Give us your feedback on the December event!

[Ibn]

Please use this thread to let us know what you think of the December event, The Calm.

The Dev Notes and Rollout Article can be found here:

December 2004: The Calm (http://ac.turbinegames.com/index.php?page_id=323)

Known Issues can be found here (http://forums.ac.turbinegames.com/showthread.php?t=16986).

[Jet-eye-nite]

If already posted , sorry
at launch " Unable to find room on your system for required files,please clear space and try again "

I have 40 gigs available , wow some big patch , lol .
:confused:

[Ibn]

Jet-Eye, I'd recommend you contact our tech support folks, there's clearly something wrong there.

[Ibn]

One quick note -- if you happen to find any objects as part of the new quests that don't appear to have any use, don't get rid of them.

Trust me on this one. :)

[Jet-eye-nite]

I got past that and went to check out Holt, my tinker lives in Holt and hoped to see peas at mage and better buy rates at blacksmith or even better flecthing items at bowyer ,but alas my hopes were dashed . The portals are nice but how is that in of itself going to draw a crowd ?

[GhettoPhabulas]

Why in god's name did you TOTALLY SCREW UP the AB plateau. Its now horribly hard to pk on as the pure whiteness totally screws up your cast/cast timing/everything, and this is the one place 99% of the pk'ers on white servers go to. Thanks turbine, for messing up something so absolutely simple as the AB LS.

[Ibn]

Regarding Holtburg... Oh, we're not done yet.

You haven't even seen everything that's coming this month yet.

[Ibn]

Why in god's name did you TOTALLY SCREW UP the AB plateau. Its now horribly hard to pk on as the pure whiteness totally screws up your cast/cast timing/everything, and this is the one place 99% of the pk'ers on white servers go to. Thanks turbine, for messing up something so absolutely simple as the AB LS.

So... you're saying you can't PK because there's snow on the ground?

I'm just trying to make sure I understand your complaint exactly.

[Aerichk]

My noble armor is still AL 840. It still has Hieromancer's Greater Ward on it. Does this mean to make it where the AL is supposed to be, everyone has to take it off? I'm willing to be people won't be doing that ;)

*edit* What I mean is I had it on before the patch, and now on "Enchantments" it still has the greater ward spell on it.


*another edit* Saying snow messes you up in PK is laughable. That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard rofl.

[Jet-eye-nite]

Aluvian High-Stakes Gamesmaster gives you Olthoi Claw. Now that made me laugh , thanks :p

[GhettoPhabulas]

No we can PK, but its absolutely rediculous. Its laggier, and the ground with the shade of white really hurts your eyes when trying to concentrate on the casting bubble to time your casts.

[Paraduck]

Regarding Holtburg... Oh, we're not done yet.

You haven't even seen everything that's coming this month yet.Nice. I was wondering about that Lugian NPC. :p I'm not crazy after all!

[Aerichk]

I PK, and if snow messes you up, that's too bad. Sorry.

[GhettoPhabulas]

Meh, it seemed a lot worse when I first logged in, not looking so bad now. But the white center of the casting bubble is hurtin my eyes when I cast heh

[Aerichk]

What about the noble armor thing? I don't want everyone still wearing AL 840 armor, have you seen the damage in Melee PvP with that? It's not pretty :)

[sylphia]

I can tell you that from personal experience, the bright particle effects of spell wind-ups against the glaring white of snowy backgrounds DOES indeed cause serious issues. I have had to stop playing after just buffing in such conditions, because the bright glare literally blinded me and gave me a horrendous headache.

This has nothing to do with PK specifically; its a general gameplay issue. Turbine has done quite an excellent job of replicating a condition known as "snowblind" in-game anywhere snow exists in large quantities. I would like to see the glaring white muted into a less eye-grating grayish color, but I realize it would impact the visuals of the game environment, not to mention probably being a monster for the art department.

[Number-Sun]

OK so patch has snow. We've seen this before. Nothing earth shattering there.

VOD still looks the same just a bit brighter

[Unsi]

Personally I dig the snow, I dig the portals, I love the casinos, they are quite funny, it feels a little weird to pass a token through a window instead of on the stakes guy's head, but it is a matter of getting used to it. The download did not take anywhere near as long as I thought it would considering the massive changes made to the game, and what the town criers say is a hoot. Thanx for freeing up my portal ties and my lifestone ties on my trades guys with the extra rides in the noob towns. Now it is much easier to get around to the trades quest places. Can't wait to discover more of what is going on. Thanx for all the fun, gotta run, I just logged out long enough to say thanx. The game is so much fun this time!

[Protes]

Nice. I was wondering about that Lugian NPC. :p I'm not crazy after all!

The Lugian NPC is Novedion the Gem Seller. He was moved from Rithwic to Holtburg, back in April of this year when Holtburg was last updated.

[Tevatron]

White snow... casting bubble... LOL PK LOL I'm sorry this is too much.

None of you have buffed on the Olthoi Queen Quest just prior to entering the dungeon...

IBN the hollow particle effect for minions goes too fast, I try to watch it to dodge them and I get dizzy and fall out of my chair.

Ok but seriously, perhaps you could turn off the /day so that it's not as bright in the first place or possibly turn down the gamma on your monitor.

[Ibn]

I've just posted a Known Issues thread with the Noble Armor issue. At this time we won't be hotfixing for this issue, to read the entire post -- and our apology -- click here (http://forums.ac.turbinegames.com/showthread.php?t=16986).

[GhettoPhabulas]

Tevatron don't speak unless you are going to add to the conversation. There are no 'particle' effects unless you consider the casting bubble to be particles. The colors do not contrast, or whatever the word is, correctly. It is hard on the eyes, especially when you are doing something extremely fast paced like pvp'ing.

