Announcements - 2010/02 - Winter's Knight

Previous - All Announcements - Next

February 2010 - Patch Page

Teaser Images

• 

  ACCWiki

• 

  ACvault

• 

  Dereth.info

• 

  AC Mystics

Teaser

Original Link - http://ac.turbine.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=540-winters-knight&catid=81-2010&Itemid=68

Winter's Knight

---

No word… it had been hours since the designated report time. This mission was supposed to levy the fight in their direction, but it was quickly turning into the biggest failure to date. It seemed that eager in his willingness to fight for the colors they wore, another soldier was lost to the night. Now it was time to decide if they should continue trying to achieve this mission, or to cut their losses and accept the defeat.

Jiro Sasaki sighed "The risk is too great. We've attempted this mission twice already and have not heard back from either of our operatives. Sending in more will just incur more losses."

Shoici Kimura quickly replied "It is a difficult mission sir. But if we give up now those losses were for nothing, a true tragedy."

Being the head of operations planning was the most challenging job that Jiro had ever attempted. When things went smoothly he shared the praise with his men. But when plans failed, the blame was his alone. Perhaps he had been too ambitious in his latest plans. After commandeering Freebooter Keep and establishing a beachhead on Nyr'leha it seemed these troops could not be defeated. Maybe his over-confidence had cost the lives of those two brave warriors.

"Sir those men believed in the mission as much as they believe in you. We all believe this mission can be a success. We just need the right person. The previous volunteers were rife with eagerness, which masked their lacking skills. Jiro, we must try at least once more."

As he looked at his second in command, his most trusted of friends, Jiro realized that not only was Shoici sure the mission could be completed but he had also already found another candidate. Shoici had been with him through many trials over the past year and he had learned to trust his judgment. Jiro wouldn't even be here to make this decision if it hadn't been for the dedicated actions of Shoici during that catastrophe early in their careers.

"So you have picked the new candidate yourself then?"

"This is one of the most highly skilled individuals in the society, with skills proven on many fronts. From the Graveyards of Rytheryn, to the shores of Freebooter Isle, if this one can't succeed then no one else can."

Jiro waited for the candidate to be brought before him. The question was whether to be direct and let the soldier know how much of the future depended on the outcome or to hide the importance of the endeavor. If this one was as strong as Shoici was convinced of, performing under the weight of the truth would not become an issue. The door opened and the candidate entered with confidence, Shoici followed in behind, shutting the door as he entered and watched for Jiro's reaction. Jiro Sasaki looked up to see the face of the one who would either be called the failure, or the hero. Unlike the previous candidates it was not excitement that Jiro saw, but determination and intelligence. The future looked brighter already.

"I am sure you know why you are here so I will get straight to the point. This mission you must perform alone. If you should be captured, do not expect to be rescued. The successful completion of this mission is of the utmost importance. Do not fail us."

The soldier nodded, turned, and then left the room with as much confidence as when he entered, and without uttering a single word. All Jiro could do now was wait.

Rollout Article

Original Link - http://ac.turbine.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=541-february-rollout-fiction&catid=81-2010&Itemid=68

February Rollout Fiction

---

Master Craftsman Takahume walked out of the darkness of his workshop into the light of the coming dawn. "Looks like it'll be another clear day, wouldn't you say, Primus Atamarr?" asked Takahume, as he handed an oversized bottle of Bloodseeker Oil to the large mechanical man waiting outside.

"Indeed it does, Master Takahume, indeed it does," was the massive Gear Knight's rumbling reply.

Gesturing to the container the Gold Gear Primus was now inspecting, Takahume continued, "It's Bloodseeker Oil. It's usually used for refining arrowheads and the like, but in your case, it should help keep the sand out of your gears."

"My thanks to you, Master Takahume. The sand has not been kind to my body, but it is not as bad as other things in this world," Atamarr said, gesturing about at the landscape. "I lost many good friends to the rigors of this place, especially to the north." Atamarr fell silent for a moment, seeming to be focused on cleaning out the Xarabydun sands from his gears. He then moved to testing the oil on his joints, seeming pleased by its effectiveness. The master craftsman watched quietly for a few minutes, musing on how the Gear Knights as a whole kept themselves functional, let alone battle-ready, without constant cleaning. "The mountains of this place cost me one of my best," Atamarr finally said.

