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| - Coming Soon
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- --08-31
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- Minor Details
- Miscellaneous Changes and Improvements
- "Hoktor! I was sleeping," K'rank spat.
- "How long has he been asleep?" Grevik asked.
- "No. Not yet, Hendac," Elysa spoke firmly. "I have faith that Ciandra and the Arcanum will discover how to craft the gem we need to complete the weapons. I will not turn to her yet." She tapped the location that the Burun and Renegades now inhabited. "We need something, anything that will give us an edge against these creatures. We need Kresovus' men to come through. We need the information from his spies."
- Last month in Dereth, we discovered more details of the Burun-Renegade alliance, as well as the fact that the Burun have plans of their own. The appearance of the hulking Guruk may have more ominous implications than we first thought... what is the idol in the Direland swamps supposed to represent?
- After a moment of study they all agreed. Jenavere spoke next. "Do the Burun know where these temples lay?"
- (posted on 03-Sept-2004)
This was not his home. He had been ordered to T'Gru Kookur to wait and to watch for the phenomenon of the Eye to begin. When it did, he was to send word to Reeshan, his liege. Then he was to walk through the portal, round up Morgluuk and Torgluuk, and find a way to force the eye open at T'Kuruul Reeshan. Reeshan would then enter the new portal and find the way to bring the other Kukuur Masters to the world of the Fiazhat Gods. There the Burun would complete their destinies and become the rulers of both their own world and the world of these would-be usurpers. That had been the plan.
- We've investigated the code thoroughly and have found no bugs that could cause this, we've even added additional logging that will trigger if this occurs – and it hasn't.
- Since the introduction of the Crafting Confirmation dialog box, we've seen several reports from players who claim that they failed their crafting interaction despite the crafting confirmation dialog claiming they had 100% chance of success.
- "Sit with me, Grevik. We shall talk of this." He smiled and sat at the table, motioning for another ale.
- Bolts and Arcs
- But plans change.
- K'rank.
- As Grevik made his way past the tavern, he heard a terrible sound, like granite grinding against obsidian as a mine was dug too deeply. It reverberated off of the stone walls and into Grevik's bones.
- :* Fall is here, with changes to the landscape and the character selection screen!
:* The Singularity Scepters have been adjusted for balance.
:* All Singularity missile weapons have had their damage modifiers increased.
:* Gromnie trophy weapons have had their wield requirements changed to base skill instead of buffed skill.
:* Agents of the Arcanum will now accept a Thick Gromnie Hide and exchange it for a Gromnie Hide Shirt.
:* Many generators on Aerlinthe were spawning too many creatures. This has been resolved.
:* New spawns have been added to the undead town on Aerlinthe.
:* Some White Wasp generators on landscape were only creating one Wasp instead of three. This has been fixed.
:* Some creature spawns have been moved farther away from housing, and from the town of Hebian-To.
:* Some high particle-effect objects have been removed from the center of the Singularity Caul in order to improve graphical performance.
:* Some emotes have been removed from Ivory Crafters in order to make it easier to give them items.
:* The Frozen Fury dais has returned to Glenden Wood.
:* The Alchemists, Cooks, and Fletchers of the new crafting quests will now return your item if your quest timer hasn't expired.
:* It's no longer possible to lure Bleeargh away from his initial spot in Yanshi.
:* The in the name of a bag of Salvage now no longer appears in the dialog box if Crafting Confirmation is disabled.
:* Houses now have better internal tracking for limited-hook items such as chalkboards.
:* We've resolved a bug that, in rare situations, could cause a house covenant crystal to forget which house it belonged to.
:* If a monarch character is deleted the new allegiance created will properly get allegiance chat room.
:* The text displayed when a gagged character tries to speak in allegiance chat has been clarified.
:* War Magic scrolls now have unique icons.
:* The Hand of Vagurat is now correctly Bonded and not Attuned.
:* All Canescent Mattekar robes are no longer Attuned.
:* Gromnie Coats no longer have a white abdomen section when dropped on the ground.
:* The Silken Wrap no longer makes your feet disappear when worn with lower leg armor and no shoes.
:* The Refulgent Bracelet is now Ivoryable.
:* The Spear of Kreerg is now destroy-on-sell.
:* The Eye of Drageerg is closer to the edge of the dais on which it rests, so it should be easier to pick up.
:* Ancient armor is no longer sellable.
:* The crafter-only restriction on the original Crops, Exquisite Elari Bows, and Virindi Scalpels has been removed.
:* All Sanctifier of the Clutch spells now correctly state that they affect Magic Defense.
:* The Lifestone Sending spell is now self-targeted.
:* Some Newbie and Low level treasure chests have been rebalanced to better fit the revised treasure system.
