What a start into the new year: today Raging Fury defeated the The Return of King Xorbb, the final event in Rain of Fear, the latest expansion of EverQuest.

Before I come to anything else, here is the traditional picture of the victorious Raging Fury force:

This is another shot, including the Evil Eye King Xorbb himself - not so evil anymore:

And here is the loot we got from Xorbb (sadly no Bag of Sewn Evil-Eye, that would have rocked!):

So this was the final event, beaten one month after the release of the expansion, including a time of reduced raiding for the holidays? Well, at least this is the status of that event for now, but there are strong hints towards some additional content before the next expansion comes out (you may have noticed the additional three portals getting raised in Shard's Landing if you play the game) and most certainly we in Raging Fury are looking forward to additional content, more specifically raid content, because otherwise this will have been the shortest expansion raidwise since LoY...

Seriously, the first guild (Realm of Insanity) finished the last event one week after the release of RoF with the second (Machin Shin) only a week behind, followed by 4 other guilds before christmas - kudos to all of them.

And what about Raging Fury? As usual RF started a bit slower than other high end guilds, but got into gear pretty well in the end. Sadly, given the fact that this expansion was more a sprint than anything else, we couldn't make up for that slow start and thus finished it only after our small christmas break as the seventh guild serverwide, still quite a respectable result I would say. Nonetheless I hope for additional raid tiers so that maybe in the end we can still maintain our spot among the top #5 once RoF is really finished...

As the expansion was so short, I didn't post any news before, so I will give a few pictures of other raid events for you to enjoy:

This is from The Madness of King Tormax (and yes, that's Yelinak, I know)

Danella's Stand:

Zeixshi-Kar's Shard:

The Queen's Decree:

A Feast for Zalikor:

Guardian of the Gate:

That last event (also known as Xorbb #1) was actually the hardest in the expansion, not so much because of the complexity itself, but due to the fact that it is extremely poorly tuned and as such can only be beaten other than the obviously intended way.

Or to put it in other words:

Aren't we all a bit like Rambo sometimes?

Well, I guess you can't be afraid of dieing when you do events like that, even when you try to avoid certain dangers:

The event brought evil ideas into people's minds (totally un-RF-like!)

Normally the members of Raging Fury are well known and respected across the server!

But also some of the other events had surprises, especially for our RLs. I remember Insaneox asking Queen Grelleth happily to be sacrificed for her dinner table (sorry, I laughed so hard I forgot to take a screenshot), and also Odysias had an accident:

Nonetheless I am very proud of my guild, because during the last few events I have once again seen the drive and passion which seemed a bit lost after such a long farming time (the fact that the first events were beaten that fast didn't help either, I guess).

I want to thank especially our raid leaders who have done a really great job together with our whole strategy team.

I also want to express my gratitude towards our recruiters for the excellent work they have done during the long months of farming to keep the guild in a healthy state, well done, Ladies!

Thanks also to the rest of the officer team as well as to all those trailblazers who got through the quests fast so we could request the raids - especially in such a short expansion people like you are a tremendous asset to any guild!

Last but not least I want to thank every member of Raging Fury for making this guild the way it is: a hardcore raiding guild with a generally relaxed and friendly atmosphere.

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On Monday the 26th of March Raging Fury managed to defeat The Triune God, making us the fifth guild serverwide to finish Veil of Alaris, the 18th expansion of EverQuest. So our streak of staying among the top 5 in every expansion since Gates of Discord has continued once again, which I find quite an achievement. This success is even more remarkable considering the fact that Raging Fury has lost its main raid leader 2 times during the process of learning the final event, but with the help of our raid team we managed to overcome all obstacles while generally still keeping to our 5 raid days per week. I heard there was a guild on Drinal who raided 60 days out of 61 in a row without having beaten VoA yet - I give them an A for effort though.

While I am speaking about other guilds I would like to congratulate Realm of Insanity, Machin Shin, Shadows of Doom and Crimson Tempest for beating VoA before us. Also congrats to Triton who have finished the expansion only a few hours after us, very close race indeed.

Anyway, let's return to our own victory. The event is undoubtedly the most complex in all of EverQuest's history. I don't want to belittle events like Tunat Muram, OMM or Mayong Mistmoore, but the number of phases and mechanisms you have to learn to control is simply incredible. Imho every guild having to learn this event will at one point or another say "OMG, wasn't this already complex enough??"

On the other hand it most definitely was a challenge and beating it felt awesome (followed by a feeling of relieve not having to go here again for another week).

Let's come to some screenshots!

Here you can see a picture of our formidable adversary in his power:

And here he/she/it isn't as powerful anymore:

Of course we also have a picture of the victorious force inside the raid:

As always upon such victories there are people who haven't been online/inside the raid when it finally happened, but who have played an important part during the learning phase of the event. This is especially true on an event like The Triune God which has taken us more than a month from the first attempts till finally beating it, so I would like to congratulate ALL members of Raging Fury upon this success, you guys have done a great job!

