EVERQUEST TIME LINE

Changes, Modifications and other updates to EverQuest, over time.

When did that happen, you may ask... now you can know, and stay on task! -- Bonzz

EverQuest, over time, has had minor major and even dramatic changes; modifications; updates; items re-named; NPC's re-named; things added; things removed; nerfs; exploit fixes; tradeskill changes; spell, song * discipline changes; class modifications; new servers and server merges; and so forth.

These 'things' may just be interesting to know, fun to know or maybe even important to know.

The tidbits below are from Patch Notes; Updates, Notices; News Releases; EQ Forums; the Wayback Machine; Expansion Releases; and so forth. The data is not necessarily verbatim, as I often shortened things, paraphrased, inserted comments of my own, corrected spellings, corrected grammar and / or combined multiple sources into one (since they were from the same date / same topic). Things I did not find to be of any real interest interest are not included, and, for the most part, changes to non-Live servers (TLP, etc.) have been ignored (with some exceptions).

This page is, by no means, 100% inclusive... it does not contain very line item from every patch / news posting and also since EQ / Devs do not always 'reveal' everything.

The best way to find anything you may be looking for, on this page, is  use CNTRL F (on your keyboard) to search this page by a keyword (using the box that pops up in your browser). You can also scan / browse visually. To aid with visual scanning, I have highlighted some key words and / or phrases in red text. I have also highlighted the dates of modifications that I felt were, on some level, somewhat significant.

!!!ALERT !!! BE AWARE!!!: Many of the things listed below, may have been changed again later, and then again after that! In some cases, some may have been removed from the game all together! Do no take any one change as 100% as it is now, for this reason. Keep looking for future changes that may have modified it yet again... or, perhaps, removed it!

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Search Bonzz's Site by typing a keyword(s) in the box below.

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1996              1997              1998              1999              2000

2001              2002              2003              2004              2005

2006              2007              2008              2009              2010

2011              2012              2013              2014              2015

2016              2017              2018              2019              2020

2021              2022              2023              2024              2025

If I missed any key or important things, or there are any errors / typos... let me know!

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 1996 

• John Smedley has a concept for an new game and the process of developing what would become EverQuest started soon thereafter. Brad McQuaid, Bill Clover and Bill Trost are credited with the original designs.

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1997

• November 1997: EverQuest starts the process of Beta Testing.

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1998

• Owned by SCEA (Sony Computer Entertainment America), parts of Sony Online Ventures & Sony Pictures Entertainment were merged to create Sony Online Entertainment (SOE).
• Sony Interactive Studios (SISA) was spun off from SOE and later renamed 989 Studios.
• When 989 Studios refocused to PlayStation games, John Smedley, Brad McQuaid and others founded RedEye Interactive, which would later be become Verant Interactive.

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1999

• 1999: AWARD: GameSpot's 1999 Game of the Year.
• 1999: AWARD: Game Revolution named it the Best PC RPG.
• MARCH 16, 1999: Verant Interactive launches EverQuest through SOE, and it 'broke the internet' (at least in the San Diego area), due such overwhelming and unexpected demand. Hardware and router upgrades quickly followed in April. On-line gaming is changed forever!
• 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 definitely 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 (obsolete link) and send it to the email address (defunct e-mail) 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.
• NOTE: As best as I can tell, Patch Notes did not start until September 1999.
• SEPTEMBER 13, 1999:
  • 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.
  • Extremely large NPCs, i. e. Vox, should not suicide when stuck.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Levitate: All players may now cancel this effect.
  • Dead Man Walking (Necromancer) has been renamed Dead Man Floating.
  • There is a new pet command: /pet taunt and /pet notaunt. Pets default to /pet taunt.
  • 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.
  • Monsters that are moving when the damage from a DoT is applied (happens every few seconds), it will take 66% of the damage that it would have taken if it were not moving.
• SEPTEMBER 22, 1999:
  • Summoned food and water will now disappear when the user logs out.
  • Summoned items will no longer remain indefinitely when placed within a bag in the bank.
• SEPTEMBER 28, 1999:
  • Corpses that are older than 2 hours cannot be resurrected.
  • Corpses that are produced from a duel cannot be resurrected after 10 minutes.
  • A Yes/No request window is now brought up when ever turning in the PK (Player Killer or Player versus Player) 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.
  • 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.
• OCTOBER 13, 1999:
  • A new zone, The Temple of Solusek Ro, is now available via the optional patch.
  • 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.
  • 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.
• DECEMBER 8, 1999:
  • Barbarians, Ogres and Trolls may now slam magic mobs when equipped with magic shoulders.

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2000

• FEBRUARY 17, 2000:
  • 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.
  • "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".
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Characters will now lose all enchantments upon entering the Plane of Sky. 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.
  • 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.
  • 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 (obsolete link).
• FEBRUARY 23, 2000:
  • 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. 
• MARCH 4, 2000: The first Fan Faire was held in St. Louis, Missouri.
• MARCH 29, 2000:
  • Area Effect "Fear" spells will no longer work in PvP. This affects a bard song, as well as the Cleric "Wave of Fear" spell. 
• APRIL 10, 2000:
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
• APRIL 24, 2000: Ruins of Kunark, the first EverQuest expansion, was released.
  • Character Levels increased to Level 60.
  • Iksar race introduced.
  • Monk Player Class introduced.
  • Epics (1.0) introduced.
• APRIL 27, 2000:
  • /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.
• MAY 11: 2000: AWARD: Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences named EverQuest their "Online Game of the Year" during the 3rd Annual Interactive Achievement Awards. 
• May 25, 2000:
  • Gorilla's in Burning Woods now have a new texture set that properly reflects their undead status.
  • /yell now reports the proper direction to people hearing the yell
• JUNE 2000: SOE acquires Verant Interactive.
• JUNE 6, 2000:
  • Some new spells are available for the hybrid classes. Check your Kunark spell vendors.
  • 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.
• JUNE 15, 2000:
  • 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.
• JUNE 22, 2000:
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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. 
  • 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.
• JUNE 29, 2000:
  • 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.
• JULY 12, 2000:
  • 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. 
• JULY 19, 2000:
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Sealed Poison Vials can now be crafted.
  • The Ant's Potion may now be used anywhere.
  • The "This item is trivial..." message in craft skills has been replaced with "You can no longer advance in skill from making this item."
  • There was evidently more than one "Fine Steel Dagger" running around in the world. Some of them have been renamed "Serpent's Tooth".
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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 corpses, 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.
  • 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.
• JULY 26, 2000:
  • Today's patch contains some new features for the EverQuest chat and login servers. In addition, it enables support for some international keyboard layouts. #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.
• AUGUST 1, 2000:
  • 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.
  • 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 Fast Drop option only applies to items being dropped upon the ground. Handing items to NPCs will still work regardless of your Fast Drop setting. It is highly recommended that you use option "CONFIRM", as GMs will not reimburse any items that are accidentally dropped.
• AUGUST 9, 2000:
  • 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 Guide Application is now back up at (obsolete link). 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.
  • 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 /help command will now list all commands available to you.
  • The Wurmslayer is now a one-handed slashing weapon.
  • NO RENT items, items that disappear when you log out, will now show a "NO RENT" tag when inspecting the item.
  • Most summoned items now have the word "summoned" in their name.
  • 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 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.
  • 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). Modifying this file is optional. 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 (memming, 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.
• AUGUST 16, 2000:
  • 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.
• AUGUST 23, 2000:
  • *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 default window view, FULL for the full view with overlays Log - TRUE for logging on, FALSE for logging off.
• AUGUST 30, 2000:
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
• SEPTEMBER 19, 2000:
  • 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.
  • High-level monks can now carry increased weight without penalty. The additional allowance is granted at levels 55 and 60.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
• SEPTEMBER 28, 2000:
  • 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.
  • 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. 
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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 possessive 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." 
• OCTOBER 2000: The banning of a Player, reportedly for creating EverQuest Fan Fiction, led to controversy about Player rights and intellectual property infringement.
• NOVEMBER 4 & 5, 2000: Fan Faire in Las Vegas, Nevada.
• NOVEMBER 15, 2000:
  • 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 (obsolete link) 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.
  • 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.
  • Removed Paladins as an authorized class for piercing weapons in game since they do not have the piercing skill.
    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.
  • 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.
  • 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 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.
• NOVEMBER 16, 2000:
  • Changed the default combo for casting spells from CTRL-1:8 to ALT-1:8, as CTRL was interfering with players ability to strafe.
• NOVEMBER 21, 2000:
  • Fixed the Paladin Epic Quest reward, which was proccing a spell that would do around one million points of damage if left to its own devices.
  • 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.
• NOVEMBER 29, 2000:
  • 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.
  • 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.
• DECEMBER 5, 2000: Scars of Velious released.
  • Added the Velious continent.
  • Added Plane of Growth.
  • The infamous Sleeper's Tomb (with Kerafyrm).
• DECEMBER 6, 2000:
  • "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.
• DECEMBER 8, 2000:
  • Added messages for some new skills that some NPCs have (e.g. Rampage, and Flurry). 
• DECEMBER 12, 2000:
  • 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. NOTE: Ayonae Ro was the server.
• DECEMBER 19, 2000:
  • 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.
  • 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.

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2001

• JANUARY 9, 2001:
  • "Lay on Hands" has been improved starting at 40th level.
  • The "Summon Corpse" spell is now available to Shadowknights.
  • Fixed several problems with trade-skill components that were not dropping. Also added some new recipes.
  • 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-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.
  • In order to prevent the accidental looting of NO DROP 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 NO DROP 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.
• JANUARY 17, 2001
  • 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).
  • "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. A new spell for magicians is now available in game.
  • 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 highlighted when entering that screen. This value is stored in the EQCLIENT.INI file as "LastCharSel=0-7"
  • 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.
• JANUARY 24, 2001
  • 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. 
  • Our Quality Assurance department is looking for some AVID EQ gamers to join us as testers at the San Diego branch.
• FEBRUARY 3 & 4, 2001: Baltimore, Maryland Fan Faire.
• FEBRUARY 21, 2001:
  • 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. Paladins: Added Endure Magic spell at level 30; Added Resist Magic at 55; 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: Added Drain Soul at level 60; Grim Aura added at level 22 and enhanced; Pet buff added at 29; Added Diamondskin spell at 59; Defense skill cap made exactly same as warriors. Rangers: Added Endure Cold at 22; Added Skin Like Nature at 59; Added Firefist at 22; 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. 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.
  • 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 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.
  • Added text labels to the full view 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  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.
  • 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.
  • Raised the pre and post 50 bind wounds cap for paladins, clerics, druids, and shaman.
  • The Wurmslayer will now fit in a bag.
  • Changed the name of the smithed Enchanted Cabilis Scale armor to Imbued Cabilis Scale armor for naming convention reasons.
  • 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 hit points 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 hit points 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 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.
  • 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. 
• MARCH 6, 2001:
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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 hit points healed. Previously, healing one hit point would cause one point of hate. Now, healing 3 hit points will cause 2 points of hate.
  • 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.
  • A new "mini-game" has been added to the EverQuest client. EQGems (aka Gems) is our first effort aimed towards allowing people to engage in different activities while playing EverQuest. Based upon the success of EQ Gems, we may explore opportunities for other mini-games in the future, even some that are multiplayer in and of themselves. Type /gems to play.
• MARCH 9, 2001:
  • 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. NOTE: The new server appears to have been Torvonnilous.
• MARCH 14, 2001:
  • 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.
  • 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 adjustments in the Warrens. Please be sure to let us know what you think!
  • 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 NPC's" 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. 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.
  • NPCs in Thurgadin will no longer stop traveling when you /hail them.
  • 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 recipes for trade skill users out there. Check your books. There are a bunch of new quests as well.
  • 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.
• MARCH 27, 2001:
  • 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. 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.
  • 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).
  • Toxdil, the wandering rogue poison vendor, will now sell to characters even when he is away from his home.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
• APRIL 4, 2001:
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Five and ten charge versions of Potions of the Bone Field have been added.
  • 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.
• APRIL 17, 2001:
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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).
  • 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.
  • '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.
  • Cannibalize IV now exists. This spell is now available in Velious.
  • 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.
• APRIL 6 & 7, 2001: San Diego, California Fan Faire.
• MAY 8, 2001:
  • Food Emotes: Forcing your character to eat by right clicking food will now properly display the appropriate emote to those in the area.
  • 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).
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • The Eye of Zomm series of spells will no longer work in Kedge Keep. This change was made to prevent an exploit.
  • 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.
  • 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'.
  • 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.
• May 22, 2001: EverQuest allows real time human and automated 'translation agents' (English, French, German, Japanese, Korean...).
• MAY 30, 2001:
  • Runnyeye has been changed. Something is up in Goblin land... Our last patch included an updated Runnyeye complete with new monsters and treasures to be plundered.
  • 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.
  • 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 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).
  • 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).
  • /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.
  • Changed the spelling of Troubador to Troubadour for the 55th level bard title. :)
  • Loot rules in the Warrens: We plan to continue modifying the special loot rules in the Warrens. We will be eliminating several ways around the current "Trivial Combat Code" as well as looking at the problem of "spell twinking" in regards to the loot rules. We'll have to see how it goes, and see what people think.
  • Stonebrunt Mountains: The next "free" zone will be the Stonebrunt Mountains, which will be located off the Warrens. It will support a level range roughly equivalent to that in Lake of Ill Omen. We're expecting to release the zone sometime this summer.
  • Dungeon Touchups/Revamps: We have plans for some updates and/or revamps for some of the dungeons in the world. Next on the list is Permafrost Keep. Lady Vox has been in the mood to do some redecorating of her lair, which includes replacing some of her more lackwitted minions. Stay tuned for more specific information as it is released.
  • 3D Engine Enhancements: One of the first things up is the enhancement of the engine to support 32bit color with a 24bit z-buffer. This will get rid of the "moving stair step" visual artifact that you see in distant places where surfaces meet at odd angles. For the best explanation of this, look at the blockiness of the river in the Great Divide or the lava river in Skyfire, and finally look at the emblem at the entrance to Veeshan's Peak while moving off at a distance. For those with video cards that support a 24bit z-buffer, appearance will be greatly improved.
  • Deity Specific Quests: We're going to continue expanding on some deity-specific quests that went into game several months ago. We like the idea of these and have more in the works.
  • The History Unfolds: Keep an eye on the Harpy's Head Tavern site. As dynamic events take place across all of the servers, more information about the history and the future of the world will be made known.
  • Dragons, Ice Dwarves, and Giants: We're going to continue adding more quests and flavor to these three major Velious factions. Our goal is to continue balancing out the three paths so that the risk vs. reward is balanced for each one. Be on the lookout for new mobs and dialogues popping up in each of these races' territories.
  • New NPC Return Policy: Who hasn't accidentally handed a semi valuable item to a mob and gotten the "Thank You!" message? We are currently working on a way for mobs to return any non-quest items back to the player who accidentally gave them to you. More on this will be announced as it develops.
  • Class Balance Discussions: Some recent changes have been introduced as a result of Absor's now infamous Class Discussions. We're continuing to evaluate each class on an individual basis and will be making changes based on player feedback as we see fit.
  • But That Doesn't Make Sense!: We on the EverQuest Team realize that with all the factions, plots, and quests in Norrath we end up with a few oversights that just don't make sense in the overall story of the world. And so, for the sake of being true to our world, we've decided to keep an eye out specifically for these things and make changes where necessary. The fact that you now have the option to quest for your Ghoulbane from a froglok paladin rather than just brutally murdering the poor chap is just one example of these changes with many more to come.
  • Guildwars: We've noticed a huge lack in player participation of this feature due to a lot of bugs with it. Our hope is that by fixing these bugs and enhancing the system a bit more people might be interested in going to war with their local guilds.
• JUNE 15 & 16, 2001:  Minneapolis, Minnesota Fan Faire.
• JUNE 27, 2001:
  • 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.
  • Several new Translocation spells have been added.
  • Egress will now work indoors.
  • 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.
  • Rumor has it that there is a new source for green dragon scales in Norrath.
  • 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.
  • 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.
• JULY 10, 2001:
  • Spiderling and Spider Silks are now stackable. Spider Legs are now stackable.
  • There is now a vendor in Felwithe that sells the Enchant Ores series of enchanter spells.
  • 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...
• JULY 24, 2001:
  • Many pelts have been made stackable. Those that are not stackable now are quest items that will not be made stackable.
  • /target playername will now work on invisible targets as long as the character doing the targeting has the ability to see invisible.
  • 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.
• AUGUST 15, 2001:
  • 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.
  • 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.
• 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:
  • Changed all enchanter mesmerization spells so that they overwrite Screaming Terror.
  • 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.
  • 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 inadvertently 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 :)
    Several quest components in zones with the Trivial Loot Code will now be lootable regardless of level.
  • 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.
  • 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 (obsolete link).
• SEPTEMBER 15 & 16, 2001: Paris, France Fan Faire cancelled due lack of interest.
• SEPTEMBER 25, 2001:
  • 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.
• 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. 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 (obsolete link) 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.
    • 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. 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.
    • 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. 
• OCTOBER 8, 2001:
  • 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).
  • 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 (obsolete link) and our forums for more information.         
    • 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.
  • There is a more detailed explanation of these changes posted on our Developer's Corner. Please visit there for more details (obsolete links). 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).
  • 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.
• OCTOBER 19 & 20, 2001: Orlando, Florida Fan Faire.
• 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
• DECEMBER 4, 2001: Shadows of Luclin released.
  • DirectX 8.0 or higher Required for Everquest.
  • Vah Shir Player Race.
  • Beastlord Player Class.
  • Alternate Advancement introduced.
  • The Bazaar added.
  • A new graphics engine for EQ that allowed better graphics.
  • Allowed players to use their own modified / personal user interfaces (UI's).
  • Increased the amount of mana given by high Intelligence and Wisdom scores, as well as that granted by items and spells.
  • 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.
  • /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.
  • /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.
  • 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-sentence 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 journeys.
  • 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. 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 robust mercantile 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! 
• DECEMBER 7, 2001:
  • Shaved 10 seconds of zoning for every subscriber.
  • Made it so familiars don't get aggroed on.
• DECEMBER 10, 2001:
  • 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 across the game.
  • 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. 
  • 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 (obsolete link) and submit a comment through the Developer's Corner. Thank you for your patronage.
• DECEMBER 11, 2001:
  • Implemented some changes to zoning that should improve times, especially for modem users.
  • You can now only have 100 unused points in your alternate advancement pool.
  • Continued optimizations of the 3D engine.
• DECEMBER 12, 2001:
  • 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.
• DECEMBER 13, 2001:
  • 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.
• DECEMBER 14, 2001:
  • 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...
  • Female humans should no longer see the inside of their heads when firing a bow.
  • The Kneel and Grovel emotes are no longer switched.
  • 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
• DECEMBER 18, 2001:
  • 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.
  • Fonts should display correctly, regardless of desktop settings.
  • Hoober and his pet have returned. Yes, we used the singular... only one pet.
  • 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.
  • 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.
• DECEMBER 20, 2001:
  • 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 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".
  • 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.

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2002

• JANUARY 8, 2002:
  • 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.
  • 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 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).
  • Critical heals and nukes now display damage numbers (this was actually patched earlier along with an emergency patch).
  • Characters can now bind in the Nexus.
  • 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.
• JANUARY 17, 2002:
  • 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.
• JANUARY 23, 2002:
  • 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.
  • Ghoulbane is now No-Drop.
  • SoulFire charges can only be used by Paladins (though they can be used from inventory).
  • Thought Horror Fangs can now be thrown.
  • 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.
  • Shades in Umbral, Maiden's Eye and Vex Thall are now considered undead.
  • Placed portals to and from Great Divide and Nexus.
  • 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.
  • Characters no longer lose their hair or beard when their illusions wear off.
  • 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.
  • May have fixed the problem with extra mouse cursor showing in game.
  • More work on reducing zone times for Luclin city zones.
  • 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).
  • 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 (obsolete link) 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.
• JANUARY 25 & 26, 2002: Dallas, Texas Fan Faire.
• 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. 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.
• FEBRUARY 13, 2002:
  • Improved sound for many users. Should eliminate a lot of the "choppy" sound issues.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Horses will no longer disappear when a character is moved to the 'safe point.'
  • 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.
  • Reduced the spawn time of the Zordak Ragefire in SoldungB. He will now reappear every 24 hours.
  • Eye of Zomm and Eye of Tallon are now non-KoS in a fashion similar to familiars.
  • Egress should once again force a 'zone' to clear aggro.
  • 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 Fungus Grove Wetfang Minnows are now animals. Underbulks and Shik`Nar in Fungus Grove are now insects. Rhino Beetles in Shadeweavers Thicket and Hollowshade Moor are now insects. Shrooms in Fungus Grove are now plants. Lightcrawlers in Mons Seru are now insects.
  • Area Taunt should be no longer affect creatures on heights or floors above and below the warrior.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Windspeeder's haste is now a permanent effect.
  • 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..."
  • 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 (obsolete link) and fill out an application!
• FEBRUARY 25, 2002:
  • 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.
• MARCH 7, 2002:
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Tradeskills (including Alchemy and poison) now take % skill modifying items and buffs into consideration.
  • Prime Hierophant 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.
  • 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.
•  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 E-Mail and on the various class and server boards. We appreciate all the help you've provided us. 
  • 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.
  • Halflings and Gnomes have new classes available to them: Halfling Rangers and Paladins as well as Gnome Shadow Knights and Paladins. All of the necessary NPCs and items should be available for these new classes. 
  • 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. 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. Added Sicken and Tainted Breath to a merchant in Shar Vahl.
  • 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.
  • Translocate spells no longer require that the target be grouped with the caster. Also, the dialog box for this spell will remain longer.
  • Changed safe spot in Kedge Keep to actually be a safe spot.
  • Sleeper's Tomb Key is now Soulbound.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • /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 bad words 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.
  • 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.
  • 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 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.
• MARCH 21, 2002:
  • 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).
• APRIL 5, 2002:
  • ** 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.
  • Non-pet NPCs will start to return items they don't care about. This will occur over time as zones are updated. 
  • Sigil Earring of Veracity effect is now a right-click effect.
  • Added a few trade skill vendors to Rivervale.
  • Skiffs were fixed with an earlier patch and should be working now.
  • 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 19 & 20, 2002: Seattle, Washington Fan Faire.
• APRIL 23, 2002:
  • 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.
• MAY 8, 2002:
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • A character can no longer trade with an NPC when invisible. Character must turn visible before starting the trade.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Trolls and Iksar no longer receive double regeneration ability from AA abilities
  • 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.
  • Zones where mounts cannot be summoned will now remove mounts when they enter the zone.
  • 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. Rubbing Alcohol is now available from a vendor in Thurgadin.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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).
  • /cry is now working.
  • /consent %t should allow the consented character to drag your corpse.
  • Target Nearest NPC (F8 by default) has been fixed.
• JUNE 6, 2002:
  • ** 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 last night'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.
  • 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.
• JUNE 12, 2002:
  • 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.
  • NPC Wizards no longer have an inherent bonus to their fire and cold based spells.
  • Player characters will no longer use mana on targeted spell casts that do not connect due to Line of Sight.
  • 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.
• ~JULY 2002: EverQuest Role-Playing Game published by Wizards of the Coast.
• 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! 
  • 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. 
  • Bind Affinity can no longer be cast on any ungrouped player in arenas. 
  • 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. 
  • 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. 
  • 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. 
  • ** 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 great cloak 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.)
• AUGUST 2 & 3, 2002: Boston, Massachusetts Fan Faire.
• 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:
  • 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. 
  • 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.)
  • 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. 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.
  • ** 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 spell cast, 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 now display level-restricted statistics besides armor class and damage as a red number with the unrestricted value in parentheses.
  • ** 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. 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).
    Deleting Spells from Spellbook: Store bought 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.
  • 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.
  • There will now be sound when banking coins. Added the Quest Completion sound to AA point dings.
  • 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.
  • Merchants now display up to 80 items in their inventory. There should also be less delay when opening up merchant windows.
• SEPTEMBER 26, 2002:
  • ** 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...
  • New Druid and Shaman heal spells are available.
  • 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.
  • ** Horses ** Locate corpse songs/spells should now work on horseback. Detect traps should also now work on horseback. 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. 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.
  • ** 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. The Tracking window selection color is no longer the same as a yellow con mob.
  • ** 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." (Anyone have any idea what this was about?)
• OCTOBER 16, 2002:
  • ** 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 (obsolete link). (NOTE: This was about the Plane of Knowledge Book Pedestal portals being added to zones in preparation for the Planes of Power.)
    ** 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. 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.
    ** Defensive Changes ** Decreased Monks' ability to mitigate damage (please see the Developer's Update on (obsolete link) 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.
  • 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.
  • ** 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.
  • 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.
  • Added 3 new context menu options for chat windows: Reply To, Tell a friend, Tell a Raid Member (for future use). Each of which has a submenu containing the list of Reply targets, Friends, or Raid Members, 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.
  • 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.
  • Player Character corpses with no items will decay in 3 real life hours, not 7 days.
  • /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.
• OCTOBER 17, 2002:
  • 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. 
  • 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:
  • 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..
• OCTOBER 23, 2002:
  • 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. 
  • Assorted content tweaks.
• OCTOBER 25, 2002:
  • 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.
• OCTOBER 29, 2002: Planes of Power released.
  • Upped Character Levels to Level 65.
  • Introduced Progression & Flagging ('Planar Progression').
  • Introduced formal Raids (Raid Window... initially allowed only 6 Players).
  • By way of EQ Lore, this expansion never technically happened! Druzzil Ro 'reset' things after Quarm was defeated (per Seeds of Destruction lore).
• NOVEMBER 4, 2002:
  • Keep in Touch Beyond Everquest - EQIM, the EverQuest Instant Messaging Service, is an exciting new way to chat with your EverQuest friends. With the ability to connect to the EverQuest chat server, players can now log on to this instant messaging service as one of their characters and chat directly with players on any server, create their own chat rooms. Staying in touch with friends, guildmates and groupmates has never been so easy and convenient.    
    • What Can I Do With EQIM? - There is almost no limit to the ways you can use EQIM. Stuck at work but want to monitor your guild’s big raid? No problem! EQIM will keep you in touch with people and on top of events in your EQ community while you’re not in the game. Plan the evening’s adventures before you enter EQ so you can get in and get on with the fun immediately—reduce or eliminate the time it takes to look for a group and to organize big raids! Host guild meetings in private chat rooms that you can moderate.Looking for a key player for an impromptu raid? Check EQIM to see if he is online. If you know his other aliases, check them all on any server!
    • Explore the EverQuest Community - The global EverQuest community is just a click away with EQIM, keeping you in contact with old friends and opening new avenues to meet new friends. EQIM adds a completely new dimension to your EQ gaming experience. With an active subscriber base of more than 430,000 players and as many as 100,000 or more players logged on simultaneously, the world of EQ has potential to expand for you in unimagined ways.    
    • How Do I Get EQIM? - The EQIM client download will be made available very soon, so check back here at (obsolete link)​​​​​​​ often. There will be a trial period during which you will be able to try out the service for free. After this trial period there will be a subscription fee to use the service. You must have an active and valid EverQuest subscription with at least one character to use the EQIM service.
    • If I Like It, Can I Keep Using It? - Yes, of course you can keep using it. At first, we were going to charge a small fee to defer the cost of production but with the popularity of the Planes of Power expansion pack, we've decided to make this a free EQ feature. We hope you enjoy it.
    • EQIM (EverQuest Instant Messenger) released. Regarding in-game side effects resulting from the use of the EQIM, EverQuest lead designer Rich Waters has this to say: Being logged into EQ Instant Messenger does not count towards any resurrection timers, corpse timers, and the like. It connects you to the chat server, but isn't connecting you to the game world in any way that would affect your character at all. The use of EQIM is subject to the terms of the EQIM End User License and Registration Agreement. However, the service and software are provided to you FREE OF CHARGE.
    • NOTE: EQIM was connected directly your EverQuest account. After a year or two, was not maintained and ceased to function. The Chat Window that Players can access with the EQ Login Screen is very similar to what EQIM was.
• NOVEMBER 8 & 9, 2002: San Francisco, California Fan Faire.
• DECEMBER 19, 2002:
  • The trials within the Halls of Honor have been changed slightly. Please proceed with caution. 
  • 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 alleviate 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. 

