-Tay

I can’t pinpoint the exact moment when I started to withdraw from EQ2, but I know it happened sometime between Ruins of Kunark and Sentinel’s Fate. I had been raiding as my illusionist in Echoes of Faydwer back in 2006/2007 and then quickly switched to my troubador in RoK. That was probably the first sign of things to come and it really had nothing to do with the game so much as my play style. The fact that I had 10 level 90s a few months into Sentinel’s Fate was another indication. I wasn’t actually concentrating on a character any more, my attention kept drifting. I never pin pointed exactly WHAT was causing this disinterest, I only knew that it was there … lurking in the background of my play sessions.

If it were not for other sources of dissatisfaction, I would probably still be playing. It started with Legends of Norrath – not the game itself but do you remember when Sony offered players the chance to obtain access to a dungeon through booster packs? That one little event blinked in my mind and I should have seen it as a warning of things to come. As time wore on and the station marketplace was introduced I noticed that there were fewer and fewer items being added to the base game and everything new required you to spend extra money outside your $14.99/m subscription. All of the newest appearance gear, weapons, even jewelry can be found on the station marketplace these days. The coolest mounts, the most beautiful furniture. My little carpenter felt the pinch as players would shift ever so slightly to the new goodies. Not in huge amounts – after all not everyone can afford to pay $25 for a virtual living room set – but a few.

As Sentinel’s Fate progressed I grew visibly worried. I had played this game extensively over the course of six years – what was happening to it? I have over 1,500 posts dedicated to EQ2. I have spent more than $5,000 between two accounts, and here I was, not wanting to play. After 3,000+ hours played recorded by Raptr.

Finally, after months of sitting on the fence in my decision regarding the game, it came to a head. The Freeblood race was introduced to the marketplace – and with it a total cost of $65 if you wanted the extras. That single action made the final decision for me. After debating with myself for months whether I should just wait things out and see if it would get better, I came to the conclusion that the game is no longer for me. It has changed to appeal to an audience that I am not a part of. I also found out that I’m not the only veteran player that feels this way which was quite comforting.

I feel confident in saying that the station market has taken away from the base game that I knew. The only announcements I see these days are for you to spend extra money with the rare extra post in here and there. I do spend, $14.99 a month + the cost of expansions.

You should know that I am not against RMT or the station marketplace. I just feel that the value of what I get for my monthly subscription is now less than what I can get elsewhere. By adding a race to the station marketplace, they are removing something that should come with the very basic game. When frogloks were introduced we quested to unlock them, we didn’t pay extra.

Eventually we all have to put our foot down and it was just ‘that point in time’ for me. As gamers, one of the few voices we have is to vote with our wallets. It may not seem a significant vote for a popular game making a lot of money, but if the game is struggling, it will be noted. If I continued playing a game that I spent 90% of the time complaining about, found very little pleasure in, and could no longer see myself getting $15/m worth of play out of it – why would I continue to support it?

This decision was NOT easy for me, I spent months arguing in my head waiting for things to get better. I waited and saw that the game was just going to keep heading down a path that I didn’t approve of. While I know a fair population of players are content to keep shelling out the extra money – I can’t.

There you have it. A huge thank you to Tay for granting me the opportunity to guest write here on MMORPG-Info.com, I’ve been a big fan of the site, and look forward to reading future posts!

Posted by Stargrace on http://www.mmorpg-info.org.

EQ2 Quests and Faction Guides

• Chronomagic (Automentoring)
• Kunark Faction Overview
• Kunark Faction Rewards
• Kunark Language Quests
• Lavastorm Essence Rewards
• Lore and Legend Books
• Order of the Rime

If anyone would like to submit up-to-date information, I’m more than happy to post the details.

Posted by Taymar on http://www.mmorpg-info.org.

These posts are no longer being kept up-to-date. As far as I know, they are still all correct but if you find an error, please let me know in the comments!

If you are looking for a map or detailed information about zones, I recommend EQ2MAP.

• Druid Ring Locations
• Fast Travel Across Norrath
• Lavastorm Travel Routes
• Sokokar Access Quest
• Sokokar Quest for Tradeskillers

Safe journey!

