Dark Age Of Camelot: Holiday Grab Bag

I know, it's not Friday, or even Thursday. But since I can't be with you on Friday, and I didn't want to miss the grab bag... enjoy the early column.

Happy holidays! Things may be a little quiet for the next week and a half, as we emerge with blinking, bleary eyes into the cold winter sunlight. It has been a busy and exciting year, and this is the season where developers remind spouses, children, dogs, hamsters, and friends that they exist. We'll be back, full force, in January.

Now, on to the grab bag!

Q: Regarding your proposed server clustering concept - what about those of us who have characters on all the servers in a proposed cluster?

A: I am not including this in the grab bag because I have an answer. I don't. Not a final one, anyway - the team is discussing a number of possible solutions, all with different pros and cons.

I included this in the grab bag so that you would know that *I* know this is your number one top question about server clustering. (Let's just say that out of hundreds of questions this past week, this one was easily half of them. And last week was worse.) I also want to thank you all for your many fine suggestions. We should be able to tell you more in January.

Q: Will there be a merchant that sells Aurulite for testers on Pendragon, like how there is a merchant that sells Darkness Falls seals?

A: Yes! Notification went into the hot fixes we posted earlier. Thanks for the suggestion.

Newcomers to Camelot - please note that these are among the many benefits to playing on our test server. Hey, I'm just saying.

Q: I was wondering if it was intended for there not to be a cloak on the lvl 30 armor merchant in the inconnu crypt. I went to get armor for my new heretic, and I noticed that everything else was there except the cloak. All of the other merchants had the appropriate cloak with their individual armor sets, but the lvl 30 merchant did not.

A: This and many other changes to the stores are currently on our internal testing server, and will roll to Pendragon after the new year. Our Item Mistress said the changes were too big for a hot fix, and Bad Things happen when we don't listen to her.

Q: Sanya, why can't Heretics use Malice or the croc ring? It will be a terrible shame to be able to spec crush, and not use those items. When those of us who were wanting to play heretics heard that we could spec crush 100% of us first thought oh goody malice! I hope this is changed soon.

A: Your Item Mistress wants you to know that you're right. She said "Malice's Mace and Crocodile Tear Ring should indeed be available for Heretics to activate. Watch for the patch notes indicating it has been fixed."

Q: How come in the instanced dungeons found in classic camelot areas the creatures stop dropping items after you leave the level 1-10 instance?

A: Here's the official answer: "Classic Camelot zones in general do not drop ROG items, so we generally stayed consistent with that [design] in the instanced areas. Players instead receive aurulite in the instanced adventure wings. The aurulite can be used to purchase armor, weapons, and jewelry that is suitable to the player's class. Each adventure wing also has a boss monster that does drop a handmade item. The dungeon task monsters do not drop items as experience is the primary reward in these dungeons. However, the monsters are also worth more coin [than the monsters in ordinary zones] as they do not have a treasure table."

Q: Is there any truth to the rumor that the "early adopter" orbs will turn into respec stones. I have purchased three copies of Catacombs, which have been wrapped and placed under the Christmas tree with care. Will I be losing a respec stone on each of these accounts by insisting our family wait till Christmas, or is there no basis to this persistant rumor?

A: As I put it when I posted the patch notes - I promise, it's just a little shiny thing to equip and wave at people who didn't buy Catacombs in the first week. It doesn't DO anything, and no, it will not turn into a respec stone (so please don't try to sell them for nine gazillion plat; yes, I'm talking to YOU, mister man on Hib Guin).

Before some of our more jaded readers roll their eyes and say, "It doesn't DO anything, what's the POINT," I would like to direct their attention to people who know perfectly well that it doesn't do anything, and are still mad that they didn't get theirs before we stopped offering the orbs. Sometimes, it really is all about the "bling." Or something like that.

Anyway, good sir, you may make your family wait until the big present opening day with a clear conscience.

Q: Hail. I am GM of my guild, and when viewing the guild information here on the Herald, I see a name missing. It's my understanding that if a character/account just goes inactive that the player will remain in the guild, and that if the character/account is deleted by the owner they will no longer appear there. Is this the case that he deleted his character(s)or is the Herald still not fully functioning properly? I thank ye for your time. /bow

A: Until recently, what you said in your email was true. When we streamlined the Herald processes a few weeks ago, we fixed it so that a player who has stopping paying for his account will not display on the Herald. (Players who have canceled but not yet run out of prepaid time will still display.)

Q: My character has not been updating properly on the Herald.

A: Everyone who wrote to me with that problem this week hailed from Nimue. There was a problem with that server's connection with the Herald. We've got a temporary solution in place right now, but it runs a little slow. Please be patient while we work to get the problem fixed, and thanks very much for bringing it to my attention.

Q: Will there be a DAOC 2?

A: Over the dead body of all the people working on DAOC.

Q: Hello, I was gone from the game for awhile and when I came back I was not able to log onto several of my toons that were logged out in the frontiers and the battlegrounds. I stopped playing before NF took effect and know that has something to do with it. Now that I am back playing is there a way that you could free them up for me or at least give me a toon of equal lvl? Thank you very much.

A: Welcome back. (I've been trying to run this question regularly as we welcome "home" many old friends, so if this is a repeat for you, please be patient with me.)

Please send an appeal with one of your alternate characters that you can log in, and tell us the names of the characters that are in limbo, AND the servers where they are located. You can even mention in the appeal whether you'd like to be moved to the main city on the mainland, or the main city for your realm in Shrouded Isles. (If you don't say, the CSR will pick for you.) The CSRs will be happy to fish you out of the darkness.

**

There will be no grab bag on December 31 (I'll be taking practically my first trip ever out of the country, try not to miss me :P), but look for its return on January 7.

Your friends at the Camelot Vault have set up a nifty artifact database: http://camelotvault.ign.com/?dir=artifacts. It's community driven content, so if you feel like adding some of your artifacts, head on over! Thanks, Olafur, for all the hard work. And thanks are as always due to Swanny, the rock of the internet.

Speaking of the Vault, I just wanted to shout out to Ant Butternut. You are certifiably insane, and you never fail to amuse. I am not blond.

I also would like to wish a very happy holidays to all the news and fan sites - Catacombs, Safehouse, Allakhazam, GameRifts, Ianstorm, Gamergod, and more. Even Corpnews. Thanks for a wonderful year - you all are the backbone of the community, and I wouldn't be here without you. If I left your site out, it's not because of you, it's because I messed up.

A big Ho Ho Ho to the team leads and to Team Teal! Gooooooo team. Or is it BAAAAAAAA team?

Though the Herald will be a little quiet for the next week, don't stop checking - Missy is planning to update the Community section with your news and special events, so keep sending in those announcements!

Have a wonderful holiday, and please accept the best wishes from all of us at the Herald, and the whole Mythic team. PLEASE, everyone, be safe. If you want to imbibe... do it behind the keyboard, not behind the wheel.