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Event Teaser -
July 7, 2000
From the
Zone
Lo Ma, Jeweler of Lin, smiled as he accepted the payment
from Kouron. "Thank you," he said, with polished professional gratitude.
"It's hard to make a living in a forest town - "
Lo Ma was cut short as the ground swayed; he stumbled, but
Kouron, who was not only (in his own opinion) a masterful item enchanter but a fine archer
as well, rode out the movement with ease. “Another one!” Lo Ma cried. “And
the sky's turning colors, the air feels oppressive - ”
“And there are golems in the mountains that I haven't
seen since the last time I went to the Dires, ”Kouron said, with a cool hunter's
smile. “And I hear of drudge lurkers in the forests to the far north - what a
pleasure that will be.”
Lo Ma shook his head and muttered under his breath;
Kouron's smile remained.
“Imagine!” To Za-I, Lin's Weaponsmith, stomped
over, both irritation and wonder on her face. “Krau-Li! I haven't heard that name in
years!”
Kouron shrugged, but Lo Ma exclaimed, “That old
warrior with the fine jitte, said to be Ben Ten's rival! Has he been found?”
To Za-I shook her head. “I doubt it - I think he
joined his ancestors long ago - only, some idiots are throwing the name around as if they
had found him! But look at this. ”She held up a tiny cloth sack. “Lo Ma, you are
a jeweler. You know metals as well as I do. I was given this today. What do you make of
it?”
Lo Ma carefully opened the sack. Curious, Kouron casually
reached out and touched the cool, gritty powder, letting it slide across his fingertips .
. . and suddenly recoiled. “Oh no, ”he muttered in alarm and distaste. The others
stared at him in blank surprise. “I think - I think this metal . . . never mind! Who
gave it to you?”
Fulfilling our commitment to bring players a world-altering
event each month, we'll be opening “To Raise a Banner of Flame” next
week! These days in Dereth have grown dark indeed, the sun's light filtered through motes
of ash in the air. Along with these dark skies, the orange burning sun - threat of fresh
danger fills the realm. If your travels bring you to the northern and southern mountains
or the deep north forests, be forewarned of increasingly powerful monsters. Adventurers
unprepared for fierce battles should remove themselves from these areas at once!
Continue your role in this incredible on-going story - we'll
see you in Dereth!
Roll-Out Article
- July
11, 2000
From the
Zone
Fulfilling our commitment to bring players
a world-altering event each month, we've opened “To Raise a Banner of
Flame”. These days in Dereth have grown dark indeed, the sun's light
filtering through motes of ash in the air. Along with these dark skies, the
orange burning sun - threat of fresh danger fills the realm. High-level
heroes have been seen staggering back to safer towns, claiming to have come
from a hereto unseen land; their claims have been questioned, however, since
none of these survivors seem able, or willing, to map this land's location.
Instead, content to nurse soot-blackened faces and anoint searing burns,
they vehemently warn all listeners against retracing their steps. Tis not a
land for the novice, they warn. Tis a place sure to see bones of the mighty
among us. According to their tales, new and stronger monstrous kin have
surfaced in Dereth, include one unnamed horror of terrible strength. A beast
worse than a veritable rain of fire! those heroes claiming to have faced it
cry.
Whatever beast these men allude to, true evidence of
fearsome monsters has surfaced just east of the Direlands. The straights
leading in have become flooded with tougher creatures, apparently fleeing
eastward from their old home, pushed out by the stronger forces appearing
there last month.
Whether these stories are to be believed or not, July's
event promises some prominent changes in the game. Other strange new rumors
have spread through the towns - rumors of a powerful new force effecting the
magic of all of Dereth's adventurers. A force these rumors call:
“anti-magic”. The implications of this force are dire for some - already
many magic shops have begun hiring guards and boarding their windows in
fear, as if this “anti-magic” would march from the hillsides like an army of
Olthoi soldiers. In addition, entirely new weapons, including strong
variations of maces and spears, have been discovered - some weapons
comprised of elements never before seen!
Read the new
State of the Code and
Build Notes, July, to learn the full scope of the update. Be part of
this incredible on-going story - we'll see you in Dereth!
Build Notes
- July
11, 2000
From the
Zone
Here are just some of the details from the July 11, 2000
game update: To Raise a Banner of Flame. This list is culled from
"check-in" notes submitted by the game developers themselves. Notes of
greatest importance are listed first.
Not all changes have been included with these build notes - that would
spoil the fun of finding out everything that has been added or changed!
Also, some changes provide ways for players to drive our evolving story
forward, and thus we won't entirely reveal them here. As usual, though, the
Town Criers, Barkeeps, and Scribes may know the latest news! Also, the
trades of crafting and selling are always in flux, so changes to prices and
abilities of items are not always listed here in their entirety.
Detailed Notes for Builds 2370-2389:
- Squelch has been updated. There is now a new set of commands to enable
a user to take more control over their gaming experience. The improved
functionality will allow you to squelch all characters from a single
player. You can also filter out unwanted messages, such as assessment. All
other previous functionality of squelch remains the same. For a complete
list of all commands, try the in-game help by typing: /help squelch, /help
filter, /help advancedsquelch and /help messagetypes.
- All wands, whether new or previously owned, fire more slowly.
- All quest-item wands, whether new or previously owned, use half as
much mana.
- Only new non-quest-item wands will use half as much mana - we were
unable to change old non-quest-item wands.
- Certain monsters, such as Olthoi, Lugians, Zefirs, and Phyntos Wasps,
are more likely to switch their targets than before, and attack those who
are hurting them the most.
- It less likely that you will pop off the edge of a mountain and slide
down the slope.
- Strange new weapons with properties unseen before in Dereth have been
added.
- More powerful spears and maces have been introduced.
- The maximum stacking size for spell components has been increased to
100 and for craft items to 50.
- New spells to discover have been added!
- New extremely powerful monsters, residing in a place yet to be
discovered by powerful adventurers, have been added . . . be careful where
you tread!
- The problems with players receiving " You are not a Player Killer "
error, or (if PK) hurting themselves while firing arrows, have been fixed.
- Using mana stones on Compound Bows now brings up a confirmation panel.
- Monsters in some dungeons now regenerate a bit more slowly, to prevent
the dungeons from getting too overloaded.
- New and exciting dungeons have been added for all to enjoy.
- Added alchemy/fletching/cooking mastery to the treasure system - magic
hats now have a 5% chance of having one of these spells on it.
- Chances that a Diamond Golem will drop a heart have been increased.
- The odds of getting a trophy from certain banderlings have been
increased.
- Corpses no longer float! Gravity has sucked them back down to earth.
- Ambient sound upgrade project has begun. The center of the Obsidian
Plain and volcanic regions have received love in this update. More to
come.
The Spin From Turbine
- July (2000) Edition
From the
Zone
If you're only interested in the Shadow Hunter armor
issue, scan down to the bottom . . .
Feedback
Sometimes we love it, other times we hate it. But we all agree that it's one
of the most important factors in determining what we do. Right now there are
a couple of ways that we communicate with you:
1) Through the monthly spin from Turbine articles.
Basically, this is a one-sided conversation, where I (or another member of
the dev team) respond to what we've been reading on message boards, fan
sites, and hearing in the game. Trying to wrap up every outstanding issue
into one brief article does help you get an idea what we're thinking, and
why, but also skimps on facts concerning some of the “real issues” that are
being discussed.
2) The monthly development chats. In the past, we've had
as many as 6 or 7 dev team members answering your questions (is that too
many of us, or does it help you in getting the info you want?). While not
the best way for us to respond to all the major questions you have, it does
have the benefit of allowing individuals to post specific questions and get
a response directly from us. Unfortunately, a number of questions seem to
come up month after month which have been addressed in previous chats, or
the questions are so specific that we'd need to have all the design specs in
front of us to calculate the correct answers. Probably the worst situation
is when we get a question about something that is definitely going to happen
in a certain time frame: these we really cannot answer with specifics,
although we want to.
3) Reading and posting to the fan sites. Normally, we hit
the top two or three fan sites and post responses occasionally to message
threads that are burning out of control (granted, we start a lot of those
fires!). This method seems to work because we can see what the general
consensus of the crowd is, post a few questions or comments, and get a lot
of feedback from all of you. In a sense, we push and pull the conversation
in certain directions and see where the thread goes from there. The
arguments between posts - as long as they're kept insightful and not simply
diatribes - are invaluable to us in shaping future changes to the game.
