Patch Message ~ Sept 19, 2006

[Phinneas]

September 19th, 2006 - UPDATE

*** Please Read ****

Due to issues with granting the extra two character slots to Station Access subscribers we will be temporarily granting these slots to all players. If you are not a Station Access subscriber then these slots WILL be taken away when the issue is fixed. Please do not make characters using these slots unless you are a Station Access subscriber.

- Fixed issue with AA experience while grouping.
- Server stability addressed.
- Non-TSS players will no longer get stuck in the Tutorial.

We are sorry for the inconvenience this has caused you. Thank you for your patience.


September 19th, 2006

*** Highlights ***

Welcome to EverQuest: The Serpent's Spine, the 12th expansion for EverQuest!

- New Player Race: The Drakkin have been created from both human and dragon blood to protect the future of all dragon kind. Several colors and customizations will be available to make each Drakkin character unique, such as elegant scale markings and horns.
- Level Cap Increase: Players can now reach level 75, complete with new spells, abilities, raids and quests for greater power.
- Content for Levels 1 to 75: Play through every level of the game without ever leaving the Serpent Spine Mountains. The entrance to Serpent's Spine can be found within Highpass Hold.
- New Starting City: Crescent Reach is a fully functioning city with all that is required to learn and thrive in EverQuest, including merchant, quest, combat and tradeskill areas. All classes and races are welcome within the city.
- Dynamic Features: New zones, NPCs, destructible and interactive objects.
- New AAs

Spell Ranks: The new spells that you can acquire in The Serpent's Spine have different ranks to them. The higher ranks of a spell are generally more powerful and more difficult to obtain than the lower ranks. When you scribe a higher rank of a spell that you already know, the lower rank will automatically be overwritten by the higher rank and your spell casting gems and hotkeys will be updated to reflect that you now have a higher rank of the spell.


*** General Game Improvements ***

*** AA System ***

The AA system has undergone some significant back-end changes. The experience you get toward an AA point is now based on the difficulty of the NPC relative to you rather than being based directly on the NPCs level. This means that you will gain a similar amount of experience killing even con creatures at all levels. The amount of experience required to gain an AA is based off the current amount required for a level 70 character to do so, so players at level 70 shouldn't see much of a difference. Players below level 70 will gain AA experience at a rate faster than they were before since they are now gaining it at a similar rate as the level 70. Going forward, this rate will remain static so the amount of kills to gain an AA point at level 75 will be the same it is at level 70. Current abilities and points spent are not affected by this change.


*** Death ***

We've made a change to the way death works. When you die now you will be "hovering" over your body and can choose to stay that way while waiting for a resurrection instead of immediately zoning to your bind point. This is being done to help players on slow connections who take a big hit from having to zone twice when they die.


*** Character Creation ***

We've changed character creation to make it more graphical, allow characters to be created from a single page, and updated it to include features associated with the new Drakkin race. As part of this, we've set up some character defaults so starting point allocation, starting city, and starting deity all have defaults now, which can be changed if you wish.


*** Con Color Changes ***

We have introduced a new con color, dark blue, which represents a range of blue con NPCs that give a bonus to their experience due to being very close to your level, generally within 5 levels. The concept of a dark blue con NPC has existed in EQ for a while now, but we've decided to change the con system to visually include this range so you can visually see when an NPC falls into this "sweet spot". To properly display a different shade of blue, we've had to reorder the cons a little bit. From trivial to highest con, the colors are now:

- Gray - This creature is trivial to you and will give you no experience for killing it.
- Green - This creature is not much of a threat, but will still give you some experience.
- Blue - This creature is below your level, but high enough level to give you experience.
- Dark Blue - This creature is below your level, but close enough to provide a solid challenge and gives you more experience than normal blue cons.
- White - This creature is the same level as you
- Yellow - This creature is slightly above your level.
- Red - This creature is well above your level.

