June 16, 2004 Patch

Today's patch, taken from EverQuestLive.com: June 16th, 2004 ----------------------- Headlines! -Collision sees more improvements. -A portal to Gunthak has been added to the Plane of Knowledge. -/guidehelp is now available! -Gates of Discord sees more changes. Collision Updates ----------------------- Many remaining collision issues have been fixed. -Floating NPCs in the Plane of Disease should be more down to earth. -NPC warping should be reduced. -The Emerald Jungle should no longer have NPCs below the world -You should once again collide with the dock in Natimbi. -The entrance to Najena should be easier to navigate. Gunthak Portal ----------------------- -We have added a tome to the Plane of Knowledge to allow for faster travel to and from Gunthak. Enjoy. * Gates of Discord ----------------------- -Increased the drop rate of quest items, for the Breakdown in Communication quest, in the sewers and mountain passes and Ikkinz. * -Increased the number of items that drop from the Qinimi and Barindu events for the Breakdown in Communication quest. * -Increased the drop rate of Breakdown in Communication quest items off the Yxtta bosses as well as making it possible to get them off other NPCs in the zone. -The Ikkinz Chamber of Might and Tipt boss mobs will now behave a little smarter when facing a strong defense. Beware! -Some tuning changes have been made to the Ikkinz single group trials and Tipt. -Changed the NPCs that guard Txevu so they are a longer re-spawn allowing you to get stragglers thru the zone much easier once you kill them. -Pathing in Txevu should be better. * -The bonus reward at the end of Inktu`ta will spawn in a chest instead of being handed directly to the player that triggers the dialogue. -Gates NPCs that dropped spells will now drop a token, which can be turned in for a class appropriate spell. * The Plane of Time ----------------------- -We have made changes to the scripting for the Plane of Time, which will allow the server to shut down unused instances of the zone. This will remove the problem of waiting for an instance that another group has finished to shut down, before you can start your attempt. * The Plane of Hate ----------------------- You can now access the Plane of Hate by talking to Relm M'Loch in the Plane of Tranquility and handing her a Fuligan Soulstone. * Items ----------------------- -The Tainted Axe of Hatred has had its damage increased. -Many Gates items have had their weight reduced. * -The Muramite Death Shroud is now equipable by beastlords and has a wind instrument modifier. * -The Onyx Ring of Prayer now has a stringed instrument modifier. * -The drop rate has been increased for the following items in the Plane of Hate * The Shattered Emerald of Corruption Decrepit Hide Staff of Elemental Mastery: Earth Essence of Vampire Eye of Innoruuk -The Diamond Tipped War Javelin should now look more javelin like. * Berserkers ----------------------- -Berserker snare now has a set duration. * -Berserkers should no longer get stuck during their epic quest. -The following effects now lower hate instantly rather than over time: * Diversive Strike Distracting Strike Confusing Strike Guidehelp ----------------------- -The "/guidehelp" command is now available. The /guidehelp command is for quest/event feedback, wedding requests and questions regarding quests/events. Please be aware that all Customer Service issues must go through /petition for resolution. There may only be 1 request in the guidehelp queue at a time for each player. Raid Management ----------------------- -Raid leaders now have the ability to add notes to the raid window. There is now a tabbed window in the Raid window, clicking on the Notes tab will show all the raid members in a single list, with notes next to their name. The Raid leader can click on a player, and change that player's note in the edit box below the list. The note will show on all raid members' raid windows. * -Added an MOTD to Raid Window. On the Notes tab there is a window for an MOTD at the bottom. The Raid leader can edit this MOTD, and the new text will show on all Raid members' Raid windows. * -The escape key will now close your Raid Window. -Raid Leaders can now remove members from the raid, even across zones. * Tradeskills ----------------------- -There have been several upgrades to Gates Tradeskilled items. * -Gates smithed weapons have been adjusted. * -Gates fletched arrows have had their damage increased and are now magical. * -Tradeskill drinks from Gates of Discord have had their duration enhanced. * Stopcasting ----------------------- We have added a /stopcast command -- This command will not work when riding a horse. * Undead Pets ----------------------- Pets no longer go away after their master has feigned death for more than 2 minutes. * Lay on Hands and Harm Touch ----------------------- Lay on Hands and Harm Touch will no longer affect corpses. * Corpse Dragging ----------------------- We have increased the range of the /corpse command * Spells ----------------------- Many damage shields have had their damage and duration increased. * Increased the regeneration rate on the following spells: -Regrowth of the Dar Khura -Regrowth of the Grove -Regrowth -Replenishment -Blessing of Replenishment Modified the heal rate for the following spells: * -Supernal Elixir -Quiescence -Holy Elixir -Breath of Trushar -Supernal Cleansing Lowered the mana cost on the following spells: * -Black Steel -Ancient: Chaos Vortex -Sun Vortex Increased the duration and mana cost on the following spells. * -Falcon Eye -Eagle Eye -Hawk Eye Bards ----------------------- Bards should no longer use instrument animations when wielding items other than instruments. (No more stabbing yourselves in the head with your Epic!) Character Creation ----------------------- The character creation process now has Voice Over to guide you through new character creation. Mouselook ----------------------- Mouselook is much smoother and variable via a slider in the options window. If you use mouselook, make certain you adjust the new settings. Tutorial ----------------------- All characters should start with the tutorial bank items. Filters ----------------------- -The Focus effect should now filter haste messages. * -The Damage Shield filter should now work correctly. -- The EverQuest Team * Denotes an item that was requested by the EverQuest community.

