The Flowing Black Silk Sash was one of the most sought after of original Everquest items. As it was launch content, rather than expansion, you can be sure that folks will be fighting over it on the new Fippy Darkpaw progression server over the next few months! It will begin in the possession of the level 42 Frenzied Ghouls of Lower Guk, a contested dungeon, so it might take a few weeks, even for the most eager of rushers. The queue will probably stretch all the way to Grob.
I seldom had the patience for lengthy camps in Everquest. Spending hours, or even days, waiting for a rare monster to spawn, instead of his common placeholder, and then hoping that he has the specific item that you want never struck me as much fun. That’s not to say that I have much of a problem with some gear needing that sort of dedication. I’m just willing to leave it for someone else, and find different equipment in a slightly less mind-numbing fashion. I loved Everquest crafting, and I expect that will, once again, be my primary source of equipment.
I expect most of those who will be trying Fippy’s server are old EQ players. We know what to expect, though no doubt the corners of our memories have been softened by time. Those who are trying Everquest 1 for the first time are in for a treat! And when I say “treat”, I mean a harrowing experience which will cause twitter to be filled with wails of anguish as they encounter game systems that have not been fashionable for a decade. I’ll be on-hand to assist with any corpse-runs that may be required.
Everquest 2 mostly did away with the more extreme aspects of camping, though at the cost of making gear feel a bit generic sometimes. The Flowing Black Silk Sash made a triumphant reappearance as the reward for one of EQ2’s Heritage Quests, and it was this quest, “The Teachings of Yoru”, that Maltheas set himself to finishing today! A perilous deed indeed for it would require defeating quite a number of ghostly martial arts monks, all of whom had out-levelled our Ratonga pal.
I was interested in seeing how well I could capture a full definition video of EQ2 (I usually record in half definition for Minecraft), so I thought I’d make a little film of the final battle. It can be blown up to rather high definitions using the little definition setting button on the bottom of the video window. It took a rather ridiculous amount of time to upload as a result, so I doubt I’ll make a habit of that!
Everquest has a new Progression Server opening up on the 15th of February.
A progression server is as close to the original launch experience as the developers can get you to without spending a massive amount of time unravelling things. So you do have the updated engine and UI, but all the expansions are turned off. Expansions will be slowly turned on one by one, giving you something approaching the same experience that original players would have gotten through the years.
For the last progression server I was completely foxed because several zones had been revamped, and could not be restored to their original state, leaving me utterly lost in the city of Freeport. Still, it’s as close to launch as you’re ever going to get, so if you weren’t there the first time around it is an interesting opportunity to travel back in time to get a glimpse at the early days of MMOs.
I took part in the last progression server, and while the first couple of days is tremendously fun and nostalgic, it didn’t take me too long to realise that while at the time EQ seemed almost futuristic, it’s actually rather painful for me to play now. I’ve become soft and spoiled, I suppose. So I had been planning on giving the new progression server a miss, even though SOE are kindly offering old players free EQ time between the 10th and the 21st of this month. That was until I discovered what the server had been named. Fippy Darkpaw.
Fippy Darkpaw is much beloved of EQ players. He was, and presumably still is, a spirited little gnoll who frequently charges the gates of Qeynos. He has yet to be successful in his attack, but never lets that discourage him and so is rightfully considered a great hero by the Darkpaw gnolls. You may encounter one of his descendants in Everquest 2 from time to time, if you involve yourself in some of the seedier going on beneath Qeynos. He has assisted Maltheas on quite a number of his investigations, in fact!
Maltheas meets with Fippy in Crow's Resting Place
I am told that the old EQ gnoll model has been updated recently, and that’ll probably remain the case for the progression server, but this will always be Fippy Darkpaw to me.
Yip Yip!!!
So I’ll pay him a visit. I owe it to him after killing him so many times back in the old days, though he and his brothers certainly did me in plenty as well. Today I’m leery of full loot corpse runs, and he probably has a completely new model, but we were both there at the dawn of Norrath, and it’ll be good to see him again. I might pop in on Cuburt too! Continue reading Fippy Darkpaw: An Everquest Pilgrim’s Progression Server
Today I received this handy bit of information regarding the upcoming merger of my EQ2 server:
Greetings from Norrath!
Hail, Adventurer!
On or around February 14th, 2011 at 12:00 AM (PST), EverQuest® II will begin the process of merging the Lucan D’Lere server to the Crushbone server, with the goal
of providing an even better gameplay experience for everyone. Please check EverQuest2.com periodically for any further updates on this scheduled server merge.
Preserve your Legacy!
As a result of the merge, some character names may be duplicated. Players who have logged in within the past sixty (60) days will be given priority in keeping their character’s name (see below for more details).