"How so?" ventured Takahume, suddenly interested in the path the conversation was taking, and sensing another chance to learn more about his recently rebuilt guest. Since he found the Gold Gear Primus and managed to collect the massive amount of gears, Aetherium and Core pieces needed to reanimate him; the craftsman had been trying every trick in the book to wheedle more info out of the quiet Gear Knight. No matter the tact used, however, Atamarr had remained focused on the present, and his desire to both restore his lost entourage and to learn the real reasons the Gear Knights, led by the Iron Blade, had been invading Dereth.

"One of my entourage, an accomplished tracker named Ordas Myr, journeyed far into the northern lands. He was seeking Yalani survivors who had fled the Olthoi Horde. He wasn't heard from again, so I can only assume that either his Aetherium Core expired, or his body was damaged beyond function while he traversed the mountain ranges," Atamarr said, his tone shifting from his usual regal, driven basso to a quiet introspective tone, touched with sadness. "He was a Primus of the Silver Scope House, and the best tracker I ever knew. He was also a master of the crossbow, true to the name of his House," he finished, as Takahume began writing down observations of the Primus' display of empathy. Taking note of this, Atamarr asked, "I take it you find it noteworthy that my race is capable of emotion?"

Somewhat embarrassed with being caught, Takahume dropped his notes and replied, "I... um... my apologies, Primus Atamarr. There is still so much we do not know about your people." Regaining some of his composure, he asked, "Do you know where in the north Ordas Myr ventured?"

Atamarr thought for a moment, and then replied, "The last report I received from his small scouting party noted that they were about to cross to a mountainous isle. It was somewhere along the northern coast of Dereth. Ordas was always eager to help those in need of succor. He was convinced he would find refugees hiding up in those peaks. Even the barest hope or rumor was enough to set him to the task. He was impossible to stop once he set his mind to something." Still sounding sad, and the task of cleaning his many gears obviously forgotten, he quietly added, "We never heard from any of them again."

"Well, we can enlist the aid of the adventurers that helped me reassemble you. I'll prepare a request to the College of Town Criers, and ask them to spread the word to keep an eye out for signs of the lost party. My people have a knack for finding things, no matter how long they've been lost." Takahume scooped up his dropped parchment, looked a bit sadly at his now sand-filled quill, and continued, "I'll see to it today. The sooner we can find your entourage, the sooner we can find a means to put an end to this unnecessary conflict between our people."

"A sentiment I return as well, Master Craftsman," Atamarrr replied, the vigor returning to his voice as he gestured towards the portal drop area of Xarabydun, "It seems another hunting party has come bearing supplies for us. Let us greet them properly."

Takahume glanced over and saw the first of the fellowship emerge from Portalspace, which was clearly empty ground when the Primus gestured in that direction only moments ago. How does he do that? wondered the Master Craftsman.

Release Notes

Original Link - http://ac.turbine.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=537-february-2010-release-notes&catid=81-2010&Itemid=68

February 2010 Release Notes

---

Greetings and welcome to the February Release Notes! This month marks the second update of 2010. This year is shaping up to be another great one, and the team has lots of surprises in store for everyone in the coming months. So lets see what is new and exciting this month in Asheron's Call!