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2003

• 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.
  • Charmed Pets will no longer remain charmed after the owner dies. 
  • Sending special characters via EQIM will no longer freeze the game. 
• JANUARY 15, 2003:
  • 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. 
    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. 
• JANUARY 28, 2004:
  • 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.
  • Lull, Soothe, Calm, Pacify, Harmony, Calm Animal, and Rest the Dead should no longer give the: "Your spell did not take hold," message.
  • Sha's Advantage and Savagery are now available on vendors in the Plane of Knowledge.
  • There are now a few Iksar in the Plane of Knowledge that are interested in your Iksar racial armor.
  • 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.
  • Removed Sarnak Slaves from Nurga, since they had no models there to use and looked like the base model human (Doug).
• JANUARY 30, 2003: Everquest: Hero's Call released for Pocket PC (a PDA).
• FEBRUARY 4, 2003:
  • Increased the size of the Notes window in the new UI. 
  • 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. 
  • Grandmaster Alchemist will now have a way to prove their ability. 
    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.
• FEBRUARY 6, 2003:
  • Merchants will no longer claim that they will pay 1 copper for starting equipment (they have never actually purchased such items).
  • 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. Changed Collapsible Jeweler's Kit to 6 slots from 4.
• FEBRUARY 11, 2003: EverQuest Online Adventures launched for PlayStation 2.
• 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. 
  • 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. 
  • The horse buff icon will no longer show up for characters using non-Luclin models. 
  • Containers now close after zoning. This prevents a bug that was causing the same container to be opened twice. 
  • 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. 
  • 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. 
  • 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. 
  • 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. 
• FEBRUARY 25, 2003: Legacy of Ykesha released.
  • First Expansion to be download only (no in-store box sales). In-Game Maps introduced.
  • Charms introduced.
  • Charm Armor Slot added.
  • Froglok Player Race introduced.
  • Armor Dye introduced.
  • Guild Management Tool Window introduced.
  • Bank Slots increased to sixteen (16) slots.
• MARCH 13, 2003:
  • 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.
  • Added required level to many Legacy of Ykesha items.
  • Class 3 Wood Point Arrows now have a range of 5 instead of 0.
  • Swirling Shadows are no longer NO RENT.
  • ** 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Removed a box out in the middle of Skyfire that turned when clicked but had no real purpose.
  • The teleporter from the Great Divide to the Plane of Knowledge will now work during Coldain Ring War.
  • ** 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: (obsolete link). Come one, come all - help us to make the lands of Norrath better than they already are... come be a part of something great!
• MARCH 28, 29 & 30, 2003: Las Vegas, Nevada Fan Faire.
• APRIL 11, 2003:
  • ** 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 (obsolete link) and submit your resume online. Please include information about your current characters and your level of knowledge concerning EverQuest.
  • ** 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.
  • ** 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Confirmation Dialog window now remembers its position.
  • 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). 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Merchants no longer sell containers to any character that have no main inventory slots free. Merchants no longer claim that they will pay 1 copper for newbie items that they can't actually buy.
  • ** 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").
• 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. 
  • 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. 
  • Added food and bag merchants to the newbie yards of Steamfont, East Freeport, West Freeport, Butcherblock and Nektulos. 
  • 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 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 with recommended levels now display any reduced AC component value in red. 
• MAY 14, 2003:
  • ** 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.
  • ** 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, you'll know what that was like. In order to help out the new player, we've 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 - We've 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.
  • 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.
  • LD Enchanters no longer cast Mem Blur - Enchanters that go Link Dead 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. Link dead enchanters will no longer cast Memory Blur spells.
  • Stun Spells - The message on many stun-type spells have been changed to more accurately portray their effect on stun immune creatures.
  • Wooden Medicine Totem - This item can now be equipped. It couldn't before.
  • 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 Link Dead before you get them back into your inventory.
  • Veeshan's 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.
  • 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.
  • Added Honey Mush Bread to Cabilis Vendors - This is an item needed for a quest that was unavailable.
  • 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.
  • 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.
• 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 tolevel 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 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.
  • 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. 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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. :)
  • 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. 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. 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Bazaar Search - Non-instrument items with instrument modifiers will now show up in instrument type searches in the Bazaar.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
• JUNE 12, 2003:
  • 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.
• 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.
• 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. 
  • 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. 
  • 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. 
  • 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. 
  • 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. 
  • Strikethrough and Stun Resist - You will now receive a message when Strikethrough and Stun Resist work. 
  • Sneak - Sneak will now work under water. 
  • 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. 
  • 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. 
  • 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.
• AUGUST 6, 2003:
  • 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.
  • 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. 
  • 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. 
  • New Fletching recipes added - We've added several new Karana-only fletching recipes to help round out that skill. 
  • 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. 
  • 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. 
  • 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. 
• AUGUST 7, 2003:
  • ** 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 (obsolete link)!
• AUGUST 19, 2003:
  • ** 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.
• AUGUST 25, 2003: EverQuest: Evolution released.
  • This was a packaged compilation offering of EverQuest expansions (all-in-one) (EverQuest, Ruins of Kunark, Scars of Velious, Shadows of Luclin, Planes of Power & Legacy of Ykesha).
• 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. 
  • /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. 
  • 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. 
  • Endless Quiver no longer grants an endless supply of thrown weapons, only arrows. 
    When Invisibility drops due to looting a corpse, the player will be informed that their invisibility has dropped. 
  • Pets no longer break enthrall. 
  • 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. 
  • 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. 
• 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 reduced the number of characters in a raid required to access the Plane of Time from 40 to 18. 
    A tether has been added to Fennin Ro. 
• SEPTEMBER 9, 2003: Lost Dungeons of Norrath released.
  • Introduced the Wayfarer's Brotherhood.
  • Introduced Magus Translocator NPC's.
  • Introduced Instanced Zones (every 'new' zone in this expansion was an instanced zone).
  • Introduced Alternative Currency (Adventure Points).
  • Introduced Augmentations (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...).
  • Introduced an in-game ranking system related to Lost Dungeon of Norrath adventures (Alt V).
  • 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.
  • Introduced Specialty Vendors (using alternative currency) (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...).
  • 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.
  • Manastone is no longer usable in The Hole.
  • We have added new Skeleton models for pets, illusions, and transformation spells.
  • 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.
  • Sullon Zek (server) - 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.
  • ** 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!
• SEPTEMBER 26, 27 & 28, 2003: Chicago, Illinois Fan Faire.
• OCTOBER 9, 2003:
  • The revamped Plane of Mischief is now available on all Live servers.
  • The Coirnav encounter has been changed. Be much more careful if you have been relying on stuns to deal with this encounter.
  • The Froglok Hunter and Forager will no longer be killed by the inhabitants of Trakanon's Teeth, so they should be easier to find.
  • ** 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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 Hedledrap 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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 hot button-able skill that he did not previously have skill in, a hot button for that skill is created on the cursor. New characters will have a page of hot buttons set for them based on the skills given to them by their class and race.
  • 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.
  • Hot buttons 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 hot button window, then change the button on the Abilities or Combat section, and the hot button you made will not change. This allows you to create hot buttons 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.
  • Merchant inventories will refresh properly after a character purchases the last of an item in inventory.
• NOVEMBER 5, 2003:
  • ** Quests, Adventures and Encounters ** 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).
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • The Aura of Pain Recourse can no longer be removed by Radiant Cure.
  • Magician Pets will no longer attack the caster who summoned them.
  • 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 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.
  • Find trader can now be cancelled in bazaar.
  • ** 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.
  • Explore mode works properly again. (For info on what 'Explore Mode' was, click here.)
• NOVEMBER 18, 2003: EverQuest Online Adventures: Frontiers launched (sequel / expansion) for PlayStation 2.
• DECEMBER 1, 2003: Lords of EverQuest released by Rapid Eye Entertainment and published by Sony Online Entertainment.
  • Some sources say it was released November 7, 2003.
  • It was a real-time strategy game set 10,000 Years before EverQuest and used famous Voice Talent (Christopher Lee, Katey Segal, Kate Mulgrew, Ron Pearlman, John Rhys-Davies, Claudia Black and others.
  • It is unclear when the game shut down, but it appears it was still active as late as December 2006.
• DECEMBER 18, 2003:
  • HEAR YE! HEAR YE! Check with your Town Crier for new editions of your hometown paper!
  • *** AA REFUND *** Extended Notes 3 and Sionachie's Crescendo 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. Extended Notes 3 and Sionachie's Crescendo 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. 
  • ** 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 guild master. 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! 
  • 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. 
  • 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. 
  • 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. 
  • 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. 
  • 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. 
  • 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. 
  • We have added a new combat ability window 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. 
  • Added some explanation text to the targetindicator.ini file that help explain how to modify the targeting ring. 
• 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. 
  • Cancel magic will no longer remove disciplines or melee 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.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2004

• JANAURY 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. 
  • 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!
    ** 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.
• JANAURY 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 déjà vu. Charm spell change: If an NPC is in the middle of casting a spell when charm is broken, it will interrupt the spell.
  • 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. 
• FEBRUARY 2004: Champions of Norrath released for PlayStation 2.
• 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 obsolete link) 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 9, 2004:
  • Feel free to tell your friends about Gates of Discord now that portions of the beta NDA have been lifted.  However, we are lifting the NDA only with respect to the game and not with respect to bugs, feedback, communication between SOE and beta testers, or other confidential communication regarding the beta. I can't wait to start my berserker!
• FEBRUARY 10, 2004: Gates of Discord released.
  • Introduced Group Leadership AA's (later replaced / entitled).
  • Introduced Raid Leadership AA's (later replaced / entitled).
  • Added the Berserker Player Class.
  • Added the Taelosian continent.
  • Introduced the Player Tribute System.
  • Added a Casino in Shadowhaven.
  • Added Tradeskill Recipe List to tradeskill devices.
  • Nedaria's Landing has evolved further. 
  • The Casino is back and waiting for you high rollers. Go to Shadowhaven to try your luck. Return of the Casino ** 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 into 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. Tradeskillers rejoice, the new UI is here! 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. For those of you using trade skill containers as inventory containers, your items are not lost!  The new tradeskill UI shows as an overlay with slots that display components for trade skills. You can return to your normal container view by either clicking on the experiment button on the overlay or by using CTRL + Right click to open the container.  In addition you can disable the new overlay by using CTRL + Right click on the new UI overlay. Thanks all and enjoy Gates of Discord. 
  • During the scheduled downtime, on February 10th, we will be performing guild maintenance.  This means that any guilds with fewer than 10 members, as of February 10th, will be removed from the servers list. 
• FEBRUARY 11, 2004:
  • Your local tribute masters are taking a short vacation.  It seems that after only two days of collecting tribute and granting favor, they are already worn out.  They will also be in closed door discussions, at their secret retreat, to re-evaluate the amount of favor granted for items.  Look for them to return prior to this weekend.
• 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 23, 2004:
  • Currently, somewhere out there in the enormous internet, there are some level 3 problems which are affecting a great deal of internet services.  Some of you folks may have difficulty connecting to EverQuest until these problems are resolved.  We hope that these issues are resolved quickly so that you can log on and continue your EQ experience. 
  • Show your support for Everquest and help us defeat Ultima Online in a title fight on Gamespy. No TKO or split decision will do, we want the 12th round knockout! Go to Gamespy (defunct gaming site) now and cast your vote. Uppercut, uppercut, jab, body blow.
• MARCH 2, 2004:
  • Hey Tradeskillers! We think we have the issues with the new interface resolved on the Test server. This should also resolve the combine issue many of you are having with portable tradeskill containers. It would be a great help if you could jump onto the Test server and give it a try. Please remember to use /bug to let us know of any unresolved issues.
• MARCH 8, 2004:
  • Take your place at ringside and help EverQuest overcome two heavy contenders in this weeks round two of Gamespy Title fights. Make sure you cast your vote to help EQ overcome all contenders.
• MARCH 10, 2004:
  • 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 - 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. 
  • Expedition zones - You will now have to wait 5 minutes before you are able to accept another expedition zone. 
  • Tradeskills - 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. You should now be able to properly search for recipes. Combines work again!
  • 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. 
  • If you tell Brevik Kalaner in Abysmal what items you [need back], he will return to you any items you've just given him. 
  • A few items have had their tribute value adjusted. You should no longer be able to donate containers with items inside for favor.
• MARCH 16, 2004:
  • Check with the Town Criers for the latest edition of the Norrath newspaper! 
  • EverQuest 5th Anniversary - 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. 
  • Return of the Casino (Again) *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! 
• MARCH 23, 2004:
  • Another story for you to peruse in your storybook.
  • More Grammar changes (no not Grandma, Grammar)
  • DirectX 9 is now REQUIRED to play on all SOE EverQuest servers and Venril Sathir! 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.
  • There are now independent window resolutions for full screen and windowed mode.
  • We have added a new command, /rewind, which should free your character if they become stuck in geometry.
  • 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 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.
  • 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.
  • Soulbinders should now show in the Find window.
  • Fabled NPC's will now appropriately reflect their difficulty.
• MARCH 25, 2004:
  • 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. 
• MARCH 29, 2004:
  • There is yet another account email scam out there, this one directs you to contact SOE through hotmail and yahoo addresses.  Be aware that SOE does not have yahoo or hotmail accounts.  All email from SOE will come with an SOE suffix and will not ask for your password.  Be mindful of your account information and protect yourself from these scams.  Don't Give Out Your Password!
• APRIL 2004: EverQuest Hero's Call 2 released for Pocket PC (PDA).
• APRIL 2004: EverQuest War on Faydwer released for Pocket PC (PDA).
• 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!
• APRIL 14, 2004:
  • 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 can now set hot keys to cycle through targets! 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. 
  • 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. 
  • 60+ focused mage pets are now summoned with a full set of phantom plate equipped. 
  • Guildmasters and Merchants in Knowledge are now findable. 
• APRIL 21, 2004:
  • Boat Gnomes are now available all the time (and I thought gnomes were only good as appetizers). 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.
    A new edition of the newspaper is available in your home town. Come and get it! 
  • Please be wary of any sites offering a spot in the EQ 2 beta by asking for your password and station name. These are not official SOE sites and they may be attempting to acquire your login information to other SOE products.  SOE is not accepting beta applications for EQ II yet, and when we do, there will be announcements on our official sites. You can check on the latest EQ II beta news by visiting the official EQ II beta page.
• APRIL 28, 2004:
  • A new storybook has arrived! Make sure you read it to find out what Tondal is up to now. 
  • 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! 
  • We have decreased load times when zoning. 
  • Skill percent-mods now work for Ammo slot items. 
  • Bull Rush is now a magical resist. Please do not use in a china shop.
  • We have made some changes on the Test Server to reduce melee class downtime. Regeneration should be faster while sitting and this should allow melee types to get back into the fray much quicker. Help us test this new feature and send us your feedback by using the Dev Corner feedback feature or by posting on the Official EverQuest Forums at (obsolete link)​​​​​​​  under On Test. Thanks all and we appreciate your feedback on this proposed change!
• MAY 2004: A GU Comics (Woody Hearn) comic panel satirizing the coming Omens of War expansion, followed by a forum write up, a boycott was called for on EverQuest. The boycott was due Player concerns of mass producing expansions versus the quality of game play and addressing Player concerns. Sony Online Entertainment (then owners of EverQuest) took notice and invited Players to Beta Test the Omens of War. They also delayed the slated release of Omens of War. Many believe that, as a result, Omens of War was one of the 'smoothest' expansion releases EverQuest has ever had.
• 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. Sign up now, tomorrow may be too late. 
  • You now have the ability to remove your own surname! 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 (obsolete link) 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 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:
  • 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. 
  • Zone travel has been made easier. Animal aggression was lowered by changing their faction and See Invis percentages were reduced on several NPCs. 
  • More improvements to the collision system should make it a lot more difficult to get stuck. 
  • 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.
  • Exclusive Shield from PC Gamer - Attention EverQuest Players! Exclusive in-game EQ Shield (Scouting Shield of the Da Bashers) 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. 
  • 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. 
  • 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. 
  • You now have the ability to "Auto Bank" 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.
• JUNE 2, 2004:
  • 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. 
• JUNE 16, 2004:
  • 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 NPCs that dropped spells will now drop a token, which can be turned in for a class appropriate spell. * 
  • 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. * 
  • 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.
  • 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. * 
  • Stopcasting - We have added a /stopcast command -- This command will not work when riding a horse. * 
  • Lay on Hands and Harm Touch will no longer affect corpses. * 
  • Corpse Dragging - We have increased the range of the /corpse command * 
  • 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. 
  • * Denotes an item that was requested by the EverQuest community.
• JUNE 24, 2004:
  • Since the Guild Summit, we have been very busy working on our EQ PC issues and have not posted an update for our EQ Macintosh players. I would like to apologize for not getting a message out to you sooner and I will make certain that I get any new updates out as soon as we get them. We do have some news for those of you awaiting word on EverQuest for the Macintosh. We have prioritized the current issues that we know of and have assigned one of our programmers to look into any server issues and make changes and fixes as necessary to the server code. We will also be working to resolve any client issues and update things for your EQMac clients. We do not have a time table for any changes yet, however the process has begun and we will post more information on EQMac changes as we gather details. We appreciate all of our dedicated Macintosh players and thank you for being a part of Norrath.
• JUNE 30, 2004:
  • EverQuest: Platinum offers EQ and all 7 expansions in one box. EverQuest: Platinum - EverQuest: Platinum is the most comprehensive collection of EverQuest expansions yet! It includes Classic EverQuest and all seven expansion packs!
  • The Guide Program is looking for volunteers. 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?
  • 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. Download EQ Trilogy and play for 30 days free!
• JULY 7, 2004:
  • I wanted to pass along a quick update and let you know that we're shifting the July 8 update back a week to July 14.  As you know from reading posts from Brenlo or playing on our Test Server, this update is quite extensive. This update will include several community requested features, quite a few bug fixes, and some back-end changes that, while invisible to you, will help us immensely in the future. These continuing community driven changes will help us to maintain a healthy game and to re-affirm to you, our customers and fans, that we do value your input and, when appropriate, enhance the game based upon your suggestions. As part of our ongoing plan to provide you with the best possible play experience, we've looked at the testing that went on over the last several weeks and determined that these changes should spend another week or so on the Test Server.  When we update, we want to be sure that the update enhances your play experience; pushing code too quickly doesn't do that. I know that many of you are eager for the changes you've read about or played on Test, however, I guarantee that the extra week will be well worth your wait. If you simply cannot wait to experience these changes, please feel free to join us on the Test Server. As always, your feedback is not only appreciated, but considered one of the things that continues to make this game so great! Thanks again for your support and for you patience. Robert Pfiste
• JULY 14, 2004:
  • 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. 
  • 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. 
    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. * 
  • 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. 
  • Beware! Many named mobs in Gates will now summon. 
  • /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.
• JULY 15, 2004:
  • 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.
• AUGUST 11, 2004:
  • 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 layer into the numbered group. 
  • The Necromancer AA Swarm of Decay; Shaman AA Call of the Ancients; Cleric AA Touch of the Divine have been refunded. 
  • 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 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. 
  • 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. 
  • We have made some changes to the fonts EQ uses so that they are more clear and visible. 
  • Instant cast combat abilities can once again be used when you have a discipline up. 
  • Augments now fit into multiple slot types. 
  • 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. 
  • * Denotes a community requested change.
• AUGUST 27, 2004:
  • Focus Effects after level 65... In case you were wondering.. There seems to be some confusion on how this is going to work so I'll break it down a little bit: All existing foci are having their effects changed to scale down at 10% effectiveness per level past their previously explicit level cap. What this means is that you'll have an overall larger range of effect from a specific focus by 10 levels. For example an IP4 focus will function like this: Level: % bonus: 20: 20%; 21: 18%; 22: 16%; 23: 14%; 24: 12%; 25: 10%; 26: 8%; 27: 6%; 28: 4%; 29: 2%; 30: 0%. This will also apply to the level 65 foci, meaning they'll be 50% effective when used on a level 70 spell. Note that this is dependent on SPELL LEVEL not on player level. So this will only apply to new spells that you're using. We can scale each foci individually as to how much of a % it loses for each level past the cap if necessary. I know there are many of you that want most of the high level foci to extend all the way to 70, but this is not feasible for several reasons. The need for upgrades as the game progresses is obvious. The game of EverQuest is based on progression, and most players need to continually have a method of increasing the power of their character in order to maintain interest in the game. Two things primarily dictate a casting class's spell power: their spells, and their focus effects. In order to allow an upgrade path for focus effects, there needs to be a reason to get the new focus effects. The obvious question is, "why not just keep increasing the bonus percentages on them up?" Well for one thing, many of the foci types simply can't continue to increase indefinitely. Foci such as spell haste, spell range, and mana preservation can't continue to scale up without breaking the system. Beyond that, there's also a problem in balancing melee upgrades against caster upgrades. Spells are a very large portion of a caster's power. The highest end spells are much more widely available then the highest end melee weapons, and therefore require a secondary upgrade effort in order to maintain an equal amount of effort for the upgrade. It's simply too much of an upgrade to hand out for that much effort. The goal is to allow a system of two part upgrade, from items and spells that together result in an equal amount of effort to what is required for melee classes in order to gain an equal upgrade. To this end, spells are much easier to get then an equitable melee weapon. While not directly equitable, weapons are the closest comparison to spells in terms of player upgrades. If Focus effects were to increase in % over each consecutive iteration, spells would not be able to continue to upgrade at anywhere near the rate they currently do. They'd essentially take over as the primary form of caster upgrades. If the spells and focus effects continued to scale at the current rate you'd end up with astronomical power games over very short level ranges. There's certain a sizable amount of power that you can expect to gain by increasing in level, but when that increase gets too large is when you start having problems with balancing players against the world. We saw a lot of this in Kunark and Luclin when players were able to kill trivial Mobs for the same exp that challenging mobs used to provide. Old content should continue to get easier, but there's a certain level of power increase that the game can handle and stay healthy. The bottom line is that it's impossible to maintain a balanced game while, allowing all existing foci to function to 70, allowing a consistent player upgrade path, maintaining equality of effort for similar upgrades across classes, and maintain a certain level of balance between the players and the world. Something has to give, and we feel that scaling focus effects present the best alternative for the health of the game.
• SEPTEMBER 14, 2004: Omens of War released.
  • Added Epic 1.25, Epic 1.5 & Epic 2.0. Epic Weapons 2.0 - Will you be the first of your class to earn these powerful new items
  • Increased Character Levels to Level 70.
  • 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!  (appears to have been the Frozen Crystal Shard).
  • Introduced the Titles (Prefixes and Suffixes) Window. 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.
  • Added canned in-game Voice Macros. Using Ctrl + V (now EQ Button > Actions > Voice Macro) 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. 
  • Added the realm of Kuua (which includes the Realm of Discord). Speak to a Priest of Discord (Plane of Knowledge)to learn how to enter the World of Kuua. 
  • Added Shadow graphics and Reflective Water.
  • 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 separate the items before turning them in for a reward.
  • 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. 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.
  • Zoning Screen - When zoning, you will now see the loading splash screen. You have not crashed, do not be alarmed.
  • Clerics Symbol and Aegolism spell lines no longer require reagents. Necromancer pets will no longer require peridots. 
    Beneficial spells can now be used in the EverQuest tutorial.
  • 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.
  • 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. 
• SEPTEMBER 23, 2004:
  • 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. 
  • 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. 
• OCTOBER 13, 2004:
  • 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.
  • Alchemists can now create Amber Resin.
  • 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.
  • 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!
  • Vallon Zek should no longer assist Tallon Zek.
• OCTOBER 25, 2004:
  • New Storybook entry. 
  • 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. 
  • Changed the name of the Gnomish Vanishing Device to Half Capacity Gnomish Vanishing Device. 
  • Caerlyna should no longer be dispensing no-drop bag tokens.
• OCTOBER 27, 28, & 29, 2004: New Orleans, Louisiana Fan Faire.
• NOVEMBER 8, 2004: EverQuest II launches, a spin off... and competitor... to the original EverQuest (both offered by Sony Online Entertainment).
• NOVEMBER 23, 2004: Blizzard's World of Warcraft launches, directly competing with EverQuest.
• NOVEMBER 30, 2004:
  • Loral Ciriclight at EverQuest Realm has written a fun article on writing fan fiction for EverQuest. 
  • Introducing the Station Access™ subscription, the low-price all-in-one subscription for Sony Online Entertainment gamers! Station Access opens our games catalog to you.
  • The new EverQuest Role-Playing Game book, Heroes of Norrath, features exciting EQ lore you'll not find elsewhere. Characters first introduced in the EverQuest Player's Handbook witness many of the great historical events between the eras of EQ and EQII. Plus, use the coupon code "Halloween" (without the quotes) for a huge 30% off the purchase of this book as well as any other products, including pre-orders!
  • Great news for gamers: The world of Norrath is now in print too! Bestselling fantasy author R.A. Salvatore presents a brand-new series of EverQuest fantasy novels. The first in the series, "A Rogue's Hour" by Scott Ciencin, is available online now! And it's available in bookstores!
  • EverQuest: Platinum is the most comprehensive collection of EQ multiplayer games yet! It includes Classic EverQuest and seven expansion packs! Now available! Can't get enough EverQuest? Here's your chance to take advantage of a unique opportunity to experience the world of Norrath by digitally downloading the first seven expansion packs, plus get a twelve-month EverQuest subscription extension for the low price of $119.95.
  • Sony Online Entertainment is also slashing prices on the last three expansion packs for EverQuest. EQ fans can now prepare for battle in EverQuest: Gates of Discord for $19.99, adventure to the lost dungeons of Rujarkian Hills in EverQuest: Lost Dungeons of Norrath for $19.99, or hop on a seafaring journey in EverQuest: The Legacy of Ykesha for $14.99. These offers are brought to you exclusively by Sony Online Entertainment. Offer not valid at retail. EverQuest expansion packs are available only through digital download at these prices.
• DECEMBER 6, 2004:
  • On Freaky Fridays, we give EQ forum members an in-game screenshot to manipulate in their favorite image editing program like Photoshop. Members then resubmit their wacky altered screenshots on the forum. See this week's Freaky Friday screenshot and HAVE FUN!
• DECEMBER 14, 2004:
  • Due to popular demand, the official EverQuest Ranger Zippo Lighter is back in stock at the Station Store. The custom-crafted Ranger lighter comes with Zippo's famous manufacturer's Lifetime Guarantee (obsolete link)​​​​​​​. Order one today before it sells out again!
• DECEMBER 15, 2004:
  • 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. 
  • Reduced the cost of many Gates AAs. Players will receive a refund equal to the difference on AAs that now have a lower cost. * 
  • Due to major changes in how these work, AA points for Crippling Strike, Stunning Kick, and Eye Gouge have been refunded. 
  • 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. * 
  • 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. 
  • 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. * 
  • The pile of stones that was used as a secondary zone between Dranik and Bloodfields has been removed. There is now an actual zone line 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. 
  • The Tradeskill window will now allow up to 500 favorites (up from 100). * 
  • Several Tradeskill recipes have had their missing ingredients added to the game. These items will now drop off of appropriate NPC’s. * 
  • Made several quest-related combines "Learnable". * 
  • 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). * 
  • 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. * 
  • 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. * 
  • 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. * 
  • 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. 
  • 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. * 
  • 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. * 
  • 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. 
  • 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. 
  • 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. 
  • /who commands now display both class title and base class name for players over level 50, e.g. "Bedazzler (Enchanter)" * 
  • 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. 
• 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. 
• DECEMBER 22, 2004:
  • Check out the updated stylish designs for the popular EverQuest Bag of the Tinkerers. It's available in two color schemes: black and yellow/black. Due to popular demand, two products are once again in stock: The Official Prima EverQuest Strategy Guide box set, and the EQ Shadow Knight Zippo lighter!

