Here's the New Grab Bag

Ogrelin

Here's the New Grab Bag

Posted By: Sanya Thomas 2007-03-16 18:18:46



Been a long strange week, but you all have helped us to make a better game!

Q: Since Pendragon is a test server, wouldn't it be better if the respecs were unlimited?

A: Why, yes. The Bearded Wonder got all specific: “There should be a merchant in each capital city that sells the following:

Luminescent Ceriac Stone - Single Line Respec

Luminescent Abrogo Stone - Realm Ability Respec

Luminescent Exerpise Stone - Full Line Respec

Luminescent Cambiare Stone - Champion Level sub-class Respec

The merchant in question for each city is as follows:

Zulo - Demon Imp in the crafting courtyard outside 'Shorty' Malone's Inn

Mulo - Demon Imp on the east side of the Assembly Hall

Rulo - Demon Imp on the south side outside of Alainn Cuir.

Q: (Insert question about block rate change)

A: Here is what Missy posted in response to this issue on one of the boards: “The block rate before 1.87 was 100% against everyone but dual wielders, and the rate was 50% when facing a dual wielder. In 1.87, the penalty when facing a dual wielder was removed. This was an intentional, documented change that showed up in the live version notes:

Shield

- A character's chance to block will no longer be penalized when facing a character who is dual wielding.

“This proved to be too powerful, since as a result of this change many shield users respecced to 50 shield and had a near 100% chance to block against all melee attacks. We have reduced the block rate to 75% now against all melee opponents. This is still an improvement against dual wielders, but is technically a 25% block chance reduction against all other opponents. We’re going to keep an eye on the new rate and adjust it if we feel the need.”

Q: Last night I went to ToA on (Hib)Igraine on my Hero to "Farm" for the Gem of Lost Memories and Great Hunt scrolls (as well as getting XP). I went to the Usual Island for this (East of GoLM Island) where there are a ton of statues and Harpies of the appropriate type and proceeded to pull and kill. The statues were yellow to OJ to me and while I did get some loot drops, I got only about three scroll drops in about three hours of XPing. Having farmed there before, I found that low a drop rate odd, to say the least.

A: Nine out of ten “is the drop rate broken” questions can be answered with “The drop rate is fine; you are experiencing the less-enjoyable side of a true random number generator.”

I keep reading these questions, and the developers keep researching these questions, because of the tenth question. Like this one. The drop rate is indeed wrong, and you should see a patch note very soon. The Bearded Wonder and I would like to thank you for including all the necessary details, for submitting a bug report as well as a feedback form, and for helping us to fix this issue.

Q: Does this patch mean that items that add to spell range would now also extend the archery range? Like say, will the effect on Bracelet of Zo'arkat ((L8): Bonus to spell range: 4%) also give 4% to archery range? Or am I off my rocker?

A: Certainly I have not been able to find my rocker in quite some time. Here is the Redhead: “I can't speak for whether or not you're off your rocker, but you are indeed correct that items which previously only affected spells will now affect archery as well. When we got to brainstorming about what to do with items, we realized that archers had a very small selection of useful items available to them, while casters had a huge number of items that did all sorts of fun and useful things. By combining the bonuses from both spell and archery, this opens up a huge range of items (we’re talking thousands here) to archers that simply were not useful or available to them before. This should address some of the complaints about the difficulty of templating an archer.”

Q: Will there be (in-game currency) compensation for re-templating of characters? My characters will be changing in major ways this patch, and great templates aren’t free.

A: I cry a little, at night, when I have to specify “in-game” currency as opposed to actual money. But there are people who confuse the two, though thankfully, not the gentleman who sent in this question.

This question is in many ways a continuation of the one above. The answer is no, but not because we didn't think about it. The Redhead referred to his answer to the earlier question when he replied to this question, and continued: “With this change we essentially made archer templates exponentially easier to build. However, an archer who wishes to keep their old template can easily do so. Existing archer templates will work very well with the new system, as all the stats and bonuses are being converted on archery specific items (quickness being removed from bows, for example). However, for the rest of their gear, archers still use all the stats in the new system that they did in the old system. Templates should directly translate from old to new, with the potential for even better templates than were possible in the old system, if they wish to do so.”