As you may have additional concerns related to this event, we are providing the following information (and have additionally posted an FAQ page on our Knowledge Base) in an effort to answer as many commonly asked questions as we can.
Server Merge Rules
Character Names
In the event of duplicate character names as a result of this server merge, priority will be given to the character who has logged in to the game within the past sixty (60) days; if both characters have logged in within the past sixty (60) days, then the character which has accrued the most gameplay time overall will retain its name. Other characters will have an “x” added to their names until a unique name has been determined.
Players with a character whose name has been affected by the server merge can type “/rename” in their in-game chat window and receive a one-time complimentary name change.
Guilds
Guilds will be transferred intact.
Priority for guild names will be given to the guild with the earliest guild creation date, with such guild keeping its name and the other guild having an “x” added to its name.
Guilds whose names have been affected by the server merge that wish to change their guild’s name will need to use the in-game “/petition†command.
In Your Home
All items in characters’ homes will be inherited by the home’s owner during the merge. If you have alts that own any items, have designated any trustees to your character’s home or if you are a trustee in another character’s home, please arrange for the appropriate owner to retrieve its items before the server merge begins.
After the merge any vendor items in your transferred character’s house will need to be re-placed in your character’s new home.
You can use the house vault of the character which is being transferred for storage. The items in your transferred character’s house vault will remain associated with that character during the server merge.
Vendors
Vendor Events (i.e. the logs of what was sold, to whom, when, etc.) will not transfer as part of the server merge.
Until your transferred character concludes a sale on the newly merged server, that character’s Total Coin Gain will display 0. After that character makes a sale, it will display the sum of the total amount of coin that such character has gained on both servers.
Please keep this information in mind as you prepare for the upcoming merge.
Affected Servers
Lucan D’Lere merged to Crushbone
I’m generally fairly irritated with EQ2 at the moment, for a fairly wide range of reasons, most of which involve the ever-diminishing portion of the game that paying a subscription will gain you access to. Still, I’ll be logging Maltheas and his pals in over the the next few weeks to give them a fighting chance of keeping their names.
The problem with Lucan d’Lere merging with Crushbone is that one is a Roleplaying Server, and one is not. How that’s going to work out in the long run is impossible to know, but I doubt it’s going to make spontaneous RP any easier. The only other Roleplaying server is Antonia Bayle, which is packed to the gills, and unsuitable for Lucan to merge with. Lucan is certainly seriously underpopulated, and has been for a very long time.
The thing is, players from both Antonia and Lucan have been crying out for Antonia players to be able to move to Lucan for years. Had that been allowed, Lucan would be in a much healthier state, and Antonia would not be so horribly overcrowded.
To add insult to injury, Lucan players who want to remain on an RP server can move to Antonia, but only if they are willing to pay for the privilege. That doesn’t seem right to me. Either the server is too full or it isn’t. If it isn’t then players should be given the choice of going to Antonia or Crushbone, at no cost. Server merges should not be a source of income, where players have to pay extra to end up on a server of the same ruleset as the one they signed up for.
Update: The merger has been rescheduled for the 16th of February.
We received the first batch of Velious Winter Rewards today. As well as a nice painting of the original “Scars of Velious” Everquest expansion’s cover art (it was probably my favourite of all the EQ expansions), we got something far more interesting. A butler!!
Good day, Sir (or Madam)! We are pleased to introduce you to the newest member of your household staff; your Coldain Butler. Your new butler can be placed in your house and will speak to his master as well as guests who may come calling. He may also be asked to join you on your adventures, and will follow you outside of your home for the span of an hour. He is very outgoing and will speak to others when hailed, and also likes to talk about his master. We hope you are pleased with this new member of your staff…he is certainly pleased to be in your service.
If there was ever an adventurer in need of a steadying influence and a helping hand, it would be Maltheas. Fortuitous it was, then, the day that Cheeves arrived on his doorstep with impeccable credentials. He had been so impressed by Maltheas’ efforts to help the folks of New Halas that he had decided to seek him out, and offer his service.
Maltheas and his butler, Cheeves. What jolly adventures they are sure to have!
After some experimentation, he appears to be purely cosmetic, though I do very much like the feature that lets him come out of the house and follow you about. He is content to sit back and let Maltheas deal with any uncouth louts that might trouble the merry pair. To my very great joy, he also peacefully coexists with Mr Snowy, Maltheas’ snowman companion. It’s possible he’s taking up the deity pet slot, but Malth hasn’t got to the level where he’d get one of those, so it’s impossible for me to tell. What’s important is that Team Maltheas is now one Coldain bigger!! After years of abuse from the wandering Qeynos NPCs, it’s nice to have one to sing his praises! Let’s hope he does not let it go to his head and remains a humble(ish) servant of Rodcet Nife.
