April 11, 2003 3:00 am
------------------------------
- Fixed a problem with "burst" damage causing too much aggro. Attacks that do a
lot of damage in a short time no longer cause more aggro than they should.
- Feign Death has been restored to the functionality it had before the patch.
- Fixed an issue that caused aggro from damage shields to be assigned
incorrectly.
- Removed a bug that could cause certain types of encounters, such as the Rallos
Zek encounter in the Plane of Tactics, to crash a zone.
- Fixed a bug that could cause a crash when you tried to bring up the item
display window for bags and notes.
April 8, 2003 3:00 am
------------------------------
** So You Want to Design Games? **
The EverQuest team is expanding and we currently have openings for experienced
game designers. If you have professional game design experience, at least one
level 60+ character and regularly play EverQuest, then we'd love to see your
resume. Please go to http://soe.sony.com/corp/employment.jsp and submit your
resume online. Please include information about your current characters and your
level of knowledge concerning EverQuest.
Thanks,
- The EverQuest Team
** New Plane of Hate **
The new Plane of Hate is now available on Stormhammer. Enjoy!
** Mitigation Change **
We have evaluated the mitigation abilities of cloth and leather classes, and
have made changes as appropriate. For the most part, this change is a reasonable
improvement to the ability of monks to absorb damage. At some point in the
future we may re-examine the mitigation abilities of chain and plate classes. At
this time, and with this final round of changes to cloth and leather classes, we
believe that something very close to the appropriate balance is in place.
** Pathing Update **
The first part of our work to update the pathing system for EverQuest is
complete. NPC and pet pathing should be much improved.
** Charm Changes **
- Healing a charmed pet now generates an appropriate amount of hate for the
healer.
- Charmed pets now take up to one third of the experience for each NPC killed.
This amount scales down based on the percentage of damage to the target that the
pet does. Dire charm pets still take the same experience they always have.
- Charmed pets are no longer selected as a monster's preferred target if there
are many players available for the monster to attack instead.
- ALSO (we forgot to mention this before), the resist modifiers on several charm
spells (such as Beckon, Call of the Arch Mage, Command of Druzil and Word of
Terris) have been removed, making them a bit easier to resist.
** Windowed Mode for the EverQuest front end **
This patch introduces the ability for players to enter windowed mode at the
EverQuest front end (from the time you log in until you get into the game). With
this addition, players will be able to run EverQuest in a window from the moment
they click on the EverQuest icon to the moment they log out.
In order to switch to windowed mode on the front end, just hit Alt-Enter. Note
that there are no settings in the eqclint.ini file for this, you just have to
hit Alt-Enter.
Use Alt-R to release the mouse from the EverQuest window (note that once in the
game, you need to use Alt-Shift-R to release the mouse).
And, obviously, Alt-Tab will switch between open programs.
We have also added a Tech button that will take you to our Tech Chat. This only
works in windowed mode, as it opens up a new window to display the chat.
** Spells **
- Stoicism now follows the same restrictions as Torpor.
- Trickster's Augmentation and Boon of the Garou can now be cast by characters
on horseback.
- Fixed a bug that was causing spells with levitation effects to lose levitation
if cast over a spell that also had a levitation effect.
- Bards now receive their first level song at creation.
- Changed the spelling of "Corpal Empathy" to "Corporeal Empathy".
- Changed the hit by message for Torrent of Fatigue recourse to "Your vitality
grows."
- Changed the wear off message for Song of Sustenance to "Your hunger returns."
- Adjusted the shaman spell Disinfecting Aura to be in line with Pure Blood.
- The Necromancer line of heal-over-time spells should no longer overwrite
Transon's Phantasmal Protection.
- Augment now overwrites Augmentation.
- Brell's Stalwart Shield now has a casting time of 4 seconds.
- Spiritual Vigor now has a casting time of 5 seconds.
- Resurrection no longer gives the "Your strength returns" message two times
when the negative effects wear off.
- Fixed a bug that would cause other players to see a character with default
face/hair for their race when they turned off an illusion.
- Fixed bug that could cause beards to fail to reappear when an illusion wears
off. This may also fix some other appearance bugs as well.
** Illusions/Shape Change **
We have changed the way that Illusions and Shape Changes work with respect to
faction. The new system is a lot easier to understand than the old one, so we'll
just explain the new one. When changed into the form of a playable race,
characters are treated as if they were a member of that race. When changed into
a non-playable race, characters retain their own racial factions.
** PvP **
- If a player is moving when using archery against a PvP target, they have a
reduced chance to hit their target.
- Archery in Player vs. Player combat in now reduced to 66% damage.
- Direct Damage spells in Player vs. Player combat can only do up to 75% damage
of the target's maximum hit points in a single hit. This modification is done
before resists are taken into account. For example, if a player has 1000 hit
points when fully healed, no single direct damage spell will do more than 750
damage to him in a single hit.
** Alternate Advancement **
- Alternate Advancement abilities that grant Stamina gains should now update the
character's hit points automatically when trained.
- Dire Charm isno longer "used" when trying to affect an NPC under the power of
a Dictate spell. It will not work, and the power is not expended.
** Interface **
- Using the "/book" command with no page argument now closes the spellbook if
it's already open.
- Added a "Dump" button to Guild Management window. Pressing it creates a text
file in the EQ directory containing a comma-delimited text dump of the Guild
Management window. The file name will be the guild name with _ instead of
spaces, so a guild named "Legacy of Ykesha" would be a file called
Legacy_of_Ykesha.txt.
- Cross-server tells are now filtered under the "tells" filter like same-server
tells, and in the same colors.
- Music Player volume no longer decreases when zoning.
- The Journal window and Journal Categories window now close when hitting
Escape.
- The Map window no longer pops up after zoning if you used Escape to close it
in the previous zone.
- Hot button names are once again restricted to eight characters. Being able to
make them longer was a bug, and was causing issues with displaying more than
eight characters.
- The scrollbar for the Notes window should now update properly when the window
is resized.
- Added multi-select capability to the Friends List, Music, Journal NPC, Journal
Text and Journal Category windows. Shift-click selects groups of items,
Control-Click selects individual items.
- Fixed a bug that was causing the Journal window to lose all information since
the last save when logging was turned off.
- Confirmation Dialog window now remembers its position.
- The third person camera view #3 no longer resets when zoning or using the
armor tinting feature.
- Fixed an uncommon crash caused by the Music Player window.
- The LFG button in the Group window now toggles the LFG window.
- Fixed a bug that prevented the attack button from working properly when a
Centi Warspear was equipped.
- The dialog box for confirmation of a change in video modes now remains open
for 30 seconds instead of 15 seconds.
- Added a "Show Offline" button to the Guild Management window. This determines
whether or not you want to show offline people in the window, and the setting is
remembered when you log out.
- If you sort by anything other than Name in the Guild Management window, the
window will sub-sort your list by name.
- Changed the promote button in the Guild Management window to only be enabled
when eligible guild member is targeted (not just selected in window).
- Fixed a problem that caused a few people to have the spell particle density
revert to default off when they logged off.
-Fixed the Map window to remove a method of avoiding the map restrictions in
certain zones.
- Added /getguildmotd. This command allows you to see your guild message of the
day at any time.
- /guildmotd now sets or clears the guild message of the day. If used with no
text, it clears the existing message of the day. Only leaders and officers can
use this command
- Fixed a bug that could cause a crash when pressing the U key while in explore
mode.
- When under the effects of invisibility, a character that hides and then moves
and breaks their hide also breaks their invisibility. The invisibility icon will
now disappear under this circumstance so that the player knows he is no longer
invisible.
- Closing the AA window no longer causes the resurrection notification box to
disappear.
- Updated the category lists in the Bazaar window to be alphabetical.
- Characters will no longer be prevented from being a trader if you quickly
click on Begin/End Trader.
- Fixed a bug with the LFG tool that may have been causing some people to crash
when zoning.
- New colors should no longer be moving from the armor dye column to the item
tint column when a character is saved.
- Hand to hand weapons now "greys out" the melee attack button.
- For those that type quickly, typing %t1 now has the same effect as typing %t
1.
- Fixed a bug that prevented you from purchasing a lore item if you have just
purchased that item and destroyed it.
- Setting loot split color now changes the text color when others loot and
autosplit, as well as when the player loots.
- Language skills now update in the skills window immediately, and the message
given upon skill up includes the name of the language improved.
- Default chat channels should now be saved properly.
** NPCs **
- Corrected an issue with trainers that sometimes caused them to kick a
character out of the game.
- Tin Soldiers no longer give stun immune messages to color flux when they are
already stunned.
- Sollari Bekines now asks for two vials of Gnoll blood instead of one. She has
always wanted two for her quest.
- Corrected some text errors for Avir Sterbla.
- Fixed a spelling error in Paralin Notion's text. "Other" now reads "Others".
- Corrected a spelling error in the Stonefist Clansman's death text. Deafening
was spelled incorrectly.
- Fixed a problem that may have been causing various Brutes to spawn under the
world in Warsliks Woods.
- Corrected an issue that could cause multiple NPCs related to the ring war
event to appear in Eastern Wastes.
- Also corrected an issue with the ring war that was causing some of the NPCs to
disappear too early.
- Undead Sebilisian Lich is now undead. He just didn't realize it before. Feel
free to send cards and flowers.
- So is the Fading Specter in Tox.
- As is the Failed Apprentice.
- Lifestealer Mosquitoes no longer give a message that makes them appear to be
drinking their own blood.
- NPCs in Stonebrunt won't be wandering into the ocean and getting lost.
- Merchants no longer sell containers to any character that have no main
inventory slots free.
- Corrected a spelling error (changed "to" to "too") in Morgalanth Tal`Raeloen's
text.
- Aid Garuuk now knows that Bregna has moved out of Grobb.
- Oracle Balek and Grave Lord Vizurik now speak the appropriate text.
- Coriante Verisue should no longer talk about Miragul all the time.
- Cobi Frostbeard should no longer refer to himself as "she".
- A ghoul in Neriak shouldn't be banging his head on a wall due to a pathing
error. If he does it now, it's out of frustration about the way his Dark Elven
masters let stinky Trolls into their city.
- Corrected a spelling error in Elial Brook's text.
- Frist Furtun now accepts all Upheaval scrolls for his quest.
- The invisible, untargetable NPCs in the elemental planes that were attacking
people have been evicted. Absor is now using them as avatars in PlanetSide, and
his scores have gone way up.
- Corrected a spelling error in the agro text of an Enthralled Underbulk
(changed "lungs" to "lunges").
- Corrected a grammatical error in the text of Animist Poren (added the word
"you" where it as needed).
- Corrected a spelling error in the text of Elder Animist Dumul (replaced "lose"
with "loose").
- The new Tailor in Neriak now asks what you [want], not [what] you want.
- Raewyth Velanor now knows the difference between viscous and vicious.
- Corrected the text for Wevek Redforge, changed "were" to "we're".
- Corrected the punctuation of a Grimling Prisoner. Changed "scuttle's" to
"scuttles".
- Corrected the spelling of the word "privilege" for Tax Collector Khugra.
- Corrected the spelling of Incantator Stevak. Changed "and" to "any".
- Quartermaster Grik in Gukta now responds appropriately when confronted about
the list for the Tavern NPCs.
- The Ranger trainer Warder Elwysaie now trains Disarm.
- Fixed several errors in text on Guard Aerryn.
** Items **
- Added a Brass Instrument modifier to the Horn of Shadows.
- Made Saltwater Seaweed stackable.
- Due to a drop table error, all existing instances of the Market Signet have
been changed to have no stats. If you received one legitimately through the
quest, you can give the old item to Aid Grimel for a new one with all the
correct stats. If you do not meet the requirements, Aid Grimel will not
reimburse you.
- Changed the spelling from Mythril to Mithril on Mithril Knuckles and Mithril
Edged Skull Splitter.
- Removed the ability to be used in the secondary slot from Club of the
Secretive. This is a Cleric, Druid, Shaman only item.
- Removed Bards from being able to equip a Combine Acrylia Halberd and Combine
Acrylia Two Handed Sword. These weapons are two-handed slash.
- The name of the Holy Order of Mithanial has been correctly spelled.
