|
Title: Upcoming Things Post by: Draca on July 11, 2022, 05:57:47 pm Updates ♦ Server Updates There have been several backend updates over the past month or so, both of which appear to be stable and working without issue. First we had the change to int64, which is a project that Akkadius VERY rapidly pushed out, that gives us functionally unlimited headroom when it comes to damage and hitpoints. This allowed me to remove the mitigation self-buffs in Veeshan, and simply increase their hitpoints. Secondly, we had a general server update from the EQEmu devs, that includes a streamlined API for EZ's main scripting language, Perl. While this update will not likely directly affect you, it provides increased stability and brings the interaction between the source code and our scripting language up to date. There is not enough I can say to thank the people who jumped over on Test when I needed them during these updates. While it's not the most exciting work, especially when it's not new content, and it's just playing the game like you normally would but with no personal benefit, it's ultimately super critical to get as much stress and quality control testing done on these updates before it hits the prod server, and causes issues for hundreds of characters. Thank you everyone. ♦ Game Updates/Hotfixes I don't remember the last changelog update I've provided here, so this goes back to the beginning of May; ♠ [May 2nd 2022] [Draca] [Spells] Several spells have had their damage components split. This should prevent them from causing negative critical damage, while dealing the proper amount of damage. - This is outdated, but was a band aid attempt to correct negative spell damage issues. ♠ [May 2nd 2022] [Draca] [Items][Idol of the Jailed] Recast has been increased from 1 second to 5 seconds. - It was a just a smidge overpowered with basically no recast (Idol of the Jailed is a Veeshan drop that has a strong clickable nuke). ♠ [May 2nd 2022] [Draca] [Spells] Beastlord spell Vicious Ice V now properly requires Ice Water instead of Fire Water to create ♠ [May 3rd 2022] [Draca] [Spells][Timeless: Vampiric Thunder II] Was previously set as a song, has been corrected to normal buff. ♠ [May 3rd 2022] [Draca] [Items][Idol of the Jailed] Additional damage division to prevent overflow and negative damage in certain circumstances. - More band aid attempts for spell damage ♠ [Mon Jul 11 12:31:32 2022] # [May 3rd 2022] [Draca] [Spells][Timeless: Vampiric Thunder] Spell effects were incorrect following some changes on Test that pulled over, corrected. - When I pull over database content from Test, it includes the entire table, so sometimes a 'work in progress' gets pulled to prod. ♠ [Mon Jul 11 12:31:32 2022] # [May 8th 2022] [Draca] [Sleeper's Tomb] Kerafyrm's Warder's, and the crystalline golem protecting her lair seem to be more annoying then usual....might even consider them a pest. ♠ [Mon Jul 11 12:31:32 2022] # [May 8th 2022] [Draca] [Old Commons][Ogru] Boss item turn ins (Hill Giant Eye etc.) should now correctly apply faction to solo, group or raid players. - This had previously been believed fixed, but some quirks required more work by Ogru to correct. ♠ [May 12th 2022] [Draca] [Sunderock Springs] Little J'Haughn had a scripting issue related to a previous change, this has been corrected. ♠ [May 13th 2022] [Draca] [Spells] Painfully Gorgeous spell line has been made a normal buff instead of a song. ♠ [May 16th 2022] [Draca] [Items] Supreme Rainbow Crystal is no longer has a selling price for merchants ♠ [May 24th 2022] [Draca] [Spells] Shylo's Bolt of Doom IV is now properly usable by Magicians. I have left Enchanters able to use this version, though that won't continue with this spell line. ♠ [May 24th 2022] [Draca] [Expeditions] Sunderock expedition now bypasses the cinematic scene in Dreadspire, and players will be directly ported to Blackburrow. -Sunderock expedition seemed to consistently crash people during a cinematic cutscene before you are sent the Blackburrow. Instead of troubleshooting that issue, the cinematic portion was removed. ♠ [June 12th 2022] [Draca] [Server Code] Server code was updated. See May 27th Forum post for specific details. ♠ [June 12th 2022] [Draca] [Veeshan's Peak] Mobs in Veeshan's Peak no longer require self-buffs, and have been re-tuned using our higher hitpoint limits. Some balancing may yet be required. Please report to Draca. ♠ [July 2nd 2022] [Draca] [Halloween Event] Willowisps in Hills of Shade have been renamed to correct a boss trigger issue. ♠ [July 5th 2022] [Draca] [Items] Ultimate Weapon VIII through XII have had their backstab values adjusted to better line up Rogue DPS to other melee DPS classes. ♠ [July 5th 2022] [Draca] [Items] Sleeper's Point Dagger previously had unrestricted backstab