The Shadow Odyssey and GU50 is now live. The EverQuest II servers came up around 11am CST with no major problems to report. So far looks like a nice smooth launch!

EQ2MAP has been updated to work with the new expansion and GU50 changes but requires that you use the new updated patcher. You can download the new EQ2MAP patcher here. Once we get some POI's for the new areas in our database we will compile a manual install version for those that have trouble with our updater.

I have posted a compare of the changes found on the live servers with the expansion and GU50 for your interface fixing pleasure.

Patch Notes
Interface Compare

As the Festival of the Grim Harvest ends in Telon, a new event is beginning. There will be feasting and celebrating, along with some rather large birds, a bit of spicey-ness, and some slimy, cranberry-colored somethings. We've got new quests, new rewards and new raid mobs, to boot!
Here's a sneak peek at one of the rewards you might earn if you lend a hand to the festivities!

Put your best deck forward in the November Premier Event to compete for a Z-Series Sony VAIO Laptop!

Starting at 10 a.m. PDT on Nov. 22, 2008, we'll begin a free, five-to-eight-round constructed deck event with great prizes for the top 16 finishers:

* 1st Place: Z-Series Sony VAIO Laptop
* 2nd Place: Two hundred dollars ($200.00)
* 3rd Place: One hundred dollars ($100.00) plus fourteen (14) Legends of Norrath Ethernauts booster packs
* 4th Place: One hundred dollars ($100.00) plus ten (10) Legends of Norrath Ethernauts booster packs
* 5th – 8th Place: Fifty dollars ($50.00) plus two (2) Legends of Norrath Ethernauts booster packs
* 9th – 16th Place: Two (2) Legends of Norrath Ethernauts booster packs

from article Here
For full details, read the Official Rules.

Get your practice games in now, and make sure you're up to speed on the latest strategies offered in the latest Legends of Norrath release, Ethernauts.

*This tournament is only open to players who are legal residents of the 50 United States for the duration of the Premier Event Series.

Folks,

When we launched our Public Test Server last week our goal was to create a place where we could test and iterate on ideas/initiatives/bugs with our subscribers in a non-LIVE environment. Our plan was that no patch would make it through the PTS until we were sure that it was tested thoroughly and properly. Patch 1.0.5 (Combat and Careers) is a perfect example of how this system is supposed to work. Thanks to the data and feedback we’ve gathered over the last week we are going to make some major changes to 1.0.5. First, the Combat and Careers portion of the patch is being moved to 1.0.6. We have made enough changes that we have decided to let them stay on PTS a while longer for additional testing. As I’ve said before, we will not rush these changes on to the LIVE servers until we are sure that they have been thoroughly tested and that the changes are working the way that the designers planned. It was evident throughout the testing process that some of the changes needed to be reconsidered and some changed outright. Thus and secondly, we are making the following changes to certain careers:

1. For our Ironbreakers, this means more time to assess the impact at our proposed changes to the Grudge mechanic to IBs in RvR. When patch 1.0.6 goes up on Deathsword, we will have an updated version of the grudge mechanic. As of now, this will result in IBs having decay beginning at 15 seconds as well a much slower loss of grudge per second than originally planned. Over the course of 1.0.6 on the PTS, we will continue to look at this mechanic and see if we have to add some additional time to the beginning of grudge decay.
2. For our healers, we are going to keep the decrease in cast time for the “big heals” but we are reverting the changes to the HOTs back to their current LIVE status. Given the changes and general increases to most careers’ DOTs, keeping healers’ HOTs where they are currently is the more prudent path. As we continue testing with 1.0.6, this may change but for now we want to spend some more time running the numbers before we make any additional changes to our healers.
3. Sorcs/BWs will not have any buffs to their DOTs until we can gather more data on the long-term impact of these DOTs.
4. We are looking at several interface changes geared to make target selection, spell-casting, etc. easier and more reliable especially in RvR.

Those are some of the biggest changes to the “Combat and Careers” portion of 1.0.5. Additionally, 1.0.5 will now focus on the “Heavy Metal” event that paves the way for the introduction of the Blackguard and the Knight of the Blazing Sun as well as a few other changes including fixes/improvements to our Realm War system. We expect to deploy 1.0.5 tomorrow to our LIVE servers. Once that is done, version 1.0.6 will be deployed to our PTS with all the current C&C changes. Additionally, 1.0.6 will also provide an opportunity for testers to get a sneak peek at those two new careers. So, please, keep signing on to our PTS and help us gather the data we need to ensure that the changes we are making are what we intend them to be, a series of necessary and balanced steps to improve balance among the careers. As always, I thank you for your patronage and support of WAR.

Mark

The Shadow Odyssey, EverQuest II's fifth expansion is set to go live tomorrow November 18th! This much anticipated expansion brings many new uncharted areas a long with nostalgic areas made famous from EverQuest.

This expansion also provides a major update to the in game map system. I'm proud to announce that eq2map is ready for these changes thanks to gm9 and jnils. The eq2map website will be down for a short time when the EverQuest II servers are brought down for the expansion so we can update it for the new map system. The EQ2MAP team doesn't anticipate any problems but since this map system is entirely new we cant guarantee there wont be some trouble. So I'm just asking every one be patient tomorrow.

There are also a number of other interface changes and enhancements. I will post a fresh compare tomorrow morning for now you can use the beta compare.