- Darksight Dagger is no longer listed as being equipable in the secondary hand.
It is a caster only item.
- Barbed Rubicite Coif has had its name change to Barbed Rubicite Pauldrons,
since it is a shoulder item, not a head item.
- Kagazz's Box now combines four scorpion legs to create a Box of Scorpion Legs.
- Removed Bards and Rogues from the list of classes on Greatstaff of the Four
Winds, since they could not use the item.
- Sample Chest is no longer No Rent.
- Mushroom Bread now looks like bread in inventory rather than a bowl.
- Corrected the spelling of venomous on a few items.
** Miscellaneous **
- Modified checklist flags to make them a little easier to understand (checklist
flags are the flags that you obtain for doing PoP events out of order that allow
you to complete the final flag quest by gathering all the checklist flags and
talking to a Seer). Now when you receive a checklist flag you get a different
message than the one that you get when you receive a normal flag. Ask the seer
to unlock memories and she will tell you which checklist flags you have.
- Corrected a problem that was causing PoP raid flag mobs to not give out flags
to anyone if the associated boss was killed by someone not in the raid group.
Now if someone not in a raid gets the kill, only people not in a raid can get
flagged. This means that people may have to leave a raid to get flagged, but it
means that raids should no longer miss flags if someone outside the raid gets
the kill.
- Modified several of the Planes of Power alternate entry quests to make
completing them faster. Also, all of these quests will now give a "key" to
everyone in the group of the person that completes it.
- Corrected a spelling error in the text message given when you can no longer
add unflagged people to your raid ("to" is now "too").
- Fixed a bug that would sometimes cause helmets to seem to disappear off a
character that was dealing with a merchant or casting an illusion.
- /Consent no longer gives both a success and fail message to player consented.
- Frogloks wearing robes no longer lose the color on the bottom portion of their
robes when they zone.
- Fixed some issues with alchemy not combining into dose potions.
- Fixed a bug that could cause invalid and unchangeable numbers to appear in
spell-casting specialization skills if the skill was trained up after level 50.
- Merchants no longer claim that they will pay 1 copper for newbie items that
they can't actually buy.
- The player's first person perspective now changes correctly if the height of
their Froglok is changed.
- Removed an unneeded door in High Keep.
** INTERFACE FILE CHANGES **
GuildManagementWnd.xml
BugReportWnd.xml
Spellsnew.eff
Spellsnew.edd
March 13, 2003 4:00 am
------------------------------
** Spells **
- Added the ability for any caster to research dropped priest spells using the
research books found in Gunthak. The research notes for these spells can be
found in the Plane of Knowledge. Wizards, Enchanter, Magician, and Necromancers
are able to create any of the researchable priest spells.
- The recipe to create Familiar Enhancement will now actually create Familiar
Enhancement instead of Firetree's Familiar Augment.
- Beastlord pets can now be summoned in the Plane of Sky.
- Changed the recipe for Form of the Great Bear, both in text and in practice.
Please read the appropriate research book for the new recipe.
- Removed the chance to fail on the two combines for the Pureblood quest.
- Modified the Pureblood quest to return Blood of Nadox for Shaman characters.
In addition, any Shaman who has previously done the quest and received Pure
Blood will be able to obtain the Blood of Nadox scroll simply by hailing the
quest NPC.
- Increased the drop rate significantly on the quest items for the ShadowKnight
and Necromancer Legacy of Ykesha spells.
- Added an NPC to the list of monsters that can be summoned by Magicians in the
Torgiran mines.
- Force Shield will now stack with the Spiritual Purity line no matter what
order they are cast in.
- O'Keil's Levity will no longer be overwritten by other damage shields.
- O'Keil's Levity will no longer claim to be piercing people with thorns.
- Shaman of Mithaniel Marr will now be able to scribe the Imbue: Diamond spell
- Changed Strength of the Diaku to a single target strength and dexterity buff.
- Changed Talisman of the Diaku to a group strength and dexterity buff.
- Replaced the shaman spell Aim of the Ginda with Talisman of Alacrity, which is
a group haste spell.
- Replaced the shaman spell Talisman of the Gindan with Tiny Terror, which is a
group shrink spell.
- The Darkness line of spells should now have their sounds back.
- Winged Death now has its particle effects back.
- Song of the Deep Seas now says: "The fury of the deep sea fills your arms"
when sung (changed "see" to "sea").
- Changed the spelling of Malise to Malaise.
- Boneshear spell messages changed to make more sense.
- Iceflame of E`Ci now gives a message when it wears off.
** Items **
- The Potion of Corpse Retrieval is now NO DROP.
- Added required level to many Legacy of Ykesha items.
- Lowered the damage on Swampblade of the Dar to make it more appropriate as a
newbie sword.
- Frogloks can now use the Frostweaver's Shield.
- Frogloks can no longer use Scaled Hierophant armor, Scaled Mystic armor and
Spiritstone of Cabilis.
- Corrected an issue with foldable medicine bags and foldable bearskin potion
bags. Items should now combine properly.
- Clockwork Observer legs and boots should now recharge.
- Class 3 Wood Point Arrows now have a range of 5 instead of 0.
- Changed Blessed Scout Arrows, Blessed Warrior Arrows, Mithril Scout Arrows,
Mithril Warrior Arrows, Mithril Champion Arrows and Blessed Champion Arrows to
be ammo instead of ranged.
- These pottery sketches are now stackable: Barbarian Template, Gnome Template,
Troll Template and Animal Template.
- Rune Smudged Bone Spear now looks like a spear in inventory rather than a
rapier.
- Totemic Gauntlets, Dull Metallic Gloves and Black Wolf Leg Plates can no
longer be worn around the neck.
- Added Shaman to all small patchwork and tattered pieces.
- Frogloks can now use the Jaundiced Bone Boots.
- The Black Handeled Bonebreaker has been renamed to Black Handled Bonebreaker
- The Ivory Horn now increases wind skill instead of singing.
- Corrected the recipes for Journeyman Rune Beza
- Fixed bugs in the text of Toharon's Memoirs.
- Hope Fire Opals will no longer appear to be Baling Hooks.
- Chunk of Unidentifyable Bile is now Chunk of Unidentifiable Bile.
- Corrected the spelling of Robe of the Primoridal Ritualist.
- Corrected the recipe for Tae Ew Chain Bracer to use a Bracer Sectional Mold
instead of a Plate Bracer Mold.
- Smithed Silver Weapons will sell to merchants at a lower price.
- Corrected spelling errors in the names of Ultor's Gauntlets of Faith and
Tranquilius' Tempest Ward.
- Changed the inventory icon for the Fier'Dal Fletching Kit and Knuckle Dusters.
- Swirling Shadows are no longer NO RENT.
- The Taskmaster's pouch should be dropping normally again in Ssraeshza.
** Alternate Advancement **
- Purify Soul now removes a larger number of poison, disease and curse counters.
- Changed Frenzy of Spirit to stack better with haste spells.
** Quests **
- Performed surgery on Ragefire to remove his extraneous heart.
- Verina and Drozlin will also only be dropping one set of items.
- Omat Vastsea will now summon Jhassad Oceanson if hailed by a character in
possession of the Orb of Vapor. He will summon the Avatar of Water if the
character has the Orb of the Triumvirate. But he will not summon either if one
of them is already around.
- Corrected issues with Shaman quest for Stoicism. The impassive sea spirit was
giving out the wrong item.
- Brohan Ironforge's search for his daughter can now be completed.
- Gimlik Cogbobble should now be more reliable.
- Sentry Rotiart now enacts his role in his quest properly.
- Tilbok Furrunner will now recharge the Mask of Espionage.
- Firiona Drixies now have a chance to drop Firiona Drixie Dust.
- Heretic Drahur no longer gives out Greater Immobilize for a Spectral
Parchment, only for an Ethereal Parchment.
** Interface **
- Added a command to allow you to toggle your target between your two last
targets (unlike Tab which toggles between your character and your last target).
To set the key that activates this feature, just open your options window and
select the Keyboard Tab. If you select all categories, the entry will be the
last one on the list, called Toggle last two targets. This was actually added
with our last patch.
** NPCs **
- Undead will begin to spawn again at night in Kithicor.
- Shin Master Grubbus in Gukta will now be more selective about who he allows to
do tasks for him, and he'll be speaking directly to folks (using /tell). His
chatty nature was raising the volume in Gukta to levels that were considered
unacceptable. He will also be a bit clearer about what he wants.
- Shar Vahl guards will now defend their city against Loda Kai poachers.
- A Grimy Owl Bear Cub in Paludal now "screeches", not "screetches".
- Eirod Haerod in Mistmoore will no longer have a square showing in the word
"don't" in her text.
- Mangler will no longer spawn on top of a table.
- Porra, one of the Enchanter spell vendors in Felwithe, will no longer spawn
inside of a wall. This was hurting her business.
- Hutyn L`Lozz will now appear in his place of business and be less likely to
leave to go sightseeing in Neriak.
- Cleet Miller Jr. will now emote "Grumbles and looks up at you" instead of
saying it.
- The Goblins in Solusek's Eye are no longer wearing cloth armor.
- Junth McMannus will now be properly affected by movement reducing spells.
- You should only see one Rodrick Tardock, his clones have been dealt with.
- Duplicate Brenzl McMannus's (McManni?) have also been removed.
- Waltor Felligan of Halas will now cast the spells he says he will cast.
- Xlixinar Arcut and Drixiv Arcut will now respond properly to their quest
texts.
- Corrected some text errors for Jortreva and Grendish the Crusaders as well as
Sage Xelrin, Sulgar, Warlord Gligoth, Bryce McFadden, Serna Tasknon, Welno
Tanlonikan, Lorekeeper_Einar and Master of Elements.
- These NPCs will now be asking for the correct items for their quests: Gazoon
Noihzog, Liteema Agner and Bolli Hillfoot.
- Kodiaks in the Rathe Mountains should be friendlier to Druids and Rangers.
- Undead Frogloks and Skeletons in Sebilis no longer have an extreme dislike for
each other.
- Groflah Steadirt's corpse will no longer disappear when he is killed. However,
he is also no longer a merchant.
- Moved the Planar Projection for Rallos Zek so it can't be interfered with by
the zone exit.
- Corrected the spawn times for the Minotaur Hero.
- Half elven female bandits will now give experience, leave corpses and be aided
by other bandits.
- A Coerced Iiksar will now be known as A Coerced Iksar.
- Merchant Nora in Felwithe will once again sell her jewelry supplies.
- Equestrielle the Corrupted will no longer be able to sense and get angry with
people all the way on the other side of the zone.
- Niola Impholder now teaches Brewing, Begging and Alcohol Tolerance.
- Jusean will now give the proper quest reward when given the proper item(s).
- Plaguebone Thieves no longer flee.
** Zones **
- Fixed some broken doors in West Freeport that were opening incorrectly.
- Fixed a door that was opening into a wall in Highkeep.
- Fixed some doors in Kaesora that were opening the wrong way.
- Fixed a door that would not open in Solusek's Eye.
- Removed the ability for characters to consume more than one key given for
access to the lower parts of the Crypt of Decay.
- Added new sounds to Shadowhaven.
- Removed safe spots in Katta, Solusek's Eye, High Keep, Echo Caverns, Paludal
Caverns, Crystal Caverns, Siren's Grotto, Plane of Valor, Plane of Torment and
Plane of Water.
- Fixed a pathing problem in Gunthak that was causing Shaman pets (and perhaps
others) to disappear.
- Entrance to Bertoxxulous's lair is now restricted to those that have the
proper flag.
- The pylons on the end of the pier in Timorous deep no longer rotate like doors
when you left click them.
- Placed rocks over a spot in Western Wastes that characters could get stuck in.
- Updated some of the pathing in Torgiran Mines to reduce the chances that NPCs
will "poof" in that zone.
- Removed a box out in the middle of Skyfire that turned when clicked but had no
real purpose.
- Fixed a place in Burning Woods and the Plane of Knowledge where NPCs would get
stuck while wandering around.
- Also fixed a place in Erud's Crossing where sharks were getting stuck.
- The Veeshan's Peak zone in from Skyfire can no longer be triggered from above.