• Based on player feedback, we have added more command shortcuts this month. These new commands are:
  • /ah – allegiance hometown
  • /ls - lifestone
  • /mp - marketplace
  • /hr – house recall
• Trade notes now stack to 250 and no longer have a burden.
• Mana Forge Key Rings can now be crafted.
• The Missing level 8 spells should now be craftable. Defender, Blood Drinker, Spirit Drinker, will have level 7 power but level 8 durations. Spirit Loather will be a normal level 8 spell.
• The Pine Tree Texture has been redone. Make sure you check it out.
• Enhanced Arm/Heart/Mind can now be dyed.
• Master Viamontian robes no longer say dyeable.
• The top two Eater Jaw turn-ins, now share 1/3rd of the xp.
• Stonefists/Killagurg/Azaxis have had some adjustments made to how they work. This change should reduce the chance of these rooms having issues.
• Several typos in the New Player Hub have been fixed.
• The Societies of Dereth have found a way to help their members become more effective in battle. Players who have achieved Master rank will now be able to gain a new blank Augmentation Gem every three weeks through their chosen Society.
• The Gear Knight Storage Box has had its respawn timer shortened.

So there are just some of the things we have in store for Asheron's Call in February. Please remember that along with everything listed here, there are several new quests and exciting things going into the game for the February Event.

Developer Comments

February 9th to March 8th, 2010

Assess Person Skill

March 1st, 2010 - Link

Q: The recent updates to deception and assess creature how demonstrated ways to improve skills in ways only loosely related to the original skill. Insert into the game something for assess person, akin to the lens of assess creature, but one that gives a unique spell -- healing resistance. Top items have a 50% reduction in health received from any means of healing -- life self, life other, heal kit self, heal kit other, chugs.

A: We'd be very wary of doing anything that messed even more with racial balance. It will be enough of a challenge when the new races appear.

Sev~

Severlin Producer

Aun Ralirea

March 5th, 2010 - Link

Q: Could Aun Ralirea be any more broke?

A: Your best bet is to actually kill spawns. Since he is a random spawn off generators in the area the more generator activity the more likely you are to find him. If you just run around looking for him and don't clear any spawns it is possible he just hasn't spawned at all.

The quest was implemented before my time, though. The team can look into the mechanic at some point, but our plates are full right now with the big Spring update so close so it might be a while.

Sev~

Severlin Producer

Colosseum Chest

March 1st, 2010 - Link

Django said to me "let me change the colo chest to the top tier loot" and I said "Pfft why would we listen to the players" and then he rabbit punched me and made the change while I was unconscious.

True story.

Sev~

Severlin Producer

March 4th, 2010 - Link

You should see higher tier loot in the chest in the next update. The loot will be comparable to 4 pulls of a mixed mana forge chest.

Django Turbine Staff

Corpse Locking

February 18th, 2010 - Link

Q: Corpse locking: ETA?

A: It's on my list. I am a little behind on things at the moment because I am working on April tech.

Sev~

Severlin Producer

April Update

March 8th, 2010 - Link

Q: Any idea when we might see teaser info, or learn more details about what features made the cut for the big update? Tailoring, etc... there were some exciting possibilities presented to us.

A: We have revealed the update will have tailoring.
We have revealed there will a quest that can turn a multi-slot piece to single slot.
We have revealed there will be a new playable race.
We have revealed there will be new hairstyles with a barber.

Hint: No, we haven't revealed everything.
Hint: The playable races aren't human.

The only questionable piece right now is I ran into technical difficulties with the barber and if I can't resolve it that functionality is in danger of being pushed back a month.

Sev~

Severlin Producer

Developer Resposes

February 26th, 2010 - Link

Two things.

First, calling out the devs does indeed reduce the chance we will respond. In fact, we are told specifically not to respond to thread that calls us out even though sometimes we can't resist.

Second, we would much rather have the players figure things out on their own and share information among themselves. In other words, posting for an explanation of a mechanic on our player forum and requesting that other players do not respond is exactly what we don't want. We don't generally post math unless there is some widespread confusion and we feel that breaking that guideline will benefit the community as a whole.

There is a lot of excellent knowledge among our players; you do yourself a disservice by ignoring or suppressing their input.

Sev~

Severlin Producer

Facility Hub & updates to other quests

February 17th, 2010 - Link

Q: I was recently exploring the Mount Alphus Range for the wiki, which included the exploration of the Alfreth and Sylsfear dungeons. So I have to ask: was this dungeon planned on being included in the hub, but didn't make the final cut? If not, when were the Tusker and Revenant updated?

