AC2:Announcements - 2005/08 - New Moon Rising
July Content Update Delayed
Original Link (now dead) - http://ac2.turbinegames.com/index.php?page_id=367
July Content Update Delayed
First, the bad news: the AC2 July Content Update has been postponed to August 3rd. This decision was made largely to allow our server maintenance and operations staff to focus on AC1's Throne of Destiny expansion launch and ensure it is as smooth a launch as possible.
The good news, however, is that the now August Content Update is one of the biggest episode updates that AC2 has seen! We'll be revealing some of the aspects of the August update between now and launch, but here are a few highlights:
- Two monster models entirely new to AC2
- The ability to cancel quests
- A plethora of new quests
- A warning/confirmation system when applying a totem that will overwrite or be overwritten by an existing effect
- More existing quests retrofitted for Drudges
- Unlocking the Drudge quest, and other "Drudgery"
- KvK-Anywhere toggle option and companion /cpk chat channel
- A new pastime for those with a green thumb
- A rather unexpected tweak to mining
- Personal appearance enhancement
- Additional lore content
We have also been investigating the player-raised objections to missile and solo/group XP for August, and will adjust those dynamics as appropriate.
Stay tuned for more details about many of the above items, and some not mentioned above (and as always, we will save some of the surprises for launch day).
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Turbine
Original Link (now dead) - http://ac2.turbinegames.com/index.php?page_id=373
August Teaser: New Moon Rising
Ellesbeth finished building the campfire and stood up, dusting her hands. She glanced over at the smaller of her companions, who was hunched over on the ground, apparently occupied with something in front of him. She stepped around to get a better look, and saw that he was pulling a very large beetle from its hiding place underneath a rock. She averted her eyes, but she could still hear the crunch when the Drudge bit down on his evening meal.
"Gurgur, it is time for me to go," she said as she shouldered her pack. The Drudge stuffed the rest of the beetle in his mouth with a wet smack and looked up at her, squinting his eyes against the waning light of dusk, one large ear twisting backwards with the motion of his head.
"You gone three days, yes, Ellesbeth?" He stumbled a little over her name, but he was definitely getting better at pronouncing it.
"Right. I'll be in Cragstone for three days, but I will meet you at sundown in Linvak Tukal on the third day. Where is Shonossar?"
Gurgur waved his hand vaguely. "Shonossar go talk to self again. Gone a while. Must have lots to say to self today."
Ellesbeth laughed. "I think Shonossar calls it 'meditation.' It is simply a technique popular among his people to focus their strength and energy."
"Bah. He talk to self. No one else to listen. Maybe he say to himself, 'Focus strength and energy now.'"
"I am sure, at the end, that's what it amounts to."
The third member of the group, the Empyrean named Shonossar, approached from the rocky outcropping upon which he had observed his evening meditation.
"So, Ellesbeth. Enjoy your sojourn to Cragstone, and we will see you in the Lugian city three days hence. May the Light shine on your travels." The hieromancer bowed deeply.
Ellesbeth picked up her bow and bowed back. "Thank you for the well wishes, Shonossar." She looked between the two of them, trying to hide her amusement at their incongruity. Shonossar was three times the height of Gurgur. "You two...Well, I'm sure the two of you will have an interesting time together." She shook her head.
Gurgur's eyes narrowed. "What that supposed to mean? Big smart Empyreeman too good to get along with little Drudge when Human not around? Gurgur not wear all the fancy clothes or carry shiny ball for magic, but Gurgur hit you hard enough to turn your eyes backward!" Gurgur shook his weapon for emphasis, a truly fearsome-looking board with nail that looked like it weighed half as much as its wielder. The nail still carried a tuft of fur and gore from their last kill, a Vorous Shreth that had taken issue with their choice of resting spot. At the very least, if the impact from Gurgur's weapon didn't kill you, the ensuing infections would.
Ellesbeth raised her hands, laughing, as Shonossar sighed. "Gurgur, allow me to be the first to say that I am very very glad that the New Drudge Republic has made peace with us. I remember some harrowing encounters against your, ah, cousins in the Drudge Citadel, and I am grateful to have you as an ally instead of an enemy."
Gurgur still looked suspicious, but he shrugged. "Good to know. I not all that eager to have burning arrow buried in my backside. Not second time, anyway."
With that, Ellesbeth saluted her companions and began a brisk run toward the nearest portal. After her departure, Shonossar and Gurgur regarded each other. This would, indeed, be their first time together as a patrol group without their Human cohort.
