http://www.zam.com/ ZAM gaming news rss feed http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20652 <p>A reminder from <a href="http://eqplayers.station.sony.com/news_article.vm?id=51720">EQLive</a> about gaining early access to the Underfoot expansion:</p> <blockquote>If you have participated in all three Road to Underfoot events, Pre-order and Purchase the expansion by December 1, 2009, you'll be one of the first to experience EverQuest&#174; Underfoot&#8482; on December 8, 2009, a full week before the release date of December 15, 2009! <br /><br />The Road to Underfoot events are listed below: <li>Giants, Giants, Giants</li> <li>Ancient Heroes</li> <li>Breaking the Seal</li> <br /><br />If you aren't sure whether or not you have completed each of the events, you can check under the My Account management tool on the Station banner.</blockquote> <p>For more information about these events and checking out your status, see <a href="http://eqplayers.station.sony.com/news_article.vm?id=51720"><strong>this post</strong></a> on EQLive.</p> http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20627 <p>Subscribers to EverQuest, EverQuest II, and/or Vanguard: Saga of Heroes&#160;will soon have Station Players premium services extended to them at no additional cost. Here is the story as announced on <a href="http://eqplayers.station.sony.com/news_article.vm?id=51710">EQLive</a>:</p> <blockquote>We are pleased to announce that beginning December 17, 2009, SOE will no longer charge separately for access to Station Players premium features for each of Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, EverQuest and EverQuest II. Access to standard and premium Station Players features will now be included at no additional cost for all subscribers to each of these games (with active, paid subscriptions in good standing.) Station Access subscribers with active, paid subscriptions in good standing will continue to have access to all Station Players standard and premium features.</blockquote><a name="pause" title="pause"></a><p> <blockquote>Station Players subscribers currently in a paid billing cycle will continue to have full access to the Station Players premium features they have already paid for through December 16, 2009. Station Players subscribers who have prepaid subscription time that extends their subscription period past December 16, 2009 will receive a pro-rated refund for any such pre-paid excess subscription payments*. Such refunds are expected to be issued by January 17, 2010. <br /><br />We appreciate your loyalty and commitment to SOE's games and look forward to bringing you more enjoyable products and game features in the future. <br /><br />*Please log in to your Station Account to update your billing address. If a valid credit card is active on your account, refunds will be applied to such credit card. If your account is paid via SOE Game Card or other SOE accepted payment method, we will send a check in the refund amount to your current billing address. No refunds will be given for Station Access accounts as a result of SOE no longer charging separately for Station Players premium features.</blockquote> </p> http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20615 <p>From the patcher: Here's a sneak peek at the Update notes for Thursday, November 19th <br /><br />*** Miscellaneous *** <br /><br />- The Mission Teleporter window should no longer cause message spam. <br />- Fixed an issue with the Vitrik Wing Swipe ability not affecting the proper targets. <br />- Fixed an issue that caused custom UI&#8217;s to not display the correct right-click menus in the group window. <br />- Disabled the ability to make purchases on the marketplace during monster missions to prevent players losing items. <br />- /clear can be used to clear your chat window once again. <br /><br />- The EverQuest Team</p> http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20598 <p>The latest installment of Underfoot's <a href="http://eqplayers.station.sony.com/news_article.vm?id=51708">Unfolding the Lore</a> series is out and fills us in on Kernagir, The Shining City: <blockquote><strong>Kernagir, The Shining City</strong> <br /><br />Kernagir is also known as the Shining City, where the chosen of Brell Serilis go to live out eternity in Underfoot. It was constructed by the finest craftspeople of Norrath to serve and glorify Brell. <br /><br />While other races have occasionally been granted access, Kernagir is mainly inhabited by dwarves, Coldain, gnomes, goblins, gnolls and other craftsmen of several trades. The highest tier of denizens in the city are the designers and architects, those whose inspirations and ideas fill the worlds of Brell's creatures with incredible innovations. With unlimited natural resources at their disposal and unlimited time to work with them, these crafters are free for their creative pursuits.