worn on the finger, instead of the waist. - Fixed the "Broken Minotaur Lord's Horn" - Fixed race/class restrictions listed for the "Bullsmasher". Item listed some inappropriate classes. - Fixed race/class restrictions listed for "Patchwork Armor". Items listed some inappropriate classes. - Fixed the model for the "Cast Iron Rapier". - Fixed Race/class restrictions for the "Crushbone Belt". Item listed some inappropriate classes. - Fixed the mundane "Electrum Peridot Bracelet" so that it would equip in the proper slot. - The "Bloody Mantle" may now be equipped. - Fixed the effect on the "Canyoneer Pike". Current owners of this item will need to trade it out with a GM in game. - Fixed the "Howling Harpoon". Item was previously casting its spell upon the wielder, rather than the target. The fix will be automatically applied to existing items. - Fixed the icon for the Degenerated Guk Weed. - Fixed the icon for the Enshrouded Veil. - The Splitpaw Hide Tunic will now look like "Leather" when equipped. - "The Crusade of 1312AG" and "The Forbidden Tome" will now remain with the character after logout. - Fixed race/class restrictions listed for the "Mortificator Staff". Item listed an inappropriate class. - Fixed the icon for the Spectral Bow. In addition, removed "BRD" from the class listing since Bards do not have the Archery Skill. - Removed excess classes listed on the "Silk Lined Steel Helm". - Fixed the effect on the "Theurgist Mace". Current owners of this item will need to trade it out with a GM in game.

Miscellaneous - Fixed bug that caused NPCs to say "cant open politethnks.txt" - Fixed bug that caused NPCs to say "Can not open file NERDRGATT.txt" - Fixed "cannot open file guards.txt" bug with Butcherblock dwarves - Fixed "Cannot open item2monster.txt" problem with goblin whelps in Butcherblock. - Lizardman Mystics no longer think that the Feerrott belongs to the Sabretooth Gnolls. - Fixed a ghost in Field of Bone who was inappropriately labeled as living, causing "undead only" spells to fail. - Improved pathing in Sebilis. - Improved pathing in West Freeport. - Fixed the color of several spell-gems. - Fixed recipe for a "Block of Clay" in the Basic Pottery book. - Stone Skeletons in Lake Rathe can now be affected by "undead only" spells. - Fixed several merchants who did not have wares to sell. - Fixed several dozen spelling and grammar errors in NPC text and the spell database. - "Folded Sheet Metal" may now be crafted via blacksmithing. - The "Unfired Urn", "Onyx Encrusted Urn", and "Small Bowl" may now be crafted via Pottery.

- The EverQuest Team

July 12, 2000 5:00 pm

Karana Secondary Split Hello all,

In light of our plans to further balance prime-time population on the servers, we're going to allow another group of players from Karana to split off to Terris-Thule.

This Friday we will again open /movelog registration on Karana sometime around 7pm PDT (GMT-8). The GMs will broadcast when registration is open, and we will continue taking /movelog requests for 24 hours. Players wishing to have their characters moved to the new split server will need to run the command "/movelog yes" after registration is opened. As we have identified a minor problem with the hundreds of simultaneous uses of the /movelog command, it is recommended that you wait a few minutes after registration is opened using it.

Notes:

- /movelog only needs to be run from ONE character, and will count for all characters on that server on that account. - Players who have requested a move should make sure all of their corpses are looted by the time the server is brought down the following Tuesday morning. Corpses will not be duplicated in the new world, and anything left on a corpse left behind by anyone who moves will be lost. - We may or may not be able to move everyone who requests this action, based upon the number of total requests that we receive. - The GM/Guide staff will not be able to tell you whether or not you have been selected until after the move is actually completed. - Karana and Terris-Thule will be down for several additional hours on Tuesday, the day of the next patch. Updates will be given at that time.

July 19, 2000 7:00 am

Patch Day Miscellaneous Changes/Fixes - The "Safe Points" have been moved in Field of Bone and Lake of Ill Omen to someplace "safer". - You can no longer cast invisibility on any pet. - Foul language issued through /emote will now be handled by the profanity filter. - Corrected a bug that allowed linkdead players to walk through locked doors. - Rangers above level 50 will now do double damage with Archery against non-moving, non-rooted targets. These restrictions allowed us to enhance archery without creating a new kiting problem. - Corrected a bug that had rangers doing less melee damage than was intended except when fighting an NPC who was also a ranger. - Pets, both PC and NPC, will no longer cast "Gate". - A large rat says, "Hit by non-melee for XXX damage", is history. The new message given probably isn't the source of never-ending humor that the old one was. - Updated pathing information in Innothule Swamp. - Corrected many, many, MANY spelling and grammar errors in the world. - Fixed a large number of spell gems and spellbook icons. Take care to take a look at your spell lineup to familiarize yourself with the new gems/icons.

Poison - Implemented the high level Rogue poisons (level 51+). - Increased Rogue "Make Poison" skill cap. - Substantially reduced chance to fail "Apply Poison". - Rogues will now automatically sit when right-clicking on a poison. - Failure to make a poison will now return the vial.

General Crafts - The Ant's Potion may now be used anywhere. - The small and large reinforced wristband may now be crafted. - The small and medium studded shoulderpads, cloak, and belt may now be crafted. - The medium reinforced mask may now be crafted. - Sealed Poison Vials can now be crafted. - The Thermal Cloak may now be tinkered. - The "This item is trivial..." message in craft skills has been replaced with "You can no longer advance in skill from making this item".

Items - The Elven Paladin Newbie Tunic may now be worn by Half Elf paladins. - The Murky Vial will now properly affect the target instead of the player. - Increased stats on many Plane of Sky items. - There was evidently more than one "Fine Steel Dagger" running around in the world. Some of them have been renamed "Serpant's Tooth". - The effect on the Staff of Undead Legions has been changed to something a bit more useful. - The Deepwater Helm now has a significant casting time. The function of its spell allowed a mana-free heal even though it was intended to be a buff.

/consent Some people were spamming others with /consent, causing them to disconnect. As a result, /consent can now only be done once every two seconds. Should you be harassed via this tool, please use /report. Also, please take care to avoid accidentally /consenting someone, as it will be two seconds before you can undo it.

Cazic-Thule and the Feerrott There has been a significant change to the factions in the Feerrott and Cazic-Thule. Take care not to get killed by NPCs that previously left you alone. The significant upside to this change is that the "Cazic Gate/Portal" can be made much safer in nature for those who work on their faction.

Regen Effects This week we corrected a bug that caused regen-type spells (e.g. Regeneration, Chloroplast, Regrowth, etc.) to overwrite DOT spells. As a result of this fix, players can no longer accept a regeneration spell while under the effect of a DOT. However, if the regen spell is already in place, the DOT will stack, but not replace the regen spell. This will allow users of beneficial DOTs, such as Call of Bones, to continue using their DOT while under the affect of regen.

Keyed Dungeons The key for Charasis (Howling Stones) is now NODROP per the patch message from a couple of weeks ago. Furthermore, when your character dies, keys for Charasis, Sebilis, and Veeshan's Peak, will no longer remain with your corpse, but will instead return with your character to its bind point. We made this change to reduce the difficulty and corpse-loss potential of these zones, and eliminate the need to do the key quests multiple times.

Barbed Scale Whip In the last item patch, this item was changed from its original stats to something inferior, as the game designer was not aware that it was already in-game. It has been changed back to its original stats.

Hiding Corpses A new command has been implemented in the EverQuest client. This command (/hidecorpses) allows players to suppress the display of player and NPC corpses on the screen. This can be very useful once you've entered a zone with a large number of corpes, causing framerate to decay. It will be particularly useful in the planes. The command supports the following arguments:

- ALL: Hides all corpses except yours. - ALLBUTGROUP: Hides all corpses except yours and those of people in your group. - NONE: No longer hides corpses.

For community reasons, this option must be set after entering each zone, and will not affect corpses made after you enter the zone. You can reset it while in the zone in order to suppress display of corpses made since you originally set it.

Resurrection The resurrection confirmation box will now report the name of the person casting the spell as well as what spell they are casting. Furthermore, experience will not be "removed" from your corpse until you accept the resurrection by choosing YES. Previously, any resurrection spell, if declined, would cause the experience to be unrecoverable.

- The EverQuest Team

July 26, 2000 12:00 pm

Chat and Login Today's patch contains some new features for the EverQuest chat and login servers. In addition, it enables support for some international keyboard layouts.

- Tab again switches between fields in login and registration. - #time will display a time/date stamp. - #reply will send a private message to the last person to message you. - Tab will cycle through the last few people to send you a private message. - Rooms may now be closed by staff members. These rooms are in gray, and no one will be able to enter them until a staff member opens them. Attempting to enter a closed room will display a message. - EverQuest, including Chat and Login, now supports some international keyboard layouts. Information can be found at http://everquest.station.sony.com/s_keyboard.html.

- The EverQuest Team

August 1, 2000

Greetings everyone!

Today's patch contains some changes that we are sure everyone will enjoy:

- Canned emotes (e.g. /point) now work on NPCs. In addition, the range for canned emotes has been increased. - /who all "guildname" should now work for players who have /roleplay turned on. - Preferences for the mouselook will be saved in your options file. Those who turn mouselook off each time when starting EQ will only have to do it once more. - The "Chat Filter" tab in "Options" now has an option to filter messages caused by damage shields hitting others.

Fast Drop Our most exciting change today is an option that allows players to avoid accidentally dropping items on the ground. The new client allows players to set "Item Dropping" preferences on the "General" options tab. The three options that can be set are:

- FAST DROP: Items are dropped without confirmation. - CONFIRM: A confirmation box will be displayed whenever you try to drop an item. - NEVER: You are not allowed to drop items on the ground.

Alternatively, you can also set these options using the /fastdrop command. The arguments are:

- ON: Same as option "Fast Drop" on the General Tab. - OFF: Same as option "Confirm" on the General Tab. - NEVER: Same as above.

Please note that whatever your setting, coin will always be dropped without confirmation. Additionally, the FastDrop option only applies to items being dropped upon the ground. Handing items to NPCs will still work regardless of your FastDrop setting.

It is highly recommended that you use option "CONFIRM", as GMs will not reimburse any items that are accidentally dropped.

- The EverQuest Team

August 9, 2000

Character Purge Time has come to do some cleanup on character data across the servers. On August 23rd (Pacific), we will be doing a system-wide cleanup of level 1 characters. All level 1 characters that have not been played within 30 days from the date of the purge will be deleted. As GMs will not be able to restore any characters that are deleted, please be certain to log in any level 1 characters that you wish to keep prior to the purge.

- The EverQuest Team

August 9th, 7:00am

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Guide Application The Guide Application is now back up at http://guideapp.everquest.com. If you are over 18 years of age, have a good customer-oriented attitude, enjoy helping your fellow player, and are interested in joining the Guide Program, we will be pleased to review your application.

Kunark Users A new file, emeraldjungle_chr.s3d, is included as part of today's patch. This patch adds additional displayable NPCs to the Emerald Jungle. Please run the "Kunark Patch" by pressing the "Kunark Patch" button on the bottom of the patch program UI prior to entering EverQuest.

Patch Day Greetings everyone! Today's patch contains some exciting new changes.

General Enhancements - Text messages that wrap will be indented on subsequent lines. This means that if a person or NPC says something that is more than one line long, all subsequent lines will be indented a few spaces. This should make it a lot easier to pick out separate messages. - The spells "United Resolve" and "Heroic Bond" had their levels transposed accidentally. Rather than putting them back as intended, United Resolve has been changed to Heroic Bond, which means you might have two copies of that spell in your spellbook. Feel free to move one to the back. Clerics get a new group spell at 58 to compensate. - The Wurmslayer is now a one-handed slashing weapon. - The /help command will now list all /-commands available to you. - Rangers, Paladins, and SKs now have mana equivalent to that of a pure caster with the same stats. This will give those hybrids a good deal more mana, regardless of their stats. - NORENT items, items that disappear when you log out, will now show a "NORENT" tag when inspecting the item. - Most summoned items now have the word "summoned" in their name.

Changes/Fixes - Small Studded Tunic recipe now works - Scaler recipe now works - High Elves can now use the Moss Covered Twig and Branch - Iksar can now wear the Crescent headband. - The Shintl Lowbrew quest will now work - The Rusty Rapier now looks like a rapier. - Elven Wine can now be brewed - Some pelt-dropping animals were always dropping ruined pelts, rather than pelts of quality. This has been repaired. - The Guild-invite toggle in display options will now work. - The faction problems with the Charasis Key Quest have been resolved. - Many pathing errors have been repaired. - Repaired a bug that caused some anomalies after being charmed or feared. - Repaired a bug that kept the Unswerving Hammer of Faith and Flaming Sword of Xuzl from disappearing.

Dragons? Rumor has it that some new dragons have been spotted in Kunark. It should be noted however that the dragons can be engaged from much further away than is intended. Rather than hold off implementing these dragons for another week, we've decided to implement them now and fix the problem in the next patch. Enjoy :)

New Command For Tracking New option for those with tracking: /trackplayers. The command will work for all players with the tracking skill. The command has two settings:

- ON: Default setting, same as it is now. Players will show up in the tracking window. - OFF: Players will not show up in the tracking window.

Client Customizations Upon starting EverQuest, a new file (EQCLIENT.INI) will be created in your EverQuest directory. This file contains customizable settings for:

- Colors for text messages in the in-game chat window - Default screen viewing mode - Default travel speed (run or walk)

The documentation will be included in the online manual in your EverQuest directory once the design is finalized over the next several weeks, but the working document is posted below. We felt that people would rather have access to the customizations right away while we're in the process of building them.

Modifying this file is optional.

EQCLIENT.INI documentation The [TextColors] section contains entries for various text colors in the client. All colors are to be set with Red, Green, and Blue values, in decimal. Valid settings for each color range between 0 and 255. "Black" (0 red, 0 green, and 0 blue) will be white in overlay mode, and black in normal mode.

Here is a list of user colors to use as a guide when editing the file:

1 - Say 2 - Tell 3 - Group 4 - Guild 5 - OOC 6 - Auction 7 - Shout 8 - Emote 9 - Spells (meming, scribing, casting, etc.) 10 - You hit other 11 - Other hits you 12 - You miss other 13 - Other misses you 14 - Some broadcasts (duels) 15 - Skills (ups, non-combat use, etc.) 18 - Default text and stuff you type 20 - Merchant Offer Price 21 - Merchant Buy/Sell 22 - Your death message 23 - Others death message 24 - Other damage other 25 - Other miss other 26 - /who command

The [Defaults] section contains some default setting for the client. Here is a list of valid settings:

RunMode - TRUE for run, FALSE for walk. ScreenMode - NORMAL for the default window view, FULL for the full view with overlays

- The EverQuest Team

August 16, 2000 7:00 am

File Patched This patch contains eqmain.dll, which is used by the EverQuest login/chat frontend. The following changes have been implemented:

- #help now accepts arguments. #help #command will return help for the requested command. - Errors issued within the chat/login server frontend now display an "Error Number". Please have this error number ready when requesting technical assistance.

- The EverQuest Team

August 23, 2000 7:00 am

- Corrected a bug that caused items that ran out of charges to "disappear" when the last charge was used. The item never really disappeared, and would reappear after re-logging. It no longer appears to disappear.

Updated EQCLIENT.INI Documentation If the file does not exist it will be generated by eqgame.exe with default values. If an entry in the file is missing it will be added by eqgame.exe with default values.

The [TextColors] section contains entries for various text colors in the client. All colors are to be set with Red, Green, and Blue values, in decimal. Valid settings for each color range between 0 and 255. "Black" (0 red, 0 green, and 0 blue) will be white in overlay mode, and black in normal mode.

Here is a list of user colors to use as a guide when editing the file:

1 - Say 2 - Tell 3 - Group 4 - Guild 5 - OOC 6 - Auction 7 - Shout 8 - Emote 9 - Spells (meming, scribing, casting, etc.) 10 - You hit other 11 - Other hits you 12 - You miss other 13 - Other misses you 14 - Some broadcasts (duels) 15 - Skills (ups, non-combat use, etc.) 16 - Disciplines or special abilities 17 - Unused at this time 18 - Default text and stuff you type 19 - Unused at this time 20 - Merchant Offer Price 21 - Merchant Buy/Sell 22 - Your death message 23 - Others death message 24 - Other damage other 25 - Other miss other 26 - /who command 27 - yell for help 28 - Hit for non-melee 29 - Spell worn off 30 - Money splits 31 - Loot message 32 - Dice Roll (/random) 33 - Others spells 34 - Spell Failures (resists, fizzles, missing component, bad target, etc.)

The [Defaults] section contains some default setting for the client. Here is a list of valid settings:

RunMode - TRUE for run, FALSE for walk. ScreenMode - NORMAL for the dafault window view, FULL for the full view with overlays Log - TRUE for logging on, FALSE for logging off

- The EverQuest Team

August 30, 2000 8:00 am

Today's Patch Today we modified the EverQuest client to implement the following changes:

- Corrected a bug that would cause players to crash if they entered the game, exited to the server selection screen, and tried to reenter the game. - Corrected a bug that caused delays when switching between UI modes due to the text wrapping change implemented last week. - The /book command (/book #) now accepts pages 1 through 50, and will switch to the proper page. - Opening your spellbook will automatically cause you to begin meditating providing that you have the skill. - Removed the /meditate command since it is no longer necessary. - You can now activate a hotkey while the spellbook is open by pressing the corresponding number-key. - The "/target [name]" command can be used to target other players by name. Please note that this ability is subject to the range to the target. - EverQuest will now write the original default colors when creating the EQCLIENT.INI file, rather than the new colors that were put in a few weeks ago. - The @-character can be used in emotes to indicate a target. For instance, if you target "a gnoll" and type "/emote laughs cruelly at @", the output will be, "Playername laughs cruelly at a gnoll". - People with the /LFG (Looking for Group) flag set will now have their over-head name prefixed with an asterisk. Remember that you can search for people looking for a group by using the "/who" and "/who all" commands. Typing "/who all ranger 40 50 lfg" will return a list of all rangers between 40 and 50 that are looking for a group. - The "Sense" series (Undead, Animal, and Summoned) will no longer point you towards people's pets.

Note on Voice Recognition Last week we implemented voice recognition technology in EverQuest. To use this new feature, please refer to the EQROKManualSupplement.doc file in your EverQuest directory. Please note that you must already have a voice recognition engine that is compliant with the Microsoft Speech API (SAPI), version 4.0. The voice recognition technology was tested with Dragon NaturallySpeaking(r) v4.0. Check with the developer of your software to find out if it is SAPI 4.0 compliant.

- The EverQuest Team

September 12, 2000 3:00 pm

Guild Maintenance We are in the process of preparing to do maintenance on the guild database. To that end, guild creation and activation will be on hold for the next three weeks. After that time, we may be running a process to remove inactive or under-subscribed guilds from the system. We would ask and recommend that those in guilds with under 10 separate members (on separate accounts) consider merging and deleting the under- subscribed guild.

In addition, it's apparently become common practice for people wishing to register a guild to enter the chat server and advertise there for help creating the guild. This will no longer be permitted. People wishing to submit a guild must organize prior to entering the chat server. Advertising for assistance within the chat server could result in a short-term (24 hour) suspension for the account.

- The EverQuest Team

September 19, 2000 7:00 am

Level 1 Character Purge The Level 1 character purge announced several weeks ago will take place on Wednesday, September 27, 2000, at 7:00am PST (GMT-7). Any level 1 characters that haven't been played within the previous 30 days will be deleted. If you wish to keep any level 1 characters that you may have, please log in and play them between now and 9/27.

Patch Day As a testament to our on-going goal to constantly provide more content for EverQuest players, today's patch primarily consists of many content-additions to the game.

New Epic Quests We are pleased to announce that we have implemented new "Fiery Avenger" style quests for every class in the game (including paladins). The ultimate reward for each quest boasts a custom model with unique particle effects. We think that you will be pleased.

Good luck to everyone on your quest.

Class Issues Rangers:

Last week we completed in-depth testing of melee and defensive skills for all melee-centric classes. In the course of these tests we determined that the ranger class was not performing to its intended level, and have made the following changes:

- The "Jolt" spell has had its casting time reduced. - The Skillcap on Dodge and Parry has been increased.

Monks:

High-level monks can now carry increased weight without penalty. The additional allowance is granted at levels 55 and 60.

Cleric:

Celestial Elixir was failing due to multi-tick cure components that are incompatible with that configuration. We have therefore removed the cure components and increased the healing provided by this spell.

After a great deal of consideration, we have concluded that the Mark of Karn spell is imbalanced and requires correction. This spell's current function makes melee classes without dual-wield far less desirable members of the group. As such, the spell has had its duration decreased, its recast-time increased, and its "heal per hit" value decreased.

Fungal Regrowth "Fungal Regrowth" is now a self-only spell. It was being used as an offensive spell by virtue of its "snare" effect upon the target. Furthermore, we ruled out making it "group only" as with other spells that have this issue, due to a class-balance concern. The spell was reducing the group's desire for classes capable of casting regenerative magic.

Attack Speed Buffs In this patch we corrected a bug that would cause any "Haste" item combined with any "Haste" spell to automatically yield maximum haste, regardless of the level of "Haste" granted by each individual component. This fix increases the usefulness of better "Haste" equipment and spells. The downside to this is that those who usually have both items and spells active will see a reduced attack-speed unless outfitted with the best equipment and spells.

High-Level Dungeon Balancing Veehshan's Peak and Sebilis have received loot adjustments in order to address disparities in risk and reward. For the most part, the quality of the "common" loot in Veeshan's Peak is at least as good as the "rares" from Sebilis.

Low-Delay Weapons and Damage Bonus Changes In accordance with our announcement several weeks ago, two low-delay weapons can now only be equipped in the off-hand. Included in this change are the Mosscovered Twig and the Barbed Scale Whip. The delay on these weapons and the associated damage bonus to weapons in the primary hand made these weapons much too powerful for their availability and the risk associated with their acquisition.

In addition, two-handed weapons have had their damage-bonus modified. The damage-bonus for low-delay two-handed weapons (27 or below) created a problem similar to the weapons above and has been reduced. The damage-bonus has not changed for normal-delay (28-39) two-handed weapons. The damage bonus for high-delay two-handed weapons (40+) has been increased.

Server Selection Screen It has come to our attention that new players often think that the high-population servers are better, based upon the logic that if everyone else is there, it must be a good server. However, in Massively-Multiplayer games, less populated servers are often considered superior for gameplay. Therefore we have marked servers that would benefit from new characters as preferred servers, listing them in "green" in the server selection window. The preferred servers have populations such that an influx of new people would benefit the server rather than cause overpopulation.

Custom Emotes and AFK Animations with custom emotes have been implemented. Current canned emotes such as /point allow a target other than the current target to be specified. That will continue to work. So if you type "/point Baobob", the usual text will come up. However, you can add custom text to the emote, but you must specify the target as "say" as the target. For instance:

/point say points at a gnoll, indicating that he is ready to kill it.

...your character will execute the /point animation, and the text output will be: "CharacterName points at a gnoll, indicating that he is ready to kill it."

Finally, you can now set a custom message for when you are /AFK. Type "/AFK " (without the brackets) to set your custom AFK message. For instance, if you type "/afk Grabbing a snack", you will reply with "Grabbing a snack" when someone sends you a /tell.

Skill Gain The skill-gain rate of many skills is now further modified by character stats. This will allow those with natural affinities towards certain skills to improve at a greater rate.

Trade Skills Enhanced Many of the trade skills in game have received massive enhancements, including dozens of new craftable items, new fishing and foraging items, and other things to be discovered once in game.

In addition, trade-skill specialization has been implemented. Players will be able to exceed 200 points of skill in ONE of the generally available tradeskills. This includes:

- Baking - Blacksmithing - Brewing - Jewelcraft - Tailoring - Fletching - Pottery

Once above 200 points in one of these skills, no other skill will be able to exceed 200. Specialization restrictions do not include class or race-specific trade skills such as Alchemy, Make Poison, and Tinkering. Players with race or class-specific trade skills will be able to exceed 200 points of skill in that skill, PLUS any generally available trade skill.

The enhancement of trade skills is an on-going project. Further enhancements will be made in the coming weeks.

- The EverQuest Team

September 28, 2000 7:00 am

Patch Day

The following changes have been implemented on the production servers as part of today's patch:

General Changes

- NPC corpses level 55 or over will now last 30 minutes before decaying. This should help those on large multi-group encounters who need some prep-time before looting items. - The item "Woe" has been repaired. If you receive the "Item out of charges" message when your "Woe" attempts to fire its spell, please contact a GM to trade out the item. - The spell "Mark of Karn" has been changed. The recast-time has been reduced significantly and the Hitpoint-return is now scaled inversely based upon the delay of the weapon. In addition, a hitpoint return will only take place when the target is hit with a primary melee weapon, or the primary hand if you are unarmed. - Some more tradeskill component vendors have been placed within the world to make certain tradeskills easier to use in your home town. - "AFK" and "LD" status will now be reported above player's heads.

Fleeing NPCs

Last week's patch caused NPCs to flee more than before due to a bug that was fixed. After evaluating the situation, we decided to reduce the chance to flee, but not to the extent that it was reduced before. NPCs were previously much more "brave" than they should have been.

As part of the same change, charmed NPCs also began fleeing when low on health. We've determined that this is not a good situation for the players. As such, we have stopped charmed creatures from fleeing per player request.

Level 1 Character Purge

The Level 1 character purge has been completed. All level 1 characters that have not been played within the past 30 days have been deleted.

New Server Active

Tholuxe Paells, a new server open to new characters only, is now active and ready for play. Enjoy! As a reminder, /movelog registration will take place on Mithaniel Marr and Tunare Friday evening from 6PM to Midnight (PDT: GMT-7). Registered characters will be moved to a second new server, Drinal, early next week.

User Interface Changes

Many UI enhancements were made in today's patch:

Moving and Resizing Windows

The data windows in the full screen "HUD" mode may now be moved by clicking in the upper left-hand corner, moving them to where you want, then clicking again. The "spell effect" and "chat" windows can be resized by clicking on the lower right-hand corner, dragging to the appropriate size, and then clicking again. Coordinates for window locations in each resolution are stored in the EQCLIENT.INI file.

Bugs with Several Commands Fixed

We fixed a problem with /book, /sit, and /doability that allowed them to be executed at inappropriate times, such as while charmed or feared. They should now only function when the native button would have functioned if pressed.

Miscellaneous Additions

Added the following /-commands:

- /camp: Causes your character to camp out. You must be sitting to use /camp. - /disband: Will disband you from your current group, or turn down an invitation to join another group. - /invite: Will invite the target into a group, or accept an invitation if one is pending. - /attack: Will toggle the state of "Auto-attack". You may also add a parameter of "on" or "off" to explicitly set the state.

In addition:

- CTRL-1 through CTRL-8 will cast the spell in the specified spell- slot. - ":" (colon: Short for /emote) and "'" (apostrophe: Short for /say) will now bring up the chat line in the same fashion as the /-key and ENTER. - The "R" key (by default) takes you into reply-mode as always, bringing up a reply to the last person sending you a /tell. However, you can now TAB and SHIFT-TAB to cycle through the last 10 people that have sent you /tells.

Pauses in Socials

You may now enter pauses in social batches with the /pause command. /pause takes an argument from 1 to 600, with the value being equal to the number of tenths of seconds (i.e. /pause 100 will yield a 10 second pause).

For example, a social consisting of: /sit off /cast 1 /pause 100 /sit on

...would cause you to stand up, cast the spell in slot 1, wait 10 seconds after you've STARTED casting the spell, and sit down.

Furthermore, you can also use the /pause command on the same line as another social by separating the commands with a comma. Even though the pause command is specified first, it is executed AFTER the command on the same line.

For example: /sit off /pause 100,/cast 1 /sit on

...would have the same effect as the example above. It is important to note that the comma can only be used to separate a /pause command from another, and MUST be specified first on the line.

Emote Codes

The @ symbol has been replaced with a series of %-codes that expand into various pieces of information, and now works in ALL chat channels (emote, say, shout, ooc, auction, group, guild).

The new %-codes are: %T - Returns the current target. %S - Returns the subjective gender-specific pronoun for the target (He, She, It). %O - Returns the objective gender-specific pronoun for the target (Him, Her, It). %P - Returns the posessive gender-specific pronoun for the target (His, Her, Its). %R - Returns the race of the target (only works on Player characters).

For example, if you have a target of "a gnoll", the following emote: /point say points at %T indicating that he is ready to kill %O.

...Your character will execute the "point" animation with a text output of "CharacterName points at a gnoll indicating that he is ready to kill it."

- The EverQuest Team

October 3, 2000 4:00 pm

Today's Patch Today's patch consisted mostly of server-side changes, additions, and fixes regarding NPCs and quests. The only item of public note is that the Ragebringer can no longer be equipped in the ranged slot. A data entry error caused it to be initially allowed it to be equipped in that slot.

- The EverQuest Team

October 13, 2000 7:00 pm

Important System Configuration Announcement. As many of you know, over the past couple of months we've made numerous enhancements to the EverQuest client. In addition to things such as new /-commands and other changes of that nature, we've enhanced the UI itself to allow moveable and resizable windows, among other things. At the same time we've been working on a brand new sound engine, and have been further concentrating on optimizing and expanding the capabilities of the EverQuest client.

For most applications, the feature set of a version of DirectX is limited to the lowest common denominator between the version that the software is compiled under, and the version running on the client. This means that though you may be running DirectX 7.0a already, and are receiving advantages associated with the more advanced code, the feature-set of DirectX used when in EverQuest is limited to version 5.2.

This limits the type and breadth of enhancements that can be made to the client. Given that we feel that EverQuest players would enjoy continuing to see new enhancements for the client, we will soon begin compiling the client under DirectX 7.0a, and implementing the feature- set available within that version. When we do this, everyone will need DirectX 7.0a (or higher) to play EverQuest.

Here are some of the possible benefits from DirectX 7.0a:

- Better performance (Graphics and Sound)

- Gamma Correction working in D3D - Proper Mip-Mapping in D3D - Fixes fogging on some cards. (Some cards have no fogging at all and look pretty bad) - Allows us to use newer interfaces to support such features as full- screen anti-aliasing, and alternate Z-buffering methods, which tend to look better.

Changing to DX7 does have a potential downside. Those using older or discontinued video or sound cards that do not have DX7 compatible drivers may need to upgrade to continue playing. However, we feel that the benefits that will come from upgrading to this newer version of DirectX outweigh the potential problems.

We plan to begin requiring DirectX7.0a when the EverQuest client is next patched, in two or three weeks. We wanted to be sure to give everyone enough time to check their version of DirectX and install the newest version. You can run DXDIAG.EXE in your Windows\System directory to check your DirectX version and get the newest version of DirectX from here if it is needed.

Please keep an eye on the patch message for further information regarding the planned implementation of DX7.

Epic Quests Due to some difficulties regarding the Epic Quests implemented two patches ago, the epic quests for the Monk, Wizard, and Druid will not be completable until the next patch. While we would like to have implemented updates right away for these issues, we are mid-way in our conversion to support the DirectX changes that have been announced.

We appreciate your patience.

- The EverQuest Team

November 15, 2000 3:00 am

Patch Day Today's patch includes the announced code-updates to use technology included with DirectX 7. You MUST have DirectX 7 or higher installed in order to play EverQuest. Please refer to http://everquest.station.sony.com/f_requirements.shtml prior to contacting technical support for procedures prior to contacting technical support.

Today's patch also includes the new "Sound Engine" that we've been speaking about for some time. The new sound engine supports additional EAX features and should address the concerns of SBLive users that have been posted in the past.

Movelog for Povar and Tarew Marr The /movelog window will be opened for Povar and Tarew Marr on Saturday 11/18 and Sunday 11/19 from 6PM PST (GMT-8) to Midnight. All players wishing to have all of their characters moved (on a per-account basis) from those servers to the new split-server should execute "/movelog yes" during the windows.

The physical character move will take place next week on Tuesday or Wednesday. Please check the scheduled downtime page of www.everquest.com for a firm time when it is decided. Remember that corpses will not follow you to the new server, so anyone deciding to move will want to be sure that all corpses are looted prior to the time of the actual move.

As this patch features new /movelog logic to eliminate problems with people being left behind, players should not count on customer-service intervention after the physical move if they were unable to execute the command during the window. You will need to be present and execute the command in order to move.

Spell Changes -- Pixie Strike: Made it less resistible by reducing the secondary resist. -- Song of Twilight: Increased duration. Made less resistible by removing the secondary resist. Allowed it to be cast at any time of day. -- Fixed the effect on the Necromancer Epic Quest Item. The effect was checking resist on each tick instead of running full course. -- Increased the duration of the effect on the Enchanter Epic Quest Item. -- Fixed the "Modulating Rod" so that it can be used by the appropriate races. -- Fixed the Lost Staff of the Scorned -- Maniacal Strength will now correctly overwrite the level 49 strength spell. -- The Death Pact and Divine Intervention spells will now stack appropriately with other spells that have similar effects.

-- Modified the "Jonathan's" line of songs to remove the "skin" effect in order to allow bards to use them more effectively in combat. In addition, we made them "Self Only" spells rather than "Single Target" spells in order to allow bards to remain in combat while singing them.

General Fixes/Changes -- Fixed a bug that caused an NPC on "Sister's Isle" to attack people who were fighting pirates. -- Removed Paladins as an authorized class for piercing weapons in game since they do not have the piercing skill. -- The "Belt of the River" quest should now work correctly. -- Fixed all known problems with the class-specific epic quests. -- Implemented some new race-specific quests for Iksar. -- Positively modified most Epic Quest Items. Please check your items to see your changes. Note: Not all changes will be evident by looking at the item. -- Fixed the NPC bosses in the Plane of Sky that were not dropping the correct loot. -- Your bread tin will now be returned when baking bread. -- Fixed the Wellford Fargin keyword problem in Firiona Vie. -- Made the "Gravebinder" a magic weapon.

-- Repaired the Forager Bag. It was causing people to lose weight when placing items in the bag. It is supposed to have a weight reduction component, but was not supposed to cause weight loss.

-- Taunt: Increased effectiveness above level 50. Previously, creatures above level 50 could not be taunted by means of the taunt skill. Now, most creatures below the character's level can now be successfully taunted. As a note, the chance to taunt a creature above 50th level is smaller than that of a creature below 50th.

Client Enhancements -- You now have 10 pages of 10 hotboxes each when in full screen mode. -- You can now customize 10 pages of 12 socials each, increasing the total number of available socials by 108. -- Fixed a bug with the keyboard.txt file causing some keys to translate incorrectly. -- Fixed a bug that caused some window positions to save improperly at higher resolutions. -- All key mappings are now stored in the EQCLIENT.INI file.

-- Fixed all known problems with the clipping plane slider. Users should now see differences for the entire range of adjustment in zones that support an adjustable clipping plane.

-- Players on PvP servers will no longer show "[LD]" over their heads when linkdead. In addition, these same players will no longer show as "LinkDead" in the /who list.

-- Players can now set custom text colors while in game. /usercolor: Usage "/usercolor UserColorNumber R G B" where "UserColorNumber is the number of the color as indicated in the EQCLIENT.INI file, and R, G, and B are red, green and blue respectively. All changes will be automatically saved to your EQCLIENT.INI file.

-- OPT files in your EverQuest directory now have a number after the character name indicating the server number. As such, you will now be able to have characters of the same name on two separate servers with different custom options.

-- The eqlog.txt file now has a name that includes the server number and character name. For instance, if your character is named "Bobb", and you are on Server 1, your log text file name would be eqlog_01_Bobb.txt.

-- Added two new entries to the "Defaults" section of the EQCLIENT.INI file: AttackOnAssist=TRUE|FALSE - Sets whether or not your autoattack turns on automatically when assisting. Defaults to "TRUE". ShowInspectMessage=TRUE|FALSE - Sets whether or not you see the "Soandso is inspecting you" message. Defaults to "TRUE".

-- Custom key mappings have been greatly enhanced. You can now set two keys, a primary and an alternate, for each function in game. In addition, things that were previously not customizable can now be set to a key of your preference. Left-click on the key identifier to set the primary key, right-click to set the secondary.

-- Added the /note command. /note will append the following text to a file called "notes.txt" in your EverQuest directory. For instance, typing "/note This is a note" will put "This is a note" on the next line in the notes.txt file.

- The EverQuest Team

November 16, 2000 8:00 am

Follow-up Patch Today's follow-up patch addresses the following issues from yesterday's patch:

- The spell Torpor received an unintentional reduction in effectiveness - Illumination in game was not as bright as it should have been. - Pet using classes unintentionally gained the ability to summon multiple pets. - Bard songs were reacting poorly with invisibility/hide/sneak. - Hitpoints were being reported incorrectly to clients. - Changing resolutions would cause some to crash.

In addition, the following changes were left out of yesterday's patch message:

- Fixed a bug that would cause some to not be able to cast after being feared. - Data for group members and targets will be updated more frequently. This change should reduce complaints of warping and slow hitpoint and other updates. - Bards received increases in the skill cap for their instrument skills. - Changed the default combo for casting spells from CTRL-1:8 to ALT- 1:8, as CTRL was interfering with players ability to strafe.

Thank you for your continued patience.

- The EverQuest Team

November 21, 2000 3:00 am

Patch Day Today's patch addresses a few problems noted by customers since last week's big patch. The following changes were made:

- Fixed some problems with sound volume being set above the maximum or below the minimum. - Fixed a problem that caused sound volume to be reset regardless of the slider setting upon zoning or entering game. - Fixed a bug that would cause some sounds to be unduly amplified whenever the volume slider was moved. - Fixed a bug causing pink fringes to show on whiskers in association with mipmapping. - Fixed a bug with /usercolor causing settings to be saved in the wrong slot. - Fixed weapon scaling problems with off-hand weapons and those carried by dwarves. - Fixed a bug that caused the client to display an amount of experience in slight disagreement with the server. - Fixed the Paladin Epic Quest reward, which was procing a spell that would do around one million points of damage if left to its own devices. - Fixed a faction problem that made some quests designed to be doable by anyone, regardless of race or class, undoable.

In other news, the Tarew/Povar split server, Xev, will be up following the patch today. Xev is named for Xev Bristlebane, the god of fortune. We would have named the new server under its full name if not for an attempt to avoid confusion between the existing "Bristlebane" server (named for Fizzlethorpe Bristlebane) and Xev.

- The EverQuest Team

November 29, 2000 3:00 am

Patch Day Today's patch includes updates to the client to address some problems reported by people in regards to the DX7 update, as well as other gameplay issues:

- Corrected an older bug that would cause people to stop gaining or losing faction with associates when the primary faction was at its maximum or minimum. Players will now be able to further modify associate factions in the appropriate direction.

- Random-effects on weapons carried by pets will now behave as if the pet is a player character rather than an NPC. The change last patch reduced them to a rate below player characters. As part of this patch, target-specific random effects will only work if the target is the intended type. For instance, a weapon that processes "Dismiss Summoned" will only "go off" on a summoned NPC instead of everything.

- Added some code that should address if not eliminate a problem reported by people whereas the client would "freeze" for a second or two every few minutes. For those who do not have IRQ sharing and/or driver problems, this should address the issue.

- Made final positive modifications to several Epic Quest rewards. Included in these changes: the SK weapon will now allow you to bash while carrying it.

- Fixed a problem that gave people problems when exiting the game and attempting to get back in.

- Added some code to address reports from people who find exiting from the character-select screen back to the server-select screen rather slow when mip-mapping is enabled. Most of this problem is due to routines in DX required to release resources consumed by mip-mapping and may not be addressable until the next version of DirectX is adopted.

- Changed customizable key mappings so that the ESC key will clear the "NOKEY" setting instead of the "Backspace". This means that you can now assign "Backspace" to a function in game.

- Corrected a sound problem that would cause certain sounds to be played "rapid-fire" under some circumstances. There is still a potential for this to happen with some other sounds that will be addressed in a patch in the near future.

- Corrected a problem in Kedge Keep that made the top encounter more difficult than intended after the server had been up for a while.

- Higher level Magician, Necromancer, and Shadowknight pets now have the ability to dual-wield without being handed weapons. The calculation used to determine whether or not this ability exists takes several things into account, but for the most part 39th level and above summons (higher for the Shadowknight) will have this ability. It is possible that you could get a "good" 34th level pet that will, or a "bad" 39th level pet that will not have this ability.

- Bards of the land, hark unto me: The notes have been scribed on tattered parchment, two score and nine, for you they are meant. Abandon your mates, though they may fume, and follow the call of the seafarer's tune.

- The Monk's hand-to-hand skill cap has been raised to a level equal to their one-handed blunt skill.

Remember! Only a few days left until the launch of EverQuest: The Scars of Velious. Reserve your copy at your local retailer today!

- The EverQuest Team

December 1, 2000 7:00 pm

SBLive Soundcards and Hardware Acceleration Due to some past problems with SBLive cards, users of those cards who called into tech support were asked to turn "Hardware Acceleration" down one notch in DXDIAG. The last patch corrected those problems and most users should again increase hardware acceleration to maximum.

To do this:

1. Click "Start" 2. Click "Run" 3. Type "DXDIAG.EXE" and press enter. 4. Click on the "Sound" tab. 5. Increase the "Hardware Acceleration" slider to maximum.

Doing this should correct issues such as not hearing certain sounds or sound volume disparities.

The only users who may not want to do this are Windows 2000 users. Creative Labs is currently working on new drivers for Win2K, so you may wish to wait until these drivers are completed prior to increasing hardware acceleration.

Finally, all SBLive users should get LiveWare 3.0 from http://www.soundblaster.com/liveware/ After installing LiveWare, you will then want to REINSTALL the latest drivers for your sound card. The order of installation is important.

- The EverQuest Team

December 6, 2000 3:00 am

Velious Patch Today's patch requires that Velious subscribers press the "Velious Patch" button on the patch program UI.

Emergency Patch

We appreciate everyone's patience while we address a few issues as tens of thousands of new players check out Velious. This emergency patch addresses several issues:

- The transparent inventory screen will no longer come up in 640x480 resolution. It was not supposed to come up as the available screen space is not large enough to house the new screen.

- "Disabled" windows in full screen mode will no longer interfere with mouse clicks.

- Addressed some item drop bugs in Skyshrine that had the highest-level loot dropping off of yard fodder. This has been addressed with a retroactive item change. We apologize for the inconvenience.

- Several disciplines (Resistant, Trueshot, Unholyaura, and Holyforge) have been upgraded. Please read the updated EQManual_Supplement.doc (or .txt) in your EverQuest Directory.

- "Dragon Circles" have been fully implemented. In short, you will not be able to receive a teleport to a dragon circle unless you've been to the circle before and carry a soulbound souvenir that spawns at the circle. Please read the updated EQManual_Supplement.

- Innate class-based resistances implemented a year or so ago did not take into account levels 50 through 60 with exception to those provided to the warrior. As such, each class that has class-based resistance bonuses (with exception to the warrior) will get an additional bonus as they level from 50 to 60.

- The problem of blank faction messages being reported to the players has been corrected.

- Screenshots are again enabled.

Overall the Velious launch is going very well. We are happy to see that the problems found so far are minor and that we can address them quickly.

- The EverQuest Team

December 7, 2000 4:00 am

Patch Day Today's patch addresses a few issues brought up by players over the last several days:

- Fixed an issue with /split that would cause people to go linkdead in the event that they used the command in quick succession. - Fixed a bug where you could not edit socials or skills (via the hotbutton window right click) in fullview mode if you had hidden your "MainMenu" window. - Fixed a bug where you would not see hotbuttons in "normal" mode if you had hidden that window in fullview mode. - Fixed it so you can't use hotbuttons when looting, trading, banking, or using a merchant in fullview mode (which is how it is in normal mode, but with the inventory working in fullview mode now it wasn't blocked properly for that). - Fixed the message for the /dynamiclights command to report properly. - Fixed a problem where INI setting were not being read properly if you had camped or went LD to server select then reentered the game. This was causing various UI problems with window positions and colors being wrong. - Fixed a problem with Sirens Grotto - Some people entering the zone were getting stuck. - Fixed a problem with passage from Skyshrine to Cobalt Scar. Travel in that direction was supposed to require a key. - We believe we fixed a problem where NPCs sometimes would hit a pet- owner no matter how far away the owner was from the pet and the NPC. - Corrected loot drops in Thurgadin.

We again appreciate patience while we stabilize following Velious launch.

- The EverQuest Team

December 8, 2000 3:00 am

Velious Subscribers Please run the "Velious Patch" off of the patch program.

New Patch We appreciate everyone's continued patience over the past couple of days, and are happy to see that the problems that have been experienced are relatively minor compared to those of the past. Tonight's patch is expected to be the last one we'll have to do for a while, so we hope to have you enjoying Velious over the weekend non-stop.

Today's patch corrects the following issues:

- The user interface problems that occurred as of last night have been addressed, such as window positioning and transparency. Also addressed were problems with targeting, enabling and disabling windows, and switching to and from resolutions above 1280x1024. - Corrected a problem that would cause some Voodoo card users to lock up when killing giants. - Added messages for some new skills that some NPCs have (e.g. Rampage, and Flurry). - Fixed items and item drops in a number of zones.

Enjoy your weekend!

- The EverQuest Team

December 12, 2000 2:00 pm

New Velious Subscribers Please don't forget to run the "Velious Patch" off of the patch program.

New Server We have a new server that will be coming up next week before the holidays. It will be a split server for Solusek Ro, Karana, and Cazic- Thule. Solusek Ro (which had about 200 people moved off about 9 months ago) and Karana (whose last split about 6 months ago did not go very well) will be split again with Cazic-Thule.

Though the population of Solusek Ro and Karana at peak usage times is not excessive, those two servers actually peak about 6 hours before the other servers due to a large overseas population. This is why they are being split as opposed to other servers.

/movelog registration for the three servers being moved will open this Saturday at 10am (GMT-8). It will remain open through 12 AM Monday, a total of 38 hours. We apologize for the short notice but to delay the move any longer would mean putting it off until well after the Holidays.

By typing "/movelog yes" within the registration window, you indicate that you would like all characters on the existing account moved to the new server. The moves themselves will take place on Tuesday of next week.

We also have a new non-split server planned for the very near future as well. It will most likely not go up until after the Holidays. If that changes, we'll be sure to let everyone know.

- The EverQuest Team

December 16, 2000 12:00 am

Movelog Reminder We want to remind players on Solusek Ro, Karana, and Cazic-Thule that registration for move to the new split-server will open 10am PST (GMT- 8) today and will remain open until 12:00am Monday.

To register all of your characters on those servers for the move, you must type "/movelog yes" while in-game. Again, you only have to type the command while logged in to one character. It counts for all characters on that account and server.

- The EverQuest Team

December 19, 2000 3:00 am

Patch Day Today's patch primarily consists of tuning of Velious zones as well as content and other additions. In addition, the following changes have been implemented on the Live servers:

- High-end items that have a activatable (right-click) healing effect have in several cases had their casting times increased. - Factions for some of the higher end encounters in Velious have received some adjustments. Basically, "bad acts" receive more weight than "good acts". For instance, if "A" hates "B" and "B" hates "A", killing "A" will hurt your faction with "A" more than it will help your faction with "B". - The stamina reduction with "Resurrection Effects" has been replaced by a slight attack-speed debuff. - The Ranger's Trueshot discipline now works correctly. It was previously only working versus other player characters. - The Shadow Knight's "Unholy Aura" discipline has received an enhancement. When in use, harmtouch resistances will be checked versus disease instead of magic. In addition, harmtouch will resist in the same fashion as lifetap spells, meaning that unless the creature is immune to disease, you should get full damage most of the time. - The spell attached to the "Fiery Defender" can now be partially resisted instead of being "all or nothing". The net result is that the average damage will be higher. - The Paladin "Holy Forge" discipline will now give paladins triple the normal chance of scoring a critical hit. Each critical hit has a percent chance to be scored as a critical blow. - Added parameters to the /camp command (the command that will cause you to camp out if you are already sitting). "/camp server" will take you back to the server selection screen. "/camp desktop" will take you out to the desktop following a successful camp. Despite popular request, "/camp spawn" will not be implemented. - Walruses now indeed sound like they should. - Added the /chatfontsize [0 to 5] (default is 1) command. This command will allow players to adjust the size of the font in the chat window.

- The EverQuest Team

January 9, 2001 3:00 am

Patch Day We're happy to present today's patch, which focuses primarily on addressing issues that have been brought forth by EverQuest players. We appreciate the opportunity to spend some time focusing on specific issues important to you. Today's patch includes the following:

Disciplines - The "Resistant" Discipline now lasts 5 minutes instead of the previous 1. - The "Holy Forge" Discipline now lasts 5 minutes instead of the previous 2. - The "Weaponshield" Discipline now lasts 20 seconds instead of the previous 15. - The "Leechcurse" Discipline now lasts 20 seconds instead of the previous 15. - The "Deftdance" Discipline now lasts 15 seconds instead of the previous 10. - The "Puretone" Discipline now lasts 4 minutes instead of the previous 2. - The "Sanctification" discipline now lasts 15 seconds instead of the previous 10. - The "Unholy Aura" Discipline now gives a 50% bonus to Harmtouch (compared with the previous 25%) and causes it to save versus disease, which should result in even fewer resists in most high-level encounters.

Spells - "Lay on Hands" has been improved starting at 40th level. - The "Summon Corpse" spell is now available to Shadowknights. - Corrected a bug that was causing damage while using the "Trueshot" Discipline to be the same regardless of the quality of your bow. - The spells "Focus of Spirit" and "Visions of Grandeur" now stack. - "Harmtouch" is now resisted as if it were a "Lifetap" spell, meaning that it is all-or-nothing, and nearly unresistable with exception to encounters that are immune to magic or out of the acceptable level range. In addition, maximum damage for Harmtouch has been increased starting at 40th level. - We fixed a bug that caused "Lure" type spells (Wizards) to be resisted more than they should have been in certain types of encounters. - Melee attack timers will no longer be reset when a SK, Paladin, or Ranger cast a spell. Previously these classes had to wait a full attack delay after casting before they would attack via melee again.

Miscellaneous - You may now adjust the clipping plane in the Hole. Previously, the clipping plane was fixed. Many people requested the ability to bring the clipping plane closer to allow them to improve their client's performance. - Fixed several problems with trade-skill components that were not dropping. Also added some new recipes. - Fixed the Iksar "Shackle of Steel" quest. - The additional options for /camp (/camp server, /camp desktop) have been implemented. /camp server will take you to the server-selection screen. /camp desktop will cause EverQuest to terminate and take you to the desktop.

Root and Snare Root-type spells and "snare" type spells now use a separate spell effect.

Previously, "Root" spells would overwrite any snare effect upon the target. When the root would wear off, the target began moving at full speed. With this change, when root wears off, snare will still be in effect. This has a few added effects on the other end.

For instance, root will no longer cancel SoW or Journeyman's Boots effects. It also allowed us to correct a long-standing bug that was allowing bards to cancel root on themselves by playing Selo's Accelerando if Selo's was in effect at the time that the bard was rooted. As mentioned in a previous patch where the first part of this bug was fixed, this was not the intended effect.

Looting NODROP Items A new command is now available to EverQuest players.

In order to prevent the accidental looting of NODROP items, the /lootnodrop command has been added to the client. The command supports three options: ALWAYS (Default) - You will be presented with a yes/no confirmation box when attempting to loot any NODROP item. SOMETIMES - You will be presented with a yes/no confirmation box when attempting to loot any NODROP items that your race and/or class cannot use. NEVER - NODROP items will be looted without confirmation.

It is highly recommended that you DO NOT CHANGE this from the default option, as the GM staff cannot assist in cases of accidental looting.

- The EverQuest Team

January 17, 2001 3:00 am

Baltimore Fan Faire - Last Chance Monday is the registration deadline for the Baltimore Fan Faire! We are almost sold out so hurry and visit http://everquest.station.sony.com/fanfaire/fanfaire.html before you miss your chance to attend this event!

Patch Day The primary focus of today's patch is to implement changes noted in the new Producer's Letter which can be found at http://everquest.station.sony.com/news/letter.shtml

It is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that you read the Producer's Letter before playing EverQuest. It contains some unprecedented and exciting enhancements to gameplay.

In addition to these changes, the following changes have been implemented:

Bug Fixes - Fixed a bug that caused "root" and "snare" type spells to function incorrectly when stacked. They should now stack properly. - Fixed a bug that negated the "instrument modifier" for bards using Selo's, causing them to run slower than they otherwise would. - Fixed a bug that allowed two or more spells that grant levitation to stack. Levitation spells should not stack. - The "Track Corpse" spell now works. - Tracked down and eliminated several bugs that were causing a very small percentage of people to crash when zoning or upon entering the game. - Fixed a problem with some Ulthork armor that caused it to disappear on death if the wearer was of extremely low level. - Tserrina's Whip has been fixed. If you received one prior to today's patch, you will need to trade out your whip with a GM in order to get one that works correctly. - Last week's patch attempted to fix Celestial Elixir, Celestial Healing, and Torpor, so that they would stack another similar spell, unintentionally causing it to stop stacking with standard regeneration spells. This has been fixed. The downside to this fix is that these spells will now overwrite the "Call of Bones" series. As the three former spells are cast to save a character's life, this solution appears to be the most beneficial for all of those involved. - The stronger /lootnodrop options will no longer prompt you for confirmation when looting your own corpse. It is highly suggested that everyone reset their option to the strongest security available: /lootnodrop ALWAYS (always ask for confirmation). - Added some code to address an issue reported by a few players, that being that an NPC named "Ragefire" would die and not leave a corpse. Though we were unable to reproduce this problem in testing, the code we added should function as a catch-all for this problem. Please be sure to let us know how this goes.

Changes/Enhancements - While not mentioned in the Producer's Letter, the Zone Experience Modifier has also been increased in Guk (guktop), by roughly 12%. - "Lay on Hands" has been enhanced again to heal more hitpoints. - Overlooked in the last patch message, new spells were made available to Rangers and Paladins in the upper levels. - "Voice of the Berserker", a beneficial spell, no longer drains mana over the duration of the spell. - The maximum duration of "Strength of Nature" has been increased. - A new spell for magicians is now available in game. - The "Shield of the Eighth" spell will now last a number of minutes equal to your level. - You can now use the arrow and enter keys to select characters in the character select screen. In addition, the last character you chose will be automatically hilighted when entering that screen. This value is stored in the EQCLIENT.INI file as "LastCharSel=0-7" - The ranger's "Trueshot" discipline has had its damage increased after analyzing data from its fix last week. Prior to the last patch, all bows, while under the discipline, were hitting as if they were 45dmg bows regardless of the delay. Last week's patch fixed it so that damage was based on the damage of the bow. This weeks patch increases damage bonuses in relation to delay (longer delays yield better damage bonuses). - You can now reverse the left and right channels on your speakers using the /reversesound command. This should be very useful for those who have had to place their speakers backwards due to cable lengths. - Made some improvements to Paw, Mistmoore, and The Hole, to address some concerns brought forth by the players. Both zones had some problems that would cause them to be exceedingly difficult in some cases.

- The EverQuest Team

January 24, 2001

QA Openings

Our Quality Assurance department is looking for some AVID EQ gamers to join us as testers at the San Diego branch. If you would like more information please visit www.verant.com or mail your resume to resume@station.sony.com with "QA Openings" as the Subject.

Applicants should include their time playing EverQuest, and their number of characters and their respective classes and levels as part of their resume.

Small Patch

The EverQuest Team is currently hard at work evaluating, planning, and documenting our project plans for the current year. As such, we did not plan game updates during this period, forecasted to last a few weeks.

However, given today's server maintenance being performed by our Operations Team, we were able to include a few small updates. These include some minor polishing on the Plane of Mischief, as well as the placement of the wizard's Velious teleport spells on merchants.

Very soon, we'll be back to our continual plans to enhance the game world. We'll be sure to let you know what we have planned as we can.

- The EverQuest Team

January 31, 2001 3:00 am

File Download The file just downloaded contains some new art for use in game in the future.

- The EverQuest Team

February 21, 2001 3:00 am

Patch Day Today's patch contains a wide variety of enhancements and changes. Due to the number of changes being made, this list is primarily a summary. Extended descriptions of the changes and the reasoning behind them can be solicited on the EverQuest Message Boards.

Spell and Skill Changes Druids, Shaman, and Clerics: --- Superior Healing moved to level 51 for shamans and druids. --- Casting difficulty of Superior Heal reduced (less fizzles) --- New level 55 Druid and shaman spell, Chloroblast, similar to remedy for clerics. --- New Druid spell at level 60, upgrade to superior healing, Natures Touch. --- Created a new spell effect for Celestial Healing, Celestial Elixir, and Torpor. This will allow them to stack with all other spells, save spells of the same type (Heal over time). Prior to this, all heal-over- time spells followed the same rules as regeneration spells. --- Reduced the casting difficulty of Remedy. --- Lowered recast time on Wake of Karana

Paladins: --- Added Endure Magic spell at level 30 --- Added Resist Magic at 55 --- Moved Guard spell from 49 to 39 --- Moved Armor of Faith from 53 to 49 --- Added New level 53 paladin spell: Divine Glory --- Added New level 59 spell: Celestial Cleansing --- Defense skill cap made exactly same as warriors --- Added Yaulp 4 at 60 and enhanced.

Shadowknights: --- Removed artificially inflated mana cost for pre level 50 lifetap spells. Please note that post-50 lifetap spells never had an inflated mana cost. --- Moved Spirit Tap to level 55 --- Moved Drain Spirit to level 57 --- Added Drain Soul at level 60 --- Grim Aura added at level 22 and enhanced --- Moved Shieldskin to level 34 --- Pet buff added at 29 --- Added Diamondskin spell at 59 --- Defense skill cap made exactly same as warriors --- Due to the recent improvements to "Harmtouch", it is doing much more damage than it would before and unbalances PvP. As such it will now do less damage in PvP (68% of PvE, down from 80%). In addition, Shadowknights on the PvP servers were routinely killing themselves via non-XP losing means and attacking other players with Harmtouch immediately upon respawn. In order to address this situation, Harmtouch is no longer automatically "recharged" by death on the PvP Servers. --- The "Lifeleech" discipline now increases hit probability in addition to its other effects.

Rangers: --- Added Endure Cold at 22 --- Added Skin Like Nature at 59 --- Added FireFist at 22 --- Moved Bramblecoat from 49 to 39 --- Added Spikecoat at 49 --- Added resist cold at 55 --- Added Panic Animal at 22 --- Moved Jolt to 51 --- Moved Spirt of Wolf from 39 to 30 --- Added Cinder Jolt (fire-based Jolt spell) at 55. --- Offense and weapons skill made identical to warriors --- Added See Invisible at 39

Bards: --- Added new level 20 Bard Song: Cassindra`s Chant of Clarity --- Bards defensive skill made exactly the same as a warriors --- Changed it so that the bard spell Denon's Desperate Dirge to increase damge by 10pts per level over 45. Also made it so the spell does 20% more damage using the Puretone discipline.

Magicians: --- Added new level 59 spell: Valiant Companion --- Added new level 39 spell: Summon Companion --- Rain spells no longer count pets against total number of entities they can damage (all rain spells) --- Added level 29 spell for Mages: Expedience

Enchanters: --- Lowered recast time on Visions of Grandeur

Bug Fixes --- Aggressive and Defensive disciplines have been fixed. Before they would only affect damage taken and not affect damage dealt out. Now they affect both as designed. --- Fixed the bug with going to the spellbook when the inventory window was up in fullview mode. It should work now. Also, fixed a minor bug where if you were in normal mode and tried to go to the spellbook from inventory via /book or the keymapped key it would not go, and it would make the done button not work properly for the inventory mode. --- Fixed NPC melee ranges to be the same as for player characters. In other words, if you can hit the NPC, he can hit you. This bug was a problem with one dragon that could be hit, but could not hit back. --- Fixed a bug that made it impossible to "Call of the Hero" someone out of water or lava. --- Fixed the proc on the Chilled Scythe. Owners of this item will need to swap it out with a GM. --- The Kromzek Surveyor Scope now fits in the "Ranged" slot rather than the "Ammo" slot as before. --- Fixed a bug that caused the two single-target bard snare songs to break too soon in some cases. --- Fixed a bug whereby NPCs would consider the race of a player prior to the loading of the faction table upon zoning or logging in. This would cause people to be attacked by things that normally like them. --- Players should now be properly removed from the group regardless of how they exit the game.

Misc Changes --- Added text labels to the fullview inventory window "body" slots (Available only to Velious Subscribers) --- Added the ability to toggle those labels on and off. Use /invwinlabels [on/off] (or no arguments to toggle). This is saved in the eqclient.ini file in the [Defaults] section with the key InvWinLabels=[TRUE/FALSE] --- Increased the pre-50 bind-wounds cap for rogues and warriors. --- Pickpocket now works to a max of 5 levels below you, or level 45...whichever is greater... You can pickpocket NPC up to level 55 if you are level 60. --- The mouse pointer will now move at a multiple of its normal speed when you adjust the MousePointerSpeedMod setting in the eqclient.ini file. You can set that multiple on-the-fly with the /mousespeed command. --- The "AutoHelp" feature that can be set under the options menu has been enhanced. Spell casters in particular might want to turn it on and try depressing the ALT key. It's perfect for refreshing your memory in regards to your spell lineup. --- If you are interrupted while trying to cast a spell that uses a component, you will no longer use that component. Jewelers should be very pleased with this change. --- Reduced the casting difficulty (fizzle rate) of all spells over level 56. Spells have always previously been set up so that it's usually more efficient to use a spell from a previous circle than the current one. The formula did not take into account the fact that everyone stops at 60. --- Changed it so that players will now lose experience when they die in the Arena in Kael Drakkel. It seems that people were fighting giants in that arena in order to avoid the death penalty. --- Naked PC corpses that have experience and are above level 30 will now last 3 hours instead of 3 minutes. --- Avatar and Focus of Spirit should now stack --- Raised the pre and post 50 bind wounds cap for paladins, clerics, druids, and shaman.

Item Changes --- The effect on the "Frost Giant Beard" can now be used at 35th level rather than level 50. --- The Wurmslayer will now fit in a bag. --- Iksar can now use the Ashenbone Shield --- Chandged Crystallized Shadow leggings to rentable --- Changed Gorilla Hide Leggings to show up as leather, was cloth before --- Changed Envy from a piercing weapon to a shield so players could Bash with it. Envy is a parrying dagger. --- The Shralok Pack is now LORE. It was set to pending-lore some time ago. --- The Guardian and Sentry Armor bracers are no longer LORE. --- Donal's Breastplate can now only be used on any individual target once every 7.5 minutes. This addresses some of the balance issues that became apparent given the existence of a mana-free complete heal.

Trades and Crafts --- Fixed the Gator Roll baking recipe. --- Repaired the notetext instructions for creating a Mixing Bowl with pottery. --- Repaired Holgresh Fur Cap and Holgresh Fur Moccasins tailoring recipes. --- Made it so that the file is returned in addition to the hammer when a character fails to forge any of the various chain jointings. --- Repaired Recipe for Enchanted Tier`Dal Adamantite Bracelet --- Made it so that the Dwarven Smithy Hammer is returned on a failure to forge Brellium Chain Jointing. --- Repaired Field Plate Boots smithing recipe --- Changed the name of the smithed Enchanted Cabilis Scale armor to Imbued Cabilis Scale armor for naming convention reasons. --- Repaired the recipe for converting 3 Enchanted Large Adamantite Bricks into 1 Enchanted Block of Adamantite in the Tier`Dal Forge, it was previously only possible in the Oggok Forge. --- Made it so that the Bread Tin is returned upon a failure to bake bread. --- Mithril and Velium Bonings will be stackable. --- Mithril Studs will be stackable.

NPC AI - Hate We've made a number of changes to NPC AI, specifically to the section dealing with target-selection, or what's commonly referred to as "Hate". It is not so much that NPCs react differently to hate now than before, but that we've changed the way that hate is awarded.

--- We reduced the amount of hate that can be caused by a proc. Due to the high proc rates at upper levels, the amount of hate generated from procs, and the spells that were selected for those procs, made keeping the attention of the creature much too easy a task for the tank. Simply, it nearly eliminated the challenge of keeping a foes attention at levels above 50.

--- We've capped the amount of hate that can be awarded to most casters, specifically for debuff-type spells like the Malo and Tash series. The hate calculation for these spells takes into account the number of hitpoints of the NPC and did not "play nice" with the increased HP limit of Velious. It explains why Enchanters, for instance, would complain that casting a Tash spell would lead to near- instant death.

--- We've redressed the amount of hate generated by heal spells. Previously, and partly due to a bug, the high level heal spells such as superior heal or complete heal would generate no more hate than greater heal. In fact, so little hate was generated by these spells that it made controlling NPC aggression trivial. Heal spells will now generate an amount of hate more in line with the number of hitpoints actually healed. Due to our desire to leave the lower level game more or less untouched, two separate caps have been placed for targets level 50 or below, and 51 or above. Heal spells will generate significantly less hate for targets below level 51 than those at or above that level.

--- We've also re-evaluated ways that players have to reduce their own hate. While spells in place to allow this are OK, the Evade skill (possessed by rogues) let them out of their damage too easily. A rogue that successfully evaded would immediately drop to a level of hate lower than someone who was in the awareness range, but hadn't done anything to really upset the creature such as damage it or heal its foe. This problem was exacerbated by the increase of the size of the hate list implemented with Velious.

Tracking Tracking now works in full view for all classes that can use it, and sports a nifty scroll bar that allows players to see everything on the list. In addition, the /trackplayer setting is now saved to the eqclient.ini file.

The following options have been put in for Rangers only:

--- /tracksort --- /trackfilter

• /tracksort options beginning with R are reverse order

Hybrid Casting Hybrids that cast spells in combat were taking double penalties at higher levels. The casting times of their spells went up, and the amount of melee damage they do per second went up. This results is having to take longer to cast spells, and losing more damage/second for each second taken in casting. To help offset this, Rangers, Paladins and Shadowknights casting non-beneficial spells that have casting times greater than or equal to 3 seconds, now get a 3 % reduction in casting time for each level over 50. 3% at 51, 6% at 52, etc., to 30% at 60. Again, this applies only to non-beneficial spells.

- The EverQuest Team

March 6, 2001 3:00 am

Patch Day General Changes -- Doubled the chance gain skill points in skills that are above 200. -- Fixed a bug that disallowed casting of the Donal's Breatplate on others once casted upon yourself. -- The spell scrolls for Grim Aura should now all reflect usability by SKs -- Fixed a bug that would allow melee players to open a spellbook via /book or alt+b. -- Merchants will now recognize Iksar as a valid race. -- New bind locations have been added to three zones in the world - One on Antonica and two others on Kunark. NPCs at these locations can fill you in on the details. Good hunting. -- The casting time for four cleric brestplates sporting the "Celestial Healing" effect has been increased to one minute. We understand that this severely limits the use of that effect and we are currently discussing alternate effects to place on those items in the next patch. We did, however, need to address the 300pt per tick regen that could be placed and kept on the group tank. When we've decided on the new affect, it will be applied to those items retroactively. -- Numeric skill values will be shown on character skill display for skill values over 100. Values under 100 still show the qualitative identifiers. -- Players have expressed concern about accidentally inspecting other players. You can now turn on or off your ability to inspect other players by typing /inspect. -- Those of you with z-axis mouse wheels on your mice may use them over the chat window. -- Fixed "Breath of the Sea". It was mistakenly set to be unresistable. -- Same-zone evac-type spells will now cause you to reload the current zone. This is a necessary step to ensure that you are removed from all hatelists and clean up your pet. -- "Voice Graft" will no longer show the spawn number (Jobaber00) of your pet. -- You will now receive a message when you are being bandaged. -- The tracking skill cap for Druids has been raised to 125. It was the intent for druids to be better at tracking than they were, however before the scroll bar, smaller skill numbers were often considered better. With the tracking improvements from the last patch, this increase was appropriate. -- Increased the number of hitpoints healed by Celestial Cleansing.

NPC AI Adjustments -- Level 60 players with the taunt skill will now have a chance to taunt creatures that are level 60 to 65. Previously, players could only taunt creatures below their level. -- NPCs that are mesmerized or stunned will now only add a very small amount of hate when they see you cast beneficial spells on their enemies. Prior to this, they would add full hate when they saw you do this. This is why NPCs would always jump the cleric after breaking Mez. -- Fixed a bug that would cause NPCs to add too much "temporary hate" when a player would sit down in front of them. -- The maximum amount of "hate" that an NPC can add when witnessing a heal to targets above level 50 has been decreased substantially. -- Hate from heals is also now calculated at a lesser number than the number of hitpoints healed. Previously, healing one hitpoint would cause one point of hate. Now, healing 3 hitpoints will cause 2 points of hate.

Velious Music Velious subscribers should run the Velious Patch to pick up new mood music for some Velious Zones. Let us know what you think of the new compositions.

EQGems A new "mini-game" has been added to the EverQuest client. EQGems is our first effort aimed towards allowing people to engage in different activities while playing EverQuest. Based upon the success of EQGems, we may explore opportunities for other mini-games in the future, even some that are multiplayer in and of themselves. Type /gems to play.

- The EverQuest Team

March 9, 2001 12:00 am

E'ci and The Rathe Movelog We will be opening a new server and moving characters from the E'ci and The Rathe servers to this new server upon the request of the customer. If you choose to move your characters to the new server, please be aware that all of your characters on the old server will be moved to the new server.

To request to have your characters moved to the new server, all you need to do is type "/movelog yes" into the chat window while playing a character on that server during the time that the move log is open.

We will be opening the move log for these two servers on Friday, March 16th, 2001 at 6:00 pm. PST (which is Saturday morning at 2:00 am GMT). We will be closing the move log on Sunday, March 18th, 2001 at 11:59 pm PST (7:59 am on Monday the 19th GMT). The new, yet unnamed, server should be opened some time during the week of March 19th. We'll announce the exact date as soon as we can.

There are a few things to keep in mind when choosing to move your characters to the new server. The most important thing to keep in mind is that character corpses will not be moved with the characters. So it is important to make certain that you have looted all of the corpses that you want to loot before the characters are moved.

Also, characters names are unique on the new server. Because characters will be moving from two separate servers onto the new one, there may be cases where two characters with the same name are created on the new server. Because character names must be unique, one of the two characters will be chosen at random and have an 'x' added to the end of their name. If you find that one of your characters has had an 'x' tacked onto their name after the move and you would rather have a new name, please contact your GM by using the /petition function. The GM will help you to change the name of your character.

Guild structures do not follow the characters to the new server. We will be unable to reestablish guilds until at least a week has passed after the split. On any day after the new server has been up for eight days, the guild leader can /petition for a GM to help them reestablish the guild. Please do not petition for this before seven days have passed, we will not be able to set up your guild before then.

We will not be moving characters back to the old server, so make certain that you want to move your characters before you type "/movelog yes". And we will not be moving characters for those that fail to execute the movelog command during the stated window of opportunity.

- The EverQuest Team

March 14, 2001 3:00 am

EverQuest Turns Two Two years ago this Friday, EverQuest was launched, forever changing the course of online gaming. Today EverQuest boasts nearly 360,000 active subscribers, and a two-year retention rate of 65%. Peak usage tops 89,000 simultaneous users with average peak usage at roughly 87,000. The EverQuest community continues to grow daily.

We've put up a page on the EverQuest website to help celebrate EverQuest's achievement and to thank our loyal fans. Over the next couple of days we will be posting interesting content from EverQuest's humble beginnings, as well as a few surprises. Check it out! http://everquest.station.sony.com/2ndanniversary/index.jsp

Ever Changing, Evolving, Expanding The Warrens:

As part of our two-year celebration, we're pleased to announce the release of "The Warrens", a free expansion zone located on Odus. "The Warrens" is a low-to-mid level dungeon and the home of the Kobolds on Odus. You can patch the Warrens by running the "Optional Patch".

In addition to filling-out the continent of Odus, "the Warrens" will also serve as a platform to try out some of the new ideas brought forth by members of the team and the public aimed at addressing some common gameplay issues. We would like to see what options might be open to and enjoyed by the players in the future.

The first issue addressed in the Warrens is the problem of higher level characters competing with lower level characters for loot on lower level creatures. To address this issue, in the Warrens, a group that "outclasses" a particular foe will not receive any loot that is MAGIC, LORE, or NODROP. All other loot will drop. "Outclassing" a foe is defined as having a group makeup such that no one in your group receives experience from the kill. This can happen if, for instance, the foe is "green" to all group members, or if the group makeup is of such a wide level range that the system determines the fight was unbalanced using regular experience rules.

Any time that an NPC would have dropped special loot and does not due to it being outclassed, a message indicating that the combat was "trivial" will be displayed to the group.

As time goes on, we will be implementing new gameplay subsets and adjustements in the Warrens. Please be sure to let us know what you think!

The Planes:

The Planes of Fear and Hate have been updated as part of our two-year celebration. Adventurers in the Plane of Fear will notice that some high-level foes are now available. Rewards for former "boss npcs" have been moved down to underlings that are roughly as powerful as the old bosses were.

The Plane of Hate has also received a large update, but this one also includes the opening of a previously undiscovered part of the zone, now full high-level expansion-oriented content. Much as with Fear, rewards from bosses have been moved.

Epic Quests:

As part of the Plane updates, we've made several adjustments to Epic quests for a number of classes. Previously, questers of many classes were put in direct competition with regular non-questing adventurers for a few coveted spawns. In these cases, a new step has been added to separate the "Epic Encounter" NPCs from the "Epic Quest" NPCs.

For those who are mid-quest, all quest requirements have remained the same. In other words, if you turn the same items into the same NPC, the same reward applies. What has changed is that some components may be in a different location from where you expect them. It is recommended that you check with the last NPC in line or other adventurers to find where you need to go next.

Patch Day Along with the big announcements above, today was a patch day as well:

- Fixed a bug that allowed exploitation of the period of time between character control being established and loading of character faction tables. - Fixed the Dagger of Frost. Its special item flags were improperly removed in the last patch. - The spell, Mark of Karn, has been enhanced to heal more per hit. - The effect on the Celestial Elixir Breastplates has been changed to the enhanced Mark of Karn. The casting time on these items has also been changed to 9 seconds. - NPCs in Thurgadin will no longer stop traveling when you /hail them. - Fixed a problem present in Nagafen's Lair and the Plane of Hate that caused framerate to drop over time. - Shift-clicking on a stack of items will cause you to pick up the whole stack. This is in addition to CTRL-clicking on a stack, which will cause you to pick up one. These both also work for coins now as well as items. - In addition to the above, holding down the shift key while clicking the "Sell" button in the vendor screen will cause you to sell the entire stack of items if a stack is selected. For example, you can sell 20 peridots by selecting the stack, and shift-clicking "Sell". I'd recommend though that you give them to your neighborhood cleric first though :) The ability to buy stacks is on the list for implementation in the near future. - There are a ton of new recipies for trade skill users out there. Check your books. - There are a bunch of new quests as well. - It appears that we fixed a bug with the Mend skill that caused it to be unavailable for a few seconds after it was supposed to be ready for use. Let us know if there are any further problems. - Foraging items will now yield a message giving you some idea of what you've foraged.

Please remember that the /movelog for the Rathe and E'ci is scheduled for this weekend. Please read the message below for details on the /movelog.

A Message From Customer Service We regularly receive requests from customers that want their characters moved from one server to another, or from one account to another. Unfortunately, due to the EverQuest EULA, the number of requests that we receive, the desire to maintain stable server communities and economies, and other problems associated with character moves, we can not move characters across servers or accounts.

It is important for the integrity of the server that items from a server remain on that server. We also feel that it is important that characters that have built up a reputation, good or bad, have to live with the consequences of their decisions, and are not allowed to retreat from that reputation by changing servers.

The only exception to this rule is when we open a Movelog for moving a large number of characters to new servers. At no other time will we move a character in such a fashion.

- The EverQuest Team

March 27, 2001 2:00 am

Fan Faire Reminder Registration for the San Diego Fan Faire closes on Wednesday, March 28th, and we are running out of spaces. Once all the spaces are taken, we will not be accepting any further registrations (or walk-ins). So if you plan to attend sign up before someone else gets your spot. Head over to www.everquest.com to register.

Patch Day Spell Changes and Additions - A new teleportation spell has been added to the game for both Druids and Wizards. These are self-only gate spells to the Dreadlands. These spells should be available on the more exclusive spell vendors in Norrath.

- Increased the drop rate on some Kunark spells to coincide with the narrowing of the creatures carrying those spells as the game evolves.

- Wizards now have access to a new type of spell that only works on certain types of target. Generically called 'bane' spells, a few are now available in the game. May your quest for such spells be successful.

Item Changes - Changed the effects on the Singing Steel Boots and Greaves. After a fair amount of concern from players, we have removed the summon food and water effects from these items. They have been replaced with modified versions of Aria of the Eagles (boots) and Appalling Screech (greaves).

- The Incandescent Bracer can now be worn on the wrist rather than the waist.

- The Incarnadine Breastplate must now be worn to activate.

- Changed spell effects on Pauldrons of the Fearsome and Fearsome Shield to right click and worn to activate.

Bug Fixes - Fixed a bug that was causing some players to zone into the Warrens at the wrong location.

- Corrected an error with the Bixie Sword Blade, changing its delay from 6 to 16.

- Fixed a bug where Iskar Monks were unable to Feign Death after Foraging.

- Kodiaks in the Great Divide are now seen as animals.

- Toxdil, the wandering rogue poison vendor, will now sell to characters even when he is away from his home.

Enhancements - Fixed a problem that occurred when players mistyped /guild. Typing /guildd in the chat window is the shortcut for typing /guilddelete. /guildd now has a confirmation box so that such an error should no longer lead to the accidental deletion of a guild.

- Added /showspelleffects. Using this toggle ('on' or 'off') a player can turn on or off the display of particle effects for spells. This will only affect spells, not world effects like waterfalls or weapon particle effects. This should allow you to turn off many of the effects that hamper rendering performance, inducing effects of spells, while still being able to see some of the awesome effects, like those on certain paladin weapons...

- Added server-side filtering for chat and combat messages. This will allow you to turn off guild chat, shouts, auctions, oocs, 'my misses', 'others misses', 'others hits', 'attacker misses me', PC spells (all options), NPC spells and Bard songs (all options) at the server instead of at the client. This can reduce that amount of data sent to you over your connection, and can help those with slower connections with better performance and connectivity.

- Ships will now be announcing their arrival in most zones. They will also be announcing their progress to any zone they travel through. Any of those zones that they are not currently making announcements in will be added in the next patch or two.

- Shift - Left and Shift - Right will now repeat in the chat window. This means that when editing what you've typed, you can just hold down the Shift and Left Arrow keys and the cursor will move left until it reaches the beginning of the line or until you release the keys.

- The spell slot number will now show up in front of the spell name when you press Alt to cast a spell using the Alt-Spell Number method.

- View perspective in wolf form has been fixed. First-person view will now be on level with the wolf, rather than a few feet above it. At the same time, perceiving other players in wolf form will appear to be standing on the ground instead of floating a few feet above it.

- Trade skill success and failure messages will be sent to the craftsperson's group instead of just the craftsperson, as long as the craftsperson is using the proper ingredients. Failure of the craftsman to use the proper ingredients will result in no failure message being sent.

- In order to prevent a few trade scams, money can no longer be removed from a trade window. You will have to cancel the trade and start over to adjust the amount of money involved in the trade.

- We're now sending hitpoint updates to the casters of direct damage spells no matter how far away they are when the spell lands. This will allow those casters that try to stand as far back as possible to get updates even when their range indicates that the messages should be surpressed.

Quest Several new quests have been added as well, so don't be afraid to talk to the folks of Norrath, they might have new information for you.

- The EverQuest Team

April 4, 2001 3:00 am

New and Changed Features - Guild Message of the Day. Guild Officers and Leaders will be able to type /guildmotd to set up a Guild Message of the Day (GMotD). From then on any time a member of that guild logs in they will see the message with the name of the message sender added at the front, so you will know who sent the message. Any guild member will also be able to read the GMotD by typing just /guildmotd and the message will be displayed again. The GMotD will be erased if the server comes down, however. You will have to reset the GMotD when the server comes back up.

- /assist changed and improved. It should be much more reliable now. It also will target whatever the assisted person has targeted. The assisted person does not need to have auto-attack on for /assist to work.

- Fixed a problem with /corpse that kept it from working on corpses that were too far above or below you.

Skill Change - Foraging changed so that if you are getting the hungry and thirsty messages, your next successful forage will always be drink or food. We have also decreased the chance of foraging fishing grubs a bit and increased the chance that you will forage water.

Spell Changes - Acumen now overwrites See Invisible.

- Translocate now has the proper spell gem.

Bug Fix - Fixed many crash problems for Windows 2000 users. This fix will most likely also aid some folks that are not using Windows 2000 that are having problems.

Item Changes - Velious racial plate helm quests have been added that will allow you to 'trade in' your existing helms for ones with textures. We have decided to allow the players (or their characters) to chose whether they wish to have the new helmet textures or to continue to use helmets that show no graphics.

- Five and ten charge versions of Potions of the Bone Field have been added.

- Kilva's Skin of Flame potion has been changed. It no longer has the same effect as the Kilva's Blistering Flesh potion.

