Asherons Call: Ken Troop Answers

Ken Troop's Answers

The statues in the various towns are casting far too frequently, interfering with town chat and other ability to stay in town without being driven nuts by spells being cast on us.

RimDragonfly: The design behind these statues was that they were only supposed to cast one spell roughly every minute. During our testing this was working as intended.

Obviously things aren't working this way for everyone right now. We will figure out what is going on, and fix it, probably for April.

Have there been any changes to the rubble dynamic or the weapons?

Quintin: There are no planned rubble changes. We are still discussing internally, what, if any, changes we want to make to the rubble weapons.

Why didn't Unarmed Weapons receive the tighter damage variances?

Stardragon: I understand the points, but at this time we didn't want to introduce tighter variance for UA weapons. We instead wanted to wait a bit and see how this dynamic played out this month, and evaluate over time.

We spent a lot of time playtesting these weapons and creating and poring over spreadsheets (which was a fun challenge in itself given all the variables), and we think we're getting closer to what the weapons' ultimate values should be. Obviously we still need to do a bunch of tweaking, but we think in most areas we are close.

After this month, we may decide to tweak UA some more (like we might with any/all of the weapons). We may also decide to leave it alone. As we observe more actual data/gameplay, we will be able to tweak the system closer to its ideal.

Any thought to refunding 2 skill points for those who trained Assess Magic Item?

Shai Ilu:

About these appraisals....in an ideal world we could tell everyone exactly what we are planning and the whys and wherefores, which I think would answer about 90% of the questions/comments I have seen about appraisals.

But in this world, what we are planning still might change, in some significant ways, both in terms of timeframes and actual effects. So for right now all I will say is that we have a fairly detailed plan for the appraisals, that would make them entirely different skills, and that would dovetail nicely with our planned second step for melee improvements.

As it becomes more and more likely that these specific plans are happening, then we will detail more of that information to the players.

I would say that it is likely *if* these things happen, that we would be refunding the appraisal skill costs to all people who have them trained/specced (with some gymnastics for those Gharu'n who have it auto-trained), and allow them to opt into the new skills.

If our plans don't come to fruition, then we will likely adopt a whole new approach, which may or may not call for a skill refund.

Axes always had the maximum amount of damage possible, yet now they will cap out at 30, while swords will cap out at 32. Why have you castrated axe?

Eeriest Elk:

I think that Axers have more than enough reasons to be happy and content. Even compared to sword.

Why was staff, which cannot compete with dagger, another 4 point skill, excluded from the current melee balancing?

Hirihoto:

Let me be clear to everyone: Turbine/MS does not think Staff users currently enjoy the same benefits as dagger users. Not even close. However, when trying to map out our long-term plans, staff was a very difficult issue.

If we buff staff up so that it equals triple-strike dagger, and *if*, at some future point, triple-strike dagger works somewhat differently than it does now, then we are in a situation where we may have staff dynamics that are too powerful for the cost of the skill.

We didn't change staves now, because we want to make sure that when the final step of these changes come through, that there are no more broken "triple-strike dagger" dynamics that fuel even more complaints/issues for the next few years.

I know this is a poor salve for those players who are currently staff users. We may decide to buff staff weapons a little in May (I doubt we would be able to do it for April), but we honestly feel that Staff is where it should be, roughly, right now.

It's dagger that's completely out of whack. Our goal is to have nothing out of whack a few months from now.

I wub you Ken Troop. I'm a big suck up! ed. - He knows I'm kidding here guys!

Optim Shi: Thank you.

The Crystal Golem's melee defense is a bit too low, while it is immune to magic attacks, mages can just use their racial weapons on it. Also, the Quiddity items, along with Atlans, could use a buff.

Magic Rhino:

Currently, the Crystal Golem's melee d is 350. I think we put it a touch low, considering attack bonuses/heartseeker. We may decide to up that a bit come April.

As for the quiddity comment: I'm going to generalize about all quests here -- at some point we will be revisiting some old quests in light of these recent changes to some of the melee weapons. It may take us a few months for some dynamics, longer for others, but of course the rewards for both old and new quests will have to take these new parameters into account.

However, with any changes to the new dynamics, the same gating factor, i.e. the wield requirement, will also have to be put into place.

So we need to make sure we do the change slowly and cautiously, and put in mechanisms that will allow people the option to upgrade. Given the number of quests in AC that result in a weapon reward, this wasn't something that we can do overnight.

It is also not a high priority on our list -- these quest weapons have not changed, and for many people at certain levels, these weapons may still be very useful.