A: When the Hub was added several other old quests with similar mechanics were also updated. Many monsters that drop keys now have unique names and death messages. A few items have more information about what you do with them when you find them also. In general we did a pass on a variety of low level quests when evaluating what was going to go into the hub, as a result of that some minor changes were made to quests that actually didn't end up in the hub.

The general rule for getting into the hub was that there had to be a unique quest reward at the end and it was weighted higher if that reward was of a weapon/armor/jewelry type that wasn't already in the hub. This was after a much larger selection of quests were chosen based on difficulty and game play experience.

Django Turbine Staff

Frozen Gear Knight

February 10th, 2010 - Link

Q: We killed and cleared the room multiple times on Frostfell of everything; gear knights, hoarforsts, little golems, and the big guy never changed to attackable.

A: Please feel free to PM me or post any information about what you've done in the final room before it breaks.

1. Did you talk to the frozen gearknight before it became attackable?
2. Did you try to attack the frozen gearknight with a spell before it became attackable?
3. Did you aggro the golem before you finished killing the gearknights?
4. Did you kill the golem or kill the gearknights and allow the golem to move?
5. Other?

Django Turbine Staff

February 10th, 2010 - Link

Thanks for the information, it really goes a long way towards narrowing down the possible issues.

On getting the timing right for the Golem walking away and dieing that scenario played out at least 40 times in front of me as well as trying to get the transition smooth between the attackable and unattackable gearknight. There's almost certainly some live play issue that's preventing a signal or locking up the gearknight so he doesn't respond to the signal.

Django Turbine Staff

February 10th, 2010 - Link

Q: Our big golem never moved when it died on its own. It just killed-over dead where it was originally standing. But in all fariness to the big golem (that is, to not blame him for the problems), on one occassion we drew him away from his spawn point and killed him and the Frozen Gearknight never changed. The other time we killed him he was INSIDE the Frozen Gearknight's cubby hole.

A: The frozen gearknight is ethereal, he should be able to spawn even if something's directly on top of him. I'll look into it though.

Anything's possible with AC. See taking impact damage while standing still.

Django Turbine Staff

Harbinger Trophies

March 5th, 2010 - Link

Q: Have Harbinger trophies for Gearcraft, Two Handed, and Salvage skills been added?

A: Not added yet. We probably should, but we haven't looked into how complicated it would be. Since our plates are full right now I don't know when we'll get to it.

Sev~

Severlin Producer

Hiltable Weapons

February 27th, 2010 - Link

Q: Are spadas hiltable?

A: That one looks like it should be a hiltable version. Only Spadas that come from tier 8 loot (well tier7 loot on creatures which the system knows as tierEight) are hiltable.

Django Turbine Staff

Jaw XP

February 16th, 2010 - Link

Q: I think that extra message was supposed to be what would be shared with the fellowship if you had one. If they could manage, I think it'd be much less confusing if they indicated something like: Your fellowship members (if any) earn 11 million experience.

A: No if you have no fellowship you earn all of that, the amount you earn will change if you do have a fellowship.

Also that message comes from the system. We don't setup the NPCs to say the amount, we tell it how much to award and it automatically generates the message when the xp is awarded. I've never heard of a case where someone got the message but did not actual earn the xp.

NoWorries AC Quality Assurance

Level VIII Spells

February 9th, 2010 - Link

a "level 8" defender has always been in loot but to hide that fact it has up until now been named the same as the level 7 version. Due to how our loot system works it needed to be there but we simply just made it look the same in everyway to the level 7 version.

When creating the craftable level 8 defender there seemed no need to keep up the illusion that the spell didn't exist in loot, so the name was changed to match the craftable version.

And no the Blood Drinker 8 that spawns on weapons was not changed in any way.