In addition, yellow con now extends up to 3 levels above the player for high end NPCs to help casters determine what can be affected by their spells.


*** Downtime ***

As EverQuest has grown over the years, the amount of downtime imposed upon players has grown as well and we'd rather players find challenge in the fights themselves than in the time between them. Toward that end, we've created a new system that is simple to use, but powerful and flexible enough to control downtime as the game continues to grow.

The basics of the new system are simple. Once you have been out-of-combat for a sufficient amount of time, you can sit down (or be on a non-moving horse) and begin to rest. While resting, you enter an accelerated regeneration state that will quickly recover your mana, health, and endurance. For most single group content, once you are out of combat for 30 seconds you can rest. While dealing with multi-group content, that time is 5 minutes. The amount of time you have to be out-of-combat before you can rest varies for group content and raid content due to the different needs of the different encounter types.

There are a series of icons that will display by your character's name to let you know what your character's current state is.

- Crossed Swords - You are currently in combat.
- Hour Glass - You are recovering from combat and cannot rest yet. In addition to the hourglass, there is a timer bar beneath the endurance bar that will count down as you get closer to being rested.
- Poison Drop - You are no longer in combat, but cannot rest because of a debuff that is affecting you. You must get rid of the debuff before you can rest. Certain debuffs now have a yellow border instead of a red one. These debuffs do not affect your ability to rest.
- Void - The void is the default icon and indicates that you are not in-combat and you can rest at any time.
- Energy Swirl - The energy swirl indicates that you are currently resting.


*** Group Mentoring ***

Players can now share their group leadership experience with another member of their group.


*** Reward Window ***

Tasks within The Serpent's Spine have a new way of giving out rewards. When there are multiple rewards to choose from, you will get to choose which one you like from a selection window. If you don’t choose a reward immediately, you can bring up the window later to make the selection but you can only have a maximum of 5 outstanding rewards at any time. If you go above that, the oldest reward will be replaced and you will be unable to claim that reward.


*** NPCs ***

- Corrected a couple of problems in the NPC call-for-help code. NPCs will now call for help immediately when attacked regardless of when they were last aggroed if they are no longer aggro. Also, NPCs will now properly aggro on the owner of a pet if the pet is sent to attack the NPC.
- Shrewd halfling bankers have set up shop in the guild lobby.
- Coldwind in Nektulos will now offer a confirmation box to players when they try to remove their Curse of the Blood AAs.
- Various issues with the Trial of Lashing in Plane of Justice have been resolved.
- The balances in the Kvxe Pirik event in Tacvi will once again reset to full health between waves.
- The Alchemy vendors have set up shop in Innothule, Everfrost, West Cabilis, and Shar Vahl.
- A new vendor has appeared in East Cabilis that caries some basic adventuring supplies.
- Tani N`mar and Founy Jestands are now pick-pocketable again.
- The skeletons summoned by the Swarm of Decay ability are casting their spells properly again.
- Tegea Prendyn has grown tired of her ocean view and now rests near an inn.
- Char and Blaze in the ROTA raid now have their spells functioning correctly again.
- Many healer NPCs in Depths of Darkhollow now require some casting time to get off their big heal.
- The Vengeful skeletons in Everfrost should no longer evade the guards quite so well.


*** Tradeskill ***

- Made the Foldable Reinforced Medicine Bag a bit roomier.
- For clarity, the tradeskill trophies and carry-alls now list the lore group they are part of.
- The yield when making metal bits has increased to 2.
- Modified the recipe for Blessing of Reverence to make the spell line more consistent.
- Lost Dungeons of Norrath and Omens of Wars spells have become tradable. Additionally, Lost Dungeons of Norrath spells will have no token sellback value to NPCs.


