EQ

EverQuest Patch Notes #EQ #EverQuest

stargrace April 13, 2011 No Comments

*** Highlights ***

– Corrected an issue that could cause corpses to lock incorrectly.
– Added /kickplayers, a new command that allows expedition leaders to kick everybody from the dynamic zone and shared task leaders to kick everybody out of the shared task, which results in them also getting booted form the dynamic zone associated with the shared task.  See the Miscellaneous section below for details.
– Many problems with boats have been fixed.  See the Miscellaneous section below for details.
– The minimum fizzle rates for all classes have been reduced, as well as the amount of mana used by a fizzle.
– Zones with key or flag requirements will now unlock themselves automatically when later expansions open (on standard and progression servers). Meldrath’s Mansion and Crystallos zones are now unlocked on standard servers.
– Keep an eye out for Grundle Cogwelder in the Plane of Knowledge.  He has been hearing some interesting rumors about hares.

*** Items ***

– Corrected the lore group on bottles of bleach.
– The Portable Forge should no longer spawn on top of the user.
– The Which Came First item will create a more limited variety of eggs now.
– The Potion of Divinity can not be used as often as it could previously.
– Removed the Encompassing Nightmare IV focus from Doll of the Nameless Child and added it to Shiliskin Metamagic Totem, where it would actually be used.
– Slightly increased the backstab damage on House of Thule daggers.
– Added detrimental haste focus to the all/all legs from House of Thule zones.
– The Katta’s Signet charm and those like it will now have much more reliable stats.
– The Whirligig Flyer now properly grants AC.
– Corrected typos on several items.
– Corrected several mounts that were not usable in combat.

*** Tradeskills ***

– Good Iva’s in Paineel now has an oven.
– Failing to craft Prepared Dream Meat no longer returns any items.
– Older alchemy potions on the Progression Server recipes now stack to 10.
– Fire opals are back in stock at their normal vendors.

*** Quests & Events ***

– Some missing kobold parts have been restored to Toxxulia.
– Wellis Pestule will now ask for the correct item when you are sharpening the Rusty Scourge Knight Saber for him.
– Norten Magmaflinger will now speak to characters at maximum level.
– Corrected the items that Kugaran asks for in the Troll Shadowknight weapon quest.
– Shana Liskia now asks for the correct items in the quest for the Dagger of the Academy.
– Corrected the requirement for reforging rhodium into Burning Ash of the Lake.  It now correctly requires completing the Keymaster’s event.

*** Spells ***

– The minimum fizzle rates for all classes have been reduced, as well as the amount of mana used by a fizzle.
– Players who are under a rabbit illusion will have their viewpoint set much closer to the ground.
– The ventriloquism effect works again.
– Resurrection spells now issue text messages so players can set an audio trigger.
– Fixed an issue with doom spells not working when the target is an NPC.
– Bard – Corrected the cap on the damage shield portion of War March of Dagda.
– Beastlord – Kron’s Maelstrom should no longer interfere with Funeral Dirge.
– Cleric and Druid – Increased the strength of Reject Corruption.
– Druid and Shaman – Corrected the amount of corruption cured by Chant of the Tae Ew.
– Druid – Corrected the cap on the AC reduction of Argent Frost.
– Druid – Increased the AE range on Lunamelioration.
– Enchanter – Baffling Constriction now reduces accuracy with all melee skills.
– Magician – Monster Summoning should now summon local denizens in House of Thule zones.
– Necromancer – Scapegoat has had its cost lowered and your scapegoat will now correctly cast spells at your target when summoned.
– Necromancer – Rebalanced the Splirt spell to decay faster and deal more damage overall.
– Necromancer – Corrected the damage added by the Irae Faycite Shard: Splirt to match the new damage values on Splirt (and corrected its name).
– Necromancer – Cascading Deathshield will now properly heal your pet when each bulwark expires.
– Ranger – Corrected the cap on the damage shield portion of Quillcoat.
– Ranger – Moved Burning Ash to timer 4 so it no longer interferes with Cataclysm Ash.
– Ranger – Moved Biting Wind to timer 3 so it no longer interferes with Windwhip Bite.
– Rogue – Removed an invalid cast message from Aggravated Bloodlust III.
– Shadowknight – Corrected the cap on the AC buff portion of Drape of Fear.
– Shadowknight – The snare component of Despairing Darkness will no longer ignore immunities.  It is still very difficult for normal NPCs to resist.
– Shadowknight – Corrected the heal cast when Gorgon Mantle Rk. III is broken by melee damage.
– Wizard – The Irae Faycite Shard: Brainfreeze Strike will now correctly add damage to Brainfreeze spells.

