Quick Updates
Wanted to post a quick update about some recent changes that have made their way to EZ, as well as a T11 Update, and some persistent bugs.

T11 Update

 Sarthin and I continue to work feverishly on T11 - Kael Drakkel, and can almost see the finish line. As previously posted, we need as many T10+ players as possible to jump into (Live server) Dragon Necropolis, and do their best against the NPC's there, so we can try to hit a reasonable tuning spot prior to release. While it's completely possible that we could shoot low or high on tuning, with more feedback, we have a better chance of getting it right. It will likely release overtuned, and be scaled back as needed, but we don't want it so difficult that people are deterred. Which leads me into: don't overreact to anything in T11 within the first couple weeks of release. There is no way to account for everything, and there is no way for everything to be so fully tested that changes or fixes need to be made. T11 is a fully fleshed out Tier. There a number of quests and items above and beyond just the progression aspect, and I think it will be an exciting addition to EZ's progression. Sarthin has dedicated hundreds of hours to this development, poring over every detail, and refining everything to be as smooth as possible. I think you'll like it (I mean, you're gonna die...a lot....but you know, enjoyably.)


Bugs

There have been a few bugs reported lately, primarily an issue with pet procs not doing any damage, and an issue with Auras not working. Both of these issues seem to be at a server code level, but an immediate solution is not likely. I am not going to work on a big work around for either of these issues at this time, as hopefully the EQ Emulator devs can fix the issues in server code.


Recent Changes

Quick comments on some recent changelog activity:

• Monk/Berserker Epic Augment (10) was revamped - these only effect the 10th level Epic Augment, as balancing DPS through lower tiers simply isn't worth the time right now. Both changes resulted in DPS increases, specifically Monk's Tiger Claw combat ability sees a significant increase in damage, so make sure that's worked into your combat spam key. Obviously some other classes need some tuning as well, but we don't want to do it in a hasty fashion, so they will happen when time permits.

• Idol of the Jailed had it's Twincast effect removed, and nuke damage increased to compensate. This is related to giving us headroom on spell effects that we need to have available for upgrades going forward. Twincast is powerful, but between a few overtuned item effects, it was already becoming too inflated.

• Curious Creation I/II/III - This change was a spell effect switch, as the previous version would not properly stack with other spell effects in use, and resulted in little to no benefit. This should be better now.

• Stonewall Reduction - Stonewall (melee damage mitigation) is an incredibly powerful spell effect, and simply cannot be tuned for if it's allowed to be used to it's fullest effect. As most know, Warriors max out at 79% stonewall, but with varying buffs and abilities, could previously get to 99% stonewall rating (mitigating 99% of incoming melee damage - basically unkillable), before it was previously reduced to a maximum of 85%. This is also too high to tune for. Players have found that by chain casting Tower of Vie spells, and varying which ranks you cast, you could maintain 85% pretty easily over the course of a difficult fight, or pull. While the difference between 79% and 85% doesn't seem that big, in reality it is a huge advantage, and again, impossible to tune for. As such, stonewall's maximum effective percentage has been reduced again to 81%. We aren't just trying to make everything more difficult, but our longer term plans require that players can't trivialize encounters through this mechanic.

There have been a few other things here and there, but nothing of major consequence.

Admin Team

Sarthin and I have been working on T11 together, and as I expected when I asked him to join me as a developer, we're working very well together. I have some experience he can lean on when he needs it, but he also has the freedom to work out issues on his own when he feels like he can. Our thoughts and ideas are very similar, and we both have a passion for EZ, and developing quality content for all of you. T11 is just a start, and while Sarthin has certainly been burning the candle at both ends trying to get T11 out, we will both find our natural pace, and continue with future content together. My focus will shift back to Dragonscale Hills (T12) once we get T11 out the door, while Sarthin will begin the outlining and brainstorming process for a new 'Halloween' zone.  Everything comes in due time, but it's an exciting time for EZ. Akkadius' support of our work is unwavering, and we'll continue to make sure we earn that.

For Sarthin & Akkadius,

                   -Draca
                   EZ Admin Team

TEST IN NECROPOLIS!!!!11!

We need some testing done for NPC difficulty for T11. We have set up scripting in Dragon Necropolis (necropolis) that allows players to spawn groups of NPC's with varied difficulty (HP's/Damage), and need people who've completed at least T10 to give some feedback.

Each spawn will consist of 4 NPC's, which can be pulled individually as needed. We need to know for the different levels, how many you could handle at once, how long (on average) it took to kill them, how many characters you had in the fight, and any other input you'd like to add. To access the available commands, /say T11 Test   while in Dragon Necropolis. NPC's spawn right near zone in.

