14.4 - Preliminary patch notes

[Elixoria]

Originally posted by Lazz
Sollution to Ninja-looting

Everyone in the team should get a text message on everything that a player in the team picks up. Either that or the whenever a team get loot for a MOB or a chest is opened the items should be put out on team chat by the server.

That an excellent idea Simple too!

BTW FunCom... thanks for what looks like to be a patch with more ups than downs.

[luxferro]

***First and most importanly, why does all the new stuff have to be on boss mobs in team missions? No one likes this idea at all!!!

**Second, how does the adventurer mesmerise nano work, or what is it's purpose if it can only be cast on non aggroed animals? why are you gonna calm a animal if it is not hostile? i don't see the point here... unless you give it lots of range so we can calm them before we get close enough for them to aggro on us or anyone for that matter.. makes no sense the way you desribe it..

*Third, are there gonna be any better 1HE weapons than what's currently in 14.2? Where is the dam North Wind Katana? I need to know before i reset all my IP and go a different route and become another ass running around with a shotgun and a 13% LLTS...

[Brad, STL/MO]

• A new type of surgery clinics is now available. They can only be used by doctors.
  
  If this means that finally doctors have some way to help people into their nanoware other than the +45/+80 buffs, especially lower level doctors, then all I can say is, "Finally." I always throught it was a tragedy that the Portable Surgery Kits had to be nerfed into uselessness.
  
• Profession-specific implant departments are now available in the basic supermarkets.
  
  I'm of two minds on this. My alts that have NP as a dark blue skill are jumping for joy. My alts that have NP as a green skill are saying, "So now we only get paid to build implants when we're very high level characters?"
  
• Fixed some shop signs in Omni-Ent and 4 Holes. They now reflect the type of store better.
  
  Nice. Now, for a followup, can we actually have shop signs for the rest of the shops in the Old Athen Mall other than Miir?
  
• Aquaan monsters have been removed from Newland. They were never supposed to be in this area.
  
  Again, I'm of two minds on this. I've been in a high level team that got entirely wiped out by an Aquaan Queen on the southern shore of Lake Newland, and at the time I thought, "WTF!?!?!?!?"
  
  But it's already so rare that of the six high level characters in the group, only one had ever even heard of it happening before. Since then, I've seen an Aquaan Soldier once more -- swimming far out in the lake. And if I hadn't been pressing tab continuously, I would have missed it. No harm done; it just felt a bit like a whale sighting.
  
  So I had come to the conclusion that this was a storyline hook, and we were going to find out that the Aquaans had an entire civilization down there in some future patch. This would have been potentially very cool, and might have even created a need for water vehicles in order to do something cool.
  
  Now I find out I was wrong, it was just a bug. *sigh* Well, it makes Newland safer, but there goes a bit of romance.
  
• Trader health transfers have been [nerfed] ...
  
  No. No. A thousand times no. This game already doesn't have enough healers in it, and now you're going to completely nerf the second best ones? Gaah.
  
• The items summoned with the "Smuggler's Shipment", "Bootleg Blades'n Blunts" and "Bootlet Beamers'n Bolters" will now exist for 12 hours, rather than two. Additionally, the credit cost of summoning these items has been lowered dramatically.
  
  As someone whose primary is a fixer, I am actively excited about every fixer change other than this ... but this won't help at all. It won't hurt anything, but it is no more likely to make lots of fixers use Summon Item than decreasing the nano cost on battle suits was to make everyone want a battle suit.
  
  (For those of you who haven't done the math, a complete set of armor at the same QL as the battlesuit provides better coverage, without any drawbacks.)
  
  Seven pieces of armor per set. At level 40, there are what, about 20 armor types? And it only goes up from there. But even all the way down at level 40, the odds of getting the exact piece of armor you want are 140 to 1. Not worth the time, even if you were to somehow make it worth the expense - I can blitz for permanent armor quicker than that. Even if you're willing to be flexible on which type of armor you want, there are still five main armor lines (str/stam, agil/str, agil/sens, int/psy, and stam/psy) - but your odds on that last piece are still 35 to 1.
  
  If you want to make it useful, you can even leave the duration as low as it is and the price as high as it is. Just make it use the targeted player to determine (a) which stats, and therefore which type of armor to summon, and (b) based on which slot is empty, which piece.
  
  Because the crippling problem isn't price or duration, it's that it's too random.
  
  And I'd still trade one of my toes to see a really useful line of Summon Item skills: Summon Vehicle, 2 hour duration, big cost - turn fixers with high mattcrea into car rental shops. Now that would make some money.
  
• Added a line of leet charms ...
  
  Will not zone with you? What fun is that?
  
• The night vision effect from the adventurer's wolf and pit lizard polymorph has been removed.
  