Shonossar broke the silence first. "We should take this time to get to know a little about each other, Gurgur."
"What you want to know?" Gurgur asked, suspiciously.
"Well, what made you want to serve as a Warder?" The Empyrean folded his long limbs and sat down before the campfire.
Gurgur shrugged. "Since days of being little, Gurgur always good fight. Gurgur's brother named Toothless Durgur because of Gurgur. When we fight for freedom, start New Drudge Republic, shaman say it good idea for fighters to join Warders. We show them we not enemies, we help fight enemies."
"So it was a sense of duty that compelled you."
Gurgur nodded. "Duty, and bash heads. Bash heads for duty." He burrowed into his pack for a strip of dried meat and bit off a hunk. "Now, my question time. What it for when you med-it-tate?"
Shonossar took a deep breath. "My people have been away from this world for a very, very long time. So much has changed. So much has been lost. So some of us take some time at moonrise to sit and think deeply, and try to remember things we used to know."
Gurgur looked up at the moon, growing brighter in the darkening sky. "You notice moon brighter now than before? Moon has lights on it. When Gurgur younger, moon have no lights like that."
Shonossar smiled. "I cannot say I have noticed a change in the moon. The moon looks as it has looked since my people came back into this world, just a short time ago. But I can tell you that I look at the moon, with its lights, and feel...comforted."
"Look like someone up there," Gurgur observed.
"Yes it does, Gurgur," Shonossar said. "Yes it does."
Gurgur pointed at the moon. "See that? Shadow on the moon. Hard to see, but it there. Looks like wings. What that thing that fly against moon?"
Shonossar sighed happily. "Gurgur, allow me to tell you a story. You see, long long ago, thousands of years ago, in fact, there were great, magical creatures..."
Rollout Article
Original Link (now dead) - http://ac2.turbinegames.com/index.php?page_id=375
August Guide: New Moon Rising
NEW CONTENT
- New Quests on all continents
- New Town Quests in Shoushi, Shinoko, Zu, Rakani, Hakata, Ankoro, and Linvak Tukal
- Arcane Fires in which to burn your unwanted items
- Two new monster models and several new monster types
- Many existing quests (and their rewards) formerly unavailable to Drudges are now available
- Ancient documents have been discovered and relocated to the Arcanum Vault library
- New Consignment Vendors
- See your local town crier for more information
SYSTEM CHANGES
For more details, see Citan's Letter to the Players.
- KvK-Anywhere flag and chat channel (/cp, /cpk, or /cpvp)
- Fellowships will receive an increased amount of XP for killing group monsters
- Knorr monsters will drop an increased amount of treasure
- Melee-oriented monsters will now choose a melee attack over a missile attack more often, and break off missile attacks sooner
UI CHANGES
- A Quest Cancel Button has been added to most quests, and will appear in the quest information panel
- Totem warning/confirmation system: If a totem's effect is better than the existing effect, a confirmation window will appear when the attempt to apply it is made. If the totem's effect is not better than the existing effect, the totem will not be applied, and an error message will appear
- A new slash command is available, /skills list. This will list all your skills along with the total XP spent on that skill, Credits spent, and Hero Credits spent, as well as what skill, if any, is currently being untrained
CONTENT CHANGES
- All phases of the Moarsman Curse quest are now distance-restricted
- The Fanatics Disguise in the Kogun quest no longer applies bad graphical effects to Empyreans
- The minimum level for the Darkstone quest is now the intended 28
- The drop rate of Tyrant trophy parts has been increased
- The Knorr Mushroom Hunter quest can now be repeated
- The Omishan Silver bonus trait mine has been moved out of the KvK zone it was in, which was preventing players of different factions from receiving the quest in fellow
- Drudges and Empyreans can now receive the Gurog Civil War quest
- Dye Plants now go by their actual names instead of just the color
- The stack size for Dye Plants has been increased
SKILL CHANGES
- The Empyrean Missile skill Corrosion now scales up to500 at level 150
- The Empyrean Magic skill Plasma Wave now scales up to 1300 at level 150
- The Empyrean Magic skill Enfeebling Arc now scales up to 500 at level 150
- The description on the Empyrean Templar skill Scorn has been updated to remove implications that it deals damage
- The Empyrean Templar skill Affliction now scales up to 1000 at level 150
- The Empyrean Templar skills Au's Grace, Bloodbind, Compassion, Gift of Devotion, Inspiration, Righteousness, Sacrificial Boon, Sigil of Valor, Call to Duty, and Courage in Arms may now be cast regardless of what weapon the player is wielding.