NoWorries AC Quality Assurance

February 10th, 2010 - Link

Before there was:

Cragstone's Will - level 7 power level 7 duration castable/loot
Cragstone's Will - a level 8 spell but level 7 power level 7 duration - loot only

Now there is:

Cragstone's Will - level 7 power level 7 duration - castable/loot
Incantation of Defender - level 7 power level 8 duration - castable/loot

The spell that was technically code wise a level 8 that was on loot pretending to be a level 7 was changed in name and duration and made castable. There has never been a level 8 effect defender on loot.

NoWorries AC Quality Assurance

February 10th, 2010 - Link

Q: So wait. Prior to this patch, it was not possible to find a weapon with "Incantation of Defender" as an enchantment? And no one ever noticed this?

A: Nope that name could not show up on loot, the level 8 spell was purposely named as the level 7 since it had the same effect and we wanted to avoid confusion as to why the level 8 spell had the same effect as the level 7.

Now that the players can cast this spell it's name was changed to reflect what it actually is.

NoWorries AC Quality Assurance

Multi-slot armor

February 9th, 2010 - Link

Greetings,

For a while now many players have posted concerns about multi-slot pieces of armor and clothing and the ways they are unfriendly to the play experience. In particular is the desire to have the visual impact of certain multi-slot pieces without totally sacrificing stats.

We are working on solutions to make this a little more player friendly. Our goal is to make this better without invalidating current suits or trivializing the process of acquiring armor. I wanted to go over several thoughts we had in our early design stages to let the players give some input.

~ First, shirt and pants clothing (we are not talking armor) would be fixed so any pants and shirt combination gives abdomen coverage. Basically all pants will cover, at a minimum, abdomen and upper legs. This means existing pieces will be extended to cover the abdomen. All shirts would also be fixed so they only cover chest so as not to interfere with pants. This should leave existing player suits intact without additional holes in coverage.

~ Second, a new quest would be introduced so once per month players could, at some effort and/or expense, transform one coat/shirt/hauberk into a breast plate while retaining the visual look of the piece. The piece would be set up so it would still visually cover multiple areas, effectively overriding the visual piece that is already there.

~ Third, a new quest would be introduced so once per month players could, at some effort and/or expense, transform one set of pants into a girth while retaining the visual look of the piece. The piece would also be set up so it would still visually cover multiple areas, effectively overriding the visual piece that is already there.

~ Fourth, we are considering changing all long leather gloves into single slot hands and shorts into single slot abdomen pieces. They would still cover the same areas visually, but they would be single slot armor. Our main concern is some exisiting characters that used these items would now have holes in coverage they would have to fill.

We could also in the future add the capability to the once per month quest to change sleeves into pauldrons and leggings into tassets while, again, keeping the same visual look.

~ Finally, with all this look swapping I am going to look at adding armor coverage into the examination panel when you look at another character. No promises on this; I would need to examine the tech involved.

(We looked at a few other suggestions; for example to allow single slot pieces to be crafted onto multi-slot pieces but they were not feasible with our current tech.)

Sev~

Severlin Producer

February 9th, 2010 - Link

Q: This is going to be confusing, not knowing whats covered. Another character? Whats this for, PvP? How about a panel showing coverage gaps for your own character?

A: If we added it, yes you would see the AL coverage for your own character as well when you examined yourself. But this is mainly to address concerns that this system would not allow PvP players to be able to tell what coverages opponents have. Of course, since it is tied to the Assess system a person could train up deception to hide their true AL coverage.

Sev~

Severlin Producer

February 9th, 2010 - Link

Q: With this planned tech, would it be possible to say, make look gen robes that protect head but visually cover the whole body? Would it be possible to change guises in a similar way? An armored skeleton guise would protect head but cover the body?

A: With this planned tech, would it be possible to say, make look gen robes that protect head but visually cover the whole body?

Would it be possible to change guises in a similar way? An armored skeleton guise would protect head but cover the body?

Severlin Producer

February 9th, 2010 - Link

Q: Then I could use a girth/pauldrons/bracers with nice spells on it but my character would appear to just be wearing the Hauberk? One more question. Would the new converted BP still have the same burden of the original Hauberk or would there be a new burden to reflect that it is now a BP?

A: Yes. And the burden would, as proposed, remain unchanged.