Q: Hello. In an earlier grab bag, you had promised that Bonedancers were going to get some stuff in 1.88 that would complement the stuff in 1.87. 1.88 has had five freakin’ versions, lady. WRU BD love?

A: I really, really should have been more clear when I posted the endless versions of 1.87, after the official patch date. As you might recall, 1.87 never seemed to end. I have failed you here, guys. Here is the Redhead with one of the simple timelines that makes me want to pet his scruffy little head if only I were not slightly afraid of his girlfriend:

Here is the timeline:

* 1.87 goes live, Bonedancer stuff is still not done.

* We tell Bonedancers they'll get stuff in 1.88 thinking that will be the next live version.

* A bug with how the new quest system works crops up, and we wind up patching from our internal development server on a constant basis. (Sanya here – the bug was such that we could not cherry pick which bits went from internal to live; everything had to be copied over in a lump. That means that we couldn’t do, say, any of the archer stuff until we were done with the constant copying. And now you know why we’re not done with archer stuff yet. Anyway, moving on.)

* I realize that this is a good opportunity to slip some stuff up to live (that was planned for 1.88) earlier than anticipated.

* I do the work, and it slips up to live, with the Bonedancer changes included in that.

* Since we told Bonedancers 1.88, they do not realize that this stuff was what we were talking about when we said there would be more changes coming, since it was labeled as 1.87. (Sanya again: This would be the failure on my part I mentioned at the top of the answer.)

That brings us to today.

Q: Now that archery is spell based, wouldn’t it be a good idea to have some appropriate messages other than "You can't cast this spell" when you have a weapon equipped?

A: Redhead: “We're working on making the messages correct, since these aren’t normal spells. They're unique to archery in very specific ways, and will have the appropriate messaging by the time we go live with it.”

Q: Power Shot is taking a really long time to fire/cast on Pendragon. Especially for the lack of range it has. What was your thinking?

A: I actually love answering these questions, as it is a chance to prove how much consideration goes into a choice on the part of our designers. You’re still free to disagree, of course, but at least you know with what you are disagreeing!

Redhead again: “Power shot had its range increased in yesterday's patch, so it will be a little easier to use. The advantage to the shot (which is purposefully not affected by dex) is both its higher delve, and that it is the only shot that will go through and remove bladeturn. Because of this, it has a long casting time to offset the damage and BT popping.”

Q: On Pendragon, something happens that makes Siege Shot undergo a 10:00 minute timer. (Still trying to figure out what causes it.)

A: No need - we did. It’s a bug. Fix going in the next Pendragon version, I am told.

Q: News on the Herald has indicated there will be a new keep design/look without ladders in New Frontiers. My question is will towers be changed as well?

A: New to grab bag, please welcome Artist Greg! “Yes, the Outpost Towers are most certainly a part of the rework we are doing in the Frontiers. Removing the frustrations of siege combat, including the ease in which AoE spells can be exploited, is one of the top priorities we are dedicated to fixing. The changes we have made so far have been incredibly promising, for both the betterment of game play and the frame-rate. If you would like some more insider information and more in depth Q&A with the current status of the frontier rework, some members of the art and design staff will be at next week’s Road Trip event.”

***

Rockville, you saucy lady, welcoming us with such charm and splendor. http://www.darkageofcamelot.com/roadtrip/2007/March_07_dc.php The DC Camelot Roadtrip happens there on Saturday, March 24. Mike and Missy are bringing you all the news that’s fit to print and whatever else you can cajole out of them. (Those of you who haven’t seen Missy for awhile are in for a surprise.) Because this party is happening so close to EA Mythic HQ, there will be some other great developers there to answer your questions.

By the way, if you know anyone who is interested in breaking into gaming, bring them along to the Rockville reunion. We’re going to having our hiring manager there to talk about jobs in customer service, and how that can be the start of a career in gaming. You can ask Associate Producer Mike about that – he got his start in Tech Support, six years ago this summer.

I am scurrying home – the weather slamming the northeastern part of the continental United States is much worse further north, but we’re catching the trailing edge. I hope everyone is safe and warm… and on Pendragon. Keep the feedback coming!