- Moved the Koada'Dal Forge so that it does not extend into the hallway on the
second floor of the building.
- The teleporter from the Great Divide to the Plane of Knowledge will now work
during Coldain Ring War.
- The exit from the Plane of Justice to the Plane of Tranquility has been moved
to place characters next to the Plane of Justice entrance.
- A black ravenger should no longer be spawning right next to the Cabilis
entrance in the Swamp of No Hope.
- Trying to enter the Qeynos sewers will no longer take you to Ak'Anon. We hope
the citizens of Ak'Anon can forgive the mess...
- Fixed a problem in the Warrens that was causing the Kobolds to gather under
the water near the river source.
** Miscellaneous **
- Corrected a spelling error ("hass" instead of "has") in the text given for
adding the Ring of Marr to the keyring.
** Special Deals **
Prices at the Station.com Store have been cut on a whole trove of EverQuest
treasures in our Hot Specials! Plus, we've bundled some of the best software,
guides and posters into great packages for players. There's never been a better
time to upgrade to that next expansion. And there's more available right now at
the Station.com Store (https://store.station.sony.com/). Stop in and see!
** Become a Guide! **
Greetings citizens of Norrath,
Hear Ye, Hear Ye, for we bring before you news of great importance!
Have you ever scoured the lands in search of adventure? Do you still yearn to
discover new places and new people in the Lands of Norrath?
If so, then we have for you perhaps the greatest adventure the Lands of Norrath
could ever offer. It is a mission of great proportions, and the journey will be
a challenge to even the bravest adventurers in the realm. But hear me friends
when I say that the rewards are well worth the perils of the journey.
The path is that of the volunteer EverQuest Guide Program. If you are strong of
will, kind of heart, have a positive attitude, and are at least eighteen years
of age, the volunteer EverQuest Guide Program may be for you.
The members of the Guide Program provide front line customer support and service
to the players of EverQuest. The Program offers a unique opportunity for you to
become a part of the behind the scenes action, and to be a direct contributor to
the greatness of EverQuest. As a Guide you will interact as a representative of
both the Program, and of Sony Online Entertainment by delivering critical help
and assistance to the players on your assigned server. Your role as a Guide will
also provide you with the opportunity to present a variety of creative dynamic
content (Quests) and events.
If you feel that the EverQuest Guide Program community is something you wish to
be a part of, then we heartily invite you to point your browser to: https://guide.everquest.com/guideapp/
Come one, come all - help us to make the lands of Norrath better than they
already are... come be a part of something great!
February 26, 2003 Noon
------------------------------
- Corrected a problem that occurred with Charms. They should be working properly
now.
February 24, 2003 5:00 am
------------------------------
*** The Legacy of Ykesha is now live! ***
As the afternoon heat grows, a trickle of adventurous folk can be seen moving
through the rocky vales of the mountains called Stonebrunt. These quiet lands,
normally inhabited by panda bears and kobolds, are slowly becoming a throughway
for heroes, mercenaries and adventures of all races. Are you one of them?
And in Gukta tadpoles are growing into young Frogloks. There is no doubt in the
minds of the conquerors of Grobb that the new generation of their people will
grow into strong and steadfast servants of Mithaniel Marr, worthy of his
respect. Will you be one of them?
OOC: Have fun with the new features, the new race and the new zones. Thank you
for playing EverQuest.
** Gameplay **
We've adjusted the entry requirements for some Planes of Power zones. Several of
these zones required each character to complete a quest before gaining entry.
We've relaxed this requirement somewhat as follows:
* A raid with 32 or more members can enter a locked plane provided that 85% of
the raiders have finished the entry quest. This means a raid group can bring
along some friends who haven't completed the quest.
* Characters who haven't done the entry quest must stay with their raid while
they are in the locked zone. If these characters leave the raid for more than
three minutes, they will be transported out to the Plane of Tranquility.
* Using this method does not grant permanent access to the locked zone. If a
character wants permanent, unescorted access to a locked zone then they must
still complete the quest. The goal of this change is to allow raiding groups to
bring along a few friends who haven't been able to complete the quests, but
still wish to help with the raid.
- Several of the flagging events will now only give out a maximum of 72 flags
each time they are completed.
- The dialogue boxes for resurrection and translocation will remain for 5
minutes instead of 1 hour.
- Increased the maximum number of members on ignore and friends lists to 100.
- Made some adjustments to the Halls of Honor alternate entry quest that should
make it more friendly.
- The horse buff icon will no longer show up for characters using non-Luclin
models.
** Interface **
- Containers now close after zoning. This prevents a bug that was causing the
same container to be opened twice.
- The rogue hide message "You have moved and are no longer hidden!" is filtered
as a "skill" message and not an "other" message.
- Fixed a bug that was causing the spell effects opacity slider to always return
to 0% when logging out to the desktop.
** Items **
- Happy Dragon should no longer use a charge when the target is out of range.
- The inventory icons for Trydan's Greaves of Nobility, Deathwatch Sword and
Wetfang Steak have been corrected.
- Corrected the name of the Drakescale Covered Tunic (was Drakscale Covered
Tunic).
- The Manicle of Disruption has been renamed Manacle of Disruption.
- See above for Vorshar's Manicle of the Blight.
- Corrected the spelling of Golden Idol of Rodcef Nife.
- The Rantho Rapier is now a piercing weapon, not a two-hand slashing weapon.
- The Wand of Mana Tapping is no longer labeled as usable in the secondary hand
(since it is Enchanter only and could not be used there anyhow).
** Quests **
- Made a change to the way Planes of Power spell quests work. All spells usable
by more than one class are now obtained from the same level quest. If a spell is
level 61 (Ethereal) for one class and level 65 (Rune Word) for another, both
will have it as a reward on their Ethereal quest.
- Corrected issues with the quest from the Iksar Hermit.
- Corrected a grammatical error in some of Bolli Hillfoot's text.
- Marshal Anrey should be more responsive when talked to.
- The "Bag of Troll guts" is now dropping off of the correct NPC.
** Zones and NPCs**
- Removed the ability for PCs to bind in the upper tier Planes of Power zones.
Binding is allowed in Plane of Knowledge and Plane of Tranquility.
- The entrance to the Plane of Fire now requires the appropriate keys for entry.
- Gods in the elemental planes now have fixed respawn regardless of zone
outages. If the god in an elemental plane is up when the zone comes down it will
still be up when the zone comes back up. If it has two days left before its
respawn when the zone comes down it will still respawn in two days.
- Prior to this patch Rallos Zek was changed, he no longer allows anyone he
dislikes to stand above the arena.
- Removed a "safe spot" from the Plane of Disease.
- NPCs in the Plane of Justice can no longer be affected by Fear spells.
- Fixed an issue with some level 10 NPCs in the Karanas having about 400 times
the hit points that they should.
- Denizens of Aerin`Dars lair will no longer be getting angry at folks just
because they are stomping around on the ground above the lair.
- Puslings now understand how to "enrage" properly.
- Creatures in Fungus Grove will be less likely to ignore people shooting them
from a distance.
- Mature Arboreans are now plants. Just don't call them that to their faces.
- Giant Whiskered Bats in the Qeynos area no longer drop rat skulls.
- Dalin Greskar has given up his hobby of trying to sell blacksmithing gear that
he doesn't have and has gone legit with pottery supplies.
- Corrected a typographical error in some of Tarnic McWillows speech.
- Firon Dernkal will no longer add a random "t" to the end of people's names
when talking to them.
- Corrected an error in Eirod Haerod's text.
- It seems as though the troll sent to retrieve the Forge from fallen Grobb has
returned with Forge in hand.
- Corrected an issue with the respawn of Fennin Ro.
- A Kromzek spy will no longer give a "beta neutral" faction hit when killed.
** Spells **
- Fixed a bug that prevented the owners of charmed warders from controlling or
re-summoning their warders after the charm breaks.
- Disinfecting Aura has been changed to no longer cure poisonous effects. It
will now cure disease effects with much more potency.
- Fixed a bug that was causing Bind Sight to fail to land if the recipient had
exactly 15 other buffs.
- Convergence should not eat its component as often on some types of spell
failures.
- Corrected the spell book icons for several Enchanter spells.
- Shadeweaver port should no longer place you beneath the world.
- In a previous update, we added a message when a person recasts a charm spell
on their charmed pet. Recasting charm on an existing pet did not actually
re-charm the pet, it just failed silently and appeared to succeed. The new
message is now displayed intentionally in these cases. This is not a bug.
** Miscellaneous **
- Attack text for the Vah Shir when punching now says, "punches" instead of
"hits"
- Fixed a bug that was causing the reduced statistics to not update properly
when the character has low hit points or is encumbered.
- Fixed a bug that caused some sale prices for items in the Bazaar (mostly those
with a lot of 9s) to be invalid.
** New and Changed UI Files **
Animations
Bodytintwnd - NEW
Cart01.tga - NEW
Cart02.tga - NEW
Cart03.tga - NEW
Cart04.tga - NEW
dragitem25.tga
dragitem26.tga - NEW
EQUI.xml
Editlabelwnd - NEW
Gemicons01.tga
Gemicons02.tga
Groupsearchwnd - NEW
Groupwnd
Guildmgmtwnd - NEW
Inspectwnd
Inventorywnd
Maptoolbarwnd - NEW
Mapviewwnd - NEW
Selectorwnd
Shortdurationbuff
Windowpieces04.tga
February 6, 2003 3:00 am
------------------------------
** Interface **
- All settings for the Songs window should now be saved properly when the player
logs out.
- Fixed a bug that could cause the Bit Depth and Refresh Rate setting to not
save properly upon exit.
- Users of Windows XP should no longer be seeing their Windows mouse cursor or
other windows 'bleed through' into the game.
** Gameplay **
- Changing from an old model character to a Luclin model character at character
select should no longer result in the character having no hair.
- Fixed a bug that caused merchants to charge a little extra or less (1 copper).
- Merchants will no longer claim that they will pay 1 copper for starting
equipment (they have never actually purchased such items).
** Spells **
- Fixed a problem with the Giantsbane Spell quest NPCs not spawning in Skyshrine.
- Failing to hide while invisible will now make the invisibility icon disappear.
** Trade Skills **
- Many Planar Recipes can now be used in collapsible containers. Some Planar
Tailoring can only be done in the Tanaan Loom as opposed to the Planar Sewing
Kit. Nothing that was previously made in the Loom was added to the collapsible
tailoring kit. Skills changed were Baking, Sewing, Jewel Craft, and Fletching.
- Added gnome cultural recipe book to Ak'Anon.
- Changed the weights on Spiritstones to be more in line with Faithstones.
- Changed Collapsible Jeweler's Kit to 6 slots from 4.
** Zones **
- Grummus is much more likely to stay in his home.
- Fixed the door to the Ak'Anon zoo, by request of the Zookeeper's Union #23.
- Newly created Wood Elf Druids will now make their first appearance in the
world much closer to their guild master.
- Fennin Ro is now more durable, more in line with the other elemental plane
gods.
-Rallos Zek now moves considerably faster then before, as do his cohorts. He
will also become very, VERY angry should he be removed from his lair(s).
- Skyshrine will once again require a key for exit into the Cobalt Scar. The
fact that the key was not needed was a bug. We do understand that few people
actually walk through this area considering the other methods of transport
available, but the dragons aren't leaving their doors open.
** Items **
- Corrected the inventory icon for the Acrylia Studded Legs and the Two-Handed
Practice Sword.
February 4, 2003 3:00 am
------------------------------
Note: Some folks have had trouble getting the elves' beard colors to work
properly. In order to get them to show up, you may need to set DoProperTinting=TRUE
in your Eqclient.ini file. You can do that by typing /dopropertinting in game.
** Interface and Gameplay **
- The melee button for Ulaks, Martial weapons and Two-Handed Piercing weapons
should appear to be depressed when attacking.
- Increased the size of the Notes window in the new UI.
- /viewport fixed.
- Fixed bug where action and hot-buttons for innate abilities would revert to
numbers (1-6) instead of their name when a skin was loaded using /loadskin. It
now reloads the names too.
- Fixed a bug that could cause a client crash if too many full containers were
open and the ALT key was pressed.