*** Spells ***

- Stun-caps have been added to the various levels of the Strike of Opportunity spells.
- The Circle of Power aura effects will now improve all melee and ranged attacks instead of affecting only one-hand blunt.
- Wolf form illusions will no longer automatically make you KOS to guards.
- Illusion: Tree now uses a different, global tree model rather than the tree model it used to use, which was only available in older zones.
- The damage dealt by high level NPCs that have been charmed has been increased.
- Increased the regeneration of pets while they are out-of-combat to keep pace with the increases of out-of-combat regeneration for PCs.
- Translocate spells no longer require a reagent.
- The reuse on the warrior disciplines Bazu Bellow and Mock are no longer linked together.


*** AAs ***

- Most beneficial AA effects that last for less than 30 seconds will now go to the short duration buff window instead of the normal buff window.
- Improved Harm Touch and Leech Touch are now on different timers.
- The Shadowknight AAs Consumption of the Soul and Improved Consumption of the Soul now provide a greater increase to Leech Curse.
- Refunded all AAs that increased your chance to channel through damage. Channeling is currently set to 100% for all classes due to a long standing issue in how it is calculated, so the abilities weren't doing anything. This includes Channeling Focus, Channeling Mastery, and Internal Metronome. Item Channeling abilities, such as Concentration, are not affected.
- You will now get a message if you have the Stonewall or Willful Death AA and successfully feign death through a spell that hit you.
- Lowered the reuse time on the Monk AA Imitate Death to 18 minutes. Modified Hastened Death to reduce the reuse by 2 more minutes per rank of the ability.
- Increased the mitigation of the higher ranks of the bard AA Shield of Notes.
- By popular demand, removed Spell Casting Subtlety from the Bard AA lineup. Any points spent in that ability will be refunded.
- The Beastlord AA Feral Swipe has received a damage increase.


*** Skills ***

- Modified skill progression for many classes.
- Bards and Beastlords now have access to Double Attack starting at level 71.
- All bard instrument skills are now available starting at level 5.


*** Veteran Rewards ***

- Issues with the Steadfast Servant casting lower level effects at certain level ranges have been corrected.


*** Events ***

- The Aura of Destruction from Uqua and Prick of a Poisoned Pin from Demi-Plane of Blood will land reliably again and last their intended duration.
- Slightly reduced the hit-points of the third wave adds in the Sendaii event.


*** Items ***

- Changed the name of the "Stromguard Forge" to "Stormguard Forge".
- Many items that had extremely strong light sources have had their light sources reduced a bit to help with the issues where lightly colored surfaces become blindingly bright.
- Many spell reagents now stack to 100 instead of 20.
- Some items now have a new tab on them called "Lore" that will give extended information about the item.
- Shield of the Immaculate, Amulet of Necropotence, and Holgresh Elder Beads are now flagged all/all.
- Upgraded Stats on Class Specific Items in Demiplane of Blood.


*** Disciplines ***

- You may now learn combat abilities by right-clicking upon the Tomes instead of delivering them to your guild master.


*** Miscellaneous ***

- Race based experience penalties have been removed.
- You can enable texture streaming from the advanced graphics options window. This should reduce the total memory used by the client during any given play session.



- The EverQuest Team
_________________
Phinneas ~ Lord Protector ~ The Walkers of Vazaelle ~ My Magelo

[Gildawen]

Or, for those of you who have been spending a ton of time in the freeport mm:

September 19th, 2006
_____________________


*** Highlights ***

Welcome t' EverQuest: Th' Serpent`s Spine, th' 12th expansion fer EverQuest!

- New Player Race: Th' Drakkin ben created from both crewmate an' dragon blood t' protect th' future o' all dragon kind. Several colors an' customizations be available t' make each Drakkin character unique, such as elegant scale markings an' horns.
- Level Cap Increase: Players can now reach level 75, complete wi' new spells, abilities, raids an' quests fer greater power.
- Content fer Levels 1 t' 75: Play through ever' level o' th' game without ereleavin' th' Serpent Spine Mountains. Th' gangplank t' Serpent`s Spine can be found within Highpass Hold.
- New Startin' City: Crescent Reach be a fully functionin' city wi' all that be required t' learn an' thrive in EverQuest, includin' merchant, quest, combat an' tradeskill areas. All classes an' races be welcome within th' city.
- Dynamic Features: New zones, NPCs, destructible an' interactive objects.
- New AAs & Spells: Experience new spells an' Alternative Advancement abilities.

