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Event Prelude - March 29, 2000
From the
Zone
“Mommy, I'm
scared,”Cortrima said, her eyes wide and shimmering with tears of panic.
“Shh,”her mother said, and
wrapped her arms tighter around the girl. They were huddled in one corner of
the room. Crude furniture barricaded the door and windows. Outside their
little cabin, the howling grew louder, shriller. They had fled when the
Spire first erupted from the ground. After a few weeks of inactivity,
though, they had thought it safe to return.
The change had begun two
days ago. The noise from the Spire had escalated, and the ground had quaked.
Cortrima's father, a mage, had clutched his head in pain during the quakes,
and finally run into the woods, screaming about shifting currents, about
thorns in the flesh of the earth -- things they did not understand. The
black shape on the northern horizon appeared more frequently, leering down
through bruise-colored overcast and blood-red sun.
Then the Shadows began to
appear, their eyes burning with power. They now surrounded the house in
numbers that grew by the hour, whispering in a way that set her hair on end.
From the Spire itself, sick wet sounds could occasionally be heard -- as if
something were hatching in the bone protrusion at its apex.
“What do they
want?”Cortrima's mother whispered, half to herself. “For the love of the
Mothers, what do they want?”
Sibilant laughter washed
over the house. The wind shivered the trees with dire news. A storm had been
building over Dereth for a month. Soon it would break -- and black rain
would fall.
In our continuing commitment
to bring you a major world-altering event each month, we will soon present
"Thorns of the Hopeslayer." Twisted citadels erupted from the earth several
weeks ago, and have since hovered over the land, humming with evil magic.
Some invisible force has periodically teleported heroes into their heights
and subjected them to a menacing interrogation. What evil being prepares to
assault Dereth? Is there truly a connection between the Shadow creatures
gathering in the wilderness and these citadels that adventurers call the
Shadow Spires? Sometime during the first week of April, the designs of a
great evil will be set in motion. Prepare now for the defense!
Event Teaser - April 4, 2000
From the
Zone
The Shadows, thought by the foolish to be in retreat,
reveal that they are merely gathering for a final assault upon Dereth. Reports from spies
have been incoherent, as if horror has rendered them senseless. Arm now! Attack may come
at any time from any quarter, at first far from civilization, but in danger of stretching
nearer to home. Asaina al-Arqis and other scholars have surmised that the goal of the
Shadows is not merely victory but the spread of terror and despair. Do not be lulled by
early success nor disheartened by the reappearance of the enemy as their tactics change.
When the battle is joined, take the fight to their captains, wherever they may lurk, and
punish them. All adventurers of all skill levels will be needed, and many can hope to
their names written into the annals!
This month's major event, "The Thorns of the
Hopeslayer," is upon us. In this pivotal conflict with darkness, the actions of the
players will alter the course of events on a scale never before seen in an online game.
Players who make special efforts to turn the tide will have their name broadcast for all
to admire. This battle is not just for those of high level - some stages will require the
participation of less advanced players. Join the defense! For more
information, read the articles
The State of the Code and
Build Notes.
From the
Zone
Asheron's Call Build Notes,
April 4, 2000
Here are all the tiny little details of the game update
that was made on April 4, 2000. This list is culled from "check-in" notes
submitted by the game developers themselves. Things of greatest note are
listed first.
Some changes are not in these build notes, because that
would spoil the fun of finding all that has been added or changed! Some
changes include major new things players can do to drive our evolving story
forward, which we won't entirely reveal here. As usual, 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 detailed here.
Detailed Notes for builds 2311-2318:
- The stage is set for an unparalleled battle! Travelers,
beware of Shadows, and look for heroes among you who can determine the
fate of the lands of Dereth.
- "Detached characters" (which recently caused some characters to
temporarily appear missing) should now be a thing of the past. All
characters that were not truly deleted will now appear in your character
list. Some long-past characters may show up in this way. In some rare
cases, you may have more characters than can show up in your character
list. If your character slots are filled and you still think a character
is missing, delete an unwanted character and wait for the "temporarily
unavailable" label to vanish. This will allow one "overflow" character to
show up. If you still feel a character is missing, read the "State of the
Code" article.
- "Infused" pyreal ingots (used for Atlan weapons) can no longer be
given to others! Before, there was a loophole where a player with a high
weapon skill could use a glyph to stamp (or "infuse") the ingot to yield
higher quality, then give it to a not-so-skilled player, who could get a
superior weapon. We had to tolerate this until we fixed a bug. Now, you
can NOT give the infused ingot to anyone else -- the future owner of the
Atlan weapon will have to use the glyph on it him- or herself. Note that
you can still have a skilled Alchemist form the ingot to begin with, and
give the ingot away. In other words, non-infused pyreal ingots still can
be traded among players freely.
- Experience point distribution within fellowships is generally more
fair and logical. Before, which member of the fellowship made the kill
affected how much XP was generated. If the kill was made by a fellow who
was much higher level than the victim, the whole group's XP was reduced.
Now, just the XP for the higher-level members is reduced. However, the
flipside is also true: if a low-level fellow makes the kill on a victim of
equal level, that fellow will get a non-reduced share of XP, but fellows
that are higher level will get reduced XP. In most fellowship adventuring,
less XP will be lost than was lost with the old system.
- Fixed was a recently discovered (by us) bug that justified cries of
"kill stealing." We didn't understand these protests before, since the
system was designed to give loot rights to whoever did the most damage,
and XP division was proportional to the amount of damage done. However, we
recently realized that damage above and beyond the victim's remaining hit
points were being fully counted! Therefore, player A could fight a monster
with 100 hit points, gradually do 60 points of damage, then have player B
swoop in, kill the monster with one 70-point blow, and find that player B
got loot rights and the majority of the XP. But player B didn't really do
70 points of damage; the monster only had 40 ht points to lose. This is
now fixed, and in this scenario, player B will get credit for just the 40
points of damage, while player A will get credit for 60 points, and
therefore get loot rights and the majority of the XP. This is not done as
a balancing measure: we honestly thought it was working this way all
along. It was designed this way, therefore this is a bug that needed to be
fixed.
- Due to a bug fix, Crystal creatures are now more likely to attack by
using bludgeoning damage. Therefore, during melee combat, Crystal
creatures may be a bit more damaging than before if you are not well
protected against bludgeoning.
- New technology enables players to affect worldwide properties as part
of major events. You thought events were good before? That was nothin'
compared to this stuff. And this is just the beginning.
- New technology to enable announcement and log-recording of players who
accomplish major tasks in worldwide event quests.
- Exitless room in Ancient Lighthouse dungeon -- added a lever to this
room!
- Door facing wrong way in Mountain Fortress dungeon -- fixed.
- NPCs now will give items to you, even if your option is set not to
take items from other players.
- There are rumors of a bloody assassination of a well-known master of
his art . . . Surely this is not the end of this drama.
- PK players can't heal monsters with healkits anymore. This was an
annoying loophole that allowed PKs to harass NPK players.
- Pyreal Motes, Slivers, Nuggets, Bars and Ingots now look like they
should on the ground and in their icons. They didn't used to. They all
looked like Twinkies. Now they all look different.
- Fixed the bug where locks always appraise as "trivial."
- Spring long past sprung; Bunnies not so busy.
- Night ambience is now brighter, by around 12%.
- Mana Stones now have icons that better reflect their power levels.
This applies mostly to charged stones you buy from vendors. Instead of
looking the same in their icons, making it harder to tell them apart in a
bag of stones, they now have icons that reflect the power levels.