Posted by Taymar on http://www.mmorpg-info.org.

• Harvested Materials
• Harvesting by Zone
• Harvesting FAQ
• Harvesting Tools
• A Gathering Obsession

If you do spot any errors in any of the above, simply leave a comment with details and I’ll get it fixed.

Thanks!

Posted by Taymar on http://www.mmorpg-info.org.

• Basic Void Shard Jewelry
• Spending Void Shards
• T3 Armor (Elite Void Shard)
• Tier 3 Jewelry
• Void Shard Armor
• Void Shard Infused Jewelry
• Void Shard Miscellanea

If there are any errors, please feel free to let me know in the comments.

Posted by Taymar on http://www.mmorpg-info.org.

If you’re doing all the quests there’s a lot of running around involved.

Luckily, I met a ratonga brigand at Brell’s Bar who was celebrating as she had just completed all of the Brew Day activities. She was exhausted but happy. She told me she’d worked out the best route for getting everything completed so I offered her a drink to tell me of her exploits. Typical ratonga, she accepted the drink but then after she drank it, she told me she wasn’t sure she wanted to share her secrets. Luckily, I spotted a sheet of paper tucked into the back pocket of her backpack. I bought her another drink or two, until she was quite merry and not paying quite so much attention and then I stole liberated her notes. I must admit, they look very helpful for getting everything done with a limited amount of backtracking. Here’s a copy:

Pickett’s Brewday travel path:

Antonica

Speak to Brell (the Avatar of Below) for the quest Beers for Brell
He wanders around the fields to the east of the Qeynos Gates.

Once you have his quest, proceed east to the lower levels of Blackburrow.

Blackburrow

Pick up a sample of Blackburrow Stout from The Blackburrow Brewery at 20,-40,59.
If you are a lower-level character, the safest route is to jump down waterfall. There is just one pair of heroics between you and the keg.
Pick up Bixie Honey Lager, Windstalker’s Hard Cider and Crossroads Ale for your Brews Across Norrath collection.

Return to Antonica and use the portal at 65,-20,5 at the North Qeynos gates to go to the Bar of Brell

The Bar of Brell

Speak to Gergy Gigglegibber for your ginger ale. Purchase ale from Mraugl Stonecrusher and give to Gergy.
Get Brell’s Everlasting Brew from Rasel Alechaser
Get Ale Goggles from Gilin Rockbreath
Get Valla Brewhammer’s Special Brew from Valla Brewhammer
Get Snoogle’s Presentation from Snoogle Blizted
Purchase crafting recipe book from Balin Copperfoot
Go upstairs to the private lounge to speak to Jimmy Runner and get the barley
Pick up Somborn Sanguine Ale, Miner’s Milk and Bog Water Brew for your Brews Across Norrath collection.

Once you’ve completed all that, you can use the portal. Exit to Timorous Deep or Greater Faydark to take a carpet to Sinking Sands.

Maj’Dul

Speak to Amorous Ali at -228,161,-96 for Love on the Coast drink
Take the Sinking Sands carpet to Darklight Woods or Qeynos Harbor and run or use the bells to go to the Commonlands.

Commonlands

Harvest pure water from any water source (do this first before drinking)
Run to Pride Lake and sip from Snoogle’s Special Flask
Collect pink elephant from around 432,-47,-331.

Rush to spires to get to Enchanted Lands before the drink wears off.

Enchanted Lands

Collect a strange cabbage from the tree in front of the docks at 57,-1,14
Run towards Runnyeye to Charvis Drunkhoof at 92,25,-692. Tip him over to get his Hero Brew.

Return to the docks to travel to Nektulos Forest.

Nektulos Forest

Jump into the water at the docks to collect pure water.

Use the dock bells to make your way to Feerrott.

Feerrott

Run to the tunnel by the dock and sip from Snoogle’s Special Flask
Pick up a Small Lizard Toy from 74,4,-93

Rush to bell on the dock to get to Thundering Steppes before the drink wears off.

