UPDATE:  Amnerys just posted on the EQ2 Forums:

We are experiencing some technical issues with the GameStop promotion in Europe. The European sale will be delayed by one day. You can go ahead and purchase the card already but don’t redeem them too early. Players in Europe should redeem the cards between Saturday, February 25th 12:01am Pacific Time and Monday, February 28th 11:59pm Pacific Time.

Buy SOE Pre-Paid Game Cards at participating GameStop locations now and redeem between Feb 24th and Feb 26th to get Double Station Cash! Redeem in-game or at www.soe.com/gamecards

Game cards must be purchased at Game Stop and must be redeemed between 12:01am Pacific Time 2/24/2012 and 11:59pm Pacific Time 2/26/2012 to qualify for double Station Cash.

All Vanguard and EverQuest servers (except Al'Kabor) are down in order for the games to be patched, with EQ's outage being described as "Emergency Server Downtime".

EQ's servers should be back up by 8:00am PDT, while Vanguard's should be up by 9:00am.

Harvest Day is here! You can now participate in various quests to receive fun items, like a "leg" weapon, throwing pies, a slime costume and a vulture. You can also upgrade your new Harvest Day weapon and obtain festive costumes by keeping an eye out for raid NPCs.

Brenda Halgrim and her family are new residents of Khal. Tired of being the shortest Lesser Giants, they decided to move and make a new home. To celebrate their new abode, the Halgrim family wants to throw a Harvest Day Feast. Unfortunately, they just don’t have enough food. However, a passing gnome offered to use a Gnomish Invention to help...and caused all sorts of problems...

Keep reading after the jump for more information from VG Players. There's also a thread on the official Vanguard forum discussing the events.

As promised, the Vanguard team has provided a sneak preview of the upcoming Harvest Day festivities.

As the Festival of the Grim Harvest ends in Telon, a new event is beginning. There will be feasting and celebrating, along with some rather large birds, a bit of spicey-ness, and some slimy, cranberry-colored somethings. We've got new quests, new rewards and new raid mobs, to boot!

Visit the Vanguard Players announcement or simply click the "More..." link below for a screenshot of one of the rewards you can earn in the event.

The Festival of the Grim Harvest may be ending Tuesday, but Harvest Day will quickly be taking its place on Wednesday. The Vanguard team will be providing a sneak preview of the upcoming Harvest Day events on Monday, so keep your eyes peeled.

If you plan on spending the weekend getting some last-minute rewards from the Halloween event before it ends, check out this post on Vanguard Players for a number of handy Grim Harvest links.

A sneak peak of Sartok's Surprise, the upcoming Halloween event, has been posted on Vanguard Players. While it doesn't give a launch date, it does tell us that "three terrifying new undead raid encounters will be roaming the lands seeking out adventures both young and old." These terrifying monsters are under the control of the sinister necromancer Sartok, hence the event's name.

Any heroes able to best Sartok’s abominable creations will be rewarded with special appearance-altering costumes and magical masks. While adventurers rest between battles, they can complete special new quests to claim additional rewards such as new pets or more magical masks.

Keep checking Allakhazam and Vanguard Players for more information on Sartok's Surprise as it is released.

The Official SOE Podcast #47 is live and has an interview with Free Realms' newest designer Julie Burness, who is also a former Vanguard community representative. To download it, visit the official Podcast page . For more information, check out this post on EQ2 Players.

We also feature an interview with members of our Usability Lab team. And don't miss out on the Top 10 list created by our listeners. Make sure you tune in to the very end for Inside SOE, a mini-interview with the Free Realms Brand Manager.

So listen in! You can get your Podcast goodness two different ways: head over to the Podcast’s official site , and click on your preferred bandwidth, or if you have iTunes installed, select iTunes Store, type SOE into the search box and click Subscribe! Your feedback is always welcome either on the Station forums or via email .

If you played Vanguard at launch you might remember the game in an unfinished state. That's no longer the case and Sony Online Entertainment wants to prove that to you. Check out the promotion that's going on for the next 60 days.

"Former Vanguard subscribers whose accounts have been inactive for 60 days or more are being  called back to Telon! Come back to Vanguard Saga of Heroes for free starting Sept. 18, 2008, through Oct. 18, 2008, through your reactivated account and uncover new game updates, enhanced character  models and an exciting new starting area, the Isle of Dawn.

Those heroes who return to Vanguard through this reactivation promotion, create a new character and journey through the Isle of Dawn while achieving level 10, and then continue into the lands of Telon by re-subscribing to Vanguard with a paid, active subscription in good standing will receive a special pair of Gnomish Rocket Boots. These boots will help you to progress through the land with great bursts of speed. The Gnomish Boots are yours once you progress off the Isle of Dawn and into the world beyond.

Vanguard Podcast #51 is now available.

Voyages of Vanguard Episode #51 is live! This week hosts Beau and Luper had a chance to chat about lore with Ichie, the most recent addition to the Vanguard development team!

Click here to listen to the most recent podcast! Be sure to check out the Voyages of Vanguard blog for great articles or to leave your feedback!

Download the podcast from Virgin Worlds !

Looks like the big Vanguard promotion has ended but the Vanguard team has some big plans for the future of the game. Check it out....

Yesterday we wrapped up our play for free promotion, and we're glad to see so many people sticking around! There couldn't be a better time to be a Vanguard player with all the great things planned before the end of summer!

Fan Faire is right around the corner, and for those of you who are attending as Vanguard players, you'll be treated to an exclusive in-game item! Drink if you dare, but be warned - we're not liable for its effects!

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