- Removed the tinting from Dark Forge and Resonant armors. Tinting was never really intended to be on those pieces and, frankly, they look better without it.

Miscellaneous Items - Reduced the 'bottleneck' for getting Howling Stone keys by increasing the availability of one of the quest items.

- Erudite guards will now be much less friendly to Kobolds.

- Vendors are once again selling the Coldain Tanner's Kit.

'Combine' container changes We've made a change to 'combine' containers. In order to prevent people from accidentally destroying items, all containers with a 'combine' button will not combine any items that do not form a complete recipe. This will be a huge boon to craftspeople all across Norrath. But this removes the only drawback to using trade containers as backpacks. Their reduced weight and often greater carrying capacity made them more desirable as bags, with the compensating risk that you might just lose something if you made a mistake.

We will be increasing the weight of portable 'combine' containers somewhat. Where some of these containers weighed under 1 pound, they will now weigh as much as 4 pounds for the largest sewing kit.

Along with this we are making a change to tailor made backpacks. In case you didn't know, most tailor made packs have a built in weight reduction of 5%. We are raising that to 10%. We will also be displaying the weight reduction of all containers with the information shown on a right click.

- The EverQuest Team

April 4, 2001 11:30 am

EverQuest Classic Edition

There is a new package for EverQuest. It's a small box with a small price. Here's a bit from the press release for details:

---

SAN DIEGO, CA - April 3, 2001 - Sony Online Entertainment announced today that its classic edition of EverQuest(tm) is now available for the SRP of $9.99, a price point that will attract new users to a continuously growing community. EverQuest, the most successful massively multiplayer online role-playing game ever, will be available in both a jewel case and mini box versions at retail stores nationwide. "Newbies" will enjoy all the amazing aspects of the original EverQuest from creating their own specialized characters to embarking on perilous and excitement filled journeys across three continents.

---

- The EverQuest Team

April 17, 2001 3:00 am

Food Changes - Food items now have a 'duration'. This means that some food items will not sustain a character as long as others, and some items will sustain your character longer than they did before.

Bug Fixes - We THINK we've fixed the problem with the Dusty Werebat. This fellow has been steadfastly refusing to appear where and when we ask him to. We've worked out a deal with his agent, and we think he'll be back to work with this patch.

- Corrected an anomaly with hit point bars that occurred when a character was healed or damaged by spells. This could be seen, for example, when a character was healed and the hit point bar would go up and then quickly go back down a bit right afterwards. There was no error in the assignment of healing or damage previously, just in the way it was being displayed.

- Fixed the visual bracer bug where other people would see a different bracer graphic than you would. Now everyone (including the wearer) will always see the same bracer texture. If you have two bracers that have a different look (one is leather and one is steel, for example), make sure that the one you want to show up graphically is on your right wrist inventory slot, because this is the one that the game will choose to show for you (unless you take off the left one and put it back on, which will show the left one, but that is only temporary, and it will go back to showing the right one after you zone or reenter the game).

- Fixed zoning problem in Nurga to Droga that caused characters to be facing the wrong way when they zoned, often causing confusion that lead to accidentally zoning back the way they had come. You should be facing the right way when you make that zone transition now.

Zone and Quest Changes - The marauding Tar Goos will no longer be assisted by the Geonids. This should make at least one quest more available.

- Grobb should now have a couple of ovens. Hopefully this will allow Troll bakers to keep their fellows full of carbs and ready to fight.

- Fixed a bug that occurred when selling stacks of items. Previously, if you had 4 bat wings and sold them one by one to the merchant, the merchant would have 4 bat wings for you to buy, but if you sold all four at once to the merchant he would only have one for you to buy. Now he will have 4 in either case.

- We have increased the spawn rate of Venril Sathir and his skeletal remains. Please note that only Rangers and Druids will be able to trigger the spawn for the skeletal remains, and those remains will only be dropping items for those epic quests. Hopefully these changes will dramatically reduce the competition and resentment over this spawn.

- We have reduced resistances to some spell types on some NPCs in Sky Shrine and the Tower of Frozen Shadow. This is the beginning of our overview of the resistances of NPCs in Velious.

Improved and New Features - When you /consent someone it will give them the ability to drag all of your corpses.

- You can now buy stacks of combinable items (such as rations, water, etc...) from merchants. It works the same way as sell in that you can hold down shift to buy a full stack and control to buy just one item.

- Added the ability to change the color of all windows at one time with /wincolor (all windows that can be changed, that is). You can now use /wincolor ALL 0 0 100 2, for example, instead of having to set each window separately.

- Right-clicking items while looting will 'auto-equip' them. This will work just as if you had picked the items up and dropped them onto the 'auto-equip' area of your character profile. So if there is already a piece of equipment on your character in the spot where the looted item would normally go, it will drop into your inventory, if you have room for it.

- The tab key will no longer toggle between you and your last target when the chat bar is up. When the chat bar is open the tab key will take you through the list of your most recent /tell names or /reply names. When the chat bar is closed the tab key will switch you between yourself and your last target.

- /assist has an added parameter. /assist on and /assist off will determine whether or not your character auto-attacks when you use /assist. So if you type /assist off, from that time forward using /assist will NOT engage your character's auto-attack. This change will be persistent, so it will remain as you left it when you log out. /assist also now has a range of 200 feet.

- The destroy confirmation requestor now shows the name of the item you are trying to destroy, or it just says money if you are destroying coins. This should greatly reduce the chance of accidentally deleting the wrong item. PLEASE read the text in the destroy confirmation box to be certain that you are destroying the right item before choosing to destroy it.

- Hailing Player Character will now say 'Hail Playername', rather than just 'hail'.

- Added /charinfo command. Currently this command only reports the zone where the current character is bound. We may add further information as things progress.

- You will now see how much damage your character has taken when he is hit by a spell that causes instant damage (DOT damage is not reported).

Item Changes - We've made a change to the Red Scabbard that should relieve most of the problems warriors were having with their epic weapon occasionally disappearing during conversion between the two-handed weapon and the two one-handed weapons. What will happen now is rather simple. The very next time you use the container to combine the weapons (or break them apart), the old scabbard will disappear and a new one will replace it.

THE NEW SCABBARD AND THE SWORDS WILL APPEAR ON YOUR CURSOR, rather than in your inventory. So once you have combined them, make sure to place them in your inventory. And don't panic, the items didn't disappear. :) But also MAKE CERTAIN THAT YOU HAVE ROOM IN YOUR INVENTORY FOR ALL THREE ITEMS (the two swords and the scabbard, which is a container and needs to be able to fit into your main inventory). If you end up with a No-Drop container on your cursor with no place to put it in your inventory, you will have a problem...

Also, right now the new scabbard is a little bugged. Right now you won't be able to open the new scabbard until you camp out once after it is created. We're working on fixing that bug. We decided to make this change even with this small bug to help relieve everyone of the problems with the old scabbard.

This new scabbard will have a special ability. It will be able to recreate the epic weapons if you have lost them. Simply place a Sword of Runes (summoned by a Magician) into the scabbard and hit the combine button. The scabbard will convert the temporary power of the Sword of Runes into the permanent epic sword.

Customer Service WILL NOT be replacing the old scabbards with the new ones. That will be done by the game itself once you have completed the quest and combined the swords for the first time.

- Changed the size of the Weighted Axe from Tiny to Large (after all, it's a big two-handed axe...). If you have one in a bag now, be aware that it probably won't fit back into that bag again once you take it out.

- No Rent Items will no longer be immediately deleted from your character inventory upon disconnection with the server. If you are disconnected from the servers, or even if you log out, your No Rent items (such as summoned food and water) will remain on your character as long as you log back to that character within 30 minutes. After thirty minutes those No Rent items will be deleted. There may be some extreme cases beyond our control (such as hardware failures) where No Rent items will not be on your character even if you log back in within the 30 minute timeframe. No reimbursement will be given for No Rent items lost in this manner.

- Grand Master Wrist Wraps have been fixed and should now create the "Pouch of Quellios" as intended. If you have one of these items and it still does not work, please contact a GM using /petition and ask them to switch yours for a new one.

- Snow Storm Mask should now function properly.

- The Ring of the Frozen Flame should now be working properly.

- The slow effect on the Willsapper proc has been reduced.

- The weight of Skewers has been increase to a weight of 3.

- Velious Monk armor appearances have been changed. If you're wearing these items, you probably already noticed this, but we thought we'd announce it anyway. New textures will be showing on the Plane of Growth dropped armors and on the questable armors. Because the Velious textures can be a strain on some systems, the textures for these new armors will not be loaded by default by the game. If you want to see the new textures you will have to edit your EQClient.ini and change the line LoadArmor23=FALSE (the default) to LoadArmor23=TRUE.

Trade Skill Changes - Bards that worship Sol Ro will now be able to wear the Imbued jewelry made for their god. For those that not only sing around the campfire, but sing about the campfire!

- 'World' Trade Containers (those that are stationary) have been fixed. Previously when a character tried to combine items in a world container that did not match a recipe, the items would seem to disappear. But if the character closed and reopened the container, the items were still in it. Those items should no longer seem to disappear.

- The speed of Selo's Song of Travel, the effect of the Singing Steel Chestplate has been increased a little.

Spell Changes - Removed Gem component from the following spells. They will now only require the metal components. These are the Enchant spells for making cultural armor.

Enchant Velium Enchant Mithril Enchant Adamantite Enchant Steel Enchant Brellium

- Changed the spell component for the following Magician spells from Lapis Lazuli to Malachite. They now use the same reagent as every other Magician pet spell.

Minor Summoning: Earth Minor Summoning: Water Minor Summoning: Fire Minor Summoning: Air Elemental: Earth Elemental: Water Elemental: Fire Elemental: Air

- Added Casting Text to the Following spells (the messages in brackets will now appear upon a successful use of the spell):

Panic Animal (soandso flees in a state of total panic!) Terrorize Animal (soandso runs away in terror!) Repulse Animal (soandso is utterly repulsed!) Acumen (soandso's eyes tingle)

- Cannibalize IV now exists. This spell is now available in Velious.

- Cannibalize II and III have had their effects improved. They now return more mana to the caster than they did before.

Class Specific Changes - Monk weight allowance has been increased. Every 15 levels monks will get an extra 1 stone weight allowance. The post 50 weight allowance has also been increased by 2 stone.

Level 15, Limit 15 Level 30, Limit 16 Level 45, Limit 17 Level 51, Limit 18 Level 55, Limit 20 Level 60, Limit 24

- Disarmed traps will remain disarmed for a somewhat longer time than before to allow larger groups to get past the traps before they go off.

April 18, 2001 Luclin Announced - Press Release

SONY ONLINE ENTERTAINMENT EXPANDS EVERQUEST(r) UNIVERSE WITH "EVERQUEST(r): SHADOWS OF LUCLIN(tm)"

- Massive Additions in Store for SOE's Premier Role-Playing Game--

SAN DIEGO, CA - April 18, 2001 - Sony Online Entertainment announced today its new expansion pack, "EverQuest: Shadows of Luclin" for the Internet's most popular role-playing game, "EverQuest(r)." The new expansion pack will introduce EverQuest fans to an enchanting moonscape packed with new adventure zones, new items, creatures and spells, a new playable character class and more. Supported by a complete graphic overhaul, "Shadows of Luclin" will allow EverQuest players to witness their world in unprecedented splendor.

"'Shadows of Luclin' will give EQ fans a beautiful uncharted territory to explore," states Jeff Butler, Producer, Sony Online Entertainment. "Whether you're a devoted long-term fan looking for new challenges or just discovering online gaming for the first time, 'Shadows of Luclin' is filled with enough captivating adventures to support all levels of EverQuest players."

"The Shadows of Luclin" takes voyagers to a satellite hovering ominously above the world of Norrath. An area of great mystery, magic, and perplexity, Luclin is divided into a land of light, ruled by Discord, and a land of shadow, ruled by Order. Each side of this amazing world will present many new secrets, treasures and unique monsters.

"Shadows of Luclin" key features:

• New adventure zones, including a new starting city
• All new, highly detailed player-character models
• Massively enhanced 3D graphics engine
• An all-new player character race
• Challenging new quests, items to trade and sell, NPCs and more

"EverQuest: The Shadows of Luclin" is due to ship in Q4 2001. For more information visit the official Shadows of Luclin Website at http://www.everquest.com/luclin.

Continuing to grow with top-selling expansions "The Ruins of Kunark (tm)" and "The Scars of Velious(tm)," "EverQuest" proves to be the largest fantasy world ever created online. During peak periods, more than 88,000 adventurers and dragon slayers have explored the world of Norrath simultaneously. The active global EverQuest subscriber base is comprised of players from various countries throughout the "real" world, including the U.S., England, Canada, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Saudi Arabia, France, Italy and Australia.

May 8, 2001 3:00 am

PvP changes We have made the first of our upcoming changes to the PvP aspects of EverQuest:

- Consider: /Consider will only have three results when used to consider a Player Character. The character will show as 'green' if he is below the range that allows you to attack him. The character will show as 'white/black' if he is within your ability to attack. And the character will show as 'red' if he is above your range. This will only take effect on PvP servers.

- Sanctuary Levels: Characters below level six will not be able to engage in PvP combat, unless they take part in a Guild War, duel or use the Arena. This will, obviously, only take place on PvP servers.

- De-Leveling: Characters that lose levels will only retain the combat skills of a character two levels higher. This means that if a character of level 10 somehow loses 5 levels, that character will only have skills that would be available to a 7th level character. This change will apply to all servers (it has to, code-wise). So the two level buffer is there to make certain that people that lose levels during normal gameplay will be minimally affected (hopefully not affected at all), while those that purposefully lose levels with the intent of causing other players grief will find themselves at no great advantage.

These are the first of the things that we plan to. We are taking a careful, step-by-step approach to changes whenever we can, and we have other changes planned for upcoming patches.

Quest Changes - We've made a change to the Velious armor quests. The folks in Kael and in Skyshrine that give out rewards for these quests are now being stricter about who they will reward quest items to. You will have to be considered an 'ally' (see Features section below) by these NPCs in order to be able to complete these quests. If you are doing quests for the Coldain, however, they are somewhat less picky, and they only require that they consider you 'kindly' to reward you for your labors.

- The Black Silk Cape will now drop more frequently.

Bug Fixes - Attacking with a two-handed piercing weapon will now 'gray-out' the attack button as it should.

- Text that once read: "You cannot remove this affect." now reads "You cannot remove this effect." Changed by popular demand... :)

- Food Emotes: Forcing your character to eat by right clicking food will now properly display the appropriate emote to those in the area.

- Fixed a problem that often made it difficult to loot really large NPCs.

Item Changes - The Shield of Tsunami can now be equipped in the secondary slot.

- Quivers now reduce the delay time on bows, the better the quiver the faster your bow. We will not be listing the speed increase a quiver will give your bow, but you can tell the good quivers by their ability to reduce the weight of your arrows (better-made or magical quivers have this property).

- The Ivory Handled Falchion should now 'proc' without telling you that it is out of charges. You may need to contact your GM to replace the item with a new version if it is still acting strangely.

- The Opal Bracelet is now a wrist item, not a finger item. Be aware, once you remove it from your finger, it will not go back onto that finger, it will only fit on your wrists, as it should.

- The Large Dragonbone Shard will no longer appear to be a Staff of the Gathering.

- The Ring of Levitation will now poof when all the charges are used up, and should display the correct number of charges.

- The Priceless Velium Reinforced Bow now has a range of 200 instead of a range of 0.

- The Refined Mithril Blade should now be equipable in both primary and secondary slots.

- The Unicorn Horn should now have a graphic.

- The Hammer of Flattening has been changed from tiny to large. This might cause you a little reorganization in your inventory.

- Runebranded Stone Buckler is now labeled as a shield and can be used to bash.

- The Ring of Pureblood is now a finger item, not a waist item.

Spell Changes and Additions - Translocation spells: Five new Wizard 'push' spells have been added (Translocate: Fay, Tox, North, Combine and Group). Translocate spells send the group to the location, while the Wizard remains behind. Translocate Group sends everyone in the group (except the Wizard) to their own bind points. Translocate Group can be found on NPCs in Velious (and they won't give them up easily). The others are available on an exclusive vendor. All Translocate spells (even the original Translocate) have confirmation boxes that must be accepted before the target will be sent. And Wizards can no longer Translocate themselves.

- Some lower 39th and 44th level Velious spells have had their drop rates increased.

- GM Resurrection has had it's name changed from ResurrectionGM to Customer Service Resurrection so that players will be able to better tell when they are getting a resurrection from the GM staff. GM resurrection will no longer have Res effects, and will leave the newly Ressed with full Hit Points and Mana.

- Divine Aura and spells of that type (Divine Aura - cleric, Divine Barrier - cleric, Kazumi's Note of Preservation - bard, Harmshield - necromancer, Quivering Veil of Xarn - necromancer) will now prevent the caster from being stunned when hit for their duration.

- The Eye of Zomm series of spells will no longer work in Kedge Keep. This change was made to prevent an exploit.

Feature Additions and Changes - Looting text has been changed. You will now see a -- before and after any loot messages. This has been changed primarily to help prevent any fake looting messages from being thought of as real.

- When you loot an item, you will receive a text message telling you what you have just looted.

- Expanded Friends List: The Friends List will now hold 30 character names. And each character has its own friends list. You can find and edit this list with a text editor, if you need to, outside the game. You can locate the text files in your EverQuest directory. The files will look like this: _<#>.ini. The default Friends List for existing and new characters will be your old Friends List.

- The destroy or drop item confirmation box will now close if you accidentally pick up another item while they are open. This should prevent accidentally deleting or dropping the wrong item.

- When selling to a merchant, you can no longer sell items that are inside a container by having the container selected and clicking the sell button. The merchant will tell you that you need to empty the container before the merchant will buy it. This should prevent folks from accidentally selling items that they did not know were in those containers.

- You can now move items around inside containers that are in the bank.

- There is a new /consider message: "regards you as an ally". This is the highest level of friendliness that an NPC will register using the /consider command. The faction required to reach this rating is significantly higher than 'warmly'.

- The EverQuest Team

May 8, 2001 4:30 pm

Fan Faire The Fan Faire in Minneapolis is half way sold out. There are just over two more weeks left to register so don't delay! For each of these events, we get countless e-mails asking if there is any space available after we have sold out... and then it is too late! So don't wait until registration is closed! Register now and be sure your spot is reserved!

Guild Wipe for Guilds without enough members On May 15th we will be performing another servers-wide guild wipe for any guild with less than ten members. Remember, it is always a requirement to have ten members in your guild. These ten members must all be characters from separate accounts (only one member from each account will be counted for the ten member total). So if your guild does not have ten members on Tuesday, May 15th, it will be deleted.

We're sorry for being so harsh about this rule, but there is a distinct limit to the number of guilds that we can support, and the rules for maintenance of a guild are clear.

- The EverQuest Team

May 14, 2001 6:30 pm

Important announcement about the next patch Our next patch is planned for May 30th, probably some time in the wee morning hours here on the West Coast.

The important part of the message is not that, though. It's this:

Due to some of the things we are going to be doing, there is a small chance that some corpses might disappear during the patch. GMs will have the ability to verify any corpses that are lost. That means that they can help you get them back if you do indeed lose one. It also means that I should remind everyone that attempting to scam a GM about a lost corpse could mean banning.

IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU PETITION TO HAVE A MISSING CORPSE PROBLEM ADDRESSED WITHIN 5 DAYS OF THE PATCH! We will not be recovering corpses that might be lost after that time. In fact, it would be best for you to petition immediately if you have a problem. Don't wait. If you are worried about a corpse that you were unable to deal with before the patch, then please log in an check on it right away after the patch.

So please make certain that you have as many of your corpses cleaned up as possible before the next patch. We're not expecting a lot of corpses to disappear, but the fewer lying around, the less chance of them disappearing.

Thanks.

- The EverQuest Team

May 22, 2001 6:30 pm

Updated EQManual_Supplement The EQManual_Supplement.doc and EQManual_Suppliment.txt have been updated. The majority of the updates occurred in the description of the EQclient.ini file and the descriptions of the in-game "slash" commands. This document also includes things like a listing of the emotes available, instructions for changing windows and text colors, and other additions to the original manual, and is a good first source for EverQuest information and help.

- The EverQuest Team

May 30, 2001

Important Reminder Due to some of the things we are going to be doing, there is a small chance that some corpses might disappear during the patch. GMs will have the ability to verify any corpses that are lost. That means that they can help you get them back if you do indeed lose one. It is also important to understand that attempting to scam a GM about a lost corpse could mean banning from EverQuest.

IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU PETITION TO HAVE A MISSING CORPSE PROBLEM ADDRESSED WITHIN 5 DAYS OF THE PATCH! We will not be recovering corpses that might be lost after that time. In fact, it would be best for you to petition immediately if you have a problem. Don't wait. If you are worried about a corpse that you were unable to deal with before the patch, then please log in and check on it right away after the patch.

So please make certain that you have as many of your corpses cleaned up as possible before the next patch. We're not expecting a lot of corpses to disappear, but the fewer lying around, the less chance of them disappearing.

Thanks.

- The EverQuest Team

Patch Message Zone Changes - Runnyeye has been changed. Something is up in Goblin land...

Spell and Song Changes and Bug Fixes - We've been fixing holes in the spell stacking code. For the most part the changes fix bugs that allowed tricks to get spells to stack that were never intended to stack.

- Increased duration on Bard Charm songs to 18 seconds from 12 seconds.

- Fixed the Spell Scroll for Imbue Amber so that Erudite Clerics of Cazic Thule can scribe it.

- The casting messages for Necromancer pet summoning spells have been changed to be more appropriate.

Features and Interface Changes - The variable %t will now work with /assist. So you can use /assist %t if you wish. Though it should have exactly the same effect as /assist without the %t.

- %r returns "corpse" for corpses and "NPC" for targeted NPCs.

- Sense traps failure message text color has been changed to user color 15 (same as other skill messages). The success message was already set to user color 15.

- Ignore Lists now work the same way that the Friends List does. It has been expanded to 30 names per character per server. The new ignore list is stored in the same ini file as the friends list _<#>.ini). The first time a character is created or loaded after the patch their new ignore list will be a copy of the old ignore list, but will from then on be unique to the character.

- The Alt key now works in several new situations. It will now show item names when in the trade window. Because the trade items of the local player and the trading partner are so close together, the item names of the trading partner will always show up unless the player positions their mouse pointer over the local player part of the trade window, which will cause the game to only show the local player's trade item names.

- The Alt key will show item names for items in your bank.

- The Alt key will also pop up names for merchant items and corpse items when you hold it down in merchant mode or loot mode.

- The Alt key will even pop up names for items in open containers when held down and the mouse cursor is over the open container window (they don't show up otherwise).

- The client will now automatically reject a /duel request from any player that is on your /ignore list. Some players were using this to annoy players that had ignored them.

- You also will no longer see /consent messages from people that are on your /ignore list (this was also something people were doing to annoy people that had ignored them).

- /who GUILD (and the GUILD must be in caps) will now show you the members of your guild in your zone. You can also specify a guild name, such as /who "Irontoe Brigade".

- /safelock command added. /safelock will lock the EverQuest interface (mostly just mouse clicks, keyboard commands/movement, and most slash commands) with the password that you supply to the command. You must use this command a second time, supplying the same password, to unlock the interface. Passwords are NOT case-sensitive. So to lock your interface, you would type /safelock password. You would do the same to unlock it. REMEMBER: If you forget what password you typed, you will need to reboot your machine.

Item Changes - All the shields in the game that have the Ribcage graphic should now also have the ribcage icon when they are in your inventory.

- Tinkered Watchman helm should show up now.

- Ring of Pureblood is now equipable only on your fingers instead of your waist.

- Grand Master's Leg Wraps and Fists of the Grand Master are now No- Drop. They were intended to be No-Drop when they were created.

- Peacekeeper Staff and the Bug Collection box are no longer equipable. There are problems that can arise when containers can be equipped, so we had to disable that for these items.

- Sewing Kits: No existing sewing kits are being changed with this patch. But from now on, kits sold on vendors will be somewhat different. Large Sewing Kits will have 8 slots. Deluxe Sewing Kits will have 10 slots and weight slightly more than the Large Sewing Kit.

- Changed the color of the Kael SK quest armor from a very pretty blue- green to a more appropriate reddish-gray.

Other Stuff - Changed the spelling of Troubador to Troubadour for the 55th level bard title. :)

- King Tormax's spawn rate has been adjusted to be more in line with that of his counterparts in Velious. This is not the sort of thing that we will usually announce, as spawn times and things of that nature are part of the dynamic content of EverQuest. We're announcing this, however, to help avoid some confusion.

- The EverQuest Team

May 31, 2001 2:00 am

Patch Addendum This evening we put in another patch to correct some issues that arose with the patch yesterday. The changes implemented include some that weren't announced previously:

- Resist-debuffs will do 1.5 times their normal value for PvP encounters. In other words, if the spell did -60MR in PvP before, it does -90MR in PvP now. PvE (combat versus NPCs) remains unaffected. - Faction-loss for PvP kills on Vallon and Tallon now only occur against factions within the hometown of the person killed. In other words, if you kill an Erudite in Erudin, you will only lose faction with the factions in Erudin, not the factions in Paineel. - Turning in the Tomb of Order and Discord will have no effect on Vallon and Tallon. - On all PvP servers, only the person who gets the killing-blow in PvP combat will have looting rights. We would prefer to implement some sort of "majority damage" logic however this should solve most of the issues associated with uninvolved players "ninja-looting" the loser in PvP encounters.

- The EverQuest Team

June 4, 2001 3:00 am

Today's patch consisted only of server-side data, and does not contain anything that would normally be announced.

- The EverQuest Team

June 27, 2001 3:00 am

Gameplay Changes - Aggro Changes: We've made an adjustment to the way that NPCs choose their targets. It's a rather simple change, one that makes a lot of sense. But we want you to be aware of it so that it won't surprise you too much, and so that you won't think that it is a bug. NPCs are now much more aware of the vulnerability (or, more precisely, the invulnerability) of their targets. NPCs will now be very unlikely to waste their time attacking a target that they can't harm.

- Spell and Item Interruption: Ducking will now interrupt a spell instantly. You will no longer be able to sit while using items or casting spells. This will not affect bard songs, which will still work as they always have, but will affect all items, even those with song- like effects.

Spell Changes - Skin Like Nature and Natureskin should stack with more spells now (though not with each other).

- Aegolism can now be clicked off.

- Imbue Ivory has had its casting level lowered to 29.

- Shard of the Core will be tradable now.

- Shroud of Hate and Visions of Grandeur should stack properly now.

- Several new Translocation spells have been added.

- Call of the Hero will no longer remove the target from NPCs' hatelists if the target is not summoned far enough.

- Egress will now work indoors.

- Wind of the North, Wind of the South, Markar's Relocation and Tishan's Relocation have had their additional restrictions removed, and can now be cast from any zone where other similar spells can be cast.

- Summon Companion can now be used by Necromancers, Shamans, Enchanters, Shadowknights in addition to Magicians.

- Deadeye should now stack with Dead Man Floating, but should not stack with Acumen.

- Plainsight will now stack with Dead Man Floating, but not with Acumen.

- The Great Divide portal spells are now 39th level instead of 44th level.

- Spirit of the Oak will no longer be overwritten by any beneficial spells.

- Paralyzing Poison spells should no longer be broken by direct damage spells.

- Hsagra's Wrath and Porlos' Fury now have a 5 second recast delay.

Item Changes - The effect on the 10th ring should have fewer stacking conflicts with haste buffs.

- The effect of the Monk epic, Celestial Tranquility, will stack with the higher end haste spells. Keep in mind - the highest haste will always win out. This means that the spells will stack, the haste components will not.

- Speed of the Shissar has had its duration increased from 20 minutes to 30 minutes. This effect should no longer conflict with Call of Earth.

- Bone Ring of Condemnation will no longer be usable in the secondary slot, it will only be wearable on the finger.

- Druid Skyshrine Quest armor has had a color change so that it will look more unique.

- Circlet of Shadow will no longer drop in-game. The Circlet of Shadows, can now be found in its place. This item differs from the original only in that it has a five-second casting time. Existing Circlets of Shadow will retain the same functionality as before, though we may change existing Circlets at some future date.

Quest Changes - King Tormax is now a little more particular about who he gives quests to.

- The Iksar Shaman 6th Skull/cudgel quest should be working now.

- Rumor has it that there is a new source for green dragon scales in Norrath.

PvP Changes - If you go link dead on a PvP server and are killed you can still be looted.

- When a player becomes invisible (or hides successfully) every other player that had them targeted will lose their target. This is true for all servers, but has the greatest implications on PvP servers. The use of spells that allow you to see through invisibility will prevent you from losing your target if that target hides or goes invisible.

- Faction hits on Rallos Zek: Killing a person in one of his or her home cities will cause a faction hit with residents of that city.

Miscellaneous - We've addressed a lot of spelling and grammatical errors over the past few weeks. For example we have corrected all misspellings of "deity" in messages to the player, changed Cantana to Cantata and others.

- The 'Fab Four' in Dagnor's Cauldron will no longer assist Undertow Skeletons.

- Instill Doubt/Intimidation can no longer be used while sitting, and sitting after starting it will cancel it.

- Mastery of language skills now occurs at 100, not at 101. This was a problem for masters of a language, since language skills could not go over 100.

- The messages for eating and drinking now say "Chomp... Chomp," or "Glug... Glug..." so that they can't be copied with emotes.

- Helms on Barbarians, Trolls, and Ogres should no longer block the first person view when in combat.

- Sirens Grotto has been changed a bit. It should be a more interesting zone now.

NOTE Boisterous shouts can be heard across the lands as carriers herald the arrival of the latest volume of their city's newspapers. Citizens rush to get a copy of these publications to read the featured articles, latest gossip, and community news for their home town.

- The EverQuest Team

July 10, 2001 3:00 am

Bug Fixes - The "NPC unerringly sticks on pet" AI bug implemented in the last patch has been fixed. This resolves a bug that occurred a short while ago that would cause pets to be the focus for most attacks by NPCs.

- Fixed the animation problem where an animation played on the upper body would get stuck. This could be seen by starting to cast a spell and then walking forward while it was playing the casting animation.

- Fixed a bug that wouldn't allow a player to target an invisible PC or NPC with the F7 or F8 keys even if they had See Invisible up.

- Stacking issues with 'change form' type spells have been corrected. Lich and Clarity will no longer stack, nor will Spirit of Wolf and Wolf Form.

- The bug with screenshots that some people experienced when using 32- bit color mode should be fixed.

Item and Vendor Adjustments - Changed the forged Antonian Javelins to be stackable.

- Gnome Skin Sleeves are now droppable and rentable.

- Spiderling and Spider Silks are now stackable

- Spider Legs are now stackable.

- Tarnished weapons worth slightly more to the vendors than the rusty ones.

- Reduced the weight of the monk only Black Pantherskin armor.

- All Sheets of metal and Folded Sheets of metal are now stackable.

- Rangers will now be able to wear Girdle of Reflection

- There is now a vendor in Felwithe that sells the Enchant Ores series of enchanter spells.

Zone and Quest Changes - The Crazed Ghouls should be less of a problem in Unrest.

- The Monk red headband quest should now be available again.

- We've added a few more Yew Leaf spawns.

- Reevaluated the values of the various fish fillets. All fish vendors should return to normal, but they won't be paying as well for certain fishy items. This resolves a problem that was created with the increased value of player made food items all over Norrath. Some of food items were made too valuable, and merchants were complaining to their union leaders...

- The EverQuest Team

July 24, 2001 3:00 am

Item Changes - Silver Chitin Hand Wraps' haste effect has been repaired. - The Smite scroll no longer lists Enchanters as a class that can use it. - The Augment Death scroll no longer lists Shadowknights as a class that can use it. - Many pelts have been made stackable. Those that are not stackable now are quest items that will not be made stackable.

Spell Changes - Focus of Spirit will now stack with Voice of the Berserker. - Barrier of Force will now stack with Protection of the Glades. - Manaskin and Protection of the Glades will now stack.

Trade Skill Changes - Repaired some class/deity combinations on two of the deity specific pottery Idols.

Changes to Sullon Zek - There are no faction hits for killing half-elves in any city. - If an Erudite of Paineel is killed in Paineel the killer takes a faction hit (existing rule). - If an Erudite of Erudin is killed in Erudin the killer takes a faction hit (new rule). - Bards can't cast harmful spells on boats. - If a character kills a higher level character, the higher level character will always lose experience. This is in addition to the fact that any player killed within the + or - 5 level range will lose experience. - Goods and Neutrals will now be able to turn in Greater Insignias for a Magician only summon corpse potion usable only at levels over 45th. - Characters under level 6 will no longer be immune to PvP in many adventure zones. Players will be notified when they enter such zones.

Misc. Changes - /target playername will now work on invisible targets as long as the character doing the targeting has the ability to see invisible.

NOTE Boisterous shouts can be heard across the lands as carriers herald the arrival of the latest volume of their city's newspapers. Citizens rush to get a copy of these publications to read the featured articles, latest gossip, and community news for their hometowns.

- The EverQuest Team

August 15, 2001 3:00 am

Spell Changes - Celestial Tranquility and Call of Earth will now stack - Some stacking issues with Torpor have been corrected. - Celestial Cleansing will fizzle less now - Cannibalize should fizzle slightly less often now

Zone Changes - Updated some pathing in Runnyeye, Paineel, Siren's Grotto and Kedge. - The Drowned Citizens are back, for sure this time. - Fixed a bug that was not allowing some NPCs in Kael to see invisible creatures as they should. - Restored "charmability" of most NPCs (merchants will remain uncharmable) in Kael due to fix of combat AI bug listed bellow under Miscellaneous Changes.

Item Changes - The Giant Tree Flayer is now Large instead of Tiny. - Staff of Temperate Flux has been changed to main hand only. - Ring of Frost Spiders can now be worn. - Robe of the Seacaller should now be equipable.

Trade Skill Changes - Imbued Field Plate Boots should be working properly now.

Sullon Zek Changes - Changed the way resists are calculated when a Player Character casts a spell on another Player Character on Sullon Zek. Resist modifiers based on level will now be more smoothly distributed and will allow lower level characters a slightly better chance to land spells on higher level characters. At the same time giving lower level characters a slightly better chance to resist spells cast on them by higher level characters. - Characters below 6th level cannot be pick pocketed in any zone. - Guards have a better chance of aggro'ing a rogue that fails at picking pockets near guards.

Miscellaneous Changes - Fixed a recently introduced combat AI bug that caused NPCs to focus unduly on attacking pets rather than PCs - Added a few crowns to the list of items that can be traded in for new crowns with new textures. The same NPCs that were interested in trading out your helms will now trade your crowns. Please keep in mind that they will not be trading them back to you. Once you get the new look it's yours to keep, even if it clashes with your favorite eye shadow.

NOTE Boisterous shouts can be heard across the lands as carriers herald the arrival of the latest volume of their city's newspapers. Citizens rush to get a copy of these publications to read the featured articles, latest gossip, and community news for their hometowns.

- The EverQuest Team

August 22, 2001 3:00 am

Crashing Bug Fixes - Fixed the problem that was causing zones to crash in some instances.

- Corrected a bug that would cause some people to hang up while waiting for a sound event between the splash and character-select screens.

Item Change - The Green Flower should be working again.

Spell Change - Fixed a stacking bug that allowed multiple Levitation buffs to stack.

Sullon Zek Changes - The Resist code changes we made with the last patch should be working properly now. Here is the text about that change:

"Changed the way resists are calculated when a Player Character casts a spell on another Player Character on Sullon Zek. Resist modifiers based on level will now be more smoothly distributed and will allow lower level characters a slightly better chance to land spells on higher level characters. At the same time giving lower level characters a slightly better chance to resist spells cast on them by higher level characters."

- Cancel Magic spells should now work across teams.

- Characters should no longer disappear when Mesmerized or stunned.

August 29, 2001

Located on the small continent of Odus, the Stonebrunt Mountains are rich with vegetation and distinctive hills that give way to the towering Mount Klaw; the largest mountain in Odus and home to the Kerran village of Kejeka. The zone of Stonebrunt is designed to be a mid-level, outdoor zone similar in scope and scale to the Lake of Ill Omen on Kunark, which has proven to be a very popular zone in EverQuest.

September 11, 2001 3:00 am

Spell Changes - Changed all enchanter mesmerization spells so that they overwrite Screaming Terror

- Changed Shaman epic effect (Curse of the Spirits) so that it would not conflict with certain Damage over Time spells.

- The Emissary of Thule Necromancer pet is now immune to fear

- Beneficial buffs that don't have an ability drain component on them can now be clicked off.

Miscellaneous Updates - The server selection screen now only gives information on whether or not a server is up instead of providing player counts. In addition, the "count" option on the /who command has been restricted to internal personnel. Servers on the server selection screen are still ordered from least-populated to most populated in order to assist players in choosing the least populated server.

- Harla Dar has been repaired (this happened sometime earlier than today, but we wanted you to know).

- Reactivated broken zone line between Qeynos to the Sewers. A dead halfling was stuck in the drainpipe and has been removed.

- Fixed a long-standing bug that was causing Feign Death to fail when several characters were on the NPC's hate list along with the character using Feign Death. We'd like to extend much thanks to the monk community who helped us track this one down. Also fixed a problem with the monk's 'Block' skill which inadvertantly was recapped at a lower than normal skill level in recent months. Kudos to "Faned" of the "Monkly Business" bulletin board who brow-beat Gordon with the facts until he gave in and looked at the code :)

- As announced earlier this week, the Belt of the Cenobite was made useable by some inappropriate classes/races in the last patch. This has been corrected.

- Several quest components in zones with the Trivial Loot Code will now be lootable regardless of level.

Norrathian News Boisterous shouts can be heard across the lands as carriers herald the arrival of the latest volume of their city's newspapers. Citizens rush to get a copy of these publications to read the featured articles, latest gossip, and community news for their hometowns.

Announcing Test of Tactics III Yes you heard right, Test of Tactics will be making its return to the lands of Norrath in October and November. This event will present teams of 18 members in a battle to the death. Only the strong of body and mind will survive and come out of the arena victorious. For more information on the event and sign up for please look on Harpy's Head Tavern at http://everquest.station.sony.com/hht/events/.

- The EverQuest Team

September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack Response

"The staff of Sony Online Entertainment wish to extend their condolences and prayers to the victims, and the families of the victims, lost in today’s horrific events. We share in your grief during these difficult times."

The quote from our front page expresses how we all feel here in the office. I only want to extend my personal sympathies to all the families that this has touched.

We have received many letters, and I want to thank you all for sending them in. It's obvious that we will all be different people from here forward. If I don't dwell on this in my responses here it is only because I know that none of us will forget what has happened, and that you come here for entertainment not reminders of tragedy.

Alan

September 13, 2001

Sony Online Entertainment, is asking for your help in locating someone involved in the recent terror:

Sony Online Entertainment needs your help in locating Gregory Trost. Gregory is a nephew of an SOE employee and his last known location was the 86th floor of Tower Two in the World Trade Center. With the tragic events that took place on September 11, the Trost family is anxious for any information regarding Gregory. If you have any information on Gregory's whereabouts, please contact Sony Online Entertainment at this special address. greginfo@station.sony.com

[Editor Note: Gregory Trost was later found to be among the nearly 3000 people killed in the World Trade Center disaster.]

September 25, 2001 3:00 am

Spell Changes - We have removed the changes to bard song stacking that were made with the recent emergency patch. We will be reviewing those changes for possible update in a future patch.

Item Changes - The Shaman Epic effect has been returned to its previous effect (and it should conflict with fewer Damage over Time spells, as was the intention for the change made last patch).

Quest Changes - Ivory Sky Diamond is now dropping as it should.

- Fixed an error in a Stonebrunt quest where an NPC was handing out the wrong reward.

Miscellaneous - Added some code that might fix a bug with female hair and Erudite hoods that caused them to fail to appear sometimes when a helmet was removed. This would cause some characters to look as though the back of their head was missing at times.

- Mouselook will now work a little differently when in the first two third-person camera modes (overhead and chase). They will work similarly to first-person mouselook (i.e. your character's heading will change when you move the mouse left or right, the left and right movement keys will cause your player to strafe, and the camera angle will pitch up or down when you move the mouse forward or back). These changes should make those first two third-person camera modes more useful.

- The EverQuest Team

September 30, 2001

Firiona Vie server is available on Test now:

Or it will be very shortly... You can get to this server by running testeverquest.exe from your EverQuest directory. Please read the Test Server disclaimer (available in the Test Server patch message) carefully before playing on the Test Server.

Here is part of the message from the Test Server.

Firiona Vie Server The new Firiona Vie Server is now available for testing. As usual, please keep in mind that this is a Test server and we will be changing things as time goes by. The Test Server Disclaimer shown above applies to this server as well. Please be aware that when the server 'goes Live' all existing characters from the beta periods will be removed.

There are many special rules for this server. We will be keeping an updated list of these rules on our Developer's Corner message board. Please head over to www.everquest.com and head to the message boards for the most recent information about this server.

Here is the preliminary list of rules. To read this information later, you can refer to the testeqnews.txt file in your EverQuest folder.

Firiona Vie Server Feature List This is a new server, not a split server. Nor will there be any transfers to this server.

Characters will be wiped before the server goes Live.

This is a PvE (Player vs. Environment) server, NOT a PvP (Player vs. Player) server. In other words, it's a standard 'blue' server with the same rules and features regarding PvP as the vast majority of our servers. It is not one of the 'Zeks'.

Auction restricted to city zones: Qeynos, Surefall Glade, Highkeep, Freeport, Rivervale, Erudin, Halas, Neriak, Grobb, Oggok, Greater Faydark, Ak'Anon, Kaladim, Felwithe, Paineel, Cabilis, Kael and Thurgadin.

Beneficial buff spells will not work on characters 20 levels lower than the caster.

Each character will be assigned an "alignment" upon creation. This alignment will be described in brief on the character creation screen (in the same location the their Deity is described).

Each character will be able to change their alignment once any time after they reach 10th level if they choose. A character is not required to change alignments, but may do so any time after attaining 10th level. The player will be able to chose from a list of alignments based on their race, class and deity.

A character's alignment will determine whether or not they can group or guild with other characters. (Note: The Guild portion of this code has not yet been implemented, and no guilds will be forming on this server until we can get it working).

A character's alignment will determine an experience bonus or penalty when grouping with other characters.

A character's alignment will determine if they can cast beneficial spells on other characters (including resurrections).

Language skills will improve only through group chat in the same zone and from /say.

Languages will only improve 1 point each hour and will be capped at level*5+5 skill points.

Common will not exist. A Human language will be added and only made easily available to certain races.

One character per account.

The Trivial Loot Code will be in effect in all zones.

Very few items will be No-Drop. Exceptions will include things such as newbie notes and epic weapons.

Bind Affinity will be restricted for all characters to locations where melee characters can bind on other servers.

/emote will be language specific

All characters will be /roleplay.

/alignment will display the alignment of your character and probably a more detailed description of that alignment.

Trivial Loot Code Briefly, the Trivial Loot Code works like this: If a character kills an NPC and that NPC does not give them experience, then the Trivial Loot Code takes effect. If any member of a group does not get experience for a kill, the Trivial Loot Code will take effect. The Trivial Loot Code prevents magical, lore and no-drop items from appearing on the corpse. Normal items and coins will appear on the corpse in all cases as usual.

October 5, 2001 Press Release - Graphics Upgrades

THE WORLD OF EVERQUEST® GOES HIGH RESOLUTION WITH EVERQUEST: THE SHADOWS OF LUCLIN™ EXPANSION

-Old World Environments To Rival Luclin's Beauty With Improved Graphics-

SAN DIEGO, CA - October 5, 2001- Sony Online Entertainment Inc., (SOE) announced today that EverQuest®: The Shadows of Luclin™ will launch with an additional CD-ROM featuring a complete upgrade to all textures throughout the original world of Norrath and all previous expansions.

"We are pleased to make this surprise announcement," said Brad McQuaid, Chief Creative Officer & Vice President, Sony Online Entertainment. "EverQuest players will be amazed at the clarity the texture upgrade provides and we feel the gameplay experience will be richly enhanced."

When EverQuest originally shipped in 1999, the development team utilized 32 x 32 low-resolution pixels because of graphics technology at the time. With the advent of superior graphic cards, the upgraded texture resolution featured in EverQuest: The Shadows of Luclin will be 256 x 256 pixels and occasionally as large as 512 x 512 pixels. This vast improvement in quality will make Norrath appear more vibrant and detailed than ever before.

"We have gone through the entire game and applied the new higher resolution textures by hand," said Scott McDaniel, EverQuest Art Lead, Sony Online Entertainment. "The sheer size of EverQuest has made this upgrade quite a project. To see the old zones in high resolution is really exciting for the entire team."

EverQuest: The Shadows of Luclin features over 24 new zones, rideable mounts, all new character models, new facial animations, and over 120 new spells and will be available on retail shelves in December 2001. For more information visit the official Shadows of Luclin website at .

The Station (www.station.com) is the official provider of EverQuest, with software updates and news about the game, message boards and other community features, as well as an easy-to-use billing system for EverQuest's monthly subscription fee.

Sony Online Entertainment Inc. (SOE), the online gaming division of Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment, is a worldwide leader in massively multiplayer online gaming. Headquartered in San Diego, California, SOE develops, publishes and distributes entertainment for the PC and online markets. With more than 10 million registered users, SOE's award- winning website, The Station® (www.station.com) hosts a variety of entertaining games and player communities spanning all genres. In addition to blockbuster hits EverQuest® and Jeopardy! Online, SOE has an array of cutting-edge online games in development such asPlanetSide, Star Wars Galaxies™ and Sovereign™.

October 8, 2001

Item Changes - Increased the duration on Song of the Deep Seas (the proc on a bardic weapon) dramatically.

- Modified the effect of Feast of Blood (weapon proc) it is now a DoT lifetap

- Added a texture to Flayed Barbarian Skin Leggings.

- Added Illusion: Barbarian to the Flayed Barbarian Hide Mask.

Miscellaneous Changes - The last language used by your character will be stored in your eqclient.ini file when you log out. This means that if the last character you were playing was speaking Elvish, then when you log back in with any character, that character will be speaking Elvish if he can, otherwise it will be set to a default language (most often Common).

Magic System Changes There is a more detailed explanation of these changes posted on our Developer's Corner. Please visit there for more details (either at www.everquest.com or http://boards.station.sony.com/ubb/everquest/cgi- bin/Ultimate.cgi). Here is a summary of the changes:

- The level-based spell resistance bonus inherent in super-high level NPCs has been reduced significantly.

- Several NPCs have had their resistances reduced. Each of them was examined carefully, and resistances changed as seemed appropriate. For some of these NPCs other things were changed as well to compensate for their increased susceptibility to spells, such as armor improvements or perhaps greater hit points, if needed for that NPC.

- NPCs that were highly magic resistant in order to make them immune to certain spells can now be given specific immunity to those spells. This means that they can be made immune to critical spells, as intended, and still be generally less resistant to magic. Players will receive a message similar to the one that is already given for Mesmerization spells when they cast a spell on an NPC that it is specifically immune to.

IMPORTANT NOTE: It is very important to note that we have not made any NPCs immune to spells that they were not already immune to. Many NPCs that were previously immune to spells due to their high innate resistance to magic have had that resistance reduced and specific immunities added. So if you see an immunity message after attempting to cast a spell on an NPC that you hadn't seen such a message from before, understand that the NPC was already immune to that spell before due to high resistances, and the only difference is that it now has lower resistances in general and specific spell immunity (which is why you are seeing the message).

Melee Changes After extensive research, testing, and evaluation we have completed the melee portion of our class balancing. To be clear, these changes apply just to the combat aspect of melee classes. Any issues with non-combat skills, spell effects, spell selection, or non-combat aspects of classes will be evaluated in the near future. With the completion of the melee combat balancing, we will be moving onto spells and spell casting classes.

Due to the extensive nature of these changes, we can't describe them in detail here. A detailed summary will be available on our Developer's Corner message board. Please visit www.everquest.com and our forums for more information.

Summary of Melee Changes - Two-Handed Weapons have been given an increased damage bonus for characters over level 50. Also, certain post-epic quality two-handers have been improved.

- Warriors have had their taunt skill cap increased to 230 at 60th level. Also, the Blades of Strategy and Tactics can now be used in either hand.

- Rogues, as the primary user of piercing weapons, will benefit from an improvement in the quality of a few existing high-end daggers. At some future date new piercing weapons will be added to the game to fill gaps in equipment availability.

- Monks will now be on an improved combat table at levels 55 and again to a better table at 60. Monks now have the ability to Triple Attack at 60th level. The minimum damage done by Flying Kick will be greatly increased for monks starting at 51st level and scaling up to level 60. We also intend to add more monk weapons in the future to fill equipment gaps.

- Rangers have their Double Attack skill cap raised to 245. They have also gained an innate offensive bonus that starts at level 55 and increases until level 60. Ranger's Defense skill cap has been raised to 220, and their Riposte skill cap has been raised to 185.

- Paladins and Shadowknights, besides the benefits they gain from the two-handed weapons change mentioned above, have also been moved to the same combat tables as warriors. In the future we intend to examine the existing one-handed weapons useable by knights for possible upgrades. We are also increasing the Taunt skill cap for these two classes to 220.

- Bards have had their 1h blunt and 1h slash skill caps increased to 250. Their piercing skill cap has been increased to 240. Their Offense skill cap has been raised to 252. Bards are also being moved to the same combat table with all the other melee and hybrid classes (save monks who have separate tables after level 55). Bards Parry skill cap has been raised to 185 as well. Finally, the Singing Shortsword can now be equipped in the off hand and still give full song enhancing benefits.

Please read the detailed explanation of these changes on our Developer's Corner message boards at http://boards.station.sony.com/ubb/everquest/cgi-bin/Ultimate.cgi

Firiona Vie (Roleplaying Preferred) server goes Live Our newest special rules server is now available. Firiona Vie is designated as roleplaying preferred. There are many special rules for this server, please read over them carefully before playing. We will be keeping an updated list of these rules on our web site at http://everquest.station.sony.com/guidebook/firionavie.jsp .

Firiona Vie Server Feature List - This is a new server, not a split server. Nor will there be any transfers to this server. - Characters will be wiped before the server goes Live. - This is a PvE (Player vs. Environment) server, NOT a PvP (Player vs. Player) server. In other words, it's a standard 'blue' server with the same rules and features regarding PvP as the vast majority of our servers. It is not one of the 'Zeks'. - Auction restricted to city zones: Qeynos, Surefall Glade, Highkeep, Freeport, Rivervale, Erudin, Halas, Neriak, Grobb, Oggok, Greater Faydark, Ak'Anon, Kaladim, Felwithe, Paineel, Cabilis, Kael and Thurgadin. - Beneficial buff spells will not work on characters 20 levels lower than the caster. - Each character will be assigned an "alignment" upon creation. This alignment will be described in brief on the character creation screen (in the same location that their Deity is described). - Each character will be able to change their alignment once any time after they reach 10th level if they choose. A character is not required to change alignments, but may do so any time after attaining 10th level. The player will be able to chose from a list of alignments based on their race, class and deity. - A character's alignment will determine whether or not they can group with other characters. - A character's alignment will determine an experience bonus or penalty when grouping with other characters. - A character's alignment will determine if they can cast beneficial spells on other characters (including resurrections). - Language skills will improve only through group chat in the same zone and from /say. - Languages will only improve 1 point each hour and will be capped at level*5+5 skill points. - Common will not exist. A Human language will be added and only made easily available to certain races. - One character per account. - The Trivial Loot Code will be in effect in all zones. - Very few items will be No-Drop. Exceptions will include things such as newbie notes and epic weapons. - Bind Affinity will be restricted for all characters to locations where melee characters can bind on other servers. - /emote will be language specific - All characters will be /roleplay. - /alignment will display the alignment of your character and probably a more detailed description of that alignment.

Trivial Loot Code Briefly, the Trivial Loot Code works like this: If a character kills an NPC and that NPC does not give them experience, then the Trivial Loot Code takes effect. If any member of a group does not get experience for a kill, the Trivial Loot Code will take effect. The Trivial Loot Code prevents magical, lore and no-drop items from appearing on the corpse. Normal items and coins will appear on the corpse in all cases as usual.

For detailed information about the alignment system on the Firiona Vie server, please visit our web site: http://everquest.station.sony.com/guidebook/firionavie.jsp

NOTE Boisterous shouts can be heard across the lands as carriers herald the arrival of the latest volume of their city's newspapers. Citizens rush to get a copy of these publications to read the featured articles, latest gossip, and community news for their hometowns.

A Tale from Norrath Adventurers, glory seekers, and plunder-hungry knaves,

A few new tavern tales have been circulating from across the Deep. It appears that strife and civil unrest have once again plagued the lands of Kunark. Stories of treachery and terror within the ranks of the Sarnak have spilled forth from the mountain fortress of Chardok.

Only a few of the most cunning spies have made their way into the Sarnak hive during this brief time of turmoil, and their reports may have serious implications. The Brood of Di`zok seems to be more organized than before. Their leadership is becoming more structured... and much more brutal. Production in the mines appears to be increasing and soldiers have been amassing in great numbers.

Other tales have come from this mountain fortress as well. Terror squads and interrogators have decimated the ranks of reported Sarnak traitors. These squads have been working under the leadership of one of the Sarnak Collective's newest council members, Korucust. It can only be presumed that this cleansing is another step towards strengthening the foul brood.

These tales are hard to confirm, since many of your adventurous kind are prone to drink and to the occasional mistruth. If these tales are true, it would only stand to reason that new dangers may reveal new wealth and glory. Perhaps it is time for you to gather your best gear, finish your mug of ale, and head out to investigate.

Good luck adventurers.

- The EverQuest Team

October 31, 2001

The scheduled patch is now complete. All servers are now up and operational.

- The EverQuest Operations Team

November 7, 2001

Project M Implemented Tonight we have patched something to the PvP servers that many players have been waiting for. The ability to play that gnoll, orc, or the cute and fuzzy rat. On your character select screen you will notice another button in the upper right part of your screen called "Monster". Clicking this button will randomly place you in a low-level NPC in a random zone. You will be given full control of the creature to do with it what you like. You may hunt and kill other creatures. You may even attack other players.

Some things to remember when playing your own personal monster (NPC).

-You will not be able to interact with players or NPC's other than moving and hitting attack. -You cannot speak, trade, sell, or do anything else that a player can do. -You will spawn with normal loot for the monster you are playing and Player Characters will be able to kill you for loot and experience. -If you are a spell casting monster you might want to take a moment to memorize some spells. -Once you die, you will return to the character select screen where you may choose to return as another NPC or play your normal character. -You may gain experience, levels, and skills as this NPC, but once you die, it is all lost. You will need to start over the next time you choose to be a NPC character. -You can't zone as a monster. -Monster PCs (MPCs) can not loot, sell, or gain items. They only get what they start out with.

This ability to play a monster is being implemented for PvP servers only as we have no plans to implement non-consensual PvP on a non PvP server.

However, we are still working with this system. We may find other ways to implement Project M on the non-PvP servers that are acceptable. We aren't done looking at the possible uses of this new feature.

PvP Server Related - Guards, when seeing PCs in combat, will now attack the one that they like the least (the one with the lowest appropriate faction). If all the PCs involved are highly regarded (have very high faction) the guards will allow them to resolve their own issues without interfering.

- Guards should also refrain from attacking PCs that are attacked by pets of any sort.

- Sullon Zek now has an across the board experience bonus of 20%, and the experience loss on all deaths on Sullon Zek is now 50% less.

Zone Specific Changes - Kael now has specific bind locations, located only at the entryways. This means that binding will only be possible in those areas.

- Anti-bottom feeding code has been removed from the Stonebrunt Mountains and the Warrens.

- Added a melee bind location to the dock in Iceclad.

Bug Fixes - Fixed a bug that allowed corpses to exist inside walls. Now if a corpse ends up in a location that is not 'valid' the corpse will be moved to the 'safe coordinates' of the zone. Also, the /corpse command will now summon your own corpse to you anywhere in the zone as long as that corpse is on the safe spot of the zone. This should prevent corpses from being stuck in walls.

- Fixed it so that Critical Hit damage messages match the actual damage done.

- The visible damage bonus modifier on two-handed weapons has been corrected. The value that was displayed was incorrect, no change has been made to the damage bonus itself.

Item Changes - Fixed an issue with the Bardic Epic weapon. Now if the bard has his Epic and an instrument that gives bonuses to songs, the best effect will take precedence, rather than the Epic bonuses always being used.

- Cloak of Imperception should now have charges. You will need to exchange your old one for a new one with your GM within the next five days.

- Donal's Chestplate of Mourning has unlimited charges again.

Gameplay/Interface Changes/Additions - We have changed the way the /consider command works. We have added a 'light blue' area between green and blue. NPCs that used to /consider green but gave experience will now /consider light blue, as well as NPCs of slightly lower level than those greens. You will always get experience for something that is light blue. You will not receive experience for greens. At the same time, by including lower level NPCs in the light blue /consider, we have increased the range of lower level NPCs that will grant experience. This will be most noticeable for characters of higher level.

- Added /targetgroupbuff. Type /targetgroupbuff on to activate, off to turn it off. When on, all group buff spells you cast will require a target but will affect everyone grouped (and in range) with that target, even if it is not your own group. When it is off your group buff spells will act normally. This will only work with group buffs that have a duration, and will not affect heals, portals or change form spells.

- Added code that will put one item onto your cursor if it won't fit into your inventory due to a cancelled trade or looting items (and other cases). This will only work if there is not already an item on the cursor.

- Added code that prevents player characters from dropping coins on the ground. This should prevent the loss of coins due to accident or scam.

- Made a modification to the chase camera mouselook code. Moving the mouse forward or back in this camera view will make the camera move up and down, and the camera also automatically pitches to keep your character in view.

- You now see the number of hit points you are healed, and you also now see how many hit points you heal when healing others.

Skill Changes - Bard Piercing cap was raised to 250 at 60th level.

- Foraging and Fishing will now result in a wider variety of items, especially in zones that have unusual items available to forage or fish (such as quest items). Quest and unique items were too common in zones that had them, often making it hard to use those skills to obtain items such as food and drink. These quest and rare items will now actually be rarely foraged or fished, as they should have been. Such items will still be available, even to those with low foraging skills, but they will be more easily found by those who have practiced the skills.

Norrathian News Boisterous shouts can be heard across the lands as carriers herald the arrival of the latest volume of their city's newspapers. Citizens rush to get a copy of these publications to read the featured articles, latest gossip, and community news for their hometowns.

- The EverQuest Team

November 8, 2001 3:00 am

Follow-up Patch We had a couple of bugs pop up in yesterday's patch. Rather than having everyone wait to see them fixed we've elected to roll them in now:

Bards lost the ability to use item effects while moving. This has been fixed.

Monks can now train mend again.

Fixed a collision problem that caused people to fall through some walls.

Fixed a problem with /targetgroupbuff that allowed people to cast combat portal spells on others.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

- The EverQuest Team

November 28, 2001

Server Outage for Shadows of Luclin Launch In order to update our server for the launch of EverQuest: Shadows of Luclin, all servers will be taken down starting at noon on Monday, December 3rd. They will be brought back up again on Tuesday, December 4th at 8 am (Pacific Time - which is -8:00 GMT).

We regret the down time that setting up the new expansion requires. Shadows of Luclin offers some exciting new content as well as a fantastic new graphics engine. We hope that you'll agree with us that Shadows of Luclin is well worth the extended patch time.

Thanks for your patience.

DirectX 8.0 or higher Required for EverQuest When we update the servers on December 3rd for Shadows of Luclin, we will also be updating a lot of the code for the existing game. This code is written specifically for use with DirectX 8.0 and higher, and should provide better performance to most of our customers. The improvement will be most noticeable for people using newer hardware.

This will require that all EverQuest players update their DirectX to version 8.0 or better to play EverQuest. We will be providing an instructional page to help people with this upgrade in the very near future at www.everquestlive.com. If you want to test your DirectX 8 configuration and drivers sooner rather than later, you can do so by running "TestEverQuest.exe" in your EverQuest directory and logging on to the Test Server. Please view the patch message there for information should you have any problems logging in.

- The EverQuest Team

Dcember 3, 2001

EQClient INI Setting There's some confusion about the information that's been released on the Test server over the past couple of days, and that confusion is resulting in some people having trouble playing EverQuest. To clear it up:

The GraphicsDLL setting in your EQClient.ini file should read "GraphicsDLL=EQGfx_Dx7.dll" regardless of what server you are playing on or what version of DirectX you are running. If you are having problems getting in to EverQuest, specifically, problems crashing prior to reaching character select, please check and set this entry in your EQClient.ini as necessary.

Also, as a reminder, all EverQuest subscribers will need to have DirectX 8.1 or better installed on their system in order to play beginning Tuesday morning. The latest version of DirectX can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/directx.

- The EverQuest Team

December 4, 2001 6:00 am

Welcome to Luclin

"As you know, youngster, we of the League of Antonican Bards have made it our primary goal to travel to places before others. It is our duty to see what hasn't yet been seen and to make song of it when we return. We carry news, song and spirit to all of Norrath. We have also taken it upon ourselves to carry personal news in the form of letters wherever possible. And that's what I've called you here to talk about.

...

No, I am not assigning you the duty of establishing a mail route into Grobb. We've lost far too many young bards trying to do that. Recruitment of smart young lads and lasses is nearly impossible when they all think that we plan to send them out to become bard fillet. We've only been able to recruit youngsters that no other guild wanted because they were so...

...

No, of course I don't mean you.

Now stop interrupting.

I have a job for you. You know, don't you, that Al'Kabor has once again been clomping about using his powerful magics without much regard for consequences, don't you?

...

/em sighs.

Ok, your FIRST task is to read up on current events! ()

Your second task is to find out if the rumors about his recent experiments are true. They say (and "they" are pretty reliable) that things such as noble-looking Kerrans calling themselves the Vah Shir, strange beasts of burden and new spells and songs have started showing up on Antonica. They also say that this is all due to the experiments of that Erudite Wizard Al'Kabor. You are to head out to one of the great wizard spires and investigate. If you can, interview one of these cat people and bring us back one of these horses they talk about...

...

Maybe you should talk to my assistant about things like directions out of the city and where you can find some shoes more appropriate for travel."

All this you overhear as you wait outside for your turn to talk to the loremasters of the League of Antonican Bards.

The door opens and you see a dejected and confused looking young bard step out. Following him out the door you hear a bellow,

"I also expect you to let everyone know that we are NO LONGER trying to establish mail routes to Grobb! Trolls can't read very well anyway."

Shadows of Luclin opens up new adventures and new challenges, as well as new rewards for those with a spirit of adventure.

Are you up to the challenge?

Notes for Shadows of Luclin customers

IMPORTANT: do not lose your Shadows of Luclin CDs. Because of the immense amount of data on the three Shadows of Luclin CDs, you will not be able to just copy the executable file into a new directory and download the rest of the expansion. We have placed restrictions on the amount of data that customers can download from our patcher so that massive patching as a replacement for reinstalling from the disk will not impact our other customers. So if you have a hard drive problem or you wish to install EverQuest on a new computer, you will need to have your CD to do so.

TECH SUPPORT: Please visit our Tech Support Center at if you have any problems with your Luclin installation.

/facepick - this new command will allow those of you with Shadows of Luclin to change your characters face. It will only work for characters using the new models. If you've turned off Gnomes and your character is a Gnome, you will not be able to use this command on that character. And it will, obviously, only work for those with Shadows of Luclin installed.

/dismount - This command allows your character to dismount from a horse if for some reason he has lost the ability to do so using the bridle. There is no /mount command, only the bridle will allow you to mount a horse.

Other Changes with this Patch

Along with our preparations for the introduction of Shadows of Luclin, we have made a few other changes with this patch:

Gameplay Changes

- Increased the amount of mana given by high Intelligence and Wisdom scores, as well as that granted by items and spells.

- Fixed a bug that was causing rogues to critical with every use of a thrown weapon.

- Fixed a bug that caused the experience bar to displaying incorrectly after leveling. This also seemed to cause a crash in certain cases when in F10 view.

PvP Changes

- PVP looting will now display to the group.

- Empty corpses will no longer disappear when looted by an enemy player, they will decay at the normal rate for empty corpses.

- Guards in 'guard zones', such as cities, will continue to protect characters that they find the least offensive (the one with the highest faction). But guards in outdoor zones will be less likely to join in a fight. They will only come to the aid of people that they like. Otherwise they will not get involved in PvP combat.

- Etched Peridot of Nature will be removed from all locations, including those held by players on their characters or in their banks. This item was not intended to be available until Shadows of Luclin went live, and then only in Luclin zones.

Spell Changes

- Spells that heal less than 10 points of damage will not generate a message to the player.

- Velious portal teeth (Great Divide, Wakening Lands and Cobalt Scar) are no longer required to teleport to those locations. These items are also no longer soul bound.

- Fixed a bug with the Bard Song of Occlusion

New Commands

- /stand now implemented. We've added this command because not everyone speaks programmer and would think that the logical reverse of /sit would be /sit off. :)

- /particledensity command - Switches particle density on the fly without having to click it in the menus and exit the game.

Some new things you'll see

- We now have the ability to flag an NPC as non-targetable. This in effect renders the NPC non-attackable as well. Clicking on one of these NPCs will cause your current target selection to clear. This functionality is used primarily for the presentation of content. For instance, if we want an NPC to spawn and tell you a story, he can tell his story without being attacked mid-sentance by other players. It also opens up some pretty interesting content avenues. As an example, we can make NPCs unharmable until you do a quest "stripping them of their power".

- There are several new item classes (types) in the world. For example, there are weapons that do enhanced damage versus certain races (e.g. Perhaps you'll find a +2 vs froglok sword, or a +4 vs Bear club. In addition we can do the same type of thing with types of creatures (+3 vs humanoid, +1 vs Undaed). We've also added elemental modifiers (e.g. a +4 Fire sword). The bonus value is calculated as and increased DMG stat on the weapon, except that the elemental portion is run through the resistance system before calculating the strength of your hit. There are some items out there with bonuses to some more interesting stats, but we'll leave it to you to figure them out :)

- There's a lot more out there. Be prepared to reevaluate your assumptions and redefine the way you approach the world. Proposed solutions to situations and quests that you might have previously written off saying, "They can't do that in EverQuest", might be exactly the way you need to approach the problem at hand. As fellow gamers, we envy you as you approach Luclin and find everything fresh, new, and waiting to be solved. And to those of you who aren't first to solve the quests or adventure in the new areas, we urge you to do so with your friends, and leave the spoiler sites out of it. Good luck on your journies.

Note on New Features

EverQuest: The Shadows of Luclin contains many new features which have yet to stand up to the scrutiny of 400,000 experienced players. Without doubt there will be some situations where we need to reevaluate the gameplay-impact of some of those features and adjust them accordingly to maintain game integrity. As an example, we think that they might accelerate and decelerate too quickly, but will have to wait until we see them used by a broad spectrum of players before we can make a final determination. We thank you for your patience in these matters.

Note on Impending Features As we approached our launch date we found that several features which are planned are also not yet ready for prime-time. We're currently working on the following items, many of which will be implemented in the very near future:

- Extra flora in outdoor zones. Sprigs of grass, small bushes, flowers, etc.

- A robuste merchantile system in the bazaar that lets you flag yourself as a merchant, set prices, and conduct business without having to conduct business manually with each buyer and seller.

- We will be polishing up issues regarding tinted items in game. In other words, things that shouldn't tint with a tinted item (e.g. your skin) won't tint when the feature is complete.

- Light beards on high elves, dark elves, half elves, and dwarf females will be tintable along with the hair color. We are going to leave in the ability for you to change your appearance until after we've added more customization options.

We thank you for your patience and patronage as we implement these features. Good luck with your adventures on Luclin!

- The EverQuest Team

December 6, 2001 3:00 am

Fixed Bugs - Fixed a bug that was preventing characters from being bald (those that were allowed to). - Halved the speed of the new Skeleton walk and run animations because they were playing about twice as fast as they should have been. - Fixed a bug that was causing all of the facial features (hair, beard, etc...) to switch back to default in certain cases when you switched from one face to another (faces with special eyes, like the faces with eye patches and white eye). - Fixed a crash bug with /follow. - Found and Fixed the crash bug with soldungb and everfrost and other places. - Fixed transparency code with i810 display adapters - Fixed a problem introduced into the sound engine that causes framerate problems and sound stutter in some places. - Fixed a crash bug that had to do with dying from your familiar effect. - Research the group buff bug and fixed it. - Fixed a crash bug with root and gate. - Various item and content fixes.

Hot Items (The items we're considering top priority)

- Bard issues: We're working to correct the problems bards have been experiencing with their songs. - K6 Processors: We're working to fix, or provide a work-around for problems AMD K6 users are experiencing when entering some zones. - Armor layer tinting (e.g. tinting your armor without tinting your skin)

We are reviewing the issues sent to us as they are sent in and will be doing daily patches as necessary to get everything working to your and our satisfaction as quickly as possible. Please remember that EverQuest users need to have DirectX 8.1 and the appropriate drivers for their video card. Visit our tech support center first if you are having issues:

http://everquest.station.sony.com/support/luclin/index.jsp

Thank you,

- The EverQuest Team

December 7, 2001 3:00 am

Fixes - Shaved 10 seconds of zoning for every subscriber. - Made it so familiars don't get agroed on. - Fixed several zone crash bugs - Changed a paladin spell - a design error in the spell trivialized several aspects of the high-end game. - Fixed several item and content problems. - Fixed several faction issues - some faction information released with Luclin deviated from norm.

- The EverQuest Team

December 10, 2001 3:00 am

Patch Changes - Fixed a problem that resulted in excessive swapping for people with particles turned off.

- Fear spells should again be working correctly.

- AoE fear spells will no longer work versus players on PvP Servers.

- Fixed a crash caused by a familiar dying.

- Fixed a bug with the "Alternate Advancement" system. An artifact from the removal of the class-based experience penalty several months ago resulted in hybrids gaining AAXP much faster than they should, and warriors and rogues gaining it slower. AA-point cost was designed to be the same regardless of class.

- Increased the experience cost per AA-point overall after analysis of point accruals accross the game.

- Corrected several zone-crashes. Also implemented a workaround to prevent the Hollowshade crash while we investigate the problem further.

- Fixed several miscellaneous bugs that were causing crashes or had the potential to cause crashes on varied systems.

- Fixed a bug that caused some people to crash when reentering the game after exiting.

- Addressed a good number of content-related issues (quest problems, bad items, etc).

Luclin Install - We found that the default install directory for Luclin may be wrong for some people, specifically those who have copied their EverQuest files into a directory different from their initial installation.

- Also, we've received a number of calls from Luclin subscribers who've tried logging in to their character on a friends computer that does not have an install of Luclin on it. This will not work as the files necessary for you to view Luclin content are not present unless Luclin has been installed.

- We've added code to point out both of these cases in the future.

Continued Plans - As we wrap up the technology-related issues over the course of this week, making sure that everyone who wants to play EverQuest can play EverQuest, the programming team will shift their focus to aesthetic issues such as animation speed/timing, armor tinting, face-picker operation, etc. We do indeed plan on getting to all of these issues in the very short term.

- The content-team, however, is hard at work on content-related issues right now, and stands ready to address any broken quests, items, encounter-imbalances, etc., that you may run across in your adventures. Please feel free to visit our forums off of www.everquestlive.com and submit a comment through the Developer's Corner.

Thank you for your patronage,

-The EverQuest Team

December 11, 2001 12:00 am

Patch Changes - Fixed a memory leak that was causing excessive swapping when moving between outdoor Luclin zones. - Implemented some changes to zoning that should improve times, especially for modem users. - Fixed several potential crash bugs. - You can now only have 100 unused points in your alternate advancement pool. - Fixed the bug that prevented non-Luclin subscribers from seeing the Vah Shir model. - Addressed many content-related problems. We appreciate the reports we've received. - Continued optimizations of the 3D engine.

The EverQuest Team

December 12, 2001 12:00 am

Patch Changes - Several changes to hair functionality: Expanded beard color choices for Erudite males, pushed back the camera a bit for human males when making hair selections (so they can see themselves) and fixed it so that the camera will no longer rotate around Erudites while in hair selection mode of character creation. Also fixed a bug with the left selection arrow sometimes not changing hair color. - Fixed the "Entering Luclin" message bug. This was only an errant text message, it was not causing any crashes or keeping anyone out of the game. - Fixed a bug where Vah Shir with an intelligence over a certain amount could not be created. - Fixed a bug with faction-affecting items: They were giving a bonus to all factions instead of just the intended faction - Fixed a problem with arrows and quivers that would result in the person being logged out. - Adjusted the cost of Combine Platemail to be inline with its stats and other armor available within game. - Made several gameplay changes to The Grey. A single group having the ability to simultaneously engage and prevail against 35+ experience- giving creatures is not in line with the desire for risk vs. reward and the promotion of balanced groups. - Removed some bad NPCs in Chardok. - Tuned encounters in The Fungus Grove, Maiden's Eye, and Dawnshroud Peaks. - Clarified some quest dialog in Sanctus Seru. - Tuned The Deep, also improved the variety of drops. - Improved pathing in The Temple of Ssraeshza - Improved pathing in Sanctus Seru - Improved pathing in Echo Caverns - Added some newbie beastlord quests in the old world. - Removed the "Lore" tag from the "Darkened Knight's Bracer"

The EverQuest Team

December 13, 2001 12:00 am

Texture Cache In an effort to improve loading and zoning times, we've added the ability to cache textures to your hard drive. One of the things that your computer is doing when you load up the game or change zones is building textures and putting them into RAM on your computer. Each time you log in or zone the game has to create the textures you need and put them into RAM for use during gameplay.

This, obviously, takes a little time.

We have added an option that allows you to save that information to your hard drive rather than creating it each time you log in or zone.

This does have a few drawbacks. It will require a lot of hard drive space to store these textures. In the most extreme case it could use up as much as 1.5 GB of hard drive space, though this would be the extreme. It could, however, easily use 500 MB of space on your hard drive. And because writing all this data to your hard drive takes a little time, the first time you use this feature it will take a bit longer to log in.

The game will never allow you to fall below 500 MB of space on your hard drive when creating the texture cache. This is to prevent any problems with a shortage of space on your hard drive. But it also means that you will need to have plenty of hard drive space free to use this option; 500 MB plus the amount needed for the texture cache.

Also, if you change any of your setting for graphics {like changing the texture quality) it will have to rewrite these files, meaning that your first log in after making such a change will take longer than usual as it writes these files to your hard drive.

The benefits is that once you have allocated the hard drive space and logged in to create the needed files, the game can then read that information directly into RAM from your hard drive rather than creating them each time you log in or zone.

What this feature does not allow you to do is to increase the settings above those that are recommended. If the game suggests that you only use ten models, turning on the Texture Cache will not make it a good idea to turn on more models. This feature will not change that. Those recommendations are based on the amount of RAM you have available and your video card. The hard drive cache does not effectively add RAM to your machine, it just allows the game to save time creating the textures that your existing RAM and video card use.

There are two ways to activate this feature. You can check the 'Texture Cache' box in the Options screen, or you can turn it on from within the eqclient.ini file. To activate it, add the following line to the eqclient.ini file:

TextureCache=TRUE

This could improve load times dramatically depending on your settings. The more models and graphics features you have turned on, the greater the potential decrease in loading times you will see using the Texture Cache.

Remember: This will require a lot of hard drive space, so be certain that you have a lot of free hard drive space if you turn this option on. The more stuff you enable (models, texture quality, etc.) the more space you will need.

We expect this to be of greatest benefit to folks with 256 megs of RAM and a lot of hard drive space. The more RAM your system has, the less benefit you should expect to see by using the texture cache.

Patch Changes - Fixed a pathing problem in the waters of Acrylia Caverns - More fixes for face and hair issues: Most notably a bug with Erudite male hair color arrows changing the hair style instead of the color. - Fixed a problem that was causing the % to crash some people when using in tells. - Addressed several potential crash bugs.

December 14, 2001 3:00 am

- Removing or killing your familiar will no longer have the possibility of killing you directly. It can, however, take you down to very few hit points... - Skyshrine key is soulbound once again - Custom Velious helms should now be visible - Plate helmets should now be visible on Vah Shir - Female humans should no longer see the inside of their heads when firing a bow - Using the ESC key to exit the /facepick menu should no longer lock the right mouse button - Fixed an issue with several transparencies, including Vox and Nagafen spots, Kael giants helms, halfling helm and old dark elf model hair - The Kneel and Grovel emotes are no longer switched - The BACK and NEXT buttons on the last page of the keyboard options now work properly. - The 'ALT' pop-up for spells memorized will no longer show up if the memorized spells window is not open - Removed the mipmap setting from in-game Options-->Display menu. The mipmap setting found at the options menu before log in is now the valid way to change mipmapping settings - Improved the pathing in Echo Caverns - Staff of Living Sand and Skull-Shaped Sacrificial Hammer should no longer say that they are out of charges. - The Ruthless Bracer is now a wrist item, not a shoulder item

December 18, 2001 3:00 am

Patch Changes - Added tools to help us track serverside zone issues that have come up since the release of Luclin in an effort to solve some continuing problems. - Orb of Lost Souls will now have a casting time. - Geomantic Focus has had its effect changed. - Fixed a problem that prevented Barbarian custom Velium helms from being visible to other PCs. - Corrected a problem with horse acceleration and deceleration in extremely low framerate situations. Acceleration and deceleration now seem the same at high and low framerates. - Fonts should display correctly, regardless of desktop settings. - Hoober and his pet have returned. Yes, we used the singular... only one pet. - The wind instruments "ivory horn" and "ivory flawless horn" can now be equipped. - Added Beastlord Guildmasters to Firiona Vie and The Overthere - Added several merchants to Freeport (North and East) to round out the availability of trade supplies there.

Note about upcoming changes to the Temple of Veeshan In the next patch, we are making a few changes to the monster population in Temple of Veeshan. Places that were previously safe to camp, may not be any longer. Please be sure to not camp deep within the Temple of Veeshan on Wednesday night, or you may be unpleasantly surprised following the patch.

NOTICE TO CONSUMERS -- WINDOWS 95 EVERQUEST PLAYERS We very much regret that the dramatic upgrades to EverQuest on December 4, 2001 has made EverQuest and all expansions incompatible with Windows 95.

If you are running under the Windows 95 operating system and, therefore, can no longer play EverQuest, and your account was in good standing as of December 3, 2001, you may be entitled to receive a refund of the purchase price for the EverQuest product(s) you recently bought and any subscription money paid for the period December 4, 2001 onward.

In order to obtain a refund, you may do any of the following:

(1) Call (858) 537-0898 M-F, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. PST (this is NOT a toll free call) or (2) Send an email to refunds@soe.sony.com or (3) Send a written request for a refund to:

EQ Refunds 8928 Terman Court San Diego, CA 92121

Please include in your email or written request your name, address, telephone number, email address and station name (but NOT your password).

You will be asked for information verifying your request and, upon the issuance of a refund, your account and characters will be permanently removed from EverQuest. Please allow four to six weeks for processing.

- The EverQuest team

December 20, 2001 3:00 am

Bug Fixes - Fixed a bug with sleeves not showing properly when wearing robes

Item Changes

- Aqualung charges should now work properly

Trade Skill Changes - Regular, medium quality, high quality, mithril, brellium and adamantite rings, as well as their enchanted versions are now stackable. - Added a few trade skill vendors to Ak'Anon - Added ore, clay, pottery sketch, baking, and brewing vendors to Felwithe to round out the tradeskill supplies available in Felwithe and Kelethin. - Crafted fishing flies, special fishing poles and special baits now add a fishing skill bonus. - Made all Bait and flies equipable in the Ammo slot. - Added clay, ore and brewing supply vendors to Halas. - Added several trade skill vendors to Oggok.

Localization Information Localization on the EverQuest login/chat server has been fixed so that users can once again select French and German. Japanese and Korean have also been added.

To obtain the text files which enable a language, go to the Advanced Options screen in the patcher and click on the appropriate language box before clicking on "Download".

Soulbinders A new group has appeared in Norrath (and on Luclin as well). Rumor has it that these 'Soulbinders' have dedicated themselves to research on the power and essence of our inner being. Some call them fanatics, as they claim that knowledge of the spirit that dwells within will lead them to an understanding of the whole of existence. Citizens often treat them with the same respect and distance that they treat the Priests of Discord. However, these Soulbinders have dedicated themselves to public service, and for them that service falls along their lines of specialty...

The next time you find yourself far away from home, you might seek the services of a Soulbinder.

/ooc: We've added these "Soulbinder" NPCs to all cities that player characters can start in, as well as Firiona Vie, The Overthere, Shadowhaven and Iceclad at the request of players. It is our hope that these new NPCs will help players by reducing the time it takes to find a bind from another player character.

December 28, 2001

- Some spots in ToV no longer safe to camp out due to New Drakes and Wurm spawns being added. - A bug allowing multiple pets to be summoned has been fixed.

