EVERQUEST TIME LINE

2006 - 2015

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 / 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; Update Notices; News Releases; EQ Forums; the Wayback Machine; Expansion Releases; and so forth.

The data is not necessarily verbatim... I sometimes 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 are not included, and, for the most part, only includes changes to Live Servers (TLP's will eventually 'catch up' and become Live Servers, anyway).

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

>>>>> The best way to find anything you may be looking for, on this page, is to 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 phrases in red text. I have also highlighted the dates of modifications, hot fixes and patches . <<<<<

!!!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 not take any single change to be 100% as it is now, for this very reason. Keep looking for future (more recent) changes that may have modified it yet again... or, perhaps, removed it!

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

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

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

!!! QUICK LINKS !!!

1996 - 2005

2006              2007              2008              2009              2010

2011              2012              2013              2014              2015

2016 - 2025              2026 - 2035

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

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

2006

JAN     FEB     MAR     APR     MAY     JUN     JUL     AUG     SEP     OCT     NOV     DEC     BACK TO TOP OF PAGE

• 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, 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! 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, 2006:
  • 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!
• SEPTEMBER 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.
• SEPTEMBER 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!

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

2007

JAN     FEB     MAR     APR     MAY     JUN     JUL     AUG     SEP     OCT     NOV     DEC     BACK TO TOP OF PAGE

• ~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.

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

2008

JAN     FEB     MAR     APR     MAY     JUN     JUL     AUG     SEP     OCT     NOV     DEC     BACK TO TOP OF PAGE

• 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.

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

2009

JAN     FEB     MAR     APR     MAY     JUN     JUL     AUG     SEP     OCT     NOV     DEC     BACK TO TOP OF PAGE

• 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.

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

2010

JAN     FEB     MAR     APR     MAY     JUN     JUL     AUG     SEP     OCT     NOV     DEC     BACK TO TOP OF PAGE

• 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.

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

2011

JAN     FEB     MAR     APR     MAY     JUN     JUL     AUG     SEP     OCT     NOV     DEC     BACK TO TOP OF PAGE

• 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.

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

2012

JAN     FEB     MAR     APR     MAY     JUN     JUL     AUG     SEP     OCT     NOV     DEC     BACK TO TOP OF PAGE

• .
• 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.

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

2013

JAN     FEB     MAR     APR     MAY     JUN     JUL     AUG     SEP     OCT     NOV     DEC     BACK TO TOP OF PAGE

• .
• 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.

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

2014

JAN     FEB     MAR     APR     MAY     JUN     JUL     AUG     SEP     OCT     NOV     DEC     BACK TO TOP OF PAGE

• .
• 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.

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

2015

JAN     FEB     MAR     APR     MAY     JUN     JUL     AUG     SEP     OCT     NOV     DEC     BACK TO TOP OF PAGE

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

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

PREVIOUS PAGE                        TOP                        NEXT PAGE

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!

HOME

This Page Last Updated June 18, 2026.

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.