** Spells **
- Lowered the mana cost of Yaulp I, Yaulp II, Yaulp III, and Yaulp IV to
increase the value of these spells
- Theft of Thought works properly now, it was draining all of the caster's mana,
no matter who the target was.
- Damage over Time type Area of Effect spells will no longer do damage when
player character resists the spell.
- All pet spells will now get focused from any pet focusing spell/item. This
means, for example, that summoning haste will work on Beastlord and Necromancer
pets.
- Fixed a bug that caused pet health bar to disappear if when trying to charm
when a pet already exists.
- Divine Barrier now does all of its healing in a single burst instead of as
regeneration.
- Removed the erroneous message "Returning to your own perspective" that
occurred when a character was changed into something using an illusion.
** Quests **
- Dillon the Drowned should now respond properly when hailed.
- Corrected a problem with a 'quest' for the hermit in South Karana.
- Animist Poren now gives the correct recipe for his Handwraps Quest (shadeling
silk instead of shade silk).
- Noirin Khalen now gives out the proper jewelry book.
- Supreme Loachsmith Psorin now returns items that he does not need or want.
** Items **
- Removed Rogues from the list of classes on the Elegant Darkwood Katana, since
it is a two-handed slashing weapon.
- Removed the "secondary" tag from the Flametongue, as this item is for Int.
casters only and they can't equip this item in their secondary slot.
- The Nathsar Greatsword and Fester now have the proper inventory icon.
** Tradeskills **
- Added new potions for Vah Shir Shaman (and all other Shaman): Shadeweaver
Portal.
- Renamed one of two items called Figwort. The Figwort sold in Shar Vahl has
been renamed Ground Figwort to reduce confusion.
- Renamed one of two items called Drachling Silk. The Drachling Silk that was
once no drop is now tradable and named Drachnid Silk.
- Adventurers have learned new techniques for fighting Cyclopes. These great
beasts are now much more likely to have their eye intact when killed.
- Fixed the recipe for the potion "Soul of Incorporeal" to use a "feather".
- Fixed the recipe for the potion "Troll's Essence".
- Fixed the cast time on any 5 and 10 dose potions that were inconsistent with
their single dose versions.
- General Bragmur in Iceclad should now avoid ice flows that he was having a
problem crossing in the past.
- Terrorantula Silk, Feather, branch of sylvan oak, branch of planar oak,
Drachnid Silk, and Drachling Silk are now stackable.
- Silicorrosive Grease is now tradable and stackable.
- Potions Aquatic Haunt and Serpents Drink no longer require reagents.
- Grandmaster Alchemist will now have a way to prove their ability.
** Alternate Advancement **
- Extended Notes now works on area of Effect songs as well as group songs.
** PvP **
- Fixed a bug with Root and Snare spells that prevented the target player
character from being affected until they zoned.
- Fixed a bug with mesmerization spells being unbreakable by normal means.
** Zones **
- Fixed some text and grammar errors in Skyshrine.
- Ikurenm the Sly should no longer disappear when trying to chase his enemies.
- Repaired some "safe spots" in Echo Caverns, Paludal Caverns and Grieg's End.
- Fixed a pathing issue in Kurn's Tower that was causing some NPCs to disappear.
- The Golem Master in Charasis now looks like a golem.
- The Orc Arsonist will no longer have his torch disappear when looted (as long
as he had it to begin with).
- The Sands of Fire event will now be restricted to the intended four groups.
Alternate methods of getting characters into the event have been removed.
- Corrected doors in Kaladim, Blackburrow and Erudin that opened the wrong way
and one door in Kaesora that was way off its hinges. Also, the Dwarves have
installed a door in one of their guard huts to prevent drafts.
- Moved an oven in North Freeport that was poking through a ceiling.
- Wraith of a Shissar should no longer attack its compatriots, so they should no
longer be killing it in retaliation.
- Corrected some respawn issues in the Plane of Air.
- Rallos Zek is much less likely to need to leave the arena in order to deal
with his enemies...
** Miscellaneous **
- Changed "wode" to "woad" in the face picker.
- Corrected a spelling error in the text of the Purify Body ability (affect to
effect).
- PCs under illusions should appear with hair if the race can have hair, even if
the PC's race can't have hair. Fixed a few other bugs with illusions and their
effect on hair and eyes.
- Vah Shir will now see "punches" when punching instead of "hits".
** UI File Changes **
window_pieces04.tga
EQUI_FacePick
EQUI_NoteWindow
January 15, 2003 3:00 am
------------------------------
*** Announcing The Legacy of Ykesha ***
The Legacy of Ykesha will be the first download-only extension for EverQuest.
This product will not be available in stores. This extension will include some
great new gameplay features, as well as new zones for characters ranging from
level 35 up to level 60.
Legacy of Ykesha Features include:
A new playable race: Frogloks
Enhanced Looking For Group Tool
New Cartography System
New Magic Item slot: Charms
Armor Dyes
Dozens of new creatures
Expanded bank capacity
New zones
New spells
For more information, please visit www.legacyofykesha.com
*** Patch Information ***
** Gameplay/Features **
- With our last patch and the patch today, we've significantly reduced the
amount of bandwidth that EverQuest needs to use, even in large raid or
extremely-crowded-zone situations.
- Fixed a problem with tints not properly updating when armor is removed.
- Fixed a bug with character faces displaying incorrectly to other players when
you zone in after them.
- Fixed resurrection timer that was counting down against the 3 hour limit when
player was not logged in.
- Corrected a problem with health and movement updates being delayed.
** Spells **
- NPCs will now notice Druid and Shaman Percentage Heal spells in a manner
similar to traditional healing spells.
- Removed the chance for slow spells to be reversed from the 17 NPCs that had
this ability.
- Fixed a bug that was preventing Curses, Diseases, and Poisons from being
removed.
- Raised all recast times below 2.25 seconds up to 2.25 seconds. This is a
change in the spell data as the first part of a two-part change needed to
correct the "Recast time not met" problem. More information is available at the
Developer's Corner at www.everquest.com.
** Alternate Advancement/Special Abilities **
- The range on the Bard Ability "Boastful Bellow" has been increased slightly.
- Fixed a bug with Harm Touch that was not allowing it to increase the standard
amount per level over level 60.
** User Interface **
- Fixed a bug with effects in the Songs window. They were not getting removed on
the client when the bard was dispelled.
- Introduced new Story window. The purpose of this window is to provide story
updates in a readily available location. ALT-N toggles the window. You can
select to have the window pop up when new story elements are added if you wish.
- Item Links are once again creatable from Items and from other Item Links.
Please do not attempt to "mine" the servers for undiscovered items. Links now
have a built-in mechanism to prevent those who would go on fishing expeditions
by sending up many bad links in an attempt to discover new items. These invalid
links are logged, as are the accounts of those who create them.
- Added an optional confirmation box before spending AA points. To turn on this
confirmation box, please check the Options window.
** Miscellaneous **
- Sage Quests in Plane of Knowledge have been fixed.
- The event to fight Bertoxxulous in the Crypt of Decay will reset 4 to 6 hours
after the event is failed. It will respawn normally if the event is won.
** New/Changed Interface Files **
- EQUI_StoryWnd.xml (actually added with the Jan. 9th patch)
- EQUI_OptionsWnd.xml
January 9, 2003 3:00 am
------------------------------
** Demise of the Classic/Velious Interface **
Over the last six months we have been keeping the Classic EverQuest interface as
well as the Velious interface working through all of the features that we have
added (built-in MP3 player, item links, compass, enhanced /bug reporting tool,
and others). However, with the release of some of the new features in this
patch, such as running EQ in a window, we must now say goodbye to the older
interfaces. They have been disabled as of today.
They served us well.
** EQ in a Window **
EverQuest can now be run in a window. To place EverQuest in a window, simply
press Alt-Enter. You can also switch out of EverQuest to another program by
using the familiar Alt-Tab. It is important that you do not do this until you
are in-game, do not do this during the login process.
It is important to note a few things. Running the game in a window may reduce
game performance a bit. And, as always, the more programs you have running at
the same time the more resources they use.
At this time, due to some changes that need to be made on the front end, it is
not possible to run two instances of EverQuest. We will be working to make the
necessary changes over the next few weeks.
** Songs Window **
We have added a new window to the interface along with new game functionality.
The Songs window is a new buff window that holds up to 6 bard song buffs. This
increases the potential maximum effects that a character can have to 21 (15
standard and the 6 new ones). The new window only holds certain bard songs
(generally the 3-tick songs). Only beneficial songs will qualify for the new
buff box, and not all of those. Any buff in the new Songs window is considered
temporary and will not be saved when you zone.
Songs that qualify to go into the new window will go into that window first. Any
qualifying songs over six will be rerouted to the main Effects window. Cancel
Magic effects will see these new buff slots as buff slots #16-21.
Note for User Interface skin creators: The Label EQTypes 80-85 are the Songs
window song names.
- Some magical effects on Planar class armor have been altered. In most cases
the effects were upgraded, but a few items were given weaker effects that were
more in line with the difficulty of obtaining them.
- Fixed a bug that was causing a few Planes of Power NPCs to take too long to
respawn.
- Wu's Attack should now work correctly.
- Incoming damage now interacts with Wrath of the Wild and other rune-type
spells in their proper order.
- Pact of Shadow and Shadow Compact will once again heal player characters.
- Charmed Pets will no longer remain charmed after the owner dies.
- Sending special characters (such as < and ") via EQIM will no longer freeze
the game.
- Hitting Autoattack when in explore mode at Character Select will no longer
cause the game to crash.
- The Loadskin window will now load skins other than the default properly.
- Fixed and issue that caused some NPC's text to be cut short.
- Fixed (but did not rename) the Broken Golem. He should no longer be hated in
Fear, just feared...
-Lowered the duration of calm-type spells that effect creatures level 50 and
over.
** User Interface File Changes **
ShortDurationBuffwnd.xml - NEW
EQUI.xml
BugReportwnd.xml
Lootwnd.xml
Selectorwnd.xml
PetInfownd.xml
Window_ Pieces04.tga
December 19, 2002 3:00 am
------------------------------
** Zones **
- Spectral Parchments, Ethereal Parchments, and Glyphed Rune word drops have
been increased significantly in the third tier Planes of Power zones.
- The trials within the Halls of Honor have been changed slightly. Please
proceed with caution.
- Several Planes of Power NPCs are no longer angered quite as badly when they
notice a healing spell being cast on a player they are angry with.
- Made improvements to the Planes of Power quest armors.
- Assorted quest, item, and dialogue fixes.
** Planes of Power Zone Progression **
As most know, progressing through Planes of Power zones requires that certain
tasks be performed. In many cases, one of the tasks required involves being on a
raid that defeats a particularly powerful foe.
One side effect of this progress is that if the tasks were not accomplished in a
particular order, a person on a raid may not gain the flag for completing the
event, as they did not complete the prerequisite tasks.
The majority of "zone boss" style encounters in the first three tiers of Planes
of Power zones have been changed to alleviate this problem of completing tasks
out of order.
As of today, if you defeat one of these foes and do not have all of the
prerequisites completed to receive the flag at the end of the event, you will be
able to go back and complete the tasks that you have not yet performed.
Once you've done that, you may speak with the Seer in the Plane of Knowledge who
will make sure that you are then able to progress as if you had performed the
tasks in their proper order.
- The EverQuest Team
November 26, 2002 3:00 am
------------------------------
** Planes of Power Zones Updated **
- The Plane of Tranquility was brought down to address the zone in point issue from November 23rd.
The EverQuest Team
November 23, 2002 3:00 am
------------------------------
** Planes of Power Zones Updated **
- The zone in point into the Plane of Tactics from the Plane of Tranquility has been moved to a safer location.
The EverQuest Team
November 22, 2002 3:00 am
------------------------------
** Planes of Power Zones Updated **
Changes affecting the Planes of Power storyline:
- You will now earn credit for your accomplishments in Drunder regardless of content that you have completed.
- There were places where you could progress through the storyline without knowing why, these have been corrected. If you find there was someplace you could once go but no longer can, be sure to speak to those who have been your guides thus far.