:* Ancient Coral Golems now have a chance of dropping Coral Golem Hearts.
:* Pyreal Target Drudges are now green.
:* Some creatures tweaked for balance.
:* "Turbine Chat enabled" has been removed from text at login.
- As we wrote in previous articles, in September we will be slightly increasing the damage on some War Magic spells. Bolts and Arcs at levels 1 through 6 will have their damage increased, as will Streaks at all levels. It is important to note that level 7 Bolts and Arcs are not being changed.
- Rollback Recompense
- Somewhere K'rank took another swig of ale.
- Turbine Nation
- War Damage Improvements
- Morgluuk approached. The scent of the mucor growing on his flesh was strong; it made him different -- stronger that most other Ruuk and with a life much longer than any Burun save the Kukuur. Mgrauleshk felt the bone sword tap his gullet and draw across it gently. A new stream of blood began to pour from his ruined form. He would die at the hands of the Ruuk. His mission would fail and Reeshan and the other masters would be kept away from their destiny. The sword tapped his chin and lifted his head upward. Mgrauleshk stared into the toothy grin as Morgluuk began to speak.
- You can see the old and new numbers below:
- Elysa slid forward in her chair and looked over the area of the map that they surveyed. "This spot is the destination of the first portal, the one Rage Lao found, isn't it?"
- Many of this month's changes have already been described in detail in the Letter to the Players. Here are some additional topics that we'd like to discuss in detail.
- High Queen Elysa's representatives are investigating, and we have received valuable information from our unexpected Mosswart allies, but will it be enough? Are the Burun too entrenched in Dereth to be defeated?
- "About an hour, the hoktor has driven off all of my business tonight! I've thrown a few boulders at him but to no avail." Kilbrik replied without a morsel of mirth in his words. "Drunk, too! He spent the night downing ale until he passed out. He kept going on about losing one of his men and needing to send him properly to the Gods."
- As we ponder that question, we'd like to take a moment to say thanks!
- As we'd previously announced, all characters on Frostfell, Solclaim, Thistledown and Leafcull will have the opportunity to obtain one free level's worth of experience this month as an apology for a server outage in late July.
- We'd like to thank all of you who made Turbine Nation 2004 such an amazing day. The turnout was fantastic – the Asheron's Call Player Luncheon sold out and both Asheron's Call sessions were standing-room-only. All of us on the Live and Throne of Destiny teams had a great time and we hope you did too.
- :* War Magic damage has been improved for bolts and arcs at levels 1 through 6, and for all levels of streaks.
:* The Three Crystals quests have been revised.
:* Content surrounding the city of Al-Jalima has been revised.
:* Projectile speeds on the Weeping, Hollow and Phantom missile weapons have been increased.
:* All characters have the opportunity to obtain one free level's worth of experience, as recompense for recent server rollbacks. This award will only be available this month.
- As we announced in our Hardware Upgrades article, we have invested in a new database cluster to replace the backup hardware that these worlds are currently using. We expect to be able to post more information, including when we will be moving the worlds to the new hardware, very soon.
- Grevik shook his head. "K'rank. We need information from your men. Has there been any word?"
- To prevent the possibility of such mistakes, we are removing the from the dialog that you see if you are tinkering and have the Crafting Confirmation dialog turned off.
- He passed the guards at the gate and began his search for the spymaster in earnest. It was night; dark shadows danced in every corner of the massive Lugian stronghold and finding K'rank would be an effort—if he was even here.
- Grevik Mar returned to Linvak Tukal with haste. The council meeting had been both informative and disconcerting. The Lugians of Linvak would soon need to make their role on the council felt.
- Grevik nodded, told Kilbrik he would take care of the situation and then walked to K'rank's side. He knelt beside the Captain and hefted the slumbering Lugian upward. The Captain reacted instinctively and struck Grevik hard across the jaw. K'rank stumbled away from Grevik and stood there fuming in the flickering torchlight.
- Grevik walked through the doorway and acknowledged Kilbrik, the tavern keeper. Kilbrik offered a weak smile while plugging his ears as best he could.
- "Antius, they've proven that they can change the world by their very presence. Look at the Blackmire or the swamp in the A'mun." Elysa slid her finger from the locations on the map. "They'll find a way if that is their next goal." There was a long, awkward pause. Then Hendac slid his hand onto the table and placed his finger on a spot that marked a solitary location, nearly inaccessible to uninitiated explorers.
- Starting today, each of your characters on all nine game worlds will have the opportunity to obtain one free level's worth of experience. Please note that if this XP award is not claimed before the October event, it will be lost.
