It would be nice if each Guild was given the opportunity to let non-subscribers post to their forums. Have them fill out a simple registration form before they can post. My guilds link is on several different websites and we have folks visiting our website regularly who would love to chat with us on our forums but are unable to. This imo would be a smart move on SOE's part as it would let those who currently do not subscribe associate with players and fans of the game. For guilds that do not wish non-subscribers to post then they simply would have an option to block them out.

This is an interesting idea. I want your guild forums to feel like a home for you, and it certainly would add to that sense of ownership if your friends could drop by. I'll add this to my wish list.

*** Desert of Flames ***
- Epic x4 encounters in the Silent City and epic x2 and x4 bosses in the Living Tombs now have improved loot quality and drop rates. This improvement will also apply to existing items.
- The safety mechanisms in "The Court of the Blades: Dukarem’s Assault" should once again be visible.
- The following level 50+ Fabled crafting components no longer drop, as they will not be used in recipes: Adamantine Powder, Berellium Stone, Black Sapphire Glyph, Black Sapphire Rune, Elddar Glaze, and Elddar Priming. Merchants will offer a high price for these components.

*** Quests ***
- Players who are on or have completed "To Speak as a Dragon" and have already defeated Thyr can now go back to that zone to help friends pass through Thyr's chamber.
- Players over level 50 may start the entire "Disturbance" quest series even if they hadn't started it previously.

*** Commands, Controls, and User Interface ***
- Member and officer notes in the Guild window can once again be edited properly.

For those sensitive to how others see their avatars: You will be able to customize how your character will appear if someone chooses the SOGA option as their preference. The appearance data for the SOGA avatar and the US avatar will be seperate, so customization changes on one will NOT propagate to the other. This will be introduced before the SOGA option goes live in update 16.

The SOGA version models are maintained by the SOGA team. Character related assets for the US version are modified by the SOGA team for the SOGA characters. They monitor the forums so they see your comments and bug reports as well as having reports filtered to them through our QA system. Any changes made to SOGA data are propagated to the US version at the same time.

This is as good a place as any to explain again where these models come from. SOGA is a company that is a joint venture between SOE and Gamania. It was a partnership formed to bring EverQuest II and other projects to the Asian Pacific market.

As part of the culturalization to make our game more appealing to players in those regions, SOGA wanted to change some of the player models. The emphasis for them was to have a certain look, not to offer a wide range of customizations.

I've received many kind comments over the years from people who were readers of the site back then, so this is a chance for those of you who weren't MMO players in those days to catch a glimpse of what that period was like. And for those who are curious about how someone could parlay a modicum of writing ability into a career in the games industry, well, here you go.

Enjoy this little peek at my awkward years, because I have no plans to show off my old elementary school photos or post my college poetry. I do have some pride, after all.

Lore and Legend quests, also known as Enemy Mastery quests, involve the study of various creatures to learn more about them. In order to gain knowledge about these creatures, you must find and study various body parts. You can find suitable body parts for your studies by killing the type of creature you wish to learn more about. Find out more about these types of quests.

These Lore and Legend quests are but a small sample of the creature mastery quests available in EverQuest II.

Andrew "Tamat" Beegle: Will you guys be introducing AA's (Alternate Abilities) for the high-end players that grind to 60 and get bored out of their minds? Or at least something similar to that, enabling players to advance their characters past the max adventure level?

Ryan "Blackguard" Shwayder: We’re absolutely looking into the kinds of things we can do for parallel or post-end game advancement. Adding new character powers is a tricky balancing act. We want to ensure that whatever we put out there is fun, rewarding, and powerful. At the same time, the trick is for us to do so in a way where we do not cause a stratified layer of “you must have all of your extra advancement, or you can no longer play the game,” as that then steers the entire direction of the game toward the hardest of the hardcore, which isn’t desirable for the other 97% of the people who play.

*** Desert of Flames ***
- Each group entering the Pedestal of Sky will now arrive in its own instance.
- Those who are asked to enter the Library of Light will now be able to do so.

*** The Norrathian Express ***
- Messages with attachments can no longer be deleted until the gifts are received.

*** Quests ***
- Guard-Squire Williamson should once again give out her City Task writs.

*** Spells and Combat Arts ***

- Beneficial spells that cause damage as part of their effect (e.g. spells that convert health to power) should no longer do additional damage if the caster increases his or her intelligence.
- Spells that grant immunity to certain negative effects (such as root, stun, and stifle) will no longer prevent beneficial spells from applying those conditions.
- Beneficial spells should fizzle slightly less frequently, depending on the caster's skills.

*** Art ***

- Female SOGA models should no longer disappear after zoning.
- Certain robe hoods should no longer appear as wire frames.
- Griffon towers have been enlarged slightly at the top and rails have been added to the ramps. This brings the towers into compliance with the Griffon Tamer's Union safety guidelines.

*** Desert of Flames ***

Quests

- Adventurers are now able to successfully sabotage the Sandscrawler and Kromtorr relations in "Goblin Diplomacy." Speak with Captain Sterling in the Pillars of Flame for more details.

Items

- The Twin Dragons should once again drop their scales.
- Some of Rakjallar the Rujark Champion's loot has been modified.

***Zones and Population***

- Icy Digs no longer bars the entry of high level players.

*** SOGA Models ***

- You can now choose to use either the SOGA models or the original character models!
- You have the ability to select which race-gender combinations you would like to use the new models for in Options > SOGA Models.
- Your choices determine which models you see on your screen. Other players will see your character in whichever model they have chosen to display.
- There are new models for the following races:
* Barbarian
* Dark Elf
* Dwarf
* Erudite
* Gnome
* Half Elf
* High Elf
* Human
* Ogre
* Wood Elf
- You will have the ability to recustomize your character's appearance in a future update.

***Gameplay***

- The rate at which you gain vitality as well as maximum vitality have been increased for higher level players. This was done because players would burn through vitality very quickly at higher levels.

***Quests***

Many heritage quests have been modified to be more fun and less tedious:
* A number of named creatures related to heritage quests now have placeholders with distinct names themselves.
* The respawn times on some creatures have been reduced, while others now have a greater likelihood of spawning.
* Several creatures that used to despawn after a period of time no longer do so.
* Two named creatures related to the Greater Lightstone quest are now Heroic x1 instead of Heroic x2.
* The following heritage quests have been modified: Bag of Sewn Evil Eye, Flowing Black Silk Sash, Ghoulbane, Golden Efreeti Boots, Greater Lightstone, Manastone, Polished Granite Tomahawk, Screaming Mace, Shiny Brass Halberd, Short Sword of the Ykesha, Stein of Moggok, Tobin's Mystical Eyepatch, Dwarven Work Boots, Glowing Black Stone, Guise of the Deceiver, Heirophant's Crook.
- Many of the tomes found in Zek, the Orcish Wastes are available as Second Edition collectors' books! These books are also available through Sages Indis Surion and Navarius Orvalis if you have previously completed the old tome version of those quests.
- Arven no longer requires the completion of "Ruins of Varsoon: Investigating the Masoleum" before he will give the Chamber of Immortality access quest, "Where Will This Lead Me?"
- Killing any owlbear in Nektulos forest will now count for the quest Mercenary Contract - Owlbear Extinction.