damage. This has been corrected. ♠ [July 5th 2022] [Draca] [Items] Rogue Class Augment 10 has had it's backstab modifier changed from 50&PCT; to 65&PCT; [July 6th 2022] [Draca] [Veeshan] Enslaved Dragon Soul will once again cast spells as intended -*See below regarding Rogue changes (read: nerfs) ♠ [July 9th 2022] [Draca] [Spells] Negative spell damage should be corrected. Further work on caster damage in the future. -**See below regarding caster damage. ♠ [July 10th 2022] [Draca] [Spells] Incinerating Aura V now works as intended. ♠ [July 10th 2022] [Draca] [Spells] Irrational Irritation III has had it's hate bonus reduced to 30&PCT;, to prevent a situation where hate is above 100&PCT; and no longer works. ♠ [July 10th 2022] [Draca] [Spells] Shy Crustaceans' Soul Eater spells have been adjusted to correctly hit all mobs with in the area of effect ♠ [July 10th 2022] [Draca] [Items] Mana Necklace focus effect has had it's spell damage modifier changed to work properly with Ultimate Charm and Earring of Mystic Ages effects. -See below regarding caster damage. * Rogue Damage: • Rogue damage was out of control, primarily due to a mis-assigned stat on the Sleepers Point Dagger that allowed for hundreds of millions of backstab damage, along with high auto-attack DPS. While obtaining the Sleepers Point Dagger is difficult, as entering Sleepers Tomb requires 3 pieces of Ultimate Armor, it didn't justify it being many times better than the Ultimate Dagger XII, which requires a king's ransom worth of materials to complete. Ultimately, in order to maintain some class balance, adjustments had to be made. Those included properly assigning a backstab value to the Sleeper's dagger, bring up the base weapon damage of the Ultimate Dagger XI and XII, as well as increasing the backstab damage modifier on the Rogue Class Augment 10. All of these changes are focused on the end game because it's not an issue for people who can't access Sleeper's Tomb. Active Rogues still parse roughly 10-15% above the next highest DPS class, Monks, which is a place where I'm happy with them. * Caster Damage: • Caster damage is awful. While negative damage issues have been corrected, it's still awful, even when played individually trying to min-max them. This will be addressed with additional increases to the damage bonuses on several items, including Ultimate Charms, Mana Necklace and Earring of Mystic Ages. Previous issues with negative damage were a result of the use of the same spell effect on multiple items, which was causing obvious problems. Also troubling is that the Mana Necklace XII, which is not very difficult to make, had the same spell damage bonus as an Ultimate Charm 4, which needed to be addressed. So it has been. I've used a different spell damage effect for the entire Mana Necklace line, which doesn't clash with the EoMA or UC effects, and still provides an appropriate bonus for it's difficulty. There will be a new spell file up in the next few days, which will correct any lingering display issues with modified spells and item effects, I don't want to put it out right now, as more changes may be needed, and I don't want to make you update your client files repeatedly. ♦ New Stuff Now that the server updates are behind us, and I'm getting through most of the critical hotfixes and updates I've wanted to address, I can begin working on new content, which is, and has been progressing. First announcement, is that July Beyond that, there are several things in the pipeline, including a small quest zone for an upgraded Champion's Symbol (yes, I know, I've mentioned that several times), and further out is Tier 11. These are coming Soon™-ish©. ♦ Old Stuff EZ Server has rules. They are easy to find. If you have any questions regarding the rules, or whether something you're doing may or may not be allowed, ask me, I'm super available. If you choose not to follow the rules, you may be banned like the 30 characters this morning who also chose to not follow the rules. As always, for Akkadius & Rent, -Draca EZ Server Admin Team Title: Re: Upcoming Things Post by: Miriya on July 11, 2022, 06:23:47 pm Thanks for your continued hard work for the server, Draca :)
Title: Re: Upcoming Things Post by: Sarthin on July 11, 2022, 07:14:28 pm Awesome, just awesome! We're lucky to have you on board, Sir!
Title: Re: Upcoming Things Post by: akpainter on July 11, 2022, 07:40:21 pm Thanks Draca!
Title: Re: Upcoming Things Post by: Chieftan on July 12, 2022, 05:45:31 am Thanks Draca for all you do :) very nice
Title: Re: Upcoming Things Post by: Ginge on July 12, 2022, 05:46:51 am Bacon Is for teh losers. Tank Title: Re: Upcoming Things Post by: Otto on July 12, 2022, 04:13:31 pm It's cool to see there is ability to go beyond the hard-cap for damage and HP. Nice work EZ Server team!