Unfortunately, a lot of our audience are very casual players, or lurkers,
and never post.
4) Individual email, IRC, in-game conversations, and
feedback from the online team. These are probably the most focused ways for
us to answer questions - virtually one-on-one. Unfortunately, the ratio of
players to Turbine employees is so incredibly high, that we'd never get any
work done if we relied on this method more than we currently do. The online
team (advocates & sentinels) are a great way for you to communicate, as they
let us know general trends and the “mood” of the community.
5) Face-to-face meetings. We loved meeting a bunch of fans
over the weekend, and I think we got some great feedback from many who
attended. Unfortunately, to get through the entire AC player base, we'd have
to hold hundreds of these gatherings in different locations around the world
almost non-stop! Obviously not a practical solution (but fun to imagine!).
What does that leave us with? Five fairly ineffective ways
to establish a meaningful dialog, except when used together! That's why we
use them all.
Well, I'm turning to you for help. How can we improve the
communication between the development team and you? In particular, I'm
interested in hearing ideas about how we can make the monthly development
chats more effective, and how we can better use the message boards to
establish some kind of meaningful dialogue with you. You'll soon see a new
online form that you can use to enter suggestions, which we'll begin to use
in addition to combing the various fan message boards.
So, what's a solution? For now, start posting to the
boards (yes, even you lurkers!), if you haven't already, with your opinion
on how we can communicate more effectively back and forth about the major
topics of discussion. Soon, you will be able to use our online form to send
us comments and ideas. We need to know what works and doesn't work for you,
and you should know what to expect of us as well. Please also feel free to
suggest any other methods that we can use in addition.
We want to know what's on your minds as much as you do
ours.
So, what's on your mind?
Scott
Herrington
Producer, AC
Turbine Entertainment
PS - Many of you will probably notice a “new” person from
Turbine posting to some of the boards. His name is James Cowgill. He's
actually been at Turbine longer than I have, and he's helping to manage and
schedule the ongoing content development for AC. Please treat him with the
same respect that you've given myself and the other Turbinites who post, and
go easy on him as he gets into the swing of all things AC.
Shadow Hunter Armor Debacle
OK, we screwed up.
Content in the game is always subject to change, since we
can only speculate on how any addition we make to the game will be
unbalancing, overpowered, or useless. It's only when we see the stuff in
action that we can assess whether or not we made mistakes.
In the case of the Shadow Hunter armor, we made it too
good. (Agree? Disagree?)
That was mistake number one.
Mistake number two was making changes to it without giving
you any warning. As somebody wrote in, the people we really hurt were the
more casual players who were in the middle of the quest. We made AC a game
of “have and have not's”, something we did not intend.
We had debated whether or not to give some warning to you,
but thought that would have encouraged massive camping (something we try to
avoid) and mass hysteria. In hindsight, we would probably prefer some
camping/hysteria rather than losing the trust of our players by removing the
armor without warning.
We're sorry about that and will try to notify you better
in the future about changes of this magnitude. Nonetheless, the nature of
some changes will require us to surprise you, in order to prevent very bad
camping.
On the bright side, for those of you who are still trying to get yourself
a good set of Shadow Hunter armor, changes will be coming that should still
make it worth your while.
There will always be some unique stuff introduced and
removed from the game throughout the years to come. So you didn't get the
“vintage” Shadow Hunter armor, but new stuff will be coming that you can get
- and that players who start after you may never have a chance to quest for.
AC is only 9 months old, and new items are being added all the time. By this
time next year, you may be handing “vintage” Shadow Hunter armor to newbies
because something bigger and better has come along that makes shadow armor
useless to your character.
Regardless, I wanted to let all of you who
have spoken out (both in our defense, and those who pointed out our
mistakes) to let you know that we are listening to you and
reacting to what you have to say.
Stormwaltz Comments on the Aerlinthe Quest -
July 29, 2000
I've heard a lot
of people say that July's big mysterious quest has been solved. Some are
disappointed the Black Fire stone is the only apparent reward, and some
believe that, like Nexus,the stone was only available once.
As the lead designer of the big quest and Aerlinthe Island in general, I'd
like to take a moment to allay your fears. The quest has NOT been completed,
and IS repeatable. There's a good deal more to be discovered and
experienced, and this quest will remain unchanged for the forseeable future
- like the Atlan Stone quest rather than Frore or Nexus. Don't worry about
missing the fun if you're low level, and good luck to you all. Keep
questing. The biggest things are not always the most vital...
You can applaud (or curse...) Jesse "Nei" Kurlancheek for doing the stats
for every single monster that has killed you on Aerlinthe. He also was
generous enough to balance the quest items, and fix bugs with the quest
while I was on vacation. Elliot "The Machine" Gilman, of course, performed
his usual overtime work making sure that everything made it in, in a form
that didn't crash the servers. Sean "Needs A Nickname" Huxter, also as per
usual, did every single piece of new artwork for monsters and items,
including the oh-so-fashionable Aerlinthe t-shirts. Ron "McEnroe" Winter did
some new sounds as well - when you hear the ground rumble in the Tenkarrdun
Foundry, that's his work (he also made the Shadow Spire howl).
I'd also like to take a moment to note that the "frozen wasteland" island
was not supposed to be open for play for some time yet, and it is only
reachable through a bug. It is still in a very early stage of construction,
as evidenced by the extreme performance hit in the ice gardens - the degrade
art for those beautiful ice upwellings has not been completed, so everyone
on the screen is rendering at full detail, no matter how far from it you
are.
There are no plans to open the ice island anytime in the near future,
although its construction began at the same time Aerlinthe's was. The
landscapes of the new islands were designed by artists Pete "Obsidian Span"
McDonald, Sean "Shadow Spire" Turbitt, and Bil "End of Beta Comet" Mauritsen.
- ChrisL (Stormwaltz
Annals of Dereth
The Asheron's Call
Newsletter July 2000 (#8)
|
Annals
of Dereth |
|
|
In this issue:
1 -- OUR SAGA
THUS FAR . . .
2 -- MAJOR EVENTS
CHAT WITH TURBINE ENTERTAINMENT
EVENTS PAGE
3 -- COMMUNITY HERALD
ALLEGIANCE NEWS
PORTAL SPACED (HUMOR)
ADVOCATES STILL WANTED
4 -- GAME TIPS
|
Play it on the Zone!
http://zone.msn.com/asheronscall
|
Welcome to the Annals of Dereth, the
newsletter for the Asheron's Call online role-playing game! We bring
you this bulletin every month to give you a wide view on Dereth's evolving
community, events, and features.
1 --
OUR
SAGA THUS FAR...
A lone warrior staggered into the Arwic
healer's shop, the last of his strength all but failing. He didn't even bother ordering any services
aloud -- merely gestured to the empty loft upstairs and started the climb.
The healer on duty rushed to his side, dropping the broom he'd been using
to sweep volcanic ash out of the doorway.
"You're one of the killers, aren't you?" the healer whispered. He nodded
slightly at the warrior's red sash.
At first, the warrior said nothing. Then, with a ponderously deep
groan, "Is my presence not welcome then?"
"No -- our guild heals all. As you well know -- your guild makes the most
use of our services . . . I merely wondered why you came alone. Very
dangerous in your profession, I should think."
The warrior, helped into a bed, groaned even deeper. "I've trade notes, old
man . . . to pay well for your silence."
"Oh, you mistake me. We healers are not as mercenary as . . . well, as
others can be. But without fellow members of your allegiance around? You
must take great care, sir!"
Rolling to his back, the warrior revealed a sickly burn in his chest. As of
late, the healer had seen a host of new wounds -- grievous injuries caused
by maces and spears . . . Now this -- another mark left from the terrible
Plasma Golems, he thought, wondering just what mixture of salves to use.
The warrior's eyes closed, and the healer wondered if the man hadn't fallen
asleep -- or expired -- that very moment. But he managed a few words
more. "I lost my kin on the Isle of Aerlinthe . . . battling magic to
dispel magic . . . You're right! Hide my trade notes! And hide - this - as
well."