Of course it wouldn't have been possible without skilled players like our warrior class leader Xack, the ancient lizard (he has been in RF longer than anyone else who still plays) and his wisdom:

Anyway, as customary whenever I write news about the finish of an expansion I will add a few comments about the expansion itself. First of all the total number of raids is too low, there is no denying that 14 raids is pitiful considering the fact that when EQ moved to annually releasing expansions we were promised more developer time for content. With the current paradigm of "nothing matters, but the current expansion" every previous raid is more or less obsolete, especially since the decision to let spell foci decay, even from the endzone of the previous expansion. I still think this was a VERY bad move as it leaves the mid-tier guilds with only 4 raids (Argath, Sarith, Lunanyn, Beast's Domain) until they run into a brick wall (Rubak and Resplendent Temple).

On the other hand we have 8 tier 4 raids, so at least something to do for those few guilds who actually manage to beat the expansion. Is it arrogant and premature from my side to assume that there won't be more than a dozen guilds able to beat VoA in its current state, if that? Maybe, but I doubt it. There are simply not enough hardcore guilds left who will overcome the obstacles laid in their way. The complexity and unforgiving mechanisms of events like Pillars, Sepulcher #3 or Sepulcher #5 are simply too much for more than just a handful of guilds. I doubt there are many guilds left in this old game who just take it that they can have a maximum of 2 tries per evening on one event, because the really interesting part begins after 90 minutes. Nonetheless you can't just go on "automode" during the first 2 phases, because playing just a bit sloppy can mean a wipe or a huge disadvantage later on, so the pressure is kept up for almost 2 hours constantly. This is different to former long events and I don't think it is good design at all. Considering that the loot on this event is the same number of drops as on the other (much shorter) raids it is no wonder that many think that time investment vs. reward is not balanced at all.

I really hope that we will get a retuning of many raids in the very near future otherwise I foresee an exodus of players, which would be sad, because on the other hand we have seen quite a few new faces since EQ became "free to play" (F2P). Some of those faces are actually rather familiar, for example one of my predecessors as guild leader of RF is back (with a small namechange) and Dalrek already feels the strong lure of EverQuest again:

Qujam feels that lure too, but of course there are opposing interests to decide upon - Insaneox made his choice as you can see:

A final quote so you all know how much respect officers in RF get from their members:

That's it for now, Veil of Alaris is beaten, the farming starts, and I can only salute my guild for a tremendous job they have done.

Members of Raging Fury you made me proud once again!

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Yesterday evening Raging Fury was finally able to beat the third event in Sepulcher called Fumerak the Quintessence.

It took us quite some time and many deaths to down this raid, with some people losing more than a level worth of experience in the process. Adds quadding for up to 40 K damage versus tanks with over 9000 AC, a named who in certain states hits for over 55 K and some funny AE effects with pushback, blind etc. – pure joy!

Still the raid wouldn’t be so bad (I mean, we have all asked for challenging content here in RF, so there we go), if it took a bit shorter until you finally get to the stage where it really matters. It is really frustrating when you focus for ninety minutes, just to wipe in the last percents. I doubt that in its current incarnation this raid will be beaten by more than a dozen guilds serverwide and this has nothing to do with arrogance from my part. I simply don’t think that there are many guilds left in EQ who can field the constant force willing to die endlessly for days (or even weeks).

Anyway, I am glad we managed to overcome this challenge and hope we can get the next two events beaten soon as well to finish the expansion - stay tuned!

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Just a short flash update: Today Raging Fury has downed its first Tier 4 raid in the current expansion, making us the fifth guild serverwide to beat this indeed very challenging event.

As it's late I will just put in one picture of the "big bad boss":

And here are the usual cheers and some lore:

Once again a really great performance by everyone!

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'Twas two nights before Christmas, when all through Rubak,

The RF force was stirring, ready to attack;

The raiders were placed at the fightspots with care,

In hopes that the victory soon would be there;

The clerics where nestled all snug at safe spots,

While necros and shamans were loading their dots;

And Meemers in his monk gear and I in steel wear,

Had just settled down for the final prepare,

When out in the guild there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from my seat to see what was the matter.

Into the chat window I looked without stop,

Read the evil message "this zone will repop".

With only half of an hour left till respawn,

We said "oh whatever" and stifled a yawn

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But a focused attempt with no whirlwinds too near,

With good DPS, without making a mess,

I knew in a moment it can be success.

More rapid than eagles, the emoted guys came,

And all officers shouted and called them by name;

"Now, Illa! now Jole! now, Songsa and Lana!

On, Koyo! on Alive! on, Thunder and Cana!

To the top of the pool! to the top of the wall!

Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,

When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,

So up to the ramp-top the emoted they ran,

With the whirl on their heels, according to plan.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard in the chat

"All zealots are dieing", now how about that?

As I drew in my head, and was turning around,

Down the last of the high priests went to the ground

He was finally vanquished, because no one had tripped,

And he blabbered on with his lore in this script;

A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,

And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.

Our eyes -- how they twinkled! our shoutings how merry!

Our cheers were like thunder, how much loot could we carry?

Our time nearly done, only five minutes left,

And the loot bids had to be fast as a theft;

The loot officer Vmas went on like a flash,

And Jarasil gave out the spells on a dash,

And Kikthin and I helped to get all items sorted,

While Meem probably thought how often we had aborted;

We sold armor pieces to Pulv and Ismel;

Though I cannot remember who all got a spell,

I do know that Thunder got Tidecaster Mooncharm,

And Noitora with Spinedriller will do much more harm

To the mobs against which ourselves in future we hurl;

I just hope that Pulvarien will get his Watering Wave Pearl.

It poofed when finally the zone was repopped,

And all the looting was so suddenly stopped;

Raging Fury was happy all nonetheless,

Cause finally a victory felt like a success

But you heard me exclaim, ere I went off at midnight,

"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night."

Original text can be found HERE

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After more than 9 months of farming the same old content again and again finally the 18th expansion of EverQuest called Veil of Alaris has come out – oh, the bliss of moving to only one expansion per year!

Was the long farm time boring? You can bet it was!

Did it make me slack even worse on guild news updates? Err... I guess so.

Was it relaxing? In a way, yes.

I myself have found that there are other pastimes besides sitting in front of a PC playing a game with prehistoric character models and bugs which aren’t corrected after being acknowledged more than half a year ago. Seriously: the models I can cope with (heck, EQ is old, it has other virtues), certain handicaps because of old coding I can cope with too, NP. Not removing pesky annoying bugs like the repopping sharks in SS#3 (or the adds in Al Kabor’s Nightmare), the stupid exit-mechanisms in SS (some port you outside the raid zone STILL) and event 7 door STILL shutting once events starts - all this just screams “I don’t care”. It gets even more irritating when you see that on the other hand changes inside scripts are made to make them even MORE annoying (note: not really hard), like the super spin-stun in SS#2. So you guys do have the time to change scripts, but not those parts that have been posted a gazillion times and acknowledged as bugs? WTG, devs, WTG… ah well, rant over (for now).

While I am speaking about annoyances here is another thing which has come up a LOT lately: the insane push, especially when a raid is fighting a mob. Quite often they don't get pushed slowly like in former times, but they simply warp to next position and our rogues especially are cursing all the time. Here is a quote about our best success in controlling the push:

Anyway, was I looking forward to something new to do in EQ although I had found distractions? Hey, I am addicted, one summer with surrogates like “Beergarden 2011”, “Barbecue Master 3” or even the two parts of “Nottingham Visitor” (see previous news) can’t cure me...

Also I was looking forward to new raid targets together with an awesome guild which shows so much <3 towards each other and especially to me:

Jolene would go even further:

So yes, I was awaiting Veil of Alaris (VoA) impatiently, hoping for new levels and AA to get, new quests to do and new raid mobs to kill.

Will VoA fulfill all those hopes? Two and a half weeks after release final judgment is certainly too early, but a few things can be said nonetheless:

First of all the invention of resizable hotbuttons which make clickies work from inside bags (if the item itself needn’t be worn) is awesome. Combine this with the huge bags invented in HoT and you have so much more flexibility than you used to have two years ago – very well done!

Second, the new guild halls look really nice and our decoration aficionados have already spent much time into making ours a great place – thanks for the effort guys, you rock!

Third, the group progression via language skill was less painful than expected after Beta, because some of the pressure was removed by adding a second zone in which one could get the needed skills for the higher tiers or by adding a faster respawn on quest mobs. Nonetheless I am still dubious about the requirements for everyone of 90 Alaran to be able to make armor. While it might make sense for a grouper, I think this is a burden not every raiders will like.

Last, but definitely not least (we are a raid guild after all): raids!

How can I say something about raids only 2 weeks after the launch?

Well, we have downed all encounters of the two lower tiers (although that’s only 3 raids), so at least a certain “first look” at the way raids are done seems possible.

All 3 raids share the concept, that they are simply bigger versions of one of the group missions in their respective zone. This is a new concept and from my point of view it is simply horrible!