Sev~

Severlin Producer

February 9th, 2010 - Link

Q: I have full upper-body coverage... but what happens visually? I would expect the amilu coat to take priority over the chainmail sleeves. Also... I assume that this will all integrate with the general tailoring system? Could you give some examples of the two systems being used together to give is an idea of what will and will not be allowed?

A: The plan is breastplate > sleeves for visual priority.

It is unclear whether a piece converted by quest from multi-slot to single-slot would be eligible for tailoring. (I won't know until I am hip deep in tech.)

Sev~

Severlin Producer

February 9th, 2010 - Link

Q: But why require the Amuli coat in the first place in order to convert it to BP? Why not just allow any Amuli coat to become a 'mask' of sorts that you can wear over your other armor visually. Reduce this 'outerwear' coat to AL 0.

A: This system requires players to discover multi-slot armor with good stats and decide to run their quest for the month to change over that single piece of armor (with the appearance of the original armor piece). You will not be able to transfer a Breastplate converted Amuli Coat's appearance onto another Breastplate (unless for some reason it's another Coat that you previously quest enhanced). The system encourages players to loot and keep Amuli Coats or other Multi-Slot armor pieces that have stats that would be good were it a single slot piece of armor. After that discovery the player would then have to decide to spend their quest for the month to change over that piece.

Django Turbine Staff

February 9th, 2010 - Link

Q: There are still advantages to using multi-slot armor. Multi-slot armor takes less steel to fully tinker, and if you are using a bot it takes less time to fully bane 5 pieces than 9 pieces. I have a couple of 5 piece 10 tinked armor suits just for using on my mules when they want to go hunting.

A: Not to mention the fact that it takes less mana to fully buff a robe or 5 piece suit instead of a 9 piece suit.

There are a variety of reasons we don't want to make everything in the game single slot.

The basics are:

1. Ability to find what you want - If all items were single slot the odds of pulling a Yoroi Pauldron would go way down because there are far more total armor pieces. That also further reduces the odds of getting the piece/color combination you want for use in tailoring or standard use.

2. Complexity of completing a suit - If every piece were a single slot item it would become far easier to complete a set of armor. Making only Breastplate and Girth easier to get doesn't make it too much easier. Also this is restricted to one item per month so not every Coat/Legging will become a single slot right away.

3. Some things just don't look right - A lot of the multi-slot armor were designed to only look right with their own appearance. For instance yesterday I had some Celdon Pauldrons with Platemail Bracers because we were playing with prototypes. It looked horrible, the Celdon Sleeve pinches in a lot at the elbow and this really doesn't work with other bracers that are in game.

4. ^--- What Sev said.

Django Turbine Staff

New Character Slot

February 22nd, 2010 - Link

Q: i'm still wondering why i got 8 slots on one account and 9 on the other

A: It means the 8 slot account has a bad token that doesn't mark you as ToD. Contact customer support and tell them you don't have access to your ToD slot.

Sev~

Severlin Producer

March 8th, 2010 - Link

Q: Only one?

A: I hear you. Unfortunately every time we add storage to an account there is a small increase in server storage and load that must be incurred. This burden multiplied over many many accounts determines the various costs we must incur server side and the lag players must endure. The end result is that we cannot add to server burden at will.

The team has been pushing a number of features to make the game more player friendly. We have recently added character slots, and with the new augs characters free up lots of pack space. Each time we do this we have to ensure our resources can handle it. As a result, we have to be very careful how we add these things. This is a case where we just can't get approved for so much extra storage added to each account, especially with the recent features we have added.

Sev~

Severlin Producer

New Race

March 8th, 2010 - Link

Our current plan is to introduce one new race with the big April update, and then follow up with a new race every two months until 4 new races are introduced.

Sev~

Severlin Producer

NVIDIA Driver Warning

March 5th, 2010 - Link

NVIDIA 196.75 Driver Alert!

If you currently use an NVIDIA Video Card, please be aware of the following Alert from NVIDIA.

