From the Everquest official Forums:

Attention players: we will perform a general maintenance beginning at 5:00AM PDT* on Thursday, March 31st. The amount of downtime may vary, depending on the service. If the downtime extends beyond four hours, we will update this thread.

This maintenance may impact the following Daybreak services across all games:

• Game logins for all Daybreak games
• Forum & Web logins for all Daybreak games
• Commerce and account management for all Daybreak games

PLEASE NOTE: This is not a game-specific maintenance. There will be no update or patch notes.

Thank you for your patience as we complete this maintenance.

~The Team at Daybreak

Edit: (some site updates)

Updated Items: Screaming Buckler ;  Cyclical Impetuator ;  Raw Crypt-Hunter's Chestpiece ;  Raw Crypt-Hunter's Cap ;  Old Bloodforged Cloth Helm Ornament

Bestiary Updates: Bobo Gleemaker ;  a bloodthirsty pirate ;  Exalted Dromond ;  Darwol's Bounty

Piece by Piece we Build the Broken Mirror...

Especially with newer content, it is key that you say which version of an NPC you are updating drops for. Since the devs like putting multiple versions of the same named in the instance versions (Bhaly Adan is in several of the variations of Plane of Health for example) posting under the main zone "This NPC dropped item X" isn't enough info.

Updated Items: Greater Essence of Life ;  Severed Head of Severity ;  Ringlets of Decay

Updated Quests: Truthbringers Final Test

Bestiary Updates: a goblin soothsayer ;  Bhaly Adan ;  a chest (In Defense of Health) ;  Darwol's Bounty

Ignore the placeholder new item (devs haven't finished with that one yet).

New Items: �W

Updated Items: Grandiose Stole of Alra

Bestiary Updates: Deathsqueak ;  High Boken Cleret

It's TEE time at DBGs!

You know what that means, it's time to let the Hamsters out for a little R&R!  And while they're out enjoying the back nine:

All Everquest Live Servers will be brought offline for a little tune up.  Tee Time begins at 7:30AM Pacific and their short game is expected to last approximately 2 hours.  During this time all servers will be unavailable.

Just in case they get stuck at the 19th hole a little too long, check the official Everquest Forums and social media for status updates and news if additional downtime is needed. 

See below for the patch notes:

Solesek's Eye

Stageguy posted his thoughts on hunting in Solusek's Eye (Solusek A) in the modern game, as he had been away awhile and was not finding good information. He did the same for Jagged Pine. This is a lot like what Sippin, Fayman and others have been doing for much of the recent Heroic Adventures content. It's great to have some 2016 perspective on this content.

The challenge: Go to a favourite zone of yours. Make notes as if you were going to guide someone through it, point out the dangers and rewards. Maybe there are some quirks to the zone? Then post this as a mini-guide under the zone's forum. Feel free to overlap (why not have multiple person's take on a zone?). The extra challenge is do obscure places that nobody really uses, even on progression servers.

Bonus: Post in the EQ General forums, make a new thread announcing your guide. Example: "A Guide to Najena 2016" and link to the zone thread you posted in. This gets some eyes on it, and will garner you some feedback and likely some rate-ups. Win-win.

New Items: Firework: Prexus Shower ;  Firework: Erollisi Starburst ;  Firework: Rodcet Fire-burst ;  Firework: Sparkle Rain ;  Firework: Tropical Flash ;  Firework: Silver Shells ;  Firework: Fountain Spash ;  Firework: Fennin Fire-burst ;  HotZonePlaceHolder001 ;  Glowing Seafarer's Mace Ornament ;  Tipsy Gnomework Cloth Arms Ornament ;  Adoptable Plush Ishva Mal ;  Adoptable Antonican Frostfell Pup ;  Tipsy Gnomework Cloth Wrist Ornament ;  Tipsy Gnomework Cloth Robe Ornament ;  Firework: Innoruuk Shower ;  Burning Potion ;  Fearstone Gargoyle Contract ;  Metamorph Totem: Crystal Spider ;  Tipsy Gnomework Cloth Helm Ornament ;  Tipsy Gnomework Cloth Chest Ornament ;  Tipsy Gnomework Cloth Hands Ornament ;  Tipsy Gnomework Cloth Legs Ornament ;  Tipsy Gnomework Cloth Feet Ornament ;  Clockwork Leather Legs Ornament ;  Clockwork Leather Hands Ornament ;  Clockwork Leather Wrist Ornament ;  Clockwork Leather Arms Ornament ;  Clockwork Leather Chest Ornament ;  Clockwork Leather Helm Ornament ;  Clockwork Cloth Robe Ornament ;  Clockwork Cloth Feet Ornament ;  Clockwork Leather Feet Ornament ;  Clockwork Cloth Helm Ornament ;  Clockwork Cloth Chest Ornament ;  Clockwork Cloth Arms Ornament ;  Clockwork Cloth Wrist Ornament ;  Clockwork Cloth Hands Ornament ;  Clockwork Cloth Legs Ornament ;  Clockwork Chain Legs Ornament ;  Clockwork Chain Wrist Ornament ;  Clockwork Chain Hands Ornament ;  Clockwork Chain Feet Ornament ;  Clockwork Plate Helm Ornament ;  Clockwork Plate Chest Ornament ;  Clockwork Plate Arms Ornament ;  Clockwork Plate Feet Ornament ;  Gnoll in a Barrel ;  Clockwork Plate Legs Ornament ;  Clockwork Plate Hands Ornament ;  Clockwork Plate Wrist Ornament ;  Tipsy Gnomework Plate Hands Ornament ;  Clockwork Chain Helm Ornament ;  Clockwork Chain Arms Ornament ;  Clockwork Chain Chest Ornament ;  Tipsy Gnomework Plate Helm Ornament ;  Tipsy Gnomework Plate Arms Ornament ;  Tipsy Gnomework Plate Feet Ornament ;  Tipsy Gnomework Plate Wrist Ornament ;  Tipsy Gnomework Plate Legs Ornament ;  Shield of the Dark Waters ;  Tipsy Gnomework Plate Chest Ornament

