EZ Server

Greetings everyone!

This update consists of two major elements, we're updating EZ to the past year and a half of EQEmulator code changes, most of which can be found here at EQEmulator's official change-log in more detail: https://eqemu.gitbook.io/changelog/years/2019

The other piece of this is that we have changed server hardware, the new server should be plenty robust and folks should notice quite a speed improvement when zoning and doing anything on the server. These speed improvements are both because of hardware and a LOT of performance optimizations made into the server code in recent years

The main parts of the code that had massive changes around them we had tested for two weeks on the test server

Notable Positive Updates

• Improved zone times (3-4 seconds in most zones depending on zone size and your connection)
• Improved server responsiveness across the board
• Improved mob pathing, roam-box pathing, general mob pathing movement updates should be far smoother
• Two additional top level inventory slots
• Many stability improvements, crash fixes

Test Server Testing (Post Update)

• Combat (damage should be improved if anything) Done
• Factions, interactions with factions, quests in both T9 and T10 Done
• Task functionality Done
• Interaction with items Done
• Expedition functionality Done

We had several people who were kind to donate their time to relieve a lot of the issue that did not make it to the day of the migration. These testers were Dimurwar, Ekiir, Tobin, Icestriker, Lillya, Samatron, Dracawarrior, Adoptedmonk, Xkan and a handful of others, my apologies if I'm forgetting others or if I mentioned you twice

Changelog (Post Update)

• Fixed an issue where certain tasks were not progressing correctly due to task behavior changes in the code update
• Fixed an issue regarding character factions as they had not been displaying properly due to the update
• Resolved an issue where some characters were missing factions entirely
• EZ Help Menu will now display when a player first connects initially
• Nuwferus MacKilligan in T10 now additionally makes sure to see you have the hammer quest complete before attempting to make any armor combines for players
• Fixed an issue with broken commands due to server update and backend code changes that broke command behavior
• Fixed the Mask of the Illusionist command functionality

1-12-2020

• Resolved an issue where aggro was not nearly responsive as it should have been when in direct aggro or social npc to npc proximity assist aggro
• Resolved an issue where NPC's may not be exactly responsive to aggro when just entering a zone for the first few seconds (Reboot)
• Resolved an issue with claim commands as a result of the update (Reboot)
• Restored functionality to the website character mover

1-13-2020

• Resolved an issue where folks would request too many unique zones simultaneously and get kicked back out falling from the sky - by increasing our dynamic standby processes

1-14-2020

• Those who had issues with credits missing have had them restored since the migration
• Gnoll assassins run-speed in T10 has been adjusted to be more inline with other mobs
• Most in-game command should be fixed again, if any are remaining broke please post them in the 2020 update thread
• Resolved an issue where freshly spawned NPCs may not behave correctly in terms of aggro

1-20-2020

• Class Inks are now available on the Noobie Merchant
• Removed class ink from all remaining loot tables
• Fixed issues where Sleeper named were not operating under proper respawn times

Site Updates

• Character browser has been update to point to the new server and we've also updated our version of Magelo to the most recent, so you should notice some improvements to the UI and display of character data. You may need to clear your cache in order to have things display correctly

We are currently in the process of addressing any issues in-game due to the transition, please respond in thread with any issues that you believe to be related to the transition and we will take a look at them one at a time. Once transition issues are settled there are plans to go through the Broken Stuff Repair Shop

Once we get past said issues and the dust has settled we should be able to get an event going for folks

If you are having character issues please send an E-Mail to ezserveronline@gmail.com

Thanks everyone for your patience ahead of time

The EZ Server Team

     I think I can speak for everyone in thanking you for all the work you put into this server change, the performance improvements were immediately noticeable. Most players, myself included, don't really think about what it takes on the back end of project like EZ Server, we just want shiny new zones to play with. We all owe you a debt of gratitude for the time you spend on the back end coding and tools, for our server as well as EQEmu, that keeps our little world turning.


   I will admit, I don't understand what exactly has changed in the various systems and code within the game, but through the changes, you've listened to player concerns about specific zones that were considerably harder than they were, Sunderock being a prime example, and instead of stubbornly holding to your opinion about it, you've tuned it to a reasonable level, based on your feelings, and input of players. This willingness to listen and compromise is all we can hope for from our Lead GM/Tech Guy/Coder Dude, and is definitely not the norm for game server admins.

   Again, thank you.

   Drac


  So....that event you mentioned.....what days should I plan on being 'sick'?


Also, since it relates to the server changes, Kildrukaun in Sleepers no longer casts his damage reduction debuff, ever. He used to incessantly spam it. This happened as soon as server changed over last night.

Been poking at sleepers a few times poped in today and the damage seems to of gone up quite some. guess ill need more healing and dps lol

I turned in the Qvic coins on my monk to Audyin before server shutdown with no issues. Was able to hail the level up wench and grab my 71.