Spell Ranks: Th' new spells that ye can acquire in Th' Serpent`s Spine be havin' different ranks t' them. Th' higher ranks o' a spell be generally more powerful an' more difficult t' obtain than th' lower ranks. When ye scribe a higher rank o' a spell that ye already know, th' lower rank will automatically be overwritten by th' higher rank an' yer spell castin' gems an' hotkeys be updated t' reflect that ye now be havin' a higher rank o' th' spell.


*** General Game Improvements ***

*** AA System ***

Th' AA system has undergone some significant aft-end changes. Th' experience ye get toward an AA point be now based on th' difficulty o' th' NPC relative t' ye rather than bein' based directly on th' NPCs level. This means that ye will gain a similar amount o' experience killin' e'en con creatures at all levels. Th' amount o' experience required t' gain an AA be based off th' current amount required fer a level 70 character t' do so, so players at level 70 shouldna be seein' much o' a difference. Players below level 70 will gain AA experience at a rate faster than they be before since they be now gainin' 't at a similar rate as th' level 70. Goin' fore, this rate will remain static so th' amount o' kills t' gain an AA point at level 75 be th' same 'tis at level 70. Current abilities an' points spent be nay affected by this change.


*** Davy Jones' locker ***

We`ve made a change t' th' way Davy Jones' locker works. When ye sink t'Davy Jones' locker now ye be "hovering" o'er yer body an' can choose t' stay that way while waitin' fer a resurrection instead o' immediately zonin' t' yer bind point. This be bein' done t' help players on slow connections who take a big hit from havin' t' zone twice when they sink t'Davy Jones' locker.


*** Character Creation ***

We`ve changed character creation t' make 't more graphical, allow characters t' be created from a single page, an' updated 't t' include features associated wi' th' new Drakkin race. As part o' this, we`ve set up some character defaults so startin' point allocation, startin' city, an' startin' deity all be havin' defaults now, which can be changed if ye wish.


*** Con Color Changes ***

We be havin' introduced a new con color, dark blue, which represents a range o' blue con NPCs that give a bonus t' the'r experience due t' bein' very close t' yer level, generally within 5 levels. Th' idee o' a dark blue con NPC has existed in EQ fer a while now, but we`ve decided t' change th' con system t' visually include this range so ye can visually be seein' when an NPC falls into this "sweet spot". T' properly display a different shade o' blue, we`ve had t' reorder th' cons a wee bit. From trivial t' highest con, th' colors be now:

- Gray - This creature be trivial t' ye an' will give ye nay experience fer killin' 't.
- Green - This creature be nay much o' a threat, but will still give ye some experience.
- Blue - This creature be below yer level, but high enough level t' give ye experience.
- Dark Blue - This creature be below yer level, but close enough t' provide a solid challenge an' gives ye more experience than normal blue cons.
- White - This creature be th' same level as ye
- Yellow - This creature be slightly above yer level.
- Red - This creature be well above yer level.

In addition, yellow con now extends up t' 3 levels above th' player fer high end NPCs t' help casters determine what can be affected by the'r spells.


*** Downtime ***

As EverQuest has grown o'er th' voyages, th' amount o' downtime imposed upon players has grown as well an' we`d rather players find challenge in th' fights they's self than in th' time between them. Toward that end, we`ve created a new system that be simple t' use, but powerful an' flexible enough t' control downtime as th' game continues t' grow.