[Bloodbow_HG]

I LOVE the changes to the starter towns! Enjoying the new siraluun trophies as well, you can never have enough trophies. Now if we could just get a tinker skills reward similar to the gromnie teeth.... One note of concern, I think it was a mistake to reduce the number of stakes masters to 2 each. This might cause some congestion in the gambling dens. 3 seemed to work pretty good. Keep up the great work!


Paraduck---- That lugian has been there a while, unless there is a 2nd one I missed, this is why the changes were needed, You obviously haven't been to Holtburg in a Loooooong time, heh :) The NPC's missed you :p

[Aerichk]

What about the time when you got rid of perma buffs, where every spell was removed from you. Would that work?

[Ibn]

Now if we could just get a tinker skills reward similar to the gromnie teeth....

Pssst... keep looking.

[Aerichk]

Ok, go do the tests IG and you will see it's a big difference. I'm not saying you're numbers are wrong, I've never been a formula person, but it's not pretty right now against someone in Noble Armor.

[FmrSentFlatfoot]

Come on people... it's SNOW fer cryin' out loud! Ain't seen SNOW yet in AC? Then you must be a newcomer to the game. It's been part of winter season since the start, there was even snow in December '99!

Now, I must admit it's the first year that there's been snow on the AB Plateau, but if it makes PK any more difficult, then I'm all for it! LOL... maybe you'll go somewhere else, like some secluded patch of desert where you won't degrade the AB Lifestone area anymore. The less we have to endure foul language in this game, the better.

In terms of bright glow from casting buffs? I've never had a problem with that before, and it's the first time I've ever seen anyone state there's serious problems with it. May I suggest turning down your brightness control on your monitor?

I LOVE the snow! Always have! Wish it stayed longer! Creates far greater contrast against other items, making things easier to find.

In terms of the patch? Can't say.. haven't done much yet, but if I had to base anything on the Dev Notes, I'd say nothing was done this patch. *shrug*

I have my WoW CD now... but I've been asked to hold onto it for a bit longer till some other people get theirs, so we can all do it at same time.

Will I stay there? I dunno... all depends on Turbine I suppose. If the Expansion is just another way of introducing more AC2 features, then I won't be back. If nothing much changes, same result. We'll just have to see... won't we. Looking at how barren most servers are now, and watching even more leave daily, SOMETHING positive better happen here SOON, or there won't be enough revenue to justify Turbine keeping the servers running.

[Lyceum]

Qalabar was camped because of the Lugian Citadel that was near by where lvl 15+ players could go hunt,level and sell for good profit at Qal.

If Turbine wants Shoushi,Yaraq and Holtburg to be camped again,they have to either add a new hunting dungeoun amd tusker shrine to AL near town;or completely move olthoi hive portals in town.

Also make these towns have the best sell rate ingame,that would have alot of people in town.

Or remove Marketplace and make a type of trade bot area in these three towns.

[Aerichk]

Oh please, if you don't know by now that AB is one of the most popular PK spots right now then you are a newcomer as well. There are many different LS's in the dires, why don't you go to them instead of us? We've been established there for years now.

[Bloodbow_HG]

Yaaaaaay! Thanks for the hint Ibn, I figured it out, now I can get to work on my Tinkerer! woot! Great job Turbine, I am a happy camper :)

[Jet-eye-nite]

I have tried on multiple chars and casinos , they seem not to take recent pack dolls ? :(

tried 2 more worlds and accounts ,when hand over is attempted it return "*****" pack dols can't be given (upper left corner of screen in yellow)
and Monty and others do not know what to do with that (in chat window)

If casinos are to be a source of people gathering , you should include all forms of keys,quest items and other such things us pack rats seem to horde iinlue of just cash.

[apingaloca]

First off i would like to say ac is a bad ass game and have been playing for a few years now. One thing i think would be nice it to have taper peas b/c i don't think it is fair that a mage has to have alot more burden then a melee b/c they don't use up no where as near as much as a mage. So peas i think woul drid that problem second i think some of the old armor like matty claw and ursiun coat should get there al improve i like that old school look but melees hit way to hard now a days to be able to wear them any more. anothing think i think they should upgrade are like the pincer quest 3 mill is nothing now days we sometimes make 20+mill an hour just hunting so i think they should make some new xp quest or upgrade pincer and make it harder which would be nice b/c lower lvl will be able to lvl and catch up to some of the higher lvl making more people pvp in darktide .one other thing that would be nice is insted of the lvl cap being 126 it should be higher till u just can't lvl no more i think the lvl cap should be put on the skill ponits not the lvl making it ezer to tell how much xp the person has more then you those are some of the improvement i think should be made

[HeXt]

I can't login at all. The lobbies dont respond, and it haasn't downloaded anything.

[Cuttler]

First off, the portals inside the crypts make the towns look cheap and sleezy. They are totally out of place next to a decent looking building. I think the portals on the landscape would have been less noticable.

Second I'm trying to figure out why you put a Shoushi portal in Holtburg just up the road from the Rithwic portal that drops you right by the Shoushi portal and yet in 5+ years there is still no Eastham portal in any town.

Thank you for adding more ways to get writs.

[DadgaSilverhand]

Dragula, we all can still do that old school running to Cragstone with low level rerolls to feel the excitements :p
portal routes is just an optional , that is either vice or versa.


as for eastham missing? i think there will be additional updates on Rithwic and other low level towns to get connect with starter towns.
it seemed that dec patch isnt done 100% yet, it seemed like it was 85% done so far.
month of Nov's Patch, On bended knee, took plenty of timed openings of Burun kings had made the dev's time limited.
they are almost done with billing and will look forward to dec 14th.

then they will have 2 1/2 months preparing on expansion or 3 month if depending.

