Asherons Call: July Letter to the Players is Up!

Letter to the Players
posted on 28-Jun-2004
Welcome to the July Letter to the Players!

Last month in Dereth, Isparians continued to fight against the growing Burun/Renegade alliance. Renegade and Burun camps were discovered across the land, and each one became the site of a pitched battle. New discoveries by the Arcanum have cut down on the time required to prepare for a fight and made it easier for allegiances to rally together in towns. But will this be enough to defeat this new threat, when the Burun leaders have powerful magic, fierce warriors, and strong allies already familiar with our tactics and weaknesses?

Before we take a look at the changes coming for the July event, there are three other topics I'd like to discuss.

Verdantine
We'd just like to thank all of you who helped us make the Verdantine launch a success. While there were certainly a few rough patches, we've seen folks having a lot of fun starting over again. It was fun for us too! Not just as developers watching our players having fun, but also as players ourselves running around the new world. Who knows, maybe that person you fellowed with last night was a member of the Live Team...

Billing Migration
As Jessica mentioned in her latest Transition Diary, we're in the process of writing up documentation and FAQs for the upcoming migration. We expect to be able to post this information in the near future. To restate for emphasis: We're taking our time with this because we need to be as careful as possible.

To that end, in the coming months more of our Engineering and Quality Assurance resources are going to be dedicated to the billing migration. I mention this because it means that fewer of our In Concept topics will be moving to In Development. The success of the migration is quite simply higher priority.

Turbine Nation 2004
Our Turbine Nation schedule is posted and registration is underway! Both of these and more can be found at our Turbine Nation website. There will be information about the upcoming Expansion Pack, the Asheron's Call Player Luncheon, and lots of chances to talk to the Live Team. All that plus info on Asheron's Call 2 and Turbine's upcoming titles: Middle-Earth Online and Dungeons & Dragons Online! Join us in Providence, RI, on Saturday, August 7th!

Now let's take a look at some of the things that are...

Coming Soon
(These are items that we plan to implement in the July event. Many of these items were mentioned in prior articles.)

Improved War Magic Critical Hits
In July, War Magic critical hits in Player-vs.-Monster (PvM) combat will be improved. The three changes listed below will affect only War Magic spells landed in combat on monsters and War Magic spells cast by monsters on players. War Magic critical hits for Player-vs.-Player (PvP) combat will not change.

Currently when a War Magic spell scores a critical hit, it adds a multiple of the base damage of the spell to a normal damage roll. Starting in July, War Magic critical hits will instead add a multiple of the maximum damage of the spell. No more crits that do less damage than non-crits!

Critical Strike for War Magic currently scales from 5% critical hit chance to 25% critical hit chance at maximum effectiveness. In July, the maximum effectiveness will be increased to 50% chance.

Crippling Blow for War Magic currently scales from adding 50% of the spells damage on critical hits to adding 100% at maximum effectiveness. In July, the maximum effectiveness will be increased to adding up to 500% of the spell's damage.
Again, the three changes listed below will affect only War Magic spells landed in combat on monsters and War Magic spells cast by monsters on players. War Magic critical hits for Player-vs.-Player (PvP) combat will not change.

There is one additional change that will affect both PvP and PvM combat. All imbues and slayer bonuses scale their effectiveness based on the skill level of the player. Currently, imbues and slayer bonuses, when used with War Magic, scale from minimum effectiveness at 150 base War Magic skill to maximum effectiveness at 400 base War Magic skill. Starting in July, imbue and slayer effects for War Magic will scale will scale from minimum effectiveness at 125 to maximum effectiveness at 360.

These changes are intended to improve War Magic damage over time in PvM combat, in to increase the effectiveness of imbues for War Magic.

Aegis Effect for Loot Missile Weapons
In July, Bow, Crossbow and Atlatl users will be able to gain the ability to add a Magic-Absorbing property to any loot missile weapon. This property will work in exactly the same way as an Aegis shield, but has the side-effect of a 10% melee defense penalty. You will be able to grant this property to an item that has been imbued and/or tinkered, but you can't add an imbue after having added this property.

It's important to note that this is not expected to be the be-all, end-all balancing item for PvP missile weapons. We still have additional goals, as we've mentioned in previous articles. This new property is intended to give missile weapon users additional options in both PvP and PvM combat, in situations where incoming war spells are a greater threat than melee attacks.

Content Update: Lin
We are continuing with our ongoing process of updating the towns of Dereth and their surrounding content. In July, Lin and its nearby content will be revised to better suit its role as a base for characters in the 20-40 range.

Content Update: Singularity Weapons
We're also continuing our ongoing process of updating older quests. In July, the Singularity Weapons are being revised. The existing two tiers of weapons are being restated for characters in their 40's and 70's, and a new third tier is being added for characters in their 50's.

In Development
(These are the game changes that we are working on for the August event. None of these items are guaranteed to be added for August, as scheduling and priorities can change. Your feedback on these topics is particularly valuable.)

Crafting Quests
Due to scheduling conflicts, the addition of new crafting quests has been pushed back until August. These quests may be similar to those introduced in the June event, but would be designed for higher-level characters.

Content Update: Aerlinthe
We would like to update Aerlinthe in a manner similar to the recent Marae Lassel update. Landscape hunting on Aerlinthe will likely be revamped to better suit mid to high level characters. The Lady Aerfalle quest may have minor cosmetic changes, such as tweaks to the creatures in the various dungeons associated with the quest, but we do not expect to make any major revisions to the quest mechanics.

In Concept
(These are the game changes that we are thinking about for September and beyond. We cannot guarantee when - or even if - any of these changes will be added to the game, as scheduling and priorities can change. Your feedback on these topics is particularly valuable.

If not mentioned elsewhere in this Letter, topics listed as In Concept in prior articles have not changed status.)

War Magic Improvements
Along with the critical hit improvements that we're adding in July, we are looking at increasing War Magic damage on Bolts, Arcs, and Streaks at spell levels 1 through 6. The goal is to improve War Magic damage over time at lower levels, where it currently lags behind other combat skills in comparison to its skill credit cost. Level 7 Streaks may also have their damage increased, although this is still being researched. We want to ensure that any improvements we make benefit War Mages in PvM combat without unbalancing War Magic in PvP play.

Content Update: Three Crystals Quest
After the June Letter to the Players, priorities and schedules changed and this content revision has been pushed out past August. We plan to revise the Fenmalain, Caulnalain, and Shendolain Crystal quests and quest rewards to make them more appropriate for their various level ranges.

Conclusion
Those are our plans for July and beyond. Please note that topics that have been previously mentioned in the In Development and In Concept sections of prior articles are still being developed or considered, unless mentioned otherwise. As I mentioned at the beginning of this letter, you may see fewer In Concept articles making it into Development in the near future as we focus more resources on the billing migration.

As always, we value your feedback on this letter. See you in Dereth!

­- Ibn