Comments

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# Jun 26 2004 at 10:27 PM Rating: Default
you guys are all losers and need lives.

seriously
Tutorial
# Jun 23 2004 at 11:29 PM Rating: Good
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195 posts
just for fun, i created a new character and went through the tutorial. i actually enjoyed it. it's so much easier now than when i 1st started playing this game. it's great for the new-comers but at the same time, it seems a little unfair to the rest of us.

new characters get not one but two free bags, a sell-able item and a CHARM with some pretty good start-out stats... all for just completing the tutorial!! my oldest character still doesn't have a charm! LOL. why not let all the old-timers go through the tutorial too?!
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looking good?
# Jun 22 2004 at 3:15 PM Rating: Good
<<In my opinion, GoD has been great for the endgame guilds. Yes, there's challenging content, and a good risk/reward ratio. >>
Sadly, that is not true...evidenced by the large numbers of players who quit within a few months of GoD release. What event triggered Sony's sudden interest in listening to the players?
Afterlife, one of the oldest and largest guilds in EQ, quit the game "en masse" to protest the problems with GoD and the lack of support being given to FIX all the new content being introduced. This top-end guild was frustrated with trying to work in the new zones designed for the best guilds and getting their collectives ***** handed to them for loot and quest materials that rarely dropped.
Suddenly, the number of players quitting EQ were a cause for alarm. Suddenly, SONY saw a need to fix the content already in the game.
Players have been ranting for YEARS that the pace of new material being introduced was too fast. New quests, new zones, new NPC's, new pathing, etc., were broken and not being fixed in deference to the push to release more new content.
Personally, after 5+ years of nonstop EQ, I've had my fill. Too often, quests I have done for years or tradeskill recipes were broken after an update, but petitions and feedbacks yielded not one response.
For just one example, the recent change in 'collision center' caused so many problems for so many people, it should have been YANKED immediately until they got it fixed on the test server. Instead, the entire EQ community of players got the joy of experiencing regular patches to correct all the problems it caused...at least 8 patches and still counting now, isn't it? I lost count, stopped playing.
What finally drove me nuts, and out of the game, was the need for flag after flag to enter zones, and despite doing the required fights to obtain them, the NPC granting the flag <poofing> before the dead could be resurrected to hail him.
My RL schedule has never allowed me to be part of a high-end raiding guild, so all that great new high-end content has been a fantasy within a fantasy. All the flagging work done over months became an insult as SONY decided to open so many zones to all players. BAH!