January 8, 2002 3:00 am

Items - All beastlord-usable items are now useable by their requisite races - Regular, medium quality, high quality, mithril, brellium and adamantite rings, as well as their enchanted versions are now stackable. (this time we mean it) - Made Rune Encrusted Short Sword rentable (was No Rent, should not have been) - Fixed Shadowscream and all related recipes so that they return the correct mallet - Reduced the price of the Fuligan Soulstone of Innoruuk and Cloudy Stone of Veeshan - Reduced the price of the first two keys for the Plane of Air - Coterie Mask of the Dead has been retroactively changed to have 5 charges as originally intended - Gauntlets of the Blood Fiend - Warrior has been removed from the wearable classes - Shiny Trinket of Speed - An appropriate level of haste has been added to this item

Interface - Added /tgb as a short version of /targetgroupbuff

- /shownames now works with the following parameters: no parameter = display the current setting. off = don't show player names over their heads 1 = show only first names of players 2 = show First and Last Name 3 = show First, Last, and Guild (if any) 4 = show Title (if any), First, Last, and Guild (if any)

Also, the LFG, AFK and LD tags will always show if names are not off. There will no longer be brackets around them, and LFG will now appear at the end of the name with the AFK and LD tags (instead of being a * at the beginning)

- A player character will always have a name over its head, even if they are skeletons (unless /shownames is off), with the exception of some rare cases when players are turned into certain NPCs - Added /ttell. This will send a tell to the player character that is currently your target. The command will also allow corpses as a valid target. /ttell'ing a player's corpse will auto-tell that player (this was actually patched earlier along with an emergency patch) - Added IRC style '/me' as a synonym for /emote (this was actually patched earlier along with an emergency patch) - Added '/send' as a synonym for /tell (this was actually patched earlier along with an emergency patch)

Spells - Necromancer Group spells should now be working, they were only affecting the caster. This includes spells such as: Degeneration, Succession of Shadows, Crippling Claudication, and Zavfeer's Theft of Vitae. These spells have also had their duration increased. Mind Wrack will be fixed soon. - Shadowknight "Torrent" spells have also been fixed and have had their duration increased as well - Flowing Thought effects will now stack - Meditating on a horse occurs only while not in combat - Mark of Retribution should work as intended - The Decession spell now requires you to be in the same group - Levitation can no longer be used in The Deep - Fixed a problem that was still allowing people to Cast Eye of Zomm in Ssra Temple - Fixed a problem that was still allowing people to cast Call of the Hero in Ssra Temple - NPCs that cannot be stunned will once again take damage from damaging stun spells (this was actually patched earlier along with an emergency patch) - Critical heals and nukes now display damage numbers (this was actually patched earlier along with an emergency patch)

Zones - Characters will no longer take falling damage when in the Bazaar - Characters can now bind in the Nexus

Alternate Advancement - Made it so the percentages of Spell Casting Fury Mastery scale a bit more - Fixed Soul Abrasion to work with a few spells that it didn't work with before - Dire Charm should no longer break (this was actually patched earlier along with an emergency patch) - Mental Clarity and Body/Mind Rejuvenation now give mana regeneration both when standing and medding, as intended

Miscellaneous - Added a few new socials: /nudge, /pat, /flex, /fidget, /purr and /smack - Changed the automatic targeting code so that it won't automatically target someone that cast a beneficial spell on you - Adjusted the timing of the Luclin Spire activations to more closely match the announcements by the Scions. This has the net effect of reducing the time between portal activations

- The EverQuest Team

January 17, 2002

Patch Update Today we are sending you a couple of new DLL files that should do the following:

- May improve performance in indoor Luclin zones

- Should improve zoning time in many cases, especially in zones with many objects/trees. May also reduce the "hitch" when other players zone in, though it probably won't remove it completely

- May reduce the cases where some players experience a performance reduction after being in a zone for a while

- Fixed a bug that was causing some portions of spell effects and the "bolts" in bolts spells to not show up.

- Generally improve stability.

How these changes affect individuals will vary, but we hope that this will improve game performance a bit over all.

- The EverQuest Team

January 23, 2002 3:00 am

Patch Information Quests - Ragefire portion of the Cleric Epic quest has been changed. Please see the Developer's Corner on our web site for more details - Added Quest NPCs to Thurgadin, Kael and Skyshrine for Beastlord quest armor - Gravel leaf tea will now fit in the combine container for the associated quest - Grimling Blood should now be dropping - Idia in the bard guild in Kelethin was telling you to turn in a quest item to the incorrect NPC. Changed quest text to reflect the correct NPC to hand the item to - In Iceclad, Keref Spiritspear won't be so unreasonable when you complete the task that he asks of you - Citizens in skyshrine no longer defend the 'vermin' spiders - Increased the drop rate of the Staff of Elemental Mastery: Earth - Bloody Shak Dratha Hearts should now be dropping - Quest of Nobility should now be working properly - Increased the spawn rate of Brother Qwinn tenfold

Items - Adjusted statistics on equipment that was dropping in the Umbral Plains. Many of the items had AC that was inconsistent with the armor types of the classes. The AC has been reduced on some pieces and raised on others. In all instances where the AC was dropped a different statistic was raised. Several items received a significant upgrade while others were downgraded - Also in regards to Umbral Plains armor, Ranger has been removed from the plate class armor that was dropping and have been added to the usable classes on the chain equivalent. Bards have been added to the plate equipment list. This might mean that some Rangers will have armor that they can't use. Our Customer Service personnel will trade out that armor for the chain equivalent - Ghoulbane is now No-Drop - SoulFire charges can only be used by Paladins (though they can be used from inventory) - Raised the armor value on many Beastlord specific armor pieces - Added effects to a few of the Wild Lord's armor pieces - Added Vah Shir to Imbrued Plate Mail useable races - Rhino Hide armor is now Druid and Monk usable - The Crustacean Shell Shield is now magic - Scroll of Knowledge can now be equipped in the primary, secondary, and range slots - Scroll of Enlightenment can now be equipped in the primary, secondary, and range slots - Thought Horror Fangs can now be thrown - Iron Scroll of War must now be worn to activate - Cloak of Thorns right click effect should work now - Runed Bone Fork is now equippable primary, secondary and ranged. The "range" value has been removed to prevent people from accidentally throwing them - Spider Fur Collar has been given weight 0.0 to be consistent with other pieces - Dark Cloak of the Sky must now be worn to activate - Sage's Crown is now No-Drop to match every other Velious quest armor - Icicle Circlet is now No-Drop to match every other Velious quest armor - Bone Collar of the Possessed should no longer cause players to crash when inventory is opened - Idol of Rallos Zek can now be used by ShadowKnights - Helm of Grim Blessings can now be used by Wood Elves - Flayed Skin Bracer is no longer a Lore item - Greaves of Avoidance can now be used by all races - Steel Threaded Wrist Wraps are no longer lore - Bravado's Breastplate now grants a larger Hit Point bonus - Guise of the Hunter can now also be worn by human bards and rogues - Primal Cudgel now has the proper effect - Added "Recommended Level" equal to the current item use level for the several items. All of these items require the player to be level 51+ to equip them and/or use their effects. Setting the "Recommended Level" field like this just lets the player know what level they need to be to use the item. The actual utility of the item was not affected in any way, this change is purely informational - Several items have been changed to be not useable by Iksar. They had been erroneously set as Iksar useable in the last item patch. These were primarily items that were usable by Beastlords (and were therefore changed to allow all Beastlord races to use them), but that had been specifically restricted from use by Iksar due to their inherent armor value

Zones - Shades in Umbral, Maiden's Eye and Vex Thall are now considered undead - Placed portals to and from Great Divide and Nexus - Added many new items to better round out the rewards for high-level Luclin encounters

Horses - Implemented horse trade in quests. There are now four stable hands who will buy back specific colored bridles located in the stables in the Bazaar - Being stunned will now stop players on horses. Not stopping them when stunned was causing warping and other bad things - Knockback spells, and spells that throw you into the air, now affect people on horses properly - Horses now levitate when their rider should. - Fixed a bug that was causing the client to crash when attempting to follow someone while on a horse. /follow should also now work when the person you are following is on a horse

Spells - Wizard Familiar spell scrolls will now increase in purchase cost with the spell level - Several spells will no longer be interrupted, spells such as the 'proc' generated by Instrument of Nife - Several spells that were not functioning in the planes have been fixed and now work in the planes - Bards should now gain singing skill when singing and should no longer gain skill in an instrument when they are not using one. - Characters are no longer damaged by damage shields when using throwing weapons - Atol's Spectral Shackles has had its casting difficulty reduced - Made some changes to Nature's Recovery to make it more stackable

Visual Issues - Wolves and warders should no longer appear to be very small - Characters no longer lose their hair or beard when their illusions wear off - Weapons should now appear properly (sometimes they wouldn't show up at all) when a player zoned in - Characters in wolf or bear form (or other races that aren't player races) should no longer have parts of them tinted based on the armor the player was wearing - Bear form should now look correct to people that zoned in after the spell was cast on them - May have fixed the problem with extra mouse cursor showing in game - Fixed a problem with NPCs, PCs and some objects not being visible in some zones (Wakening Lands, Plane of Growth, Emerald Jungle and Swamp of No Hope)

Performance Issues - More work on reducing zone times for Luclin city zones - "Hitch" created when player characters enter a zone should be gone now - Fixed a bug that could cause the client to crash in some cases where a character tried to purchase an item from a vendor but didn't have enough money - Characters with pets that zone (horses, familiars and warders) should now be able to zone from North Qeynos to Qeynos Hills

New Features - Holding shift while clicking the resolution in the options in game will reduce the resolution. If you are already in 640x480 though, this does nothing. Normal click increases the resolution as it always has and still wraps back to 640 after the highest resolution your machine supports. - Using 1280x1024 and 1600x1200 resolutions, the /wincolor command, and getting the inventory window in fullview mode are now available to all EverQuest players (these features were restricted only to Velious owners)

PvP - It is no longer possible to bandage others of the opposing deity team on Sullon Zek

Alternate Advancement Abilities - Lowered the reuse time on Rampage AA ability from 15 minutes to 10 minutes - Rampage is now fixed. Previously was only hitting one target - Mass Group Buff button should work properly when zoning - Casting Reinforcement should now work on all buffs cast, not just those cast on yourself - The Discipline Duelist should now be doing the correct damage when using Chaotic Stab - LifeBurn should now reset properly after being interrupted - Dire Charm should now reset properly after being interrupted - Fixed the Quick Buff ability to work as described - Leech Touch should refresh properly now - Exodus and Nexus Gate now have a casting time of 1/10th of a second

Do you want to join us? So you got your Epic weapon... and now spend your free time holding weekly sight seeing tours to the Temple Veeshan, along with nightly Luclin lunar dinners. If on top of all this you know the name of more Dragons than relatives, we would like to invite you to apply to join our San Diego EverQuest QA Team! For more info please go to our Job Employment site ( http://www.station.sony.com ) to read up on all the juicy details. If you're interested please submit a resume, including your EQ playtime and information on characters owned.

- The EverQuest Quality Assurance Team

Fan Faire News Congratulations to Union of Power! The guild Union of Power has the most pre-registered players attending the Fan Faire! This means that they will be given a two hour slot from 5-7:00 p.m. on Saturday in the Intel Arm Yourself for Adventure Game Room! Everyone else will be limited to an hour of play time.

Walk-ins Registration is closed, but we will be accepting walk-ins at the Dallas Fan Faire! However, there is a limited number of spaces left! Registration will be at 6:00 p.m. The cost for walk-in registration is $95 to be paid at the door.

Cindy Archuleta Community Relations Manager Sony Online Entertainment

February 1, 2002

On Monday the 5th we'll be making a change to the way our Live and Test patching works.

A little while ago we combined our Test patcher with our Live patcher. The intent was to remove the confusion that having two patchers can cause and to encourage more people to play on Test.

Well, we're going back to the old way. We are going to split the Test patcher and the Live patcher back into two separate programs.

This means that in order to access the Test Server you will need to run TestEverQuest.exe, which you will find in your EverQuest directory. To play on the Live Servers just start EverQuest as you always have.

There are a few advantages to separating the two patchers. Splitting them up makes it a little easier, as a player, to be sure that you are headed to the right server when you double click the icon. It's also a little more intuitive for those that want to run the game in two directories.

Using two directories for EverQuest does use up a lot of hard drive space. However, for those with enough space that play regularly on both Test and on Live servers, this is a safer and faster way to work. Using the same directory means that each time you change servers (Live to Test or Test to Live) you will have to patch. The data on the Test Server is very rarely the same as that on Live servers.

And for us internally it makes it easier to test new patchers. It gives us one more step for testing. Now we can push a patcher to the Test Server and try it out there after internal testing and before it goes to the Live servers.

In any case, we've decided to move back to the old way. Starting on Monday, February 5th, 2002 you will need to run TestEverQuest.exe to patch and play on the Test server, and Everquest.exe to patch and play on the Live servers.

Patch Message Addendum The command line argument "/test" should no longer be used to play on the Test Server. Anyone using this should remove this argument from their shortcut. Please manually select "TestServer" from the Advanced Options window to use the Test Server. On Monday, February 05, TestEverQuest.exe will once again be used to patch and play on the Test Server.

- The EverQuest Team

February 13, 2002 3:00 am

General - Improved sound for many users. Should eliminate a lot of the "choppy" sound issues - Fixed one of the link-death-while-zoning bugs - Characters who disconnect while zoning shouldn't be 'stuck' for an inordinate amount of time - Renamed all will-o-wisps and will o' wisps to Fred. - Reconsidered and changed Fred to willowisp. - Pets no longer pace. Pets will now, when close to you, STOP. - Many higher level NPCs now have a random delay before they initially spawn. This means that they will appear at a more random time interval after servers or zones are brought up. This is designed to provide a fairer distribution of these NPCs across all time zones - If you right click to auto-inventory an item that you are looting and it will not fit into your inventory, the item will simply appear on your cursor as if you had left clicked on it

Gameplay Related - NPC and PC corpses can now be /considered to find out how long until they decay, and PC corpses additionally tell you how long you have to resurrect them - The timer for corpses is now seven days for any corpse over level five, whether the player is on-line or off-line or any combination of the two - Characters below level eight will no longer see light blue cons - Spires will no longer try to teleport you to Luclin if you do not own the expansion, and therefore will no longer move you to the 'safe point' in the zone when it can't take you to the Nexus - Pets can now be targeted by typing their full name after the /target command (or at least enough of it to distinguish it from the owner) - Knockback now works correctly when on a horse - Summoning a horse in Plane of Sky will no longer allow you to levitate - Gating when in the same zone that you are bound no longer causes problems - Horses will no longer disappear when a character is moved to the 'safe point'

Trade Skill Related - Added several trade skill items to Grobb; including a brewing supply vendor, a brew barrel, a baking vendor, a standard forge, a pottery cooking mold vendor, a kiln, a pottery wheel, and a sketch vendor. - Added water flasks to two merchants in the Bazaar - Added high quality ore vendors to Bazaar, Kaladim, and Qeynos that sell a limited supply of HQ Ore - Fixed an inconsistency with the armor class of Enchanted Imbued Dwarven Plate compared to the armor class of other Dwarven-smithed plate armor - Batwing Pie, Bug Bites and Deadly Medley now exist - Repaired the recipe for Superior Gnomish Spirits\Gnomish Cleaning Substance - Increased the drop rates of cultural armor temper components - Added hilt mold vendors to more cities

Quest Related - Made adjustments to the Whistling Fists quest - Reduced the spawn time of the Zordak Ragefire in SoldungB. He will now reappear every 24 hours - Repaired some problems with the Luclin Owlbear Dart and Vah Shir Runed Totem quests

Spell Related - Eye of Zomm and Eye of Tallon are now non-KoS in a fashion similar to familiars - Koadic's Endless Intellect stacking has been fixed. If a player has Koadic's Endless Intellect on them and anyone casts Breeze, Clarity, Clarity 2, Boon of the Clear Mind, Gathering of the Mind, or Gift of Pure Thought on them, it will fail and the Koadic's will remain. - Mind Wrack gives mana instead of taking mana away - Charm is immediately removed from charmed NPC's when the character that charmed them casts invisibility - Made some small improvements to Marzin's Mark - Corrected some stacking issues with Nature's Recovery - Blast of Frost scroll has been made available for Beastlords - Self-only level 51+ spells will no longer fail to cast if the caster has a lower level character targeted. - Egress should once again force a 'zone' to clear aggro - The damage component of Elnerick's Entombment of Ice no longer causes the spell to have a chance at breaking its root component - Snakes in Lavastorm and Paineel are now animals - Hammerheads are now animals - Treants in the Plane of Growth are now plants - Timorous Deep gators, fish, and raptors are now animals - Rock Hoppers in Hollowshade Moor, Shar Vahl and Shadeweavers are now animals - Paludal and Fungusgrove Wetfang Minnows are now animals - Underbulks and Shik`Nar in Fungusgrove are now insects - Rhino Beetles in Shadeweavers Thicket and Hollowshade Moor are now insects - Shrooms in Fungusgrove are now plants - Lightcrawlers in Mons Seru are now insects

Zone Related - Fixed some of the pathing issues in Maiden's Eye - Dawnshroud Rockhoppers are now giving the proper faction hits - Fixed a pathing bug in Paludal Caverns that prevented NPCs from pursuing characters up cavern walls - Fixed a bug with the clipping plane in outdoor Luclin zones - The Oggok guards will be less friendly to Marsh Bears - Fixed some bugs in the Umbral Planes that were causing NPCs to get stuck - Added content in the Umbral Planes to make it more... entertaining

Alternate Advancement Related - Act of Valor should now work properly - Re-implemented the Improved Familiar ability. It will now summon an improved familiar that is better then the greater familiar and is very resistant to all spells. It is not immune to spells though, just extremely resistant. - Warcry should now work properly - Life Burn now considers hit points from items and should no longer be interrupted - Area Taunt should be no longer affect creatures on heights or floors above and below the warrior

Discipline Related - Added the following /disciplines for Beastlords: Level 51: The Discipline of Resistant Level 54: The Discipline of Fearless Level 55: The Discipline of Protective Spirit Level 60: The Discipline of Bestial Rage

Item Related - Expendable items no longer use mana when 'casting' a spell - Extra damage from either elemental or bane damage should now work for special attacks like backstab - Shield of Auras can now be used by Necromancers - All pieces of Black Pantherskin Armor are now Beastlord useable - Steelsilk Helm should now be visible when using the new models - Windspeeder's haste is now a permanent effect - Shield of Mental Fortitude is now actually a shield and also has a different graphic - Drape of the Deep Thinker now has a robe texture when equipped - Orb of Lost Souls can no longer be "Held" - Dark Cloak of the Sky from 'worn to activate' to 'Race/Class to activate'. The previous change that made it 'worn to activate' was an error. - Items that add bonuses to the Lock Pick skill should function properly now

Firiona Vie - The Trivial Loot Code present on the Roleplaying server will no longer affect items that are marked solely with the No-Drop flag. No- Drop items that are also Magic or Lore will continue to behave as they did prior to this patch.

- The EverQuest Team

Tales Grand Master Glox sat silently staring into the black waters of the Cabilis aqueducts, his thoughts tracing and retracing the recent visions that had upset his nights. The Lord Cazic was trying to tell him something, but he could not yet decipher what it was. The hand on his shoulder startled him and he turned quickly, striking the intruder with a quick blow to the chest. The figure crumpled to the cold ground.

Glox stood over him with a look of horror, it was one of his own pupils he had struck. He lay bloodied and bruised at Glox's feet breathing heavily with much effort, he was obviously dying. The pupil reached up toward Glox with something in his hand. Glox took the items from his hand and peered at them intently. There were two items, one was a glistening serpentine scale, the other an ancient stone symbol. Glox recognized the symbol almost immediately with horror. It was the symbol of the Soriz, the ancient Iksar tribe that had been the slaves of the Shissar empire. Glox looked down at his pupil again. "Where did you get this?" The dying Iksar used his last ounce of energy to point up toward the night sky and the moon of Luclin. "sSs... Ssraeshza... has... returned..."

A Call to Arms! Have you long dreamed of aiding your fellow adventurer? Do you enjoy travelling the world and meeting new and interesting people? Are you over the age of 18 with an EverQuest account in good standing and some free time? If so, then the EverQuest Guide Program may be for you! If you feel compelled to join our ranks, point your web browser to https://guide.everquest.com/guideapp/ and fill out an application!

February 17, 2002 3:00 am

- Increased the drop rate on some 55-60th level Kunark spells that were overly rare. - Added water and high quality ore to vendors in the Bazaar, as promised in the Feb 13 patch. - Fixed a spawn problem in north Temple of Veeshan. - Fixed a few minor issues with the Whistling Fists quest.

- The EverQuest Team

February 25, 2002 3:00 am

- Fixed a problem with the Gnome sitting animation

- Fixed a bug that was causing some people to crash when repeatedly right-clicking spell gems

- Made adjustments for Quellious monks attempting to do Iksar Shackle quests

- Fixed a bug in the way that Alternate Experience was being distributed. Extra experience was being generated for an ungrouped character with all experience going to the Alternate Experience pool. Too little experience was going into the Alternate Experience pool for people grouped that were applying less than 100% of their experience to the Alternate Experience pool.

- Fixed stacking issues with Circle of Seasons and Talisman of Epuration

- Wild Lord's armor effects are now level restricted

- Fixed a bug with necromancer pets that was preventing them from gaining the healing benefit of lifetaps. It turns out that this was affecting all NPCs. It should now be working properly for both pets and NPCs.

Fan Faire Registration is Open Registration has opened for the Seattle Fan Faire! We will be at the Doubletree Seattle Airport Hotel on April 19-20. Register early and join us for a great time! Visit http://everquest.station.sony.com/fanfaire/en/index.jsp for registration and all of the details!

March 7, 2002

Patch Information * - Fixed a problem with Alternate Advancement ability Combat Fury that was causing rangers using archery and rogues using throwing to have a lesser chance to critical than normal. This did not affect warriors

- We think we've fixed many of the issues that were causing 1018 errors. At the very worst players should be able to log back in faster now

- Fixed a problem that was causing quests to give no Alternate Experience to a character when that character had all experience going into their Alternate Experience pool

- Fixed a bug that was causing Claw of the Savage Spirit, Earthen Band and Breastplate of Day to show a negative statistic modifier

- Fixed an issue with some ATI-based video cards that was causing the inventory screen to flash

- All Levitation spells will now be stripped when entering a no- levitation zone. There was a bug that caused the game to only strip the first Levitation spell found

- Earrings of Endless Speed are now no-drop

- Fixed a bug that was displaying erroneous and duplicate faction messages

- Also added some Tradeskill recipes for items dropping in Akheva and Maidens eye

- Tradeskills (including Alchemy and poison) now take %skill modifying items and buffs into consideration

- Scallywag's Arm Plates (Legends Only) are now wearable in the arms slot (was errantly flagged for the chest slot)

- All soft wicker pieces are now wearable by Beastlords

A Tale Prime Heirophant Vek leaned over and looked into the jeweled case silently. The young mystic behind him nervously fingered the cudgel hanging from his belt. He knew what was coming. The hold of the faceless had firmly taken hold of his heart and was beginning to squeeze.

Vek turned to him quietly and simply said, "Find them." He then walked silently out of the room.

Hierophant Zand turned to the young Mystic, "Do as he has asked. Do not return until you have the skulls of the ancients in your possession." The young Mystic stumbled as he ran out of the room, visibly shaking.

Zand looked down into the empty skull case. Something glittered softly in the corner of the case. Zand reached in and picked up a small earring, emblazoned with the symbol of the Kunzar.

Zand walked quietly out of the room, and somewhere the soul of a dead emperor laughed with unholy malice.

Another Tale Halor slashed frantically at the creature before him. He swung down hard, cleaving the great worm in two. Unfortunately there were many more were that came from. Bauric climbed over a rock and stood next to Halor, fighting off another of the worms.

Halor suddenly felt a sharp pain in his right heel and spun violently around, causing his journals to fly out of his pack and onto the hard stone floor. He swung at the worm larva with his sword knocking it away, but too late. The worm had wounded him badly, he could no longer hold himself up on the wounded ankle and he fell to the floor with a crash. Bauric cried out in pain as one of the larger worms bit into his arm. That was the last thing Halor saw before the horde of worms squirmed across the stones and overcame them.

- The EverQuest Team

March 19, 2002

We wanted to start by letting everyone know how grateful we are for all of the suggestions for improvements that we've received both in EMail and on the various class and server boards. We appreciate all the help you've provided us.

Changes for Low Level Characters

- Characters no longer lose experience for death below level 11 - Characters now begin first level with a stack of 20 food and drink - Items no longer appear on a corpse if you are below level 10, they reappear with the character - When a character "dings" level 10 you will be informed that your items will now be on your corpse - Characters will no longer appear with a Tome of Discord. They must get one from the Priest of Discord - New resurrection, evacuate and corpse summoning spells have been added at lower levels - We've moved the newbie bind points closer to where characters first start out, not outside in their newbie areas - Halflings and Gnomes have new classes available to them: Halfling Rangers and Paladins as well as Gnome ShadowKnights and Paladins. All of the necessary NPCs and items should be available for these new classes

Alternate Advancement Abilities

- Divine Stun is now an activated ability on a 30 second reuse timer with a chance to interrupt NPCs up to level 60 - Most targeting issues with Alternate Advancement abilities should be fixed - Rampage should now consider all viable targets, including PvP targets - Metabolism should be working properly now - Scribble Notes should reduce memorization times to an even greater extent than it did before

Spells/Songs

- Fixed a bard lockup bug that would occur randomly with during cast time - Fixed a song bug that was causing songs to be stuck on, triggered by contact proc buffs procs (such as Boon of the Garou) - The new Cleric and Paladin Resurrection line of spells are now available on vendors - The new corpse summoning spell is now available on vendors, as are the appropriate coffins - The new Evacuate spells are now available on vendors - Memory Blur, Mind Wipe, Blanket of Forgetfulness, Memory Flux, Glamour of Kintaz and Rapture have been given a greater chance of clearing the 'hate list' - Glamour of Kintaz and Rapture also have longer durations - Egress and Abscond have a reduced mana cost and a lesser chance to fizzle - Judgement has been improved to make it a better upgrade from the previous spell in the spell line - Shaman group buff spells (Tumultuous Strength and the Talisman spells - Cat, Brute, Rhino, and Raptor) have been improved to be more in line with the single target versions of those spells. - Added a new line of spells for Magicians that summons focus items - /pet get lost will now kill the buff as well as the familiar - Marzin's Mark now stack with Protection of the Glades - Improved the way that Abolish Disease/Poison and Counteract Disease/Poison work - Fixed it so that whenever a player loses the chance to click on a resurrection dialogue box (such as entering the inventory screen), the game will react as if the user had clicked "no". This should prevent cases where the player can not be resurrected unless they logged out - "Sense" spells should now work while on a horse - Shield of Auras effect has had a stacking issue with Clarity fixed and the component removed - Skin of Shadow has had its night only restriction removed - Demi Lich is now a level 56 spell - Arch Lich has been improved - Translocate spells no longer require that the target be grouped with the caster. Also, the dialog box for this spell will remain longer - Added Sicken and Tainted Breath to a merchant in Shar Vahl - Levitation spells now check to see if you have a second Levitation type spell when it wears off before hurling you to the ground - Eye of Tallon has a longer duration - Spell memorization speed should now take +Meditate% skill items into account - Bard song memorization time should now be faster and is affected by attributes

Zones

- Changed safe spot in Kedge Keep to actually be a safe spot - The Beastlord trainer in Firiona Vie is now more friendly to Beastlords of all types - Vyzh`dra the Cursed has been adjusted to help balance the risk versus reward associated with the encounter

Items

- Sleeper's Tomb Key is now Soulbound - Wand of Casual Blessings is not longer usable by Half-Elves, and is usable by Dark Elves and Gnomes. It also now looks like a staff and not a bag - Corrected some of the Velious quest helm graphics. All helms of this type are no longer displaying a graphic (as intended) and the 'customized' plate helms should all now have graphics (also as intended) - Custom Malevolent Crown should now be the same color as the rest of the armor set - The Beastlord Epic item has been changed to be more in line with other epic items - Grimling Tribal Headdress is now a "head" item and should be equippable - Thexian Loop has had its Haste increased - Headband of Many Visions now grants Deadeye instead of See Invisible - Shield of the Swamp should now have a graphic - Shield of Auras should now have a graphic

Combat

- Pets are now more likely to avoid NPC ripostes - Wizards now have an inherent chance to score a critical blast with their damage spells after 11th level. This ability does not lessen the chance of scoring a critical hit with Alternate Experience abilities that grant criticals

Client/Interface

- Added /dopropertinting command. This command allows you to turn on and off the "DoProperTinting" option in the eqclient.ini file. Activating this command should correct most tinting issues (such as armor tint also tinting the character's skin). But if it causes issues you can toggle it off by using /dopropertinting off - Added /chat commands, that allow players to create their own chat channels. Please read the eqmanual_supplement.doc in your EverQuest directory for more information - Added /hitsmode command. This command allows you to more finely control how you see hits, including seeing them in a window other than your chat window. Please see the eqmanual_supplement.doc for more details - Added /clearhits to clear the current hits in the M2-M5 modes of the /hitsmode command. Again, please see the eqmanual_supplement for more information - Added /showgrass command. This toggles the radial flora (Luclin only) on and off - Added options in the Options screen (under Chat Filter) for filtering out Melee and Spell criticals. Options are All/Me/Off. These can also be activated using the /filter command, and will affect critical hit, critical blast, exceptional heal, and crippling blow messages - Changed /filter to allow you to toggle the various chat filter settings (still also lets you toggle the badwords filter) - Changed /channel to allow you to set your default chat channel. It also now saves this setting in the INI file - Changed the /targetgroupbuff command to be 'persistent'. The state of the switch will be stored in the eqclient.ini file and will be remembered when you log out or zone - Fixed the double messages received when "Soandso's song ends" - Mend should be working properly. "Can not use Mend for x seconds" can still appear, but you now should be able to use mend at the appropriate time - Fixed bug in the client that caused a "You are out of Ammo message" even when you still had ammo - Messages should no longer be lost while you are zoning - Corpses that are made to appear at the "safe spot" of a zone for any reason can now be moved using /corpse as long as the person using the command has /consent for that corpse - Added "AllLuclinPcModelsOff" line to the eqclient.ini file which, if set to TRUE, will skip the loading of all of the Luclin PC models (except the Vah Shir, which always gets loaded no matter what this is set to). This should allow players to set the loading of each race and sex individually for their normal game play, but then quickly turn all models off for a raid or other such circumstances - Added /rtarget function (can be used as /rt). This function targets the last character to send you a /tell. It follows all of the rules for /target - Messages sent to you while you are zoning should be saved and sent to you when you reach the other side of the zone. Messages should no longer be lost while zoning (unless zoning takes more than about 10 minutes for any reason) - You should be able to keep typing whatever you were in the middle of typing when you zoned... but it might not be processed till you're in the new zone - If someone is on your ignore list and they do a /random, you shouldn't see it anymore

Pathing

- Corrected some pathing in Ak'Anon that was preventing some NPCs from reaching certain areas - Corrected some pathing issues in Acrylia Caverns - Corrected a problem with the entrance from Hollowshade Moor into Paludal Caverns that was preventing Beastlord Warders from entering the zone

Miscellaneous

- Many cases where characters would stab themselves with their weapons when sitting should have been eliminated. - Player characters no longer broadcast their location when they are stationary. This should reduce the resources used and improve gameplay. - Fixed a problem that was causing some users to see blocky, unblended terrain where terrain types meet. - Critical hit messages from spells now take into account PvP damage calculations. The actual damage was calculated correctly, it was just displaying wrong on the critical message. - Fixed canoes, they should move forward and backwards normally again. - We have been working to prevent characters from being stuck in the game after link death in such a way that prevents the player from logging back in. Players should be able to log back in no more than 5 minutes after going link dead in all situations. - Added Sharvahl as a "home zone" for Vahshir when taking PvP racial faction hits into account . - We have fixed the ATI flashing problem that some players with certain cards were having when inventory window was up.

March 21, 2002 3:00 am

Contact buffs have once again been disabled for bards to prevent songs from locking up

- Fixed a bug that was causing the "Soandso begins to cast a spell" message to not display

- Fixed the bug that was causing the last hit message for another player to be displayed even if you had other's hits off

- Added more info to the /hitsmode help

- Added another option to the /hitsmode command to allow users to force the windows to be displayed even if empty

New Hitsmode Usage: /hitsmode

Where: is 1 to force the window to draw even if empty.

- Changed it so hitsmode windows do NOT draw when in "normal" old UI mode (e.g. spellbook)

- Fixed a bug that was giving bards an error message related to /targetgroupbuff every time they zone. ("This ability does not work with bard songs.")

April 5, 2002 3:00 am

Graphics Engine Update - S3 video cards: We've worked around a shortcoming in the S3 drivers that fixes the overlapping or "cutout" looking interface graphics.

- All Hardware TnL cards: More optimizations and performance increases.

April 9, 2002

EverQuest Pricing Increase Due to the increased costs of running the EverQuest game service, we will be increasing our subscription rates in April. Effective April 25, the new monthly subscription rate will be $12.95/month.

We will continue to offer discounts from the new rate plan on multi- month subscriptions. The new price for a 3-month subscription will be $35.85 and a 6-month subscription will now be $65.70.

You don't have to do a thing; you will automatically be migrated to the new billing structure under your current subscription plan when your current subscription plan expires.

HOWEVER, for a limited time only (from April 10 through April 24, 2002), you may extend your current subscription for an additional 12 or 24 months by signing up for the new EQ 12 or 24 month plan - and reap great savings off of the new rates:

• Extend for 12 months for $109 US - and get a 30% discount off of the new monthly rates!

• Extend for 24 months for $190 US - and get a 39% discount off of the

new monthly rates!

Now is the time to lock in these rates, so don't miss out.

For more information visit www.everquest.com/rates

NPCs and Items - Non-pet NPCs will start to return items they don't care about. This will occur over time as zones are updated.

Spells - Pet healing spells now have a Cure Disease effect - Cancel Magic is now available to Beastlords - Fixed the research recipe for Nullify Magic to match that listed in Lore Malignancy - Spell icon for Mental Corruption is now yellow (self only) - Spell icon for Valor of Marr is now yellow (self only) - Spell icon for Bonds of Tunare is now green (AoE) - Spell icon for Engorging Roots is now red (consistent with other druid root spells) - Omakin's Alacrity now shows a spell message when cast - Chilling Embrace should now be 'curable' with spells that cure poison - Druid Ancient Spell scrolls should now scribe the correct spells in your spellbook

Items - Tarmok Battlestaff now looks like a staff in inventory - Shield of Mental Fortitude should now have a visible graphic - Aqualung has been changed. It should have 20 charges, and it shouldn't suddenly drop to one charge. If you have one of the broken aqualungs, you may contact your GM for a replacement - Sathir's Wand should be working - Tishan's Kilt is wizard usable only (it was never intended to be used by druids) - Shield of Auras should now stack with Clarity and will no longer require a component. It should also be usable by Iksar - Venomous Axe of the Velium Brood proc effect is now level restricted - Necrasaur Hide Boots and Petrified Wood Great Staff have had some stat modifiers changed, previous modifiers were invalid values - Spider Silk Whip and Spider Silk Handwraps are now primary and secondary equippable - Sigil Earring of Veracity effect is now a right-click effect - Flute of Eternal Night is now usable by the Vah Shir - Deepcarver Plate Bracer can now be equipped - Pearl of Dread should no longer look like a bag when equipped - Twisted Bone Earring can now be used by Gnomes, Dwarves and Half Elves - Everriculum can now be used by Barbarians - Changed the name of the scroll for Bond of Death to match the name of the spell - Changed the name of the scroll for Renewal to match the name of the spell - Shield of the Creator can now be used by Iksar and Dark Elves - Rod of Identification should be working now - Tribal War Mask and Boots should be usable by the same races and classes that can use the rest of the armor

Zones - Warders and Familiars should now be able to zone from the Bazaar to the Nexus - Fixed a 'safe spot' in Paludal Caverns - Fixed a few pathing issues in Sebilis - Fixed a 'safe spot' in Chardok - Fixed a pathing issue in Tenebrous - NPCs in Sanctus Seru no longer show fear (or are affected by such spells) - You should now be able to zone from Marus Seru to Mons Letalis while on your horse - Familiars should be able to zone from the Qeynos catacombs to the city with their master. - Delival in Shar Vahl should be a lot less violent

Trade skills - Gnomish spirits are now available in Shadowhaven - Added a few trade skill vendors to Rivervale

Miscellaneous - Skiffs were fixed with an earlier patch and should be working now

- The EverQuest Team

News from the Vale Clan Death Fist has long had a minor presence in the Misty Thicket, preying on the Halfling farmers and tradesmen. Recently the Death Fist Clans numbers in the thicket have increased and the Orcs are cutting down trees and mining the rock of the nearby mountains. Reports have come in to Rivervale that the Orcs are shipping the lumber and ore to the commonlands and stockpiling it for an unknown purpose. Whatever the Deathfists agenda, their increased presence has made the thicket a more dangerous place beyond the protective wall.

Not far from the tunnel that leads from the Misty Thicket to Rivervale lie mysterious cursed ruins. All that remains of what once stood at these sites are fragments of walls that are presumed to have been constructed around the same time as the nearby ruined tower. An ancient magical scarecrow stands at the center of one of these ruins and warns passers by that the place is cursed. It is a popular belief among the halflings of Rivervale that the crumbled walls once surrounded beautiful and fruitful gardens that were cursed when their owner and caretaker offended the Gods. Whether or not this story is true, the scarecrows warning is true as the gardens are host to diseased vermin and the animated corpses of fallen halflings who were brought to the there and buried after their death by an unknown evil.

With the Goblin Clan Pickclaws now occupying a portion of Runnyeye Citadel the number of Goblins now residing in the Misty Thicket has grown. These somewhat exiled Runnyeye Goblins have been mining Crude Iron Ore from the nearby mountains and are most likely attempting to forge weapons and armor to use in a goblin revolt to reclaim all of Runnyeye Citadel from the Pickclaws. With enemies to all sides these semi-exiled goblins are being far less troublesome than they have the potential to be.

April 23, 2002 3:00 am

NOTE: We are unable to patch "code" right now because we are in the middle of making some changes to the basic structure of the game. This will delay fixes for system bugs and updates (such as Alternate Advancement Abilities and /commands). Please be patient until we can get these much-needed changes finished. Because these changes affect things such as the database that stores player characters, we're taking care to make these changes the right way.

Items - Faun hooves are now stackable - Storm Reaper Initiate Scimitar is now magic - Moss Toe Bracer is no longer Lore - Bracer of the Stoutdeacon is no longer Lore - Infected Rat Livers are no longer No-Drop - Shadowsong Cloak now also grants a hit point bonus - Sambata Boulder now has a range value and can be thrown - Spear of Foresight no longer has a range value (it is primary hand only) - Rod of Identification now has 20 charges - Patriarch Claws can now be used by Beastlords - Crystalline Silk Threads are now stackable.

Spells - Casters of slow spells recently given a disease component (such as Shiftless Deeds and Turgur's Insects) should no longer attract undue attention to themselves. - Raised the price to purchase Phantom Plate scroll to be more in line with others of that spell line - The following Spells are now usable by Beastlords: Serpent Sight(19), Enduring Breath(29), Levitate(39) and Talisman of Tnarg(53) - Changed the way Circle of Summer stacks with other spells - Changed Torrent of Fatigue so that it actually replenishes stamina for the caster instead of taking it away - Cure Blindness should work now - Changed Koadic's Heightened Focus to better stack with other mana regeneration spells

Trade Skills - Cazic Thule tradeskill items are no longer No Drop

Quests - Halfling Toes should now be available - The Dark Elven Cleric Guild Summons should show the proper text now - The Dark Elf Wizard Guild Summons should show the proper text now - Unholy Silk Bracer recipe should be correct now

May 8, 2002 3:00 am

Items - We've made some changes that will cause a few proccing items to be out of charges after the patch. Players with such items will need to petition and ask a GM to swap the item out with a new one - Focus items using the "Naki's Pernicity" effects should now be working as intended - Focus items that affect a spell's duration should now work for clickable items - It should be impossible to equip an item that will reduce your hit points by more than your maximum hit points. Also, hit point reduction items should not lower hit points below 1 - Tinkered Compass now adds the appropriate bonus to the sense heading skill - Hit point bonuses on food items should be working

Spells - Higher level familiars should once again survive when their masters go invisible, Abscond or Evac - Fixed a bug that was preventing the Lesser Familiar mana regeneration component from working - Familiars no longer cause damage to their master upon death - Familiar buff remains after the caster uses the /pet get lost command to remove the visual representation - Torrent of Fatigue should be working properly now - Allure of the Wild has had its level cap raised to make it a useful upgrade - Umbra has been improved to give a slightly higher AC benefit - A character can no longer trade with an NPC when invisible. Character must turn visible before starting the trade - Characters can no longer scribe a scroll that they can't cast due to deity restrictions - Invisibility should now remain after a link death - Theft of Thought will no longer give mana when cast on PC classes that do not have mana (in PvP or in a duel) - Drain/Share spells can no longer be cast on players on blue servers, and can no longer be cast on group members on PvP servers. Spells Affected: Succession of Shadows, Crippling Claudication, Mind Wrack, Degeneration, Zevfeer's Theft of Vitae, Torrent of Hate, Torrent of Fatigue, Torrent of Pain - Spirit Armor scroll no longer lists Shadowknights as a class that can use it (they couldn't anyway) - Bard AE songs now have vertical limit of 50 feet. This is also the case for Mass Group Buff - Gating and porting while in tree form should no longer cause crashes - Removed all "Begins to cast X spell" text from procs - Resurrection request box will now reset if you open another window while it is up, preventing a problem where a character is unable to be resurrected if he has the res box up and he loots a mob or opens a trade window - Fixed a bug with lifetaps that would cause people around a lifetap to see, "You feel drained..." instead of "Fippy feels drained..." - Issues with Healing seeming to be delayed have been fixed (see Spell Filters) - Fixed a bug that was causing "soandso's song ends" to show up as "he's song ends" if the bard was targeted, "it's song ends" if not targeted - Divine Glory received a small upgrade to make it more in line with the spell series

Spell Filters - Issues with healing seeming to be delayed should be fixed. The problem was with filters that allowed players to ignore spells that were hitting them. The following changes were needed to fix this issue - Player characters will now always see spells that hit them and spells they cast - Players with the Group option set for PC spells will see the start spell casting messages for people in their group and they will also see when member of their group are hit with spells - Players with the ALL option will still see all PC spells and spell hits

Spell Stacking General stacking changes: Some buffs were not being allowed to stack which now will stack, and other buffs were being allowed to stack which should not have.

For example, many stacking problems with spells that have a See Invisible or Levitate component are now gone (e.g. Dead Man Floating), while a number of stacking exploits that granted too much regeneration, too much offense (ATK), too large of a damage shield, or too many hit points have been fixed. Here are some of the details:

- Vision abilities (natural or spell-granted) should no longer cause spells to fail to take hold - Bard songs should in general overwrite fewer spells

- Harness of Spirit no longer stacks with spells that grant Strength or Dexterity boosts. It was never intended to do so - Harness of Spirit and Avatar should now stack properly - Call of the Predator and Warder's Protection should no longer stack - Arch Lich should no longer overwrite innate racial vision abilities - Levitate and Dead Man Floating should no longer conflict - Dead Man Floating should no longer conflict with any vision abilities (natural or spell granted) - Spirit of Eagle should no longer cancel Levitation/Levitate spells - Fixed a stacking exploit with Armor of Protection and Armor of the Risen - Focus of Spirit should no longer overwrite Visions of Grandeur - Focus of Spirit should now stack with the Whistling Fists effect - "Circle of" Druid spells should no longer stack with their Resist counterparts. - Shroud of Spirits and the Cloak of the Akheva should stack properly now - Cantata of Soothing should no longer overwrite Clarity spells - Cantata and Chorus of Replenishment should no longer overwrite Acumen - Bladecoat no longer overwrites Clarity II - Lower level druid group buffs should now be less likely to overwrite higher level buffs - Avatar and Force of Nature will no longer stack - Ancient Feral Avatar should now stack properly

Alternate Advancement - Improved Familiar should now be better than Greater Familiar - Fixed a bug with Permanent Illusion that was causing the caster to see his illusions drop when zoning, even if others continued to see the illusion - Trolls and Iksar no longer receive double regeneration ability from AA abilities - The Archetype skill Casting Deftness will no longer supercede the Class specific Quick Buff casting time reducing skill. Note that at this time there is a maximum benefit to casting time bonuses of a 50% reduction - Casting deftness was changed to reflect the increases presented by the in-game help (5, 15 and 25%) - Turn Summoned should now work on all summoned creatures, not just pets. The text should correctly say that there is only one level for this ability - Improved Reclaim Energy now works with the epic pet - Fixed a crash bug caused by Call Corpse - Alternate Advancement abilities that affect a spell's duration should now work for clickable items - Quick Summon should now work for Call of the Hero and Manifest Elements - Quick Summon also changed to match the benefits presented by the in- game help

Skills - Increased the velocity tolerance for the Hide skill. This may slightly improve the functionality of the Evade skill - Poison should no longer be interrupted - Sneak only breaks when a character is hit, not when he hits someone - Fixed a bug that was causing a problem when Pick Pockets was used before Beg had refreshed. Beg and Pick Pocket use the same timer, so now using Beg or Pick Pocket will cause both buttons to gray out - A message is now displayed and skills are properly reset when a rogue breaks sneak and/or hide because he is looting a corpse - Beastlords should function like other hybrids when casting in melee

Zones - The Hole now uses Kunark-level Mez/Charm/Taunt rules - Petrified humerus should now be available - Zones where mounts cannot be summoned will now remove mounts when they enter the zone - High level NPCs can now be taunted in Cazic Thule - Random frame lag in Guktop and Oasis should be fixed - Fixed a pathing problem in Tenebrous Mountains - Fixed a pathing bug in Paludal Caverns - Fixed pathing exploits in Chardok - Fixed a pathing exploit in Cazic Thule - Fixed a pathing exploit in Acrylia - Fixed a pathing bug in the Tower of Frozen Shadow - Fixed a pathing bug in Fungus Grove - Fixed a spot where characters could get stuck in Twilight Sea - Moved the Permafrost 'safe point' closer to the zone line - Addressed an issue with an aggressive NPC that appeared outside of the Arx Building in Sanctus Seru -Modified the Vyzh`dra the Cursed spawn trigger to make the various incarnations more accessible -Modified several NPCs in the temple of Ssraeshza to address the disparity between melee and caster effectiveness in the zone

Quests - Adjustments have been made to the 8th Coldain Prayer Shawl quest - High Priestess Alexandriana should be working properly now

Tradeskills - Added over 1,000 new tradeskill recipes for all levels of skill, along with many recipe books. A few of the vendors of Norrath might be able to get you started on your way - Added Mortar and Pestle to a Thurgadin merchant - Rubbing Alcohol is now available from a vendor in Thurgadin

Guilds - Fixed many bugs with the guild system, for example: GMs can now rename guilds without the need to destroy and recreate them, guilds can have names that share the first 15 characters with another guild (they couldn't before) and people should no longer experience random guild kickouts when a guild on their server is deleted/reformed.

Pets - A character may now have a horse, a pet and an Eye of Zomm at the same time - /pet attack range has been limited to prevent its use as a targeting tool. Asking pets to attack targets outside the range will generate a "not a legal target" message - Pets will once again tell you who they are attacking by sending its master a /tell - Pet attack animations should now be working for all pets

Chat Channels - Players can specify a chat channel as their default channel using the /channel commands (e.g. /channel chat mychannel) - The 'old' method for setting the default channel is also now saved in the INI file - Kick and Invite should be working for chat channels

Horses - Potions now work while on a horse - Skeletons can now ride horses (meaning: PCs should be able to mount and ride horses while changed into a skeleton)

Miscellaneous - Fixed a bug that was causing the AFK flag to sometimes not be visible to players entering a zone after it was turned on - Made some adjustments to factions to make Beastlords, Druids and Rangers (as well as small adjustments for Vah Shir) a little better liked by animals (those that don't adhere to a faction) - No updates are sent when the player character is not moving, saving resources. We've also increased the rate that position updates are made by moving player characters, using up some of those saved resources but making movement a bit smoother - Stationary NPCs should no longer warp when they aggro/summon - NPCs who shout names while they Death Touch should be fixed - Teleports arriving in some zones should spread the arrivals out a bit more. Affected zones are Nexus, Skyfire, Emerald Jungle, Butcherblock Mountains, South Ro, Greater Faydark, Tox, North Karana, West Commons and Lavastorm - Fixed the bug that was preventing players from seeing the "your spell is interrupted" or the NPCs spell interruption message - Fixed the issue with boats depositing players at the safe point of the zone after zoning - Fixed the strange floating NPC bug (seeing NPCs floating in the air after zoning) - /cry is now working - /consent %t should allow the consented character to drag your corpse - Target Nearest NPC (F8 by default) has been fixed.

Sullon Zek Rules Change We have increased the number of character that can be created on an account to three. These characters, however, must be on the same team

Firiona Vie Rules Changes Since the launch of Firiona Vie we have had tremendous support for this special server from players who want a very roleplaying immersive environment. Players have made numerous suggestions to tweak the ruleset a little more. We have taken many of those suggestions and made changes accordingly.

We will be keeping the following rules intact:

• /ooc will remain unavailable to remind people that acting in

character is strongly recommended.

• The Common language will remain out, to help maintain the feeling of

race-based community and to allow people to continue to roleplay someone with a native tongue.

• The Trivial Loot Code and all of the special rules for no-drop items

will remain. This has worked out nicely for the sense of community on the server.

• The one character per account restriction will remain.

However, we will be removing the following restrictions:

• Anonymous/roleplay flags will no longer be required. They will remain

available, but forcing anonymity on characters was causing undue problems finding groups and other such things that are essential to enjoyable gameplay.

• The language learning limit/speed restrictions will be removed. While

the idea of limited languages seemed like a good idea, this is another item that was just making it too hard to actually play the game. Roleplayers that don't want their characters to be overly literate always have the option to play their characters that way.

• /shout and /auction have returned to unrestricted use to allow easier

grouping and selling. People are welcome to filter those channels if they prefer not to see them, but the benefits of having them availabe is just too great. /ooc will remain disabled on this server. Obviously, acting in character on any channel is strongly recommended.

• Alignment restrictions has been removed. Forced restrictions for

grouping make playing the game too much of a chore. Characters, however, may always decide who they wish to group with based on any factors the character perceives. If your Dark Elf won't group with a paladin, he doesn't have to (and shouldn't). If your cleric of Quellious wants to heal a necromancer because healing people is the right thing to do for him, then you should be able to do so. But not allowing these things is a restriction on your ability to play that character 'in-character', and a real hindrance to general gameplay.

Again, it's important to understand that this is still a roleplaying preferred server. The rules that we are changing were often as much of a restriction to one's ability to roleplay as they were a help. And the artificial barriers to grouping, especially the trouble created in just finding a group, needed to be removed to allow people to actually play the game.

May 10, 2002 2:00 am

- Bard instruments should once again improve the effects of their songs. - Corrected issues with a few of the recently added trade skill recipes.

June 6, 2002 3:00 am

Gameplay - In hopes of providing more things for more people to do, certain raid level encounters in the world now return to existence a small amount faster than they used to. This was actually included in lastnight's patch but was not mentioned.

- To address the competition between epic-seeking bards and other classes, the infamous White Dragon Scale is no longer used in the quest given by Karam Dragonforge in Rathe Mountains. The quest now requires a White Dragon Hide. We did not reduce the rate at which White Dragon Scales enter the world, but rather added new potential for the new White Dragon Hide to be found.

Focus Items - Spell casting time foci should report their new casting time properly.

- Spell duration foci designed to affect DoTs (the Affliction line) should now work reliably.

- Spell duration foci affecting beneficial spells are no longer random. They now always extend the affected buffs for their maximum. (We never wanted to make it harder to time your buffs.)

- The Affliction focus line should now only be affecting spells that do damage.

- Bards should no longer get focus item messages that weren't actually affecting them.

- We've re-assigned quite a few of the focus items to have their originally intended effect.

All of the same items have focus effects. However, as many people noticed, quite a few effects were mis-assigned due to a tools error. (Common, mid level items were frequently being assigned high level effects, and vice versa.)

This situation has been fixed, and the items now have the effects that we originally planned for them.

Firiona Vie - Your server should once again have Trivial Loot Code enabled. Sorry for changing the rules on you.

Chat Channels - Should once again work reliably for people who are using NAT or IP Masquerading via certain networking devices.

- The EverQuest Team

June 12, 2002

NPC Spell Caster Changes - NPCs are now bound by spell casting distance rules, meaning that an NPC's spell will no longer connect from halfway across the zone - NPCs now have a chance to be interrupted by normal combat when casting newer spells - NPCs that are much lower level than their target have had their potential casting damage reduced using a similar mechanic to the one that player characters' level differences use - NPC Wizards no longer have an inherent bonus to their fire and cold based spells - Most NPCs that had previously had their spellcasting level inflated to make up for poor spell selection have been brought back into line with their actual level - NPCs no longer automatically get free access to rarely dropped spells, such as Garrison's Superior Sundering and Funeral Pyre of Kelador.

Spells - True North now works while on horseback - "Harmonize" songs should now last 12 minutes - PC Enchanters will always resist their own single-target mesmerization spells. - Player characters will no longer use mana on targeted spell casts that do not connect due to Line of Sight - The Bind/Cast Sight line of spells now works as it used to. You do not need to have line of sight to your target to use this spell. - The sight effects granted by illusions should now remain when someone with permanent illusion zones

Items - Stanos' Pouch has had its charges increased to 20 - Blessed Knight's Mask is now tradable - Mask of the Grimling Hunter is now wearable - Faun Flute is now usable by Vah Shir - Shrouded Boots are now magical - Pickbringers Chainmail is now usable by Gnomes - Acrylia Reinforced Armor is now usable by short races - Crystal Chitin Leggings can now be used by rogues - Sacred Grimling Fishing Spear can now be used by all rogue races and can no longer be used by bards - Dark Animist Gloves can now be used by Vah Shir - Kylong Chestplate can now be used by Rangers, Dwarves, Halflings and Gnomes - All Kylong armor is now usable by Vah Shir, Barbarians, Trolls and Ogres - Marr's Sustenance should provide the proper effect now - Shadowhaven Faction Amulet should be more useful now - Wind Spirits armor can now be worn by Half Elf bards

Pets - Familiars and Warders will once again disappear when their buff is clicked off - Restored the range limit on /pet attack - '/pet notaunt' and '/pet no taunt' turn taunt off - '/pet taunt off' turns it off as well - '/pet taunt on' turns taunt on instead of toggling it NOTE: '/pet taunt' still toggles taunt as it did before - '/pet health report' reports a pet's health - '/pet health' also reports a pet's health - '/pet stand' causes the pet to stand up - '/pet sit' causes the pet to sit down

Quests - Loremaster Borannin should be responding properly again

Trade Skills - Improved many of the smithed Acrylia items - Large Blocks, Blocks, and Small Blocks of Magic Clay are now stackable - Brick of Deathsteel Ore is now stackable - Several blacksmithed cultural armor set pieces have received a slight improvement to their armor class. - Tarnished and Fine Steel Weapons may now be recycled into ore by placing them into a forge with a water flask.

Miscellaneous - Resurrection timers have been fixed, they count down as normal - NPCs that began regenerating too fast after the last patch have been fixed

- The EverQuest Live Team

July 24, 2002

New Interface Available

The new EverQuest user interface is now available for use on Live servers. Many of you will find that it runs faster than the old interface. It is extremely customizable, and offers all sorts of features including resizable windows, fading windows, a pet control window, and flexibility through the XML files. We decided to offer it for optional use as a sort of Beta II for folks on the Live servers that haven't had the chance to try it out on the Test server.

To activate the new interface:

• Log into the game.
• Type /newui into the chat bar and hit enter.
• Log out and exit to your desktop and then log back in.

or

• Before you log in:
• Open the EQclient.ini file in your EverQuest folder with a text

editor (notepad works fine)

• Find the [Defaults] section of the file
• Add a line that reads: NewUI=TRUE
• Log in

We want to thank all the folks that have helped us test the interface and have offered a wide variety of useful ideas.

Enjoy the interface!

Bazaar Now Available

Those of you that own Shadows of Luclin now have access to the /bazaar and /trader functions. These functions only work in the Bazaar. You can find the Bazaar on Luclin, adjacent to the Nexus and Shadowhaven.

/bazaar opens up the Bazaar Search Window, which allows you to easily locate specific items for sale by Traders in the Bazaar. /trader opens up the Bazaar Vendor window, which allows you to make items available for sale to others in the Bazaar.

You can only use the Bazaar if you have the new interface turned on. See the message above for details.

Again we'd like to thank the folks that helped us test this feature. And we'd like to apologize for the delay in delivery of the Bazaar.

We think that you'll find the finished product to be a good one.

ViewPort

One of the new commands available only with the new interface is /viewport. You can use this command to change the size of the gameplay area.

/viewport [distance from left, distance from top, width, height]

All of the distances and numbers for the viewport command are in the same measure as your screen resolution numbers.

For Example: Let's say you are running in 800 x 600 video mode and you want to create view the game only in the top half of your screen (not that you would). You would type:

/viewport 0 0 800 300

The top left of your screen is 0 and 0. 800 is the width of your screen, and the 300 is one half of the height of the screen.

/viewport reset - will reset the viewport to the default setting.

New Vah Shir Models

We have developed new models for the Vah Shir for use with the old world. You may now choose to turn off the Luclin version of the Vah Shir models and use these new models if you wish. These new Vah Shir models require less memory and you may want to use them in place of the Luclin models to improve system performance.

Spells

- Fixed a bug with the bard songs Warsong and Battlecry of the Vah Shir that caused them to slow you down when used without other haste components. - Fixed a bug with bolt spells that caused double hits due to elevation. Sorry Mages. - Removed the "Ahhh... I feel much better now!" message from certain spells when the caster is over level 35. -Removed the reduction in damage to Damage over Time spells when used on NPCs that are moving. - Mind Wrack will now consider the z-axis when calculating the maximum distance group members can receive the beneficial affects of the spell. - Song of Sustenance should prevent unnecessary hungry and thirsty messages. - Bind Affinity can no longer be cast on any ungrouped player in arenas. - The caster of Voice Graft will once again see what is being said. - Spells that transfer hit points over time from the caster to a target will no longer take effect on the target (the hit point gainer) if the caster (the hit point giver) isn't also affected by the spell. - Added a spell effect message to Magician epic. - Beastlords now get Endure Disease at level 24 and Resist Disease at 51

Pets

- Pet Resistance Changes: Pets will now use their master's level and resistances when saving against spells cast by NPCs (against PCs pets will use their own resistances and level as they always have) - unless the pet has special resistances, in which case it will use that resistance. - Altered pet summoning spells so that they always summon the most powerful pet possible, instead of pets within a 5 level range. - /pet report health now uses the same user defined color as spell text. - /pet report health will now display a list of the effects on the pet. - Mage fire pets should now cast their damage shields more often. - Wizard, Druid and Cleric pets and familiars can now be buffed by characters other than their owner.

PvP

- Fixed a bug on Tallon and Vallon Zek that made player characters in non-human illusions immune to ranged attacks. - It is no longer possible for PC's to fear other PC's at all on any server. The same was also done for charm. - Pets can no longer be affected by charm spells. This should fix the issue that caused charm spells to make pets disappear. - NPCs who are pets of players and call for help from other NPCs will have their cries fall on deaf ears.

Alternate Advancement

- Dire Charm will now send a message to inform the caster that the charm has broken by Feign Death. - Spell Casting Subtlety should work properly for all levels of the ability.

Zone Specific

- Corrected a problem with a treasure table in Marus Seru. - The drakes in SkyShrine should no longer be dropping cloth caps. They should now be producing Drake Eggs. The drakes are very happy about this. - The mountain lions in Steamfont now have jawbones. They are happier about this than the Drakes are about their eggs. - Hoshkar should no longer appear as a bag, qualifying him as the happiest of them all.

Horses

- Fixed a bug that was allowing characters to change into illegal forms while on horseback, causing some unusual displacement problems. Characters will no longer be able to turn into those illegal forms (elementals, for example) while on a horse.

Quests

- Corrected an issue with the Proudfoot Greaves recipe. - The Vex Thal key quest has been changed slightly. Celestial Rifts will no longer be used to create the key - a new item replaces them called a Planar Rift. Planar Rifts are acquired by defeating the same creature as before, however all future Rifts are going to be No-Drop.

A Celestial Rift can be placed in a forge by itself and 'combined' to create a Planar Rift. Please be aware that the new Planar Rifts are No- Drop, and should only be converted in a forge by the intended owner. Old-style Celestial Rifts may be converted into the new Planar Rifts for a period of one month from this patch. If you have any rifts currently, be sure to convert them to the new style within 30 days.

This change is not intended to make it more difficult or time consuming to acquire your Vex Thal key. Many players had brought forth concerns regarding the ability to hoard Celestial Rifts, which had the potential of causing some long-term issues. This fix addresses those concerns, and does not add any difficulty for players currently working on this quest.

Items

- Shissar-bane bows should be working. - Irontoes Tipped Beer Stein should now look like a stein rather than a bag when equipped. - The Intricate Shield can now be used by Dwarves, High Elves, Iksar, Vah Shir, Barbarians and Half Elves. - Imbued Steelsilk Helms now have plate graphics. - Large Fine Plate Boots can now be worn by Bards. - Crustacean Shell Helm now has a graphic. - Pickbringer's Chainmail Boots are now wearable by Gnomes. - Forged Firebrand Halberd now has a halberd graphic rather than an axe graphic. Also, because it is a two-handed slashing weapon, it can no longer be used by Bards.

Dialogues

There were a few NPCs that were not responding properly to their quest text. This has been fixed for the following NPCs: Wizard Schrock, Seamey Whirewhisker, Oglard, Morgalanth Tal`Raeloen, Verona Rankin, Gunex, Waltor Felligan, Nallar Q`Tentu, Lord Nethryn and Cilin Spellsinger.

Miscellaneous

- NPCs no longer have a chance to break root when being healed or buffed. - /split no longer has a chance to cause a loss of coins if done while a group member is gating.

Grouping

We have revamped the grouping system. This is a major rewrite of the system that should have little effect on gameplay, with the exception of removing the bugs with the old system. Players should no longer have issues with their group due to the link-death of any member (including the leader), zoning and other such issues. There is also a new command available.

/makeleader - The leader of the group can now reassign who the leader of the group is by use of this command.

News from Faydwer

It is rumored that the major cities of Faydwer have announced a call to arms for all young adventurers. News of mysterious bloodthirsty goblins to the west setting up encampments has prompted all residents of Kaladim, Kelethin and Felwithe to all begin preparing themselves for what they think may be a momentous battle. Intelligence originating from the Scouts of Kaladim and Kelethin has informed their respective leaders of a possible alliance between a mysterious aqua goblin tribe and the Orcs of Clan Crushbone. Due to the possibility of an attack by either or both of these powerful tribes, guildmasters of all cities have begun the training of young soldiers brave enough to heed the call to defend their homeland against all unknown creatures and new inhabitants.

Call to Arms

Tarlain moved along through the tunnel at a brisk pace, a wistful smile painting his weathered features. His arm reached out from under his travel stained greatcloak so that his hand could traced the side wall of granite while his mind recalled the many times he had passed through this tunnel in his youth. It had been many years since and the memories of his training in the woodland ways within the environs of Surefall glade filled him with a peaceful nostalgia.

This nostalgia all but vanished as Tarlain rounded the final curve and broke into the tree filtered sunlight of Surefall Glade and beheld a most unexpected sight - a line of Qeynos foot soldiers marching past the Ranger hall and on toward the far end of the Glade. What could bring the forces of Qeynos here? Knowing this could not bode well, Tarlain strode quickly to the Ranger hall, his eyes on the receding backs of the footmen.

Reaching the main hall entrance, Tarlain's sight latched on to a proclamation inked in the flowing hand of a Qeynos scribe and bearing the seal of Antonius IV. It outlined the rising threat of Blackburrow Gnolls invading and despoiling the previously sequestered Jaggedpine Forest. Because of this danger Antonius has lifted his father's ruling to protect those forests and now calls for able-bodied men and militia to join in quelling the expansion of the vile Gnolls. Gritting his teeth at the thought of Gnolls invading the pristine woodlands, Tarlain turned and with a hand on his longsword, set off to catch up with the guardsmen and throw in his lot against the dogs of Blackburrow.

(Note: Jaggedpine Forest is only available by using the optional files download option in the advanced section of the EverQuest patcher. Be aware that the download required for this new zone is relatively large.)

July 27, 2002 3:00 am

Items fixed over the last few days or with this patch:

- Pets summons are now working correctly. We've fixed the error with their maximum hit scores, along with giving some increases in offensive skills to allow them to hit more accurately. - Improved Singing Mastery to match the values given by Instrument Mastery - Corrected an issue with bard charm songs - Various other fixes. :)

August 14, 2002

- New Luclin Port Spells for Druids & Wizards. - Luclin Port Spells now usable from anywhere. - New AA abilities added to Intelligence Casters and Priests. - New Graphical Compass added to new UI.

September 4, 2002 3:00 am

Please note: there are a lot of changes going into the game with today's patch. Some of these changes (such as the changes to resistances and spell stacking) will change aspects of the game that may make gameplay different. Keep this in mind when you log in. With system-wide changes like these it is entirely possible that there are still bugs. Please report these bugs using /bug, and know that we will work to fix them as fast as we can. But also note that some intended changes might appear as bugs (perhaps a spell no longer stacks with another spell). Feel free to report these as bugs if you are unsure. But please keep in mind the changes listed here as well.

Petitions - /viewpetition displays the petition you have in the queue, if any. - /deletepetition deletes the petition you have in the queue, if any (unless that petition is currently being viewed by CS staff).

Keyrings We will be resetting all keyrings with this patch. This will mean that all existing keys in the keyrings will be removed. You will need to place keys back onto the keyrings. Keys are added to the keyring by using the key. The keyring is a part of the character, not a space in inventory. To find out what keys you have just type /key and the game will give you a list. If you have recently deleted a key, please contact your GM for a replacement.

Experience Changes - We have smoothed out level progression from 50-60. This should mitigate the "penalty effect" that occurs in levels 51, 54 and 59. Note that it will cost the same experience to level from 50 to 60 as it did before. Also, death experience loss will appear different in some levels. This is an unfortunate side effect that must remain to prevent some experience exploits. - We have rebalanced the rewards for killing NPCs for characters over level 50. NPCs that are considerably weaker than you will give you less experience. NPCs give more experience the higher level they are, and for the best results you should fight the most challenging monsters you can reasonably manage.

Spells - Fixed the "You have been healed for X damage" message. It once again reports the actual amount of damage healed. - Added a message telling the caster when NPC can't be charmed. - Fixed a bug with duration boosting Alternate Advancement abilities and foci that was only allowing the first 12 buff slots to be modified as opposed to all 15. - Fixed a bug that was allowing focused and Alternate Advancement ability enhanced damage spells to do more damage than they should (meaning that both the Alternate Advancement and the Focus improve the base damage. The focus damage was never supposed to compound with the added AA damage.) - Enchanter spells that have a hit point component and a stun component can now be partially resisted. -The Enchanter "visage" series has had their recast time reduced to make them more useful. -Shadowknight and Necromancer Drain type spells can now be clicked off by the recipient of the beneficial portion of the spell. For example; Shadowknights and their group members can now click off the effects of spells such as Torrent of Hate. While the target of spells such as Shadowbond can click it off if they so choose. -Torrent of Hate should no longer overwrite Call of the Predator

- Repaired some problems with Beastlord stat buffs - specifically that the higher level ones weren't always better than the lower level ones. - Furious Strength made available to Beastlords at Level 54 - Dexterity made available to Beastlords at Level 57 - Stamina made available to Beastlords at Level 57 - Divine aura is now available to Paladins at level 51, instead of level 55. - Harmshield made available to Shadowknights at level 51 - Augment Death made available to Shadow Knights at Level 60 - Death Peace made available to Necromancers at level 60 - Flaming Sword of Xuzl has casting time reduced from 6 to 2.5 seconds, recast increased from 2.5 to 60 seconds and mana cost lowered from 600 to 250. - Unswerving Hammer of Faith has casting time reduced from 6 to 2.5 seconds, recast increased from 2.5 to 60 seconds and mana cost lowered from 600 to 250. -Added a new line of spells for Shadowknights, Voice of Darkness. Merchants in Echo Caverns have been able to appropriate many of these new spells, but Voice of Terris has so far eluded them. -Added two new Mesmerize type spells for Bards, one at level 40, and one at level 58. Rumor has it that Serilia Whistlewind has recovered the melody written by Sionachie, but has been unable to locate the transcript for the Dreams of Ayonae. -Whispers in the taverns of Katta Castellum speak of recently discovered Ancient melodies. Brave adventurers search far and wide for the song of the ancient combine empire, and the Lullaby of Shadows.

- Higher level PCs will be more resistant to lower level NPCs' spells. - Increased the number of spells that can be in effect on a given NPC to 30.

Spell Stacking Changes We've made two changes to the way spells stack.

Damage Over Time (DoT) spells are spells that linger on the target doing damage. Until today two different characters could not have the same DoT spell on the same target. As long as one copy of the spell was active any new version of the spell would not take hold. After today the same DoT spell cast by different casters can affect the same target at the same time. Also, if you cast a DoT spell on a target and you already have that spell active on it, the spell will refresh. (Note: It will not be possible to stack Lifeburn).

This does not allow for inferior spells to stack along with superior spells. (Example: Two Necromancers can both land Boil Blood on the same target. However, Heat Blood, being an inferior spell, will still not stack.)

Several DoT spells that have debuff components such as Tuyen's Chant of Frost and Breath of Ro will not stack due to the balance issues of having several hundred points of Resistance debuffs on a single NPC.

We've also rewritten the way that spells stack with other spells with the same benefits (for example, to spells that give bonus hit points). Generally speaking spells may now 'bounce' off each other (neither overwriting the other) and stacking issues should now be easier to resolve. In specific:

- Warder's Protection should have considerably fewer stacking and overwrite issues. Thanks to the folks at the Ranger's Glade for all of their help in 'tracking' this down. - Druid Damage Shields should now all stack in the correct order. - Druid HP buffs are no longer overwriting stronger cleric HP buffs. - Harness of Spirit and Visions of Grandeur should interact a bit more sanely. - Existing effects should no longer be stripped off when the incoming spell isn't going to take hold. - Boon of Garou and other illusions now interact the right way. - Spells that have both group and single target versions (and no special coding to tell them otherwise) now mutually overwrite each other.

Resistance Changes We've made some fairly drastic changes to the way the spell resistance system works. Previously, there was only the smallest benefit to having resists over a certain value. We've reworked resistance in its entirety, completely replacing the old system with one that is more logical.

The idea behind the changes is pretty simple: Resists should matter in a way that makes sense.

Important things to note about the new resistance system:

- Resists matter more for PCs. There are now tangible differences between having 50, 150, and 250 in a given resistance, for example. Resistance buffs, bard songs, and resist gear have actual value, all the way up the line.

- Conversely, resistances also matter more for NPCs. Some NPCs became more vulnerable to things they have always been vulnerable to, other NPCs became more resistant to things that they were inclined to be somewhat resistant to.

- Resistance debuffs should also have more value, all the way up the line. For the first time, resistance debuffs now have the ability to bring NPCs that were lure-style only down into the range of being hit by normal spells.

- The hard level limit involving players casting on NPCs has been removed. This used to be referred to in EQ folklore as the "Six Level Limit" (It was actually 1.25 times the caster's level, but more people likely thought about it the other way.) This means that in the vast majority of cases, there is at least a small chance that a person will be able to connect a spell with an NPC, even if they are out of that NPC's traditional level range.

- Overall, against NPCs that have medium-to-high resistances of a given type, expect to see more full hits, fewer partials, but more full resists in the new system. Taken over time, the damage done by PC casters to semi-high resistance NPCs should be approximately the same, but will definitely improve when the proper debuffs are applied (we wanted to make sure that this did not turn into a universal nerf of casters).

We look forward to seeing how these changes play out in front of a larger audience.

Line of Sight Changes - For spells that require Line of Sight (LoS), the LoS check is now at the beginning of the spellcast, not the end. - Spells that require but do not have of LoS will now fail immediately. - Harmful spells require LoS. - Most Beneficial spells still do not require LoS. - Bind Sight type spells do not require LoS. - Any beneficial spell containing a Cancel Magic component requires LoS.

Priest Changes - Clerics gain the Bash skill beginning at level 25. They will have a maximum skill of 125 at level 50, 165 at level 60. - Clerics gain Hammer of Judgement - a level 56 summoned hammer with a powerful and frequent proc effect - Clerics gain Yaulp V - a level 56 self-only melee and mana regen buff that adds haste, dexterity, mana regeneration and stamina regeneration. - Clerics gain Ethereal Elixir - a level 60 group version of Celestial Elixir, the heal-over-time spell. - Clerics gain Ethereal Light - a level 58 upgrade of Divine Light, the single target heal spell. - Clerics gain Ethereal Remedy - a level 59 upgrade of Remedy, the single target heal spell.

Sound and Music - We've started work on the sound and music engine. If you used to have sound/music bugs, the first upgrade today might help a bit. This is the first step down a long road. If your particular sound/music issue isn't fixed, please be patient. There's no need to re-report existing sound/music bugs.

Items - Items now display level-restricted statistics besides armor class and damage as a red number with the unrestricted value in parentheses. - Duration focus items now give focus message when a group spell lands on caster. - Blessed Coldain Prayer Shawl has been given a minor upgrade. - Small Cloth Sandals are no longer wearable by large races. - Fixed the Plane of Mischief boxes.

Pets - Changed Specter pets so they're able to equip items and armor. - Pet-only buffs now automatically attempt to target your pet if you cast them with the wrong target or no target at all. - Fixed a bug that would prevent the creation of Familiars and Warders if the caster had created more than 99 in the same zone during the current game session. - The limit on the amount of haste that can be applied to a pet has been changed (aka. The Pet Haste Cap). The amount of haste that can be placed on a pet now scales with the level of its owner. The scaling occurs in a way that is consistent with how much haste a given caster can place on his own pet (using a Level 56 Magician as an example: The idea is that both Burnout IV and Muzzle of Mardu should be useful).

User Interface - Deleting Spells from Spellbook: Storebought spells can be deleted from your spellbook. To delete a spell just right-click it to highlight it and tap the DELETE key. Please note: This does not convert the spell back into a scroll. You will have to buy a new scroll if you wish to re-scribe the spell. No reimbursements will be made for deleted spells. - Item Links: When you inspect an item with Alt-Left-Click, the item inspect window stays up. To paste a "link" to the item you're looking at into your chat bar, click on the item's graphic. That will "speak" a link that others can click on to see the stats of the item, as if they were inspecting it themselves. - Updated the /note window. The old /note command still works as it always has. But you can now use /note without additional text to produce a text window for entering note text. The /note command window should not break existing skins. - Fixed a bug with the tracking window that was showing the sorting set for something other than normal for non-rangers (this was just a visual bug). - Fixed a bug that sometimes caused a crash when zoning with the corpse window open. - Added UI Label type #74 = Player Title - "Reply to" will properly prepend a ;tell in front of names that are from other servers. - Extended the "reply to" queue to 50 names. - Fixed some aesthetics with labels. Percentages will never show above 100 now (even during a heal). Corpse HP will always show 0. - There will now be sound when banking coins.

Bazaar - Added Focus Effect search parameter to the Bazaar. - Items that are no-drop on other servers but tradable on Firiona Vie should now show up in Bazaar searches on that server.

Alternate Advancement - Frenzied Burnout no longer makes the pet suicide after the buff's duration ends. - Fixed a bug that would cause the Dire Charm ability not to reset if an enchanter used it when he already had a pet. - Fixed a bug that was causing Dire Charm to not give the "this mob cannot be Dire Charmed" message or reset the timer in Cazic-Thule. - Added the Quest Completion sound to AA point dings.

Quests - There is a fellow named Moltak in Sol Temple. Killing him gives a negative faction adjustment with the True Spirit faction. BUT, if you have a very, very bad faction with True Spirit, killing him will also reset your faction to a more tolerable level. So don't mess with this fellow unless folks on the True Spirit faction are willing to kill you on sight. - Made some modifications to the faction effects of the Wizard Epic quest. - A powerful warder has been seen in the Skyfire Mountains. Those who seek retribution against Ragefire would be wise to speak to her, she may be able to provide information about his whereabouts.

Miscellaneous - Merchants now display up to 80 items in their inventory. There should also be less delay when opening up merchant windows. - The Help window will now be displayed on startup. This will happen only if it has never been seen before (since this change). - Sirens should have female voices. - Bloodgill Goblins should now sound like goblins. - Several spell caster guild masters are now teaching magic skills. In Shadowhaven: Palomidiar Allakhaji, Loewnsaz_Waldalon and Lamukas Kaesoanls. In Echo Caverns: Kelador, Celerik, Wirgus and Yurian. - Erudites of Prexus now start at the proper location. - Bards singing songs should no longer prevent group members from /split'ting coins. Only teleportation spells being cast in group will prevent /split'ting. This change was required to keep coin from disappearing if a /split occurred while a person was in the process of leaving a zone. - Leather Padding can now be made from Rockhopper Hides.

- The EverQuest Team

September 26, 2002 3:00 am

Planes of Power Pre-Order Bonus If you pre-order the PoP expansion you will be able to purchase the Planes of Power original soundtrack CD for just an additional $4.95.

Important Notice about Alternate Advancement - When a character has 30 or more AA points, they will receive a red message stating:

Warning: You are currently over the earned Advancement point limit of 30. Please spend some of your stored AA points. You will not be able to earn further AA points until you have fewer than 30. On October 21, 2002, all points over 30 in your AA pool will be deleted.

It seems appropriate that Advancement points earned prior to the release of Planes of Power be used for abilities from earlier expansions. In addition, many of the Luclin abilities are pre- requisites for Planes of Power abilities. When the servers come up on October 21st, all unused Alternate Advancement point pools over 30 will be wiped.

New Spell Effects We are implementing a few new spell effects using our new particle effects engine with this patch as a way of easing into the new system. The new effects are faster and give you more control over how they look. We have changed the Display Options menu to accommodate these new options.

On the Display tab of the options window you will now find four options regarding particle effects. The first three, listed under Spell Particles are Near Clip Plane, Density and Opacity. These are the options for controlling the new particle effects. They will not change the old particle effects. The old particles are controlled using the Other Particles option.

Note on Near Clip Plane: This option chooses how close to you particles cease to be visible. So Near allows particles to be seen right up to the character. Farthest will clip out particles near the character and only show those at the 'farthest' distance.

Note on Opacity: This feature works at all settings for cards that support TnL. For other cards setting Opacity to 0% will turn off the effects and any other setting will show them fully.

We'll leave it up to you to discover which spells have the new particles...

Alternate Advancement - Beastlords now have access to the Mend Companion ability. - Beastlords now have access to three unique class alternate advancements. - Permanent Illusion used with Wolf Form should no longer result in a wolf tinted by the Enchanter's robe. - Updated Finishing Blow - "This ability gives you a chance to finish off an NPC that is below 10 percent health and fleeing with a single blow. The first level works on NPC's below 50, the second on NPC's below 52, and the third on NPC's below 54. (Non-Warriors must first train one level of Combat Fury to use this ability.) " - Improved Combat Fury for non-warriors to give more value to the points spent after level 1.

Spells - New Druid and Shaman heal spells are available. - The "Your XXX Spell Has Worn Off" messages for DoT spells will now go to the right character. - Illusions that are of a character type that can't wear armor, such as werewolf, will no longer cause the character to be naked when the illusion drops. - Fixed the Illusion wolf form swimming animation. - Shaman and Beastlord Shrink spell has had its location restriction removed. - The outcasts of Echo Caverns have deciphered new magics that allow Dark Knights to channel the essence of terror into their enemies minds. While their initial findings have proven very powerful, rumors exist of even greater magics that might channel the nightmares of Terris Thule herself into the minds of mortals. Where that power might be found is not yet known.

Items - Items that grant bonuses to bandage skill should be working now. - Guise of the Hunter no longer makes the user appear to be naked. - Validus Custodus Battle Axe no longer looks like a bard mandolin when equipped by a pet.

PvP Servers and Gameplay - The recent resist changes have been adjusted for PvP. They will not be exactly as they were prior to the resist change, but they should be reasonable now. Please let us know if you feel they need further adjustment. - Player characters will no longer lose experience in the Arena areas on the Sullon Zek server. - A player character can no longer tell his pet to attack another player's horse when not on a PvP area or in a duel. - Kael, Skyshrine, and Thurgadin on Sullon Zek no longer have the newbie protection code active. - Players should once again be able to use level-restricted clickable buffs on the Sullon Zek server.

Pets - Improved Beastlord pets to scale more reasonably with the level of the Beastlord after level 40. This also puts them into line with the last round of pet balancing, which did not improve beastlord pets at the time.