Only a few more days left to enter our Everquest II Halloween Wallpaper contest. Share your scariest, your funniest, your most entertaining... put it all together in a collage or create one full image. Whatever strikes your ghoulish fancy this Halloween season!

Enter your best screenshots or your best art. Just make sure it's EQ2 as well as Halloween themed! Rules are right here and entries in this thread in the Wayward Tavern.

What's the prize you ask? It's an EQ2 Collector's Edition Tin complete with in-game pet dragon!

In effort to increase our forum speed, we have decided to implement a new feature. This feature will allow you to collapse all categories you are not using, while leaving your most active categories expanded and in the order you desire.

To begin using this feature, please go to the bottom of your page and click the link titled "Start using Collapsable Categories/Forums".  This will automatically refresh your page, collapsing all categories. You are then able to expand the categores in the order you wish to view them, leaving all categories/forums you do not wish to view collapsed and at the bottom of your screen.

When you choose to use the Collapsable Categories feature, a new link will appear at the bottom of your page, entitled "Collapse All", which will return all categories/forums back to their original order and collapsed. This is particularly useful if you wish to reorder your forums. Rather than manually collapsing and expanding, you can collapse them all and expand in the new order you desire.

Upon initiating this feature through the link provided, the link is transformed into "Stop using Collapsable Categories/Forums", allowing you to return all categories/forums to their original order and expanded views. Clicking this will also remove the "Collapse All" capability. If you elect this option without collapsing all categories/forums, the next time you wish to use the Collapsable feature, your categories/forums will appear in the same order you had them in prior to stopping use of the feature.

When expanding the categories, they will appear at the top of your list in the order you open them. This will allow users to set the manner in which they wish to see the categories. The same holds true for the specific forums in each category. For example, if you have five categories which you read regularly (and ignore all others), then you are now able to have those five open and available for reading each time you log in. Now, let's say that you read Category #3 more than #1, and you read #2 more than #5. Category #4 is the last one you read. So if you wish to have the categories listed in the order you read them, you would open them in this following order:

Category 3
Category 1
Category 2
Category 5
Category 4

Each time you log in, the categories will be listed in the order you select (as in the above example), and the remainder will be collapsed and listed below them. The order which the collapsed categories are listed is identical to their standard order in the instance prior to this upgrade. The only customization the users can make as to their order is when expanding the categories.

This also holds true for each forum within the categories. Initially, each forum will be collapsed within the category. You can then expand them in the order in which you wish to view them, leaving those forums in which you have no interest collapsed. The collapsed forums will remain along the bottom of the category listing.

These options will remain in effect even when placing the forums/categories on your "Favorites" list in your Control Panel. Therefore, the previous update allowing folks to add forums to your favorites and access them from any instance will have no effect on this feature. You will still be able to access your favorites from any instance, and they will still appear in the order you place them in with this feature.

If you wish to make changes to the order of your forums and/or categories, you can either collapse and re-expand them in the order you desire or, if you wish to start all over completely, you only need click on the "Collapse All" link at the bottom of the main index in each instance. This will return all categories and forums to their original listing order and collapse each one of them. You can then proceed to expand in the new desired order.

When a new category and/or forum is added to an instance, said category or forum will automatically be collapsed. However, if the order of the category and/or forum is changed, this will cause all categories and forums to collapse back to their original starting point. You will then be required to once again expand and order your categories/forums to your liking.

When you first log into the forums, you will see a new header on the top of your page with a brief outline of this information. Below that information is a link entitled "Click here to remove this information". Upon clicking that, the header will be removed. If you wish to view that information in the future, at the bottom of the main index of the instance, you will see a link entitled "View Collapse Information" below the "Stop using Collapsing Categories/Forums" link. Clicking this will return the header to its original location, with the option to remove it once again in place.

For users who are not logged in or registered, the view will remain unchanged. No categories will be collapsed, and they will have no ability to collapse and/or rearrange the order of the forums in their views.

This new feature will be released to all instances on Thursday, October 27, 2005, at 6:00pm PDT.

If you have any comments and/or questions, please contact either myself or Teresk. Thanks!

AutumnKiss
Stratics Forums Programming Team

*** Quests ***

- Hogarr and Ondray for the Freeport Brawler class quest have been told to take it a little easier on brawler initiates.
- Darzi should now only offer her quest twice

***Zones and Population***

- A new instance of the Fountain of Life will now be created for each raid that enters the zone.
- The reuse timer for the Fountain of Life has been reduced to 20 hours.
- All of the eyes related to the Fountain of Life are now tradable.
- The Uzu Eye related to the Fountain of Life should now drop off Izur the Aegis and Laith the Ravager.
- Some of the rare NPCs that drop eyes for the Fountain of Life had their chances of spawning increased or their spawn times reduced.
- The doorway to the Ancient's Table has been found again.

***Items***

- You should now be able to pick up the bat mobile.

*** Commands, Controls, and User Interface ***

- An issue causing players to hang at "Loading UI Resources" has been corrected

First in an Exclusive series of Q&As, our own "Robc" speaks with Flying Lab Software's Leade Designer, Taylor Daynes about Pirates of the Burning Sea.

We feel that it’s very important for players to have an impact through both trade and combat. This is where our economy and our nation vs. nation PvP come into play. Players can choose to participate in direct combat, port conquest and economic warfare, or they can try to steer clear of conflict. But in the end, there’s no way to avoid the impacts of the national competition, because ports are constantly changing hands, trade routes are opening up and getting tapped out, and the pirates and naval ships that patrol your waters are always adapting to the new strategic landscape.

Read the Question and Answer session here.

*** Desert of Flames ***
Quests
- Nhjela's tome can be read by those who have completed her quest, "The Mad Poet." If you've completed her quest and are unsure where to go next, the journal now gives you another clue.
- Players who were stuck outside of the Peacock Club after leaving by other means than the door inside can now reenter the zone to complete the final stage.

Zones and Population
- The servant's entrance door knockers in the palaces of Truth and Coin have been fixed.
- Mender Ahman has returned to duty in Maj’Dul

*** Quests ***
- "Jumjum for the Soul" will now have a chance of updating on any bixie in Drafling Tower.

*** Spells and Combat Arts ***
- Melee or ranged combat arts will now correctly turn on the corresponding auto-attack.

*** Tradeskills *** - It now takes less tradeskill XP to gain levels as an artisan.
- The bonus previously given to tradeskill XP has been converted into these shorter tradeskill levels.
- You may notice that you are logging in with more tradeskill experience than you had when you last logged out.
- If you have feedback on the somewhat faster pace of tradeskill advancement, please feel free to comment on the General Tradeskill Discussion board: http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board?board.id=general_tradeskill

*** Quests ***

- Boarding the pirate ship while on the quest "An Ancient Desert Power" will now update for all group members.