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2005

• JANUARY 4, 2005:
  • Re-envisioning Classes in Everquest - The EQ dev team to enhance class values in groups and raids. The EverQuest development team continues the process of evaluating class roles, class definitions, and class desirability to ensure that each class provides value in group and raid situations.   Moreover, we have found that the term "class balance" is a term that means many different things to different people and we believe that it's more accurate to define our goal in another way. We believe at its core, each class should be fun and have a desirable role in raid and group situations and it is to this standard that we will hold our evaluations as EQ continues to grow and evolve. We have begun the process by looking into group roles.  We plan to take a look at raid roles after we have finished with groups.  We are looking at what each class has to offer in a group setting, how useful and viable that role is and finally, how well they perform these duties.  The team is currently reviewing extensive data from live servers to make sure that the conclusions we make are as accurate as possible.  Once we have data that we can share, we will ask for your input and insight on our conclusions. Our goal is to identify the underlying reasons behind any problems we uncover and we may find it necessary to make fundamental changes to the game to address them.  As we move forward with this process, we will keep the community apprised of our findings and gather their input on the changes we feel need to be made to make players of all classes in EverQuest feel useful as they fulfill roles that are interesting and fun to play.  We would like you to be part of these discussions and help us to determine the shape of classes in EverQuest's future. Thank you for you time and for being a part of this wonderful world that is Norrath.  As an initial step in this process, while we are gathering data, we're going to host a live chat between players and the developers to begin this discussion.  We will announce the time and date for the chat in the next few days.
• JANUARY 6, 2005:
  • Mischief of the Heart. Read a story written by the EverQuest Forum Community. (Click here to read it.)
• JANUARY 13, 2005:
  • EverQuest: Trilogy 7-day Limited Subscription – Free! Download EverQuest Classic along with the Ruins of Kunark and the Scars of Velious expansions -- and you'll also get a limited 7-day trial subscription! Find out more!
• JANUARY 14, 2005:
  • Where is the Princess? Something terrible is afoot. The jagged spires of the Tower of Frozen Shadow are abuzz with frenzied activity. The typically reclusive inhabitants of the tower have been spotted outside their home.  Strange, unnatural monstrosities have spilled forth from Tserrina's den and wander neighboring Iceclad, mercilessly terrorizing anyone that dares tread too close. The paladin Galeth and his company have taken up camp outside the tower, led there by rumors that suggest the recent dark activities may have something to do with the missing Champion of Tunare. Hopeful against all odds, the group braves the frigid weather and faces off against legions of unheard of aberrations. As storm clouds swirl in the skies above, blanketing them with a never-ending torrent of shadowy ice, the group struggles to uncover a way inside. Galeth is convinced that there must be a way to unlock the portal to gain entry to Tserrina's shadowy fortress. Many of the indigenous kobolds have wisely taken their leave of the island, but in their place a determined band of adventurers has arrived. What is Tserrina Syl`Tor up to?
• JANUARY 18, 2005:
  • Dark forces unite? Massive change is coming. All throughout the ruins of Kunark, soldiers are sharpening weapons and polishing armor. The frugal Outpost of Overthere has been thrown into a frenzy of activity, while a lone taskmaster relays information to Lanys T`Vyl herself. Bleak assassins and scouts lurk in every shadow, garnering information for their respective masters. High upon an icy outcropping overlooking the hills of the Dreadlands, Lieutenant Ny`Rae checks the tumultuous skies for a sign. A brilliant comet flashes through the sky, briefly illuminating his craggy features in blinding light. He nods grimly, and summons several messengers. Each is given a sealed scroll before melting silently into the shadows. It is time for final preparations. There is much to be done to ensure the victory of the Dark Princess, once and for all.
• JANUARY 26, 2005:
  • Mistmoore and SplitPaw revamps live for all servers
  • New and improved Lavastorm!
  • Added a Globe of Discordant Energy drop to Anguish.
  • Upgraded the +damage augments from Tacvi
  • The skills windows will now show the modified skill of the player, including buffs/item mods, etc.
  • Hide will work while levitated again.
  • An exploit with Lifeburn has been corrected.
  • /stopsong, /cast, and anything starting a song other than /melody now clears the /melody buffer as intended.
  • 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.
  • Players can now select a type of LDoN Adventure (Rescue, etc.) when requesting one from the Recruiter.
  • Changed the level 70 bard /who title from Performer to Harold, er, Herald.
  • War! "The ground rumbles beneath the feet of many soldiers. From the west rises a massive army of fierce warriors, both corporeal and demons wrenched from Hate." So begins this tale of war. Twisted faces filled with hatred march with heated anticipation of victory. Leading them through the icy hills is none other than the dark lady Lanys T`Vyl, her blood-red armor gleaming in the cool morning light. Across the lands to the east, the great wizard Al`Kabor spearheads an army of light. Elven warriors and archers move forward with grim determination to keep safe the fair city of Firiona Vie. Resolve is etched upon every face; every elegant sword gleams with purity and truth. Meanwhile, back in Firiona Vie itself, the princess lays ill in bed. With her father Galeth Veredeth at her side, Firiona rests upon silken sheets, slowly gaining back the life that has been siphoned from her. The air swells with silence as the colossal forces are drawn inexorably towards each other. An age has passed since a battle of such magnitude has been waged upon Norrath. An era has ended, one of peace and prosperity. The time of war is upon us. (This was a big GM Event, that included one-time special dropped loot and more. To read more about it, click here and here.)
• JANUARY 31, 2005:
  • Welcome to Zek - On February 8th a new server will show up on your server selection list. Zek will host the combined characters of the four current PVP servers (Rallos, Tallon, Vallon and Sullon) and will use the Rallos Zek ruleset. It is our opinion that merging the four current PVP servers will revitalize the PVP environment, adding new challenges and players for you to test your skills against. If you have characters on more than one of the PVP servers, you will need to clean out the shared bank on all but one of the existing PVP servers. Only one shared bank, from one of the four servers, will be available after the merger. If you have more than 8 characters combined between all of the current PVP servers, after the merger, only the first 8 (sorted alphabetically) characters will be displayed.  Other characters beyond those 8 will not be available for selection until characters are deleted. The characters will be on your account provided they were not below level 10 and had been played within the last 6 months. Prior to the downtime on the 8th of February, please make certain that you clear any character corpses from the world.  Character corpses will not be transferred to the new merged server. All corpses will be purged once the merger is complete. It is likely that characters will have duplicate names on these servers, in the event that characters do share a name, the character with the most played time will be entitled to keep the name, all other characters will have the letter X appended to their name and will be entitled to a name change.  You can request your name change using the /petition system. We are gathering feedback from our PVP players on how best to move forward with the complimentary PVP character move.  Look for an announcement in the near future. Immediately preceding the merger, all characters that are below level 10 and have not been accessed in the past six months or more will be purged from all four PVP servers. If you have a character on Rallos Zek, Tallon Zek, Vallon Zek or Sullon Zek that is below level 10 and has not been logged in for six months or more, you will need to log them in prior to the February 8th downtime. Any character that is below level 10 and has not been logged in for 6 or more months will be deleted and will not be available after the server merge.
• FEBRUARY 2005: Champions: Return to Arms released for PlayStation 2.
• FEBRUARY 1, 2005:
  • If you currently play or want to try any one of the other exciting SOE games including EverQuest II®, EverQuest®, EverQuest® Online Adventures™, EverQuest Macintosh Edition®, Planetside® and Station Pass™ access, which includes the popular games Infantry Online™, Cosmic Rift™ and Tanarus® this is your ticket to the greatest adventures online!
  • Hot New Look for Lavastorm - Not only has Lavastorm's zone graphics been enhanced in the new graphics engine, so has much of the content. The new Lavastorm is a graphical update for both the zone and the majority of the NPCs.  It gave us the opportunity to revisit one of our favorite old world zones and it shows off what an original EQ zone looks like, when recreated in the new graphics engine. This newly envisioned zone also paves the way for our latest expansion, Dragons of Norrath. We kept the previous content intact, but also added new NPCs with new drops as well as task givers who will happily reward you for helping them out. Are the new mobs indicative of what we will see in DoN? They sure are.  The new models you see in Lavastorm are a preview of a few of the new models featured in Dragons of Norrath.  If you think the new goblins and spiders look great, wait until you see the dragons! The NPC models in Lavastorm are brand new versions of original EverQuest models, developed specifically for Dragons of Norrath and the new Lavastorm. Brenlo mentioned that this zone's art rivals that of EQII, maybe a little boast or something to spark a friendly rivalry? EverQuest is coming up on its sixth year and we continue to provide new content that surpasses the graphical quality of most other games in the MMP space. That's definitely something worthy of a little boasting.  When it comes to EQII, I think sibling rivalry is probably the appropriate term. They are family and both teams continually push each other to be the best and exceed expectations. There's more than meets the eye going on in Lavastorm. Over the next few weeks, players should keep an eye out for unusual events and they will have the opportunity to participate in world changing events as they unfold.
• FEBRUARY 9, 2005:
  • Feel free to tell your friends about Dragons of Norrath now that portions of the beta NDA have been lifted.  However, keep in mind that we are lifting the NDA for discussion of game content and features and not with respect to bugs, feedback, communication between SOE and beta testers, or other confidential communication regarding the beta. Let those Dragons Loose!
• FEBRUARY 15, 2005: Dragons of Norrath released.
  • 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. 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.
  • Featuring new lands with enhanced graphics, bold new storylines, and updated creatures including goblins, drakes, dragons and the ominous Frost Giant! From Lavastorm to the Thundercrest Isles adventure in graphically enhanced zones with all new themes.
  • Added the Guild Lobby. 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. 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. 
  • Added the original (Standard) Guild Hall. Guild Tradeskill Objects... various tradeskill tools are located in the guild hall for easy access by guild members. Various tradeskill tools are located in the Guild Hall for easy access by guild members. 
  • Added Guild Bank / Bankers (in the Guild Hall). Bank slot for storage of items accessible by all members of a guild. Place items on reserve for officers or specific members.
  • Added the Guild Portal & Guild Portal Vendor. With the all new guild hall you can easily get your guild ready to encounter anything that comes your way! 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. 
  • Added the Augmentation 'Bird Bath'  (in the Guild Hall) (since removed, it was used to remove Augmentations from items).
  • Added the Meditation Pool (in the Guild Hall for fast regeneration). Allows players to easily regenerate their mana and health in preparation for battle (available only at the Guild Hall). 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. 
  • Added the 'Buff Stoppage' feature (Buffs do not count down and expire in certain zones). In the Guild Halls buff times can be paused for Guild Members.
  • Added the in-game EQ Mail system (in-game e-mail). 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. 
  • Added the * The Barter Zone * Barter / Buy alternative in Bazaar. Player Barter System - Allows players to set up their own automated trading method! Offer up your own items or coin for other items. 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. 
  • Added Corpse Summoners. 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! 
  • Added the Bandolier feature. Bandolier Equip - Lets your character quickly equip multiple sets of weapons accessible by a single mouse click. 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 hot buttons out of the weapon sets for easy, quick swapping. 
  • Added the Potion Belt feature (since removed). Potion Belt allows for quick use of inventory items, such as potions or magical devices. Use your potion belt to access magical items quickly. 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.
  • New Interactive World Map (Atlas View) - Make ready with new features such as the interactive world map.  A full-color interactive map of the world allows players to point-and-click from a world view, to a continent view, to a zone view of the traditional line maps. The "M" key now opens the map. 
  • Shared Tasks (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.
  • 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.
• FEBRUARY 16, 2005:
  • Mission NPCs are taking a short break. It seems that some among our community have figured out a way to duplicate mission crystals and are being naughty. In order to prevent the naughty folks from taking advantage of this obvious bug, we will be removing the mission NPCs from the world for a while. The mission NPCs will return once the bug is corrected and those who have exploited it pay penance. Additionally the crystals will be temporarily made no-drop while we correct the issue. We are tracking this issue and are aware of the folks that are using the bug.  Their duped crystals will be wiped.  Items purchased with the duped crystals will be removed and accounts that were found to be duping may face disciplinary action, which can include banning of the account.  If you have duped crystals or items bought with duped crystals we encourage you to delete them now.
• FEBRUARY 17, 2005:
  • Check Out the New Mission System - Mission-givers for Dark Reign and Norrath's Keepers (opposing factions) can now be found in Lavastorm. Find out about the key features of this system. MISSION SYSTEM USER INTERFACE - Mission-givers for Dark Reign and Norrath's Keepers (opposing factions) 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. Although only a few missions are available at first, as you gain faction and earn their trust, more missions will open up. Key features include: A new shared task system that shares space with the Task window (Alt-Q). You can manage the players in your shared Mission 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 either camp. Each side has their own crystals that they award. (Note that each side's 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.
• FEBRUARY 22, 2005:
  • EQ Players In-Game Email - Now you can send in-game messages to other players even if they're not logged into the game! Find out all about this new EverQuest feature. Now you can send in-game messages to other players even if they're not logged into the game! Here's how to use this new EverQuest feature: 1) To open the Mail Window, either click on the Mail Icon (it's new!) or use Control-M. 2) To send an e-mail, press the "Compose" button in the Mail Window. Enter the recipient's character name in the "To" field; then enter the "Subject" and type in the message. Press "Send." 3) To receive messages, click on an unread message header on the list in your Mail Window. You can also reply to the sender and forward the message to another player. 4) There are also message management features where you can order, delete, or undelete messages. And you can even send a message to yourself.
• FEBRUARY 23, 2005:
  • Server Merges - Antonius Bayle and Kane Bayle, Solusek Ro and Bristlebane to merge. On March 22, 2005, we will begin the process of merging some of the EverQuest servers.  As we have seen from the recent success of the Zek merger, combining some of the EQ worlds is beneficial for players’ experience.  In fact, we have been pleasantly surprised to find that the new Zek server now has a higher population than the four combined servers had prior to that merger.  We hope that by merging some of our lower population servers with a higher population server, we will continue to enhance your gameplay experience. Merging Servers - On March 22nd, Antonius Bayle will merge with Kane Bayle and will retain the name Antonius Bayle. On March 23rd, Bristlebane will merge with Solusek Ro and will retain the name Bristlebane. We understand that server identity is important to our customers and we will be integrating server titles into the title system to allow you to display your server of origin, should you desire to do so. Unutilized Character Purge - Immediately preceding the merger, all characters below level 10 that have not been logged in for over six months will be deleted from each of the merging servers and will not be available after the server merge.  If you have a character on any of the servers being merged that is below level 10 and has not been logged in for more than six months, you will need to log that character in prior to the scheduled merge date for the relevant server. Shared Banks on Merging Servers - If you have characters on two servers which are being merged together, you will need to clean out the shared bank on one of those servers. After the merge, only one shared bank will be available on each merged server. Character Limitations - If you have more than eight characters in total on two servers being merged together, only the first eight characters (in alphabetical order) will be displayed after the merge.  Characters other than the eight displayed characters will not be available for selection until currently displayed characters are deleted.  All characters from both servers will remain on your account provided that the character was not below level 10 and had not been logged in within the last six months. Corpses - Prior to the scheduled merge date for your server(s), please be sure that you clear any unclaimed character corpses from the world.  Character corpses will not be transferred to the newly-merged server.  Once the merger is complete, all corpses on the servers affected by a merge will have been purged. Duplicate Character Names - It is possible that characters on servers affected by the merge will have duplicate names. In the event that characters on the new, combined server do share a name, the character with the most played time will be entitled to keep the name. All other characters will have the letter X appended to their name and will be eligible for a name change.  Characters can use the in-game /changename command to request a new name.  The new name is subject to the conditions set forth in our naming policy which can be found here: Naming Policy. LDoN Leader Boards - After each merge is completed, as characters log into their newly-combined server, the leader board will be re-populated with standings. Although your points will be unaffected by the transfer, your standing may have changed based on the new, combined population totals. Complimentary Character Move - Shortly after each merger is complete, we will allow all customers affected by a merge a one-time, complimentary character move to the server of their choice.  For each customer with an account on a newly-merged server who request such a move, all characters associated with that customer’s account will be transferred to the selected server.  All characters will bring their items with them in the transfer.
• FEBRUARY 28, 2005:
  • Zek Moves - Characters from the Zek server will begin moving this Friday - Once the servers come up from the update on Thursday, Zek players will 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, Firiona Vie or Kane Bayle.  Zek players who chose either of these servers will need to execute the command again, choosing a new server.  There will be no moves allowed to Firiona Vie at this time. 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.
• 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. 
  • The crystals used as points for Norrath's Keepers and Dark Reign are once again tradeable on all servers. 
  • Stone of Marking will no longer be used if a player can not bind in that area. 
  • NPCs will now offer you missions based on your average group level rather than the level of the player requesting the mission. 
  • 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. 
  • The trivial values of many tradeskill recipes have been modified, please make sure to check your recipe lists. 
  • 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. 
  • You can now assign guild banker status even if the guild member is not online. 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. 
  • Guild masters will once again allow to you get started with your training in Research, Alchemy, Poison Making, and Tinkering. 
  • The boats in East Cabilis should look like boats again. 
  • 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.
• MARCH 14, 2005:
  • Class Re-envisioning - First round of proposed changes. Over the course of the last few months, since we announced this project, we have had numerous discussions on the classes.  During these discussions we identified some key changes, that are relatively easy for us to implement, that could result in better gameplay for all of you.  While this is far from complete (the process and this list) it is the start of this class re-envisionment, reflections, redefinition, whatever we all decide to call it besides balance.  Some of these changes you see on this list will make it live for our April 6th update.  Others we would like to hear your thoughts and ideas on before continuing.  We think that there are some very positive changes here, some of which kind of go against the grain of EQ gameplay.  So let the discussion begin; We'll start with some general gameplay changes that either affect all classes or multiple classes. 
    • General - We are removing the level 55 fear cap and adding advanced spells to the fear lines to make them current.  Now, this doesn't mean that all NPCs can be feared, we will be making use of a no-fear flag to stop potential game-play problems. We will remove the hard coded aggro generated by poison based debuffs which will result in some DoTs and Tash generating less aggro than they currently do as well as more consistent aggro generation. We are going to spread spell progression out for levels 1 to 50 to reduce the levels gaps between gaining new spells.  We would like casters to gain new spells every level and enjoy more even progression. We are planning to add new abilities and disciplines to non-casters and spread those out between levels 1 to 50, along with their current abilities to make sure non-casters also have progression, in the form of a new ability, every level. Pet owners will be able to click off any buffs they do not want their pet to have. We are changing many of the all-or-nothing immune flags so they mitigate the effect instead.  We want you to use your abilities on most NPCs, but where we feel the ability might be problematic the ability will have a lesser effect. You will see the healing messages for Heal Over Time spells.  There will also be a filter for this new message. We will change the potion "Essence of Concealment" from invisibility to improved invisibility and make the components easier for alchemists to find. All spells will check for immunity before they are cast.  So if the target is immune, the spell will not generate aggro for the caster. We would like ammunition to auto-feed from your inventory directly to the ranged slot. We are eliminating the +mana cap. We are removing the inherent resist rate from rain spells.
    • Solo Play - EverQuest is a group-based game we all know that but we also know that there are times that many of us like to hunt alone. Some of our classes can solo effectively, while others can't. We plan to make changes to classes that struggle with soloing to allow them some solo play. These changes will be made to only affect their abilities while solo and not affect how they perform in groups. 1. We are still discussing the best way to go about this but some of the options we have discussed are listed here; a. Add healing potions to the game. To prevent this from unbalancing the group game, we need to be careful how these potions work.  They may need to be a healing potion that does heal-over-time and does not stack with any other healing spells. Another option is simply having a long reuse on the potion so its effectiveness in a group situation, where the player is generally taking on much more difficult NPCs, is not affected much. b. We are exploring class abilities that add the pieces needed to solo while also taking away the abilities that make them useful in a group situation. An example of this is a warrior ability that increases their defensive abilities and gives them a damage boost, but causes them to be able to generate nearly no aggro while the ability is in effect, so the warrior would not be able to tank for most groups. Class Specific Changes - Now onto the class changes. We know that this is what most of you are looking for and we think we have a pretty solid plan. Again, as I mentioned above, this is just the beginning folks. Our team is still crunching numbers and other changes are dependent upon that data.  We will not be making any changes to melee DPS, tanking and other combat balance issues until that data is completed and we see what effects these changes have on gameplay.  We ask that you please discuss these changes on your class board.  And please folks, be constructive. If you think the ideas have no merit, say why.  We can't work on it with you with bad feedback.  OMG This SUXXORS is not going to help.
    • Bards - We will be increasing your instrument mod cap and using itemization to limit the inherent power gains.  This also means that certain songs will have built in maximums to prevent them from scaling indefinitely. Beastlords - We will add at least one new slow spell for you which has an innate resistance mod built in so that it lands more often. This will help you perform the role of slower in your groups, since you don't have access to the powerful resistance lowering spells of other slowing classes. We will be boosting your healing so it stays on par with ranger healing when we improve ranger heals. We want to assure pet classes that we believe you should be able to use their pets in most gameplay situations, including raids. We believe that pet classes do not have many problems with pets on raids at the moment, but want you to understand that we intend for you to use pets on raids and if you find that there is a problem, we will find ways to correct it. We will be increasing the availability of pet focus items, particularly for the more casual players. We will be looking into the casting time of some of your pet healing spells and reducing the casting time where appropriate. Berserkers - Many Berserker complaints are about their damage output and this isn’t something we can really address without the results of the number crunching. Our thoughts are that you are fine at lower levels and pretty decent at high levels with your AAs, but you may need some help at the mid levels. Should our numbers support our thoughts, we will be adjusting things so your damage progression is smoother across the levels. We are looking into the endurance cost of many of your abilities and lowering them as necessary. We are looking into adding throwing quivers that grant innate haste similar to normal quivers. 
    • Clerics - With Dragons of Norrath you gained two new spells that you seem to enjoy; Mark of Vengeance and Mark of Retribution. We will be changing these spells into full spell lines that you get early on and that scale up as you level. We want to make your Turn Undead spells effective at all levels.  Some of the suggested changes include: a. Changing the fear part of the spell so the rest of the spell still works even if the fear fails or removing the fear portion of the spell entirely. b. Adding a strong snare effect.
    • Druids - Druids are a unique challenge in that the class is divided evenly between you offensive druids who enjoy doing damage, and you defensive druids who prefer to play the role of healer.  We want to support both play styles, but if we were to increase both halves of the druid equally the class would quickly become overpowered.  Our plan is to introduce a new option where a druid can enter into a particular “mode” or “stance” where they become better at one part at the expense of the other.  Our preferred solution for this is to add an innate ability for druids. The ability would get its own button similar to abilities such as backstab or track.  You will be able to be in one of three states and can switch between them once every 5 minutes. a. Normal – Their healing and offensive abilities are in balance. This is the state they exist in today. b. Offensive – Their offensive power is boosted by 25%, but they suffer a 50% reduction in the power of their healing spells. c. Defensive – Their healing power is boosted by 25%, but they suffer a 50% reduction in the power of their offensive spells. Another of our goals is to broaden the core grouping roles to allow all classes to more easily put together groups.  Similar to how any of the 3 main tanks should be able to perform that role in a group, we want any of the 3 healers to be able to perform the role of a main healer in a group. The changes mentioned above for druids will allow you to fill a healing role and perform at about 80% of the effectiveness of a cleric.
    • Enchanters - We will add higher level upgrades to the Word of Morell spell line. We plan to change the way mana drain works.  In the past the spell had diminishing effects on NPCs above level 53.  We will be removing that limitation so you can use Theft of Thought on higher level caster NPCs and we can introduce more powerful spells in that line, in the future.  However, we will also be changing drains so that they only return the mana the NPC has instead of always returning the full amount.  If an NPC only has 100 mana and your spell does a 400 drain, you will only get 100 mana.  This is a necessary change as most NPCs, including non-casters, are given small amounts of mana in order to power some innates. We all know that the power of NPCs has climbed and the difficulty in charming NPCs has retreated.  This has led to an imbalance where you were able to charm NPCs that do far more damage than ever intended and with minimal risk.  This lead us to the unfortunate decision to make many NPC's uncharmable. With OOW, we introduced a change to charm that allowed us to make most NPCs charmable again, but reduce their effectiveness and remove the gameplay imbalance.  We did this by reducing their stats while charmed. This presented some new problems though, the largest of which is you like to haste and buff your pets to get the most out of them and when the charm breaks, you face a much more powerful NPC. We have a plan to ensure charm’s usefulness and want to gather your opinion before putting it into motion. a. We want charm to be an integral part of your gameplay.  You should be able to grab a charmed pet in most circumstances and use that to benefit your group. b. We will be looking at the stats NPCs use when charmed to ensure they are within the intended range. c. We would like to add innate buff effects to enchanter charm spells.  While an NPC is under the effects of the charm, they will also be under the effect of spells similar to what you would use to buff your pet.  When charm breaks those effects will go away so you are only dealing with the NPC in its base state. d. The change mentioned above would cause further imbalance in zones where NPCs don’t currently lower their stats when charmed, the changes that were made in Omens will need to be made across the rest of the game and this will be the way new charm works in all of Norrath. e.  After charm changes for all zones, we can go back and open up the use of charm in areas where it was previously excluded due to balance problems making charm much more usable throughout the game world.
    • Mages - We will be converting most, if not all, of your summons to place the items directly into the hands of the target. Of course, we will also need a new toggle that lets players turn off this ability from anyone not in their group, anyone not in their raid, or anyone at all. We will be adding new pet pack spells that contain the more used summoned pet item to help relieve the tedium of summoning many different items. We will be fixing Turn Summoned in a way similar to how we fix Turn Undead for clerics. See the cleric section for more details. We want to assure pet classes that we believe you should be able to use their pets in most gameplay situations, including raids. We believe that pet classes do not have many problems with pets on raids at the moment, but want you to understand that we intend for you to use pets on raids and if you find that there is a problem, we will find ways to correct it.We will be increasing the availability of pet focus items, particularly for the more casual players. We will be looking into the casting time of some of your pet heals and reducing the casting time where appropriate.
    • Monks - We will be reversing the AC mitigation reduction that you received during the Planes of Power era.
    • Necromancers - We will add new spells in the Screaming Terror line to give you some more combat utility. We want to assure pet classes that we believe you should be able to use their pets in most gameplay situations, including raids.  We believe that pet classes do not have many problems with pets on raids at the moment, but want you to understand that we intend for you to use pets on raids and if you find that there is a problem, we will find ways to correct it. We will be increasing the availability of pet focus items, particularly for the more casual players. We will be looking into the casting time of some of your pet heal spells and reducing the casting times where appropriate.
    • Paladins - We want you to be a main tank in group situations. We believe that you are currently able to fill this role, but want to assure you that our intent is for a group to be able to grab a warrior, paladin, or shadowknight as their main tank and be effective with any of them. With DoN, you gained a limited form of defensive.  We are monitoring your feedback and if you like this direction; we plan to make it a full spell line that begins at the level warriors get the defensive discipline.
    • Rangers - Rangers are good at many things and when all the parts add up properly, they’re a class that is in heavy demand. Our feeling is that the parts are not adding up properly in the current game. We are still digesting all of the DPS numbers and stats but in the meantime we identified a couple of things we can increase in the short term. a. We will be improving the damage you do through spells. b. We will be boosting your healing ability, particularly at the top end of the game.
    • Rogues - We will fix the problems with Assassin’s Feint so it works correctly and then gauge your reaction to the working ability. If it turns out to be something that you like, we will look into adding more combat utility through a similar means. We are looking into adding throwing quivers that grant innate haste similar to how normal quivers work
    • Shadowknights - We also want Shadowknights to be a main tank in group situations. We believe that you are currently able to fill this role, but want to assure you that our intent is for a group to be able to grab a warrior, paladin, or shadowknight as their main tank and be effective with any of them. With DoN, you also gained a limited form of defensive.  We are monitoring your feedback and if you like this direction; we plan to make it a full spell line that begins at the level warriors get the defensive discipline.
    • Shaman - In DoN you received the spells Spirit of the Leopard and Spirit of the Panther. You seem to like these new spells and they have added more desirability for you in groups. We will be extending these into full spell lines so that Shaman of other level ranges can see the benefits from these spells. As with Druids, we are looking to increase your healing ability so you can function better as main healer in groups. You folks are a little problematic though, since your healing ability is the function of not just your heals, but your ability to reduce an NPCs damage output through slows. In a situation where an NPC is fully slowable, you are a superb healer but against an NPC who cannot be slowed, your healing falls behind.  If we were to just improve your heals, you would quickly outshine any other healer when facing NPCs that can be slowed. So, we are investigating ways to improve your healing ability only in circumstances where an NPC cannot be slowed or you choose not to slow the NPC (for your own strange reasons). These changes will be rolled out at the same time as any druid healing changes to ensure that one class does not eclipse the other.
    • Warriors - Many of the ideas for changes to the warrior class are dependant upon the results of the data we are still compiling. However, we are looking into improving your ability to solo in the mid and high level game as well as; We are looking into the endurance cost of many of your disciplines and lowering them as necessary. We will increase the knockback on Press the Attack slightly.
    • Wizards - With DoN, you received more mana efficient nukes that are aimed at improving your sustained DPS. We will be extending this into a line of spells to help out with sustained DPS at different level ranges. We will fix Manaburn.  Our preferred method is to uncap the ability and implement a cap based on the maximum percentage of health you can do in a single hit. So one of you, facing a million hit point boss mob (fairly common in today’s game) can expect a full manaburn to land for 10s of thousands of points of damage in one hit.
    • Once again I would like to remind you that this is the beginning of the changes and there is still more to come.  We encourage you to openly discuss these changes and let us know what you think.  We want this to be a cooperative exchange and we will chime in on your discussions when appropriate. 
• MARCH 15, 2005:
  • Fabled NPCs Celebrate EQ's 6th Anniversary! Fabled NPCs of the past, along with their unique loot, are celebrating the 6th anniversary of EverQuest. These luminaries of lore have been buffed and raised to meet today's adventure standards! And they are once again gracing the lands with all their ferociousness! Venture forth to slay these vile beasts and once again claim their treasures.
  • March 16, 2005 marks the sixth anniversary for one of the most popular and successful games to hit North America, EverQuest. In commemoration of the anniversary, a Scavenger Hunt will take place and the Fabled NPCs will return with a plethora of cool loot and items. With the popularity of last year's Scavenger Hunt we wanted to once again send players out into the wilds of Norrath on challenging quests and epic adventures. Be sure to log in and check out the hunt over the course of the next few weeks. Cool rewards and items are guaranteed for those few brave souls up to the task. Not to be outdone, the ever-famous Fabled NPCs return with even more power and loot. Relive the nostalgia and battle up to 125 buffed-up, old world MOBs from original EQ to the Ruins of Kunark expansion. A few new NPCs have been added to the action. These include Emperor Chottal and his diabolical pets, Overking Bathezid and his minions, Faydedar, Trakanon, and the devilish Drusella Sathir -- just to name a few. 125 Old World Mobs! 125 Unique Fabled Items!
• MARCH 16, 2005:
  • 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. Not many things are part of our lives for as many as 6 years. We are in High School for 4 years, most of us anyway. College is also 4 years. Few television shows are a part of our lives for 6 years. EverQuest has changed gaming and revolutionized virtual worlds. PC games do not usually have this kind of following, for this many years.  Granted, computer games have not been around as long as other mediums, but in that short time, few games have enjoyed this longevity with this measure of success. 9 expansions have been added to EverQuest and I can think of no other game that has added that much content to an already expansive world, rich and alive with content and adventure. No game has held my interest for nearly as long as EverQuest and it may be that none will; only time will tell. EverQuest has provided us with thousands of hours of entertainment and excitement. It has been here for us to make new friends and slay dragons with old ones. For less than the price of a movie and popcorn each month, we have enjoyed hunting treasure, bringing villains to justice and the camaraderie of shared goals.  EverQuest brought many of our fantasies to life and allows us to live the life of a hero or a villain. This world we created 6 years ago has become a backdrop for your stories and your adventures. 6 years may be old for most games but not EverQuest.  This game and this world are still young.  While many of our team has changed over these years, and many of our friends have come and gone, EverQuest is and will still be here.  Norrath will remain for years to come to allow you to experience your own fantasy story.  We are proud to have shared these 6 years with you, our EQ community, and while at times it has been a tumultuous ride, one thing is certain, we all love this game.
• March 17, 2005:
  • All of the new cultural sewing kits can now be traded in to Caerlyna in the Bazaar for tokens. 
  • 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 the Feir'Dal Fletching Kit. Really, we did.
• March 21, 2005:
  • Server Merges - Antonius Bayle and Kane Bayle, Solusek Ro and Bristlebane to merge. On March 22, 2005, we will begin the process of merging some of the EverQuest servers. As we have seen from the recent success of the Zek merger, combining some of the EQ worlds is beneficial for players’ experience. In fact, we have been pleasantly surprised to find that the new Zek server now has a higher population than the four combined servers had prior to that merger. We hope that by merging some of our lower population servers with a higher population server, we will continue to enhance your gameplay experience. Merging Servers - On March 22nd, Antonius Bayle will merge with Kane Bayle and will retain the name Antonius Bayle. On March 23rd, Bristlebane will merge with Solusek Ro and will retain the name Bristlebane. We understand that server identity is important to our customers and we will be integrating server titles into the title system to allow you to display your server of origin, should you desire to do so. Unutilized Character Purge - Immediately preceding the merger, all characters below level 10 that have not been logged in for over six months will be deleted from each of the merging servers and will not be available after the server merge. If you have a character on any of the servers being merged that is below level 10 and has not been logged in for more than six months, you will need to log that character in prior to the scheduled merge date for the relevant server. Shared Banks on Merging Servers - If you have characters on two servers which are being merged together, you will need to clean out the shared bank on one of those servers. After the merge, only one shared bank will be available on each merged server. Character Limitations - If you have more than eight characters in total on two servers being merged together, only the first eight characters (in alphabetical order) will be displayed after the merge. Characters other than the eight displayed characters will not be available for selection until currently displayed characters are deleted. All characters from both servers will remain on your account provided that the character was not below level 10 and had not been logged in within the last six months. Corpses - Prior to the scheduled merge date for your server(s), please be sure that you clear any unclaimed character corpses from the world. Character corpses will not be transferred to the newly-merged server. Once the merger is complete, all corpses on the servers affected by a merge will have been purged. Duplicate Character Names - It is possible that characters on servers affected by the merge will have duplicate names. In the event that characters on the new, combined server do share a name, the character with the most played time will be entitled to keep the name. All other characters will have the letter X appended to their name and will be eligible for a name change. Characters can use the in-game /changename command to request a new name. The new name is subject to the conditions set forth in our naming policy which can be found here: Naming Policy. LDoN Leader Boards - After each merge is completed, as characters log into their newly-combined server, the leader board will be re-populated with standings. Although your points will be unaffected by the transfer, your standing may have changed based on the new, combined population totals. Complimentary Character Move - Shortly after each merger is complete, we will allow all customers affected by a merge a one-time, complimentary character move to the server of their choice.  For each customer with an account on a newly-merged server who request such a move, all characters associated with that customer’s account will be transferred to the selected server. All characters will bring their items with them in the transfer.
• MARCH 29, 2005:
  • Server Merges - Tentative Schedule for additional server merges. Merging Servers - The most recent server merges are complete and both newly merged servers are showing a healthy population and, as with the combined Zek servers, exceeding their previous combined population totals.  As such, beginning April 11th and continuing until the completion of the process, we will continue merging all standard rule-set servers.  The servers will be merged in the following order, on the dates listed. 4/7 Brell Serilis merges with Cazic Thule and will be listed as Cazic Thule. 4/11. Morden Rasp merges with Povar and will be listed as Povar. 4/11 Lanys T'Vyl merges with The Seventh Hammer and will be listed as The Seventh Hammer. 4/14 Tarew Marr merges with Drinal and will be listed as Drinal. 4/18 Mithaniel Marr merges with Saryrn and will be listed as Saryrn. 4/18 Tholuxe Paells merges with The Rathe and will be listed as The Rathe. 4/21 Ayonae Ro merges with The Tribunal and will be listed as The Tribunal. 4/25 Veeshan merges with Luclin and will be listed as Luclin. 4/28 Karana merges with Bertoxxulous and will be listed as Bertoxxulous. 5/2 Innoruuk merges with The Nameless and will be listed as The Nameless. 5/5 Zebuxoruk merges with Xegony and will be listed as Xegony. 5/9 Vazaelle merges with Maelin Starpyre and will be listed as Maelin Starpyre. 5/12 Rodcet Nife and Quellious and will be listed as Quellious. 5/16 Morrell Thule and Erollisi Marr and will be listed as Erollisi Marr. 5/19 Xev merges with Druzzil Ro and will be listed as Druzzil Ro. 5/23 Torvonnilous and Fennin Ro and will be listed as Fennin Ro. 5/26 Terris Thule and Prexus and will be listed as Prexus. 5/30 E'ci and Tunare and will be listed as Tunare. We understand that server identity is important to our customers and we will be integrating server titles into the title system to allow you to display your server of origin, should you desire to do so. Unutilized Character Purge - Immediately preceding the merger, all characters below level 10 that have not been logged in for over six months will be deleted from each of the merging servers and will not be available after the server merge. If you have a character on any of the servers being merged that is below level 10 and has not been logged in for more than six months, you will need to log that character in prior to the scheduled merge date for the relevant server. Shared Banks on Merging Servers - If you have characters on two servers which are being merged together, you will need to clean out the shared bank on one of those servers. After the merge, only one shared bank will be available on each merged server. Character Limitations - If you have more than eight characters in total on two servers being merged together, only the first eight characters (in alphabetical order) will be displayed after the merge. Characters other than the eight displayed characters will not be available for selection until currently displayed characters are deleted. All characters from both servers will remain on your account provided that the character was not below level 10 and had not been logged in within the last six months. Corpses - Prior to the scheduled merge date for your server(s), please be sure that you clear any unclaimed character corpses from the world. Character corpses will not be transferred to the newly-merged server. Once the merger is complete, all corpses on the servers affected by a merge will have been purged. Duplicate Character Names - It is possible that characters on servers affected by the merge will have duplicate names. In the event that characters on the new, combined server do share a name, the character with the most played time will be entitled to keep the name. All other characters will have the letter X appended to their name and will be eligible for a name change. Characters can use the in-game /changename command to request a new name. The new name is subject to the conditions set forth in our naming policy which can be found here: Naming Policy. LDoN Leader Boards - After each merge is completed, as characters log into their newly-combined server, the leader board will be re-populated with standings. Although your points will be unaffected by the transfer, your standing may have changed based on the new, combined population totals. Complimentary Character Move - Shortly after each merger is complete, we will allow all customers affected by a merge a one-time, complimentary character move to the server of their choice.  For each customer with an account on a newly-merged server who request such a move, all characters associated with that customer’s account will be transferred to the selected server. All characters will bring their items with them in the transfer.
• APRIL 11, 2005:
  • Announcing SOE Worlds Magazine! Sony Online Entertainment, the premier name for massively multiplayer online games, is now taking orders for the Collector’s Edition of SOE Worlds, the ultimate print resource for players and player communities of EverQuest®, Star Wars Galaxies®, EverQuest Online Adventures™, PlanetSide®, Untold Legends™ and EverQuest® II. Sony Online Entertainment, the premier name for massively multiplayer online games, is now taking orders for the Collector’s Edition of SOE Worlds, the ultimate print resource for players and player communities of EverQuest, Star Wars Galaxies, EverQuest Online Adventures, PlanetSide, Untold Legends and EverQuest II. Pre-order SOE Worlds from the Station Store today! Here's what's inside: In-depth game information, including gameplay hints and tips; Exclusive insider scoops on new games, expansions, game enhancements, and additional content; Behind-the-scenes interviews with the developers of your favorite games; Original content and commentary written for and created by players just like you. Find out more about SOE Worlds. Download an exclusive preview now! (Note that it's in PDF format). RE-ORDER YOUR ISSUE TODAY! (Note that Station Access subscribers with current and valid accounts at the time of publication will automatically receive the Collector’s Edition of SOE Worlds at no additional cost.)
  • Good News for Veteran EQ players! As part of EverQuest's 6th Anniversary celebration, the game team is giving current players one special Veteran Reward for every year that they've been an active EverQuest subscriber! These rewards include double-XP, 100% XP rez, increased mana, once a day "back to new" healing, and more. As an added bonus, from April 11th to May 11th, any current player can purchase a one-year EQ subscription for a special price ($99.99) and get next year’s Veteran Reward (based upon total subscription time) at no additional cost!  Find out more about Veteran Rewards and the special one-year subscription offer. As part of EverQuest's 6th-Year Anniversary celebration, the game team is giving current EQ players** one special Veteran Reward for every year that you've been an active, paying EverQuest subscriber in good standing! This is very good news for six year vets! It means that you'll be getting six Veteran Rewards for up to six of your characters! If you are a former EQ player, any active subscription time previously accrued on a paying account in good standing will be credited toward your veteran reward when you re-activate your paid subscription. Note: You'll find the Veteran Rewards tab in the game's AA user interface. Even better news: From April 11, 2005 to May 11, 2005, any current EQ player can purchase a 12-month EQ subscription for a special price ($99.99 plus applicable taxes) resulting in a potential savings of more than $50 off of the standard, monthly subscription fee. Game software is sold separately. The EverQuest Sixth-Year Anniversary 12-month Subscription fee is a recurring charge; that means that, unless and until you cancel your account, you authorize SOE to charge your credit card the subscription amount ($99.99 plus applicable taxes) immediately upon signing up for the Sixth-Year Anniversary 12-month subscription plan and again at the beginning of each subsequent 12-month subscription period. For this special offer, that means that you will be billed immediately in full on the day you initially sign-up for this special offer and then you will also be billed on the date that is 12 months from that date and so on. In addition, players who purchase the special 12-month subscription will be entitled to receive their next year’s reward without having to wait* until their next year as a subscriber (subject to the launch date or account age calculation date of the veteran rewards program). For example, a three year veteran will be entitled to receive awards one through three for up to three characters. If he or she decides to purchase the special Sixth-year anniversary 12-month subscription plan, he or she will also be entitled to receive the fourth year award as a bonus without having to wait* until their fourth year as a qualifying subscriber. Additionally, six year veterans who purchase the Sixth-year anniversary 12-month subscription plan will receive the following unique seventh year reward without having to wait* until the seventh year of their qualifying subscription even though EverQuest is only now celebrating its 6th-year anniversary. A special note: An EverQuest player can claim their applicable reward(s) for one additional character (up to a total of six characters) for every full year they have been actively subscribed with a fully-paid account in good standing and qualifies for the veteran reward. In addition, Veteran Rewards remain with each character for as long as that character exists. For every year that a player has been subscribed, they will be able to claim the Rewards on one character. SOE may, in its sole discretion, add, modify or delete veteran reward program terms or conditions with or without notice, and may terminate the program at any time. Veteran Rewards are as follows: Lesson of the Devoted: The player is surrounded by a beautiful blue/white glow as they gain double experience for half an hour every 24 hours. Infusion of the Faithful: Usable once every 24 hours, the player enjoys maximum resistances and statistics and a faster run speed for 15 minutes while he glows brightly with power. Chaotic Jester: Summons a Bristlebane puppet that persists for 15 minutes. Usable once every 24 hours, Bristlebane will randomly cast various spells that provide benefits or minor penalties. Expedient Recovery: Usable once per week, all the player’s corpses are summoned to their feet and given 100% experience resurrection. Steadfast Servant: Summons a creature that casts healing spells upon the player and others nearby. Lasts for half an hour and is usable once every 24 hours. Staunch Recovery: Usable once every 3 days, the player is fully healed with health, mana, and endurance fully restored. Intensity of the Resolute: Increases the power of the player’s abilities and heals substantially for 5 minutes once every 24 hours while the player is surrounded by a glow of energy. Please note that the veteran rewards program is scheduled to commence on May 13, 2005 and that will be the first day these rewards will be available to eligible players, even if an eligible player signs up and is billed for the special Sixth-Year Anniversary 12-month Subscription Plan between April 11, 2005 and May 11, 2005. Commencing in June 2005, SOE will compute the age of eligible accounts on the first business day of that month and each successive month during the term of the veteran rewards promotion and accounts that have achieved their next year veteran reward milestone since the prior computation date will be able to claim the applicable reward. Based on your total subscription time as an active, paying subscriber in good standing—game time accrued during trial programs or game time included with purchase of the game software will not count towards active, paying subscription time.
• APRIL 12, 2005:
  • 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. Yu may not be quite at 100% but very close.  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).
  • Added a teleportation stone to Arena in Plane of Knowledge.* 
  • 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).
  • Re-envisioning has begun! Over 600 Spell modifications.
    • *** Re-envisioning Specifics *** 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 aggro added. The spells themselves still generate aggro based on their other properties, 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 *** 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 *** 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.
    • *** Tradeskills *** 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.
      Alabaster Beak and Ivory Stormrider Canine are now marked as usable in tradeskills. 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. 
  • We've extended the 6th anniversary scavenger hunt so that it will be available through Sunday, the 17th. 
  • 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.
  • 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 back flag, 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 back flag quest to count for Txevu access and the two can be completed in any order. This change is not retroactive.
  • 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.
  • *** Server stability *** 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 Plane of Fire was working properly without causing the zone to lag out. They were able to complete many of the stagesof 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.
  • *** Chat filtering *** 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 *** You now have quick access to all of your character mailboxes on the current server from any of your characters. 
  • *** Title Suffixes *** The title system now supports title suffixes. The first use of this new feature are the server titles. 
  • *** Guild Hall (Guilds) *** 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.
  • *** Bazaar/Barter *** 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.  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. 
  • 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. 
  • 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.
  • * Denotes a community request.
• APRIL 14, 2005:
  • EverQuest Producer's Letter - A message from the new EQ Producer - Greetings Norrathians! First off I wanted to take some time to introduce myself as the new producer of EverQuest. EverQuest has been a large part of my life for the past three years; including the past two years as the game's Associate Producer. During my time on the EverQuest team I've come to realize one of the great things about EQ is the friendships and the community that we’ve all come to love.   We all remember the first time we logged into EQ.  If your experience was anything like mine, you were shocked that so many windows could fit on one screen!  Thankfully, most of us found our way out of the initial shock and found folks who showed us the ins and outs of the game. Many of these in-game friendships have grown into friendships outside of Norrath and for that I thank EverQuest. We all know that EverQuest is not just a game.  The game and its community are both a large part of all our lives.  Our team takes great pride in this fact, but at the same time we are humbled by the responsibilities that come along with it.  As developers, our primary responsibilities are to make an entertaining game and to support the thriving EverQuest community. Only by working closely with you, can we keep EverQuest successful for years to come. As I hope you have noticed, our team spends a great deal of time on message boards and we are constantly gathering what's important to you and bringing that information to the forefront. We continue to develop procedures that facilitate that process, but allowing our community to thrive requires an ongoing dialogue with you. For instance, class re-envisionment has been, and continues to be, a hot topic. The recent patch represents many of the initial changes we’ve made together, and we welcome your continued feedback on them.  Our goal is to get these changes out as quickly as is reasonable, but to pace ourselves knowing full well that this will take many iterations and updates. This continues to be a top priority and we've already made many changes based on your feedback. Your continued feedback allows us to make EverQuest a better game. Another hot topic in the EQ community right now is server merges. Merging servers was a tough decision, but it is necessary for the continued success of the game and these changes will make EverQuest healthier in the long run. Larger populations make it easier for players to interact, trade items, find groups, and establish guilds.   As with many changes of this magnitude, there are bumps in the road along the way.  To help things go a little smoother, we are planning a few changes to address some concerns that you have raised. First, we'll be instancing the Plane of Time to alleviate the bottle neck that many of you may face as a result of higher populations. Second, at the request of the players, we're going to combine the servers that have established a voluntary rotation system for raid targets. The Rathe and Karana will now be combined. The communities on The Rathe and Karana servers have put forth an extraordinary amount of time and energy to create their rotational systems and we want to do what we can to support these players and their chosen play style. As a result of this change, Bertoxxulous and Tholuxe Paells will be combined. Third, we've heard your opinions on which server names should be kept after the mergers.  We feel the real answer to this question is that you, the community, should decide the name for your server. Therefore, we will be adding polls to allow every player the chance to vote for the name of their particular server (including servers that have already been merged). We're working out the details of that now so stay tuned for a post shortly. Moving forward, the EverQuest team has some ambitious plans for the next twelve months.  I can't play spoiler to them all (yet), but I can say that we are extremely excited about the direction we're heading and I wanted to give you a sneak peek. As most of you already know, veteran players will be receiving bonuses this spring as a token of our appreciation for making EQ and the EQ community what it is today. This summer will bring a complete revamp of the newbie experience and will also hold some additional content for existing players that I can't wait to play.  Also, be ready for art facelifts to some of our old stomping grounds this fall. I'd like to tell you about some of the other things we have planned, but you'll just have to wait and see. :) Our team has a tremendous responsibility to be faithful stewards to Norrath and its community. EverQuest has enjoyed over six years of success and we plan on keeping it that way for at least six more. My sincerest thanks go out to all of you for allowing me to be a part of the EverQuest community. Regards, Craig Knapp (aka Zorillius)
• APRIL 20, 2005:
  • Rumors have been spread that the Ring of Scale have started to investigate the new vampires of Mistmoore (RoS faction quest is in). 
  • Changed the name of the Basilisk Tooth to be Great Reptile Tooth. Great Reptile Teeth can now drop off crocs in Plane of Earth and Plane of Nightmare. Changed the name of Racnar Hide to Great Reptile Hide. Great Reptile Hides can now drop off raptors in Cazic Thule. 
  • 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. 
  • Added level up text for all levels between 11 and 70. 
• MAY 5, 2005:
  • Revised Server Merge Information - Updated Schedule for additional server merges. Merging Servers - The most recent server merges are complete and both newly merged servers are showing a healthy population and, as with the combined Zek servers, exceeding their previous combined population totals.  As such, beginning April 11th and continuing until the completion of the process, we will continue merging all standard rule-set servers.  The servers will be merged in the following order, on the dates listed. 4/18 Mithaniel Marr merges with Saryrn and will be listed as Saryrn. 4/18 Karana merges with The Rathe and will be listed as The Rathe. 4/21 Ayonae Ro merges with The Tribunal and will be listed as The Tribunal. 4/25 Veeshan merges with Luclin and will be listed as Luclin. 4/28 Tholuxe Paells merges with Bertoxxulous and will be listed as Bertoxxulous. 5/2 Innoruuk merges with The Nameless and will be listed as The Nameless. 5/5 Zebuxoruk merges with Xegony and will be listed as Xegony. 5/9 Vazaelle merges with Maelin Starpyre and will be listed as Maelin Starpyre. 5/12 Rodcet Nife and Quellious and will be listed as Quellious. 5/16 Morrell Thule and Erollisi Marr and will be listed as Erollisi Marr. 5/19 Xev merges with Druzzil Ro and will be listed as Druzzil Ro. 5/23 Torvonnilous and Fennin Ro and will be listed as Fennin Ro. 5/26 Terris Thule and Prexus and will be listed as Prexus. 5/30 E'ci and Tunare and will be listed as Tunare.
• MAY 11, 2005:
  • Veteran's Rewards will be available on May 13th. You can find out more details about these rewards here (obsolete link). 
  • 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. 
  • The return on AC over the cap has been increased for monks, paladin, and shadowknights of level 50 and higher. 
  • All caster, priest, and hybrid classes now learn Meditation at level 1. All priest and hybrid classes now learn Channeling at level 1. All hybrid classes now learn Abjuration, Alteration, Conjuration, Divination, and Evocation at level 1. 
  • 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. 
  • Vyril Nightfire in Mistmoore is seeking adventurers to help destroy the new inhabitants of the castle. 
  • Added a new alchemy recipe to create Essence of Froglok. It can be made in much the same way as the other essences. 
  • 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. 
  • 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. 
  • 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. 
  • *** E-Mail Features *** 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. 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.
• MAY 12, 2005:
  • Subscription Rates Increase - Due to the increased costs of running the EverQuest game service, we will be increasing our subscription rates. Effective June 12, 2005! Read the letter to the EverQuest community from SOE President John Smedley. Read the letter to the EverQuest community from SOE President John Smedley. Due to the increased costs of running the EverQuest game service, we will be increasing our subscription rates in June. Effective June 12, 2005, the new monthly subscription rate will be $14.99/month. While this announcement may be unpleasant, the cost of operating a top tier MMO has increased significantly over the past three years and this change will help us achieve our goal of seeing that every player has a consistently enjoyable experience in the world of EverQuest. 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 $41.97, a 6-month subscription will now be $77.94 and a 12-month subscription will now be $143.88. The 24-month subscription will continue to be $199.95. 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. Subscription rates are subject to tax and value-added taxes, as applicable. These price increases will not affect the SOE Station Access™ subscription rate. New EverQuest rates as of June 12, 2005: $14.99 per Month; $41.97 for 3 Month; $77.94 for 6 Months; $143.88 for 12 Months; $199.95 for 24 Months. Additionally we'd like to thank our current EverQuest players by offering a 6 and 12-month limited time promotional offer. For a limited time only, you can take advantage of 6 or 12-month promotional subscriptions and reap great savings. Between May 12th and June 11th, 2005, we're offering a special discount on the new monthly subscription price: A 6-month subscription costs only US$69.99 - that's a 10% discount off of the new monthly plan. Even better, a 12-month subscription costs US$99.99 - a 31% discount off of the new monthly rates. And for those customers subscribing to other great SOE games this is also an excellent time to become Station Access Members. The Station Access subscription provides an easy gateway for SOE fans to a variety of SOE titles for $21.99 a month. The Station Access subscription is good for EverQuest, PlanetSide, EverQuest Online Adventures, EverQuest II, Star Wars Galaxies and the Station Pass games. EverQuest subscriptions are recurring, meaning you will continue to be billed at the appropriate interval, until you affirmatively cancel your subscription. Note that purchasers of the full game will receive 30 days of game-play included with the purchase at no additional charge (subject to certain restrictions) after supplying valid billing information. If you cancel your subscription during the period of 30 days of game-play included with purchase, no charges will be made to your credit card. Subscriptions are subject to tax and value-added tax, as applicable. All subscription fees will appear on your credit card statement under the heading "SOE*EverQuest". Please note: The subscription charges are in addition to the cost of the game. You will need to purchase a copy of the game from a retail store or online at the Station Store (obsolete link). The price of the game will vary depending upon the store.
• MAY 18, 2005:
  • 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.
  • 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. 
  • 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.
• MAY 24, 2005:
  • Cross-game Chat for EverQuest, EverQuest II and Star Wars Galaxies Players of EverQuest, EverQuest II and Star Wars Galaxies can easily chat with one another by using specific chat syntax. You can also join chat rooms or send mail to your fellow players. We’ve listed instructions on how you chat with your friends across different SOE titles. Players of EverQuest, EverQuest II and Star Wars Galaxies can easily chat with one another by using specific chat syntax. You can also join chat rooms or send mail to your fellow players. Listed below are instructions on how you can chat with your friends across different SOE titles.
    • Messaging from within EverQuest II or Star Wars Galaxies to other servers and other SOE games: Sending mail uses the same syntax across EQ, SWG and EQII: To send mail to someone in the same game, but on another server, enter their name as servername.charname. To send mail to a friend in EQ, enter their name as eq.servername.charname; To send mail to a friend in EQII, enter their name as eq2.servername.charname; To send mail to a friend in SWG, enter their name as swg.servername.charname;
    • Sending Tells (instant messages) uses the same syntax across EQII and SWG:; To send a tell to someone on another server, type /t servername.charname; To send a tell from EQII or SWG to a friend playing EQ, type /t eq.servername.charname; To send a tell from EQII or SWG to a friend playing SWG, type /t swg.servername.charname.
    • Joining Chat Rooms (In EQII, joining these rooms is also possible from the Chat Options screen accessible by right-clicking a chat window): To join a chat room on another server in the same game, type /join servername.roomname; To join a chat room from EQII to a SWG server, type / join swg. servername.roomname; To join a chat room from SWG to an EQII server, type / join eq2. servername.roomname; To join a chat room from SWG or EQII to an EQ server, type /join eq.servername.roomname; If a room is under other rooms (this is common in SWG, for example), type /join swg.servername.grandparentroomname.parentroomname.roomname;
    • Messaging from EverQuest to other EQ servers and other SOE games uses a slightly different syntax, [t instead of /t for tells, and [join instead of /joinchannel for joining chat rooms: Sending mail uses the same syntax across EQ, SWG and EQII: To send mail to someone on another EQ server, enter their name as servername.charname; To send mail to a friend in SWG, enter their name as swg.servername.charname; To send mail to a friend in EQII, enter their name as eq2.servername.charname.
    • Sending Tells (instant messages): To send a tell to someone on another EQ server, type [t servername.charname; To send mail to a friend playing SWG, type [t swg.servername.charname; To send mail to a friend playing EQII, type [t eq2.servername.charname.
    • Joining Chat Rooms: To join a chat room on the same server, type  [join roomname; To join a chat room on a different EQ server, type  [join servername.roomname; To join a chat room in SWG, type [join swg.servername.roomname; To join a chat room in EQII, type  [join eq2.servername.roomname; If a room is under other rooms (this is common in SWG, for example), type [join swg.servername.grandparentroomname.parentroomname.roomname.
• MAY 25, 2005:
  • Date change for Tunare/E'ci merge - Rescheduled due to Memorial Day - The EverQuest team will be moving the originally scheduled merge between Tunare and E'ci on 5/30 to 5/31. We always do our best to minimize downtime during peak periods and holidays as we often have a larger number of people in-game.
• MAY 27, 2005:
  • Get the Official EverQuest Cap! The SOE Fan Faire is quickly approaching. While in Vegas, show off your EQ Pride with the official EverQuest Cap. It may not improve your armor class, but it is sure to add a few points to your charisma. Order yours today!
• MAY 31, 2005:
  • Station Account Security Notification - Sony Online Entertainment is in the process of strengthening our account and password security operations as part of our goal of providing a high standard of online security to our members. Find out how we are making your Station Account even more secure. Sony Online Entertainment is in the process of strengthening our account and password security operations as part of our goal of providing a high standard of online security to our members. This email describes some of these additional features. Starting immediately, all new Station accounts will require that passwords must be a minimum length of 8 characters, and be alpha-numeric. This means that at least one of the characters in your password must contain a number. Furthermore, you can now use symbols, such as @, # and $ as part of your Station account password thus making your account even more secure. This new password security requirement is only for the creation of new Station accounts; however, it will be required when a current Station member changes his or her current password, secret question or email address. We strongly recommend that you change your current password and update your registration! information including choosing a secret question if you have not already done so. Please make sure that you have provided us with your current and valid email address ? we will use the email address on record to notify you of any changes or activity regarding your Station account and in retrieving lost passwords (this email address will not be used for marketing purposes unless you specifically opt-in for newsletters and announcements.) Please remember to NEVER give out or share your Station name or password ? including with friends and Guildmates. Please take advantage of this heightened security effort and protect your account from unauthorized use. Account security reminders: Use a unique Station name; Use an alpha-numeric password consisting of at least 8 characters; Never use the same word for your Station name and password; Always create a secret question when prompted (this allows for quicker password recovery and confirmation when needed); Keep your registration information, including current email address, up to date in so that we can contact you regarding your account and for retrieving lost passwords.
• JUNE 1, 2005:
  • Complimentary character moves for Antonius Bayle (Kane Bayle) - Let the movelogs begin! Starting July 1st 2005 we will be allowing all customers affected by the merge with Kael Drakkal, Sebilis, Venril Sathir and Antonius Bayle (Kane Bayle) merge a one-time, complimentary character move to the server of their choice.  This excludes Firiona Vie, Stormhammer and Test Server. For each customer with an account who requests such a move, all characters associated with that customer’s account will be transferred to the selected server.  All characters will bring their items with them in the transfer. These movelogs will continue nightly for the next 30 days. If you have changed your mind as to which server you would like to move to, the /movelog UI has a disregard button.  Using the disregard button will cancel any pending movelog requests and allow you to execute a new movelog request. 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.
• JUNE 6, 2005;
  • Report from the Wilds - Big things are happening in Norrath right now. Don't miss these world-changing events!  One brave adventurer has seen some of those events and sent us a copy of his report on what he has witnessed. * The following is found on a note of tanned vellum written in black ink in small economic handwriting * High Priest Yeolarn Bronzeleaf of Tunare, War is upon us. Six months ago we lost the port of Firiona Vie to the forces of Lanys T'Vyl. Two weeks ago, our own city of Felwithe came under attack by Tier'Dal terror troops. I watched our shop owners bleed to death on the cobblestone streets of my home. Never more than now has Felwithe faced imminent danger. It is all around us. Rifts tear open between worlds.  Holes break open to the lost lairs of beasts from the old ages. Yet for centuries the council of Felwithe chose to remain passive. It is clear that we must move on our own. I begin to gather information and I begin to plant the seeds within those who will act on Felwithe's behalf. I have sent my spies to the far reaches of Norrath in search of information. They already begin to return with dark and sinister plots. It is these plots that I will report to you over the following weeks. Last week one of my troll spies traveled to Neriak and listened to the trolls who reside there after the fall of Grobb. The trolls speak of battle. They speak of murder. It is clear that they no longer consider Neriak their home, if they ever did. They speak of a lord, one Bortar, who may lead them in battle against Gukta. A rift opens between the Tier'Dal and the trolls. We can exploit this rift and perhaps aggravate a conflict between our two enemies. I will seek to learn more and if an opportunity reveals itself, I will act upon it. Many of my agents travel through the city of New Tanaan, the new hub of travel for the adventurers of Norrath. One of my agents discovered a human named Veslin Savok who sought adventurers to recover a chest for him from a dragon named Ithiasor the Black in the Swamp of No Hope. I spoke to this Veslin, an untrustworthy fellow if I ever saw one, and I accepted his task. I do not know if he is an agent of Rasp's Wayfarers or perhaps of the Ebon Hand.  After a failed attempt to learn more of this black horrid beast, I enlisted the power of Vinceremo. This powerful band of mercenaries and hunters traveled to the Swamp and faced the great wyrm, Ithiasor. The battle did not go well. I have yet to learn more from this source but I fear the great wyrm will return unscathed to whatever dark hole it crawled from. Lord Yeolarn, I will continue to send these reports to keep you informed.  It is my hope that you will succeed in stirring the council of Felwithe into action. I saw your actions on the bridges of Felwithe. I saw you wield your staff like the warrior elves of Takish Hiz.  I know fire burns in you as it burns in me. Should you be unable to stir the unmoving rock of Felwithe's council, I will do what I can to enlist the aid of the hunters, adventurers, and mercenaries of Norrath. They do not fight for the protection of Felwithe or for the word of Tunare, but with the right motivation they can serve our purposes. May the Mother watch on us all, Loral Ciriclight High Priest of Tunare Hand and Eye of the Church of Felwithe Nineteenth Day of the Month of the Amber Leaf, 3201 PD.
• JUNE 9, 10, & 11, 2005: Las Vegas, Nevada (SOE) Fan Faire.
  • ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​EverQuest II, PlanetSide, and EQOA players, rejoice! Fan Faires are no longer just for EverQuest players!
• JUNE 23, 2005:
  • The Results are in! The Community had the opportunity to voice an opinion on the names for the merged servers. As you know, after many suggestions and much feedback from the EQ community, we ran polls this past week so that the community could decide on the name of the merged servers. Every active account was given the opportunity to vote only one time on the server of their choice. Each server had the choice between the two merged server names, a dragon name and no opinion. After the polls closed, the gnomes started counting the votes and just moments ago passed the results to us. After letting the community decide on which server name were desired the survey says.... {{{ Drum roll }}} {{{ Drum roll }}} {{{ Drum roll }}} {{{ Drum roll }}} The names will stay as they currently appear for each server! Here are the percentages each name received. Antonius Bayle - No Preference 14%; Antonius Bayle 62%; Kane Bayle 9%; Wuoshi 15%; Bertoxxulous - No Preference 11%; Bertoxxulous 50%; Tholuxe Paells 19%; Vox 21%; Bristlebane - No Preference 13%; Bristlebane 51%; Solusek Ro 26%; Yelinak 10%; Cazic - No Preference 13%; Cazic-Thule 45%; Brell Serilis 29%; Trakanon 14%; Drinal - No Preference 10%; Drinal 41%; Tarew Marr 40%; Faydedar 9%; Druzzil Ro - No Preference 10%; Druzzil Ro 45%; Xev 27%; Jaled Dar 18%; Erollisi Marr - No Preference 11%; Erollisi Marr 48%; Morrel Thule 22%; Talendor 19%; Fennin Ro - No Preference 10%; Fennin Ro 49%; Torvonnilous 22%; Kerafyrm 20%; Luclin - Preference 10%; Luclin 41%; Veeshan 40%; Phara Dar 9%; Maelin Starpyre - No Preference 12%; Maelin Starpyre 34%; Vazaelle 28%; Ragefire 26%; Povar - No Preference 16%; Povar 53%; Morden Rasp 17%; Vyemm 13%; Prexus - No Preference 11%; Prexus 52%; Terris Thule 24%; Severilous 13%; Quellious - No Preference 13%; Quellious 44%; Rodcet Nife 29%; Dozekar 14%; Saryrn - No Preference 10%; Saryrn 42%; Mithaniel Marr 37%; Gorenaire 12%; Seventh Hammer - No Preference 12%; Seventh Hammer 49%; Lanys T'Vyl 25%; Nagafen 14%; The Nameless - No Preference 10%; The Nameless 45%; Innoruuk 32%; Zlandicar 13%; The Rathe - No Preference 10%; The Rathe 46%; Karana 31%; Sontalak 13%; The Tribunal - No Preference 12%; The Tribunal 49%; Ayonae Ro 26%; Aaryonar 13%; Tunare - No Preference 11%; Tunare 48%; E'Ci 27%; Klandicar 14%; Xegony - No Preference 11%; Xegony 47%; Zebuxoruk 25%; Vulak 17%.
• JUNE 29, 2005:
  • Direct X 9.0c Required on all SOE servers. Greetings all, Sometime near the beginning of July, all SOE EQ servers will require Direct X 9.0c In order to make the transition as smooth as possible, we ask that you update your video card to its latest drivers.  You can find a list of supported video cards and drivers at this link, Technical Support. Thanks all!
  • 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.
  • The Rod of Mystical Transvergence 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 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).
  • 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. 
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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. 
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • New merchants have moved into Lavastorm. 
  • The Veteran Reward buffs are now immune to being dispelled. The Veteran Reward buffs will no longer freeze their timers in the Guild Hall. You will no longer get experience back from a corpse whose rez timer has expired when using the Veteran AA Expedient Recovery. Veteran rewards on accounts that have no expansions now work properly.
  • 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, ...).
  • 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.
  • 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. 
  • 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. 
  • The level restriction for entering the tutorial has been changed to allow level 10 and under.
  • 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.
• JULY 8, 2005:
  • Report from the Wilds #2 - The ongoing battle is brought to Neriak, the home of the Dark Elves! Our brave adventurer has sent us his second report on these matters. Don't miss these world-changing events! * The following is found on a note of tanned vellum written in black ink in small economic handwriting * High Priest Yeolarn of Tunare, Though unable to defeat Ithiasor, the black dragon of the Swamp, I learned that others had faced and defeated this great wyrm. I was correct in my assumptions of this Veslin Savok. It appears he was an agent or mercenary of the trolls of Grobb. Veslin accepted this chest from the proud slayers of Ithiasor and promptly delivered it to the troll instigators of Grobb. Our Felwithian spies are not the only ones in search of information. Froglok agents of Gukta also watch the shadows to protect their new and unstable city. One of these agents sought adventurers to recover this chest from the trolls of Neriak; no easy task. I accepted. I traveled through the dark forest of Nektulos to the doors of  Neriak itself. The Tier'Dal Dragoons have grown weak in recent days and I was able to easily dispatch them.  I used to question such actions but in this age of war, such actions come easy. I met with five fellow adventurers, old friends I have hunted with in the far lands. Canerit the monk, Lord Garmok the Warlord, Yridian the Vah Shir Beastlord, Amril the elven warrior, and Kanadrix the mage. Amril was critical in learning of the Guktan spies and acquiring the layout of the troll stronghold inside Neriak. We took little time in our small but powerful attack. My companions, experienced in battle against the Muramite legions and demons of the lower planes, took little time in cutting down the guards of Neriak's foreign quarter. We traveled quickly to the south into the slums of the trolls. It was there we realized how powerful these troll usurpers had become. They fought with a fury never seen within the walls of Neriak. They fought with strange weapons, some not seen in thousands of years. The weapons and magics contained within that ancient chest were powerful indeed. The blades of the trolls cut deep. Three times the trolls sent us running back into the forests of Neriak. Our fourth attack, however, delivered our victory. Using chaos as our own weapon, we managed to separate the overlord of the troll resistance, Warlord Bortar, from his advisor and personal guard.  We battled him at the gates of Neriak. Even alone the warlord fought like ten men. Bortar smashed Garmok, an ogre of nearly five hundred stone, against the ebony walls. He cut deep gashes into the stone floor with his enchanted axe. Only with our combined strength did the warlord fall. Garmok's runed blade spilled black blood from a deep wound in Bortar's side. We returned the chest to a Froglok conspirator outside of Neriak and received little more than a word of thanks for our efforts. The spy network of Guktan keeps its lips as sealed as our own. I do not know if the slaying of Warlord Bortar will prevent the troll uprising. A people can only be repressed for so long before they grow strong and vindictive. I will continue my search for information and continue my actions towards the safety of Felwithe. Many others have joined in our cause. While it is my greatest hope that the council of Felwithe will see to the defense of our city, I will not depend on it. The mercenaries and adventurers of Felwithe have saved us before, once again they are our greatest hope. Loral Ciriclight Hand and Eye of Tunare Seventh day of the Month of the Harvest Moon, 3202 PD.
• JULY 11, 2005:
  • GU Comics Turns 5 Years Old, 1000 Panels! Congratulations to Woody Hearn and GU Comics for 5 years and 1000 panels. You've done a great job entertaining us all with your comics, and hope to see you continue for years to come. The 1000th panel is about EverQuest. Check it out! The 1000th panel is about EverQuest.
  • Engineering Everquest - Did you know SOE has 1500 servers to operate our online games like EverQuest and Star Wars Galaxies? IEEE Spectrum Magazine looks at SOE’s server administration and the inner workings behind massively multiplayer online games in their July feature article.
• JULY 12, 2005:
  • Report from the Wilds #3 - The always cunning Teir'Dal respond to the recent attack on Neriak. Find out more in the third report on these world-changing events! To Loral Ciriclight, the Hand of Tunare, Your murder of Warlord Bormar has sent the trolls into a frenzy. They continue to arm themselves and spread word of your attack from their town crier.  They cry for a new leader to retake Grobb. However, your attempt to create a wedge between the trolls and the dark elves has partially succeeded.  The trolls quickly blame your assassination on the weak guards of Neriak. A dark elf agent propositioned me to murder the trolls of Gunthak to further enrage the troll legions. It will only be a matter of time before the trolls learn of this treachery. The weakness of Neriak's internal guard became clear when Teir'Dal troops marched on Freeport from the west. Adventurers banded together in the tunnels of the East Commonlands led by a powerful general named Eromreven of Shar Val. The adventurers fought bravely but they ended broken on the rocks of the Spine of the World. I found the body of a decapitated Teir'Dal scout, one torn apart by Eromreven's warder and a warrior named Rebelwolf. On him I discovered a potion of illusions. When I took a sip I was horrified to see my beautiful visage transformed to look like you, a high elf. From within Neriak itself, the High Necromancer, Xon Quexill seeks the bodies of Frogloks, both live and undead. He is unclear of his motivations but one can easily assume his intentions and research. Even my own composure was shaken when I saw the flayed corpse of a young Froglok straining against leather bonds with death in its faded milky eyes. All throughout the kingdoms of Norrath the criers call of war.  So eager are the nations to press their propaganda that they now give the news away for free. They speak of a battle between high elves and the natives of Guktan over a ritual performed within the swamps of Innothule. They speak of a horror torn from the depths of the fetid ground, a huge horned creature with lidless eyes and enveloped in a cloud of green noxious gas. It appears, under the illusions of their strange potions and the direction of Xon Quexill, the dark elves attempt to create a rift between the high elves and the guktans as you have done between the dark elves and the trolls. It will take much to restore alliances once word of this unholy beast reaches the frogloks. You should be pleased to know that the council of Felwithe has heard your call. Troops of Felwithe mobilize in the forest of Greater Faydark with sun shining off of silver armor and steel weapons.  Let us all hope that the silver shine does not soon turn red. I expect thrice my normal payment delivered to my account by noon tomorrow. Your servant, Xarrak, Eye of the Shadow - Master of Spies.
• JULY 13, 2005:
  • Strange Emails from (obsolete link)​​​​​​​  or (obsolete link)​​​​​​​ . You can delete them. It has come to our attention that some users may have received an email indicating that your email account has been or may be suspended. These emails may also include attachments. We just wanted to inform you that these emails did not come from us, and would recommend against opening any attachments you may have received as part of the email.
  • 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. 
  • 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. 
  • 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. 
  • 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. 
  • 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. 
  • /viewport should work with Advanced Lighting on now. 
  • 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. 
  • 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.
• JULY 15, 2005:
  • Report from the Wilds #4 - For three days these armies waited and prepared. Mercenaries from all over Norrath traveled to the lands. Word arrives of orcs and their overlord appearing north of Felwithe in part 4 of Report from the Wilds. To Ciric Azilebane, High Priest of Quellious, Dearest Friend, War has found the Faydark. We always knew the shadow of Crushbone's jagged axe lay north of the elven nations but not until the past few nights did we truly know the danger. For centuries the elves have used Crushbone as a trial by blade and by blood of the merits of those sent into the wilds. We had no idea of the forces the orcs had built up in the caves under the citadel of Crushbone. Until last night. I received word from the criers of Tanaan that elven rangers had spotted powerful orcs and even an orc warlord north of Felwithe. I returned to the Greater Faydark to learn the truth of these reports. The elves had mobilized. Rangers, paladins, and spellcasters prepared under the guidance of the battlemasters of Kelethin and Felwithe. All bureaucracy was tossed aside. They were ready for battle. They wore suits of shining steel armor and white silk embroidered with the ancient elven glyphs. For three days these armies waited and prepared. Mercenaries from all over Norrath traveled to the lands. Some waited with grim determination on their faces, their hands gripping the leather-wrapped hilts of their enchanted blades. Others treated it like a celebration on the beaches of North Ro, drinking and singing bawdy tavern songs. I traveled with a scouting party to hunt down the orcish warlord. In the north east of the forest we spotted him and two of his elite guards. He was huge, scarred from a hundred wounds and eyes blazing red as hellfire. He wore a cloak of soft elf-hair and a boiled leather chestguard of thick dwarvish skin. His eyes burned with the fury of centuries of oppression under the elvish cities but they also spoke of calm and logical strategy. He would not rush into the hail of elven arrows as the other orc warlords had. He knew his enemy and we did not. On the evening of the third day, war finally began. The ground opened up. The armies of Crushbone poured forth from the hidden entrances to underground caverns. They rushed in waves, too close for the elvish archers to thin them out with steel barbed arrows. Scouts and messengers cried out as heavy axes hewed into their backs. The lines of the elves broke quickly into smaller units of elvish spellcasters and blademasters. I saw an elvish general cleave down five orcs in five strokes of his jeweled greatsword. I watched a beautiful elvish enchanter command one dominated orc to cut open another with his jagged sword. Chaos filled the forest. Mercenaries began to turn sides, splitting the armies into threes and fours. Bands of dark elves, ogres, Iksar, and the traitors of the elflands turned their own weapons and magic upon the elf commanders. Others were crushed between the armies of Felwithe and those of Crushbone. My mind reeled in horror. The worst had yet to come. I felt a burning flair across my back as a blade pierced through my armor and sunk into my side. I turned to defend myself, my hammer held high. I met the burning green eyes of a young paladin of Felwithe. His mouth had turned into a snarl and my own blood dripped down the keen edge of his sword. Illusions of dark domination or deception flew away; this elf knew who I was and planned to kill me. I was in shock. All of the prejudice of the elvish nations, all of the ill-favored looks and street-side whispering manifested itself into murder in this inferno of battle. What had been a joke among the young paladins of Norrath now became a killing stroke of a sword. He would have succeeded. Instead, an arrow exploded out of his throat in a shower of red blood. The green-eyed paladin fell into the mud next to me. The arrow's owner, a half elf in dark chainmail, wrenched the jeweled sword from the paladin's dead hand and tore two rings off his fingers. He winked at me before running off into the woods to continue his plunder of the dead. Healing warmth filled the deep wound in my back. Juror, the barbarian mystic and my greatest friend, picked me up on his massive shoulder and rushed me south. A camp of mercenaries loyal to the elves had formed near the ancient Combine spires. There, half a league from the bloody battles of the north, our spells healed the wounded and recovered their strength. A report came in that Warlord Mish, the leader of the orcish forces, had been slain. The mercenaries cheered into the night. I did not cheer. The vision of the murderous glare of the elven paladin made my heart cry. Tears filled my eyes. I would not remember this day as the day the orcs and the elves met in battle. I would remember it as the day the elves battled each other.  May the Mother guide our hand, Loral Ciriclight High Priest of Tunare On the Fourteenth Day of the Month of the Silver Moon, 3201 PD.
• JULY 19, 2005:
  • Report from the Wilds #5 - A dark lord from ages past emerges to lead the amassing forces of evil. Read the ongoing saga in Report from the Wild #5! The following is inked on a sheet of folded vellum sealed with the wax seal of the agents of the Church of Tunare. To High Priest Yeolarn Bronzeleaf, The world seems to crumble under the iron boots of chaos.  As horrible as the recent memories of Bloody Faydark, as the criers care to glorify the great orc battles, the battles appear to be an act of misdirection.  I know it is very difficult to consider such a terrible battle a simple act of deception, but I fear the elves have fallen into a well orchestrated dark elf plot. For years the spies of Felwithe have known the connections between Crushbone and Neriak.  No doubt the superior intellect of Neriak could easily send the orcs against our building armies.  No doubt Neriak understood what the reaction of Felwithe and Kelethin would be - isolationism.  How could we send our troops across the seas to fight for cities they hardly know when elven blood spills just outside our own gates? The true danger does not lie in the Faydark, however, but on Antonica. The ancient creature of the swamp, resurrected by a coven of necromancers loyal to Xon Quexill, has turned out to be none other than Warlord Ykesha, the great lord of the trolls from centuries ago. Dusty leatherbound tomes tell us of his fall in the depths of Guk and the loss of the Grozmok stone to the Broken Skull Clan. Since his resurrection, Warlord Ykesha challenged all of the competing battlemasters of the trolls to battle on a stone walkway over the center of the hellish volcano of Lavastorm.  His curved blade tore open those who opposed him and the rest bent their knee in loyalty. With a pile of burned and flayed bodies behind him, Warlord Ykesha traveled back to Neriak's Foreign Quarter and began to prepare his army.  He sent agents to the leader of the Broken Skull Clan, Spiritseeker Natox, in Gunthak.  The Spiritseeker agreed to an alliance with Ykesha and more surprisingly declared that Ykesha was the Grozmok, the god-king of Trolls on Norrath. Now Warlord Ykesha's armies march in the Commonlands.  Dark elves, ogres, and trolls all march under the banner of Ykesha.  They speak of revenge against Grobb but Freeport marks itself as an easy target. Whatever they choose, I fear no city militia can stand up to such a powerful force. Again we must look to the mercenaries and adventurers of Norrath to break down the walls of this army.  Their undisciplined approach to combat, attacking on the flanks in smaller groups rather than a line war in open fields, may shatter the pillars of discipline within this eclectic army. If they cannot, no one can say what can stop such a force. Many of my agents have paid for this information with their lives.  My spies travel to the shadows of Neriak, the scorched hills of Lavastorm, and to the open planes of Antonica.  Many have spilt their blood for the good of Felwithe.  They risk torture, mutilation, and death for the good of a city they can never enter.  Whether their skin was dark or light or green, they served our people and should be marked as heroes. May the Mother protect us all, High Priest Loral Ciriclight The Hand of Tunare.
• AUGUST 10, 2005:
  • Pre-Order Depths of Darkhollow - Pre-order and purchase the digital download version from the Station Store and receive a unique Gargoyle Spirit Shroud and adventure as a Monster.
• AUGUST 11, 2005:
  • 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. 
  • All potions that were recently introduced now have a required level instead of a recommended level. 
• AUGUST 12, 2005:
  • Evil Frogloks! The last few weeks have seen a number of events unfold across the EverQuest servers, particularly relating to Grobb / Gukta, and who will retain ownership of it. The last few weeks have seen a number of events unfold across the EverQuest servers, particularly relating to Grobb / Gukta, and who will retain ownership of it. The events played out over a period of roughly five weeks, during which the Orcs mounted an attack against the Elves of Faydwer, the Barbarians launched an assault against the mobilizing forces of Ykesha, and the Dark Elves called on the power of Innoruuk to create an evil curse to deploy amongst the Froglok, all of which ultimately resulted in the Fall of Gukta (also referred to as the Retake of Grobb). The deployment of Innoruuk's Curse is of special note, since it caused the once unified Armies of Gukta to turn on each other, corrupting their minds, and giving them access to types of magic previously unknown to the Guktans. Those corrupted by the curse began to turn to Necromancy and other similar dark arts. The manifestation of this curse is portrayed in the ability for players to create Froglok Necromancers, Shadowknights, Rogues, and Clerics, all of which who follow Innoruuk due to the curse.
• AUGUST 17, 2005:
  • Report of the Wild 7: The Fall of Gukta - Hundreds of Froglok refugees, their numbers cut nearly in half in the battle of Innothule and the siege of Gukta, walked with heads low from their former city to the refugee camps in the southern plateau of the Rathe mountains. Part 7 of the Report from the Wilds is now available! *From the tan pages of an ancient brass-hinged leatherbound tome titled "History of Norrath Volume 29"* Pillars of black smoke poured into the air as the camps and dwellings of the Frogloks burned. A river of bodies flowed from the blood soaked Commonlands to the doors of Gukta. Thousands of bodies baked under the hot sun in the lands of Rathe Mountains. Ykesha's army had cut through the lands of Antonica like a sharp cleaver and changed the face of Norrath forever. From his twisted tower under the earth, Xon Quexill stood in red flowing robes, drinking a red liquid from a crystal goblet. His mind's eye saw Lord Ykesha sitting on a throne of Froglok skulls, the ancient troll's huge sword resting on his lap. Ykesha watched as trolls hoisted up a chained dwarven body in the center of Grobb's courtyard. Warlord Ykesha smiled and hundreds of miles away, Xon Quexill smiled as well. The lord-necromancer's intricate plot and his dark ceremony had worked perfectly. All across Norrath, city leaders sighed in relief. Their cities stood untouched from the threatening armies. Slowly the elven guardians outside of Felwithe recalled to the city and to their former lives. Even the adventurers who fought in the battles quickly forgot the bloodshed they had seen a month before. Quickly the daily squabbles in Freeport and the defense against gnollish tribes in High Pass continued as they had for centuries. Life returned to its former state. But not for all. Hundreds of Froglok refugees, their numbers cut nearly in half in the battle of Innothule and the siege of Gukta, walked with heads low from their former city to the refugee camps in the southern plateau of the Rathe mountains. Ogre brigands and hostile wildlife cut further into the survivors of the fall of Gukta. The tent city grew wide within the plateau, housing the survivors of Gukta and attempting a return to order. The Guktans quickly prepared defenses for their people. Slowly political power resurfaced and the children of Marr stood up their temples. Not all of the Guktans returned to the old ways, however. Whispers spoke of sects of Frogloks touched by Xon Quexill's curse in the swamps of Innothule. Late night searches revealed evidence of dark ceremony. Deep gouges filled with blood formed horrible symbols on the packed earth. Dissected and mutilated bodies hung upside down from the trees. Strange text unknown to Guktan researchers filled the discoverers with an unknown fear. Some Guktans whispered of Froglok assassins training in poisons and stealth. If they could not take back Gukta with direct force, perhaps they could take it back with murder, deception, and terror. When asked how his people would live on in these new times and asked if the Frogloks would one day seek revenge for Ykesha's attack, one proud and noble froglok said three simple words: "The Fist Strikes." Kandrow Seawinter, Nine Hundred and Fourth Researcher of Norrathian History Twenty third day in the month of the Red Sun, 4264 PD.
• AUGUST 27, 2005:
  • Flag Change for Epic 1.5 and Epic 2.0 - Make sure you protect that precious epic if you have both 1.5 & 2.0! With the next update all 1.5 and 2.0 epics will be flagged as LORE.  They will be LORE to each other, meaning you will only be able to possess either epic 1.5 OR epic 2.0.  Prior to the update it is advised that if you still possess both epic 1.5 and 2.0 that you delete 1.5, the code for this change will remove one of these from your possession but will not differentiate between the two.  If the system does the deletion, there is a possibility your epic 2.0 will be removed from your possession instead of the 1.5.
• SEPTEMBER 5, 2005:
  • EverQuest: Depths of Darkhollow beta NDA lifted! NDA lifted for game content and feature discussions only… Feel free to tell your friends about Depths of Darkhollow now that portions of the beta NDA have been lifted. However, keep in mind that we are lifting the NDA for discussion of game content and features only and not with respect to bugs, feedback, communication between SOE and beta testers, or other confidential communication regarding the beta. Thank you again for all of your help during beta!
• SEPTEMBER 7, 2005:
  • 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. 
  • 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. 
• SEPTEMBER 13, 2005: Depths of Darkhollow released. 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! 
  • Introduced 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.
  • Introduced 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! 
  • Added Epic 2.5 (An Epic Augment).
  • ~** 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: (obsolete link). 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! ** 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: (obsolete link). 
  • ** 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! Added some recipes to create Soy Sauce for the Chef Chowderly quest. High quality ore vendors will no longer fall for your tricks. 
  • ** [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.
  • Volkara will now appear as a spider rather than a 20-foot human male. 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.
  • 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.
  • There are now 4 Hot Button 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 Hot Buttons in them. Note to skinners, your old skin should work for the single Hot Button 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 auto selects the first task in the list. 
  • The Find Window now generates a Find path once a target is selected.
  • 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.
  • 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:
  • Placeholder items inside Monster missions will now display the highest level reward for reference.
  • New trade skilled 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.
• SEPTEMBER 16, 2005:
  • Language skills can now be advanced pass skill level 32 again.
  • Fixed an issue with the /who command when people are shrouded.
• SEPTEMBER 21, 2005:
  • 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. 
  • 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). 
  • Some mission givers in Stoneroot Falls will now see through invisibility. You may now communicate with them while having invisibility up. 
  • Evolving items that had the same recommended and required level will now only report the required level. 
  • A few belts throughout Darkhollow now increase the size of your potion belt. 
  • 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. 
  • Modified the experience scaling for Spirit Shrouds, Evolving Items, and Leadership Abilities to grant more experience at lower levels. 
  • 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.
• OCTOBER 2005: Ocean of Tears (novel) by Stewart Wieck published.
• OCTOBER 5, 2005:
  • Vote for EverQuest to be Inducted into the Walk of Game! Walk of Game is the first-of-its-kind landmark honoring the icons and pioneers of the videogame industry. Every year, gamers worldwide cast their vote on (obsolete link) to induct the next set of honorees to receive a permanent 24"x 24", customized steel star on the Walk of Game. If you would like to vote for EverQuest to be inducted for 2006, please follow this (obsolete link). Walk of Game is the first-of-its-kind landmark honoring the icons and pioneers of the videogame industry. Every year, gamers worldwide cast their vote on (obsolete link)​​​​​​​ to induct the next set of honorees to receive a permanent 24"x 24", customized steel star on the Walk of Game, located inside Metreon, a 350,000 square-foot entertainment complex at Fourth and Mission Streets in the heart of downtown San Francisco. The list of nominees is compiled from a survey of industry members and technology, entertainment, and gaming media. SCA Interactive, a leader in online promotions, powers the Walk of Game voting interface. If you would like to vote for EverQuest to be inducted for 2006, please follow this (obsolete link).
• OCTOBER 12, 2005:
  • 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. 
  • 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. 
  • 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). 
  • The worn damage shield cap has been increased from 15 to 30. 
  • 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. 
  • 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 Drakkel. 
  • Earthcaller Stones should now appear in Shadeweaver's Thicket. This is related to a quest from Captain Karim. 
  • Scrindite's 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. 
  • A done button has found its way back onto the Merchant Window. 
  • 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. 
  • Depths of Darkhollow has been added to the atlas. 
  • 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:
  • *** 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 (obsolete link) 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. 
  • Zigan Ribshard in the Plane of Knowledge has a few friends he'd like you to meet. Speak with him.
  • 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. 
  • 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 UI Skin 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. 
  • 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 Audio Trigger 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. Guild Tribute 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. Players in shrouded form will not auto-join class chat channels. 
  • Cultural Charms will now be able to receive augments. 
  • The experience required on many of the intelligent items has been reduced significantly to bring them more in line with evolving items. 
  • Players will now be able to make journeyman's charm patterns instead of cloth caps! 
  • 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. 
  • 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. 
  • Atheling Plague has decided that heights aren't to his tastes, so he has left his tower. 
  • 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. 
  • 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" 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 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. 
  • 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. 
  • 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.
  • Happy Halloween! It’s time to Trick or Treat. Trick or Treat? There have been scattered reports across Norrath of spooky happenings in the Kithicor Forest. People are trick or treating around Norrath.  Vampires have been spotted roaming in spooky places. The Halflings are more hungry than usual and are craving everything pumpkin!  A creepy bone collector is requesting help on collecting several rare bone artifacts. A great story teller has showed up and is telling some rather frightening fables.  Get your ticket of admission today and hear them for yourself! For more information seek out Zigan Ribshard in the Plane of Knowledge. He has all the details! The Trick or Treat Bag - Old Man Draykey will teach you how to trick or treat by showing you the proper greeting method.  To practice he gives you a trick or treat bag to go out and get candy. Bone Collector event - Barsin the bone collector boasts that he can create anything out of bones. Roaming Vampire Event - A Dressed-Up Halfling is running late for the yearly costume gathering. Hungry Halfling Event - Mippie Diggs is hungry and has been craving pumpkin flavored food and drinks. Story Teller Event: Cathil the story teller has been telling frightening fables to scare the locals.
• 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. 
  • Corrected several issues with Veteran rewards.
• NOVEMBER 8, 2005:
  • Q&A on Depths of Darkhollow™ loot upgrades. Q&A with Rashere, lead designer for EverQuest® Depths of Darkhollow™ on a new update upgrading many loot items. What were the thoughts behind the decision to retune the Depths of Darkhollow™ items? After Depths of Darkhollow launched, we saw a lot of feedback from players that non-raid loot rewards weren't appropriate for the difficulty of the content. Carefully evaluating the cases players brought up led us to audit the model that has been used for itemization for several expansions now. The old itemization model was based around the top end single group gear being roughly 50% of the stats of top end raid level gear. This worked fine when it was first implemented, but as stats have increased, so too has the gap between raiders and non-raiders. Since content is tuned with player power in mind, this has caused a growing gap in the difficulty of expansion zones, in turn leading to the problems players have been reporting. After a lot of evaluation on the potential impact, we decided to change the itemization model to bring single group gear closer to the level of raid attainable gear. Beyond providing more tangible upgrades in the expansion, this change should also have a number of positive effects on the game as a whole and is something we will continue to use when making items in the future. How many items did you change? These changes affect roughly 1000 items from the Depths of Darkhollow expansion. Does this retuning involve anything other than changing the items? Yes. In addition to looking at many of the expansion items, we also took a look at the difficulty of the zones and missions and made adjustments to provide a smoother progression of difficulty through the expansion. In many cases, lower level missions early in the expansion became a bit easier and higher level missions that are further into the expansion became a bit harder. If we have previously done a DoD mission and deleted the one-time completion reward, will we be able to get it again after it is upgraded? Yes. We changed the way the mission reward mechanic works so when you complete a mission it will now give you the completion reward again if you don't already have that item anywhere on your character (including in the bank). This will allow players who have previously done the missions to return to those missions and get the items again. Could you give a few examples of items that are being upgraded? Here are a few examples of items from different parts of the expansion. They are fairly representative of the overall changes we are making. (Images not included here.) When will these changes show up on live servers? The changes are currently on test server and we are expecting them to go out to normal servers with the patch on November 16th.
• 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. 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. 
  • The Enchanter spell Apathy of the Nihil has been replaced with Dreary Deeds, an upgrade to Forlorn Deeds. Ravenous Hunger has been changed. It is now named "Ravenous Sloth" and is a 40% duration extender on the spell "Lingering Sloth". 
  • Pumpkin lovers rejoice! Pumpkin items now stack. Some of the ores that did not stack before now stack. This is from a list provided by the community. 
  • The weight on all versions of the Mask of Horror for the Halloween event has been decreased. 
  • 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. 
  • 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. Dragon Scale Tiara is now named "Dragon Scale Eyepatch" The Ancient
  • Werewolf Skull evolving item now has augmentation slots at each stage in evolution. 
  • The Guild Management 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. 
• DECEMBER 13, 2005:
  • *** 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.
• DECEMBER 15, 2005:
  • EQ Players Launches - Welcome to EQ Players! Many people at SOE have been working extremely hard over the past few months to build this service for all our present, and former, EverQuest Players and we're excited to now be able to officially open the website. I'm sure you will have all noticed that the old EverQuest Live website has been replaced by this new one. The EQ Players website is now the one place you should be able to stop by daily and get the latest EverQuest Developer news and information. We have compiled a FAQ for the opening of the EQ Players service. Please take the time to read through the information, explore the site and we hope you all enjoy the new EQ Players service as much as we have enjoyed building it for you! Read the EQ Players FAQ. Many people at SOE have been working extremely hard over the past few months to build this service for all our present, and former, EverQuest Players and we're excited to now be able to officially open the website. I'm sure you will have all noticed that the old EverQuest Live website has been replaced by this new one. The EQ Players website is now the one place you should be able to stop by daily and get the latest EverQuest Developer news and information. We have compiled a FAQ for the opening of the EQ Players service. Please take the time to read through the information, explore the site and we hope you all enjoy the new EQ Players service as much as we have enjoyed building it for you all!
  • M.C Tinkerton and the Clockwork Party Machine - M.C. Tinkerton needs help repairing his Clockwork Party Machine in time to celebrate 3199!  The party machine's dance gyroscopes, firework cannons and party favor dispensers are fully functional, but the most important piece, the machine's primary party motivator, was stolen at the zero hour.  M.C. Tinkerton seeks adventurers to steal back the primary party motivator from the Dark Mistletoe giants, a grouchy clan of frost giant nomads in the Great Divide.  Seek out M.C. Tinkerton in the Plane of Knowledge for further details. M.C. Tinkerton needs help repairing his Clockwork Party Machine in time to celebrate 3199!  The party machine's dance gyroscopes, firework cannons and party favor dispensers are fully functional, but the most important piece, the machine's primary party motivator, was stolen at the zero hour.  M.C. Tinkerton seeks adventurers to steal back the primary party motivator from the Dark Mistletoe giants, a grouchy clan of frost giant nomads in the Great Divide.  Seek out M.C. Tinkerton in the Plane of Knowledge for further details. 
• DECEMEBR 22, 2005: Kytherea’s Keepsakes - I wish everyone a joyous holiday season and peace, prosperity & happiness in the New Year!  ~ Ky
  • T'was the morning of Christmas, when all through the land
    Not an adventurer was stirring, except the bard and his band,
    All weapons and armor were oiled and stored,
    And each of them sat near a fire that roared.
    The druid and shaman were snuggled up with their pets,
    While the ranger and paladin made friendly bets.
    The necro and wizard shared stories of fame,
    As the rogue and magician had discussions quite tame...
    When outside of the guildhall came a thunderous noise,
    causing the enchanter and cleric to lose all their poise.
    Away to the doors the monk and warrior did dash,
    As the berserker quickly hefted his axe in a flash.
    The shadowknight's sword took on a dull glow,
    And the beastlord's warder started to grow.
    In the light of Luclin, a small figure did soar,
    Through the Plane of Knowledge, astride a hamster of war.
    The miniature form, so lively and quick,
    Arrived at the door in merely a tick.
    She was dressed in red leather, except her head, hands and feet,
    And worn on her face was a smile quite sweet.
    One of her hands held a cookie filled plate,
    And she asked very softly, "oh dear am I late?".
    With a sigh she exclaimed, "I hope you all have been good!"
    As she sniffed at a pitcher she held made of wood.
    Her eyes -- how they sparkled – like the stars in the sky!
    Her cheeks nice and rosy like a fresh cherry pie!
    A smile spread across her small ruby lips,
    The hair on her feet held in crystalline clips.
    Her war hamster steed was hairless and mellow,
    But somehow it seemed to quite suit the fellow.
    She entered the hall and went straight to the fire,
    The scent of warm cookies filling all with desire.
    Each adventurer followed the warm cookie smell,
    Soon 'round the fire did everyone dwell.
    She gave each one a sweet cookie treat
    And after pouring the milk, bade them to eat.
    A right pleasant time everyone had,
    Soon realizing that they all were quite glad,
    That on one day a year they put aside greed,
    and the thirst for battle which they often felt need.
    With each class of explorer her time she did spend,
    At least a few moments to each did she tend.
    When nothing but crumbs remained on the plate,
    She happily said, "This has been great!"
    She sprang to her stead, gave all a bright smile,
    Then away they both scampered in best Halfling style.
    Ky proclaimed as her hamster ran quickly away,
    "Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good-day!"