Thundering Steppes

Put on Gilin’s Ale Goggles and find Gurag Bloodwart at -573,-14,-486. Take off goggles and get update.
Run to Thundermist Village
Sip Snoogle’s Special Flask if needed and collect flying pig from the stables at 562,3,-133
Run to 595,-1,-60 and tip over Betsy then run to 549,-0,-67 to steal some of Prew’s Hops.
Collect pure water from around the docks.
Take boat to Butcherblock.

Butcherblock

Speak to Glug Irontoe at 692,24,602 for update.
Take the griffon towards Greater Faydark and get ready to jump off. You need to watch for Tumpty Irontoe on the road in front of Kaladim somewhere around -278,150,-420 and then speak to him to get Liquid Courage.
Return to the docks and drink the Liquid Courage. After streaking, collect your Tumpy Tonic Max from Tumpy Irontoe.

Take the griffon to Timorous Deep.

Gorowyn

Put on Gilin’s Ale Goggles and find Smurg Fleshreaper on the beach at 2159,21,1167. Take off goggles and get update.
Put the ale goggles back on and find Tarcha Niba’dn at 2341,20,1339 at the docks. Take off goggles and get update.

Use the portal to return to the Bar of Brell and then exit to Antonica or Commonlands and take the wizard spires to Antonica.

Antonica

Travel to Windstalker Village.
Pick up pure water from the lake.
Put on Gilin’s Ale Goggles and find Dala Plateheart at -1908,-36,-618 at the Tavern.
Return to the fields east of the Qeynos gates to find Brell and complete quest.

Bar of Brell

Speak to Rasel Alechaser and read the Prayer to Brell he gives you. Drink from the wooden mug in the Sanctorium of Brell and then return to Rasel to complete the quest.

Speak to Snoogle Blitzed to complete his quest.

Speak to Gilin Rockbreath to complete quest and receive Improved Ale Goggles. Now you are able to complete Valla’s quest.

Put on the Improved Ale Goggles and go to any of these locations: Antonica, Commonlands, Greater Faydark, Darklight Wood or Timorous Deep. Gorowyn in Timorous Deep seemed the best location for quickly collecting the bushes.

Gorowyn

Whilst wearing the Improved Ale Goggles, search around the grassy areas for shrubs with a green sparkle effect which are called bountiful Brewday gardens. These are common in the grassy areas where there are the standard shrub harvests (salty gardens).

In Commonlands, harvest around the wizard spire area and in Antonica search around the water.

Bountiful Brewday gardens have a variety of harvests:

• wild yeast
• nobel hops
• golden grapes
• emerald clovers
• Brell barley

You need one of each of item in order to complete Valla’s quest. You’ll also use these items for the brewday crafting recipes. The emerald clovers are rare and you’ll need one for the quest, one for each backpack, and one per set of three meat pies.

Bar of Brell

Speak to Valla Brewhammer to complete her quest.

Get a Drink

Many of the traditional bars in Norrath have the remaining drinks you need for the collection. EQ2i has a full list of locations.

Pick up Sapling’s Raspberry Lambic, Ashfall Crag Lager and Claymore Ale to complete your Brews Across Norrath collection.

Notes:
If you’re not doing all the quests just skip the bits you don’t need and adjust travel destinations as necessary. Don’t forget that you can now travel directly among all the spires.

You can’t do Valla’s quest nor collect the tradeskill harvests until you’ve completed the Ale Goggles quest from Gilin Rockbreath. The bountiful Brewday gardens will disappear after the event so if you wish to keep using the crafted recipes you will need to stock up.

Posted by Taymar on http://www.mmorpg-info.org.

I’ve tried to piece these together but to no avail…and the script is not one taught in the good houses of Qeynos.

I had thought perhaps my Dwarvish friends would know more but they have found their own piece and were unable to tell me any more about them.

Where did this come from?!

Perhaps if you know what these ancient writings mean, you could join in on the discussion…

Posted by Taymar on http://www.mmorpg-info.org.

Holiday Merchants Steven and Douglas can be found in Qeynos Harbor and East Freeport with a lovely selection of goods for the lovelorn Norrathian, including volumes 1-3 of the recipe book Romantic Gifts to Craft. The third volume offers brand new recipes to be crafted using the love notes and candies dropping during the week. Conversely, you can hand in the items for coins to use at the Holiday Merchants to buy exciting new items.