*** Commands, Controls, and User Interface ***

- Many UI windows will be easier to drag and right-click to bring up the context menu.
- Hotkey bars should again display all 12 hotkeys correctly.
- The compass will point in the right direction if resized.

*** Halloween Haunts Norrath ***

- Jeepers creepers! Mystery and mischief are afoot as the holiday approaches!
- Pumpkin patches have sprouted up throughout Qeynos and Freeport. Use them to decorate your neighborhood!
- Black cats wander the cities. Don't let them cross your path!
- Another crew of Gigglegibber goblins can be found in Freeport and Qeynos. They'll send you on a trick-or-treat game that you can play with local residents. Watch out for those tricks!
- There are rumors of a haunted house in each city. Talk to the Gigglegibber Scalper in North Qeynos or West Freeport to find out more. Players of all levels can get in on the fun!
- Ponchy Shorttoe of Windstalker Village in Antonica needs help with a baffling and mysterious problem. It seems the scarecrows have gotten riled up!
- What would Halloween be without masks? Disguise yourself as a creepy critter or as your favorite monarch!

*** Items ***

- Crafted Ebon armor is now black.
- Crafted Cobalt armor is now blue.
- Many pieces of armor that recently became brightly colored have been toned down to more appropriate levels.

A Halloween Contest... Everquest II Style!

Are you finding yourself in situations that are a bit scary?

Have you seen something that was supposed to be scary, but instead caused you to giggle relentlessly every time you thought of it?

Or maybe... just maybe you have an image in your head you want to share with everyone?

Well now is your chance! Beginning today, we are taking entries for a Everquest II Halloween Wallpaper contest. Share your scariest, your funniest, your most entertaining... put it all together in a collage or create one full image. Whatever strikes your ghoulish fancy this Halloween season!

Here are the rules:

1. Your image must contain an Everquest II theme. Actual screenshots from the game are not required, however it must be apparent that your images are involving EQ2 content/themes.
   


2. No inappropriate material will be accepted. This means no nudity, extreme material, or anything unacceptable to be displayed publically. Please be sure to follow the EQII Stratics Rules of Conduct when compiling your images. Any submissions not falling within these guidelines will be subject to immediate disqualification, and action may be taken against the Stratics account of the person submitting the material.
   


3. All submissions must be made by no later than 11:59pm MDT on Sunday, October 23, 2005.
   


4. Voting on submissions will begin Monday, October 24, 2005, and will continue until 11:50pm MDT on Sunday, October 30, 2005. The winner will be announced Halloween day.

Not much to it, eh? But now I'm sure y'all are interested inwhat you will win!

The winner of this contest will receive a Sony Online Entertainment Official Collector's Edition of Everquest II, complete with pet dragon!

Good luck to everyone!

AutumnKiss
Managing Editor
Everquest II Stratics

Patience pays off.

The Hotfix from the previous Warden update required me to get special approval like all other hotfix changes (I can't make changes and expect them to appear the next day), because the amount of testing or research time available to put them in is not the same as a change made during a live update means that there's more risk involved. I worked with the information that I had when I got back and also had to take into consideration the impact that LU14 had on Reactive heals because of the decreased attack speed of NPCs, so I had to watch the dual impact that it had on balance of specialty heals and analyze that data over time. I take a very research oriented approach that does not respond to immediate demands and gratification. Hurling flames and insults doesn't do any good for the player community, and won't get things done any faster and it only makes it more difficult for communication between player and developer to flourish. (Would you willingly walk in a pit of flames?).

Constructive feedback is always welcome (and helpful) and I thank those that post consolidated threads that stick to the issues without negativity. I used to be in a position where I would fight for balance and bug fixes for my class. I stuck to making clear points based on testing and offered alternative solutions and kept a positive attitude while understanding that changes took time, and in turn I received a good feedback loop between player and developer. Like I said before, I’m here to ensure that the combat system is balanced and working properly, and I make adjustments as needed.

*** Desert of Flames ***
- Some of the Fabled weapons originating in the Ro region have been given new appearances.
- Certain epic encounters that previously conned orange to level 60 players will now con yellow.
- Anyone who accidentally deleted "A Damsel in Distress" after completing any of the three component quests can now redo the "A Damsel in Distress" quest.

*** The Splitpaw Saga ***
- Skoam Anvilpaw no longer hits quite as hard.

*** Gameplay ***
- Mounts will now be dismissed if you feign death while aboard one.
- Mounts will now be suspended rather than dismissed if you enter water while aboard one. The mount will reappear when you return to dry land.

*** Epic Encounters ***
- The auto-attack, spell, and combat art damage of all x2, x3, and x4 epic encounters has been reduced.

*** Items ***
- Crafted Ebon armor is now black.
- Crafted Cobalt armor is now blue.
- Many pieces of armor that recently became brightly colored have been toned down to more appropriate levels.
- The Scepter of Rahotep has been made slightly more powerful.

This week's EQ2's-day show is featuring an exclusive interview with theguild leader of an extraordinary guild playing the popular Sony OnlineEntertainment guild, EverQuest 2. On July 19, 2005, Sony OnlineEntertainment launched a new program that stirred the controversy of the MMO world. Sony Station Exchange gives players the ability to sell, buy, and trade in-game virtual items for real world cash in a never-beforesanctioned auctioning system set up by the development company itself.

Using this system to sell virtual items from high level encounters in thegame (encounters that can only be killed by large groups of skilledgamers), Dark Horizon began a fundraising effort. In a little over amonth, they raised $2800. Some virtual items sold for nearly $250 each to the astonishment of the guild! While the money was rolling in, the guild had to decide what to do with it all. Then Hurricane Katrina helped them decide. Several in the guild were personally affected by the storm, one was left completely homeless. The guild decided the money should go tohelp those whose lives have been devastated by this storm and theflooding.

Halloween is coming early to Norrath in EverQuest II and the team has planned some great events surrounding the spooky holiday which you can read below. We have also had some great updates recently to the live game, which we would like to call out as well. Read on to see all the fun that’s happening in EverQuest II.

Put Your Silver Where Your Mouth Is: So, you think you’re tough and you want to duke it out with someone in a duel. Several weeks ago we added the “/duelbet” option to place a wager on the action. Show how confident you are by betting on yourself and maybe make a coin or two.

Goblins Run Vegas Style Action: A couple weeks ago, players first experienced the Gigglegibber Goblin Gamblin’ Game and tested their favor with Lady Luck. Just purchase a ticket for 10 silver from Gigglegibber Goblins and if you get matching numbers, you win the jackpot! The pot grows larger as more people play, you can play as often as you like, and you find out instantly if you’ve won. Match 2 numbers and get 10 silver, 3 matching numbers wins 50 silver, 4 matches wins 2 gold and 50 silver, 5 gets a whopping 25 gold, and matching all 6 wins the whole jackpot!