</blockquote> </p><a name="pause" title="pause"></a><p> <blockquote> <blockquote>"Why do we build? We were created in His image -- to craft, to construct, to engineer, to tinker. We build because it is our purpose and the ultimate expression of our creator's will. We build for his glory and for his approval. We build because we can. We build because we must. We build because we are." &#8211; Kaffidor, Paladin of Brell</blockquote> <p>Buildings within the city were created with bright and beautiful stone, decorated with colorful glass, magical sigils, runes, and gold trimmings. Most were built in honor of Brell, for his minions have no need of sleep and own nothing that they do not need to do their tasks. <br /><br />Life in Kernagir is normally peaceful as Brell was fairly restrictive about who was allowed entry. Recently though, things have taken a dark turn in the Shining City. A rift has formed among some of the beings that dwell there. Many of the residents are no longer interested in cooperating with their fellow craftsmen. Fortunately none dare to break the peace of Kernagir so close to Brell's temple, but with increasing tensions, there is no telling how long this peace will last. <br /><br />With Brell's lack of attention to his domain, these skilled craftsmen are now sought after by those who follow the Faith of Self. Bellikos envoys have already spread the heresy of individualism into the Shining City and have been actively recruiting for supporters among its denizens. <br /><br />Where most of the population of the Shining City keeps their thoughts and opinions on the Heresy of Individualism to themselves, the notions spread by these emissaries are being talked about among the Creator's Guild. This has led to a philosophical schism and the taking of sides. The acrimonious debate between the two sides is descending towards violence and may lead to rampant chaos in the Shining City now that Brell's influence has disappeared.</p> </blockquote> </p> <hr /> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.zam.com/Im/Image/148329.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="margin: 5px;" src="http://www.zam.com/Im/Image/width=300/148329.jpg" alt="" /></a> <a href="http://www.zam.com/Im/Image/148330.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="margin: 5px;" src="http://www.zam.com/Im/Image/width=300/148330.jpg" alt="" /></a></p> http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20586 <p>For many of us, <a href="http://everquest.allakhazam.com/" target="_self">EverQuest</a> served as our initial foray into the world of massively multiplayer online games, and this much-heralded title helped pave the way for blockbuster games like <a href="http://wow.allakhazam.com/" target="_self">World of Warcraft</a> and <a href="http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/" target="_self">Final Fantasy XI</a>. Despite being over ten years old, the Sony Online Entertainment devs are still hard at work on EQ, and they're nearing the release of their next expansion, <a href="http://www.zam.com/Im/image/gallery/148275" target="_self">Underfoot</a>.</p> <p>To give you a sneak peek of the new zones, SOE shipped <a href="http://www.zam.com/Im/image/gallery/148275" target="_self">five exclusive screenshots</a> to the ZAM.com staffers, and now you can view them before anyone else! <a href="http://www.zam.com/Im/image/gallery/148275" target="_self">Check 'em out</a>, and then go and view all of our <a href="http://www.zam.com/game.html?page=screenshots;game=14" target="_self">Underfoot screenshots</a>!</p> http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20503 <p>Here's a sneak peek at Wednesday's Game Update Notes (from the patcher):<br /><br />*** Highlights *** <br /><br />- AC and Attack values on food and drink will now be properly added to your character.<br />- Corrected the description on The Frightening Writ.&#160; It now properly mentions that it grants access to a scarecrow mercenary rather than the title "the Haunted."&#160; It will now grant access to the new title "the Gravedigger."&#160; This title is retroactive - if you have already used your Writ, you will now have access to your Gravedigger title.<br />- All UI engine changes required by the expansion are now live.&#160; Some patching of UIs may be required.&#160;&#160; Most of the popular UIs should already be updated - check your favorite UI site.