Horses - Locate corpse songs/spells should now work on horseback. - Detect traps should also now work on horseback. - Fixed a bug that was preventing manipulation of inventory items if a character died with coins on the cursor. - Invisibility on horseback should now make your horse invisible to NPCs as it does the rider. - Zoning with Levitate/Levitation and horse no longer causes the levitation to fail. - Fixed a bug that would cause the horse 'buff' to disappear when zoning in some zones. - Player characters on horseback can now be hit by various missiles, such as arrows, thrown weapons or the various bolt spells from PCs and NPCs. - Call of the Hero should no longer put people under the world when the caster is on horseback. - Dragging a corpse while on a horse will no longer cause the corpse fall under the world. - You can now right click on spells to arrange your spell book when on a horse.

Zone Specific - We believe that we fixed the major source of lockups caused for players in certain zones such as the Great Divide and Shadowhaven. - Hierophant Oxyn in East Cabilis will be showing up again.

The Following User Interface Files have been changed with this patch Updated: equi.xml equi_aawindow.xml equi_optionswindow.xml

New: equi_gemsgamewnd.xml

User Interface - The New User Interface will default to ON. Officially, it is now just The User Interface and the other interface is now the Old User Interface. :) - The Fade to Transparency option should now affect all bags. - PC/NPC name on/off settings will now be saved when leaving the game. - CTRL key being pressed while looking up or down no longer creates a cycle of constant panning up or down of the camera. - Wrapping in the middle of the first word in an Item Tag no longer causes all text from then on being included in the tag. - Fixed bug with Item Tags for items that contain comma's in their name. - Pet sit button will now change to stand button if the pet is already sitting. - Added Item Tags to list of buttons in the Chat Options page, you can now change the color of the tags. - Item Tags now appear as part of the standard "You have looted an X" messages. - Hair should no longer disappear in Character Creation of Female Ogre with Luclin models on. - The Tracking window selection color is no longer the same as a yellow con mob.

Miscellaneous - Fixed a bug with /hidecorpse making corpses invisible, but still be targetable. - /Gems is now available in both User Interfaces.

An Ancient Arises Deep within the recesses of a cave yet unknown to the world at large, a dark, menacing figure parts with the slumber that has kept him silent for ages. The eyes of a magnificently ominous beast pierce through the darkness, his memories flowing freely once more. In the depths of this beast's mind sparks the knowledge that his prophetic savior has been released from the ancient magiks of time, let loose upon an unsuspecting world where the kin shall once again reign supreme.

"My master's shackles have been trounced, and so it is written that in this world that has been so deftly overrun by pitiful mortals, he shall bring power back to those of the scale." The deep rumbling voice of the beast lingers throughout the cavernous hideaway, the barely distinguishable figure of a mighty lizard moves through the stone and dirt and dust as if to leave the gloomy surroundings and find his place once again upon Norrath proper.

"For far too long have I been a prisoner to the overwhelming might that kept me in a state of secluded sleep; for far too long have I been victim to the ancestral elemental forces keeping my master at bay. Now I awaken and bring life back to the disciples; now shall the lifeblood of the Four once again spread the word of prophecy!" The footsteps of this great beast are slow but sure, moving through the depths of the gaping mountain retreat towards the surface. Along the walls, pebbles and stones that have remained dormant for years crumble and crack, falling to the ground as the immense beast walks past.

A maze of dead ends and broken paths twists and turns in the expanse beyond the figure's resting place. The skeletons of those who had tried - and failed - to make their way to him in the years he spent in forced slumber remain, tumbled landmarks of heroes long lost. Slowly he moves, his reptilian eyes darting back and forth looking for any meager meals that may still be available. As he proceeds, he steps atop a mighty echelon, overlooking the bodies that could not defy the magical properties of the cave; fools of mortal thought, incapable of fathoming the power that lay beyond them. "Time has been good to you, my faithful warren... let us both pray that I no longer need you. The time for the revival is at hand."

September 27, 2002 1:00 am

This patch fixes a number of issues that first arose in yesterday's patch. We apologise for the additional Scheduled Downtime Page.

- Zones should be considerably more stable.

- Item links no longer cause display lockups.

- NPCs once again choose their targets properly.

- Gravity Flux-type spells again function properly.

- The Guildmasters of Sanctus Seru are no longer quite as mean as they were previously.

- Ring of Flamewarding is again wearable by Wizards.

Thank you for your patience, and have a good weekend!

- The EverQuest Team

October 16, 2002 4:30 am

Odd New Objects in the Land Folks across Norrath and on Luclin have reported seeing odd new objects in various locations. They appear to be some sort of magical portal, though local spell casters have yet to discover how they arrived or exactly what their purpose is. They have determined, however, that these objects are slowly building in power. Attempting to use these portals at this time can have unexpected results. Experts recommend that adventurers avoid these objects until they know more. For more information on these odd devices, visit www.planesofpower.com

Important Notice Regarding Alternate Advancement Reimbursement Due to the changes made to Manaburn, Rods of Mystical Transvergence and a previous change to Innate Regeneration, we are reimbursing several Alternate Advancement (AA) abilities.

Once you log in today, if you have any of these abilities, please check your AA window immediately! If you have more than 30 unspent points, IT IS VERY IMPORTANT that you make certain that your character has 30 or fewer AA points before The Planes of Power launches on October 21st! The return of these AA points may put your total number of unspent points over the 30 point maximum. Your pool will be reduced to 30 the first time you log in after the launch of Planes of Power on October 21st.

We will be refunding all Alternate Advancement points in the following abilities:

Innate Regeneration Manaburn Mental Clarity Quick Summoning

Refunded Alternate Advancement points may be spent in any way you choose. None of these abilities is being removed, and of them only Manaburn is changing.

NOTE: Cannibalization, Gather Mana, and Mind and Body Rejuvenation will not function if you do not have the necessary prerequisite, Mental Clarity 3.

Alternate Advancement - Mana Burn will only land any given target only once every minute. If a cast of Mana Burn is unable to land, the timer will not be used. - Spell Casting Mastery once again works in the same manner that it did before the previous patch - Spell Casting Fury and Soul Abrasion will now stack - Illusion Tree and Minor Illusion will no longer be affected by Permanent Illusion - Fixed Purify Soul. It should now cure poison, disease, damage over time spells as initially intended - Reduced the reuse timer on Divine Resurrection from 72 hours to 36 hours - Reduced the reuse timer on Mend Companion from 144 minutes to 36 minutes - Reduced the reuse timer of Warcry from 72 minutes to 36 minutes. Increased its duration from 5 seconds per rank of the ability to 10 seconds per rank of the ability

Defensive Changes - Decreased Monks' ability to mitigate damage (please see the Developer's Update on www.everquestlive.com for more details) - Improved the ability of Paladins, Shadowknights, Warriors and Bards to mitigate damage in some situations - Upgraded Warrior dodge cap to 190 - Upgraded Paladin, Shadowknight and Bard dodge cap to 170 - Upgraded Ranger and Beastlord dodge to 170 and defense to 240

Spells - Complete Healing will now heal a maximum of 7,500 hit points - The Rod of Mystical Transvergence spell has been altered. The spell has been renamed to "Mass Mystical Transvergence". When cast, this spell summons a Rod of Mystical Transvergence for everyone within 300 feet. This rod is no drop and contains 3 charges of Mystical Transvergence. Each charge restores 360 mana at the cost of 450 health. A player may only use a charge from the rod once every 5 minutes. - Additionally, there is a new "Rod of Mystical Transvergence" spell for sale in the Bazaar. This is a single target spell that summons a rod with 3 charges of Mystical Transvergence. This rod has the same abilities and restrictions listed above. This spell is a targeted summon that costs 400 points of mana to cast. - Changed the way Focus stacks with other strength and dexterity buffs - Circle of Seasons will overwrite Resist Cold - Dance of the Blade should now stack with McVaxius's Rousing Rondo - Harness of Spirit and Rage should now stack properly - Fufil's Curtailing Chant should now stack with Occlusion of Sound - Protection of the Glades should now overwrite Blessed Armor of the Risen - Blessed Armor of the Risen should now stack with Lunar Whispers - Fixed a bug that was causing some applications of spells and ranged attacks from great distance to go unnoticed by NPCs - Contact Innates (such as Boon of the Garou) should now be working for bards - Fixed a bug that would sometimes cause helmets and sometimes hair to disappear after an illusion was cast - Bard songs should now blink on recipients other than the bard

Encounters Due to the number of Luclin encounters requiring original Rods of Transvergence to be defeated by a reasonably sized force, a number of those encounters have been be re-tuned to shorten their duration.

Interface - New Alarm feature added. When you first log in you will see a pop up asking if you wish to set an alarm and if so for how long. There is also an option to choose to never see that pop up again. If you choose this option you will need to set ShowAlarmWindow=TRUE in your eqclient.ini file in order to see the pop up again. The alarm will trigger after the time you set has elapsed, no matter what character you are playing on whatever server, up until the moment you log out. - /played now displays how long you have been playing this session and, if an alarm has been set, how long until that alarm sounds. - /pet sit down should now work on charmed NPCs - Added 3 new context menu options for chat windows: Reply To, Tell a friend, Tell a Raidmember (for future use). Each of which has a submenu containing the list of Reply targets, Friends, or Raidmembers, as appropriate. Clicking on the player's name will place "/tell " on the chat entry line, and move the focus there, closing the menu. - Changed /loadskin. It now brings up a window that will allow you to select a skin from a list, determine whether to use the INI or not, then load the skin.

Beastlords In order to allow us to better tune warders, we have made changes to the way that these pets work. Previously a Beastlord would summon a pet using an ability button and then use level-appropriate buff spells to increase the pet's level. Because of the way this mechanic works, it was very difficult to tune these pets. Hopefully this will have the side benefit of making things a little easier on Beastlords by reducing the number of steps required to cast the pet.

Beastlords will now summon their pets using spells rather than an ability. The series of spells that was previously used to buff the pets will now simply summon the appropriate pet.

Unfortunately, these pets will no longer zone with the Beastlord, and will need to be resummoned (instead of rebuffed) after zoning.

We have made some adjustments to these pets already.

- Added the casting time reduction that is already in place for Paladins, Rangers and Shadowknights to Beastlords

Items - Merchants now highly value the Staff of Forbidden Rites and will only sell them at an extremely high price. - Dance of the Blade should once again stack with Nature's Melody and Song of the Deep Seas

Trade Skills - Made it slightly easier to get skill increases while doing Tailoring, Tinkering, Smithing, Baking, Brewing and Alchemy. Made it slightly more difficult to get skill increases with Pottery and Fletching

Miscellaneous - Fixed an issue that was causing zones to crash in some circumstances - Fixed an issue that was causing merchants to behave erratically while handling certain quantities of items - Player Character corpses with no items will decay in 3 real life hours, not 7 days - Fixed a bug that was causing Lay Hands to not heal enough damage - Zoning while on a horse on a boat will no longer cause you to appear on the other side in the water - /face (face picker) will no longer work while under the effects of an illusion - Taunt should be more effective and more dependent on the level of the Taunt skill for PC's and NPC's below level 60. - Levitation can no longer be cast on Traders in the Bazaar

List of UI files updated or added with this patch UPDATED

EQUI.xml EQUI_Animations.xml EQUI_FriendsWnd.xml EQUI_PetInfoWindow.xml EQUI_OptionsWindow.xml

NEW FILES

EQUI_LoadskinWnd.xml EQUI_AlarmWnd

Fan Faire Greetings Norrathians! The portal to the San Francisco Fan Faire has been updated to include a full schedule, forums, hotel information and more. Registration is still open but the reservations are going fast. If wish to join the fun, teleport over to: http://everquest.station.sony.com/fanfaire/ to reserve your spot and see what's new! Those of you who have already registered, we'll see you on the weekend of November 8th in San Francisco!

October 17, 2002 3:00 am

- Some NPCs were unable to cast Area Effect spells and other innate abilities. This would have caused many of the recently retuned NPCs to be considerably easier than intended.

- Updated the range on the Magician spell Rod of Mystical Transvergence.

- Rods of Transvergence and Modulation Rods can no longer be used by those who do not have enough maximum hit points to survive the mana conversion. Please note: That is MAXIMUM hit points! It is still possible for appropriate level characters to rod themselves to death.

- Barbarian Beastlords will once again return to summoning their own dogs. Not someone else's. If you were summoning a dog that didn't appear familiar, please do not worry. Your own dog has returned. He missed you. Please feed him.

- Altered the stacking for the Shaman spell Voice of the Berserker to match the other spells in its line.

- Aura of White Petals has been updated to have its strength as it was prior to its stacking changes.

- In the original patch yesterday morning, /SHIELD was added as an innate ability that all Warriors now gain at level 35. Warriors may now choose to take a portion of melee damage that is intended for another. Warriors, please type /SHIELD for a full description of this ability. You may find that it assists you greatly in your groups.

Correspondingly, NPCs and Pets over level 30 who are Warriors were granted this ability as well. Certain NPCs and Pets may choose to protect beings that they have an affinity for, if they believe that it will benefit the shielded being. For now, however, there is not yet a way to manually cause or prevent this behavior in pets.

October 21, 2002 Press Release - Planes of Power Live

SAN DIEGO, CA – October 21, 2002– Sony Online Entertainment Inc. (SOE), a worldwide leader in massively multiplayer online gaming, announced today that EverQuest®: The Planes of Power™ will be available in retail stores tomorrow. The Planes of Power introduces high-level EverQuest gamers to an arching storyline and takes players on an adventure of epic proportions with hundreds of powerful new weapons, spells and creatures, 20 action-packed zones and an increased level cap maximum to 65 allowing players to become more powerful than ever before.

“EverQuest fans have been waiting for an expansion that reveals more of the lore and history of Norrath,” said Scott McDaniel, vice president of marketing, Sony Online Entertainment. “The development team has worked hard to deliver an expansion pack that is incredibly rich in content and rewards our veteran players. We’re confident EverQuest players will find The Planes of Power an exciting addition.”

In The Planes of Power, a portal has been unveiled and now travelers can experience a world unlike anything they have ever seen. Players can share in the knowledge of this extraordinary discovery as they fight the most powerful deities to bring justice to Norrath. Players will fiercely battle the minions of Rallos Zek in the Plane of Tactics, join arms with Karana to regain control of the Plane of Storms, and overcome vile pestilence in the Plane of Disease in their quest to unlock the mysteries of the Planes.

EverQuest: The Planes of Power Features List:

• More than 20 new action-packed “planes” challenging players and pushing teamwork abilities to the limit

• Enormous planar city, the Plane of Knowledge, provides a hub for easy travel and player interaction

• A new cast of visually stunning non-player characters including Clockwork Golems, Mephits, and Elemental Guardians for earth, wind, air and fire

• Challenging new quest system that allows unprecedented depths of gameplay

• Over 50 new monsters, hundreds of new items and spells, and expanded trade skill system, and hundreds of new items

• All-new raid system that allows up to 60 players to share exciting adventures and gain experience

• Increased level cap to 65 including new spells and abilities

• A central storyline links the content from every zone into one epic quest

EverQuest players looking for a helpful tool to navigate Norrath and beyond will find valuable insight in the EverQuest Atlas. With over 150 detailed maps, the EverQuest Atlas is the most comprehensive collection of maps available for EverQuest and expansions: The Ruins of Kunark™, The Scars of Velious®, The Shadows of Luclin™ and The Planes of Power™. Each map offers valuable insight into the quests, monsters, riches and dangers of each location. EverQuest Atlas is available now in retail stores across the U.S.

For more information please visit the official Planes of Power Website at www.planesofpower.com.

October 23, 2002

Patch Information

- Fixed a number of bugs associated with the new sound system. If you were having troubles yesterday and disabled sound and music, please feel free to give it another try today.

- NPC sounds should no longer clip out too fast.

- The Sound Realism slider in the Options window is once again working. Turning it all the way off will disable Reverb, as the old /reverb command used to.

- Quieted down people's personal sounds (sounds that you hear yourself making) a few notches.

- In minor updates throughout yesterday, also addressed a number of spells whose effects were no longer making their usual noises.

- Assorted content tweaks.

October 25, 2002 3:00 am

- Added a toggle command for combat music called /combatmusic - Sounds that fade out will just fade back in if restarted (instead of fading out and starting over as before). This should make combat mode toggling much more pleasant - Added /mixahead command. You should only use this command if you are experiencing sounds skipping. The default value for this command is 8. Basically, this command tells the sound engine how far ahead to pre-mix your sound. The larger the number the further ahead it mixes. So if you are experiencing skipping, you may want to try increasing the mixahead value in small increments (increase it by 2 or 4 at a time). A setting of about 16 is probably as large as you should need, greater than that will cause your sounds to be noticeably delayed. - Swarm and Reanimation-type pets no longer give exp when killed - Swarm and Reanimation-type pets now properly credit their leader when they kill an NPC - Fixed an issue with /raid that was causing some folks to crash - Fixed a bug that was allowing players without Planes of Power to be invited to /raids - Added minimum and maximum price search parameters for the Bazaar - Fixed a stability issue on the servers

Anything after this likely does not apply to Al'Kabor

November 5, 2002

- Monk fists as hand-to-hand weapons now scale to 15 damage/20 delay at level 65.

- Corrected a bug with a few spells that were group or ranged but would only work on the caster.

- Corrected faction issues with some form changes (illusions).

- Fixed the Magic and Stealth manual quests in Plane of Knowledge.

- Changed how Force Shield, Barrier of Force and Manaskin interact with Beastlord mana regeneration spells.

November 14, 2002

- Addressed an issue with the Vallon Zek encounter. - A certain Ogre in Drunder now returns a vial of blood under the correct circumstances. - The Ring of Torden should now function correctly. - Experience rewards have been increased in Plane of Storms to bring the zone more in line with the effort required, and also more in line with other planes of the same tier. - The servers were not reset for this update.

The EverQuest Team

December 19, 2002

Zones

- Spectral Parchments, Ethereal Parchments, and Glyphed Rune word drops have been increased significantly in the third tier Planes of Power zones. - The trials within the Halls of Honor have been changed slightly. Please proceed with caution. - Several Planes of Power NPCs are no longer angered quite as badly when they notice a healing spell being cast on a player they are angry with. - Made improvements to the Planes of Power quest armors. - Assorted quest, item, and dialogue fixes.

Planes of Power Zone Progression

As most know, progressing through Planes of Power zones requires that certain tasks be performed. In many cases, one of the tasks required involves being on a raid that defeats a particularly powerful foe.

One side effect of this progress is that if the tasks were not accomplished in a particular order, a person on a raid may not gain the flag for completing the event, as they did not complete the prerequisite tasks.

The majority of "zone boss" style encounters in the first three tiers of Planes of Power zones have been changed to allieviate this problem of completing tasks out of order.

As of today, if you defeat one of these foes and do not have all of the prerequisites completed to receive the flag at the end of the event, you will be able to go back and complete the tasks that you have not yet performed.

Once you've done that, you may speak with the Seer in the Plane of Knowledge who will make sure that you are then able to progress as if you had performed the tasks in their proper order.

- The EverQuest Team

January 9, 2003

Demise of the Classic/Velious Interface

Over the last six months we have been keeping the Classic EverQuest interface as well as the Velious interface working through all of the features that we have added (built-in MP3 player, item links, compass, enhanced /bug reporting tool, and others). However, with the release of some of the new features in this patch, such as running EQ in a window, we must now say goodbye to the older interfaces. They have been disabled as of today.

They served us well.

EQ in a Window

EverQuest can now be run in a window. To place EverQuest in a window, simply press Alt-Enter. You can also switch out of EverQuest to another program by using the familiar Alt-Tab. It is important that you do not do this until you are in-game, do not do this during the login process.

It is important to note a few things. Running the game in a window may reduce game performance a bit. And, as always, the more programs you have running at the same time the more resources they use.

At this time, due to some changes that need to be made on the front end, it is not possible to run two instances of EverQuest. We will be working to make the necessary changes over the next few weeks.

Songs Window

We have added a new window to the interface along with new game functionality. The Songs window is a new buff window that holds up to 6 bard song buffs. This increases the potential maximum effects that a character can have to 21 (15 standard and the 6 new ones). The new window only holds certain bard songs (generally the 3-tick songs). Only beneficial songs will qualify for the new buff box, and not all of those. Any buff in the new Songs window is considered temporary and will not be saved when you zone.

Songs that qualify to go into the new window will go into that window first. Any qualifying songs over six will be rerouted to the main Effects window. Cancel Magic effects will see these new buff slots as buff slots #16-21.

Note for User Interface skin creators: The Label EQTypes 80-85 are the Songs window song names.

- Some magical effects on Planar class armor have been altered. In most cases the effects were upgraded, but a few items were given weaker effects that were more in line with the difficulty of obtaining them. - Fixed a bug that was causing a few Planes of Power NPCs to take too long to respawn. - Wu's Attack should now work correctly. - Incoming damage now interacts with Wrath of the Wild and other rune- type spells in their proper order. - Pact of Shadow and Shadow Compact will once again heal player characters. - Charmed Pets will no longer remain charmed after the owner dies. - Sending special characters via EQIM will no longer freeze the game. - Hitting Autoattack when in explore mode at Character Select will no longer cause the game to crash. - The Loadskin window will now load skins other than the default properly. - Fixed and issue that caused some NPC's text to be cut short. - Fixed (but did not rename) the Broken Golem. He should no longer be hated in Fear, just feared... -Lowered the duration of calm-type spells that effect creatures level 50 and over.

User Interface File Changes

ShortDurationBuffwnd.xml - NEW EQUI.xml BugReportwnd.xml Lootwnd.xml Selectorwnd.xml PetInfownd.xml Window_ Pieces04.tga

January 15, 2003

Announcing The Legacy of Ykesha

The Legacy of Ykesha will be the first download-only extension for EverQuest. This product will not be available in stores. This extension will include some great new gameplay features, as well as new zones for characters ranging from level 35 up to level 60.

Legacy of Ykesha Features include:

A new playable race: Frogloks Enhanced Looking For Group Tool New Cartography System New Magic Item slot: Charms Armor Dyes Dozens of new creatures Expanded bank capacity New zones New spells

For more information, please visit www.legacyofykesha.com

Gameplay/Features

- With our last patch and the patch today, we've significantly reduced the amount of bandwidth that EverQuest needs to use, even in large raid or extremely-crowded-zone situations. - Fixed a problem with tints not properly updating when armor is removed. - Fixed a bug with character faces displaying incorrectly to other players when you zone in after them. - Fixed resurrection timer that was counting down against the 3 hour limit when player was not logged in. - Corrected a problem with health and movement updates being delayed.

Spells

- NPCs will now notice Druid and Shaman Percentage Heal spells in a manner similar to traditional healing spells. - Removed the chance for slow spells to be reversed from the 17 NPCs that had this ability. - Fixed a bug that was preventing Curses, Diseases, and Poisons from being removed. - Raised all recast times below 2.25 seconds up to 2.25 seconds. This is a change in the spell data as the first part of a two-part change needed to correct the "Recast time not met" problem. More information is available at the Developer's Corner at www.everquest.com.

Alternate Advancement/Special Abilities

- The range on the Bard Ability "Boastful Bellow" has been increased slightly. - Fixed a bug with Harm Touch that was not allowing it to increase the standard amount per level over level 60.

User Interface

- Fixed a bug with effects in the Songs window. They were not getting removed on the client when the bard was dispelled. - Introduced new Story window. The purpose of this window is to provide story updates in a readily available location. ALT-N toggles the window. You can select to have the window pop up when new story elements are added if you wish. - Item Links are once again creatable from Items and from other Item Links. Please do not attempt to "mine" the servers for undiscovered items. Links now have a built-in mechanism to prevent those who would go on fishing expeditions by sending up many bad links in an attempt to discover new items. These invalid links are logged, as are the accounts of those who create them. - Added an optional confirmation box before spending AA points. To turn on this confirmation box, please check the Options window.

Miscellaneous

- Sage Quests in Plane of Knowledge have been fixed. - The event to fight Bertoxxulous in the Crypt of Decay will reset 4 to 6 hours after the event is failed. It will respawn normally if the event is won.

New/Changed Interface Files

- EQUI_StoryWnd.xml (actually added with the Jan. 9th patch) - EQUI_OptionsWnd.xml

January 28, 2003 3:00 am

ANNOUNCEMENT The response to The Legacy of Ykesha(tm) extension has been overwhelming; we want to thank all of you who have pre-ordered.

In order to better serve ALL of our customers, including those who do not have a credit card, we've decided to make a relatively small number of The Legacy of Ykesha CD-ROMs available at retail as well. Please note, though, that The Legacy of Ykesha CD will likely not be available at retail in the US until as much as a week or more after the "live" date; the delay may be longer for our international customers.

If you have already pre-ordered from us, but you would prefer to wait for the retail CD, you can cancel your pre-order by following these instructions:

1. Go to the Station Store (https://store.station.sony.com/) 2. Go to Billing Info and sign in. 3. View Current pre-orders. 4. Click Cancel button; you will receive a cancellation email.

You may still pre-order the digital download version of The Legacy of Ykesha from the Station.com Store (the download version only - we will not be selling CDs through pre-order) for the special pre-order price of $17.99.

Gameplay and User Interface - Further optimizations to reduce bandwidth and 'lag'. It is difficult to describe the value of this change, but it should show a noticeable improvement for many. We've also resolved many of the hit point update and movement issues that occurred recently. - Made an improvement to the animation code that may reduce the slight delays that can occur when a new player enters a zone. - Spells on spell book pages 33 to 50 can now be deleted for those who were having troubles. - Corrected a bug that could cause a crash if a character tried to purchase an item or close the merchant window just as he was leaving the trading range of that merchant. - Players should no longer get out of range message when trying to target a player on a horse just because the horse has moved a little (but is still in range). - Corrected an issue in Fungus Grove that was allowing some ranged attacks to land unnoticed by NPCs.

Spells - Lull, Soothe, Calm, Pacify, Harmony, Calm Animal, and Rest the Dead should no longer give the: "Your spell did not take hold," message. - Bard Songs with a "Rune" component should be working properly. - Sha's Advantage and Savagery are now available on vendors in the Plane of Knowledge. - Illusion spells used with Luclin models should now show the appropriate hair. - Infusion of spirit should no longer overwrite Speed of Vallon. - Sense Summoned will now sense elementals of most types. - Eye of Zomm and Stalking Probe cast from a horse will now be able to look up and down. - Call of Rizlona now has casting text for the person that procs this spell.

Alternate Advancement - Monk discipline Resistance should increase resistances properly now. - The Shaman AA ability Spirit Call should now finish casting if you regain concentration after interruption. - Corrected a problem where right-clicking on an AA hotkey would highlight the wrong ability on the list in the window. - There will now be a confirmation window available when spending AA points. There is a new selection in the Options menu called Fast AA Purchase for toggling this confirmation.

Items - Spirit of Snow and Spirit of Flame will be dropping more frequently now. - Merchant's Crate of Supplies will now fit into containers that can hold giant-sized items. - Removed Paladin and Ranger from the list of characters that could use the Hateful Balanced Zweihander. It is only usable by worshippers of Innoruuk, and was never meant to be used by these classes. - The Resplendent War Maul now has a more appropriate inventory icon. - Crypt Master's Conjuring Stone is now more valuable to NPC vendors, and they will not sell it as cheaply as they did in the past.

Quests - Killing Kazen Fecae is no longer a viable path to the completion of the Necromancer Epic quest. - Tibrinn Ember now gives a faction modifier for the completion of his quest. - Hanns Krieghor will no longer grant faction increases just by talking to him. - There are now a few Iksar in the Plane of Knowledge that are interested in your Iksar racial armor.

Bazaar - Corrected a bug in the Bazaar that caused price changes made by traders to only affect one stack of the same item. - Target Group Buff and the AA ability Mass Group Buff can no longer be used with levitate spells to push traders out of their stalls in the Bazaar.

NPCs - The specters and shades in Velketor should no longer be dropping cloth armor. - Centi Dators should no longer spawn inside walls. - Oozing Flesh in the Tower of Frozen Shadow should no longer drop Sabretooth hides. It was determined that these creatures are too slow to catch a Sabretooth, and that they do not have the ability to skin them nor the desire to wear (or eat) their hides. - Elder Spiritualist Grawleh will now respond properly to hails. - Fittorin Bladespur will now respond properly to hails. - A Frost Giant Sentry will now respond properly to hails. - Tanik Greskil will now respond properly to hails. - Kozyn Gigglephizz will now respond properly to hails. - Pit Guard Retaj will now respond properly to "What grunts?" - Lendel Deeppockets now knows how to spell "rogue". - Corrected text for Arinna Trueblade, she now tells you how to make armbands instead of helmets. - Prime Patriarch Vuzx should be less likely to leave his usual spot. - Gindlin Toxfodder should be less likely to be out of his usual spot. - Deputies Budo and Drebo should no longer get stuck under the floorboards of their tower. - The River Source in the Warrens can no longer be attacked. - Moved Mignar Mi`Draskch a little bit so that newly created enchanters would not try to appear on top of him. - Lorekeeper Zorik is now properly described as a female in text referring to her. - Peras Glickon will now tell you that he sells food and drink (which he does) instead of spell components (which he does not). - Fantoal Geabaran should now offer the inventory for sale that he claims to have. - Old Gourdhead should no longer be disliked by the other natives of Misty Thicket (fixed a faction bug). - The Muglwump will show up less frequently now. - Dark Huntress in Mistmoore will now use the correct model and is on the correct faction. - Corrected the models for elementals in the Plane of Earth. - NPCs in the "pit" area of Plane of Tactics will now respawn properly. - Removed Sarnak Slaves from Nurga, since they had no models there to use and looked like the base model human (Doug).

Character Appearance - The bald head can now be selected during character creation by clicking the left arrow button (was only available by clicking the right arrow). - Beard color selection now works for dark elf male, high elf male, half elf male, and dwarf female during the creation of new characters. Note: Dwarf female only has one style of beard. - The ability to pick a wode is now available at character creation for Barbarians. - Choosing the "random" button at character creation will now randomly choose a face rather than always using the initial selection. - Changing from a male to a female character or from a bald character (such as Iksar) to one that should have hair will no longer make the new character appear to be bald.

Miscellaneous - Intelligence and Wisdom should now update properly after character becomes drunk/consumes alcohol. - Fixed a number of doors in Freeport that were opening incorrectly.

January 29, 2003

- Corrected a bug with the Xegony encounter. Please be aware that this may change the event slightly.

February 4, 2003

Note: Some folks have had trouble getting the elves' beard colors to work properly. In order to get them to show up, you may need to set DoProperTinting=TRUE in your Eqclient.ini file. You can do that by typing /dopropertinting in game.

ALSO NOTE: We have changed a lot of UI Files. Here's the list:

UI File Changes

EQUI.xml EQUI_Animations.xml EQUI_CharacterCreate.xml EQUI_FacePick.xml EQUI_NoteWindow.xml EQUI_OptionsWindow.xml window_pieces04.tga EQUI_JournalCatWnd.xml - NEW FILE EQUI_JournalTextWnd.xml - NEW FILE EQUI_JournalNPCWnd.xml - NEW FILE EQUI_BigBankWnd.xml - NEW FILE

Interface and Gameplay

- The melee button for Ulaks, Martial weapons and Two-Handed Piercing weapons should appear to be depressed when attacking. - Increased the size of the Notes window in the new UI. - /viewport fixed. - Fixed bug where action and hot-buttons for innate abilities would revert to numbers (1-6) instead of their name when a skin was loaded using /loadskin. It now reloads the names too. - Fixed a bug that could cause a client crash if too many full containers were open and the ALT key was pressed.

Spells

- Lowered the mana cost of Yaulp I, Yaulp II, Yaulp III, and Yaulp IV to increase the value of these spells - Theft of Thought works properly now, it was draining all of the caster's mana, no matter who the target was. - Damage over Time type Area of Effect spells will no longer do damage when player character resists the spell. - All pet spells will now get focused from any pet focusing spell/item. This means, for example, that summoning haste will work on Beastlord and Necromancer pets. - Fixed a bug that caused pet health bar to disappear if when trying to charm when a pet already exists. - Divine Barrier now does all of its healing in a single burst instead of as regeneration. - Removed the erroneous message "Returning to your own perspective" that occurred when a character was changed into something using an illusion.

Quests

- Dillon the Drowned should now respond properly when hailed. - Corrected a problem with a 'quest' for the hermit in South Karana. - Animist Poren now gives the correct recipe for his Handwraps Quest (shadeling silk instead of shade silk). - Noirin Khalen now gives out the proper jewelry book. - Supreme Loachsmith Psorin now returns items that he does not need or want.

Items

- Removed Rogues from the list of classes on the Elegant Darkwood Katana, since it is a two-handed slashing weapon. - Removed the "secondary" tag from the Flametongue, as this item is for Int. casters only and they can't equip this item in their secondary slot. - The Nathsar Greatsword and Fester now have the proper inventory icon.

Tradeskills

- Added new potions for Vah Shir Shaman (and all other Shaman): Shadeweaver Portal. - Renamed one of two items called Figwort. The Figwort sold in Shar Vahl has been renamed Ground Figwort to reduce confusion. - Renamed one of two items called Drachling Silk. The Drachling Silk that was once no drop is now tradable and named Drachnid Silk. - Adventurers have learned new techniques for fighting Cyclopes. These great beasts are now much more likely to have their eye intact when killed. - Fixed the recipe for the potion "Soul of Incorporeal" to use a "feather". - Fixed the recipe for the potion "Troll's Essence". - Fixed the cast time on any 5 and 10 dose potions that were inconsistent with their single dose versions. - General Bragmur in Iceclad should now avoid ice flows that he was having a problem crossing in the past. - Terrorantula Silk, Feather, branch of sylvan oak, branch of planar oak, Drachnid Silk, and Drachling Silk are now stackable. - Silicorrosive Grease is now tradable and stackable. - Potions Aquatic Haunt and Serpents Drink no longer require reagents. - Grandmaster Alchemist will now have a way to prove their ability.

Alternate Advancement

- Extended Notes now works on area of Effect songs as well as group songs.

PvP

- Fixed a bug with Root and Snare spells that prevented the target player character from being affected until they zoned. - Fixed a bug with mesmerization spells being unbreakable by normal means.

Zones

- Fixed some text and grammar errors in Skyshrine. - Ikurenm the Sly should no longer disappear when trying to chase his enemies. - Repaired some "safe spots" in Echo Caverns, Paludal Caverns and Grieg's End. - Fixed a pathing issue in Kurn's Tower that was causing some NPCs to disappear. - The Golem Master in Charasis now looks like a golem. - The Orc Arsonist will no longer have his torch disappear when looted (as long as he had it to begin with). - The Sands of Fire event will now be restricted to the intended four groups. Alternate methods of getting characters into the event have been removed. - Corrected doors in Kaladim, Blackburrow and Erudin that opened the wrong way and one door in Kaesora that was way off its hinges. Also, the Dwarves have installed a door in one of their guard huts to prevent drafts. - Moved an oven in North Freeport that was poking through a ceiling. - Wraith of a Shissar should no longer attack its compatriots, so they should no longer be killing it in retaliation. - Corrected some respawn issues in the Plane of Air. - Rallos Zek is much less likely to need to leave the arena in order to deal with his enemies...

Miscellaneous

- Changed "wode" to "woad" in the face picker. - Corrected a spelling error in the text of the Purify Body ability (affect to effect). - PCs under illusions should appear with hair if the race can have hair, even if the PC's race can't have hair. Fixed a few other bugs with illusions and their effect on hair and eyes. - Vah Shir will now see "punches" when punching instead of "hits".

February 6, 2003 3:00 am

Interface - All settings for the Songs window should now be saved properly when the player logs out. - Fixed a bug that could cause the Bit Depth and Refresh Rate setting to not save properly upon exit. - Users of Windows XP should no longer be seeing their Windows mouse cursor or other windows 'bleed through' into the game.

Gameplay - Changing from an old model character to a Luclin model character at character select should no longer result in the character having no hair. - Fixed a bug that caused merchants to charge a little extra or less (1 copper). - Merchants will no longer claim that they will pay 1 copper for starting equipment (they have never actually purchased such items).

Spells - Fixed a problem with the Giantsbane Spell quest NPCs not spawning in Skyshrine. - Failing to hide while invisible will now make the invisibility icon disappear.

Trade Skills - Many Planar Recipes can now be used in collapsible containers. Some Planar Tailoring can only be done in the Tanaan Loom as opposed to the Planar Sewing Kit. Nothing that was previously made in the Loom was added to the collapsible tailoring kit. Skills changed were Baking, Sewing, Jewel Craft, and Fletching. - Added gnome cultural recipe book to Ak'Anon. - Changed the weights on Spiritstones to be more in line with Faithstones. - Changed Collapsible Jeweler's Kit to 6 slots from 4.

Zones - Grummus is much more likely to stay in his home. - Fixed the door to the Ak'Anon zoo, by request of the Zookeeper's Union #23. - Newly created Wood Elf Druids will now make their first appearance in the world much closer to their guild master. - Fennin Ro is now more durable, more in line with the other elemental plane gods. -Rallos Zek now moves considerably faster then before, as do his cohorts. He will also become very, VERY angry should he be removed from his lair(s). - Skyshrine will once again require a key for exit into the Cobalt Scar. The fact that the key was not needed was a bug. We do understand that few people actually walk through this area considering the other methods of transport available, but the dragons aren't leaving their doors open.

Items - Corrected the inventory icon for the Acrylia Studded Legs and the Two-Handed Practice Sword.

February 24, 2003

As the afternoon heat grows, a trickle of adventurous folk can be seen moving through the rocky vales of the mountains called Stonebrunt. These quiet lands, normally inhabited by panda bears and kobolds, are slowly becoming a throughway for heroes, mercenaries and adventures of all races. Are you one of them?

And in Gukta tadpoles are growing into young Frogloks. There is no doubt in the minds of the conquerors of Grobb that the new generation of their people will grow into strong and steadfast servants of Mithaniel Marr, worthy of his respect. Will you be one of them?

OOC: Have fun with the new features, the new race and the new zones. Thank you for playing EverQuest.

Gameplay

We've adjusted the entry requirements for some Planes of Power zones. Several of these zones required each character to complete a quest before gaining entry. We've relaxed this requirement somewhat as follows:

A raid with 32 or more members can enter a locked plane provided that 85% of the raiders have finished the entry quest. This means a raid group can bring along some friends who haven't completed the quest.

Characters who haven't done the entry quest must stay with their raid while they are in the locked zone. If these characters leave the raid for more than three minutes, they will be transported out to the Plane of Tranquility.

Using this method does not grant permanent access to the locked zone. If a character wants permanent, unescorted access to a locked zone then they must still complete the quest. The goal of this change is to allow raiding groups to bring along a few friends who haven't been able to complete the quests, but still wish to help with the raid.

Several of the flagging events will now only give out a maximum of 72 flags each time they are completed.

The dialogue boxes for resurrection and translocation will remain for 5 minutes instead of 1 hour.

Increased the maximum number of members on ignore and friends lists to 100.

Made some adjustments to the Halls of Honor alternate entry quest that should make it more friendly.

The horse buff icon will no longer show up for characters using non- Luclin models.

Interface

Containers now close after zoning. This prevents a bug that was causing the same container to be opened twice.

The rogue hide message "You have moved and are no longer hidden!" is filtered as a "skill" message and not an "other" message.

Fixed a bug that was causing the spell effects opacity slider to always return to 0% when logging out to the desktop.

Items

Happy Dragon should no longer use a charge when the target is out of range.

The inventory icons for Trydan's Greaves of Nobility, Deathwatch Sword and Wetfang Steak have been corrected.

Corrected the name of the Drakescale Covered Tunic (was Drakscale Covered Tunic).

The Manicle of Disruption has been renamed Manacle of Disruption.

See above for Vorshar's Manicle of the Blight.

Corrected the spelling of Golden Idol of Rodcef Nife.

The Rantho Rapier is now a piercing weapon, not a two-hand slashing weapon.

The Wand of Mana Tapping is no longer labeled as usable in the secondary hand (since it is Enchanter only and could not be used there anyhow).

Quests

Made a change to the way Planes of Power spell quests work. All spells usable by more than one class are now obtained from the same level quest. If a spell is level 61 (Ethereal) for one class and level 65 (Rune Word) for another, both will have it as a reward on their Ethereal quest.

Corrected issues with the quest from the Iksar Hermit.

Corrected a grammatical error in some of Bolli Hillfoot's text.

Marshal Anrey should be more responsive when talked to.

The "Bag of Troll guts" is now dropping off of the correct NPC.

Zones and NPCs

Removed the ability for PCs to bind in the upper tier Planes of Power zones. Binding is allowed in Plane of Knowledge and Plane of Tranquility.

The entrance to the Plane of Fire now requires the appropriate keys for entry.

Gods in the elemental planes now have fixed respawn regardless of zone outages. If the god in an elemental plane is up when the zone comes down it will still be up when the zone comes back up. If it has two days left before its respawn when the zone comes down it will still respawn in two days.

Prior to this patch Rallos Zek was changed, he no longer allows anyone he dislikes to stand above the arena.

Removed a "safe spot" from the Plane of Disease.

NPCs in the Plane of Justice can no longer be affected by Fear spells.

Fixed an issue with some level 10 NPCs in the Karanas having about 400 times the hit points that they should.

Denizens of Aerin`Dar's lair will no longer be getting angry at folks just because they are stomping around on the ground above the lair.

Puslings now understand how to "enrage" properly.

Creatures in Fungus Grove will be less likely to ignore people shooting them from a distance.

Mature Arboreans are now plants. Just don't call them that to their faces.

Giant Whiskered Bats in the Qeynos area no longer drop rat skulls.

Dalin Greskar has given up his hobby of trying to sell blacksmithing gear that he doesn't have and has gone legit with pottery supplies.

Corrected a typographical error in some of Tarnic McWillows speech.

Firon Dernkal will no longer add a random "t" to the end of people's names when talking to them.

Corrected an error in Eirod Haerod's text.

It seems as though the troll sent to retrieve the Forge from fallen Grobb has returned with Forge in hand.

Corrected an issue with the respawn of Fennin Ro.

A Kromzek spy will no longer give a "beta neutral" faction hit when killed.

Spells

Fixed a bug that prevented the owners of charmed warders from controlling or re-summoning their warders after the charm breaks.

Disinfecting Aura has been changed to no longer cure poisonous effects. It will now cure disease effects with much more potency.

Fixed a bug that was causing Bind Sight to fail to land if the recipient had exactly 15 other buffs.

Convergence should not eat its component as often on some types of spell failures.

Corrected the spell book icons for several Enchanter spells.

Shadeweaver port should no longer place you beneath the world.

In a previous update, we added a message when a person recasts a charm spell on their charmed pet. Recasting charm on an existing pet did not actually re-charm the pet, it just failed silently and appeared to succeed. The new message is now displayed intentionally in these cases. This is not a bug.

Miscellaneous

Attack text for the Vah Shir when punching now says, "punches" instead of "hits"

Fixed a bug that was causing the reduced statistics to not update properly when the character has low hit points or is encumbered.

Fixed a bug that caused some sale prices for items in the Bazaar (mostly those with a lot of 9s) to be invalid.

The /guildmotd command has been modified. Guild leaders and officers can now use this command to set or clear the guild Message of the Day. There is a new command, /getguildmotd, that can be used as an alternative to viewing the Guild MOTD in the Guild Management Window.

New and Changed UI Files

Animations Bodytintwnd - NEW Cart01.tga - NEW Cart02.tga - NEW Cart03.tga - NEW Cart04.tga - NEW dragitem25.tga dragitem26.tga - NEW EQUI.xml Editlabelwnd - NEW Gemicons01.tga Gemicons02.tga Groupsearchwnd - NEW Groupwnd Guildmgmtwnd - NEW Inspectwnd Inventorywnd Maptoolbarwnd - NEW Mapviewwnd - NEW Selectorwnd Shortdurationbuff Windowpieces04.tga

February 26, 2003 12:00 pm

- Corrected a problem that occurred with Charms. They should be working properly now.

March 13, 2003 4:00 am

Spells - Added the ability for any caster to research dropped priest spells using the research books found in Gunthak. The research notes for these spells can be found in the Plane of Knowledge. Wizards, Enchanter, Magician, and Necromancers are able to create any of the researchable priest spells. - The recipe to create Familiar Enhancement will now actually create Familiar Enhancement instead of Firetree's Familiar Augment. - Beastlord pets can now be summoned in the Plane of Sky. - Changed the recipe for Form of the Great Bear, both in text and in practice. Please read the appropriate research book for the new recipe. - Removed the chance to fail on the two combines for the Pureblood quest. - Modified the Pureblood quest to return Blood of Nadox for Shaman characters. In addition, any Shaman who has previously done the quest and received Pure Blood will be able to obtain the Blood of Nadox scroll simply by hailing the quest NPC. - Increased the drop rate significantly on the quest items for the ShadowKnight and Necromancer Legacy of Ykesha spells. - Added an NPC to the list of monsters that can be summoned by Magicians in the Torgiran mines. - Force Shield will now stack with the Spiritual Purity line no matter what order they are cast in. - O'Keil's Levity will no longer be overwritten by other damage shields. - O'Keil's Levity will no longer claim to be piercing people with thorns. - Shaman of Mithaniel Marr will now be able to scribe the Imbue: Diamond spell - Changed Strength of the Diaku to a single target strength and dexterity buff. - Changed Talisman of the Diaku to a group strength and dexterity buff. - Replaced the shaman spell Aim of the Ginda with Talisman of Alacrity, which is a group haste spell. - Replaced the shaman spell Talisman of the Gindan with Tiny Terror, which is a group shrink spell. - The Darkness line of spells should now have their sounds back. - Winged Death now has its particle effects back. - Song of the Deep Seas now says: "The fury of the deep sea fills your arms" when sung (changed "see" to "sea"). - Changed the spelling of Malise to Malaise. - Boneshear spell messages changed to make more sense. - Iceflame of E`Ci now gives a message when it wears off.

Items - The Potion of Corpse Retrieval is now NO DROP. - Added required level to many Legacy of Ykesha items. - Lowered the damage on Swampblade of the Dar to make it more appropriate as a newbie sword. - Frogloks can now use the Frostweaver's Shield. - Frogloks can no longer use Scaled Hierophant armor, Scaled Mystic armor and Spiritstone of Cabilis. - Corrected an issue with foldable medicine bags and foldable bearskin potion bags. Items should now combine properly. - Clockwork Observer legs and boots should now recharge. - Class 3 Wood Point Arrows now have a range of 5 instead of 0. - Changed Blessed Scout Arrows, Blessed Warrior Arrows, Mithril Scout Arrows, Mithril Warrior Arrows, Mithril Champion Arrows and Blessed Champion Arrows to be ammo instead of ranged. - These pottery sketches are now stackable: Barbarian Template, Gnome Template, Troll Template and Animal Template. - Rune Smudged Bone Spear now looks like a spear in inventory rather than a rapier. - Totemic Gauntlets, Dull Metallic Gloves and Black Wolf Leg Plates can no longer be worn around the neck. - Added Shaman to all small patchwork and tattered pieces. - Frogloks can now use the Jaundiced Bone Boots. - The Black Handeled Bonebreaker has been renamed to Black Handled Bonebreaker - The Ivory Horn now increases wind skill instead of singing. - Corrected the recipes for Journeyman Rune Beza - Fixed bugs in the text of Toharon's Memoirs. - Hope Fire Opals will no longer appear to be Baling Hooks. - Chunk of Unidentifyable Bile is now Chunk of Unidentifiable Bile. - Corrected the spelling of Robe of the Primoridal Ritualist. - Corrected the recipe for Tae Ew Chain Bracer to use a Bracer Sectional Mold instead of a Plate Bracer Mold. - Smithed Silver Weapons will sell to merchants at a lower price. - Corrected spelling errors in the names of Ultor's Gauntlets of Faith and Tranquilius' Tempest Ward. - Changed the inventory icon for the Fier'Dal Fletching Kit and Knuckle Dusters. - Swirling Shadows are no longer NO RENT. - The Taskmaster's pouch should be dropping normally again in Ssraeshza.

Alternate Advancement - Purify Soul now removes a larger number of poison, disease and curse counters. - Changed Frenzy of Spirit to stack better with haste spells.

Quests - Performed surgery on Ragefire to remove his extraneous heart. - Verina and Drozlin will also only be dropping one set of items. - Omat Vastsea will now summon Jhassad Oceanson if hailed by a character in possession of the Orb of Vapor. He will summon the Avatar of Water if the character has the Orb of the Triumvirate. But he will not summon either if one of them is already around. - Corrected issues with Shaman quest for Stoicism. The impassive sea spirit was giving out the wrong item. - Brohan Ironforge's search for his daughter can now be completed. - Gimlik Cogbobble should now be more reliable. - Sentry Rotiart now enacts his role in his quest properly. - Tilbok Furrunner will now recharge the Mask of Espionage. - Firiona Drixies now have a chance to drop Firiona Drixie Dust. - Heretic Drahur no longer gives out Greater Immobilize for a Spectral Parchment, only for an Ethereal Parchment.

Interface - Added a command to allow you to toggle your target between your two last targets (unlike Tab which toggles between your character and your last target). To set the key that activates this feature, just open your options window and select the Keyboard Tab. If you select all categories, the entry will be the last one on the list, called Toggle last two targets. This was actually added with our last patch.

NPCs - Undead will begin to spawn again at night in Kithicor. - Shin Master Grubbus in Gukta will now be more selective about who he allows to do tasks for him, and he'll be speaking directly to folks (using /tell). His chatty nature was raising the volume in Gukta to levels that were considered unacceptable. He will also be a bit clearer about what he wants. - Shar Vahl guards will now defend their city against Loda Kai poachers. - A Grimy Owl Bear Cub in Paludal now "screeches", not "screetches". - Eirod Haerod in Mistmoore will no longer have a square showing in the word "don't" in her text. - Mangler will no longer spawn on top of a table. - Porra, one of the Enchanter spell vendors in Felwithe, will no longer spawn inside of a wall. This was hurting her business. - Hutyn L`Lozz will now appear in his place of business and be less likely to leave to go sightseeing in Neriak. - Cleet Miller Jr. will now emote "Grumbles and looks up at you" instead of saying it. - The Goblins in Solusek's Eye are no longer wearing cloth armor. - Junth McMannus will now be properly affected by movement reducing spells. - You should only see one Rodrick Tardock, his clones have been dealt with. - Duplicate Brenzl McMannus's (McManni?) have also been removed. - Waltor Felligan of Halas will now cast the spells he says he will cast. - Xlixinar Arcut and Drixiv Arcut will now respond properly to their quest texts. - Corrected some text errors for Jortreva and Grendish the Crusaders as well as Sage Xelrin, Sulgar, Warlord Gligoth, Bryce McFadden, Serna Tasknon, Welno Tanlonikan, Lorekeeper_Einar and Master of Elements. - These NPCs will now be asking for the correct items for their quests: Gazoon Noihzog, Liteema Agner and Bolli Hillfoot. - Kodiaks in the Rathe Mountains should be friendlier to Druids and Rangers. - Undead Frogloks and Skeletons in Sebilis no longer have an extreme dislike for each other. - Groflah Steadirt's corpse will no longer disappear when he is killed. However, he is also no longer a merchant. - Moved the Planar Projection for Rallos Zek so it can't be interfered with by the zone exit. - Corrected the spawn times for the Minotaur Hero. - Half elven female bandits will now give experience, leave corpses and be aided by other bandits. - A Coerced Iiksar will now be known as A Coerced Iksar. - Merchant Nora in Felwithe will once again sell her jewelry supplies. - Equestrielle the Corrupted will no longer be able to sense and get angry with people all the way on the other side of the zone. - Niola Impholder now teaches Brewing, Begging and Alcohol Tolerance. - Jusean will now give the proper quest reward when given the proper item(s). - Plaguebone Thieves no longer flee.

Zones - Fixed some broken doors in West Freeport that were opening incorrectly. - Fixed a door that was opening into a wall in Highkeep. - Fixed some doors in Kaesora that were opening the wrong way. - Fixed a door that would not open in Solusek's Eye. - Removed the ability for characters to consume more than one key given for access to the lower parts of the Crypt of Decay. - Added new sounds to Shadowhaven. - Removed safe spots in Katta, Solusek's Eye, High Keep, Echo Caverns, Paludal Caverns, Crystal Caverns, Siren's Grotto, Plane of Valor, Plane of Torment and Plane of Water. - Fixed a pathing problem in Gunthak that was causing Shaman pets (and perhaps others) to disappear. - Entrance to Bertoxxulous's lair is now restricted to those that have the proper flag. - The pylons on the end of the pier in Timorous deep no longer rotate like doors when you left click them. - Placed rocks over a spot in Western Wastes that characters could get stuck in. - Updated some of the pathing in Torgiran Mines to reduce the chances that NPCs will "poof" in that zone. - Removed a box out in the middle of Skyfire that turned when clicked but had no real purpose. - Fixed a place in Burning Woods and the Plane of Knowledge where NPCs would get stuck while wandering around. - Also fixed a place in Erud's Crossing where sharks were getting stuck. - The Veeshan's Peak zone in from Skyfire can no longer be triggered from above. - Moved the Koada'Dal Forge so that it does not extend into the hallway on the second floor of the building. - The teleporter from the Great Divide to the Plane of Knowledge will now work during Coldain Ring War. - The exit from the Plane of Justice to the Plane of Tranquility has been moved to place characters next to the Plane of Justice entrance. - A black ravenger should no longer be spawning right next to the Cabilis entrance in the Swamp of No Hope. - Trying to enter the Qeynos sewers will no longer take you to Ak'Anon. We hope the citizens of Ak'Anon can forgive the mess... - Fixed a problem in the Warrens that was causing the Kobolds to gather under the water near the river source.

Miscellaneous - Corrected a spelling error ("hass" instead of "has") in the text given for adding the Ring of Marr to the keyring.

Special Deals Prices at the Station.com Store have been cut on a whole trove of EverQuest treasures in our Hot Specials! Plus, we've bundled some of the best software, guides and posters into great packages for players. There's never been a better time to upgrade to that next expansion. And there's more available right now at the Station.com Store (https://store.station.sony.com/). Stop in and see!

Become a Guide! Greetings citizens of Norrath,

Hear Ye, Hear Ye, for we bring before you news of great importance!

Have you ever scoured the lands in search of adventure? Do you still yearn to discover new places and new people in the Lands of Norrath?

If so, then we have for you perhaps the greatest adventure the Lands of Norrath could ever offer. It is a mission of great proportions, and the journey will be a challenge to even the bravest adventurers in the realm. But hear me friends when I say that the rewards are well worth the perils of the journey.

The path is that of the volunteer EverQuest Guide Program. If you are strong of will, kind of heart, have a positive attitude, and are at least eighteen years of age, the volunteer EverQuest Guide Program may be for you.

The members of the Guide Program provide front line customer support and service to the players of EverQuest. The Program offers a unique opportunity for you to become a part of the behind the scenes action, and to be a direct contributor to the greatness of EverQuest. As a Guide you will interact as a representative of both the Program, and of Sony Online Entertainment by delivering critical help and assistance to the players on your assigned server. Your role as a Guide will also provide you with the opportunity to present a variety of creative dynamic content (Quests) and events.

If you feel that the EverQuest Guide Program community is something you wish to be a part of, then we heartily invite you to point your browser to: https://guide.everquest.com/guideapp/

Come one, come all - help us to make the lands of Norrath better than they already are... come be a part of something great!

April 8, 2003 3:00 am

So You Want to Design Games?

The EverQuest team is expanding and we currently have openings for experienced game designers. If you have professional game design experience, at least one level 60+ character and regularly play EverQuest, then we'd love to see your resume. Please go to http://soe.sony.com/corp/employment.jsp and submit your resume online. Please include information about your current characters and your level of knowledge concerning EverQuest.

Thanks,

- The EverQuest Team

New Plane of Hate The new Plane of Hate is now available on Stormhammer. Enjoy!

Mitigation Change We have evaluated the mitigation abilities of cloth and leather classes, and have made changes as appropriate. For the most part, this change is a reasonable improvement to the ability of monks to absorb damage. At some point in the future we may re-examine the mitigation abilities of chain and plate classes. At this time, and with this final round of changes to cloth and leather classes, we believe that something very close to the appropriate balance is in place.

Pathing Update The first part of our work to update the pathing system for EverQuest is complete. NPC and pet pathing should be much improved.

Charm Changes - Healing a charmed pet now generates an appropriate amount of hate for the healer. - Charmed pets now take up to one third of the experience for each NPC killed. This amount scales down based on the percentage of damage to the target that the pet does. Dire charm pets still take the same experience they always have. - Charmed pets are no longer selected as a monster's preferred target if there are many players available for the monster to attack instead. - ALSO (we forgot to mention this before), the resist modifiers on several charm spells (such as Beckon, Call of the Arch Mage, Command of Druzil and Word of Terris) have been removed, making them a bit easier to resist.

Windowed Mode for the EverQuest front end This patch introduces the ability for players to enter windowed mode at the EverQuest front end (from the time you log in until you get into the game). With this addition, players will be able to run EverQuest in a window from the moment they click on the EverQuest icon to the moment they log out.

In order to switch to windowed mode on the front end, just hit Alt- Enter. Note that there are no settings in the eqclint.ini file for this, you just have to hit Alt-Enter.

Use Alt-R to release the mouse from the EverQuest window (note that once in the game, you need to use Alt-Shift-R to release the mouse).

And, obviously, Alt-Tab will switch between open programs.

We have also added a Tech button that will take you to our Tech Chat. This only works in windowed mode, as it opens up a new window to display the chat.

Spells - Stoicism now follows the same restrictions as Torpor. - Trickster's Augmentation and Boon of the Garou can now be cast by characters on horseback. - Fixed a bug that was causing spells with levitation effects to lose levitation if cast over a spell that also had a levitation effect. - Bards now receive their first level song at creation. - Changed the spelling of "Corpal Empathy" to "Corporeal Empathy". - Changed the hit by message for Torrent of Fatigue recourse to "Your vitality grows." - Changed the wear off message for Song of Sustenance to "Your hunger returns." - Adjusted the shaman spell Disinfecting Aura to be in line with Pure Blood. - The Necromancer line of heal-over-time spells should no longer overwrite Transon's Phantasmal Protection. - Augment now overwrites Augmentation. - Brell's Stalwart Shield now has a casting time of 4 seconds. - Spiritual Vigor now has a casting time of 5 seconds. - Resurrection no longer gives the "Your strength returns" message two times when the negative effects wear off. - Fixed a bug that would cause other players to see a character with default face/hair for their race when they turned off an illusion. - Fixed bug that could cause beards to fail to reappear when an illusion wears off. This may also fix some other appearance bugs as well.

Illusions/Shape Change We have changed the way that Illusions and Shape Changes work with respect to faction. The new system is a lot easier to understand than the old one, so we'll just explain the new one. When changed into the form of a playable race, characters are treated as if they were a member of that race. When changed into a non-playable race, characters retain their own racial factions.

PvP - If a player is moving when using archery against a PvP target, they have a reduced chance to hit their target. - Archery in Player vs. Player combat in now reduced to 66% damage. - Direct Damage spells in Player vs. Player combat can only do up to 75% damage of the target's maximum hit points in a single hit. This modification is done before resists are taken into account. For example, if a player has 1000 hit points when fully healed, no single direct damage spell will do more than 750 damage to him in a single hit.

Alternate Advancement - Alternate Advancement abilities that grant Stamina gains should now update the character's hit points automatically when trained. - Dire Charm isno longer "used" when trying to affect an NPC under the power of a Dictate spell. It will not work, and the power is not expended.

Interface - Using the "/book" command with no page argument now closes the spellbook if it's already open. - Added a "Dump" button to Guild Management window. Pressing it creates a text file in the EQ directory containing a comma-delimited text dump of the Guild Management window. The file name will be the guild name with _ instead of spaces, so a guild named "Legacy of Ykesha" would be a file called Legacy_of_Ykesha.txt. - Cross-server tells are now filtered under the "tells" filter like same-server tells, and in the same colors. - Music Player volume no longer decreases when zoning. - The Journal window and Journal Categories window now close when hitting Escape. - The Map window no longer pops up after zoning if you used Escape to close it in the previous zone. - Hot button names are once again restricted to eight characters. Being able to make them longer was a bug, and was causing issues with displaying more than eight characters. - The scrollbar for the Notes window should now update properly when the window is resized. - Added multi-select capability to the Friends List, Music, Journal NPC, Journal Text and Journal Category windows. Shift-click selects groups of items, Control-Click selects individual items. - Fixed a bug that was causing the Journal window to lose all information since the last save when logging was turned off. - Confirmation Dialog window now remembers its position. - The third person camera view #3 no longer resets when zoning or using the armor tinting feature. - Fixed an uncommon crash caused by the Music Player window. - The LFG button in the Group window now toggles the LFG window. - Fixed a bug that prevented the attack button from working properly when a Centi Warspear was equipped. - The dialog box for confirmation of a change in video modes now remains open for 30 seconds instead of 15 seconds. - Added a "Show Offline" button to the Guild Management window. This determines whether or not you want to show offline people in the window, and the setting is remembered when you log out. - If you sort by anything other than Name in the Guild Management window, the window will sub-sort your list by name. - Changed the promote button in the Guild Management window to only be enabled when eligible guild member is targeted (not just selected in window). - Fixed a problem that caused a few people to have the spell particle density revert to default off when they logged off. -Fixed the Map window to remove a method of avoiding the map restrictions in certain zones. - Added /getguildmotd. This command allows you to see your guild message of the day at any time. - /guildmotd now sets or clears the guild message of the day. If used with no text, it clears the existing message of the day. Only leaders and officers can use this command - Fixed a bug that could cause a crash when pressing the U key while in explore mode. - When under the effects of invisibility, a character that hides and then moves and breaks their hide also breaks their invisibility. The invisibility icon will now disappear under this circumstance so that the player knows he is no longer invisible. - Closing the AA window no longer causes the resurrection notification box to disappear. - Updated the category lists in the Bazaar window to be alphabetical. - Characters will no longer be prevented from being a trader if you quickly click on Begin/End Trader. - Fixed a bug with the LFG tool that may have been causing some people to crash when zoning. - New colors should no longer be moving from the armor dye column to the item tint column when a character is saved. - Hand to hand weapons now "greys out" the melee attack button. - For those that type quickly, typing %t1 now has the same effect as typing %t 1. - Fixed a bug that prevented you from purchasing a lore item if you have just purchased that item and destroyed it. - Setting loot split color now changes the text color when others loot and autosplit, as well as when the player loots. - Language skills now update in the skills window immediately, and the message given upon skill up includes the name of the language improved. - Default chat channels should now be saved properly.

NPCs - Corrected an issue with trainers that sometimes caused them to kick a character out of the game. - Tin Soldiers no longer give stun immune messages to color flux when they are already stunned. - Sollari Bekines now asks for two vials of Gnoll blood instead of one. She has always wanted two for her quest. - Corrected some text errors for Avir Sterbla. - Fixed a spelling error in Paralin Notion's text. "Other" now reads "Others". - Corrected a spelling error in the Stonefist Clansman's death text. Deafening was spelled incorrectly. - Fixed a problem that may have been causing various Brutes to spawn under the world in Warsliks Woods. - Corrected an issue that could cause multiple NPCs related to the ring war event to appear in Eastern Wastes. - Also corrected an issue with the ring war that was causing some of the NPCs to disappear too early. - Undead Sebilisian Lich is now undead. He just didn't realize it before. Feel free to send cards and flowers. - So is the Fading Specter in Tox. - As is the Failed Apprentice. - Lifestealer Mosquitoes no longer give a message that makes them appear to be drinking their own blood. - NPCs in Stonebrunt won't be wandering into the ocean and getting lost. - Merchants no longer sell containers to any character that have no main inventory slots free. - Corrected a spelling error (changed "to" to "too") in Morgalanth Tal`Raeloen's text. - Aid Garuuk now knows that Bregna has moved out of Grobb. - Oracle Balek and Grave Lord Vizurik now speak the appropriate text. - Coriante Verisue should no longer talk about Miragul all the time. - Cobi Frostbeard should no longer refer to himself as "she". - A ghoul in Neriak shouldn't be banging his head on a wall due to a pathing error. If he does it now, it's out of frustration about the way his Dark Elven masters let stinky Trolls into their city. - Corrected a spelling error in Elial Brook's text. - Frist Furtun now accepts all Upheaval scrolls for his quest. - The invisible, untargetable NPCs in the elemental planes that were attacking people have been evicted. Absor is now using them as avatars in PlanetSide, and his scores have gone way up. - Corrected a spelling error in the agro text of an Enthralled Underbulk (changed "lungs" to "lunges"). - Corrected a grammatical error in the text of Animist Poren (added the word "you" where it as needed). - Corrected a spelling error in the text of Elder Animist Dumul (replaced "lose" with "loose"). - The new Tailor in Neriak now asks what you [want], not [what] you want. - Raewyth Velanor now knows the difference between viscous and vicious. - Corrected the text for Wevek Redforge, changed "were" to "we're". - Corrected the punctuation of a Grimling Prisoner. Changed "scuttle's" to "scuttles". - Corrected the spelling of the word "privilege" for Tax Collector Khugra. - Corrected the spelling of Incantator Stevak. Changed "and" to "any". - Quartermaster Grik in Gukta now responds appropriately when confronted about the list for the Tavern NPCs. - The Ranger trainer Warder Elwysaie now trains Disarm. - Fixed several errors in text on Guard Aerryn.

Items - Added a Brass Instrument modifier to the Horn of Shadows. - Made Saltwater Seaweed stackable. - Due to a drop table error, all existing instances of the Market Signet have been changed to have no stats. If you received one legitimately through the quest, you can give the old item to Aid Grimel for a new one with all the correct stats. If you do not meet the requirements, Aid Grimel will not reimburse you. - Changed the spelling from Mythril to Mithril on Mithril Knuckles and Mithril Edged Skull Splitter. - Removed the ability to be used in the secondary slot from Club of the Secretive. This is a Cleric, Druid, Shaman only item. - Removed Bards from being able to equip a Combine Acrylia Halberd and Combine Acrylia Two Handed Sword. These weapons are two-handed slash. - The name of the Holy Order of Mithanial has been correctly spelled. - Darksight Dagger is no longer listed as being equipable in the secondary hand. It is a caster only item. - Barbed Rubicite Coif has had its name change to Barbed Rubicite Pauldrons, since it is a shoulder item, not a head item. - Kagazz's Box now combines four scorpion legs to create a Box of Scorpion Legs. - Removed Bards and Rogues from the list of classes on Greatstaff of the Four Winds, since they could not use the item. - Sample Chest is no longer No Rent. - Mushroom Bread now looks like bread in inventory rather than a bowl. - Corrected the spelling of venomous on a few items.

Miscellaneous - Modified checklist flags to make them a little easier to understand (checklist flags are the flags that you obtain for doing PoP events out of order that allow you to complete the final flag quest by gathering all the checklist flags and talking to a Seer). Now when you receive a checklist flag you get a different message than the one that you get when you receive a normal flag. Ask the seer to unlock memories and she will tell you which checklist flags you have. - Corrected a problem that was causing PoP raid flag mobs to not give out flags to anyone if the associated boss was killed by someone not in the raid group. Now if someone not in a raid gets the kill, only people not in a raid can get flagged. This means that people may have to leave a raid to get flagged, but it means that raids should no longer miss flags if someone outside the raid gets the kill. - Modified several of the Planes of Power alternate entry quests to make completing them faster. Also, all of these quests will now give a "key" to everyone in the group of the person that completes it. - Corrected a spelling error in the text message given when you can no longer add unflagged people to your raid ("to" is now "too"). - Fixed a bug that would sometimes cause helmets to seem to disappear off a character that was dealing with a merchant or casting an illusion. - /Consent no longer gives both a success and fail message to player consented. - Frogloks wearing robes no longer lose the color on the bottom portion of their robes when they zone. - Fixed some issues with alchemy not combining into dose potions. - Fixed a bug that could cause invalid and unchangeable numbers to appear in spell-casting specialization skills if the skill was trained up after level 50. - Merchants no longer claim that they will pay 1 copper for newbie items that they can't actually buy. - The player's first person perspective now changes correctly if the height of their Froglok is changed. - Removed an unneeded door in High Keep.

INTERFACE FILE CHANGES GuildManagementWnd.xml BugReportWnd.xml Spellsnew.eff Spellsnew.edd

April 11, 2003 3:00 am

- Fixed a problem with "burst" damage causing too much aggro. Attacks that do a lot of damage in a short time no longer cause more aggro than they should.

- Feign Death has been restored to the functionality it had before the patch.

- Fixed an issue that caused aggro from damage shields to be assigned incorrectly.

- Removed a bug that could cause certain types of encounters, such as the Rallos Zek encounter in the Plane of Tactics, to crash a zone.

- Fixed a bug that could cause a crash when you tried to bring up the item display window for bags and notes.

April 14, 2003 1:00 pm

We have removed some communications debug code that inadvertently went Live on the 11th. Our apologies for the downtime.

April 23, 2003

Tip of the Day

When you first log in you will be presented with a Tip of the Day window. We've added this window to provide helpful insight to new players, and perhaps a few tips for experienced players as well.

Gameplay

- Any character 10th level and under that attempts to attack a 'red' /con NPC will receive a warning about the danger of such an action. - Low level characters now memorize and scribe spells much faster. - Guards in Steamfont, Misty Thicket, Butcherblock, Nektulos, East Freeport and West Freeport should be less likely to run through the newbie zone destroying the wildlife - Improved the respawn rate for monsters in Steamfont, Misty Thicket, Butcherblock, Nektulos, East Freeport and West Freeport. In these zones they were respawning less frequently than in all other newbie zones. - Added food and bag merchants to the newbie yards of Steamfont, East Freeport, West Freeport, Butcherblock and Nektulos.

Spells

- Fixed a bug that was causing damage shields to assign the credit for their damage to the wrong person. - Fixed a bug that caused a short delay in the hit point updates from healing spells. - Removed Beastlords from the list of classes that can use Strength of Stone. They were never intended to get it, as they have a better spell of the same type at the same level (Furious strength). - Pets will no longer disappear when the pet owner casts a cancel magic type spell on the PC that the pet is attacking. - Fixed a bug that would allow PC's to be attacked by PC controlled pets (in non-PvP situations). - Talisman of Alacrity now works on the group and not just the caster. It also has the proper icons now. - Modified the text messages on many stun spells to prevent some confusion with their effect on stun immune mobs. The message has been changed from "You have been stunned" to "You are struck by a sudden force." - Torment of Argli no longer overwrites Torment of Scio. - The Lich series no longer conflicts with other DoT effects. This affects Dark Pact, Allure of Death, Call of Bones, Lich, Demi Lich, Arch Lich, Deathly Temptation, Pact of Hate, Ancient: Master of Death and Seduction of Saryrn. - The Flame Lick line of spells no longer overwrites hit point buffs such as Valor and Skin like diamond. This affects Flame Lick, Immolation, Breath of Ro and Immolation of Ro. - Changed the name of the druid spell Fury of Ro to Immolation of Ro to avoid confusion with the focus effect Fury of Ro. - Changed the icon for Kragg's Mending to a heart icon to match other Heal spells. - Froglok illusion now changes the character's perspective to the proper height. - Night's Dark Terror has regained its Scarecrow illusion. - Added sounds to several spells that were lacking them. - The cost of the Fuligan Soulstone of Innoruuk has been cut in half.

Zones

- Acrylia Caverns, Hollowshade Moor and Grimling Forest have been revamped. We have updated the content in these zones to more accurately represent their design intentions and to address concerns voiced by players. - If you have had an issue with your Plane of Earth B keys, please speak with Muzzrap again and he should be able to straighten things out. Please make sure that you have the raid group that you want to get keyed set up and by your side when you do this. - The Trial of Fire event will be much less likely to damage people not actually in the trial. - We've made a pretty extensive pathing update to the Lake of Ill Omen and Beholder, along with several fixes to specific cases in several zones. - Fixed a bug with the Xegony encounter in Plane of Air. - The spires in the Dreadlands are once again sending folks to Luclin. - Protectors of Growth now actually protect the Plane of Growth again. Beware.

The Hollow Acrylia Obelisk

Do not destroy the Hollow Acrylia Obelisk! Due to the revamp of the Acrylia Caverns, this key will no longer serve its original purpose. We do understand the difficulty of obtaining this key, and we don't want to see that effort lost. We will be looking into a way to allow this key to retain its value, so don't destroy it.

Items

- Items with recommended levels now display any reduced AC component value in red. - Changed the usable race to Froglok on several of the Shin initiates armor quest intermediate pieces. - Giant Field Rat whiskers are about twice as common as they were. - The Ivory Hilted Cleaver can now be used in the secondary slot (for those that can dual-wield). - The Ornate Broadsword is no longer listed as usable in the secondary slot, since it is Paladin only and can't actually be used there. - These items can no longer be worn by Frogloks (they were never intended for use by Frogloks): Fright Forged Helm, Mundane Helm, Mundane Shield, Mundane Mask, Dread Forged Shield and Terror Forged Mask - Murph's Minin' Pick no longer lists Clerics as a class that can use it, since they could not. - Bone Bladed Scimitar no longer lists Beastlords as a class that can use it. - Cracked Bone Shinguards now have a visible graphic when worn. - Sharkbone Plated Shoulderpads effect is now "worn" rather than "combat". - Stone Etched Mace now displays +135 mana instead of 1135 mana - Extended Affliction III now works on spells with a 30 second duration (lowered from 36 seconds), so it now functions with Sermon of Penitence. - Fireworks have casting sounds and Gnomish fireworks will no longer cause zones to crash. - Compasses once again display the direction you are facing when you right-click and hold. - The Hammer of Exoneration can now be used by Erudites and Dark Elves.

NPCs

- Half-Elf bandits are no longer treated as merchants (so they will now leave corpses). - A Feral Amalgam is now a plant. - Now only one Natasha Whitewaters can exist at a time. - Bloodmaw is a little more attentive to his surroundings. - Pets no longer attack Tylis Newleaf when he teleports your group. - Corrected a bug with AE rampage that caused it to not attack everyone it should.

Quests

- Fixed the drops for the Comatose spell quest. - The Planar Projections for Bertoxxulous and Terris should no longer be able spawn in a location where they can't be reached. - Fixed several issues with the 8th cudgel quest. - Increased the drop rate on some quest items in Hate's Fury.

Alternate Advancement Abilities

- Made the Servant of Ro AA pet much more potent.

Miscellaneous

- Hit points gained from items are now display with the right value, and should help to prevent a few deaths from Cannibalization - Bind Wounds no longer uses up a bandage for attempting to use the skill when it is not available. - Fixed a bug that was not allowing players to link to containers unless they linked to something else first. - /book with no arguments again closes the spellbook as it should.

Note: We have also made several spelling and grammar corrections and fixed a door here and there.

UI File Changes

EQUI.xml EQUI_TipWnd.xml EQUI_HelpWnd.xml EQUI_OptionsWindow.xml

April 30, 2003

We've taken the opportunity while the servers are unavailable for maintenance to update a couple of things.

- Increased the difficulty of the mini-bosses in the Planes of Fire and Water to bring them in line with the reward they give.

- Added a 12% backstab modifier to the Reinforced Mephit Talon and the Gold Runed Mithril Knife.

May 14, 2003 3:00 am

Hate Plane The new Plane of Hate is now available on all servers!

The Plane of Hate is an old favorite of many players, and we were careful to retain as much of its old charm as possible (and all of its old quests). At the same time we created all new geometry for the zone using our newer tools and newer design ideas. Old and new players should find this zone to be a lot of fun and a fair challenge. Remember, the price for the Fuligan Soulstone of Innoruuk has been cut in half.

Veksar Veksar opens on Stormhammer!

Yes, the long-lost ancient city of the Iksar has been discovered. If you're brave enough, foolish enough, and if you can hold your breath, you may be the right hero to explore Veksar. Good luck!

Changes for New Players - Maps for Newbie Zones for all Players - One of the biggest hurdles that a new player has to overcome is learning their way around. For those of you that may have started your first character in Neriak, youll know what that was like. In order to help out the new player, weve enabled the Map window to make it available to all players if they are in a "newbie zone.

- Context Tips - In order to provide helpful information at the time a player needs it, we have added several context tips. These tips will pop up when a player uses a certain feature or a specific event occurs. We hope this will help our new players to more easily understand the gameplay and controls for EverQuest. These tips may even be useful to long time players. However, if you wish, you can choose to turn off any specific tip, or turn off all of the tips using the check boxes in the Context Tips window.

- Improved Help Information - The in game help files have been improved. They now contain much more information. Hopefully most questions you have about the game can be answered using help.

- All New Characters now start with a weapon skill - In order to help the new player that might forget to train with their weapon before heading out to defeat their first enemy (and even for those of us that have been playing a while and still forget to do this), all new characters now start off with a skill of 5 in their primary weapon.

- Taunt no longer requires training - Similarly, Taunt now works without being trained. Characters still start out with a skill of 0, but the skill can increase with use.

- Packet Loss Meter is now Off by default - Due to the fact that the packet loss meter is often confusing to new players, it will be off by default. You can toggle the packet loss meter using the F11 key.

- New Message to prompt new players about the Help button - Weve added a chat message that appears when a level 1 through 10 character logs in that tells them to click the "?" button on the Window Selection toolbar if they need help.

Spells - Divine Intervention Fix - Players have been reporting that Divine Intervention was not updating the hit points for the character every time when cast, causing characters to die even though the spell seemed to have saved them. We have been unable to reproduce the issue specifically, but we have made some changes that should fix the problem. Please use /bug with details of the incident if you continue to see this problem.

- Bard Epic Animations - Bards will no longer play instrument animations when they have their epic equipped. No more stabbing yourselves in the head with your sword instead of playing a flute.

- Healing Messages now include the name of the healer - In order to make it clearer who has healed you, we have changed the message that you receive when healed. It will now include the name of the character casting the healing spell: "Bob has healed you for 300 points of damage.

- Call of the Hero works in PoW - We have removed the restrictions to Call of the Hero in the Plane of Water. In this particular zone we dont believe that the use of this spell needs to be restricted.

- Fear Spell bug fix - Players have reported that when a player character was affected by a Fear spell cast by an NPC, they would see the character running away but the person affected would not actually flee.

- Snare Line bug fix - Fixed an issue that was causing the Snare line of spells to fail on an NPC that is under the effects of a Fear spell.

- Tricksters Augmentation group only - We changed Trickster's Augmentation to be group only to prevent folks from using it to grief other players.

- LD Enchanters no longer cast Mem Blur - Enchanters that go linkdead were sometimes casting Memory Blur and similar spells on their enemies. This could cause rather unpleasant results for his group or raid when the NPC suddenly had a fresh hate list. Linkdead enchanters will no longer cast Memory Blur spells.

- Blizzard animation fix - Blizzard was causing a casting animation to go off with every wave, even if the caster was sitting. Now Blizzard works like most rain spells, and only triggers a casting animation when first cast.

- Locked Spell Gem fix - We fixed a bug that was causing the use of a right-click item to refresh the spell gem in the first slot instantly, but if that spell had a long recast it would render it useless until the spell was forgotten and memorized again.

- Mark of Kings upgrade - In order to make this spell more appealing then its lower level counterpart, Mark of Karn, we have: increased the duration from 3.5 to 4 minutes, reduced the casting time from 3 to 2 seconds, reduced the mana cost from 170 to 75 and made the spell slightly less resistible.

- Gravel Rain can now be cured - With its very long duration (30 minutes) it was a bit difficult that this spell could not be removed before the duration was over. This is now a curse and can be cured.

- Summoning a horse in bear form no longer causes you to lose the ability to cast spells for a while.

- Rathes Son - The innate ability of the focused version of this pet is now less resistible.

- Child of Bertoxxulous - This 65th level Necromancer pet has been given a boost. Its offense has been increased to be in-line with that of the Legacy of Zek, and it now has the ability to use a power that is essentially the same as the spell Banshee Aura.

- Spirit Call - These pets were running away from enemies when at low health. Pets should be far more loyal and willing to risk themselves for their Shaman friends, so weve fixed it so that Shaman pets will no longer run away.

- Vampiric Embrace - Weve corrected a bug with this spell that would prevent the character from casting for a couple of seconds after the proc went off.

- Stun Spells - The message on many stun-type spells have been changed to more accurately portray their effect on stun immune creatures.

- Mana from Buffs - we have increased the maximum amount of mana that can be gained through the use of buff spells.

Items - Zoning and losing your buffs - There has been a long-standing problem that could cause all of the buffs to be stripped from a character if they zoned with fewer hit points than they had bonus hit points granted by items. For example, if your character had only 10 hit points left when zoning, and had an item that granted +15 hit points, all of your characters buffs may have been stripped when you completed zoning. We have fixed this bug. You should now retain your buffs in this situation.

- GM Baking Spoon - On Firiona Vie, the Grandmasters Baking Spoon was not no-drop. This allowed players to give out an unlimited number of 100% weight reduction bags. This obviously was not the intention for that item, so we have made the Grandmasters Baking Spoon no drop on Firiona Vie.

- Wooden Medicine Totem - This item can now be equipped. It couldnt before.

- Adjutant Saber - We removed the secondary notation on the item, since it was only usable by Shadowknights and Paladins, who couldnt use it in their secondary slot anyhow.

- Cloak of the Dar Khura Hero - The effect on this item was listed in the database as the wrong effect type. The effect is now permanent.

