Gone until next Halloween:

Ghost Keep Departure
- The Ghostly Keep Lords and their minions have faded back into the Nether once again.

Note: The doppelgangers that inhabit the frontiers will remain and are not affected by the Ghost Keep’s departure at this time.

Halloween Potions
 We just wanted to let you know that we're aware of the issue with the Halloween potions not working correctly in the Frontiers. The issue is currently being looked into and we hope to have it resolved very soon. We're sorry for the inconvenience everyone. Please keep an eye here for updates!

Updated 1:30am EDT: It took a bit longer then expected but the costume potion issue has now been resolved and you can use them in the frontiers once again. Have a great Halloween weekend everyone!

A wee little snafu with the Halloween potions:

We just wanted to let you know that we're aware of the issue with the Halloween potions not working correctly in the Frontiers. The issue is currently being looked into and we hope to have it resolved very soon. We're sorry for the inconvenience everyone. Please keep an eye here for updates!

Updated 1:30am EDT: It took a bit longer then expected but the costume potion issue has now been resolved and you can use them in the frontiers once again. Have a great Halloween weekend everyone!

Fun, fun, fun !

The coming of Halloween has weakened the restrictive magics on the majority of the Halloween costume potions. Most costume potions can now be used anywhere, including New Frontiers, until Halloween passes.  Please be advised that the following potions still have the city/housing restriction on them: good pixie, evil pixie, ghost, and spirit.

Note: The potions will be free to use like this until November 3rd.

Fast Mounts and New Trophies are the focus of the Test Version 1.96c Release Notes that went up on the Pendragon test server today:

NEW THINGS AND BUG FIXES

 - Through careful breeding and many long hours of magical training, player controlled mounts will now allow players to travel at the same speed as the Speed of the Realm provided by Hasteners throughout the lands. This change will affect all player controlled mounts with the exception of the free level 10 mount.

 - After slaving away for many long hours, the Taxidermists of the realms have finally managed to figure out how to make trophies out of the remains of the following monsters: Vaerin, Torst, Samut, Yefeu, Tutankhsekhmet, Andranchos Xuthos, Echo of Qebehsenuef, and Mesedsubastet. These monsters will now drop remains.

The Associated Press is reporting EA's income is falling, and layoffs of 6% of jobs at the game developer's studio will occur!

Video game publisher Electronic Arts Inc. posted a wider quarterly net loss Thursday and said it is laying off about 6 percent of its work force to cut costs as it heads into the most lucrative season for the games industry.

Higher development and marketing costs led to the bigger loss for the July-September period. The quarter's revenue surpassed Wall Street's forecast thanks to the success of games like "Spore" and "Madden NFL 09," but the company did not exude the cheery optimism that has characterized the video game industry in the past few months even amid the economic turmoil.

"Considering the slowdown at retail we've seen in October, we are cautious in the short term," said John Riccitiello, chief executive, in a statement. "Longer term, we are very bullish on the game sector overall and on EA in particular."

What this means for Warhammer Online remains to be seen!

The end is near for those pesky doppelgangers:

The ethereal forces seem to have been weakened by the arrival of the spirits of All Hallows Eve. The Scholars do not expect that the Ghostly Keep Lords will be able to hold their forces in this world for very much longer. The Ghost Keeps quests and content will be ending on Monday, so spend some time this weekend and celebrate Halloween Camelot style!

And there was one little hot fix for the live servers today:

- The Ring of Undead Quickening can now be used at level 49.

November 1st the Gaheris server will be hosting its 1st Annual Halloween Spooktacular. There are tons of events for all to participate in: Ram Races, Drinking Contests, Pie Throwing, Hide N Seek and Dragons raids, just to name a few! With all this fun crammed into one day, Gaheris will be the place to be Saturday! Read on to learn more :

On Saturday, November 1st the Gaheris Community would like to extend an invitation to everyone to join them for their Halloween Spooktacular event. All day Saturday the Gaheris Community will be hosting some Halloween fun. Including: Hide N Seek, Drinking Contests, Ram Races, Pie Throwing, Costume fun and Dragons!

Date: Saturday, November 1st, 2008
Events Start: 1:00pm EDT

It's Grab Bag time over on the Camelot Herald, read on to check out this week's Q&A's:

Q. I’ve been using a spellcrafted shield, and I’m interested in putting a reactive proc on it, but I’ve heard conflicting reports that reactive procs on shields don’t always work. Do reactive procs work on shields?

A. The Equalizer definitely had a reaction to this question and he explains: Reactive effect will work on a shield, but only in RvR combat, and only when you have successfully blocked an attack. Players are currently able to achieve blocking rates that are nearly 100% in PvE combat, and so reactive effects will not fire while fighting monsters. Reactive effects will also only fire when you have successfully blocked an attack (as that is when your shield is “hit”), and not when you perform Shield Styles.

Q. I believe the Greater Nereid potion widget and Draught of Healing widget are identical and can cause confusion and even death. Please update one or the other please.

A. With a quick verification the Equalizer says: Thank you for bringing this to our attention - look for a change to the Greater Nereid Potion hotbar icon in 1.96 to help differentiate these two potions.

The Halloween festivities have been set in motion once again! Check out all these fun treats :

October is here once again, and that means haunted cities, costumes, and candy for the realms of Albion, Midgard and Hibernia. Below is a list of the festivities for this year:

 - The Ghostly Harvest Quest offers players level 45 and up a dangerous adventure in the frontiers. Speak with John Tobin on the Cotswold Bridge, Foa Muldisson outside the Jordheim North Gates, or Nera by the road in Mag Mell to begin the quest.

Note: Players who completed this quest last year will now be offered it again.

 - Treat sellers have been spotted selling sugary confections inside Meath, Erikstaad, and Caerwent.

 - The consignment merchants would like to show you their Halloween spirit! Pick up the merchant and place it back down on your house porch and he will change into a Halloween outfit for you!

The Doppelgangers have called on the big guns of Darkness Falls in effort to help them in their final fight:

In their last efforts, the doppelgangers have partnered with even larger and stronger demons from the depths of Darkness Falls. The Scholars believe this may be their final tactic until they retreat once again into the night. Perhaps this time, the realms of Albion, Midgard, and Hibernia will follow them home and bring the battle to them.

- The doppelgangers once again have increased the amount of realm points they are worth when killed.

- The quest Further Analysis will now grant another increase in bounty points per completion.