When server came back, I tried to do the same on my rogue (Ramburglar).  I had the quest active and turned in one at a time as I always do.
Audyin thanked me for the proof as I turned in each one. I did not get the quest completion dialogue on the last one and hit ALT-Q to see if i missed one. The
task screen showed that I never turned any of them in.
Tried rezoning and relogging to no effect. 

Im seeing a big change to how the t10 mobs are agroing when trying to pull. They seem to be acting like they can not see my warrior unless he is standing directly on top of the mob.  They also do not seem to be linking together if say, I have 4-5 gnolls and they pass by another few gnolls as I pull they will add about 50% of time.

After some additional play this morning, it seems like mobs agro radius' are very inconsistent, almost to the point that they are completely non-responsive for several seconds. For example, in Sleeper, the warder's would typically agro as soon as you get on/near their square platform edges, now they sometimes do, most of the times don't, and when they don't agro, they don't seem to be able to be attacked for several seconds either, nor do taunts work on them.

EDIT
After a quick test, this seems to have something to do with some kind of 'timeout' when popping in from another instance. If you are in the zone for a bit, they agro as they should, but if you are instance hopping, and zone in, and immediately try to engage, they will not react to anything for several seconds. I believe Dewphrane said something similar this morning about OC mobs not being KOS when he zoned in, but they turned KOS after 10 seconds or so.

Damage in Sleeper seems ok, perhaps a bit more spiky than previous, but survivable as before.

an FYI just tried the Sunder expedition had mobs popping thru the floor and walls

How about the character mover?

Turned the wrong way in Befallen and my necro zoned to W Commons. Tried character mover since it kept crashing that character. Correct capitalization, just get errors when I try.

Looks like he gets a vacation.

May have found something with the huge backstab death increase seems these mobs are running at double speed now cant run away once agroed wondering if this was intentional ? Zug was that way too so far (although not a backstabber) was right on me upon turning around wasn't that way before had a little speed edge.

Fighting the named in Sunderock that spawn adds keeps killing my characters.  The adds wander around at first, then go immediately for my non warrior characters.  This also seems to be a problem with the plagueborn.

Also, is the run speed increase / warping going to be addressed for gnoll assassins in t10?

Missing ezcredits for my accounts that had them before the move. Is that something I should send an email for or is there some like ezcredit data copy over thing to fix all accounts at once.

Is there a run speed increase noticed in all zones or just T10?


Please send an E-Mail to ezserveronline@gmail.com as noted in the original post


Run speed has been noted and will be looked into


Fixed per reboot and changelog notes


Combat is more accurate, but should be mostly inline with how it was previously


If you're still having issues in regards to this please send an E-Mail to ezserveronline@gmail.com with as much screenshots and data as you can provide so we can better assist you


Fixed yesterday per changelog


Fixed yesterday per changelog

Yes the run speed of rogue class mobs are seriously increased. To the point they almost keep up with you for 4 or 5 seconds before finally falling behind. Barely have enough time to turn around before they swarm on you. This also is true of Bosses, Basslisk, gnoll assassins, orc death knights, and almost all the sarnak and goblins. Haven't died so many times in Sunderock.

Also in Sunderock Mount: Crack n Crazy Cracker used to just be a buff for 320,000 hp but now it shows up as a mount icon which leaves you stuck in the air unable to move at all.

In Sleeper the dmg on a fully UA is awefully high. And since Sunshards don't drop almost at all, my pally couldn't enter for me to see if he could offset the tremendous amount of damage being dealt.

I have not noticed any speed increase other than gnoll assassins.  For named, den mother, rellognub, and venombite have not noticed an increase in speed on.  I do not know anything about any other zones.

It seems the problem that mobs had when first zoning that would make them not agroable is happening to mobs that are spawned from named, or plague.  Repeatedly, plagueborn would run past my warrior and go attack the other people in my group.  The basilisks spawn from den mother ignored my war and killed my bard.

This is just an FYI throwing it out there typing /say aa hp stats does not return a result.

Booted up the t10 expedition today and it put me in dranik.  Typeing #e or #expedition gives the error "This is not a valid expedition command".  Luckily I remember from when my dranik expedition used to mess up a lot that the command was #e destroy.  

Pathing needs to be looked at in the expedition.  Mobs were coming thru the floor behind me, or just attacking me while still inside the floor.  Also, the zone pull now agros the blackburrow carp.  They did not agro before the update when using zone pull.

/say #aa - This works
/say #stats - This works
/say #hp - "Your access level is not high enough to use this command"

Thanks for the gnoll assassin speed fix. But the following are still way too fast.

Orc plagueknight
Orc Bassilisk

Sarnak mobs also keep up with a full blown run rate.

Orc plagueknight & Orc Basilisk were always faster then the other orcs, but I could keep ahead of them.

As for the sarnaks, I can tank far more then I can pull because I die on the way back to my group.