NPCs - NPCs returning bags empty - NPCs that return items that they do not need were returning all containers empty, regardless of what was inside the container. NPCs that refuse unusable items will now also return bags with their contents intact.

- NPCs returning multiple items - If a character gave an NPC multiples of the same item, the NPC would only give back one of them if he did not want them. We have fixed this so that now those items will be returned. Such items will be stacked on your cursor. Just click the item that is on your cursor into your inventory and the next one will appear on your cursor. Keep clicking them into your inventory until you have them all back. BE WARNED that any of these items that you have not returned to your inventory will be lost if you zone or go linkdead before you get them back into your inventory.

- The Spirit of Rage - This undead gorilla is now flagged as undead.

- Solusek Ros Guards - These guards will be much more attentive to their lord and will aid in his defense.

- NPCs healing too much - We have corrected a bug that was causing some NPCs to regain hit points when they turned to run away. The affected NPCs will be of all sorts and in many zones.

- Giant Yellow Jackets - The chance to find a thorax on the corpses of these creatures seemed too low, so we have increased it.

Zones - Veeshans Peak - We have changed this zone to make it more appealing, particularly for those playing with one or two groups. We have removed the restriction against using gate in this zone and modified the zone population. Over all, the zone will be better to play in.

- Acrylia Caverns - We have fixed an issue with the first two seals that was causing the door to the 3rd seal to open without the 3rd seal spawning, and without the events being completed correctly. Now the door will only open under proper win conditions, and whenever the door opens the 3rd seal should be available.

- Plane of Nightmare - We have changed the logic for entry to the Thelin Poxbourne event in Plane of Nightmare. When you talk to Thelin, he will now remember your raid and only allow those of the same raid into your maze. Only three groups maximum will be allowed through the portal into any one maze. If your group is not in a raid, he will allow three non-raided groups through into the same maze. If there are three non-raided groups in the maze and you try and get a fourth through, he will act as any other raid would and tell you that he has already let enough people in the maze.

- Planes of Water and Fire - We have changed some of the spells used by the mini-bosses in these two zones. They should be a little easier to resist now.

- Halls of Honor - We have removed a recently added summoning ability from NPCs. We have introduced a less intrusive method of preventing the ability to use area of effect abilities on huge groups of NPCs in the zone.

- Bastion of Thunder - The tower bosses will now be dropping some loot every time (rather than sometimes not dropping any) like the other Planes of Power bosses.

Quests - Added Honey Mush Bread to Cabilis Vendors - This is an item needed for a quest that was unavailable.

- Officers Cloak - If you have combined your Officer's Cloak in the Security Satchel or you wish to upgrade to the new Officer's Cloak of Service, speak with Scout Derrin in Grimling Forest.

-The Skull of Torment quest - This quest, in Kurn's Tower, should now work.

Alternate Advancement - Elemental Form - In order to make the Magician Elemental Form abilities a bit more useable, weve reduced the reuse time from 72 minutes to 15 minutes.

- Alternate Advancement timers - We fixed a bug that allowed AA timers to be reset early.

- Mass Group Buff - We have made this ability available to Beastlords.

Miscellaneous - Characters getting stuck in the world - We have fixed a bug that would cause a character to stay in game for extended periods of time after going linkdead. This bug was causing people to receive a 1018 error because their character was still in the world and could prevent them from logging back in for a long period of time.

- Big Dwarves - Fixed a bug that was causing Dwarves that had their size increased twice to start to see the insides of their faces while attacking. This was making even the stoutest Dwarves a bit uncomfortable and self-conscious.

- Tread water animation fix - We corrected a bug that would occasionally cause the treading water animation to stop animating.

Interface - Hit Point percentages display in windows - The Target window, Player window and Group window now display hit point percentages. This is something that many player created interfaces use and, considering the popularity of this feature, we've decided to add it to the default interface. In the Target and Group windows, the hit point percentages will disappear if the appropriate target/groupmate does not exist

- /report - We updated the text message given when you use the /report feature to better reflect what text is actually attached to the report.

- More Tips of the Day added - Weve updated the Tips of the Day with more tips and cleaned up a few spelling errors with the existing tips.

- Combining Stacks of items - Attempting to combine stacked items in a container will no longer work. The items must be separated first. This change will prevent items from being lost due to accidentally combining with them stacked. A dialogue will pop up, warning the player to separate the objects.

- Bankers no longer take items - In order to help prevent people from losing items by giving them to their banker instead of putting them into their bank, players can no longer attempt to trade with bankers. A message will tell you to right-click the banker if you wish use your bank.

- Guild Management - The Guild Management window will now take your setting for "show offline" into account when first displaying the window. The delimiter used in the file created when the "Dump" button is pressed has been changed to a [Tab] from a comma, as commas were causing confusion when used in the public and private notes.

Interface File Changes Targetwindow.xml Playerwindow.xml Groupwindow.xml

May 22, 2003

Paladin AA Act of Valor

Fixed a problem with Act of Valor. Use of this AA ability was causing zones to crash. That shouldn't happen any more.

May 27, 2003

Experience System Change - Grouping We've made some improvements to the way experience is rewarded in all of EverQuest. At its core, the idea is to positively reinforce grouping. There should never be any penalty to adding "that sixth person over there," whatever class they may be, into your group. That is exactly the type of behavior that should be rewarded.

In a massively multi-player game, any mechanic that penalizes those who group is one that we need to take a serious look at. While there are definite benefits to forming "well balanced" groups in terms of damage, tanking, healing, and support, there shouldn't be an active penalty to those who cannot find groups of "optimal" balance.

As it stands in EverQuest, groups gain a 2% to 20% experience bonus, which we refer to as the "group bonus", for having two to six members. In practice, however, this has never been much of a bonus, even in the case of a full group, given that the experience was already being divided six ways.

In the past, we had also attempted to reward people for adventuring in the more challenging Planes of Power zones by making those zones give a better rate of experience.

As of this update, groups now gain 20% to 80% "group bonus" experience for having two to five members.

Full, six-person, groups now see an additional bonus. Their experience is only divided five ways, yet they still gain the 80% "group bonus." For those who think in terms of pie charts, it amounts to a larger piece of a larger pie.

Accordingly, the bonus inherent to Planes of Power zones will be decreased slightly. However, as long as person is grouped with at least one other, they will see an improvement in experience gain over the old system. The one down side to the new system is that there will be a slight decrease in experience for those who do not group, and only for those who do so in Planes of Power zones.

We realize that we are, essentially, "manufacturing" a new type of experience after a kill. As players, we also understand it is the people who spend time in full groups who have to deal with the most interruptions and setup time caused by organizing the extra people. It simply makes sense to reward that extra time, especially if it means bringing more people together. After all, that's the whole point.

We look forward to seeing how these changes play out on Test Server.

Experience System Change - Level 60+ In addition to the above changes, we have increased the range of NPC levels that give a person experience after they reach level 60. The "blue to 65" range has been increased as far as level 50, with the "light blue" range extending to level 45. The best benefits, however, are still for fighting things around and above your level.

The world of EverQuest, at this point in its history, is truly immense and full of the best and most interesting content and visuals out there. Ideally, when a person logs on they should have a wide array of places in which to adventure. The addition of new content shouldn't entirely obsolete what already exists. Hopefully these changes will once again make that the case.

June 2, 2003

We are looking for some help solving an issue with Linksys BEFSR41 routers.

If you have a Linksys BEFSR41 router at home, are using it as a NAT device (where multiple computers share a single connection), live in the San Diego area, and you are experiencing frequent and easily repeated disconnects while playing any of our games, please contact us.

We know that our games are having issues with some versions of this hardware, and we'd like to get it fixed.

Send us an email at: eqtesting@soe.sony.com

Subject: Linksys BEFSR41 Assistance Request

We appreciate your help. Thank you.

- The EverQuest Team

June 11, 2003

Experience System Change - Grouping We've made some improvements to the way experience is rewarded in EverQuest. These improvements are aimed at positively reinforcing the act of grouping. After all, this is a Massively Multiplayer game.

Prior to this update groups gained a 2% to 20% experience bonus for having two to six members.

As of today this bonus has increased to range from 20% to 80% for having two to five members. When a group adds a sixth member, the 80% bonus remains, but the experience gained is only divided by 5 before being distributed. The sixth group member no longer causes the experience gain to be divided by 6.

Planes of Power zones had an increased experience award above and beyond those of most other zones. Because of these new dramatic improvements to group experience gains, we will be reducing the zone- specific experience bonus for Planes of Power zones a bit. As long as character is grouped with at least one other in these zones, they will see an improvement in experience gain over the old system. The one down side to the new system is that there will be a small decrease in experience for those who do not group, and only for those who do so in Planes of Power zones.

Experience System Change - Level 60+ In addition to the above changes, we have increased the range of NPC levels that give a character experience after they reach level 60. This will open up many of the "old world" zones to players previously restricted to Planes of Power zones for experience gain. The range of NPCs that will be "blue" to a level 65 character has been increased as far as level 50, with the "light blue" range extending to level 45. The best experience gains, however, are still for fighting things around and above your level. This should open up areas for high level characters in groups and solo.

Interface - Shared Bank Vault - We've added two shared bank slots to the interface. These extra bank slots can be accessed by any character on the same account and server. No-Drop and No Rent items can't be placed in these bank slots, and only one of any specific Lore item can exist in the shared bank at any time.

- Spell Context Menus - This is a new interface menu that will make memorizing spells less tedious. To access the spell menu, just right- click an empty spell gem. This will open a list of spell categories. Point your mouse at a category and a list of spells will be displayed. Select a spell from that list to memorize it in that slot. Your character will sit down, memorize the spell and stand back up.

- Spell Favorites - Spell favorites are an easy way to memorize a full set of eight spells without the tedious book searching. Right-clicking on the spellbook icon in your spell window will open up the spell favorites menu. You will be able to save your current spell lineup as a favorite, delete a favorite or memorize all the spells in one of your already saved spell sets. You can save as many as ten sets of spell favorites. As with the new spell context menus mentioned above, this will not replace the spellbook, it is meant to make memorizing large numbers of spells more convenient.

- Spell Descriptions - We have expanded the spell description window. Along with the information that has always been available, we have added an explanation about what the spell does in general that includes damage and duration when appropriate. You can see these new descriptions by right-clicking and holding on the spell scroll, the spell gem in your Spells window, or the spell icon in your spellbook.

- New Camera - We've added a new camera mode to the game. Lovingly dubbed the EQ Cam, it uses the mouse wheel to allow you to zoom away from your character into a "chase" camera. This only works from first person mode (the default view). Using the mouse wheel you can determine the distance of the camera from your character, or to zoom back into first person mode. When in the chase mode, mouselook turns the character and camera together and you can change the pitch of the camera using the mouse.

- NPC Names - Many NPCs will be displaying additional titles to make it clearer what their job is. For example, an NPC that sells tailoring supplies may have the title [Tailor Supplies] under their name. This will help folks find the proper merchant. It's analogous to them hanging out their shingle.

- Rare Character Select Crash - Using the arrow keys to try to change the selected character at the character select screen when there were no characters on the account was causing people to crash out of the game. That's fixed now.

- Guild Message of the Day - Using certain HTML codes when setting up a Guild Message of the Day was causing all members of the guild to crash. While this may have been amusing for pranks on your guild, we still decided to fix it.

Spells - Spell level limits now enforced - Some high level spells cannot be cast on characters under a certain level. In the past a caster could get around this level restriction when casting a group version of a spell by targeting a higher level group member, and the spell would take effect on the whole group, regardless of their level. That loophole has been closed. We're sorry if you have grown accustomed to the system working this way, but those level restrictions are important to the integrity of lower level gameplay.

- Incineration and Conglaciation of Bones - Both of these spells should now crit and stack (when cast by different casters).

- Divine Intervention - This spell should now be reporting the amount of healing it delivers.

- Healing Messages - The target of a healing spell will now get a message telling them the caster's name and the amount of healing they receive.

- Reporting Damage Over Time - Damage over Time (DoT) done to NPCs will now be reported to the caster every time it does damage. These messages can be filtered in the Options window.

- Boon of the Garou - The level restriction for this spell has been removed. We have also fixed a bug with the spell that would prevent it from being cast on target that are not on a horse if the enchanter is on horseback (spell still cannot affect those on horseback).

- Wake of Karana - To improve the usefulness of this spell, we have lowered the recast time from 90 seconds to 15 seconds.

- Beastlord Warders - Beastlords will once again be able to summon their warders in the Plane of Sky. Sorry for the delay in getting this one fixed properly.

- Familiars - Familiars will no longer attempt to equip items. This was causing them to try to wear weapons inside their heads, which probably isn't a good thing for them to do.

- Spirit spell line - We have added +75 dexterity to the effects of Spirit of Flame, Spirit of Rellic, and Spirit of Snow.

- Spell stacking and blocking - Changed the following spell lines to cause them to bounce off of each other. Each line should block everything from the other line, but still be overwritten by spells of the same line.

Spiritual Strength Spiritual Brawn Spiritual Vigor

Strength of Tunare Strength of Nature

Brell's Mountainous Barrier Brell's Stalwart Shield Brell's Steadfast Aegis

- Translocation spells - Fixed a bug with translocation spells. If a second translocation spell was cast on a character before he had accepted the first, both would fail.

- Spell casting pets - In the past, pets were restricted to casting spells of level 20 and below. We have given them access to higher level spells. You may want to be careful with them until you get used to their new abilities.

- Drunken Riders - We fixed an odd bug that allowed people who were extremely drunk to cast spells without mana cost while on a horse. Yes, crazy bugs like that actually happen. :)

Zones - Droga and Nurga - The mines of Nurga have been inhabited by crafty Goblins and stolid Burynai for many long years, digging and slaving away under the earth. It's time to shake them up! The redesign for these zones are now on the Legends server, Stormhammer. The mines of Nurga are a fun zone for characters of levels about 40 to 55. The Temple of Droga accommodates characters around 50th to 65th level. Both zones will have some new events and quest, while retaining the distinct feel of the zones.

- Veksar - Since the rediscovery of the lands of Kunark, there have been rumors springing from the ancient lore of the Iksar. Most of those rumors remain unfounded, as gaining access to the lore of the insular Iksar is no easy task. One of the most persistent legends is about a city that lies buried under the Lake of Ill Omen. That city was called Veksar, and it is up to you to discover the tale of its fate.

- Planes of Power access - Planes of Power has provided us with valuable insight into the group and guild dynamics that are involved in large scale games. The way that we had expected guilds to advance through the story of Planes of Power has become a problem for some guilds as some members have fallen behind and found it difficult to catch up. Obviously this was not our intention. We want people to play with their friends and guild mates.

To correct this issue, we will be allowing characters to enter the following Planes of Power zones by meeting a simple level requirement:

Level 55 and over Plane of Storms Plane of Torment Plane of Valor Crypt of Decay

Level 62 and over Bastion of Thunder Halls of Honor

Characters that don't meet the level requirement may still enter these zones using the existing flags, and raids may still bring additional unflagged or lower level characters with them. All other planes with flag or story requirements for entry will still require those flags, and those flags can still be obtained as they always have.

This will make the majority of Planes of Power zones available to characters over the minimum level, and will allow their guilds to travel and adventure together in the planes. We understand that those that have already earned the entry flags for these zones have put some effort into that accomplishment. We will be giving a reward to those that have done so, though you'll have to wait to see what that reward is.

If you have completed the requirements for flags for these zones, you may wish to visit Gram Dunnar. Part of the reward for gaining entry flags is in the form of experience.

+++ Before speaking to Gram Dunnar, be sure you have your experience distribution set as you'd like it between standard and alternate advancement experience. +++

- Great Divide - The Plane of Knowledge portal in the Great Divide will now be available when the Ring War is in progress.

- Bastion of Thunder - We have upgraded the loot available from many of the mini-bosses in the Bastion of Thunder to make the reward more inline with the risk.

- Sol Ro's Tower - They look like frogs, hop like frogs and now they even react to spells like frogs. Flame Frogs are now flagged as animals.

- Rallos Zek encounter - Rallos Zek will remove anyone from the zone that attacks him if they are not part of the raid that has him engaged. Even in war, there are rules to be followed.

Items - Tradeskill item flag - There is a new flag on items. When viewing the information about an item, if you see that it has a Tradeskill flag, it is an item that can be used in a tradeskill recipe. This isn't to clearly spell out every item that is used in every tradeskill recipe. The intent is to assist those who are finding items that do not already have an obvious use, by letting them know that the item is used in a tradeskill recipe, somewhere.

- LoY "Fine Steel" - Many of the more commonly dropped weapons in the Legacy of Ykesha zones were a bit too powerful for the ease and level needed to get them. Some of the most out of line items were the Harpoon, Luggald Trident, and Luggald Dagger. We've decided that it is necessary to tune them down a bit.

- The Hollow Acrylia Obelisk - This is the old Acrylia key. It has been changed into a charm. This charm can be used by anyone, not just those that own LoY.

- Bows - The Longbow of the Grimlings and the Bow of Gloaming have both been given ranges. They can now be used properly.

- The Burning Flame Shield - This item had the wrong resist modifiers. It now has a +30 fire resistance and a -10 cold resistance.

- Bazaar Search - Non-instrument items with instrument modifiers will now show up in instrument type searches in the Bazaar.

- Ornate Stone Medicine Totem - This item can now be equipped.

- Storm Reaper Thorn Machete - This newbie Halfling quest weapon is now flagged as magical.

- Charm of the Brotherhood - This item will now give a bonus when grouped with others of either the same class or race.

- Dagger of Distraction - This item can no longer be used by Monks.

- Edge of Eternity - Beastlords and monks can no longer use this item.

- Veil of Lost Hopes and Orb of Clinging Death - The casting times on both of these items has been lowered.

- Magi`Kot's Pants of Convergence - The effect on this item has been changed to summon a Rod of Mystical Transvergance.

- Cloak of the Falling Skies - The focus effect this item has changed to Preservation of Solusek

- The Wristguard of Keen Vision - This item is now useable by int. casters.

- The Mask of Conceptual Energy - This item is now useable by priests.

Alternate Advancement - Lifeburn - This ability would cause an undue amount of aggro to be generated because it would bring the caster to an extremely low number of hit points, making them look like tasty targets to enemies nearby. To lessen this problem, Lifeburn will no longer reduce the caster to 10 hit points, but to about one fourth of the caster's hit points. This should prevent the additional agro generated while retaining the risk for using the ability.

- Feigned Minion - The Child of Bertoxxulous pet will no longer cast buff spells to break his feign when under the Feigned Minion effect.

Quests and Tradeskills - Bankers - There were a few quests that required giving an item to a banker. When we recently removed the ability for characters to give items to bankers to help prevent mistakenly losing items, those quests became unavailable. We have moved those quests to new NPCs. If you see any other quests that ask you to give something to a banker, please use /bug and report it to us.

- Newly Stackable Items - Valor Crystals, Ceramic Linings, Holgresh Fur and Casks are now stackable. Also, Valor Crystals can be sold to vendors.

- Sewer Catfish - These unappetizing fish have begun to appear in Cabilis.

- Klok Foob - Will now accept a Catfish Croak Sandwich.

Changes for New Characters - Newbie Starting Locations - We've modified all locations where new characters start to make them a bit more convenient for the new player. They should all start very near their guild masters.

- Nudging - New characters will be given a text message to encourage them to hand in their newbie note to their guild master. For new players, this is one of the key things to get them involved in gameplay, and one of the easiest to overlook.

- Guild Masters - To help guide new characters, Guild Masters now take a more active role in helping out new recruits by directing them to some starting points for quests.

- Quests - There are even more quests in the newbie zones, most of them revolving around the pests that seem to inhabit even the grandest cities.

Miscellaneous - We are working on an update to the Luclin player character model animations. This will not be a complete revamp of all the animations, but will address some of the most common concerns. However, in the mean time you may see some unusual animations, particularly when shorter PCs are running.

UI File Changes NOTE: In order to see the new Shared Bank slots, you will need to use the default bank window, or modify your custom bank window to include the new slots.

EQUI_Optionswnd.xml EQUIhelpwnd.xml Bankwnd.xml BigBankwnd.xml Help.html

Noted Later: The reward for planar progression has been added. If you have completed the requirements for flags for the newly opened Planes of Power zones, you may wish to visit Gram Dunnar in the Plane of Knowledge.

June 12, 2002 News Story: Prexus Server Crashes Entirely

Last night at about 1:00 in the morning Prexus had a severe breakdown. Our Operations team has been working to get it restored and back into service. Our hope is that we'll have it back up and running some time this evening.

That's the bad news. The worse news is that we will have to recreate all of the characters on the server from backups that are perhaps more than 24 hours old. Anything those characters have earned in the last day or so will be lost. Unfortunately, we will not be able to restore items or experience lost to the roll back.

There is some potential good news, though. If you have deleted a character in the last year or so, that character may return. So if you see a character that you deleted a few months ago on your character select screen, that's why.

Important Note: The restoration of these characters may leave you with more than eight characters on Prexus. In cases like this, the character select screen will list your characters in alphabetical order, and only show you the first eight of those characters. This may make some of your characters appear to be missing. They are not missing. All you need to do is delete one or more of the visible characters in order to see the ones that are not shown.

We are extremely sorry that this has happened. We are doing everything we can to restore the server.

Alan

June 17, 2003

We have updated the Run, Walk and Turn animations for the Luclin models. As you can tell, new animations require a lot of data. We're sorry for the size of the update, but we think you'll like the changes.

Thank you.

June 24, 2003

Stability - we have made some changes that should increase server stability.

Pathing issues - Corrected some issues with pathing that were causing warping in the Halls of Honor and allowing NPCs to teleport to places that they shouldn't have (in Highkeep, for example). Also, creatures should no longer spin after returning to their spawn points (this was most noticeable with dragons and wurms).

July 1, 2003

Effective immediately, customers who reside within the European Union will be charged VAT equal to 17.5% of their subscription fees.

To comply with changes in the law in the European Union, EverQuest subscribers who are residents of EU countries will be charged VAT equal to 17.5% of the subscription fees. These changes require that digital services be taxed at the point of consumption , i.e. in your country of residence. The countries currently covered by this policy are Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and United Kingdom.

July 10, 2003

Information Gathering

You will soon notice a new dialogue box appear when you log in (it appears after logging in three times to prevent spam for new players). We are asking you to let us gather a bit of information about your computer that will help us build the future of EverQuest.

The important thing here is that you can say no and we won't gather any information.

If you do accept, we'll gather CPU, RAM and video card information to help us evaluate and improve EverQuest. If you agree and then change your mind later, you can disable the feature under the Options tab (Alt-O) and then the General tab in game.

So when you see the new dialogue box appear, please read it over carefully and click whichever answer you feel most comfortable with.

Thanks.

Zones

- Droga and Nurga moving to Live servers - These zones were revamped and sent to Legends, and now they are moving to the Live servers. This is a great chance to revisit these zones.

- Chardok - Treachery and lies are not uncommon in the court of the Overking. But there are some unusual rumors being told by some unusual adventurers. Some say that there is strife within the council of the Overking, and that heroes may find adventure there while that strife lasts. OOC: We're introducing a new zone and a new zone type. The Halls of Betrayal is a "pocket zone", and new type of zone for EverQuest. It will exist for a short time to be part of the storyline, and then will be gone. So if you're going to see it, now is the time.

- Grieg's End revamp going to Legends - The redesign includes new encounters, items, traps, and events that make the zone a challenge for the experience group, with plenty of events for a raid group.

- Plane of Earth B - we have removed the Call of the Hero restrictions in this zone.

- Rallos Zek - the Warlord will now kick anyone out of the zone that is on his hate list and is not in a valid raid greater then 20 people in size. This should prevent single players being able to attack him and grief other players who are making a valid attempt at him. This is in addition to the previous limitations of having only one raid allowed to attack him at any given time.

- Increased Experience - We have increased the experience modifier in the Tower of Solusek Ro, Halls of Honor, The Temple of Marr, and the Lair of Terris Thule.

- Bastion of Thunder - The mini-bosses in Bastion of Thunder no longer spawn immediately after the zone comes up.

Tradeskills

- Tradeskill chance of failures changed - The higher your skill is over the trivial of the combine, the less likely you are to fail with a combine. This is a reduction on the chance to always fail.

- Stackable - Ice Burrower Silk, Pie Tins and Muffin Tins are now stackable.

Spells

- New Imbue, Enchant, and Thicken spells - New Imbue, Enchant, and Thicken spells have been added that create five magical items rather than just one. These spells require five components and take longer to cast and use more mana.

- Damage Over Time Spell Foci - Extended Affliction has been changed to Burning Affliction, which causes DoT spells to do more damage instead of having a longer duration.

- Enthrall spells - Enthrall spells will not un-stun the target when they wear off if there are other enthrall spells on that target. Also, when an enthrall spell breaks due to damage it will now remove all Enthrall spells, not just the first one it finds.

- Ferocity - We have removed the component requirement for Ferocity.

- Kindle - We have added a new Magician spell to the game called Kindle.

- Force of Akera - We have added a new Paladin spell to the game called Force of Akera.

- Burnout V - this spell should now stack with the Shielding line of spells.

- New Spell levels for Clarity line - Boon of the Clear Mind is now a level 44 spell, Clarity II is now a level 52 spell and Gift of Pure Thought is now level 56.

- Area of Effect spells - AoE spells that do not affect your group in PvP no longer affect your Raid in PvP either.

- Direct Damage spell messages - Striking the killing blow with a direct damage spell will no longer show a double cast on the spell message.

- Target Group Buff - TGB will no longer work with any illusions.

- Illusion - With Permanent Illusion, Levitation effects will no longer be stripped when zoning and gnome enchanters with a large-size illusion will no longer return to gnome size after zoning. In general, characters that are under the effect of a size-changing illusion should be seen properly by everyone.

- Song Spam - Bards should see less spam when they hit low level PCs with their high level songs.

- Treeform - This spell should now work in Luclin outdoor zones.

- Draught of Lightning - We have added a new Wizard spell to the game called Draught of Lightning.

Items

- Bards Using Components - Bards using right-click items with a casting time greater than 0 will now expend any required components.

- Ornate Armor Molds - These molds are more readily available.

- Spellshield - Spellshield items now reduces spell damage by a percentage rather than a fixed amount.

- Strikethrough and Stun Resist - You will now receive a message when Strikethrough and Stun Resist work.

Quests

- Newbie Quests - Erudites, Trolls, Ogres and Barbarians now have quests in their newbie areas similar to those implemented for all other races. This completes the updated newbie quests for all races.

- Seana and Stefan Marsinger - These two will be clearer when giving their quest requests, and will return them if you hand them to the wrong Marsinger.

- Bors Wharhammer - He will be checking level instead of flags as a requirement for his quests to bring him in-line with the flag removals for the lower tier planes.

Alternate Advancement

- Frenzied Burnout - this ability has been changed to better stack with the Burnout spells. The attack speed portion of the spell has been reduced in percentage (it hastes the pet much less), but changed to a "bard" haste which will stack with Burnout V. The strength bonus has also been decreased but made to stack with that of Burnout V.

Skills

- Sneak - Sneak will now work under water.

- Instill Doubt - Instill Doubt will now work if the Monk is using his other skills. Previously, use of other skills such as a kick would cause Instill Doubt to fail.

Interface

- Camera - We have added the ability to bind cameras to keys. This will allow players to hit one key to switch to a desired camera rather than having to cycle through the F9 camera chain. This can be changed in the Options window (Alt-O) under the Keyboard tab (select "camera" from the list).

- Auto-inventory - Items right-clicked off your corpse will now be place into your inventory in the correct order.

- Spell Favorites - Creating a spell favorite name that matches a name that already exists will cause the new favorite to be saved over the old (whereas before it would create a second list with the same name).

- Random name generator - Asking for a name should no longer result in a name that will be rejected due to duplication. Note: names can still be rejected by GM's.

- Bow Graphics - Bows that have been autoequipped will now display a graphic.

- Raids - The creation of a group will now work from inside a raid.

- New Filters - We've added a Melee Warnings filter. It will filter out "cannot see your target" and "cannot hit them from here" messages, along with other such melee warnings.

- Spell category lists - We moved a few of the Necromancer spells around on the category lists (from right-clicking spell gems) to make more sense.

Miscellaneous

- Updated character creation descriptions - Right-clicking the class, race or statistic buttons while in the character creation screen will display a detailed explanation of the item clicked.

- Clicking on corpses - Right-clicking on a PC corpse other than your own will no longer make a character visible.

- Mounts - Fixed a bug with mounts showing up with incorrect Luclin model settings. Mounts should now only show up when the Luclin models for the character race of the rider AND mounts/elementals are both on.

Also, as a heads up to players that have created their own user interfaces for EverQuest, these are the interface files that we have changed:

EQUI_Optionswnd.xml EQUI.xml EQUI_charactercreate.xml

August 6, 2003 3:00 am

Note: Some internal data restructuring created a delay in the introduction of the new platinum slot in the shared bank and the new text filters. We will bring those to the Live servers as soon as we can.

New Adventure in Lavastorm!

In the depths of the Lavastorm Mountains there is only one ruler. But even his burning breath and power have their limits. Rumor has it that there is wealth and danger in locations even further below the boiling lands than Lord Nagafen can reach. These tales have been spreading like ripples on a calm lake, and their point of origin appears to be an upstart barbarian named Morden. Some say that he's already delved these fabled caverns and taken what there was of value. Other say that he couldn't have carried it all off by himself. But most say that he's a rogue, a teller of tales, and not to be trusted. Will you discover the truth and brave the heat, or will you sit beside your cozy campfire and listen to stories?

This new adventure zone will only be around for a while, so you may want to visit soon.

Spells

- Summoned Burning Affliction focus items added - Mages have four new spells, Summon Wooden Bracelet, Summon Stone Bracelet, Summon Iron Bracelet, and Summon Steel Bracelet. The bracelets summoned provide the Burning Affliction effect for DoT spells. - Summoned container spells updated - The Quiver of Marr, Bandoleer of Luclin and the Pouch of Quellious now appear filled with the appropriate item (for example, the Quiver of Marr now appears with six stacks of arrows). Also, these items should all be exactly the same, so the quiver function should work properly. - Mass Enchant spells corrected - The mass enchant spells for Adamantite, Brellium, Mithril and Steel now create the 5 enchanted blocks that they should. - Illusion: Guktan is available - This is an illusion spell for the new Froglok models. - Illusion: Scaled Wolf is available - This is an illusion spell for the Scaled Wolf seen in Kunark. - Tiny Companion - The spell scroll for this spell is no longer No Drop. - Dooming Darkness no longer overwrites Cascading Darkness.

Items

- Moss Covered Hood - This item can now be equipped by all classes. - Silk String - This item is now stackable.

Trade Skills

- New Fletching recipes added - We've added several new Karana-only fletching recipes to help round out that skill.

Quests and Zones

- Halls of Betrayal - Corrected an error with some of the quest item drops in this zone. - Plane of Time - The events in Plane of Time B now remember the progress your raid has made through the zone when you leave and will restore you to the same state when you return. - Kagazz will respond when you ask him about fasteners. - Experience in city zones updated - Some time around the release of Planes of Power we reduced the experience gain in some city zones. The experience gained from quests in those zone has been increased. - Ogre newbie quests - Added a weapon quest for young ogres. - Iksar Necromancer Spell Vendors - The Iksar necromancer spell vendors have moved and are a lot closer to the necromancer guild. This should make it easier for new necromancers to find these vendors and will hopefully boost their sales.

Miscellaneous

- Spell book bug - Corrected a bug that was causing characters to be randomly forced to stand up when in their spell book. - Client crash information - If your game crashes on the client side, a dialogue box will come up asking if you'd like to send us the information about the crash. This information may help us pinpoint problems and make it easier to fix them. Only information relevant to the crash, your character name, server name and the zone you were in will be sent.

Fan Faire

Chicago Fan Faire is sneaking up on us! The Chicago event will be held September 26-28th, and the last day to guarantee your spot at the event by pre-registering is September 8th. To reserve your spot and pre- register, or to simply get more information, please go to www.everquest.com/fanfaire. See you in Chicago!

August 6, 2003 12:00 pm

Live Update Addendum

Just a brief update, as we'd like to get the word out quickly. Two issues with items being sent to the live servers have been discovered. Both will be fixed in another update at 3:00am.

- Weapons that have "special" types of damage, such as elemental and bane damage, are not working properly.

- A planned upgrade to the Shinai of the Ancients that is presently on the Test Server did not make it live as intended.

August 7, 2003 3:00 am

Items

- Ghaib's Flame-Forged Longsword will no longer give an out of charges message.

- Shinai of the Ancients has had its delay lowered to 20.

- Elemental and bane damage weapons are once again working correctly.

Events

- Caverns of Exile - An event NPC who was doing too much damage has been corrected.

August 7, 2003 7:30 pm

Lost Dungeons of Norrath Adventures

The Lost Dungeons of Norrath is our largest expansion to-date, featuring the most content ever delivered in an EverQuest expansion. The Lost Dungeons expansion features 48 new dungeons that span the old world of Norrath, focusing on several long lost locations, including the Rujarkian Hills and Deepest Guk. Encounter never before seen monsters that prowl the halls of these dungeons, waiting to challenge any explorer brave enough to venture in.

In this expansion, players are introduced to several exciting new concepts in adventuring through the world of EverQuest. After joining the Wayfarers Brotherhood, you and your group undertake perilous new adventures into the recently unearthed Lost Dungeons of Norrath. These new adventures offer many benefits, including a clearly defined goal, the ability to play and make progress in a couple hours per adventure, and the confidence that you can set a time to meet your friends and have a dungeon fully available for you right away - no competition and no waiting!

Additionally, one of the most important gameplay improvements we've made in Lost Dungeons of Norrath is the introduction of personalized dungeon adventures for single groups. When you and your group receive an adventure, you're provided with a full dungeon exclusively for your own use. There's no need to worry that you're competing against others to reach the same goal, or that someone might already be camping there. All the focus is on having fun, which allows you to get lost in the adventuring and fighting to accomplish your objective. The challenge is the dungeons themselves - if you can best the Lost Dungeons, you deserve the rewards.

Lost Dungeons of Norrath breaks the mold of traditional zones by allowing every zone in the expansion to provide adventures for all groups between levels 20 and 65. Each time you embark on a new adventure, you're sent to one of 48 distinct dungeon zones, each customized with challenging monsters and traps tailored to the level of your group. This means, as long as you're over level 20, you'll have 48 challenging new dungeons to explore and conquer!

Beyond the hundreds of single-group adventures in the Lost Dungeons expansion, you can also join up to 36 of your friends for powerful raid encounters! Take part in several new raids that you can do on your own schedule, with no competition or racing against other guilds. Set up raiding times that are convenient for you and your friends, with the knowledge that the dungeon will be there waiting for you when you log in!

The Lost Dungeons of Norrath expansion will redefine EverQuest by providing an enormous amount of adventuring possibilities, with the addition of massive amounts of content to the game - far more than any previous expansion.

Pre-order yours today by pressing Pre-order at the server select screen, or at https://store.station.sony.com!

August 19, 2003 10:00 pm

Lost Dungeons of Norrath Downloads

If you ever plan on ordering or buying Lost Dungeons, we recommend starting the downloads now.

You can start downloading files before you make any decision to pre- order the expansion!

We have been introducing the LDoN files in small bits for several days now. This is the most convenient way for you to get the files you'll need for the new expansion.

Whether you plan on ordering the expansion online, or buying it in the store, or are even thinking that you might buy it sometime later on, you'll have a much easier time if you get the downloading out of the way in our daily LDoN pre-downloads.

As with all expansion releases, the downloaders will likely be very busy on the first day. Even if you buy the CD, you'll still need to wait through a small download on launch day.

We recommend beating the launch-day rush and downloading as much as you can, as early as you can. It will get you online and into the game that much faster.

The easiest way to begin downloading the files is to click yes when the dialogue box pops up asking you if you'd like to incrementally download LDoN.

If you've already told that dialogue never to appear again, you can get the files in a few easy steps:

- Run EverQuest from your Start menu or Desktop shortcut as normal. - Click the Advanced button - Click the checkbox next to Lost Dungeons of Norrath - Click Save - Click Download

This will catch you up on the downloads you have missed, and will update you as we continue to add files. This will make your download much smaller the day LDoN launches, or the day you purchase the digital version of the expansion.

- The EverQuest Team

August 26, 2003

Zone Revamps

- The Deep, Charasis (Howling Stones), Dragon Necropolis, Siren's Grotto, The Hole, The City of Mist, and The Accursed Temple of Cazic- Thule have been partially revamped. Gameplay in these zones has been improved, based on feedback from players and careful review of the content. The changes are not dramatic, but make these zones more entertaining to play in.

- The Plane of Mischief, home of the trickster Bristlebane, has undergone an extensive revamp. As one of the most unusual places to visit in EverQuest, this zone is a very interesting challenge, if you have a sturdy funny bone. The improved zone is now available on Stormhammer.

- The Greig's End revamp is now available on the Live servers. The redesign includes new encounters, items, traps, and events that make the zone a challenge for the experience group, with plenty of events for a raid group.

Interface

- /memspellset # - Using this command memorizes one of your saved spell sets. # is the number or name (or shortened name) of the spell set you wish to memorize. Note that if you use a shortened version of the spell set name, it will match the first spell set that has those characters, so /memspellset Dots will find your "Dots and Charms", or "Dots", or "Dotsandstuff" - whichever shows up first on your list.

- A Platinum slot has been added to the shared bank to make transactions between characters on the same account more convenient.

- Clip Plane - The clip plane slider should work more reliably now. Where before it may not have done anything until lowered to a very low percentage, now the slider should have an effect at any setting.

- Filters for your own pet's messages have been added. Your own pet's attacks are no longer subject to the Other Attacks/Misses filters. On the options screen there is now a separate button for filtering YOUR Pet attack messages. Also, the ability to redirect your pet attack messages to any chat window has been added to the chat window context menus.

- /random messages can now be sent to any chat window you'd like. There is no option to filter these messages, however, to prevent any loss of the information in cases where it is needed (meaning, people can't claim that they didn't see the /random that they lost just to force a re-roll).

- The Journal Window has been changed to make it easier to use and understand. We've merged the the two information windows into a single window.

- Fixed a bug in the Looking for Group window. The Get Matches button should no longer grey out at inappropriate times.

- The Bad Word Filter now filters chat channel text as well as other game text.

- To make things a little more logical, the /inspect command will allow characters to inspect interactive objects for LDoN, and /toggleinspect allows you to toggle on or off the ability to inspect other player characters using the mouse.

Alternate Advancement

- Purify Soul reuse time reduced from 72 minutes to 30 minutes.

- Divine Resurrection reuse time reduced from 36 hours to 18 hours.

- Celestial Regeneration reuse timer reduced from 72 minutes to 15 minutes. We have increased the duration from 24 seconds to 48 seconds, adjusted the amount healed, and made this a group effect.

- Celestial Renewal duration increased from 24 seconds to 48 seconds, adjusted the amount healed, and this has become a group effect.

- Harmtouch has been fixed. There was a problem with the timer for Harmtouch that would make it appear to reset when the character was logged out, even though it does not reset until the appropriate amount of time has passed.

- Summon Death Charger and Summon Holy Steed have been fixed. We fixed a bug that caused these abilities to fail until the character zoned or logged out.

- Endless Quiver no longer grants an endless supply of thrown weapons, only arrows.

Spells

- Unswerving Hammer of Faith has had its mana cost reduced from 250 to 175.

- Divine Barrier no longer has a damage shield component and has gained three times the healing effect.

- Celestial Remedy has had its mana cost lowered from 190 to 150.

- A targeting issue with pets is now fixed. There was a bug that caused pets to be untargetable with the F1 key and with pet spells that target the pet automatically. This was happening only if a pet was summoned and then a mount was summoned.

- AE Rain Spells were resisted 100% of the time when an NPC was above level 20 and had less than 10% of its hit points left. This will no longer happen.

- Eye of Zomm would cause a player's pet to kill itself if that pet was commanded to kill the owner's Eye. This has been corrected. Also, the Eye no longer moves at incredible speed under water, but they can now swim up and down in water.

- PBAoE Songs no longer prevent a bard from singing if used while the bard has himself targeted.

- Illusions can once again be cast on others while the caster is on a mount.

- When Invisibility drops due to looting a corpse, the player will be informed that their invisibility has dropped.

- Pets no longer break enthrall.

- Armor of the Zealot will no longer be overwritten by Focus of Soul and Focus of the Seventh. Blessed Armor of the Risen and Ancient: High Priest's Bulwark will no longer be overwritten by Focus of Spirit or Khura's Focusing. Also, Pact of Hate and Call of Darkness should stack properly (meaning that they won't stack).

- Illusion: Guktan was fixed on all servers a little while ago. We just wanted you to be aware that the spell will make the target look like a Guktan, not a male human.

Zones and Quests

- Bazaar - We have increased the limit on the number of traders in the bazaar. We fixed an issue that would cause the "Begin Trader" button to be disabled if a player tried to use it when the maximum number of traders was reached. And the "Held" slot option was removed from the search, since it is not a valid option.

- The Coirnav Encounter has been modified to respawn faster when the encounter is failed badly (if the attempt fails to reach a certain depth in the encounter).

- The Illusion: Guktan quest had some issues. We have addressed them.

New Player Improvements

- After creating a new character, that character is the default selection on the character select screen.

- At character creation, left-clicking on an attribute displays text that explains what that attribute is important for. Right-clicking allocates the maximum possible points to that attribute.

- To help reduce clutter for the new player, the Story window no longer pops up when a player first logs in.

- When a context Tip window pops up, if the Tip of the Day is still open, the Tip of the Day window will close. Again, this is to help reduce the clutter.

- We've change the name of the "Camp" button in the Actions window to "Camp (Exit)" for clarity.

- The Inventory Tip window now explains how to read books and notes, how to give/trade items with NPC's, and how to scribe spells.

- We've added a text message on the screen to inform players when they are loading a zone, and what zone they are about to enter.

- Added numeric background to buttons in the Hot Button window to make it easier to tell which button corresponds to which number key.

- The Mousewheel zoom is now enabled by default.

- New installations of EverQuest will default to 1024x768 resolution.

Misc

- Fixed a bug that caused some equipment to be invisible on characters created recently (since our update on August 6th).

- Luclin elemental models will now display if selected, regardless of other settings for Luclin models. You can turn these models on with no other Luclin models active, and you will see the Luclin elemental.

- Hitting cancel on a trade window or using the /consent or /deny commands will now only send you one message, not two.

UI Files

Changed

EQUI_BankWnd.xml EQUI_BigBankWnd.xml EQUI_OptionsWindow.xml EQUI_ActionsWindow.xml EQUI_JournalNPCWnd.xml SIDL.xml EQUI_Animations.xml EQUI_HotButtonWnd.xml EQUI.xml

dragitem26.tga

New

dragitem27.tga window_pieces06.tga window_pieces07.tga

Removed

EQUI_JournalTextWnd.xml

August 28, 2003

- Two Bastion of Thunder keys and one key in the Plane of Air that were supposed to open up a location for your entire group were only taking the key holder. We have fixed that problem. Also, the Enchanted Ring of Torden will now attach to your key ring the next time you use it.

- The "base" population in the Tower of Solusek Ro now has the ability to summon. Please be aware of this the next time you enter the tower of the god of flame.

- We have corrected a pathing issue in South Karana that was causing the NPCs to all travel to the same point.

- Cloth caps will no longer drop off NPCs in Siren's Grotto.

- We have reduced the number of characters in a raid required to access the Plane of Time from 40 to 18.

- The Burrower has been modified back to its original difficulty.

- A tether has been added to Fennin Ro.

September 9, 2003

Lost Dungeons of Norrath Launches! Make sure to check out this groundbreaking new expansion! EVERY new zone has something fun and rewarding just waiting for everyone levels 20-65, and there's always something available for you!

For the first time in EverQuest you have the ability to interact with your environment in new and exciting ways! Find that chest at the end of the dungeon, but approach it carefully - It may be trapped.

In addition, there have been rumors of a new type of treasure that allow you to improve your existing equipment, augmenting what you've already earned with new power...

Succeed and be rewarded as YOU choose! Those who best the Lost Dungeons will find that the Adventurers have quite the cache of treasure that they've discovered on their own. It seems that, the more you help them in their cause, the more they're willing to share...

If you have purchased Lost Dungeons, thank you and welcome!

If you haven't -- What are you waiting for? Order now and join the grand Adventure!

Game Updates Items - Warrior and Magician epic changes – A new version of these two epic items is available to accommodate the new item augmentations. Both of these epics are basically summoned items, and therefore they would lose any augmentations when used or unsummoned. Players wishing to change these items into "permanent" versions in order to augment them should do the following:

Warrior Epic - Talk to Gartrog Smitehammer in East Freeport. He will replace your Red Scabbard and Jagged Blade of War with augmentable versions of the Jagged Blade of War, the Blade of Strategy, and the Blade of Tactics. You will not receive the Red Scabbard back, as it will no longer be useful to you.

Magician Epic - Talk to Ilisiv Gantrau in the Tox Forest. She will take a summoned Orb of Mastery and replace it with a permanent augmentable orb. The epic pet is still summoned in exactly the same way, with no changes to the spell or use.

Zones and Quests - Plane of Mischief - We have updated the factions for a few NPCs for this zone on Stormhammer only. All of the NPCs there are meant to be aggressive. Some of them were on the wrong faction, and were not aggressive. They are now.

- The Deep - There were some NPCs in this zone that could see invisible but were bugged to be non-aggressive. They will again be aggressive, so be more cautious when using invisibility in The Deep.

- Plane of Valor - The Aerin'Dar projection was despawning after only a few minutes. It will now remain as long as other projections.

- City of Mist - Black Reavers are immune to magic once again.

- Oxidized Steel Plate will now drop. This should allow the completion of the Rallican’s Bracer quest

- The Ghost of Kindle has returned.

- Manastone is no longer usable in The Hole.

- The trader limit increase mentioned in the last update should be working properly now.

Spells - We have reduced the cost of the Summon Wooden, Stone and Iron Bracelet spells.

- We have added new Skeleton models for pets, illusions, and transformation spells.

- We have changed the underlying way that pet focus items work to allow for future upgrades and items. All existing foci should work as they always have. If you notice anything unusual when using a pet focus, please /bug report the issue.

Interface - Context Tips - We have added a question mark symbol to windows that have help information available. Just click on the question mark in the upper right of the window to see the tips.

Miscellaneous - Fixed a bug that was causing NPCs to appear to have a larger melee range than they should have in some cases.

- Sullon Zek - There was a bug that allowed players to create characters on opposing alliances. That is no longer possible. If you see this message:

"You currently have characters created on opposing deity alliances. You can only have characters that are on the same alliance. Please correct this by deleting the character that was recently created and has an opposing alliance with the first character you created."

You will not be able to log in until you delete any characters that are not on the same alliance.

UI Files Changed SIDL.xml EQUI_Templates.xml EQUI_Animations.xml EQUI.xml dragitem27.tga window_pieces01.tga

New EQUI_AdventureRequestWnd.xml EQUI_AdventureMerchantWnd.xml EQUI_AdventureLeaderboardWnd.xml EQUI_AdventureStatsWnd.xml

Known Issues _ This is the list of cosmetic issues that we're aware aren't perfect, but determined as acceptable to launch with, as_none should affect peoples' ability to enjoy the game._ _ Rather than attempt last-minute changes that often break more than they fix, these will be addressed in an update after Lost Dungeons' launch. _ - Paladins and Shadowknights:_ The new INSPECT and OPEN ability buttons will appear disabled for the duration of your Harm Touch or Lay Hands timers when you use those abilities._ You may still use INSPECT and OPEN, however._ It just won't look like you can. _ - When receiving an adventure from one of the Wayfarers' Camps, for now, the Adventure Window does not automatically close when you walk away from the Adventure Recruiter as it should._ _ - Pet Users:_ If you tell your pet to attack an interactive object (chest, vase, coffin, etc) inside of a dungeon, your pet will tell you that it is attacking, but it will not actually attack._ This is a problem with the message, not the behavior. _The pet should be telling you that it cannot attack such a thing.

Use Augmentations Wisely If you have an item with more than one slot available and you intend to apply an Augmentation Item that can fit into any slot (i.e. Type 1), be sure to apply it last.

For example, you have an item with three slots available and you have filled Slot 1 with an Augmentation Item. In your bag you have an Augmentation Item that can fit into any slot on the item (i.e. Type 1) and one that fits into Slot 2. If you use the Type 1 Augmentation Item first, it will fill the first open slot on your item, which would be Slot 2 in this case. This means you will not be able to use the Slot 2- specific Augmentation Item you had available.

So, remember, the rule is that if you have an Augmentation Item that can be used it any slot, be sure to apply it last!

October 9, 2003

Zones and NPCs - Two new raid zones have been added to the Lost Dungeons on the Legends server. These are Guk-themed raids, one for Elemental Plane and one for Time Plane capable raiders.

- The revamped Plane of Mischief is now available on all Live servers.

- There were some situations where the warders in Vex Thal could be up, but the bosses needed to kill them would not be available. That shouldn't happen anymore.

- Shrunk the giant wolves that appeared in the lands.

- The Coirnav encounter has been changed. Be much more careful if you have been relying on stuns to deal with this encounter.

- Corrected an issue with the Filth Gorgers that was causing them to remain around with they were supposed to despawn.

- Soldiers of Madness in Grieg's End will no longer be so unbelievably numerous.

- Zoning into the Plane of Fire will no longer cause characters to occasionally take 20k points of damage.

- The Froglok Hunter and Forager will no longer be killed by the inhabitants of Trakanon's Teeth, so they should be easier to find.

- When Mithaniel Marr is killed, his planar projection now spawns in the middle of his room rather than at the point of death. This fixes a problem that could cause the projection to appear out of reach.

- The Qeynos investigator is now taking "follow me" orders again.

Adventures - Every character that successfully completes an adventure will now get at least one point as a reward. This is also true for the "consolation" rewards.

- Completing Hard adventures will yield more points.

- Several trap spells on interactive objects have had their severity reduced.

- Added some new type 7 and type 8 augmentations to various adventure merchants.

- It will be clearer now which raids are "hard" and which are "normal". Hard raids are intended for Time capable guilds. They are very hard.

- All raid recruiters now properly check to be sure that you have completed two adventures in their respective themes before they will give out the raid.

- Fixed an issue in a Mistmoore's Catacomb raid that was preventing players from accessing an interactive object they had earned for killing Sfisithik.

- Removed the ability to see through Shroud of Stealth from some of the NPCs that appear in LDoN Raids.

- There was a misconception about the behavior of goblins in some Rujarkian Hills adventures. Goblins that are fleeing because they are unwilling to die or are seeking help will make it clear that they are doing so. We also corrected an issue that could cause these goblins to "ping pong" in some cases.

- All of the "flavor" NPCs in dungeons (usually those that are lying down, nearly dead) will display full health to make it impossible to tell what kind of NPC they are (friend or foe) simply by looking at their health level.

- Hostages will no longer be attacked by their captors.

- We thinned out the population in the Grand Library and a few other Miragul's Menagerie themed zones to bring the challenge in line.

- Rats in Mistmoore's Catacombs are now animals, shadows are now summoned.

Items and Objects - Corrected a bug that allowed players to buy multiple lore augmentations if they were in a bag (which also caused issues when trying to loot corpses with those items). If you had multiple lore items, the extra items will be removed. A refund for the points spent on those items will be made when they are deleted.

- Broken Chunk of Coal, Cracked Ruby, and Charred Pebble are no longer valid augmentations. If you had these augmentations bonded to an item, you will find them on your cursor. You can take those items to Dible Hedledrap in South Ro and he will restore your adventure points.

- Perfect Garnet of Constitution, Pristine Garnet of Constitution, Perfect Sapphire of Insight, and Pristine Sapphire of Insight can be turned in to Dible Heldedrap in South Ro. He will replace them with type 8 versions of the same items.

- Changed pre-LDoN items to have a single slot of type 7 instead of 1. Some LDoN items which had a slot type 1 were also changed to type 7.

- Fixed a bug with the Adventurer's Stone that would sometimes cause it to not display its bonuses.

- Interactive objects will now only appear on LDoN raids when the main boss has been killed. This change was done to prevent an exploit, and is a temporary change.

- We have improved the types of rewards that can be found in interactive objects to improve the reward given for the risk taken by opening them.

- Fixed a bug that prevented augments with no deity restrictions from combining with deity-restricted items.

- Added a message that should make it clearer when a character is unable to loot an interactive object because they are on an NPC's hate list.

- Hand-to-hand weapons are now part of the one-handed restriction on augmentations. So augmentations that say they can be used with one- handed items will also work with hand-to-hand items.

- Geomancer's Crown of Reformation now fits in the head slot and the effect is worn instead of right clicked.

- Gravestone of Dire Melodies and the Limestone Shard of Battle Cries will now properly modify instrument skills.

- All of Royal Attendant Armor will now show up as plate armor.

- Rogue pets focused with Summoner's Boon should no longer lose the ability to backstab.

- Shard of Shrunken Bone was changed from Shield of Pain III to Shield of Pain II.

- Changed many of the new Lost Dungeons "shields" to make them useable as shields (they can be used to bash now).

- Removed augmentation slots from the following items: Primal Velium Knight's Sword, Divine Hammer of Consternation, Breezeboot's Frigid Gnasher, Primal Velium Fist Wraps, Primal Velium Battlehammer, Primal Velium Spear, Primal Velium Claidhmore, Primal Velium Brawl Stick, Primal Velium War Lance, Primal Velium Reinforced Bow, Primal Velium Battle Axe, Primal Velium Warsword, Ancient Prismatic Bow, Ancient Prismatic Lance, Ancient Prismatic Spear, Ancient Prismatic Claymore, Ancient Prismatic Brawl Stick, Ancient Prismatic Battlehammer, Ancient Prismatic Warsword, Ancient Prismatic Axe, Ancient Prismatic Fist Wraps, Ancient Prismatic Staff, Ancient Prismatic Stiletto, and Ancient Prismatic Mace.

- Changed some weapons dropped from rare NPC's in LDoN zones to have slot type 4 instead of 1.

- Changed Pristine Limestone of Hatred to Vengeance IV.

- The hp/mana augmentations that dropped in adventures as slot 1 items will no longer drop. They have been replaced with similar items that fit into slot 7.

- Made changes to various stats and effects on Plane of Time items.

- Changed the level required to use the right-click effect on Wild Lord Armor to 45, to match all other Kunark armor.

- Corrected a bug with mounts that would sometimes leave the horse buff up without the actual mount. Also corrected a problem that could cause a player to be unable to summon a mount.

- Fixed the haste on Spiritbound Mystic's Torch

- Altered the damage and delay on the Delightful Orb of Forgotten Magic to be more appropriate for where it drops

For the New Player - Find Feature added. This will create a mystical indication of the path to take to find certain people. This feature works in the Bazaar and in newbie zones and cities. In the Bazaar you just click on the merchant you seek in the Bazaar window and click the Find Trader button. For all other uses, just hit CTRL+F to open the window, select someone on the list and click the Find button. This will locate any Bazaar trader or any NPC with an alternate name, such as (Spell Vendor). The exception is that it will not locate NPCs in the Wayfarer's Camps.

- The auto-attack key now defaults to Q (not A).

- New characters start with their weapons and armor equipped.

- New characters start with their spells scribed and memorized.

- When a caster reaches the level required for one of the first two rings of new spells, they will get a message informing them that new spells are available.

- New characters will begin with a stack of bandages. These bandages cannot be sold or traded.

- When a character trains in a hotbutton-able skill that he did not previously have skill in, a hotbutton for that skill is created on the cursor.

- New characters will have a page of hotbuttons set for them based on the skills given to them by their class and race.

Interface - Merchants now separate items with different charges in their list. For example, 9 dose and 10 dose potions will show up as separate items on the merchant's list. Items with the same amount of charges will be stacked. NOTE: This will remove the ability to "recharge" items by selling them to a vendor and buying them back.

- The Bazaar now supports selling different charged items. For example, a 10 dose potion with 9 charges can be sold for 90 plat., while a 10 dose version of the same potion can be sold for 100 plat. NOTE: All currently priced charged items will no longer have a price attached and will need to be reset by the trader.

- Pet buffs are now visible in the pet window. A small icon will display for each buff on the pet (up to 30 - you may need to resize the pet window). You can hover your mouse over the icon to see the spell name. Alt left-click or right-click and hold for spell info box (which only contains name and icon).

- Improved the functionality of the ESC key. Windows close in the opposite order that they were opened.

- Swarm pet damage is filtered under "pet damage" rather than "others hits".

- When World Containers (ovens, kilns, augmentation sealers and similar items) are closed, No Drop items in those containers will be placed in the character's inventory. If it will not fit there, it will appear on their cursor.

- The "Only show items I can use" option in the Adventure Merchant window will be saved when you log out.

- Hotbuttons created using the Abilities and Combat skill lists are no longer connected to the buttons in the Actions window. This means that you can create a button on the Abilities or Combat section of the actions window, drag that button to the hotbutton window, then change the button on the Abilities or Combat section, and the hotbutton you made will not change. This allows you to create hotbuttons for ALL of your character's skills, not just the ones that can fit in the Actions window.

- You can now use the (`) key to "Target nearest NPC", in addition to F8.

- Shared bank slots will no longer accept rentable containers with no- rent items in them.

- A new system for the leaderboard has been implemented to track adventures by their difficulty. You can sort by normal/hard/all difficulty. Not only will this display the stats for the leaders, but you will also be able to see your own successes and failures at the bottom, based on the sorting you chose for the leaderboard. So, for example, if you filter the leaderboard by Miragul's Wins and choose Hard, you will not only see the leaders for Hard adventures in that theme, you will see your own statistics for Hard Miragul's adventures. NOTE: Because this tracking is new, it will only be able to differentiate hard and normal adventures from the time of this update onward. Past adventures will be treated as if they were normal difficulty.

- /autojoin is not saved per character, not for all characters.

- The Open and Inspect buttons are no longer "grayed-out" when Lay on Hands or Harm Touch are used.

- Merchant inventories will refresh properly after a character purchases the last of an item in inventory.

Spells - Casting Grow on an unshrunk shaman pet will no longer shrink the pet.

- Remove Minor Curse cures 2 curse counters instead of 3-4.

- Lich and Pact of Hate now use different colored skeleton models.

- Monster Summoning will summon the correct models, not just earth elementals.

- Frostreaver's Blessing will no longer block the bard song Wind of Marr. We realize there are still some stacking issues with these spells, and we hope to resolve them soon.

Tradeskills - The Blessed Steel Arrowheads recipe will return the file.

- NPC Merchants will now pay less for Steel Hunter Arrows, Steel Arrowshafts, and Steel Fletch.

- The Muckskipper Chowder recipe no longer returns a pot on a failure or success, since the recipe does not require a pot at all.

- The recipe for the "Lemming Fur Backpack" now requires an Embroidering Needle instead of a Sewing Needle.

Alternate Advancement - Jewelcraft Mastery works properly now.

- Frenzied Burnout will no longer last indefinitely on a charmed pet.

UI Files Changed EQUI.xml EQUI_ActionsWindow.xml EQUI_AdventureLeaderboardWnd.xml EQUI_BazaarSearchWnd.xml EQUI_LootWnd.xml EQUI_OptionsWindow.xml EQUI_PetInfoWindow.xml EQUI_RaidWindow.xml

New EQUI_FindLocationWnd.xml

New Labels 86-115 for the pet buff names.

November 5, 2003

Quests, Adventures and Encounters - We have added one more new LDoN raid to Stormhammer. This raid was created with Elemental capable characters in mind. - Changed the minimum required number of group members to request an adventure from 4 to 3. - We have increased the consolation prize on level 65 hard adventures from 19 to 26 to match the increase in reward points for success (raised from 76 to 105 with the last update). - Verrell Cogswin can help convert red dragon scales into green dragon scales. - Fixed the Undead and Fire event in the Plane of Time. There was a bug that could cause some of the minions to fail to spawn. - Raotin Teawel will always give out the correct robe for completion of his quest. - Thought Destroyer has returned to the Plane of Hate. - Check with the Town Crier of your home town for news. There is information about the recent activities of the Wayfarers that should prove interesting. - We have made some improvements to the Plane of Air avatar rings. We have added a random interval to the respawn time of the Plane of Air avatar rings, placed apparitions at the avatar spawns so that it is possible to tell when the event is available, and the Avatar of Smoke will now respawn properly. - The Mujaki event in Plane of Nightmares was completely rewritten._ It should now be a lot more intelligent about where it sends players. - Increased the number of items found at the end of a successful LDoN raid.

Skills and Alternate Advancement - Channeling Focus was not giving bards the proper reduction to the chance of missing a note._ It is now fixed and gives messages to indicate when it is has helped. - Corrected a problem that was causing Alternate Advancement buff duration increase abilities and duration focus effects to negatively affect lull spells. - We have fixed a bug that could cause pick pocketed items to not show up on your cursor until you zone. This could also sometimes cause the client to crash. - Added /stoptracking command so that you no longer have to re-open the track window and hit cancel if you want to cancel your tracking quickly. - Activated AAs from Planes of Power were not working if the user did not have Shadows of Luclin registered. This has been fixed.

Spells and Pets - The Aura of Pain Recourse can no longer be removed by Radiant Cure. - When the character changes size (through illusion), other players will no longer see the mounted player separate from their horse. - Magician Pets will no longer attack the caster who summoned them. - Hitting your own pet while in a PVP area or while you have the PK flag on will no longer kill it. - Cataclysm of Ro has had its movement rate bonus removed to fix a stacking issue with the Selo's line of movement rate songs. - Cassindra's Chant of Clarity_and Cassindra's Chorus of Clarity now lasts 3 ticks instead of being instant. - Cloak of Luclin, Cloak of the Akheva and Frostreaver's Blessing will no longer be overwritten by Call of the Rathe. - There are still some issues with Frostreaver's blessing being overwritten by some spells._ We are aware of the issue and hope to get it resolved soon. - Protection of the Cabbage, Protection of the Glades and Protection of the Nine will block Temperance, Aegolism and Virtue. - Ice Flame of E`ci now has the standard 2.5 second recast time. - Reclaim energy should now function properly on the pet summoned by Child of Bertoxxulous. -Beastlord warders focused by Summoner's boon should now look as they should.

Interface - We have added the consider color to the Target window. The art used to display the consider color can be removed or edited via XML by custom skins. - We have also added a 3D target indicator._ The ring color indicates the con color of the target._ This can be turned off in the Options window. A new settings file in the UI folder can be edited by players to customize the appearance of the indicator, including different animated textures for each con color and other interesting settings. - Added /fontface command (usage /fontface , e.g. /fontface Courier). This will change, on the fly, the fonts used by the interface (and over character's heads). Fonts can also be selected in the General Options page. - Added /tell windows. Each time you get a "tell" from a new character, a new chat window would open. That window will only display "tells" from the particular character, and any message sent from the chat window would automatically be sent as a "tell" to that character. You can turn this option on and off in the Options window. If you have the maximum number of chat windows open when a new tell is received, the tell will go to the main chat window - Temporary pets will no longer send their buffs to the pet window. Generally they have none, and they would replace the buffs of any standard pet. - The buff display portion of the pet window will now fade. - The Auto-inventory area of the Inventory window now fades with the parent window. - The Dump button in raid window now creates the proper, non-blank, file. - We have also added time-stamp to Raid Dump output file. - Pop-up dialogs no longer close when you press ESC. This will prevent the rez dialog from being closed accidentally. - Lay on Hands will no longer "gray out" the Inspect and Open hot keys in the Hotbutton window. This was fixed earlier in the Actions window, but now it is fixed in the Hotbutton window as well. - Alt-tabbing in and out of EQ should no longer cause mouse issues. - Fixed a bug that sometimes left charmed pets health bar in the group window after the owner of that pet is killed. - Find trader can now be cancelled in bazaar.

Items - The Copper Medal of Rapture now gives a bonus to Int. instead of Wis.

For the New Player - Left-clicking on an NPC prints out a message indicating what type of NPC they are and indicating that you should right-click on them. This message can be turned off in the Options window. - New characters will now start with a bag. - Added a tip window that pops up when you invoke the Quantity window that explains the use of Shift and Control when selecting items. - All characters will gain a Sense Heading skill of 200, if it was below 200. All new characters will start with a Sense Heading of 200.

Miscellaneous - Explore mode works properly again.

UI Files Changed EQUI_OptionsWindow.xml EQUI_TargetWindow.xml EQUI_Animations.xml

New Targetindicator.ini TargetBox.tga TargetIndicator.tga

December 18, 2003

Headlines!

Melee Enhancements Part 1 New Spell Effects Live Casino Now Open In Shadowhaven HEAR YE! HEAR YE! Check with your Town Crier for new editions of your hometown paper!

AA REFUND

- Extended Notes 3 and Sionachie's Cresendo have been refunded (More details below). If you had these bard AAs and were close to 30 AA points stored, make certain that you spend enough points to have 30 or less unspent AA points before you zone. All AA points over 30 are removed when you zone.

- Improved Reclaim Energy has been refunded to magicians due to changes with the amount of energy received when cannibalizing their pets. If you have this Magician AA and were close to 30 AA points stored, make certain that you spend enough points to have 30 or less unspent AA points before you zone. All AA points over 30 are removed when you zone.

Melee enhancements

We have been building an enhancement to the melee system, and the first part of it is now Live.

The yellow bar now represents endurance rather than stamina.

All Disciplines now require an expenditure of endurance to use. They still have a re-use timer, and they can't be used more often than the timer allows.

Disciplines have now been divided into a few different timers.

We have also added a few of the new melee skills to the game. These are the skills that do not use the new "opening" system, but can be used without an opening present. The "reactionary" skills and the opening system will remain on Test for further tuning.

Warriors have been given a mitigation boost. This affects all warriors at all levels.

Monks have been given the ability to dodge blows from attackers behind them. This affects all monks with the Dodge ability.

All existing disciplines can be purchased as tomes in either East Commons or the Plane of Knowledge. To learn a discipline, the Tome must be turned into your guildmaster.

Several new disciplines have been added for warriors, monks and rogues who are above level 60.

Play King's Court in Shadowhaven!

Shandeling's Roost in Shadowhaven now houses a game of chance. To play you will need to buy a King's Court Token. You then take this token and turn it in to any of the dealers. Based on what your hand turns out to be, you will be awarded a prize. The highest hands will return a gold ticket as the prize. This Ticket can be turned in to win prizes such as a Guise of the Deceiver, Fungus Covered Great Staff, or Holgresh Elder Beads. Good luck to all that play!

Items

- Purchased augments, that have not been bound to an item yet, can be sold back to Dible Hedledrap in South Ro.

- Caerlyna in the Bazaar will trade your containers for tokens and will trade tokens for containers. This will allow player characters to sell those tokens in the Bazaar. Folks that buy the tokens can then take them to the Caerlyna and trade them in for the appropriate container. You can exchange most weight reducing tradeable containers for a token.

- We've changed the +12 Wis on the Copper Medal of Rapture to +12 Int. Really, we have!

- We have lowered the minimum duration to 5 ticks on Affliction Efficiency I-IV and Affliction Haste I-IV foci.

- Timeless Coral Greatsword will no longer claim to be out of charges when it procs. If you own one of these swords, you will need to petition a GM and ask them to replace your current Coral Greatsword with a new one.

- Phylactery is no longer useable by all classes, only MAG NEC ENC WIZ CLR SHA DRU.

- The Delightful Orb of Forgotten Magic now only procs for characters level 35 and above.

- The following items that had the Invigor effect now have Serpent Sight or Ultravision: Orb of the Crimson Bull, Abram's Axe of the Stoic, Tolan's Darkwood Boots, Mrylokar's Greaves, Singing Steel Vambraces, Crown of Rile, 5 Dose Potion of Wolves Blood, 5 Dose Potion of Fleeting Languor, 10 Dose Potion of Wolves Blood, 10 Dose Potion of Fleeting Languor, Potion of Wolves Blood, Potion of Fleeting Languor, Spiroc Wingblade, Spirit Caller's Boots, Spirit Weaver's Boots, Frozen Efreeti Boots, Ring of the Crimson Bull, Rune Crafter's Boots, Wolf Caller's Boots and Camii's Bracer of Vigor.

- The effects on Abram's Axe of the Stoic and Spiroc Wingblade are now Worn to activate, not procs.

Spells/Songs

- New spell effects! Just about every spell in the game has been given a new spell effect. If you have your spell effects turned off, you may want to turn them back on.

- Fixed the bard AA Channeling Focus. It was allowing 100% recovery from missed notes in most instances. We have restored it to the 5%/10%/15% values as documented in the AA window.

- Fixed a problem with short-duration pets (Rage of Zomm, cleric hammers, wizard flaming swords and such) so that they will no longer dissipate before engaging the target NPC.

- Reclaim Energy will now return 75 percent of the mana used to summon the pet, 95 percent if the caster has Improved Reclaim Energy.

- Lull spells with duration less than 5 should no longer be lasting as if they had duration 5. This will reduce the duration of some lull-type spells to their proper duration.

- Fixed a problem that caused Protection of the Nine to block Blessing of the Nine.

- We corrected an issue where the same druid damage over-time spell cast on an NPC by two different druids would not stack.

- Bulwark of Vie was reducing spell damage as well as melee damage. It now only reduces melee damage.

- Eye of Zomm will no longer cause players summoned pets to suicide if commanded to kill the eye.

- Improved the melee damage on pets focused by Ritual Summoning.

- The magician epic pet can now Enrage when focused by Minion of Darkness.

- Increased the offensive capabilities of most pets when focused by Summoner's Boon.

- We have removed the Stamina effects from many spells.

- Fixed a bug that would cause issues with pet hit points, and could cause them to be unable to move if their hit points got too low. This may also address other issues with pets using hit-point boosting items.

Alternate Advancement

- Extended Notes 3 and Sionachie's Cresendo have been refunded. If you had these bard AAs and were close to 30 AA points stored, make certain that you spend enough points to have 30 or less unspent AA points before you zone. All AA points over 30 are removed when you zone. You may, of course, repurchase these AAs.

- Extended Notes and Sionachie's Cresendo no longer affects harmful area-of-effect spells.

- Jamfest has been fixed. It will now affect the bard's group, not just the bard.

- The Archetype AA ability Spell Casting Deftness was not reducing the casting time for the wizard spell Harvest. It does now.

Tradeskills

- Merchants will not pay more for a tradeskill product than the cost of the components needed to make it. However, they will still sell those products for the same amount.

Zones and Quests

- Maelin will now respond as though you have the Quintessence, as long as you are flagged for time. It is also now possible to receive any of the earlier progression flags, even if you have already earned access to the Plane of Time.

User Interface

- Tell windows now log the name of the person sending tells in the chat log.

- Tell windows now blink when a tell is received, even when the window is not minimized.

- Fixed a problem that caused users some ATI cards to be unable to see the /find path or the targeting ring.

- We have added a new combat ability windown which allows you to make up to eight hot keys for disciplines and other new melee abilities and displays any current melee effects. The window can be opened by pressing Alt+C. The keys are accessible using either the mouse or Ctrl+ 1-8.

Miscellaneous

- Added some explanation text to the targetindicator.ini file that help explain how to modify the targeting ring.

UI Files

AttackIndicator.tga EQUI.xml EQUI_CharacterCreate.xml EQUI_CombatAbilityWnd.xml EQUI_CombatSkillsSelectWnd.xml EQUI_GroupSearchWnd.xml EQUI_PlayerWindow.xml EQUI_SkillsWnd.xml

December 19, 2003

Shadowhaven Casino goes on vacation

We're sorry to have to say this, but the new casino has become too popular. The huge number of players gambling at the casino is causing issues with the servers, and has been responsible for a few zone crashes. Unfortunately, this means that we have had to remove the casino NPCs until after the New Year arrives.

Other Changes

- Cancel magic will no longer remove disciplines or melee abilities.

- Fixed a bug that was causing the party to be unable to see hit point updates for the last person to join their group.

- Healing Will and Focused Will now stack with most other hit point regeneration effects.

- Corrected a bug that was causing AAs to increase the duration of combat abilities.

- We have reorganized the context menu for Disciplines to make it a bit more logical.

December 23, 2003

Stability Issues

The team here at the EQ Lab has isolated a memory leak which was causing server instability after 10 to 12 hours of uptime (which we are sure you have noticed) We hope to have this issue resolved during tonight's update. We would like to thank you all for your patience and understanding during these last few trying days and wish you the best of luck this holiday season.

Thanks for your time and thank you for being a part of Norrath.

January 22, 2004

We have made a few changes to remove some exploits in our continuing effort to remove any loopholes in EverQuest. In this update we have removed the charm exploit in Plane of Tactics by changing the way that charm works. This change should not affect those who use charm in the manner for which it was intended. We have also changed the profit margin of many tradeskill items when sold to NPC vendors. It is our hope that these changes and your continued community efforts will help to put a stop to those who do not wish to play fairly.

- Changed Charm spells so that NPCs spell use will now be interrupted once the charm has expired.

- We have modified the sell back value on many tradeskill items to prevent excessive profit.

- Please note that many items will now show as being usable by berserkers. This does not necessarily mean the items will be equippable by berserkers when Gates of Discord launches.

Gates of Discord www.gatesofdiscord.com The latest expansion to EverQuest - Gates of Discord - is available for pre-order and incremental download! Be the first in your guild to pre-order Gates and begin the incremental download now! This new expansion boasts: -100 new Alternate Advancement abilities. -Leadership experience to unlock many group- and raid-enhancing tools. -20 new zones -- 10 new instanced zones and 10 new traditional zones, including a huge ship city zone to gather your party and launch expeditions. The new combat zones are for characters level 50 and over. -New Berserker class -- ravage your enemies with two-handed axes or by hurling large objects. -Discover the newly found continent of Taelosia and discover the secrets of Norrath's future! -20 all-new NPC models make for hundreds of challenging encounters unlike anything seen before in EverQuest. -New Tribute System to enhance gameplay with beneficial attributes, skills, or effects. -Dozens of new and exciting story-driven quests and content for the hardy adventurer. -New tradeskill recipes to produce hundreds of new items. -Unearth arcane spells, mighty weapons, and other hidden treasures!

Pre-order yours today by pressing Pre-order at the server select screen, or at https://store.station.sony.com!

Incremental Download for Gates of Discord We have begun introducing the Gates files in small bits. This is the most convenient way for you to get the files you'll need for the new expansion. It is a lot easier to download these files in smaller chunks than to download them all on the day of release. You can get the files incrementally from the EverQuest updater. The obvious way to begin downloading the files is to click "yes" when the dialogue box pops up asking you if you'd like to incrementally download Gates. If you've already told that dialogue never to appear again, you can get the files in a few easy steps: - Run the EverQuest Updater - Click the Advanced button - Click the checkbox next to Gates of Discord - Click Save - Click Download. This will catch you up on the downloads you have missed and will update you as we add files to the updater. This will make your download much smaller the day Gates launches, or the day you purchase the digital version of the expansion.

The anticipated release date -- February 10th, 2004 -- is subject to change. If the anticipated release date changes, we will announce a revised release date via a patch message.

January 30, 2004

Tonight we have a small update to fix some general bugs. We are again changing charm (in exactly the way we thought we had last week) No this is not deja vu. You should also look for changes in that evolving zone of Nedaria's Landing. I wonder what is going on there?

- An update to the zone, Nedaria's Landing. Make sure you check it out.

- Charm spell change: If an NPC is in the middle of casting a spell when charm is broken, it will interrupt the spell.

- Some general bug fixes.

Make sure you log onto the Test server to see what other changes we are cooking up. Our next Scheduled update is planned for February 10th.

Remember Gates of Discord is coming soon. Go to www.gatesofdiscord.com or EQlive.station.sony.com for more information.

February 3, 2004

LIVE CHAT with the EQ Development Team

Tonight, February 3rd 6PM PST, the EQ Dev team will be holding an EverQuest: Gates of Discord live chat. Go to EQlive.station.sony.com for details.

One week left to Pre-order EverQuest: Gates of Discord, the next exciting expansion for EverQuest. Make sure you check it out.

February 10, 2004

Greetings Norrath,

Highlights for today's update:

• EverQuest: Gates of Discord goes live!
• The Casino is back and waiting for you high rollers. Go to Shadowhaven to try your luck.
• Tradeskillers rejoice, the new UI is here!
• Nedaria's landing has evolved further.

Gates of Discord Launches!

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EverQuest: Gates of Discord Available Now!

Epic adventures now await you in EverQuest: Gates of Discord, the seventh expansion pack now available for EverQuest. Discover the lost continent of Taelosia and come face-to-face with invaders from the realm of chaos. Join armies of adventurers on their quest to unearth long-hidden artifacts of power from temple ruins, secret catacombs, dank sewers and vast marshlands. Should you fail, Norrath, its inhabitants, and its gods may fall under control of the forces of Discord!

Gain Entry into the Gates of Discord! Download now direct from the Station Store Purchase at your local retailer (retail boxed version includes special in-box and in-game item, while supplies last)

Exciting New Features! 100 new AA abilities 20 new zones with all-new NPCs New Tribute System and Leadership Experience Ravage your enemies with the Berserker

Purchase EverQuest: Gates of Discord now and receive great discount offers from Creative Labs and Kingston. Special restrictions apply. (visit www.everquest.com for more details)

Return of the Casino

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Play King's Court in Shadowhaven!

Shandeling's Roost in Shadowhaven again houses a game of chance. To play you will need to buy a King's Court Token. You then take this token and turn it in to any of the dealers. Based on what your hand turns out to be, you will be awarded a prize. The highest hands will return a gold ticket as the prize. This Ticket can be turned in to win prizes such as a Guise of the Deceiver, Fungus Covered Great Staff, or Holgresh Elder Beads. Good luck to all that play!

Tradeskill UI now live

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Opening a tradeskill container will now open a new user interface. In the window you will find an area that has all recipes that are currently available to you. This includes recipes that are at your skill level as well as some above it. Clicking on a recipe will display what items are necessary for its completion. Clicking the "combine" button will extract those required items from the player's inventory, and perform the recipe combine, placing the results on the player's cursor. The new system is nice and neat, with no dragging and dropping unless you want to try a combine that is way out of your league, which uses the old style of combination.

Item Changes

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- The name of Berserker armor has been changed to Bladesmans armor. - The beastlord epic weapon will no longer "proc" for wielders below the 46th level. - Many text changes in item descriptions.

General Bug Fixes

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- A Tormentors hoof is now flagged as a tradeskill item. - Chaotic Stab, a rogue AA, will no longer cause full damage on frontal attacks. - Altered some NPC factions in the Plane of Tactics arena to prevent a problem with charm.

Combat Abilities

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- Fixed some text on the Focus Will Discipline. - Assassins Strike should now work correctly. - Sneak Attack should now work correctly. - Thief's Vengeance is now working correctly. - Indirection should now work as intended.

Spells

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- Corrected a few spell descriptions. - Corrected some spell sound effects. - Arachnae Venom and Fellspine should now stack with the warriors provoke abilities.

February 11, 2004

-Corrected an issue with Qinimi that would not allow characters lower than 60th level to enter the zone.

-Addendum to 2/10/2004: No change was made to the Chaotic Stab ability.

February 12, 2004

Tribute Update

The Tribute system as it was released has caused a greater variance in favor distribution than was intended. In order to make the system more healthy, fair, and balanced, there will be changes made over two updates -- one today and one next week.

The following changes have been made today:

- Favor Maximum: There will be a maximum limit of 200,000 favor that a player character can have available at any time. If a player has accumulated more than 200,000 favor at the time of this change, the character will retain its favor, but will not be able to add to it until it falls below 200,000.

- Favor Value Adjustments to Items: Some items have had their favor value adjusted to be more appropriate. For this update, this will not affect the favor amount that a player has gained by handing in items that have had their favor values adjusted.

For next week's update, we will be adjusting each character's favor amounts based on any items that were handed in to Tribute Masters that have had their favor values adjusted.

We hope you continue to enjoy the benefits of the Tribute system and Gates of Discord.

In other words: Play, raid and be merry, for tomorrow we nerf.

February 18, 2004

We found a bit of code that was, occasionally, causing random zone crashes and corrected it. We are still working on the second part of the 1017 problem and hope that many of you found some relief in the changes we made last night. Thanks again for your patience. We're working hard to solve the problem.

Monks once again irresistible. (Phantom abilities should no longer be resisted.)

Small change to berserker epic text.

March 10, 2004

Headlines

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Combines work again! Melee Part II! A new story has been added to your storybook!

The grammar police have invaded EQ and they have made many minor spell, item and quest text fixes that are too numerous to list here.

We'd like to thank all of the players that took time to provide feedback regarding the melee changes. We'd also like to send a special thanks to all of the players that helped us test the additions on the Test and Beta servers. All of the input we received helped to shape the improvements you've seen in the melee classes.

Please continue to give your feedback on the melee system or anything else that you feel requires attention. It does make a difference.

Over the last several months there have been several new additions to EverQuest aimed at increasing the desirability and relative power of pure melee classes.

- Discipline timers were revamped, allowing greater freedom and frequency of use. - Endurance bar was added as a limited resource to power melee abilities and disciplines. - Warriors received an innate 5 percent increase in their ability to absorb damage. - Warriors received the Incite line of abilities, giving them a new tool for aggro management. - Monks received the Phantom Call line of abilities, giving them a new tool for pulling. - Several new disciplines were introduced for all three classes.