In other Velious-related new, Maltheas recently met some very pleasant Othmir.
Hoorays for the Othmir!!
He’s very glad to have made friends with these fine fellow-rodents, and is looking forward to hearing their tales. In exchange, he will teach them advanced Ratonga pants technology, and all will be richer as a result. We’ll be seeing a lot more of our semi-aquatic allies when we finally make it to Velious.
If you want to meet the Othmir too, they’re part of the Velious prelude quests that are currently available. These quests will vanish when the expansion launches, so don’t leave it too late if you’re interested. You can start the quests with the Duality in Paineel, and the adventures scale to level, so are suitable for young and old, though the very young might find some of the travel a little nerve-wracking.
I was considering doing a full post on the prelude quests, but they’re so lore-heavy that I’m not sure how many would be terribly interested. Everyone, on the other hand, likes pictures of Othmir.
We had finally added the 60-69 tier in our leaderboard, and Maltheas was still holding his own against such distinguished adventurers, and looking forward to striving to improve his own efforts.
Fresh (if that is a word that can be used to describe anything involving the undead) information regarding EQ2’s new Vampire race has just been put up over on the official site.
The Freeblood vampire race will be available through the Velious Winter Rewards promotion for qualifying EQII subscribers and EQ2X Gold and Platinum members as part of the February reward. For those who don’t want to wait that long, the race will be available on the Marketplace in late December. Stay tuned for more details!
So Freeblood Vampires will first appear in the Marketplace this month, then folks who’ve been subscribed for the three months up to February, and also purchase the expansion, will get them. Seems kind of the wrong way around to me if you’re trying to reward people for loyalty, but there you go.
Flying Maltheas not included in offer.
These new vampires are described as being the result of one of the Nights of the Dead event’s quests, “This won’t end well…”, in which you are invited to the village of Somborn in the Loping Plains. Upon arrival you are attacked by a mysterious assailant, and awaken a day or two later with no memory of the intervening period. I’m not a big fan of that quest’s story, as you discover that you spent that period murdering an entire family, including children, while under vampiric influence, and you then cover it up! I don’t consider it “canon” for many of my characters, as most would either immediately own up to the crime, or spend the rest of their lives feeling terrible about it!!! As an ex-Bloodsaber, Maltheas has enough youthful mistakes (though nothing quite so serious) to pay for as it is.
Luckily for Maltheas, all the pictures of Vampires so far have been of human/elf females, so it does not look like the world is going to be hit with an influx of the terrifying Ratonga Vampires this time around. I’ll be keeping my eyes open for further information though, as you can never be too sure with bloodsuckers.
The connection to Somborn and “This won’t end well…” dictates that they are of the D’Ryil bloodline (as it was Sarkon D’Ryil and his childer who were the source of the evil there), which splintered off from House D’Morte when Lazarus D’Ryil was abandoned by the D’Mortes and decided to ally with Neriak. To this day, D’Ryil vampires may be found within that dark city.
This is important, because the D’Morte line was begun (in times most ancient) when its founder drank from the Ewer of Sul’dae, a powerful artifact of Anashti Sul, the goddess of undeath who made her return to Norrath recently. Originally the goddess of healing, she went a bit wrong in the head (to cut a long story short), and was banished. Maltheas’ patron, Rodcet Nife, replaced her in the Norrathian pantheon, and has battled against her works ever since. Vitally, the D’Mortes became vampires without the involvement of Mayong Mistmoore, believed to be the first vampire to exist on Norrath (and of course, he, and his progeny, are still going strong).
However, the name “Freeblood” implies that these new vampires have no loyalty to the D’Ryils, but it is always interesting to know from whence the blood has flown. A vampire can call itself free as much as it likes, but it is still a slave to its hunger. Whether any of this lore I’ve mentioned gets retconned remains to be seen. Very little of what we know about the history of Norrathian vampires is certain.
Given that this vampire invasion is going to happen, although I consider it a dubious idea, I’ve decided I might as well have fun with it. Who better to fight against the rise of the Vampires than a priest of Rodcet Nife! I’m going to look into putting together a good vampire-hunting costume for Maltheas. He needs a suit of some sort, and a most excellent hat. I might even sacrifice some of the Station Cash I’ve accumulated to the cause.
One of the special features of the Freeblood is a Racial Trait, “Reveal Inner Self,†which lets the character change from attractive to demonic in appearance.
Another feature of the Freeblood race is a new hand-to-hand combat animation set. In addition, it will include a special “invisible†appearance weapon that lets the character use these combat animations, even if they’re wielding a sword and shield.
Another Racial Trait, “Bloodletting,” grants a minor Lifetap spell to occasionally drain health from targeted enemies.