Where are the days, when you went into an encounter knowing absolutely nothing about what would happen? Where is the surprise when everything that goes on in a raid script has already been seen by most of the raid members during some group task? Where is the challenge in finding out the mechanics of a raid if they are only a blown up version of said group task with exactly the same scripting? This new concept is one of the worst decisions in the last years as it robs a raider everything that makes raiding interesting. It is particularly sad, because the raid scripts wouldn’t be too bad if they were not already known. Sincerely: if anyone over at SOE reads this, please don’t do that ever again! It is no wonder, that all the raids which could be attempted flagwise were downed the first day they were available (ya we downed Valley raid 1 day later, as usual RF starts a bit slower, it’s tradition!).

I only pray that the higher tiers provide us with a bit more challenge otherwise this expansion will be even shorter than the last one. While I had the impression that T1 was supposed to be of similar difficulty to SS (in fact it’s easier than at least some events in there) I had really hoped for a bit more challenge in tier 2. The raid in Sarith though is sadly underpowered and the biggest challenge in Valley of Lunanyn is getting the placement of the NPCs sorted (I share Xack's thoughts that this can be a bit confusing, although I might have worded it differently):

Sorry, but I somehow doubt this will be raided more often than absolutely needed for flags, as it is rather annoying to do. As everyone can see the same scripts via grouping I wasn't even bothering to take screenshots of the raids, instead I present some more quotes:

Let’s hope for something a bit more interesting in the next tiers. Sepulcher will have some raids without an equivalent group version, so I am looking forward to that. We are farming "flags" now for the next tier and we will keep you informed once T3 events are getting beaten.

Stay tuned!

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As most of the readers will know, SOE has been the victim of a hacker attack and as a result all its services were shut down while they were working frantically to reach a secure state again. Finally the servers have been brought back online on Saturday, so the normal raiding business can continue as usual and everyone can rejoice.

While we were waiting for that to happen though it meant 2 weeks without EverQuest for all the addicts in Raging Fury and so we had to look for some other targets to raid outside in another game - the REAL WORLD.

So it was the second weekend in May when this fearless force of RF members assembled in the raid zone Nottingham in the United Kingdom expansion under the raid leadership of Illandra to have some fun and phat lewt:

I will add the names this time, as I forgot to put /shownames ON: From left to right: Spiritbane, Snufty, Mrs. Snufty (honorary RF), Illandra, Imrahil, Kryill, Kikthin, Klorch, Pippi.

We encountered a few dangerous boss mobs, for example the Piper of Nottingham:

Xack was stuck in another raid zone called Lanzarote, but his spirit was with us nonetheless, protecting us against rats:

So we had to bring Klorch back into EQ by making him tank The Ferocious Beast (TFB):

As we were less people than on a normal raid (not everyone could afford to buy the United Kingdom expansion yet) we got ourselves some outside help from the most famous Ranger of all times (sorry Vmas):

Also our wizard Snufty had to change into a shaman as we had no slower with us:

Obviously as a trained force we didn’t fall to those enemies or low numbers, but instead got us some nice rewards:

Altogether the new zone Nottingham looked really nice, the encounters were refreshingly new and everyone had a great time.

Thanks to all who were there and especially Illandra for the great organization – I think we are all looking forward to the next Nottingham raid!

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Hello everyone out there!

I want to take this opportunity to wish every visitor of our website a pleasant easter time.

To celebrate this event, we at Raging Fury have brought to you two pictures with lots of fluffy easter bunnies (courtesy of Ismel):

The hunter quest is a nice idea and among others of our members we had at least 1 enchanter to bunnify us all. Speaking of that: on April first the devs played a new prankster on us, making random NPCs and players into bunnies. I myself found the idea hilarious, but sadly enough there was some mess-up with the starting of quests and raids, so what was supposed to be a very nice and funny joke became a nuisance for some.

This simple example shows, how by making a small mistake or miscalculation an otherwise solid idea with good intentions can be ruined. This was also the case with this year's Legacy event, the raiding on the Mechanic Guardian in Dragonscale Hills. The idea of attacking this homungous structure with the combined forces of guilds was nice, but the lag produced by letting the event take place in an open zone simply ruined the fun for everyone. Our own guild lizard had this to say about the event:

Combined with the hassle to get a specific drop which could only come from one sort of mobs this left many people with more frustration than joy.

Still in total we had some new content and the mission inside the guardian was actually fun and brought some good loot, so it was a distraction during this otherwise rather solemn time of farming. Also the little egg collection quest for easter was a nice idea, so kudos whoever brought it in - sometimes even small little things can be fun!

NonethelesslLet us all hope that we will get some more content soon, otherwise we will probably have to cut down our raid days even further from the already only 3 raid days which are currently left.

One good thing about the little current content: I don't have to have a bad conscience about giving the guild raid free over the complete easter time, so everything has its advantages I guess.

A final word before I close this news update: We have very few open spots at the moment, as we have full raids every evening, but certain classes still have an opening. At the moment we are mainly looking for wizards and rogues, but we may have some spots for other classes too, so speak to our recruiters Illandra, Nalelini, or Schalimar or talk to an officer.

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