January 22, 2004 ------------------------------ We have made a few changes to remove some exploits in our continuing effort to remove any loopholes in EverQuest. In this update we have removed the charm exploit in Plane of Tactics by changing the way that charm works. This change should not affect those who use charm in the manner for which it was intended. We have also changed the profit margin of many tradeskill items when sold to NPC vendors. It is our hope that these changes and your continued community efforts will help to put a stop to those who do not wish to play fairly. - Changed Charm spells so that NPCs spell use will now be interrupted once the charm has expired. - We have modified the sell back value on many tradeskill items to prevent excessive profit. - Please note that many items will now show as being usable by berserkers. This does not necessarily mean the items will be equippable by berserkers when Gates of Discord launches. ** Gates of Discord ** www.gatesofdiscord.com The latest expansion to EverQuest - Gates of Discord - is available for pre-order and incremental download! Be the first in your guild to pre-order Gates and begin the incremental download now! This new expansion boasts: -100 new Alternate Advancement abilities. -Leadership experience to unlock many group- and raid-enhancing tools. -20 new zones -- 10 new instanced zones and 10 new traditional zones, including a huge ship city zone to gather your party and launch expeditions. The new combat zones are for characters level 50 and over. -New Berserker class -- ravage your enemies with two-handed axes or by hurling large objects. -Discover the newly found continent of Taelosia and discover the secrets of Norrath's future! -20 all-new NPC models make for hundreds of challenging encounters unlike anything seen before in EverQuest. -New Tribute System to enhance gameplay with beneficial attributes, skills, or effects. -Dozens of new and exciting story-driven quests and content for the hardy adventurer. -New tradeskill recipes to produce hundreds of new items. -Unearth arcane spells, mighty weapons, and other hidden treasures! Pre-order yours today by pressing Pre-order at the server select screen, or at https://store.station.sony.com! ** Incremental Download for Gates of Discord ** We have begun introducing the Gates files in small bits. This is the most convenient way for you to get the files you'll need for the new expansion. It is a lot easier to download these files in smaller chunks than to download them all on the day of release. You can get the files incrementally from the EverQuest updater. The obvious way to begin downloading the files is to click "yes" when the dialogue box pops up asking you if you'd like to incrementally download Gates. If you've already told that dialogue never to appear again, you can get the files in a few easy steps: - Run the EverQuest Updater - Click the Advanced button - Click the checkbox next to Gates of Discord - Click Save - Click Download. This will catch you up on the downloads you have missed and will update you as we add files to the updater. This will make your download much smaller the day Gates launches, or the day you purchase the digital version of the expansion. The anticipated release date -- February 10th, 2004 -- is subject to change. If the anticipated release date changes, we will announce a revised release date via a patch message. ..................................................................... ------------------------------