Today is the real official launch of Sentinal's Fate, yes I know just abobut everyone you know has already been to the Sundered Frontier if only to peek at Paineel, but really, today is the first day and the past week was just Gamma testing.

Gamma?  Yes, the thing that comes after Beta, it's become quite popular these days.  You may know that there is Alpha testing and Beta testing, which comes in closed and open, and now there is Gamma.  While the players think they are getting a head start on content, what they are really doing is providing a load test to the servers that usually cannot be matched during the lower populations of Beta.  Also, the extra week, or sometimes two, gives production a last flurry of bugs found by players that actually play in ways that most Beta people do not.

EQ2 is bolstered by the fact that they do have a dedicated group of players that actually live in a test environment and are very familiar with the game and how things should be.  We are also blessed with a staff of active developers that are just as often found within that population and as such hear of things, or see them right away. 

So while you may log in later today and say "Ugh Lag!" in the new zones, do know that compared to what we were going through just a couple of expansions ago was far worse.  Also thank the Testers for the hundreds of bugs and issues that they have worked with SOE to squish/correct/improve.  There will be things that slip through, or are not quite fixed yet, so if you find something please /bug or /feedback it at any time.

If you are interested in joining the Test community, even part time, do know that the characters you create there do not count against those on Live.  It may take a good overnight patch session to load everything, and there is a smaller population there, but I promise the people are friendly and very professional.  Ask and I can get you instructions on how to set up Test.  If you are already on Test make sure you '/join test' to get in on their chat, very rarely do we use any other channels, though a few are monitored to steer new folk to the proper places.

My main over there is Maliene, an Arasai Defiler who is all of 25, but a few years old.

There is also a Testcopy server, but do know that Testcopy is not a stable location and is subject to complete wipes, where as Test is a permanent community.  You cannot be 'buffed' on Test, you cannot bring a current character to there from Live, those are functions available to Testcopy only. 

While there is an NDA on stuff for Beta,there are no NDA's on the content on Test. (Which reminds me, Brew Day is up over there and I still have two quest lines to finish checking!)  So watch the forums, ours or SOE's, for hints of things to come.

*hugs*

Arbreth

January is the month of hibernation.  The month of congealed holidays is over and events that lead to spring have not started yet.  Outside it is cold and for some of us it has, is, or will snow. 

There have been some changes to the roster during this sleepy time, I cleaned out an enormous amount of characters that have not logged in for more than 200 days, and set to uncharted those that may not have, but do still keep in touch other ways.  If you log into game and find yourself homeless, but once belonged to TN, get in touch with me and I can see about sending out a re-invite.  I have kept a list, I always do.

Set a bunch of folk to Cartographer as well, these are our members that have been with us for more than a year and are active.

We have added a new Navigator to the mix, Kamdora and her crew, so congratulate her!  Which reminds me, I still need to make copies of the Guild Books for her and the other officers for their homes.  Just keep poking me, in the meantime the originals are in the library in the Hall.

In February comes Erollissi day, GU55 with Halas and the next Expansion.  Ero's just hit Test (I am patching now), not sure when Halas will be there, I suspect they are holding it just a bit longer, and of course there is still a big NDA on the Beta stuffs.  GU55 is not part of the Expansion, and E-Day is not part of GU55 - I just want to make that clear as there was some confusion about this earlier.  Also expected soon - Mushroom rings as always on the 20th & 21st, and from February 1st -7th will be the City Festival.  It has not yet been announced where they will show up.

It looks like February will be as busy as December, so get those naps in now folks!

*hugs*

November 17th 1964 was a Tuesday and a leap year, the last time this configuration happened was 1992, this will happen again in 2020, 2048 & 2076.  Every 28 years.  Astrologically this is the time of Scorpio and 1964 was the year of the Dragon, the Wood Dragon specifically.  This year the date falls on a Tuesday, and November 17th will still be the House of Scorpio, however this is the year of the Ox and it is not a leap year.  2048 would be the next time most of the elements line up, I say most as there is always the chance that something will be a bit off kilter.

So why the curiosity about this date and these things?  November 17th, 1964 was my birthday, at 8:12 in the morning in a small Catholic hospital in Passiac NJ.  I was born bright red with yellow eyes and screaming my head off, they thought me a deamon.  All through civilization humans have looked for signs and portents, they cannot seem to live without them, finding the least little thing to guide themselves so as to say why something did, or did not work well, or happened as planned.  I wonder what kind of signs those nuns saw that day?  That building is no longer a hospital, but St Mary's itself still exists so I must not have been a sign of their demise.

I remember the date of my birth, but I never remember the age I am, it is one of those things that if I really need to know it, I can do a bit of math to figure it out.  My family is long lived, so I expect to be about long enough that folk will be telling me how old I am in awe, at least it will save me from having to do the math...