Tobin

So the runspeed hasn't changed since the update, its just become more noticeable because assassins backstab damage is now correct and poses a threat like it used to before our last major combat update

I was fine with peeling back assassin speed because that can be obnoxious trying to do a pull and getting peeled off constantly

However, for the other mobs, I'm not sure they really need to be adjusted back, I've never really heard a case for it

Is it possible to have 2 copies of the epic 10.0. I would like to have one in the 10.5 bane weapon without switching the aug each time. I tried talking to the roaming gnome.

did things change in the way mobs do damage from behind?  It seems like even mobs that dont BS, chew me up if I dont position them in front.  Didnt seem like a problem before.

Tobin

 No mobs have always destroyed from behind you cant defend from attacks from behind.

Yeah I remember it was that way on live, but im wondering if it wasnt here, and EMU code was changed to be more live like.

Tobin

So glad someone suggested this  ;)

Sarnaks are hitting while still very far away. They hit for 4k which adds up while they are being trained.
Orc plagueknights and bassilisk are still insanely fast. They are about as fast as the gnoll assassins before you fixed it.

Also I've had the Insane Goblin Familiar buff wear off mid pull even tho the buff said it still had 4h still on it. It turned my puller into instant swiss cheese.

Yeah gonna have to echo the long distance attack on the Sarnaks.

https://ibb.co/ZBT6KGC (https://ibb.co/ZBT6KGC)

Tobin

So I believe the speed elements were there to create a challenge in the zone, there does cross a line where it becomes more annoyance than challenge.

In all honesty, is this where you guys feel this is inline?

A lot of elements like this were removed in T10 during the overhaul because of this exact reasoning

Sometimes I have to discern between folks complaining to complain or things of genuine annoyance

There's a weird hiccup I encountered in Sunderock twice now.
January 23, 2020
1:35am pst
I had a pull of 10 mobs or so, fighting them a few minutes, and they suddenly disappear, reset to their starting locations.
The only thing I noticed that happened near simultaneously as the reset was "A thundercrack sounds as a portal opens up...."

A similar thing happened a few days ago, not sure what time or other noted coincidences.

Just a heads up, I'm still seeing inks on a bunch of anguish trash.

Initial impressions from HoS based on attempts at zonepulling

- upon ZP hit, a number of mobs will instantly warp directly on top of you

- throughout the pull while mobs are moving towards target, some mobs will find their way through walls and other obstacles, resulting in mobs hitting you in the back, or from the sides outside of your cone of attack/riposte

- pathing on all other mobs behaving as expected seems to have improved greatly.

//Ekiir

The big problem with the warping mobs is when a mob warps onto you, it ends up at your 0,0 location...large mobs warping means EQ actually puts them behind you and you get wrecked.  Normally you can mitigate this by moving back when the mob warps onto you, the problem I'm seeing is that you get a glut of mobs warping onto you and subsequently behind you on the initial aggro but when you path back to keep them in front of you, more shit warps onto you and ends up behind you...it's almost like it's pulsing a check for if your x,y,z has changed and if so it summons again.

One other thing of note, this seems to be specific to the super fast runspeed trash mobs in the zone, the ones that serve not real purpose like the beetles, iksar skeletons, fiery demons, servant of the gods, zombie dogs, and the ones that do serve a purpose of humoring me, Uncle Bob and Chester the Undead molester.

Just so its on record on the forums, the warping issue is being looked into. It's there as a result of another issue which I won't go into full detail there right now, but another dev who had a family member pass away recently and I will be taking a look at it when things settle down for him

Any chance NPC summon could be disabled off the boss mobs in hillsofshade in the meantime?  The warping is annoying but you can deal with it by backing up, but if you spawn a boss mob and shit warps behind, you can't back up or you get summoned and then everything ends up behind you and it's lights out.  Without the summon component, you have a chance to eat some damage from behind but can reposition to account for it.

Akkadius,
The run speed in T10 is a real annoyance. And then the sarnaks hitting incessantly even tho they are a mile away is just plain nuisance as there is no way to offset this midpull.

You guys complaining about mob warp in the HoS zone with zonepulls....you should take a little,  umm halloween island vacation. Maybe visit the north shore and really take some time to look down over the island while your up there, its really very nice.

Non issue since my last post, found a place that works regardless of warp and summon mechanics, but kudos on the tip.

sleepers weapons when equipped with epic aug do not seem to be working, ie shaman honor will not cast when equipped in a sleepers wep.

nothing posted in the change log that the ninja no longer works in sleepers, why ? Can bosses not despawn then, hardly time to get to them.

Group cure reward item doesn't seem to be working anymore

Is the ability for all mobs in ST to now be able to see through invis, specifically the invis cast with the Spirit of the Ninja clickie, intended?

Are these changes to sleepers being made from a couple of leet individuals input that basically finished it in a couple weeks and not necessarily the rest of the community ?