The EverQuest Team
November 19, 2002 3:00 am
------------------------------
** Spells **
- Affliction Efficiency should now work on Damage over Time spells of level 61 and greater.
- Imbue Disease should be scribeable by Shaman at level 63.
- Corrected the range on some Planes of Power group spells so they will affect the group, not just the caster.
- Corrected the animation for Katta's Song of Sword Dancing.
- Corrected the animation for Spirit of Eagle.
- Increased the affect radius of Radiant Cure so that it will affect group members.
- Changed the method of obtaining the Planes of Power 'imbue' spells. Speak with the fellow that gave them to you before for more information.
- Fixed a bug where casting Levant while on a horse could cause crashes.
- Fixed a problem that was preventing pet owners from controlling their regular pets if they had a Wake the Dead pet in use.
- Fixed a bug that caused characters to summon corpses with similar names rather than the intended corpse.
- Fixed a bug with Unswerving Hammer of Faith and Flaming Sword of Xuzl that prevented them from disappearing when they should.
-Temporarily removed the Scarecrow Change Form component from Nights Dark Terror to correct a faction issue. The Scarecrow form change will be reinstated in the near future.
- Fixed the spell gem colors for some Area of Effect spells.
- Corrected more issues with spell turn-ins. You should no longer get vendor sold spells, and all the spells you get should be at the appropriate level.
** Items **
- Removed the level casting restriction from Necrotic Divining Device.
- Fungus Covered Scale Tunic is now Magic.
- Removed the "Pending Lore" tag from the Shralok Pack. There is no current plan to make this into a lore item.
** Alternate Advancement **
- Corrected the description for Host of Elements.
** Tradeskills **
- Fixed the invisible forge in Felwithe.
- Added Collapsing Fletching, and Collapsing Mortar and Pestle. Added recipe books for them.
- Added Vah Shir Spirit Stone recipe. Check existing recipe note for information.
- Added a few forges to Crystal Caverns in Frostone.
- Added the Ignore Trivial Loot flag to several temper components for the Firiona Vie server.
- Removed the Lore tag from the crafted planar steins.
- Added a level limit and recommended level to some Planes of Power jewel crafted items.
- Saltwater Seaweed is now tradable.
- Paladin and Shadowknight gnomes should now be able to gain skill above 200 in tinkering.
- Attempting to create planar sheets of metal will no longer destroy the Tanaan Smithing Hammer.
- Stacked items can't be combined in a container, they must be separated.
** User Interface **
- Fixed an issue in the interface with the size of the last columns in windows.
- /w all guild will now display all of your guild members.
- Made it so it is much easier to trade items to a player on a horse.
- Added new column to Bazaar Search Window that will display stat numbers if you choose to sort by a stat.
- /doability 1 should work again.
- Increased the size of raids to 72 members.
- Increased the amount of experience given to the raid for most raid groups.
** Music Player **
- The Music Player is now available on the Live servers. Alt-K opens the player. Using it should be relatively self-explanatory.
** Miscellaneous **
- Fixed a couple of broken teleporters in Paineel.
- The Missionaries should be back on Sullon Zek.
- Fixed a bug with NPCs' ability to mitigate slow.
- Fixed an odd bug with enraging NPCs that could cause zones to crash.
- Characters no longer consume food or get the food and drink messages when in trader mode.
- Small races should now be able to get out of the pool in Shadowhaven.
- Your box of Souls should now be returned to you when you are collecting souls. For those of you whose Box of Souls ended up stick in a Soul Orb, combining your Orb inside a Collector's Box from Curator Merri should yield your Box of Souls as well as your Soul Orb.
** Interface Files Changed **
EQUI.xml
EQUI_FileSelectionWnd.xml
EQUI_BazaarSearchWnd.xml
EQUI_MusicPlayerWnd.xml
** New Labels and Gauges **
- New Gauge type (22) = Current Song Progress. Will show the progress through the currently playing MP3
- New Label types (75-79):
75 = Current Song Name
76 = Current Song Duration Minutes Value
77 = Current Song Duration Seconds Value (2 digits always)
78 = Current Song Position Minutes Value
79 = Current Song Position Seconds Value (2 digits always)
** By Winged Messenger **
A lone messenger streaks across the rocky roads of the mighty Wakening Lands, an urgent message kept safely within his talons. Dire news he brings to his master, the Lord Yelinak; there is much turmoil in wake of the prismatic's release, and he must inform the ancient dragon of the weary times to come. As he rushes past the lumbering trees on all sides of him, he harks back to a more peaceful time. Certainly the brow of his mighty Lord showed less strain, less agitation, though not much. He had always thought that the prismatic's release would surely be more problematic than anything else he could imagine. He now knew that there was much more at stake than ever before, and that the Shrine would need to be on its guard.
As he came to the entrance of the Shrine, he tensed for a moment, hoping that this dire news wouldn't end the life that he and his kin had known for so long. Yet he feared that nothing could stop that change, for the might of the Kin would be tested in the coming times, and there would surely be dangers he had yet to see. He made his way through the corridors up to his master's chambers. As he came closer, he noticed new members of the Kin he had never before seen. As large as his Lord, they spoke quietly amongst themselves and with Yelinak himself. He was unnerved by this startling addition to the Shrine, but felt that it was likely necessary. Perhaps his Lord had already heard the news and had already begun making plans. Either way, it was his duty to inform Yelinak of the recent events; the Giants would know no struggle like that which the Shrine would give them.
He walked towards Lord Yelinak, majestic in his appearance yet with a certain calming aura about him. He cleared his throat and began, "M'lord Yelinak, I bring news from the East..."
November 15, 2002 3:00 am
------------------------------
** Planes of Power Zones Updated **
- The Ring of Torden should now function properly this time.
- If you were looking for Grenic's compatriots it may be worth your while to check places you have already looked.
The EverQuest Team
November 14, 2002 3:00 am
------------------------------
** Planes of Power Zones Updated **
- Addressed an issue with the Vallon Zek encounter.
- A certain Ogre in Drunder now returns a vial of blood under the correct circumstances.
- The Ring of Torden should now function correctly.
- Experience rewards have been increased in Plane of Storms to bring the zone more in line with the effort required, and also more in line with other planes of the same tier.
- The servers were not reset for this update.
The EverQuest Team
November 7, 2002 2:00 pm
------------------------------
EverQuest Instant Messenger is now available for a free trial period. Staying in touch with friends has never been so easy and convenient! With the ability to connect to the EverQuest chat server, you can log on to this instant messaging service as one of your characters and chat directly with players on any server, or create your own chat rooms.
You can download the trial version of EQIM at the EverQuestlive.com site. Just look for the EQIM feature at the top of the page.
October 31, 2002 3:00 am
------------------------------
- Fixed a bug that was causing people to crash when certain text was sent.
- Spell drops were updated in the first two tier Planes of Power zones.
- Classes with 61+ level spells from other expansions will find they no longer receive these spells as rewards for turning in scrolls in the Plane of Knowledge. Spells that can be purchased will no longer be given as rewards either.
- Updated several spells that classes should have been able to use but couldn't. Also removed a few no rent and no drop flags from some spells.
- Anizok Maximizing Device and Anizok Minimizing Device can now be recharged via class-6 manabattery.
- Anizok Gauze Press changed to have 20 charges, rechargeable via class-1 manabattery.
- Addressed issues with Thelin Poxbourne hedge maze event.
- The combination for Greasy Diamond of Innovation has been fixed.
- If you helped Grimror and are uncertain what to do next you may glean some knowledge through Identify.
- Technique of Master Wu should no longer give a "You can't hit them from here" message when using flying kick or eagle strike.
- Wembly in the Plane of Storms should be more willing to talk to people.
- Also note, the volume of information in the Bazaar window has increased with the new search feature added on the 25th. If you can't see the FIND button, you can stretch the window by clicking and dragging the lower right corner of the window.
October 25, 2002 3:00 am
------------------------------
- Added a toggle command for combat music called /combatmusic
- Sounds that fade out will just fade back in if restarted (instead of fading out and starting over as before). This should make combat mode toggling much more pleasant
- Added /mixahead command. You should only use this command if you are experiencing sounds skipping. The default value for this command is 8. Basically, this command tells the sound engine how far ahead to pre-mix your sound. The larger the number the further ahead it mixes. So if you are experiencing skipping, you may want to try increasing the mixahead value in small increments (increase it by 2 or 4 at a time). A setting of about 16 is probably as large as you should need, greater than that will cause your sounds to be noticeably delayed.
- Swarm and Reanimation-type pets no longer give exp when killed
- Swarm and Reanimation-type pets now properly credit their leader when they kill an NPC
- Fixed an issue with /raid that was causing some folks to crash
- Fixed a bug that was allowing players without Planes of Power to be invited to /raids
- Added minimum and maximum price search parameters for the Bazaar
- Fixed a stability issue on the servers
October 22, 2002 3:00 am
------------------------------
** Patch Information **
- Fixed a number of bugs associated with the new sound system. If you were having troubles yesterday and disabled sound and music, please feel free to give it another try today.
- NPC sounds should no longer clip out too fast.
- The Sound Realism slider in the Options window is once again working. Turning it all the way off will disable Reverb, as the old /reverb command used to.
- Quieted down people's personal sounds (sounds that you hear yourself making) a few notches.
- In minor updates throughout yesterday, also addressed a number of spells whose effects were no longer making their usual noises.
- Assorted content tweaks.
- The EverQuest Team
October 21, 2002 3:00 am
------------------------------
*** Planes of Power is now Live ***
Welcome to the Planes of Power. Of course, if you haven't purchased the expansion you can do so at our online store at www.everquest.com. If you have, prepare for adventure beyond Norrath and into the realm of the gods. We hope you have fun.
One of the new features included in the Planes of Power is a new way for NPCs deal with Player Characters. It allows NPCs to recognize certain actions taken by player characters. This may mean that an NPC will not be interested in talking to you until you've accomplished a certain task or until certain events have occurred. So some NPCs may not have much to say to you upon your first meeting, but might be more talkative later. This can also apply to events and locations that might react differently to a character that has accomplished a task than to one that has not.
** Important Notice about unspent Alternate Advancement points **
With this patch any character with more than 30 unspent AA points will have those points deleted when they log in.
** Patch Information **
- Reduced the maximum NPC level that Harmony can affect
- Fixed a bug with the bard epic effect and singing stacking
** Raids **
The Raid functionality has been added. Here is a brief overview of the Raid system.
In the past, experience on raids would generally go to a single group or a few groups. The group doing the most damage would get the experience on any given kill. But, that has been changed by a new Raid feature.
The Raid system is intended to aid in the formation and organizing raids and make looting on raids a little more manageable. It allows a certain amount of experience to be shared among all members of a raid. The basics of the system work very much like grouping has always worked. The Raid Leader is the leader of all the raid groups and the group leaders remain leaders of their individual groups.
Alt-R or /raidwindow will toggle the new Raid Window. This window works much like the group window. You can invite people to the raid (if you are the raid leader) and see a list of the folks in your raid, along with the status of those members (Raid Leader, Group Leader or raid member - which shows with no rank). It also shows you the group number of the individual members.
Only Raid Leaders and Raid Group Leaders can invite people to a raid. This is done with the Invite button on the raid window.
If a Raid Leader invites an individual (someone not in a group), that person joins the raid as a Raid Group Leader. If the Raid Leader invites a member of a group, the entire group joins the raid, and their group leader becomes a Raid Group Leader.
A Raid Group Leader can invite people to their group, thus inviting them to join the raid group as well.
Only a Raid Leader can remove someone from the raid. He or she does so simply by clicking on the character's name in the raid window and clicking the Disband button (also in the raid window).
Being removed from your group (using the normal grouping features) will not remove you from the raid.
You can remove yourself from the raid just by clicking the Disband button in the raid window.
Just like groups, raids have their own chat channel. /rsay works for the raid just as /gsay does for groups. Just like group chat, you can set this to be your default channel for a given chat window by choosing it from the right-click Default Channel context menu.
Experience for killing NPCs will be distributed to all members of the raid that are within range. However, the experience given will be smaller than the experience that would be earned by a single group. Generally, unless you are fighting NPCs that require a raid, you will still be better off earning experience with the old fashioned six-person group.
