EverQuest - April 2022 Producer's Letter

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Written by ValH on April 8th, 2022

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Following the recent update on the current state of EverQuest II, Darkpaw Games' studio head Jenn Chan now brings us up to speed with what's going on with EverQuest the original. In short, we should expect more events, more servers, and more achievements. Here's the long version:

It's been 23 years since this grand journey called EverQuest was launched, and I'd like to take a moment to pause and reflect on all the things we've accomplished together. We've defeated powerful foes and we've brought balance; we've traversed, explored, and collected experiences during 28 expansions in which we traveled to the moon, assaulted the gods across their planes, met with beings of alternate realities, and defended against the chaos of Discord. We've also had our fair share of tribulations through the friends we've lost and the heartache we've borne. Through it all, you showed up and met the call. Ultimately, and possibly most importantly, we've found family. So, thank you for being an integral part of us and a part of Clan Darkpaw.

Earlier this year, we experimentally released the 2022 roadmap. Thank you for your warm reception to the idea and for your thoughtful comments. If you missed that, the original article is at EQ Roadmap 2022. Since then, we've delivered on it plus a plethora of smaller fixes and improvements. You can read more about each one in the links below.

2022 Roadmap Update:

Completed:

• January:
  • Community Resource Council Application Relaunch - We re-launched and no we haven't forgotten about it. We're still in the vetting process due to the overwhelming interest in the program.
  • Monthly Game Update Notes
• February:
  • Erollisi Day
  • 64-Bit Servers and Clients Release to Live Servers
  • Monthly Game Update Notes
• March:
  • 23rd Anniversary
  • Brew Day
  • Stomples Day
  • Bristlebane Day
  • Monthly Game Update Notes

Coming up soon:

• April:
  • Anniversary Part 2 - Two new missions on April 20, 2022 and a return of the 5th to 13th-anniversary events from April 12, 2022 through the end of the anniversary events May 10, 2022, at 11:00 p.m. PDT.
  • New Classic Achievements - Adding achievements for many original quests in EverQuest's starting cities.
• May:
  • Mercenary Rank Simplification - Simplify mercenaries down to the two ranks primarily in use and remove the quest line requirements for obtaining them.
  • New Tempest Festival Event
  • New Progression Servers
• June
  • Server Merge - Merging the Phinigel and Miragul servers to Vox.

You might be wondering what the rulesets for the new Time-Locked Progression Servers will be. Well, wait no further. We're proud to announce that the new names and rulesets will be: Vaniki, a Level Locked Progression server, and Yelinak, a more traditional progression server similar to the rules for Mangler. We're planning on unlocking those servers on May 25, 2022, at 12:00 p.m. PDT.*

Vaniki will open with Gates of Discord available and a level cap of 40. Then, over time, we will unlock new level caps along with the new expansions. In general, expansions will open when the level cap is 10 levels below the original level cap of the expansions. In many cases, this will cause multiple expansions to unlock on the same day. Once level 60 is reached, the next level change is eight weeks later if more than one expansion opens, and four weeks if only one expansion opens.

The currently planned (subject to change) unlock schedule for Vaniki is:

• Open at level 40 with expansions up to Gates of Discord unlocked
• Four weeks later: level 50 unlocks
• Two weeks later: level 55 unlocks
• Four weeks later: level 60 unlocks along with expansions up to Prophecy of Ro
• Eight weeks later: level 65 unlocks along with expansions up to The Buried Sea
• Eight weeks later: level 70 unlocks along with Secrets of Faydwer
• Four weeks later: level 75 unlocks along with expansions up to Underfoot
• Eight weeks later: level 80 unlocks along with House of Thule
• Four weeks later: level 85 unlocks along with Veil of Alaris
• Four weeks later: level 90 unlocks along with expansions up to Call of the Forsaken
• Eight weeks later: level 95 unlocks along with expansions up to Empires of Kunark
• Eight weeks later: level 100 unlocks along with expansions up to The Burning Lands
• Eight weeks later: level 105 unlocks along with expansions up to Claws of Veeshan
• Eight weeks later: level 110 unlocks along with Terror of Luclin
• Eight weeks later: level 115 unlocks
• Eight weeks later: level 120 unlocks

Note: When expansions unlock on the same day, the first unlocks at approximately 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time, and each additional expansion approximately one hour after the previous. Future expansions will unlock as appropriate to the schedule above.

Challenge achievements will also be available. If you participate in a chosen event and defeat it when you are at a certain level, you will gain a reward that you can use on any character on the same account. For example, defeat Cazic Thule at level 40, Meldrath at level 70, or Griklor at level 105.

To make these goals more attainable, many level restrictions will be relaxed on this server, allowing players to use items they normally could not and land spells on NPCs far above your level. Zone level restrictions will also be relaxed, but not removed.

Yelinak is a traditional progression server using the new unlock schedule generally requested by progression server players. Yelinak opens at the original EverQuest then unlocks with the following schedule:

• Four weeks later: Ruins of Kunark
• Eight weeks later: Scars of Velious
• Eight weeks later: Shadows of Luclin
• Eight weeks later: Planes for Power and Legacy of Ykesha
• Twelve weeks later: Lost Dungeons of Norrath
• Four weeks later: Gates of Discord
• At this point the schedule becomes consistent. Enjoy expansions for twelve weeks when a new level cap is unlocked, and eight weeks in expansions where the level cap stays the same.

In case you missed it, we are seeking new talent and need your help to continue delivering and strengthening our paths to the future. If you have ever wanted to be a part of creating the EQ experiences you love, check out the list of positions that we're hiring for at Darkpaw on this page. We love having applicants who love our game!

Keep your whiskers out for disturbances in the spirit world, and don't let the rat race get to you,

Jenn Chan
Head of Studio

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