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2006

• JANUARY 9, 2006:
  • A New God - “With the final devastating blow, Mayong Mistmoore's blood spread across the enchanted floor of Dreadspire Keep. In his last breath, the lord of the vampires issued a promise, ‘My age begins.’” Read the lore! With the final devastating blow, Mayong Mistmoore's blood spread across the enchanted floor of Dreadspire Keep. In his last breath, the lord of the vampires issued a promise, "My age begins." Finally shedding the remains of his mortal coil, centuries of research and experiments culminated into achieving his life's goal -- to ascend and walk among the gods. With the last act of unleashing Mistmoore's soul, Norrath's mortals released an evil demi-god among the unsuspecting planes of the pantheon. And as Mistmoore's soul completed its metamorphosis, the Demi-Plane of Blood became fully realized as a crimson realm of death and darkness.  Even Ro's shimmer, the great Norrath sun, was lessened as the vampire's plane bled through the pantheon, reeling and reforming in ethereal space. Norrathians thirst for glory and power -- a reality the vampire relied on -- brought Mayong to godhood.  For hundreds of years, Mayong laid the groundwork for his own ascension, carefully and purposefully.  He enshrouded himself in mystery and myth, creating an insatiable curiosity in historians and fame hunters the world over. Few had ever seen the vampire, but everyone believed in him. That was crucial to Mayong's designs. Most know that the gods of the pantheon are strengthened and empowered by those who revere and believe in them. So, as Norrathians accepted Mayong's invitation to Dreadspire Keep, they unwittingly acknowledged his power and became disciples who fueled the enchantments that surrounded him and his abode. When the last drop of the great vampire's blood trickled to the floor, the enchantments took on life at his death. The awe of his power and pride in his defeat shown by those who revealed him provided the last ingredient to lift his dark soul into godhood. Now, Mayong's cackles resonate through the immortal realm. The wise and learned of Norrath share chagrin at this turn of tides in the pantheon, for they suspect what most certainly do not -- Mayong's ascension is but a stepping stone for a larger, more devious plan than any could imagine. Beyond the mortal lands, in a realm of pure magic, a goddess has foreseen a world plunged into darkness and chaos. Worse still, she feels her own kin's suffering. And while Norrath's lauded heroes -- Firiona Vie and Lanys T'Vyl -- and their armies remain unfound, the world and its future lie in the hands of those who set the vampire free.
• JANAURY 11, 2006:
  • EQ Players Update #2 Nathan Pearce, Creative Director of Product Design, talks about today’s Update #2 publish for (obsolete link)​​​​​​​. Find out what’s changed! From Hammerfell: Hello all! Today we published Update #2 to EQ Players (see Update #1 here), bringing us to EQ Players version 1.0.2. Here's what changed: Change in backend to increase speed. Pages should load much faster now. Adjustments to Item Search Summary display to be more helpful. More info is displayed in Item search summary, like haste and linked spell effects. Several adjustments to Inventory and Bank logic to make items appear in the correct slots. Stacks of fish will no longer appear on your head. No more empty 4 slot bags. No more augments on top of items, messing with the inventory layout. Guild websites are live! Any guild in EQ can now create their own guild website with EQ Players. Guild leaders can log into the site, visit their guild page and click the "Create/Register Guild Site" link to either create their own guild website or enter in the URL to their existing website. That's it! Lots more is in the works, as listed in the Upcoming Fixes and Features for EQ Players thread.
• JANUARY 12, 2006:
  • Kytherea’s Keepsakes - This week Kytherea is back to give a sneak peek at at the war horse mount that comes as a gift for purchasing the retail version of Prophecy of Ro. Check out the pics! (Images not included here.) I received some requests for a peek at the war horse mount that comes as a gift for purchasing the retail version of Prophecy of Ro. Raghnell was kind enough to take a few fantastic screen shots that show off the 3 colors available. Enjoy the pictures!
• JANUARY 17, 2006:
  • EverQuest Prophecy of Ro Now Available for Pre-Order! Pre-order the digital download version of the expansion directly from Sony Online Entertainment and get a $3.00 discount off the retail package price, making it $26.99! But hurry, the day the expansion goes live this offer expires, returning to its already low price of $29.99.
• JANUARY 18, 2006:
  • *** EQ Players *** 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 EQ Players site. Characters will stay up-to-date better. 
  • Follow-Up to the Tradeskill Vendor Error - 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.
  • The issue that some people experienced with being able to cause other people to sit when they sit has been fixed. 
  • SOE Official EverQuest New Forums FAQ – In order to make the transition from our old forum boards to the new forum boards as simple as possible for the community, we have put together this FAQ. While some of this information may be old news to many of our valued community members, the FAQ also offers some tips on navigating the new forums. We hope you find this helpful!
    • Community Participation - How does the Community Forum work? The Community Forum provides a place for customers to discuss support topics and learn. At its heart are the message boards, where members post questions and answers.
    • Guests (un-registered visitors) may browse or search the boards for information. Registered members can post messages, track discussions, and get email notifications on new posting activity.
    • What is my role in the Community? You are essential to the Community. By posting questions and sharing answers, not only do you contribute to a unique, customer-built knowledgebase, but you also become part of a virtual support network extending across literally hundreds of thousands of potential users. We encourage you visit often and participate. Come with your toughest issues- chances are, someone has a solution or can point you in the right direction. If you find a solution that works, let others know, and pass along your own tips and insights- you just may have the answer someone else has been seeking! Please remember to thank fellow users who have assisted you. Show your appreciation by rating helpful messages, posting thank you replies, or sending positive feedback to Forum management.
    • What is my responsibility in the Community? We want the Community Forum to be appropriate, friendly, informative, and fun for all users. The Community Forum Terms of Service sets forth Rules and Guidelines so that you know what is expected of you, and what you can expect from other participants, when using the Forum.
    • Registration and Logging In - Why should I register? Registration allows you to fully participate in the Community Forum. If you register, you'll be able to: Post new messages
      Post responses to existing messages. Receive e-mail notification when someone responds to a specified post or thread. Exchange Private Messages with other members
      Personalize your experience on the boards.
    • What can I do if I don't register? Even if you don't register, you can still browse and read Forum messages as a "guest". You just can't interact with the other members or personalize the way boards are displayed.
    • How do I register? To register, just click the Register link. The Registration page will be displayed. Enter a Screen Name. Your screen name is your Forum identity. It appears whenever you post to the message boards or send private messages. Most members create anonymous names for privacy: it helps them feel more comfortable participating. Be creative, have fun with it, but choose carefully- your screen name cannot be changed once registration is complete. Enter a Password. Your password is a secret word that no one else knows. That way, no one else can pretend to be you. Your password should be something you can remember, but that no one else will guess. It's good to put numbers in your password. For example, your password might be f0rh3sajgf. Note: The password will be hidden with asterisks when you type it. This is to prevent someone from looking over your shoulder to see it. Passwords are case-sensitive. When you login to the Forum, you will need to type the letters in upper or lower case exactly as they were entered at the time of registration. Enter your Password again. This is to ensure that you typed the password the way you meant the first time. Enter your E-mail address. Certain features of the site, such as subscriptions, will only work if you enter your real e-mail address. Also, the system will require you to validate your e-mail address by replying to an e-mail sent to the address you enter. Making sure that all users have valid e-mail addresses helps the administrators maintain a helpful community. Enter your E-mail address again. This is to make sure you typed it correctly. (A common mistake with new registrations.) If you're using a secure computer (one other people can't use), you can check the Remember Password checkbox. If this box is checked, you won't have to log in every time you come to the site. Read the Terms of Service and check the I have read and accept the terms of service checkbox. If you want, you can enter your First Name and Last Name in the optional fields. If the Time zone indicated isn't the time zone you're in, change the time zone to match your location. If the area you're in uses Daylight Savings Time, check the Daylight Savings Time checkbox, even if it's not currently that part of the year. Click Register. A confirmation e-mail will be sent to you immediately. Click the activation link in this email. Once you do, you'll be able to post messages on the boards. Until then, feel free to read messages posted by other users. Note: you must have cookies enabled in your browser to register and log into the Forum.
    • How do I log in? Once you've registered and confirmed your registration, you can log into the boards and begin personalizing your experience. At the top of any Forum page, click SIGN IN. Enter your login in the Username field. Enter your password in the Password field. Click Login. If you don't want to keep having to enter your password, and you're at a computer that other people can't get to, you can check the "you can check the Log me on automatically each visit" box. If you forgot your password, click the link at the bottom to have it sent to your e-mail address.
    • How do I get back a lost password? If you've forgotten your password, you can have the system send it to your e-mail address. Go to the SIGNIN screen. Click the link at the bottom of the page. You'll be taken to a screen that will ask for your e-mail address. The login and password associated with that e-mail address will be sent to the given e-mail address.
    • Browsing and Searching - How are the message boards organized? The community is divided up into different categories which are based on broad topics. Each category contains boards which get more specific about the topic or subject. Find the category and message board title that best describes your question or comment.
    • How do I browse for information? Many users like to get started by exploring the message boards. Choose a category that best fits your topic. Next, look over the list of boards, find one whose title pertains to your question or comment then click on its title. Take some time to read ones that look promising by clicking the message title, or subject. You can use the Previous/Next buttons to browse to other pages and messages. How do I search for information? To search the Forum, type keywords for your topic into the Search Terms text box and click the search button. (This text box is found near the bottom of most pages.) A page of search results will be displayed. Browse the search results in the same manner you would a message board. If you would like to limit your search results to certain forums or categories look under the Search Options category listing. You'll be able to use the drop down lists provided to help filter your results to your liking.
    • Personalization - How do I change the icon next to my name? The icon (also known as an avatar) is a way to personalize your user name a bit. You'll get one as a default, but you can change it to something you like better. Login to the Forum. Click the My Profile link. Look for the Avatar Control Panel. A list of available icons will be displayed. Click on any icon to use it as yours. Your current icon always shows up under the "Current Avatar" section of the Avatar Control Panel. Click Submit on the bottom of the page to save the changes.
    • How do I create a signature for my posts? Your signature is text that appears at the bottom of every message you post to the boards. Login to the Forum. Click the My Profile link. Look for General Information about yourself. Under General Information about yourself, look for the Signature field. Fill in the text you want for your signature in the Signature field. If the administrator allows it, you'll be able to use HTML in your signature. If not, you won't. Click Submit on the bottom of the page to save the changes.
    • How do I tell other users about me? Login to the Forum. Click the My Profile link. Look for General Information about yourself. Under General Information about yourself, look for the Biography field. Fill in the text you want for your biography in the biography field. Click Submit on the bottom of the page to save the changes.
    • Posting Messages - How do I post a message? Go to the board you want to post on, and click the New Topic link near the top of the message list. On the New Topic page, you will see a Subject area and a Message Body area. In the first field, the Subject field, type a title for you message. This is the only part of the message that shows up on the message listing page, so try to make it something that will be clear and concise. Use keywords about your topic. In the second field, the Body field, type your message. Put details about your topic here. If you are posting on a technical topic, it is helpful to include all pertinent information regarding your inquiry in the body. You can use the controls to change the fonts, colors, and other aspects of your message. You can add smiley faces using the smiley menu. And you can format the text at the character or paragraph level. When you are happy with your message, click the Submit Post button. Your message will be added to board and everyone else on the board will be able to read it. 
    • How do I reply to a message? Use the Post Reply button in a message to write a response to a particular post. You'll see a screen similar to the New Topic screen. There are a few differences: When you reply to a post, the subject line will be filled in for you automatically. You can change it if you want. If you would like to quote a post, instead of clicking on the Post Reply button click on the quote button on the right hand side of the post you would like to quote. This will automatically populate your reply with the message you chose to quote. You will also be able to reply with more text if you choose to quote a message. Also, when you post a message as a reply, it will be added to the existing thread. It won't create a new thread. What is a "thread?" When one or more people reply to a particular message, a "thread" is created. A thread is a series of posts that go together. If you've ever heard of someone "following the thread of a conversation," you get the idea. If you post a new message, then that starts a new thread. If you reply to an existing message, then that message becomes part of the original message's thread.
    • Reporting a Bad Post - How do I report a bad post? You may come across a post which is inappropriate and does not follow the forum rules and guidelines. If this occurs please use the Report this post to a moderator button in the bottom right corner of the offending post. This will bring you to the Report Post to Moderator page. Fill out any applicable information in the Comments field and click on the Send button. This will notify the moderation staff of the post that you had a concern about.
    • Private Messenger - What is the Private Messenger? The Forum Private Messenger allows you to send private notes to other members of the Forum. Private Messenger has two big advantages over e-mail: You don't have to know the other member's e-mail address to send the note. (Also, you don't have to reveal yours.) Private Messenger is more interactive than e-mail. It's easier to hold a quick conversation through it. To use the Private Messenger, you have to have an account and you have to be logged in. If you're logged in, a Messages link will appear on the top of your page. If you have any new messages, a yellow envelope icon will appear next to the link and the number of new messages will be indicated. If you click on the link, the Private Messenger window appears.
    • How do I send a private message? Log into the Forum. Find the forum user who you would like to send the private message to and click on their name. Click on the PM button and this will bring you to the New Private Messages screen. Type the subject of your message in the Subject field. Type the body of your message in the Note field. Click Submit at the bottom of the page. The message will be sent to the other user. The message will also appear in your Sent Box.
    • How do I read a private message? Log into the Forum. If you have any new messages, your Private Messages box will state there is a new private message with the number of new messages indicated in parenthesis. Click the New Private Messages Link. Your Inbox will be displayed. Click the Subject of the message you want to read. The full message will be displayed. After you have read the message, you can click on links to Reply to the message or Delete the message buttons at the bottom of the page.
    • How do I reply to a private message? Log into the Forum. Click the Private Messages Link. Your Inbox will be displayed. Click the Subject of the message you want to read. The full message will be displayed. Click the Post Reply link at the bottom or top of the window. The Send Message window will be displayed with the Send to and Subject fields pre-populated. Enter your message in the Note field. Click Submit.
    • How do I delete a private message? While reading a message, you may click the Delete this message link at the bottom of the window to delete the current message. While viewing your Inbox, you can delete several messages at once by checking the checkboxes next to the messages you want to delete, then clicking Delete Selected.
    • How do I see private messages I've sent to others? When in the Private Messenger, click the Outbox link to see all the messages you sent to others.
    • This should help you enjoy your visit to the SOE Official EverQuest forums. If you have any other questions about how the forums work, PM an SOE Moderator or Admin on the forums and let them know. We will update this FAQ as necessary to help all of our community members have a pleasant experience on the forums.
• JANAURY 20, 2006;
  • Recent Update Issue: We sincerely apologize again for the problems caused in response to Wednesday’s update… Hello, We sincerely apologize again for the problems caused in response to Wednesday's update. We do understand that many characters were rolled back due to actions beyond their control along with those that took direct advantage of the situation. We also understand that many other players that were not rolled back were also affected in indirect ways. This weekend we will be offering double experience to all players. This will require us to take down the servers early tomorrow morning and they should be up and offering the modified experience at 9am PST. This event will run until Monday morning at 10am PST. Once again please accept our apologies for any interruptions this has caused in your playtime.
• FEBRUARY 21, 2006: *** 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. ​​​​​​​
  • /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. 
  • 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. Player Placed Traps.
  • 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 (aka Blocked Spells) - 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 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 Tradeskills (Trophies) - Event Coordinator Baublie Diggs has a test for you to prove your abilities! 
  • *** Zone Revamps *** Freeport Sewers added (replaced the tunnels that had been in the old East & West Freeport zones). East Freeport revamped. West Freeport revamped. North Freeport removed (absorbed into the revamped zones). North Desert of Ro revamped. South Desert of Ro revamped. Freeport has been redone. Oasis of Marr removed (absorbed into the new South Desert of Ro). 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 Bank Space - Available bank space has been increased by 8 slots. 
  • Alchemy Skill revamped. 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. 
  • *** 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 Labyrinth; Level 50: Fungus Grove; Level 55: Old Sebilis; Level 60: Cazic Thule.
  • *** 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 unresistible 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. 
  • The planar projection for defeating Mithaniel Marr was not rewarding the correct character flags.
  • 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. 
  • The mission "Taking Control" from Stoneroot Falls now only requires 3 people to start it.
  • 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.
  • 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. 
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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. 
    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. 
• FEBRUARY 22, 2006:
  • 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. 
• FEBRUARY 23, 2006:
  • The Guild Hall is still not available. We apologize for the inconvenience. 
  • 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. 
  • 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. 
  • You will no longer trigger your own trap if set while on a mount. 
• FEBRUARY 24, 2006:
  • The Guild Hall is now available. The guild banker has returned to his post. 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 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 mini-bosses in Anguish are dropping their augments again. 
  • Devlin in Dreadspire will select his new sets of weaponry a little more quickly now.
• MARCH 2, 2006:
  • Kytherea's Keepsakes – I have received many requests to bring back something like Fippy Facts. It took me a bit to get a good process set up to get this information but I think I am ready to start. Enjoy!I have received many requests to bring back something like Fippy Facts. It took me a bit to get a good process set up to get this information but I think I am ready to start. This week I have factored out what the percentage of the total population across all EverQuest worlds is made up by class. (Click here to see the results.)
• MARCH 9, 2006:
  • In celebration of EverQuest's 7th Anniversary, all Fan Faire attendees will receive a commemorative Photomosaic® EverQuest Poster, created by Runaway Technology, Inc. We've collected thousands of photos from our loyal EverQuest and EverQuest II Players, combined them with photos of SOE Employees, and let Runaway Technology work its magic and turn them into an incredible EverQuest mosaic poster in the likeness of Firiona Vie. We'll be handing them out during Fan Faire registration, so make sure to get your copy! (1 copy per registrant, please).
  • Kytherea's Keepsakes – As I mentioned last week, here are the other half of the classes made up of the various levels from 1-70 across all EverQuest Worlds. Population across all EverQuest Worlds by class & Level. Enjoy! (Click here to see the results.)
• MARCH 15, 2006:
  • *** Anniversary Events *** EverQuest turns 7! Starting on March 16th, join us for a month long anniversary celebration! 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. The EQ Team would like to do a little something special for our players to celebrate the 7th year of EverQuest. In that spirit, we've declared this weekend "Double XP EQ Weekend"! For all EQ players will earn double experience-points at login all weekend. Players will be able to take part in the event by logging in between 12:01pm Thursday (3/16) and 12:01pm Monday (3/20). Double EQ XP Weekend is a way to give players who created new characters a little boost to help them catch up to their fellow adventurers and It's also our way of saying "Thank you for  7 years of EQ!” We hope to see you there!
  • 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. 
  • Five new unusual creatures have been spotted in the Demi-Plane of Blood. 
  • The mini bosses in Anguish will now drop augments again. 
  • 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. 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. 
  • 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. 
  • Dispel spells can no longer be blocked using buff blocking. 
  • 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. 
  • 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 Saga of Skin Translations are now no-trade. The Coldain Historical Seal augmentations are now lore to each other.
  • The Prophecy of Ro tier 1/2 cleric breastplate now has the activated effect of Pious Elixir. The Prophecy of Ro tier 1/2 shaman breastplate now has the activated effect of Ghost of Renewal. The Prophecy of Ro tier 1/2 enchanter breastplate now has the activated effect of Ethereal Rune 
  • 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 or 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. 
  • *** Tradeskills *** The trivials for the Staurolite and Prestidigitase recipes have been appropriately altered to be more in line with the result. The trivials were on Staurolite are now on Prestidigitase, and vise versa. Fixed the names of the Prestidigitase items. Increased the yield on the Treant Laminating Adhesive by adding one more Acid Wash to the recipe. 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. 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. Changed the Stunning Bola and Explosive Bola to use the new potions. (Basic Suspension of Pestilence IV and Basic Suspension of Flame IV respectively) Modified the Distillate of Skinspikes potions to be more in line with the old Kilva's series of damage shield potions. 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 *** 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.
  • Auto Fire 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.
  • Addressed an issue with group management in the raid window which affected status updates with members of those groups. 
  • Kytherea's Keepsakes – Enjoy more fantabulous & wonder-iffic facts about populations in EverQuest! I know I said to look for the various levels from 1-70 as represented by each class across all EverQuest Worlds this week, however I found this a very daunting task and determined that some other numbers were required first. So this week I have compiled the numbers for the population across all EverQuest worlds by server and by server & class. (Click here for results.)
• MARCH 17, 2006:
  • Introducing the new EverQuest Website! For those who frequent the EverQuest website you'll notice some great new features with a new and improved look, and for those who haven't stopped by in a while what are you waiting for! EQ Players, packed full of the features you know and love, is not affected and is directly linked to the new EverQuest website for your convenience!
• MARCH 21, 2006:
  • AWARD: EverQuest Turns Seven and gets Inducted into the Walk of Game! SOE Community Content Manager, Adam “Zaphax” Stevens recently attended the 2006 Walk of Games induction ceremony for EverQuest and the accompanying seven year anniversary party. The event was held at the Metreon in downtown San Francisco. Mr. Stevens was nice enough to recount his trip to San Francisco in a piece he wrote. Enjoy! You probably don't know me, but you might be familiar with a lot of my work. My name is Adam, and I'm the Community Content Manager for SOE. I post the majority of news items and features for our family of SOE web sites. Sure, I know you're probably more acquainted with such high profile names as Brenlo, Kytherea, Blackguard and all the other Community Managers, but I'm also here, supporting them, ensuring the content they want posted shows up on our sites in a timely fashion. Recently I was given to unique opportunity to witness the induction of EverQuest into the 2006 Walk of Game. Not knowing what to expect, but nonetheless thrilled at the prospect of attending this event, I graciously accepted my assignment. Besides myself, I would be joined by several members of the Community team including Brenlo, Kytherea and Ashlanne. Also attending the festivities were several members of our PR and marketing team as well as the current producer and lead designers of EverQuest. Our early morning flight to San Francisco went off without a hitch with all of us convening at the airport, each in a varied state of mental alertness. Having not woken up this early in quite some time, I immediately sought out the largest cup of coffee I could find and guzzled it before getting on the plane. We arrived safely at the Oakland airport on time, piled into two vans and were driven to downtown San Francisco. Having only been to this city once before, I enjoyed the ride immensely. So many sites to take in! The Bay and Golden Gate bridges, Alcatraz, the Transamerica Pyramid, Telegraph Hill and Coit Tower, just to name a few. We arrived at the Metreon around lunch time and immediately got to work. In addition to attending the event we were also throwing a seven year anniversary bash for EverQuest downstairs at Jillian's and needed to prepare for the party. Boxes were unpacked, wires were unraveled and mini congratulatory bottles of champagne were placed about several tables in the room. After the whirlwind called "setup" was finished we enjoyed a nice lunch before checking into our hotel and resting awhile. A few hours later we reconvened at the Metreon to make our final preparations for the party. Earlier that week we contacted several local EverQuest players and invited them to join us at Jillian's to celebrate EverQuest's birthday and watch the ceremony via live TV feed. As the ceremony started, people began to arrive at our party. They were greeted by the always cheerful Ashlanne and Kytherea and were encouraged to enjoy the food, drink and free billiards. The ceremony itself was pretty cool. It was emceed by Adam Sessler, co-host of G4 T.V.'s X-Play. (Sadly, Morgan Webb was not in attendance.) In addition to EverQuest, games like Starcraft and Final Fantasy were honored. Laura Croft was in attendance to accept her induction. Also, video game legends, Sid Meier and John Carmack, were honored. On behalf of all of SOE, I would like to congratulate the other 2006 inductees. Every recipient certainly deserves to be inducted into the Walk of Game for being such important pioneers or icons in gaming's history. Accepting the award for EverQuest was producer, Chris Lena. Joining him on stage were none other than Firiona Vie, the elven princess that has graced the box of every EverQuest expansion and Antonia Bayle, leader of Qeynos and chief heroine of EverQuest II. Chris spoke briefly about the history of EverQuest and its role in the development of MMORPGs before accepting the Walk of Game award. Meanwhile, back down at the party, more people began to arrive. In addition of the live feed of the ceremony, we had also set up four demo stations with EverQuest and EverQuest II. Kytherea spent some time taking several players through a tour of some of the most recent expansion zones while other guests walked through some of the Kingdom of Sky zones. Brenlo soon arrived from the ceremony and promptly began to raffle away plenty of shwag to all the party attendees. He also raffled an all-expenses paid trip to our upcoming Community Summit and Fan Faire. The Walk of Game Girls stopped by and posed for pictures with everyone as did Firiona and Antonia. Later in the evening Adam Seesler came by and chatted with folks. The next morning I, um, overslept, and missed the striking of our demo centers. Brenlo thought this was quite funny and was quick to give me a hard time. With things all wrapped up, I replied that I was just in time to go grab some lunch, which we did at Mel's Diner. If you ever eat at a Mel's Diner, I highly recommend you try the Sunset Burger. Bacon Cheddar goodness severed on two slices of sour dough bread. (It seemed appropriate for San Francisco to me. ;) After lunch we strolled about the Metreon a bit and made a few purchases. If you're ever in San Francisco, I highly recommend you visit the Metreon. It is an amazing collection unique shops and restaurants. My favorites were the Things From Another World comic shop and the Sony Style store. Sadly my request for a company-paid flat panel TV went unfilled. With our departing flight drawing near we left the city and made the trek back to the Oakland airport. After a last minute gate change we boarded our flight and returned to a rather rainy San Diego. Overall, it was a lot of fun. I got to meet some great people including some of the founders of Walk of Game, lots of EverQuest players, and several gaming industry people who came to watch the ceremony. Thanks again to everyone who came to help us celebrate. We couldn't have made it this far without the continued support of players like yourselves.
• March 23, 2006:
  • Kytherea's Keepsakes – More factual goodness coming your way.  Some minor changes in what was planned but I hope you enjoy it all the same! Unfortunately I had to make a change to the plan for the facts for this week. Our content manager and HTML guru, Adam "Zaphax" Stevens, is out on vacation this week. So, since my HTML skills are very weak and rusty, I had to select some easier things to post instead of the planned levels 51-70 as represented by each class across all EverQuest Worlds. Since the topic came up at the House of Commons Dev Chat last night about the percentage of characters under level 70, I worked those numbers out. Another interesting bit here, this time about Epic 1.5 and who was the first to complete the quest for each class and claim the first Epic 1.5, the date it was completed and the server completed on. Server names remain as they were before server merges as these are the servers the epics were founded on and each character and server deserves that recognition in my opinion. (Click here for results.)
  • All Expansions Come to the Test Server! In addition to the other nifty bonuses for playing on the Test server, now anyone playing on Test can also experience all the expansions as well! Simply download all the expansion files by making sure you have all expansions checked when you log into Test and you will be able to experience the entire game. This benefit to all Test server players is in addition to: Double XP; Ability to test buff your character to 25; All Veteran Rewards regardless of account eligibility; Need only one flagged raid member to enter a flagged area; The bonus access to the expansions while on Test will not give you access to all the expansions on Live servers though. You will still be required to purchase any expansion you wish to use on a regular Live server. Come on by Test and check it out!
• MARCH 30, 3006:
  • Kytherea's Keepsakes – More factual goodness coming your way.  Some minor changes in what was planned but I hope you enjoy it all the same! Here are some more interesting facts! Take a look at the way races breakdown on each server. The races are pretty even when compared across each server population but there are a few that stand out. 16% of the population on Zek is made up of Dark Elves with the rest of the races spanning between 2-10% and Dark Elves making up 10-11% of the populations on the other servers. 15% of the population on Firiona Vie is made up of Humans with the rest of the races spanning between 2-12% and Humans making up 10-13% of the populations on the other servers. It also appears that Trolls are pretty unanimously the least populated race in EverQuest with Frogloks close behind. I guess the war between the Trolls and Frogloks whittled down the numbers of both races. (Click here for results.)
• APRIL 6, 7 & 8, 2006: Atlanta, Georgia Fan Faire.
• APRIL 13, 2006:
  • Kytherea's Keepsakes – This week I don't have much to offer for facts but at least it is something interesting to look at! One of our beloved coders thought it would be fun to see some of the stats in graph format and sent it to me. I figured you might enjoy it too. A few weeks ago I posted who was the first to complete each Epic 1.5 and promised to do the same for Epic 2.0. So here are those promised facts. Server names remain as they were before server merges as these are the servers the epics were founded on and each character and server deserves that recognition in my opinion. (Click here for results.)
• APRIL 19, 2006:
  • 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. Speak with Oathmir in Devastation for more information.'
  • The reuse time on all the veteran rewards has been reduced by 4 hours.
  • We are refunding the Spell Casting Deftness AA to Enchanters. SCD was being overwritten by Quick Buff (a similar AA with superior benefits).
  • 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.
  • *** 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. Changed the Tradeskill flag on a few more items. It seems that the shipments of wolf blood were missing. You will now find Measure of Wolf Blood on the appropriate merchants.  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. The fungus farm in Kaladim has been re-cultivated.
  • *** 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. 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.
  • There is now an augmentation sealer at the Wayfarer camp in Lavastorm. 
  • The AC cap and the returns over the cap for rangers and berserkers has been slightly increased.
  • 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 No Drop. 
  • Line of Sight issues that were introduced with the last update should now be resolved.
  • Newly formed guilds will now be able to get into their guild halls.
• APRIL 26, 2006:
  • Nektulos Gets a New Look! Meet Meg Haufe, one of the EverQuest artists, as she talks about redesigning Nektulos Forest. Hail, Friends, and well met. My name is Meg Haufe and I'm an Everquest environment artist, as well as a long time fan and player of the game. Everquest is the reason that I'm in the lovely city of San Diego, as I came here several years ago to meet some members of the guild I am in, "Ilsik Haucil" on Saryrn. I fell in love with the city, and moved here to pursue my career in game development. At the time, I never would have dreamed that I would be so fortunate as to end up working on my favorite game! But here I am, and I am loving being able to help shape the world I spent so much time playing in. When they asked me to remake Nektulos Forest I was really excited. I really felt that the zone should reflect as closely as possible the original zone, but with up to date art. The first thing I did was locate a top down map of old Nektulos, and print it out for reference. Then I ran around the original zone and made notes on the map as to where everything was, including the paths and things like where the land changed from grass to rock. I also felt that it was very important to preserve landmarks that players would recognize, and probably miss, if they were absent from the zone. Top on this list were the "Newbie Log" and the bridge. The Newbie Log resided slightly southwest of the entrance to Neriak, and was where young dark elves would gather, back in the day. I know that I would miss it, if I traveled there and it was gone. And the bridge, while I gave its art an updated look, is now back to being a large stone bridge. All the other landmarks are there, although some of them might surprise you. For example the little Stonehenge where Halflings used to hang out is now a quite large Stonehenge, with a misty foggy feel in that area. The first thing I wanted players to think upon entering the zone is how much it really feels like a forest. For this I have to thank my teammates Clint Batac and Andy Livingston, for making such beautiful trees! They really give the zone that deep forest feel. I also spent a lot of time working on the sounds of the zone, adding things like creaking frogs around the water, to howling wolves and owls and crickets, to impress that feeling of being deep in a forest. Then, after exploring the zone for a short time, I hope the player realizes just how much the zone is like the original Nektulos. After all is said and done, that was the most important fact. Safe journeys to you all, Meg H. See the new look of Nektulos on Test now!
• APRIL 27, 2006:
  • Prophecy of Ro Beta Rewards Announcement - Starting Monday, May 1st, PoR Beta participants should look for a notification email about beta reward eligibility. Read on for more information… Starting Monday, May 1st, we will be emailing those who participated in the Prophecy of Ro Beta that earned rewards. Please take this opportunity to update your email address in your registration information. If you miss your notification email because your email address is no longer current, we will be unable to contact you and we will not send the notification email again. Here is a reminder about what the beta rewards are for the Prophecy of Ro Beta Test. Tier 1 = 10 Charge Healing / Mana Potions, 3 AAs; Tier 2 * = Unique Title 'The Adventurer', 3 AAs; Tier 3 * = Illusion: Evil Eye Item, 3 AAs. * These rewards are cumulative, so if for example you are eligible for Tier 3, you will also receive the rewards for Tier 1 and Tier 2.
• MAY 2, 2006:
  • Station Access™ subscription price increase - We will be increasing our Station Access subscription rate in June. Read on for more information… We will be increasing our Station Access subscription rate in June. Effective June 1, 2006, the new monthly subscription rate will be $24.99/month, up $3.00 from its current price $21.99/month. We have added significant value to the Station Access subscription since its inception including two games, The Matrix Online and Star Wars Galaxies, as well as incorporating the Adventure Packs for EverQuest II at no additional fee, (including The Fallen Dynasty due out this summer). In addition, the cost of operating the game service for the games included in the Station Access subscription package has increased significantly since we launched Station Access. This change will help us achieve our goal of seeing that every player has a consistently enjoyable experience in our game worlds and we intend to continue to add value to this all-in-one subscription package. Current subscribers 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. Subscription rates are subject to tax and value-added taxes, as applicable. For more detailed information on the Station Access subscription package, please go to (obsolete link).
• MAY 19, 2006:
  • Producer’s Letter – Chris “Raghnell” Lena talks about the progression server in this Producer’s Letter.   Read on for some juicy details… Hello Everybody, The big news these days seems to be the progression server officially named The Combine. First off, I am overwhelmed by the interest and although I know it won't satisfy everyone's desires it does look like the idea is appealing to a large number of people. It is great to see the excitement out there and not just with our active players but hearing a lot of people talking about reforming old guilds and coming back to the game. The response has also, quite honestly, got us a bit worried. We are working on taking a few steps to make sure we can handle the possible load. Primarily we are going to cap the maximum online population. We consider this a much better solution than the inevitable zone crashes that would begin when we start to hit higher loads. The last thing we want to do is limit the amount of players that can participate but we have to make sure we maintain a good play experience as well. Over the past few years the servers have stayed very stable so they can handle some pretty big populations so the server will still be plenty full. We understand that there are many players that have become attached to their character name. In an effort to allow people to reserve their name before the launch of the server we are going to set up a limited version that will allow you to log on and create a character. You will not be able to enter the game world itself but you will be able to pre-create your character and reserve your name. Having the name you want is even more important when you consider that this server will be freshly tracking all item discoveries and leaderboards on our EQ Players service. Who will be first to discover the highly sought after Fire Beetle Eye!? There will be a lot more to talk about as we get into our beta and closer to the launch of The Combine server.
• MAY 30, 2006:
  • Name Reservations for the Combine Opening on May 31st - The Combine (Progression Server) will be available on May 31st for all current subscribers to log in and reserve a name for the launch on June 28th. The Combine (Progression Server) will be available on May 31st for all current subscribers to log in and reserve a name for the launch on June 28th. The Combine server will open between 10am and 12pm PDT for name reservations only and will remain open until June 26th. Only one character per account will be allowed. When the server goes live you will be able to fill all 8 character slots but for the sake of fairness we are limiting the pre-launch naming to a single character per account. Keep in mind that until later expansions are unlocked, Iksar, Frogloks, Vah Shir, beastlords, and berserkers will not be available for character selection. Naming Server Fact Sheet - Opening: May 31st between 10am and 12pm PDT; Closing: June 26th; Character Limit: Naming will be limited to a single character per account although the live server will allow the full set of 8. Race Limit: Iksar, Vah Shir, and Froglok are not available. Class Limit: Berserker and beastlord are not available. You can get to The Combine to reserve your name once it is available as you would log into any other server on the main Live Server Select screen. You can get to The Combine to reserve your name once it is available as you would log into any other server on the main Live Server Select screen.
• JUNE 9, 2006:
  • Announcing the First SOE Official Podcast! We are proud to offer the first official MMO podcast to our communities, and hope you all enjoy the first installment of our podcast series. In our first installment Community Managers Christina "Kytherea" Delzer and Ryan "Blackguard" Shwayder talk about what's new with EverQuest and EverQuest II while Associate Producer, Leah Ruben discusses recent happening s in EverQuest Online Adventures. Find out more! You can download the MP3 file directly or subscribe to the RSS feed by clicking the button listed below. Similarly we have a low-bandwidth version you can download for your portable media player.
• JUNE 13, 2006:
  • *** 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 (obsolete link).
  • *** 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. The portal out of Veeshan's Peak will now take you to the proper version of Freeport. 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. Fixed a problem with the Guild Hall Portal that could cause the teleport confirmation window to display the incorrect target zone. Nektulos Forest got a face lift! Check out the amazing new look. The Guild Lobby is now available to everyone.
  • Added the 8-year veteran reward Throne of Heroes, now available to those who are eligible. A gate ability that transports veterans to throne room in the Guild Lobby. 
  • The map window now has an option to display your group mates. Cartographers have been very busy. Numerous map fixes made. 
  • 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. 
  • Pet spells and weapon procs now report to the owner and can be filtered appropriately. 
  • 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. 
  • Several spell texts which were gender-specific have been changed to something more gender-neutral. 
  • 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. 
  • 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. 
  • 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. 
  • 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. 
  • /con will now properly report whether an NPC can see you sneaky rogues.
  • *** Tradeskills *** 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. Bristlebane's Challenge and Bristlebane's Challenge Meats have changed to No Drop. 
  • 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. 
  • *** 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. Added a tether to Maestro Tan`Lor in Theater of Blood. The lava spout traps have been removed from the Tirranun encounter. Mayong will now teleport back to his spawn point if he wanders too far from his room. You now only need one flagged player to initiate the 18-man Kunark Monster Mission raid: Fall of an Empire. 
  • Updated the character models for many NPCs throughout the world.
  • 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. 
  • Summoning a horse should no longer upset nearby NPCs. 
  • 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. 
  • 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. Item links can now be sent across Universal Chat channels! 
  • 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. 
  • Ogre females using voice emotes for Agree and Disagree will now play the proper voices.
• JUNE 16, 2006:
  • Setting a chat window's default channel to a chat channel (instead of say, group, raid, ...) will now broadcast the chat to that channel.
  • 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.
• JUNE 19, 2006:
  • The Sleeper has been awakened! We are going to open up a second progression server named The Sleeper on June 28th alongside The Combine. The rulesets of both servers will be identical. Read on for more information. Also, we are opening up a second naming server for The Sleeper which will be available on Wednesday, June 21. Names will have to be reserved on each server separately. Long-term populations are hard to judge at this point so let me take a minute and explain our thought process on this second server and what might potentially happen. 
    • Do we have the initial interest level to merit a second server? The maximum number of simultaneous players for The Combine is set at more than double the usual number of players that are on simultaneously during peak hours on normal servers. That number of simultaneous players is much higher than any EverQuest server has managed at any time in our 7-year lifespan. On a normal server only about one-third of players actual play at peak but we should also assume that this will be higher (at least initially) on the progression servers. What that means is that we have to believe that about 6 times our usual number of simultaneous players or more are interested in playing in order to justify a second server. This is a pretty big number. The only information we have to go on is the number of accounts that have created characters on the naming server and our own intuition. You have to remember that there is some number of players that will reserve a name but never actually log in. On the flip side this does not include any people that plan on coming back to EverQuest to play on the server but have not yet reactivated their accounts. Bottom line is that we think the interest is high enough to merit a second progression server.
    • Will we have the population necessary to sustain a second server? Maybe. The amount of debate this server has caused is incredible and it also very clear that there are a lot of different viewpoints on how this idea should be implemented. Add in that whenever a new server is opened the interest in the first days is dramatically higher than the long-term population and you have a recipe for confusion. Our current theory is that the first days will require this second server but the population will probably settle down into a single server's worth of people. Although a cap on simultaneous population is technologically necessary, we need to do what we can to accommodate all the players that want an opportunity to try out the new server.
    • What happens if the population continues to be enough for two servers? That would be great. I wonder which server will unlock Velious first.
      If we do need to merge the two servers, how would that work? If both servers are at the same stage of progression then The Sleeper will get merged into The Combine. If the servers are at different stages then the server that is behind will be merged into the one that is ahead in expansion unlocking. If there are naming collisions during a merge then the naming preference will go to characters on the host server. If you have any questions please hop onto our forums and ask away!
• JUNE 27, 2006:
  • Progression Server Timeline Sample - With the opening of the Progression servers on Wednesday, June 28, 2006, there will be a progression timeline available for everyone to see. The timeline will show each server's current position in the progression. For more information about what the Progression servers are and about these new features read the rest of this article. Sony Online Entertainment is giving EverQuest players both new and old a chance to experience the game as it was in the very beginning by launching "The Combine" & "The Sleeper". The Progression servers will be made up of the original EverQuest zones in Antonica, Faydwer and Odus that were available at launch back in 1999. Players will work together to level and conquer key content that will in return unlock every expansion released for EverQuest since 1999. "The Combine" & "The Sleeper" SERVER FEATURES: 2 normal, non-pvp servers (no transfer servers) titled "The Combine" & "The Sleeper" in-game; Each expansion will be unlocked by the progress of the players and the content they complete; New servers for past players to return to and re-experience a world where talented and skilled players reign supreme; New players can experience all of EverQuest's original content without having to catch up on years of expansions; Relive the evolution of one of the most successful MMORPGs in history. SERVERS LAUNCH: Wednesday, June 28, 2006. With the opening of the Progression servers on Wednesday, June 28, 2006, there will be a progression timeline available for everyone to see. The timeline will show each server's current position in the progression. When this page is accessed, it will scroll sideways to show you the current progress and stops when the current expansion is centered on the page. The timeline will display "nodes" of requirements players have to "unlock" to progress. The number of unlocks for each expansion will be displayed, but not name what the requirement is until after it has been completed. Once completed, an unlock will show the title of the requirement, the time and date, and a link to a list of the people in the raid, group, or single person who completed the requirement. Here is a sample of what the timeline will look like: Also included with the regular character tracking on EQ Players, for the Progression servers there will be: Progression Server Conquests - A separate page for server "Conquests" so players can see what mobs have been killed already and by whom, linked to those users character profiles. Progression Server Characters - "Conquests" on the pages of players who were the first to kill specific mobs that are or aren't necessarily part of the unlock requirements. Make sure you check these all out on Wednesday. You will be able to access the timeline by going to the front page of EQ Players and clicking on the banner that will be there on Wednesday afternoon. (Similar server and character conquest tracking should be available for all servers in the next few months.)
• JUNE 30, 2006:
  • Kytherea’s Keepsakes – The Progression servers are a hit.  It’s a blast from the past and tons of fun!  If you want to experience the first thrills again come join the rest of the pack. The Progression Servers, The Combine and The Sleeper, opened up on Wednesday, June 28th at approximately 2:30pm PDT. By 6pm PDT both servers had maxed out characters online with others choking up the log in servers trying to get in. Seeing 470+ characters in Greater Faydwer was definitely a thrill, at least until that first KS was experienced. From the chatter in the game and the buzz on the forums it appears that these new servers are a hit! If you haven't joined in the fun yet you can see some wonderful screen shots posted on (obsolete link). A few player testimonials about the new Progression servers: ~ "You guys and gals rock in stereo, quad, Dolby and big gargantuan stacks of marshal amps." ~ "Most fun I've had in EQ since my wife ran from the ice giant in the newbie yard in Halas, and screamed for me to come do something about it." ~ "Let me say I was enthralled last night. I played from 8PM until 2AM and loved each and every second of it. It has been a long time since I stayed up till 2AM playing something." Here are some quick fun facts about both servers as of our records at 1pm PDT today… (Click here for results.)
• JULY 6, 2006:
  • Kytherea's Keepsakes – Race and Class statistics from The Combine. Approximately 1 month ago I posted the statistics for races and classes created on The Combine name reservation server. Now that the server is open and thriving I thought it might be interesting to post the current race and class distribution on The Combine. So here you go. If you want to compare the current numbers to the name reservation numbers, you can find the name reservation statistic in the Kytherea's Keepsake dated June 8, 2006. (Click here for results.)
• JULY 11, 2006:
  • Experience the First SOE Block Party! Come join us for the first-ever SOE Block Party! This community event will be held during the 2006 San Diego Comic-Con on Saturday, July 22 from 3:00 PM until 7:00 PM. Even if you're not attending Comic-Con this year, stop by the Block Party, anyway! The Block Party will also feature guided tours of the SOE buildings, prize raffles, food, drinks and other assorted goodies. There will also be SOE game demos, including a sneak peak at the upcoming PlayStation®3 title, Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom ! Come and meet SOE dev team members and staff—you may even get a chance to drop them in the dunk tank! You'll also have the opportunity to meet acclaimed fantasy author R.A. Salvatore along with comic writer and The Matrix Online storyteller, Paul Chadwick. Busses will shuttle attendees from the San Diego Convention Center from 3:00 PM until 5:00 PM (Look for the SOE signs near section B of the Convention Center). Return trips to the Convention Center will be running every half hour until 7:00 PM. For those of you coming on your own, we highly recommend carpooling, as parking will be limited.
• JULY 19, 2006:
  • Welcome to the Second Official SOE MMO Podcast! Here is the second official SOE MMO podcast which includes segments about EQ, EQII, EQOA and PlanetSide as well as some good natured conversations. Sit back, relax and enjoy the second MMO podcast installment from SOE. Welcome to the Second Official SOE MMO podcast! This month Ryan "Blackguard" Shwayder talks with Steve "Moorgard" Danuser from EQII, Leah "Sappyra" Ruben & Lydia "Zatozia" Pope talk about playstyles with EQOA Developers Daemaas and Ghoelidon, Lydia "Zatozia" Pope also gives some news updates from PlanetSide and Alan "Brenlo" Crosby speaks with EQ Developer Holly "Vahlar" Longdale about the newest upcoming EverQuest expansion, The Serpent's Spine. Sit back, relax and enjoy the second MMO podcast installment from SOE. You can download the MP3 file directly or subscribe to the RSS feed by clicking the button listed below. Similarly we have a low-bandwidth version you can download for your portable media player.
• JULY 24, 2006:
  • Fan Faire Poll – It's that time again SOE faithful, where we ask you to help us select the next Fan Faire city. As many of you may recall, we had an awesome time with our friends down south in Atlanta. The south really showcased its hospitality. Now we are looking for another amazing location to host you, our greatest fans, for yet another great get together. The options that we have researched based on price, weather and availability are listed below. Please vote on your favorite choice. We will run the polling for 30 days, after which, we will tally the results and come up with our next exciting location. Thanks all! Brenlo and Jenabel. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Here are the dates and locations. March 29 Anaheim, CA $129 - $135; April 18 San Diego, CA $129 - $139; February 28 Kansas City, MO $129; March 13 Denver, CO $125; March 1 Portand, OR $124; March 9 Orlando, FL $159; June 6 Las Vegas, NV $139; June 28 Las Vegas, NV $119; July 5 Las Vegas, NV $119. You are welcome to discuss the dates and locations on the EQ forums but in order for your opinion and preference to count you need to vote in the poll which can be found on the (obsolete link) forums.
• JULY 26, 2004:
  • Kytherea's Keepsakes – Level, Race and Class statistics on The Sleeper. As promised in the last Keepsake edition, here are the statistics for The Sleeper. Unfortunately I was unable to get starting statistics on The Sleeper due to the server not having the appropriate program to gather the data at the time. My apologies! (Click here for results.)
• AUGUST 2, 2006:
  • Official EverQuest Forum Transition Announcement – On Tuesday, August 8, 2006 Sony Online Entertainment will be transitioning the EverQuest Official Forums to an internal forum solution.  Transitioning to this new system gives us the opportunity to offer new functionality, as well as update the system as often as needed as well as allowing us to add new features and perform necessary maintenance.  Read here for more details… Greetings EverQuest Community! On Tuesday, August 8, 2006 Sony Online Entertainment will be transitioning the EverQuest Official Forums to an internal forum solution. Transitioning to this new system gives us the opportunity to offer new functionality, as well as update the system as often as needed as well as allowing us to add new features and perform necessary maintenance. Your Forum Handles, post counts, posts, etc., will be transferred from the existing forums to the new forums. Bookmarks, subscriptions, friends lists, floated threads, etc . . . will most likely not transfer over. If you currently use any of these, you will want to make note of them before the transition, so that you can set them up once again, after the transition occurs. Forum Ranks (titles) will go thru some changes. However, you will automatically receive the appropriate new ranks and titles upon login. Those of you with specialized forum ranks and privileges will be adjusted after the launch of the new forums or shortly thereafter. During the transition period, the forums will be down for 48 hours. A single temporary board will be available during this time. Data will not be transferred from the temporary forum, so don't get too comfortable there. If any of this information changes, we will post the updated information on the official website. Once the new forums are live we will provide more information on all of the new features. Thank you and see you on the new forums!
• August 14, 2006;
  • Fan Faire Poll – It's that time again SOE faithful, where we ask you to help us select the next Fan Faire city. As many of you may recall, we had an awesome time with our friends down south in Atlanta. The south really showcased its hospitality. Now we are looking for another amazing location to host you, our greatest fans, for yet another great get together. The options that we have researched based on price, weather and availability are listed below. Please vote on your favorite choice. Thanks all! Brenlo and Jenabel. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Here are the dates and locations. March 13 Denver, CO $125;  March 9 Orlando, FL $159;  June 28 Las Vegas, NV $119. You are welcome to discuss the dates and locations on the EQ forums but in order for your opinion and preference to count you need to vote in the poll which can be found on the (obsolete link)​​​​​​​ forums in the SOE Fan Faire board.
• AUGUST 18, 2006:
  • Guide Applications - The Guide Program is a Team of volunteers that dedicate their time to entertain and interact with other adventures. They participate in in-game quests, events, and tomfoolery. You are walking along a dimly lit path when you see two fiery red eyes peering at you from a shadowed cave-like area. You draw your weapon and… My mind begins to ponder the possibilities of the situation and I wonder what could be in that cave. Could it be a sworn enemy, a fabled dragon, a small rat or could it be a friend? I slowly approach the entrance to the cave, listening intently and announce my presence by unsheathing my weapon. I then demand that the creature shows himself with a mighty bellow! With my mace at the ready I toss my torch into the cave entrance so I can identify whether friend or foe. Ever wonder what happens next? Do you want to find out? If so the Guide Program is looking for more adventurers. The Guide Program is a Team of volunteers that dedicate their time to entertain and interact with other adventures. They participate in in-game quests, events, and tomfoolery. If this sounds interesting please feel free to check out our new FAQ and Application.
• AUGUST 28, 2006:
  • The Third Official SOE Pod Cast - We are proud to offer the third official SOE podcast to our communities, and hope you all enjoy the latest installment of our podcast series. The guest host with Blackguard and Brenlo is Andy Sites, Producer for the upcoming PS3 title Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom. Make sure to let us know how you like it! You can send us an email at (obsolete e-mail) or post your comments right here! Tune in to Find out more! We are proud to offer the third official SOE podcast to our communities, and hope you all enjoy the latest installment of our podcast series. The guest host with Blackguard and Brenlo is Andy Sites, Producer for the upcoming PS3 title Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom. Make sure to let us know how you like it! You can send us an email at (obsolete e-mail) or post your comments right here. You can download the MP3 file directly or subscribe to the RSS feed by clicking the button listed below. We have both high and low bandwidth versions of the podcast available.
• SEPTEMBER 2006: Truth and Steel (novel) by Thomas M. Reid published.
• SEPTEMBER 1, 2006:
  • Exclusive Demo Disk will be available in the first issue of Massive Magazine! Massive Magazine is a brand new magazine focused on the world and culture of massively multiplayer online games. The first issue will include an exclusive demo disc loaded with SOE trials, trailers, bonus content, and other goodies for everyone! Check out the article here for more information. Massive Magazine is a brand new magazine focused on the world and culture of massively multiplayer online games. The first issue will include an exclusive demo disc loaded with SOE trials, trailers, bonus content, and other goodies for everyone! Look for Massive Magazine to hit your local retailer's shelves soon! The demo disc includes the following trials: EverQuest Escape to Norrath; EverQuest II Trial of the Isle; 
    PlanetSide Reserves; The Matrix Online; Star Wars Galaxies Trial; Comic Book Creator. As well as the following bonus content: Gods & Heroes CGI piece and game play trailer; The Matrix Online video; The Star Wars Galaxies sizzle; Vanguard Trailer; Open Season trailer; Monster House trailer; Medieval Weapon machinima series by GNET; EQ II “How To” videos (obsolete link); Game wallpapers for each MMO listed above; Links to each manual and game Web site; Gods & Heroes beta access. Look for a copy of Massive Magazine and check out that bonus content and those games you have been thinking about trying!
• SPETEMBER 18, 2006:
  • Become a Station Access™ member today and get 2 additional EverQuest­­­® Character slots! Interested in learning how you can get two more character slots per server on your EverQuest account? Did you know active subscribers to SOE's Station Access™ subscription package are entitled to have an additional two character slots per server for their EverQuest account? Visit SOE's Station Access website to learn more about the advantages of Station Access™ (obsolete link)? Please note that the Station Access subscription requires a valid credit card (other forms of payment such as SOE Game Cards are not accepted) and if you are currently in an EverQuest subscription cycle you must wait until the end of the cycle to upgrade to a Station Access subscription if that is what you choose to do. 
• SEPTEMBER 19, 2006: The Serpent's Spine released.
• SPETEMBER 22, 2006:
  • Official SOE Podcast Number 4! We are proud to offer the fourth official SOE podcast to our communities, and hope you all enjoy the latest installment of our podcast series. As always the two fun loving hosts for the show are Brenlo and Blackguard. This podcast covers everything from EQII to EQOA to Planetside, so be sure to tune in for Blackguard's final Podcast. Make sure to let us know how you like it! You can send us an email at (obsolete e-mail) or post your comments right here. You can download the MP3 file directly or subscribe to the RSS feed by clicking the button listed below. We have both high and low bandwidth versions of the podcast available.
• OCTOBER 2006: The Blood Red Harp (novel) by Elaine Cunningham published.
• OCTOBER 6, 2006:
  • Announcing the Fifth Official SOE Podcast! Tune in to the Fifth Official SOE Podcast.  We hope you all enjoy the latest installment of our podcast series. Make sure to let us know how you like it! You can fire off an email to us at (obsolete e-mail) or head over to the forums and give us your comments. You can download the MP3 file directly or subscribe to the RSS feed by clicking the button listed below.
• OCTOBER 20, 2006:
  • Community Pumpkin Carving Challenge! That's right!  We're challenging you to carve up a pumpkin to make a jack-O-lantern! Get out your knives and spoons! It's time for a pumpkin massacre! That's right! We're challenging you to carve up a pumpkin to make a jack-O-lantern! Set yourself on high adventure to find a pumpkin. Then capture it and bring it home. When you have returned with your squashy treasure, get that pumpkin up on the chopping block and carve yourself a jack-o-lantern! Then take a picture of your jack-O-lantern and send it into us at (obsolete e-mail). Please remember to put "Halloween Pumpkin Challenge" in the subject header of your email. Make sure you indicate which category you wish your pumpkin to be entered into the challenge under. Categories are listed below. And don't forget to include your forum handle! We'll post the pictures between now and Halloween. There will be three categories of pumpkins from which challenge winners will be selected: Halloween Theme, EQ Theme, and General Theme. One person from each category will receive a special forum title and an in-game item for one character of their choice. You can send us pictures of your jack-o-lantern's up until 12:00 PM CST on October 31st. Trick or treat!
  • Producer’s Letter – Chris “Raghnell” Lena talks about expansions, zone revamps and Halloween in this Producer’s Letter. Now that some time is passed since the launch of The Serpent's Spine I thought it would be good time to send out one of these producer letter things. Overall, we are pleased with how the expansion has turned out. If you haven't tried creating a Drakkin and going through the lower level content I would really like to encourage you to give it a try. There are an incredible amount of play styles out there now and I think we managed to get a little bit in there for most of them. I should also mention that the pick up for the expansion is quite brisk and is definitely outpacing Prophecy of Ro. Let's also talk about some more zone re-vamps. We really wanted to get more done with the launch but ended up wanting to put that time into the expansion content instead. So, you should be seeing a new Commonlands (East and West combined) and Ocean of Tears in just a little while. Why Ocean of Tears? Well, we needed to do that one in order to get the new boats working. And I mean new boats because the old boats have also been rebuilt from scratch. All of that is currently going through QA but it shouldn't be too much longer until we get that up on the live servers. There are a lot more zones in the pipeline but this is a process with massive iterations and some may not see the light of day anytime soon. It can be a little scary when an artist diligently redoes a zone then a designer gets a hold of it and sends back 2 pages of "feedback". Things like "Wall needs to be 30% taller" And "You forgot the courtyard". Now it is that spooky time of year and our Halloween events will be appearing shortly. We will be bringing back a lot of the old favorites and also adding in more quests and fun things to do. I hope you enjoy them! Chris "Raghnell" Lena, EverQuest Producer.
• OCTOBER 23, 2006:
  • Announcing the Sixth Official SOE Podcast! Tune in to the Sixth Official SOE Podcast.  We hope you all enjoy the latest installment of our podcast series. Tune in to the Sixth Official SOE Podcast. We hope you all enjoy the latest installment of our podcast series. Make sure to let us know how you like it! You can fire off an email to us at (obsolete e-mail) or head over to the forums and give us your comments. You can download the MP3 file directly or subscribe to the RSS feed by clicking the button listed below. We have high and medium bandwidth versions of the podcast available.
• NOVEMBER 1, 2006:
  • Announcing the Seventh Official SOE Podcast! Tune in to the Seventh Official SOE Podcast.  We hope you all enjoy the latest installment of our podcast series. SOE Podcast #7 is now available for download! Listen in as the Community Relations Team talks about what's going on in our games, chat with dev-team members, and do what we do best -- make fun of ourselves. You can fire off an email to us at (obsolete e-mail) or head over to the forums and give us your comments. You can download the MP3 file directly or subscribe to the RSS feed by clicking the button listed below. We have high and low bandwidth versions of the podcast available.
• NOVEMBER 2, 2006:
  • Pumpkin Carving Challenge – Submissions are in! Vote for your favorite pumpkin carving. On October 20th, the SOE Community Team challenged each game community to carve a pumpkin.  The EQ Community submissions are up on the EQ Forums.  Check out the artistic talent of your community members and vote on your favorite carving for each theme: EQ, General & Halloween. The polls can be found at the top of the Just For Fun board. Voting will end on Monday, November 6th. One winner from each category will receive a special forum title and an in-game item for one character. Come to the forums and show your community support!
• NOVEMBER 6, 2006:
  • Child’s Play 2006 Charity Drive - The 2006 Child’s Play Charity drive for children’s hospital recently kicked off. Child’s Play donates toys, games, books, and cash to sick kids at children’s hospitals all across North America and the world. Help support this great cause at (obsolete link).
• NOVEMBER 13, 2006:
  • Announcing the Eighth Official SOE Podcast! Tune in to the Eighth Official SOE Podcast. We hope you all enjoy the latest installment of our podcast series. Make sure to let us know how you like it! You can fire off an email to us at (obsolete e-mail) or head over to the forums and give us your comments. -You can download the MP3 file directly or subscribe to the RSS feed by clicking the button listed below. We have high and low bandwidth versions of the podcast available.
• NOVEMBER 20, 2006:
  • November Forum Challenge – The forum challenge for November is to post a recipe and picture from your culture that is used to celebrate harvest time. Read on for more information… This week in the US, many people will be celebrating Thanksgiving with family and eating awesome food like: turkey, ham, mashed potatoes with gravy, stuffing, pumpkin pie and lots of other good stuff. Many cultures around the world celebrate similar holidays centered on harvest time. The forum challenge for November is to post a recipe and picture from your culture that is used to celebrate harvest time. (It does not necessarily have to be a recipe your family serves) The categories for this challenge will be: Most unusual recipe; Most appealing recipe; Recipe most likely to have the most leftovers if served in your house. The Harvest Challenge will start today as of this post and run through Monday, November 27th at noon PST. You may submit your recipe and picture to (obsolete e-mail). Please include your forum handle and what culture uses this recipe for its harvest celebration as well as the category you wish to submit your recipe in. On Monday, November 27th sometimes after noon PST, I will post the recipes on the Just for Fun forum and start a poll for each category so the community can vote on the recipes. One challenge winner from each category will receive a special forum title and an in-game prize for one character of their choice.
• NOVEMBER 29, 2006:
  • Don’t miss out on EverQuest Newsletters or Email from SOE! We have a few emails that will be sent out soon that you don't want to miss!  Make sure you are signed up to receive newsletters and other important emails from SOE. We have a few emails that will be sent out soon that you don't want to miss! Make sure you are signed up to receive newsletters and other important emails from SOE. What's included when you sign up? You'll receive the quarterly Newsletters for the games you are signed up for.
    You'll receive any promotional emails that we send out. To make sure you receive the next newsletter, do the following: Click on My Account in the (obsolete link) header; Click on Email Newsletters; Select those you wish to receive; Click on Make Changes (If you aren't sure you are getting the emails, click on Make Changes even if you don't change anything, just to refresh the setting.) Or you can just visit (obsolete link). How come I never seem to get any of the emails? There are a couple of reasons you may not be receiving the emails from SOE: You need to update your Email Address: An incorrect Email Address is a common reason for not receiving the emails from the station. To update your email address, go to My Account in the (obsolete link) header, select Registration, update your email address, make sure the box for "Check here to receive future Station e-mails with announcements of new games, contests, and more" is checked and Accept changes. Email sent by SOE is being blocked: If your e-mail system has a block, junk, bulk, or spam mail folder, you'll want to make sure that it allows e-mail from (obsolete e-mail). You will need to check the options, properties, or preferences of your mail system to determine how to set this up. Options not saved: There's a chance that your options were not set correctly when the system changed over to this system. To fix this, click on the [Clear-All] link and click on Make Changes. Then select your options again and click on Make Changes again. That should refresh the list.
  • Announcing the Ninth Official SOE Podcast! Tune in to the Ninth Official SOE Podcast. We hope you all enjoy the latest installment of our podcast series. Make sure to let us know how you like it! You can fire off an email to us at (obsolete e-mail) or head over to the Show Notes and give us your comments. You can download the MP3 file directly or subscribe to the RSS feed by clicking the button listed below. We have high and low bandwidth versions of the podcast available.
• DECEMBER 1, 2006:
  • Comic Book Creator Holiday Contest! Create a holiday-themed comic book featuring EverQuest, EverQuest II and/or PlanetSide and win a $250 AMEX gift card! The Contest will run from 12/8/06 - 1/5/07. Visit (obsolete link) for official rules and details.
• DECEMBER 2, 2006:
  • 'Tis the Season: Part 2 - Child’s Play was started by the guys at Penny Arcade. Read on for more information about this great charity! A few years ago, the guys from Penny Arcade decided to do something nice for kids at Seattle Children's Hospital. They put a call out to the gaming community to prove that all the ills of the world are not caused by video games. To prove, in fact, that gamers are pretty decent people. They asked for donations of toys, cash, and time to give these kids a good Christmas holiday. The results were nothing short of spectacular. The Child's Play charity has grown to include hospitals around the world. Being in a hospital over the holidays is tough on these kids and it's our chance to help spread some good cheer to them. This year there are more ways than ever to donate to Child's Play. If you're not already volunteering time, gifts, or money to a worthy cause this holiday season, why not send a little joy to the world in this way? Nothing speaks more to the spirit of the season than putting a smile on a kid's face. Check out Child's Play, it is a great charity!
• DECEMBER 4, 2006:
  • Station Access holiday surprises! In the coming weeks, Station Access subscribers who opt-in to receive newsletters and email updates can also look forward to something special. We've been working on some holiday surprises and we don't want you to miss out! If you have Station Access, be sure to visit the universal opt-in page by December 13th, 2006 and click the box that says "Check here to receive future Station e-mails with announcements of new games, contests, and more." Happy Holidays! You can find the page to opt-in (obsolete link). If you aren't already a member, click here to find out all the subscription benefits that come with the Station Access pass!
• DECEMBER 13, 2006:
  • New SOE Official Podcast Website - SOE now has a website dedicated to our Official Podcast!  You can download the current podcast as well as all past podcasts on the website.  The show notes can also be found there along with pictures and other fun tidbits. Visit the Podcast Website today to listen to Podcast #10 and catch up on any podcasts you may have missed in the past. We also have a new email address where you can send your podcast  feedback!  So let us know what you think at (obsolete e-mail) or you can head over to the Station Forums and post your feedback there!

