I have this issue on and off. I have found 2 ways to fix it.
First way. You need to redownload the patcher from : http://help.station.sony.com/cgi-bin/soe.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=16165&p_created=1132345796&p_sid=ht3iEZKi&p_accessibility=0&p_redirect=&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9zb3J0X2J5PWRmbHQmcF9ncmlkc29ydD0mcF9yb3dfY250PTEwNDMmcF9wcm9kcz0wJnBfY2F0cz0wJnBfcHY9JnBfY3Y9JnBfc2VhcmNoX3R5cGU9YW5zd2Vycy5zZWFyY2hfbmwmcF9wYWdlPTEmcF9zZWFyY2hfdGV4dD1ldmVycXVlc3QuZXhlIGRvd25sb2Fk&p_li=&p_topview=1
delete your current eq game file then run the file above you downloaded.
This fixes it about 1/2 the time for me.
The other way I found was to use wineq and in the prefrence set it to run the patcher. This allways works for me.
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"If you ask me, we could do with a little less motivation. The people who are causing all the trouble seem highly motivated to me. Serial killers, stock swindlers, drug dealers, Christian Republicans"
George Carlin.