</p><a name="pause" title="pause"></a><p>*** Items *** <br /><br />- AC and Attack values on food and drink will now be properly added to your character.<br />- Changed the way the Vibrating Gauntlets of Infuse and Vibrating Hammer of Infuse function in order to avoid the linkdeath issues that were possible before.&#160; If you transmute them there will be a slight delay before you can transmute them again.<br />- The bard wind instrument focus on Icy Greaves has been increased to match the focus on other items in that armor set. <br />- Corrected a polarity issue with the Countersprung Enhancificator.&#160; It should now behave as intended when it comes in contact with water.</p> <p>*** Quests &amp; Events ***</p> <p>- Corrected the description on The Frightening Writ.&#160; It now properly mentions that it grants access to a scarecrow mercenary rather than the title "the Haunted."&#160; It will now grant access to the new title "the Gravedigger."&#160; This title is retroactive - if you have already used your Writ, you will now have access to your Gravedigger title.<br />- Mercenaries will no longer count towards the minimum player requirements for missions they can not enter.<br />- The Broodmother in Bloodmoon Keep is no longer rootable.</p> <p><br />*** Spells ***</p> <p>- Pets are no longer removed if you've been logged out for more than 30 minutes.</p> <p><br />*** NPC ***</p> <p>- Fixed a problem preventing NPCs from summoning their pets.</p> <p><br />*** AA ***</p> <p>- The chance for Mortal Coil to proc the blocking Mortal Residue has been reduced from 100% to 5%. In addition, the duration of Mortal Residue has been reduced to equal Mortal Coil's duration.<br />- Reduced the reuse time for the Berserker Savage Spirit AA to 60 minutes.&#160;</p> <p><br />*** UI ***</p> <p>- A large number of UI optimizations have been put in place that should noticeably increase frame rates under certain circumstances.<br />- All UI engine changes required by the expansion are now live.&#160; Some patching of UIs may be required.&#160;&#160; Most of the popular UIs should already be updated -&#160; check your favorite UI site.</p> <p>- Changed -<br />- EQUI.xml<br />- EQUI_Animations.xml<br />- EQUI_CastSpellWnd.xml<br />- EQUI_HeritageSelectionWnd.xml<br />- EQUI_MercenaryManageWnd.xml<br />- EQUI_ServerListWnd.xml<br />- EQUI_Templates.xml<br />- EQUI_VoiceActionBarWnd.xml<br />- SIDL.xml</p> <p>*** Miscellaneous ***</p> <p>- When changing race to a gnome, tinkering skill is now properly set at 50 as if you had rolled a new gnome.<br />- You can now select your heritage if you change races into a Drakkin.<br />- Changing race will no longer remove certain ranger abilities.</p> <p>*** Mercenaries ***</p> <p>- Added a new selectable assist mode for mercenaries.<br />- There are two new buttons in the mercenary management window: "Auto Assist" and "Call Assist".<br />- When "Auto Assist" is engaged, mercenaries should behave exactly as before with respect to what targets they use for attacking/healing.<br />- Using a tank mercenary with "Auto Assist" disabled, the merc will wait for the "Call Assist" button to be pressed before engaging any targets. When the "Call Assist" button is pressed, all targets currently on the group enemy list (that are in his awareness range) will be added as valid targets and he will begin attacking using the normal AI for determining targets.<br />- Using a healer mercenary with "Auto Assist" disabled, the merc will behave normally except you can press the "Call Assist" button to override normal rules for not healing pullers. If a puller is in the awareness range of the healer merc when "Call Assist" is pressed, it will have a 3 second window where it can drop a heal on them.<br />- /mercassist on -- Turns on mercenary auto-assist mode.<br />- /mercassist off -- Turns off mercenary auto-assist mode.<br />- /mercassist -- Calls for assist when your mercenary is not in auto-assist mode.<br />- Fixed an issue where players could cause their tank merc to attack other players' pets.<br />- The scarecrow tank mercenary now has endurance.</p> <p>- The EverQuest Team</p> http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20478 <p>The latest part in Underfoot's <a href="http://eqplayers.station.sony.com/news_article.vm?id=51693">Unfolding the Lore</a> series is out and centers in on Lichen Creep: <blockquote><strong>Lichen Creep</strong> <br /><br />Lichen Creep is a lava-veined cavern that has been slowly mined out over eons for the valuable levitating stone ore that is used to power various creations in the Underfoot. Narrow veins of lava wend their way through the cavern floor and walls, occasionally forming small lava pools and giving the entire area a molten orange glow.