Event Teaser - from the
Turbine Site,
February 10,2006
Atop a long stretch of castle wall, a solitary knight
in black armor paced between thick stone crenellations. To the west, the sun
was setting over the sea. To the east, snow-capped mountain peaks glowed
with the red light of dusk. In the castle yard beneath, blunted weapons rang
out as black-clad acolytes sparred with training masters.
The knight turned when he heard footsteps behind him. A tall, muscular woman
dressed in black and grey leather armor approached from one of the castle
towers. He smiled faintly and ran his fingers unconsciously through his
hair.
"I heard your footsteps when you were in the tower," he said.
She nodded. "I was not trying to conceal my presence this time. My own
training master, years ago, told me that if you spend too much time trying
to sneak up on people, it changes the way you carry yourself in all manner
of things."
The knight looked back towards the mountains, considering her words. Then
his gaze drifted back down to the acolytes training in the yard. "The
recruits seem to be doing well."
The woman made a sour face. "With all due respect, Grand Master, you haven't
been here long enough to judge. They still have fundamental flaws in the way
they approach combat. They are too willing to take hits because they are too
certain of their own immortality."
The knight laughed. "You can hardly blame them for that. They are young, and
have lived for as long as they can remember under the saving power of
lifestones."
"Every asset that you take for granted provides your enemies with a
vulnerability to exploit. I had not thought that lesson would be forgotten
here."
"Wise words, and I won't argue further on that point," the knight conceded.
He turned to face her. "Were you always this brazen with your previous
commander?"
"My previous commander had little use for polite or indirect speech, Grand
Master." She looked directly at him, challenge in her eyes. He met her gaze,
determined not to back down. They held the impasse for a few moments, then
she turned to look towards the hills and forests to the south.
"Troublesome things are happening out there," the woman continued. "Have you
heard the latest reports from the inland Monitors? There is something afoot
with those elemental essences..."
"Aye, and more dark secrets bubbling up in Blackmire Swamp, and activity
among the creatures of shadow..." He waved his hand in a vaguely dismissive
gesture. "We may be too dependent on lifestones, but we are not strangers to
otherworldly threats. We have been through a few on our own. And I am not
sure the order needs to get involved with anything beyond the war we are
currently fighting."
The woman shrugged. "Ignore the other events at your own peril. I can assure
you, our opponent will not ignore them."
"Our opponent has re-formed the Rossu Morta, or had you not heard? Given
what I know about them, I think they should be our primary concern."
"I don't need a briefing to be convinced of the danger of the Rossu Morta,"
the woman responded, with an edge in her voice. "The Rossu Morta..." she
sighed, shook her head, and spat over the side of the castle wall. "Some
other time, maybe when I've had a few drinks, I'll tell you about my own
experiences with those butchers." She looked down into the castle yard. "Any
one of those acolytes could be an infiltrator. Any one of them."
"So what do you suggest we do? Bar the gates and throw them all out? The
Monitors have done all they can to make sure that each one is loyal."
"I am sure they have. But who monitors the Monitors?"
The knight smiled. "Who monitors the Monitors? I do."
"Grand Master, I have great respect for you and your capabilities, but you
are still just one person, and our enemies are many and varied. I may be
paranoid, but that does not mean I am wrong." She turned abruptly and walked
away, vanishing into the tower door from which she had emerged. He watched
her go, his smile curling into a grimace of bitterness and anger.
"It's not just me," he whispered, his fist tightening in its black mailed
gauntlet.
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Rollout Article - from the
Turbine Site,
February 15, 2006
The apprentice scaled the rocky face, rushing to his appointment with his
master. He was young, leanly muscled, and moved with the graceful economy of
motion that suggested a lifetime of warrior training. He was dressed in a
light but sturdy combination of mail and leather armor. A long dagger hung
from his side, and in a sheath behind his back, a larger weapon gleamed with
magical energy. Barely breathing hard, he pulled himself over the line of a
ridge and turned around to enjoy the view.
The view from the top of the ridge was breathtaking. Behind and beneath him,
the placid waters of the Inner Sea washed against the bottom of sheer cliff
faces. All around him were snow-dusted peaks and ridges. And in the valley
below... He squinted, straining his eyes to see past the glare of sun on
snow. An army was gathering. It looked like a sizable force, and they were
rallying around red banners. He noted the size and disposition of the
gathered forces, and turned to continue up the ridge towards his meeting.
When he turned, he came face to face with his master, a sardonic grin upon
the older man's lips, and a dangerous, deadly glint in his eyes.
"M-Master," he stammered, surprised and more than a little scared. "I had
not looked to see you this far from the mountain."
"And so you let your guard down, Adso?"
