All is not well on the Station Exchange Servers. This week the president, John Smedley, had something to say about it. That and more…read on.

In the news…

Apparently all is not well these days with the Station Exchange crowds these days, and hasn’t been for awhile now. Last week you read John Smedley’s statement about station exchange. Today there is a bit of news about Station Exchange again. Last November, Mr. Smedley made this statement on the forums:

“Most of the problems started when we implemented a greater level of security that protects both you and us. Over the last 6 months we have seen an alarming rise in fraudulent activity, and it has gotten to the point that we had to implement greater fraud screening measures.” – John Smedley

For those of you who are not aware of exactly what Station Exchange is (and shame on you for not reading my last two columns) Sony describes it this way on their web site. It is “the official Sony Online Entertainment service that provides players a secure method of buying and selling the right to use in-game coin, items and characters in accordance with SOE’s license agreement, rules and guidelines.” SoE explains that “the Station Exchange came about as a response to fraudulent activities and other problems stemming from a growing “underground” secondary market trading items and characters from multiplayer online games.” Station Exchange allows players to buy and sell characters, items and in game currency on SOE station exchange enabled servers using real money.

Three Strikes and your out…

But lately there have been problems with the service. Players tell SOE that they have been getting “strikes” against their account for actions they have not taken. A strike is a “warning that both a buyer and seller can receive for minor violations of the Station Exchange Service Agreement.” SOEs terms of service indicate that they are not required to, but may allow a user up to three strikers on their account before they are banned. What is being done about it? Here is what John “Smed” Smedley, president of SOE had to say about it on the official forums:

“Hello Everyone,

As I mentioned in a previous update we had our meeting today and we are in the middle (as I’m typing this) of making modifications which should be completed no later than Monday (we’re actually shooting for tonight but I want to give us some room in case we see problems).

I can’t get into too many specifics because I don’t want to detail how we’re dealing with fraud.. but we’re hoping that with the changes we are making we should be able to eliminate most of the issues related to people not being able to transact. It probably won’t be perfect, but we’re hoping it takes care of 95% of the issues. We’re then going to look at the transactions for a few days and fix any remaining issues we see.

These security changes are separate from another problem we are chasing which affects an extremely small # of people. This issue puts an auction into an unresolveable state and we have to go in and manually fix the issue. We’re putting in code to track down this further.

Thanks for your patience and I apologize for the problems you’re seeing.

Smed”

You can read the original post here.

And the winner is…

Congratulations to Mike Morhaime of Blizzard, Laura Naviaux of SOE and Don Daglow of AOL/Time warner for winning an Emmy at the 59th Annual Technology and Engineering Awards. The three listed above were winners for “development of massively multiplayer online graphical role playing games”.

Congratulations all!

Great Moments in Gaming…

This week I was harvesting in the Steamfont Mountains. Shortly after entering the zone I came by a gnome standing by the side of the road. He gave me several tasks and eventually one of them ended in the quote above – “Kill a bunch of Kobolds and steal their booze, now that sounds like a good time!”

As I wander about the lands of Norrath I always keep an eye out for people with interesting or amusing character names. Last night I was crafting in Gorowyn and came upon a Froglok with the guild name above – “Norrathian Base Jumpers”. What do you want to make a bet that everyone in the guild is a Froglok? If not they should be!

What a view!

Whether the virtual world in which I am journeying is Norrath, Azeroth or Middle Earth there are many times when I stop just to admire the artwork of the developers. Gnomercee travels to and from Gorowyn by way of Sinking Sands. Magic carpets are the only way to travel. And if nothing else they are certainly the fastest in this case; no waiting for boats to come and go. Recently I was traveling from Sinking Sands toward Majdul and it took me into the sunset. It was one of those “Wow” moments when I had to stop and take a picture for my virtual scrap book.

Knocking about Norrath…

Early on in everyone’s journey through Norrath, eventually you will get a bright red pop up message that will say something like “you have attained the rank of initiate hunter of vampires”. Eventually, if you hit 500, you will get to bear the title of Hunter of Vampires (or whatever monster of which you happened to kill 500). Yes there are titles that go higher, but trying to kill thousands of anything is a grind I don’t even want to think about. Even so, now and then, you may get the urge to bear a particular title like “hunter of fae”. But how do you find out just how many of the nasty winged bugs you have slain? Well the answer is that in Freeport, Kelethin and Qeynos there are posters that will tell you your status; how many of a particular type of creature you have slain. The one that seems to be the hardest to find information about on the internet is the one in Freeport. Because of that, and the fact that I play mostly evil characters (o.k. perhaps they are just misunderstood) I will let you know where the sign in Freeport is located. First, make your way to West Freeport. As you enter from East Freeport, in front of you and to your right will be Execution Square. To your left will be the Freeport Militia.

You can see from the map and the picture that the “wanted” poster is located on a signpost. Gnomercee is standing in front of it in the picture. It is the one with the silhouette of a person on it (obviously).