  I have mixed feelings about this, too. But I suppose it's preferable to having it the way it is. How about this: add a few more very low level, widely available, 1 NCU, nanos that add night vision ... usable only in wolf, cat, and dragon forms? That way people could turn it on in the rare occasions it was useful, and turn it off when they were done with it.
  
• Fly mode has been disabled from the pit lizard polymorphs, as it isn't working properly. The primary purpose of the pit lizard polymorphs is combat, and this was stopping it from being used in combat correctly.
  
  May we hope that this is only until you get the ability to fight while airborne fixed?
  
• Zoning while flying now preserves altitude.
  
  And there was great rejoicing throughout the land! Well, OK, throughout the skies.

[Jayde]

Problems with Boss Loot Only...

1) It makes class-defining/fixing nanos harder to get than they should be.
2) It ticks everyone ELSE off.

Why #2?

Well, I play both an Advent and an Agent. Problem being, when I'm doing super-hard team missions with my Advent I do *not* want 2 of my possible awesome boss loot items to be AGENT NANOS! Sorry...but don't you realize 90% of the people who find these nanos are just pissed that they are "worthless" to them and sell them in shops?

I did a 100+ MOB mission last night and the boss only dropped 7 items. Only 3 of them were anything "special"... 1) Total Concentration Instruction Disc ("hahaha" *sell*) 2) Battle Suit ("hahaha" *sell* "WTF? Why is it only worth 10K credits at QL 85???") 3) Some Ribbed-Steel shoulder pad.

Basically, aside from who got the random roll for the soulder pad, there was a whole team of 6 people who didn't get *jack* off the boss. Considering how many boss-only items there are now, introducing another slew of them into cirulation is simply going to lead to SO MUCH FRUSTRATION.

Just some food for thought... Other than that, great patch, IMO. Although if you're taking away flight from Pit Lizard, it should go on the self-only Flurry of Feathers.

-Jayde

[Brad, STL/MO]

Oh, and let me add my vote to the list of unhappy people who say, "Just Say No to Mandatory Team Missions." "Boss Mob Loot only" should be reserved for only a few items, not entire nano lines.

I'm getting totally sick and tired of being flatly unable to find teams who actually know how to play Anarchy Online - tanks who've never heard of taunting, doctors and enforcers who've never heard of health buffs, traders who still haven't figured out what calms are, metaphysicists who say "I'll pull with my pet," and so on. Despite all of this, even the total idiots want to pick missions at 75% difficulty ... and don't see what the problem is. Sure, half the team dies at least once per level. So, we'll just wait until they get back, right?

So between recruiting a team, picking the mission, traveling to the mission, fighting some, waiting for half the team to come back from reclaim, fighting some more, waiting for half the team to come back from reclaim, entering the boss mob room, having half the team die again (thereby losing all experience for the mission), hoping against hope that the mission keeper wasn't one of the ones who died, and then listening to endless whining from the dead about how they didn't get their rewards when the mission completed ... gah.

Even if I had that kind of time when I sit down to play AO, I'm not sure any reward could make up for the sheer aggravation involved. Every team mission I have been a part of has taught me to hate team missions even more.

Admit it - this is our punishment for using ClickSaver, isn't it? You don't want the average member of a profession to be fully powered up, you want 90% of them to be gimped in some way, so they can look up to the people who actually have all their nanos and equipment. Admit it. So then it became easy to actually get useful mission rewards. And since We Can't Have That, Oh, No -- no useful item added to the game will ever again be available as a mission reward. (Well, OK, not none. The Sol Executioners and Kaen-Archibald Kolts drop as rewards. But bloody little of the cool stuff.)

[_______________Sigyn]

To get it out of the way:
I believe that at new player creation, when you use nickname terminal to type in a nickname, it randomly changes first/last name. (been a while since I last made a char, though). And anyway, I usually would choose a nick, and then would keep rolling the name till I found something that sounded right.
I guess this allows people to go the other way - roll first/last name till they get something they like, then type in a nick that fits the name.

Boss loot: this is real sad. My schedule is such that just don't know when I'll need to log. Makes me very bad team material - especially bad team mission material, so I almost exclusively solo. I know I could team with someone just to get the mission, and then try to do the mission solo, but chances of taking alone a boss of sufficient level to have useful loot are rather slim. Maybe allow solo players to take missions located in some VERY remote and hostile places, and allow an hour limit on them, but offer boss loot items for rewards?

[DarkeKnyte]

Well I too was hoping for the 1he/2he line of buffs for the enforcer. Wonder if it will happen?
It's sad that an Enf that uses the edged attacks gets nothing like an Enf that uses the blunt attacks.

I would not call it Enforcer luv. I would call it Enforcer balance. IMHO

[labrutte]

Ok all of this sounds good but there is most important fix to do !!!