65 cleric 54 cleric 40 cleric 41 cleric
65 wizard 56 wizard
65 druid 55 druid
53 chant
52 warrior 55 warrior
52 shaman
51 sk

...glad to have my life back! Too late for me, SONY. I'm outta here!

Edited, Wed Jun 23 07:44:54 2004
Emerald?
# Jun 21 2004 at 3:38 PM Rating: Good
We've spent a good 15 hours in Hate so far, camping 4 named spawns. We've seen 4 named, no emerald. We're hoping to test the new drop rate soon.
RE: Emerald?
# Jun 29 2004 at 1:50 PM Rating: Good
As an update, we spent another 5 hours in Hate. We doubled our sightings of Named by seeking diffrent spawns and still no emerald. Guess I'm just impatient but how long do we have to spend waiting for just one drop?
Spoke too soon?
# Jun 19 2004 at 1:22 AM Rating: Default
Despite the fact Sony claims to have increased the drop rate of the SEoC, it is still a pain in the *** to get. We tried to camp the Mistress of Scorn and Ashenbone Broodmaster tonight. After she popped and dropped nothing useful, we decided to wait for the PH to pop again, maybe we'd get lucky. We went without a pop on that spot for damn near an hour. With over 50 people in the zone hunting for the same thing, you can imagine we might not get too lucky with just one or two chances per hour, especially when that's only a CHANCE to pop - there could still be a placeholder.

<*EDIT*> Went back again the next night for another 5 hours. Only had 2 named spawns, both Lord of Loathing, out of a possible 7 spawn points. The Lord was gracious enough to prove me wrong and drop the emerald =) For those of you keeping score at home - roughly 10 hours, 4 named spawns, 1 SEOC, 1 very happy ranger!

Edited, Sun Jun 20 01:50:50 2004
damage shield increases?
# Jun 17 2004 at 11:03 PM Rating: Decent
Just wondering if any of you might know which damage shields had their damage and durations changed, could be very useful info to a druid.
PoH Question
# Jun 17 2004 at 4:03 PM Rating: Decent
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1,117 posts
Now that you can get in to Hate without a wizzie, how do you get out without a gater? (Besides getting killed)
RE: PoH Question
# Jun 17 2004 at 9:07 PM Rating: Default
You can get a potion from your local shammy or do the thurgadin quest for a gate potion.
Bravo
# Jun 17 2004 at 10:44 AM Rating: Decent
I applaud Sony for the changes made yesterday. I believe that it is a clear indication that the Sony is looking to make needed improvements. I am even a druid and love the idea of the portal to Gunthak. The days of paying for Ports are long gone, the game has tons if different ways to make cash. I haven't charged for a port since 2000.

Live Long
Soniaa
Xegony
RE: Bravo
# Jun 18 2004 at 12:56 PM Rating: Decent
Word !!
StopCast
# Jun 17 2004 at 10:18 AM Rating: Decent
Hmm well, I suppose the the thought and attempt was good.

/stopcast--> Why not allow it to work while mounted on horse or drog?

Why make it so that the /stopcast command forces you to wait out the spell refresh time (as if you actually had cast the spell), where as if you just click open and close your spell book you interupt the spell but don't have to wait the refresh time? I was excited to see this command and try it out, pshaw feels like a half hearted attempt at a good idea. :-( keep trying.


Rootrot
65 Druid




Edited, Thu Jun 17 11:19:48 2004
sony
# Jun 17 2004 at 8:33 AM Rating: Decent
BRILIANT SONY!!! what is a wizard good for now?!!?!??!?!?!
RE: sony
# Jun 19 2004 at 6:53 AM Rating: Decent
I believe the real benefit of being able to do a self port to Hate comes from getting late comers to join the raid. The wizards benefit by not having to port back and forth to ferry late people to Hate.
RE: sony
# Jun 18 2004 at 10:36 AM Rating: Decent
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508 posts
I don't see an issue. There was only one way to be able to get to a plane - by getting a wizard to port you. Couldn't get a druid, they didn't have that option. Aren't wizards the only class that can regulate content for others? How was that fair? How many times did you see a wizard "/ooc Porting to Hate".