[iqing]

Question, on northern ML shore basin/area has anyone else noticed large packs of creatures spawning?

Several times I saw up to 6 urisin slicers, 6 Exec's, 5 tummie champions, 12 copper grommies all very close together, too close for normal pack spawns. Many times standing in the same space another creature occupies.

Other then that, I like what I've seen so far.

[Aerichk]

I think every XP reward should have a 0 added to the end of it to make them worthwhile. 150,000,000 for Burun King's is a suitable reward. 15,000,000 isn't worth the time.

[Yan_HG]

Rerolled a quick pure melee, slaughtered the academy, and ran what I believe to be all the new starter quests. 3 in each town: 1 collect the 8 items from a dungeon quest, and 2 uniques. Ended up level 14 by the end with 5 deaths, a fair amount of money, some good armor and a couple weapons. I was disappointed with the lack of locked chests down there, though. No point in training lockpick on a newbie, I guess.

For the most part, I think the starter quests were very well done with the exception of the two unique Yaraq (say that 5 times fast) quests. The corpse in the water guarded by 4 shallows sharks is ridiculous. One shallows shark is plenty to tear any hapless newbie to pieces. I ran all the Shoushi quests before trying this one, and it only took 2 of the sharks to rip me a new one. The Mad Star quest was also hard because instead of level 4-9 drudges, wasps, monouga, etc, it had three level 11 undead on top of you as soon as you drop in, and a few dozen waiting for you throughout the dungeon! What's more is they can do 25 damage with one war spell, and tend to throw the spells quite often! It is also the only starter dungeon with a lever maze, simple as it may be. Yaraq newbies have a hard time ahead of them...

The thing I enjoyed most about the starter quests had to have been the two boss fights. Definately felt heroic to kill the drudge robber baron and the mad star marionette.



Oh, and thanks for the new "sources" of writs. I say "sources" because you can't obtain the poison any more, and I suspect the same of the royal jelly, though I have yet to try. The poison I turned in should hold me over for a while with my villa, but I'm still hoping for a good source of writs for us pure melees.

[Cezium]

nothing special at all about the patch. Would have rather had ToD come out a week earlier.

[agnari]

Ibn have the tech folks check the Braid Mansion portal. It seems to be an upgrade to the old explorer society shoushi quests. But unlike other ES-quests with a 1-20 level restriction, the portal has no restrictions.

[Vlad Morbius]

You can't get poison anymore? Well that's kinda pointless. I'm not much for cooking, but I did pick up some Royal cabbage in the fire girth quest,although the thought of cabbage jelly makes me want to Yack!! :p

[silvurhawke]

"Several times I saw up to 6 urisin slicers, 6 Exec's, 5 tummie champions, 12 copper grommies all very close together, too close for normal pack spawns. Many times standing in the same space another creature occupies"

I haven't been to ML yet but my normal hunting grounds in the west dires have similarities to what you are talking about. Spawns on top of spawns and several different types of creatures together.

I guess they want outdoor hunting unfreindly? I guess they want to cram as many of us into dungeons as possible? I hate dungeons and I hate the fellowship gestapo! It's not so bad for my archers or mage. But I love running outdoors with my macer. Now it's next to impossible since he has to run into the pack. He loves running into a pack of west dires drudges or banderlings. Just not drudges AND banderlings with a platinum golem and entropy wisp thrown in for spice. Used to be fun now ISN'T fun.

More mage luv I guess :( They seem to want to make melee and archery even more difficult with the constant eating of spells and changing of weapons and arrows in thick packs where several different damage types are needed.

I can't understand why they hosed up the outdoor spawns this way? I hope a dev will respond and explain?

I guess I'll be playing my mage a lot this month :(

[Angier]

A couple things.


On Noble Armor with the Hieromancer's Ward, somebody thought the 220 wasn't a huge boost. You're forgetting BANES. It comes out to a 440al difference after banes.

Second, I don't think you can get poison anymore but I know you can get jelly. So it's a nice extra reward for that quest.


-Elije - VT

[Vlad Morbius]

Well if you can't get poison anymore, then this is for Turbine...What the H... is the point of adding it, you gave us nothing ...shame on you! If you weren't aware that you can't get it anymore then double shame on you all! :eek:

[Neue Regel]

This is my forth winter in AC playing. I always like the snow change. But last night, I had tears coming down my face and my eyes felt like someone ran a finger into them. I had a headache all night after playing. Was there something different done to the snow this year? I never remember my eyes reacting this way. It got so bad at one point, I had to turn the game off. Like I said, I have loved the snow in the past, I am just wondering what is different. I have better than 20/20 vision and do not wear contacts or glasses.

[FmrSentFlatfoot]

This is my forth winter in AC playing. I always like the snow change. But last night, I had tears coming down my face and my eyes felt like someone ran a finger into them. I had a headache all night after playing. Was there something different done to the snow this year? I never remember my eyes reacting this way. It got so bad at one point, I had to turn the game off. Like I said, I have loved the snow in the past, I am just wondering what is different. I have better than 20/20 vision and do not wear contacts or glasses.

How old are ya in RL? lol... did you hit 40+ recently? If so, regardless of your 20/20, you may need glasses now. heh. Nothing has changed, and this is my 6th winter in Dereth. I wish the snow would last longer! Love the contrast it provides!