With the last of his strength, the warrior flung aside his cloak --
revealing a dagger clutched tight in his hand. The healer pried it free
from the man's grip and dried blood, examining the weapon in the window's
light -- a pale light, filtering through heavy ash in the air. Not a
warrior himself, the healer saw many an artifact of war. Still, never had
he seen a weapon the likes of this. In learning his craft, the healer had
studied well Dereth's ores -- yet had little idea of what material
comprised the dagger. Chorizite, he guessed. The strange metal circulating
these days mostly in the form of rumor. And now he held a dagger made of
the very stuff?
In any event, he'd spoken true -- a healer would never betray the
wounded . . . but the warrior would not wake before he consulted Arwic's
Master Blacksmith as to the nature of this weapon.
As weapons of this world change, the healer reasoned, I must learn the
wounds they're destined to inflict.
He left the warrior, asleep in the light of an ash-darkened sun.
2 --
MAJOR EVENTS
JULY EVENT: TO RAISE A BANNER OF FLAME
Fulfilling our commitment to bring players a world-altering event each
month, we've opened "To Raise a Banner of Flame". As the name, and
explorations, have revealed, there's some fiery happenings going on in the
lands of Dereth. For more information on the event, be sure to check out
the official News
(http://www.zone.com/asheronscall/news/ASHEnewsbanner3.asp)
as well as the current Build
Notes
(http://www.zone.com/asheronscall/news/ASHEnewsJulybuild.asp).
What does the event herald? Well, the following message has been reported,
traveling as far as Solclaim: "The ground trembles beneath you! Mount
Tenkarrdun has become active once again! On Dereth, the volcanoes echo the
eruption on far Aerlinthe Island."
And, for those heroes too curious to wait and discover Dereth's "mysterious
and fiery lands" on their own, check out these screenshots submitted by
Angel Jayten to the AC Heaven site:
http://members.home.com/mdmgold/hell.htm
Also, for a peek at just one of July's new weapons, here's a shot gathered
from AC Stratics:
http://ac.stratics.com/cgi-bin/emotes/picpage.pl?title=Hollow+Katar&nojs=true&picture=/ content/news/images/newkatar.jpg&desc=Hollow+Katar+From+Theeta+Zai
ON-LINE CHAT WITH GAME DEVELOPERS
On July 18, members of the Turbine group participated in the most recent
developers chat. Having launched July's event, "To Raise a Banner of
Flame", Turbine took the time to answer questions on the newly revised
world as well as hints of what might be expected in the future. To read the
transcript, head to:
http://www.zone.com/asheronscall/news/ASHEnewsdevchatJuly1.asp
This chat came just a few days after Turbine's meeting at the Boston Player
Gathering held in Norwood, MA. The event, run by the crew at Crossroads of
Dereth, saw over 200 people attend. In addition, word has begun about the
first Mideastern Player Gathering, to take place in Louisville, Kentucky.
For more information, check out the news posted on the Crossroads of
Dereth:
http://cod.xrgaming.net/
If you want any events listed in our official Zone schedule, go to our
Events page to register them. Remember, when submitting an event or a
gathering, please:
1. Submit the event at least two weeks before you intend to run it.
2. Include ALL information requested on the form. We've received many
events we couldn't process because the form wasn't complete.
3. Be sure that your event abides by the Code of Conduct and the End User
License Agreement. The License Agreement is included in your game box, and
the Code of Conduct can be found on the following page:
http://www.zone.com/asheronscall/tips/ashetipsconduct.asp
4. Do not hold events within towns. You may call people to gather at
outposts, however.
We look forward to promoting your events! The Events page is located at:
http://www.zone.com/asheronscall/tournament.asp
3 --
COMMUNITY
HERALD
ALLEGIANCE NEWS
TOP 10 LISTS/MONARCHY
In recent days, AC has posted the first of a series of Top 10 lists,
starting with Veteran Ranks, Chefs Extraordinaire, and -- our personal
favorite -- Dereth's Doomed. Be sure to look for more lists in the days to
come. Until then, the current lists can be found at:
http://www.zone.com/asheronscall/news/top10list.asp
One list that has been around for some time is the Monarchy List. Although
we try our best to tabulate and verify all claims to Dereth's top rankings,
recent complaints have forced us to enact stricter policies. In order to
remain on the Monarchy List, all monarchs must submit updated information
at least once every two weeks -- including a screen shot which clearly
shows monarchy information. Incomplete information will be ignored, and
monarchs who fail to provide updates will be taken down.
At the time of this writing, however, we would like to congratulate
Skystreak Cloudrider for maintaining the top position at Rank 7 with 2175
followers. We would also like to give special recognition to Wren the
Blurry, who recently ascended to Rank 7; both monarchs are scheduled to
provide the next interviews for the Allegiance Hall.
The Allegiance Hall now boasts over 200 links to excellent allegiance
sites, organized by server-world. Sites have already been posted for the
most recent world to open, Solclaim -- including the mighty Scoob's Crew!
If you are interested in joining a high-profile allegiance, look no further
than the Hall:
http://www.zone.com/asheronscall/hall.asp
PORTAL SPACED
The following comes from a player named Briggs, posted on the Crossroads of
Dereth Dev Board. Parodying "A Few Good Men", Briggs argues whether
mages' ability to drain from
behind walls should
be "nerfed" or removed from the game.
Briggs: I'll ask for the fourth time. Did you drain?
Mage: You want answers?
Briggs: I think I'm entitled to them.
Mage: You want answers?!
Briggs: I want the truth.
Mage: You can't handle the truth!
Mage (continuing): Son, we live in dungeons that have walls. And those
walls have to be guarded by mages with wands. Who's gonna do it? You? You,
Briggs? I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom.
You weep for warriors and you curse
archers. You
have that luxury. You have the luxury of not
knowing what I know: That draining through walls, while
tragic, probably saves lives. And my magic, while grotesque and
incomprehensible to you, saves lives.
You don't want the truth. Because deep down, in places you don't talk
about, at pubs, you want me behind that wall. You need me behind that wall!
(boasting) We use words like Feazh, Zhapaj, Malar . . . we use these words
as the backbone to a life spent researching spells. You use them as a punch
line. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself
to a warrior who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very vulnerability
spells I provide, then questions the manner in which I provide it. I'd
prefer you just said thank you and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest
you pick up a wand and stand behind a wall. Either way, I don't give a darn
what you think you're entitled to.
Briggs: Did you drain behind a wall?
Mage: I used the skills Turbine gave me.
Briggs: Did you drain behind a wall!?
Mage: You're ***damn right I did!
(silence)
Briggs: Please the court, I suggest the developers be dismissed so that we
can move to an immediate Article 39a Nerf Session. The witness has rights.
To see the original post, check out:
http://cod.xrgaming.net/4news.shtml#AFewGoodMages
If you've got links to some humorous AC material, send them to
website@asheronscall.com, and
they just might end up in a future issue of this newsletter.
STILL CALLING PROSPECTIVE ADVOCATES
If you own the game, currently play, and are interested in helping your
fellow adventurers as part of the Asheron's Call team, we'd like you to
contact us. The advocates are our first and most valuable help resource for
many new players. See the following article for more information and a link
to an application form:
http://www.zone.com/asheronscall/tips/ASHEtipsadvocate.asp
4 -- GAME
TIPS
CHARACTER TEMPLATE
The following template was submitted by the Zone's own Daniel Adam:
"Here is what I believe to be the best Sword template around. This is after
playing dozens of different styles/templates since Dec 16:"
Race: Aluvian
Specialized: Sword, Melee Defense, Arcane Lore Trained: Healing
Attributes:
Strength: 100
Endurance: 20
Coordination: 100
Quickness: 90
Focus: 10
Self: 10
Notes:
1. Starting killing rabbits/drudges/shreths, and keep assigning XP to
Health/Endurance, Sword/Melee Defense, and
Strength/Coordination/ Quickness.
Basically advance in blocks of 5 -- so first boost Health by 5, then
Endurance by 5, then Sword by 5, then Melee Defense by 5, then
Strength, etc. At level 5 start putting XP into
Arcane Lore and Focus, as this will later enable
you to wear magic items. I recommend that you have Arcane
Lore
at 50+ by level 10 and 100+ by level 20.
2. Acquire Item Enchantment at level 9, Creature Magic at level 25, and
finally Mana Conversion.