Raids will definitely allow for larger than traditional groups, however, much of EverQuest is designed with the six-person group in mind. Adding a small number of people to a given group will allow this "oversized" group to gain experience. However, we recommend that once a "raid" of ten or more people forms, a second, traditional group split off and adventure on their own.
The Raid Leader determines the looting permissions for any NPC killed by the raid. There are three types of looting that the leader can choose from (though the Raid Leader can always loot NPCs killed by the raid).
1. Only the raid leader can loot until the corpse opens up for all
2. Only the raid leader and raid group leaders can loot until the corpse opens up
3. Raid leader chooses up to 9 other raid members that can loot until the corpse opens up
Please note that altering loot permissions only applies to NPCs that are killed after changing this setting. See the command list below for more information about setting raid loot permissions.
When an item is looted by a raid member, a loot message is sent to all members of the raid.
Summary of Raid Commands:
- /raidwindow - toggles the raid window
- /makeraidleader [name]- reassigns raid leadership - Optional argument, name of raid member to be new leader, or you can just target them. If you type a person's name, that name is used instead of your current raid window target.
- /raidinvite - invites the current target to the raid
- /raidaccept - accepts an invitation to a raid
- /raiddecline - declines an invitation to a raid.
- /raidremove - removed the current raid target from the raid
- /setloottype <#> - sets the raid loot type - Takes one number argument: 1, 2, 3.
- /addraidlooter - adds a raid member as an early looter to all future corpses - Target a raid member in raid window.
- /removeraidlooter - removes a raid member as a possible looter from all future corpses - Target a raid member in raid window.
- /rsay - Sends a message to all members of the raid
October 17, 2002 3:00 am
------------------------------
- Some NPCs were unable to cast Area Effect spells and other innate abilities. This would have caused many of the recently retuned NPCs to be considerably easier than intended.
- Updated the range on the Magician spell Rod of Mystical Transvergence.
- Rods of Transvergence and Modulation Rods can no longer be used by those who do not have enough maximum hit points to survive the mana conversion. Please note: That is MAXIMUM hit points! It is still possible for appropriate level characters to rod themselves to death.
- Barbarian Beastlords will once again return to summoning their own dogs. Not someone else's. If you were summoning a dog that didn't appear familiar, please do not worry. Your own dog has returned. He missed you. Please feed him.
- Altered the stacking for the Shaman spell Voice of the Berserker to match the other spells in its line.
- Aura of White Petals has been updated to have its strength as it was prior to its stacking changes.
- In the original patch yesterday morning, /SHIELD was added as an innate ability that all Warriors now gain at level 35. Warriors may now choose to take a portion of melee damage that is intended for another. Warriors, please type /SHIELD for a full description of this ability. You may find that it assists you greatly in your groups.
Correspondingly, NPCs and Pets over level 30 who are Warriors were granted this ability as well. Certain NPCs and Pets may choose to protect beings that they have an affinity for, if they believe that it will benefit the shielded being. For now, however, there is not yet a way to manually cause or prevent this behavior in pets.
October 16, 2002 4:30 am
------------------------------
(Please note: This patch message has been edited since its 3:00 am release. Changed lines are marked with a '#'.)
** Odd New Objects in the Land **
Folks across Norrath and on Luclin have reported seeing odd new objects in various locations. They appear to be some sort of magical portal, though local spell casters have yet to discover how they arrived or exactly what their purpose is. They have determined, however, that these objects are slowly building in power. Attempting to use these portals at this time can have unexpected results. Experts recommend that adventurers avoid these objects until they know more. For more information on these odd devices, visit www.planesofpower.com
** Important Notice Regarding Alternate Advancement Reimbursement **
Due to the changes made to Manaburn, Rods of Mystical Transvergence and a previous change to Innate Regeneration, we are reimbursing several Alternate Advancement (AA) abilities.
Once you log in today, if you have any of these abilities, please check your AA window immediately! If you have more than 30 unspent points, IT IS VERY IMPORTANT that you make certain that your character has 30 or fewer AA points before The Planes of Power launches on October 21st! The return of these AA points may put your total number of unspent points over the 30 point maximum. Your pool will be reduced to 30 the first time you log in after the launch of Planes of Power on October 21st.
We will be refunding all Alternate Advancement points in the following abilities:
Innate Regeneration
Manaburn
Mental Clarity
Quick Summoning
Refunded Alternate Advancement points may be spent in any way you choose. None of these abilities is being removed, and of them only Manaburn is changing.
NOTE: Cannibalization, Gather Mana, and Mind and Body Rejuvenation will not function if you do not have the necessary prerequisite, Mental Clarity 3.
** Alternate Advancement **
# Mana Burn will only land any given target only once every minute. If a cast of Mana Burn is unable to land, the timer will not be used.
# Spell Casting Mastery once again works in the same manner that it did before the previous patch
- Spell Casting Fury and Soul Abrasion will now stack
- Illusion Tree and Minor Illusion will no longer be affected by Permanent Illusion
- Fixed Purify Soul. It should now cure poison, disease, damage over time spells as initially intended
- Reduced the reuse timer on Divine Resurrection from 72 hours to 36 hours
- Reduced the reuse timer on Mend Companion from 144 minutes to 36 minutes
- Reduced the reuse timer of Warcry from 72 minutes to 36 minutes. Increased its duration from 5 seconds per rank of the ability to 10 seconds per rank of the ability
** Defensive Changes **
- Decreased Monks' ability to mitigate damage (please see the Developer's Update on www.everquestlive.com for more details)
- Improved the ability of Paladins, Shadowknights, Warriors and Bards to mitigate damage in some situations
- Upgraded Warrior dodge cap to 190
- Upgraded Paladin, Shadowknight and Bard dodge cap to 170
- Upgraded Ranger and Beastlord dodge to 170 and defense to 240
** Spells **
- Complete Healing will now heal a maximum of 7,500 hit points
- The Rod of Mystical Transvergence spell has been altered. The spell has been renamed to "Mass Mystical Transvergence". When cast, this spell summons a Rod of Mystical Transvergence for everyone within 300 feet. This rod is no drop and contains 3 charges of Mystical Transvergence. Each charge restores 360 mana at the cost of 450 health. A player may only use a charge from the rod once every 5 minutes.
- Additionally, there is a new "Rod of Mystical Transvergence" spell for sale in the Bazaar. This is a single target spell that summons a rod with 3 charges of Mystical Transvergence. This rod has the same abilities and restrictions listed above. This spell is a targeted summon that costs 400 points of mana to cast.
- Changed the way Focus stacks with other strength and dexterity buffs
- Circle of Seasons will overwrite Resist Cold
- Dance of the Blade should now stack with McVaxius's Rousing Rondo
- Harness of Spirit and Rage should now stack properly
- Fufil's Curtailing Chant should now stack with Occlusion of Sound
- Protection of the Glades should now overwrite Blessed Armor of the Risen
- Blessed Armor of the Risen should now stack with Lunar Whispers
- Fixed a bug that was causing some applications of spells and ranged attacks from great distance to go unnoticed by NPCs
- Contact Innates (such as Boon of the Garou) should now be working for bards
- Fixed a bug that would sometimes cause helmets and sometimes hair to disappear after an illusion was cast
- Bard songs should now blink on recipients other than the bard
## Encounters ##
Due to the number of Luclin encounters requiring original Rods of Transvergence to be defeated by a reasonably sized force, a number of those encounters have been be re-tuned to shorten their duration.
** Interface **
- New Alarm feature added. When you first log in you will see a pop up asking if you wish to set an alarm and if so for how long. There is also an option to choose to never see that pop up again. If you choose this option you will need to set ShowAlarmWindow=TRUE in your eqclient.ini file in order to see the pop up again. The alarm will trigger after the time you set has elapsed, no matter what character you are playing on whatever server, up until the moment you log out.
- /played now displays how long you have been playing this session and, if an alarm has been set, how long until that alarm sounds.
- /pet sit down should now work on charmed NPCs
- Added 3 new context menu options for chat windows: Reply To, Tell a friend, Tell a Raidmember (for future use). Each of which has a submenu containing the list of Reply targets, Friends, or Raidmembers, as appropriate. Clicking on the player's name will place "/tell <name>" on the chat entry line, and move the focus there, closing the menu.
- Changed /loadskin. It now brings up a window that will allow you to select a skin from a list, determine whether to use the INI or not, then load the skin.
** Beastlords **
In order to allow us to better tune warders, we have made changes to the way that these pets work. Previously a Beastlord would summon a pet using an ability button and then use level-appropriate buff spells to increase the pet's level. Because of the way this mechanic works, it was very difficult to tune these pets. Hopefully this will have the side benefit of making things a little easier on Beastlords by reducing the number of steps required to cast the pet.
Beastlords will now summon their pets using spells rather than an ability. The series of spells that was previously used to buff the pets will now simply summon the appropriate pet.
Unfortunately, these pets will no longer zone with the Beastlord, and will need to be resummoned (instead of rebuffed) after zoning.
We have made some adjustments to these pets already.
- Added the casting time reduction that is already in place for Paladins, Rangers and Shadowknights to Beastlords
** Items **
- Merchants now highly value the Staff of Forbidden Rites and will only sell them at an extremely high price.
- Dance of the Blade should once again stack with Nature's Melody and Song of the Deep Seas
** Trade Skills **
- Made it slightly easier to get skill increases while doing Tailoring, Tinkering, Smithing, Baking, Brewing and Alchemy. Made it slightly more difficult to get skill increases with Pottery and Fletching
** Miscellaneous **
# Fixed an issue that was causing zones to crash in some circumstances
# Fixed an issue that was causing merchants to behave erratically while handling certain quantities of items
- Player Character corpses with no items will decay in 3 real life hours, not 7 days
- Fixed a bug that was causing Lay Hands to not heal enough damage
- Zoning while on a horse on a boat will no longer cause you to appear on the other side in the water
- /face (face picker) will no longer work while under the effects of an illusion
- Taunt should be more effective and more dependent on the level of the Taunt skill for PC's and NPC's below level 60.
- Levitation can no longer be cast on Traders in the Bazaar
** List of UI files updated or added with this patch **
UPDATED
EQUI.xml
EQUI_Animations.xml
EQUI_FriendsWnd.xml
EQUI_PetInfoWindow.xml
EQUI_OptionsWindow.xml
NEW FILES
EQUI_LoadskinWnd.xml
EQUI_AlarmWnd
** Fan Faire **
Greetings Norrathians! The portal to the San Francisco Fan Faire has been updated to include a full schedule, forums, hotel information and more. Registration is still open but the reservations are going fast. If wish to join the fun, teleport over to: http://everquest.station.sony.com/fanfaire/ to reserve your spot and see what's new! Those of you who have already registered, we'll see you on the weekend of November 8th in San Francisco!
October 11, 2002 1:00 pm
------------------------------
The road less traveled...
You stand in a clearing, gazing ahead at a fork in the road. You know, deep down, that you could follow the scenic route, but an instinct draws you to the other side. You know the road is not an easy path to follow, but the rewards are great: A sense of accomplishment, the satisfaction of helping your fellow players, the bonds of friendship that are forged during the journey. The path is that of the EverQuest Volunteer Guide Program. If you are strong of will, kind of heart, and at least eighteen years of age, the EverQuest Volunteer Guide Program may be for you.
If you are interested, the guide application may be found at https://guide.everquest.com/guideapp (note "https").
For more information on Guides, GMs, and the role they play in Norrath, please visit the GM/Guide FAQ on
everquestlive.com!
September 29, 2002 1:00 pm
------------------------------
Dear EverQuest European / U.K. Players,
You will be able to get Planes of Power on or around the same date that it's being released in the US by purchasing from our Online store. In addition, you will be able to get an upgrade through UbiSoft reasonably shortly after the US release (the exact date is as yet unannounced, but it will be shortly). We are working out the details now and will have more information this week. We will also make sure the pricing is reasonable if purchased through our online store.
We apologize if there has been any confusion.
Thanks,
- The EverQuest Team
September 27, 2002 1:00 am
------------------------------
This patch fixes a number of issues that first arose in yesterday's patch. We apologize
for the additional downtime.
- Zones should be considerably more stable.