The endurance system and the separation of the discipline timers have provided us with new tools to add interesting and powerful abilities in the future for melee classes. You can count on seeing new disciplines and abilities as the game progresses and as situations arise that require new abilities to effectively balance class power. We will continue to evaluate the melee system for both balance and enjoyment.

We will also continue to review and make changes to each individual class as needed. Class balance is an important part of any multiplayer game and requires constant attention.

Thanks for helping make EverQuest a great game.

Items

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We have replaced the spell-like effects on items which produced the following effects: Attack, HP Regen, Mana Regen, Haste and Damage Shield with actual statistics. The effects on the item have not changed they are just set up in a new way that we hope will allow for more item functionality in the future.

Several Gates smithed weapons have had their damage and delay adjusted to be more in line with the difficulty in crafting them.

The Copper Hammer of Striking will no longer proc for wielders below level 50.

The Wailing Coral Staff is now two handed blunt.

Bolas are now one-handed projectile rather than ammo.

Bola ranges have been adjusted slightly.

All bolas that can proc will now do so.

All items that had the "Cleave" series of effects removed, have had them returned.

The drop rate for the following Epic Quest items has been increased slightly:

- Essence of a Vampire - Decrepit Hide - Staff of Elemental Mastery (earth)

Expedition zones

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You will now have to wait 5 minutes before you are able to accept another expedition zone.

Tradeskills

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In order to correct many of the issues with the new tradeskill interface it was necessary to remove all learned and favorite recipes. However the system should now work better overall.

The sell prices for Saltwater Tuna and Saltwater crab, as well as the price for any item made from them, have been reduced.

Rainbow Trout should now be tradeable.

If you are not a gnome, you should no longer be able to tinker with a deluxe toolkit kit. If you are a gnome, please tinker away.

You should now be able to properly search for recipes.

The trivial level for brewing Fish Wine has been adjusted.

Berserkers

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Some berserker abilities have had their endurance cost changed. The duration of Confusing Strike has been reduced. Berserkers should no longer be told that they can bash at level 6. The berserker guildmaster in the Plane of Knowledge has been taught throwing and parry and is ready to train berserkers in their use.

Spells

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Some Gates of Discord spells should now drop a little more often. Several heal spells for Gates of Discord have been modified slightly. The shadow knight Ancient Spell: Bite of Chaos should now work as intended.

NPC's

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Hierophant Granix should now give the correct text in Cabilis. Trimdet Trueheart in Abysmal Sea is less of a snob and should now speak with you correctly. If you tell Brevik Kalaner in Abysmal what items you [need back], he will return to you any items you've just given him.

Tribute

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A few items have had their tribute value adjusted. Gift of the Enchanters should now work correctly. You should no longer be able to donate containers with items inside for favor. Persistent Boon should now give the proper effect.

Alternate Advancement

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Dire Charm will no longer reset after being resisted as the ability was successfully initiated. Dire Charm should now reset when used on an NPC that is too high in level.

Miscellaneous

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Corrected a faction issue with the wizard epic.

The monk "Phantom" line of abilities should no longer be resisted in the level 65 "hard" LDoN Adventures.

The rogue's "Assassin's Strike" skill line ability will be re-introduced with the next update.

The Shining Bloodstone will now be restricted to 2-handed weapons. Any who have placed this augmentation in a 1-handed weapon will find the augmentation on their cursor when they log in. If you find that you have no practical use for the 2-handed augmentation, please petition and a suitable 1-handed replacement will be made available to you.

- The EverQuest Team

March 16, 2004

Highlights EverQuest 5th Anniversary Return of the Casino (Again) Check with the Town Criers for the latest edition of the Norrath newspaper!

EverQuest Celebrates Five Years. Join us for the 5th Anniversary in-game celebrations for EverQuest. Over the course of the next few weeks you will be able to join in a massive scavenger hunt, battle fabled NPCs with upgraded loot, experience enormous firework displays and defend your city against armies of skeletons.

It's Back! (Again) The Casino is back and ready for you to try your luck. You can check it out in Shadowhaven. Good luck!

Spells Added a new magician spell, Elemental Draw, which is available in the East Commonlands.

Changed the following shaman healing spells. -Daluda's Mending - previously Plague of Daluda -Breath of Trushar -Quiescence

March 23, 2004

Headlines DirectX 9 is now REQUIRED to play on all SOE EverQuest servers and Venril Sathir! Stormhammer received a new adventure zone. Another story for you to peruse in your storybook. Screenshots in .JPG? What will they think of next! More Grammar changes (no not Grandma, Grammar)

DirectX 9 -We have added more detail to the gamma correction slider, which means you may need to adjust your gamma settings which are located under video options -All zones will temporarily have the same sky while we refine DirectX 9 functionality. -Corpses should now be easier to target. -We have added a new command, /rewind, which should free your character if they become stuck in geometry. -There are now independent window resolutions for full screen and windowed mode.Stormhammer If you are a Legends subscriber you can visit the Lost Pyramid of Galuuk Korr. This midlevel adventure zone will allow you to explore a monument from the lost elvish city of Takish Hiz!

Now you must find what was left beneath the sands. Good luck.

Screenshots -Screenshots will now save to a "Screenshot" folder in your EQ directory -You can now change the format your screenshots are saved in by adding the "ScreenshotType=" line in your eqclient.ini file, which is in your EverQuest directory. To save in jpg format you would change or add the line to read "ScreenshotType=jpg". Supported formats are bmp, jpg, tga, dds and png. Screenshots will continue to save in bmp format unless this line is added.

Items -More items have had endurance added to them. -Some Fabled items have been tweaked a bit. -Added recommended levels to some fabled items. -You will now need to be of at least the 50th level to complete the beastlord epic.

NPC -Guards in Everfrost Peaks will once again help those in trouble. -Soulbinders should now show in the Find window. -Fabled NPC's will now appropriately reflect their difficulty.

Spells -Elemental Draw will no longer Crit on your pets.

Miscellaneous -Uqua should be a bit more playable now. -Ikkinz raids have been upgraded slightly.

March 25, 2004

Headlines

-Refining some DX9 functionality.

-Some adjustments have been made to pets.

-Some general bug fixes.

-Added a new rogue discipline line, Assassins Strike. The tomes can be found in the East Commonlands and the Plane of Knowledge.

DirectX 9 -The center of collision for all players -We have made improvements to position processing which should alleviate some of the problems related to getting stuck in geometry. -Improved collision and movement when near overhangs. -The auto-duck mechanism is now an user-enabled option. It can be set in the General tab of the options window. This feature forces your character to duck automatically to get into small places. If set to off, you will need to manually duck to enter those places. It is "on" by default. -Warping of very small NPCs (e.g., giant rats in Qeynos) has been resolved. -Rain now has visible weather.

Pets 60+ player pets have been improved in a number of ways. Most notably, the effects of pet foci will be more dramatic as a player progresses with more powerful equipment. There have also been a number of inconsistencies between different tiers of pet foci that have been fixed. All of the existing foci should never show a power decrease in any aspect when upgrading from a lower tier foci to a higher tier foci. The most dramatic changes in pet stats are in the following aspects:

Level - Most tiers of Foci will add one level to the pet.

Max HP - Most tiers of foci will add max hit points to the pet, some tiers are more dramatic than others and follow a similar rate of progression to player characters as they gain equipment equivalent to the pet focus items.

Mitigation (AC, Agility) -- Most tiers of foci will add mitigation to the pet. Some tiers are more dramatic than others and follow a similar rate of progression to player characters as they gain equipment equivalent to the pet focus items.

Damage Output - Generally the pets did not receive a significant change in their damage output, although there are certain pets that have had their max hit and offense increased.

Overall, the player pets have received a significant boost. There are instances where you will see no change in a specific aspect of a specific pet. For example, the Rathe’’s Son pet summoned with Minion of Eternity has not received an improvement in max hit points, but it has received a significant mitigation improvement.

These changes affect the pets summoned by the following spells:

Ward of Xegony Child of Ro Servant of Marr Rathe’s Son Legacy of Zek Saryrn’s Companion Child of Bertoxxulous Spirit of Sorsha Spirit of Arag

The most profound changes were made to the magician pets as they were most in need of improvement to maintain class balance. Beastlord and necromancer pets also received upgrades, but not of the same magnitude.

-- The EverQuest Team

April 13, 2004

The Graveyard zone, Shadowrest, is now live!

We have introduced the new graveyard zone, Shadowrest, to the live servers. The zone will allow adventurers whose corpse has decayed, after 7 days, to retrieve it. They will merely have to greet the appropriate NPC in one of the following zones to activate their transport to Shadowrest;

East Commonlands The Plane of Knowledge Toxxulia Forest Qeynos Hills The Feerrott Butcherblock Mountains The Field of Bone Shadeweavers Thicket Misty Thicket

We hope you enjoy this new addition to EverQuest!

The EverQuest Team

April 14, 2004

Headlines! - You can now set hot keys to cycle through targets!

Collision and Targeting - We have improved Collision. - We have improved targeting. - Auto-rewind has been disabled. Auto-rewind has been disabled. Auto-rewind has been disabled. - Short races should be able to manage steps and slopes more easily, so gnomes and halflings will again be under foot. - Arrows should no longer make NPCs look like porcupines. Please note that we have nothing against porcupines and consider them a fine animal.

You will now have the option to bind cycle through PC and NPC targets to a hot key of your choice. You can hit your select nearest target key at any time, during cycling, to reset the cycle.

Quests Some changes have been made to the "Breakdown in Communication" quest. Drops should be more plentiful but may come from different NPCs.

Hide and Invisibility - There are now fewer mobs that can see through invisibility and detect rogues in Ferubi and Barindu. Go rogues! - Smith Rondo should ignore players that are invisible or hidden.

Lost Information from previous updates - 60+ focused mage pets are now summoned with a full set of phantom plate equipped. - Guildmasters and Merchants in Knowledge are now findable. - The Succor point in Ferubi has been moved to the Qinimi zoneline.

April 21, 2004

Headlines! - Boat Gnomes are now available all the time. (and I thought gnomes were only good as appetizers) - A new edition of the newspaper is available in your home town. Come and get it!

Boat Gnomes The boat gnomes and other alternate means of travel are now available. During this period of gnome servitude, the boats will be in drydock and receiving some much needed repairs

April 28, 2004

Headlines!

- A new storybook has arrived! Make sure you read it to find out what Tondal is up to now. - A new adventure zone is live on Stormhammer! - A new adventure zone has moved from Stormhammer to Live! - What are the "HOT SPOTS"? - Plane of Knowledge open to everyone!

New Adventure Zone goes to Stormhammer - We have added a new adventure zone which should be a challenge for 2 groups of about 50th level. A party of adventurers is missing and was last seen working with the undead. Will you brave the catacombs to find them?

New Adventure Zone moves to Live - The adventure zone currently on Stormhammer will move to live servers. You can visit the Lost Pyramid of Galuuk Korr. This midlevel adventure zone will allow you to explore a monument from the lost elvish city of Takish Hiz! Now you must find what was left beneath the sands. Good luck.

Hot Spots Try out the new Hot Spot zones which give a boost to Experience while adventuring in them, in a similar manner to Paludal Caverns. The current Hot Spots are:

- The Castle of Mistmoore (20th to 30th level) - The Lair of the Splitpaw (35th to 45th level) - Dulak's Harbor (40th to 45th level) - The Tower of Frozen Shadow (30th to 35th level) - The Gulf of Gunthak (35th to 40th level) - Hate's Fury (55th to 60th level) - The Crypt of Nadox (50th to 55th level) - The Torgiran Mines (45th to 50th level)

These Hot Spot zones are generally aimed at characters level 20 to 51. The Hot Spot zones will shift from time to time, so watch for messages giving clues as to where the new ones may be.

Plane of Knowledge All EQ characters can now access the Plane of Knowledge whether they have purchased Planes of Power or not!

General - We have decreased load times when zoning.

Gates Sewers and Vxed - Rare NPCs in the Gates sewers and Vxed will not spawn at the creation of the expedition zone. They will now spawn after the zone has been occupied for some time.

Items - Skill percent-mods now work for Ammo slot items. - Grand Tunic of the Oracle and the Grand Robe of the Oracle have had a type 7 augmentation slot added to them. - Lungi of the Forbidden will display a robe graphic once again. Monks and Beastlords will be able to swap the robe in for a leather looking BP with the same stats by visiting Garath the Trader in East Wastes. You will be able to swap the items back and forth with Garath for your desired look. (Lungi? Lungi? What is a Lungi?)

Spells - Characters in illusion form can again be targeted. - Bull Rush is now a magical resist. Please do not use in a china shop. - Balance of the Nihil has had its Mana and Slow percentage increased.

Tracking - More NPC's in Qinimi now leave tracks for trackers to find.

Firiona Vie - The Shuriken of Eternity and Ton Po's Mystical Pouch are now no-drop.

May 5, 2004

Happy Cinco De Mayo!

EverQuest 2 Beta Sign Ups are now open!

Make sure you sign up for the exciting EverQuest 2 beta! Join the folks who have already added their name to the rapidly growing list for this amazing beta opportunity.

Go to www.everquest2.com and click on the beta link to get your chance at a beta slot! I hope to see you in the beta!

Sign up now, tomorrow may be too late.

Headlines! - You now have the ability to remove your own surname! - All characters will regen HP faster when sitting! - /rewind is back and ready for action!

Surnames You can now use the /surname command to remove your own surname and add a new one. Please remember to read the naming policy as listed on EQlive.station.sony.com as it applies to both first names and surnames. You will still need to ask for CS assistance if you wish to have a name with double capitals or special characters. Please note that this command can only be used to remove or change your surname once per week.

HP Regen - All characters should now regenerate HP faster when sitting. The longer you sit, the faster you regenerate! - You will not receive increased regen while under the effects of a DOT or while feigned. - You can now bandage yourself up to 70% of your HP. Folks with the appropriate AA abilities can bandage above 70%. - You can now bandage while sitting.

/rewind /rewind is back and should help if you find yourself stuck. This is not an automatic rewind, you will have to execute the command. We are continuing to work on other collision issues and hope to no longer need /rewind in the near future. This command is only able to be used once every 30 seconds, and in order to make use of it, your character will need to be stationary for at least 30 seconds.

May 12, 2004

Headlines! Gates of Discord content retuned!

Gates of Discord - Zone experience modifiers were increased in all zones from Tipt/Vxed and beyond. - Natimbi, Qinimi, Barindu, Riwwi, and Ferubi should be tuned more appropriately for their intended level ranges. - NPCs will no longer hit for max damage as often. Knights in particular should find it easier to tank the NPCs they previously had difficulty with. - Ikkinz -- Guilds no longer have to flag every member in order to complete the Ikkinz trials. Only one person needs to complete all events/raids to start the seventh Ikkinz trial. At that point, all players who complete the seventh trial will get full credit for the zone. - NPC innates have been adjusted to behave a little more reasonably. - Zone travel has been made easier. Animal aggression was lowered by changing their faction and See Invis percentages were reduced on several NPCs. - Spell drops have been increased. - Increased the rate of cash drops. - The mini bosses in Qvic now have a more appropriate respawn rate. Their item drop rate has been increased to compensate for this. - Breakdown in Communication quest now has improved rewards!

Collision More improvements to the collision system should make it a lot more difficult to get stuck.

Misc. The Eye of Zomm will once again open closed doors.

May 27, 2004

Omens of War has a new expected live date of August 31, 2004. We appreciate your pre-order and if you wish to leave it in place, you do not need to do anything. We will not charge your credit card until the day the expansion actually goes live.

If you wish to cancel your pre-order you may follow the steps below. You may cancel your pre-order at any time prior to the live date.

Directions to Cancel Pre-Order 1. Visit Station Store https://store.station.sony.com/index.jsp 2. Go to Billing Info and sign in 3. View Current pre-orders 4. Click Cancel button; you will receive a cancellation email 5. Return to Station Store and re-purchase this product using the most up to date information.

Thank you!

Headlines! Exclusive in-game Shield in July 2004 issue of PC Gamer New Tutorial now live! CS Assist allows use of Knowledge Base in-game

Exclusive Shield from PC Gamer Attention EverQuest Players! Exclusive in-game EQ Shield in the July 2004 issue of PC Gamer! You can now claim this special shield by picking up the July issue of PC Gamer. Go to the box on page 33 and use the TOP code to redeem your special shield. To claim this prize, simply log into EverQuest, click on accounts, click the special button and then enter the shield code in the space provided.

Tutorial - Does your significant other find EQ too hard to learn? Our new Tutorial is Live and ready to teach them to play. Creating a new character will give you the option to go through the new tutorial. You can choose to leave the tutorial at anytime and can return until your character reaches level 5. The tutorial will walk you through gameplay with easy to follow instructions in text and voice. - Hybrids will now receive mana at level 1 as they now receive a spell in the tutorial.

CS Assist A new CS tool is available for use and should provide you with a better interface when petitioning. You can also access our self help option through the knowledge base. You can bring up the new window by pressing the 'P' key, typing /petition, or clicking the "Customer Service" button from the help window.

Cabalis Quests Iksar Warriors and Necromancers have some quests to finish! Iksar Beastlords have a new quest.

UI Changes - There's a new button in the Options->Display tab to toggle between full screen and windowed mode. - Presto Change-O! There's a new button on the bazaar window to hide all traders. Clicking a trader in the search window will make them appear (limited to the last trader you clicked) - New text filters have been added for Pet Crits, Pet Rampage/Flurry, System Messages, Focus Effects, Exp Messages, and Who list. - The Guild Management window should be better organized. - There's a new /outputfile command to allow creation of text-file dumps of your Guild, Raid, Inventory and spell books.

Improved Collisions - Most collision issues should now be resolved. - Collision system improvements have made elevators much safer. - Getting out of water should be a little easier for short races. We wouldn't want all those Halflings to drown, now would we? - Rogues should be able to more easily exit water while sneaking, although I think it would be hard to sneak with wet trousers.

Misc. - You now have the ability to "AutoBank" in the Bank Window. - Casting a spell while sitting will stand you up. - Camping while standing will sit you down automatically. - NPC's will not begin regenerating immediately if fleeing or combat ends. - Improved the Iqthinxa Karnkvi event in Qvic

June 2, 2004

Collision fixes collide with servers!

Collision - When you are summoned by NPCs or players smaller than you, the collision system will now scan a limited area near the destination to find a place to put you so that you will not be stuck in the terrain.

- A problem related to collision data being out of sync on the client and server has been corrected and should solve the problems many of you have been seeing with NPCs being pushed into walls.

- The sunken NPC and character problem has been much improved. You will still find the occasional NPC at a spawn point that is sunk or elevated slightly, but the NPC should move normally once engaged.

Cabilis Quests - The Battle plans from Dalnir should be a little easier to obtain. - The loyal follower in Dreadlands should no longer be a merchant with an empty inventory. - The traitor necromancers seek should be a little easier to find. - Wyzith's belongings should now combine correctly.

-- The EverQuest Team

June 16, 2004

Headlines!

-Collision sees more improvements. -A portal to Gunthak has been added to the Plane of Knowledge. -/guidehelp is now available! -Gates of Discord sees more changes.

Collision Updates Many remaining collision issues have been fixed. -Floating NPCs in the Plane of Disease should be more down to earth. -NPC warping should be reduced. -The Emerald Jungle should no longer have NPCs below the world -You should once again collide with the dock in Natimbi. -The entrance to Najena should be easier to navigate.

Gunthak Portal -We have added a tome to the Plane of Knowledge to allow for faster travel to and from Gunthak. Enjoy. *

Gates of Discord -Increased the drop rate of quest items, for the Breakdown in Communication quest, in the sewers and mountain passes and Ikkinz. * -Increased the number of items that drop from the Qinimi and Barindu events for the Breakdown in Communication quest. * -Increased the drop rate of Breakdown in Communication quest items off the Yxtta bosses as well as making it possible to get them off other NPCs in the zone. -The Ikkinz Chamber of Might and Tipt boss mobs will now behave a little smarter when facing a strong defense. Beware! -Some tuning changes have been made to the Ikkinz single group trials and Tipt. -Changed the NPCs that guard Txevu so they are a longer re-spawn allowing you to get stragglers thru the zone much easier once you kill them. -Pathing in Txevu should be better. * -The bonus reward at the end of Inktu`ta will spawn in a chest instead of being handed directly to the player that triggers the dialogue. -Gates NPCs that dropped spells will now drop a token, which can be turned in for a class appropriate spell. *

The Plane of Time -We have made changes to the scripting for the Plane of Time, which will allow the server to shut down unused instances of the zone. This will remove the problem of waiting for an instance that another group has finished to shut down, before you can start your attempt. *

The Plane of Hate You can now access the Plane of Hate by talking to Relm M'Loch in the Plane of Tranquility and handing her a Fuligan Soulstone. *

Items

---

-The Tainted Axe of Hatred has had its damage increased. -Many Gates items have had their weight reduced. * -The Muramite Death Shroud is now equipable by beastlords and has a wind instrument modifier. * -The Onyx Ring of Prayer now has a stringed instrument modifier. * -The drop rate has been increased for the following items in the Plane of Hate * The Shattered Emerald of Corruption Decrepit Hide Staff of Elemental Mastery: Earth Essence of Vampire Eye of Innoruuk -The Diamond Tipped War Javelin should now look more javelin like. *

Berserkers -Berserker snare now has a set duration. * -Berserkers should no longer get stuck during their epic quest. -The following effects now lower hate instantly rather than over time: * Diversive Strike Distracting Strike Confusing Strike

Guidehelp -The "/guidehelp" command is now available. The /guidehelp command is for quest/event feedback, wedding requests and questions regarding quests/events. Please be aware that all Customer Service issues must go through /petition for resolution. There may only be 1 request in the guidehelp queue at a time for each player.

Raid Management -Raid leaders now have the ability to add notes to the raid window. There is now a tabbed window in the Raid window, clicking on the Notes tab will show all the raid members in a single list, with notes next to their name. The Raid leader can click on a player, and change that player's note in the edit box below the list. The note will show on all raid members' raid windows. *

-Added an MOTD to Raid Window. On the Notes tab there is a window for an MOTD at the bottom. The Raid leader can edit this MOTD, and the new text will show on all Raid members' Raid windows. * -The escape key will now close your Raid Window. -Raid Leaders can now remove members from the raid, even across zones. *

Tradeskills -There have been several upgrades to Gates Tradeskilled items. * -Gates smithed weapons have been adjusted. * -Gates fletched arrows have had their damage increased and are now magical. * -Tradeskill drinks from Gates of Discord have had their duration enhanced. *

Stopcasting We have added a /stopcast command -- This command will not work when riding a horse. *

Undead Pets Pets no longer go away after their master has feigned death for more than 2 minutes. *

Lay on Hands and Harm Touch Lay on Hands and Harm Touch will no longer affect corpses. *

Corpse Dragging We have increased the range of the /corpse command *

Spells Many damage shields have had their damage and duration increased. * Increased the regeneration rate on the following spells: -Regrowth of the Dar Khura -Regrowth of the Grove -Regrowth -Replenishment -Blessing of Replenishment

Modified the heal rate for the following spells: * -Supernal Elixir -Quiescence -Holy Elixir -Breath of Trushar -Supernal Cleansing

Lowered the mana cost on the following spells: * -Black Steel -Ancient: Chaos Vortex -Sun Vortex

Increased the duration and mana cost on the following spells. * -Falcon Eye -Eagle Eye -Hawk Eye

Bards Bards should no longer use instrument animations when wielding items other than instruments. (No more stabbing yourselves in the head with your Epic!)

Character Creation The character creation process now has Voice Over to guide you through new character creation.

Mouselook Mouselook is much smoother and variable via a slider in the options window. If you use mouselook, make certain you adjust the new settings.

Tutorial All characters should start with the tutorial bank items.

Filters -The Focus effect should now filter haste messages. * -The Damage Shield filter should now work correctly.

-- The EverQuest Team

• Denotes an item that was requested by the EverQuest community.

June 30, 2004

Headlines

Download EQ Trilogy and play for 30 days free!

EverQuest: Platinum offers EQ and all 7 expansions in one box.

The Guide Program is looking for volunteers.

EQ Trilogy. Have friends interested in EQ? Have them try the new EQ Trilogy download. You can now download EQ Trilogy and try out an EQ account for 30 days free. See www.everquest.com for more on this exciting offer.

EverQuest: Platinum EverQuest: Platinum is the most comprehensive collection of EverQuest expansions yet! It includes Classic EverQuest and all seven expansion packs! Go to www.everquest.com for details on the complete EQ collection.

The Guide Program is looking for volunteers A new era dawns for the EverQuest Guide Program! Magic and fun shall be spread throughout the world like you have never seen before. The EverQuest Guide Program has a new focus creating and participating in dynamic content such as quests, events, and other role-playing activities. Are you prepared to join us? Visit https://guide.everquest.com/guideapp/ for your application today!

July 14, 2004

Headlines!

Veeshan's Peak has been re-worked. Enjoy the new challenge. A new Adventure Zone appears on Stormhammer. You can now remove augments without losing them.

Veeshan's Peak! With this revamp we have Updated the level and NPC list for the zone: Please note that this zone is now an elemental level zone! The entry quest to Veeshan’’s Peak has been changed. The original key quest has not been modified. However, the new entry quest uses the old key and offers an alternate quest to do instead of the original key quest.

- Items in the zone are now of elemental planes quality. - Faction now matters: Dragons in Veeshan’s Peak will now speak to players if you have the correct faction and can understand them. - New quests and lore: The dragons in Veeshan’s Peak will now give players the option to acquire items through questing for them. - The zone is now an exp zone as well: Hunting in the areas before the dragons yields experience and loot.

New Adventure Zone for Stormhammer Stormhammer gains a new adventure zone. This is a 2 group adventure zone for characters of level 65.

Can you help the Eldritch Collective find and rescue Professor Bartleby Beckelbracker? Search the Desert of Ro for the whereabouts of Bartleby and his assistant Bomo and try to save them from the steel clutches of their enemies.

Augment Removal * - You can now purchase special "distillers" that will remove augmentations without destroying them. These distillers are sold by a merchant in Butcherblock. The item inspect window for an augmentation will tell you which distiller is required to remove it. - The existing solvents can still be used to destroy an augmentation if you don't want to keep it. You no longer need a different solvent for each augmentation slot. The interface will allow you to select which augmentation you wish to delete. - For those with custom UI's, you will need to update your EQ_Container.xml file in order to use the new augment window.

Pets * - Zoning pets are in. Persistent pet data includes: Items, Spell Effects, hit points, mana, name, height, and mana cost to summon them. All PC summoned pets should zone with you in all instances except for when you die. Pets will also follow the same rules as no rent items if you log with a pet. - Pets can be shrunk again. Please wash them in only Cold water to prevent inadvertently reducing their size.

Tribute Changes * - Some items have had their favor value lowered. - Players will now "Pre-pay" for tribute benefits. When benefits are activated, the player will immediately be charged for those benefits from their Favor pool. After that, the player will be charged every 10 minutes for the next 10 minutes of benefit. If benefits are deactivated before the timer is depleted, no refund is given for the time remaining. - Players now have the ability to activate/deactivate the tribute benefits they've selected (as a whole) whenever they like using a button on the Tribute Benefit Window. However, every time the player activates his benefits, he will be "Pre-pay" (see above). The ability to change selected benefits (downgrade) away from the Tribute Master has been removed. - When visiting a Tribute Master, the player's benefits will deactivate. Players may re-organize their selected benefit load, but will not be able to "preview" the benefits (seeing the effect on their character when the benefit is selected). Benefit descriptions should give the player a good indication of what the benefit will do when activated. - The EQ Label that shows the Tribute Benefit Timer will now show green when benefits are active and gray when they are not.

Item Changes - Manastones will no longer work in Forgotten Halls. It was not intended for the item to be used there and some naughty folks were taking advantage of the zone. - Malcohm Thimbleton, in the Plane of Knowledge will now swap out some Robe Graphic items for Tunic Graphics. * - The Staff of Revealed Secrets now has a 2hb weapon model instead of the little stick it had before. Enjoy your bigger stick.

UI Changes - It is now possible to display your mana as a numeric value on your inventory screen. * - By mousing over your buff icons, you will now be able to see the buffs remaining duration. *

Berserkers - Berserkers now have innate crits beginning at level 12. - Tainted Axe of Hatred now comes in stacks of 20.

Additional Notes - You now have the ability to sell back LDoN items and augments to the adventure merchants for a percentage of their original cost. * - We have increased the number of NPC debuff slots from 30 to 50. Necromancers rejoice. * - The Doppleganger AA's re-use timer has been reduced to 30 minutes. * - Sprint and Planeswalk have had their movement rate increased. * - Beware! Many named mobs in Gates will now summon. - The Hide all traders option, for the Bazaar, will no longer need to be reset each time you enter the zone. * - /stopspellcast will no longer give spells recast delays. - Leadership: Group/Raid mark npc should now update for people that are added to the group or raid. - Main assist will no longer clear if the main assist zones. - Bards should once again play the stringed instrument animation when playing a stringed instrument song. - Hynid fleshrippers, tide feasters, and shore stonemites in Natimbi no longer hit so hard.

July 15, 2004

- Issues for shaman and druids with the Healing Adept AA have been corrected.

- Finishing Blow will correctly be capped by level.

- Kick Mastery, Vicious Smash and Strengthened Strike no longer increase the damage on all melee attacks. They now only apply to their intended attacks.

- You will again have to hide to use your rogue Sneak Attack abilities.

- Item recast timers should display correctly.

- Planar Durability will now add the correct amount of hit points.

- You now will be able to see mana displayed numerically on the default UI. To see the mana value, you will need to view the mana bar on your inventory screen.

- A casting time has been added to the Demi Lich Skullcap.

- Some clickable items from the new Veeshan's Peak have been modified.

- Berserkers who had purchased the AA, Fury of Ages, are being refunded the purchase points in order to fix a data error. You will be able to re-purchase the AA for the same cost.

Clarification - Malcohm Thimbleton, in the Plane of Knowledge will now swap out the following Robe Graphic items for Tunic Graphic items: - Guardian Robe - Shade Silk Robe - Shainai's Nightie - Bile Stained Robes - Cured Shade Silk Robe - Robe of the Azure Sky

August 11, 2004

Headlines! _____________________

New PVP System goes live * Raid Leaders can set up and change groups from the Raid Window * Special Skies are back! New Hot Zones EQ will now be more friendly in Windowed mode

All New PVP System for PVP Servers * _____________________

The Watch List: - Safe Zones: We’’re still looking into a better solution for the problem of safe zones. Expect some kind of change in the future. - Point System: There are still concerns of potential exploits with the point system at this time. Therefore the selection of PvP items available on the merchants will be limited to consumable items for now. We’ll monitor the accumulation of points after this update. If all goes well, we will add a selection of equipment to the merchants in the near future. - Sullon Tokens: As a secondary concern with the point system, we are delaying the addition of the turn-in quest for Sullon Zek tokens. If there’s a potential problem with the point system that eventually requires us to make adjustments to the way points are awarded, we don’t want players to end up with less than full credit for these tokens. Once the point system has had any potential issues ironed out we will add a quest to turn in your tokens for PvP points.

PvP Changes - Melee attacks have a 50% increased range. This does not affect thrown weapons or archery. - All safe zones have been removed save Shadowrest and the Bazaar. - The maximum damage any one spell can do is now capped at 40% of the target’s total hit points, down from 75%. - Archery damage has been increased to 80% of its base damage in PvP, up from 66%. - Being stunned while on a horse will now cause the horse to disappear. This only applies to stuns caused by other players. - Lowered player melee mitigation, effectively lowering Armor Class by 20%. This will increase the damage potential of melee weapons in PvP. Originally the targets full armor class was considered. - Player spells now have a separate duration field for PvP. Individual spells will continue to be tuned during beta. - Player spells now have a PvP specific resist mod. Spell lines with resist mods differing from their normal adjusts initially include: Movement Rate Root Enthrall Mana Drain Stuns Direct Damage Damage over Time Pet procs/innates - Added higher level snare spells for rangers/druids with increased resists mods. This should allow them to land snare spells with similar frequency to other snare spells. These spells are available on the PvP merchants for 1 point each. - Necro and Mage pets have had their PvP resists increased to closer match the existing Beastlord pet resists. - Lowered the duration of most snare, Enthrall, and Root spells and abilities. - Berserker snare is no longer unresistable. - Added a set of pumice stones to the PvP merchants that will cast various forms of dispel magic with a 1.5 second cast, 12 second cast time. - Arena deaths will now place you at your bind point, and not in shadowrest. - PvP Resurrection effects now last 5 minutes + 1 minute/negative vitality point. The Max duration is now 15 minutes instead of 25. - Made further changes to prevent hill ghosting. Please test this and give feedback. - Ranged weapons are no longer restricted by the Z axis, allowing greater freedom of use on varied terrain. - Snare will now properly slow mounts. The mount will still be faster then normal running while snared, but will considerably decrease their movement rate. - Spells now have a minimum chance of landing of 5%, up from 2%. - Water will no longer cause you to be immune to people outside of water and vice versa. - Zoning with low health will no longer set your hit points equal to the amount of +HP gear you are wearing. - Players killed in PvP combat will now spawn in Shadowrest with full equipment. A naked corpse will remain in the location they died for 3 hours. Note that this effectively removes item loot from Rallos Zek. With the addition of no drop augments it became rather trivial to effectively remove item loot from the server anyway, and we felt the benefits of the new death system outweigh the benefits of an item loot system. - Players who are killed in PvP combat will respawn with special resurrection effects on them. The duration of these effects is variable dependant on how frequently they die. - Summon Corpse Potions are now usable by any class/race. - A system to score PvP kills has been implemented. For more information see below.

Scoring System

The new scoring system will award points to any player who kills another player. If the player is grouped the points will be split between the players in the group. The points awarded will be based on three things: 1. Level of the killer 2. Scoring Modifier a. Level Difference b. Infamy Difference c. Vitality score 3. Time since the victim was last killed by the same player. 1. Level of the killer Each kill has a base point cost determined by the level of the killer. All subsequent modifiers apply to this base number. 2. Scoring modifier The scoring modifier is based on three things. Each of these factors results in a score that is then applied in whole to the point value of the kill.

a. Level Difference For each level the killer is above or below the victim, the scoring modifier increase by one point. If you kill some one who is higher level than you, you’ll gain more points then you will for a lower level character. You will also subtract points from your modifier for killing a player lower level than you.

Higher level characters are more powerful, and should be worth more points. A victim must be at least level 20 to awards points.

b. Infamy Difference Each time you kill another player, points are added to your infamy pool. At certain thresholds a player will gain an infamy level. When a player is killed, the infamy levels are compared and the killer gains a scoring modifier point for each infamy level his victim is above him. He can also lose scoring modifier points for killing someone who is of lower infamy. Infamy will gradually deteriorate while the player is online.

Players who regularly PvP are generally of higher skill level then those that do not. This encourages players to kill other players who are of more equivalent skill.

c. Vitality When a player is killed their vitality is set to –10. For each 5 minutes they are alive, they will gain back two points of vitality. This vitality total is added directly to the scoring modifier.

A player who dies very frequently is worth less points then one who stays alive longer.

d. Group bonus Groups of 4 or more will receive a bonus % of points for each kill. 4/10%, 5/15%, 6/20%. Example: Frizznik kills Rytan. Frizznik is level 60, while Rytan is level 62 for a level difference of 2. Frizznik has an infamy level of 5, while Rytan has an infamy level of 2, which results in infamy difference of –3. Rytan has not recently been killed, so his vitality is 0. Level Difference + Infamy Difference + Vitality = Scoring Point Modifier or 2 + (-3) + 0. Each scoring modifier point adds or subtracts 5% to the base score. Normally Frizznik would gain 100 points for killing Rytan, but because of the scoring point modifier he will gain 95 points instead. 3. Time since the killer has killed the same victim Players that repeatedly kill the same player will see a steep decrease in the amount of points a player is worth. They will gain half the points for the kill they normally would for each time they kill that player in a 24 hour period. After the score has dropped below 1 point, they will begin to lose points for killing the same player.

Leader Board

The leader board tracks the players with the most total PvP. A number of other useful statistics will be available in the leader board.

Point Rewards

Players will be able to redeem their points for equipment via a Lost Dungeons of Norrath style adventure merchant interface. These rewards will span from level 20 on up to 65 and include some pieces that are of elemental quality and possibly beyond.

A player’s point total is capped based on their level. They cannot gain more points once they hit that cap, although they can gain more infamy. There will be a number of consumable PvP items that will be focused on PvP combat, and will only function against other players.

Windowed Mode * _____________________ The EverQuest process is now more friendly. Alt+tab'ing to other windows should be much more responsive.You can also choose to adjust your maximum Frames Per Second(FPS) in the Options Window under display settings. The valid range for the slider is 10 to 100. The default is 100 which means EverQuest will not throttle your FPS. Lowering your setting will cap your FPS at that value and free up the CPU for other tasks.

Raid Window Additions _____________________ - The raid window contains a new row of buttons which the raid leader can use to organize the raid members into groups. - Lock/Unlock: The raid must be locked before the raid leader may use any of the new buttons. - RemLeader: Removes the 'Group Leader' flag from the selected player from the 'Players Not in a Group' list. (Only 12 players may be Group Leaders, so this may be necessary to allow creation of a new group with a new leader). - NoGroup: Removes the selected player from their current group and put them into the 'Players Not in a Group' list. - 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12: Moves the selected player into the numbered group.

Hot Zones have changed! * _____________________

Hunt for greater XP rewards in the new Hot Spots. Make your way to the following zones.

60-65 Plane of Torment 55-60 Chardok 50-55 Grieg's End 45-50 Nurga 40-45 City of Mist 35-40 Kaesora 30-35 Dalnir 25-30 Hollowshade Moor 20-25 Runnyeye

Kill a few goblins for me. Oh, and that Grieg guy.

AA Changes _____________________ - The cleric AA Touch of the Divine has had its healing power increased. The original ability has been refunded, so players who wish to retain the ability will need to purchase it again. The portion of the AA that will remove detrimental effects, when it goes off, will not be going in with this update. - The necromancer AA Swarm of Decay has been refunded. - The shaman AA Call of the Ancients has had its description changed to reflect the fact that the summoned ward casts healing spells, not endurance regen spells. The ability has been refunded because of this confusion. - The rogue ability Seized Opportunity has had its chance to work significantly increased. - The druid ability Viscid Roots was increasing the chance for roots to break, not decreasing it. This has been corrected. - The paladin ability Hastened Piety now affects the reuse time for both Hand of Piety and its upgrade, Pious Supplication. Previously, it wasn’t affecting Pious Supplication. - When an AA is an upgrade of another AA and both are triggered abilities, players can make a hotkey and use either one, but will only get the upgraded effect if they use the hotkey for the upgraded ability. - The Mass Group Buff AA will now reset if you duck to cancel the spell. - The double attack AA now works with secondary hand attacks.

Consent Changes * _____________________

There are some new consent commands available for groups and raids.

- /consent group -- flags your current corpses so they can be dragged by all of your current group members - /consent raid -- flags your current corpses so they can be dragged by anyone in your raid (including people who join the raid later) - /consent guild -- flags your current corpses so they can be dragged by anyone in your guild - /deny group -- removes the flag - /deny raid -- removes the flag - /deny guild -- removes the flag

Tacvi Changes _____________________ - Tacvi will no longer give lockout timers. Instead, when you beat an encounter there, you will gain a timer for that specific event. Then, when you come back to the zone, if that timer hasn’t expired yet that particular event won’t be up, but other events in the zone will be if it has been long enough since the last time they were defeated. - Loot in Tacvi has been given a thorough audit. Many changes were made including changes to the statistics of the items, changing item names, changing where the items drop, and over a dozen new items were added to the zone. - The Tacvi zone timer was increased from 6 hours to 12 hours.

Misc. _____________________ - Diamond Dust will now drop more frequently in permafrost and can now also be found in SolusekB * - Names will now scale with character they’re associated with. So a giant will have a much larger name than a Halfling will while retaining its much smaller brain. - Names for larger characters will be visible from a greater distance than the names for smaller characters are. They will also scale up slightly as you increase your distance from a character, making them more readable from a greater distance. - Tinting should now work properly again on Robes, let the Fluorescent Pink tinting begin! - We have added Tooltips for your status bars.* - We have made some changes to the fonts EQ uses so that they are more clear and visible. - Pets will no longer attacks NPCs after their owner has COH'd - The Fiery Defenders particles should no longer blink - If your Minor Illusion fails, you will be able to use another illusion on yourself without zoning. - Instant cast combat abilities can once again be used when you have a discipline up. - Augments now fit into multiple slot types. - Zoning pets will now save their taunt toggle settings. - Spell damage done to yourself will no longer display to others. - Pets will no longer poof when you are Call of Hero'd. - Weapon Augments will now proc properly.

• denotes a community requested change

September 14, 2004

Headlines ___________________ Omens of War is live! New Teleportation Spells to Barindu. Just me and my shadooooow! Reflective Water? Register now for the New Orleans Fan Faire.

Omens of War ___________________ Explore the war torn lands of Kuua and reap the benefits of new AAs, spells and items including the new, powerful, Epic 2.0. Lush new areas, filled with beautiful creatures and vibrant, living landscapes await you at every turn. We hope you enjoy all that EverQuest: Omens of War brings to the game.

Travel to the Omens Zones ___________________ The Priests of Discord in Norrath believe they have been granted a gift. A unique knowledge has been bestowed upon them which they believe was granted as a reward for preaching the way of Discord. That gift, they claim, is the knowledge of a way to a world that is enveloped by Discord itself -- an ethereal poison that wreaks havoc and strife upon all it touches.

Speak to a Priest of Discord to learn how to enter the World of Kuua.

The Task System ___________________ Only have a short time to play or are you waiting for a group or raid? Immerse yourself in a Task. You can find Task Masters all over Norrath. They can be found in most home cities as well as in places like the East Commonlands, the Butcherblock Mountains, Toxxulia Forest and the Swamp of No Hope. For the more daring individuals, the most challenging tasks can be found by speaking with Task Masters in the Dreadlands and the Overthere.

You can open the task window by hitting Alt+Q and start enjoying this new game-play style and enhancement to the EverQuest experience.

Be mindful of turning in task items in stacks, as with all quests in EQ, please seperate the items before turning them in for a reward.

Epic Weapons 2.0 ___________________ Will you be the first of your class to earn these powerful new items?

Guild Tribute ___________________ Omens of War expansion brings a new Guild Tribute system. This system will allow guild members to donate items/cash for Tribute points, and allow officers to select benefits that the entire guild will receive, deducting the cost from the guild’’s tribute pool.

Guild Tribute is an extension of the tribute system introduced in Gates of Discord and purchasers of either expansion, will be able to reap the new benefits.

Retail Claim Item ___________________ Those of you who purchased the retail version of EverQuest: Omens of War will need to use the /claim command in-game to receive your in-game items. Enjoy!

Select your title ___________________ You can hit Shift+T to bring up the new Title selection UI which will allow you to choose from the titles you have earned, through AAs, levels or accomplishments, to be shown with your character name in- game.

Voice Macros ___________________ Using Ctrl+V will bring up the new Voice Macro UI. There you will see a list of available voice macros as well as the options of Play, Tell, Group and Raid. Selecting a macro and play will play the macro for you only. Selecting a macro and using one of the other options will send the voice macro to either a tell (using the person you have targeted as the recipient), group or raid.

To create your own voice macros, make a sound file using the same name as one of the existing voice macros, which can be found in your EverQuest>Voice>Default directory and place it in your EverQuest>Voice> User directory.

You can create hot keys of your favorite Voice Macros by selecting the macro you would like and clicking and holding on the Tell, Raid or Group button until the icon appears on your cursor.

We hope you enjoy this new way to immerse yourself into the EverQuest experience.

New Spell Slot ___________________ For the first time in EQ, you can open up a new spell slot by learning the Mnemonic Retention AA ability. 9 Spell slots! Wow, Why I remember in the early days of EQ, we only had 8 spell slots and we liked it. We cast spells all day, going uphill both ways. You whippersnappers have it easy =)

More Buff Slots ___________________ If you find that you need more room for beneficial buffs on your character, activate the Mystical Attuning AA and open up more room in your buff slot window.

Improved Customization for Graphics ___________________ -There are now 3 sets of options (Spell, Environment, and Actor). All 3 sets have similar options that affect each type of particle. These options allow for more customization when setting up your display and filters.

-An "advanced" button has been added under the display tab in the options window. This will allow you to toggle some of the new settings, for our new customizable graphics and effects. You will most likely need to expand the options window to see the new Advanced button.

- Shadows; Toggles the new dynamic shadows. - Water Swap*: Switches between old style water, and new reflective water the next time you zone. - 2.X Pixel Shaders: Toggles the use of pixel shaders 2.0. - 1.X Pixel Shaders: Toggles the use of pixel shaders 1.0. - Vertex Shaders: Toggles the use of vertex shaders. - Sky Reflection Type*: Set to Static to use a preset reflection or Dynamic to have the sky reflected on the water. - Dynamic Update Interval: Control the CPU costs of the dynamic reflection by adjusting how often to update the reflection texture - Dynamic Sky Reflection Size*: Allows you to control how large the reflection texture is. (The * indicates a setting that will take effect next time you zone).

- You can now see real time shadows within the world of Norrath. Use the shadows option in options>Display>advanced to turn them off and on. Now, even when soloing, you will never be alone. Those of you with older video cards may have some performance issues when attempting to use shadows. If your machine does not meet the recommended system specifications, we suggest that you play with shadows off.

- Enjoy sunsets and moonrises viewed above EverQuest's new reflective water which is available for everyone, wherever there is static water, e.g. Oceans, seas and lakes. You can toggle the new water shaders on and off using the Water Swap button, under options>display>advanced.

Zoning Screen ___________________ When zoning, you will now see the loading splash screen. You have not crashed, do not be alarmed.

New Improved Particles ___________________ -You will now be affected by the environment around you, be sure to check out these effects especially under water, in frigid weather, dry climates and upon death.

Spells ___________________ - Clerics Symbol and Aegolism spell lines no longer require reagents. - Necromancer pets will no longer require peridots. - The beastlord spell, Tureptan Spirit, now has a healing component. - New transportation spells are available in the Abysmal Sea. Check with your transportation spell contact for more information. - Bard PBAoE spells will no longer damage targets that are moving, however any other spell effects from the PBAoE spell will still be applied to the targets as usual. - Beneficial spells can now be used in the EverQuest tutorial.

Skill Cap Changes ___________________ - Piercing now caps at 250 at level 60 for warriors, rangers and beastlords. - 1h Blunt and 2h Blunt now cap at 250 at level 60 for beastlords

Items ___________________ - The Timespinner pet will no longer cast spells. - The Dagger of Death has had its AC value reduced. - Some of the new Omens of War items will now display an "Attunable" attribute, which means that they can be traded freely until they are equipped or augmented. Attunable augments will become no-drop flagged when added to an augment slot, attunable items will become no-drop when equipped. You will not be able to auto-equip an attunable item that has not been attuned to your character. Please be mindful of the new Attunable flag before equipping or augmenting new items.

Alternate Advancement Abilities ___________________ - Berserkers have received some new AAs. This should bring their AA selection up to par with comparable melee classes. - Added the ability for shadow knights to train the Gates of Discord ability Improved Theft of Life and the Planes of Power ability Suspended Minion. - The healing wards that priests can summon using their Gates of Discord AAs are now immune to most spells. - Lowered the reuse time on the Magician ability Host of the Elements to 15 minutes. - Added the ability to train Quick Damage to Magicians as a Luclin Class ability. - Increased the critical hit chance for the Wizard Gates of Discord AA Frenzied Devastation.

Fan Faire ___________________ We are proud to announce the Halloween, New Orleans Fan Faire! The event dates are October 28-30, 2004, and space is going fast! The last day to guarantee your spot by pre-registering is October 11th. For more information, please go to http://everquest.station.sony.com/fanfaire/ See you in New Orleans! UI Changes ___________________ The following XML files are new or have been modified:

- EQUI_Animations.xml - EQUI_BuffWindow.xml - EQUI_CastSpellWnd.xml - EQUI_DynamicZoneWnd.xml - EQUI_GuildManagementWnd.xml - EQUI_GuildTributeMasterWnd.xml - EQUI_OptionsWindow.xml - EQUI_TaskSelectWnd.xml - EQUI_TaskWnd.xml - EQUI_TitleWnd.xml - EQUI_TributeBenefitWnd.xml - EQUI_VoiceMacroWnd.xml - EQUI.xml - EQUI_AAWindow.xml - EQUI_AdvancedDisplayOptionsWnd.xml

September 23, 2004

Monk Epic - Speaking to certain monk epic mobs will no longer reset the monk's progression. - Monks that turned in their letters will now be able to continue the quest from where they currently are. - Monks should have an easier time locating the lost Disciple.

Guild Tribute - Players with Gates, but not Omens, should now be able to open the Guild Tribute Master to both opt-in and donate for Guild Tribute Benefits. - Suspended pets will no longer vanish when their owner turns invisible. - Skies will now show correctly for Windows 98/ME users. - Warriors will be reimbursed for their Press the Attack AA. They can buy the ability with its new range if they wish. - Salvage will no longer return items that would be returned normally.

-- The EverQuest Team

October 13, 2004

- Summoned pets no longer vanish when their owner turns invisible - Froglok animations are now fixed, seriously, no really we mean it this time. - Continue the Adventure! Read the first in the new series of EQ Novels.

Warrior Epic ______________________ - Modified the way Decaying Lord Galuk Drek is spawned in Veksar. He should now be more approachable and less of a bottleneck for those warriors at this step. - Lowered the respawn time of the Dragorn Champion in Wall of Slaughter significantly. We have also lowered his aggro and help radius.

Bard Epic ______________________ - Corrected an issue in the Dragons Necropolis that caused more NPCs to be present than was planned for. - The Kithicor Forest encounter should now reset properly.

Ranger Epic ______________________ - Rangers triggering the Senvial, Grinbik and Uisima events for their Epic quest will need to have the trigger item on their person. - It should no longer be possible for a ranger with Senvial’s Blessing to get the reward for the Senvial event.

Druid Epic ______________________ - Corrected an issue with the Coven spawn in South Karana. - The Blackened Dryad event in Kithicor should now respawn correctly after a failed attempt. - Only the druid who initiates the Goblin Hide and Seek event will be allowed to the loot the bag upon completion. - More than one Druid can now summon and talk to the Compelled Spirit. - We have increased the drop rate of the carved Prexus totem.

Magician Epic ______________________ - The Path for finding the air essence should last a bit longer. - Magicians will now receive a message when the air essence is not available.

Gates of Discord ______________________ There’s a new NPC in Natimbi that will make traveling to Qvic much easier. Speak with her for a small teleport.

Tradeskills ______________________ - Alchemists can now create Amber Resin. - The Feran Glove and Boot recipes will now combine and return their intended items. - The recipe for the 56th level Necromancer spell, Servant of Bones, should now combine correctly. - The Dagger Blade Mold, used in Gates smithing recipes, has been renamed to a Knife Blade Mold.

Items ______________________ - Seething Fists of Slaughter- Previously this item had no equipped slots. This now has primary and secondary equippable slots - Fangs of the Serpent- Previously this item had no equipped slots. This now has primary and secondary equippable slots. - Bone Plated Sledge - This item now has 36% haste instead of +36 atk. - Boots of Shifting Time - Previously these boots had a worn leather graphic. They are now a worn plate graphic instead. - Zulaqua's Cloak - Added 30 AC to this item - Crystal Dagger - This item now has a +12% backstab mod. - Tome of New Beginnings - Berserkers now can equip this item. - Lambent Stone of Focus - This item is now a type 7 and type 8 augmentation. - Crystal Mail Sleeves - This item now has berserkers as usable classes. We have removed Beastlords from this items usable classes.

AAs ______________________ Altered Spell Casting Reinforcement and Spell Casting Reinforcement Mastery so they will no longer increase the duration of the following spells. - Flame of Redemption - Hawk Strike - Fateseer’s Boon - Protection of the Eye - Savage Wildcaller’s Blessing - Flames of the Valiant - Falcon Strike - Prophet’s Gift of the Ruchu - Aegis of Abstraction - Might of the Wild Spirits Altered Healing Adept, Advanced Healing Adept, and Healing Adept Mastery so they will no longer increase the healing of the following spells. - Harmonic Balance - Divine Balance

Misc ______________________ - Added a new option to turn off the loading screen when zoning. You will still see the progress bar. - Added a new shadow command to allow you to turn off the shadows in your text bar. The command is /shadow - Changed the Dynamic Zone window to show player status in the member list. Online players are yellow, Link Dead players are red, Offline players are blue. - Hide / Sneak will now remain active across zone lines. - All NPCs in Omens of War expedition zones are now KOS. Beware! - Summoned pets will no longer vanish when their owner uses invisibility! Rejoice! - Vallon Zek should no longer assist Tallon Zek.

The Rogues Hour! ______________________ RA Salvatore presents a brand new series of EverQuest fantasy novels. Explore the ever-expanding world of Norrath in the first book, EverQuest: The Rogue’s Hour, available in stores soon.

-- The EverQuest Team

October 25, 2004

Headlines!

Items for Anguish! New Storybook entry.

Omens of War ________________ Due to a database error, itemization of the Anguish zone was lost. We have re-itemized the zone and wish you luck in uncovering its riches.

Tradeskills ________________ - Fire Beetle Eyes now stack. - The Smithing Chisel is no longer flagged Lore. - Lightning Core is now stackable. - Changed the name of the Gnomish Vanishing Device to Half Capacity Gnomish Vanishing Device. - Golanda Nuts now stack. - The Beauty of a Simple Stone should now have text. - The Sandblasted Ringmail Bracelet and Large Sandblasted Steel Girth should now fit the appropriate-sized races. - Caerlyna should no longer be dispensing no-drop bag tokens. - The cast time on the 5 and 10 dose Greater Elixir's of Concentration should now have the same cast time as the single-dose version.

Berserkers ________________ Warcry and Hastened Warcry should now work as intended.

-- The EverQuest Team

December 15, 2004

Update Headlines ___________________________

• Backflagging
• Gates AA point refunding
• New Hot Spots
• Mistmoore

Backflagging * ___________________________

As you know, when a guild gains or loses members, they often find themselves dedicating a large amount of time re-playing content that they have long since completed in order to gain access to zones for newer members. During our Community Summit this last summer, and in many subsequent discussions, we have heard the recurring desire to find a way to ease the frustrations associated with this backflagging.

While the issue is not as simple as removing flags altogether (we feel flags are necessary for the zones they are currently attached to), we have looked into ways that we can reduce the frustrations of backflagging and feel that we have arrived at a fair and equitable solution, which is detailed below.

- A new implementation of the 85/15 rule has been introduced into Planes of Power zones including the Plane of Time. This should resolve the outstanding problems that occur from time to time with the current 85/15 implementation.

- The new 85/15 has also been introduced for the locked zones in Gates of Discord.

- An alternate means of flagging guild mates for locked content in Planes of Power and Gates of Discord has been implemented that will allow you to flag raid members for the zone you are in by completing raid content within that zone.

The implementation varies slightly from zone to zone to fit the story and nature of the zone, but in general will involve killing a raid target within that zone, looting an item, and completing a single group quest to change that item into a zone flag. This only applies to zones that don't already have a single group task or system to gain access.

AA Changes ___________________________

- Reduced the cost of many Gates AAs. Players will receive a refund equal to the difference on AAs that now have a lower cost. *

- Changed the monk AA Crippling Strike to an activated ability that does an eagle strike attack as well as a snare.

- Changed the monk AA Stunning Kick to an activated ability that does a round kick attack as well as a stun.

- Changed the monk AA Eye Gouge to an activated ability that does a tiger claw attack as well as reduces the targets offensive ability.

- Due to major changes in how these work, AA points for Crippling Strike, Stunning Kick, and Eye Gouge have been refunded.

- Reduced the reuse time of the Ranger AAs Frost Arrow and Flame Arrow to 3 minutes. *

- Hobble of Spirits will now stack with the Beastlord's proc buffs. *

- Fixed problem with the Beastlord AA Bestial Alignment where if you had maxed buffs this AA would not reset if it did not take.

- Duration enhancement focuses and AAs should now increase the duration of pet buffs.

- If your stored AA's go above 30, they will no longer be set to 30 when you zone. However, you should still not be able to gain more than 30 unless you get a refund, get the AA from a GM, or get an AA from a script. *

- Fixed an issue with Half Elf Paladins of Tunare and the Origin AA. *

- If your character was created before EQ started storing starting location data, when you log into the game you will now be prompted to choose your home city from a list of valid starting locations for your character. You will only need to do this once and once this has been set, it cannot be changed. This will correct the problems with the Origin AA not returning some characters to their expected home city.

Zone and NPC Changes ___________________________

- Hot Spots have been moved (level ranges are approximate): * Shadeweaver’’s Thicket 1-30 Kurn’s Tower 10-25 Unrest 15-30 Crystal Caverns 25-35 Solusek’s Eye 25-45 Katta Castellum 30-60 Lower Guk 35-55 Nagafen’s Lair 40-55 Umbral Plains 50-60

- Respawn time for the bosses in Tacvi has been increased from 3 to 5 days.

- Some Tacvi loot has been upgraded. Bosses now drop more items per kill and some all new items have been added to the zone. *

- An alternate entrance into Tacvi has been added in Txevu that will allow guilds to bypass the Zun’Muram after they have defeated him at least once. Guilds that have previously defeated the Zun’Muram will need to do so at least once more before they can use the new entrance. *

- Gilipus of Ak`Anon has joined the Beta Neutral Faction. You will now be able to complete his quest without having to raise Gem Choppers Faction.

- The 3 Tormentors in the Jelvan event now share hatelist when idle or aggro. Anyone that is on one Tormentor's hatelist, but not on the other 2 Tormentor's hatelist will be added. This should make it difficult (if not impossible) to avoid AOEs.

- Modified the Warden Hanvar event, all guards should appear in their appointed places.

- Fixed a bug in Anguish that could make Warden Hanvar unkillable.

- Clicking on the door to Anguish while having the Seal: Mastery of All on your person will now prompt red text indicating your flag has been granted.

- The respawn of Globes of Discordant Energy are now tracked on the event timer for Anguish. The method for obtaining the Globes has not changed.

- The pile of stones that was used as a secondary zone between Dranik and Bloodfields has been removed. There is now an actual zoneline there.

- Plane of Justice - previously, you could not click the red teleports to leave the Seventh Hammer's room unless the Seventh Hammer was dead (or not up). This has been changed so you can leave the room as long as it is not aggro. If you click on a portal while he is aggro, you should get a message and remain in the room.

- Grennet Stormhand in North Qeynos is no longer a task master since he is part of a quest. His task master job has been taken over by Jorren Boxmover.

- Increased the maximum duration for all Labyrinth Trials from 1 hour to 2 hours. When an event is successfully completed, the instance will shut down in 30 minutes. If it is failed, the instance will shut down in 5 minutes.

- Changed the reclusive Girplan event in Bloodfields so that each NPC in the sequence stays up for 15 minutes instead of 3 minutes before depopping.

- Elemental NPCs are once again Charmable in Bastion of Thunder.

Epic Alterations ___________________________

- Updated some text to clarify what is needed for the bard epic 2.0. *

- Part of the rogue epic that could be skipped has been repaired as this was not intended to be possible.

- The zonewide shout that occurs when killing base pop NPCs in the special instance of Vxed for the paladin epic has now been removed.

- Added another check to the monk epic to make sure that the monk looting the item also has the Mark of Justice needed to access the 7th Hammer's area.

- More details regarding the combine for the Beastlord Epic 2.0 have been added to the text. *

- Fixed the hand in to Uisima for the Ranger Epic 1.5.

- Added a hint to the Druid Epic 2. *

- In the Hider Event in Frontier Mountains for the Druid Epic 1.5, the goblins should teleport a bit less frequently. *

- Additional lore has been added to the rogue epic 2.0. *

- Moved the Dark Huntress from Mistmoore to the Tower of Frozen Shadow.

- Changed a few of Lirprin's dialogues to hint at where the last few steps are that players are missing. *

- Arly Golyeck in Paludal caverns will now accept bribes from half- elves, or those that are in half-elven illusion while also wearing a Burnoose of the Halfbreed.

Tradeskill Changes ___________________________

- The Tradeskill window will now allow up to 500 favorites (up from 100). *

- The drop rate of spiderling silk has been increased, as there are many new combines that require this item as a component. *

- The Rune of Zephyr should now drop off of the appropriate level of NPC’s. *

- Several Tradeskill recipes have had their missing ingredients added to the game. These items will now drop off of appropriate NPC’s. *

- Increased the drop rate of Tae Ew Scales. *

- Increased the drop rate of Putrescent Blood. *

- Made several quest-related combines "Learnable". *

- Fixed a few grammatical issues with the "Forge of Icewell Arms" book.

- Fixed an issue with one of the Abysmal Sea tradeskill books (The Beauty of a Simple Stone). It should now be able to be read.

- Fixed the recipe for the Imbued Northman Kite Shield (Rallos).

- Fixed the research recipe for Malosini, it should now combine properly.

- Fixed the recipe for Tuna Rice Surprise, it will now return the Wok on success.

- Fixed the Large Sandblasted Steel Girth, it is now usable by the appropriate races.

- Fixed the Sandblasted Ringmail Bracelet, it is now usable by the appropriate races.

- Fixed the multiple-recipes for Vegetable Oil, they will now return the correct yields.

- Fixed the disparity in between the cast-times on the various "Greater Elixir of Concentration" potions.

- Added the Blood Treated Kaniz Hide to the game.

- Added a recipe for players to create a package of vegetables. *

- Added a "Fully Charged Gnomish Vanishing Device" to the game. *

- Added LDoN Foraged items to the Interactive Objects in all LDoN zones (this includes the foraged alchemy components). *

- Removed the lore tag from the Smithing Chisel. *

- Taught Barbarians how to make Large Leather Gorgets and Pants. *

- Evaluated the PoP Smithing disparity between plate and chain. * 1. One block of ore will now yield two sheets of metal. * 2. Removed the Chain Jointing requirement from the combine. It now requires one Superb Leather Padding instead. *

Item, Spell, Discipline and Skill Changes ___________________________

- Auto range attack implemented, no longer will it be necessary to range attack manually - /autofire is a toggle command that will fire your ranged weapon until you run out of ammunition, turn on autoattack to switch to melee combat, or use the /autofire command again. *

- /melody ability implemented for bards - To use /melody, type /melody . The numbers are the same numbers you would use for the /cast command. The melody will repeat the songs in the specified order until a note is missed due to an interruption. *

- Modified Mirrored Mask, so it is no longer no rent and poof on death, however the click effect only works inside Anguish.

- Increased the chance on the Cleave effects to affect DPS as they were originally intended.

- Fixed a bug with the Frenzy of Conquest benefit.

- No-rent containers no longer poof on login if they contain items. They instead change into an unenchanted container with the same number of slots, and a chat message notifies the player. *

- Changed the Mark of Justice to take the player's group instead of just the player when attempting to engage The 7th Hammer. *

- Cryston, Staff of the Riftnow has the focus of Quickening of the Ikaav.

- Dragorn Head Statue Piece and Dragorn Torso Statue Piece are now very large and can fit in bags.

- Clear Rock and A Large Rock are now very large and can fit in bags.

- Polished Stone of Renewal can now be used by berserkers. *

- Berserker: Hastened War Cry has been fixed.

- Bards will stop playing songs when feign death effects hit them (some NPC encounters do this).

- Players are no longer able to have Form of the Great Bear and a mount on at the same time.

- Holyforge will now increase your chance to slay undead, and if you have the Slay Undead AA you will have an even greater chance of a slay with Holyforge. *

- The spell Nature's Blight was not increasing the damage as stated and should be working as intended now. *

- Fixed a bug with haste items and haste augments. Their effects were stacking when they shouldn't have. It will now only take the greatest haste effect from the item including augments.

- When combining the aegis of chaotic worship with the soul temper and a flask of water, you will receive the temper and the aegis of chaotic worship back if you don't have the correct flags instead of just the aegis back.

- The Monk's feign death success rate has been improved. It was previously capped at 95% at 100 skill and now it ramps up the success rate for higher skill levels. *

- Fixed several inconsistencies with pets affected by focus items.

- Increased the mana regen gained by Elemental Simulacrum.

- Touch of the Devourer was changed to allow partial damage when it is resisted. This is an increase in the overall damage of the spell.

- New items are available on the PvP point merchants. *

- Might of the Wild Spirits and Savage Wildcaller's Blessing should now stack better.

- The effect on the Wristband of Secrets no longer works on other players.

- Increased the focus % of the following effects: Hastening of the Ikaav Quickening of the Ikaav Alacrity of the Ikaav

- Increased the potency of Pure Spirit.

- Nature's Balance should now only remove beneficial spells from the target.

- Removed the scaling focus mods from the following spells: Force of Ikkibi Order of Trushar Sylvan Anger Taelosian Geomancy Burning Night Anger of Taelosia Sylvan Kindle Clear Fire

- The the class-specific quest chest armors from Omens of War now have a .8 second cast time.

- The pre-nerf LDoN armor sets can now be sold back to the merchants, like other LDoN items. They are the versions with two type 2 slots and one type 3 slot (instead of one each of types 1, 2, and 3). These items are those with the following in the item name: Royal Attendant * of Sand Incorporeal * of the Specter Mucus-Drenched * Immortal's Bloodied *

Miscellaneous ___________________________

- Multiple procs on a pet are now working properly. *

- A resource leak in the graphics engine was corrected and we have seen a measurable improvement in client stability as a result.

- The sky system now influences the ambient lighting.

- Animated traps such as the ones in soldunga/b are now detected by the collision system and will cause a small amount of damage.

- You can once again target things on the other side of a water surface and other passable surfaces.

- Added code to check and validate specialization skills. If the values are not legal, the player will be informed why they are not legal and they are reset.

- Added popup confirmation dialog when you attempt to give an augmented item to an NPC. *

- Added optional parameters to /book command -- /book open, /book close. *

- Fixed bug where a player who had more than 2 million plat in his inventory was unable to purchase anything from a vendor or trader.

- /yell messages are no longer displayed if the yelling player is in your ignore list. *

- Some models that were scaled dramatically could cause the collision system to fail, resulting in warps to ceiling and other strange side effects. For example the vases in dranikcatacombsa at 1000,-1011, 0 would always cause players to be pinned to the ceiling due to this bug.

- Players standing on the lip of an edge should now slide down off them more smoothly.

- There have been some optimizations to the collision system. You should see improved performance in zones with very large stationary objects (potimea, bloodfields, etc).

- Fixed a number of small bugs in the zoom camera behavior. These fixes include removing the possibility of having the first mousewheel click causing the camera to bounce back into first person, a bug that could cause the camera to get stuck “one click” out of first person, as well as smoothing out the camera motion a bit.

- Scrolling to third person and tabbing to another window should no longer cause the screen to bounce back and forth.

- Summoning mounts in certain places should no longer cause players to fall through geometry.

- Getting out of water should be much easier to do. *

- Mounts are no longer dismissed when zoning. *

- Spell scribe timers (putting a new spell into the spell book) now take only 1 second.

- Players should no longer experience 20k falls when standing on cliff edges while suffering from low frame rate.

- The bounding radius for small races was too tall, preventing them from accessing some areas. For example, gnomes couldn't enter the small huts in Steamfont. This was a global problem that is now fixed; that is just one example.

- Weather effects are now working properly when the Wake of Karana spell is used. Additionally, sounds related to starting

- /who commands now display both class title and base class name for players over level 50, e.g. "Bedazzler (Enchanter)" *

- Fixed a bug that caused a lot of writing to the dbg.txt file during a raid.

Zone Revamps - Mistmoore (Legends) ___________________________

In Mistmoore's Catacombs, the servants of the Trueborn, a sect of vampires with Mayong Mistmoore's blood flowing through their veins, grew tired of their masters throwing them into the fray against the Norrathian intruders. They came to desire more power for themselves.

It was not long before the first words of dissension crept through the catacombs on the will of whispers. The Trueborn servants congregated in dark, musty halls away from the eyes of their masters and over time their numbers grew along with their ambitions. Their time had come and soon they would rise up to claim their rightful place in Mistmoore Castle, gaining accolades from Lord Mayong Mistmoore himself for their brilliance and bravery -- or so they supposed.

Over several months, the Trueborn traitors recruited an army to their cause. On a black night as the moon was swallowed by a thick veil over Faydwer, they struck, killing their masters and leading their army toward Mistmoore Castle. They slaughtered all in their path and many masters of the Scions sect, the Trueborn's rival blood-children of Mayong, were destroyed that night.

The fierce wave of the lesser Trueborn rushed into the cellars of Mistmoore Castle without detection. Unbeknownst to all but the servants, Norrath's adventurers had uncovered winding caves beneath the surface that bypassed the castle’s defenses. In a matter of hours, the castle was overrun and the servants of the Trueborn declared themselves the true Children of Mistmoore.

Since taking control of the castle, many Children have busied themselves repairing the damage from the battle while others continue to seek the magical ore that was uncovered in the catacombs.

They all prepare, waiting for the day their master returns to grant them glory.

Zone Revamps - Splitpaw (Legends) ___________________________

Farsoth Mal, son of the Ishva Mal, leader of the Verishe Mal tribe, sat by his father’s side watching him rule his minions in Splitpaw Lair. His father may have conquered this lair some years ago, but Farsoth believed they should rule far more than just one underground kingdom. He grew to despise his father for his lack of ambition and many hours were spent in bitter arguments between the two. The Ishva Mal grew tired and angry at the ceaseless challenges to his authority, gaining as much contempt for his son as his son had for him.

During a particularly heated argument of growls and grisly barks, the Ishva Mal reminded his willful son that his power was absolute and that he shared his throne with no one. With one quick motion, the Ishva Mal brandished his spear and sliced off his son's paw, determined that he would finally win the respect he deserved from his son. But the Ishva Mal's cruel methods would prove to be his downfall.

The Ishva Mal grew to be a greater tyrant each day, so much so that the Verishe Mal mages and warriors secretly formed the Council of Nine to challenge his rule. Farsoth saw the plans the Verishe Mal had in store for his father, but did nothing to stop them and instead chose to use them to his advantage.

Farsoth learned much from the council's mages and became obsessed with the summoning arts they practiced. His fascination eventually led to a plan that would secure the throne . . . for him.

Through all he'd learned from the Verishe Mal mages, he believed he could summon a powerful entity from the Plane of Fire itself. Farsoth thought with such power at his side, nothing could stop him from ruling the Splitpaw Lair and any lands he desired.

He prepared for weeks, researching and gathering the reagents he required and finally he set to work to summon a terrible beast to bring an end to his father's rule.

Farsoth was distracted by his own anger, forgetting vital components as he wove the spell and the unthinkable happened. Flames shot out of the portal that Farsoth opened and, at the same time, rocks rained down upon the inhabitants of the lair. Then, the portal shifted its focus and water flooded into the corridors, extinguishing the flames and washing away the rocks. The portal shimmered once more and waves of all types of elementals poured into Splitpaw.

Farsoth certainly attained part of his goal. His father was killed, but so to were most of the gnolls he wished to lead to greatness.

Now he is a prisoner to the swarms of enraged elementals that have made Splitpaw Lair their new home.

• Denotes a change requested by the community.

- The EverQuest Team

December 17, 2004

We apologize for the recent issues with our attempt to ease backflagging. Our coders and designers have worked tirelessly through the night to come up with tonight's update which should resolve the backflagging solution issues. We have also identified a few other issues and added corrections for them as well.

- Backflagging issues have been resolved. - Raids can again enter Anguish. - Huntress / High Priestess titles should now display correctly based upon gender. - An itemization issue in South Karana and Splitpaw has been corrected. - The debuff in the Muramite Trial of Efficiency will not cast as often. - The mirrors in the Tower of Frozen Shadow should once again function properly. - The Monk AA Hastened Purification of the Body has been corrected to be 10% of the newly reduced reuse time for Purify Body. - Added the spell Tranquility of the Glade to the ranger's repertoire, which rangers can recieve by turning in a rune. - The berserker ability Crippling Strike should now have a fixed duration

-- The EverQuest Team

January 26, 2005

Mistmoore and SplitPaw revamps live for all servers New and improved Lavastorm!

Item Changes ________________________

- Many Epic 2.0 effects have been modified. Please see the EQforums at Eqforums.station.sony.com for details. - These items are now primary and secondary slot usable: Totem of Shattered Hope Wand of Twisted Fate Infernal Staff of Fiery Fate Bazu Claw Hammer

- Increased the drop rates on some items from Planes of Power zones that were too rare. - The ending effect (casts when the rune wears off) of the Enchanter 1.5 and 2.0 epics has been changed so that it won't cause initial aggro on surrounding NPCs. It will only lower the enchanter's hate on NPCs in the area of effect that are already aggro on him/her. - Mace of Grim Tidings is now No-Drop - Added a Globe of Discordant Energy drop to Anguish. - Fixed the combine for the cleric epic 1.5, AA points should now be rewarded. People who missed their AAs can hail Tavon to receive their AAs, if they have spoken to Natvil already. - Revised the various Anguish armor sets. Some pieces now have effects added. - Earring of Eternal Flame - This item now has the focus effect of Flame of the Lightbringer - Anuek Dagger of Eye Gouging - This item now has a +12% mod to backstab. - Upgraded the +damage augments from Tacvi

Spell, Discipline & AA Changes ________________________

- The skills windows will now show the modified skill of the player, including buffs/item mods, etc. - Added a negative resist modifier to Crippling Strike, Stunning Kick, and Eye Gouge. - Modified Hastened Purification of the Body to reduce the base time. - The spell, Elemental Simulacrum Recourse, should no longer be removed when the recipient is hit in melee. - Hide will work while levitated again. - Tiny companion will again switch target to the pet correctly. - An exploit with Lifeburn has been corrected. - /stopsong, /cast, and anything starting a song other than /melody now clears the /melody buffer as intended. - Bard Chants should once again generate the correct amount of hate. - Fixed problem with the Ranger AA Guardian of the Forest where if you had maxed buffs this AA would not reset if it did not take. - High level shaman pet should now automatically dual wield. - Modified the effect slots for Hobble of Spirits so that it will stack with other contact innates.

Code Changes ________________________

- Players will now receive a message when they are too close for ranged weapons to be used when /autofire is being used. - Ranged weapons are no longer subject to additional z-distance limit checks. - Server side collision fixes have corrected various problems in certain areas in new zones such as the ramp entering Abysmal that was causing warping problems for NPCs.

Event Changes ________________________

- Players can now select a type of LDoN Adventure (Rescue, etc.) when requesting one from the Recruiter. - Lowered combat regeneration of the Dragorn and Bazu forms in the Trial of Adaptation. - Modified the spawn timer on the Tyrant of Nightmare in the Plane of Nightmare and the Decaying Lightcrawler in the Plane of Disease. Both should make more frequent appearances. - Lowered spell resists significantly in all MPG Raid and Single Group trials. - Fixed some oddness that happened sometimes when Memblurring Hanvar. - The non-loot dropping version of Arch Magus Vangl will be easier than the loot dropping version.

Miscellaneous ________________________ - Changed the level 70 bard /who title from Performer to Harold, er, Herald.

-- The EverQuest Team

February 15, 2005

Welcome to Dragons of Norrath!

A series of events has transpired across the world of Norrath and the familiar faces of Firiona Vie and her nemesis Lanys T'Vyl return to find themselves at the forefront of the events. Unbeknownst to them, a dark influence has seeped into the world of Norrath causing new tensions to arise and conflicts to intensify as the dawn of a new age emerges. The Age of War is upon the people of Norrath and heroes return in this ultimate, unending battle between good and evil.

Prepare for EverQuest: Dragons of Norrath and return to the lands between Halas and Lavastorm as you seek out the Nest, the ancestral birthplace of all dragons, long sealed away and hidden from the eyes of Norrath. But beware, if the Nest is exposed too early during the Brood Dawn, all dragons and their eggs will be cursed for eternity and death will storm down on all Norrathian's not in their service.

Featuring new lands with enhanced graphics, bold new storylines, and updated creatures including goblins, drakes, dragons and the ominous Frost Giant! EverQuest: Dragons of Norrath is the next great expansion pack for the fantasy saga that is EverQuest. Make ready with new features such as the interactive world map, use your potion belt to access magical items quickly, and swap between weapon sets using the bandolier. Plus, with the all new guild hall you can easily get your guild ready to encounter anything that comes your way! EverQuest: Dragons of Norrath is bursting with new adventures and intense battles for players of all levels.

Features

Bandolier

To open the Bandolier window use the 'B' key.

The bandolier will provide you with a quick and easy way to wield your weapons in different predefined combinations. When a weapon set is activated, the bandolier switches the currently equipped weapons with as many of the weapon set items it can find in your inventory. To add a bandolier, first click on the slot that you want to fill. Then click the add button. You can name each set. The weapon set that will be saved as the weapons you currently have in your inventory (primary, secondary, range, and ammo slots). You can make hotbuttons out of the weapon sets for easy, quick swapping.

Potion Belt

To open the potion belt window use 'shift P'.

The Potion Belt allows for quick use of inventory items, such as potions or magical devices. To add a potion belt enabled item to the potion belt, simply put the item on your cursor and click in one of the belt slots. Then simply right click on the item to use it. Please note that not all clickable items are usable from the potion belt.

The Barter Zone

The entrance to the Barter Zone is in the western section of the Plane of Knowledge. The default in-game map has the location marked on it (this may not be true if have a custom map). To setup your character as buyer, use the /buyer command to bring up the Buyer Barter Window. When you'd like to sell an item quickly without heading to the bazaar, use the /barter command to bring up the Barter Window. Please refer to the context tips or the manual for more information.

The Guild Lobby and the Guild Hall

The entrance to the Guild lobby is also in the western section of the Plane of Knowledge. The Guild Hall entrance is at the back of the Guild lobby accessible by active guild members.

Guild Lobby:

- Looking for Guild and Looking for Guild Member tool: You can use the looking for guild tool or the looking for a guild member tool by clicking on the note boards. In the Guild Lobby use your map to find the note boards.

- Corpse Summoning: Speak to a Disciple of Luclin. This Disciple can sell you a level appropriate soulstone. Take the soulstone to a nearby Priest or Priestess and they'll summon all of your existing corpses in Norrath directly to your feet (except those corpses that are in Shadowrest). Be sure you loot your corpses quickly because they won't be there long!

Guild Hall:

- Guild Portal: The guild portal is activated by speaking to the gnome in the Guild Hall. You will need to purchase a focus stone from him and then hand it back in order to focus the portal on a specific location. Once the portal is focused, step on the crystal platform to bring up a yes/no dialog box. Clicking yes should teleport you away.

- Mana/Health regen pool: Walking into the back right room in the Guild Hall will cause you to regenerate health, mana, and endurance at twice your normal rate. You should see a text message when you enter the area of the pool as well as a particle effect on your character.

- Buff Timers: Buff timers are paused while in the Guild Hall.

- Guild Tradeskill Objects: Various tradeskill tools are located in the Guild Hall for easy access by guild members.

Missions

Mission givers for Dark Reign and Norrath's Keepers can now be found in Lavastorm. These mission givers offer quests for groups of 3 to 6 players that take you into the Dragons of Norrath. Only a few missions are available at first, but as you gain faction and earn their trust, more missions will open up. Missions make use of a new shared task system that shares space with the Task window (Alt-Q). You can manage the players in your shared task from the new Shared Task tab in the Task window.

Successful completion of a mission will reward you with crystals that can be redeemed at mission vendors in the two camps. Each side has their own crystals that they award and their mission vendors will not accept crystals from the opposing side. You can create stacks of crystals for trading to other players by clicking on the crystals display in the inventory window. The reclaim tab under the crystals display will add any crystals you have in your inventory. You can only spend crystals that are listed in the display, so be sure to reclaim before visiting a vendor.

Live Patch Information

The EQ Mail System!

EQ players now have the ability to send persistent messages to players who are not logged in! To use this new feature, take a look at the new icon that has been added to the window selector. This icon will change color when you have unread messages. It also blinks for a short period of time when new mail arrives. To open the mail window, click on the icon or use CTRL-M. Here are a few other helpful hints.

Sending Messages - To send a message, press the "Compose" button. Enter the character name of the recipient in the "To" field, a subject and the message itself. Press the "Send" button and mail icon of the recipient will start blinking! Please be aware that you can currently only email one recipient at a time.

Receiving Messages- If you are online, new mail is delivered to you immediately without delay. When you open the mail window, the number of unread messages is put between square brackets close to the "Inbox" list title. In the mail window, your messages usually appear sorted by date. You can click on the column header to change the sort type and order. You can also resize the width of a column with the mouse, just click and drag a column header separator.

Viewing Messages - To view the body of a message, select it in the list. The message text window displays the message fields in a different color, followed by the text of the message.

Managing Messages- When a message is selected you can reply to the sender or forward the message to another player by pressing the corresponding button. An appropriate default subject will be inserted for you and a copy of the original message is added to the mail composition window.

