Well, not really, but it sure is thundering outside. I'm on the top floor of the building here, and have an unfortunate habit of beseeching the heavens to strike me down if etc and so forth. I need to get the heck out of here.
Q: Why can’t we see the poll results?
A: Several reasons, but mostly because this is a very competitive industry, and our market research is to help us tune the game for our customers, not someone else’s customers :) The response so far has been TERRIFIC, but it sure would be nice to break a hundred thousand (not to mention make an all time record for a company poll) – so tell your friends :)
Q: Insert question here about allowing a “fill in your own comments” section for the Town Square form.
A: The old calendar was a popular feature used by thousands of people, and I fully expect the Town Square to become that popular as well, as word of mouth spreads. But each and every entry to the “old” calendar had to be reviewed by a human being – me – to avoid problems. It is entirely possible to create a raunchy calendar entry without using any word that would trip a bad word filter. It is also possible to be cruel to another player, and to be generally insulting without swearing. No filter on earth can do a good job at moderating an open forum.
So the Town Square is designed specifically to require no moderation, no oversight, and no chance to offend other people using our website. You’re probably familiar with the phenomenon (especially if you’ve ever driven in urban traffic), the ten people with no self control make things more difficult for a thousand others. However, we want to make it as user friendly as possible without creating problems. If we’ve left out a type of event, please, by all means, submit a feedback form – there’s even a form for it, “Herald Issues.”
Thanks to those already using the new feature – but, you guessed it, tell your friends!
Q: Why do you have aggressive Koalinth located right outside the Koalinth caverns (and, on another note, the Caverns are still not itemized, to the best of my knowledge)? They kill you the second you zone out.
A: Yikes – this scared me, until our world guys did a little digging. First, those Koalinth were moved ages ago. Patch 1.50: Cliffs of Moher: The Koalinth Sentinels guarding Koalinth Caverns taken new sentry posts away from the exit of the dungeon.
And itemization: from the 1.47 notes:
-Tepok's Mine (Albion) fully itemized, Item levels 20-35
-Koalinth Lair (Hibernia) fully itemized, Item levels 17-28
-Varluvheim (Midgard) fully itemized, Item levels 34-39
Q: Does enchanting an instrument to put a % bonus on it do anything?
A: Enchanting an instrument doesn't do anything for it, so save your money.
Q: What causes instrument wear, just having a song running, or starting the song?
A: Instrument wear is caused by each use (pulse) of a song.
Q: What does the bonus figure do for weapons and armor? I know you answered before, just making sure the answer hasn’t changed.
A: Touche :) The answer is still “Magic bonuses on weapons and armor affect their chance to hit or be hit, respectively.”
Q: I understand how quality effects armor and weapons, but how does it affect other items such as bracers and rings. Do you only get some of the bonuses listed on the items description, or does it just affect how long the item will last?
A: Quality in the specific case of bracers and rings only affects how long these items will last, not the potency of their magical effects.
Q: I am a creeping path specced animist. I chose this path mostly because I wanted the strongest possible fire and forget damage turrets. Does my creep spec level "pass through" to the forest heart turrets? Does my intelligence?
A: The Spell Man sayeth: “Intelligence and spec do not affect detached pets. Detached pets (theurgist elementals, animist turrets, bonedancer minions) have a spec equal to 2/3 their level and effectively have a "medium" intelligence for their level.”
Q: In the patch notes for 1.56 E, the following was included: "- Animist spec levels now "pass through" to their bomber pets. This should affect the random damage range that the bombers do." No mention was made of turrets. The way the spell is listed on The Herald seems to indicate that at least intelligence and spec level should "pass through" to turrets.
A: Again, the Spell Man sayeth: “Turrets are detached pets (theurgist elementals, animist turrets, bonedancer minions), and as such don't get the bonuses from the caster. Bombers are a special effect of the animist's "normal" spells, and thus the caster's stats pass through to their damage checks.”
Q: Is the "sticking" chance of the Healer Pacification line spells affected by relative level of healer to target, the pacification skill level of the healer, or both?
A: Sticking chance is based on level of the caster and level of the spell vs. the target's level.
Q: Does +Pacification from items have ANY effect on the above chance of sticking, or, on the spell effectiveness, assuming it does stick?
A: No.
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Okay, that’s it for questions. I did get more “overcapping” questions, to be truthful, but at this point, I think we’d better wait a few days to let the changes shake out on Pendragon. Anything on Pendragon is subject to change without notice. Please, give us a few more days.
One thing I do want to explain to everyone is how to determine “level” the formulas Matt published. You start at rank one, level one. So, in the formula blank for “level” you would put in “one.” Now, let’s say for example that you are rank three, level four. You would enter “24” into the formula, not 34. That’s the most common math error I’ve seen, anyway, I hope that helps a little.
Please keep in mind during discussions of the proposed overcapping system that the change is not intended to be overly dramatic. As you rise in realm level, you will have a little more flexibility in your stat caps than you did as a realm war beginner. But it COULDN’T be a dramatic change, or it would harm our less fanatic players, who have things like jobs and children. At any rate, we appreciate the help testing the proposed change.
Quick reminder – being big dorks here at Mythic, we like to go to computer shows. You know, SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY, COMPUTERS FOR 300 DOLLARS. Those shows also sell software – and we’ve been amused to find our own software on the giant tables next to Civ3 and other staples of the traveling show. However, we’ve noticed that often these boxes are European copies, not U.S. Please be aware that European boxes mean you have to play on European servers, and that US boxes mean you have to play on our servers. If you already know what server you want to play on, make sure the software you buy matches. They are different versions, and while we provide the game to our partners all over the world, we only run the servers located in our back yard.
Got a letter from a guy named Kwip. He runs a funny, funny website called www.NeenerNeener.net. But here’s the deal – he and his wife, the Kwipette, head up a sort of “gamers for a cure” thing for multiple sclerosis. If you’d like to take part in this worthy cause, please, check this link.
Time for me to head on out – have a good weekend. Be nice to each other, everyone, it’s been a long week – and my guess is the people logging into a virtual world are particularly trying to escape the real one. Do your part to make it a pleasant escape? See you on the other side.
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