But it will happen at some point.

Again, us raising the bar in this fashion can only be a good thing for all of you. It may take some time for everything to level out again, but it would be silly for us to wait to put in this new dynamic only if we made sure that every atlan, singularity, or quest weapon in existence matched this perfectly.

These changes have really made my character more viable, I can do more damage and have gotten a few skill credits refunded to me. Thanks!

Non-Sequitor: Thank you.

We need more Sho characters in the game lore!

Watts: There isn't a main Sho character in this current cycle of lore. But who knows for the future...

More comments on Staff and how it needs addressed.

Last Man: see my reply to Hirohito.

Please don't exclude a class of characters from loot, by putting it on an anti-mage character. Also, I cannot seem to get past the defense of these new elementals, why is the content geared for the 100+ crowd?

Silik:

I think the Crystal Golems add a nice touch to the world. I also think that Singularity "quality" loot matters most to those people primarily dependent on items: non-mages.

That is *not* the reason this dynamic was instituted as such, but I think it is an interesting relationship.

I also think that these Crystal Golems are killable by mages.

As for the dual-elementals -- the design behind them was not guided by trying to provide "level 100+" difficulty. At your war skill level, you should be landing more than 1 in 10 times.

My Villa was affected by that bug, why do I have to wait a month to get to my storage?

Ashens and Orcspit:

I am truly sorry about that bug. Each time we "touch" (change, place, remove, etc.) a landblock that contains a house with a portal to a dungeon in it, we have to "relink" that portal to its dungeon location. We have a script that automatically does this, however, we missed these portals this month.

We are trying to put measures in place that will ensure this does not happen again.

This will be fixed in April.

Compliments on a great patch, the near flawless implementation this month and the skill credit refunds.

Midnight_Espresso: Thanks.

The current requirements on Mansions make them easily within the reach of a single player, meaning an allegiance could be shut out of purchasing a Mansion.

Athelred: If there ever becomes serious monarchy demand for new mansions, we would be happy to reopen the issue.

While buffs to player weapons are great, monster weapons should get a buff of some sort to keep the challenge in the game.

Notorious:

I think that there are many acceptable and varied definitions of what constitutes "combat fun". I think the one you articulate is indeed one of those definitions. I also think there are other, equally valid, definitions.

Our goal is to provide specific areas/playgrounds that cater to all those different types of play styles.

I don't mind seeing some dynamics in AC in which individual one-on-one pvm battles are quicker and easier for a wide range of players.

As for monster weapons, many of them are still buffer than these new player-ones. You just don't see those :)

Thanks for a speedy update and the skill credit refund.

Svetlana: Thanks.

Why can't a dynamic be added in which the higher my skill is in something, the more damage I do or more effective I am at it? Instead of reaching a plateau where additional points provide no significant benefits to my abilities?

Elric: I agree wholeheartedly with you that we want players to feel that with each point of skill they put into their offensive ability, they see some kind of result.

I would say that we are trying to work with some version of this is in our planned changes to magic/melee over the next few months.

This may not ultimately happen, due to coding/design resources, but some version of this is "on our plate."

I don't feel the game should be too easy, but should provide difficult challenges for players.

Greydog: I'm sure there will always be things very difficult to kill in AC for you. Again, I think AC sometimes veers to far in that direction for the majority of players, and one of our definite goals in AC has been to swing the pendulum back in the other direction somewhat.

But I also know that we will always try to have certain "danger" zones in the world that represent significant challenge for those of you who enjoy a very difficult play experience.

The color choices are fine, but why don't the bands on the Amuli Coat and the Amuli leggings not match? They look really bad as they stand now.

Cold: I'm sorry that the new color options do not appeal to you. We will probably not be making any changes to these.

I'm worried that with these new weapons with higher damages they will make my current hilted weapons subpar and I'll be forced to not only get new weapons, but wait for my hilt timer to expire to really be effective.

Xenocide: I'm glad you're enjoying the patch.

You still have the option to use your hilted weapons, and if you decide that you want one of these new weapons, then you have a new gameplay goal.

The point of your hilted weapons is that they have been great weapons for you for a long time, and they will continue to be great weapons for you. They are no less effective than they were last month.

Either way, you are not any worse off in how you were faring against monsters before.

(And unlike hilts, you can gather up a stable of these weapons at any pace you would like).

When I logged in today, everything in my house was gone. It sounds like the housing bug is not fixed.

Pippin: What world is this on?

More comments about Staff and how it needs attention.

