The Station Launcher will undergo minor maintenance this evening at 5pm PST to support the new EQ expansion. This is separate from any EQ expansion-rated downtime. According to Dan Kinney on the Station Launcher forums :

If we had proper version dialog, this would be represent Version 1.0.1 (Beta).

The only changes in this deployment are:

• Support for EverQuest: Seeds of Destruction expansion
• Updated EULA for Russian version of Pirates of the Burning Sea

There will be no functionality changed in this deployment.

After this deployment has been completed, you may see a discrepancy in the calculation of the Add-ons value. It will not register your pre-ordered purchase of the expansion until the game is fully activated.

If you're having any issues with the beta Station Launcher or just want to give feedback, we highly recommend the Station Launcher forum. Dan and the other platform staff have been highly responsive to feedback and bugs of all kinds.

At long last, the Station Launcher Beta has been updated!  Those frequenting the Station Launcher forums have been pleased to see several new "red names" posting and responding to issues.  Ashlanne posted today :

The latest release update for Station Launcher Beta went live today!! This update included improvements to network resiliency, and auto launcher behavior! The Game update screen now includes "Show All Games," Vanguard players now have the ability to enter a game with a selected character and so much more!

You can read about these changes and more in the update notes posted on the Station Launcher forums. We want to know more about your experience with Station Launcher! Now when you click the "Station Launcher Feedback" button you are re-directed to an online survey so you can share your experiences. All of your input enables us to improve, refine, and deliver the best Station Launcher experience for everyone.

Be sure to patch and leave the Station Launcher team your feedback!

Ethernauts, the fifth Legends of Norrath release, is officially here ! It is now available in the Sony Station store and leads directly into the story of the new EverQuest II expansion, The Shadow Odyssey, which will hit stores on Nov. 18.

According to SOE, current EQ and EQ2 subscribers will find the new Cloudskipper Starter Deck has been added to their collection manager when they log in to the Legends of Norrath client. This deck features the game's first generic avatar, the Cloudskipper, the airship of the Ethernauts.

Also, as a special promotion through Feb. 11, 2009, which is when the sixth Legends of Norrath expansion will be available, current subscribers will receive five non-tradable Ethernauts booster packs per month at no additional cost.

Keep reading for more information on the Ethernauts release sent to us by SOE.

The MTV Multiplayer blog recently posted an interview with Sony Online Entertainment president John Smedley, and he discussed everything from the importance of console MMOs to targeting female gamers with DC Universe Online and Free Realms. He also said that it's "pretty safe to say that EverQuest has not seen its last game."

Smedley focused on bringing online gaming to consoles in the interview, stating that, "I think they're going to introduce a lot of new people [to MMOs]. Studies show that a lot of people who have consoles also have PCs. However, they also show that most of the people that have a console play their console as their primary gaming device." He also confirmed that all SOE MMOs will appear on consoles from now on.

The SOE president emphasized the importance of targeting untapped groups of gamers, especially females. "You know they've sold 2.6 million copies of Cooking Mama on the DS? I mean, it just blows my mind that there's such an audience size-wise that people just haven't hit."

The full interview is at the MTV Multiplayer blog or can be found in its entirety below.

The Official SOE Podcast #47 is live and has an interview with Free Realms' newest designer Julie Burness, who is also a former Vanguard community representative. To download it, visit the official Podcast page . For more information, check out this post on EQ2 Players.

We also feature an interview with members of our Usability Lab team. And don't miss out on the Top 10 list created by our listeners. Make sure you tune in to the very end for Inside SOE, a mini-interview with the Free Realms Brand Manager.

So listen in! You can get your Podcast goodness two different ways: head over to the Podcast’s official site , and click on your preferred bandwidth, or if you have iTunes installed, select iTunes Store, type SOE into the search box and click Subscribe! Your feedback is always welcome either on the Station forums or via email .