Try turning down your brightness... For sure you need to do something if it's causing tears with burning sensations in your eyes resulting in headaches. Maybe consult a doctor, or even find a new game that doesn't emit photosensitive graphics and flickering etc. I've not noticed anything different this year than all past years. Just the same old Dereth.

Good luck!

EDIT: Did you buy a new monitor recently? A lot of the newer models now have a "Ultra-Brite" etc., features.. and if this is ON when playing some games, it really brightens and sharpens the picture. At times I've even found it to be too much. So if this applies to you here, that too could be your problem.

[Yan_HG]

Well if you can't get poison anymore, then this is for Turbine...What the H... is the point of adding it, you gave us nothing ...shame on you! If you weren't aware that you can't get it anymore then double shame on you all! :eek:
If memory serves, I believe I recall some manner of official statement after the ancient olthoi queen was defeated. It went something like "Poison is no longer attainable, the quest has been altered for the walking boots. Leftover poison no longer has any use, but it is possible we will give it another use some time in the future."

It was that statement (real or imagined) that caused me to hold on to my poison for so long.

[Neue Regel]

I am 38, and never had a problem till last night and all the snow!

Dont make me out to be older than I am dammit! I may come after you with my dentures! :eek:

Edit:

No new monitor. I have used this flat screen for the last 3 years now. Like I said, i was fine two days ago. I play this game for 6 hours at a time at times. But last night, with the snow and the glare, I was tearing and my eyes hurt <shrug> Maybe I should use a skying mask like someone said!

[FmrSentFlatfoot]

I am 38, and never had a problem till last night and all the snow!

Dont make me out to be older than I am dammit! I may come after you with my dentures! :eek:

Edit:

No new monitor. I have used this flat screen for the last 3 years now. Like I said, i was fine two days ago. I play this game for 6 hours at a time at times. But last night, with the snow and the glare, I was tearing and my eyes hurt <shrug> Maybe I should use a skying mask like someone said!

LOL Ski Mask? hehe... Who knows eh? I'm often in-game for 6+ hours at a time. The snow had the reverse effect on me... I logged on and said YAY! Snow! lol

I'm 50 now... so if it must be War, then Dentures is it! :eek:

I'm still going to check out WoW right after Xmas, when a couple other friends get their copy. Dereth has been fun for 6 years now, but the future of Dereth will determine if Azeroth is the better world for me.

[Aerichk]

Be sure not to assume this patch it pointless yet: there were 6 timed events last patch, probably some more timed stuff this patch :) Hold your judgment off for a few weeks or so.

[Vlad Morbius]

Well after getting home from work and scouring the ac sites it appears the poison is not available anymore. The addition of this to the writ list is a pointy stick in the eye for those of us who cleaned off their mules to get ready to create Viamont characters. So in keeping with the monthly patch day blunders, this one gets my rasberry :rolleyes:

[-Kaxak-]

Again this Patch , new weapons and toys for all char's , but Mage !!! Thanks again Turbine your all doing a great job! and if it keeps up this will be my last month of this BS ......

You guys really lack content , and focus only on a few things , maybe you should have left the masks out this year and put them in next year , at least this way you'd have one FREE month of not having to think of content !!!










LiNkIn PaRk OwNs YoU !!!

[Jet-eye-nite]

If you want to gamble a precious little doll, come back to me."
Monty the Munificent doesn't know what to do with that.

If you wish to risk one of your precious Pack Monsters, gamble with me, if you feel lucky."
Mi Gan-Zo doesn't know what to do with that.

I would check the 3rd but whats the point ?

And yes this is the 5th aniv model ,but its still a pack doll .
I will never get used to Turbines skimpy reward system ( I was being nice using the word skimpy)

[Albar II]

I was thinking about the new quests, the "Power Forges" . . .

I played a bit in the AC2 Beta. In AC2 the towns had Forges that increased Crafting skills chances. Could these Power Forge Quests, and the extra, currently useless, items be the beginning of AC1 Forges?

[Neue Regel]

I few comments on the new Siraluuun Claw XP rewards for Tinkerers.

First off, I spent 4 hours last night searching for the claws. I killed 72 Untamed and not one claw. I killed 85 Badlands and got 2 claws. I killed 28 Kithless and not one claw. So all together, I spent 4 hours and killed 185 Siraluun and only yielded 2 claws. That is pathetic. I need 4 claws of each bird for the 4 tinkerering skills each week. I am supposed to hunt for 24 total hours, about 6 playing days for me, to find these things? I thought the drop rate on the teeth were bad. At least it only takes me on average of 4 hours to find all the teeth I need each week.

Secondly, I realize your reasoning on putting a cap on the gromnie teeth quest, stating that cap takes place at a level where Turbine feels the skill is sufficient enough to make anything the trades player needs. Hence, there is actually no reason to max cooking, alchemy or fletching. But I feel you need to look at this XP quest differently. We may not need maxed trade skills. But I can argue that we do need maxed tinkering skills. Especially Weapon and Armor, and Magic item come a close second needing to max out wands with Opal. When you compare the two quests, The Teeth rewards quest have 5 capped teeth you can turn in for each skill, netting you 50 million a week in each skill. The Claw Rewards quest only has 3 capped % claws to turn in, netting you with only 30 million XP per tinker skill. Since we need to max tinkerering skills much more importantly than the trade skills, why don’t we have the same number of % capped rewards for each tinker skill? And why don’t you raise the % claws cap dramatically compared to the trades rewards? The tinker skill rewards are needed much more than the trades skill rewards and currently, we are getting almost half the xp each week. Plus, the claws are much harder % wise to obtain.

Please consider changing the drop rates to a more realistic %, and also please consider changing the cap and raising the amount of % claws.