*** NPC ***

– Melee DPS mercenaries obtained via LoN rewards can now be buffed by players.
– Fixed some issues when un-suspending a buffed and geared pet that has been suspended across zone lines.
– Fixed a crash bug caused by attempting to log in on a character with no corpse.

*** AA ***

– Fixed a problem causing suspended pets to lose gear and buffs when their owner zoned.
– Magician – Theft of Essence will now work correctly with the Annihilate the Divergent spell line.
– Necromancer – Blood Magic should now behave in a more predictable manner giving full benefit to each rank. Please note, each step for Blood Magic is now shorter than the original.
– Paladin – Reduced the critical damage effect of Valorous Rage across all ranks.
– Paladin – Fixed the AC component of Blessing of the Faithful.

*** Achievements ***

– Epic titles should no longer go away if you place your epic items in your house as long as you have the epic achievement.

*** Progression Servers ***

– Corrected several recipes that were producing too much money and returned the alchemy vendors that sold the parts for them on progression servers.
– The Vial of Pure Water recipe has been made available on Progression servers.
– Newbie weapons (and other items from those quests) on Progression servers will now be weaker until more expansions are unlocked.
– Barbarian Northern Wolf and White Rose armor quests should now be working on progression servers.
– Quests for armor “of Ro” can now be completed on progression servers.
– Shaman armor quests that produce armor “of Justice” can now be completed on progression servers.
– Dark Elf quests for Orc Slayer, Bone Mail, and Ashen Bone Mail armors should now be functioning on progression servers.
– Druid armor quests that produce “Moss Toe” armor can now be completed on progression servers.
– Erudite Abattoir Initiate, Fell Blade, and Templar of Fright armor recipes have been enabled on progression servers.
– Gnome Plague and Initiate’s Watchmen armor recipes have been enabled on progression servers.
– Restored some missing gnomish newbie armor quest givers to progression servers.
– Half Elf/Wood Elf quests for Emerald Novice armor should now be functioning on progression servers.
– Halfling Thorn Mail and Bravefoot armor recipes have been enabled on progression servers.
– High Elf Art Keepers and Sylvan Initiate armor can now be created on progression servers.
– Human Coalition Trader, Sturdy Workman, Dismal Knight, Scourge Warrior, Scourge Sorcerer, Rage Sorcerer, Songweavers, Pestilence Priest, and Dismal Warrior armor recipes have been enabled on progression servers.
– Ogre quests for armors of Protection, Darkness, and War should now be functioning on progression servers.
– Troll armor quests for Da Bashers should now be working on progression servers.
– Krivn S`Tai has returned to progression servers.
– Some missing kobold parts have been restored to Toxxulia.
– Returned some creatures that were not spawning properly in the Butcherblock Mountains on progression servers.
– Restored some missing NPC spawns in Lavastorm on progression servers.
– Gnomes can now complete the quest for the Plague Raiser Mace on progression servers.
– Andara C’Luzz has been returned to her post on progression servers.
– Brunnel Kegstander is now available on progression servers.
– Wendel Deeppockets has returned to progression servers.

*** Miscellaneous ***

– Saltpeter is now available in the Lavastorm Mountains.
– Increased the size of the obsidian building blocks to match other building block sets.
– Added /kickplayers, a new command that allows expedition leaders to kick everybody from the dynamic zone and shared task leaders to kick everybody out of the shared task, which results in them also getting booted form the dynamic zone associated with the shared task.
– Usage:
– /kickplayers task — Removes all players from shared task and also removes them from the associated dynamic zone.
– /kickplayers exp — Removes all players from the expedition, including players not currently in the dynamic zone.
– Fixed problems with looting rights.
– Polls: Implemented the ability to teleport to winners of real estate polls.
– Fixed a crash bug when a PvP player’s infamy changes and becomes tied with more than 4 other players.
– Fixed a few boat bugs that caused players to drop into the water, drop on the boat and take falling damage, disconnects when zoning on a boat, and the “rubber band” effect when riding with other players on a boat.
– You will no longer need to completely exit out of the game when you get extra character slots.  They will be available to you the next time you enter character select.
– Added in Rotate Yard combobox to the Layouts tab of the Real Estate Items window.  This allows you to choose which direction you want a yard facing in when it is loaded.  Also updated the Layout help page with info on the Rotate Yard option.
– Fixed some minor memory leaks related to spells.