Title: Re: Upcoming Things Post by: Draca on July 12, 2022, 04:28:24 pm I love bacon, you are the best, bacon bacon bacon. Tank I agree Tankus..bacon. Title: Re: Upcoming Things Post by: Ginge on July 12, 2022, 04:46:50 pm Bacon Is for teh losers. Tank I love bacon, you are the best, bacon bacon bacon. Tank I agree Tankus..bacon. You can clearly see bacon is for teh losers.../quoteception Tank Title: Re: Upcoming Things Post by: Fugitive on July 12, 2022, 07:03:18 pm :) :) :) WTS Bacon
Title: Re: Upcoming Things Post by: Draca on July 17, 2022, 09:02:53 pm Quick Update:
• Special Rallos Event originally scheduled for 7/24 has been shifted to 7/31. Due to the planned difficulty of this event, thorough testing is required, and some loose ends need to be taken care of. Planned start time remains 2pm Pacific Standard Time (GMT-08:00). This time gives both North American and European players an opportunity to participate. I have fielded a few questions on how loot will be handled, so I will address that now. Everyone who participates will receive a single tradeable item, tentatively named "Crispy Bacon Strips of War". These can be used, traded or combined amongst your characters, at a vendor in Plane of Tactics. Some items at this vendor will require more Bacon Strips than others, so it would benefit you to bring as many characters as you can usefully play. • Since the first post, I have update the spell file in the EZ Server files drive link (Red letter link on left panel of forums). This covers the variety of updated spells and buffs that have been updated in the past week. From the changelog: [July 11th 2022] [Draca] [Spells] Dimur's Glacial Gift has had it's damage significantly increased. [July 11th 2022] [Draca] [Spells] Hateborne's Glacial Gift III has had it's damage significantly increased. [July 11th 2022] [Draca] [Spells] Kaldar's Heavenly Fire III has has it's damage significantly increased. [July 11th 2022] [Draca] [Spells] Static Burst III has had it's damage significantly increased. [July 11th 2022] [Draca] [Spells] Shylo's Bolt of Doom IV has had it's damage significantly increased. [July 11th 2022] [Draca] [Spells] Seismic Shift III has had it's damage significantly increased. [July 11th 2022] [Draca] [Spells] Timeless: Chromastrike IV has had it's damage significantly increased. [July 11th 2022] [Draca] [Items] All Ultimate Charm ranks have had their spell damage bonus improved by 100-300&PCT; (depending on UC rank). [July 11th 2022] [Draca] [Items] Idol of the Jailed recast time has been reduced to 3 seconds, damage increased on clickable nuke. [July 12th 2022] [Draca] [Spells] Insanity IV has had it's damage significantly increased. [July 15th 2022] [Draca] Practice Dummy hitpoints and regen has been dramatically increased. [July 15th 2022] [Draca] [Spells] One Man Band spell line (Bard epic click) has had it's spell damage effect changed. Was previously negatively impacting damage in certain situations. All of these changes, and some are substantial, are to bring casters into a much closer alignment with melee DPS, instead of doing 10% of the DPS, for 300% more work, they should now be pretty neck in neck...although still for 300% more work. Title: Re: Upcoming Things Post by: Draca on July 21, 2022, 01:23:58 pm Quick Tuning Test - Sunday 1pm PST
Due to this event (hopefully) drawing a large number of players into one area, I would like to get as many people together this Sunday July 24th at 1pm PST (-08:00GMT) on the live server for both a stress test of the zone, as well as some figures I can use for DPS output of a large group of players, to properly tune the world event encounter. This will be a static test against a stand in NPC, but will be critical to the success of the event the following week. Couple notes regarding this event: • This is a server event. This requires a good number of high end characters to complete, it is impossible to complete as a single group. • It is certainly possible that the event will not successfully kill Rallos Zek. Tuning for this will be very difficult, and there will be strategies required beyond what EZ is used too. It will by no means be impossible, there is a generous encounter time limit, but without proper strategy, and execution, it won't be easy. It's nothing that can't be done with boxed characters, it simply requires proper execution, and teamwork. • Loot will be handled out in a somewhat awkward way for this first event, which will be clarified on the day of the event. -Draca Title: Re: Upcoming Things Post by: Serra Angel on July 24, 2022, 10:18:29 am Are we encouraged to even bring our T5 characters? Since it seems like its a stress test of the zone's ability to take so many toons at a time? Also can I find out which zone it is to bring my guys in? Thanks.