When can we see in the patch note : IMPOVING PET PATHING FOR ALL PET CLASSES !!!!!!!

Damn you broke 3 class with your stupid pet pathing, is it normal that above lvl 130 all pet calses don't use their pet cause he will be stuck in every door !!

I hope you will do it before next years, but i'm sure you will not

[______________Kumiyo]

Is it just me or is AO turning into another EQ where you need to team to accomplish anything.

Woot hunting areas for high level players, great now I can use my engi, god knows I cant get on a team for crap. What am I thinking they'll just put a bunch of furniture and doorways to gimp me some more.

[Ulltima]

Come on, Funcom. You create tons of advy-loving, and then you make them almost totally inaccessible for casual gamers and people who prefer to solo. WTF is your problem over there? Are you guys that broken up about not making it into the next round of the World Cup?

Seriously, though... for all professions... these new nanos DO NOT need to be boss-only loot. I can probably understand the higher-level ones being so - it would give everyone else something to do - but the lowbies and middies hate having to gain five levels just to get one nano that may be outdated by the time they get it.

Bad move, Funcom. You guys may be uber-leet Gawds in the game, but you really haven't tried soloing any profession all the way up to 200, have you? Nope. I thought not. Try it sometime and see what the rest of the PAYING CUSTOMERS have to deal with.

/me gets off of soapbox and goes back to work

[cov186]

Regarding the Chaos Minions in Lush Fields...

The way I understand things, these are monsters called "Nanofreaks" ... the members of the Nanofreak family include Lifebleeders, Fatestealers, Chaos Minions, and a couple of others. All highly aggro, all pretty scary. Chaos Minions are tougher and nastier versions of Lifebleeders.

Now, when I was leveling my characters through the NW mines, a Lifebleeder would pop up every so often. If it appeared next to a team, it attacked them pretty much right away, and that team would have to defend themselves. If it didn't, then we'd notice ("LB spotted") and either run away or prepare to fight it off. It was sort of a public service to destroy a LB as soon as you saw it.

I seem to remember some problems more recently about Chaos Minions appearing in Lush Fields. This fix might be addressing that.

If the patch removes Chaos Minions, but allows Lifebleeders to remain as random spawns in the area, then I believe this is a good thing.

If the patch removes Chaos Minions AND Lifebleeders, then I agree with a previous poster - this takes away some of the "fun and danger" of the area.

When my characters "graduated" from the NW Mines to 20K (and Bothackers), I felt that the Bothackers camp was a let-down. After all, as long as you stick only to Bothackers (and Virusbuilders at their camp), then you were pretty safe. A bad targetting decision might get other kinds of mobs aggro'ing onto your team, but, a halfway decent team could level there with a known amount of risk. You didn't have that at NW mines; a Lifebleeder could jump on you at any moment.

Could we get a clarification on this, please?

[Destria]

That way people could turn it on in the rare occasions it was useful, and turn it off when they were done with it.

Not really needed, with Night vision goggles easy to buy/wear. Except maybe for NCU-Hacker-Interfaced Fixers, but they can always find a QL1 Scope to wear

The pre-made implants are a GOOD thing. I know when I was new, I put in implants that I found. They're a good starting point. I think they stop at QL30, though the Advanced shops might have more. Besides, they're not perfect! People will still want to customise them! But for a newbie, it gives them something to work with.

[____________Orethian]

I'm apalled! All these "improvements" and you still haven't fixed the zoning problem! Get your priorities straight dangit!!! Alot more people have this problem than you think!

[xbmspec]

What exactly does the doctor surgery clinic do?

[Shyenia]

Fly mode has been disabled from the pit lizard polymorphs, as it isn't working properly. The primary purpose of the pit lizard polymorphs is combat, and this was stopping it from being used in combat correctly.
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Now why is it we adventurers are getting our most prized morph nerfed because of a lack of forsight from the programmers. This is not a smart move FC.

How about instead of getting rid of the flight capability you fix the bug and leave it in. How about you kick your programmers in the rear and tell them to do their jobs for a change. I honestly think that getting all the nano buffs and morph additions does not make us happy to lose our lizard flight. How would you feel if you got a raise in your paycheck only to be told your getting your hours of work cut back. DUH!!! doesn't make sense and neither does this.

[Coldshadow]

I was excited about 14.4 before as it is rumoured to be an adv-loving patch...

It doesn't seem so:

- Every prof can buy its expertise-like nanos in shops... advs need to bossloot for weapons, nanos... i hate this, i hate 5-hour long team misions, when the boss drops nothing useful...

- The 1he/pistol/multi buffs mean OUR LIFE! WHY IS IT BOSSLOOT??? I solo, how n earth am i supposed to get them? Forget buying, it wil cost fortunes i am sure....