*** UI ***

– Long tool tips will now wrap to multiple lines.
– The item display window has been updated to display total skill mod information.
– In the real estate items window, if a full stack is moved it will remain selected, or the stack it is combined with will become selected.  However, if only part of the stack is moved, the remaining portion of the stack will remain selected.
– Fixed an issue that was not allowing the results of closed non-real estate polls to display.

– Added –
EQUI_NameChangeMercWnd.xml
EQUI_NameChangePetWnd.xml

– Changed –
EQUI.xml
EQUI_Animations.xml
EQUI_CharacterCreate.xml

*** Previously Updated ***

– The First Creation – The Creation should leave a corpse more reliably.
– The Mechamatic Guardian has a limiter on the number of steamworks it can command at once.  It will no longer process damage if this limit is exceeded.
– Reduced the spell resistances and the resistance to combat abilities on the Mechamatic Guardian.  It should also return to where it belongs if pulled or pushed away.
– Increased the number of adds that spawn during the 12th Anniversary Mechamatic Guardian event by 25 to 33 percent per wave.
– Fixed the bug with the “Stealing My Life Back” mission that prevented updates for killing an angry helibot.
– Removed NPCs and some quest rewards that were appearing too early on progression servers.
– The rare items required for the Hunt for Shards task have been made more common, and more shards will be up at once.

– The EverQuest Team

The (long) Road to 300 #EQ #EverQuest

stargrace April 12, 2011 No Comments

One of my ‘goals’ (I love setting goals for myself in games, gives me a bit of direction) is to one day complete the Prayer Shawl 2.0 quest that came out with Underfoot. I had a blast finishing off the 1.0 Shawl (many) years ago, and when I heard about the new one of course I wanted to face that challenge. You require 300 in the ‘basics’ of crafting (this excludes things like alchemy, tinkering, and spell research) in order to receive the quest. I’ve been working my skills up (slowly) and have been quite pleased with my progress. The signature above is a few days out of date since I haven’t sync’d my character lately, but as you can see I’ve already gotten 300 in JC and baking. Added to that list I’ve raised tinkering by a fair amount (just because) and my blacksmithing and tailoring have also raised a few points each. I’m excited to finally get 300 in all my tradeskills although it will still take some time and a lot of farming. Yesterday I headed off to Acrylia Caverns in order to farm (you guessed it) acrylia for my tinkering. I was making Geerlok automated hammers.

The rest of my evening (before I eventually could no longer keep my eyes open) was spent doing missions with Ninga and Mileren (along with a boxed cleric, Elte) two monks that I spend most of my time in game with. There’s also Durf who is leveling up a zerker after being unsatisfied with his 82 shaman, and rumors that another mutual friend of ours may come back who plays a level 85 mage. It’s really nice to see so many people around although don’t get me wrong if you’re a new player returning to the ‘regular’ EQ servers you’ll be spending most of your time leveling up alone – if you’re persistent and use the public channels you WILL meet new people to play with but lower levels are a little sparse, until about 60-70 or so. That’s not to say people are not out there, they certainly are, it just takes a little while to wiggle your way into a group.

With HoT progression mostly complete (there are a few flags and keys I still want to obtain on the enchanter) my eyes are set on working through the Underfoot progression chain. I have barely even set foot into the expansion that’s already more then a year old, and I’m excited about exploring. Even if the gear is no longer valid, there’s still a lot of quests I’d like to try and who knows what I may find along the way.

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself. I’ll see you in Norrath!

Bobo Gleemaker and the Mini Jokester in ‘This Ain’t Right’ #EQ

stargrace April 11, 2011 No Comments

Turns out that this April 1st also added a new quest that I had completely forgotten about until someone linked one of the rewards (the marionette pictured above) to channels. You may have noticed this new NPC in PoK – standing at a tree beside the Plane of Tranquility stone. His (her?) name is Bobo Gleemaker, and his first task is solo (and scales with your level). A note here – in order to get the group task you MUST complete the level 90 version of his quest. Only one person in the group needs it in order to request the mission. You can shroud down to request other versions of the first task but the group one must be done at level 90.

