Update:
More news, much thanks to Silvamord-Whitetail and Rhete!

Percents can now be added to weapons due to the new quest. After loading the quest, talk to Hopkins and Paganini, who will ask you to find the reasearch data in the Seabed. Find the computer holding the data in Seabed, and then proceed to and beat Control Tower. Once completed, return the data to Hopkins and Paganini. Exit the quest, and then load up Gallons Shop. Talk to Hopkins and Paganini. Paganini will now offer to add percents to weapons based on photon drops and photon spheres.

-5% for 20 photon drops.
-30% for 1 photon sphere.

Certain rules do apply, and they are:
-Cannot add percent to an S-rank weapon.
-Cannot add percent to hit attribute, even if it has minimum 5%.
-Can add percent to the same attribute multiple times.
-Can add percent to any weapon other than S-rank.
-Can add percent to a 0%.
-Can (theoretically) add percent to a total of 100%.
-Can add percents to multiple attributes on the same weapon. .
-You can only have % in three areas. If you do and try to upgrade an area that has 0%, thats why you'll get an error

ST confirms that the new GC online quest: "The East Tower" is up and available on servers. This quest is playable for up to 4 people like mentioned in previous news posts.

Getintothegame reports: "This quest is easier than Seat of the Heart, all you have to do is gather a team and go through a couple rooms crowed with enemies to get to the East tower. Nothing really new, except that you have to face Epilson.Also, mericarol variants are very popular in ultimate."

VulpesMundi recommends that you do not attempt this quest alone unless you're a very high level, because it can be hell solo. There are traps everywhere and it gets nasty if you're alone. It uses the same setup as Seat of the Heart, but there's no computer consoles to destroy and you have to kill every enemy on each floor to move on. The Control Tower maps on this quest are the same as the Seat of the Heart Control Tower maps.

We will have more pictures up and information when we get them. We will also have a guide and maps for you guys asap. You will find screenshots of the new quest here. If you are going rare hunting, drop charts for the new enemies can be found here. Join in the discussion in our forums here.

Isao.net will be undergoing server maintenance on Monday, June 2nd from 10am til 1pm JP time. At this time, you will not be able to access the service to purchase your JP hunters license. JP PSOX servers will also undergo a server maintenance on Thursday, May 29, from 7am until 9 am. As usual, please do not connect to servers during this time and please end all games before the scheduled maintenance.

Update:
Details are sketchy at the moment but it seems that by completing certain steps in this quest, you will be able to add elements to your S-Rank weapons in Gallon's Shop. You will need to give Paganini the information he requested. Talk to Hopkins before you go down to the CCA. Defeat Epsilon in the quest and then talk to the computer to get the data. At the end of the quest, you will find a ring of light. Talk to Natasha, and then Hopkins. You will have to complete Paganini's request. Then load up Gallon's Shop quest and talk to Hopkins.

Which element you will be able to add to your chosen S-Rank weapon will depend on how many photon drops you have in your current inventory when you talk to Hopkins in gallon's shop. There are 3 basic ranks, A, B and C. 50 PD's required for A, 40 PD's for B and 30 PD's for C. A will let you add elements such as: Jellen, Zalure, Hell, Demon and Arrest. B will let you add: Beserk, Spirit, King, Chaos and Geist. C will let you add: Tempest, Blizzard, Burning, HP Drain and Tp Drain. Thank you to Anisha__J-Hunter for this info.