Q: What classes are getting their makeover in 1.84?

A: As Walt said, we looked over everything, and decided (based on feedback, as always) that we had some unfinished business with the classes we've worked on since last December. We're going to revisit everything we did thus far and make a few more (upwards) adjustments. The next patch will see us return to the scheduled revamps.

Q: Who is getting a respec in 1.84?

A: Ask me again when 1.84 is further along, and a toothpick inserted into the crust comes out clean.

Q: "The next round will go in four days. Next week, the system will look for guilds that have a leader, but one that has not logged in for some  time, and demote the inactive guy/promote a more active member."

Will this affect guilds that have more than one GM?  Example: My mother has an account to which I have given GM access. Sometimes due to work and stuff, my accounts go inactive (longest has been two months), but she has been active and maintained my guild (with her GM access).

Would this new system demote me?

A: Yikes, I phrased things really badly. Everyone in the game whose co-leader is in the military or having a baby sent in email! From the Lord of the Underworld, who actually did the system redesign and repairs: "This system only affects guilds that have no active leaders at all. If your mother's guild master character is active, then no one in the guild will be promoted or demoted."

Q:  Is there going to be a guild command for GM's to flag whether they wish this auto-demoter/auto-promoter to affect their guild, or will it just be a blanket feature, that affects everyone?

A: The ability to turn off this feature would totally defeat the purpose of having this feature. No one who creates a guild EVER thinks they're going to leave someday, and so everyone would turn this off.

As the Underworld guy puts it: "Since the purpose of the autopromoter is to assist guilds where the leadership has disappeared without promoting a new leader, it probably wouldn't help to allow this functionality to be turned off."

I had a few people write in to say that their guilds were on hiatus, and they are afraid that some random guy they guilded on a whim would get control of their guild. The answer to that is, essentially, don't guild people on a whim. Okay, seriously. If you leave, appoint an officer you can trust to keep things in good order. Don't just abandon the people who have looked to you to lead them.

This autopromoter should be ENTIRELY a tool of last resort for guilds. It is just not fair to people who are actually playing to be left with no officers for the weeks and weeks of time it takes for the autopromoter to kick in.

Q: What about alt toons?  Sometimes I concentrate on one character, and ignore the others for several months before going back and playing them. Will my inactive alt's get demoted, or because I have one active character on my account, the others are safe?

A: From the Underworld man again: "If your inactive alts are the only characters with guild master status then you'll receive warning emails starting two weeks before the promotion will occur (so be sure the email address for your account is valid!).  To stop the promotion process you can simply log in one of the GM ranked characters once you receive the notice."

I would like to say that while dozens of people wrote in with similar questions, the above three questions that I used all came from the same email sent by a very articulate 50 Skald on Gareth. Thanks for sending such a clear email, sir!

Q: What happened to the polearm style Defender's Rage?

A: Our original plan for it in 1.83 fell flat on its face, and you should see a note in 1.84.

Q: Regarding the 1.84A notes, I'm wondering what the change to Holy Staff really means. Some are saying this is a nerf.

A: It is, a bit. Our statistics demonstrated that it was doing much more than we wanted it to be doing. The healing remains the same, but the amount of time the Holy Staff will take to do the same healing is longer.

Q: Could you clarify what will be in the valkyries new mending baseline and what will be in the specline?

A: The Big Wheel, Brian the Designer, says: "Baseline mending for Valkyries is the same as it is for Healers and Shaman."

Q: I have noticed this issue on our guild house. I get a pop up saying rent is due within seven days, however, the consignment merchant on the house has plenty of cash to cover rent.

Do I need to set an option to have rent taken from the consignment merchant when the lockbox is empty?  Or will I get a popup even though the rent will be covered by the merchant?   Thanks!

A: You don't need to set anything - if the box is empty, the game will automatically check the merchant. The reason the pop up doesn't reflect that is because the CM is supposed to be a safety net - a safety net we put in place to protect people who might not be able to log in for a little while. But the housing design is first and foremost that people are supposed to use the lockbox, and the reminder system is set accordingly.

Q: (Insert question here about potions and the tradeskill revamp under discussion.)

A: The artist formerly known as the Spell and Style Goddess, now in charge of the tradeskill revamp, had this for you:

"The tradeskill revamp includes reviewing the potions in Alchemy, changing existing potions as multiple charge potions, and adding new multiple charge potions. We have opted for this method due to a code issue where a stacked potion, when used, removes the entire stack of potions instead of removing the single potion.

"We are aware of Alchemy crafter concerns where it is extremely difficult to craft higher level potions quickly, due to their recipes requiring other crafted potions. To address this, we will be flattening Alchemy recipes (similar to what was done with Armorcrafting recipes in 1.84a) so they will not require the crafter to create other potions to be used as ingredients.

"Both of these changes will be occurring during the tradeskill revamp process, so please keep an eye on the patch notes for 1.84 and the versions to come."

Q: Am I the only LGM player feeling a little concerned about all the talk about improving crafting? I don't WANT crafting to be easy. If it's easy, all the long hours I spent getting my character to this level will be for nothing.

A: (NOTE: The following is just the opinion of a cranky old web weenie, not speaking for Mythic but rather contributing her own opinion to what is essentially a discussion of perspective. This opinion and four bucks will score you a latte.)

You are not the only person to feel that way, and please understand, I do not mean to make light of your feelings. Your feelings are perfectly normal, and I have seen them in players dating back to the original MMOs. Every time a game company does something to speed up/ease/streamline an element of gameplay, those of us who earned our achievements through the original design feel vaguely… cheated.

But a game that doesn't evolve or change will die.  And while I understand your feelings and respect them (and in many ways, share them), the fact is that new players are already at a staggering emotional disadvantage in a game that will be five years old in October. New people come into our world, and see years of content, and they think "I'll never understand all of this, I'll never be a part of all this, I wasn't here from the beginning." They have a real psychological need to believe that they can catch up, and if that need is not met, they quit almost immediately. A process that will take months is too daunting for those players, and yet those players are needed to keep the world a vibrant one.

Also, the original design for crafting is more than a little wacky, and it's long past the time we should be making improvements. 

 ***

NEW FAN KIT: Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Missy (with technical assistance from the fabulous Ayaka) has finished the long-awaited fan kit revamp. Looking for something to spice up that website you've built? Check it out: http://www.camelotherald.com/article.php?id=210

If you've got a movie you've made from in-game footage, there might be a way to score some cash from it. This announcement from Xfire crossed my desk:  "Xfire is excited to announce 3 more cash prizes for the Axe Machinima Fan Film Fest. In addition to 1st ($12,500) and 2nd place ($5,000), 3 machinima makers will take home Honorable Mention prizes worth $1,000 each. Winners shall be chosen by judges based upon originality, creativity, humor, and execution of the Gamekillers theme. There are only a couple weeks until the deadline; so get some game, and be sure to enter your movie in the Axe Machinima Fan Film Fest by June 5th. For more details and a complete set of rules please visit: http://www.xfire.com/cms/xf_axe_gamekillers

And hey, hang on to that film, because at the Vegas Roundtable, we're ALWAYS looking for new movies to show on Saturday night.

1.84 has several more versions still to go, everyone, just FYI. We're planning some really cool events for Pendragon this cycle, so stay tuned, and keep a current character copy ready!

Okay, that's it for me. I met some great Camelot players when I was in LA, but I was pretty homesick for you guys :) See you next week.