Things to keep in mind:
1. Always make sure you are sync'd to the closest lifestone to where you
are fighting.
2. Don't just jump into random portals -- some lead to death.
3. Remember that things that attack you from the back will kill you easier
than from the front (shields help).
"This should get your hero started!"
For other unique templates, check out AC Tips:
(http://www.tip.it/wizard/ac/proba.php3?jump_id=8).
There, players can find templates for Monks, Barbarians -- even the almighty Mule!
SEND THIS NEWSLETTER TO A FRIEND, AND LET
THEM KNOW TO:
PLAY IT ON THE ZONE!
You registered to receive this newsletter
on the MSN Gaming Zone. To unsubscribe, do the following:
1. Go to MSN Newsletters:
http://g.msn.com/0NL33946/117
2. Log in with your Zone ID (not your AC
character name) and password.
3. Uncheck the box that's labeled "Send me
the Asheron's Call newsletter every month to: (your e-mail address)."
THIS DOCUMENT IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATIONAL
PURPOSES ONLY. The information contained in this document represents the
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Developer's
Chat
July 18, 2000
+MrQuazarr@Zone> Welcome
to our Monthly Asheron’s Call Developer's Chat. With us today is one of the
Lead Designer, Eri Izawa and Producer, James Cowgill. With us today is one
of the Lead Designer, Eri Izawa and Producer, James Cowgill. A few reminders
of the ground rules: A few reminders of the ground rules:
1. Only one questions per
person. 1. Only one questions per person. If you ask more then one, we will
have to pick the one to answer, and it will most likely be the one you cared
the least about. If you ask more then one, we will have to pick the one to
answer, and it will most likely be the one you cared the least about. I will
be doubling everything I say today.
2. Have your questions typed out in word pad and ready to copy and paste
when your turn comes up. Due to the volume of people, we will only wait a
short period for the questions before we move on.
3. Watch for repeat questions. If you are asking a question that was already
asked, we will simply reply with an: "Asked and answered" and move on.
4. Final one, which has never been a problem for you guys, but I have to say
it: Remember, the Code of Conduct is in force here ;-).
OK, I will hand the floor
over to Eri to introduce everyone else here today and then we will be off to
the questions.
rei@Turbine> I'm Eri "reijin" Izawa, co-lead designer for Asheron's Call and
general spec shuffler. With me today are these great flavors of the AC Team:
Jesse "Nei" Kurlancheek, game designer, scripter, general systems guy. David
"Crowley" Javier, game designer, dungeon maker, and dialogue meister. Dave "Sarneho"
Namerow, Turbine-side Community Manager. ...and introducing newest catchy
flavor, James Cowgill, AC Producer.
I will go through the usual introduction: To give you an idea of our
schedule, we are already hard at work on the August event. So we can with
some confidence answer questions about that material (though we won't give
away all the secrets ;-). That said, we usually cannot give you concrete
dates or feature details for anything new beyond one or two months out. And
even then we may not be able to. This is because of many factors, including
the experimental nature of events, schedule changes, and the fact that
something that looks simple may turn out to be very complicated or even
impossible! In other words, promising specifics for many of your suggestions
would be premature. We don't like promising things we might not be able to
deliver. Also, because we have so much planned, new requests on the boards
or from here may not be implemented til some time after the suggestion is
made. But I want to assure you that we are listening! The spellcasting UI
changes happened in large part because of your suggestions at a chat much
like this one some months ago. Again, thanks for coming! Let's go....
+MrQuazarr@Zone> Alrighty....
Solamar> Hello! Thank you for such a cool game! One question. We really
need some type of "Stash" for characters. Are thier plans for this? This
would be VERY useful to Patrons and Monarchs. Not to mention those who love
bartering with others as I do. ...
Solamar> Down with the mules I say! Maybe use an NPC and allow us to buy
space at 10K per Pack? This would go hand in hand with the Secure Trading
System many were hoping to see in this months patch. Thanks! GA.
rei@Turbine> It's on our list of things we'd like to do, but there are no
current plans for it, as we are hard at work on some other systems.
rei@Turbine> Item storage has a host of technical issues and would require a
LOT of time.
rei@Turbine> In an ideal world we'd do it in a flash :)
rei@Turbine> Done.
jhaw> Hello. I noticed that monsters are allowed to cast spells with out
the aid of channeling devices. Why are we not allowed to cast spells with a
weapon in hand like shadows? ga
Crowley@turbine> Most of it simply boils down to complications with the
animation data.
Crowley@turbine> I'm not totally up on the technical issues involved, but
it's actually difficult to have monsters hold on to wands.
Crowley@turbine> As for in-game responses... Monsters are more innately
magical...?
Crowley@turbine> Done
Kr0n1K> When will Lugian Hammers use "Axe" skill like they SHOULD instead
of "Mace" skill which they currently feed from?, I mean, what is the point
of a Hammer when lugians already have a mace and morningstar.., It should be
easy so I hope it rhymes with must,
Kr0n1K> i mean it would be a good olthoi weapon with def, GA
Crowley@turbine> It's a known bug, actually in my "to fix" queue.
Crowley@turbine> So Lugian hammers should start behaving normally soon.
Unfortunately, I won't be rhyming tonight.
Crowley@turbine> Done
SirXavier1> Sit tight, you are in for a long question or rant, whatever
you wish to call it. In June new spells were added to war magic, same in the
most recent update...
SirXavier1> The known ones, two of them are useless, streaks and walls. Even
rings are useless without life magic. The most expensive skill ingame is the
most useless without life magic. In PvM and PvP. High level PvM with just
war magic, is beyond annoying, every mo
SirXavier1> every monster over 100(except magmas and altered drudges) have
uber health, and/or uber spells. High level melee by far surpasses war magic
in PvM...
SirXavier1> Currently war magic is worthless at high levels, unless you have
life magic. Why? Why must the most expensive skill in game require you to
have life magic to be viable? War magic is not worth 16 to train or 28 to
spec, even with the new spells...
SirXavier1> Something still needs to be done. Either give skill points back,
1 for trained, 3 for spec'ed so it won't throw anything out of balance, or
new uber war spells that are not effected by life need to be added. Is
anything planned... Done
Crowley@turbine> It has been somewhat acknowledged that War Magic is
underpowered. However, don't expect to see a decrease or "giveback" on War
Magic skill credit cost.
Crowley@turbine> We want to improve war magic's effectiveness, but as you
can see, balance is a very tricky issue.
Crowley@turbine> Additionally, there are some tech issues involved. I saw
Jesse bumping his head into some of our tech limitations recently.
Crowley@turbine> We haven't given up on War Magic, but I don't think you can
expect any more War Magic buffing soon.
Crowley@turbine> Done
RESiSTANCE_JaS> Great game guys, Really love what you have done with it.
Lot better than that "other" game ::coughs:: EQ ...Ok... the question, Even
though we just got Solclaim, are we getting any other worlds any time in the
near future? um Snowreap? among others =) GA.
rei@Turbine> Ken's got it :)
+MrQuazarr@Zone> We are always looking at performance and concurrency on a
near daily basis to ensure that we have adequate worlds for the current
player base. When we see a trend, we will act on it. There is always a
possibility of new worlds.
Cowgill@Turbine> Turbine and MS aren't finished optimizing the code or
servers. We are always trying to both, increase the server load and looking
at how many total worlds are needed.
Cowgill@Turbine> done
Liart> Suggestion: Create item spells. Level one would make a crude
lockpick/healing kit for exampe. Level six would make a peerless. Then when
the spell expires the item would expire...
Liart> Especially nice now that hollow weapons nullifies items main
usefulness.. Ok, now for my question...
Liart> Have you seen my corpse? Oh, and on a side note, Decado (FF) wants to
know - "How much would a woodchuck would chuck if a woodchuck would chuck
wood"...
Liart> *slaps Nei and Crowley around with an IRC-brand trout* :) GA!
Crowley@turbine> Okay... thanks for the suggestion...
wynterwolf> To expensive to have archers with atlan and hollow arrows but
any plans for some new arrow heads? Race specific for PvP? Critter specific?
Exploding to knock open those stubborn locked doors? I can think of plenty!
wynterwolf> Here is one way to add a money sink and give high fletch skill
something to do. Besides, we need something to do between snapping bow
strings! Done
Crowley@turbine> Unfortunately, there's a lack of support for item creation
within our code. It'd demand new tech, and we already have a lot of new tech
backloaded.