Priestess Annalisa Swornlove is waiting near the druid rings in Antonica to offer two new quests, starting with Shot Through the Heart. The bow can only be used on living, sentient residents of Antonica but Windstalker village is not very far away.

Collect Erollisi roses in Enchanted Lands to give to other players – you’ll get a special title if you give away enough! You can read more about this on the ZAM wiki page for Erollisi Day.

Most quests from previous years are still available. Make sure to speak to Dalron Pinot – who has been spotted in both East Freeport and North Qeynos – to get a new reward for helping him with his chat-up lines.

Also take the time to seek out David Torchsong in Antonica or Diana Heartstrings in Commonlands to start the extended quest line Find ‘em a Find, Catch ‘em a Catch! and then move on to Coastal Grove in Antonica (both factions) to carry on the sequence and get some wonderful new items for your house and your person.

Once you’ve completed Find ‘em a Find, Catch ‘em a Catch!, go find Stinky Sideswiper (Commonlands near the West Freeport Gate) or Goldie Hammerfall (Antonica at the North Qeynos Gate). They have returned with their race to find the most hearts for the annual Hearts a’Flutter contest. Set your Particle Quality to high to help spot the hearts and win fantastic flowery prizes.

Residents of Gorowyn and Kelethin can be ported to the race locations by speaking to the Erollisi Day Promoter in each of the cities.

You can get full details of the crafted items on Erollisi Day 2010 and EQ2i has details of the quests collected on their Erollisi Day page.

Posted by Taymar on http://www.mmorpg-info.org.

Before every expansion, I make a point of getting every character to the cap, so that they can hit the ground running in the new lands. Harvesting caps at 400 for level 80 characters (whether adventure or tradeskill) and I’ll be going through all of mine to make sure they have reached that skill level. Also, I like to have a good supply of top level harvests to hand so I can start levelling up my crafting immediately. I will get a level or two using the known recipes before using the new harvests for the recipes of Odus.

Unfortunately, I have a lot of alts and not all of them are as hardworking as they should be. So I have to put in a concerted effort now to get their harvesting up to scratch. That’s why I have put together this quick reference guide so that I can efficiently harvest without a lot of searching.

Here is my list of questions: Everything I ever wanted to know about Norrathian harvesting but was afraid to ask!

What are the materials that I can harvest in each tier?
Harvested Materials

Where should I go to harvest them?
Harvesting by Zone

How can I harvest quicker?
Harvesting Tools

How can I avoid attacking badgers when I’m trying to harvest stones?
Utility Macros

Are there harvesting quests I can do while I am skilling up?
Duggin the Hungry Halfling

What’s this about a Signature quest that’s all about harvesting?
A Gathering Obsession

How do I get magma fish?
Sathirian Specialities: Cooking with Magma Fish

What else do I need to know? Drop me a line in the comments with your favorite tips and tricks!

Posted by Taymar on http://www.mmorpg-info.org.

There was a competition to write a haiku about Sentinel’s Fate and/or the continent of Odus and Sixes the Magnificent Webgnome posted an entry:

I want to play golf

In Ruins of Old Paneel

Get The Hole in one.

He’s not the only one thinking about the old haunts from Everquest – The Hole was probably the dungeon I spent the most time in and one of the locations I’m most looking forward to seeing when Sentinel’s Fate goes live. I think it is probably the most discussed zone from Odus and I can’t wait to see how they’ve renovated it for EQ2.

And just to whet my appetite, I received this exclusive screenshot of the dungeon today!

Click on the image to see it in full-size, high-rez glory! You can also see the previous screenshots of the The Sundered Frontier.

You’ll find more images of the zone scattered around the gaming blogs and I have it on good authority that a preview of the zone will be appearing on EverQuest II Players very soon. There’s already some great quotes and screenshots about the two overland zones: The Sundered Frontier and Stonebrunt Highlands.

At least I can stop talking about “next year’s” expansion – it’s going to be on the live servers next month! Headstart access starts February 16th for those who pre-order the retail box and presumably February 23rd for the rest of us.

Posted by Taymar on http://www.mmorpg-info.org.