EverQuest 2 Wiki:News 2011

2010 News Archives
These are the archives of the front page's News panel for 2010. Newly news archived news goes at the top of the list.

24 December 2011
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from everyone here at EQ2i! Don't forget some special activities going on in EQ2 over the holidays:
 * Double SC on cards only today 12/24 through 12/27
 * Double XP 12/30 through 1/2

12 December 2011
Coming Soon: SOE 12 Days of Holidays! starting December 13, 2011 at 12:01 am PST through December 24, 2011 at 11:59 pm PST for exciting offers and activities.

07 December 2011
Age of Discovery is finaly on the live servers!

29 November 2011
don't forget that a new expansion and a new launchpad is on the way at 30. November 2011!
 * New LaunchPad Announcement FAQ 10 times faster then the old one and less download
 * Last chance to preoder Age of Discovery is Dec. 5.
 * Dungeon Maker: Ever wanted to build your own dungeon? Now you can, with the Dungeon Maker system!
 * Beastlords: At last, the Beastlord class returns to Norrath. Seek out new animals throughout the world to train as your warder pet.
 * Mercenaries: Now you can hire a brave companion to fight by your side, filling a spot in your group or assisting you in a duo.
 * Reforging: Using the reforging system, you will be able to reconfigure your items to change their stats and even add particle effects!
 * Tradeskill Apprentice: Claim your tradeskill apprentice and gain your very own minion!
 * AA Limit Increase: The AA limit will be increased above the current limit of 300 to 320.

10 November 2011
Got some whoppers of news!
 * Yes, its true, EQ2 is going F2P.
 * See the FAQ at everquest2.com.
 * F2P Feedback thread on SOE forums
 * Also see SmokeJumper's Producer letter for more details on the change, and AoD info
 * AoD is available for preorder starting today
 * FanFaire attendees are getting AoD Collectors Edition this year

31 October 2011
Happy Halloween, Norrath! But don't worry, Nights of the Dead runs for one week longer (ending 11:59pm pacific on the 7th). As the temperatures drop, the information on the next update is heating up: SOE has also released a sneak peak at the new Freeport coming in GU62 and an interview with EQ2's Art Director.

13 October 2011
There's a chill in the air, and the ghost and ghouls are out & about again: it's time for Nights of the Dead! NotD is currently slated to run through November 7th, and there's new quests and plenty of new items for this year.

9 September 2011
The lights are back on at SOE, so EQ2 and all SOE services are back up and running.

8 September 2011
If you're having trouble logging in to EQ2, it's not just you. There's a major power outage in southern California that is affecting SOE, so the servers are down as of this writing. There's no ETA for restoration, but SDG&E reports that the outage may last into Friday.

25 August 2011
GU61, The War of Zek, goes live today with a few big new features:
 * All dungeon and overland loot items have been re-itemized.
 * The Velious saga continues as you journey past the Citadel of Drunder to the Plane of War itself in a new dungeon and raid, and a continuation of the Signature quest line.
 * New dynamically-scaling dungeons have been added.
 * The new House Rating System lets you publish your house so other players can rate it
 * Push a button, record, and post your footage to YouTube with our new Video Capture system.
 * The Eastern Wastes area in Velious now has a lot more overland content added to it (the new quests start at the Ry’Gorr keep).
 * A big revamp of the class AA tree so that it’s easier to select the AAs you want, and adding more utility to the AAs that were weak previously.
 * Many stats have been un-capped so that they have meaning as your characters progress.
 * Tradeskillers now have their own AA tree to chase!
 * And yes, Fae and Arasai now have a level 85 quest that can unlock their ability to FLY!

22 August 2011
Mark your calendars folks: GU61, The War of Zek, is scheduled to go live this Thursday the 25th. Keep in mind that once GU61 goes live your AAs will be automatically reset, all your items will be unattuned, and any items you have equipped will have their adornments removed and placed in your overflow.

14 August 2011
If you want to increase the security of your SOE Account you can get the SOE AUTHENTICATOR at the SOE store now.

29 July 2011
Its that wonderful time of year again, when the gnomes of Norrath get to strut around their best gadgets. Thats right, its time again for Tinkerfest! Everquest2.com has a nice overview of whats new/changes this year, along with links to various other EQ2 fansites (even us!), including the usual awesome festive in-character write up and galleries from EQ2Traders Corner's Denmother (who isnt a gnome, but we love anyway).