Crowley@turbine> I saw your corpse, you should get to it soon. And
woodchucks don't chuck wood.
Crowley@turbine> Done
+MrQuazarr@Zone> Sorry about that wynter, I moved you up a little too fast.
+MrQuazarr@Zone> Reading your question now.
rei@Turbine> There are currently tech reasons why we can't do critter
specific, race specific, or exploding missile weapons....
rei@Turbine> We are still looking at bows & thrown weapons for possible
future features, though.
rei@Turbine> As Davej said, we have a lot of new tech queued up in the
schedule already.
rei@Turbine> Done.
shefner> With the last update and some of the bugs <specifically the bug
relating to stamina to mana it has become obvious that there is little or no
actual playtesting…
shefner> of the patch materials. (Sorry, but a SINGLE casting of the
adjusted spell/spell effect in a playtest would have revealed the
problems,…. of the patch materials. (Sorry, but a SINGLE casting of the
adjusted spell/spell effect in a playtest would have r
shefner> revealed the problems, therefore I can but think that it was not
tested at all.) Further, with
shefner> with these patches, it is also obvious that there is little or not
thought being given to play balance <Tusker Slave =14kxp, Bone Lord = 8kxp …
think about it Do y’all see this as a problem, or do you think your quality
control / play balance efforts are
shefner> appropriate? <ga
Cowgill@Turbine> I can understand your perception of with some of the bugs
which make their way to the live servers.
Cowgill@Turbine> Unlike other software products and games, AC can't be fully
tested until something is actually on the live world.
Cowgill@Turbine> The fact is, it's a huge world which has two dedicated test
teams (one at MS and one at Turbine.)
Cowgill@Turbine> With the rate that events are created and propped, we do
make mistakes.
Cowgill@Turbine> We try very hard to put up clean props, and when we make a
mistake, we try to determine the effect and correct it as soon as possible.
Cowgill@Turbine> There is no way that we will ever have a perfect game, but
the goal remains to make it as good as possible and a lot of resources are
dedicated to doing that.
+MrQuazarr@Zone> It is unfortunate that some bugs make it into the game, and
we do regret that. But having a complete "bug free" game probably will not
happen either, no matter what the game.
+MrQuazarr@Zone> One of the restriction we have, that other MMORPGs do not
have, is that we constantly are evolving our storyline with new events and
content.
+MrQuazarr@Zone> It is very important for this information to stay
confidential until it is rolled out.
+MrQuazarr@Zone> This is why we do not open our next update to public
testing as other do.
+MrQuazarr@Zone> DONE.
Seifer_Rules> this is a long question, not sure if im cutting and pasting
right, but here goes.. /me is frustrated..
Seifer_Rules> Why is it that the new dispell spells cost so much mana.. i
mean seriously you have to cast it multiple times to dispell everything, and
the only spells i care about are the level6's.. then i have to fully
rebuff.. i think the mana cost should be brought
Seifer_Rules> wayyyy down, at level45 my mana isnt even 280 yet. i have been
casting 6's for the last 15 levels it kinda sucks because you add these
great spells, and make them not even worth casting. then you go and make the
spell comp impossible to replenish, so we a
Seifer_Rules> are scared to even cast the spells.. why cant you guys make
mages fun to play anymore. i have made a melee guy now because my mage is
worthless.. im sorry to be a whiner but i was so happy to see that dispells
were added.. and now i cant even use them bec
Seifer_Rules> ecause my mage is worthless.. im sorry to be a whiner but i
was so happy to see that dispells were added.. and now i cant even use them
because you only get 40 spell comps EVER, then the mana cost is way to high
to even cast them.. whats the point in addi
Seifer_Rules> whats the point in adding the stuff if people wont even use
it. i thought you guys would learn from last month when the only time people
used the disk spells were to p
Seifer_Rules> reform light shows in the middle of town for noobs to ooo and
ahhh over..
Seifer_Rules> im just very frustrated, i love being a mage, but every month
is just like another slap in the face, every month since the game went
retail.. please will you guys do something to show us that you want us to
keep playing? I guess my real question is...
Seifer_Rules> what are the chances that you will be making the new spells
worth the effort...
Seifer_Rules> PS to stormy, if you can see this! everyone on SAGE TOWER and
Hall of Lore misses you =( oh and good luck to myth and her followers on
solving the new quest on the island!
Seifer_Rules> done..
Crowley@turbine> As far as I can tell, the question you asked is "why do
dispell spells cost so much mana."
Crowley@turbine> Look at it this way. For each dispel you cast, you negate
several spells. That's a deal.
Crowley@turbine> But the real answer to the question is that they have to be
balanced. If they didn't cost as much as they did, balance might have swung
too far in the wrong direction.
Crowley@turbine> We'll keep looking at the costs of new spells, but I don't
expect to see them changing any time soon.
Crowley@turbine> Done
Kilmorx> First of all, great game, thanks guys. Kilmor from the german AC
Mystics Team -Your First German Resource For Roleplaying Games- here. Now my
question. With the new patch some interesting features have been
introduced...
Kilmorx> But the one thing I am really missing are (not counting housing,
storage, etc. *g*) some new spells like summoning of creatures....
Kilmorx> or enchantments like charms or control spells, is there something
up your sleeves or is that an impossible thing to hope for ?
http://ac.mystics.de
rei@Turbine> It's not an
impossible thing to hope for....
Kilmorx> YES !
rei@Turbine> We're seriously interested in that kind of thing, but it IS new
tech, and as such is extremely expensive.
rei@Turbine> It's not currently scheduled anywhere, but like I said, we're
interested in doing some of those.
rei@Turbine> Done.
Shadedelthor> Hi jiggas, Will you be making buffs last longer in future
updates? And war magic is useless now on DT due to the fact of the nerfing
of wand monkey'in, and the new hollow weapons cut right through a mages
protects, and turbine favors archers, so war magi
Shadedelthor> ic is useless
rei@Turbine> We are unlikely to make buffs longer in future updates ... but
as we said above, we are still looking at ways to improve War Magic down the
road.
Crowley@turbine> If we improve buffs, we have to improve debuffs also... So
watch what you ask for.
Crowley@turbine> (done)
rei@Turbine> (done)
MidMoPub> Here is something new ========== Shout out to the Dasterdly
Clan Morningthaw Crew, wa'up!?! Comment #1: IMHO an "Uber Chest" has no
business only spawning throwing clubs and non magical 1-4 base
MidMoPub> UA weapons. Please up the min. to med. value jewlery or something
we can sell of value. Keys are just to rare and high trade commodity to get
jiped like that. Comment #2: There is severe lack of Good UA weapons as
loot.
MidMoPub> I have gotten at least ten each 8-16 swords, axes, etc for every
one barely above normal UA weapon. UA has a bad wrap as being to easy. Might
be a bug. God knows all the Thrown Weapon Mastery gloves i have gotten
MidMoPub> has to be! Question (finally): Love the new Debuffing spells,
woops, Siefer took my question... umm, ok, STOP MESSING WITH MAGES!! I
created a mage to take adavanage to its strengths. Now EVERY month some new
nerf.
MidMoPub> Some months multi nerfs! Just once i would like to have a Great
Skeleton cast Sword Inept 6 on me as i try and run by!! Please Turbine,
enough already. Are you plaining any new nerfs for the mages to balance in
PvP (which a majority of players will never
MidMoPub> Thats all, Thanks Turbine for a great game in Janurary, wish it
wasnt getting worse ever month =( - Berry II, lvl 43 PvM ArchMage of MT
+MrQuazarr@Zone> Thanks for your comments.
rei@Turbine> I think the only question was whether we are planning any new
nerfs for the mages to balance in PvP .... We are always working for the
sake of balance. There's no specific plan at the moment except to continue
to try to make the best decisions we can.
rei@Turbine> Done.
PaladinsOfFate> Hi guys! Love the game! Question from a friend:
PaladinsOfFate> With the introduction of hollow weapons, the use of robes
with no AL is not a viable option for a mage any
PaladinsOfFate> longer. For those who based their character creation on
those variables and have no real strength for heavy
PaladinsOfFate> armor, will there be robes with a base AL in future updates?