- Item links no longer cause display lockups.
- NPCs once again choose their targets properly.
- Gravity Flux-type spells again function properly.
- The Guildmasters of Sanctus Seru are no longer quite as mean as they were previously.
- Ring of Flamewarding is again wearable by Wizards.
Thank you for your patience, and have a good weekend!
- The EverQuest Team
September 26, 2002 3:00 am
------------------------------
** Planes of Power Pre-Order Bonus **
If you pre-order the PoP expansion you will be able to purchase the Planes of Power original soundtrack CD for just an additional $4.95.
*** Important Notice about Alternate Advancement ***
- When a character has 30 or more AA points, they will receive a red message stating:
Warning: You are currently over the earned Advancement point limit of 30. Please spend some of your stored AA points. You will not be able to earn further AA points until you have fewer than 30. On October 21, 2002, all points over 30 in your AA pool will be deleted.
It seems appropriate that Advancement points earned prior to the release of Planes of Power be used for abilities from earlier expansions. In addition, many of the Luclin abilities are pre-requisites for Planes of Power abilities. When the servers come up on October 21st, all unused Alternate Advancement point pools over 30 will be wiped.
** New Spell Effects **
We are implementing a few new spell effects using our new particle effects engine with this patch as a way of easing into the new system. The new effects are faster and give you more control over how they look. We have changed the Display Options menu to accommodate these new options.
On the Display tab of the options window you will now find four options regarding particle effects. The first three, listed under Spell Particles are Near Clip Plane, Density and Opacity. These are the options for controlling the new particle effects. They will not change the old particle effects. The old particles are controlled using the Other Particles option.
Note on Near Clip Plane: This option chooses how close to you particles cease to be visible. So Near allows particles to be seen right up to the character. Farthest will clip out particles near the character and only show those at the 'farthest' distance.
Note on Opacity: This feature works at all settings for cards that support TnL. For other cards setting Opacity to 0% will turn off the effects and any other setting will show them fully.
We'll leave it up to you to discover which spells have the new particles...
** Alternate Advancement **
- Beastlords now have access to the Mend Companion ability.
- Beastlords now have access to three unique class alternate advancements.
- Permanent Illusion used with Wolf Form should no longer result in a wolf tinted by the Enchanter's robe.
- Updated Finishing Blow -
"This ability gives you a chance to finish off an NPC that is below 10 percent health and fleeing with a single blow. The first level works on NPC's below 50, the second on NPC's below 52, and the third on NPC's below 54. (Non-Warriors must first train one level of Combat Fury to use this ability.) "
- Improved Combat Fury for non-warriors to give more value to the points spent after level 1.
** Spells **
- New Druid and Shaman heal spells are available.
- The "Your XXX Spell Has Worn Off" messages for DoT spells will now go to the right character.
- Illusions that are of a character type that can't wear armor, such as werewolf, will no longer cause the character to be naked when the illusion drops.
- Fixed the Illusion wolf form swimming animation.
- Shaman and Beastlord Shrink spell has had its location restriction removed.
- The outcasts of Echo Caverns have deciphered new magics that allow Dark Knights to channel the essence of terror into their enemies minds. While their initial findings have proven very powerful, rumors exist of even greater magics that might channel the nightmares of Terris Thule herself into the minds of mortals. Where that power might be found is not yet known.
** Items **
- Items that grant bonuses to bandage skill should be working now.
- Guise of the Hunter no longer makes the user appear to be naked.
- Validus Custodus Battle Axe no longer looks like a bard mandolin when equipped by a pet.
** PvP Servers and Gameplay **
- The recent resist changes have been adjusted for PvP. They will not be exactly as they were prior to the resist change, but they should be reasonable now. Please let us know if you feel they need further adjustment.
- Player characters will no longer lose experience in the Arena areas on the Sullon Zek server.
- A player character can no longer tell his pet to attack another player's horse when not on a PvP area or in a duel.
- Kael, Skyshrine, and Thurgadin on Sullon Zek no longer have the newbie protection code active.
- Players should once again be able to use level-restricted clickable buffs on the Sullon Zek server.
** Pets **
- Improved Beastlord pets to scale more reasonably with the level of the Beastlord after level 40. This also puts them into line with the last round of pet balancing, which did not improve beastlord pets at the time.
** Horses **
- Locate corpse songs/spells should now work on horseback.
- Detect traps should also now work on horseback.
- Fixed a bug that was preventing manipulation of inventory items if a character died with coins on the cursor.
- Invisibility on horseback should now make your horse invisible to NPCs as it does the rider.
- Zoning with Levitate/Levitation and horse no longer causes the levitation to fail.
- Fixed a bug that would cause the horse 'buff' to disappear when zoning in some zones.
- Player characters on horseback can now be hit by various missiles, such as arrows, thrown weapons or the various bolt spells from PCs and NPCs.
- Call of the Hero should no longer put people under the world when the caster is on horseback.
- Dragging a corpse while on a horse will no longer cause the corpse fall under the world.
- You can now right click on spells to arrange your spell book when on a horse.
** Zone Specific **
- We believe that we fixed the major source of lockups caused for players in certain zones such as the Great Divide and Shadowhaven.
- Hierophant Oxyn in East Cabilis will be showing up again.
*** The Following User Interface Files have been changed with this patch ***
Updated:
equi.xml
equi_aawindow.xml
equi_optionswindow.xml
New:
equi_gemsgamewnd.xml
** User Interface **
- The New User Interface will default to ON. Officially, it is now just The User Interface and the other interface is now the Old User Interface. :)
- The Fade to Transparency option should now affect all bags.
- PC/NPC name on/off settings will now be saved when leaving the game.
- CTRL key being pressed while looking up or down no longer creates a cycle of constant panning up or down of the camera.
- Wrapping in the middle of the first word in an Item Tag no longer causes all text from then on being included in the tag.
- Fixed bug with Item Tags for items that contain comma's in their name.
- Pet sit button will now change to stand button if the pet is already sitting.
- Added Item Tags to list of buttons in the Chat Options page, you can now change the color of the tags.
- Item Tags now appear as part of the standard "You have looted an X" messages.
- Hair should no longer disappear in Character Creation of Female Ogre with Luclin models on.
- The Tracking window selection color is no longer the same as a yellow con mob.
** Miscellaneous **
- Fixed a bug with /hidecorpse making corpses invisible, but still be targetable.
- /Gems is now available in both User Interfaces.
** An Ancient Arises **
Deep within the recesses of a cave yet unknown to the world at large, a dark, menacing figure parts with the slumber that has kept him silent for ages. The eyes of a magnificently ominous beast pierce through the darkness, his memories flowing freely once more. In the depths of this beast's mind sparks the knowledge that his prophetic savior has been released from the ancient magiks of time, let loose upon an unsuspecting world where the kin shall once again reign supreme.
"My master's shackles have been trounced, and so it is written that in this world that has been so deftly overrun by pitiful mortals, he shall bring power back to those of the scale." The deep rumbling voice of the beast lingers throughout the cavernous hideaway, the barely distinguishable figure of a mighty lizard moves through the stone and dirt and dust as if to leave the gloomy surroundings and find his place once again upon Norrath proper.
"For far too long have I been a prisoner to the overwhelming might that kept me in a state of secluded sleep; for far too long have I been victim to the ancestral elemental forces keeping my master at bay. Now I awaken and bring life back to the disciples; now shall the lifeblood of the Four once again spread the word of prophecy!" The footsteps of this great beast are slow but sure, moving through the depths of the gaping mountain retreat towards the surface. Along the walls, pebbles and stones that have remained dormant for years crumble and crack, falling to the ground as the immense beast walks past.
A maze of dead ends and broken paths twists and turns in the expanse beyond the figure's resting place. The skeletons of those who had tried - and failed - to make their way to him in the years he spent in forced slumber remain, tumbled landmarks of heroes long lost. Slowly he moves, his reptilian eyes darting back and forth looking for any meager meals that may still be available. As he proceeds, he steps atop a mighty echelon, overlooking the bodies that could not defy the magical properties of the cave; fools of mortal thought, incapable of fathoming the power that lay beyond them. "Time has been good to you, my faithful warren... let us both pray that I no longer need you. The time for the revival is at hand."
September 16, 2002 3:00 am
------------------------------
** Store News **
New EverQuest products to pre-order and purchase on the Station Store:
Pre-order now!
The Planes of Power(tm) Expansion - Firiona Vie Figurine
The Planes of Power(tm) Official Prima Strategy Guide
EverQuest: Gold
Atlas: The Maps of Myrist(tm)
Role-Playing Game: Monsters of Norrath
Now available:
The Planes of Power(tm) T-shirt
Zippo(r) Lighter - Necromancer
So visit https://store.station.sony.com/ and take a look at what we have to offer for the present and the future.
September 6, 2002 3:00 am
------------------------------
** Experience Balancing **
The combination of the NPC experience changes and the post-50 "penalty level" rebalancing at once had a stronger effect than we anticipated.
We've altered a few of the changes to more accurately reflect our intent.
- The intent is to promote grouping, not to inflict a harsh nerf on our more casual players who frequently do not have the time to invest in finding and forming a group.
- However, we do not believe that going solo should be the single most optimal way to gain experience in EverQuest, which is what it had become prior to these changes.
That said, we'd like to take a moment and explain what happened.
On "Penalty Level" Rebalancing (Levels 51, 54, and 59):
- Many people saw much smaller experience gains at level 60. This was due to the "penalty level" rebalancing effect more than anything that was done to NPC experience values.
- In the previous patch, Level 60 became a full level, when it had been half a half level the day before.
- "Penalty levels" have once again been rebalanced such that level 60 is much closer to the half level that it was before, and experience was instead redistributed throughout the earlier levels.
- The penalty effect is still mostly mitigated, however the distribution should be more fair to those who are already level 60, yet do not have a full bar in that level.
On Grouping and Soloing:
- From the point of view of a level 60 character, a steady stream of level 45 NPCs represented the single best advancement in EverQuest, when the score is kept in "Experience Per Hour."
- With the advent of Luclin Alternate Abilities, nearly every sufficiently advanced level 60 could eventually and easily solo these "optimal" NPCs, and benefit more than they could in any type of grouping.
- We understand that forming a group, travelling to your destination, and other inconveniences have an effect on progression.
- With that in mind, we've undone the penalties for killing low blue NPCs, and instead added an additional group bonus to those who fight NPCs that are reasonably close to the group's level.
- The idea is that people should be willing to take risks, fighting the hardest NPCs that they possibly can, to reap the best rewards in EverQuest, as opposed to the blue NPCs that represent the lowest risk.
- For both groups and soloists, we strongly recommend trying out harder overall zones and the more difficult areas of zones that you might already be used to.
- We're confident that you're going to find that the additional risk pays off *extremely* well.
** Resistance Balancing **
Resistances have been altered in PvP to bring the game back into more of a balance. Please do remember, however; In both PvP and PvE, resist gear above 100 will still remain important. We thank you for your feedback. Please do continue let us know how the next round feels on a larger scale.
- The EverQuest Team
September 5, 2002 4:00 pm
------------------------------
** Fan Faire **
Fan Faire registration will open on Tuesday the 10th of September. This time Fan Faire will take place in San Francisco on November 8th and 9th. As usual, we expect this Fan Faire to sell out early, so if you plan to come please sign up as soon as you can.
See the EverQuest Live site at www.everquestlive.com for more details.
September 4, 2002 3:00 am
------------------------------
Please note: there are a lot of changes going into the game with today's patch.
Some of these changes (such as the changes to resistances and spell stacking)
will change aspects of the game that may make gameplay different. Keep this in
mind when you log in. With system-wide changes like these it is entirely
possible that there are still bugs. Please report these bugs using /bug, and
know that we will work to fix them as fast as we can. But also note that some
intended changes might appear as bugs (perhaps a spell no longer stacks with
another spell). Feel free to report these as bugs if you are unsure. But please
keep in mind the changes listed here as well.
** Petitions **
- /viewpetition displays the petition you have in the queue, if any.
- /deletepetition deletes the petition you have in the queue, if any (unless
that petition is currently being viewed by CS staff).