This simply offers an alternative. Its still cheaper to get a wizard if you have a full group. But, how many wizards were there to port you up when you died? Or when the group changed? Why make access to content so restricted that it isn't worth trying to get there?

This change would have been nice years ago. And, if I ever met a wizard who thought they created their character and levelled it up primarily to port people to Hate, I would assume they are a bot or alt.
RE: sony
# Jun 17 2004 at 11:27 AM Rating: Good
You mean your entire existence as a wizard is based upon the ability to port people to Plane of Hate?? Man you are missing out on 99.99999% of your class if you are worried about this change.

As a side note, keep in mind, it will still be cheaper to hire a wizard to port a whole group at once (and donate).

So for 6 people each using a stone * 52.5pp = 315pp to go to PoH.

Lets say the same full group wants to hire you.

2 stones * 52.5 = 105pp. (since you will need to do two group ports)
Donate to Wizard = 100pp
Total then is 205pp.
Group save 110pp.

Now maybe for some, that's not a lot of plat to worry about, but if I were a wizard, I know how I would try to sell my services (and correspondingly set up my hot key).
RE: sony
# Jun 17 2004 at 3:36 PM Rating: Decent
I have to agree...to an extent. As a druid, the majority of my time is NOT spent porting people around. But, at the same time, the opening of PoK to EVERYONE and now the addition of Gunthak portal does decrease my income just a tad (I think CS is now the only place left that I'll get regular customers for). Nothing to really complain about, but it was a thought I had. There are still plenty of people out there willing to pay cash for fast transportation to various places ... and I think the above poster made a great case for saving cash on PoH ports rather than the new way.

Firewalls and EQ
# Jun 16 2004 at 9:49 PM Rating: Decent
21 posts
Quote:
Lady Qelah : yeah, i can't get past the login screen either. i wonder if it has something to do with being in windows mode? everytime i get to the server page, i get an error stating that EQ has to close. *sigh*



If you have a firewall up, try turning the setting down a little. I have had to do that twice with the last two patches. I get the same message about EQ having to close if I have my firewall settings too high.
what would be great.
# Jun 16 2004 at 5:01 PM Rating: Default
What are a few of the things that everyone wants in an online rpg game. The number one "want" is complete customizing to you character. Skin color, height, distinct facial features, hair, tattoo's and other mythical attributes such as horns maybe.

The above is what i would love to see in EQ in the future and the below also.

Tradeskills. Isnt much to say about these anymore. Takes ALOT of money to get up the level to make just one thing that will be seen thats higher than vendor trash. What would i like to see done with tradeskills? Here's what i think.

Every 5 levels you character will be able to forge 3 swords. Sword 1 is a standard, sword 2 is made with better components and sword three is the best. You can name your sword, you can pick the look of the weapon(greatsword,katana look, or just a rusty old legchopper look) also to pick the handle color, overall size of the sword from blade tip to bottom of handle, blade color and also even pick to have particle effects or not. Of course the swords are specific to you class, level, race and gender. droppable lore weapons. but the only reason to buy is if you ..well just to lazy to make your own.

The same about armor.

The ingame economy. ...... Well i think everyone knows one thing about it. It's shot all to hell. Whats a possible way to fix it? I myself dont know. But i'm not the multi billion dollar company here. Sony if they want can stop all this plat buying. They just have to go after Fat joe00100 and tell him to sit down on it and rotate.

When everyone see's that they cant go to a website anymore and buy an actual 5mil plat and also have to farm for that now. . price's will drop or no one will make money.