- The Empyrean Hieromancer's Rites skills (Rite of Artifice, Rite of Enchantment, Rite of Strife, and Rite of Verdancy) may now be cast regardless of what weapon the player is wielding
- The description on the Human Defender skill Cragstone's Rebuke has been updated to note the increased critical hit chance
- The Human Enchanter skill Enchanted Arms may now be cast regardless of what weapon the player is wielding
- The Human Bounty Hunter skill Assassin's Strike now scales up to 1600 at level 150
- The Lugian Elementalist skill Pyroclastic Flow now launches 5 bolts as intended, and no longer ignores weapon damage
- The description for the Lugian Elementalist skill Hurricane has been updated to clarify its type (combat speed debuff, not knockback)
- The Lugian Raider's skill Double Throw now scales up to 600 damage/hit at level 150
- The Lugian Tactician Adept skill once again affects turret accuracy as intended
- The Tumerok Zealot skill Soft Flesh will now execute 1 armor-ignoring combo instead of 2
- The Tumerok Invoker skill Astral Hunters now scales up to 600 damage/hit at level 150
- The Tumerok Clawbearer skill Twin Shot now scales up to 600 damage/hit at level 150
- The Tumerok Healer skill Curse of Peace may now be cast regardless of what weapon the player is wielding
- The focus cost for the Tumerok Hivekeeper skill Queen's Defender has been reduced from 55 – 65 to 35 – 45 focus.
- The description on the Tumerok Hivekeeper skill Crawling Skin has been updated to note fellowship propogation
- The "return home" timer on the Shadow kingdom skill Oubliette is no longer blocked by Screen or Drums of Immunity
- Armor of Faith, Forces, and Chants can now be runcast
- The skill Lightning Strike now scales up to 500 at level 150
- Burst skills are no longer described as AoE skills
- The focus cost for the Drudge Hero skill Health Burst has been reduced
MISCELLANEOUS CHANGES
- For the Hero Initiation Quest, certain Bloodstones were not creating a shard in the player's inventory when they were supposed to. This has been fixed.
- There was an issue with crossing some landscape bridges – these have been fixed
- Items added to consignment vendor listings including Tesserae, Gearknight badges, Shadow Orts, Amber Mirra, and pink, clear and orange Dye Plants
- The Magus Staff may now be retrieved after being dropped
- The Lugian Adventurer wrench no longer has a human wield requirement
- The Olthoi Slayer effect (from the Burun Threat Quest) was not affecting certain group-level Olthoi on Knorr
- The invisible wall blocking off the second floor of Omishan allegiance halls has been removed
- The description for the rare item, Magroot, now contains the correct information
- Automatic correction code was implemented in this update to resolve past cases of players with missing XP. If this has EVER happened to you, the code will restore the missing XP upon login as of this update
Letter to the Players
Original Link (now dead) - http://ac2.turbinegames.com/index.php?page_id=377
What's New In AC2 For August
Hello again. I wanted to take a minute or two to talk about the changes we've made for the next update. We've addressed several of your recent concerns. Let me give you the details.
Group Monsters Worth More XP
We've made group monsters worth more XP depending on how many fellowship members are participating.
1 person = 100%
2 = 150%
3 = 180%
4 = 220%
5 or more = 250%
So, a hunting group with 4 people in it will earn 220% XP than previously when killing group monsters. This 220% XP is then split among all four players as usual, based on their character level.
As an example, suppose a fellowship of four level 40 players kill a Steppe Armoredillo. This group monster is worth 48,500 XP. In the old system, there was no multiplier on the monster's XP, so each member would get their share of the XP and that would be that. (Because all fellowship members are the same level, they would each get 35%, or 16,975 XP.) Under the new system, the monster's XP value of 48,500 is increased by 220% because four fellowship members are attacking it. This means the monster is worth 106,700 XP to this fellowship, and each member gets 35% of that, or 37,345 XP each.
Note that you need to do more than just be in the fellowship in order to count towards this bonus. You have to actually participate in the battle. You count as participating if you do any of the following:
- attack the monster (either hitting or being evaded)
- get within the monster's detection radius (20 to 40 meters, depending on the monster) so that the monster knows you exist
- heal yourself or others while standing within approximately 40 meters of the monster.