The solo quest sends you to the Feerrott to kill 5 yodeling gorillas, and to loot music books from them. This isn’t exactly a *solo* task by any means, they con white to a level 90. None the less myself and a few friends grouped up to give it a go – what we were really after was the group task. The gorillas fell easily enough and we headed back to PoK to request the task.

When you request the group task you must say the words “Hubadee dubadee doo” in order to zone in – and then you’ll find yourself (and your group) in an instanced version of Plane of Knowledge. If you thought all was well, you’d be mistaken. Your first sign that not all is right would be the tiny elephants that litter the zone in. Your quest update would also indicate that you are not just there for pleasure:

• Hail Bobo Gleemaker 0/1 (Plane of Knowledge)NOTE: This locks the task.
• Kill Tiny Elephants 0/8 (Plane of Knowledge)The elephants are found in the neutral area of the zone.
• Loot a Tiny Elephant Trunk from a Tiny Elephant 0/1 (Plane of Knowledge)
• Kill Cannibalistic Gingerbread Men 0/8 (Plane of Knowledge)These are found on the good side of the zone.
• Loot a Gingerbread Man Spleen from a Cannibalistic Gingerbread Man. 0/1 (Plane of Knowledge)
• Kill Grugglemumps. 0/8 (Plane of Knowledge)These are found on the evil side of the Plane of Knowledge.
• Loot a Grugglemump Hide from a Grugglemump. 0/1 (Plane of Knowledge)
• Kill Edwin, the Gingerbread Man. 0/1 (Plane of Knowledge)Edwin Destroyer of Worlds, a huge gingerbread man, is next to the trader building on the opposite side from the Herald of Druzzil Ro and near the monster shroud NPC.
• Kill the World’s Tiniest Giant. 0/1 (Plane of Knowledge)The World’s Tiniest Giant is right outside the stairs to the library (at the bottom) near the big bank.
  Completing the above steps opens up three more steps:
• Give the Tiny Elephant Trunk to Bobo Gleemaker. 0/1 (Plane of Knowledge)
• Give the Gingerbread Man Spleen to Bobo Gleemaker. 0/1 (Plane of Knowledge)
• Give the Gruggleump Hide to Bobo Gleemaker. 0/1 (Plane of Knowledge)Then, after doing those turn-ins:
• Speak with Bobo Gleemaker. 0/1 (Plane of Knowledge)

At the end of the task Bristlebane himself appears to give you your reward which is a chest filled with a hobby horse. This “mount” can be shown off but you can’t actually MOVE anywhere on it, which I found hilarious. Of course you’re also granted the house item I pictured above, which was the whole reason I wanted to do the zone to begin with. Over all I found the task a little lengthy, but the aa was good. My enchanter just passed the 500 aa mark, which is nothing by these days standards – but considering I was level 81 and only had 100 aa in March, I’m pretty pleased.

I’ve been spending a lot of time reading the Norrathian Homeshow lately, and not the EQ2 version of the forums, but the EQ1 version. Some players have created astounding homes and I’ve been working on an idea (at least in my mind) to create a gnome home for my enchanter. I haven’t actually started to build yet, but I’m looking forward to getting started (eventually). Happy gaming no matter where you find yourself, I’ll see you in Norrath!

Rallos Zek #EQ

stargrace April 6, 2011 No Comments

I decided today it was time for a history lesson, so we’re going to take a little look at Rallos zek – I think having characters in MMO’s that gamers remember and that have an incredibly detailed history is very important.

Rallos Zek is allied with Innoruuk and Cazic-Thule, enemy to Quellious and Bertoxxulous.

The followers of Rallos Zek, the Warlord, believe in survival of the strong and death to the weak. The heart of a true follower of Zek yearns for strength, courage, but above all, victory. They believe that the heat of battle is the only place and time where enlightenment can be gained, that the universe was formed by conflict and in conflict it will end, with the victors feasting upon the remains of their fallen enemy. No respect or regard is given to the dead, for if they were worthy their hearts would still pump blood through their veins and not upon the soil of Norrath. The followers of Zek are almost exclusively warriors.