*Note: The Gamblin’ Game is unavailable on Station Exchange-enabled servers.

Halloween Comes Early to EQII: Starting Oct. 26, players should look for a trick-or-treat style questing game from Gigglegibber Goblins, discover spooky masks, dangerous black cats, mysterious pumpkin patches, and investigate rumors of haunted houses in the cities. Check out the details and see spooky screenshots on our web site.

What’s That Spell?: A lot of cool changes have been made to the EQII combat system over the past month. To help everyone keep track of the new information, our web team has created an updated spell list for every class! Just click on your class to see the name, level, and description for every spell.

Don't delay... the fun and games await you in Everquest II!

Recently, our Dark and Light Stratics team was able to discuss some burning topics with Stephane Quilichini, Lead Designer for Dark and Light:

DnL Stratics: Can you give our readers an overview of combat? Does the combat system have any features that can be considered unique from other MMORPGs?

Stephane: We do believe that pets, AI, and mounts use is a part of combat that has been very rarely that developed in a MMO. A player will be able to manage up to 3 pets at the same time and dozens of "summons". If you are a group at the same place, I guarantee that the screen gets full very quickly! Combat will be at the level of other MMOs on the market.

Not for the faint of heart as this isn't your typical 5 question interview as our very own Jack and Zzeno of RFOnline get in some quality time together on Rising Force Online. Two marvelous exclusive screenshots are also linked here on the Interview with Zzeno

Also, don't forget the RFO / Stratics Giveaway which ends tomorrow - Two tickets to the London MCM Expo at the end of October. Enter the contest here!

Join us once again for our monthly Star Wars Galaxies House of Commons this Wednesday, October 19th at 5pm PDT / 8pm EDT / midnight UTC/GMT in the #StraticsHoC channel on Stratics IRC. The main topic of discussion will be the upcoming Trials of Obi-Wan expansion.

We will have two more "grab-bags" of SWG swag to give away, so stick around after the HoC has ended for a chance on this swag.

You can connect to one of our IRC servers through the use of your favorite IRC client, such as mIRC, ircle, xchat, or whichever you prefer. Connect to irc.stratics.com port 6668 or whichever server is closest to you:

• irc.epaxsys.net port 6668, USA - Colorado
• stratics.frws.com port 6668, USA - Colorado
• irc.glowfish.de port 6668, EU - Germany
• stratics.afraidyet.net 6668, USA - Atlanta

You may also connect through our handy Java link which may be found right here. You must have Java installed to use this which can be downloaded from the Java homepage.

*** Spells and Combat Arts ***
Dirge changes:
- Merchant Eornim, Ana-asha, Lumia, Terefala, and Aldywar now stock copies of Elegy of Awakening

Jeepers creepers! Mystery and mischief are afoot as the holiday approaches! Coming soon in Live Update #15, several strange happenings will come to light! Pumpkin patches have sprouted up throughout Qeynos and Freeport. Use them to decorate your neighborhood! Black cats wander the cities. Don't let them cross your path!

Another crew of Gigglegibber goblins can be found in Freeport and Qeynos. They'll send you on a trick-or-treat game that you can play with local residents. Watch out for those tricks!

There are rumors of a haunted house in each city. Talk to the Gigglegibber Scalper in North Qeynos or West Freeport to find out more. Players of all levels can get in on the fun!

PRIZES: The top 5 Winners will each receive an official Dungeons & Dragons Online T-Shirt! In addition, one Grand Prize Winner will also receive a Complete D&D Basic Set. All other entries, as long as they meet requirements, will be displayed on an upcoming DDO Wallpaper Section at DDO Stratics

Rules can be found here: http://ddo.stratics.com/#newsitem1129322374,19083,

In celebration of their first UK showing, Rising Force Online has given Stratics readers a chance to win two pairs of tickets to the London MCM Expo. Just answer one simple question and put in for the drawing!Two lucky winners will get:

• A pair of tickets to the London MCM Expo on the 29th and 30th of October (either Saturday or Sunday), and
• Quality and hands-on time with RFO Devs playing on the UK Client at the show, plus
• A special RFO event with goodies - which we hope winners will share by sending us pictures!

Enter this drawing here!

*** Headlines ***
- Explore a haunted house and face frightening fiends as Halloween comes to Norrath!
- All male player races now get to go shirtless!
- Level 50 crafted armor gets improved stats!

*** Halloween Haunts Norrath ***
- Jeepers creepers! Mystery and mischief are afoot as the holiday approaches!
- Pumpkin patches have sprouted up throughout Qeynos and Freeport. Use them to decorate your neighborhood!
- Black cats wander the cities. Don't let them cross your path!
- Another crew of Gigglegibber goblins can be found in Freeport and Qeynos. They'll send you on a trick-or-treat game that you can play with local residents. Watch out for those tricks!
- There are rumors of a haunted house in each city. Talk to the Gigglegibber Scalper in North Qeynos or West Freeport to find out more. Players of all levels can get in on the fun!
- Ponchy Shorttoe of Windstalker Village in Antonica needs help with a baffling and mysterious problem. It seems the scarecrows have gotten riled up!
- What would Halloween be without masks? Disguise yourself as a creepy critter or as your favorite monarch!

*** Desert of Flames ***
- Defeating any named in the single group version of Poets Palace will start an 18-hour reuse timer. Scales should drop at a rate appropriate for the reuse timer.
- In Court of Truth: Riddle of the Sphinx, Altairenanhk the Riddler will now announce who has been chosen to answer his riddle.
- Groups entering the Blades Arena should now get their own instances.
- Naga in the Pillars of Flame are now on the Aravu Naga faction.

*** The Gigglegibber Goblin Gamblin' Game ***
- Authorities have apprehended the goblins who were dipping into the lottery jackpot. Some of the plat that they stole has been returned to the winnings pool.

*** Gameplay ***
- Deaths due to environmental conditions (e.g. lava, drowning, falling) should no longer leave behind a spirit shard. You will auto-absorb the shard but will still accrue debt and item damage.
- The health pool of heroic 3-up-arrow (^^^) NPCs has been reduced.
- The experience awarded for defeating NPCs with one or more up arrows has been increased. When fighting heroic encounters, this should make it more rewarding to defeat smaller groups of tougher opponents (such as a single 3-up, two 2-ups, or three 3-ups) instead of large groups of weaker enemies.
- Auto-attack is now turned off when the implied target dies. This allows you to keep a group-mate targeted without the hassle of turning off auto-attack at the end of each fight.
- Using a ranged attack will now automatically turn on ranged auto-attack.
- Invisibility and Stealth abilities will now automatically turn off ranged and melee auto-attack.
- Attempting to purchase a Lore item when you already have one will now provide a clearer error message.
- Attempting to collect a Lore item from your house when you already have one will now provide a clearer error message.