Deleting Messages - You can also delete messages, in which case they will be placed in your "Deleted Items" folder. To select multiple messages for deletion you can use SHIFT-click and CTRL-click. The "Deleted Items" list is where your deleted messages go. The total number of messages in that list appears in the title. Two additional actions are available to you when managing your deleted messages: you can restore deleted messages using the "Undelete" button, and you can permanently delete all the messages by click on the "Empty Trash" button.

NOTE: You can send a message to yourself. You can also send a message from the command line using the "[mailto" command. Syntax: [mailto If the subject contains whitespace, you must enclose it in double quotation marks. Example: [mailto LadyCandy "You are so sweet!" Dear LadyCandy, etc. etc.

- The "M" key now opens the map.

- Fixed the following Omens augmentation combines:

Aug Inlay Titanite of Quickness Aug Inlay Brilliant Titanite of Quickness Aug Inlay Radiant Titanite of Quickness Aug Inlay Titanite of Pure Quickness Aug Inlay Brilliant Titanite of Pure Quickness Aug Inlay Radiant Titanite of Pure Quickness Aug Inlay Tourmaline of Quickness Aug Inlay Brilliant Tourmaline of Quickness Aug Inlay Radiant Tourmaline of Quickness Aug Inlay Tourmaline of Pure Quickness Aug Inlay Brilliant Tourmaline of Pure Quickness Aug Inlay Radiant Tourmaline of Pure Quickness

- Modified the Hammer of the Dragonborn so that it has an instant casting time, but a 10 second recast.

- Dagger of Evil Summons now has a 120 second recast time.

- Increased the range on Blood Pact.

- Pristine Purifying Sapphire is now no-drop.

- Assistant Researcher's Symbol now has the focus Quickening of the Anuek. The Hit Points, mana and end have been adjusted to 285. Added + 20 attack, 2 hit point regeneration, 2 mana regeneration. Added +3 to combat effects, strikethrough, and accuracy.

- The following Anguish armor pieces have been upgraded:

Gladiator's Plate Sleeves of War Faithbringer's Armguards of Conviction Dawnseeker's Sleeves of the Defender Bladewhisper Chain Sleeves of Journey Duskbringer's Plate Armguards of the Hateful Everspring Sleeves of the Tangled Briars Fiercehand Sleeves of the Focused Farseeker's Plate Armbands of Harmony Whispering Armguard of Shadows Ritualchanter's Armguards of the Ancestors Blightbringer's Armband of the Grave Academic's Sleeves of the Arcanists Glyphwielder's Sleeves of the Summoner Mindreaver's Armguards of Coercion Savagesoul Sleeves of the Wild Wrathbringer's Chain Sleeves of the Vindicator

- The low level quests in the new Lavastorm had their requirements lowered. They were previously set to high for their intended level.

- Lowered the agro range on NPC's in Lavastorm.

- Certain NPC's in Lavastorm will no longer assist each other.

- The Goblin runner in Lavastorm should no longer run past the zone line into Nektulos Forest.

- The Goblin Messenger in Frontier Mountains should get stuck in the geometry and disappear much less often now.

- Moved the spawn location of Valorian Guardian Florik in Halls of Honor A to an easier to get to location. He was previously spawning in a location that was harder than the intended level of the quest.

- Shifted the focus on the Bladewhisper Chain Wristband to the Bladewhisper Chain Boots.

- The focus on the Paladin Epic 1.5 is no longer restricted to only group heals.

- The Wand of Wintergrip can no longer be equipped in the secondary slot.

- The click effect on the Beastlord and Magician epic's has had its duration increased to 20 minutes.

- Kraylor Nalsiv in Plane of Knowledge no longer requires you to hand him your epic to receive your title. He now responds to dialogues instead of item turn-ins.

- The Mirrored Mask from Anguish now has a half second cast time and an 80 second recast. Reflective skin also now has an 18 second duration. This should make the mask easier to use when used correctly.

- Fixed a bug with the Zun Muram in Txevu. Previously he was not dropping his signet for the alternative access to Tacvi 100% of the time, due to a bug. This has now been corrected.

- Karsor the Mad returns.

-- The EverQuest Team

March 3, 2005

Bazaar & Barter Zone

---

We have made the Bazaar zone free for everyone.

In addition to this, we have consolidated the Barter zone and the Bazaar zone into one hybrid zone, which uses the existing Bazaar zone. You will now be able to activate both the /buyer commands and the /trader commands in the Bazaar zone. In addition to this change, we have made a few other changes for your convenience.

- Removed the zone line from the Bazaar to the Barter zone. - Added a zone-line from the Bazaar to the Plane of Knowledge. - The Barter zone entrance in the Plane of Knowledge will now teleport you to the Bazaar zone. - Barter search on Firiona should not filter the NODROP items that aren't NODROP on Firiona. - Right-clicking on a merchant-name in the UI will now create a find-path to the merchant. - Right-click in the Bazaar / Barter search now closes your current find path, and if the timer has expired, generates a new find path to the Buyer / Trader indicated on the line which was right-clicked. - The map has been updated with more information, specifically which areas of the zone allow you to be a /buyer and which allow you to be a /trader.

The Barter zone is still active, so those of you who are camped out in the zone will be able to log in just fine, though you will want to migrate to the Bazaar in order to set up your buyer. Please make sure that you are not weighed down with coin and items before leaving the zone, or you may find yourself unable to move.

Spell & Skill Changes

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- Moved the contact abilities on spells Spirit of the Leopard and Spirit of the Panther to avoid a stacking conflict with the berserker epic effect. - Monk Return Kick and Double Riposte AAs can now be triggered on the same attack. - Combat abilities will now always hit creatures that require magical weapons. - The Berserker ability Rage of Volley has been modified so that it will hit magic required NPCs regardless of the axe that's equipped. - Increased the charges on the items summoned by Molten Orb and Lava Orb from 3 to 10, and increased the mana cost on the spells that summon them. - Summoned Lava Orbs, Molten Orbs, Shadow Orbs, and Soul Orbs are now no drop on the Firiona Vie server. - The recourse effect of the shadow knight epic 1.5 and 2.0 effects should now go to the short duration buff box. - The monk 1.5 and 2.0 effects will now heal for approximately as many hit points as the buff adds to your maximum hit points.

Item changes

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- The following items have been made No-Drop:

Potted Dark Lady Ancient Tooth of Archanalia Scrap of Dark Cloth Deformed Dragon Embryo Silvery Dragon Scale Fragments Golden Dragon Scale Fragments Metallic Dragon Shell Fragments Ruined Dragon egg Desiccated Drake Corpse Shattered Draconic Symbol Dark Dragon Scale Cracked Lavaspinner Egg Fragments of Zebeker's Bone Chips Black Wing Drake Talons Egg of a Saved Clutch Frothing Drake Blood Mottled Goblin Meat Lavaspinner's Silk

- The crystals used as points for Norrath's Keepers and Dark Reign are once again tradeable on all servers. - Hammer of Delusions effect has been changed to Euphoria. - Shadow Orb can now be in a stack of 5. - Chests in Skyfire for the Veeshan's Peak access quests should now be available for 30 minutes after being dropped by the defeated NPC. - Harbinger Spire Blueprints now drop more often. - Stone of Marking will no longer be used if a player can not bind in that area.

Quests, Missions & Events

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- Added a quest to Corrigan Hawthorne in the Bazaar to award PvP points for legacy Sullon Zek insignias. - Decreased difficulty of the Megalodon encounter in Lake Rathe. - NPCs will now offer you missions based on your average group level rather than the level of the player requesting the mission. - Added a fix for the problem of a player in the process of zoning when the mission is completed not being given the reward; when finished zoning he will then receive the reward. - We've changed the way that corpse lock works when an NPC is killed by someone in a shared task. You should no longer see corpses locked to a shared task when you are killing NPCs not related to a shared task.

Tradeskills

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- The trivial values of many tradeskill recipes have been modified, please make sure to check your recipe lists. - The Dragons of Norrath Tradeskill Quest NPC's will now accurately recognize your ability to wear the armor they're helping you craft.

Email

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- We will now be using the mail system to send players notifications. The first use of this is with the messages you get when you reach certain levels. - Mail composition window gives focus to the first empty field (To, Subject, Msg, in that order). - The delete action now reselects the position of the first item in the deleted selection. Same for undelete. - Players may now map a key to toggle the display of the mail window.

Guild Hall

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- You can now assign guild banker status even if the guild member is not online. - The merchant music will stop when you close the guild bank window now. - Guild bank lists are now sortable (note that the permissions field sorts by permission type from most public to least public and vice versa, not alphabetically) - If you logged out in the guild hall, it will no longer send you to last your adventure/expedition zone in point.

Miscellaneous

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- Guild masters will once again allow to you get started with your training in Research, Alchemy, Poison Making, and Tinkering. - Hastening of the Aneuk had a typo in the name. Anuek has been changed to Aneuk. - The boats in East Cabilis should look like boats again. - The Bandolier and Potion Belt window shortcuts/binding will now save properly. - The map window will properly tint the map area again on the map tab. - We've made significant changes to the fog and rain settings in all original EverQuest zones. Visibility should be greatly improved in many of these zones and rain will generally be more infrequent. Seasonal changes from rain to snow have also been incorporated into these zones as appropriate. In addition, we've increased the visibility in all zones when it is raining or snowing. - Added a new command, /tasktimers, which will display a list of shared tasks and how long you must wait before you can undertake that shared task again. This will be incorporated into the task window in the near future but we wanted to make the functionality available to players as soon as possible. - Fixed the bug where players would appear with someone else's pet after zoning. - Fixed an issue where a Link Dead player is killed, the killer will no longer be able to loot an item. - Zek players will now be able to begin the process of selecting a new server to have all characters on their account moved to.

Those Zek players who have already executed the /movelog command will be moved to the server they chose, unless that server was Solusek Ro or Kane Bayle. Zek players who chose either of these servers will need to execute the command again, choosing a new server.

If you have changed your mind as to which server you would like to move to, the /movelog UI (after Thursdays update) will have a disregard button. Using the disregard button will cancel any pending movelog requests and allow you to execute a new movelog request.

We will begin processing the movelog requests on Friday night (March 4th) and will continue nightly for a period of 30 days. Any accounts that have executed the movelog request will need to make certain they have no corpses in the world. If you have a shared bank already in use on your destination server, you will need to empty either shared bank out as only one will be available after the movelog is complete.

-- The EverQuest Team

March 16, 2005

EverQuest's 6th Anniversary

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To help celebrate the 6th Anniversary of EverQuest, a fresh scavenger hunt has been added. Check in Firiona Vie, Overthere, or Dreadlands for more on this quest. Finish this challenging hunt and you will receive a potion that doubles your experience for 30 minutes and comes with 10 charges.

Your old friends, the Fabled NPCs have returned to Norrath and bring the fabled versions of their items with them. Look for new Fabled NPCs in your favorite Kunark zones.

General

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- Increased the spell rune drop rates for Greater Muramite Runes and Glowing Muramite Runes in Muramite Proving Grounds and Riftseeker's Sanctum. - Reduced the number of mobs that will summon in Veksar. - Volkara in the Volkara's bite mission has been made a little more challenging. - The fight against Vishimtar has been made more challenging. - The Citrine Spell Stone has been renamed to Citrine Spell Bauble. - Level 20, 40 and 60 Tradeskill Pattern Book Quests for Wood Elves, Kelethin Half-Elves, Dwarves, High Elves and Gnomes have been altered slightly to make them a bit friendlier to complete. - The encounter with Grinbik in Bloodfields for the Ranger epic has been made a bit less confusing. - "A shady Highpass citizen" in Highpass will look kindly on you and spread the word on your increased friendship if you complete his tasks. - Several missions have been tuned to bring their completion time on par with the other DoN missions: Diving for Lavarocks Dragon Eggs Diseased Pumas - When the task "Keeping the Goblins Out" has been finished you should now get the completion text.

Items

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- The Icefloe Hammer is no longer a 1 handed piercing weapon, it is now 1 handed blunt and the bonus to backstab has been removed. - The Lance of Engulfing Flame now has a proc instead of a worn spell. - The Robe of Transcendent Thought has been changed to Drape of Transcendent Thought. - Various Anguish class leg pieces have been altered. - Academic's Pants of the Arcanists now has the focus effect "Frost of Anguish". - The mana preservation focus on several Tacvi chest pieces has been increased slightly.

-- The EverQuest Team

March 17, 2005

Missions

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- Added the ability to see invisible to some of the NPCs in The Nest instances. - Set some of the boss NPCs in Dragons of Norrath missions to summon. Being kited was making them sad. - Removed a bug in the Rivals mission in The Nest that allowed groups to complete the mission more than once without speaking to the quest-giver again.

Tradeskills

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- Added some missing Troll cultural items to vendors in Neriak. - Added a book to outline the creation of the new cultural sewing kits. - All of the new cultural sewing kits can now be traded in to Caerlyna in the Bazaar for tokens. - Meeka Diggs in Rivervale no longer sells Iron Thread and should now sell the three sizes of Mercurium Thread. - Changed the text on Culturally Inspired Armor - part 3 to accurately reflect the pelts used for Half Elven cultural tailored armors. - There was a new "Chunk of Ice" created for the Dragons of Norrath expansion. This new "Chunk of Ice" has been removed and replaced with the old "Chunk of Ice" on the forage tables for all Dragons of Norrath zones. They should also now drop off some of the colder dervishes. All of the new Dragons of Norrath drink recipes that used "Chunk of Ice" (Curdled Cream, Iced Coffee, Iced Tea and Iced Mountain Tea) now use the old "Chunk of Ice". - Fixed a bug with the recipe for creating Barbarian cultural leather swatches. The recipes were mistakenly using the "Norrathian Needle" instead of the "Northman Needle". - Fixed a bug in the recipe for creating the Dragons of Norrath cultural armor patterns that could allow a player to recover their ruined book with a successful salvage. Sorry, that was unintentional. - Removed the Erudite Sewing Kit from vendors. The new kit is created by players and should replace the old kit. - Fixed the Feir'Dal Fletching Kit. Really, we did. - Fixed the Surefall Fletching Kit. (This was actually fixed with the last update). - Fixed the Reinforced Jeweler's Kit. (This was actually fixed with the last update). - Changed the Dragons of Norrath cultural recipes that used "Quill" to now use "A Quill" (used in research recipes). "A Quill" is also now sold on the appropriate vendors. (This was actually changed with the last update).

Ranger Epic

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- Modified the encounter with Grinbik in Bloodfields for the Ranger epic slightly. Previously he could respond with the phrase "I wish to speak with the one that freed me." when he was not actually free (for example, if the Marshal was still alive). Now he will not give that response until he has actually been freed. Hopefully this will remove some confusion from the event. - A Ranger at the proper stage of the quest will now only trigger the Herrian Warfrost encounter if he or she goes down the corridor near where he hangs out and is at the proper stage of the quest with the necessary item on them. (This change actually went in with our last update).

Fabled Item Changes

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- The Fabled Mrylokar's Bracer has been made lore. - Several Fabled NPC's have had their difficulty modified. - The Fabled Glowing Kunzar Amulet will now be equippable in the neck slot. - The Fabled Incarnadine Breastplate has had Iksar added to the race-usability list. - Several Fabled Items have been returned to their previously tradable status on the Firiona Vie server. - The following items have had their stats modified:

Fabled Jaundiced Bone Greaves Fabled Insignia Protector Bracelet of the Corrupter Wristband of Spectral Corruption Bracer of Corrupted Souls Bracer of the Debauched

- The following items have had recommended levels added to them:

Fabled Necklace of Superiority Fabled Rod of Mourning

April 12, 2005

Headlines

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- A new button has been added to character select: Return Home. If a character has not been played in the past 6 hours, this button is enabled and pressing it will log the character into the game in their starting city. - If a character is logged out for more than an hour, full health, mana, and endurance will be granted upon logging in. This is still a bit under development. You may not be quite at 100% but very close. - Re-envisioning has begun! - Over 600 Spell modifications. - New zone art for the character select screen and character creation. Crossing the bridge while in Explore mode will allow you to enter the world. Note that all characters are in the same area now. There are no longer class specific areas. - New Hot Spots!* The Warrens Netherbian Lair Echo Caverns The Scarlet Desert The Tower of Frozen Shadow The Hole The Grey Howling Stones The Halls of Betrayal (Chardok B) - There are 2 new keyboard shortcuts in the Command section in the Options menu, Open Inventory Bags and Close Inventory Bags. Setting these, then using them will open/close all your general inventory slot bags (bag1-bag8). - Added a teleportation stone to Arena in Plane of Knowledge.*

Re-envisioning Specifics

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- Many modifications have been made to the cast times, recast times, mana costs, and damage potential of many single target direct damage spells. The largest changes have been in level 1-50 spells, but many 50+ spells have been adjusted as well. These changes have caused the damage-per-second potential and/or the damage-per-mana values of these spells to be increased and should benefit the classes who use these spells in nearly all cases. Note that this also includes special purpose spells such as undead and summoned direct damage spells. Please check the in game descriptions for specific changes.* - The 750 cap on mana increase spells has been removed.* - The hard-coded level 52 NPC cap on Fear spells has been removed. We will be adding new fear spells in the near future which will allow players to fear higher level NPCs.* - Assassin’s Feint will now work on NPCs level 60 and higher.* - Spells with poison counters no longer have innate agro added. The spells themselves still generate aggro based on their other properities, but you will see a reduction in the amount of aggro generated in many cases.* - NPC’s innate 20% resistance against rain spells has been removed.* - You will now receive messages in your chat window when you are healed by any heal-over-time spell. This includes both short term HOT spells as well as long term regen spells. You will receive the message if the spell actually gave you health back, so will not receive messages when at full health. These messages can be turned off through a new filter in the options window.* - Ranger, Beastlord, and Paladin heals have been upgraded. See the spell descriptions in game for details.* - The AC cap and percentage return on AC over the cap for monks has been increased.* - Increased the knock back effect on the Warrior AA Press the Attack. - Theft of Thought will no longer return only partial mana from NPCs over level 52. In addition, the spell was changed so that it will only return as much mana as the NPC has if that is less than the amount that the spell is trying to steal. So it will steal 400 mana from an NPC that has 1000 mana, but it will only steal 100 mana from a NPC that has 100 mana.*

Spells, Skills & AAs

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- Increased the effectiveness and decreased the casting time of the Ranger AA Auspice of the Hunter.* - Increased the amount of damage absorbed by the Bard AA Shield of Notes.* - Increased the damage done while using the Bard AA Dance of Blades.* - Added a negative resistance mod to the Shaman AA Virulent Paralysis so it is more likely to land on NPCs now.* - Modified the proc chance on spell Lightning Channeling and Storm Channeling. Both of these spells now have an increased proc chance. - Sound of Divinity and Sound of Might will now use their own separate shared spell timer. - The spell enhanced learning can no longer have its duration increased by Alternate advancement skills and/or focus effects. - Flames of the Valiant and Flames of Redemption should now proc more often and be resisted much less often. - Protection of the Wild should no longer be overwritten by Strength of the Hunter.* - Spirit of the Panther and Spirit of the Leopard have been modified. NPCs were able to trigger the effects of these spells at a much higher rate then players. The rate of NPCs triggering these effects has been lowered to match PCs. Additionally, the base damage of the effect has been lowered, and the spell will now only land on PCs and pets that are a part of your group. - Removed the focus effect limiters from Persuasive Gaze, the focus effect found on the enchanter epic 1.5. It now works on any detrimental spells up to level 70 the same way the focus effect on the enchanter epic 2.0 does.* - Fixed a problem with focus effects that reduce hate. It was not using the highest effect if more than one focus effect was worn. - Dragon Fang and Leopard Claw will now generate less hate.

Items

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- Items that have a combat or clickable spell effect that was changed due to the spell changes in this patch have either had their proc rate adjusted to compensate or use a new spell to maintain their damage potential. - The Anguish chest pieces now have additional worn mods and a new spell focus effect. - The Anguish wrist pieces now have additional worn mods. - Mirrored Mask will no longer conflict with other recast timer based items such as the Soul Orb. - Hammer of Rancorous Thoughts is now a 39/25 weapon with a 225pt proc. - Dragonkiller is now a 34 (+2 magic)/21 weapon. - Mace of Grim Tidings is a 32/22 weapon. - Broken Mandible of the Broodqueen is now a 12/18 weapon and has a +5% mod to backstab. - Fang of Kessdona now has +12% mod to backstab. - Crescent Palemoon now has the focus Aneuk Glare. It also has +15 avoid, +4 spell rune and +4 regen. - Aegis of the Amber Moon now has +3 shielding, +4 dot rune, +6 regen. - Bladewhisper Chain Gloves of Journeys now has Cleave V as the worn effect. - Bladewhisper Chain Legguards of Journeys now has the focus of Alacrity of the Ikaav. - Summoned: Burning Shank should proc more often. - Eye of Yar`Lir is now called “Oculus of Yar`Lir”. - Bracelet of the Corrupter now has +2 mana regen. - Wristband of Spectral Corruption now has +2 mana regen and +20 attack. - Bracer of Corrupted Souls now has +2 mana regen and +20 attack. - Bracer of the Debauched now has +2 mana regen and +20 attack.

Missions, Quests & Events

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- Added the following new Dragons of Norrath missions House of the Autumn Rose (Norrath's Keepers Only) Plunder the Hoard (Dark Reign Only) A Goblin's Escort Halfling's Treasure Map Signal Fires Sudden Tremors These will show up on the usual mission givers once you have enough faction. - Modified the shards awarded for many of the Dragons of Norrath missions to better reflect how long they are taking to complete. - Changed the adventure “The Gilded Scroll” to fix some situations that could cause players to be unable to finish the mission. Now the Noble Kirin Scholar will not spawn before the real scroll is found. We also fixed a problem that could, in very rare cases, cause the real scroll not to be placed on an NPC. - The corrupted drake adds in the Vishimtar encounter will now respawn correctly after a failure. - Made a change to Burning Woods that should reduce the number of NPCs that get stuck under the world . This should make the hornets easier to find. - Increased the drop rate for the Collector's Fire Hornet Wing and Collector's Iksar Witch Doll. - We've extended the 6th anniversary scavenger hunt so that it will be available through Sunday, the 17th. - Changes were made to all Muramite Proving Ground trials. The major changes are: Adaptation is slightly easier, the trial of Ingenuity was significantly changed, and NPC resists in all single group trials were lowered. - Corrected a problem that was causing some NPCs in the Muramite Proving Grounds to show up in the wrong part of the zone. - In the Citadel of Anguish it's no longer possible to fight Arch Mage Vangl without completing the Keldovan, Jelvan, and Hanvar events first. - The Warden Hanvar encounter has been made more challenging; you may wish to bring some extra allies with you. - Beware, if you are too close to a wall the swarm adds in the Mata Muram encounter will spawn directly on top of you. - Increased the drop rate for the Tongue of the Zun’muram off Zun’Murum Tkarish Zyk in Txevu. - Changed the quest that gives alternative access to Txevu. When you hail the golem at the end of Inktu`ta it will check your items and flags and do the following: If you do not yet have a Qvic flag, the golem will give you the Splinter of the High Temple. If you do have a Qvic flag, the golem will give you whichever High Temple pieces you are missing. If you already have a Txevu flag, the Cipher of Txevu item, or all three fragments of the High Temple, the golem will ignore you. Likewise, when you complete the Qvic backflag, if you have the Splinter of the High Temple from completing Inktu`ta you will automatically receive whichever High Temple pieces you are missing. This change allows the combination of Inktu`ta and the Qvic backflag quest to count for Txevu access and the two can be completed in any order. This change is not retroactive. - A bug was fixed so that Alkron Wyrmsong will no longer give bards a cloth cap when an error is made during the quest for Epic 2.0

NPCs

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- Modified King Xorbb in Beholder. He will now drop Slime Crystal Staff 100% of the time. - Players can no longer attempt to give stacks of items to NPCs. The NPC would treat the stack as one item and you would lose the rest. There is now a check to help with people putting in a stack of items and losing them. - Items given to an NPC by a PC will no longer count as a Task item when looted. - NPC pathing code has been reviewed and some changes have been made which should prevent NPCs from becoming stuck and eventually becoming invisible. Please let us know if you see this happen any more. - The Cube Fragments in the Gates of Discord Sewer trials will no longer get stuck in the geometry. - The Soulbinder at the Firiona Vie outpost is now able to bind you to that area.

Tradeskills

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We have changed the chance to gain a skill up when using tradeskills. Previously there was a large increase in the average number of combines needed for a skill increase for skill values of 160 through 190. This made sense when 200 was the skill cap. We have changed the algorithm to remove the harsh spike in combines required for skill ups from 160 to 190, making it a more reasonable to increase all the way up to 300. For more details please see the post here: http://eqforums.station.sony.com/eq/board/message?board.id=Trade&message.id=5800 - Alabaster Beak and Ivory Stormrider Canine are now marked as usable in tradeskills. - Dragons of Norrath brewing items now drop off NPCs. They were only available through foraging before. - Added the race name to the Unfired Cookie Cutters. New item names are: Unfired Barbarian Cookie Cutter, Unfired Gnome Cookie Cutter, Unfired Troll Cookie Cutter and Unfired Animal Cookie Cutter. - Added the recipes for four cookie cutters for Luclin beasties. The sketches and molds should be easily found on vendors. - Added the appropriate effects to Dragons of Norrath potions. - The recipe for dough made from Rock Hopper Egg now uses Rockhopper Egg. It turns out that there were two items with similar names, but the one used in the recipe doesn't drop in game. - Removed the recipe for chain jointing that was used in Planes of Power armor. This recipe was removed because the jointing is no longer used in any recipes. - You will now only need to collect half the number of items for the level 65+ Vah Shir racial armor pattern book quest.

Server stability

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- We believe we have corrected the problem with the excessive server lag that has been happening in most raid zones. A guild from one of our live servers was willing to come over to our test server and verify the raid in pofire was working properly without causing the zone to lag out. They were able to complete many of the stages of the raid successfully and even multiple times without issue. There was one instance of a mob warping after getting in a bad location, but we have made vast improvements from its current state. We have also improved our logging code to better detect similar problems should they occur again in the future. Please let us know if you experience any problems related to this. - The memory leak problems that have recently been affecting the world servers has had much progress. Several memory leaks related to the previous update have been corrected, and server stability has improved measurably as a result. We will continue to monitor the servers closely for memory leak issues. - A zone crash in Chardokb related to the Korucust encounter has been fixed. - A zone crash related to guild tribute being toggled while a player was being charmed or feared has been fixed.

Chat filtering

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- Pet responses to commands (except for /pet leader) are no longer broadcast, but go only to the owner of the pet.* - Pet responses to commands can now have a selected color and be redirected to any chat window.* - Pet spell-casting messages can now have a selected color, be redirected to any chat window, and be filtered to not show at all.* - Assassinate, Deadly Strike, Slay Undead, and Finishing Blow messages will now be displayed in the Melee Critical message color and redirect/filter as other crits.*

Mail System

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- You now have quick access to all of your character mailboxes on the current server from any of your characters.

Title Suffixes

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- The title system now supports title suffixes. The first use of this new feature are the server titles.

Guild Hall (Guilds)

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- Added a guild tribute master to the guild hall. - The guild bank no longer accepts NORENT items. - Fixed a bug that allowed players with out the proper flags to remove items from the Guild bank. - Using any Eye of Zomm type spells in a guild hall will no longer take the client to server select.

Bazaar/Barter

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- Added and Augment pool and Augment Solvent Merchant in the Bazaar. - Added new search criteria to the Bazaar search: min level, max level. Any items which match all other search criteria, yet have a rec or req level outside the boundaries set in the new fields will not be returned by the search. - The barter UI code has been improved. There were some issues related to keeping the client properly synchronized with the server which have been fixed. It now more accurately tracks changes in inventory when multiple players are interacting with a buyer. Also, if a buyer has a LORE item, any buy-lines that require the LORE item will now automatically disable because the buyer would not be able to complete the transaction (because it would result in two lore items on the buyer). Previously this was causing a client-server sync issue that would result in a player being disconnected. - Barter Search Window: Right-clicking on the item sought by Buyers found in a search will display that item. You now have to right click on the Buyer's name to get the search path.

UI

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- Fixed an issue causing custom UIs to show bad data in unused buff slots. - The Task display now properly displays tasks with a large number of elements. - On character select, if you want to go back into the tutorial, just click the tutorial button below the list of characters. It is no longer a toggle button.

Miscellaneous

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- Increased the maximum level range spread for LDoN adventures from 7 to 10 so you can now group with someone 10 levels above or below you. - Critical heals now produce a message similar to other spells that crit. - Fixed corpse looting bugs for corpses that have been summoned or moved out of dynamic zones. - Closing multiple bags while using the bank no longer causes the client to crash. - The raid locking system had various bugs which are now fixed. Please let us know if you encounter any problems with the raid tool.

• Denotes a community request.

-- The EverQuest Team

April 20, 2005

Events

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• The Girplan Guardian encounter in the wizard epic had its difficulty lowered

to bring it more in line with other epic 1.5 fights.

• Rumors have been spread that the Ring of Scale have started to investigate the

new vampires of Mistmoore(RoS faction quest is in).

• Eryke Stremstin for the monk epic in the bazaar should no longer fall under

the world.

Items

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• Changed the name of the Basilisk Tooth to be Great Reptile Tooth.
• Changed the name of Racnar Hide to Great Reptile Hide.
• Great Reptile Teeth can now drop off crocs in Plane of Earth and Plane of Nightmare.
• Great Reptile Hides can now drop off raptors in Cazic Thule.
• Pile of Gravel can now drop off Gargoyles in Plane of Nightmare and the Hole.
• Tribute values on certain Kunark chest and legpieces has been decreased .
• Horn of Doomcalling now has +2 mana regen.
• Supple Crimson Choker now has a +2 mana regen.
• Clawhammer is now a 70 damage, 32 delay weapon.
• Many items with over 160hp in DoN raids and small events were incorrectly marked

with type 4/7 augmentation slots. These now have type 8 augmentation slots.

• Shed Ikaav Skin drop rate/locations adjusted to include Ikaavs in the Ruined City

of Dranik.

• Mindreaver's Shoes of Coercion now has the focus of Alacrity of the Aneuk.
• Earring of Dragonkin is now called "Earring of Wurmkin".
• Mask of Forbidden Rites is now flagged all/all.

Item Spells

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• Deafening Strike now increases the duration of Fellstrike Discipline.
• Ture's Anger now increases the duration of Blind Rage Discipline.

Spells

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• Lowered the duration of many fear spells cast by NPCs.
• Reduced the number of NPCs who cast fear throughout the game.
• Changed all PC pets over level 52 so they are once again immune to fear.
• Several spells were not set to the correct proc values in the previous update

to compensate for the change in pet base proc rates. The following spells have had their proc rates adjusted to be the same as they were before the previous patch:

Might of the Wild Spirits Savage Wildcaller's Blessing Hobble of Spirits Primal Fusion Elemental Conjunction

• Corrected the hate generated by the enchanter spell Howl of Tashan and the monk

ability Dragon Fang.

Miscellaneous

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• Added level up text for all levels between 11 and 70.
• A bug affecting skilling up in combat skills at all levels and tradeskills at low

levels has been fixed. Skilling up at these levels should be back to normal.

-- The EverQuest Team

May 11, 2005

Headlines

-Many quests in city zones that give XP as a reward now give significantly more. -Four new missions are available that take you back to Qeynos, Unrest, Befallen, and Hate's Fury. -Veteran's Rewards will be available on May 13th. You can find out more details about these rewards here. -The required levels on many spells level 50 and below have been changed so that all casting classes will now receive at least 1 new spell every level. -Great new functionality has been added to the mail system. Some of the major features are listed below, but also check the bottom of the patch message for details. -Multiple recipients, including a dynamically generated guild mailing list. -EverQuest mail forwarding. You can now have your EverQuest mail forwarded to the e-mail address registered with the station account of the character you are playing. NOTE: you cannot reply to the forwarded mail. -New Address Book. You can now setup mailing lists on your client and store your friend's addresses in your address book.

Spells & Skills

-Players who only have the first two ranks of the Spell Casting Fury AAs will now do double damage on a successful spell crit, the same as if they had the third rank. -Players who only have the first two ranks of the Ingenuity AA will now do double damage on a successful spell crit, the same as if they had the third rank. -DoT spells for nearly all classes have been adjusted to scale better as players gain levels. Additionally, most of these spells have had their casting time significantly reduced. A number of additional changes have been made. Please see in game descriptions for updated information. -Pet heals are now generally more efficient, have shorter cast times, and will remove poison and curse effects in addition to disease effects. -Frost Guard now has a 1 hour duration. -Rangers now gain the ability to triple attack starting at level 60. -Berserker's Frenzy skill now has a minimum damage cap starting at level 51. -The return on AC over the cap has been increased for monks, paladin, and shadowknights of level 50 and higher. -Based on player feedback, we have removed the notification to the caster that occurred whenever a heal-over-time spell made an exceptional heal and added new functionality to let the caster know when their spell has worn off. -All caster, priest, and hybrid classes now learn Meditation at level 1. -All priest and hybrid classes now learn Channeling at level 1. -All detrimental spells that have a duration will now notify their caster when they wear off. -All hybrid classes now learn Abjuration, Alteration, Conjuration, Divination, and Evocation at level 1. -All buffs that last at least 24 seconds and do not go to the short buff window will now notify their caster when they wear off. -Share Wolf Form will no longer have its buff timer decremented in the Guild Hall. -Shield of Notes and Dance of Blades will now properly reset if they fail to take hold. -Lich Sting and Reaper Strike now grant a buff to the group as well as the Shadow Knight triggering the effect. The benefit for the Shadow Knight will be significantly larger then the benefit to the rest of the group. -Kessadona's Flash of Insight is now known as Kessadona's Roar and has been changed to be a direct damage cold based spell.

Items

-Seal: Mastery of All is now no-drop on the Firiona Vie server. -A Gem-Etched Key was dropping off of common crocodiles in Plane of Earth. This erroneous drop has been removed. -The Rod of Shaded Wrath has been slightly upgraded. -Many items with over 165 hps were given type 8 slots instead of type 7 slots. -The Tainted Heartstone and Charm of Exotic Speech will now properly give full stats when all uncommon languages are mastered. -All flowers of functionality are now inventory clickable. -All armor and weaponry on the Dragons of Norrath vendors now have an additional type 9 augmentation slot. -New type 9 augments can now be found on the Dragons of Norrath vendors. -Some additional weapons on the Dragons of Norrath vendors are now rogue usable. -Blightbringer's Pants of the Grave now has the focus effect Venom of Anguish. -Improved the damage/delay ratio of some of the weapons on the Dragons of Norrath vendors. -Beaded Hoop of Demise now has +10 combat effects and +5 strikethrough. -Chains of Anguish now has the focus effect Avariciousness of the Ikaav. -Shroud of the Surging Storm now has the focus effect Avariciousness of the Ikaav. -Ring of Deterrence now has the focus effect Avariciousness of the Ikaav.

Quests & Events

-When Brevik Kalaner combines the high temple pieces to form the Cipher of Txevu, the player will now also receive Qvic access if they do not already have it. -When zoning into Kod`taz, if a player has the Inktu`ta high temple piece as well as Qvic access, they will now receive any other high temple pieces they may be missing. -Removed the large particle effects from King Gelaqua's room in Riftseekers. This should help with reported visual lag issues in that area. -Fixed a spawn issue in Firiona Vie involving Hero Goxnok and a Drachnid spy. -Guttertusk the Cruel has been spotted wandering the city of Dranik. -Raids in Gates of Discord dynamic zones now require a minimum of 12 people to start. -Corrected a problem that was causing the Kunark dragons to not drop their spells or, in the case of Trakanon, his teeth. -Vyril Nightfire in Mistmoore is seeking adventurers to help destroy the new inhabitants of the castle.

Tradeskills

-Added a new alchemy recipe to create Essence of Froglok. It can be made in much the same way as the other essences.

Missions

-We have made improvements to how mission rewards are given in situations where the mission was completed while a member was zoning, charmed, feared, or dead. -Your mission token or any item you receive at the completion of your mission will now automatically go into an open slot in your inventory. You will not see it on your cursor anymore. If your inventory is full then the token or item will be attached to your cursor the next time you zone. -Savil Tranquilsong has made an important breakthrough in his work uncovering the history of Unrest and is looking for adventurers around levels 55 to 70 to assist him. Seek him out in the Butcherblock Mountains if you are interested in helping. -Rumors have been circulating of increased activity around Hate's Fury and a growing discontent among the merchants of the Broken Skull Clan. A merchant in the Crypt of Nadox is looking to hire a few hearty souls around levels 55 to 70 to help keep the Clan in check. -Guard Freklin in Qeynos Hills has gotten himself into hot water after being caught sleeping on the job and is now stuck on gnoll watch. He is looking for adventurers around levels 15 to 35 to help him get back into the good graces of the guard. -The ancient necromancer Marnek Jaull has returned to the dark halls of Befallen and kidnapped the daughter of a paladin of Prexus for use in his evil rituals. Derin Mausrel, uncle of the kidnapped girl, has traveled to West Commons in search of adventurers around levels 30 to 40 to help him rescue his niece and destroy the necromancer once and for all.

User Interface

-There is a completely new interface for the chat filter. -The Bandolier "auto swap" will now maintain its state through relog. -There is a new Merchant Interface window. Items are now displayed in more intuitive list.

Miscellaneous

-Added Label EQType 134 - Currently Casting spell. Added it to Casting window. -Bug fix for entering the game by walking through the arch in explorer mode of character selection. If you were logged out in an instanced zone, you will not see multiple of each character if that zone was not up. -For servers that have movelog command enabled, players will now see what servers have their current name in use already. - We have changed the text description of certain flags on the item inspection window. NO DROP is now NO TRADE and NO RENT is now TEMPORARY. -Names above players/NPCs should now be visible at twice the distance they were before.

E-Mail Features

Audio and text notifications of new mail.

Mail Window -New Options and Address Book buttons. -The Options button brings up the options window (with the Mail tab selected). -The Address Book button brings up the address book window. -New "Reply All" button. -New "TO" field visible in the view pane (where you read your email). It shows all recipients, except those that are BCC.

Mail Composition Window -New "From" field that shows you who you are when sending an email.(Useful now that you can quickly switch between the mailboxes of your different characters on the current server). -You can now send to multiple recipients at once, by separating them with comas. You can also use an address book entry name. -When pressing "Reply All" from the Mail Window, the lists found to match exactly (both name and addresses) with an entry in your address book are compacted to the name only, other entries are written in full. -The Sync button is there to synchronize your TO field with your address book. This is mainly useful when replying to all: it helps you add new entries to your address book or update old ones. In the latter case, you will be notified of the differences: name differs by case, addresses removed, addresses added. The note field is preserved during the update.

Address Book Window -New window to edit your address book. -Fields for name, addresses and note. -Checkbox to make the entry name private, which means that during address expansion, the addresses will be written as if you had selected them individually, not in the mailing list format. -Automatic update of the "Guild" entry. [Transient (not saved) and read-only.] If you leave the guild, the entry disappears. If someone is added/removed from the guild, your address book is updated.

New Options Tab for the Mail System -Address book filename, configurable per character. -If you select an existing address book file, it loads it. -If you select a new filename, it creates it with the current in-memory address book state. -The address book can be edited by hand, or copied between installations.

Mail Forwarding Option. -When turned on, incoming email is forwarded to the email address you registered in your Station Account.

Revised Command-Line Syntax for Sending Mail -More than one recipient is now allowed. Use the comma to separate them. -If you need a space, for an example if you are sending to a mailing list that contains a space in its name, then you need to enclose the whole list of recipients between double-quotes. -To make a recipient BCC, precede it with a -. -Addresses written in the command-line are expanded according to the address book rules.

-- The EverQuest Team

May 18, 2005

Spells

- With the last patch, we made a change to the way that intoxication effects work so you are no longer completely immune to them if you have maximum alcohol tolerance. Instead, you now mitigate the effects based on your alcohol tolerance skill. Due to this change, intoxication effects have been reduced or removed from a number of detrimental NPC spells where they would now cause the encounters to be more difficult than intended. - Storm Guard and Frost Shield now have 60 minute durations. - Increased the range on Kessdona's Roar.

Missions

- Skrepiz Plaguebringer will now only appear when you have completed all previous requirements in the Rise of Marnek mission. - If you are on the mission to Unrest, Nisha Lightbrook will now respond to your first hail instead of requiring two hails for a response. - You will no longer be able to loot the notes for the Hate's Fury mission out of order.

Items

- Gloves of Wicked Ambition now have +5 to stun resist, +6 to dot shield, and +2 to mana regen. - Mirrored Mask now has a type 8 augmentation slot, by request. Now players can bind a focus augment to the item if they wish. - Gem of the Spring Wind from the good DoN camp is now named "Shard of the Spring Wind" and is now a type 7 and 8 augmentation.

Alternate Abilities

- Raised the cap on AA's so that those people who were maxed out can receive all of their Vet rewards. - The shape changing effects of the Jester of Bristlebane will now disappear after 10 minutes.

Code

Windows 98/ME: - Users with these operating systems should no longer experience the bug where there UI renders but the 3D scene does not when they first enter the game.

-- The EverQuest Team

June 29, 2005

A large patch was implemented today. Grab a coffee for this one.

Headlines

- Plane of Time Instancing! - Plane of Time has been fully instanced. Every raid that enters the zone will now get its own instance of the zone. - New Tutorial! - A new tutorial is now available, featuring new art, new models, new quests, and a new player experience that will take you from level 1 to level 10. - New Newbie Armor Quests! - New armor quests pick up where the tutorial leaves off, taking players from 11 to 20. - You can now invite players to your group across zones. We have enabled the ability to use the /invite command with a players name to allow you to invite someone that is not in your current zone. - "Auto Consent Group", "Auto Consent Raid", and "Auto Consent Guild" buttons have been added to the options window; when checked, your group/raid/guild will automatically be given consent to move any new corpses you drop. Items

- Ogre Femur Club is now monk and beastlord usable. - The tier1 and tier2 quested breastplates in Omens of War now have click effects that are usable from inventory. - The Rod of Mystical Transvergance and Summoned: Modulating Rod now both have a 5 minute item recast timer. This will give both items a visible indicator for the recast time of the rods when used in the UI. - The suffusive weaponry from the Trial of Ingenuity is now attunable. - The Longbow of Chaos now has a type 4 augmentation slot. - Haggard Trusik Shawl now has +15 int instead of +15 wis. - Plaguebreeze now has +4 regen, +20 attack, +1 shielding, and +5 avoidance. - The Dragonshade Mask now has the worn effect of Cleave V and the activatable effect of Assassin?s Blood. The recast time on the activatable effect has been changed to two minutes. - The Obsidian Battle Sword has a new graphic. - The Blade of Vesagran is now a one-handed slasher. Please petition if you have an augmentation that will not fit in your blade now that it has changed to a slasher.

Tasks, Missions, and Quests

- Increased the amount of time that a mission zone can be empty of players before it shuts down from 15 to 30 minutes. This should help groups who completely wipe out get back to the zone before it shuts down and resets. - If you are on the mission to Unrest, Nisha Lightbrook will now respond to your first hail instead of requiring two hails for a response. - Sleeping on the job: Gnoll Archers will now call for reinforcements if you have killed them before completing the previous elements in the task. - Sleeping on the job: Holinix, Djerr, Grarrax, - Fixed an error that was causing some tasks that had elements in Grimling Forest to be impossible to complete.

Events

- The Specter of Rage in Uqua will now accept the Orb of Rage again. - It should no longer be possible to get double-loot and double-lockout on the MPG Trial of Endurance. - The Vishimtar encounter has been retuned. Beware the cursed black dragon! - After Vishimtar's demise, Creeping Doom will fade and skeletons will cease spawning on player death. - Standing directly under Rikkukin when he fires off a directional attack is now a bad idea. - Lockout timers for Anguish bosses are now 4.5 days long instead of 4.9166666 (repeating, of course).

Skills, Spells * - Added new spells in the Spirit of the Panther line for Shaman at levels 50 and 57. - Added new spells in the Ward of Righteousness line for Clerics at levels 50 and 57. - Added new level 50+ fear spells for Clerics, Necromancers, Enchanters, Shadowknights, Bards, and Druids. - Added new melee guard Disciplines for Shadowknights and Paladins, both at level 56. - Added a new Point Blank Enthrall spell for Enchanters at level 68. - Added new spells in the Spirit of the Panther line for Shaman at levels 50 and 57. - Added new spells in the Ward of Righteousness line for Clerics at levels 50 and 57. - You'll have to convince Karsor the Mad to part with the above new spells. - Storm Guard and Frost Shield now have 60 minute durations. - Modified the Frenzied Burnout AA so that it now has a 15 minute reuse and will better stack with other strength and attack enhancing effects. - The mana regeneration portion of the Enchanter spell Breeze now scales from 5 at level 14 to 6 at level 20. - Fixed a stacking problem with Shadowknight and Ranger Self buffs that were being overwritten by the druid Hand of Ro line. - Increased the innate AC bonuses granted to level 66+ pets by focus effects. - Increased the melee damage bonuses provided by pet focus effects on level 66-70 pets. - Lowered the endurance cost on many Berserker Axe abilities and the battle cry line. - Refunded and removed Spell Casting Subtlety from Shadowknights. - Shock of Lightning was recently changed into a new spell, Icicle Shock. In answer to concerns from several players at the loss of Shock of Lightning, the spell has been returned to it's previous form. - Guard of Blood Recourse has been changed to a instant heal for 600 HP instead of 400 for 2 ticks. - Alternate Ability timers for newly acquired activatable AAs will properly initialize to allow for immediate use. - Veteran rewards on accounts that have no expansions now work properly. - Leadership assist ranges now have the same distance rules as the /assist command. - When rogues using Shroud of Stealth /con an NPC that can see invis but not shroud of stealth, they will now get a message telling them the NPC cannot see them but can see normal invis players. - Players will now receive 1 skill point in any new skills available when the reach a new level. - Spell hate for spells with a fixed amount of hate now include hate-focus effects. Previously, spells with fixed amount of hate assigned to them would disregard hate focus effects. - Fixed the issue with Wrath of the Wild that caused it to last until a rune expired.

Tradeskills

- Added a minimum chance to gain a skill up on many of the Dragons of Norrath cultural tradeskill recipes and many of the Omens of War augmentation recipes. This will make it easier to gain an increase in skill when doing these recipes in most cases where the character has a high skill. - Some Velium weapons can now be converted into small Velium bars by smiths. You will need to use the Velium Smithy Hammer in order to break down these weapons. - Speckled Pine Fruit can now be foraged. - Palm Leaf can now be foraged. - Added a recipe to create Rainwater Dressing. - Added a recipe to create Spiced Heartfruit Greens. - Midnight Stones and Sandstone Pearls can now be crushed in a Mixing Bowl, not a Mortar and Pestle. - Increased the stack size of Dragons of Norrath cultural Patterns and Molds to 200 (400 for wrist patterns and molds). - Caerlyna will now exchange Ice Cream Churns for tokens. - Added information to bag tokens that will tell the player some of the information about the bag they represent.

NPCs

- There is a new potion vendor in the Plane of Knowledge. He sells some nice new potions as well as some of the ingredients that alchemists will need to make those potions. - The Taskmistress Krisz encounter can now be triggered. Speak to the NPCs in Riwwi for more information. - Several NPCs in the Abysmal Sea are now more willing to chat. They no longer require proof of dedication to their cause. - New merchants have moved into Lavastorm. - Some of the Ferans in Riftseekers will drop Softened Feran Hides more often now. - Some of the Ferans in Riftseekers will drop Quality Feran Hides more often now.

Veteran rewards

- The Veteran Reward buffs are now immune to being dispelled. - The Veteran Reward buffs will no longer freeze their timers in the guild hall.

Optimizations

- File caching has been enabled which should yield performance improvements, especially on lower end systems when dealing with the UI (opening/closing windows, loading a UI, ...).

Exodus and Related Issues

- The exodus bug where a player could possibly die during the small amount of time after the spell is cast but before they actually zone, should now be fixed. We did the best we could trying to reproduce the situations that have been described to us and they have been fixed in our test cases. Please let us know if you continue to experience an issue like this. - Spells such as Exodus, have a chance to fail which happens for each person that gets hit by the spell. This means each person has a chance to not get ported. If you fail to get ported, you now receive a message notifying you of the failure. - Teleport bind(AA) will no longer leave the caster behind. If the spell is successfully cast, then everyone will be ported. Previously the caster had a 2% chance to not port.

Features Enabled for All

- The raid window is now available to all players. - The LFGroup windows are now available to all players. - Line-art mapping is now available for all zones.

UI

- The Potion Belt will now remain visible after zoning (if it was visible before zoning). - The advanced display options window has been enhanced substantially. Please note that the Advanced Lighting option is for video cards that support 1.1 Pixel Shaders and above. Also note that the advanced lighting is still being tested with some of our known player hardware configurations. If you experience any issues with it on, please turn it off. Not all hardware combination have been verified to be fully functional. For those that can use it, check out how cool the lighting looks in some of the old zones like the commonlands with the NPCs and their spherical light influences. It looks great. - The help window has been merged with the petition window.

Misc

- You will no longer get experience back from a corpse whose rez timer has expired when using the Veteran AA Expedient Recovery. - The level restriction for entering the tutorial has been changed to allow level 10 and under. - Fixed an old issue with particles. If you had your client running for 10 or so hours, some particle emitters would start to show huge particles.

Chat Channels

- There are now system owned, persistent chat channels and players will auto join some of these channels. Players level 20 and under auto join the "NewPlayers" channel, over level 20 auto join "General" and a class specific channel, and there are continent based channels as well. Auto joining channels can be disabled under the options window.

Pet Commands

- The "/pet follow" command works properly again. - The "/pet report" command works properly again.

July 13, 2005

Headlines

Trouble grows in Norrath! Dark Elves have been seen traveling the lands wreaking havoc as they pass. Cities are calling out to their citizens for help gathering supplies in preparation for possible war. Something big is happening in Norrath now as the Age of War continues.

Events

- Players should no longer be KOS to Killvak or the troll raiders in Barrenzin's mission "Trollish Bloodlust"

Spells

- Increased the damage, mana, and cast time of the Necromancer and Shadowknight spell Siphon Life to better fit the progression of the other spells of the same type. - Fixed a problem that caused Shadowknights to proc the wrong effects from Spirit of the Puma and Spirit of the Jaquar. - When a rogue /consider's an NPC that can see through normal forms of invisibility, and the rogue is hidden from the NPC due to their Shroud of Stealth, the player will continue to receive the "indifferent" consider message but will also receive the following message: "Your Shroud of Stealth keeps you hidden from watchful eyes." - We have fixed the gating issue when on a mount and you are in the same zone you are bound and your vertical location of your bind point is much lower than you are currently. You will no longer fall to your death. Yeah for falling! - When casting bind, your current heading will now be saved. - Dark Sieve and Dark Sieve Recourse now have 200 range.

Pet Focus

- Increased the innate AC bonuses granted to level 66+ pets by focus effects. - Increased the melee damage bonuses provided by pet focus effects on level 66-70 pets.

Items

- The new potions will now be level restricted as they were previously intended to be. - Some type 9 augmentations are now usable in the charm slot. - Plaguebreeze will now drop more frequently. - Removed Patorav?s Amulet from the "bonus" table on Overlord Mata Muram. - Mask of the Heretic now has 12 AC. - Blightbringer?s Cap of the Grave now modifies the Specialization: Conjuration by 12%. - Any type 9 augment that fit in a visible slot now is also a type 12 augment. - Jelvan has learned the technology of the printing press and will now distribute his writings more often.

Auto Consent

- Auto-consent raid, group, or guild will now auto-consent all future and existing corpses. If you turn off auto-consent then consent for your group, raid, or guild will be removed from all existing corpses. Please note that in order for a group member or raid member to be able to drag one of your existing corpses, they had to be in your group or raid at the time your corpse was created. This is the functionality that has always been in place.

Tasks and Missions

- The entrance to Everfrost is now a little easier to explore. - The issue preventing some groups from entering the Unrest mission has been fixed.

Graphics

- /viewport should work with Advanced Lighting on now. - We have fixed a common Reset Device error. - Fixed an issue with rendering trees and other alpha'ed textures when running on older hardware. - We have fixed a common crash with our DLL.

Particles

- We have made some fixes to the particle rendering. Some people were seeing square textures.

UI

- You can now use the "Enter World" button at character select if you are camped in tutorialb. - Merchants' items should now be sort correctly using the Quantity column.

Tradeskills

- Changed one of Chef Chowderly's recipes. Pan Seared Orange Tuna will now use a Non-Stick Frying Pan in the recipe instead of a Large Stewing Pot.

August 11, 2005

EverQuest - Live Update - 08/11/05

Headlines

Gukta is no more. The Trolls have retaken their ancestral home and torn down the remembrances of the Frogloks. The Guktans, suffering more than just defeat, have retreated into the Rathe Mountains. They have built a tent city to accommodate their needs, but there is something obviously wrong. Many of their friends and family were touched by the curse laid upon the battlefield by the Warlord Ykesha. These poor souls have been corrupted. They have been torn from the breast of Mithaniel Marr and grasped by the clutching claws of Innoruuk and turned to evil. Yet they are cousins and brothers to the remaining Guktans and so they live together, trying to make the best of their fate.

Items

- Ancient Mist Root Stone, Refracted Dusk Amethyst, Ancient Life Root Stone, and Refracted Dawn Amethyst are now usable in the hands and wrist slots. - All potions that were recently introduced now have a required level instead of a recommended level. - Lightning Singed Mantle now has 38 AC.

Missions

- Changed the required count for the kill and loot elements on the Dragons of Norrath mission "Diseased Pumas". This change was to fix a discrepancy between the number of items required for task completion compared to the number of kills and items looted that the task said you needed.

September 7, 2005

Headlines Eyes on Nektulos - From the saddle of her unholy steed, Lanys T`Vyl, the child of Innoruuk, surveyed the trolls' as they marched with all of their belongings and wares from Neriak, the dark elf city they called home for a time, to the city of Grobb in the Innothule Swamp. The frogloks had finally lost their foothold in Grobb and now the smelling, foul race of trolls had their home back.

She kicked her steed into motion and made haste through Nektulos Forest making a cursory survey of the lands and then turned to Neriak where dark fates would soon unfurl by her ebony hand.

Spells - Increased the duration on Divine Avatar. - Reduced the casting time on several swarm pet AAs. - Modified Intensity of the Resolute so it won't be overwritten by other, lesser abilities. - Using Cyclone Blade or Whirlwind Blade will no longer cause AE Taunt to be used up as well. - Telekara is now slightly harder to resist, giving it an equal resist chance to other spells in the same line. - Nature's Blight and Season's Fury now have 200 spell casting range. - Rhythmic Reflexes and Superior Rhythmic Reflexes had their double attack values switched. This has now been corrected. - Nature's Blight and Season's Fury will now not focus level 1 spells, including the Shadowknight ability Harmtouch.

Items - The dark side of the froglok?s can now wear the armor their culture made. - Modified the stats of numerous pieces of the cultural armor and the corresponding symbols. - After much chafing, and a few cracked ribs, the froglok have decided that gnome cultural armor is no longer wearable. - Blessed Reviver's Charm should now calculate its stats correctly if a non-wis caster is added to the group or raid. - All spell scrolls should now be stackable. Please note that if you try to scribe more than one spell scroll at one time by using a stack of spell scrolls, that you will receive an error message. You must use only one spell scroll to scribe a spell. - Ancient Mist Root Stone, Refracted Dusk Amethyst, Ancient Life Root Stone, and Refracted Dawn Amethyst are now usable in the hands and wrist slots.

September 13, 2005

Welcome to EverQuest: Depths of Darkhollow!

As Lanys T'Vyl and Firiona Vie crossed blades in Nektulos Forest, a failed curse exploded that shook the lands from sky to stone. When all settled, for a time there was no sound. Firiona, Lanys, their armies, all the beasts and creatures had vanished from the grove where the curse was bound. But down at the end of the forest river where it ducked under loose stone, a way into darkness was revealed -- passage into a subterranean world called Darkhollow.

For more details on what befell those in Nektulos Forest, see today's story entry!

~ Depths of Darkhollow Highlights ~

Monster Missions

- Have you ever wondered what it must be like to be a monster in Norrath? Now you can find out! Through Monster Missions, you are able to enter the bodies of a variety of characters and be transported into a different time to re-enact the past or play a critical role in Norrath's future. These missions are found in Darkhollow and other areas around Norrath, like Nektulos Forest and Butcherblock. - While you play in a monster mission, your main character earns experience and, quite often, rewards! The rewards you gain from monster missions appear in the inventory of your main character when the mission is successfully completed.

Spirit Shrouds

- Shroudkeepers have learned to channel spirits in the ethereal world. They are found in the Plane of Knowledge and can offer you the form of one of Norrath's creatures through a Spirit Shroud! The Shroudkeepers can transform you into creatures in various categories, like Undead or Animal. The Spirit Shroud itself changes your form and gives you a specific set of abilities, like a fighter or healer, depending on the shroud you picked. Once you've selected a shroud type, you can choose to play a creature of that type of any available level less than or equal to your own level. - While you adventure with a Spirit Shroud, you will gain experience for your main character. When you remove your shroud, the items you collected will appear in your Shroud Storage which is accessed at a banker. Also, as you use the Spirit Shrouds in a particular category you will gain enough knowledge and experience to unlock new forms.

Evolving Items

- As you adventure and advance in Norrath, you may find new items that will learn and grow right along with you! These Evolving Items change over time the more you use them, including their names and statistics. These weapons and worn items are marked as Evolving and will show their status in a percentage upon inspecting them. You can watch that status grow as you kill monsters! When it reaches 100 percent, presto, you will have the next level of your item!

Intelligent Items

- Imagine what some of your gear might say to you if it could talk. Now some will! Intelligent items, much like evolving items, are now found in Norrath and will show their status when inspected. As they grow, they change their statistics and even what they say. They can talk to you and, sometimes, people around you (you can customize these chat options). These items usually have something to say about your actions, so keep your eyes open!

Tradeskills

- The gnomes of Corathus have amassed a collection of new tradeskill items. You will find some vendors with books detailing javelins, food and drink, and new ways of doing spell research. Merchants who frequently traffic in high quality ore have been taking a keen interest in the new ores and minerals of Darkhollow and often have surplus available for purchase by others. - The new spell research is a totally different system that covers a large majority of spells that were found in Planes of Power, and Gates of Discord, though not all of them. The new system may seem more complex than the way you are used to doing spells, but is much more systematic than the previous system and will be more consistent. - Additionally, there are new highly powerful augments for cultural armor? One of the Gnomeworks is a bit damaged and if you have something of interest to him, he may be willing to help you with a way to make them. Good luck!

AAs

- New AAs are now available to players who own Depths of Darkhollow.

Spells

- New Spells are now available to players who own Depths of Darkhollow

~ EverQuest: Escape to Norrath ~

Are your friends bored now that the summer is coming to an end? Has their work, school, or in-laws plain taken the fun out of their days? If this is the case, invite your friends to Escape To Norrath to join you in your adventures throughout the world of Norrath. Our new tutorial, EverQuest: Escape To Norrath, is a FREE stand alone experience tailored around a fun and easy to learn introduction to the world of Norrath.

There are several ways to play Escape to Norrath:

- Invite your friends to play EverQuest with you by using the disk included with your Depths of Darkhollow box. Feel free to share this disk! - Our new EverQuest: Escape To Norrath website has a full download available, along with instructions on how to obtain account keys: http://escapetonorrath.station.sony.com/index.vm - Existing EverQuest players can play on the Escape To Norrath server by using the EscapeToNorrath.exe in their EverQuest directory. Join your friends and relive the experience of discovering the magic of EverQuest!

~ Other Update News ~

[EQ] Menu Button

- We have added new functionality to the UI. The window selector is no longer available. The functionality is now neatly folded and tucked away in the [EQ] Button. Clicking on the [EQ] button will extend a menu that includes the most vital and commonly used screens in the game.

AAs

- Based on player feedback, we?ve changed the way that Turn Undead and Turn Summoned work to make it more useful in normal grouping situations. Both abilities have been refunded and new versions are available for purchase. The new versions are 5-minute reuse, single-target DoTs that have a chance to do a massive amount of damage to the targeted creature when they land, likely destroying it in one hit. The core abilities are still level 59 class abilities and upgrades are available at level 65 for Planes of Power and level 70 with Depths of Darkhollow. - Due to the changes to Turn Summoned and Turn Undead, the AAs that decreased their reuse times are no longer applicable so they have been removed and refunded. - The duration of Divine Avatar has been increased to 3 minutes and the reuse time has been lowered to 36 minutes. - The reuse time on Rabid Bear has been reduced to 36 minutes. As part of this change, the ability will no longer have its duration increased by focus effects. Hastened Rabidity has been changed to lower the reuse on Rabid Bear by 4 minutes per rank. - Reduced the casting time on Wake the Dead and Army of the Dead. - Rhythmic Reflexes and Superior Rhythmic Reflexes had their double attack values switched. This has now been corrected.

Tradeskills

- Added some recipes to create Soy Sauce for the Chef Chowderly quest. - Modified the stats on numerous pieces of the Cultural Tradeskill armor. - The Salvage bug when using world containers has been fixed. - Tradeskill recipes that result in a LORE item that you already have and is not a tool will now block with a message.

NPCs

- High quality ore vendors will no longer fall for your tricks. - Volkara will now appear as a spider rather than a 20-foot human male. - NPC's in Halls of Honor should no longer gate home when there are too many pets in the nearby vicinity. - Made a minor modification to the Mata Muram script to fix a loophole in the gaze list logic.

Missions - Volkara will no longer grow in power if she is outside of her lair. Her encounter will now be the same no matter where she is fought. - Kessdona's manashard guardian adds should now activate correctly and in sequence. - Changed the required count for the kill and loot elements on the Dragons of Norrath mission ?Diseased Pumas?. This change was to fix a discrepancy between the number of items required for task completion compared to the number of kills and items looted that the task said you needed.

Quests

- The Ancient Sebilite Protector in Sebilis should no longer double-spawn his helper-golems, and the event should despawn / reset normally again.

Items

- All arrows and throwing items now are max stack size of 100. - All spell scrolls should now be stackable. Please note that if you try to scribe more than one spell scroll at one time by using a stack of spell scrolls, that you will receive an error message. You must use only one spell scroll to scribe a spell.

Spells

- Modified Intensity of the Resolute so it won?t be overwritten by other, lesser abilities.

Tutorial

- In case you missed it above, the tutorial has changed. Not only have we added new content and made it more user friendly and streamlined, we actually made it a standalone experience you can give to your friends to learn how to play EverQuest. Please refer to the EverQuest: Escape To Norrath website for more details: http://escapetonorrath.station.sony.com/index.vm

UI

- There are now 4 Hotbutton windows that can be visible at the same time. Use the Options window to set keys for showing/hiding the windows, as well as setting keys for the individual Hotbuttons in them. Note to skinners, your old skin should work for the single Hotbutton window contained in it, but you'll need to update to see more than 1. - Item Links have changed format. - Bazaar search results, when the item is viewed, should now show the correct number of charges for charged items. - The Task Select window now autoselects the first task in the list. - The Guild Management Window level display bug should be fixed. - Changing video modes should no longer clear the Find window list. - The Find Window now generates a Find path once a target is selected.

Miscellaneous

- Added new level gained text for lower level characters. - A fully looted corpse will remain in the game as long as there is experience that can be regained through an experience rez or until the experience rez timer has expired.

Special Thanks

The EverQuest Team would like to warmly thank all the people who participated in the Depths of Darkhollow Beta. All your feedback, patience and good spirits have been really invaluable to us and the EverQuest community as a whole. Without your efforts, Depths of Darkhollow would not be possible.

September 15, 2005

Spells

- Modified Abundant Healing so it should no longer have stacking problems with other regeneration effects.

Items

- Placeholder items inside Monster missions will now display the highest level reward for reference.

- New tradeskilled javelins in Depths of Darkhollow now have required levels. Some of them are now flagged as beastlord usable.

- Slipgear's Gem will now properly calculate its stats based on the tasks you've completed for Cartographer Slipgear.

Miscellaneous

- Fixed general login related issues.

- Fixed an issue that prevented Lore and Magic items from dropping on Monster Missions on Firiona Vie.

- Fixed an issue that caused quest and tradeskill recipes that resulted in an item of the same lore group as a component of the recipe from combining properly.

-- The EverQuest Team

September 16, 2005

Skills

- Language skills can now be advanced pass skill level 32 again.

Miscellaneous

- Fixed a bug with monster mission shrouds and their abilities.

- Fixed a problem that allowed the boar mount to go into dungeons.

- Mounts will sink when in water as they should.

- Fixed an issue with the /who command when people are shrouded.

-- The EverQuest Team

September 21, 2005

Missions

- Lockout timers for missions are now fixed. You will no longer get the 50+ day lockout timers. Those that have these long lockout timers need to log those characters into the game to have those timers reset automatically for them. There is no need to petition to get them reset, they will be reset automatically.

- Orvin in West Commonlands should port players with the Zanivar quest.

- The chance that you would loot the required items for the mission Desert Crawl was increased.

- Corgoth has remembered his obligations and has returned to the Norrath?s Keeper faction.

- Adjusted the experience reward for some of the monster missions to be more in line with the time it is taking to complete them.

- Kathi Norman is on vacation. She will return to help Griffins find their eggs as soon as she can. (ooc: The mission she gave was just too easy and is being retrofitted with more fun and challenge).

- Lowered the difficulty of Warlord Drellak in the second mission of the Walls of Xill mission line in Stoneroot Falls.

- Some mission givers in Stoneroot Falls will now see through invisibility. You may now communicate with them while having invisibility up.

Items

- Evolving items that had the same recommended and required level will now only report the required level.

- Some Illsalin level 70 hard mission items have been slightly upgraded.

- A few belts throughout Darkhollow now increase the size of your potion belt.

Quests

- A few quest combines that had a lore result were failing. These should now work properly. In some cases, you will still have the container when you are done with it. Do with it what you want. This includes the combines for the Ranger and Druid epic 2.0 that were eating their containers.

- The unbridled fury of Korbuk Brimblade will no longer bring unwanted lag to Noble's Causeway.

Shrouds

- Modified the experience scaling for Spirit Shrouds, Evolving Items, and Leadership Abilities to grant more experience at lower levels.

AAs

- The AA description for some of the new DoD AAs will now show the proper required level.

Tradeskills

Eureka! Players can now learn some of the Depths of Darkhollow recipes that were so forgettable.

- Nest Drake eggs now work with normal flour.

- The new snake eggs found in Darkhollow make scrumptious dough, noodles, egg batter, and snake egg oil.

- We have fixed an issue with a tradeskill combines where the container is lore and is also given back to the player after the combine is completed. You will now be able to complete these combines again.

- The EverQuest Team

October 12, 2005

Headlines

A new edition of the city newspapers is hot off the presses. See your local Town Crier!

Lesser Faydark and Mistmoore Castle have been returned to their previous states.

Missions

- The mission, Brownies of Doom, has been made easier. We will continue to monitor this mission to see if it remains too difficult or too long.

- A character that is out of the instance when one of the five Curse of Blood raids is completed can get their ?flag? and AA by zoning back in before the instance shuts down. There was a bug with the mechanism that handed out the AAs in this case and that has been fixed. The ?flag? was being given out properly on zone in.

Quests

- Many of the guests of Dreadspire were very easily satiated. Their hunger has grown and they can be fed more often.

- Ergrez Shortpaw in Iceclad now asks for Fatty Walrus Meat instead of Walrus Meat.

- There are reports of bandits robbing the Cargo Clockwork in Steamfont. Speak to Jarah in Ak`Anon to find out about the Cargo. (Cargo Clockwork?s quest should now work properly)

Spells

- Shield of Dreams is now a 451 pt. rune

- The triggered effect caused by Fickle Shadows will now only effect spells which do not have a duration. I.E. instant direct damage spells.

- The charges on the mage summoned Sphere of Air have been increased to 5. The spell that summons this item has also had its mana cost increased.

- The ATK bonuses for Ward of the Hunter, Howl of the Predator, and Strength of the Hunter have been replaced with Double attack bonuses.

AAs

- The casting times on several of the wizard AA familiars have been removed.

- Dragon Punch has been changed to a physical resist check, it should now be resisted less often.

Items

- The worn damage shield cap has been increased from 15 to 30.

- The following augmentations now have solvents: Stone of Focused Rage, Heart of Darkhollow Wilds, Darter Stone and Solidified Shadow Spine Magical Taint.

- The Illsalin Royalty Garment now has the click effect of Shield of Auras.

- The Shiliskin Good Luck Charm will now yield a lower max value.

- Pristine Illsalin Stonecraft Mask now has +3 regen and mana regen instead of Composure.

- The Berserker Epic 1.5 and 2.0 effects have been modified. They now increase crit rate, strength (and strength cap), and regen health for the duration of the effects.

NPCs

- Entalon in the burning woods will now take you to his master on completion of his quest.

- Though she has lived in Neriak since she was born, Ungia has decided to move to Grobb to follow the customer base she acquired during the troll exile.

- Graktar in Iceclad is waiting for a letter from Vkjor in Kael Drakkal.

- Earthcaller Stones should now appear in Shadeweaver's Thicket. This is related to a quest from Captain Karim.

- Sentry Kedra Kai of Shadeweaver?s Thicket will now reward players for adventuring into the Paludal Caverns.

Tradeskills

- Alchemists no longer automatically throw a tantrum and destroy the small vials used to make some potions if they fail to make the potion.

- Scrindites Mechanoinstruction Reader should now work as described in the book.

- The page needed to make the Unfired Scrindite?s Holepunch Mold has been moved from Poxysmit's Book to Scrindite's Book.

- Potters Unite! There are new culturally inspired charms made using the pottery skill. Consult the merchants that sell the culturally inspired books for a new book.

- Refined high quality ore can now be converted between block, large bricks and small bricks.

UI

- A done button has found its way back onto the Merchant Window.

Note: The updated UI that is currently on test will be pushed live in the next few weeks.

Leadership Points

- You will no longer lose leadership points if you are shrouded much lower than your regular level and you gain enough leadership experience to gain another point.

Atlas

- Depths of Darkhollow has been added to the atlas.

Miscellaneous

- The AC cap has been increased for bards levels 50+.

- The return on AC over the cap has been increased for clerics levels 50+.

October 27, 2005

Headliners

New Default UI Skin

- We have updated the default UI skin with new art and icons! This is the same artwork that has been on display on our Escape to Norrath server (www.escapetonorrath.com) and our test server. For those of you that prefer to use the old default UI Skin, you can type /loadskin default_old in your chat window and it will allow you to use the old default UI.

Events and Seasonal Festivities

- Zigan Ribshard in the Plane of Knowledge has a few friends he?d like you to meet. Speak with him for more information regarding seasonal festivities.

Community Summit Related Items:

- There is a new filter option on the guild bank to narrow your search. - Added a "guildbank" argument to /outputfile, allowing a player to dump the guild bank to disk. NOTE: This can only be used in the Guild Hall. - Players should now be able to withdraw items from the Guild Bank deposit area (if they're a Guild Banker). - Added Stun and Strikethrough filters/color selectors. - Players now have an option in the options window to determine whether or not they want other players to see them with their helm. "Show My Helm" - EverQuest now uses the system mouse. While in windowed mode you can freely move the mouse around as you can with any other application running in a window. Mouse pointer customization can be done on a UISkin level. Just make your own .cur files with the appropriate names. (Please see the default directory for the .cur names.) - There's a new command to launch a web browser from the chat window. Just type /www and check it out. Also for additional flexibility, /url is available. - There's a new command to launch an application. Check out /system for usage.

New arena zone headed to Stormhammer!

- Please be aware that if you login to Stormhammer and download the new arena.eqg, that file will need to be deleted if you want to login to a server other than Stormhammer. This file is located in your EverQuest root directory.

- Raid invites can now be done across zones via "/raidinvite name" - Bandaging other players will appear to give a healing effect again.

Audio Triggers

Audio triggers are sound effects that are played when certain patterns appear in the chat window. You can make audio triggers to play any sound you want when something you want to be sure not to miss appears in the chat window. This might be /tells from specific friends, certain buffs fading, or any other event you can think of that has a text message associated with it. The window used to configure your Audio Triggers can be accessed via the EQ button -> Actions -> Audio Triggers.

There are a couple key ideas that make up Audio Triggers.

Audio Triggers are a collection of text patterns associated with a sound effect. The window shows a list of all active audio triggers. They are sorted by priority so that the first pattern that matches text in the chat window will be the one and only sound that is played. This allows patterns to be made, for example, "tells you" and "yourbuddy tells you" that may have different sound effects. The "Move Up" and "Move Down" commands allow you to control which patterns will be tested first.

Creating a new trigger is a simple matter of typing text in the "Pattern" field, selecting a sound in the "Sound" control, and pressing "Create".

The other controls include:

• Apply - changes the sound selected for the current pattern. Note that changing a

pattern requires a new pattern to be made.

• Play - plays the currently selected sound again.
• Delete - delete the currently selected trigger.

Trigger Sets

Trigger Sets are similar to choosing a UI skin. Each trigger set represents a set of patterns associated with sounds that is stored on a per-character basis. You can switch trigger sets by selecting the drop-down control and selecting among the listed options. Unless you have installed custom Audio Trigger sets, you will only see the "default" entry.

Each trigger set is stored as a folder in the AudioTrigger folder in your EverQuest directory which can contain .wav files unique to that trigger set. The goal here is to provide a way for the player community to create and share their own Audio Trigger sets that people find useful for different classes or play styles, much like they have done for custom UI skins.

An example of a useful trigger set may be a set of patterns There are many possibilities. Due to the differences in play styles, there is no way to predict what settings people might prefer so the default settings are empty. We encourage players to discover and share ways to make this a fun part of their gameplay.

Notes on customizing Audio Triggers:

• Any .wav files found in the folder .\AudioTriggers\shared will be made available

to all Audio Trigger sets in the Sound selection control. You will probably want to put most of your custom sounds in this folder, unless you are making custom Audio Trigger sets.

• Creating a new Audio Trigger set is similar to making a new UI skin. It's not

complicated but it's not built into the UI. Create a folder in .\AudioTriggers\NewTriggerSetName and put any .wav files specific to this trigger set in there, and you will be able to start using the new trigger set the next time the program is started.

• User settings for each Audio Trigger set can be found in

.\userdata\AT_TriggerSetName_CharacterName_ServerName.ini. You can copy these files to other characters as needed. You will probably want to include a sample of this if you make an Audio Trigger set that you plan to share because this is what contains all the details on each specific trigger pattern and sound.

The above instructions are available in-game via the help button on the audio triggers window.

Shrouds/Monster Missions

- Tribute will now be properly disabled when in shrouded form. - GuildTribute is now properly disabled when in shrouded form. - You cannot guild invite someone who is shrouded. - Adjusted the power scaling of Spirit Shrouds level 55 and above. As you unlock higher tier shrouds you will see a larger difference in their power level.

Items

- Light Amphibian Hide Slippers now have the effect "Form of Protection" - Cultural Charms will now be able to receive augments. - Whisps of Potameid Hair will now drop occasionally from some of the Potameids in Jagged Pine. - The experience required on many of the intelligent items has been reduced significantly to bring them more in line with evolving items.

Tradeskills

- Charm Patterns now stack better! - Players will now be able to make journeyman?s charm patterns instead of cloth caps! - The spells Night Stalker and Night's Beckon now use the proper thickener. - Saltpeter and Crystallized Sulfur should drop about 10 times as often as they did in the past. - Pan Seared Orange Tuna will no longer magically transform your non stick frying pan into a stew pot if you make a mistake while making it. - Radiant Titanite of Quickening and Pure Quickening can now be made by rogues. - Scribe Rikik in Rathe Mountains found the inventory that he had lost during the move from Gukta. - The spell Light of Order will now use the proper ink. - The Darkhollow Geode task changed. Only Artisans will accept the Geode.

NPCs

- Cartographer Slipgear is reviewing his notes and discovered that some of his maps are not properly accredited. Speak with him if you have provided him with a map but not received credit for it. - The Knight of the Dread Sun will now make his appearance more often. - Atheling Plague has decided that heights aren't to his tastes, so he has left his tower.

Quests

- Added a new quest to reward players for completing the mission story arcs in Darkhollow. Speak with the old shiliskin fortune teller in Undershore for details.

UI

- There is now a button on the Options/Display page to "turn off" your helm?s graphic. - You will now see all text color options. - If you cancel a coin selection and then attempt to select crystals instead, the crystals will now appear on your cursor and not the coin.

Miscellaneous

- You will now be able to remove gold from your shared bank or regular bank if you die with an item on your cursor. - When using Find to find the Fishing Supply merchant you will no longer lock up. - Seru's animations are now fixed. - If a character dies while LD, Charmed or Feared the corpse can will be able to be dragged by the appropriate people. - We have fixed any remaining issues with setting a portion of your experience to go to AAs and then losing regular experience. - Client stability fix. This specifically happened while raiding with many many different types of particle clouds being used. - The issue involving the loss of a portion of a player's mana, hitpoints, and endurance after zoning is now fixed. - We have fixed the issue involved with the loss of half a player's mana, hitpoints, and endurance after zoning from a death. - Added some additional logging and error-checking to the Plane of Time. These changes should address the issue where an instance would not progress past Phase 1 in some circumstances. - Numerous raid management systems fixes have been made.

Chat

- Players in shrouded form will not auto-join class chat channels.

Pets

- Pets will once again receive HP from their items.

Regen

- Regen will work properly after becoming your main character after being a shroud. Iksars rejoice.

PvP

- You can no longer loot an item from someone else's corpse if you kill them in an arena.

Evolving Items

- You can now see the final result after adding an augment to an item.

Spells

- Detrimental spells will not be marked as used if used in a non-combat zone like PoK. - Several Ranger spells have been modified once again:

• Ward of the Hunter - Replaced the ATK bonus, lowered the double attack bonus to 3%.
• Howl of the Predator - Replaced the ATK bonus, lowered the double attack bonus to 3%.
• Strength of the Hunter - Replaced the ATK bonus, removed the double attack bonus.

- Greater Familiar is no longer an instant cast spell.

Skills

- Berserker axe throwing skills have had their timers modified. The stun and snare type abilities will now be on one timer, and the jolt and volley sets will be on another.

November 1, 2005

Halloween Events

- Corrected an issue with character flagging in the Halloween events. Previously only the Trick-or-Treat event and the "Out with the Old" mission were giving credit for completion. - Due to the issues in the Halloween events the time they will be available has been increased. The events will now remain available until the morning of Monday, November 14th.

Tradeskills

- Artisan Dosan Vis'Moor, Vivian Selgan, and Gart Okken should now be accepting items for the tasks that they give.

Miscellaneous

- Zoning out from the Corathus Mines will now place you at the location from which you zoned in. - Addressed character creation issues on Firiona Vie. - Corrected several issues with Veteran rewards.

November 16, 2005

Depths of Darkhollow

Many of the single group attainable rewards from the Depths of Darkhollow expansion have received significant upgrades. This includes more than 1,000 items from all over the expansion. Also, to allow players who have deleted items a chance to get them again, the rewards you get for completing a mission the first time are now given to you whenever you complete the mission and do not already have the reward.

We've also made many tuning changes to the DoD missions to provide a smoother ramp up in difficulty over the course of the expansion. In general, earlier missions are now a bit easier and missions further into the expansion are now a bit more challenging, particularly the hard level missions.

New Monster Missions

- A gnollish zealot has been spotted near the bridge in South Karana. He speaks of the rift within Paw and the final whereabouts of the son of Ishva Mal. Perhaps there is still hope for the prisoners within. - The Solusek Mining Company has begun recruiting clockwork pilots for a special mission. Report to Clockwork Commander Widgetsworth in Lavastorm for further details.

Spells

- Several of the abilities used by NPCs in the Demi-Plane of Blood have been modified. - The Enchanter spell Apathy of the Nihil has been replaced with Dreary Deeds, an upgrade to Forlorn Deeds. - E`ci's Frosty Breath and Glacier Breath are now much harder to resist. - Blood of the Spire is now a more potent mana preservation focus. - Ravenous Hunger has been changed. It is now named "Ravenous Sloth" and is a 40% duration extender on the spell "Lingering Sloth". - The Aura of Arcanum line of spells should now have the correct spell description.