Title: Re: Upcoming Things Post by: Draca on July 24, 2022, 12:11:14 pm Zone is Plane of Tactics - potactics
Minimum level is 75 for the actual event - however I am going to lower that to 72 for today, so we can get as many people in as possible. Also, just to make sure expectations aren't too high, this is not a test of the mechanics of the event. What I am primarily looking for in today's testing, is to: A) see how the zone handles a large group of players B) make sure it's in fact playable for people (I'd suggest lowering settings as much as possible) with a large group of players around C) verify the collective DPS of a large group of players so that the encounter can be tuned properly. All of the lore aspects, NPC emotes, and guest stars are all removed. There will be some basic adds that pop during testing, but those are just for benchmarks. Title: Re: Upcoming Things Post by: Serra Angel on July 24, 2022, 04:21:36 pm I just logged in all 36 toons and put them in PoTactics. Only 34 can get in there due to the lvl 72 cap. There are 78 toons in the zone and I am skipping in my animation of running down the hallway, even tho I am running away from the toons.
I have most of mobs as stick figures. Correction there are only 35 toons in zone. So its just you and me in there Draca. Title: Re: Upcoming Things Post by: Draca on July 24, 2022, 11:32:18 pm Quick rundown of the event testing. We started with approximately 330~ players in the zone (last I checked anyway), and once spawned and engaged, near universally went linkdead. While the zone didn't itself crash, it clearly could not handle the number of players. So, after cutting back the numbers of players to 60~, they were able to engage and DPS, and made very slow progress killing a clearly over tuned add. While I would say it was unfortunate that everyone showed up for nothing, it was quite informative for me. To tune this encounter I used parsing data from a few different players' groups, and then made some assumptions on how that would translate into a much larger group, that didn't turn out to be accurate, both in the size of the available group, or the sustainable DPS against a mob that isn't the practice dummy. We also learned that we are going to have to make some modifications to the scale of the event.
Couple Changes: • Next Sunday, I will be grouping different players together, to form an approximate raid size of 60-70 characters. Following a successful kill, that group will be out, and the next will move in. There will be a limit to the number of attempts per group, but I will be parsing, so should a group be DPS limited compared to others, we can add a few ringers to level up the DPS, and give an equal chance of success. Whether you choose to share details of the event, I leave up to all of you, but I'm not policing OOC about it, so if you don't want to know, filter your chats that day, as we'll be using /shout within the zone. I will send the main character a tell when it's their turn, so you won't miss out. Because the original timing was meant to allow EU and NA players to participate, I may begin earlier if people are online and ready to go. • Loot will be handled, as I have mentioned, slightly awkwardly this time, as I don't think I will have the time for a proper loot script. Basically, every character in the raid will receive a tradeable kill 'token', which can be used at a merchant to purchase some new & powerful items. Now, not many items will be 1 token, in fact there is a single item that costs just 1 token. This merchant style loot isn't the awkward part, that's the intended way to earn loot from this event, the awkward part will be that I will manually hand out the tokens for this event at the conclusion of the event, possibly into the next day. Reasons for this are two-fold, first is the lack of time to properly execute a loot script as mentioned, but most importantly, is that characters who are present, but do not actively help, won't receive credit. So, casters need to cast, healers need to heal, melee need at minimum to attack the mobs, ideally use some abilities. This will remain a difficult encounter, even with the lowered tuning, so every character needs to do their part to earn credit for the kill. This doesn't mean every spell and ability needs to be triggered with millisecond accuracy, but it does mean that a rogue should backstab here and there, and a wizard needs to go pew-pew. Now this is character to character, not player to player, so if your wizard is just taking up space and not participating, you just won't get the token for the wizard, it doesn't disqualify your whole group. This also isn't a straight DPS figure, as players as low at 75 can participate and clearly won't be doing the same damage, it's more a general check of activity. Thank you to everyone who showed up, while anti-climactic to say the least, it was nonetheless exactly the information I was after, and it was quite a sight to see that many players online at the same time, in the same place. As I've told Akkadius, working in this capacity, on this server, for this community has been the most fun I've had in a video game in a long time. I won't be around on live much this week, there is substantial work to be done still for this event, but I will see you all Sunday. Title: Re: Upcoming Things Post by: Miriya on July 25, 2022, 07:22:49 pm Good luck all. Hoping for another event like this as it coincides with our family vacations. Missed this weekends' test and will miss next weekend's fun :'(
|