</blockquote> </p><a name="pause" title="pause"></a><p> <blockquote>The Mephit miners that burrow into the Underfoot maintain the largest presence in Lichen Creep, processing and sending loads of stone up through the hole in the top of the cavern. When large chunks of levitating stone are uncovered, the Mephits burrow into them for the more valuable ore, and leave behind levitating husks that they then convert into living quarters and various other facilities. <br /><br />The Mephits work tirelessly to mine levitating stone, and tend to ignore the minor annoyances and disruptions of the various races that have recently taken up residence in the caverns. While they do not actively seek to destroy the other races, they will slaughter them mercilessly if they find them interfering in Mephit business. <br /><br />Cliknar forces have begun to encroach upon the cavern and have set up camps amongst the rubble and slag heaps. They continue to expand their empire and are carefully scouting Lichen Creep for future conquest. They remain fairly unobtrusive and, other than an occasional scouting sortie, they are content to remain relatively hidden amongst the rubble and slag heaped at the side of the cavern. <br /><br />Meanwhile, the newly arrived Sporali have been traumatized by their recent encounter with the Underfoot and the few that have escaped the clutches of danger and death hide themselves in the lichen covered areas of the cavern. Some Sporali are fascinated by the Underfoot, but most are trying to find a way back to Corathus Creep. Between the lava creatures who kill them on sight and the Cliknar who view them as a food source, the Sporali live a very rough existence.</blockquote> </p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.zam.com/Im/Image/147694.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="margin: 5px;" src="http://www.zam.com/Im/Image/width=300/147694.jpg" alt="" /></a> <a href="http://www.zam.com/Im/Image/147695.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="margin: 5px;" src="http://www.zam.com/Im/Image/width=300/147695.jpg" alt="" /></a></p> http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20467 <p>The journey into the depth of Underfoot continues at ZAM this week. We've seen some frightening screenshots from the <a href="http://www.zam.com/Im/tag/UFExclusive" target="_self">Pellucid Grotto</a> and couldn't help but be a bit horrified <a href="http://www.zam.com/Im/tag/EQ110209" target="_self">by the insectoid Cliknar</a>. This week, we search the cavernous maw known as <a href="http://www.zam.com/Im/image/gallery/147592" target="_self">the Lichen Creep</a>, and come away with a new respect for the plant-like substance. We have exclusive images from the zone, so if you want a sneak peek, click below.</p><a name="pause" title="pause"></a><p>From the EQ devs:</p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><em>Lichen Creep is a lava-veined cavern that has been slowly mined out over eons for the valuable levitating stone ore that is used to power various creations in the Underfoot. Narrow veins of lava wend their way through the cavern floor and walls, occasionally forming small lava pools and giving the entire area a molten orange glow.</em></p> <p>You can see all the new Lichen Creep images by <a href="http://www.zam.com/Im/image/gallery/147592" target="_self">clicking here</a>!</p> <p><img style="vertical-align: middle; border: 2px solid black; margin: 5px;" src="http://www.zam.com/Im/Image/width=600/147592.jpg" alt="" /></p> http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20379 <p>With their latest expansion the EverQuest team is looking to drive adventurers into the very depths of Norrath to see what horrors and monstrosities lie beneath the bedrock of this fantastic world. Luckily, any potential heroes and heroines can get a nice sneak peek of their future hunting grounds here at ZAM, as the staffers have posted <a href="http://www.zam.com/Im/image/gallery/147207" target="_self">eleven exclusive new screenshots</a> to showcase the variety of creatures lurking in the gloomy depths.</p> <p>We've already seen <a href="http://www.zam.com/Im/image/gallery/136363" target="_self">quite a selection</a> of the Underfoot realms these <a href="http://www.zam.com/Im/image/gallery/145061" target="_self">past few months</a>, so make sure you check out <a href="http://www.zam.com/Im/image/gallery/147207" target="_self">all of the exclusive images</a> here at ZAM.