Q: What was the result of the poll on /level?

A: The results of the poll on /level 20 are in. Before I get to that, let me explain that from our perspective, /level has not been entirely good for the game. What was meant as a nice reward for those who worked hard to get to fifty turned into something frustrating for true new players and our low level game. We certainly predicted some impact, but not this much! So, for some time now, we’ve been contemplating the total removal of this benefit from the game.

However, /level is incredibly popular. The poll results were overwhelmingly in favor of keeping /level, and those who took the time to write feedback forms on the subject were almost unanimously in favor of keeping this benefit for those who reached level fifty. We were also uncomfortable with removing any two year old bonus, and the feedback just reinforced that discomfort.

Therefore, we are going to try to compromise. Here’s the plan: We are not going to remove it as it is. By that, I mean we will leave it on the servers that already have it, and with the classes that already have it. But we won’t add it to the classic servers, and we won’t add it to the Catacombs classes. (I know I said Catacombs classes would get /level eventually, but to be frank I should not have said so without a firm date in hand. That was my error, and I apologize.)

Players who have reached fifty and wish to roll a Catacombs class on regular servers will start getting a fat experience bonus from 1-20 beginning in 1.80 (currently scheduled for October 11). Details will come with the patch notes, so stay tuned.

And of course, we’re discussing other veteran rewards for our player base – we’ve had many wonderful suggestions from the community.

We appreciate all the feedback; it really helped us to make this decision.

Q: Who are Bechard and Silcharde and what are they for? Are they part of some quest or something?

They are yellow-to-50 mobs, close by each other, located in Lyonesse at the telemon crossroad at approx loc 20k 43k. Each is a named mob, yet I can find no info regarding them on the Internet. I easily killed them both with a buffed necro, yet got no data regarding them before, during, or after the encounter.

Inquiring minds want to know!

A: The quest ladies leapt to the database, and Lady Jersey told me, "Both Bechard and Silcharde are linked to a level 43 quest for Minstrels, Sorcerers and Wizards. The quest is "Symbol of the Broken."

It's one of the original epic quests, still available so people can finish them. (Those who have finished the original epic quests will be able to trade their armor in and start the new epics partway through.)

Q: I saw a Darkness Rising trailer about player controlled horses. Will we be able to use those kind of horses in RvR?

A: No. As much as I want to joust, it would just be too hard on our RVR game if we gave any kind of realistic advantage to those with horses. Horses will disappear when you are in combat, and reappear when you call them.

Q: What happens to people that are in a group with someone that is radaring? Is it a blanket ban for people in that group? Or can you pick out the specific person doing the cheating? 

A: At this time we punish only those who are themselves cheating. (Yes, we can pick out the person doing the cheating.) We of course reserve the right to ban those who are *knowingly* benefiting from a party member cheating (see also "Spirit of the Game" clause). Don't tolerate cheaters in your groups and guilds. Needing to cheat at a virtual world smacks of some compensatory issues that might require therapy, or possibly surgery, to address.

Q: I noticed you have a fix in for the bainshee being able to cast through walls on the island.  Will this effect the players casting through walls on bridges in NF as well?

A: Unfortunately, the code for the island isn't the sort of thing we can cut and paste over to other areas, or believe me, we would. It's a good first step, though, and we hope to have good news in a future update.

Q: I was playing today and was helping take down a field treb. And I missed 6 out of 10 times on a non-moving giant field treb (side of a barn size) how is that possible? I have a 50 scout with 50 Longbow skill (plus adds to boot).

A: A really bad run of luck. I hope you didn't go outside or operate heavy machinery that day. The Code Warrior took a look just to be sure everything was functioning properly, and responded: "You don't gain any benefit from additional attackers when attacking objects, by the way. This was just bad luck. Archers attacking objects is one of the simplest to-hit calculations in the game - either they make a roll or they don't."

Q: When you released the new guild emblems, I changed our guild emblem from the tree to the mushroom. Many if not all of our guild members have complained about this new emblem and would like it changed. Is there any way that we can get an Emblem Respec to change it back to the tree?

A: You'll have to buy a new one for 300 gold, and there is no guarantee the emblem you want will still be available - but CS will clear your emblem if you (or another rank zero officer) sends an appeal. Please be patient when you appeal, as this sort of thing comes after harassment and stuck appeals on the priority list. We WILL get to it, just not right away.

Tell your guild you're working on it!

Q: Hello.  I submitted the question about the lack of maps for the new RvR island, and I thank you for addressing it. However, the answer wasn't quite for what I was asking. I realized the Realm War map wouldn't be updated as it isn't practical.  I still show a 'North Sea' map of only water, and the Hadrian's Wall map doesn't show the bridge topography to the new island, etc.  Is this most likely due to my using a custom UI (and I just have to copy the right map files to it), or have these updated /map files not been passed to us yet?  Thanks.

A: Ah! The extra information was a big help to me in getting the right data for you. The Mildly Disturbing Underlord, "Howie," says:

"He needs to update his UI files:

"z163.dds

r163.dds

z164.dds

z167.dds

z171.dds

z178.dds"

Q: This patch note seems is confusing me.

"Players moving faster than sprint speed will no longer gain the benefit of Mastery of Stealth 4 or 5 - it will instead be clamped at the bonus received from Mastery of Stealth 3"

Err, so did MoS 4 or 5 bump you to faster than sprint speed, without the endurance costs of sprinting? Just how fast are you moving at MoS 3...at sprint speed perchance? Or if you have MoS 4+ you CAN still move faster than MoS 3, but no other MoS bonus, such as detection range, then applies. As a stealther without access to MoS I am deeply confused.

A: Code Ed, in what may be his last Herald answer for some time as he's been promoted to a fancy new job here at Mythic, replies: "It has nothing to do with the movement speed. The change is to the benefit to stealth detection, such that MoS is less effective when traveling at high speeds."

Q: I'm concerned about Darkness Falls and the new expansion. I have not been able to get into Darkness Falls much on my server - will I miss any content?

A: Darkness Falls has been given a major upgrade in visuals, and there are some awesome story elements in there. But the quests and the Champion content all occur outside the dungeon, so that even players that rarely get into DF can do all of the character development aspects of the expansion.

Q: If I am a European player, can I still buy Darkness Rising?

A: Sure. One thing, though - this expansion is currently only available to our customers playing on the North American servers run by Mythic. Our other partners will be making the expansion available on a different schedule.

 ***

Clever readers noticed that buried in the answer to tonight's top question was the answer to another popular question - the date of Darkness Rising's launch. We are currently scheduled to go live October 11th, and 1.80 is also known as the Darkness Rising patch. This, of course, is subject to change, so for heaven's sake don't schedule your vacation time just yet.

The Moderately Evil Overlord had a note for me to pass to you guys - "The four year veteran's reward code is currently up on Pendragon for testing, and will roll to live with the next patch.  However, we will not flag the appropriate accounts as veterans until Oct 9th - so players will not be able to use this until the actual anniversary date of launch." There you go, gang, please spread the word.

Pre-registration for the Las Vegas Roundtable 2005 is now closed, but we'll hail anyone who decides to join us at the last minute for games, contests, Q&A sessions, Dave Arneson, and VEGAS. Dust off your capes and get out your dice, because it's going to be a heck of a time.

"Where are the MIDGARD horses?" was the cry of a few mournful players admiring the screenshots we released. "Did you forget us?" Nope. We actually finished your main city's revamp FIRST, if you really want to know. But in the interests of playing fair, I posted a few in the Herald update http://www.camelotherald.com/more/2172.shtml

I'm off to slushie land. Have a great weekend, and if you can't be good, be careful.