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2007

• 2007: AWARD: Technology & Engineering Emmy Award under the category of "Development of Massively Multiplayer Online Graphical Role Playing Games."
• FEBRUARY 13, 2007: The Buried Sea released.
• AUGUST 2, 3, 4 & 5: Las Vegas, Nevada Fan Faire.
• ​​​​​​​
• SEPTEMBER 5, 2007: Legends of Norrath released / added to EverQuest, with is first Car Set (expansion) called 'Oathbound.'
• ​​​​​​​
• NOVEMBER 13, 2007: Secrets of Faydwer released.
• DECEMBER 19, 2007: Legends of Norrath: Forsworn expansion / card set released.

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2008

• JANUARY 2008: AWARD: Technology & Engineering Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Video Gaming Technology and Applications
• JANUARY 17, 2008: Sale of EverQuest, is forbidden per the 17th Federal Court of (the state of) Minas Gerais, Brazil, for issues of moral virtue and psychological conflicts.
• MARCH 7, 2008: Legends of Norrath: Inquisitor expansion / card set released.
• JUNE 19, 2008: Legends of Norrath: Oathbreaker expansion / card set released.
• AUGUST 14, 15, 16 & 17: 2008: Las Vegas, Nevada Fan Faire.
• .
• OCTOBER 9, 2008: Legends of Norrath: Ethernauts expansion / card set released.
• OCTOBER 21, 2008: Seeds of Destruction released.

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2009

• 2009: EverQuest Next planned and soon goes into development.
• FEBRUARY 12, 2009: Legends of Norrath: Against the Void expansion / card set released.
• JUNE 25, 26, 27 & 28, 2009: Las Vegas, Nevada Fan Faire.
• JULY 9, 2009: Legends of Norrath: Storm Break expansion / card set released.
• OCTOBER 13, 2009: Legends of Norrath: Travelers expansion / card set released.
• DECEMBER 15, 2009: Underfoot released.

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2010

• FEBRUARY 23, 2010: Legends of Norrath: Vengeful Gods expansion / card set released.
• JUNE 15, 2010: Legends of Norrath: Doom of the Ancient Ones expansion / card set released.
• AUGUST 5, 6, 7 & 8, 2010: Las Vegas, Nevada Fan Faire.
• OCTOBER 12, 2010: House of Thule released.
• OCTOBER 14, 2010: Legends of Norrath: Dragonbrood - The Anarchs expansion / card set released.

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2011

• 2011: AWARD:  Hall of Fame Game Developers Choice Online Award.
• MARCH 1, 2011: Legends of Norrath: Legacies expansion / card set released.
• JULY 7, 8 & 9, 2011: Las Vegas, Nevada Fan Faire.
• AUGUST 25, 2011: Legends of Norrath: Priestess of the Anarchs expansion / card set released.
• NOVEMBER 15, 2011: Veil of Alaris released.
• DECEMBER 21, 2011: Legends of Norrath: The Jarsath Destroyer expansion / card set released.

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2012

• .
• MARCH 29, 2012: EverQuest Online Adventures shutdown.
• NOVEMBER 28, 2012: Rain of Fear released.
• DECEMBER 6, 2012: Legends of Norrath: Debt of the Ratonga expansion / card set released.

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2013

• .
• AUGUST 2, 2013: EverQuest Next: Landmark announced.
• AUGUST 13, 2013: Legends of Norrath: Drakkinshard expansion / card set released.
• OCTOBER 8, 2013: Call of the Forsaken released.

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2014

• .
• JANUARY 31, 2014: EverQuest Next: Landmark goes into Alpha testing.
  • Founder's Packs ($99.99) & Explorer's Packs ($59.99) were sold.
  • It is also noted EverQuest Next was slated for PlayStation 4.
• MARCH 26, 2014: EverQuest Next: Landmark goes into Beta Testing.
• NOVEMBER 28, 2014: The Darkened Sea released.

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2015

• .
• FEBRUARY 2, 2015: Sony sells EverQuest to Columbus Nova and rebrands as Daybreak Game Company.
• NOVEMBER 28, 2015: The Broken Mirror Released.

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2016

• .
• MARCH 2016: Development of EverQuest Next & EverQuest Next: Landmark are cancelled.
• AUGUST 17, 2016: Legends of Norrath shut down.
• NOVEMBER 16, 2016: Empires of Kunark Released.

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2017

• .
• FEBRUARY 21, 2017: EverQuest Next: Landmark servers are shut down.
• DECEMBER 12, 2017: Ring of Scale released.

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2018

• 2018: EverQuest X aka EverQuest Dungeons.
  • Unannounced but revealed in October 2023.
  • It was eventually shutdown.
• DECEMBER 11, 2018: The Burning Lands released.

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2019

• .
• DECEMBER 18, 2019: Torment of Velious released.

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2020

• .
• DECEMEBR 1, 2020: Daybreak Game Company is sold to Enad Global 7.
• DECEMBER 8, 2020: Claws of Veeshan released.

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2021

• .
• DECEMBER 7, 2021: Terror of Luclin released.

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2022

• .
• DECEMBER 6, 2002: Night of Shadows released.

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2023

• .
• OCTOBER 2023: EverQuest 3.
  • Possibility of a EverQuest 3 announced, for potential release in 2028.
• DECEMBER 6, 2022: Laurion's Song released.

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2024

• .
• DECEMBER ??, 2024: The Outer Brood released.

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2025

• .

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If you note any errors, misspellings, item name errors, misinformation or anything that needs addressing on this page -- PLEASE let me know via an in-game EQ Message (Bonzz on the Bertoxxulous server), or post on Bonzz's Discord Server!

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This Page Last Updated September 7, 2024

This fan site is created and provided free (uncompensated, no ads, no sponsors, no registration / log-in), by Bonzz of Bertoxxulous. Images / graphics / sounds on this web site are in-game (EverQuest) captures, originate from Sony / Darkpaw / Daybreak Games (EverQuest) and / or with permission from others (if any). Some graphics may be modified (re-sized, cropped, etc.) from their original form. Any pages that play sounds / music, are intentionally set at low volume. Most of them are under two (2) minutes or less, and should play once and then stop. If any sound / music continues to loop (play over and over), let me know! EverQuest is copyright / trademark / owned / operated by Darkpaw Games, which is owned / operated by Daybreak Games, which is owned / operated by Enad Global 7.