Mark speaks

Folks,

Well, things have been, as usual, busy here at Mythic so I have lots of news to share. So, without further ado and no SNL references, here's the update on my update:

1) Significantly improved NPC pathing - Okay, in all fairness it wouldn't have taken much to improve on what we showed you folks during the PW. However, the NPC pathing is back to where it needs to be and while it still isn't perfect, well, it's a heck of a lot closer than it was just a short time ago. We identified a whole lot of bugs and squashed them.

2) Improved pet commands and responsivness - Well, pretty much same as above. Pets will no longer act as if obeying an order from you was the last thing in this world that they wanted to do.

3) Fixed an issue with textures blurring - Nothing like looking at textures through a blurred lens to make things look really sharp eh? Major improvements in and more OTW.

4) Enhanced Global Cooldown Mechanic - Well, for one the GCD actually shows the correct cooldown time and not the rounded up cooldown time (Hey, what a great idea, let's make it seem slower than it is. WOOT!). The slop timer is working fine right now and we'll continue to look at making the GCD and combat in general more responsive.

5) Continuing to improve Client Stability - As always, lots of fixes going in here. The client is supposed to be more stable (and looks like it so far) but until we get the masses back in...

6) Added new Graphics Settings and seeking more feedback from testers to guide future improvements. You asked for it, you got it. Well, in all fairness we were going to put these in anyway but it never hurts to nudge us a bit at times.

7) Target Nearest Target improved - Yeah! One of my pet peeves addressed.

Renown Gear changes and Potency of Potions increased. Tweaking, adding, subtracting, in other words (don't say "nerf", we're still in beta!) balancing.

9) Increased bonus for medal winners in PQs. PQs are supposed to be fun, joyous and not grindy. We'll continue tweaking and changing them wherever we need to do that to make it so #1. (okay, a ST reference)

10) Added more loot bags in Tier 1 PQs - Boy, it's going to be rather crowded when we launch so we just upped the loot for the Tier 1 PQs. We'll do the same to T2 as needed. And when the rush is over, we'll tweak downwards.

So, in terms of some other good stuff, lots and lots and lots of bugs fixed and lots of new stuff added to the ToK. But wait, there's more and we'll address some of it next week as well as more coming info in the next update.

Oh, and there's still no such thing as a miracle patch so don't expect one here. Just a ton of fixes, additions and adjustments. We have another major patch coming as well before launch. We don't believe in miracle patches (miracle whip is a whole other subject) here at Mythic but simply hard work and a talented team.

Much respect to my team that is really doing one heck of a job getting things ready for launch.

Mark

If all that is the way he made it sound, this game is good to go. Now hurry and release it.

Thanks for the info!

It all sounds good, except for the fact it makes me want to play right now!

nezitic wrote:

I want to eat it.

Awesome, all the things that I saw wrong were fixed apparently. Launch the game already!

I don't like the fact that he gave into the whiners regarding PQ loot roll bonuses. Really? a 400 bonus wasnt enough? They basically want it to where others have a slim to no chance of winning over them.

Vitalious wrote:

I don't like the fact that he gave into the whiners regarding PQ loot roll bonuses. Really? a 400 bonus wasnt enough? They basically want it to where others have a slim to no chance of winning over them.

eh? I didn't pick that up anywhere.

9) Increased bonus for medal winners in PQs. PQs are supposed to be fun, joyous and not grindy. We'll continue tweaking and changing them wherever we need to do that to make it so #1. (okay, a ST reference) --- This didn't equate to an extra boost in their roll. Though it's not really clear, either.

Vitalious wrote:

I don't like the fact that he gave into the whiners regarding PQ loot roll bonuses. Really? a 400 bonus wasnt enough? They basically want it to where others have a slim to no chance of winning over them.

IMO this was somthing that needed tweeking, while I love the idea it was too easy to come in in the last 10 seconds and get a #1 spot. I do love the randomness of it though.

Thanks for info Cern

Quote :

9) Increased bonus for medal winners in PQs

That's pretty clear, unless by medal they mean loot bag.

Quote :

IMO this was somthing that needed tweeking, while I love the idea it was too easy to come in in the last 10 seconds and get a #1 spot. I do love the randomness of it though.

This won't stop that from happening, but it will lower the frequency of it happening. They might want to look into the speculation of their whole random system not being so random. A few people have some date indicating that lower PQ contribution has a higher chance of winning than the high contributors. Mind you, this was a small sample size and people might be blowing smoke or looking for ghosts when there aren't any, but it's worth a shot to look at their algorithms.

I have a question regarding the bonus though. Is the bonus applied BEFORE or AFTER your initial roll?

Oh ya.. the PQ is pretty horrible as far as rewarding people that have put time in to it... I came in to a T2 PQ and helped at the end of the last stage before the boss and then helped kill the boss... all in all it took about 5 minutes.. and they had been there for half an hour or more grinding the mobs to get the next stage..

Anyway i got top rank and walked away with a Blue item But it was horrible that they got nothing for it...

I had some horrid luck and got 5 1st places in a row for contribution but no loot bags at all... bad rolls

So far the only problem seems to lie in the chest loot, only 3 people get a bag at all, of tens who end up helping. Easiest way to fix it is to give more people loot bags.


Now personally, I farm PQs for the fun and the Influence, I stick to RvR armour. But people who actually want the loot get jipped a lot.

The bonus is added after that roll.

You'll see everyone's rolls for the top 10, plus your own if you're #11 or below. Then, after it gets finished rolling (which in practice takes less than 2 seconds from #1 to #XX), you see the modified rolls.

Nez ---- 10) Added more loot bags in Tier 1 PQs - Boy, it's going to be rather crowded when we launch so we just upped the loot for the Tier 1 PQs. We'll do the same to T2 as needed. And when the rush is over, we'll tweak downwards.

For some reason, my brain is telling me adding the bonus first, then rolling would result in higher rolls, but when i look at the math. It seems the same.

this is gonna be one long week...... OB

yeah it sure is. I can't wait to play.

Yea, the PQ reward is going to be "unfair" no matter how you do it. I was very aggravated during PW because I was top contributor every time and I couldn't get a good roll for the life of me so loss EVERY time. But if they made it so the main contributors always won, then the players who aren't as good will never get a chance at the loot. It would be nice if there was a way where contribution was a bigger factor on winning, but you can only win so many in a time frame or something so people don't continually farm it.

Gah.....makes me want to play right now too! Especially since I just picked up my new computer so I can actually run WaR without watching it like a slideshow. C'mon September 7th!