Note also that fellowships larger than 5 people get no bigger bonus than a fellowship of 5. That's because hunting group monsters in fellowships larger than 5 isn't very challenging, and we don't want to encourage people to make larger fellowships just to get a bigger bonus. (When questing, larger fellowships can certainly be challenging and fun, but fellowships made simply for hunting should probably stick to four or five individuals.)
A few other things to note:
- Your fellowship must be an XP-sharing fellowship in order to get any of the bonus XP.
- Members in the fellowship who aren't earning XP (because they are too high or too low in level) do not count towards the XP bonus, even if they participate in the combat.
- To reiterate, this only applies to group monsters. Solo creatures do not give any XP bonus, no matter how big the fellowship is!
Treasure on Knorr
We've increased the solo-monster and group-monster treasure on nearly all Knorr creatures. Average hoard size increased by 2 items per monster. We think that this increased loot better fits the danger of hunting on Knorr. Selected other monsters in the game also drop more treasure, but we have mainly focused on Knorr creatures.
KvK Shrines
Shortly after the August update goes live, new KvK Shrines will be activated in the world. By touching one of these shrines, a player becomes a KvK-anywhere player. Players from other kingdoms who also touch the shrine will be able to attack them anywhere in the world.
Here are some guidelines on how the system will work when you are interacting with other players.
- KvK-anywhere players can always harm other KvK-anywhere players that belong to a different faction, including the Neutral faction.
- KvK-anywhere players can buff and heal other KvK-anywhere players that belong to the same faction.
- KvK-anywhere players cannot attack non-KvK-anywhere players, or vice versa.
- KvK-anywhere players can always buff and heal non-KvK-anywhere players.
- non-KvK-anywhere players can never buff KvK-anywhere players.
- non-KvK-anywhere players can only heal KvK-anywhere players if said player has not engaged in player-vs.-player activity for 5 minutes or more.
- the rules above only apply to the regular areas of the world. In the special KvK and PvP areas, the old rules still apply. In KvK areas, all same-faction members can buff and heal each other, all opposing faction members can attack each other, etc.
We expect the rule about non-KvK-anywhere players being unable to buff KvK-anywhere players to be somewhat controversial. "Why can't the buffs just turn off whenever the KvKer engages in PvP combat?" you might ask. There are several reasons. First, some buffs are useful in PvP even before the battle starts, so if they got to use these buffs before the fight begins, they would still have an advantage over others. Run buffs are a good example of this. Second, there are technical limitations that keep us from cleanly implementing the idea. It sounds simple, but the actual implementation caused too many special cases and exploit conditions. Third, we found this play style to be a bit too abusable -- it is too easy for an irritating griefer to attack you and log off, achieving nothing but disabling your buffs and making your play experience less fun. For these reasons and others, we decided that the simple rules above are the better way to go for now. We will re-evaluate this issue after we see how this rule works in practice.
A KvK-anywhere player can revert to their old state by waiting 3 real-world days and then touching a special shrine that will turn them back. This timer is much reduced from our original plan -- there is no number that will make everyone happy here; some want a hardcore 30 day limit, and some want no timer at all. This time limit was chosen because it fit our existing player base and their play styles pretty well. We might change this timer depending on how it plays.
Missile Monsters
The physics of projectiles has not changed, but monster logic for using projectiles has. Creatures who are melee-oriented or who were melee/missile agnostic now tend to prefer melee more often. They also tend to break off missile attacks sooner, thus reducing the amount of "drive by damage" players take when riding cross-country.
Quest Cancel Button
The GUI now sports a Quest Cancel button for selected quests. The button appears at the bottom of the quest description. About 50% of the game's quests can now be cancelled. (Some quests can NEVER be cancelable, as they would then be exploitable. Others simply aren't cancelable because we didn't get to them in time for this update.)
Skill Fixes
Quite a few minor skill bugs were corrected for this update. I'd like to thank the Vanguard Skills Team for heading up the reporting and corralling of these bugs and assisting in their prioritization. As of this writing the following issues were corrected. (There may be a couple more that make their way into the final update.)