Th' basics o' th' new system be simple. Once ye ben ou'-o'-combat fer a a wee bit o' amount o' time, ye can sit down (or be on a non-movin' horse) an' begin t' rest. While restin', ye enter an accelerated regeneration state that will smartly reco'er yer mana, health, an' endurance. Fer most single squadron content, once ye be ou' o' combat fer 30 seconds ye can rest. While dealin' wi' multi-squadron content, that time be 5 minutes. Th' amount o' time ye be havin' t' be ou'-o'-combat before ye can rest varies fer squadron content an' raid content due t' th' different needs o' th' different encounter types.

Thar be a series o' icons that will display by yer character`s name t' let ye know what yer character`s current state be.

- Crossed Swords - Ye be currently in combat.
- Hour Glass - Ye be recoverin' from combat an' cannot rest yet. In addition t' th' hourglass, thar be a timer bar beneath th' endurance bar that will count down as ye get closer t' bein' rested.
- Poison Drop - Ye be nay longer in combat, but cannot rest on accoun' o' o' a debuff that be affectin' ye. Ye must get rid o' th' debuff before ye can rest. Certain debuffs now be havin' a yellow border instead o' a red one. These debuffs do nay affect yer ability t' rest.
- Void - Th' void be th' default icon an' indicates that ye be nay in-combat an' ye can rest at any time.
- Energy Swirl - Th' energy swirl indicates that ye be currently restin'.


*** Squadron Mentorin' ***

Players can now share the'r squadron leadership experience wi' another member o' the'r squadron.


*** Reward Port hole ***

Tasks within Th' Serpent`s Spine be havin' a new way o' givin' ou' rewards. When thar be multiple rewards t' choose from, ye will get t' choose which one ye like from a selection port hole. If ye don’t choose a reward immediately, ye can brin' up th' port hole later t' make th' selection but ye can only be havin' a maximum o' 5 outstandin' rewards at any time. If ye go above that, th' oldest reward be replaced an' ye be unable t' claim that reward.


*** NPCs ***

- Corrected a couple o' problems in th' NPC call-fer-help code. NPCs will now call fer help immediately when attacked regardless o' when they be last aggroed if they be nay longer aggro. Also, NPCs will now properly aggro on th' owner o' a pet if th' pet be sent t' attack th' NPC.
- Shrewd halflin' bankers be havin' set up shop in th' guild lobby.
- Coldwind in Nektulos will now offer a confirmation box t' players when they try t' remove the'r Wannion o' th' Blood AAs.
- Various issues wi' th' Trial o' Lashin' in Plane o' Justice ben resolved.
- Th' balances in th' Kvxe Pirik event in Tacvi will once again reset t' full health between waves.
- Th' Alchemy vendors be havin' set up shop in Innothule, Everfrost, West Cabilis, an' Shar Vahl.
- A new vendor has appeared in East Cabilis that caries some basic adventurin' supplies.
- Tani N`mar an' Founy Jestands be now pick-pocketable again.
- Th' skeletons summoned by th' Swarm o' Decay ability be castin' the'r spells properly again.
- Tegea Prendyn has grown tired o' th' lass' ocean view an' now rests near an inn.
- Char an' Blaze in th' ROTA raid now be havin' the'r spells functionin' correctly again.
- Many healer NPCs in Depths o' Darkhollow now require some castin' time t' get off the'r big heal.
- Th' Vengeful skeletons in Everfrost ought nay longer evade th' guards quite so well.


*** Tradeskill ***

- Made th' Foldable Reinforced Medicine Bag a bit roomier.
- Fer clarity, th' tradeskill trophies an' carry-alls now list th' lore squadron they be part o'.
- Th' yield when makin' metal bits has increased t' 2.
- Modified th' recipe fer Blessin' o' Reverence t' make th' spell line more consistent.
- Lost Dungeons o' Norrath an' Omens o' Wars spells be havin' become tradable. Additionally, Lost Dungeons o' Norrath spells will be havin' nay token sellaft value t' NPCs.