"No, but I was more concerned about collecting intelligence on that army
down below."
His master stepped back and appraised him coolly, absently scratching the
hair on his chin. "A scout who allows himself to be surprised is a dead
scout, Adso."
Adso bowed. "I apologize, Master."
"Still, you have good eyes, to have noticed them gathering down there." He
nodded his approval, then beckoned Adso to the meager shade offered by a
scrub evergreen.
"Do we, or, uh, I mean, do you have any business with the soldiers down
there?" Adso's skin prickled with the audacity of his question, but he had
learned that his master preferred bold apprentices who would test, but not
overcome, his control.
"Not yet, no. And while their presence is interesting, I doubt it will prove
to be of much significance to us." His master turned to look at him, and
again Adso felt like secrets were being stripped away under the intensity of
his scrutiny. "Why don't you tell me about that new weapon you're carrying?
I could smell the magic on it from two hundred yards downwind."
Adso carefully drew the glowing blade from the sheath at his back and held
it out for inspection. His Master was careful to keep his hands away from
it.
"Interesting... A familiar pattern to the metal, obviously, but the stone,
and the magical emanations are... thrillingly unfamiliar. Did you just
assemble it?"
Adso nodded. "I had to consult with the Alchemist to learn how to do it,
Master. And I had to carry out some, ah, intensive research of my own."
"Did she recognize you? Or ask you questions about whom you serve?"
Adso shook his head quickly. "She seemed more interested in the stone than
in the person who showed it to her, Master."
"Good... If their interest in this new stone is any indication, perhaps the
fools have finally begun to catch on to the true nature of their enemies.
Though the lesson may be too late for some."
With that, master and apprentice turned their backs on the army gathered far
below them, and began their ascent into the mountains.
Dev Notes - from the
Turbine Site,
February 15, 2006
New content and Functionality
- A Character Title Panel has been added to the game. When you first log on
after the event goes live you will have your current title added into this
panel. Any title you gain after that will be added to the panel. At any time
players will be able to change the title they are displaying to other
players, though they will not have to if they choose to keep this number to
themselves. Others will also be able to see how many titles you have when
you they ID your character.
- The first of our PvP changes will be going in this month. By completing a
quest, players will be able to get an item that will give them a 10% boost
to the attack modifier of the weapon they are holding at the time they use
the item.
- The series of quests which were started in Throne of Destiny will continue
with new quests that will continue to ask you to make a choice in the war
between Queen Elysa and King Varicci.
- The Real Time Rare system has been added into the game. This is the Rares
system that we had spoken about in the LttP. You can read more about this
new system in our February
Letter to the
Players.
Miscellaneous Changes and Improvements
- When we removed some of the seasonal body part drops, some Moarsman
stopped dropping Moarsmuck on death. This has been fixed and all Moarsman
who should be dropping the Moarsmuck now are.
- The creatures that drop the Pirate Patch were dropping them at a 100%
rate. This was not intended. The drop rate on these is now correct on these.
- Players can now assign a key to the action 'Move selected item to main
pack'. This action is very much like 'Move selected item to inventory' (the
F key by default), but it ignores whatever pack you have open.
- We have also added a new character option that allows you to use your main
pack as your preferred pack; instead of the pack you have open at the time.
- The Darktide world is getting it's much needed hardware upgrade this
month, The goal of this upgrade is to help improve performance on this
world. With the environment being different from other worlds, it can put
more strain on the hardware.
- The drop rate on the higher tier Rare items has been increased slightly.
The goal of this change is to let players see more of the higher tier rare
items.
- While doing some testing, we discovered the way that some ring spells were
casting, in particular Ravens Fury, was not correct. In effect if you were
standing behind the caster of the ring spell you could get hit by the spell
twice. This lead to the effect of double damage from one actual spell. The
error has been fixed.
- Players will no longer be able to send out messages using the green text.
This was not an intended behavior, and has been resolved for this month.
February Letter to the Players - from the
Turbine Site,
February 10, 2006
Welcome to the February Letter to the Players.
Last month we saw some exciting new features and changes in Asheron's Call.
We saw some movement on the part of Queen Elysa in the ongoing effort to
Stop King Varicci and his forces. Will we see this trend continue, or will
Varicci strike back?
New for February
Character Title Panel
In the January event we introduced the Friends Panel. In this month we have
another exciting new feature we would like to introduce, which is the Title
Panel. With this panel you will be able to change your character's display
title – which is the title that other players see when they look at you –
any time you want to any title that you have listed in your Title Panel.
The first time you login after the February event goes live, the title you
currently have will be automatically added to your Title Panel.