This is critical to the rollout of T11, so the more the merrier (make instances).

Sarthin/Draca

I

Is it on the Test Server?? I can bring in a small team unless you want quantity of characters to check zone stability.

It’s not open for testing yet, still hammering out details.

When I right click it from a bag slot, Strike Augment book from Crafter's Guild crashes my client.

Hm...mine too. Checking into this.

Any chance that we will be allowed to make our own private instance of HW and ZP it?? We all promise to be good.

No. I added the aggro range increase, which helps manually pull the zone quite a lot, but no zone pulls or private instances.

So this is an odd one. When I load my new group of bots (different log ins) with MQ running, every time, and I do mean every time, they zone: Crash. Even loading into the game from character select, crash. Without MQ running - they run perfectly fine. No crashing at all. As soon as MQ is loaded, and they zone, crash. This is with a fresh, but up-to-date dedicated folder on my HD. Using a known working folder on my hard drive (Cause only the new characters, none of my existing 18 toons have this issue) same result. It's so strange. Any insights or something I might be missing, a setting or file or something? I am not sure.

Have you tried unloading MQ plugins one at a time, see if you can narrow down what might specifically giving you problems?

This really ruins it for people like me who make instances for single character to single kill specific mobs. I don't even ZP. Not sure why stuff like this is done. The obvious fix is to either ban those people ruining the bandwidth, not collective  punishment. This doesn't even fix the problem. The people can just bring bots in and continue ZPing away.

It has actually had quite an impact on the problem, and I have been watching for individuals who continue to hog resources, and so far people have been generally going along with the program. I understand it's a slight inconvenience, but you must have 3 characters to keep a zone open, not 30. Log 2 more characters in and have them jump instances with you at zone in, they don't even need to be grouped. It's a bigger issue for people who may just be getting into the server and haven't made any alts, so that may need to be looked at.

Code was reactivated this afternoon to combat the rampant use of fan botting instances. This code will cause you to go link dead if you are fanning out multiple single characters across instances. Players are makings dozens and dozens of instances, and in many cases zone pulling all of them simultaneously, which causes extreme, and unnecessary load on the server. This was partially the cause of the server shutdown this afternoon. During a routine update of the test server, the load generated by the code compilation, coupled with multiple, simultaneous zone pulls caused a memory usage spike that was enough to shut down both servers. This type of fan botting is not allowed, as the majority of these consist of one click zone pulls that automatically begin looting following the successful zone pull. Continued abuse may result in some extreme measures to combat it, up to, and including large cast time increase on Scorpion Spears, or we will rescind the allowance of automatic loot macros and plugins, with zero tolerance for their use.

Our server hardware is quite robust, it is in line with PEQ's hardware, yet has much, much higher resource usage, despite a much smaller population (1/3rd at best), but there's only so much hardware can do against what amounts to an internal DDOS attack on server resources.

General Guidelines:
 • Minimum of 6 man groups in each zone being zone pulled.
 • Stagger zone pulls amongst your boxes by at least 30 seconds.

*EDIT* To clarify, this code is not specific to people zone pulling, or creating multiple instances. It will also disconnect zones with 1 or 2 characters in the zone.


-Draca

Guild Leader: Cherrygarcia
Guild Name: <Friends of the Devil>

Done

Additional Updates:

As you've probably seen, Sarthin has come on board as a new GM and content developer, which is great news for the future of EZ content. While we await his final onboarding, he has been hard at work on a future tier in Kael Drakkel. Depending on progress, his development may end up becoming T11, with mine shifting to T12. While I refer to these as if we are working on them independently, that is not the case. We continue to bounce ideas of each other, in the hopes that two people have less chance of making a bad decision than one. I look forward to the continued work with Sarthin, and enabling him to make the fixes and provide the GM assistance at a level that you all deserve, and while I have been unfortunately absent in the past few months, there is good news on that front...

We found out last week that my Mom has been accepted to receive a lung transplant, and will be listed very shortly. We also were able to get my Dad into one of the best headache treatment centers in the country at Cedars-Sinai, at which some testing began today. Individually either one would have been amazing, having them both come together within days of each other is really beyond our highest expectations. This doesn't immediately solve my problem finding the proper time to make actual headway, it's a large step in the right direction.

Thank you everyone for your kind words, I do appreciate them,

  -Draca

Guild Leader: (Tsunamiwarr)
Guild Name: (Flaming Tsunamis)

Normally I check that a guild is available before I try and create it for someone...just went ahead and assumed this one was wide open.

Done

New Blood!