The last thing that i see as mandatory to be put in the game. ALL females races must be topless at all times. Then after three months they will be completly nude forever!!!


thats bout it.
RE: what would be great.
# Jun 16 2004 at 9:34 PM Rating: Decent


got to agree on the topless part i mean if im runnning around naked why am i not naked, And i know it would certainly help my trader sales :D maybe they could make an adults only server? no lang filter and all chars start out nude heheh

but I do believe they need to work on the economy at least make it more free flowing and give us some better tradeskills with some better rewards theres a couple good tradeskill quests but i would like to see some tradeskilled items on par with these quests, and i would love it if they got rid of the req level and recommended level on alot of the tradeskill stuff thats just silly i can make it but cant wear it?!!?! where is the logic in that.
RE: what would be great.
# Jun 17 2004 at 8:37 AM Rating: Default
If money is easier to get, items prices go up, item prices go up, money is harder to get, making trader items basicly free, and player items over priced.
Undead Pets
# Jun 16 2004 at 4:28 PM Rating: Decent
Finally! Your pets won't suicide when you feign for a while. I know I hate waiting for a group and when I get there I gotta make my pet for a while... Gunna be great to zone-in make pet and feign untill someone tells you to come to a camp. I think the next step would be to make pets zone with you. Don't you hate using-up bone chips, malachites, and tiny daggers so much? I'd be great to jump right into a Ldon and be ready with your pet when they start to pull.
g
# Jun 16 2004 at 2:48 PM Rating: Default
I like the boats being broke, Id just assume use the translocators. For evils though it can be ruff at lower levels going from freeport to BB since sisters isle isn't friendly to evils
Most asked question
# Jun 16 2004 at 3:31 PM Rating: Decent
36 posts
The question "Where is the new Gunthak Stone" rings through the ooc and shout air so much now I made a hot button "The new Gunthak stone is on the evil side at the far west wall by the Paneel stone." :)
NOW STUCK AT LOGGING IN
# Jun 16 2004 at 12:55 PM Rating: Decent
NOW I CAN'T PAST THE LOGINNG IN SCREEN ** THIS REALLY SUCKS *** (( IS ANYONE ELSE HAVING THIS PROBLEM ??
RE: NOW STUCK AT LOGGING IN
# Jun 16 2004 at 1:52 PM Rating: Good
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195 posts
yeah, i can't get past the login screen either. i wonder if it has something to do with being in windows mode? everytime i get to the server page, i get an error stating that EQ has to close. *sigh*
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Hate
# Jun 16 2004 at 12:27 PM Rating: Decent
Hhmmm....not bad. All rangers to Plane of Hate NOW! to get your shattered emerald. Come on, hurry. Come on!!!!
WoW
# Jun 16 2004 at 12:26 PM Rating: Default
Guess they have put the expansion on hold:)
Looks like they adding some usueful stuff and tryin to fix some other stuff

And the biggie here for me anyway no more waiting for an hour or so trying to get port to Stonebrunt to get to the lighthouse to get ribbons for tailoring :)
Thanks:)
RE: WoW
# Jun 17 2004 at 12:14 PM Rating: Decent
You actually waited an hour to port to some place it only takes 5-10 min to run to. Man are you lazy.
RE: WoW
# Jun 16 2004 at 3:22 PM Rating: Decent
I guess they got the message when a record low of preorders came thru for a broken game....Thanks SoE for listeneing and actually making steps in the right direction.
RE: WoW
# Jun 17 2004 at 10:44 AM Rating: Good
Avatar
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661 posts
lol That's one thing I never thought I'd ever hear on these boards.

"Thanks sony" Might wanna bookmark that post, and see if you edit it after the expansion comes out?
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ShadowSoldier
Antonius Bayle
RE: WoW
# Jun 16 2004 at 1:51 PM Rating: Decent
You know the run from the PoK Paineel stone, through the Warrens, through Stonebrunt Mountains and into Gunthak takes about 5 minutes?
Looking good...
# Jun 16 2004 at 12:23 PM Rating: Default
Wow. The Anti Nerf patch. Easy access to Gunthak now is nice. Increased regen rates, better DS, longer lasting self archery buffs for rangers, extended range for /corpse, and an easier way into Hate. Also (subject to verification) increased drop rate for epics in Hate. Maybe I can get my earthcaller finally. What's next, actually fixing the boats to/from Kunark from BB docks???? Keep listening to us and fixing the problems before adding more content that many of us will most likely not get to see.