- Sho & Gharu'ndim bowyers buy fletching items. The bowyers in Al-Jalima,
Stonehold, and Yaraq sold lockpicks as well as bowyer stuff. They will
also buy lockpicks along with bowyer/fletching stuff.
- Now only you hear noise when you sell something to a vendor. You won't
hear the sales of others.
- Rope bridge supports are no longer see-through in dungeons.
- Magma Golem light is brightened towards red more.
- Most Atlan Staff weapons were being held incorrectly. Too far towards
the base. Fixed.
- Shoushi Grotto -- Reduced lighting in several rooms and most hallways.
This dungeon was too bright.
- The undead Baron of Colier no longer leaves his Electric Long Sword on
his corpse.
- Added missing acid pool to a pit in the Incunabula dungeon.
- Special vats, fonts, pools, fountains, and wells now cast their old
spells on players when used. When a flask is used on these objects you
will get a flask of water. Double the usage, double the fun!
- Casting portal recall spells now make you play some purple bubbly
physics scripts for about two seconds before blipping you away.
- Target drudges in festival grounds don't give old cheese for loot now.
Oops. Yes, the days of free cheese are sadly at an end. Blame the Shadows.
- Amullian coat no longer has humpback.
- Flowers have been thinned out Dereth-wide.
From the
Zone
The Spin From Turbine
- April Edition
Well, another month has zipped by and, lo and behold, it's
time for another Spin article to let all of you know what we're up to, and
why we've done what we've done.
It's been great reading the boards since the invasion started. Sure,
there are complaints of isolated lag and some places that are super tough or
crowded, but overall many of you really liked what you've seen so far this
month. For us, it was a huge challenge to build and we weren't sure if you'd
appreciate it or not. To all those who have and posted as such, I thank you
on behalf of the design team. Eri, Dave, Jesse, and Chris did a great job in
getting all the stuff done. Of course, without others like Elliot and the QA
team giving 110%, we wouldn't have gotten anything to happen! Big thanks to
all the tech & support guys as well for making the prop pretty painless, and
fixing a bunch of bugs along with making some improvements (did I hear a
shout of joy from people who are in fellowships?).
As you can probably tell, there's been a bit of work on the Zone side to
keep the game up and running as smoothly as possible. We've been working
with them to sort out any problems and make servicing the worlds as painless
as possible. Both Turbine and MS hate bringing the game down at any time,
and we do try to do it only as needed. But there are occasionally things
that crop up that need immediate attention and force us to do so. Most of
the downtimes have to deal with server maintenance -- making sure that
everything is being backed up correctly and without problems. There have
been some changes to that system in the last few weeks, and hopefully, the
outages that are happening will be much less frequent as we go on.
The team is looking forward to May now, and is busy building the event
(even though there's still more to come in April!). As I look through our
bug-tracking system, I see we've got a bunch of bugs that need fixing. Some
are fairly serious; some are variants of others . . .
Example of a fairly low-priority, trivial bug: “Backstory: Want to put
in more backstory stories into the world.”
Example of a fairly significant bug that merits attention and resources
to fix: “SERVER CRASH: HashBase<unsigned __int64>::clobber”
Most of the problems that people talk about on the discussion boards are
the ones we're trying to fix in the next few updates, things like:
- skill curves (both general changes and distinctions to
specialized/trained curves)
- fixes for swords
- upping monster loot
- stuff for mages (improvements to the spell bar), since the last few
months we were doling out stuff to warriors
- a gaggle of other fixes
As for the skill-curve stuff, we will be very careful making this change.
If we don't have enough time to adequately test it, we'll hold off until we
feel 100% confident. I figure you want something done right the first time
you see it rather than having us introduce something buggy (sorry about
doing that in the past -- we want to avoid that in the future) and go back
in and remove it.
The overall system changes will be minor tweaks, since we don't want to
screw up the game balance or upset everyone. Like we've always tried to do,
we'd rather make smaller changes rather than huge changes that have to be
toned down (i.e., nerfed) afterwards. Some of the changes and bug fixes
we're making affect what goes on behind the scenes.
By the way, why is it that whenever we add something that affects a bunch
of people in a positive way, others complain about being nerfed? All the
changes we've got planned for May should be beneficial to you, no matter
what your level or class. And yes, we'll still be adding more stuff (quests
and such) as always.
Anyway, Oswald says I have to go now.
Scott Herrington
Producer, Asheron's Call
Turbine
P.S. Anyone need a level-12 vassal? I need loot!
--Scott
P.P.S. Please welcome our international players as AC starts getting sold
in various countries around the world over the next few weeks and months!
Field Report on the Shadow
Invasion
- from the
Zone
April 11, 2000
As you know, Asheron's Call has the unique distinction of providing its
players with a world that undergoes major changes each month, immersing
everyone in a grand plot. The wicked work of the Gelidites plunged Dereth
into a sudden winter, which was stopped when brave players shattered the
Great Work, a crystal that was sucking the heat from the land. A beautiful
spring spread over Dereth, and a huge obsidian bridge, apparently concealed
by the ancient Empyrean, appeared over the River Prosper, much to the
delight of travelers. However, a new scourge arose, perhaps also triggered
by the destruction of the Great Work: deadly Crystal Fragments and horrible
Shadow creatures beset adventurers in the wilderness. Sages uncovered clues
enabling them to reconstruct the ancient Atlan weapons, forged of old to
defeat a similar invasion of Shadows. Skilled smiths examined the weapons
and used certain principles of their design to create new armor, using the
gemlike substances left behind by Shadows and Crystals. Meanwhile, menacing
spire citadels erupted from the earth to loom over several towns, and some
swore that a chilling, invisible presence teleported them up into these
spires to ask maddening questions. Doubts as to the sanity of the
“abductees” remain.
This month, the world seemed to grow calm for a time . . . but it was the
calm before the storm. The gibbering of long-range scouts led some to
suspect the worst was yet to come. They were justified in their fear. Read
the following tale of a Blademaster who saw the action firsthand.
Our greatest fears have been realized. The cursed Shadows have invaded
Dereth in their greatest show of force to date! A chill went down my spine
as my fellowship and I heard the following whispers: “In the dark of the
obsidian wasteland, where great magics wrought destruction long ago, the
Shadows stir and awaken. The Hand stretches forth once more . . .”Obsidian
wasteland? That sounded like an apt description of where we were: the
Obsidian Plain in the southern Direlands! In fear, not wishing to be
anywhere near this “stretching Hand,”we ran northward. Just as we were
starting to feel foolish for our flight, the sizzle of emerging enemies
surrounded us, and we were staring into the blank faces of the Shadows,
voids which walk in human form. We fought bravely, but soon, battered and
drained, we retreated pell-mell to Fort Tethana, which was massed with
defenders. After I recovered somewhat, I went to a local mage and was just
in the process of buying mana stones, when a great commotion erupted. A
dread Shadow Captain appeared within the walls of the Fort! We quickly found
it to be as strong as a Panumbris, and just as in my previous encounters
with an enemy of such might, I was quickly dispatched to a Lifestone.