“We are aware that some customers have reported fan speed issues with the latest 196.75 WHQL drivers on NVIDIA.com. Until we can verify and root cause this issue, we recommend that customers stay with, or return to 196.21 WHQL drivers. Release 196.75 drivers have been temporarily removed from our website.”

"How to determine what version of Nvidia drivers you are running"

Click on the Windows "Start" button and click "Run" or click in "Start Search"

Type "dxdiag" (no quotes) and hit enter

On the "DirectX Diagnostic Tool" window that opens click the "Display" tab

Under there on the right-side look for version. This will give the driver version number, to get the XXX.XX number that Nvidia uses those are the last five numbers in the version number there.

As an example if DirectX lists your version as 6.14.011.9107 then your Nvidia version number is 191.07

Mirthgar Turbine Technical Support

Old Style Leather

February 12th, 2010 - Link

Q: Anyone here who could care to see old-styled leather return to either the loot profile or as an option in the upcoming tailoring feature? Personally I always liked the simplistic look of the old leather.

A: I still have a few old style leather coats.

I'm not certain how possible it would be to add back in old leather or if we want to but we'll look into it.

Django Turbine Staff

Pyreal Stacks

February 26th, 2010 - Link

Q: I would love to see pyreal stacks limit doubled to 50k per stack... 100k per stack would be even more amazing.

A: Assuming there is no stack limit that I am unaware of (which with this old code is always possible) our current thought is to test pyreal stacks with a maximum of 250k, the cost of one MMD.

Sev~

Edit: No we don't plan to take the markup into account.

Severlin Producer

Server Quests

February 26th, 2010 - Link

Q: Yes the PC's were the ones who built atamarr, and took care of Grael and Aerbax, etc. etc. etc. as that was the way the quests were built. But I think ultimately my point is if NO ONE actually built Atamarr that month and finished that particular quest, he still would have appeared in this patch and everything would have continued on. That isn't an environment where PCs determine any outcomes. I'm just sayin.

A: Any server who had not completed atamarr would not have him auto completed and also would of found that they couldn't get to the end of the frozen gearknight quest.

Severlin Producer

Society Aug Quest

February 10th, 2010 - Link

As several melee characters have mentioned already in this thread, it is a very doable quest as a melee. Also someone else was nice enough to post that you only need to kill 17-19 mobs to complete the quest. You have 40 minutes to get those kills.

There is some figuring out as well as some trial and error for this quest. For example some melees talked about how hard it was to clear the first room before the respawns started again, but your fellow players have also mentioned how you do not have to kill those spawns. That type of figuring out was meant to be a part of the quest, and as you learn what you do and do not have to do the quest becomes faster and easier.

It is also meant to be a challenge for the average player. A lot of players have posted useful information for approaching this quest, using those different suggestions and trying some strategies of your own will get you through the quest. Once you've figured out how to beat the quest once, most likely you won't have any trouble completing the quest on a regular basis to get an aug.

AC is fun because it has so many options on how to approach the same quest. You can use blighted/weaping weapons, alchemy grenades, lenses, you can have backup magic skills for debuffing, black pages, and the list goes on.

You certainly don't have to use all of the options, but if you don't use a single one of the options then the quest will be more difficult.

NoWorries AC Quality Assurance

February 11th, 2010 - Link

Q: 1) You have given Master Soldiers shields that reduce damage from maxed swords down to the single digits. Melee/Missile chars pay a penalty for this, while Mages do not.
2) Every single key that you need to complete this quest is on a Master Soldier that is using such shields.

A: 1)The shields have a 25% magic absorption.

2)Soldiers are the easiest to drag out of a room, as the mages and archers are set to be stubborn, they will stand inside the room and try to shoot/cast at you for a long time. This means you can drag the key out of the room and fight it 1 on 1. If the key was on one of the other classes you'd usually end up fighting it in the room with all the other mobs hitting you.

Solutions to 3-5 have been posted by other players.