In the near future a new PVP system will be added to the already exciting world of EverQuest II. We would like to know whether you, the EQ II Community and players, would prefer to:

• No preference.
• Add the new PVP system to the existing servers? (31%)
• Open PVP exclusive servers with their own ruleset? (66%)

Think You’ve Got What it Takes? New SOE Job Opportunities Available

Think you've got what it takes? Think you could do a better job? Now's your chance to prove it! Sony Online Entertainment, a worldwide leader in massively multiplayer online gaming, is always looking for new talent to improve our games and services. Currently, there are several new positions available in SOE's Platform and Web Presence departments! Creative Designer – Site Architecture, Assistant Design Producer, Web Artist, and Senior Web Developer. Read more about each position below.

Creative Designer, Site Architecture

SOE is seeking a Creative Designer / Information Architect for their Platform/Web Presence Department to work in a small, tight-knit team on designing the user experience for web application integration projects that connect to Massively Multiplayer Computer Games. Responsibilities include translating business problems and requirements into compelling, innovative user experience designs, creating wireframes, use cases, UI models, information architecture, wire frames, mock-ups and prototypes, design briefs, design specs and guidelines, and screen flows. Click here to read the full job description.

Assistant Design Producer – Station Players

An Assistant Design Producer leads a multi-department team within the Platform organization on key products that have game interfacing elements. Works with Platform & Game Team Project managers to co-ordinate cross-department scheduling and organization. Ensures that all departments stay on schedule and are aware of new features and work in development. This position is centered around development of the Station Players service. Click here to read the full job description.

Web Artist

Highly creative and adept artist, capable of working alone as well as with a team of other artists and developers in a fast-paced production environment. Produces high-quality art for web, installers, icons and user interfaces. Demonstrates strong understanding of web usability, art application to web, color theory, design/layout principles and animation. Click here to read the full job description.

Senior Web Designer

Provide art, web design, development programming and content writing for a variety of application development projects within a fast paced and high production team. Demonstrate an ability to self manage assigned projects, overcome obstacles and challenges, interact professionally with internal customers, produce project plans and ensure development to schedule when required. Build and maintain cutting edge, state-of-the-art web pages that support, attract, and retain players for our world-class online games. Click here to the full job description.

*** Desert of Flames ***
- Those who have earned the Carpet of El'khazi or the Scepter of Rahotep but sold or destroyed them can buy another from the Shady Swashbuckler at the Nektulos Forest docks.

*** Gameplay ***
- Spirit shards remaining on the Isle of Refuge will now be correctly absorbed when leaving the island.

*** Spells and Combat Arts ***
- Spells that transfer threat to another party member (e.g. Murderous Intent) are now limited to a 30-meter range. Initial threat from aggroing an NPC will not be transferred to the spell target.
- Spells that grant an additional chance at avoidance (e.g. Allay) will now work within 20 meters from the NPC attacking the target of the spell.
- Spells that interpose on behalf of a group member (e.g. Interpose) will now work within 20 meters of the group member.

Stratics brings you the first in its series of Q&As with Gravity, makers of ROSE Online, a new very soon to be released game that's targeted at the Teen and Tween market.

ROSE is meant to be a game that people of all ages can enjoy. It’s just that there are so many games out there that are designed strictly for an older audience. We wanted to create an online game that youngsters would also like. The challenge was to create an experience that would be fun for MMO players already used to certain “MMO features” and yet palatable to the sensibilities of a tween or teen audience.

With the relaunch of our Dark Age of Camelot Stratics site we are pleased to bring you the following Darkness Rising exclusives!

• Darkness Falls - Before and After Darkness Rising
  Detailed screenshots of before and after changes to elements in Darkness Falls
• Meet the kings of Dark Age of Camelot: Eirik, Constantine and Lug Lamfhota - Featuring images of each realm’s king!

In addition we have some featured new content to wet your appetite for Darkness Rising and make the wait for the update and patch a little less painful!

• Las Vegas Roundtable Review - A little late but still worth the read. Written by Marizelle, she will let you know if her glimpse of Darkness Rising lured her to “come back to Camelot!”
• Darkness Rising Screenshot Gallery - Our gallery dedicated solely to images of Darkness Rising from the new mounts, to Champion weapons, Tir Na Nog art updates and more!
• Movie Gallery - Two movies covering the new Darkness Falls art and the player controlled mounts released in Darkness Rising

The DAoC Stratics forums have also been relaunched – you can find them at DAoC Forum Index.

Stop by and say hello!

*** Zones and Population ***
- Orcs in the Orcish Wastes and Deathfist Citadel should no longer be wearing pink uniforms--they've decided the color isn't appropriately intimidating.

With the relaunch of our Dark Age of Camelot Stratics site we are pleased to reveal the following Darkness Rising exclusives!

• Darkness Falls - Before and After Darkness Rising
  Detailed screenshots of before and after changes to elements in Darkness Falls
• Meet the kings of Dark Age of Camelot: Eirik, Constantine and Lug Lamfhota - Featuring images of each realm’s king!

In addition we have some featured new content to wet your appetite for Darkness Rising and make the wait for the update and patch a little less painful!

• Las Vegas Roundtable Review - A little late but still worth the read. Written by Marizelle, she will let you know if her glimpse of Darkness Rising lured her to “come back to Camelot!”
• Darkness Rising Screenshot Gallery - Our gallery dedicated solely to images of Darkness Rising from the new mounts, to Champion weapons, Tir Na Nog art updates and more!
• Movie Gallery - Two movies covering the new Darkness Falls art and the player controlled mounts released in Darkness Rising

The DAoC Stratics forums have also been relaunched – you can find them at DAoC Forum Index.

Stop by and say hello!

*** Spells and Combat Arts ***
- Direct heals cast by different Priests should now be applied correctly on the same target.

StraticsCast 12 patch notes
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*** Desert of Flames ***
- Rak'jallar the Rujark Champion will now drop appropriate loot when defeated.
- The Maj'Dul palace events now always drop loot.
- Amaranth and Steelslave War Totems will now properly update the Tablets of the Blademaster quest where they are needed.

*** The Gigglegibber Goblin Gamblin' Game ***
- The Gigglegibber goblins are now a bit more forthcoming about the fact that they sell tickets for 10 silver each, not 1 silver.

*** Quests ***
- Experience for completing quests at all levels has been increased substantially (in many cases it has been doubled or more). Higher-level quests received an additional increase in order to bring their reward more in line with the effort required to complete them.

*** Spells and Combat Arts ***
- The stifle or stun component of spells and combat arts will no longer affect epic encounters. Secondary effects (such as damage) will still land on epic targets, but the stun/stifle effect will not.

Conjurer changes:
- Conjurer's Mark spells now also proc a Magic resistance debuff to enhance their existing spell damage types.

Fury changes:
- All Fury specialty regen and group specialty regen heals last for 12 seconds instead of 14. The amount healed per tick has been increased.