Items

- Pumpkin lovers rejoice! Pumpkin items now stack. - The spell Servant of Marr now properly requires Ink of the Companion. - Some of the ores that did not stack before now stack. This is from a list provided by the community. - The drop rate on Shards of Dark Matter has been increased. The high-end Gates of Discord bosses will now drop at least one of them every time they are killed. - The weight on all versions of the Mask of Horror for the Halloween event has been decreased. - Ensorcelled Great Sword of the Night should now proc correctly for players at level 55 and greater who can wield the sword. The Greatsword is also more visually imposing. - All none/none flagged containers in the game are now flagged as all/all. This should fix some issues with containers not showing up in varied item searches in the bazaar and item point vendors. - Some of the "Last Blood" augmentations now have stronger focus effects. - Darkhollow Constitutional will now return a normal cork, not the dissolving kind. - Statuette of the Tranquil is now called "Amice of the Tranquil" and is a shoulder slot item. The AC has been increased and the avoidance has been replaced with accuracy. - Woven Shadow Shroud is now called "Woven Shadow Stone" and is a range slot item. The item now has points in backstab damage. - Razorsharp Shortsword is now not usable by berserkers. - Dragon Scale Tiara is now named "Dragon Scale Eyepatch" - Azure Sleeves of the Diplomat and Azure Cowl of the Diplomat have lost their +attack bonus. - Azure Slippers of the Diplomat have lost their attack bonus and have received a +2 to mana regen. - Eulogy, the Bloodthirsty Blade now has higher hit points. - Bard instruments will drop less frequently in the Demi-Plane of Blood and a maximum of once per kill. - The Insidious Hooded Cloak now has its specialization modifier set to alteration instead of conjuration. - The Ancient Werewolf Skull evolving item now has augmentation slots at each stage in evolution. - The Sharpshooting VI spell effect on Soulseeker, Death's Sigh is now worn instead of combat. - The Polished Chitin War Horn now has an augment slot. - Ancient Cudgel of Slaughter now has resistance modifiers. - Though it is still magnetic, a magnetic metal brick will no longer stick to your hands.

Missions, Tasks * - Adjusted the experience reward for monster missions to better reflect the amount of effort the mission requires. Missions that could be finished very quickly are now worth less experience and missions that are taking longer to complete are now worth more experience. - High Seas Rogues have regained the ability to evade! - All Drachnid Hive level 65 missions should now give out the appropriate one time rewards. - Artisan Dosan Vis?Moor, Vivian Selgan, and Gart Okken should now be accepting items for the tasks that they give. - Additional text has been added to the "Investigate a Disappearance" task that begins in Freeport that should help clear up a confusing spot late in the task. - Aid Fimli in the Plane of Knowledge will now reward you with a cloak of lesser pernicity that matches the stats of the original cloak of greater pernicity. In addition the cloak of greater pernicity has been changed to be no drop. - The Misty for You quest now works properly.

UI

- The GuildManagement window has a new tab "Information", which contains the MOTD fields, as well as two new fields for Guild web URL and Guild channel specification. These new fields are changeable by the Guild leader only.

Tradeskills

- The spell Light of Order will now use the proper ink. - Poison Vials made with Crows Special Brew now show properly in the Tradeskill UI. - Players baking with pumpkin will now get their tools back when they mess up. - Players making Spiced Pumpkin Cider no longer have to hold it in their hands. The recipe now requires a bottle.

NPCS

- The Knight of the Dread Sun will now make his appearance more often. - Fixed an issue in Dreadspire that could cause some of the residents of the crypt to aggro through the roof. - Ogres will now be able to get the thread for their cultural armor without having to fight off guards.

December 13, 2006

Warping Fixes

- Fixed the Eye of Zomm warping bug. - Fixed a warping bug while being charmed/feared.

Titles

- Corrected an issue that prevented server-based suffixes for the Cazic Thule server from being displayed properly.

- The EverQuest Team

December 21, 2005

Tradeskills - Fixed a tradeskill exploit.

Miscellaneous - Pathing changes were made to Dreadspire and the Demi-Plane of Blood to mitigate NPC warping.

- The EverQuest Team

January 18, 2006

Highlights

- M.C. Tinkerton bids all in the Plane of Knowledge farewell as he packs up his Clockwork Party Machine and heads for home. - The issue where player pets were attacking other players when hit by an AE spell has been fixed. Thanks to all those that helped provide information about this issue.

EQPlayers

- The leaderboards now exclude tribute, guild tribute, food and drink bonus, and leadership abilities. - /paperdoll will now auto-update your current character's profile with a real-time screen shot of your character. - Guild rosters will update more frequently and remain in sync with the game more reliably. - There are a couple new menu items under the character menu. One will perform a full update of your character much like the slash command does and the other will open a web browser to your current character's profile. - There is a new option in the option window to disable the auto-update feature to the EQPlayers site. - Characters will stay up-to-date better.

Misc

- The issue that some people experienced with being able to cause other people to sit when they sit has been fixed.

Follow-Up to the Tradeskill Vendor Error (January 18, 2006):

This morning we had an error with the update that resulted in merchants, and subsequent items, in the Plane of Knowledge that should not have been appearing in the world. In order to address this we will be performing selective and aggressive rollbacks of certain characters throughout the day. There will be multiple phases and some characters may be subject to multiple adjustments. If you believe that you have been involved in any way (even indirectly) then please consider holding off your playtime until tomorrow. We apologize for the inconvenience and we are resolving this in the most complete way possible while minimizing the impact on the majority of the customers.

February 21, 2006

Headlines

- Prophecy of Ro Launches! - The Desert of Ro and the city of Freeport have been revamped - Alchemy system has received an overhaul - New Hot Zones

Prophecy of Ro Launches!

As a demi-god, Mayong Mistmoore -- the greatest vampire ever known -- is threatening Norrath and its gods. Druzzil Ro, the goddess of Magic, has seen the future and the darkness that lies ahead. Now, the time has come to heed Druzzil Ro?s calls as she opens the planes of Rage and Magic and a passage through time to the long lost Elddar elven city of Takish-Hiz. Draw your swords and prepare your magic to face the greatest fight of your lives.

The full story is available in-game in your Storyline window.

Prophecy of Ro Features

- Spheres of Influence - Spheres of Influence will appear in expansion zones as visual effects, like soft blue lights, whirling winds, or spinning axes. Any player or non-player character that enters the area of the sphere is subject to its effects. In order to see Spheres of Influence, you must have Player particles enabled in your display options.

- Auras - Players can create Spheres of Influence called Auras. There is an Auras window available in the Character section of your EQ menu which shows your currently active auras and gives you the ability to remove them with a right-click. Player auras are available through mission rewards and events much like spells. In order to see Auras, you must have Player particles enabled in your display options.

- Destructible Objects - Destructible objects, like walls, doors, and siege engines, are used in many of the new expansion zones. These are terrain objects that have a health points which can be depleted and, when the object has reached low enough health, it will crumble and break. As you damage the objects you will see it break down until it is completely destroyed. You can identify an object that is destructible because it will pulse when you put your mouse over it.

- Zone Traps - Traps in EverQuest are now represented by objects that can be seen or hidden. As you would expect, traps trigger if you move into their range and you or your party, and sometimes the entire zone, can be affected by them. Rogues and bards have the ability to sense traps, reveal them to those around them, and disarm them. All traps in the game have been converted to use this new trap system.

- Player Traps - Traps are available to players in the same way as spells and abilities, through specific quests, mission rewards, and off spell or discipline vendors. Once a trap has been memorized, it can be created by using the spell or discipline. The trap will remain in the area it is summoned until it is triggered, disarmed, removed by the player who set it using the new Remove Trap skill, or expires.

- Buff Filters - Players can now filter beneficial spells cast upon them and their pets. By right-clicking on any active buff showing in your Effects window, you can select to remove it and/or select that it will never be allowed to take effect on your character again. Pet owners can also click off buff icons in the Pet window and apply filters to them. The list of spells being blocked can be found in the Blocked Buffs or Blocked Pet Buffs windows in the Character section of your EQ menu.

- New Bank Space - Available bank space has been increased by 8 slots.

- /Claim Item - If you have received the Prophecy of Ro /claim item from the retail box, Stable Ward Kyle in the Bazaar may be able to help you use it to upgrade your old horse to a warhorse. Paladins or Shadowknights who have the Holy or Unholy Steed AAs and the /claim item can upgrade their special mounts to a warhorse by visiting Stable Ward Rames as well.

- New Tradeskills - Event Coordinator Baublie Diggs has a test for you to prove your abilities!

See the Prophecy of Ro manual (Prophecy_of_Ro.pdf) downloaded to your EverQuest directory for more information!

--Live Updates--

Zone Revamps

- Freeport has been redone. East, West, and North Freeport have been replaced with a brand new East and West Freeport. All your old friends should still be there and more.

- Desert of Ro recreated. North Ro, Oasis, and South Ro have been replaced with a new North Ro and South Ro. Watch out for Sand Giants while checking out the new scenery.

New Guild Functionality

- There is now an "Alt" button to flag a member of the guild as an alt character (this can be done by an officer on anyone, and by anyone on themselves).

- The "Hide Alts" button will hide anyone in the guild list who is flagged as an alt. This defaults to off.

- A "B" is no longer appended to the status of bankers. Instead there are two new columns, Banker and Alt, which have the status in them. You can sort by either Banker or Alt by clicking on the header.

New Raid Functionality

- There is a new raid loot option: Entire Raid. This will allow any raid member to loot NPCs killed by the raid.

New Hot Zones

- The time has come to once again update the "Hot Zones" throughout Norrath. The previous zones have been reverted to their former states and the following zones are now a great place to go for experience and fun:

Level 20: Najena Level 25: Iceclad Ocean Level 30: Rathe Mountains Level 35: Frontier Mountains Level 40: Gulf of Gunthak Level 45: Velketor's Labrynth Level 50: Fungus Grove Level 55: Old Sebilis Level 60: Cazic Thule

Spells

- Increased the duration and lowered the mana cost of Talisman of the Tribunal.

- The Test of Efficiency spell should no longer conflict with Peace of the Disciple or Grace of the Order.

- Increased the damage and lowered the mana on Touch of Inruku to better match the rest of the spell line's progression.

AAs

- The way that the wizard AA Mana Burn works has been modified. The new version will use a maximum of 3000 mana instead of draining your whole pool and will do 4 damage for every point of mana spent. This is a raw channeling of magical energy that cannot be focused and will not critically hit. The ability is unresistable by normal creatures, but certain special creatures may be immune to the effects. Like the previous version, once a Mana Burn ability has affected a target, no other Mana Burn abilities will be able to affect that target for the next minute. Upgraded versions of the ability, Mana Blast and Mana Blaze, are available at level 65 and level 70 and use a maximum of 6000 and 9000 mana respectively. The original Mana Burn ability has been refunded and can be repurchased by Wizards interested in the new version.

- Gift of Mana will no longer be used up when you cast a 0 mana spell and now has a chance to trigger on heals other than just instant heals, including heal-over-time and percent healing spells.

- Rogues and Bards have a new AA ability called Thief's Intuition. This ability goes hand-in-hand with the new trap system and allows those classes a chance to automatically sense nearby traps. The new AAs can be found in the Class tab.

- There are new special mounts available for Paladins and Shadowknights under the Class AA tab.

Events

- The planar projection for defeating Mithaniel Marr was not rewarding the correct character flags. This has been fixed.

- Raids in Dynamic zones in Gates of Discord now require a minimum of 12 people to be started.

- Sendaii the Hive Queen raid will now lock out the expedition after the glowing egg is broken.

- NPC?s should no longer re-spawn after being killed in the Controlling the Beast mission set in Stoneroot Falls.

- The mission "Taking Control" from Stoneroot Falls now only requires 3 people to start it.

- Adjusted the rewards on monster missions so they scale better based on how long it's actually taking to complete the mission.

- It should be much more difficult for Stefan Marsinger to die within one of the Greater Faydark spires.

- Various magician epic mobs should no longer double, triple, or quadruple spawn for every mage that enters the zone.

- A number of changes were made to the Demi-Plane of Blood, including pathing fixes, tuning tweaks, and bonuses for defeating Mayong. For more information, see the EQLive forums.

Missions

- Monster Mission XP rewards have tuned to better account for the amount of time required to complete the mission. Longer missions now give more XP while shorter missions give less. In addition, the way XP is rewarded has been refactored so it scales better as you gain levels.

- In Stoneroot Falls, mission givers Kelliad and Widdlethorpe will now offer you missions that you have completed previously in each of their story arcs when requesting the mission that you are currently on.

Tasks

- Added a timer to normal tasks. You can now only complete a task once every 15 minutes. As with shared tasks, the time counts from when you initially get the task, so if it took you longer than 15 minutes to complete the task, you can immediately get another one.

Tradeskills

- Alchemy has undergone some changes resulting in modifications to old recipes as well as introducing new recipes and potions, smoother progression in the skill, and significant cost reductions.

- Potions - All old-style (10 charge, non stackable) alchemical potions have been removed and replaced by an equivalent potion in the revamped system. These new potions are stackable up to 20 per stack. Note: Due to an error that did not show up on our testing, this was not completed, but only partially done. Some players will have their items exchanged, some will not. The old potions will still function, despite the fact that there will be no way to make them. You can still make the new potions using the new recipes once the community discovers them. We will correct this error and do this exchange the next patch after it has been re-tested.

- Recipes - All recipes that point to the old-style alchemical potions no longer exist. New recipes have been created for all of the new potions and will use new herbs.

- Herbs - Many old herbs have had their prices altered and new herbs have been introduced, both as purchased components as well as dropped components.

- Planar Fletching Kits are now tradeable.

- Changed Othmir Short Beer to use a bottle instead of a Cask.

- Deep Orc Essence now requires less meat.

- Disabled the spell research creation of the spell Draught of Lightning. This was done because it is a quest derived spell.

- Some very old erudite only combines have had their trivials adjusted up from being no-fail to on par with other combines of that era.

-The Research Recipe to make Unholy Bellow has been disabled.

- The Rusty Mining Pick used by Druids has changed names, but works exactly the same.

Items

- Changed the Slot12 Tradeskill augments that have Cleave, Ferocity, Furious Bash, Improved Dodge, Improved Parry and Sharpshooting to be worn effects instead of focus effects.

- Made a few minor modifications to damage ratios on some of the Demi-Plane of Blood weapons.

- Set a cap on the maximum amount of skill bonuses you can get from certain worn effects. The caps are for bash (100), backstab (125), dragon punch (100), eagle strike (100), flying kick (100), kick (100), round kick (100), tiger claw (100), and frenzy (125).

General Bug Fixes

- Players will no longer see their breath in first person while on a boar mount.

- Froglok jump animation will now play at normal speed.

- Skeleton illusions will now function correctly on boar mounts.

- PCs will no longer warp to the location they were charmed or feared when those spells wear off.

- The autofire ability will now turn off when a player sits down or loots a corpse.

- Charmed PCs will no longer disappear after being stationary for a few seconds.

- When alt-tabbing out of full screen mode and then re-entering the game, you should now properly be put back into full screen mode instead of windowed mode.

- Players marked as group leaders in a raid would sometimes not have functioning leader abilities. This was happening when reforming groups in the raid and has been fixed.

- Players will no longer remain encumbered by coin after donating that coin to a guild tribute master.

- If a player is wearing an item with a focus effect and casts a delayed spell that utilizes that focus effect, it will no longer be negating if they use a clicky effect before it lands.

- Fixed sync issues with removing shared tasks and tasks from a player.

- Throwing axes will no longer throw an entire stack, instead only a single axe will be consumed from the range slot.

- The map window should now be available to all players.

- Fixed a problem that was causing several of the Dragons of Norrath items to have the wrong colors.

- The EverQuest Team

February 22, 2006

- Fixed server stability issues. Please accept our apologies if you were on one of the unstable servers. - Fixed the old alchemy potions that were not casting at the proper level. - Corrected an issue that was preventing Elixir of the Avian from stacking with Elixir of the Beast. These should now stack properly.

• Please note: We are still investigating the issue with items disappearing from the

Guild Bank. The Guild Hall zone will be unavailable while this investigation continues.

-- The EverQuest Team

February 23, 2006

- The Guild Hall is still not available. We apologize for the inconvenience. - Fixed another stability issue - The Key to the Past and The Burning Prince should now hand out an appropriate reward. - Exiting LDoN zones in North and South Ro should no longer leave you quite so close to the zone in locations. - Changed the starting location for some Paladins in Freeport West to be closer to a Guild Master. - Corrected several issues with LDoN NPCs in the Revamped Freeport and Desert of Ro zones. - Made the new throwing potions stack to 100 as the old ones did. - Fearchar in shadowhaven has decided not to stand on his brother and has moved over a few feet. - The pottery task now makes the combine check on the more difficult of the pottery wheel combine or the kiln combine. You will still need to compete the item (fire it) to hand into the judge. This is to enforce it being a test of the potter's skill, not the potter's friend's skill. - Some of the PoR items were missing their lore flags and have had them added. - Corrected a problem that was making the guild lobby look foggy and larger than normal. - Porthio the Second Born will offer a more challenging fight. - You will no longer trigger your own trap if set while on a mount.

-- The EverQuest Team

February 24, 2006

- The Guild Hall is now available. - The guild banker has returned to his post. - The guard patrols in Freeport have been replaced by less experienced guards who don't put the entire Norrathian army to shame. - We've temporarily changed Devastation and Rage back to normal death rules. - The final warlord in the Defense of Thurgadin mission will no longer poof upon death should he be killed entirely by dwarves. - The mini-bosses in Anguish are dropping their augments again. - Devlin in Dreadspire will select his new sets of weaponry a little more quickly now.

Please accept our apologies for the loss of the Guild Hall in the past two days. We believe that all issues are now resolved. If you are having any problems with your guild bank or guild bank inventory please contact Customer Service.

-- The EverQuest Team

March 15, 2006

Headlines

- EverQuest turns 7! Starting on March 16th, join us for a month long anniversary celebration! - We believe we have fixed all issues related to the increased network lag when re-forming groups in a raid. Please let us know if you have any further issues related to this.

Anniversary Events

- Double experience! To kick off the celebration, from 12:00 PM Pacific Time on March 16th until 12:00 PM Pacific Time on March 20th all normal experience rewards will be doubled! - Fabled NPCs have returned! Many of your favorite NPCs from the original EverQuest zones and Kunark have been upgraded to Fabled versions that are tougher and tote better loot. And for the first time, they are joined by over a hundred NPCs from Velious! - New scavenger hunt! NPCs in Thurgadin, Kael, and Skyshrine are looking for help finishing up some of their collections.

Missions, Quests * - Fixed a bug in the Gilded Scroll mission that was not updating the scrolls when they are looted. - Five new unusual creatures have been spotted in the Demi-Plane of Blood. - The mini bosses in Anguish will now drop augments again. - Made some aesthetic changes to the Snowtail and Ghost encounters in Razorthorne. - Tailfang in Shar Vahl will now drop his tail on the Firiona Vie server. - The mission The Key to the Past should now hand out an appropriate reward. - Reduced the difficulty of the Oroshar encounter in Arcstone. Oroshar should now be in line with the other four spirits. - Modified the Sundersky encounter in Arcstone. Sundersky is now more powerful, but becomes less so after his four summoned winds are destroyed. - Collapsed all of the missions on Spirit Hunter Elijo into one mission: Mark of the Spirits. Any previously collected spirit marks can still be turned into Spirit Hunter Elijo for task credit. - Ao the Fourth Born now gives out a spell scroll reward for completing his mission arc. If you've previously completed all 3 Skylance Missions, then simply hail Ao for your reward. - For the quest, Through the Portal, a fix has been made so that crazed scyrkins will drop the needed shards.

AAs , Spells, and Disciplines

- Temporarily removed the AA Abundant Healing. This ability was causing a conflict with the ability Gift of Mana. As Gift of Mana is generally considered the more useful of the two, Abundant Healing has been removed until we can resolve the conflict. Any points spent in Abundant Healing will be refunded - Dispel spells can no longer be blocked using buff blocking. - Harmonic Dissonance now has a 15 minute reuse time associated with it. - Pets will no longer instantly die when told to attack a trap they are not allowed to attack. The owner will receive notification about why the pet did not attack. - You can now remove pet buffs even if they are stacked beyond 4. - The buffs in the pet information window will no longer show 0 time left in their tooltip.

Traps and Auras

- We?ve made a change to how aura particles are displayed. You will now only see aura particles for auras that are owned by someone in your group or raid. - Most player cast auras will no longer cast their effects every spell tick. Instead, they will work like other spheres of influence and the effect will remain on an affected player as long as they are within the area of the sphere and be removed from the player only when they leave the sphere. Note that if you remove the effect from yourself by clicking it off, you will need to leave the area of the aura and return before it is reapplied. -The cleric spells Aura of the Pious and Aura of the Zealot have been changed slightly. They will no longer fade after a certain amount of damage has been taken, but will absorb slightly less damage per hit. - Traps will now apply the correct amount of damage whether in a pvp setting or not. - Corrected a problem that would cause older traps to go off every time someone entered their area instead of going off, then being inactive for a time before going off again. - You can now try to sense a trap even when you have a PC or NPC targeted. It you are targeting an object that could be trapped (such as a chest), you will still attempt to find the trap on the object rather than searching the area for traps. - Using pick, disarm, or inspect while invis will no longer automatically make you visible. - Rain spells will no longer count interactive objects, traps, and auras towards the max number of NPCs they can hit. - Beneficial auras will now properly affect your group and raid members in a pvp setting. - The Aura window will not longer close when hitting the escape key. Items

- Fixed the evolving item reward for the Spirit Hunter Missions in Arcstone. If you have a cloak that is stuck in the second stage of the evolving item (Cloak of the Spirit Stalker) speak to Spirit Hunter Elijo to receive the final version. - Modified the Black Orb of the Scrykin quest. The orbs of the seven dead Scrykin are now called "Gray" orbs and are tradeable. The orbs of the six living scrykin will also drop off the appropriate scrykin (in addition to being the task rewards for completing Or`Sarro's tasks) - The Enraged Flesh Armor pieces are now no trade. - The Prophecy of Ro tier1/2 cleric breastplate now has the activated effect of Pious Elixir - The Prophecy of Ro tier1/2 shaman breastplate now has the activated effect of Ghost of Renewal - The Prophecy of Ro tier1/2 enchanter breastplate now has the activated effect of Ethereal Rune - The Saga of Skin Translations are now no-trade - The Coldain Historical Seal augmentations are now lore to each other - Hammer of Shadows now has 300 endurance - A number of items from the events in Theater of Blood now have their proper stats - Burning Tree Leaf now only returns at max 337 hp and mana and has reduced stats. - Pendant of Insurgency, Aelly?s Earring, Prickly Earring, and Mary-Anne?s Ring of Insanity now have monk, beastlord, and berserker as usable classes.

NPCs

- Farwein Windrun has returned to his camp in South Ro. Feel free to stop by and welcome him back. - Queen Tak`Yaliz in the Desert of North Ro will no longer be missing while you?re looking for her. - Ping Fuzzlecutter is now carrying some tasty water! - Tak`Valnakor will now properly offer all of his tasks. - Boomba the Big has returned to his old stomping grounds near the west gate of Freeport. - Vulak`Aerr, High Priest of Veeshan, has returned to the Temple of Veeshan. - Gnarlibramble has loot again.

Tradeskills

- Changed the Stunning Bola and Explosive Bola to use the new potions. (Basic Suspension of Pestilence IV and Basic Suspension of Flame IV respectively) - Increased the yield on the Treant Laminating Adhesive by adding one more Acid Wash to the recipe. - The trivials for the Staurolite and Prestigitase recipes have been appropriately altered to be more in line with the result. The trivials were on Saurolite are now on Prestigitase, and vise versa. - Fixed the names of the Prestidigitase items. - Fixed the Reinforced medicine bags (normal and foldable) to take large sized items like the medicine bag. - The pottery task now makes the combine check on the more difficult of the pottery wheel combine or the kiln combine. You will still need to complete the item (fire it) to hand into the judge. This is to enforce it being a test of the potter?s skill, not the potter?s friend?s skill. - Made the new throwing potions stack to 100 as the old ones did. - Fixed many of the old alchemy potions that were not casting at the proper level. - The trophy certificates will now give the trophy exp to get it to a percentage appropriate to your skill within the "Tier" in addition to setting the trophy to the appropriate level. This will not exceed 99% though, so do not hold onto the certificate, but use it before you gain more skill. - Worked Suspension of Slime potions now have the proper range of 90. - Drop rates on the Alchemy dropped components for the new items have been increased in most cases. - Modified the Distillate of Skinspikes potions to be more in line with the old Kilva's series of damage shield potions. - Modified the Distillate of Antidote to cure multiple layers of poison counters, as well as more counters overall (44 instead of 36). - Modified the Distillate of Immunization to cure multiple layers of disease counters, as well as more counters overall (44 instead of 36). - Added some NPC?s to various zones to help consolidate some of the alchemy herb inventory. - Updated many of the trophy tasks to remove items that were too rare and items that were only in zones that required keys. Ngreth is open to further debate on additional items and items he may have missed. Please feel free to post about it on the forums. - The composite treant bows have been altered. Those that had the "calmed" versions will get a version similar to the bows they had, but it will have gained a slot 7 augments slot, in addition to the slot 4 it already had. The calmed compound version has had a slight adjustment DOWN in the stats, but slight increase in the damage and range. The rest of the calmed versions got an increase to their overall stats, though there may be some shuffle. Those that had the version of the bow with the proc will get a significant upgrade to their bow, but these bows no longer have an innate proc. Instead they have a slot 4 and a slot 7, and the players will be able to choose to add a proc via slot 4, or not. These bows have also changed to attunable. The recipes to make the bows have changed, and the in game book includes the changes. - Altered the recipe for the Grandmaster's Medicine bag. Please see Jolum for the new requirement.

Zones

- Veeshan's Peak should now be in the appropriate state. - Guild lobby fog issues should be resolved now. - You should be able to bind in North and South Ro again.

General

- Windows Sticky Keys functionality on Windows 98 and ME is fixed. - The Auto-Bank feature now works for everyone. - Procs and clickable items will no longer cause spell gems to refresh randomly. - You can now open up to 34 bags at once. - Autofire will properly turn off when a destructible object is destroyed. - The Defense of Thurgadin. Dwarves at Base Camp will now be more focused on recovery than combat and will be less effective in battle. They will refocus on Combat when they move away from basecamp - The Defense of Thurgadin. The Giant Captains will now strengthen their soldiers that are nearby in combat. - The Defense of Thurgadin. Added additional failsafes to prevent the Kromzek General from failing to leave a corpse

Special Notes

- We have made really good progress on the reported issues of increased zoning times. We would like to thank all those that have helped with this by providing detailed information. We know what the issues are and we are in the process of implementing our solution. We hope to have a fix that can be tested on our Test Server within the next week or so. - Just in the last couple of days we were able to find the line of sight issue that some of you have been reporting. Given how close we were to our next live update, we felt that there was not a sufficient amount of time to properly test this change. For this reason the line of sight fix will not be in this update, but will go to our Test Server this week so that we can have the proper amount of testing time to ensure that our fix actually fixes the problem and does not create any others. Thank you for your understanding.

March 15, 2006 (follow-up)

EverQuest Live Update - 03/15/06

- Addressed an issue with group management in the raid window which affected status updates with members of those groups.

-- The EverQuestTeam

March 17, 2006

EverQuest Live Update - 03/17/06

- A fix for a pathing problem where NPCs would pace back and forth erratically is included with this update. - Fixed an issue with the third Skylance mission reward that was causing players to receive only the spell OR the tarnished chime. Players should now receive BOTH the spell and the chime if they still need both items. - If you have completed the Saga Skins quest but lost your book, you many now hand the skins in to Maelin and receive new translation pages so that you can make new books.

-- The EverQuestTeam

April 19, 2006

Headlines - Thank you for participating in the 7th Anniversary events. We hope you enjoyed them! - Applications for the Itemization Designer position are now closed. Thank you to all who submitted an application! - A new Monster Mission has been added to the Prophecy of Ro expansion. - The reuse time on all the veteran rewards has been reduced by 4 hours. - The stacking issues related to Gift of Mana and Abundant Healing have been resolved. - We are refunding the Spell Casting Deftness AA to Enchanters. - Loading to character select should be much faster than it has been. - You will no longer take damage when you have an aura on you and are moving fast while mounted.

Quests * - Added an item reward at the end of the Corruption story arc in Elddar. Turn in the Chalice of Life to Shalowen the Pure when you have finished the arc. - Changed the second kill element in Bill Whistletop's trade skill armor pattern book quest to include all Stillmoon stone drakes (instead of just the Stillmoon stone casters). - Fixed a bug with the Become the Vessel quest that would fail to give credit for kills when a pet got the kill shot. - Further adjustments to some of the tradeskill trophy tasks, especially Fletching, were made. In some cases this was to clarify and fix a bug, in others it was to ease some of the rare items needed by changing the element to another item.

NPCs - Widdlethorpe in Stoneroot Falls will now give you Magical Corathus Coral if you wish to continue your practice even if you have already completed the Learning the Power mission. Just tell him you would like to practice. - It seems that the shipments of wolf blood were missing. You will now find Measure of Wolf Blood on the appropriate merchants. - Shards of Ro will no longer drop. Instead Powder of Ro will drop at a much greater rate than Shards did. - The gnomework bankers in Corathus Creep will no longer get involved in any fighting; they just want peace and a bouquet of bolts and gears.

Events * - Brazlin the High Priest of Ro has summoned his enforcer to help bring the difficulty of the Corruption of Ro raid more in line with the reward. - Upped the drop rate of Deathknell key pieces dropping from the Porthio event. - A new Monster Mission has been added to the Prophecy of Ro expansion. Speak with Oathmir in Devastation for more information. - The key to Tunare’s Shrine from the Corruption of Ro mission arch will now be placed on your key ring the next time you use it. - The Guardian of the High Priest in the Corruption of Ro mission will now have a chance to drop a Last Blood augment to bring the reward more in line with the difficulty of the event.

Tradeskills - Added a Brewing Barrel to the Bazaar. - Rejoice, the master tradesmen of New Tannan have found a way to concentrate Celestial Solvent. This concentrated solution will work with three of the same magically imbued items as before in order to make three doses of celestial essence at a time. - Rock salt can now be ground to fine salt in batches of five or ten. - Fixed the tradeskill flag on Favor of Druzzil. - Raised the trivial on Druzzil's Steel Bowstring. - Adjusted the trivial on the highest end bows from Prophecies of Ro. - Reduced the yield of Composite Treant Laminating Adhesive to 2. - The poison Freezing Feedback has had the effect changed to Freezing Feedback (instead of Anemone Feedback). - Changed the research recipe for Blood of Saryrn to use Saryrn's ink additive instead of Bertoxxulous'. - Changed the research recipe for Legacy of Bracken to remove the use Ink of the Tribunal.

Zones - Changed the teleporters within the bazaar. When going to a "Hall" from the base location, you are no longer facing the teleporter. When teleporting down from the hall, the location has been changed so that you are on the other side of the teleporter with it to your back. This should prevent lag from making you go in a loop. - There is now an augmentation sealer at the Wayfarer camp in Lavastorm. - The fungus farm in Kaladim has been re-cultivated.

Player Characters - The AC cap and the returns over the cap for rangers and berserkers has been slightly increased.

AAs - Refunded Spell Casting Deftness AA to Enchanters. SCD was being overwritten by Quick Buff (a similar AA with superior benefits). - Reduced the reuse time on all the veteran rewards by 4 hours. - The stacking issues related to Gift of Mana and Abundant Healing have been resolved. Abundant Healing is once again available to purchase for healing classes and should now work properly if you also have Gift of Mana. You cannot proc both of them with one spell, but should see both of them procing now.

Items - Fazzle’s Map of East Wastes will no longer disappear from your inventory if you log out. - Altered many of the PoR Jewelry. This change was to fix No Drop Items that should have been Attunable, and to fix some statistics inconsistencies. Also, the HP/MANA gained were balanced with some recommended and required levels if the gain is 50 or greater. In some cases this resulted in greater restrictions, in others it actually reduced the restrictions. - Modified the Tribute and Guild Tribute values of several items that were either Attunable or NoDrop. - Changed the Tradeskill flag on a few more items. - The Fabled Baton of Flame now is now 27 damage, and +1 damage to fire, 18 delay. - The Fabled Flute of the Sacred Glade now has a 3.2 modifier to wind instruments. - The Fabled Shawl of Perception now has spell shielding and dot shielding instead of combat effects and accuracy. - Certain Fabled items have their AC increased. - Changed the Tanned Hides that were brought to my attention that had an abnormally high merchant greed setting to a more reasonable merchant greed setting. - Reduced the drop rate of the Sister’s Opulent Backstabber. - Increased the drop rate of the Spiroc Wingblade in Plane of Sky. - Modified the drop rate of plate, chain, leather, and silk on Rikkukin and Kessdona to better reflect the number of classes that can use the items. - Caerlyna will now trade an Ethereal Satchel of Gathering for an Ethereal Satchel of Gathering Token and vise versa. - Fixed many bag tokens that were stating the incorrect size for their appropriate bag.

Spells - Several Prophecy of Ro NPC spells have been modified to be somewhat less annoying, like Resonating Screech, Howling, Grappling Roots, Thorny Vines, Sage’s Curse, and Shimmering Silence Dust. - Fixed an exploit with the buff blocking feature.

Line of Sight - Line of Sight issues that were introduced with the last update should now be resolved.

Guilds - Newly formed guilds will now be able to get into their guild halls.

April 21, 2006

- Added the fix for the spell proc stacking issue. The Abundant Healing and Gift of Mana AAs should now both have a chance to proc if a player has both of those abilities. - Shalowen the Pure will now return The Chalice of Life if you have completed the single group missions in his arc in order and turning in the chalice of life drop from the Corruption of Ro raid.

June 13, 2006

Headlines

We've now upgraded to DirectX 9.0c!

- Continuing our efforts to keep pace with current technology, EverQuest will be upgrading to DirectX9.0c to allow us to take advantage of many of the new features and fixes since our last upgrade in the middle of 2003. You will need to be sure that you are currently running DirectX9.0C . If not you will need to download it. This can be done by simply going to http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=56513.

Make sure you:

1. Get the April 2006 DirectX 9.0C redistributable version (Caution: Download is about 52 MB) at: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=fb73d860-5af1-45e5-bac0-9bc7a5254203.

2. Run directx_apr2006_redist.exe. Extract the files to an easily identifiable directory.

3. Go to the directory the files were extracted to in step 2. Run "DXSETUP.EXE" from that directory.

4. Accept the license agreement. Allow the installer to update the DirectX components.

- Nektulos Forest got a face lift! Check out the amazing new look.

- The Guild Lobby is now available to everyone.

- The 8th-year veteran reward Throne of Heroes, a gate ability that transports veterans to the throne room in the guild lobby, is now available to those who are eligible.

- The map window now has an option to display your group mates.

- To help smooth the transition to incurring death penalties for new players (losing experience and leaving a corpse), the level when you start to incur death penalties has been lowered from level 11 to level 6 and the amount of experience you lose when you die now starts at a very small amount at level 6 and slowly ramps up from there. We've added a corpse summoner to the tutorial who will summon corpses for free for anyone who is level 10 or under.

- New Hot Zones! With this patch the old hot zones have been reverted to their previous values and a new set of hot zones has been selected! The following zones are now the "Hot Zones"!

Level 20: Swamp of No Hope Level 25: Overthere Level 30: Timorous Deep Level 35: Emerald Jungle Level 40: Dreadlands Level 45: City of Mist Level 50: Skyfire Level 55: Karnor's Castle Level 60: Veksar

Spells

- Fire pets should now regenerate mana appropriately. - Pet spells and weapon procs now report to the owner and can be filtered appropriately. - The refresh time on Spirit of Bih`Li has been reduced. - The damage on Bloodpyre and Heartblaze have been increased. - The effect from your aura will no longer be removed if you use an illusion. - Having an aura up should no longer cause targeting issues while you are under illusions. - Illusion: Werewolf now uses the new werewolf model. This applies to enchanter spells and item effects. - Bard songs will now stop pulsing when an NPC forces the bard to feign death. - You can now turn off messages generated by bard songs affecting your pet. - Buffs that increase run speed will no longer overwrite AA run speed increases that are better than the buff. - You can now specify beneficial spells to block by name using the Blocked Buff window. This will allow you to block spells that don't have a buff icon without editing a file. - Attempting to gate or teleport to a zone that isn't currently running will no longer result in your spell bar being locked up. - Several spell texts which were gender-specific have been changed to something more gender-neutral. - Added a wear-off message to Elddar's Grasp, Puratus, Harmony of Nature, and Mind Shatter. - Short duration buff icons should now be a consistent size. - Eyes of Zomm have been sedated and should no longer decide to attack their owners from time to time. - Sitting while levitation wears off will no longer leave your character looking like he's falling until you stand up again.

AAS

- Added the 8-year veteran reward Throne of Heroes, a gate ability that transports veterans to throne room in the guild lobby. - Pious Supplication has been renamed to Improved Hand of Piety.

Items

- Increased the amount of experience that evolving items gain when you kill an NPC. In addition, you will now gain more experience toward your evolving item when you are in a group, similar to how normal experience works. - Reduced the amount of experience required to level up intelligent items. If your items now have more experience than is required to level, they will evolve the next time they gain experience. - Due to the changes to how fast you gain item XP, the amount of XP required to evolve the Cloak of the Spirit Tracker has been increased. - Evolving an item should no longer cause occasional crashes. - The aura effects from Prophecy of Ro "clicky" items are no longer restricted to only hitting your group. In addition, they will no longer recast their effect every 6 seconds, but instead will remain on a character for as long as they are within range of the aura. - Throwing axes should now pull from ammo/inventory appropriately. - Lowered the duration on the spin stun on Peace of the Disciple Strike and One Hundred Blows while in PvP. - Bane of Muram and Curse of Muram now last 18 and 36 seconds respectively. -Modified the Battleworn Symbol of Rage. The charm was calculating values higher than intended and now should be on par with other Demiplane of Blood level charms. - Changed all four of the Furious Bash Augments from DoD that use Ambleshift's Amazing Automated Amalgamator to Improved Block. Additionally the names of the Chronal, Discordant and Bazu seals have been changed appropriately. - Altered the Favorable Breezes line of augments from DoD that use Ambleshift's Amazing Automated Amalgamator. They now give a different progression of effect. - Increased the level required to equip the following augments to 45 to match the level that their effect is able to be used: Carnivorous Coral, Deepwood Hunter's Stone. - Increased the level required to equip the following augments to 60 to match the level that their effect is able to be used: Green Fire Phosphorous, Frozen Malachite, Jagged Dragon Scale, Turquoise Lifetap Sieve. - Increased the level required to use the following augments to 65 to match the level that their effect is able to be used: Volcanic Sink Geode, Deep Crust Frozen Malachite, Vein Sap Mineral, Ethereal Sky Stone, Faerie Luck Stone. - The Mystical Aptitude effect will now last its full 20 minutes. - Vibrating Gauntlets of Infuse and Vibrating Hammer of Infuse are now lore to each other. This is to prevent players from getting into an odd state that could cause a crash. - Barbarians can now use Naturalist's Leather Arm Wraps. - Roleplayer's Jester now looks like a doll rather than a bag. - The Burning Affliction focus effect on The Skull of Torture should now work properly. - Increased the stats on the Wrought Blade of Hiz. - Bravefoot Short Sword is now considered a one-handed slashing weapon instead of one-handed blunt. - The Cracked Stone of Savagery now has the proc effect of Lifesap I. - The Shard of Crystallized Rage now has the proc effect of Fiery Strike II.

Skills

- Made changes to the taunt formula at high levels. A level 60 character taunting an even con or higher level NPC will now use the character's taunt skill to determine success rate, similar to what occurs below level 60. The chance to taunt is roughly the same. In addition, the reduction in your chance to taunt creatures higher level than yourself now occurs at a slower rate and the minimum chance to taunt an NPC is higher. Also, you will now gain a bonus to your chance to taunt NPCs that are lower level than yourself. To go along with the change to use a character's taunt skill after level 60, paladins and shadowknights have had their taunt caps increased to match warriors and ranger's skill cap has been increased to 200. - Taunts that fail because of distance will no longer cause you to have to wait the cool down period before attempting to taunt again. - Ranged combat should behave much more consistently now. - Increased the sense and disarm range on many traps throughout the world. - /con will now properly report whether an NPC can see you sneaky rogues.

Tradeskills

- Increased the amount of mobs that can drop exceptional shissar blood. - The tradeskill recipes for Dreary Deeds and Infusion of Spirit have finally been discovered. - Merchants across the world realized that they were selling small pieces of ore at a loss. They have mutually agreed on a price increase. - The poisons from the Omens of War era will no longer magically create a vial; they now require two of the appropriate poison vial. - You will no longer be able to combine ingredients that you have up for sale in the bazaar. - The Antonican forge has moved to outside of Armor by Ikthar. - Failing to create Frost Bunny Stew will now return your pot to you. - Fixed the bug to the evolution of the tradeskill trophies for players using lower than master certificates while having a 300 skill. - Bristlebane's Challenge and Bristlebane's Challenge Meats have changed to No Drop. - Fixed a bug in the wording of the Grandmaster's Book of Barbarian Culture. - Expanded the shark skins that can be used to make advanced poison vials. There are two shark skin items, both with the same name. - Seeping Haze poisons will now properly bestow the Seeping Haze proc effect. - Bitter feedback poisons will not properly bestow the Bitter Feedback proc effect.

Quests

- Removed the "Loot 4" requirement from all of the "Bring Me Their Heads" quests in Devastation and Stronghold of Rage. This should make these quests more accessible by allowing characters to collect the items needed, then get the quest and hand them in to complete it. - Added an experience reward for the "Bring Me Their Heads" and "Engines of Destruction" tasks in the Devastation and Stronghold of Rage. - Fixed a problem with the Shaman epic 2.0 Elder Spirit of Enlightenment in West Freeport. Seemed he wanted to enlighten himself by wandering where he shouldn't. He should now happily lead shamans from the Jade Tiger Inn into the courtyard for the ritual. - The drop rate of the Twilight Sea armor quest gems has been increased significantly. In an effort to keep the amount of money entering the world from those gems roughly the same, the value of the gems has been reduced as a result. - Shalowen the Pure will now return The Chalice of Life if you have completed the single group missions in his arc in order and turning in the chalice of life drop from the Corruption of Ro raid. - Exploring the Valley of Xanzerok for the Arcstone quests should now work correctly when levitating.

Events

- The LDoN raids have been switched over to use the expedition system. This means you can add new players to the raid at any time, and the lockout occurs at the end after a success instead of at the beginning when the raid is launched. Also, the maximum player limit has been increased from 36 to 54, and all death count failure mechanics have been removed. - The events in Deathknell, Tower of Dissonance now have individual lockout timers instead of applying a lockout to the entire zone. - Made some tuning changes to the first raid event in Deathknell. - The Deathknell Enforcers will no longer use Immobilizing Stone. - Added a tether to Maestro Tan`Lor in Theater of Blood. - The lava spout traps have been removed from the Tirranun encounter. - The traps in the Inktu`ta raid should fire off much less often, as well as be easier to locate and disarm. - Mayong will now teleport back to his spawn point if he wanders too far from his room. - Fixed a crash bug that could occur in the Demi-Plane of Blood during the Performer event. - Drekish the Enforcer of Ro will now properly reset in the event of a failure in the Corruption of Ro raid. - You now only need one flagged player to initiate the 18-man Kunark Monster Mission raid: Fall of an Empire. - The invaders that breach the walls into the Stronghold of Rage will be a bit less easy to split.

Missions

- Increased the distance that the Dwarf armies must be from basecamp in The Defense of Thurgadin monster mission before they return to full combat potential. Units moving to forward locations are guaranteed to be back in combat states when they reach their destinations but may still be thinking of resting while they are in transit. - Dain`s Historian Duggans will now review with you which of his missions you have completed and turned in a seal for that mission. Simply ask him to "Review" the Coldain History you have studied. - Corrected an issue that could cause you to not get credit for finishing the mission "Train" if you were charmed when it completed. - Corrected an issue that could cause the mission "Creepy Concerto" to not update properly if there were pets or auras in the mission.

Zones

- The Guild Lobby is now available to everyone, whether they own Dragons of Norrath or not. - Added a guild hall port stone to Arcstone. - Added an Augment Sealer Pool to Arcstone. - Fixed a number of crashes that could occur with older graphics cards in Anguish and Muramite Proving Grounds. - The portal out of Veeshan's Peak will now take you to the proper version of Freeport. - Fixed a problem that was causing NPCs to fall under the world in Dawnshroud Peaks. - Creatures in Devastation now travel in smaller packs and are slightly weaker than before. - The portal to Dranik's Scar from East Freeport has a visual effect again. - The entrances to Paineel and The Hole can be lock picked once again. - The Hunter/Forager cycle in Trakanon's Teeth should no longer spawn multiple copies of the same creatures. - Corrected an issue that could cause several non-targetable creatures to attack you in Halls of Honor. - Casting Succor in Grimling Forest will no longer put you under the world. - Fixed a problem with the Guild Hall Portal that could cause the teleport confirmation window to display the incorrect target zone. - Fixed an issue in Illsalin that was causing groups of arena combatants not to despawn after the event. - You should no longer get stuck behind the grate leading into Dranik Sewers. - Kerra Ridge should now be much friendlier to lower level adventurers.

NPCs

- Updated the character models for many NPCs throughout the world. This includes changing Illusion: Werewolf to use the new werewolf model. - The corpse summoners in the guild lobby are no longer fooled by shrouding down to lower levels before handing in a soul stone. - Creatures without legs have lost the ability to kick. - The treants in Theater of Blood that have been shedding hooves and horse meat will no longer do so. - Lowered the hit points and increased the respawn time of the door that leads from Devastation into Stronghold of Rage to make access to Stronghold of Rage easier. - The angry and hurt Faydedar that Dolgin helps people bait no longer has any viable meat on him. -Terrorantula's children should no longer warp across the desert. - Summoning a horse should no longer upset nearby NPCs.

Maps

- Cartographers have been very busy. Numerous map fixes made. - The map window now has an option to display your group mates.

UI

- The default size for the barter and bazaar windows has been increased. - You can now filter the barter window by seller name. - The guild window should now display information properly for guilds with over 999 members.

Miscellaneous

- We've now upgraded to DirectX 9.0c! - Many pathing issues have been resolved. Monsters rejoice! - The Universal Chat system will replace the old Channel Server for all channel operations. All player-owned channels will be moved over automatically and using channels in the new system is the same as before, so you should not notice any difference. One of the primary benefits of this change is that channels now support cross-server and cross-game functionality. EQIM will no longer work with this change however we do intend to remedy this situation if possible in the future. - Luclin character models are now available to everyone, whether they own Shadows of Luclin or not. - Increased the amount of experience you gain toward your shroud progression when you kill an NPC as a shroud. In addition, you will now gain more experience toward your evolving item when you are in a group, similar to how normal experience works. This does not affect the evolving tradeskill trophies, which don't gain experience from killing creatures. - Fixed a number of rendering anomalies that could occur throughout the game. - Targeting corpses should now be much easier and much less confusing. - Item links can now be sent across Universal Chat channels! - Ogre females using voice emotes for Agree and Disagree will now play the proper voices. - Player and NPC names should now be rendering correctly at all times when they are overlapping.

- The EverQuest Team

June 16, 2006

- Fixed a crash while trying to search the bazaar when not using the default UI. - Fixed the problem with AA experience being reset when you enter monster missions or use a shroud. - Fixed a bug with some tasks not being available to be given out to players. - The ‘;’ chat commands should now work again. - Setting a chat window's default channel to a chat channel (instead of say, group, raid, ...) will now broadcast the chat to that channel. - Fixed a problem that was causing the Concentration AA to not function properly. - We've reverted the fix to channeling made with the last patch. After much discussion, our general feeling is that channeling has been broken for long enough that players have come to rely on that broken behavior as expected gameplay. For the time being, we've reverted back to that broken behavior and will address spell interrupts in general at a later date.

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Patch Messages from July 2006 to December 2006

July 18, 2006

- /raid commands should now work appropriately. - Added /decaycorpse command on The Combine and The Sleeper. You can now target and manually decay any of your own corpses that no longer have items on them. Please help us keep Norrath clean of unnecessary corpse litter. - Fixed a bug that would cause ground items to not respawn appropriately.

September 19, 2006

Highlights Welcome to EverQuest: The Serpent's Spine, the 12th expansion for EverQuest!

- New Player Race: The Drakkin have been created from both human and dragon blood to protect the future of all dragon kind. Several colors and customizations will be available to make each Drakkin character unique, such as elegant scale markings and horns. - Level Cap Increase: Players can now reach level 75, complete with new spells, abilities, raids and quests for greater power. - Content for Levels 1 to 75: Play through every level of the game without ever leaving the Serpent Spine Mountains. The entrance to Serpent's Spine can be found within Highpass Hold. - New Starting City: Crescent Reach is a fully functioning city with all that is required to learn and thrive in EverQuest, including merchant, quest, combat and tradeskill areas. All classes and races are welcome within the city. - Dynamic Features: New zones, NPCs, destructible and interactive objects. - New AAs

Spell Ranks: The new spells that you can acquire in The Serpent's Spine have different ranks to them. The higher ranks of a spell are generally more powerful and more difficult to obtain than the lower ranks. When you scribe a higher rank of a spell that you already know, the lower rank will automatically be overwritten by the higher rank and your spell casting gems and hotkeys will be updated to reflect that you now have a higher rank of the spell.

General Game Improvements AA System The AA system has undergone some significant back-end changes. The experience you get toward an AA point is now based on the difficulty of the NPC relative to you rather than being based directly on the NPCs level. This means that you will gain a similar amount of experience killing even con creatures at all levels. The amount of experience required to gain an AA is based off the current amount required for a level 70 character to do so, so players at level 70 shouldn't see much of a difference. Players below level 70 will gain AA experience at a rate faster than they were before since they are now gaining it at a similar rate as the level 70. Going forward, this rate will remain static so the amount of kills to gain an AA point at level 75 will be the same it is at level 70. Current abilities and points spent are not affected by this change.

Death We've made a change to the way death works. When you die now you will be "hovering" over your body and can choose to stay that way while waiting for a resurrection instead of immediately zoning to your bind point. This is being done to help players on slow connections who take a big hit from having to zone twice when they die.

Character Creation We've changed character creation to make it more graphical, allow characters to be created from a single page, and updated it to include features associated with the new Drakkin race. As part of this, we've set up some character defaults so starting point allocation, starting city, and starting deity all have defaults now, which can be changed if you wish.

Con Color Changes We have introduced a new con color, dark blue, which represents a range of blue con NPCs that give a bonus to their experience due to being very close to your level, generally within 5 levels. The concept of a dark blue con NPC has existed in EQ for a while now, but we've decided to change the con system to visually include this range so you can visually see when an NPC falls into this "sweet spot". To properly display a different shade of blue, we've had to reorder the cons a little bit. From trivial to highest con, the colors are now:

- Gray - This creature is trivial to you and will give you no experience for killing it. - Green - This creature is not much of a threat, but will still give you some experience. - Blue - This creature is below your level, but high enough level to give you experience. - Dark Blue - This creature is below your level, but close enough to provide a solid challenge and gives you more experience than normal blue cons. - White - This creature is the same level as you - Yellow - This creature is slightly above your level. - Red - This creature is well above your level.

In addition, yellow con now extends up to 3 levels above the player for high end NPCs to help casters determine what can be affected by their spells.

Downtime As EverQuest has grown over the years, the amount of downtime imposed upon players has grown as well and we'd rather players find challenge in the fights themselves than in the time between them. Toward that end, we've created a new system that is simple to use, but powerful and flexible enough to control downtime as the game continues to grow.

The basics of the new system are simple. Once you have been out-of-combat for a sufficient amount of time, you can sit down (or be on a non-moving horse) and begin to rest. While resting, you enter an accelerated regeneration state that will quickly recover your mana, health, and endurance. For most single group content, once you are out of combat for 30 seconds you can rest. While dealing with multi-group content, that time is 5 minutes. The amount of time you have to be out-of-combat before you can rest varies for group content and raid content due to the different needs of the different encounter types.

There are a series of icons that will display by your character's name to let you know what your character's current state is.

- Crossed Swords - You are currently in combat. - Hour Glass - You are recovering from combat and cannot rest yet. In addition to the hourglass, there is a timer bar beneath the endurance bar that will count down as you get closer to being rested. - Poison Drop - You are no longer in combat, but cannot rest because of a debuff that is affecting you. You must get rid of the debuff before you can rest. Certain debuffs now have a yellow border instead of a red one. These debuffs do not affect your ability to rest. - Void - The void is the default icon and indicates that you are not in-combat and you can rest at any time. - Energy Swirl - The energy swirl indicates that you are currently resting.

Group Mentoring Players can now share their group leadership experience with another member of their group.

Reward Window Tasks within The Serpent's Spine have a new way of giving out rewards. When there are multiple rewards to choose from, you will get to choose which one you like from a selection window. If you don’t choose a reward immediately, you can bring up the window later to make the selection but you can only have a maximum of 5 outstanding rewards at any time. If you go above that, the oldest reward will be replaced and you will be unable to claim that reward.

NPCs - Corrected a couple of problems in the NPC call-for-help code. NPCs will now call for help immediately when attacked regardless of when they were last aggroed if they are no longer aggro. Also, NPCs will now properly aggro on the owner of a pet if the pet is sent to attack the NPC. - Shrewd halfling bankers have set up shop in the guild lobby. - Coldwind in Nektulos will now offer a confirmation box to players when they try to remove their Curse of the Blood AAs. - Various issues with the Trial of Lashing in Plane of Justice have been resolved. - The balances in the Kvxe Pirik event in Tacvi will once again reset to full health between waves. - The Alchemy vendors have set up shop in Innothule, Everfrost, West Cabilis, and Shar Vahl. - A new vendor has appeared in East Cabilis that caries some basic adventuring supplies. - Tani N`mar and Founy Jestands are now pick-pocketable again. - The skeletons summoned by the Swarm of Decay ability are casting their spells properly again. - Tegea Prendyn has grown tired of her ocean view and now rests near an inn. - Char and Blaze in the ROTA raid now have their spells functioning correctly again. - Many healer NPCs in Depths of Darkhollow now require some casting time to get off their big heal. - The Vengeful skeletons in Everfrost should no longer evade the guards quite so well.

Tradeskill - Made the Foldable Reinforced Medicine Bag a bit roomier. - For clarity, the tradeskill trophies and carry-alls now list the lore group they are part of. - The yield when making metal bits has increased to 2. - Modified the recipe for Blessing of Reverence to make the spell line more consistent. - Lost Dungeons of Norrath and Omens of Wars spells have become tradable. Additionally, Lost Dungeons of Norrath spells will have no token sellback value to NPCs.

Spells - Stun-caps have been added to the various levels of the Strike of Opportunity spells. - The Circle of Power aura effects will now improve all melee and ranged attacks instead of affecting only one-hand blunt. - Wolf form illusions will no longer automatically make you KOS to guards. - Illusion: Tree now uses a different, global tree model rather than the tree model it used to use, which was only available in older zones. - The damage dealt by high level NPCs that have been charmed has been increased. - Increased the regeneration of pets while they are out-of-combat to keep pace with the increases of out-of-combat regeneration for PCs. - Translocate spells no longer require a reagent. - The reuse on the warrior disciplines Bazu Bellow and Mock are no longer linked together.

AAs - Most beneficial AA effects that last for less than 30 seconds will now go to the short duration buff window instead of the normal buff window. - Improved Harm Touch and Leech Touch are now on different timers. - The Shadowknight AAs Consumption of the Soul and Improved Consumption of the Soul now provide a greater increase to Leech Curse. - Refunded all AAs that increased your chance to channel through damage. Channeling is currently set to 100% for all classes due to a long standing issue in how it is calculated, so the abilities weren't doing anything. This includes Channeling Focus, Channeling Mastery, and Internal Metronome. Item Channeling abilities, such as Concentration, are not affected. - You will now get a message if you have the Stonewall or Willful Death AA and successfully feign death through a spell that hit you. - Lowered the reuse time on the Monk AA Imitate Death to 18 minutes. Modified Hastened Death to reduce the reuse by 2 more minutes per rank of the ability. - Increased the mitigation of the higher ranks of the bard AA Shield of Notes. - By popular demand, removed Spell Casting Subtlety from the Bard AA lineup. Any points spent in that ability will be refunded. - The Beastlord AA Feral Swipe has received a damage increase.

Skills - Modified skill progression for many classes. - Bards and Beastlords now have access to Double Attack starting at level 71. - All bard instrument skills are now available starting at level 5.

Veteran Rewards - Issues with the Steadfast Servant casting lower level effects at certain level ranges have been corrected.

Events - The Aura of Destruction from Uqua and Prick of a Poisoned Pin from Demi-Plane of Blood will land reliably again and last their intended duration. - Slightly reduced the hit-points of the third wave adds in the Sendaii event.

Items - Changed the name of the "Stromguard Forge" to "Stormguard Forge". - Many items that had extremely strong light sources have had their light sources reduced a bit to help with the issues where lightly colored surfaces become blindingly bright. - Many spell reagents now stack to 100 instead of 20. - Some items now have a new tab on them called "Lore" that will give extended information about the item. - Shield of the Immaculate, Amulet of Necropotence, and Holgresh Elder Beads are now flagged all/all. - Upgraded Stats on Class Specific Items in Demiplane of Blood.

Disciplines - You may now learn combat abilities by right-clicking upon the Tomes instead of delivering them to your guild master.

Miscellaneous - Race based experience penalties have been removed. - You can you enable texture streaming from the advanced graphics options window. This should reduce the total memory used by the client during any given play session.

September 19, 2006

Please Read Due to issues with granting the extra two character slots to Station Access subscribers we will be temporarily granting these slots to all players. If you are not a Station Access subscriber then these slots WILL be taken away when the issue is fixed. Please do not make characters using these slots unless you are a Station Access subscriber.

- Fixed issue with AA experience while grouping. - Server stability addressed. - Non-TSS players will no longer get stuck in the Tutorial.

We are sorry for the inconvenience this has caused you. Thank you for your patience.

September 27, 2006

NPCs - Moved Ezna Connoy and Tavin of the Wild a little further south. While they are one with the animals around them, some of their customers were unhappy with their location. - Increased the elemental essence drop rates off the four elemental gods in Planes of Power. - Frannie in Surefall Glade now carries shiny new combine smithy hammers. - Removed Spin Stun from the NPCs in Infected Paw. - Improved run animations for both male and female Drakkin

Tradeskills - Altered the systematic spell research spells Belt of Magi'Kot and Girdle of Magi'Kot to better match the systematic system. - Added the spells Summon Glowing Bauble, Summon Platinum Choker, Summon Runed Mantle, Summon Sapphire Bracelet, Summon Spiked Ring, Summon Steel Bracelet, Summon Jewelry Bag to the systematic spell research system. - Vergalid Clay, Medicinal Moss, and Vergalid Slave Manacles have all moved to Sunderock outside of Vergalid.

Spells - Four of the mage summoned spells in Serpent’s Spine are now tradable. - Damage from Necromancer and Shadowknight lich-type spells has been reduced by a third. - The range on Mayong and Ayonae bane clicky items has been decreased. - Several unresistable melee attacks no longer work on other players. - Corrected a problem that was causing some spells to resist more often than they should. - Bolt spells should now behave more consistently. - Fixed a problem with illusion spells making everyone default to the same appearance. - Invisibility should no longer stack with other forms.

Missions - Several issues with the Finding Fibblebrap mission have been fixed.

Items - The appearance of evergreen leaves on the ground has changed. They now look more leaf like!

AAs - Corrected the level requirements for Greater Blood Tithe and Funeral Dirge. - Players should now be able to get AA experience from Monster Missions.

UI - Players using custom UIs should now be able to go back to character select from in game and see their characters.

- The EverQuest Team

October 4, 2006

NPCS - Added level 10 to 25 spell and melee tome merchants to Crescent Reach near the Master's Hall. - Artisan Moswin decided that she disliked being confused for the bakers assistant Moswen. She has decided to go by her other name Irisi.

Quests - Scout Zryan will no longer award the final item awards for his mission arc after each mission in the arc. - Wanderlust Guild: Crypt Delving no longer requires you to enter the Shade King's chambers. - In Icefall the Nightmoon and Coldeye clans will be more pleased with you than they were before if you kill their enemies. However, the quest givers for these two clans will not deal with you unless you are at least tolerated among the clan itself. - Nerissa Clothspinner has realized that she will need money to continue the search for her sister. She will now continue to sell her wares when she is on the move.

Tradeskills - Yew Leaves now look like leaves. - Some secrets to making the single unfired tradeskill charms have gotten out and they are now easier to make. The unfired artisan charm and the firing of the charms is still a difficult process. - Some spell research items and a few poison making items stack better. - Acids used in spell research are now sold by NPC vendors. These vendors do not like handling such items so they charge a hefty premium for carrying them. You will save money making them yourself, but you can save time by buying them. - Fixed a misspelling in the spell recipe for Elemental Simulacrum. - Made changes to the following list of spell recipes to more closely match the systematic spell research system. If you already learned to make these spells your recipe book will automatically update to match. The Spells changed are: Feral Form, Virtue, Hand of Virtue, Maelstrom of Ro, Rathe's Son, Elemental Siphon, Elemental Simulacrum, Symbol of Kazad, Flameshield of Ro, Ward of Xegony, Servant of Marr, Xegony's Phantasmal Guard, Kazad`s Mark, Armor of the Zealot, Cry of Thunder, Star Scream, Faith, Pacification, Ward of Nife, Pious Might, Aura of the Crusader, Cloak of Luclin, Crusader's Purity, Serene Command, Placate, Zevfeer's Bite and Touch of the Devourer. - The task "Thundercrest Expedition" for Dwarven grandmaster cultural charms now requires the correct item in the second stage (Stone Necklace).

AAs - AA experience now mimics the way leveling experience splits within a group made up of players of very different levels.

Missions - If you are in the death limbo state (hover mode) when the mission completes and the rewards are granted, you will now get your reward.

Combat - If you logout with an active combat timer, when you login again you will now see the correct timer. - Bolt spells and ranged weapons should no longer fire straight up.

Miscellaneous - Corrected a problem that was causing some beneficial melee disciplines to not show up in the buff windows.

October 5, 2006

- Corrected the missing stats on ashengate and frostcrypt augments. - Errant spells that were being sold by the crescent reach spell vendor are no longer player usable. - Fixed an issue with the Wanderlust quests requiring access to a raid instance to progress.

October 25, 2006

Highlights - The way that AA experience is granted within each con range has been adjusted. NPCs that are higher level within the con range will now give more AA experience than NPCs that are lower level, but con the same. - In order for Sony Online Entertainment to provide you with the best possible customer service we will be integrating a new SOE Customer Service interface into EverQuest which will allow us to provide you with a Unified Front of customer support where all forms of service will have the same general look and feel in a centralized location. You'll also be able to view support and service requests in an archived history regardless of how you contacted us or what game you contacted us about! For more information on this change please read the announcement in "The Town Crier" on the EverQuest forums at http://eqforums.station.sony.com.

Items - Warweaver has been corrected to be a Paladin / Shadowknight only weapon. Players who looted the item before the patch have had the item exchanged for a different weapon: Warsorrow. - The damage ratios of several high-end TSS weapons have been retuned. - The Cartographer's Loadstone has been modified so that stat increases are better spread over the quest's progression. The final stats are now achieved at the final step of the quest instead of the preceding step.

Tradeskills

- The recipe names for some of the poisons that use sketches have been made clearer. - Some poison-making components have had their stack sizes adjusted. - Fixed a misspelling in the title of Brodder's Lost Diaries. - Enabled Fierce Heraldic for a more appropriate expansion on the progression servers. - Crow in North Qeynos has decided to use the same supplier as the ones in Abysmal Sea and now has a full stock of his brew. - Smith Gyasi in Crescent Reach should now properly get more supplies when you offer him a completed ore shipment. - Halima and Baker Kosey now carry a supply of beans. - Rylin Coil will now give players any missing Tinkering Mastery books if they have already completed the task.

Events - The Muramite Proving Ground trials will properly flag everyone currently in the zone when a raid is successfully completed. - The Stitch event should now spawn properly after the ambush event is completed. - The Cursebearers in Inktu`ta should no longer warp shortly after spawning.

Quests - Many of the Ashengate faction quests should take less time to complete. - Fixed the combine for the Flowers for Veldyn task. - Shryyn's Quest "A Fair Trade" is now repeatable. Since this is now repeatable the experience given upon completion has been reduced. Additionally the quest item is now lore.

Raids - Made some fixes to the King Odeen raid in Valdeholm. He will take a little longer to escape and will give warnings if you have almost given him enough time to escape. When he does escape the mission will fail outright. Also corrected some errors with the Commander Clanghor (his assistants won't run off without him) and with the High Keepers. You will now have to defeat them before moving on to the next part of the event and their ability to heal has been removed.

NPCs - The inhabitants of Frostcrypt will be more likely to see invisible individuals than they did previously. - Reduced the level of Expin in Greater Faydark so he can be successfully pick pocketed again. - Mesa Snakes have a bit less poison than they used to have, though the effectiveness of the poison is the same. - Librarian Hemfar in Crescent Reach should now be willing to offer you the charm reward for turning in artifacts. If you did not receive the offered reward, hail him again. - The swarm pet from the Savage Platinum Fists now functions correctly.

AAs - Corrected the description of Mercy Kill so it properly reflects that it works on NPCs below levels 66, 68, and 70. - Adjusted the way that AA experience is granted within each con range. NPCs that are higher level within the con range will now give more AA experience than NPCs that are lower level, but con the same.

- The EverQuest Team

October 30, 2006

Spooky spirits and strange mishaps seem to be descending upon Norrath. In addition to familiar Halloween haunts, keep your eyes peeled for Haunted Jack and Spooky Sally with their fiendish holiday treats in your local hometown. There have also been rumors of a strange zombie uprising, an increased bout of lycanthropy, and other creepy encounters rising up within Kithicor Forest. Take care and watch your step! Folks in need of assistance have been taking refuge within the Plane of Knowledge and Crescent Reach.

The festivities kick off tonight at midnight PST and run through the weekend. Happy Halloween!

December 5, 2006

Headlines East and West Commons have been combined and graphically updated to form a newly revamped Commonlands zone!

Hot Zones New Hot Zones! Some new zones and some familiar stomping grounds make up this set of Hot Zones. Included in these zones will be some new encounters and new items for you to enjoy.

The new hot zones are:

20 Kurn's Tower 25 Unrest 30 Tower of Frozen Shadow 35 Lower Guk 40 The Hole 45 Chardok 50 Sebilis 55 Grieg's End 60 Cazic Thule 65 Splitpaw

AAs - Corrected an issue with the AA - Petrified Roots that was incorrectly increasing the chance for an NPC to break root. This ability should now correctly reduce the chance an NPC has to break root. - Modified the Serpent Spine Expendable AA abilities to be more powerful for the same cost. - Added Spell Critical chance increases to the Expendable AA Glyph of Destruction and opened it up for use by casters. - Deep Sleep will now work on mesmerization spells over level 70.

Items - The weapon delay restrictions have been removed from the Mossy Tundra Stone and Everlasting Forge Coal. - Several high level TSS shields now have their appropriate augmentation slots. - The proc rate on Brightflame, Pride of the Lifebringer has been increased to a more appropriate level. - With the exception of diseased forages, the forages from The Serpents Spine zones have been given a small vendor value. - Changed most of the gems in the game to stack to 100. - Dyn'leth's Spy Glass has been improved to work more effectively. - Keikolin's Mindhaze Sleeves now have a chromatic damage focus effect instead of a magic damage focus effect. - The swarm pet from the Savage Platinum Fists functions correctly again.

NPCs - NPCs can now potentially drop more than 8 items. Also, stackable items will be dropped as stacks instead of as several single items. - Added cash loot to some NPCs in Sunderock that had none. - Butcher Redloe now correctly describes how to make Blood Sausage. - Termun in Crescent Reach is a bit more forgiving of foreigners. - Lowered the poison effect on the lower half of snakes in the mesa. - Removed some errant drops from the base Thundercrest zone. - Increased the drop rates for the Powersources in Ashengate and Frostcrypt that are used for various armor tasks in Crescent Reach.

Spells - Fixed an issue with casting spells as soon as spell gems started to become available, where the user would get a "Spell recovery time not yet met" error. - Players will now always be able to see themselves and their group members who are invisible or hiding. - Bolt spells should now function more appropriately. Arrows and bolt spells should now work regardless of height differences between you and your target, as long as you have line of sight. - The recourse effects from Doppelganger and Dimensional Instability can no longer be buff blocked. - Necklace of Warportal Fragments effect now requires vendor bought Small Portal Fragments as a reagent instead of Portal Fragments.

Quests - Fixed a pathing issue that would cause the pilgrims on the Altar Escort task to warp through Icefall. - The Evidence of Corruption task has been modified slightly. Zhureni will no longer want Igneous Cairn Stones, Lava Ooze Glands, or the Vial of Burning Liquid until you have collected them all.

Tasks - Changed an error in the text of Dorina's Quest in the Mesa. - Corrected an issue with the following Grandmaster Cultural Symbol quests: "Thundercrest Expedition", "The Latest in Clockworks!", and "A Bit of Spider, a Bit of Drake". If you are a Dwarf, High Elf, or Gnome, have the quest from before this update but haven't completed it, and the task has less than 6 steps including hidden ones marked with a "???", there are some special steps you can take to update your quest to include these changes while keeping your current progress. NOTE: These steps are not required and your task can be completed without going through this, but your task may not display updates properly. 1)Go to the Artisan in your home town that gave out the task. Be sure that you have a few minutes and do not zone or log out until you have completed all steps. 2) Say "Broken" to the Artisan and it will start a new dialog tree. 3) Read everything carefully and respond appropriately. There will be text in brackets. Be sure to say exactly what is in the brackets. You will be asked to remove tasks at certain steps. Be very certain you have the correct task highlighted before you hit the remove button. Take your time and follow the directions carefully. 4) Following these steps properly will give you the updated the task and preserve the progress you have made on the old version.

Tradeskills - Some of the grandmaster cultural symbol tasks have been made easier by being less specific about the NPCs that are needed for the kill step. For example, if the kill step was "kill 120 Isle Drakes" it will now be "Kill 120 Isle Creatures". Additionally, the kill steps will only be able to be completed in the base zone, or instance of the base zone that is mentioned in the task text. The loot step will still only be on the specific creatures, and only in instances. - Metal Bits now stack more efficiently. - Changed the name of the three old cultural sewing kits and their tokens to make them stand out. They will continue to work for basic tailoring as they have for a while, and they will continue to not work for cultural tailoring, as they have not for a while. - Added fish from The Serpents Spine to the Bait Dispenser. - Fixed a misspelling of the recipe name for Feir'Dal Sewing Kit and Teir'Dal Sewing Kit. - Removed the tradeskill flag from Onyx Ring. - More of the "Blue Diamond Cultural" was set for Luclin release on progression servers. - Crystalwing Sewing Kit and Crescent Essence recipes can now be learned. - Crescent Essence can now be traded.

December 14, 2006

Tasks - Looting a stack of items should now update your tasks and quests appropriately.

Items - Keikolin`s Mindhaze Sleeves now have a chromatic damage focus effect instead of a magic damage focus effect. - Goru's Girdle of the Deceased now has Improved Parry IV instead of Improved Parry III. - Increased the damage on Fleshmelter, Lethar's Maul. - Ice-Striated Iron Orb should now function properly. - Reduced the weight on hot zone augments. - Items should now show their appropriate cast times.

Miscellaneous - Playing as a shroud that is significantly below your regular level now gives reduced experience while in a group environment just like it does while solo. - Instruments are now considered one-handed items regardless of which hand the instrument is in so you can wield an instrument and another item at the same time. You cannot wield two instruments at the same time. - Healing a pet now generates much less agro than before. Beware though, healing pets will still be noticed by NPCs and they will still be unhappy with the healer if the pet dies.

Patch Messages from January 2007 to June 2007

January 17, 2007

Items - Corrected an issue that would cause some items that were casting player-usable spells to block the player from casting the same spell from their spell book until the item recast time was complete. - Removed weight from all augments. - Dyn`leth's Spy Glass will power up faster than before. - Blessed Dust of Tunare and Blue Diamond Powder now stack up to 100. - Scarlet Legion Command Stone will now give the correct stats. - Pouch of Goldfire Ore Dust is now tradable on Firiona Vie. - Akihiro in Stillmoon now drops items when killed. - Keikolin`s Mindhaze Sleeves now have a chromatic damage focus effect instead of a magic damage focus effect. - Goru's Girdle of the Deceased now has Improved Parry IV instead of Improved Parry III. - Increased the damage on Fleshmelter, Lethar's Maul. - Ice-Striated Iron Orb should now function properly. - Corrected an issue that would cause backstab damage to be calculated incorrectly if the weapons base damage was too high. - The statistics on the items created by Summon Aenda's Trinkets have been improved.

Tribute - Higher ranks of tribute and guild tribute are now available.

Tradeskills - Changed lightningbane's recipe to use the correct thickener. - Many of the tradeskill items introduced in The Serpent Spine expansion should now show up as "combinable" in the bazaar.

Quests * - Several of the quests in Ashengate will no longer be blocked by rare spawns. - Large events in Frostcrypt and Ashengate now yield more tier III spell runes. - Lorekeeper Fenegar will no longer be giving people diseased fish as a bonus reward for finding lost ancient documents for him. He realized that adventurers don't really like diseased fish as much as he thought they would. This was an extra reward given out in error. The real reward will still be given out.

NPCs - An additional artifact has been found in Direwind that Librarian Hemfar may be interested in. - A vendor named The Quiet Wanderer has moved into Sunderock Springs. He offers spells and abilities of the calming persuasion, including several which were not previously available: Song: Whispersong of Veshma, Spell: Drifting Fog, Spell: Dulcify, Spell: Nature's Placidity, Spell: Quiet Mind, and Tome of Phantom Silhouette.

Spells - Based on feedback from the Druid community, Wildskin and Blessing of the Wild have been replaced on a one-for-one basis with Blistering Sunray and Sunscorch. The old spells will be replaced with the new ones. - Based on feedback from the Cleric community, Rectitude and Cure Corruption have been replaced with Blessing of Purpose and Ward of the Dauntless. Rectitude was swapped on a one-for-one basis with Blessing of Purpose. However, because Cure Corruption is used by multiple classes the spell could not be swapped directly with Ward of the Dauntless, so clerics can simply no longer use the Cure Corruption spell. Turning in a Rank III spell rune while you have Cure Corruption scribed will result in a copy of Ward of the Dauntless Rank III and a return of the spell rune. Aside from that, Cure Corruption can be deleted from the spell book. - The number of "procs" that Steeltrap Jaws can fire before fading have been doubled. - Skin to Vines will now work on a wider variety of NPC targets.

Miscellaneous - The ability to dye armor has been added to the Drakkin race.

- The EverQuest Team

January 18, 2007

- Corrected an issue that was causing some spell scrolls to scribe spells that weren't usable by players.

February 13, 2007

Highlights Welcome to EverQuest: The Buried Sea, the 13th expansion for EverQuest!

Throngs of undead trample the earth both night and day as Norrath's sun withers. With each passing hour, the growing numbers of creatures of the night rising from crypt and grave seem part of a grand design to overwhelm the lands.

Trouble also lurks deep beneath the Buried Sea off the coast of Odus in a city named Katta Castrum which has remained undiscovered for millennia. It is a city built to sustain the beloved leader of the Combine Empire named Tsaph Katta who was poisoned by General Seru. Generations of Combine Loyalists have tried to cure and awaken Katta while they house threatened populations of Kedge, Shissar, and Sphinx. But in recent times, the artifact that powers and protects their city has weakened. Without it, the city will be crushed under the pressure of the sea.

Only the most intrepid Norrathians have the power to save them.

- Ship-to-Ship Combat: Cross the plank and fight for your life on the open seas as you raid pirate vessels!

- Two Paths of Advancement: Battle pirates on the open seas or dive deep beneath the sea to Katta Castrum, lost stronghold of the Combine Empire.

- New Missions: Take your group through more than 60 challenging new missions ranging from defending merchant vessels against marauding pirates to uncovering the secrets behind the combine city and the danger that threatens it!

- Guild Banners: Guilds can create a unique Guild Banner from a large selection of symbols and colors. The banner becomes the mark of the guild and when enough guild members are in the same zone (two groups), the guild leaders or officers can plant the banner in the ground. While a guild banner is planted, members can use the Guild Hall portal to teleport directly to the banner. This allows players to easily catch up with guild mates. The guild banner can also be upgraded to provide different effects, like regeneration. Upgraded Guild Banners are expendable, but provide an effect to everyone in the guild who is in range of the banner while it is planted. Guilds can only have one standard up at a time. You can access Guild Banner information through a tab in the Guild Window and banners will be sold in the Plane of Knowledge.

- Fellowships: A Fellowship is like a mini-guild for those who play together regularly. Fellowships have a maximum of six players and exist in addition to guilds. All members of the Fellowship get a token, access to a Fellowship-only channel, and the ability to create campfires when at least three "fellows" are in the same area. Fellows use their tokens to transport directly to the campfire allowing them to catch up with their regular playmates quickly. Campfires can be upgraded to provide effects to nearby Fellows. These upgrades are expendable and need to be repurchased. A Fellowship can only have one campfire active at a time. Randall of the Fellows in the Plane of Knowledge will register Fellowships. Fellowship items are also available for sale in the Plane of Knowledge.

- Energeian Power Source Items: Tapping into the Combine Empire's technology, players gain access to a new inventory slot for an Energeian power source. Particular pieces of Energeiac armor will tap into Energeian power sources, gaining benefits from the type that is equipped. For example, an Energeiac sword gains a chance to cast a fire damage spell if a fire Energeian source is equipped or a frost spell if a cold one is. Energeian power sources are expendable and will deplete as they are used, but can be changed on the fly to let players customize effects simply by changing the Energeian source. Energeian items will be for sale from vendors, found on monsters, and some can be tradeskilled.

- Toxxulia Forest: An updated Toxxulia Forest is now available that includes Kerra Ridge and access to The Buried Sea expansion zones.

Live Updates

In Game Mail Sytem In order to improve the performance of the in game mail system, starting on February 20, 2007, we will be implementing a routine purge that will clear out all in game mail that is more than 4 months old. This will be an ongoing process.

You can now use the Export feature. This new feature will grant players the ability to export their in-game mail to a text file in the EverQuest directory. To use the new Export feature, take the following steps:

- Open up the e-mail window (ctrl-E). - Select the messages you would like to export by clicking them in the top pane, using shift-click and/or ctrl-click if you would like to select multiple messages. - Click "Export". - The selected messages are then saved to a file in the EverQuest Mail directory with a name in the format: SavedMessages_charactername_servername.txt. - This export will need to be done with each character that has mail you wish to save.

Items - Sharpshooting VII on Vae'Aender, Stitch's Bow now functions correctly. - Geerlock Clockwork Contraption can no longer be used by frogloks.

Quests * - Taskmistress Krisz can now be called out with 6 or more players instead of 18 or more.

Spells - Mana Flare and similar effects will no longer fire on "procs". - The duration on Mana Flare has been doubled. - Mana Flare strikes now generate little to no additional agro. - Performer's Psalm of Pyrotechnics and Weshlu's Chillsong Aria will no longer work on damage over time spells. - Damage over time spells from Serpent's Spine have been retuned. Efficiency and damage have been increased across the board. - Several level-capped spells from Serpent's Spine have had their maximum level increased to 78: Echo of Misdirection, Spinning into the Void, Color Collapse, Dreams of Veldyn, and Wake of Subdual. - Debuffs that increase the damage the target takes from certain elements, (Icefall Breath, Skin to Vines, Scent of Twilight, and Malosinise) now work on Damage over Time spells as well as Direct Damage spells. - Skin to Vines can be applied to a wider variety of NPCs. - Icefall Breath now has an AC reduction component, as the spell's description indicated. - The efficiency on Sting of the Queen has been reduced. - Epic 1.5 and 2.0 effects now work up to level 75. - Aspect of Elemental Agony for Mages has been swapped with a new spell: Mass Elemental Transvergence. - Blazing Stance no longer works on non-Wizard pets. - Kindle is now a lower level version of Blazing Stance. - The Raging Servant and Bestial Empathy pets summoned using a Spire Servant focus now have an appropriate amount of hit points. - Several Shadowknight hate-generation spells had their cast time lowered from 1.5 to 1.0 seconds. - Echo of Misdirection has changed. It can no longer be used while the Monk is in combat. The effect is now a targeted AE. Its range has been increased, its level cap was increased, and the ability will not agro the target if it successfully lands.

NPC - The skeletons in Dreadspire can no longer see through invisibility to undead.

Miscellaneous - Tacvi, Inktu'Ta, Ikkinz, and Uqua now have the same entry requirements as their parent zones (Txevu, Qvic, Kod'Taz, and Yxtta). - Players are more buoyant than they were before. Notice how you don't sink when in water now? - The Ctrl-R-Click option has moved from the tradeskill window to the options window. - Players can now use /chat while they are hovering over their body. - A number of small issues with the bazaar trader logic have been addressed to make sure any changes made to items, prices, stack sizes update appropriate for other players. - When an NPC performs an AE Rampage, it will now emote "Soandso goes on a WILD RAMPAGE!"

Previously Updated - Increased the number of spell runes that drop from the Large Events (Augment Events) in Frostcrypt and Ashengate from 2 to 3 - Added a corruption augment to the drops for the Large Events (Augment Events) in Frostcrypt and Ashengate

User Interface Changes - Changed -

EQUI.xml EQUI_Animations.xml EQUI_GuildManagementWnd.xml EQUI_InspectWnd.xml EQUI_Inventory.xml EQUI_LootWnd.xml EQUI_OptionsWindow.xml EQUI_TradeskillWnd.xml

- New -

EQUI_FellowshipWnd.xml EQUI_NewPointMerchantWnd.xml

- The EverQuest Team

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