Salvage and the Crafting Confirmation
- (posted on 08-Sept-2004)
"Digging?" Antius asked Jenavere.
- "On the job," Grevik responded. "Your man is not dead. We'd know if he was."
- Twenty savages descended as one upon Mgrauleshk. They tore at his flesh with their claws, weapons and teeth in an effort to kill the Guruk. He swatted a handful of the savages away with a powerful blow; three struck the shallow mire and bounced along its surface before coming to rest several feet away, motionless. Six of them tore at the flesh on his back, spilling more blood and causing the giant to reel in pain. He struggled to maintain his footing as five spears were shoved into his gut and driven out his back. Fortune smiled grimly as two savages were impaled on the spears as well. The remaining six savages beat his legs until they collapsed under the strain of his weight. He let out a loud roar as he collapsed onto the spear that now propped his broken body out of the swamp.
- One possibility is that folks who are tinkering and have the Crafting Confirmation option turned off are seeing the message, "Are you sure you want to apply the Salvaged [Material] to the [Item]? The [Item] may be destroyed," and mistaking the in the salvage bag name for a 100% chance of success. This could possibly account for some of the reports.
- "Excavating is more the case." Hendac nodded in affirmation of Jenavere's words. "They have the top of the structure unearthed and are working non-stop to find a way to breach the walls. The little Burun seem to have the larger ones under their control. I am not certain how that works out."
- As we stated in the August Letter to the Players, in September we will be allowing all characters on Frostfell, Leafcull, Solclaim, and Thistledown to obtain one free level. At some point during the event, simply go to Al-Arqas and speak to Jalina al-Hajj. She will give each character the amount of experience required to get from the current level to the next. For example, it takes approximately 5 million experience points to get from level 49 to level 50. If I am level 49 when I talk to Jalina, she will award me 5 million experience points, no matter how close I am to reaching level 50. Characters who are level 126 will receive 165 million experience points.
- We do remind players that they will need to do this sometime during the September event. It will be removed in the October event.
- "Serve my brother and I. Give us your allegiance and we shall return to Bur as rulers! We shall be the masters and the Sleeping One shall gift us with the glory of this retribution." Morgluuk finished and waited for Mgrauleshk's reply. Mgrauleshk could not win this fight and death would serve no purpose for Reeshan and the other masters. He croaked acceptance and saw the shamans emerge from the reeds bearing ointment and spells of healing. Deep within his being Mgrauleshk knew that he was the strongest Burun on this world. This fight had been staged to win control over the Guruk. He had already failed his masters once. He would not fail them again.
- (posted on 08-Sept-2004)
New Functionality and Content
- (posted on 07-Sept-2004)
Welcome to the September Letter to the Players!
- K'rank brought a hand to his head and rubbed his scalp. "I know that. But it was a great reason to drink." K'rank paused and cocked his head to the left. "You need a new hauberk, gray and gold are for someone far beneath your station. I'll have one requisitioned at once."
- "It's a possibility," Antius answered, tapping the map. "The second portal that was found in those ancient structures leads here." He put his finger on the map. "It's landlocked, no true access to a swamp, so they would likely have a hard time getting there."
- :* The Aphus Sun Guard looks better when hooked.
:* The Ebon Tooth Katar now hooks properly.
:* If you selected an Olthoi Acid Katar in the world, the selection reticule was to the left of the object. This has been fixed.
:* A black line at the bottom of the icon of the Wooden Tablet has been removed.
:* The icons on the untranslated Burun spell rewards have been corrected.
:* Typos in Leikotha's speech, Galaeral's speech, and the translated Aerlinthe Record have been fixed.
:* The descriptions of the fellowship spell reward statues in Hizk Ri and the resulting scrolls have been clarified.
:* The description of the Academy Quartermaster's door in the Training Academy was incorrect and has been fixed.
:* Some text in the character creation screen regarding skill credits has been clarified.
- Blood-stained and battered, the Guruk, Mgrauleshk, stared his attackers down. Around him the fresh corpses of fifteen Ruuk Savages floated in the shallow part of a fetid swamp, not unlike those found on Bur. Already the feelun trees were spouting from beneath the thick water and the scent of the mucor and koru mixed together with the pungent scent of this world's swamps. Mgrauleshk watched Morgluuk carefully. The Ruuk was of exceptional skill and possessed a keen intellect that Mgrauleshk could not hope to match. But Mgrauleshk was far from an typical Guruk. Now he put the mucor gift of his liege to good use, calculating the Ruuk's next movement. Morgluuk had yet to enter the fray, and the savages whose corpses littered the swamp around him began to return to the fight. Fell magic ruled here and the Ruuk possessed it. Torgluuk was the only shaman capable of such things.
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