** Keyrings **
We will be resetting all keyrings with this patch. This will mean that all
existing keys in the keyrings will be removed. You will need to place keys back
onto the keyrings. Keys are added to the keyring by using the key. The keyring
is a part of the character, not a space in inventory. To find out what keys you
have just type /key and the game will give you a list. If you have recently
deleted a key, please contact your GM for a replacement.
** Experience Changes **
- We have smoothed out level progression from 50-60. This should mitigate the
"penalty effect" that occurs in levels 51, 54 and 59. Note that it
will cost the same experience to level from 50 to 60 as it did before. Also,
death experience loss will appear different in some levels. This is an
unfortunate side effect that must remain to prevent some experience exploits.
- We have rebalanced the rewards for killing NPCs for characters over level 50.
NPCs that are considerably weaker than you will give you less experience. NPCs
give more experience the higher level they are, and for the best results you
should fight the most challenging monsters you can reasonably manage.
** Spells **
- Fixed the "You have been healed for X damage" message. It once again
reports the actual amount of damage healed.
- Added a message telling the caster when NPC can't be charmed.
- Fixed a bug with duration boosting Alternate Advancement abilities and foci
that was only allowing the first 12 buff slots to be modified as opposed to all
15.
- Fixed a bug that was allowing focused and Alternate Advancement ability
enhanced damage spells to do more damage than they should (meaning that both the
Alternate Advancement and the Focus improve the base damage. The focus damage
was never supposed to compound with the added AA damage.)
- Enchanter spells that have a hit point component and a stun component can now
be partially resisted.
-The Enchanter "visage" series has had their recast time reduced to
make them more useful.
-Shadowknight and Necromancer Drain type spells can now be clicked off by the
recipient of the beneficial portion of the spell. For example; Shadowknights and
their group members can now click off the effects of spells such as Torrent of
Hate. While the target of spells such as Shadowbond can click it off if they so
choose.
-Torrent of Hate should no longer overwrite Call of the Predator
- Repaired some problems with Beastlord stat buffs - specifically that the
higher level ones weren't always better than the lower level ones.
- Furious Strength made available to Beastlords at Level 54
- Dexterity made available to Beastlords at Level 57
- Stamina made available to Beastlords at Level 57
- Divine aura is now available to Paladins at level 51, instead of level 55.
- Harmshield made available to Shadowknights at level 51
- Augment Death made available to Shadow Knights at Level 60
- Death Peace made available to Necromancers at level 60
- Flaming Sword of Xuzl has casting time reduced from 6 to 2.5 seconds, recast
increased from 2.5 to 60 seconds and mana cost lowered from 600 to 250.
- Unswerving Hammer of Faith has casting time reduced from 6 to 2.5 seconds,
recast increased from 2.5 to 60 seconds and mana cost lowered from 600 to 250.
-Added a new line of spells for Shadowknights, Voice of Darkness. Merchants in
Echo Caverns have been able to appropriate many of these new spells, but Voice
of Terris has so far eluded them.
-Added two new Mesmerize type spells for Bards, one at level 40, and one at
level 58. Rumor has it that Serilia Whistlewind has recovered the melody written
by Sionachie, but has been unable to locate the transcript for the Dreams of
Ayonae.
-Whispers in the taverns of Katta Castellum speak of recently discovered Ancient
melodies. Brave adventurers search far and wide for the song of the ancient
combine empire, and the Lullaby of Shadows.
- Higher level PCs will be more resistant to lower level NPCs' spells.
- Increased the number of spells that can be in effect on a given NPC to 30.
** Spell Stacking Changes **
We've made two changes to the way spells stack.
Damage Over Time (DoT) spells are spells that linger on the target doing damage.
Until today two different characters could not have the same DoT spell on the
same target. As long as one copy of the spell was active any new version of the
spell would not take hold. After today the same DoT spell cast by different
casters can affect the same target at the same time. Also, if you cast a DoT
spell on a target and you already have that spell active on it, the spell will
refresh. (Note: It will not be possible to stack Lifeburn).
This does not allow for inferior spells to stack along with superior spells.
(Example: Two Necromancers can both land Boil Blood on the same target. However,
Heat Blood, being an inferior spell, will still not stack.)
Several DoT spells that have debuff components such as Tuyen's Chant of Frost
and Breath of Ro will not stack due to the balance issues of having several
hundred points of Resistance debuffs on a single NPC.
We've also rewritten the way that spells stack with other spells with the same
benefits (for example, to spells that give bonus hit points). Generally speaking
spells may now 'bounce' off each other (neither overwriting the other) and
stacking issues should now be easier to resolve. In specific:
- Warder's Protection should have considerably fewer stacking and overwrite
issues. Thanks to the folks at the Ranger's Glade for all of their help in
'tracking' this down.
- Druid Damage Shields should now all stack in the correct order.
- Druid HP buffs are no longer overwriting stronger cleric HP buffs.
- Harness of Spirit and Visions of Grandeur should interact a bit more sanely.
- Existing effects should no longer be stripped off when the incoming spell
isn't going to take hold.
- Boon of Garou and other illusions now interact the right way.
- Spells that have both group and single target versions (and no special coding
to tell them otherwise) now mutually overwrite each other.
** Resistance Changes **
We've made some fairly drastic changes to the way the spell resistance system
works. Previously, there was only the smallest benefit to having resists over a
certain value. We've reworked resistance in its entirety, completely replacing
the old system with one that is more logical.
The idea behind the changes is pretty simple: Resists should matter in a way
that makes sense.
Important things to note about the new resistance system:
- Resists matter more for PCs. There are now tangible differences between having
50, 150, and 250 in a given resistance, for example. Resistance buffs, bard
songs, and resist gear have actual value, all the way up the line.
- Conversely, resistances also matter more for NPCs. Some NPCs became more
vulnerable to things they have always been vulnerable to, other NPCs became more
resistant to things that they were inclined to be somewhat resistant to.
- Resistance debuffs should also have more value, all the way up the line. For
the first time, resistance debuffs now have the ability to bring NPCs that were
lure-style only down into the range of being hit by normal spells.
- The hard level limit involving players casting on NPCs has been removed. This
used to be referred to in EQ folklore as the "Six Level Limit" (It was
actually 1.25 times the caster's level, but more people likely thought about it
the other way.) This means that in the vast majority of cases, there is at least
a small chance that a person will be able to connect a spell with an NPC, even
if they are out of that NPC's traditional level range.
- Overall, against NPCs that have medium-to-high resistances of a given type,
expect to see more full hits, fewer partials, but more full resists in the new
system. Taken over time, the damage done by PC casters to semi-high resistance
NPCs should be approximately the same, but will definitely improve when the
proper debuffs are applied (we wanted to make sure that this did not turn into a
universal nerf of casters).
We look forward to seeing how these changes play out in front of a larger
audience.
** Line of Sight Changes **
- For spells that require Line of Sight (LoS), the LoS check is now at the
beginning of the spellcast, not the end.
- Spells that require but do not have of LoS will now fail immediately.
- Harmful spells require LoS.
- Most Beneficial spells still do not require LoS.
- Bind Sight type spells do not require LoS.
- Any beneficial spell containing a Cancel Magic component requires LoS.
** Priest Changes **
- Clerics gain the Bash skill beginning at level 25. They will have a maximum
skill of 125 at level 50, 165 at level 60.
- Clerics gain Hammer of Judgement - a level 56 summoned hammer with a powerful
and frequent proc effect
- Clerics gain Yaulp V - a level 56 self-only melee and mana regen buff that
adds haste, dexterity, mana regeneration and stamina regeneration.
- Clerics gain Ethereal Elixir - a level 60 group version of Celestial Elixir,
the heal-over-time spell.
- Clerics gain Ethereal Light - a level 58 upgrade of Divine Light, the single
target heal spell.
- Clerics gain Ethereal Remedy - a level 59 upgrade of Remedy, the single target
heal spell.
** Sound and Music **
- We've started work on the sound and music engine. If you used to have
sound/music bugs, the first upgrade today might help a bit. This is the first
step down a long road. If your particular sound/music issue isn't fixed, please
be patient. There's no need to re-report existing sound/music bugs.
** Items **
- Items now display level-restricted statistics besides armor class and damage
as a red number with the unrestricted value in parentheses.
- Duration focus items now give focus message when a group spell lands on
caster.
- Blessed Coldain Prayer Shawl has been given a minor upgrade.
- Small Cloth Sandals are no longer wearable by large races.
- Fixed the Plane of Mischief boxes.
** Pets **
- Changed Specter pets so they're able to equip items and armor.
- Pet-only buffs now automatically attempt to target your pet if you cast them
with the wrong target or no target at all.
- Fixed a bug that would prevent the creation of Familiars and Warders if the
caster had created more than 99 in the same zone during the current game
session.
- The limit on the amount of haste that can be applied to a pet has been changed
(aka. The Pet Haste Cap). The amount of haste that can be placed on a pet now
scales with the level of its owner. The scaling occurs in a way that is
consistent with how much haste a given caster can place on his own pet (using a
Level 56 Magician as an example: The idea is that both Burnout IV and Muzzle of
Mardu should be useful).
** User Interface **
- Deleting Spells from Spellbook: Storebought spells can be deleted from your
spellbook. To delete a spell just right-click it to highlight it and tap the
DELETE key. Please note: This does not convert the spell back into a scroll. You
will have to buy a new scroll if you wish to re-scribe the spell. No
reimbursements will be made for deleted spells.
- Item Links: When you inspect an item with Alt-Left-Click, the item inspect
window stays up. To paste a "link" to the item you're looking at into
your chat bar, click on the item's graphic. That will "speak" a link
that others can click on to see the stats of the item, as if they were
inspecting it themselves.
- Updated the /note window. The old /note
- Fixed a bug with the tracking window that was showing the sorting set for
something other than normal for non-rangers (this was just a visual bug).
- Fixed a bug that sometimes caused a crash when zoning with the corpse window
open.
- Added UI Label type #74 = Player Title
- "Reply to" will properly prepend a ;tell in front of names that are
from other servers.
- Extended the "reply to" queue to 50 names.
- Fixed some aesthetics with labels. Percentages will never show above 100 now
(even during a heal). Corpse HP will always show 0.
- There will now be sound when banking coins.
** Bazaar **
- Added Focus Effect search parameter to the Bazaar.
- Items that are no-drop on other servers but tradable on Firiona Vie should now
show up in Bazaar searches on that server.
** Alternate Advancement **
- Frenzied Burnout no longer makes the pet suicide after the buff's duration
ends.
- Fixed a bug that would cause the Dire Charm ability not to reset if an
enchanter used it when he already had a pet.
- Fixed a bug that was causing Dire Charm to not give the "this mob cannot
be Dire Charmed" message or reset the timer in Cazic-Thule.
- Added the Quest Completion sound to AA point dings.
** Quests **
- There is a fellow named Moltak in Sol Temple. Killing him gives a negative
faction adjustment with the True Spirit faction. BUT, if you have a very, very
bad faction with True Spirit, killing him will also reset your faction to a more
tolerable level. So don't mess with this fellow unless folks on the True Spirit
faction are willing to kill you on sight.
- Made some modifications to the faction effects of the Wizard Epic quest.
- A powerful warder has been seen in the Skyfire Mountains. Those who seek
retribution against Ragefire would be wise to speak to her, she may be able to
provide information about his whereabouts.
** Miscellaneous **
- Merchants now display up to 80 items in their inventory. There should also be
less delay when opening up merchant windows.
- The Help window will now be displayed on startup. This will happen only if it
has never been seen before (since this change).
- Sirens should have female voices.
- Bloodgill Goblins should now sound like goblins.
- Several spell caster guild masters are now teaching magic skills. In
Shadowhaven: Palomidiar Allakhaji, Loewnsaz_Waldalon and Lamukas Kaesoanls. In
Echo Caverns: Kelador, Celerik, Wirgus and Yurian.
- Erudites of Prexus now start at the proper location.
- Bards singing songs should no longer prevent group members from /split'ting
coins. Only teleportation spells being cast in group will prevent /split'ting.
This change was required to keep coin from disappearing if a /split occurred
while a person was in the process of leaving a zone.
- Leather Padding can now be made from Rockhopper Hides.
- The EverQuest Team