Maya: See my earlier comments on staves.

Why is the Shadow Hunter Armor dye so expensive!?!

Wizzy: We don't feel 4 M notes is too steep a price to dye a full set of GSC. If you do, you are free to leave it undyed.

Go further with the wield requirements to give the non-magic crowd a buff. You should even to the point of adding items that require you to have a stat, such as Self, below a certain number.

Snapper: I think we are moving in the right direction, in terms of letting people who choose not to use magic still feel effective at higher and higher levels.

I think we will continue to add tweaks to further that ability.

Will we ever see cantrips on Jewelry?

Ethereal: At this time there is no plan on adding cantrips to jewelry. It is intended to only benefit people who wear armor or use weapons.

It is mentioned that Endurance will be getting some attention in the near future. Is it a good idea to alienate those who created the 10 Endurance characters at this point in the game?

Forlorn: I don't want to sound cavalier about this. You raise a good point, and it is always at the forefront of our mind when we decide to touch issues like this.

But AC is a dynamic game. Dynamic things change. It is supposed to change. It helps keeps the feel of the game from getting stale.

No, we don't want everyone to think that they *have* to reroll a 100 endurance chars. But we do want for people who decide they want to try a different template, to have a number of good alternatives. And we also want for players who did take a lot of endurance, to feel like that was a worthwhile choice.

And we think it will be fun, which is our overriding concern.

Comments about Staff, that it is completely ignored.

Taze: I appreciate the feedback. See my earlier reply about Staff. It was certainly not our goal to make people with staves displeased. I hope we can bring everything to the balance point we want soon.

The Statues are really getting annoying, they spam you and you are unable to filter them in any way.

Hazridi: The statues are part of a specific content dynamic....I agree that they do not seem to be working as intended, and we will labor to fix them.

Perhaps a small buff to Staff, even something like providing 7-14 damage. Also, are Rifts fixed?

Rortie: You may be right. As for the Quid Rifts: Yes their damage bug was fixed. We forgot to mention it in the build notes. We will rectify that.

Comments that the Sword of Lost Light cannot compete in any way with new weapons.

Philip: See my earlier response about quest weapons.

Is the Impulse spell, cast by the Gem of Impulse from Xarabydun, supposed to be superceeded by the negative mana spell on the Propyleum bracelets?

Kendawg: Yes, that was by design.

Has the .92 Personal Economy bug been in the game the entire time? Does this mean that Life Magic might get back on the spell economy?

Xavior: You're welcome. Yes, this bug has been in the game the whole time. (looks embarrassed) The life bug was a wholly different dynamic, so no, we are not putting economy back on the life spells.

I feel that it is unfair that the new Anti-Mage monster drops Singularity quality loot. I did spend 28 skill points for my war magic skill.

Tehanu: I would find it very interesting if the changes this month made it so that everyone felt that everyone else was more powerful than them.

If this is true, can Turbine go home now?

Sorry. Ok, seriously....we still strongly feel that both game systems and content still favor the magic using class. We still feel War 7's are the most powerful way of killing most monsters, bar nothing.

This has not changed.

It is not likely to truly change. We want melees to feel like they're having fun, like they have a chance to kill nearly everything they encounter.

It is this we are working on....not for melees to swing the equivalent of a War 7 every second.

Would it have been possible that, instead of a skill refund for those who trained Alchemy or Missile D, to move them up to specialized?

Kesrick: Unfortunately, no.

I agree that the mismatched bands on Shadow Hunter Amuli look bad.

Lilwitch and Gherkin: As I mentioned earlier, while I am sorry that the current neo GS* waistband colors do not appeal to you, we have no current plans on changing them.

Is it possible to fletch greater Atlatl darts? What is the maximum modifier we can expect to see on loot Atlatls? Will Thrown Weapons ever be worth its cost?

Yan-Tze:

1) Currently, there are no Deadly darts, there are Greater darts, however.

2) Greater than the current 60%. What that number will be, I don't know yet.

3) Yes, TW is included in our plan. I know it must be frustrating to wait, but it is a challenge for us to get TW completely up to speed to match the 2+ years of content that we have given bow and crossbow. We're working on it, however.

Why was the "Return to Lifestone" technology put into the various Hive dungeons on Marae Lassel? They aren't really associated with the quest, just the rubble.

Banderling Briber:

The original design for these quests called for this technology to be in place. Ultimately, for a number of different reasons, now was the earliest that this could go in. So an attempt to prevent "griefing" was a large part of the reason we did this, though not the only one.