Teevil Swiftrunner
65 ranger(Bristlebane)
RE: Looking good...
# Jun 16 2004 at 12:35 PM Rating: Decent
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509 posts
Well this is definately a step in the right direction. I am glad to see the upped ds and regen those spells needed to be upgraded alot of druids don't use them much anymore which is a shame. Personally I am waiting on the way to remove augs without destroying em.
RE: Looking good...
# Jun 16 2004 at 12:51 PM Rating: Decent
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3,128 posts
I agree looking good. Some of these updates have anote that says they responded to requests from the EQ community. How does one make such requests, other than posting ideas here in alakazms.
RE: Looking good...
# Jun 16 2004 at 3:28 PM Rating: Decent
fhrugby, You cannot "technically" request a change, because almost all emails to Sony are answered and returned by automated mailers...although a few weeks ago tehre was a convention at the Sony Headquarters where about 80 guild leaders or so, almost all of the Sony staff, and a few representatives from EQ websites and companies showed up. There was breakfast, lunch, discussion, etc....as i have read on various sites, everry person who attended was placed in a group, and each group had two sony reps to answer questions. You were given a sheet of paper with spots on both sides for questions, and then if reps didn't answer questions during the discussion, they responded to them through email or mail or something. Alsom they filled up a whole cd and many pages with requests from the people who attended....so to answer your question, you can't really send a request that will actually be reviewed unless you personally contact a representative. you may be able to /petition in-game, i don't know if they would look at that though. hop e that answers your question.
RE: Looking good...
# Jun 16 2004 at 8:22 PM Rating: Decent
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70 posts
The correct in-game way of requesting changes is /feedback NOT /petition. (Some suggestions might qualify for /bug in fact.) There's generally nothing the GMs can do with suggestions.

About the summit, it was a great opportunity for the members of the player community that were invited to attend. The reports from those who were there seem to indicate an entirely new level of communication with Sony.

Unfortunately, that doesn't mean you or I has that kind of access. Mostly when there is a wide-open channel for the general player community to give feedback, some of intellectually challenged members of the player base fill it with so many rants or silly requests that Sony doesn't have the man-power to parse through it.

Several of the reports from the summit mention that those who attended now have access to a special forum that Sony listens and replies on. It's conceivable, (if you have a really great suggestion that hasn't already been mentioned a million times and doesn't fundementally change the balance of the game,) one of those community leaders could deliver it to Sony for you.

On a side note, the guild leaders who attended the summit were disproportionally from high-level raiding guilds. Woody of GU Comics mentioned in his summary that there were very few present who are not PoTime flagged. This isn't Sony's fault. We, the mid-level, casual players, do not have the kind of trusted, established leadership that the uber-guilds do. It leaves us without much of a unified voice that Sony can turn to for input.
RE: Looking good...
# Jun 18 2004 at 2:51 AM Rating: Decent
I think one of the reasons that the summit was made up of primarily end-game guild leaders is this- The past few expansions and past dozen patches have been geared towards fixing the "old world" to attract new players. Things like starting with spells memorised, weapon in hand, the Find feature, the new Tutorial, etc. are all geared towards making the game more enjoyable for newcomers. The primary purpose for LDoN was to give everyone opportunities to group easily, play for short periods of time, and get rewarded, ie: for a slightly more casual group of players. LDoN was a huge disappointment for the high end guilds, however. There was little high end content, and the risk vs reward ratio was horribly out of proportion. With so many players gaining access to the upper tier planes also, the end-game players were finding it hard to organise raids, and many were losing interest. In my opinion, GoD has been great for the endgame guilds. Yes, there's challenging content, and a good risk/reward ratio. Yes, zones require flagging. However, approximately half of those flags can be done with a single group. It doesn't require a raid force to gain access to more challenging content. And many of the raid zones are instanced, solving the raid time collision issue. In short, GoD was primarily designed to keep the long term non-casual raid players that Sony was in danger of losing just a few months ago to boredom, frustration, and congestion. When many players left the game at the start of GoD anyways, Sony realised that they had to take serious steps to keep the end-game guilds happy, or lose many of their most long-term customers.
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