Druid changes:
- Bloom now has a 1-second cast time and an increased initial heal amount.
- Effloresce now has a 1.5-second cast time and increased initial heal amount.
- Sylvan Wind now has a 1.5-second cast time and increased initial heal amount.
- All Druid specialty regen and group specialty regen heals last for 12 seconds instead of 14. The amount healed per tick has been increased.

Warden changes:
- All Warden specialty regen and group specialty regen heals last for 12 seconds instead of 14. The amount healed per tick has been increased.
- Nature's Healing now has a 1-second cast time and an increased initial heal amount.
- Nature's Embrace now has a 1.5-second cast time and increased initial heal amount.
- Healing Breeze now has a 1.5-second cast time and increased initial heal amount.

*** Tradeskills ***
- Crafted level 50+ food and drinks should now have variable durations based upon the stage of the product as well as how many combines go into the recipes. They should be comparable to the duration times of crafted food/drink at other levels.
- Crafted food should no longer stack multiple types of beneficial effects.

*** Tradeskills ***
- We have permanently increased tradeskill experience gain at all levels by 50%.
- Level 50+ imbued shields now have the appropriate effects.

*** Desert of Flames ***
- Urzyd will use its innate abilities without being interrupted, stifled, or stunned.
- The Djinn Caretaker now awards Adept I spells instead of Master I.

*** The Gigglegibber Goblin Gamblin' Game ***
- Matching 2 numbers should now pay out winnings appropriately.
- The correct rewards for winning are as follows:
- Match 2 numbers and you win 10 silver.
- Match 3 numbers and you win 50 silver.
- Match 4 numbers and you win 2 gold 50 silver.
- Match 5 numbers and you win 25 gold.
- Match all 6 numbers and you win the jackpot!

*** Gameplay ***
- Rooted NPCs will now turn to attack nearby players.

*** Epic Encounters ***
- Spirits of the Lost no longer has a level cap of 52.

*** Spells and Combat Arts ***
Coercer changes:
- The stifle portion of Harrowing Silence will no longer affect epic targets.

Necromancer changes:
- Death Rot, as well as other spells in the line, can now be cast by more than one Necromancer and stack on the same target.

Warlock changes:
- The range of Nihilism is now 20 meters instead of 10 meters.

Wizard changes:
- The range of Frostshield is now 20 meters instead of 10 meters.

*** Commands, Controls, and User Interface ***
- The scroll bar in the member list of the Guild window works again.
- Tooltips will no longer cause a crash after using /loadui.

*** UI Files Updated ***
eq2ui_mainhud_guild.xml

You can connect to one of our IRC servers through the use of your favorite IRC client, such as mIRC, ircle, xchat, or whichever you prefer. Connect to irc.stratics.com port 6668 or whichever server is closest to you:

• stratics.frws.com port 6668, USA - Colorado
• irc.glowfish.de port 6668, EU - Germany
• stratics.afraidyet.net 6668, USA - Atlanta
• irc.epaxsys.net port 6668, USA - Colorado

You may also connect through our handy Java link which may be found right here. You must have Java installed to use this which can be downloaded from the Java homepage.

The Writing Promotion is for the first compilation pack in the Star Wars Galaxies series, Star Wars Galaxies: The Total Experience. This package includes all three Galaxies games in one pack: Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided, the expansion Jump to Lightspeed and the expansion Rage of the Wookiees.

The Total Experience Writing Promotion Topics:
Why I Play Star Wars Galaxies
My Best Star Wars Galaxies Experience.
My Most Cherished In Game Item

Rules for The Total Experience Writing Promotion:
Please keep your stories under 1500 words.
All submissions must be based on one of the three topics listed above.
The deadline for submission is midnight PDT, Oct 31st, 2005.
To enter the Promotion you need a *US Only * mailing address
Winners must PM or email their addresses to Issele

Congratulations to Zephos for his winning hunter shot!

We have two great reviews for you all to check out! Kevy Kev has his review available on our forums.

Visible Differentiations: A lot of people expressed a high interest in being able to differentiate/personalize their characters in terms of clothing/armor/weapons/etc. SOE constantly battles on this from a development resources standpoint. It mainly comes down to artwork. They are going to try and address this from a more global standpoint first. You will begin seeing more differentiation with "new world" (DoF, adventure packs, etc) items to start out.

Gaige the raiding machine spoke out for his competitive, sleep deprived co-players and verified exactly where SOE’s stance was on raid mobs and if they were where the Devs wanted them. Scott Hartsman (Gallenite) stated they have about a 50/50 ratio of contested to instanced “boss mobs”. He caught a few of us off guard by revealing there were “ about 703 named mobs” that have between 2 and 6 special abilities that are making them way too difficult to defeat at the intended level. They are currently working on the named mobs and are making corrections to them in batches of 12 so it’ll be awhile I’m sure but the problem is being worked on.

Have you ever thought how cool it would be to get an update of all of the threads replied to in certain forums... each day... without having to log in? Maybe you cannot access the forums remotely for some reason, but can access your emails?

Well... wait no more. You can now subscribe to your favorite forums and receive a daily update of discussions going on. Keep up on the latest topics even when you can't access the forums! How? It's easy!

Access your control panel, and look under the "Main Configuration" panel. You will see several links titled "Edit". There is one that is to "Subscribe / Unsubscribe from receiving forum posts..." Click here and you will access your page to select which forums you wish to receive updates for.

This will be a feature available to all users. However, being a Stratics Plus Member will have an advantage. As a non-Plus Member, you can subscribe to a total of five forums per instance ("instance" being WoW, UO, TSO, etc.). Plus Members will have the option of up to ten forums per instance. You must access the instance to which you want to subscribe in order to view the subscriptions page with the forums for that instance. In other words, you cannot subscribe to Everquest II Wayward Tavern from Ultima Online - UO Hall. You must do so while viewing the Everquest II forums.

Here is how it works:

When you get to your control panel and make your selections, a part of the choices you are presented with is whether or not you wish your notifications to be in plain text or html. Depending upon which selection you choose, your notifications will have specific information.

Plain Text:

Your notifications will look like this:

Stratics Digest of yesterday's posts to 'Wayward Tavern' Forum.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Poster: AutumnKiss
Date: 09/28/05 04:47 PM
Subject: Note from Jhariden - Server Downtime
http://boards.stratics.com/php-bin/eq2/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Number=14802

To unsubscribe to this digest, go to http://boards.stratics.com/php-bin/eq2/editemail.php

HTML:

Your notifications will look like this:

Stratics Digest of yesterday's posts to 'Wayward Tavern' Forum.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Poster: AutumnKiss
Date: 09/28/05 04:47 PM
Subject: Note from Jhariden - Server Downtime

To unsubscribe to this digest, click here.

The subscription cron job... or service... will run nightly. You will receive one email every day for each forum you have subscribed to. And that email will contain a list of items for said forum. Each response will be included in the notification.