As I ran back to Tethana, I heard new words on the winds: “The
darkness has been checked in the Northern Direlands. The brave defenders of
Fort Tethana have prevailed!”I even heard the name of the mage that laid the
killing blow to the Shadow Captain. (He belongs to a rival allegiance, so I
hesitate to add to his glory.) However, I also heard this dying utterance
from our foe: “The tides of war shift . . . another captain shall appear,
perhaps in a different settlement . . .”I soon arrived back at the fort,
where the fallen were visiting their corpses alongside me. As we talked
excitedly about this turn of events, my patron sent me a message: though the
Shadows were slowing their attack near Tethana, presumably due to the death
of their Captain, a new invasion had begun in the desert and the swamps of
the Direlands. Then my friends from afar told me they saw waves of the enemy
near the northern bridge from the Direlands to Osteth. “The Shadows are
reaching eastward!”cried a sorceress. Her alarm only added to mine, and I
sensed a panic among those who wanted to flee the invasion, and a frenzy
among those who wanted to resist it. My fellowship and I wanted to fight,
and as we traveled, we heard the rumor that another Captain -- or the same
one, back from the dead? -- was terrorizing the town of Plateau.
My stout vassal, herself an axe warrior, hefting her newly acquired
Silifi of Crimson Stars, urged us to skip Plateau, for surely the battle
against that Captain would be over before we arrived. “Where will they
strike next?”she mused, as we all seemed to instinctively know that epic
events come in threes. She scrutinized her map. “Tethana . . . Plateau . . .
What is next in line?”We said together: “Stonehold!”We ran onward, sped by a
helpful enchanter who lightened our feet. As we traveled, we heard ringing
in the air another pronouncement that my patron had defeated the Captain in
Plateau, and that now Mt. Esper was under threat. I sent hasty
congratulations, but I ached for a battle of my own, despite the doom that
awaited me.
As we approached Stonehold, we met again with the armies of the void.
We were seized by bloodlust -- or lust for whatever flowed in those things
-- and fought more skillfully than we ever had before. We scarcely paused to
loot the fallen as we made for Stonehold. The town bustled with adventurers
girding for battle, but none stayed for long -- they ran off to fight their
foes in the surrounding countryside. We remained close to town, helping
frightened folk too ill-prepared to survive the trek outward, but always
returning to the main square. Just as we were doubting the wisdom of our
plan, we heard a sickening crackle, and suddenly, right next to me, stood
the negated form of the Shadow Captain.
Why I did not run I do not know, and even less do I understand how I
survived. I owe my life to a selfless Life Mage who healed and refreshed me
over and over, bringing me always back from the brink of death. In my frenzy
I slashed the Captain again and again, buffeted by her spells, but
determined to beat my enemy or die trying. My fellowship dug in as well,
though the Captain seemed only to desire my blood. Finally, with one mighty
blow, I cleft her in twain. This time I heard my own name trumpeted to the
skies, and along with the cheers of those around me, I received messages of
congratulations and wonderment from seemingly everyone in Dereth. I have
never felt so exhilarated.
The best is yet to come, everyone! Stay vigilant, for no one can tell the
day when the next blow will fall, or from where. One hint though . . .
we will never make masses of monsters invade a town! Though it is
an exciting notion, to do so creates “hotspots” of player density that have
a negative effect on gameplay. Fort Tethana was not singled out for
“invasion,” having only the usual random scattering of foes nearby, but
everyone in the Direlands ran to the Fort with Shadows on their tail,
thereby making it look like the invasion they feared! If you are looking for
an intense battle with the smoothest play, seek it out in the open, not in a
crowded town. Yes, for drama there may be times when an enemy or two appear
briefly in a town, but it won't be easy to figure out where -- and as our
story above relates, the invasion leaders can shift tactics at any moment.
Keep adventuring abroad, come to town to restock, and head out once again
into the breach!
Developer's Chat
April 12, 2000
MrQuazarr@Zone> Welcome once again to our Monthly Asheron's Call
Developer's Chat. Before we get started, just a
reminder of the rule:
1. Please limit yourself to one question per person. If you ask multiple
questions, we will only be able to answer your first
2. Please have your question typed out ahead of time and ready to
cut-n-paste when it is your turn
Both of these are in an effort to allow the most people
a chance to ask questions. Without further delay, I would like to introduce the
Co-Lead Designer of Asheron's Call, Eri Izawa. Eri, take it away!
rei@Turbine> OK! I'm Eri "reijin" Izawa, co-lead designer on AC. Thanks to
all of you for coming! I'm having trouble with my cut-n-paste :) First, the
introductions. With me from the Design Team are: Jesse "Nei" Kurlancheek, scriptor & balancer extraordinaire. Dave "Sausage King of Dereth" Javier. If you see saucy
dialogue, you know whose it is! Lead Designer Chris Foster may be joining us
later. Dave Namerow is our Turbine Community Dude.
Crowley@turbine> Mind you, he's not a d00d.
rei@Turbine> And we also have guest stars Sean and Sean! Sean Huxter is Lead Artist for AC.
sean@Turbine> Ssssup?
rei@Turbine> (let's hear it for Sean ...)
spd@Turbine> Hiya, I'm Qa liscious
rei@Turbine> And spd, Sean Dickinson, is "QA guy" to quote him.
We may also have a guest appearance of Scott Herrington, AC Producer. That's
it!
+MrQuazarr@Zone> OK, our first two questions are from ppl that got
dropped earlier today...
+MrQuazarr@Zone> Zaphaman, you are up
Zephaman> sorry i was just watching
Zephaman> i do have a question
Zephaman> i have heard about the lower lvl players having impact on
recent events
Zephaman> with the current events of shadow attacks, what types of things
can the lower lvl guys be expected to do to participate
Crowley@turbine> Keep your pants on... There will be stuff for lowlevel
players, that ONLY they can do. But you understand I can't go into
specifics.
Crowley@turbine> Let's just say low-level and mid-level players will play
a "key role."
rei@Turbine> (BTW, he just had to say "pants")
Crowley@turbine> We're not saving all our lovin' for the big wanga
people.
Crowley@turbine> Done
spd@Turbine> pants
+MrQuazarr@Zone> Hi Sir!
Sir_Sherwin> Hello, AC rocks...........How do you guys feel about The
MIssle defense on the monsters compared to the monsters melee Defense? I
have 208 bow buffed(not great) yet i hit olthoi workers/soldiers/nobes etc
More often with my bow......
Sir_Sherwin> than I hit them with My Unarmed(263 Buffed). Are you
planning any future changes on this? Not sure if this was brought up in past
chats....
Sir_Sherwin> So Wasup B?? nothing just watching the game having a
bud...what's up with you?? nothing watching the game having a bud..WASUPP??,
WASUPP yo dookie pick up the phone.WaSUPPP???..WASUPP???
rei@Turbine> Nei's typing
nei@turbine> this is partially due to the 150% bonus on archery and
partially due to the /5 of missle D as opposed to /3 of melee D... we know
about it. we're also very leery of changing existing monsters. however,
expect the newer monsters to be more balanced in ...
sean@Turbine> ...with a chopstick.
nei@turbine> terms of what can kill them and at what skill lvl.
nei@turbine> done
DeHaanian> Hey Turbine Guys!! This latest patch really brought me back in
to AC, I love how you can be recognized in game for accomplishments.. anyway
on to my question...
DeHaanian> Like many players.... I WANT A MATTY ROBE.... In pvp these
robes are extremely powerfull as with buffs they are almost inpenetrable..
do you plan on reintroducing any kind of armored robe.. Or will you balence
the robe to PvP since anyone with it is a go
DeHaanian> Thanks, and I can't wait to see some new portal spells and
that quest bow...... ok wishful thinking :), Thanks Turbine guys :)
DeHaanian> mmmmm quest bow...
rei@Turbine> The matty robe was a little unbalancing...
rei@Turbine> Don't expect anything quite like it.
rei@Turbine> However, we'd like to add more robes and other such things
to the game as we continue....
rei@Turbine> Done.