*** Spells ***

- Stun-caps ben added t' th' various levels o' th' Strike o' Opportunity spells.
- Th' Circle o' Power aura effects will now improve all melee an' ranged attacks instead o' affectin' only one-hand blunt.
- Wolf form illusions will nay longer automatically make ye KOS t' guards.
- Illusion: Tree now uses a different, global tree model rather than th' tree model 't used t' use, which be only available in older zones.
- Th' damage dealt by high level NPCs that ben charmed be increased.
- Increased th' regeneration o' pets while they be ou'-o'-combat t' keep pace wi' th' increases o' ou'-o'-combat regeneration fer PCs.
- Translocate spells nay longer require a reagent.
- Th' reuse on th' warrior disciplines Bazu Bellow an' Mock be nay longer linked together.


*** AAs ***

- Most beneficial AA effects that last fer less than 30 seconds will now go t' th' short duration buff port hole instead o' th' normal buff port hole.
- Improved Harm Touch an' Leech Touch be now on different timers.
- Th' Shadowknight AAs Consumption o' th' Soul an' Improved Consumption o' th' Soul now provide a greater increase t' Leech Wannion.
- Refunded all AAs that increased yer chance t' channel through damage. Channelin' be currently set t' 100% fer all classes due t' a long standin' issue in how 'tis calculated, so th' abilities weren`t doin' anythin'. This includes Channelin' Focus, Channelin' Mastery, an' Internal Metronome. Item Channelin' abilities, such as Concentration, be nay affected.
- Ye will now get a message if ye be havin' th' Stonewall or Willful Davy Jones' locker AA an' successfully feign Davy Jones' locker through a spell that hit ye.
- Lowered th' reuse time on th' Monk AA Imitate Davy Jones' locker t' 18 minutes. Modified Hastened Davy Jones' locker t' reduce th' reuse by 2 more minutes per rank o' th' ability.
- Increased th' mitigation o' th' higher ranks o' th' bard AA Shield o' Notes.
- By popular demand, removed Spell Castin' Subtlety from th' Bard AA lineup. Any points spent in that ability be refunded.
- Th' Beastlord AA Feral Swipe has received a damage increase.


*** Skills ***

- Modified skill progression fer many classes.
- Bards an' Beastlords now be havin' access t' Double Attack startin' at level 71.
- All bard instrument skills be now available startin' at level 5.


*** Veteran Rewards ***

- Issues wi' th' Steadfast Servant castin' lower level effects at certain level ranges ben corrected.


*** Events ***

- Th' Aura o' Destruction from Uqua an' **SMURF** o' a Poisoned Pin from Demi-Plane o' Blood will land reliably again an' last the'r intended duration.
- Slightly reduced th' hit-points o' th' third wave adds in th' Sendaii event.


*** Items ***

- Changed th' name o' th' "Stromguard Forge" t' "Stormguard Forge".
- Many items that had extremely strong light sources be havin' had the'r light sources reduced a bit t' help wi' th' issues 'ere lightly colored surfaces become blindingly bstarboard.
- Many spell reagents now stack t' 100 instead o' 20.
- Some items now be havin' a new tab on them called "Lore" that will give extended information about th' item.
- Shield o' th' Immaculate, Amulet o' Necropotence, an' Holgresh Elder Beads be now jolly rogerged all/all.
- Upgraded Stats on Class Specific Items in Demiplane o' Blood.


*** Disciplines ***

- Ye may now learn combat abilities by starboard-clickin' upon th' Tomes instead o' deliverin' them t' yer guild master.


*** Miscellaneous ***

- Race based experience penalties ben removed.
- Ye can ye enable texture streamin' from th' advanced graphics options port hole. This ought reduce th' total memory used by th' client durin' any gi'en play session.





- Th' EverQuest Team
Ya scurvy dog whut deserves the black spot!
_________________
Gildawen