Unfortunately, we previously had no way to track any titles that you may
have gotten and discarded, so we are not able to automatically add any of
your past titles. But any title you gain after this will be added into the
panel, and will then be immediately available to use as your display title.
One really cool feature of the panel will be the ability for others to see
how many titles you have when they ID your character. Like fishing skill or
chess rank, you can turn this bit of information on or off through a
Character Option.
Inventory Management
Last month we introduced some changes to the way inventory is managed on
players. After reading the feedback we got on these changes, we have added a
couple of new options for inventory management with this month's update.
You can now assign a key to the action 'Move selected item to main pack'.
This action is very much like 'Move selected item to inventory' (the F key
by default), but it ignores whatever pack you have open. This should be
useful for those of you who regularly used the F key to sort items in your
side packs into your main pack.
There is also a new character option that allows you to always use your main
pack as your preferred pack, instead of using whatever pack you happen to
have opened at the time.
We hope that these options, plus the inventory management changes we
implemented last month, will help all players manage their inventory in a
way that's convenient for them. And of course we'll be watching for your
continued feedback on this matter.
Quest Driven Loyalty Decisions
This month we will continue the series of quests, started in Throne of
Destiny, that ask you to make a choice in the ongoing war between Queen
Elysa and her followers and the forces of King Varicci. Be careful in your
choices. They may have an effect on quests in the future. The things you
decide to do now will affect the future of your character for a long time to
come.
PvP Improvements
The first of our PK improvements will be going into the game in February. By
completing a quest, players will be able to pick up an item that gives a 10%
bonus to the attack modifier of the weapon they are holding at the time when
they use the item. Please note that this spell does not affect any weapon
that is not enchantable, which includes the Weeping suite of weapons. As we
continue to move forward, more changes will be made in this area. We will be
continuing to get player feedback on what things are most important to PvP
and what changes need to be made. We appreciate all of the feedback we have
gotten up to this point, and we are looking forward to continuing the dialog
about these issues.
Darktide Hardware Upgrade
We are happy to announce that on the day the February event goes live on
February 15th, we will be giving the Darktide server its much needed
hardware upgrade. All of the worlds will be down from 9am EST until 3pm EST
for the update, but Darktide will remain down until 6pm EST in order to
receive the new hardware. We regret the necessity of the extra downtime, but
this is not a trivial operation and we want to make certain that it is
completed correctly. As always we will inform you of any changes to this, as
well as keeping you updated on the status of the upgrade on the day it is
happening
Rares System Changes
When we the introduced rare item system in the Throne of Destiny expansion,
we had two main goals: the system as a whole should effect a large number of
players; while at the same time, rares should be rare, and finding a rare
item should be a special event. We designed a two-pronged approach that
would help us meet these goals. First, you would have a tiny, tiny chance of
finding a rare with each eligible creature that you killed. And second, you
would also have a tiny, tiny chance of finding a rare each day that you
logged into the world.
Unfortunately, we didn't have the resources at the time to complete both
prongs, so Throne of Destiny shipped with rares based on creature kills
only. Now half this system is arguably better than none, but we've always
wanted to get the rest of the system in place. And we finally had the
opportunity with the February update.
So let's talk about this new part of the rare item system. You've heard us
call it the 'login rare system' before, but a more accurate name would be
'real time rare system' because finding these rares is based on real time,
not on the number of creatures killed. In short, every character with the
Throne of Destiny expansion is guaranteed the chance to find at least one
rare item every two months, in addition to the rare items that they might
have found in that time in the old way.
What do you have to do to benefit from this new system? Nothing special! You
will still find rare items by killing eligible creatures. The real time rare
system just makes sure that regardless of how limited your play time is, and
even if you have a streak of bad luck, as long as you can get out and do a
little killing, you will find at least one rare item every two months.
In addition, we've had time to collate the data about how many rare items
players are finding so far. Even with the addition of the real time rare
system, this number is a bit low, especially for the highest tiers of rare
items. What good are all these super-cool rare items if no one ever finds
them? So also in the February update we will be making your chances of
finding a high tier rare item just a smidgeon higher.
These are just some of the changes that will be taking place in the February
Event, A Change in Tactics.
In Concept
These are some of the game changes we are thinking about for the
upcoming months in Asheron's Call. We cannot guarantee when or even if any
of these changes will be added to the game, as scheduling and priorities
change. These changes are in addition to the new quests, dungeons, and items
we'll be introducing in each monthly event. Your feedback on these topics is
particularly valuable.
- Additional Allegiance Improvements
- Additional Player-vs.-Player Improvements
- Additional High Level Hunting Areas
- More Story Driven Loyalty Decisions
- Chat Filters for Global Channels