[Barak]

I am really enjoying this month's content! I saw the teaser shots and went straight to Stonehold to see what had been done to the Pit...one of my old-time favorite dungeons. The content upgrades in there were great, just wish the respawn time had been a bit faster (12 minutes) but I understand why it was kept slow. In it's heyday as the melee powerlevel spot before there were BSDs or OHNs (yes, I'm an old-timer), the lag in there could get pretty fierce due to the sheer size of the dungeon and the number of people in there.

Because I went there first, I stumbled across a Care Package that had some very complete instructions on them. When I returned them and headed back to Stonehold, I met the front end of the quest and saw that town had changed a bit too. Once I finsih making a few more costumes for friends and vassals, I have to see where that lugian sends me for an M note :)

I really like what you did to the Starter towns. The new portals are fantastic, especially the Neydisa Castle and Kara portals. I can't wait to see what other stuff happens this month!

Keep it coming!

[Vlad Morbius]

Neue, Where were you hunting them? I did 2 buff cycles hunting pretty much Untamed and got 7 claws and 2 feathers. I ran from the Aurenga drop NE towards Martinate dungeon. Of course this still isnt enough for to make a dress for the little lady, but it was a respectable start :cool:

[Heideggar]

Neue Regel, if Turbine spent the time dictating what a real tradesmule or tinker mule IS, and implementing these quests based on that, they'd be able to do what you're asking. Months back several of us posted saying timers on untrain/spec'z be increased coupled with only allowing players with 3+ tinker or 3+ trade skills specialized be the only people to use them. This won't completely knock off the exploiting (which is the sole reason they are capping this), but it sure makes it less than worth while to.

Ibn said it was a good idea AFTER they implemented it, even thought it was brought up BEFORE it went into the game. It seems Turbine doesn't want to spend the time to do something correctly to avoid exploitations in the future. It's really not worth doing these quests. Macro'ing at 1 mill/hr in the evening out in a lvl 40+ area can produce the same or better results than these teeth, and you get to hunt with your main against stuff you normally want to.

There are better solutions to this problem. I don't know exactly what holds Turbine back though.


As I'm writing this, I'm thinking... what if Turbine could set something up so that whatever XP you put into a tinker or trade skill can only be put back into another trade or tinkering skill. Acts exactly like attributes when you switch them around.

Of course, the timers on spec'd/untrained and having the items look for the 3 skills specialized would have a similar effect without negating XP, which would in effect spork some of the ToD Level calculations.

[Neue Regel]

Vlad, I was hunting where all the Siraluun are at. Did you see how many I killed? not jsut a few but over 150 of them. I started on the East portion of the northern part of ML, then I went north to south to the platue, moved west .8 and went south to north to the water, moved .8 west and went south again. i did this till i got to the West side of North ML. I killed hordes and hordes of these things. I spen 4 hours, from 8pm to 12:15 my time looking for the claws. 2 is all I got.

Heideggar, I know they put the cap on the gromnie teeth quests becuase of those exploiting. I was the first to mention this method found here:

http://forums.ac.turbinegames.com/showthread.php?t=14594&page=2&pp=15

"[I still believe that there is a better way to handle the tooth reward issue and prevent similar exploits in the future.

There should be a lengthened timer on changing a skill from trained to untrained to trained again. Or from specd to trained back to specd again. I will explain further:

Say a player goes to the temple and grabs a gem to untrain alchemy. Under the current system they can immediately train that skill again. My proposal would put a time limit on training that skill again. Like 60-90 days. The same thing applies to the other scenario. Say a player has alchemy specd and uses a gem to knock it down to trained. Under the current system a player can get a gem in two weeks to spec it again. Make that timer 60-90 days too. There should be no other reason other than to exploit something for a player to make these skill moves. No player is going to use this method with that timer tied to the untraining the skill and even if they did, the xp earned would not be that signifacant. If these rules would be adopted, then this and any unforeseen exploit in the future could be thwarted by this adaptation to the system.]"

My argument is not so much that they need to fix the exploit with somethign similar to what I am recommending, but rather, change this tinker rewards increase the cap because the Tinkerering skills need to be maxed compared to the trade skills which dont have to be maxed. At the very least, match the XP for the rewards that we currently get with the teeth. We get 50million xp a week in each trade skill if we get the capped ampunt per tooth turn in. We only get 30 million for the tinker XP rewards. 5 capped teeth rewards verses 3 capped claw rewards.

[Yazoo]

I found that my screen went black and chat working as well as invortory. FAQ had a fix for this that does not fixs it. Whats up with that? Befor the patch we enjoyed the game. Now I have Vido issue.

[Kala Bon]

Yay ! Portals !
Many thanks for the portals. I have been waiting litteraly years for some good portals out of Shoushi, and these are good portals.
Yaraq too.
I have not yet travelled to Holtburg, but I bet they are good also :-)
Many thanks for these !
Yay!
Thanks also for the casino action in town now. I really use these places to fill up on gems and to get rid of cash, I have yet to get anything remotely good from the chest, but hey, I will keep trying !
Thanks again


Kala Bon

[Cuttler]

Neue, I would not like to see a restriction on retraining a skill. I'm afraid every time I go get a gem that I'll pick up the wrong one. And that fear is higher when its a skill that is close in name to another (like item enchanment vs item tinkering). Suppose a none gharn meant to drop IT and accidently picked up an IE gem by mistake and used it. I'd hate to see someone without a skill important to them for 3 months because others exploited something. It's not fair anymore than the cap was to the true craft character.