If you have a user on ignore, that person's reply will not be included in your notification. For users that have had their posting privileges suspended, this service will also be suspended for the duration of that time. This includes a perma-ban. Users that receive a permanent banning will no longer receive notifications of any type.

For the time being, we have uploaded this to the Everquest II instance and the Dark and Light instance. Please take some time to play around with it, and let us know of any questions/concerns you might have.

Thank you,

Still working on those pesky goblins, but heres a list of where they will be showing up once we get them out of bed.

In Antonica he can be found upstairs in the Frontier Farm.
In the Commonlands he can be found at the Crossroads.
In the Thundering Steppes and Nektulos Forest he can be found on the docks
In Maj'dul you can try your luck at the first row of merchants as you enter the city.
In Sinking Sands he can be found at the croc hunter camp Northwest of the docks.

And just a couple of answers to questions Im sure people will ask.

The Jackpot is progressive, the more people play the bigger it gets.The 6 chosen numbers are per server and will stay the same until someone hits the jackpot. Once the jackpot is won, the server will pick new numbers.

Avoidance gets very "iffy" when a mob is MUCH HIGHER lvl than you. For example, a brawler will do great vs an epic mob that cons green, blue, even a debuffed white/yellow. When you step into Orange and red lvls of raid mobs... avoidance is basically out the window and mitigation steps in. Now if a mob is hitting for poison/disease etc etc... perhaps this is where the crusader/sk steps in. I know in exp situations in LT ... SKs are WAY better at tanking zombies than I. Why? Because of the innate resistance they get from selfbuffs.

What usually happens is the MT group is shuffled around to get the guilds MT the resistances needed to tank mobs that hit for "unusual damage". So, either keep collecting all that +disease/poison/mental gear and/or buff up that wis if you want to be a primary tank in ALL situation.

Those are solid observations.

I've chatted with Thanous about his efforts with these threads. It's an honest attempt to provide an overall perspective, but it's pretty much an impossible task to come up with a single conclusion that ranks every subclass definitively. Simply put, tanking is situational; some of the points Noah makes above help illustrate why.

If you were to parse a thousand fights each of a guardian, a bruiser, and a paladin of the same level and comparable gear tanking a yellow ^^^ heroic fighter mob, you'd have good data on how those classes compare tanking that exact encounter at that level. However, such a test wouldn't show how those classes compare tanking a green x4 caster mob, or an orange x2 priest mob, or three blue ^ heroic scout mobs. Short of parsing every possible encounter, the most you can do is isolate player variables; there are just way too many possible encounter variables to isolate them easily.

Before LU13, guardians could say they were the best tank in pretty much every situation. That is no longer true, but neither is it true that they always tank below other classes. There simply is no overall ranking of who tanks best, because it is intentionally situational. There is no "tanking index" that can provide a valid result, and focusing on only two numbers (avoidance and mitigation) won't give you an accurate assessment of the big picture. In fact, it would be quite misleading.

In groups, most people agree that any fighter can tank well. Player skill becomes the determining factor in who is "best," and if you ask me that's how it should be. But even so, there are simply some situations were certain tanks have a chance to excel, and that is completely intentional.

Crusaders do have lower physical avoidance, but they have the highest resists to arcane damage types. Against caster mobs, crusaders have an inherent advantage that most people tend to leave out of their parsing. Again, comparing just physical avoidance and mitigation is far from the only way to judge a tank.

Brawlers do exceptionally well tanking single-target encounters that do physical damage. They have less tools to manage multiple mobs at once, however. Obviously they have a lot of self-oriented utility, but abilities like feign death and instill doubt have very limited use in most groups or raids. Their higher damage counters their disadvantages at holding aggro from multiple targets.

Warriors have the most tools to grab multiple streams of aggro and safely lock them down. This in turn allows other members of the group more freedom to unload damage (especially AoEs) that they might have to manage more carefully with another type of tank. Guardians in particular have the most tools to generate pure hate that gets reliably applied across entire encounters.

The whole avoidance vs. mitigation argument will never have a resolution. It was around way before LU13 and will still be debated long after. There is no way to say X mitigation always equals Y avoidance in every situation because there are so many other factors involved. For example, epic targets at level 50 and above generally have a +to hit mod that helps them overcome player avoidance. Color con has an even more tangible effect. Obviously the more you depend on avoidance, the more these factors affect you.

Considering how the different fighters are playing out so far, we're pretty happy with where tanking is right now. I wouldn't expect sweeping changes to any particular class as to how they tank, though of course all abilities are subject to adjustments and tweaking.

This is not to say that everything is perfect or that nothing will change. Some fighters are a bit weak in damage output at lower levels, so we'll be adding an offensive stance that should help early in the game. And as I've noted elsewhere, crusaders need the ability to put something in their ranged slot to balance out stats a bit more. We'll keep watching all the classes and will make changes where they are needed. But keep in mind that "need" is based far more on in-game results than on numbers tabulated in any spreadsheet.

We have setup an RSS feed for hot auctions on Station Exchange in the last maintenance release. So now you can monitor hot auctions in your favorite RSS reader. The URL for the feed is http://eq2.stationexchange.com/rss/hotauctions.rss

The rss feed can take a few parameters to customize the feed:coin=item=character=

For example, to view only the character hot auctions:http://eq2.stationexchange.com/rss/hotauctions.rss?character=show&coin=hide&item=hide

Another tip is you can use an RSS feed in the Google portal at http://www.google.com/ig and put your own section which links the hot auctions into your portal. To do this follow these steps:
1. sign into the portal
2. click "Add Content" in the upper left corner
3. click on "Create a Section"
4. enter in the URL above in the text box to the feed to show the content you desire and click the Go button.

Another thing is we ask that you respect the (time to live) value in the feed and don't hit the feed excessively.

Enjoy,
David

Blizzard Entertainment and World of Warcraft Stratics have teamed up to provide you a chance to win a ticket to the 2005 BlizzCon, held October 28th & 29th at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA.

Interested in attending BlizzCon and getting all the goodies? Read on.

Stratics is having a drawing on Thursday October 6th for the most unique WoW character. What makes a unique character you might ask? Your style of course! We will be looking for a character that has the most unique name, dress and pose.

To enter please send a screenshot of your character and character's name to ladybeth@stratics.com by Thursday 11:59pm est and on Friday our Stratics staff will pick who the most unique character is! When sending in your entries please also include your real name so we are able to match you up with the BlizzCon ticket you will be receiving.

We look forward to seeing all your entries and good luck!

*** Headlines ***
- Try your luck at the Gigglegibber Goblin Gamblin' Game!
- No more run-speed reduction with stealth and invisibility!
- Tell at a glance if you don't have enough power to use a spell or art!
- Imbued item recipes now available for level 50+ crafters!
- Many user interface windows have a new look!