Zeraphan> I would like to start off by saying how much I love this game
and thank y'all for bringing it to us. My character is a pure mage, and
since I started playing around three months ago, every update...
Zeraphan> and patch has been for melee fighters (atlan weapons, Shadow
armor, etc ). We have heard rumors of new spells/items for mages coming, but
each update myself and other mages are greatly dissapointed...
Zeraphan> I was wondering if you would tell us more specifically when
mages should look for our updates, or if not when, a better idea of what we
should look forward to seeing in these updates. Thank you. Long Live The
Illuminati. ga
nei@turbine> Eris says hi.... Mages will get their dues "real soon now".
New classes of spells will be introduced to the world.
nei@turbine> Mages everywhere will rejoice at their new found powers...
harder hitting, faster flying, and all around kinda pretty looking.
nei@turbine> done.
rei@Turbine> Don't expect them right away, though.
rei@Turbine> (It's my job to spoil the fun a little bit ;)
rei@Turbine> But they're coming.
rei@Turbine> Done.
Binky413> There has been a rather large debate about the
specialization/training issue. The issue is what bonuses should be given to
skills that are specialized. . .
Binky413> At this time there doesn't appear to be *any* reason to
specialize a skill due to the lack of bonuses. Specialization costs a huge
amount for the little gains that are currently obtained. . .
Binky413> What, if anything, is currently being done to fix this problem?
GA
rei@Turbine> We're well aware of this issue.
nei@turbine> *sigh* my eyes hurt today from staring at spreadsheets... my
math brain isn't up to par anymore. But the spec issue is being addressed.
Binky413> BTW: Get your mattie robes on ebay!
rei@Turbine> He's looking at the spreadsheets I made, so of course he's
going blind.
nei@turbine> Spec'd skills will slowly rise above trained skills as the
lvl increases.
nei@turbine> done.
NightWolf_ES> Currently, there is some sort of problem with the
chests/ground spawns. many people believe this was intentional "nerfing".
NightWolf_ES> Please please please tell me this is a bug, and that its'
being fixed. PLEASE! Not everyone can kill nobles and Umbris shadows!
nei@turbine> How many questions you asking tonight, RoRo? :)
rei@Turbine> Yes, there's a bug with spawns.
NightWolf_ES> BTW, Servers are too crowded, open up new ones for the New
people in UK! =]
nei@turbine> There (re)spawns are a bug..
rei@Turbine> Note: we will have to address some of the camping problems
with some chests, but the current problem is distinctly a bug.
rei@Turbine> done.
nei@turbine> it wasn't an intentional effect, but if a chest is not
respawning right now, if you leave the area for some time, it will reload
and the chest/items should respawn
nei@turbine> done.
rei@Turbine> (You ALL have to leave though)
rei@Turbine> (done)
Urborn2die> How come everytime a outdoor olthoi hunting/perch spot is
found, within a months time it is changed or the olthoi are removed
completely ? ....and may i asked 1 more ?
+MrQuazarr@Zone> Sorry, have to limit to one question
Crowley@turbine> Sometimes in really problematic cases, the perching is
abusive enough that we have to regulate and change the monster placement or
effect some other change.
Crowley@turbine> It's not a general policy, but we look at things on a
case-by-case basis. We're looking to make things balanced, not abusive. And
it is not our policy to "nerf."
Crowley@turbine> Done
Gringle> In a very recent update on The Zone (AC section) this statement
was made: "The best is yet to come, everyone! Stay vigilant, for no one can
tell the day when the next blow will fall, or from where. One hint though .
. . we will never make masses of ...
Gringle> monsters invade a town!" Isn't this contradictory? Why would
people need to 'be prepared', or even care, if Shadows are only going to
massively assault places in the middle of nowhere, and not towns? -Chunkystew
of Morningthaw (shameless plug)
rei@Turbine> Well, towns are not exempt from all action.
rei@Turbine> It's just that to be fair to players we can't do something
that will egregiously make a town very bad for long.
rei@Turbine> Also -- and this is just an example, mind you -- would you
like it if the whole of Dereth crawled with shadows?
Crowley@turbine> Yeek!
Dave@turbine> ouch!
rei@Turbine> (Yeah, they kill me too)
rei@Turbine> Besides, rewards await those who fight back the tides of
darkness.
rei@Turbine> Done.
rei@Turbine> I should note that our intrepid Lead Designer Chris Foster
is here.
cfoster@Turbine> Hiya!
+MrQuazarr@Zone> Rithel, you are up
dhtaylor> I'm sure that there are many out there like me. I wasted a lot
of skill points at creation and tried to play through it. Have you ever
considered adding quests that would allow players to receive a skill point
upon completion.
dhtaylor> You could limit it to once per person. Even one skill point at
high level would be very helpful. The difference between getting a new skill
at level 50 rather than 55 is immense. Thanks for your time.
rei@Turbine> Why, yes, it's under consideration.
rei@Turbine> There are some serious concerns about the ramifications,
however.
+MrQuazarr@Zone> == FYI - We are aware of connection problems in Darktide
and are investigating.
rei@Turbine> And we really would prefer to balance things out so that you
don't feel like you've wasted your credits.
rei@Turbine> But we are taking it seriously.
rei@Turbine> Done.
cfoster@Turbine> BTW, Sorry I'm late. I was busy making myself a high
king in Thistledown. And if _I_ can make High King, you know something's up
with the system. :)
thundercat_8> i have a question and a suggestion all roled into
one....can you program something so common allegiance players can see each
other on radar,,,like fellowship is green , PK is red, maybe blue for
allegiance or something? and are you going to open newworlds
rei@Turbine> First question.
cfoster@Turbine> I'll take that one.
cfoster@Turbine> The way allegiance is coded, your machine doesn't know
the status of its entire allegiance by default; that was done for bandwidth
reasons, mainly; given the size of these structures, and how dynamic they
are, tracking the changes on-line is a lot of...
cfoster@Turbine> ... bits to transmit. That makes color-coding
allegiances pretty tough with the current system. We'd have to reengineer
some fundamental tech for it.
cfoster@Turbine> In other words, it ain't just paintin' dots. :) done
RaunTaiAon> Wassssup? Love the game. You realy worked hard on the history
and Lore. It is more addicting then the game sometimes. I was wondering
1.)Is the "Shadow Key" that is suppoesed to open the doors in the nexus even
in the game yet and has anyone found it?...
cfoster@Turbine> Oh, and I guess I'll blab about allegiances somewhat --
stop pokin' me with that stick, Rei!
RaunTaiAon> And if so is it called the "Shadow Key"? 2.) Why did you nerf
all the good chests in the game? Frore, crater, etc. Stormwaltz rocks. ga
cfoster@Turbine> Doh! Sorry, Raun. I'll wait my turn again. *snif*
rei@Turbine> I'll take that.