- Rite skills: can be used while wielding any implement
- Au's Grace: can be used while wielding any implement
- Bloodbind: can be used while wielding any implement
- Compassion: can be used while wielding any implement
- Gift of Deviotion: can be used while wielding any implement
- Inspiration: can be used while wielding any implement
- Righteousness: can be used while wielding any implement
- Sacrificial Boon: can be used while wielding any implement
- Sigil of Valor: can be used while wielding any implement
- Call to Duty: can be used while wielding any implement
- Courage in Arms: can be used while wielding any implement
- Curse of Peace: can be used while wielding any implement
- Enchanted Arms: can be used while wielding any implement
- Plasma Wave: scales to 1300 @ L150
- Enfeebling Arc: scales to 500 @ L150
- Corrosion: scales to 500 @ L150
- Affliction: scales 1000 @ L150
- Astral Hunters: does 600/hit @ L150
- Lightning Strike: does 500 @ L150
- Twin Shot: does 600/hit @ L150
- Assassin's Strike: does 1600 @ L150
- Raider's Double Throw: does 600/hit @ L150
- Armor of Faith: can now be runcast
- Forces and Chants: can now be runcast
- Drudge Dance: has a buff icon
- Pyroclastic Flow: now shoots five bolts as intended
- Burst Skills: no longer claim to be AoE
- Health Burst: focus cost lowered
- Hurricane: description updated to note combat speed debuff (not knockback)
- Oubliette: the return-home timer is no longer blocked by Screen or Drums of Immunity
- Cragstone's Rebuke: description updated to note increased critical hit chance
- Crawling Skin: description updated to note fellowship propagation
- Scorn: description updated to no longer imply that it does damage
- Queen's Defender: focus cost lowered
Focus On Content
As you will see pretty quickly upon logging in, the August update is a very large one, fleshing out many level ranges that were somewhat scarce before. We have added content for nearly every level range, though we focused heavily on the 20s through mid 40s this time around.
There are nearly 100 quests in total, larger than any update we've done before except the Legions expansion. Many of these quests are short solo quests. They are often interconnected, so that they tell bigger stories if you complete all the quests in the series. There are also some larger quests for groups, and an epic quest for high level heroes.
Two brand new monsters now populate the world, along with several additional creatures which are not technically new models, but which you've never gotten to fight before. This update also has far more books than we've ever added in a monthly update. Plus, there are some other surprises we're trying desperately to keep from blabbing about, so they can be a surprise.
Truth is, we're really excited about this update, and we hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed making it.
Producer, AC2
August Content Overview
Original Link (now dead) - http://ac2.turbinegames.com/index.php?page_id=369
August Content Overview
In this next installment of our August Update coverage, we wanted to share with you an overview of the Update's main themes and objectives. One of our main focuses for the August update was, as Citan has mentioned, "content", and lots of it, in a variety of flavors. In addition to the traditional xp-based quests, monsters, and dungeons, we've been working on several other content additions for August, from fluff to crafting, and of course, with the debut of the Drudge-unlocking quest for all players (and yes, many of you that have a pre-order drudge will still want to do this quest for the fun of it), some additional content for Drudges.
We wanted to continue the process of adding interest to the various towns of Dereth by fleshing them out with more quests and NPCs. The town content this time around includes the towns of Shoushi, Shinoko, Rakani, Zu, Ankoro, Hakata, and Linvak Tukal and is comprised of quests for the teens through the 50's. There are also new dungeons and monsters for August covering a broad range of player levels, including a quest dungeon for our high-level players. We'll introduce you to one of those 2 new monsters we mentioned next week.
"Fluff" content also has its place of course, and August has a goodly amount of it, from basic items to whole new activities. We'll be keeping quiet about most of our fluff items and content for now, but we may reveal a few more details about some of them, beyond what's been hinted at so far, in the coming weeks.
In August, Drudges take their place firmly and stubbornly amongst the mortal races. All Legions players will now be able to unlock the Drudge race by completing a quest. The actual minimum level for this quest – low 40's – is much lower than the original estimate. In addition to some new content, we will now be able to grant Drudges access to some of the popular existing quests that they were previously unable to complete.
As mentioned last week, the KvK-Anywhere flag will also be introduced in this update. This new dynamic is optional; players can join a Kingdom without having to automatically start watching their backs on a shopping trip to Ikeras. Players will also be able to turn off the flag if they experience a revelation and wish to co-exist peacefully with all Kingdoms (except, of course, in existing KvK zones). We will release the full system details for this dynamic later on, but KvK-Anywhere should give many of our non-KvK players a chance to sample a more "red" way of life.