| Druid Ring Reconstruction Event [EverQuest II] 
    from ZAM News (full) | 
  | The Druid Ring Reconstruction Event , slated to last throughout the entire update, went live today with the launch of GU56   . Loyal servants of Growth have banded together to infuse the defiled druid rings of Norrath with the loving magic of Tunare. As each ring progresses, it will be left to rejuvinate the rest of the way itself, and work on the next ring will begin.  For the first stage of this event, players can seek out various quest givers at the druid ring within the Valley of the Dead in Nektulos Forest. There are combat, errand and tradeskill quests to choose from, so everyone of all sizes can lend a hand. The nearby supply officer has various rewards : some new, and others popular returns from past events, such as the Teleportation Pads and Impreceptible Beauty clothing set--available for exchange as you earn tokens.  Also released today and planned to be available until GU57 is the repeatable Tribute to the Huntress quest, the conclusion of the New Halas prelude event. 
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  | Is it Getting Harder to Define What Makes an MMO? [General News] 
    from ZAM News (full) | 
  | When we reported EA's unveiling of its Need  For Speed World racing-sim MMO in London earlier this week, the  news received little fanfare from our readers, and they weren't alone.  Most MMO fans weren't exactly frothing at the mouth in anticipation of a  new"massively-multiplayer online racing game,"with the exception of  Need For Speed's established community and the usual racing-sim fans.  We're not specifically picking on Need For Speed World here; it's just  another sign of the times. The unrelenting emergence of online  multiplayer games branded as MMOs has watered-down the market. Today's  new MMO announcements (which surface weekly) just don't carry the weight  they once did, even those with relatively-unique gameplay based outside  the usual RPG fantasy and sci-fi genres.  One problem is that today's market is bursting at the seams with  games that tried to ride the coattails of the MMO craze. As the success  of games like EverQuest and World of Warcraft rose, video game  ... 
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  | New Halas Prelude Event [EverQuest II] 
    from ZAM News (full) | 
  | The prelude event for GU56 , heralding in the coming of the city of New Halas , has been available through Volunteer Guides and CSRs over the past few weeks. Today saw the quest NPCs being added into the world, each found within the major player cities.  Followers of Marr believe that they have been having premonitary dreams and send you on a short quest, A Vision of Valor , to find what truth there is to it. The Sisterhood of Erollisi comes again to Norrath, assisting you in  solving the mystery of these strange dreams. The event gives some background into how the city of New Halas came to  be, as well as a sense of finality to what happened to Mithaniel Marr  following the events inside the Shard of Love.  The prelude quest will be available until the launch of GU56 , which is expected to be next Tuesday, May 25th. 
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  | Moonlight Enchantments Start Tonight! [EverQuest II] 
    from ZAM News (full) | 
  | The monthly mini event  Moonlight   Enchantments  (often called"The Grottos") starts tonight!  The event will turn on at 12:01am PDT on May 20th   and run through 11:59pm PDT on May 21st. These times apply directly with   no time conversion to all servers.    If you need a hand with finding these mysterious   mushroom rings or want to peek at the rewards, see our Moonlight   Enchantments Mini Live Event page! 
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  | Mounts Now Available on the Station Marketplace [EverQuest II] 
    from ZAM News (full) | 
  | Today SOE announced that three new mounts will be available in the EQII Station Marketplace.  For 2500SC ($25) you can have your choice of three very good looking mounts.  Each mount comes in your choice of Fierce or Arcane. The Fierce version increases Slashing, Aggression, Ranged,  Piercing and Crushing of caster by 5, while the Arcane version increases  Focus, Ordination, Disruption, Subjugation and Ministration of caster  by 5. Both versions of the mount have a 65% run speed.  These mounts are guarenteed to be available on the Marketplace for at least a month.  Click the picture above for large screenshots of each mount, and be sure to watch them in action in the video after the jump!     embed 
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  | SOE Official Podcast #85 is Live [General News] 
    from ZAM News (full) | 
  | The"PodSide Cast"(Official SOE Podcast #85) is live! This exciting episode includes:   An interview with EQII Senior Producer Dave Georgeson  The Agency: Covert Ops  PoxNora’s 13th expansion, Maljaran  Shores  PlanetSide’s 7 th anniversary   So tune in! You can get your Podcast from the official Podcast site or the iTunes store (type SOE into the search box and click“subscribe”).  Your feedback is always welcome on the Station forums or via email . 
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  | EQII's Expansion 7:  Velious? [EverQuest II] 
    from ZAM News (full) | 
  | EverQuest II players have long hoped for an expansion returning players to Velious.  Scars of Velious, the second expansion in the original EverQuest, was a favorite of long-time players.  With the appearance of the the icy Order of Rime last summer many players were sure Velious was coming, and were surprised when Sentinel's Fate took EQII players to the lost island of Odus.   Astute player Vulkoor found some interesting files downloading in April, which included othmir (an otter race from Velious) and  Tserrina the near-legendary boss of the original Tower of Frozen Shadow .  The appearance of Coldain dwarves in New Halas (now on the EQII test servers ), have expectations high.    Today observant (and persistant) players found an entry at the  United States Patent and Trademark Office .  SOE applied for the trademark on EVERQUEST II DESTINY OF VELIOUS.  While we're sure SOE will not announce the 7th EverQuest II expansion before they're ready, we feel c ... 
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  | EQII Update Notes: Tuesday May 4, 2010 [EverQuest II] 
    from ZAM News (full) | 
  | Servers will be down on Tuesday May 4 for about an hour for the weekly hotfix.  U.S. servers will come down at 6am PDT;  Runnyeye and Splitpaw will come down at  9pm  PDT.  Here's the notes:           THE PALACE OF ROEHN THEER    3 Sage Encounter (Challenge Mode)- If the incorrect character  class (according to the Idolic Stone that sage possesses) keeps agro on  that sage for more than 3 secs after that sage has lost it’s prismatic  sphere, that character will be hit by a bolt of slaying.    SANCTUM  OF THE SCALEBORN    The Trial of the Reaver no longer  requires a Trial Stone to start. The statue that starts the event,"Rites of the Scaleborn,"now becomes usable right after it spawns. 
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  | Game Update 56 Details Released [EverQuest II] 
    from ZAM News (full) | 
  | SOE has released full information on the highly anticipated Halas Reborn update.  The planned release date is May 25, 2010.  Features include:      Two new high-level raid dungeons  New Halas starting zone  New  Halas housing options  Story  Teller UI Guide  Exclusive  login bonus item  Halas  themed Marketplace items  Multiple in-game events   The raid zones are The Icy Keep: Retribution, currently on test servers, and Underfoot Depths, a continuation of the Hole raid zones.  Live events will include the annual Tinkerfest , and the first of the next expansion's prelude events, Rebuilding the Druid Rings.  Players who log in between May 25 and 28 will be eligible for an exclusive Frostpaw Kitten from the Station Marketplace.   Click the picture above for a gallery of screenshots from Halas Reborn ! 
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  | EQII Test Copy Goes PvP Today [EverQuest II] 
    from ZAM News (full) | 
  | Juan"Olihin"Cardenas, mechanics and player vs player developer for EverQuest II, posted that the Test Copy server will be switched to PvP today for Game Update 56 testing.  He's specifically looking for testing of:   Warfields  Level Locking  Token  Consolidation  Blue Adornments  Achievement Spending   To copy your characters to Test Copy, log in to the character you'd like to copy and type /testcopy in the chat window.  You may have to create a character on Test for your copied character to appear.  Olihin will be on Test Copy at 4pm Pacific time today, but warns that there will be no buffing available to advance your characters automatically. 
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