 * Also to make this weekend even more awesome, its also Bonus XP weekend! 3 full days (From "12:01 am PDT on Friday, July 29, until 11:59 pm PDT on Sunday, July 31") of true double XP (thats +100%) of every type! Get your grind on (after you enjoy Tinkerfest obviously).


 * In other AWESOME news, the wiki crossed 57,000 (thats THOUSAND, with a T) articles! Thats just an amazing number of pages documenting wonderful world of EQ2. I hope to see that number jump up a whole bunch with all the new goodies from Tinkerfest and the Velious events.

21 July 2011
Rejoice, world event fans: the Velious dragon ring / spire event will be turned back on around 5pm pacific tomorrow (Friday). The event will resume at a max of 50% completed and will run more slowly so there should be a better opportunity for everyone to run it.

15 July 2011
The Velious transportation world event was silently switched on yesterday, so head over to the dragon ring in Great Divide or the wizard spires in the Eastern Wastes to help out. There's a periodic public-quest type event at each for T9 characters and both a repeatable FedEx-quest and random token shinie spawns for folks of any level, but act now as the quests will disappear once the ring or spire is completed! and just like that, it's gone on hold until the next hotfix early next week:
 * The Gnomes have thrown some nuts and bolts into the system and this World Event is on hold until further notice. Please note that your progress has been saved. When the World Event is reactivated you can start up where you left off.

24 June 2011
Jumper and Glider mount types are now in game! Head to Butcherblock Mountains above the docks to quest for your jumper and the Tenebrous Tangle for your gliders. Leapers and Gliders are Live!

31 May 2011
GU60, The Children of War, goes live today with a few big new features:
 * Drunder is now accessable from the skull platform high above the wakening lands. Drunder includes three new heroic zones, three new x4 raids and a new x2 raid.
 * A new easy- to moderate-difficulty heroic instance in the form of Crystal Caverns: Collapse.
 * Various PVP and Battlegrounds updates, including an entirely new Battleground with a new ruleset
 * Various class changes and bugfixes. See the full patch notes for details!

26 May 2011
I'd like to welcome our newest admin, Lordebon. He's been around for quite some time, and has helped bring many improvements to the way the site works, and now he can help do it with his own hands! Feel free to drop by his talk page and leave a nice grats message ;P

19 May 2011
the servers online again and we are wondering What has your Dev Team been doing for the last couple of weeks? see A Welcome Back Letter from Smokejumper for more information.

14 May 2011
our great overlord smedley says that the games are back online!. You will need to reset your SOE account password before you can proceed into a game. Find links to how to do that, and other things at http://www.soe.com/en/. Additional news found on the also restored everquest2.com

14 May 2011
check ou the news from SOE: It will likely be at least a few more days before we restore our services, and when we come back online, here is what you can expect for each of our game services. for more information see SOE - Customer Service Notification
 * First and foremost, all impacted players will receive 30 days of game time added to the end of the current billing cycle in addition to one day for each day the system is down.
 * EverQuest II and EverQuest II Extended: A series of events, including Double XP, Double Guild XP, Loot Bonanza, and City Festivals
 * And finally, our Station Access subscribers will receive 500 Station Cash, in addition to the subscription time and items listed above.

4 May 2011
The SOE is working on getting the The SOE services and servers are up again. for more information see SOE - Customer Service Notification

3 May 2011
the front page should have at least a brief notice about the current hacking of SOE. The hacker group Anonymous has issued two YouTube videos claiming responsibility for the attacks, and claiming that it's retaliation for SOE prohibiting "jailbreaking" PS2s. There is also a phishing attack going around via email claiming to be an official update from SOE, but the links that look like Experian etc. go to malicious websites that install malware that people need to be aware of

22 April 2011
It dawned on me, that for a large active gaming wiki, we really don't look all that cool and tricked out like some of the other wikis. I recruited the help of artist friend (and my best friend of 20+ years), and we raided (no pun intended) the SOE press archives for some hi-res images/logos to use. Sadly, SOE fails at this too, so we took the crappy ones we found on google image search. Its not perfect, but its better then the blah default Oasis theme that comes on the wiki. We tried to go with a blue/icy motif, in light of Velious. Theres even some eye candy for those of you on wide monitors. I've set up a forum for feedback and such, so feel free to dump ANY comments there. I'll get them fed back to the art guy, and make changes as needed.
 * [update] based on feedback from the forums, private emails, and ingame tells, the theme and logo have been reverted pending review of suggested alternative art assets and colors.