Akkadius and I would like to welcome Sarthin as the newest full time member of the EZ Server Admin Team!


Past Contributions:

Sarthin has been extremely helpful to me during my developments as both a very effective and thorough tester, and a very well thought out sounding board for various ideas that pass through my head (and should stay there). His input and constructive criticism has been incredibly useful to me, and his knowledge of the game, and love of EZ Server is apparent. He has never asked me for anything that would have put me in a bad spot, and has always done as much as he can to help the server as whole, and individual players where he can. He also has never shied away from having difficult discussions with me, but is willing to accept that where I may not always be right, he won't always be right either. This give and take collaboration between us makes me believe that we can do excellent things together.

Sarthin outlined and developed the Misty Thicket CG/FG alternate zone, which while limited in scope and availability, was executed very well, and very quickly. His attention to detail, and his desire to create quality content was apparent from the first time he began working on it.

First Steps:

Sarthin still needs to be made a GM on EZ, as well as get the access he requires to develop content, check logs etc., but when he does, he will be able to help with the same issues I can. His addition to the Admin Team can only result in good things for EZ, and increase the availability of GM help when needed, as well as double the output of content and fixes. Sarthin, as I am, will be monitored for the changes and additions he makes, both of us are held responsible by Akkadius to make sure that what we do is always true to what EZ Server has always been about, as Akkadius holds himself to keeping EZ as it's been since he began his stewarship of it. While Sarthin will have many of the same abilities to develop and perform GM duties as I do, I am ultimately the one who is responsible for what happens with EZ Server, so will still be the final word (Akkadius notwithstanding). This isn't a matter of pride or ego, but there has to be someone who makes a decision when it needs to be made, and that will remain with me.

What about me?

As I noted in my previous post, I remain as excited and passionate about developing EZ Server as I ever have. Time is my enemy at this point as it relates to developing, but that will change.

Tier 12?

Sarthin will be working on a few things, spells and spell interactions for one, but his first major development will be Tier 12 -- Kael Drakkel and the War of the Giants. His initial ideas look exciting, and Kael Drakkel has been a zone longed after by players to re-visit with EZ style content. As his development begins, KD will need to be locked out, so go check out KD one last time in the next 3-4 weeks, before it's locked until T12's launch.

Final Thoughts:

I am really excited about what's ahead, this addition only strengthens EZ Server, and adds someone with a passion for the game, but a bigger passion for EZ. Please welcome him to the team.


For Akkadius & Sarthin,

     -Draca 
     Your EZ Admin Team

Guild Leader: (Vaelor)
Guild Name: (Forlorn)

Done

Family should come first brother....all else can wait.  If it takes a few more months no big deal. Also I didn't know you owned a HD dealership.  I am wanting to get a bike soon...but with my COPD and all I am going to have to get a trike because I don't trust myself on a two wheeler anymore...any advice on that?  I am not overly fond of the sticker price on those (even used) is more than I care to spend...but I think it would be fun to get out and ride with my wife again like we use to.

Ray, trikes do tend to hold their value a little better than typical Harley models, and because they were somewhat limited in production levels for the first few years 2009-2011, it means finding a good one can be a bit tough. I would definitely stick to the Tri-Glide over the FLHXXX or later the Freewheeler, having the Tour Pak and trunk is huge, especially if your wife will ride with you, and the fairing just makes the ride way less fatiguing without having to fight the wind all day. If it were me, I would look for a 14-16 Tri-Glide, which is the Twin Cam 103 engine but with the newer style fairing and nicer radio. These also eliminated most of the issues with reverse motor failures, and have generally been solid mechanically. If you look to buy private party, call around and get some prices for an extended warranty, specifically the factory-backed extended warranty. Dealers do not have to sell these for a set price, they can be marked up astronomically, so shop around. As long as bike is within 12 years and 60,000 miles, and doesn't have any current issues, a warranty can be sold. In fact, I could sell you one should you want to go that route. Avoid 2017-2018 models, unless you can verify that they have updated their oil pumps, as they can have issues scavenging oil from the crankcase due to a vacuum leak in the oil pump, and the resulting puddle of oil starts fighting your flywheels and will eventually do some serious damage (condition known as sumping in the Harley world).

That's all I got..

Draca

Would it be possible on the EoBA/MA 50 (the last level) to make aug slot 24 and 25?  I understand not having it while it is in progression (people leaving augs in and then hounding you to replace them) but for those ear 50s that have been there for a long while....would be nice to use them again on the norm...the HW ear has higher hp/ac on it than the EoBA 50 simply because you can aug it. Thanks, Draca.

I mean...solid maybe?