Updated Items: Rough Consigned Serrated Dagger ;  Tarnished Two Handed Sword ;  Cracked Staff

Updated Quests: Blyle Bundin's Head ;  EverQuest Anniversary Events: An Overview

Bestiary Updates: Ash C`Luzz ;  Evin X`Lottl ;  Lisvan X`Lottl ;  Draan N`Ryt ;  Hutyn L`Lozz ;  Petra D`Dbth ;  Krystiana N`Ryt

Everquest Turns 17!

EQ Celebrates it's 17th year with a BIG BANG and lots of special promotions! 

From the EQ Website:

17 Days of Bonus XP & Marketplace Promotions!

(More after the jump)

As anticipated by last week's March Patch Preview, EQ Servers will be brought down for the upcoming patch:

On Wednesday, March 16, 2016, all Everquest Live Servers will be taken offline starting at 7:30AM Pacific Time for the update celebrating the 17th Anniversary of the game. 

The estimated downtime is approximately two hours but you should check the official EQ Forums and social media for status updates and if additional downtime is expected.

Here are the patch notes:

*** Highlights ***

- The Mechanical Fortune Teller in the Plane of Knowledge has information for you regarding the 17th Anniversary events!
- New rewards are available on a jubilant merchant for Commemorative Coins! Look for her in the Special Celebratory Goods section of your find window in the Plane of Knowledge!

A Recommendation of Hate?

We've re-entered the MAJOR faction quest for Innoruuk Trolls out of Grobb. We suspect that the East Freeport version works still/again too. None of the quest NPC and items were linked, and the Grobb version of this NPC was not in the database at all... are other Grobb re-revamp NPC's missing? We do know that many old Grobb quests don't quite work as they did before the Frogloks did their sit-in.

New Items: Amulet of Dawn

Updated Items: Note of Recommendation ;  Boreal Breastplate of the Light

New Quests: Innoruuk Recommendation

Bestiary Updates: Perrir Zexus ;  Saxarivza Zaxun

DBGs announced today that they will be discontinuing the Everquest Worlds mobile app at the end of this month.  From the Everquest Forums, Laylaih posted the announcement today:

We will be closing the EverQuest Worlds mobile app at the end of this month.

If you would like to play any of the current mini-games, finish up quest lines, and/or retrieve codes for rewards, you will need to do so on or before midnight (11:59PM PDT) on Thursday, March 31, 2016.

The app will remain available in the App Store (iOS) and via Google Play (Android) until its sunset on March 31, 2016.

We hope you enjoyed this app while it was available, and continue to use and enjoy the rewards you’ve redeemed in EverQuest, EverQuest II, and Landmark.

Unfortunately, we see too many instances where promising games have been shelved indefinately or canceled outright.  We all know it's a sad fact of life in game development, So it's a sad time for the EQ Community to hear that Everquest Next has joined the ranks of all past vaporware and has been officially canceled.  I know many of us were looking forward to playing in a new branch of the Everquest franchise and held high the hopes of exploring a new Norrath. 

Given the transition to DBG and all of the changes that ensued, I suppose it's really not much of a surprise to anyone. It's hardly an unanticipated decision, but definitely a disappointing one to hear. 

Here is the company's official announcement:

To Our Daybreak Community,

I’m writing today to let you know that, after much review and consideration, Daybreak is discontinuing development of EverQuest Next.

For the past 20 years EverQuest has been a labor of love. What started as a deep passion of ours, as game creators, grew into a much larger passion shared by you, millions of players and Daybreakers alike. Watching EverQuest’s ability to entertain and bring people together has inspired and humbled us. It’s shaped our culture and has emboldened us to take aggressive risks with our game ideas and products. When we decided to create the next chapter in the EverQuest journey, we didn’t aim low. We set out to make something revolutionary.