RaunTaiAon> hehe
rei@Turbine> It's in the game, but it's not IN the game.
rei@Turbine> Done.
cfoster@Turbine> MY TURN! WAAGH!
rei@Turbine> Can we get Foster a little space here?
cfoster@Turbine> Whoo!
rei@Turbine> Before he explodes :)
cfoster@Turbine> *pop*
cfoster@Turbine> oops
cfoster@Turbine> Anyhoo...
cfoster@Turbine> ... we know that something funky is up with allegiances,
and we've figured out a fix for it. While the problem doesn't affect
gameplay in any serious ways, it DOES make it much harder for the game to
reflect someone's status in the world.
cfoster@Turbine> And for that reason, the bug is disappointing.
cfoster@Turbine> As I said, we have a fix on the way; in the meantime,
judge each person's rank with a critical eye, for their power may be
fleeting...
cfoster@Turbine> *exit brief shakespearean aside. Slapp exits, stage
left*
lowhe1> Unarmed warriors shield use...why they need it is beyond
me..question is....unarmed warriors need a non-shield bonus for their
arts....seems uncanny for us to have a shield since we use our feet and fist
to do the damage and to defend with..end/
Crowley@turbine> It sounds like you're asking about the availability of
an OG pure monk class...
Crowley@turbine> So it'd be a nice aesthetic and very cool to have, but
we have to question whether or not we can spread resources around in such a
way that "naked unarmed" people can get bonuses from being naked and
unarmed.
Crowley@turbine> To clarify, it'd be cool, and it's an idea we're kicking
around, but we can't promise Bruce Lee functionality yet.
Crowley@turbine> Done.
Gooopsta> Recently many higher lvl(40+) players have gotten bored of AC
and sold their accounts or just quit. What plans do you have to add more
content/quests/monsters/Class Balance to this game to keep up this game's
appeal at high lvls and...
Gooopsta> when can we expect this to appear in the game(1-2 months? btw
"sometime soon" is a vague answer) Throw us a bone here, keep us interested!
The people make this game great, and if the game can't keep the people, then
the game can't be great...
Gooopsta> P.S. please, no more tedious mote/shard quests. the motes were
nice and new, but doing it for all this stuff is a real tedious pain. Frore
was cool, i'm hoping we can see more of that kind of quest in later
events/updates..
Gooopsta> P.P.S Restore Evilsam on leafcull! missing for over a month
with no word on his char :( (and i think i'll be selling my good position in
line for the next dev chat on ebay :)
rei@Turbine> Agghhh!
Gooopsta> oh, btw raun didn't like your answer :) *shrug*
cfoster@Turbine> Please, MORE questions and comments at once! :p
cfoster@Turbine> dang, was my mike on? :)
rei@Turbine> We're looking into...
rei@Turbine> getting some improvements for higher level characters in
about 2 months from now.
nei@turbine> some BIG stuff
rei@Turbine> Keep in mind that we're working on next month almost as we
speak.
rei@Turbine> There's only so much we can do at any one time, however.
rei@Turbine> Done.
cfoster@Turbine> I'm working on a giant paper-mache model of Cragstone,
in fact.
cfoster@Turbine> Shushing now.
Arphaxad78> Great game, I love it! Question: I've spent alot of time
getting together 16 motes and turning them into a High Quality Pyreal Ingot.
However, I've heard horror stories about people without a super-high melee
skill not getting the peerless Atlan weapon.
Arphaxad78> So I'm taking my time and buffing my skill before trying. But
how long do I have to buff my skill before the Atlan weapons get pulled?
Snow season ended before I got my Hoary Robe and I don't want that to happen
to me again. Long Live GreyHaven!
Arphaxad78> Done.
nei@turbine> atlan stuff isn't getting pulled - in fact, it's likely to
be expanded upon.
nei@turbine> done.
_Spinman_> Hi guys great game great game great game!(in stereo) Lilithas
Bow was great when I was level 10, but I'm 50 now... I want an Atlan Yumi of
Crimson Stars of Lost Light! (laughs) "done" (Okay that was off topic :P) my
question is.....
_Spinman_> What is planned for those of us that are getting up there in
level(level 50 on morningthaw) as far as higher level content/monsters?
Specifics of quests or monsters above level 60-70 High level Lugians, High
Level Mosswarts... etc..
_Spinman_> Olthoi quality loot would be nice...
rei@Turbine> We were waiting for the Bow Question, too bad this wasn't
it....
rei@Turbine> What I said about what we're looking at for a couple months
from now....
rei@Turbine> I can't guarantee it of course -- more than once something
has come out of the blue and changed our plans :)
rei@Turbine> But it's on the radar and it's coming right for us.
cfoster@Turbine> Duck!
rei@Turbine> It will probably be in stages, however.
rei@Turbine> Done.
nei@turbine> *does a quick tapdance to entertain the folks*
cfoster@Turbine> Mr.Q might be AFK...
suceava> I know that creatures are supposed to have a max level of 126,
but it's obvious that some aren't (Umbris, Guards, etc.). Why is there a max
and are you thinking of changing this in the future? Long live GreyHaven!
+MrQuazarr@Zone> Sorry.
nei@turbine> Yes, this is a display bug - As a side effect of another
project for AC, this should soon be fixed so that you actually see the right
level.
nei@turbine> done
alecmuzzy> Why do boots only have an AL of 20 or 30? Other leather armor
can reach levels as high as AL 120. I don't like the look of solerettes, I
want to wear boots! P.S. Archers are too powerful - a normal Yumi with a
normal arrow does 9-12 pts of damage!
alecmuzzy> Gertarh's Dagger was removed and it did less damage than a
Yumi does.
rei@Turbine> Good question -- we'll look into the boots.
rei@Turbine> Done.
MicroBorg> My question concerns magic defense...
nei@turbine> Thus, so shall my answer.
MicroBorg> I would like to know why melee D is a viable skill, Str +
Quick /4, and can actually be used to evade many physical attacks. However,
magic D not only has a terrible base: Focus + Self /10 it also I would like
to know why melee D is a viable skill,
rei@Turbine> (He was looking forward to this question)
MicroBorg> low level tumerok warriors can sill drain me 9 out of 10
times. I find it hard to believe their life magic is over 200. As a warrior
expects to be able to evade physical attacks with a high melee D a mage
should be able to resist magic with a high magic
MicroBorg> As it is Magic D is an utterly usless skill GA
MicroBorg> sorry about the cut paste
cfoster@Turbine> Jesse's typin' up a storm.
nei@turbine> Ayup, Magic D is a little wack right now.. We're moving
towards a fix to the skill that should make it a more useful equation. It's
the nature of a "free" skill that it will be less powerful than a costly
skill (melee), but we're looking at tweaking the
nei@turbine> numbers.
nei@turbine> done.
Darroth> Last night I died in Jahannan due to fizzing lifestone recall
twice at 162 item skill, then when I came back I was almost killed while in
portal space by a ziefer camping the enterance. Whats up? Why are we all
fizzing so much,
Darroth> and why can I be attacked while in portal space with magic? -
Koraki, HG (Go nei! BTW Say something about Swords, ANYTHING)
Darroth> btw Jihad Master rules! =)
Dave@turbine> swords are nice
rei@Turbine> Darroth wanted nei to say something about swords, methinks.
sean@Turbine> sharp and pointy!
nei@turbine> Nothing has been done to comp burn or fizzle rates - said as
a lvl 40 mage. As far as i can tell, it's player perception - some people
say they're fizzling less, and some say they're doing it more.
nei@turbine> done.
Briboru> You all do outstanding work and we relish the world you've woven
for us. The Stupid Red Axe is not. Balancing classes, bah - know your role.
My question regards chronically missing characters. We have characters
missing from their respective accounts.
Briboru> Email responses have been nil. Any word on their restoral or
what we should do?
Briboru> ...:)
Crowley@turbine> Response is on the way...
+MrQuazarr@Zone> The situation with the missing characters was fixed with
this update. If you still have a missing character you should write to
complaints@asheronscall.com. Its important you do the following:
cfoster@Turbine> Here comes Ken with an answer!
cfoster@Turbine> There he was! (oops)
+MrQuazarr@Zone> Subject: MISSING CHARACTER
+MrQuazarr@Zone> In the body: Zone ID, and World.