How about this suggestion? Add a title quest were the result is simply "Craft Mule" It doesn't have to be difficult but then give the ability to drop the title or pick it back up again the 60-90 days. Also give characters with the title certain negavite enchantments that decrease there effectivness in battle (since techinally they are craft mules). Then, only those titled craft mule can use craft mule quests.

[Eledemar_SC]

Cuttler, that is the best idea i have seen in 5 years for this game!!

[Cuttler]

Thank you Eledemar.

[Damien_Sarin]

New masks and guises don't seem to be hookable... possibly in the future?

[Lyceum]

IBN,how about making new recall spells?

Shoushi portal recall
Yaraq portal recall
Holtburg portal recall

Also move Chess near these social towns.

[FmrSentFlatfoot]

We may not need maxed trade skills. But I can argue that we do need maxed tinkering skills. Especially Weapon and Armor, and Magic item

Um, no you don't need to max out tinkering skills. Sure, if your goal is to be the uberest tinkerer (or one of) on your server, then yes you need to max it all out. But let me tell you, I have a level 150 Tinkerer, can buff himself and hunt with Xbow to an extent, albeit he is primarily a tinkerer.

Going up against the top tinkerer on our server, I can tink anything using either of the 4 schools, to within ONE tink of the all maxed dude, and in some cases the all maxed tinkerer can't outdo me, and I'm nowhere NEAR maxed out. My main Attribs, Strength/Endurance/Coord/Focus all being at 67 mil to raise, and my armor and weapon tink costing 100 mil to raise, and the remaining two being around 57 mil to raise, I'm still a long long way, XP Wise to maxing all those skills, and I gotta tell you.. it's NOT worth it.

If I can land 9 tinks on a Work 3-4 item.. and if that tink is steel on armor, I'll bet you any money that the final 10th tink (using an all maxed tinkerer), that would add an extra AL20 to your armor, would do nothing at all, in saving your butt if it came down to a life or death battle situation. AL20 is nothing... you'd still die. So all those extra Billions of XP spent to max the skill that would give you that extra AL20, is a total waste of XP.

The same goes for a bow that has 8 Bags of Mahogany or 9 Bags. The difference is MOD4... wowee. A top notch Archer can do as well with a 150 MOD, as a full blown 166, or the top notch for Xbow. If a monster takes 3 shots to kill using a top notch bow, the 150... heck, even a 130 MOD will usually also kill it in 3 shots as well. So This tinkering business is WAY overrated for the most part.

I figure as a level 150 Tinkerer, I can also say these things with the knowledge that I know the difference, from personal experience.

An all maxed out anything, is nothing more than a "status symbol", period; and the cost of that status is the same as owning a Mercedez or a BMW. BUT, the Ford Escort which may not be as safe or drive as nice, will still get you to the same destination.... and THAT is the point.

EDIT: I guess what I'm saying is: You don't need the BEST, to compete with the REST! :cool:

[Milon]

The event: The Calm...meaning nothing happens! :cool: LoL Anyway, the Western Power Forge was a breeze, 3 mages, 1 archer, and me (sword/tank/melee) who was able to work the Overseer with my FR sword no problems. :p But, where do we find Urleg? The Lugian in Shoushi told us we'd find him in Yaraq. Guess he is not in-game yet? :eek:
Guises are fun to play with and try to make mob or NPC names while wearing them! :D
I didn't notice anything wrong with brightness of the spellcasting globe plus snowglare... my @day is not activated though. :eek:

[Scenario]

New masks and guises don't seem to be hookable... possibly in the future?

That is something that got pushed to the wayside for the December patch due to my own shortened cycle (vacation and moving to LA). They will eventually be hookable, but as to the month when, I am not sure. Hopefully for the January event, if not they will be in one of the following months.

[Eruditus]

Any chance the ring of shielding could be made ivoryable?

[Dark Coil]

Ok we now have guises but since this is December.... WHERE's MY Santa SUIT!! My Vassals lap sitting with Santa!!!

Have Turbine put them on a vendor. Have them all disappear day after xmas!
Come on! How can we have a December Event with no Santa!! :(

[Uzi-El]

Hmm, old man... long white beard... funny suit... magical helpers... gives out presents at about the same time every year...

Kinda sounds like Asheron to me. :)

[Gustaive]

Ok, I hope the peopel who voiced these concerns about the poison and the "pack dolls" read this.

A while back the poison was said to no longer be in game but that it may get a use in the future. The Royal Jelly can be collected once every 28 days. It's a great little quest and can be a nice monthly event for the allegiance.

As for the casinos not taking the new "pack dolls"...they aren't actually pack dolls. The old ones are called plush toys and dolls in there description. The new ones aren't. People have just decided to call them pack dolls even though they aren't.

[Lyrah from TD]

Thank-you thank-you thank-you for tweaking the starter towns and quests!

I am a long time AC player who subscribes and unsubscribes on a regular basis. Some of my major disappointments have always been...

That static monsters that were placed during beta are still in the same spot and that the same quests are available to run and re-run for years on end without change. I am happy to see the changes in Holt! I hope you guys keep going and make more of these types of changes to as many old quests as possible.

and...

That NPCs are always the same/in the same spot/day, night rain and snow. Do you think they could get a break? - perhaps a different NPC could take the night shift or that NPC is just not available at night.

[Merubin]

Nice patch. Figures that as soon as we get scarecrows the startup screen changes to not have them anymore :)

Some comments after playing for a few hours:

- The portal to Kara in Shoushi drops you off at a couple monster spawns.. pretty deadly for an actual new character!