NoWorries AC Quality Assurance

Spell Component Exchanger

February 21st, 2010 - Link

Q: Please add a new level 8 spell component exchanger NPC (or change the current NPC) such that the NPC only returns the same type of spell component. For example, when given an ink returns as ink.

A: The spell component exchanger is gambling. To make one for each type makes it far too little risk to get the quill or ink that you want since there are only a few types.

It is designed to be a system where you run the risk of spending lots of MMDs to get the components you're looking for, or have the chance to get lucky and get them right away.

You can also get the components from MF chests, off of top tier creatures, and from trading with other players. But the goal is not to create a system where a person can easily shortcut getting the exact components they want by spending just a couple MMDs.

NoWorries AC Quality Assurance

Test Server

February 22nd, 2010 - Link

It is that time again! We are putting out the call for testers. Do you want to help the AC team make sure the best possible content gets released? Do you have a knack for finding things that most others do not? We are once again sending out the open invitation for player to apply to our closed test server. As we head into the Big Spring Update, we want your help.

So once again we are going to be accepting public applications for Asheron's Call players to join the fun on our test server. And by fun I mean helping us to make sure we release the best content we possibly can.

There are a few rules that we will need to follow before we accept anyone into this program. Here is the list of things you should consider before applying:

1. Must have a valid and active subscription to Asheron's Call
2. Must be at least 18 years of age
3. Must have a clean forum and game history
4. Must be able to interact with the community in a mature and constructive manner
5. Must be able to communicate well through forum posts and bug reports
6. You must accept the terms of the Test Program Non-Disclosure Agreement, the full contents of which will be provided should we accept your application.

If you are interested in taking part in this program, we encourage you to apply! Here is how you do it!!!

Send an email to ac1team@turbine.com. In this email, please include the following information:

1. Your full Real Name (please do not provide nicknames)
2. Your Username for Asheron's Call (this is the account name you use to log in to the AC launcher)

   NOTE: Please only provide ONE account. If you have multiple accounts/subscriptions, please provide information for only 1 of them.

3. Your Live Forum name (the name that displays on these boards) tied to the account in Bullet 2
4. The email address registered to the Asheron's Call Live account provided in bullet 2.
5. An explanation why you would like to participate in the preview program. This can be a summary of why you enjoy the game, what kind of bugs you've filed in the past, what kind of forum posting history you have, or any other way you think you can contribute to the program.

Please make sure this information is sent via email only. Please do not use Private Messages or apply through this thread.

If you are accepted to the program, you will receive an email with instructions on how to get started. Applications will be reviewed once we have gathered enough to meet our desired threshold.

Due to the number of applications we get and the relatively small number of resources we have in this program, we will not be sending responses to those we do not accept. We appreciate your understanding with this policy, and thank you for your interest in the program.

Frelorn AC Community Relations

Turbine Survey

February 16th, 2010 - Link

Turbine periodically asks players to give us feedback about their gaming habits, favorite games, pastimes, what they like to do most when they play our games, and similar information.

We're sending out a survey link to a random group of players. If you receive this survey, please fill it out.

As an incentive for completing this survey, Turbine will be giving out a $50 American Express Gift Card to some players (selected at random from completed surveys).

Reminder: No one from Turbine will ever ask you for your account password.

Tarrant Turbine Community Team

Video Contest Rewards

February 17th, 2010 - Link

Q: It's almost March and, unless there's something I'm missing, nobody has received any sort of "special in-game item" for our participation. Perhaps it's still in the making? I'd like to have some word from the Devs regarding this.

A: This is totally my fault. No excuses, I just keep having other things come up. I will contact folks first thing tomorrow and get the ball rolling. I apologize for the extended delay.

Frelorn AC Community Relations

XP Levers

March 8th, 2010 - Link

Q: The levers... This was a great idea when it was implemented...made for great PK fun, i cant remember why they removed it but adding something similar again would definitely be a good idea.

A: I should really make a sticky about this...

We have no plans to ever bring the levers back. They caused way too much impact on the servers, and are now as far as know no longer even usable due to the changes made to the game since they were turned off many moons ago.

Frelorn AC Community Relations