TSO Features:

• More than 20 new zones, including the new overland zone, Innothule.
• Experience nostalgic EverQuest dungeon themes, such as Najena, Mistmoore and The Sebilisian Empire, and adventure through more than 18 goal-based dungeons, such as Ruins of Guk and Befallen.
• The Achievement Point level cap will be increased to 200 to offer new achievements for class-specific lines.
• A new Dungeon Delving mission system for players to replay content with new and different experiences.
• Five (5) new Heritage Quests with unique rewards being added.
• A new, mysterious group of erudites with powerful new armor and equipment will barter for void shards earned during your encounters.
• Epic tales of the odyssey are told through battles with dozens of new creatures and hundreds of new quests.
• Two new deities have been introduced into Norrath, Rodcet Nife and Anashti Sul.
• Includes Desert of FlamesTM, Kingdom of SkyTM, Echoes of FaydwerTM and Rise of KunarkTM expansion packs, and The Bloodline ChroniclesTM, The Splitpaw SagaTM and The Fallen DynastyTM adventure packs.
• Also includes Legends of NorrathTM strategic online trading card game, digital starter deck and booster pack.

Official Press Release

Welcome to Moria!

Welcome to The Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria! These release notes cover many changes to the game, but because so many new systems have been introduced in Moria, we've tried to limit them to what's changed from Shadows of Angmar. For overviews of the new systems, please read the associated developer diaries, which are linked in the overview!

Downloadable Updater

If you'd like to update your LOTRO client to Moria before it goes live, click here for information about the downloadable updater!

Download the Moria Manual!

The Mines of Moria manual is now available for download in .pdf format (~5.6Mb). Click here to download it! You will need Acrobat Reader to view it.

Overview

• Two new classes: The Rune-keeper and Warden! Read more about these new classes in their related developer diaries:
  • The Rune-keeper
  • Creating a New Class: The Warden
• Level cap increase to 60! With the level cap increase come new traits and skills. Read about them in a series of developer diaries covering character advancement past level 50!
  • Champion
  • Captain
  • Guardian
  • Burglar
  • Lore-master
  • Hunter
  • Minstrel
  • Warden
  • Rune-keeper
• Changes to the combat system! For an overview of the changes, read Developer Diary: Combat Changes on lotro.com.
• New Item Advancement System! Forge your Legendary Weapon and customize it to become uniquely yours. Read more about the Legendary Item system:
  • Developer Diary: Introduction to the Legendary Item system
  • Developer Diary: Legendary Item Quest Instances
  • Forging Legendary Items, Part 1
  • Forging Legendary Items, Part 2
• New Trait Set System! Read more about it in these articles on lotro.com:
  • Developer Diary: Trait Sets
  • Trait Sets Mastery
• New regions: Eregion, Lothlorien, and Moria!
• Almost 40 new dungeons
• major overhaul of the Ettenmoors, including landscape, systems, and class updates. Several developer diaries have been released about the changes to the Ettenmoors, and we recommend players read them!
  • The Ettenmoors Re-vamp Part 1
  • The Ettenmoors Re-vamp, Part 2
  • PvMP Enhancements
  • Monster Play Class Enhancements
• Updates to the crafting system, including crafting guilds and the addition of Tier 6!
• Over 300 new Deeds and Accomplishments
• Over 600 new quests
• Raids and Instance updates!
  • 1 new 12-man raid - battle the Watcher in the Water!
  • 7 new 6-man instances
  • 2 new 3-man instances
  • 4 new instance/raid armor sets
  • New "Challenge" system
  • 100s of unique rewards
  • Read more: Developer Diary: Anatomy of a Cluster

Of Special Note

• Quest Bags are here!

To help with inventory management, we’ve modified most quest items so that they are no longer stored in your inventory, but are instead stored in the Quest Journal. This means that those boar hides you are looking for will no longer be cluttering up your inventory and will now be found in the journal. If you are curious about those quest items and would like to examine them, you still can. You’ll just need to navigate to the quest in the journal and hover over the item there, just like you would with an item in your regular inventory. By the way, you may have noticed we ’ve said that “most ” items have been removed from your inventory. A few quest items cannot since they are usable in some fashion. Items that cannot be removed from your inventory are:

• Letters or other readable objects
• Quest items given for Crafting Quests
• Items that can be traded to other players or listed on the auction house.
• Items that must be used as part of the Quest.
• Quest starter Items

All other items should be no longer be stored in your inventory.

• Key rings are in! Permanent keys can now be clicked on to be added to a Key Ring section of your traits. Doing so will delete the key, and any doors that were opened by the keys now look for the trait.
• A new, never-before-seen mount waits to be discovered!
• The cooldown on Edelharn Tokens has been reduced from 60 to 15 minutes!
• Once any of your characters has reached level 20, all characters on your account will be able to use the cosmetic outfit system! You will need to log in with one of your 20+ characters to open the option up for the rest of your characters.
• Hope has been replaced with a new Radiance value; its benefits remain the same, however.
• Scrollcases that reveal tool recipes can now be found in loot.
• One-shot recipe scrolls can now be stacked in groups of 10.

Two Important Notes

• All Kinships must now maintain a membership count of 8 or more. If your Kinship membership count drops below 8, it will be disbanded if you do not recruit enough members to meet the minimum within five(5) days.
• A special ring icon and an error are shown to a player if they try to access Mines of Moria content but have not purchased the expansion.