Purrpetual> The current spell-casting UI (the spell-bar) makes managing
the large variety of spells frighteningly difficult (if not impossible),
particularly for mages with creature magic...
+MrQuazarr@Zone> Also
Purrpetual> Are there any plans to improve this interface in the
near-future? For example by adding multiple selectable spell bars?
+MrQuazarr@Zone> Leave a slot open in your character list for each
character you are missing
rei@Turbine> Yes, in fact, you asked for it...
rei@Turbine> ...you're going to get it.
cfoster@Turbine> And, BTW, the Magic-defense work Nei mentioned a few Q's
ago is being worked on now; if all goes well you should see some of the
changes next month.
rei@Turbine> And very likely in the near future, too.
rei@Turbine> Done.
cfoster@Turbine> Me done too.
Punchcardz> I was wondering how long your story arc's are designed to be,
and how those arc's effect your plans for new servers. E.G. would you open a
new servers during shadow invasions. How would that affect that server, with
a populaton of lv 5's?
Punchcardz> And over the past few months you have taken several measures
to resolve the issue of camping. I was wondering what if anything you plan
to do about chat camping? And will we ever see atlan noodle cutters? And
fierce noodle creatures to use them on? :)
cfoster@Turbine> I'll take it
cfoster@Turbine> Actually, noodles figure in to the answer to your first
question.
cfoster@Turbine> Actually, they don't.
cfoster@Turbine> All servers are going to be kept in sync with the
"current" event as they go live.
cfoster@Turbine> (more coming)
cfoster@Turbine> But most of our triggered events will wait until someone
qualifies ends them, and aside from making parts of the world tougher than
others don't have catastrophic effects on the world
cfoster@Turbine> ... so a world can start just about any time without too
much hassle.
cfoster@Turbine> Beyond that, as long as a handful of players race to max
out their characters, there should always be a high-power population out
there to take on most events.
cfoster@Turbine> Within a few days, that is. *out of breath* done.
hi_fib> hi all turbine fellas, well had to think of another question
since my first was asked, so guess well try get rest info on this, wonderin
what rest of scoop was on quest bow/xbow or new bow/xbow one being made
since brought *smile* to rei
hi_fib> here we go been discussed before, but i like more then vagueness,
plans on society implementation as far as house/residence and well magic d
is free but useless why isn't unarmed or staff or dagger useless being
they're free and all
rei@Turbine> First question....
nei@turbine> Quest (x)bows... I like 'em. You like 'em. So where are
they? They're coming... :P
nei@turbine> Just have to squeeze them in with all the other stuff in the
pipe.
Crowley@turbine> It'll be messy. Heh.
nei@turbine> done.
rei@Turbine> Trust me, it's cool. Done.
ThriftyTuna> I LOVE playing AC, and the latest updates have been great
(despite the yucky sticky melee). Here's my question: I have problems
playing for extended periods of time. It appears AC allocates more and more
memory over time, not freeing old information...
ThriftyTuna> ...but still referencing the old memory. Sort of like a
memory leak, except that because AC keeps "touching" the memory, there's a
huge amount of disk swapping eventually, making the game unplayable. Logging
out and logging back in fixes the problem...
ThriftyTuna> ...but if there's a lot of data (eg, in town during peak
hours), it doesn't take long for the disk swapping to make the game
unplayable. I realize one fix is to upgrade my PC from 32Mb of RAM to
something higher, like 128Mb or so, but does Turbine have..
ThriftyTuna> ...any plans to fix bugs like this that affect the lower-end
PC's? I *have* reported this to the complaints@asheronscall.com address, a
while ago. (With respect to the earlier question about color-coding fellow
Allegiance members...just key off the...
ThriftyTuna> ...Monarch name...you don't need the entire Allegiance
structure) --GA--
rei@Turbine> (wow)
spd@Turbine> This is currently in Testing
spd@Turbine> We have seen a few reports on this exact problem and we are
trying to track it down
spd@Turbine> Done
BriOmega> Hail, Hail. Could you please go into more details as to why
Gertarh was killed? Was it merely to balance things? If so, then why not
just change the stats on the Dagger? {Hail Baator,,land of Lawful
Evilness..mwahaha} {Eat Cookies!} :0)
rei@Turbine> If we changed the stats on the dagger,
rei@Turbine> it would super-nerf every dagger in existence.
spd@Turbine> Thanks Thrift for all the details, they help
rei@Turbine> I'm sure that wouldn't make anyone very happy.
Crowley@turbine> We can't release any information about Oswald here. We
are paid too well for our secrecy.
rei@Turbine> What, I can't talk about the *Mmffff*
cfoster@Turbine> Hey, you're getting paid?!
Crowley@turbine> (done)
rei@Turbine> *mmffff* done
Fo0eY> Can we ever hope to get some better Allegiance management tools?
ie a way to track the tree, or for higher ups to drop their vassal's
vassals? - Kor of Darktide (struggling webmaster for the Vonbrax allegiance)
*mutters about pining for an atlan bow*
cfoster@Turbine> Hi, FoOeY.
cfoster@Turbine> (I hope I spelled that right)
cfoster@Turbine> This goes back to my answer about allegiance-tech and
how it works on your client; the tech to "browse" an allegiance isn't in
place, and would take a good chunk of work to get done.
cfoster@Turbine> We want to do it, but right now there are more critical
fish to fry.
cfoster@Turbine> Mmm... fish.
cfoster@Turbine> (done)
Dave@turbine> Hi Xavier
SirXavier1> Give me a second someone stole my question.... My original
question was about high level content, and I can't ask about war magic.....
So wheres that dark blue robe, with gold trim, that people asked for before
I started ranting about war magic :)
SirXavier1> hello
SirXavier1> oh and not all people are racing to max out their characters,
some are trying to get skills, such as life magic *grins*
nei@turbine> we've still got a pile of palette colors (thanks sean!) to
play with, so you might get your robe yet, xav
nei@turbine> don't know about gold trim though... it might clash :)
nei@turbine> done.
rei@Turbine> (nei's very particular about fashion)
cfoster@Turbine> That'd be a Boy Scout uniform! (done)
Dave@turbine> very!
cfoster@Turbine> Or was that cub scouts? (very done)
rei@Turbine> over done! next!
Galapos> Hey guys. Game is coming along nicely. Keep up the good work.
Question about the recent events. You said that players could alter certain
aspects of the plot since this last update. Do the people who killed
captains gain anything for their...