</p> <p><a href="http://www.zam.com/Im/image/gallery/147207" target="_self">Click here to see the new exclusive screenshots!</a></p><a name="pause" title="pause"></a><p><img style="vertical-align: middle; border: 2px solid black; margin: 5px;" src="http://www.zam.com/Im/Image/width=600/147199.jpg" alt="" /></p> http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20378 <p>The latest part in Underfoot's <a href="http://eqplayers.station.sony.com/news_article.vm?id=51688">Unfolding the Lore</a> series is out and centers in on Arthicrex, the hive of those troublesome cliknars we've been battling over the past few weeks. <blockquote><strong>Arthicrex</strong> <br /><br />Built by a race of ant-like creatures known as the Cliknar, Arthicrex is the great anthill of the Underfoot. The interior of Arthicrex itself is composed of winding circular tunnels and circular rooms, built from mud and trimmed with stone and chitin. Cliknar live crowded in spaces that most species would find confining.</blockquote> </p><a name="pause" title="pause"></a><p> <blockquote>Entering the hive itself is a deadly proposition, as the Cliknar will attack en-masse and swarm over any foe. <br /><br />The southern end of the cavern housing Arthicrex is currently home to a group of disaffected Underfoot races who have built a temple dedicated to the idea of enlightened self interest, a notion being spread by followers of a new cult which calls themselves the Autarchians. Though the Cliknar also heard the indoctrination of the Autarchian messengers, they interpreted the message differently, being a hive mind. <br /><br />The unity of the hive mind, together with the teachings of the Faith of Self, have caused the Cliknar to deviate radically from the plans of Brell Serilis, and to cause the ruin of vast portions of Underfoot as area after area falls under Cliknar attack. <br /><br />The northern half of Arthicrex is a large desert, formerly fertile and beautiful but now given over to spider infestations, mining, and military maneuvers as the Cliknar perfect their plan for the conquest of all of Underfoot. Their desires for much more than territorial acquisition has turned them away from Brell and the needs of the Underfoot. Their lack of faith in their god has caused the great farmlands to decay into their current state. <br /><br /><strong>The Cliknar</strong> <br /><br />The Cliknar were once orderly servants of Brell Serilis, tending their farms and feeding the denizens of Underfoot through their efforts. All but forgotten by Brell, the Cliknar were the first creatures to fall under the sway of the heresy of the Faith of Self. They came to believe that they should be allowed to farm whatever they wanted, to DO whatever they wanted. They also discovered that they had a taste for Sporali. Slowly they dedicated more and more of their efforts to things that they desired rather than things that Brell desired. <br /><br />These great ants became too powerful and too numerous, following their adherence to the influence of the Faith of Self. They began to ignore the will of Brell and behaved as they saw fit. This caused the other races of Brell to push them back to their hive and seal off their tunnels with great masses of quarried stone from the Underquarry. This measure is only a stopgap, for the ants are very clever and are figuring on ways to burrow out of their home to do as they please. <br /><br />The hive of the Cliknar is the fortified hub of the community. The highest pinnacles loom hundreds of feet above the ground. The interior of the Hive is a maze of mud passages and small rooms, all swarming with inhabitants. <br /><br />The Cliknar Queen runs the hive mind through scent and sound commands. She was the first of the minions of the Underfoot to fall sway to the Faith of Self. While the Cliknar workers do not fully understand the Faith of Self, their hive queen believes in it and so they follow its tenets. <br /><br />Now that the Cliknar have broken down the barriers sealing them in the Arthicrex, they dominate the area, maintaining several slave races and food sources.</blockquote> <p>Here are a few images of Arthicrex (you can check out a few more at <a href="http://eqplayers.station.sony.com/news_article.vm?id=51688">EQLive</a>):</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.zam.com/Im/Image/147189.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.zam.com/Im/Image/width=300/147189.jpg" alt="" /></a> <a href="http://www.zam.com/Im/Image/147190.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.zam.com/Im/Image/width=300/147190.jpg" alt="" /></a></p> </p>