As the God of war, Rallos Zek delights in the action and aggression of battle, valuing strength and victory above all. The Warlord deals swiftly and mercilessly with those who fail him, but rewards his champions greatly. He created the giants, ogres, orcs, and goblins – fierce beings who, like their lord, seek fighting and conquest.

Rallos resides in Drunder, the enormous fortress that dominates the western edge of the Plane of War. He occasionally goes to watch the chaotic battles of his plane, choosing the best of the warriors to serve him personally in his lair.

Source: EQ Website (Fabled PoP Lore Pt. 15 & 22)

At the beginning of the Elder Age, Rallos Zek created the races of giants as part of the gods’ plan to watch over the dragon-dominated lands.

When Brell suggested a second alliance with the new gods coming to Norrath, Rallos Zek returned to the surface, pleased with his sanction to create even more peoples for his army. He made then the Ogres, massive, unmovable beings of questionable intelligence, and the Orcs, bred for battle and singled-minded in their desire for conquest.

Several of the races became bent on expansion and warfare became part of their developing cultures. And of all the races, it was the Ogres who quickly proved the most interested in battle and plunder, and their empire grew outward from their mountain home until it eventually encompassed a large portion of Tunaria, largest of the known continents. Their knowledge of magic grew as did their greed, until they became weary of only Norrath, and when they learned of other planes and dimensions, invaded the Plane of Earth itself. Rallos Zek watched with pride as his creations challenged the gods of that realm, and when they eventually knew defeat, the Warlord himself led a second invasion. The war that ensued shook the heavens and angered the greater gods. Through their combined might, Rallos Zek was finally thwarted and forced back to his domain, after which a great barrier to the Planes of Power was erected, denying entry to both the lesser gods and mortals as well. And then, in what some view as spite and others justice, the gods cursed the Warlord’s creations. Thousands of Ogres were slain and their empire collapsed around them. The Giants were spread from one end of the earth to the other, forced to flee their homes as the gods brought snow and ice to their previously lush lands. And the goblins were also cursed, but no writings remain of their punishment as they no longer keep records of their history (which is perhaps some indication as to the severity of their curse). Thus began the Age of Monuments.

The above was quoted from zam.com. Who is your favorite in-game NPC? What about them do you like the most? Their look, their story? Perhaps the phrase they say every single time you walk by (have you ever been in the CASTLE?!). Let me know in comments!

The Trouble with April Fools #EverQuest #EQ

stargrace April 2, 2011 1 Comment

Yesterday was April Fools, and EverQuest wasn’t about to be left behind. You may remember these cute fluffy bunnies (although they now have updated models) from the Velious era prank – but if you were not around at that time, well. NPC, mobs, and players had the chance to magically transform into these fuzzy critters as they adventured (and hung around in zones) throughout the day yesterday. While it wasn’t a big surprise (EverQuest and EverQuest II are known for pulling ‘pranks’ on this day) it was not exactly met by robust cheers in channels.

See, when a quest npc happens to be transformed into a bunny they no longer respond to player hails. This left a LOT of very angry players. Had those players calmed down for a few minutes and asked, or used /motd, they would have discovered that there is a simple work around to hail the quest mobs. You could /say Dark_bunny (the name of your NPC) proceed (or whatever your quest trigger text is) and they would have answered back appropriately. I didn’t let the trick stop me from completing my Feerrott tasks (and obtaining yet another trophy) and my enchanter also hit level 89 along the way – I had her visit the bunny who was giving out the spell task and made a macro to obtain the quest.

Again, people were incredibly angry. Some threatened to close their accounts, others said that they didn’t pay for this event so they did not want it in game. Honestly, I think that while it was poorly implemented, it wasn’t a bad idea – and with the 205 SOE layoffs casting a shadow on the games we play I was thankful they still did anything at all. For one day things were hectic and I doubt very much that those players calling for firings have ever done their job perfectly 100% of the time either.

This doesn’t exactly excuse the fact that it was poorly implemented and probably could have (should have) been removed early – but I still don’t understand why for this one day players were calling for blood (almost literally, and in some cases they were calling for bunny blood quite literally).

I also spent some time broadcasting Dragons Dragons Dragons last night – thank you those who tuned in! I’ll be doing more livestreams in the future of whatever game I happen to be playing at the time. Hoping to get some Vanguard in there before too long actually.

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself! I’ll see you in Norrath.