Galapos> heroic deeds? as rei said before "rewards await those who fight
back the tides of darkness". Thanks
cfoster@Turbine> We're all gonna head over to your house and shake your
hand. :)
rei@Turbine> You mean 5 million @tells aren't enough? :)
rei@Turbine> I'm trying to say something but everything I want to say
gives away something about this month.
rei@Turbine> So I'm going to leave it as is for the moment.
rei@Turbine> Done.
geniusclown> Coupla suggestions (I know you get a lot already, but I have
the floor now! Mwahaha!)
geniusclown> 1) fix the death-on-a-steep-hill problem by introducing a
climbing skill, making those steep slopes possible to get on.
geniusclown> 2) fix the magic d by allowing partial resistance - reduce
the damage taken or skill penalty (as per creature magic)
geniusclown> 3) i'd like to see some sort of shop that can dye my armor,
and perhaps even embroid my clothes/leather armor in a pattern
geniusclown> Now the question, about the the players affecting the game:
is there a way members of a large standing army (ie a well organized
monarchy like The Silver Citadel [www.silvercitadel.com]) can send a message
to, say, the Shadow Colonal, and request a forma
cfoster@Turbine> Ooh! A question! :)
geniusclown> ....a formal battle?
geniusclown> It would be fun to try to organize and a full-scale army of
50 or so people and lay siege on a rival army.
geniusclown> <grin done.
cfoster@Turbine> we're huddling here...
sean@Turbine> Wait. Isn't this called "snuggling?"
cfoster@Turbine> ooh. that explains the harassment suit coming on.
rei@Turbine> First of all, we are under some constraints when it comes to
favoring one world, or one group of players, over another.
rei@Turbine> Secondly...
rei@Turbine> We also very much try to avoid encouraging crowding. 50
people in battle is (as some of you know) pretty laggy.
cfoster@Turbine> To do this right would be a whole new "allegiance wars"
system; we've wanted to do something like that for a while, but it's a BIG
chunk of work.
cfoster@Turbine> It also has the drawback of being REALLY cool for people
who like PK in whatever form, or heavy-duty social role-playing, but it
doesn't do much for the lone-wolves out there, or the the PvP-averse.
rei@Turbine> (50 people against a rival army ... 100 people casting
spells and fighting ... )
cfoster@Turbine> So it ends up being a lower priority than something of
equal size that can benefit everyone in the game, like property ownership
cfoster@Turbine> (which is also a BIG chunk of work -- have we mentioned
that? :)
cfoster@Turbine> (done)
rei@Turbine> (I'm done)
cfoster@Turbine> (we're done)
+MrQuazarr@Zone> next...
Tkobo> In both chats and plan files you have admitted that the melee
skill type is underbalanced.In this chat you have admitted the imbalance
bewteen bow and melee.To alot of melee skill players it seems the other
skills have had atremendous advantage too long
Tkobo> Do you have any clue HOW to establish a balance between skills ?
Also sonone named hi ifb askes me to tell you that a spin link is not
working
cfoster@Turbine> Well. Aren't you friendly folk.
nei@turbine> I'm not sure what you're asking here. I like to think we
have some clue about balance. That's awful subjective though, eh?
nei@turbine> done.
rei@Turbine> I'll add one comment:
rei@Turbine> Overbalancing too quickly is a very dangerous thing.
rei@Turbine> It can lead to exactly the problems you describe.
rei@Turbine> Done.
Ravik1> Great game, but I have noticed one thing...Torches, why do we
have them? what are they for? Well to my knowledge nothing. They look great
because of the new lighting and really light some places up, but are they
really needed?
Ravik1> I would really love it (and others would to) if you guys would
make it so you need a torch to enter a dungeon because it is too dark to
see. So you would need to have someone carry a torch otherwise it would go
pitch black. Or use torches to open switches
Ravik1> Any of these additons or info on these would be great! Thanks for
the addictive game!
Ravik1> done :)
cfoster@Turbine> Well, torches are there because they look great and
light some places up.
cfoster@Turbine> :)
nei@turbine> actually, in beta, back when mountain halls was a campers
dream, there'd be tons of stuff on the ground and it'd be hard to find what
you wanted - so we'd always have someone with a torch to light the way.
cfoster@Turbine> We might tie them into quest stuff later; I agree
they're under used.
nei@turbine> done.
rei@Turbine> One thing:
cfoster@Turbine> But they're still pretty! :)
rei@Turbine> People's monitors vary greatly.
rei@Turbine> We found this out early on.
rei@Turbine> So we must be careful to not make things too dark in the
wrong way.
rei@Turbine> Done.
Spike_Ac> Hiya, question about new servers, when are they coming? with
populations over 2k on each servers and with the release of AC in other
contries, server are getting packed and lagged. (btw, with europeen servers,
we gona see more virindis in dereth ? ack)
cfoster@Turbine> Ken'll take that one...
rei@Turbine> (You will see some interesting virindi)
+MrQuazarr@Zone> The server capacity and additional servers are something
we are closely monitoring. Stay tuned for more details.
cfoster@Turbine> And the boldface makes it bigger! :)
MaulerMithel> Hello. Cool game! I think that some spells that other
players cast are unfair to melee fighters. Particularly drain spells. With
one spell a mage drains 1/4 of a monster's hp, while warriors have to wack
away at it for a while to produce the same results.
MaulerMithel> Basicly, mages kill too fast....
MaulerMithel> I had to make this Question on the fly cause microbug stole
mine :) In particular, this magic defense issue is bad because it limits
gameplay for meleers. We are forced to fight melee-only monsters (getsboring),
or be very conservative with spell monsters
MaulerMithel> which isn't fun either....
rei@Turbine> If you're asking about drain....
rei@Turbine> We have some cool ideas up our sleeves.
rei@Turbine> We're talking about them, and it's neat stuff.
rei@Turbine> done.
lucidconcepts> Hi this is Girelle M'aloth from The Journals Of Girelle
M'aloth - [ http://asheron.abands.com ] - and Irc Effnet #asheronscall First
I'd like to say I have been a loyal AC player since beta. The game is
everything I hoped for and more.
lucidconcepts> The events each month keep everything nice and fresh and
us hardworking webmasters on our toes. Is it or will it be possible to reach
the island of the coast of Eastham that Ceclyind of Rithwic spoke about. I
don't want to waste too much time wadin
lucidconcepts> And please hurry up and fix the magic spell bar so it
scrolls fast again! Oh and yes of the 50 or so people I talked to fizzling
has seemed to increase. - Morningthaw Ok Finished Finally! GA
lucidconcepts> All done
rei@Turbine> It may be possible to reach any number of islands in the
future.
cfoster@Turbine> If you read Game Developer, you probably know that. :)
rei@Turbine> Some of them before others.
rei@Turbine> Hmmm, how can I be more vague?
cfoster@Turbine> Don't use vowels.
rei@Turbine> Seriously, though, the next island may not be one you
expect.
rei@Turbine> Done.
Magnum_Load> Hello, I'd would like to congradulate Turbine on a VERY well
done job, and would like to address the issue of Mules, and having possible
storage space in AC. Any word?
rei@Turbine> Yes.
rei@Turbine> Well, no
rei@Turbine> But yes
Magnum_Load> lol. :)
cfoster@Turbine> THAT's Vaguer! Yay!
rei@Turbine> I'm seriously looking into it. We've been held up by some
unforeseen complications....
rei@Turbine> (And it really IS a big task, the more we look at it)
rei@Turbine> So the upshot is that it's higher up the queue than ever
before.
rei@Turbine> Done.
+MrQuazarr@Zone> cnj
+MrQuazarr@Zone> arch?
Archemist> As a monarch of over 200 people, I want to see something done
to give monarchs, of some size, some real TRUE power in the game. What is
going to be done to increase the importance of rank besides being just a
basic pyramid scheme and/or arcane lore??
cfoster@Turbine> cnj?
cfoster@Turbine> I'll take that one.
+MrQuazarr@Zone> Secret code
cfoster@Turbine> Both our plans for allegiance wars and property
ownership will involve allegiances in a significant way
cfoster@Turbine> Both are areas where large groups of players can be
recognized, and have a tangible effect on the world
cfoster@Turbine> We want to explore the allegiance system further.
cfoster@Turbine> More details as either of these turn more solid. (done)
GoD_FiNiXX> I want to know why archers and warriors are so strong mages
are crap u alrdy gave archer the DM at 112% plus the BD'S so as the
warriors, they got melee so do archers.Warriors have all the best quest
mages have non the orb of black fire is a crapy quest.
