Grab Bag - February 8, 2008

While you're waiting on Devon, here's the Grab Bag!


There's another guild on the other previous cluster with the same name - now that Devon is all together, is this going to be a problem for us? Will we lose our guild?

We went to the one aptly named Code Red to answer this one: You will not lose your guild. Both guilds will continue to keep the same name.

Last time when you clustered Killibury and Tintagel, you didn't have to take all of the servers down. Why did they all have to come down this time?

Code Red explains that clustering is not as easy as it appears: Clustering is a complicated process and in the interest of ensuring the integrity of all characters, guilds as well as housing data across all clusters we felt it was best to keep all servers down while clustering Caerleon and Devon.

I currently play primarily on the Devon cluster, and I have characters in all three realms. With the clustering of the Caerleon and Devon clusters, I would like to know if the "feature" the Devon cluster servers received when the Akatsuki server was added to Devon (the ability to play all three realms on a single server in the cluster) will still be available once Devon and Caerleon are clustered?

After some double checking to be sure, Code Red provides the answer: It will be the same as when we clustered Akatsuki with Devon. All servers, all realms will be playable as it was announced in this article: http://www.camelotherald.com/news/news_article.php?storyid=2865

I recently came into possession of the Banelord ability "Zone of Unmana." The delve on this ability says it decreases opponents casting time by a value of 50% their current casting time. I asked my alliance if this ability also affected archery classes on their bow firing time as archery is now considered a spell line. Nobody could give me a straight answer on this question.

Does "Zone of Unmana" effect archery skills?

What a perfect question for the Balancinator, as he nodded his head, and replied with this short but sweet answer: Yes, the master level ability 'Zone of Unmana' does have an affect on archery attacks.

I have heard some in game rumors that the Dragon's Revenge Campaign is being taken away as it has been 6 months since it began, I was just curious as to if this was true, and if so when it will be taken away?

With a gleam in her eye, the Dragon Lady answers this one: The Dragonslayer and Dragonsworn questlines from the campaign are not going away anywhere in the foreseeable future. They are now part of the persistent world; though it is possible they may undergo small modifications and updates based on player feedback, just like any other content in game. While we did wrap up some of the changing storylines at the campaign's conclusion, what remains now is a permanent addition to the world.

Seasonal events and campaigns achieve the same goals - a changing world and additional content - in different ways. The campaigns enact major change through a few one-time events, but leave a large amount of permanent content in their wake. Seasonal events have a set period of active time, after which they vanish completely - however they will return year after year, and their rewards overlap between the seasons.

There is an issue with the Healer spell list. The spell, Ease of Movement shows up on the Herald as appearing in the baseline Pacification for the Healer at level 5, however I did not receive the spell, until level 6. Was I supposed to?

I approached the Balancinator with this one, and I had a suspicion what it might be: The spell is supposed to be awarded at level six.

Note from Joanne: The spell information on the Herald has been updated so that it shows the appropriate level. Thanks for pointing this out!

Today I completed the quest "Sad Fomorie" (Level 17). On completion, I was awarded 15,360 experience points at level 18. I realize this quest is not very difficult, unless the named mob has wandered far away, but this does not seem to be on par with other Level 17 quests. Perhaps this quest reward needs to be adjusted to a slightly higher range?

Our Lady of the Jewels researched this quest in comparison to others at that level: The player is absolutely correct. This quest is granting an experience amount far lower than it should be for its level. Thank you for reporting this to us, it is now in our bug tracker awaiting a fix.

A friend and I were discussing using Briar Storm on our Verdant Animist pets "War Harbinger". We wanted to know if chain casting Briar Storm is a waste of power or will the pet actually fire every time the spell is cast. I believe the spell will fire over and over. He thinks the spell will only fire when the pet is casting and by casting the spell over and over power is being wasted. Please shed some light on this for us.

From the Balancinator: The spell is designed in two portions due to the effect that we need in game. The first part of the spell is the 3-second cast that animates your character. It sends a command to the pet that, instantly, casts the damage portion of the spell. I tested it with the maximum casting speed. It is possible to cast fast enough for the pet to queue up the next spell. It is much like any direct damage spell queue; you should not lose power by spamming the spell.

When I logged in after the recent clustering my house had guild standards on it that were not my guilds. They looked like they might be Hibernia guild emblems. I removed them but when I bought more hoping to replace them I got the same thing. I had changed guilds just a couple of days before the clustering with my main but my other alts on this acct. are still in my old guild and my house still had the old guild standards on it. Could that be the cause? Do I need to remove ALL of my characters from my old guild? Any help would be appreciated.

For a question such as this, I knew that the Lord of the Underdark had the answer:

This is a recurring, known issue.

For assistance with this, please file an appeal in-game, from the character which owns the home. In the appeal, state your Name-Server, and that you're trying to have your banners corrected on your house, Lot #. File this appeal as Emergency. An example:

My character Xatryn-Nimue owns Lot 3152. My banners/shields are displaying the wrong emblem. Please help!

Having your home owner at the home for the appeal will help us, as we'll ask you to verify the new banners to be correct visually. Having a cloak emblazoned with your emblem is even better, but not required. We need data from both your character and your home to correct the issue, which is why we'd like both together.

While this does not happen to all accounts. It does seem to happen more than once to the same account. So, if this issue is happening to you, it may continue to happen in the future, even after we've corrected the issue due to your appeal. We'll gladly continue to assist with this issue, as we want you to display your emblem proudly, and we're very sorry for the inconvenience.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Wondering where the Guild News is this week? It's over in the Community section. We decided that with all the news about clustering that it would be best to keep it separate for this week so it would not get lost in all the updates.

The Scrambling Scavenger Riddle Race was a blast! We had so much fun, I want to send a heartfelt thanks to everyone who came out to race. The prizes will be given out this coming Monday or Tuesday, but if you are curious about just who won the prizes, then you will want to go here.

Have you ever wanted to ask a Dev a question in person? Do you like free snacks and discussing your latest fight? Well then you need to join us on at a Camelot Road Trip stop! Our first one of the year is coming up in Jacksonville, Florida on March 1st and not too long afterwards on May 1st, we will be in Bethesda, Maryland. If you are thinking of attending, please RSVP HERE, so that we can be sure to order enough snacks!

It's definitely been a busy week in the lands of Camelot. A very sincere thank you to everyone for your continued patience with the Devon and Caerleon clustering, we know it hasn't been easy these past few days, but hang in there gang and get ready for the huge frontier battles to come.

Have a great weekend everyone!