PaladinsOfFate> Gwen Normad -- Frostfell Archer (asking for her Mage
friends)
rei@Turbine> There might be some robes like that, but don't expect robes to
be as powerful an asset as they were before.
rei@Turbine> i.e., they may have certain limitations, etc.
rei@Turbine> No, no specific robes are planned at the moment.
rei@Turbine> Done.
__MOO__> Golly
__MOO__> i'm up!
__MOO__> Is there a future for the skill of thrown weapons?.. will you even
consider working on progressing the skill like what has been done with sword
(rapier) and mace & spear.. i'm leveling from 53-65 in order to get the
skill just don't want it to be a bust
__MOO__> M0000oooooOOOOooo!! i want Pong Back along with Bessy the lvl 126
aurcoh cow that we can tip (This is a statement, not a question : )
__MOO__> Pana Taber Tayway Terra (TD) #1
__MOO__> o don't forget Kallikrates
Crowley@turbine> Yes, there are things being planned for thrown weapons.
Crowley@turbine> Historically thrown weapons has been difficult to improve
because you can't enchant a stack of items.
Crowley@turbine> We are thinking up clever ways around this technological
limitations. We have some clever plans. So clever you could put two pointy
ears on them and call them weasels.
rei@Turbine> (or not ;)
Crowley@turbine> So soon (no rhymes, unfortunately, or specific dates) you
should see some stuff that will make thrown weapons more fun and functional.
Crowley@turbine> Done
lagzilla1> Heya, guys! UAs crave your sweet luv!!! When will there be a
quest cestus? (ga) *waves at Auren al'Mais & Azrakin* =) ! Oh, and give us a
curtsey emote before I "go Atlan" on your weenie team. :D *bribes everyone
with Twinkies to promote peace and luv*
lagzilla1> w00t!
rei@Turbine> <-- can't eat twinkies these days
Crowley@turbine> UAs have a lovely smoking katar. I think before we shower
UA with more quest weapons, we need to address the questing needs of other
weapon classes.
Crowley@turbine> Done
BYOB_SmackDaddy> Thanks for a game unrivaled in its class...Diablo 2 has
an ending...AC will be a new game every month. I numbered things i would
like to see changed and have only one question
BYOB_SmackDaddy> 1.) My question is about the greater skeletons/ bone lords
ect. Im a 40th level archer with a bow skill of 260+i cant hit tusker guards
for 90 hps non vulned
BYOB_SmackDaddy> and they are level 126+ but i cant hit a friggin skeleton
for more than 10, unless i get a critical in which case i hit them for 120+
somethings not right there
BYOB_SmackDaddy> are you aware of this?
BYOB_SmackDaddy> 2.)Monsters that can cast imperil/vuln combos should be
nerfed. i dont mind the war or creature spells being cast on me to
damage/weaken me but this is ridiculous!! skeletons arent worth the loot or
xp for the vitae i take.
rei@Turbine> (done?)
rei@Turbine> We've heard about the skeletons ... in the past we have upped
loot and XP on occasion; that is a POSSIBLE solution for this situation. We
will (and I know you have it when I say this) have to look into it.
rei@Turbine> Done
_Zorlin> Greetings all, love the game btw :)... my question concerns the
widening gap between high level mobs (ie vapor golem is a good ex) and
player skills.
rei@Turbine> Is that the question, or is there more?
_Zorlin> an example on my server (td)... read that tim the enchanter, a
level 86 swordmens wasn't able to even scratch a vapor with 400+ sword skill
_Zorlin> I'm sure to raise his skill would cost tens of million of exp a pt
_Zorlin> why not create high level mobs with slightly lower defense but with
lots of hp (ie.. 5000+ hits)
_Zorlin> something it takes a group to kill.. give them increase healing
rate so they cannot be solo'd
_Zorlin> but also reward the group with a good amt of exp.. something in a
decent ratio
Crowley@turbine> People asked for difficult monsters. They got them.
_Zorlin> true... but I know I will never have 400+ buffed life/war skill.
being a non-spec'd mage
Crowley@turbine> It gives you something to build up to. There's no thrill in
killing easy monsters. We're trying to challenge our players.
Crowley@turbine> Done
brettkushner> I feel bad...all these people yelling at you! I disagree
with all of em...play balance=BLAH...it's your game! it's your world!
yes...you wanna make people happy! but life isn't always fair...anyway:
brettkushner> My Q...which I thought up 10 min. ago is: What is the most
spectacular and advanced thing you can do? Give us an example of something
that will make us shiver at the thought of...*shrug* it was all I could come
up with...the game is just too good :) DoNe
rei@Turbine> In the game as it is, I assume....
brettkushner> yeah
Crowley@turbine> We could make it rain cows...
Crowley@turbine> Rainbow cows...
rei@Turbine> Or Olthoi queens?
Crowley@turbine> from our whiteboard: TM+(blue) cow = event
Crowley@turbine> Done
Shewanna> Some enigmatic dev dropped a hint about a mage wand quest? Does
such a thing exist? Is it just as difficult as the portal spells quest?
Shewanna> If not, some multi-part customizable wand quest would be really
cool! - some hints would be even better :-) Done.
rei@Turbine> (On previous question) Very seriously, I think the most
spectacular thing we've seen or can do is to give the players a world to
live, grow, and play in together.... May sound cheesy, but that's what I
think.
Crowley@turbine> There is a wand quest in the game now.
Crowley@turbine> It's a toughie.
Crowley@turbine> No hints, though, sorry.
Crowley@turbine> Done
alecmuzzy> First off, I love the way that the new hollow weapons quest
works. There is absolutely no camping! As a result, a lot more people are
able to do this quest and enjoy it. You did your homework and came up with
an A+! I hope you do more quests this way.
alecmuzzy> Now for my question...
alecmuzzy> Why are there so many changes made to the game to balance PVP
(removal of Mattekar Robe, Nerfing of Shadow armor) when less than 10% of
the customers play PVP? It seems a little unfair to us PVM players who just
feel nerfed as a result.
Crowley@turbine> There were *two* changes in July directed at PvP: wand
animation slowdown and the hollow weapons.
Crowley@turbine> The Hoary Mattekar robes were never intended to be
available for more than that one month.
Crowley@turbine> The shadow armor change was not because of PvP
considerations, though those were part of the equation.
Crowley@turbine> As for numbers... It's more than 10%. PvP is not a
majority, but they are definitely a significant minority.
Crowley@turbine> And while we do not think primarily in terms of PvP, we do
have to consider them also.
Crowley@turbine> Done
Evil_Elvis_> hmmm... sec plz.
Evil_Elvis_> Well, mages still rule all when it comes to damage, and
continue to get stronger as they level. Melee now is the second best class,
being cheap, doing good damage, and having that nice shield. Archery,
however overpowered it is in the early levels, comp
Evil_Elvis_> completely caps off damage-wise at lev 45 or so.
Evil_Elvis_> Considering the new monsters super-high melee skills, complete
debuffs, and crazy high missle defense, it seems you've forsaken archery to
be the woste class. You have to have fletching or a fletching mule, and then
waste alot of time, just to do max dam
Evil_Elvis_> damage. Evading the new monsters is NOT an option, seeing as
after we're debuffed, we're one hit kills (and you'd have to be level 90+ to
evade these things well at all). What do you have planned to make archery a
viable class again?
Evil_Elvis_> Evil Elvis owz j0o?
Evil_Elvis_> rei@Turbine> We don't have anything currently planned for
archery, though yes "we are always balancing things and looking at these
issues" -- and frankly, we think archery is a viable class.
rei@Turbine> Done.
_PePsI_1> Ok, if 2 people in the same house have 1 AC disc can they put
it on both computers =) GA BABY! and are there any new armors quests?
rei@Turbine> Next question?
rei@Turbine> (hey:)
_PePsI_1> hi rei
_PePsI_1> Finally get to meet ya!
rei@Turbine> *grins*
rei@Turbine> Looks like Ken's got this one.
+MrQuazarr@Zone> You may put it on two machines, however, you will only be
able to have one account for each copy of Asheron's Call you own. If you
want to seperate accounts, you will need to purchase two copies of Asheron's
Call.