Ultimately, we will continue to monitor the dynamic this month, to make sure that we want to keep all these dungeons as "no_login". Even if we decide to change some of these dungeons back, players can expect other quest dungeons in the future to use this dynamic.

Please make Aerfalle Keep one of the dungeons you cannot log out in.

Jaggo: We discussed Aerfalle's Keep for a long time. It may be put on the list at some future point.

The refund is really making me want to play more!

Rossby: I'm glad you enjoy the refund.

Now that the Quiddity Ingots are back in game, can you finally tell us how the original raids were triggered?

Qmann: It's still a super top-secret question. Sorry.

Please consider a @fillcharges command...and some Staff love.

Lila: Thanks for the feedback.

What was the thinking for making bow gauntlets drop at half the rate of the other weapon mastery gauntlets?

Cig: Right now, bow, crossbow, tw, each has a 5% chance of being on a set of gauntlets/sollerets. That was 15% I had to cut from somewhere else. So I cut 9% from Coord (which is now at 21)...and 2% each from Dagger, UA, and Staff (which are now at 8). Sword, Axe, Mace and Spear remain at 10. If I raised bow, xbow, and tw each to 10, that would represent even more of a loss for those other spells, which I was not prepared to do in one month.

I decided that, over time, the difference between these spells appearing at 5% or 10% would not ultimately play a large factor.

Yes, the more you pay for a skill, the more advantages that skill should have, but for the offensive skills, this means an ability to do damage, not necessarily to find bow mastery 6 gaunts more often.

Delaying a Staff upgrade is a mistake, and caused me to lose faith in the AC Live team.

Tricky: I'm sorry you feel that way.

I'm a big Thrown Weapons Gimp! Ph34r me! When will I get a super uber mod 113% atlatl? ed. - See I get to mock theCoD staff in these things, and they will probably never read it. Isn't this fun?

Ravlen: As I mention above, the number will not stay at 60%. It will be increased over time. Unfortunately, this will not retroactively affect earlier atlatls.

The revisions to the non-racial weapons will mean that the racial skills will get left in the dust, as new content is geared for the buffed non-racial weapons.

Russano:

First, there are no current plans for all the creatures to take a quantum step up in effectiveness to deal with the new weapons. The new weapons are there to make players feel like they are better able to handle existing content, to see a rise in their effectiveness after a certain level; not to start a new arms race.

Second, we have no desire or intention to get rid of the racial weapons. The 12 or 10 or 8 or whatever skill points one saves by choosing racial weapons, are points that can be spent on life magic or item magic, or specializing life magic, or specializing melee defense, or being able to level up a craft skill template through killing things, or whatever they choose to spend those points on. Those are valuable points.

Our goal is simply that racial weapons are no longer the most effective way for people to kill stuff by selecting a attack height, an attack speed, and clicking attack. There are going to be better ways of doing that now. However, that does not mean that it's not an effective way. Just not the most effective way.

The color of the Shadow Celdon Girth doesn't seem to match the rest of the armor. Is this intentional or a bug?

Eleria: all the GS* dye colors and outfits this month are intentional.

The revisions to Missile D cost are fine, but far too late. Also, the cost of Alchemy was fine, as compared to the other skills. Third, why do you continue to make ugly colors for quest items? Finally, the Statues are darn annoying.

Larytia: Thank you for the comments.

1) I believe Missile D is more useful than your perspective seems to indicate. There are also current content plans to make Missile D even more useful.

I don't think that our refund this month "saved" Missile D. I think it helps somewhat. I think it is far more realistic. At this stage of the game, I think that is roughly the best we could have done.

2) Alchemy -- I agree it is worth more than the other tradeskills. We just didn't feel it was worth twice the skill cost of the other tradeskills.

3) GSA Dyes. We did not intentionally make them ugly at all. Many of us on the team were quite in favor of the new colors. (I'm partially color blind, so I wasn't allowed to vote. But I certainly liked them as well)

4) Thanks for the compliments. I'm sorry the statues are so annoying.

Thank you for an excellent patch. Take a bow!

Corsi: I'm glad you are enjoying the patch.

More comments about Staff

Fist: I'm sorry you feel that way. Please see my other comments earlier in the thread.

I really need some new recall functionality to my house to make it usable to my friends.

Plover: One of our goals is to allow you to allow friends to recall to your house --- but without them being able to use @house recall functionality. Time will tell.

More Staff Comments

Malico: Thank you for the commentary. Please see my earlier comments in regards to staff.