Via Taymar at MMORPG Info (always a fantastic place for information about EQ2 and other games), EQ2′s game update 49 — the last one before the expansion — is live. GU49 introduces guild halls, multicore support, and more. Perhaps another chapter in the Anashti Sul world event?

I THOUGHT they were doing a tailoring update with new colors and patterns, but I can’t remember if that was expansion or pre-expansion.

My tests with the multicore support on my Core 2 Duo-powered laptop showed a significant improvement on Test.

The EverQuest 2 GU48 world quest deals with, from the evil side, anyway, discovering who is responsible for the death of a Qeynosian Seeress who died mysteriously just before she was to make a pronouncement. All the signs point to work by Bertoxxulous’s disciples, but the high priest of the god of disease swears that though they have no love for any follower of the Prime Healer, Rodcet Nife, it wasn’t them. They were framed.

I put my necromancer, Adora, on the case. If this investigation was going to veer into life and death, who better than a necro to get to the (blackened, shrunken) heart of the matter?

Adora hunted for clues all over Norrath. Her investigations finally led her to a small apartment in Neriak, where she listened, hidden, as shadow creatures plotted with mortals about some foul deed. Then Adora was discovered.

While her pet went on a mad rampage and killed every living and unliving thing in the apartment, Adora picked up a curious amulet from the floor, and was immediately gripped in the power of a vision that seemed all too real.

Thousands — millions of void beasts and shadowmen gathered in what can only be the Void, all looking at a mysterious figure addressing them from atop a tall stone…

Though robed and shrouded, the woman on the stone wielded incredible power, and she held Adora’s soul in a grip so powerful she could not struggle nor scream… and then she was suddenly released.

Adora never suspected a necromancer could show fear. But there are some things in the universe more powerful, and more dread, than mere death. Adora realized that she had been left to live for one purpose only — to give up the creed of Brell Serillis and to help reveal to the world the coming of the Queen of Unlife, Anashti Sul.

Adora got a replica of Anashti’s staff as well as the amulet she found (now drained of its connection with The Void) and … a treant pet? Not sure how that fits into the lore, but whatever. The bubbling bowl of poison on the floor was a gift from a grateful Evdonia for helping her clear the good name of the Disciples of Disease.

Today is possibly GU49 and the continuation of the story. One of the very nice things about EQ2 is how each expansion is set up with months of storyline and lore quests — these have been going on since spring, and each one gets more elaborate.

EverQuest 2′s game update 49 is pretty much the most exciting single update since Kunark. As the last (I believe) update before the launch of “The Shadow Odyssey” expansion, they seem to be rolling out a lot of their new tech to prepare for what we’ll be seeing live in November.

During “Raising the Banner” (GU49): A team of dedicated excavators and researchers have begun to uncover a remarkable find in the dunes of Sinking Sands. They have numerous tasks for any recruits willing to help defend the site, excavate relics, maintain their assisting clockworks and provide crafted supplies for the team. They cannot fathom how important this project is and how it is fated to reshape the world of Norrath for years to come!

We’ve known for awhile that the next expansion features a struggle between the Goddess of Undeath (formerly Prime Healer), Anashti Sul, and the current Prime Healer and UFO alien, Rodcet Nife. This is like one of those Hal Jordan vs Kyle Rayner face-offs, and very likely ties into the return of the Void. Could their struggle be behind the alien incursions?

Construction of the Guild Halls has been completed. Guilds of qualifying levels can now purchase halls in a variety of locations. Smaller halls can be found in North Qeynos, South Freeport, Kelethin, Neriak, and Gorowyn. Medium halls are found in South Qeynos and North Freeport, and large halls are found off the shores of Antonica and Commonlands. Click on the corresponding doors, or mariner bells on the docks, to access these new structures.

I don’t know how popular guild halls will be. The larger guilds can get huge benefits, but for most smaller guilds, it will just be an additional burden, above and beyond the actual leveling of the guild. It sounds like there will be entrances in all cities. It would be nice if any guild entrance would bring you to your guild’s guild hall, regardless of which city you or it is in.
With the work completed on the coastal fortresses in Antonica and Commonlands the involved parties have retired to their cities and the guards have been recalled to the barracks.

The experience requirements for levels have been significantly lowered primarily affecting the 20 thru 70 level range. Along with the experience changes, the drop rate for Adept I spells has been increased slightly.

This is a good thing.

The Invasion of the Vale quest is now a more appropriate level for its difficulty. The Shattered Vale in Antonica now has an escape point inside it.

The first raid I ever went on. I was level 15, and still on the Antonia Bayle server, about a week after launch. It was pretty hard. At the time, I was really psyched that you could start raiding at such a low level.

Mentoring other players now grants greater achievement reward for the mentor.

While nice, I would like to see increased benefit to the ment-ee. 5% bonus experience just doesn’t make all that much difference.

Player made house items can now be scaled using shift+mousewheel.

OMG OMG OMG. This is HUGE. Or small, depending on which way you’re scrolling.

No, seriously, this is very cool.

Spells which do not expire have been made uninterruptable. There are some exceptions which include spells which summon pets or have limited uses.

Unless I’m reading this wrong, this means you will be able to BUFF. WHILE. RUNNING. This is something people have been asking for since the game launched. FINALLY buffers won’t get left behind.

Shadows should no longer disappear unexpectedly.

This always kind of bugged me; I’d be trying to take a nice high res screenshot, and the shadows would be gone. I’d have to restart.

The game automatically detects if you have more than one CPU. EQII now runs better with more than one CPU. There is an option to control whether the game uses multicore mode in the Options Window under Display -> Performance. If you’re running multiple clients on the same computer you may want to disable multicore mode. Setting the multicore option has no effect on machines with one CPU.

YES. OMG. My laptop isn’t the best in the world, but it is multi-core. I can’t wait to see how well it runs with this. Note to self: patch test tonight :)

Rare cure potions have been removed and standard cure potions have been upgraded to cure the appropriate levels of effects. This in turn should help reduce some of the demand for dusts.

Raiders are thanking you. Note to self: Put all rare dusts on the market TONIGHT.

Artisans have designed some new recipes for threadbare and sackcloth vests, and will continue to work on more vest-type cloth armor appearances for the future.

Thank you. Also, there are a BUNCH of special one-off appearances, mostly on trash armor, that would be very very nice to see on tailored gear. Outfitters should be able to make the best appearance armor AS WELL AS damn good master crafted armor.

A few of the fae in Kelethin react to a good aligned arasai now.

The special insults reserved for evil-aligned Halflings in Freeport make me smile. I’m happy to see more flavor text like this put in the game.

Tunare’s touch has reached the door step of the Teir’dal. The druid ring in Darklight Wood has sprouted a Blessed Shrubbery. Druids and adventurers alike should seek out the ring to extend their travel possibilities.

This is cool. I’m not sure how USEFUL it is outside of PvP servers or as a shortcut to the Shard of Hate, but it’s good.

Sir Valinayle in Stormhold now corrects himself after calling Stormhold Befallen.

Ha ha ha…

Removed the option to go to Prize of Prexus and The Maid for the Mist on the mariner bells unless someone in the group is on that part of the quest.

Thanks. That’s been incredibly annoying for years.