+MrQuazarr@Zone> DONe
Gooopsta> Whatever happened to pong (@logopolis)? I miss that almost as
much as I miss not having any invuln jewelry *wink wink* ;)
Gooopsta> done
+MrQuazarr@Zone> While we all enjoy a great game of pong.. it was removed
for legal consideration. Sorry ;-(
Sentinell> A large part of this game has been based either on or around
allegiances. When will we see more contect directed towards them in the form
of allegiance wars,quests etc
rei@Turbine> We have some ideas we'd like to see implemented for
allegiances.
rei@Turbine> Right now our New Tech Queue is full-up, but actually
allegiances are very high up on the priority list.
rei@Turbine> And we definitely know you want some easier means of
communicating within an allegiance.
rei@Turbine> Allegiance Wars remain probably the most difficult, as any time
you have a lot of people fighting a lot of people, you get a TREMENDOUS
server impact.
rei@Turbine> (In case anyone remembers how April went)
rei@Turbine> But anyway, that's what the status is: high priority, but
without a definite date we can give you.
rei@Turbine> Done.
Kain_Mendax> <--- Jordan Manx, Monarch of The Empyrean Legacy based on
Solclaim. :) For more info, check out http://www.the-legacy.cc in about two
weeks. ;) I have some comments before my question.
Kain_Mendax> Hey guys. Love the game. Simply mah-velous. Not gonna whine or
cry about any changes you've made, or complain about "nerfing" such and
such.
Kain_Mendax> Anyone who whines and tells you that you MUST change the game
to suit their needs needs an attitude adjustment. :) And anyone who says you
only love archers must have never played one. We're quite balanced, thank
you.
Kain_Mendax> Mages are the best tanks in the game. I can't tank anything
that a buffed mage can and they don't even have melee defense (normally),
and I do. So quit whining. :)
Kain_Mendax> Just one little suggestion, and I want to know if you could
look at it. I'm an archer with fletching. I have 500 arrowheads and 500
shafts.
Kain_Mendax> I fletch me some arrows. I find out that the fletched arrows
are HEAVIER than the heads and shafts when they're separate, and pre-fletch.
Kain_Mendax> Uh, this doesn't really add up to me. When can I expect a
possible fix to that? If there won't be, I'll deal by raising strength. :)
Thanks for Solclaim! It rocks! GA
rei@Turbine> Originally encumbrance was a reflection of not just mass, but
how bulky/difficult to carry something is.
rei@Turbine> i.e., something light but oddly shaped would cost more in terms
of load.
rei@Turbine> Finally, consider that this is a BONUS to fletchers.
rei@Turbine> You get to carry around relatively more in the way of raw
materials.
rei@Turbine> Done.
JackTam_Z> I like the raining cow idea and olthoi queens, we could use
another olthoi invasion! Now for my question :) Oh and raining food products
would be nice too I get hungry at times
JackTam_Z> When will staffmasters get a quest like Hamud's etc? We seem to
be a neglected class, anything planned for the future, because we really
need some loving! Perhaps bumping up variances or more damage types. And for
any women who want to call me up 555-700
rei@Turbine> (there's a missing digit in that phone number)
+MrQuazarr@Zone> LOL.. Sorry Eri.
rei@Turbine> (Hey, don't look at ME)
Crowley@turbine> If we put in a staff quest, I doubt anyone would use that
staff instead of the Atlan staff.
rei@Turbine> (I've got more'n enough)
Crowley@turbine> However.
Crowley@turbine> I'd like there for be at least one quest item for each
weapon class.
Crowley@turbine> Mace got a quest this month, hopefully in the future,
schedule permitting, I/we will be able to put in quests for the other melee
weapons.
Crowley@turbine> I can't promise any kind of time frame, though.
Crowley@turbine> Done
x_bLaZe_x> HI, most of the things I have to say are just suggestions :)
x_bLaZe_x> Only 3 things to mention, first MIDDLE MAN NPC!!!!(for trades), <
second- a new sword, maybe a huge sword bigger than overlord sword(hey it
looks cool :), AND a bludgeon sword...pllleeeazzzz< third-can u make some
new staff art?
x_bLaZe_x> all staffs are just the same stick but dif colors :( < --o yeah
great job on the game!!! (o yeah thanks for the hollow weaps.....mages are
wussies now....... all done
x_bLaZe_x> o yeah - a rant to some peeps on harvestgain, stop being a wussie
cause somebody 7+ levels lower than ur 40 something level monarch got a
quest loot/kill.......haha
x_bLaZe_x> and why the "heck" is everyone messaging me with questions for u
...grrrrrr
x_bLaZe_x> ok getting some more something about 50 variance?
x_bLaZe_x> ehh i'll stop.....
x_bLaZe_x> done
rei@Turbine> (trying to find a question ;)
rei@Turbine> (hold on)
rei@Turbine> Uhhhh, lots of that sound cool, though we'd rather go with a
Secure Trade UI than a middle man NPC, and as for staff art....
rei@Turbine> Yes, we can do new staff art, though it depends on what new
staff material is going in, and eventually we're likely to put in new staff
quests.
Crowley@turbine> Sarky comment: a bludgeoning sword is a baseball bat.
Crowley@turbine> (done)
rei@Turbine> Done.
LuckyCerridwen> This Question is for Nei (::shakes him to wake him up::)
Hello, I am Trinidy of Frostfell. Ive waited 6 hours (and countless weeks)
to ask this long question.
LuckyCerridwen> I have noticed since the two most recent updates that 1)
Mages (life and war mages in particular) are getting far less exp as opposed
to there warrior type counterparts. I’m not speaking of draining through
walls - life mages- , I’m referring to life mage
LuckyCerridwen> who go toe to toe with Gigas. And get bunkus for exp And 2)
Sword users seem to be doing significantly more damage these days. I am a
lvl 34 axe user and I have the quest item Crimson Silifi
LuckyCerridwen> with BD VI, Coord VI and Def VI activated. And sword users 5
to 10 levels lower then me with significantly lower stats are getting these
kills over me. Is there an explaination
LuckyCerridwen> explaination for either of these occurances? I am at the
point where I HATE sword users and refuse them as Vassals and even Friends.
Will something be done about this in the near future Something that rhymes
with bust?
Crowley@turbine> We haven't done anything to life mages' XP, aside from the
"drain behind the wall" code from some time ago.
Crowley@turbine> As for swords... Sword mechanics haven't been touched since
they got the variance bonus months ago.
Crowley@turbine> I hate to call this observer error, but there certainly
haven't been any changes in the data that would account for this.
Crowley@turbine> So no need to discriminate against sword users. You might
want them in your allegiance if they're kicking butt.
Crowley@turbine> Done.
rei@Turbine> (It also depends on what monster you're fighting, obviously.)
rei@Turbine> (done)
rei@Turbine> ?
+MrQuazarr@Zone> vegetto?
+MrQuazarr@Zone> Ok, going down the queue.
+MrQuazarr@Zone> Wizzy?
rei@Turbine> We've stunned them into silence.
+MrQuazarr@Zone> middle of the line fell asleep I guess.
+MrQuazarr@Zone> Brando...
Brando__187> Ok first off, thanks for the hollow weapons. Finally us
mages have a challange PK, was getting boring fast, oh and heres a small
Suggestion, maybe make flettching / Alchemy be able to enchant Throwing
weapons...
Brando__187> Question: Can you make a tusker that casts spells? *cackle*
Brando__187> all done
Crowley@turbine> We could. Don't think it's not a tempting idea. There are
in-game reasons (backstory and such) that Tuskers should be nonmagical.
Crowley@turbine> Some month, if we're feeling puckish, there could be
spell-lobbing Tuskers. But don't count on it.
Crowley@turbine> Done
andy_beardsley> Are there Plans to fix the Collier Mines Quest? The key
you get from the banderling up top
andy_beardsley> says collier Mine on it, yet does not work on anything in
the dungeon,
andy_beardsley> and the High chest next to the Baron is 700 Difficulty and
there is no key?
andy_beardsley> done
rei@Turbine> There are plans in the work for the Colier Mines....
rei@Turbine> err, in the works
rei@Turbine> Can't give you a specific ETA, but hopefully you'll see your
concerns addressed.
rei@Turbine> Done.
Defariak> first my comment! yall have made robes useless ! wtf thats BS!
and yall talk about balance,... RIIIIGHT! right when melees were balancing
out to mages, yall pull this BS! im tired of yall #^@#^@ mages over!