*** The Gigglegibber Goblin Gamblin' Game ***
- Fun-seeking tricksters calling themselves the Gigglegibber Goblins have been spotted recently selling tickets for a gamblin' game.
- Six numbers are chosen ranging from 1 to 36. If your 6 numbers match the winning numbers, you get the jackpot!
- The jackpot grows larger as more people play.
- Tickets for the game cost 1 silver each.
- Match 2 numbers and you win 2 silver.
- Match 3 numbers and you win 5 silver.
- Match 4 numbers and you win 25 silver.
- Match 5 numbers and you win 2.5 gold.
- Match all 6 numbers and you win the jackpot!
- Note: The Gamblin' Game is unavailable on Station Exchange-enabled servers.

*** Stealth and Invisibility ***
- The run speed debuff associated with stealth and invisibility spells has been removed.
- The concentration cost of stealth and invisibility spells has been removed.
- The duration of group stealth and invisibility spells has increased to 10 minutes.
- Run speed buffs (including horses) will suspend while stealthed or invisible.
- Run speed debuffs will still apply their movement penalty while stealthed or invisible.

*** Window Decoration ***
- Many game windows now have a sharper look. These include Character Creation, the Knowledge Book, Inventory, Trade, Bank, and many more.

*** Gameplay ***
- Characters should no longer remain unconscious for long periods of time. You can no longer bleed to death, and will regain 20% of your max unconscious health every 6 seconds.
- You can no longer board a flying mount (griffin or flying carpet) while casting a spell.
- Duel losses no longer contribute to your total death count.

*** Quests ***
- The needlessly confusing “Are you an artisan or an adventurer?” question has been removed from the Qeynos/Freeport introductory quests. Thanks to the community summit attendees for pointing this out!
- Sage Indis Surion and Sage Navarius Orvalis now sell the newer versions of the catalog and mastery tomes to players who have already completed these quests.
- You will now be rewarded for the completion of "Kallon's Vengeance" and "Caravan Lost."
- Journal information and minor changes were made to the Stormhold quests "Bolt-Streaked Cuirass," "Haunted Helm," "Rumble," "Virtue Belt" and "Vigilance."
- A new version of the Drafling Tower quest "Deadly Stinger" is available.
- "Trinkets of the Dead" in Nektropos Castle now requires Thexian diplomats instead of Sheila's Handmaiden.
- After slaying Scout Captain Underwood for Jaeta in Nektulos Forest, he will no longer attack you.
- Enemies in the Lair of the Necromancer will now be a little less deadly for solo players.

*** Zones and Population ***
- Killing grey con creatures will now affect your faction standing.
- Darathar and his minions have been adjusted in difficulty to account for the combat changes.

*** Tradeskills *** - Imbue recipes now exist for level 50+ Armorers, Tailors, Weaponsmiths, Jewelers, and Woodworkers.
- Warring Conviction, Purifying Flames, Wintry Cold, Bolt of Storms, Arctic Flames, and Fuliginous Tendrils are now found in the level 51 recipe books.
- Noxious Bolt is now a level 29 recipe instead of 30.
- Discretionary Flow is now a level 27 recipe instead of 30.
- Nullification is now a level 24 recipe instead of 30.
- Miasma is now a level 25 recipe instead of level 28.
- Dark Emanations is now a level 31 recipe instead of 33.
- The Summoner's Mark line of spells for Summoners, Conjurers, and Necromancers are now included in the correct recipe scrolls for level 28/42/56 Sages.
- Fear should now be included in the level 24 sage recipe scrolls.
- Aqueous Stalkers should now be included in the level 24 Sage recipe scrolls.
- Poisonous Veil should now be included in the level 20 Sage recipe scrolls.
- All Apprentice II, III, IV and Adept III spell scroll icons are now visually consistent for each archetype.
- Broadcloth Yarn and Broadcloth Thread have been removed from Tailor Essentials Volume 30, since they already exist in Volume 29.
- Roasted Rolled Oats and Rolled Oat Malt have been removed from Provisioner Essentials Volume 30, since they already exist in Volume 29.
- Rock Blast is now in Volume 15 of the Advanced and Essentials Scholar recipe books.
- Summoner's Mark is now Volume 15 of Advanced and Essentials Scholar recipe books.
- Consumable pasta has been removed from tradeskill merchants.
- The Spellbinder's Sconce should no longer show appear as a pink box.

*** Commands, Controls, and User Interface ***
- Group options (such as yelling for help) should once again default to the settings of the group leader.
- The default setting for which group members can yell for help is now set to "all" for new characters.
- Player and officer notes can now be set properly in the Guild window.
- /clear_hotkey_bank will now clear the specified hotbar.
- Crash issues related to the Group, Guild, and Chat windows have been fixed.
- Long guild rank names will now wrap to a second line on the Ranks tab of the Guild window.
- The lock and delete buttons in the Events tab should now function correctly.
- The "remove" button in the Guild window should once again work correctly.
- The "change rank name" button will no longer open a large number of rename windows.
- Typing /namingpolicy will now open the Help window to an article that explains the in-game naming policy. This policy applies to everything players can name, including characters, guilds, and pets.
- The help window now has a current list of the most commonly reported problems and their resolutions.
- Certain graphics card drivers should no longer display video corruption on the bottom and right portions of the screen when anti-aliasing is turned on.

*** Desert of Flames ***
- Sumixum will now sell Arena Champions trophies to those who earn them.
- The quests Trials of Ash, Disciples Edicts, and Proving Grounds should now all have valid targets.
- Raid forces entering the Gates of Anket Aken should now zone into their own instances.

*** Spells and Combat Arts ***
Ranger changes:
- Indium arrows summoned via Arrow Rip will now function at the proper level.

*** Desert of Flames ***
- Bosses in some of the instances off Pillars of Flame now have more potent abilities.
- A Servant of Mudeef now has a more appropriate chance at dropping Fabled items.

*** The Gigglegibber Goblin Gamblin' Game ***
- Those rascally goblins now offer a handy lotto window.- Lotto numbers now range up to 36.

*** Zones and Population ***
- Encounters in Nektropos Castle no longer have a chance to drop an excessive number of items.

*** Tradeskills ***
- The descriptions for the secondary components on level 50+ imbue recipes now correctly indicate Lambent extract. (For real this time.)

*** UI Files Modified ***
eq2ui_mainhud_lotto.xml

Our dedicated team of content editors have released another round of gameplay guides for your information! Please take a few moments to check them out!

The Path of the Brawler - Freeport Citizens

Harvesting in Everquest II

Mail and You in Everquest II - Updated!

There will be more coming soon... keep checking back!

*** Desert of Flames ***
- Nhjela's quest rewards should now be of appropriate quality.
- The Tower of the Moon should now be more stable.
- Freeport citizens who were previously unable to progress the "Wrapping It All Up" quest should return to the Rock of Eldonis for an update.

*** Zones and Population ***
- Certain encounters in Nektropos Castle no longer have a chance to drop an excessive number of items.