- Why does almost everything 100+ & new these days require arcane lore? Anyone without Lore that wants to wear a moderate magic defense ring has to be 40-69 and they aren't givable unlike the lower Falatacot equipment.. if my mage didn't already wear a major I'd probably not be too happy about that.

- The gambler bosses still talk as if the spinning thing spins when handed things but I didn't notice the one outside the building in Shoushi spinning.

- Nice selections for guises this month, and body parts appearing on most monsters this year instead of just a couple that they resemble the most are a nice change for people who want to make a collection without camping/playing a lot.

- The fire protection shorts can only be selected from the girth.

- My girlfriend really liked showing off her new dress collection, but she hated running around for hours trying to find more marsh & tidal siraluun for feathers :) The new dresses probably would've been enough for her to like the patch even if there was almost nothing else to it.

- The man & niffis in love was kinda creepy..

[Celestin]

In general, not a bad patch, but certainly not the best. Granted, haven't had a chance to check out the essence forge quests yet, but I doubt they'll be all that spectacular.

Best things I've seen so far:
New Siraluun Dresses
Redesign of towns (I love the Neydisa Portal in Holtburg)
Crafting to gain xp for Tinkering skills

Eh-ish things:
Burun Masks
Feud of Philosophers (How many players are crossbow or mace?)

What I would have -liked- to see:
New racial masks (Isn't this the first year we haven't gotten a new Virindi mask to turn into racial masks?)

In general though, I can't come up with any reason to complain, so much better than many other patches in the past.

[Lag Beast]

With the snow and all Dereth seems very calm now.

[FmrSentFlatfoot]

With the snow and all Dereth seems very calm now.

Goes way beyond calm.. more like DEAD. I logged on before... 287 people on server. That's very sad and it's sending a clear message.

Anyway Turbine... I've been here SIX years now (beta included). Your Expansion update better be REAL DARN FANTASTIC to get back enough people to make it worthwhile keeping the servers running.

I was going to wait for the expansion myself, but too many friends who have left and swear they have no intention of coming back, have been nudging me constantly to come join them in WoW.

Well, I installed it 3 days ago, and I only just logged into AC before to let people know I won't be around for a while.

I already know you won't be able to compete with the likes of WoW, just from what I've seen in only 2.5 days worth. The gameplay is different but not all THAT MUCH different... and the graphics? There's not even a remote chance you'll touch WoW with your expansion using 96x96 textures, from the current 64x64 textures. Just the polygon count is light years ahead of AC.

AC has been fun and has given me a HEAP of good times over the years. You were the first BIG thing to come along, and you deserve a lot of respect for it... but as with anything else in life... it all comes to the last chapter, and as far as I'm concerned, I think this is it for me.

If things keep on like they are in WoW, I'll be coming back only to give all my stuff away to those who are staying. Playing a Paladin in WoW, at level 40 I can buy my own horse to gallop along ON... lol. As a different race.. you can buy yourself a bird of various sorts to fly around on. When I go through a portal... there's no WAIT.. there's no wormhole.. I'm instantly teleported to a new location. Oh and the BEST part? Mages play the roles they should play... they can do some amazing things.. but if they go up against a pure melee critter... SPLAT! No chance... they drop like flies. Same works in reverse for Melees up against magic casters.... to a point.. and NO character can defeat any critter greater than 2 levels higher than they are, unless you have a group with you. Still, a couple will die.

Anyway this is the wrong place to post this.. but I had to say something, because I likely won't be saying a whole lot anymore.

There's an OLD saying: There's nothing constant, but change.

It's time for a change!

Adios!

EDIT: Oh! Oh! lol.. and no item drop on death!! Woot!!

[Kalmo Ardevar]

Fault with Tidal Feathers

I haven't seen this mentioned elsewhere tho I just made a quick browse. The first feather I handed in in Bluespire to get a hat was a Marsh. And I of course got a Marsh hat. Then I handed in a Tidal feather and got a... Marsh hat :eek:. I got out and hunted down a new Tidal feather. And again I got my 3rd Marsh hat. I dunno if this is related to my character. I haven't been able to find anyone who have tried to get a Tidal hat.

I will try to find a person that hasn't handed in any of the new feathers yet and make him try, to see if that has the same result.

[Kalmo Ardevar]

I forgot to say that I have handed in other types of feathers, both before and after the 2nd Tidal feather failure. And they all worked fine.

[Scenario]

The Tidal Siraluun Feather turn-in interaction for the headdress is a known issue (http://forums.ac.turbinegames.com/showthread.php?t=16986).

[Kalmo Ardevar]

Oops sorry. My bad. Thx for the link.

[Fredzilla]

Thanks for finally adding a method for tinkerers to gain xp. :) Tho you should re-examine the drop rate on the claws. This is the 3rd week I have been hunting them down and first time I decided to take statistics. 2 hours of hunting nothing but Badlands Siraluun, 84 kills, netted me 8 Sturdy Steel Keys, 6 feathers, and only 2 claws. :( This has been about the same rate it took me to get the claws for the first 2 weeks. It seems odd that more SSKs and feathers would drop then claws when claws are a weekly task and dresses and hats are really a one time only item. Seems like the drop rate on the claws needs to be upped a bit, or the number of Siraluun spawning does.

Was the claw drop rate set up so you need to spend about 10-14 hours a week hunting Siraluun?

[Fredzilla]

It would also be nice to get a time remaining message when we try to turn in an xp item too early.

current message:

Copper Vanurp tells you, "You are moving too quickly. Take your time, consider your technique. A brush like this should fill your entire being for at least a week."

suggested message:

Copper Vanurp tells you, "You are moving too quickly. Take your time, consider your technique. A brush like this should fill your entire being for at least a week. (1:32hrs remaining)"

Would be even better if it was a 6.5 or 6.75 day timer so you could turn in around the same time each week and not have to worry about being a half hour or so early.