Defariak> my question, is why do yall keep screwing over people by removing
stuff w/out notice, thats BS! yall have ^#@$*&! alota people over by doin
that in this update this is bs! <GA!
Defariak> btw add a staff quest
+MrQuazarr@Zone> Defariak, please remember that the Code of Conduct is in
effect here.
+MrQuazarr@Zone> Next question.
Reprisal_X> Hello all
Reprisal_X> Recently, there has been a revelation on many of the message
boards that people have been exploiting a duping bug to duplicate large
numbers of items utilizing a bug when the servers are reset. Apparently, the
bug was thankfully only used by a small
Reprisal_X> group (some whom have apparently even sold duped items on E-bay
making a RL profit) and although it appears it is harder to do now it is
still exploitable. Question: Are you aware of this situation? If so, what
have you/are you going to do to deal with
Reprisal_X> it?
Reprisal_X> Apparently one guy sold enough duped stuff on E-bay to buy a
used car.
Reprisal_X> Finished.
rei@Turbine> We are aware of the situation....
rei@Turbine> Basically there were some problems a little while back that
made this easier to do; hopefully it should be much harder now.
rei@Turbine> If you continue to see major problems please do point it out.
Thanks!
rei@Turbine> Done.
corbitt12> do you guys keep track of the highest level people? and if so,
what is the highest level person currently on all the servers? and, i still
feel like melee warriors are being striped of their potential. will that
change soon? and ty for the sturdy iron key
+MrQuazarr@Zone> Top players in each world is something we track. Until
recently, we really didnt have an effective way of report that though. We
are working on some things for the web page that will report those type of
statics. Keep your eyes out for it!
+MrQuazarr@Zone> DONE
Horde_Nest_Lag> The olthoi horde nest was laggy before, they slowed the
spawn rate down and yet the lag still continues. Did you ever take into
consideration that the lag is cause from the Olthoi's extremely large sense
of awareness? I have them come from up to 3 times
Horde_Nest_Lag> the compass distance to attack me. You should try and cut
this way down and see if that helps with the lag. Also move the spawn rate
back to where it was at. Why does it take so long to solve these kind of
problems? Lag has become very bad and should not
Horde_Nest_Lag> be tolerated. WazZzZup DT!
rei@Turbine> If the problem is with DT dungeons in particular, there were
some particular DT server problems recently.
rei@Turbine> If it's in general, I believe (and I could be misremembering?)
it wasn't just the Olthoi dungeons... but I'll have to check.
rei@Turbine> We're looking at lag issues AND the respawn in the dungeon
issue as well.
rei@Turbine> Done.
ShadowSkylark> I Know You Probably Wont Give Me A Straight Answer But: Do
You Have Any Plans Of Bringing GSA Back? <PS: If You Do Bring It Back Please
Dont Leave It That Horrid, Ugly, Geeky Stuff. (Not A Question) GA -The Lark-
Crowley@turbine> Shadow armor is coming back in a different, improved form.
We would not have removed the old armor pipeline without plans for a
suitable replacement.
Crowley@turbine> Will the new stuff be as powerful as pre-July armor? Apples
and oranges, I can't really say.
Crowley@turbine> Keep tuned for our shadow armor improvements.
Crowley@turbine> And it'll look different too.
Crowley@turbine> Done
rei@Turbine> Next question?
johnmers2> My Guess: You can't fool me, I know this is a SciFi game in
disguise :) ...
johnmers2> My Suggestion: Make alchemy easier by allowing spell comps in the
numbered shortcut bar, and please autostack items...
johnmers2> My Question: does the char you play, have ANYTHING to do with
what a creature drops EVER? If so can you cite examples...
johnmers2> Bo True gives Special appreciation to: Sanjo, Wekar, Ogawa, Mao,
Huie, Zenrith, Hakim My WONDERFUL patron Eowlyn and the Dcengrites - GA
rei@Turbine> The character you play does not have anything to do with what
the creature drops.
rei@Turbine> I think that about covers your question?
rei@Turbine> Done.
rei@Turbine> Hi, question?
tjmax> this is kinda long
tjmax> I am a level 76 archer (TD), First, Sorry but, you're mad if you
think archery is a viable after 50, vs most new monsters with out a shield
your just road pizza, tickling the monsters and
tjmax> running away or being killed in one or two shots.
tjmax> playing aspect somewhat.
rei@Turbine> (Is this in the Dires or where?)
tjmax> Are you intending to increase the players abilities to become more
powerfull (stats, spells weapons and armor) and ballance it out PvM so they
can attempt to play the new area's with out loosing all the best equipment
they have gathered for the past 9 m
tjmax> months or possably introducing area's that are actually playable for
high level players? a suggestion...
tjmax> Maby have a @body command to retreave you body taking another 15%
vitea if you cant find or get back to it. People HATE loosing 9 months worth
of gear hunting in a single swipe and would much rather take the penalty,
even 40%
tjmax> done
rei@Turbine> Are we intending to increase the players abilities....
rei@Turbine> If necessary.
rei@Turbine> Balance is ongoing... I've long been interested in tuning
higher level play.
rei@Turbine> However, it must be done very carefully.
rei@Turbine> A level 30 player can get one-shot killed by a level 100
monster....
rei@Turbine> A level 70+ player can also get one-shot killed by something
equivalently tough.
rei@Turbine> Again, extending higher level gameplay is something we're
interested in doing, but it will require some serious analysis first.
rei@Turbine> Done.
Qmann> Hi, a suggestion first, can u pls post some more "technincal" info
about the working of the game, like the explanation u did about the XP
reducing code, examples would be to explain how the spell economy works, or
why do we still take damage during lag
Qmann> without doing any damage... My question is why did u reduce the spawn
rate in the Horde Nest? it is unbearable now! u should rename it the
"abandoned" nest. If it was because of lag, then at least make it something
in between!
Qmann> BTw I kinda like it that u nerfed the GSA because evryone was
starting to look alike! Done.
Crowley@turbine> People don't seem to believe it when we tell them this, but
the BSD and the Horde Nest were causing problems with the servers.
Crowley@turbine> Not just in-dungeon lag, but they were actually causing a
strain on the entire server farm.
Crowley@turbine> The lag wasn't the only reason involved in the reduction of
spawn rates, but it was the strongest reason.
Crowley@turbine> We're trying to figure out ways to bring back the
experience of being cornered by a dozen angry Tuskers, but there are
technical issues we have to dance around.
Crowley@turbine> So we'll probably keep tweaking the Horde Nest and the BSD.
Hopefully we can find a happy compromise between play experience and server
load.
Crowley@turbine> Done.
+MrQuazarr@Zone> And our last question for the eveing will be feebz.
feebz> i am not a disgruntled mage :) of course, i'm only lvl 25, but i'm
an aluvian 4-schooler that just went on the impious quest, and loved it..
Don't want to spoil it, but Harlune's quote, "Fix Your Useless..." had me
LMAO... ok here goes:
feebz> quick question: how hard would it be to integrate CAPES into the
game? This game is FAR FAR better than UO, but i liked the cape wardrobe
element of that game at least.. Shoutz to The Silence, Bane, Moto Monarchy-
you are NOT a unique snowflake! GA
feebz> weal question hehe
feebz> weak
rei@Turbine> Capes are difficult.
rei@Turbine> Unfortunately.
feebz> tell us about next months event then!! hehe j.k
rei@Turbine> Trust me we all wanted ones for ourselves :)
rei@Turbine> Can't tell you about next month's event, but we will be trying
to address some long-standing concerns (then again, we always try to do
that).
rei@Turbine> (Hmm, sorry it's vague; it can't be helped)
rei@Turbine> Done.
rei@Turbine> Thanks everyone for your questions and suggestions!
+MrQuazarr@Zone> Great. I want to thank everyone for coming out this
evening, and thank Turbine for another great Dev Chat!
+MrQuazarr@Zone> We will see you all next week.
Crowley@turbine> Props to the IRC gang and to that ugly Evil Llama
rei@Turbine> We appreciate your time, and while we can't answer everything
the way you want us to, we try our best.
rei@Turbine> Good night all.
Dave@turbine> night all
nei@turbine> Power to the vagabonds! Good night.
Crowley@turbine> And Shollos sucks
Crowley@turbine> Night all
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