GoD_FiNiXX> Arrows travel faster then lvl 4 magik and take amost same dmg
maybe even more some times they do critical do some thing about this. Will
some thing gonna be done about thievery?i had alot of things stolen plz do
some thing about it.Will hoary mattys coime
rei@Turbine> First question.
rei@Turbine> I thought that warriors were too weak compared to other
classes....
rei@Turbine> Also, we have stuff up our sleeves for magic.
cfoster@Turbine> As we said before, there are more spells in development.
rei@Turbine> Nei won't let us get away with NOT putting in cool new
magic.
rei@Turbine> Done.
treymule> at higher skill levels Mages get more powerful spells, yet as
melee increases, we get no new attacks, no higher damages.. When can I
expect to see a 'level 5 sword swing'? that can deal as much damage as a
level 5 war spell? BTW "Amusary" got skipped.
nei@turbine> hey, davej, aren't you working on this? :)
cfoster@Turbine> (Amusary didn't ask anything. he was in the hopper for a
while.)
cfoster@Turbine> We have the tech for this; it's just art and content.
DaveJ can tell ya more.
Crowley@turbine> We've been looking at cool stuff like new animations and
new stuff in the melee UI (an accuracy meter is tempting, yes), but there
are other things that are higher priority at the moment.
cfoster@Turbine> (BTW all, GoD_FiNiXX and treymule'll be duking it out in
the parking lot later tonight; come by and check it out :)
Crowley@turbine> Making melee more varied is a special and dear issue to
me, but I can't make promises or give you a timetable.
Crowley@turbine> But if you DO get it, you know who to give props to.
Just kidding...
Crowley@turbine> Done
oPerrin> First I would like to make a couple comments (don't answer as my
q): 1. Shadow invasions are very cool but it is insanely frustrating that I
am not given the option of HELPING the shadows in any way.
oPerrin> I have pledged my soul to the great lord and now I have to fight
his children? Absurd.
sean@Turbine> Props will go to the animator of course.. Ahem!
oPerrin> 2. If you actually think two 999 diff doors can keep anyone out
of the nexus your silly :)
oPerrin> Question: What is your stance on Verant banning the sale of
items/characters from EQ? Will we ever see this kind of tyrany from
Turbine/MS?
oPerrin> PS. +MrQuarez, please message RitualFait, 3rd in queue now, he
is about to be booted.
cfoster@Turbine> (hmm... "tyranny"... methinks someone has an answer in
mind already... :)
cfoster@Turbine> We're not really in the tyranny business. And neither is
989.
cfoster@Turbine> These are REAL tough issues, and sometimes it's tempting
to use as much force as you can to deal with difficult problems.
cfoster@Turbine> Oh yeah, it's Verant. (eek)
cfoster@Turbine> I'm glad they changed their mind.
cfoster@Turbine> So Tyranny is pretty low-priority on our schedule right
now. :)
Crowley@turbine> BTW, you can always go to Darktide and backstab people
fighting the shadows... And there are other things protecting the Nexus. Heh.
rei@Turbine> It's behind housing on the top 10.
cfoster@Turbine> (done)
smurph64> as any thought gone into allowing us to change our characters
for a penalty like dropping levels i like many have a good char but with the
changes to the dynamics of the game have been weakened dramatically and
don't want to start from scratch
rei@Turbine> I assume you mean changing skills....
smurph64> yes changing skills
rei@Turbine> Yes, thought has gone into it. There are major gameplay
concerns associated with it.
rei@Turbine> We generally prefer to try to balance things so that
everything is worthwhile ....
rei@Turbine> (And yes, we're still working on the balance :p)
cfoster@Turbine> I have a comment on this...
rei@Turbine> (I'm done ... waiting for Foster's comment)
cfoster@Turbine> The issue is the systems weren't designed for
reversibility in the first place. While we can make the change, technically,
the effect on game balance could be horrendous and hard to forecast.
cfoster@Turbine> It also leads to "character-of-the-week" problems, where
players end up looking too similar to each other because everyone keeps
reorging their character to what's popular at that point in the game.
rei@Turbine> And as balance changes, I'll be people will want to go back
to how they were.
cfoster@Turbine> (done)
Zoltard> While you look at the classes, i hope you consider that archer
need their strength for ammo so they have less armor and must return to
reload often... i mean i just hope you consider that! :) (don't answer)well...
my question now! (more like a suggestion)
Zoltard> What about letting people write messages in the taverns, and
those messages should last for a few days so people would have time to read
them! that would be very handy for allegiances! as most members aren't
online at the same time! so, what do you think?
rei@Turbine> The bulletin boards....
rei@Turbine> Actually, some of you may remember the old broken bulletin
boards.
rei@Turbine> That's a good idea ... and it ties into some other stuff I'm
thinking of... though the number of possible abuses tells me it won't be a
trivial task.
rei@Turbine> (And I'm an archer, so I know about STR)
rei@Turbine> (ugh)
rei@Turbine> (done)
+MrQuazarr@Zone> RitualFait will be our last question of the evening...
RitualFait> First off a suggestion to keep the muleing problems down:
Alow us to purchas a unpickable chest to dump ofdf at our favorit hunting
spot with a undroppable key to unlock it this will end the problems with
people grabbing your stuff while you mule
rei@Turbine> Is that the question?
RitualFait> no
rei@Turbine> OK.
RitualFait> a suggestion
rei@Turbine> (?)
RitualFait> arg cant get it to past
Crowley@turbine> Rei can sympathize.
rei@Turbine> I could get it to paste, but it was hard to read what I'd
pasted.
rei@Turbine> Locked chest is a possibility, but it's not nearly as easy
as it sounds.
RitualFait> are the 112 yumies gone me and my patron have been looking
for 2-3 monts now and it seems there are noine left we hunt at all the spots
or are they just dormant for the comming of a new toy fir us archers
nei@turbine> they still exist.
Dave@turbine> found one the other day
nei@turbine> done.
RitualFait> you only one
cfoster@Turbine> Can I have that bow, Dave? :)
RitualFait> everyone is asking if you can elaberate on bopws
Dave@turbine> sure if you swear to me
rei@Turbine> Doh!
RitualFait> what you plan on for us
spd@Turbine> I'll create an archer Dave
cfoster@Turbine> Talk to my monarch. :p
rei@Turbine> I'll give a hint: "Ewww"
rei@Turbine> I'm happy with my own patron, thank you.
cfoster@Turbine> I think we're at the end of our chat, folks.
Dave@turbine> thanks everyone for coming!
rei@Turbine> (the "eww" was for the bow question, not swearing allegiance
to Dave)
spd@Turbine> Thanks!
nei@turbine> *waves to the IRC crew*
+MrQuazarr@Zone> I would like to thank everyone for coming out this
evening and setting a new Zone record for a chat... 918... Thank You! We
hope to see you back here next month!
Crowley@turbine> Thanks all.
cfoster@Turbine> Thanks! See you later!
rei@Turbine> Thanks all! We appreciated you coming by!!!!
sean@Turbine> See y'all!
nei@turbine> night night (or morning morning, if you're over there)
rei@Turbine> (I bet they think I was joking about the "ewww" :-(
rei@Turbine> If I keep typing about the bow, will the exit rate continue
to drop?
cfoster@Turbine> I'm sleepy...
Crowley@turbine> They'll know...
Crowley@turbine> Soon enough...
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