I've also started forum for Fan Faire and a listing of people that are confirmed going. Hoping to see some friendly faces in the desert heat. Maybe we can form a mob and capture a dev? Or just hang out between panels/events.

29 March 2011
Let the *cough* festivities of Bristlebane Day begin and may The Grand Prankster bless us all, every one.

25 March 2011
Looking for a way to play EQ and support the relief efforts in Japan? Look no further. SOE's Japan Relief efforts are offering up some sweet in-game items centered on the theme of Cherry Blossoms that can be purchased through the marketplace starting today and going through the 28th. For each item purchased, SOE will donate 10$ to the American Red Cross.

24 March 2011
that thank to extreme hard work by Sigrdrifa, we now have a centralized hub about Chronoportals and the event. Quests, zones, mobs, levels and locations! All in one skimable place. Muchas gracias Sig!

23 March 2011
Celebrate EverQuest's 12th Anniversary With Special In-Game Events in EverQuest II
 * From 10:00am Wednesday, March 23rd through 10:00am Wednesday, March 30th, log in to EQII and take part in a week-long look back at Norrathian days of yore.
 * The EQII Team has created this fun event as an homage to EverQuest in honor of the momentous occasion, and although the lore doesn't exactly fit the current story of EQII, they decided to make it extra enjoyable for those who were around for the first iteration of Norrath. Adventurers who take part in this journey through time will find some silly nods to EQ and moments of nostalgia as we reminisce about our heritage.
 * The Chronomages of Norrath need your help. They’ve felt surges in the fabric of time, and used their magic to investigate those surges. The results of their probes caused portals to open, connecting the present with the ancient days before The Shattering. You’ve been asked to go through the portals, face any challenges you may find, and return to help the Chronomages understand what’s happening.
 * Portals have opened in Sinking Sands, the Moors of Ykesha, Feerott, Thundering Steppes, Antonica, Steamfont, the Enchanted Lands, and Lavastorm. The mages ask that you investigate them all!

11 March 2011
its time for Brew Day once again! From March 11th to 22nd. All the old goodies are back, and they brought some new quests and items with them! Check out the Brew Day hub for all the links and information. Remember to use the new fancy ingame calendar to stay apprised of these events too!

24 February 2011
Don't forget the The Twelve Days of Velious!
 * February 24: Free Transfer Day One day only! Get a free character transfer token from the in-game Marketplace and choose your own server. Up to five moves allowed per account. Transfers are only valid on this day. All moves must be made during this day's promotion. The item is NO RENT and will disappear after the day's promotion is over.
 * February 25: Snow Days Discounts Every day's a snow day in Velious, but today you'll find lots of cool prices on frosty-themed items in the Marketplace.

22 February 2011
The Destiny of Velious Expansion is coming live on servers today! Don't forget the The Twelve Days of Velious!
 * Othmir Day
 * Everyone who logs in on Launch Day, February 22nd, will receive an Othmir illusion potion. (Even those who aren't playing in Velious!) The potion has 50 charges, and is available one per character. Just be sure to log in each of your characters during the day to claim a potion, if you want the illusion for more than one character.

16 February 2011
Destiny of Velious NDA Has Lifted! Don't forget our beta information template for any info you add and feel free to get your pride on with the beta userbox template for your user page.

28 January 2011
watch out for Destiny of Velious preorder and the Upcoming Housing Improvements!
 * The Destiny of Velious Expansion is comming in a few weeks (atm planned for 21.02.2011) time to Preorder your version!
 * Destiny of Velious preorder
 * Soar high above Norrath with flying mounts
 * Crawl your way through 10 dangerous dungeons
 * Complete four new Heritage Quests
 * Battle through more than 300 new quests
 * Conquer one new massive contested dungeon
 * Discover two new overland zones
 * Defeat four new raid instances
 * and more ...
 * SoE plans to make some Improvements for housing! Follow the Forum post Upcoming Housing Improvements! to be uptodate!