July 27, 1999
The EverQuest servers will be coming down at 7:00 AM Pacific, tomorrow morning for an update. The estimated downtime is approximately 2 hours. This update will require a minor client-side download. The following enhancements and new features will be activated once the update is complete.
General Announcements
We are currently in the process of finishing up final internal testing for Tallon Zek, the new PvP-Teams server. We expect that it should be coming on-line this week. Once the date nears, a better estimate on the time of launch and further information regarding the Tallon Zek server will be made available.
The Fear Plane is now on-line. However, before adventuring to the Fear Plane, we advise you to heed the following advice:
Traveling the planes is not like visiting a dungeon. People die in dungeons.
People die hard on the planes.
Dying on a plane means that you might die in a place where your body may be extremely hard to recover, or in an area that you have no idea how to get back to. Big, nasty monsters will jump you at inopportune times, spells may work differently and once valid tactics might go right out the window.
The planes are dangerous places to adventure, and massive player slaughter will happen on a regular basis.
We are not saying this to goad you in to going - this is an honest disclaimer. So don't say we didn't warn you.
Trade Skill Enhancements
Baking Chocolate and Fish Head Soup now work as designed.
Pottery has been enhanced by new items that can be made through the trade skill that will help the player-driven economy. Additionally, some of the profits of other pottery made items have been adjusted to facilitate this change.
Make and apply poison is now working in the game. To apply poison a Rogue must sit and click a piercing weapon on a poison to apply it. When the Rogue attacks there is a chance the creature will become poisoned. The poison will need to be reapplied if the player changes zones.
New Features
The ability to report player whom are harassing has been implemented. This is done by typing "/report" - the previous 10 lines of text will be saved to the server for Customer Support representatives to review. This command may only be performed once while on-line, you must then log out and back in to use it again.
The "r" key will now initiate a reply to the last player whom sent the user a tell.
The /surname command has been added, which allows a player of 20th level or greater to issue his or her character a last name.
When a player consumes alcohol, a message will be given to players within the area.
Game Play Enhancements
If a character is knocked unconscious, and has no stamina, the player will still regain consciousness.
Players are no longer able to cast Shadowstep next to a zone point and teleport to an area past the teleport region, which is inaccessible to other characters.
If a player is too far from a corpse while attempting to perform the /loot command, a message will now be given.
If the user was under the effect of either Treeform or Minor Illusion, then had Spirit of Wolf cast on them, the player would be able to move in their altered state - This is no longer possible.
If the Eye of Zomm makes contact with a zone-point, the spell will immediately wear off.
Players may now target Drakes much easier.
Several "Safe Zones" have been Fixed.
A number of quests have been both enhanced and added.
Helmet colors are now displayed properly on Barbarians.
If a character is blinded, the chat box will no longer flash.
If a shuriken or throwing knife is equipped, then unequipped, the weapon will no longer remain on the character model.
Monk trainers will now train Instill Doubt.
Spell Additions and Enhancements
The Eye of Zomm now allows the caster to travel up and down.
When player dispels minor illusion, the character's weapons will no longer disappear from the character model.
Some 44th and 49th Damage spells have had slight modifications made to them:
Gasping Embrace (Enchanter) has been re-tuned in the style of other DoT spells to make it more party friendly.
Retribution (Cleric) has had a typo fixed, and does about ten percent less damage now.
Ice (Druid) has had its damage lowered by a few points to match the damage done by Starfire.
Rend (Wizard) is now available on certain Wizard vendors (lvl 49 spell)
Shock of Swords (Magician) now does more damage.
Succor's (DRUID) casting cost has been raised to match the casting cost of the Circle, Evacuate and Portal spells.
Wizard Portal and Evac spells have had their AoE radius range upped to match Druid Circle spells.
Necromancer research components that did not previously stack should now stack.
The Bug that allowed Screaming Terror to work Outdoors has been fixed.
Vampiric Curse (NECROMANCER) damage has been upped.
Share Wolf Form (DRUID) has had its Area Effect Radius reduced. This means that party members who want to be turned into wolves should stand near the caster, while those that do not should stand further away.
Hitting F1 twice, or /pet target will now target your pet.
The Duration on Pack Regeneration (DRUID) has been increased.
Shrink (SHAMAN) has been put in to the game. It is a Level 19 spell, and available in all Shaman starting cities. This spell will only be castable in dungeons. It will not leave an icon on your screen - Shrink will last until you zone.
A Quest for Ice Comet has been added.
A Quest to help casters with research has been added. Good aligned races should check North Karana, while those with a more malign disposition should check South Ro.