[Snowimp]

Ok, not sure if this is a "known issue" or just an oversight, but according to my obviously VERY confused calendar on the map in game, it says that the date is:

Leafdawning 9, 16 P.Y.

Now I believe it's really Wintersebb, correct??

Anyway, I love the snow. Last year there wasn't much anyplace, this year we are covered in it! I really really really love the snow! I do agree that it would be better to have snow storms rather than rain storms in the winter.

I don't mind the portal covers in the newbie towns. If there was a way to make them look more like mounds of earth that would be even cooler, but the way they are is fine too, I think.

One thing I am wondering is will all the old texts/books be updated to include the new content? And in the future, will we once again be able to use many of the things that are almost obsolete now (ie. plants, talismen, etc)?

One thing I'd really love to see though, is a way to have a public bulletin board of some sort. If there was a way to leave a parchement "posted" in one or more of the towns we could communicate between clans better. There are some folks that never visit their Clan websites that have no idea some things are going on. While having chalkboards at your allegiance housing is good, and the motd helps, it's of no use if you wish to have a server wide event!

I really detest the marketplace as even now with such few using it I STILL get the "portal storm warning" from time to time. I'd MUCH rather be able to go to towns to use trade bots, and announce services, etc.

Thanks Devs, I really love this patch. Even enough Scarecrows around to gather pumpkins for pies throughout the year! Now if we juuuuust had some more recipes..... hehehehehe..

[Emagik]

I can't seem to find a Casino. Where are they? I have money to gamble. :confused:

[Scenario]

I don't mind the portal covers in the newbie towns. If there was a way to make them look more like mounds of earth that would be even cooler, but the way they are is fine too, I think.

After the release of the expansion pack, one of our goals is to continue producing new, updated visuals for the world (for the things that only received a texture upgrade). As part of this, I plan to get several towns redesigned with more interesting buildings and hope to make the towns feel (at least visually) cozy and welcoming.

[Snowimp]

That will be so awesome Scenerio! Oh, and it's great to see you've made your move ok. ;) Been some time since I last saw you in DT. Always nice to talk to you again.

Thanks for the reply!

Snowy

[Alok]

After the release of the expansion pack, one of our goals is to continue producing new, updated visuals for the world (for the things that only received a texture upgrade). As part of this, I plan to get several towns redesigned with more interesting buildings and hope to make the towns feel (at least visually) cozy and welcoming.

So, based on your prior statements about the art funding for AC, you'll no longer be producing monthly content, or the 'updated visuals for the world' will be such a slow trickle that nobody will care. Seeing as how, you know, you guys haven't been able to stretch one new dye color over the last two years, even using existing lootgen colors. :|

[dybbo]

i love the snow! aka white ground ;)

[Scenario]

So, based on your prior statements about the art funding for AC, you'll no longer be producing monthly content, or the 'updated visuals for the world' will be such a slow trickle that nobody will care. Seeing as how, you know, you guys haven't been able to stretch one new dye color over the last two years, even using existing lootgen colors. :|

Once Throne of Destiny has gone gold, we will have resources that will need something to do (though I am sure they would be perfectly happy doing nothing and collecting a pay check :p). Extra hands means extra art. Our plans are including normal monthly art tasks.

As to dye colors, while many may not like this answer - we do not want to use loot gen colors for dye colors. Not every piece of armor shares the exact same set of palette IDs, and making loot colors dyeable removes some of the specialness of loot colors themselves. Any new dye colors will come in the form of a brand new set of colors specifically for that dye.

[KPD157]

I'm fully migrated over to Turbine Billing as of this time and I found the second billing migration just as easy as the first and I salute Turbine on making the time to make sure the Migration goes well even if we didn't see a whole lot out of the update.

I can imagine the next few updates will be much more extensive if the smoothness of my migration can attest to how well you guys did it :)

Great work Turbine :)

[agnari]

IBN:

On TD I have a vassal that just ran into trouble with the December event.

He had done the 2 quest get the salvage spells quest and then decided to get the callous heart.

we go thru the library and voted. After recalling to the manison and getting set up for the next stage of the quest (mule good stuff, bane armor buff, ect.) he went to use the black Kai's reward portal gem and was informed he could not use it.


IS this a bug? we are sitting at the mansion waiting for an envoy but i expect all they can do is take note that if you do the salvage no decision and then do the vote quest you can not use the portal gems to finish the quest.


thanks,


NM D'oh envoy Bibb to the rescue! person didn't know about turning back reward gems to get the portal gems.

[Taco Belle]

I made a Regal staff for one of my toons, but the next day when I looked at it, it said it was a Noble again. The damage is 9.9-28, not the 9.9 -22 it started with, and it does show that it has burun slayer properties. Is this a known bug or some kind of wierd fluke? :confused:

[Seighin]

ok, just seeing if I can actually post here....
:cool:



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[nofeir]

I'm not sure if this is related to the December event or not. It seems to me that I read that collectors were no longer supposed to wave, laugh or yawn while you're trying to give them items. If that's true, then the Holtburg collector didn't get the message. It's really frustrating waiting for that bozo to quit emoting while you're trying to turn in three packs of casino loot! :p

[Fredzilla]

When you carve a Untamed Siraluun claw with a carving knife you end up with a Timber Brush instead of an Untamed Brush (tho you do get the correct xp reward for it).

The Kithless and Untamed claws seem to have the same color icon. Can we get them to be different colors like the claws carved and mashed counterparts?