One of the great aspects of EQ2 is the great variety as well as diversity of both races and character classes – you can play everything from a huge Ogre or Sarnak, down to a small Froglok. I have spent quite a bit of time trying out different combinations in order to find just the right character for my liking. I found that I enjoyed playing Gnomercee, my kickboxing gnome, so much that I had to try out a bruiser or monk on another race. Who is a more natural at kickboxing than a Frog! She’s all leg, and when she kicks I mean she “kicks” – Bruce Lee eat your heart out. What fun the character has been. What is key to my playing this character is while she may be a Froglok/monk, therefore requiring her to be good, she has been able to quest in Gorowyn.

It seems to be a common misconception, even among experienced players who always play good characters, that their good characters will not be welcome in Gorowyn. While a good character cannot directly become a citizen of Gorowyn, so far they are truly a neutral city. The merchants will sell to you, and as you can see from the picture below, the NPCs will give you quests.

That’s the pits…

This week I was traveling in Greater Faydark in an area that I hadn’t spent too much time in at early levels. Well, let me qualify that, I had spent time in this area before, but it was usually running from something. This time I noticed something I had never seen before…

…it was a pit. As any good developer will tell you, one of the things that always keeps a game interesting is mystery. Some places are so interesting I go there just to see the scenary and find out what is there. I always find it exciting to come upon someplace that I have never seen before, and sometimes even other players have said “I didn’t even know that was there.”

So I stood there for a moment wondering where the pit lead. How deep was it? Could I survive if I jumped down? Even more important, would there be a way back out again. Every now and then, my interest in virtual tourism gets me stuck some place. Only once have I ever not been able to get out. So I jumped into the pit and found that my safe fall ability was high enough so I landed lightly without hurting myself. Here is what I discovered…

The residents of the cave are the Verisinoids. If you have been in Greater Faydark at all you have no doubt seen them; they are the walking mushroom people. There is also a small walkway behind the waterfall at the head waters of the Emerald River. If you want to explore the cave yourself it is located at /waypoint -562,-6,22. Not only have I seen them in Greater Faydark, once (and only once) I saw someone with a small baby Verisinoid of their own following them. Have you ever visited some of the houses around Norath and seen the flaming boar’s head mounted on the wall? Have you ever wondered where they got it? Have you ever wanted a baby verisinoid of your own? Well it turns out they both come from the same place. Where is that? Ah, for the answer to that my friends, you will have to read next week’s “Knocking about Norath”.

Oooo…shinies…

I am sure you have seen the little shiny objects laying on the ground around Azeroth. As you journey you will eventually seen pages bellowing in the wind as well. If you gather these they will make a collection. Once the collection is complete you can turn them in for rewards. Have you seen those enormous baths; the ones what take up the majority of a room? Those are called “Aviak baths” and they are a collection reward.

While that particular collection has to wait for later on in the game, as early as your thirties (and sooner if you buy them) you can collect enchanted maple leaves from the enchanted lands. When you turn in this particular collection you will get something to replace all those tiny bags that have become so cramped for space – a 24 slot bag!

So Long and Thanks for all the fish…

Credit for this find goes to Decim of the Najena Server. Thanks Decim!

If you are a Douglas Adams fan, you will no doubt have hear the phrase “so long and thanks for all the fish”. Well Norrath was the last place I expected to hear that phrase, but I recently got a surprise bit of mail, in game, with that title.

The mail came from an NPC in the Sarnak starting area. Just off the shore you will find this man named Citizen NIba’Ouz. He has a fishing quest for you (if you did the quest that brings him his bait first). He will ask you to help him catch two types of fish; at the end of which he casually mentions a fish called “Vethka the gorger”. This is, apparently, a fish he has been looking for, for some time. He mentions that you should come see him if you catch it. Now some people just say “oh sure” and go on with their questing, thinking that is the end of it all (I know I did the first time).

But if you actually take the time to go fish in the same area for awhile, after a few short tries you will actually catch Vethka the Gorger. If you click on Vethka you will get a quest to turn him in to Citizen Niba’Ouz. Citizen Niba’Ouz will thank you and tell you it is always a bit sad to loose a worth adversary. You may think that is the end of it, but it isn’t. A short while later you will get an in game mail. In the mail is a wonderful present. It seems that Citizen Niba’Ouz had Vethka the Gorger stuffed and mounted for you – you can put the fish on your wall, or if you like decorating your home (and I do) you will put him in a fish pond or make an aquarium for him. Make an aquarium? Sure you bet…but more about that NEXT week in a new feature I will call “Better moats and gardens.”

But wait there’s more!

This column just seems to keep getting longer and longer each week. Once again I seem to have gone quite a bit already. So I will leave the “Gnomercee, no prisoners” feature for this weekend. Come back later this weekend for a discussion about gaming. In the mean time…

See you online,

Julie Whitefeather