- Leet charm in this form is totally useless... why do i need a leet that doesn't zone... and it is not permanent either... what is it FOR?

- I am very disappointed about 3 morph-related things:
1) PLEASE I BEG YOU, FIX SABREATOOTH AND REET WITH 2HE WEAPONS!!!!
2) DO NOT NERF DRAGON!!! WHAT ISA DRAGON THAT CANNOT FLY??? THIS IS OUR BEST NANO!!!
3) please beg yu again, GIVE 3D FLIGHT TO FoF!! MPs can fly at 70, advs why not????

To sum up i get nothing with this patch...
- I won't be able to get the new nanos
- I won't be able to fly
- I won't be able to have charmed leet
- If i ever reach dragon, it will be nerfed

If this is an ADV-loving patch, what is the one like which holds negative effects on us???

I am sorry of being offensive or sarcastic, i have an adv and i'd really like to be an owner of a cool profession...

Cosmik: We sent you 10 points as far as i know... WHAT ABOUT OUTDOORS THINGS???

Jagienka lvl 75 ADV RK2

[_______________Vydas]

Originally posted by Orethian
I'm apalled! All these "improvements" and you still haven't fixed the zoning problem! Get your priorities straight dangit!!! Alot more people have this problem than you think!

I couldn't agree with your sentiment more . I think, though, that it would be far superior if they fixed zoning prior to 14.4. A whole lot of us have not really been able to play since 14.2. If that condition continues through an entire test cycle for what appears from the notes to be a very hefty and ambitious patch, my money would be on many of those people not being around to see it implemented.

[Myers]

For all the people who didn't get what they want remember this is just one patch. And it's a great one.
As for boss loot, it is in no way a big deal. For solo people they just don't get the stuff(unless they buy it from someone if your allowed). It's that simple. There is absolutely no reason for everyone to have everything in the game. Lets actually have things that aren't on every other person. There is no reason to complain that you can't get special things because they are on a certain creature. Would you complain that you can only get robot parts on a robot?

[Inocybe]

Adventurers have been asking for our profession nanos/abilities to be brought up to par ... what with all the changes that have been happening with other profession enhancements and with mission and mobs becoming tougher over the months. Those who have managed to deal with damage output issues did it mostly by sidestepping the green/aqua/light blue weapon skills but at great cost of investing IPs heavily into dark blue skills. Can we say shotgun, nova-flow and riders?

Why did Adventurers need to go outside of the profession template just to be viable? This means the BASIC Adventurer template is NOT working and hence this profession needs to tweaked/enhanced considering all the changes in the PvM and profession scenes over the year.


Then ....
like rain on a parched desert - word finally came out - new self-only buffs for 1HE/Pistol/Multi-melee/Multi-range. This brought some hope to two-thirds of the Adventurer community who use 1HE and Pistol.

Then ...
like rain to sodden a happy camp-fire - preliminary 14.4 patch-notes came out - Check out the team mission boss monsters, they may drop one of these new nanos. - MAY drop?? Hello??

Get out of this team-mission-boss loot mentality and re-look it because it is UNPOPULAR as it stands now. You are lumping ALL new nanos and items and putting it as random boss-loot with TOTAL disregard to the profession fix objectives.

Class-fixes should never be put on the same level as class-bonus issues.

For example, who cares how and when Leet Friend nanos drops off the team-boss? It is a nanoline that is as non-useful as the Fixer's Summon Bootleg line - party tricks.

But the bread-and-butter buffs? Yes, we care! For the longest time, the Adventurer's damage output has been a major concern, struggling to maintain a decent attack rating was a major concern. Feedback was given to you on a platter via project Fire-Breath or did you forget that already so soon? Those proposed 1HE/pistol/multi-melee/multi-range buffs are class fixes NOT party tricks.

Class-fixes and bread-and-butter nanos should be put in shops or missions - where Adventurers can pull up a mission knowing that the nano he/she needs is the reward and then spend some effort getting it. Putting class-fix nanos as team mission boss loot is just too random. How does a profession plan around random factors? Factors are core to the combat skills of a profession that is not specialised combat templated??

What do you think will happen IF you were to put the MP nano teachings/mastery nanos, Soldier's range weapon mastery nanos, Agent's rifle and aimedshot nanos, Enforcer's 1Hb/2HB nanos, Trader's wrangler nanos, Crat's charm nanos, Fixer's grid nanos, Doctor's debuff nanos - ALL as RANDOM team-mission boss loot? That would be an uproar, of course. All these bread-and-butter nanos are available in shops up to QL125 or available as mission items/rewards from QL1 upwards. So why oh why does the Adventurer have to jump hoops to get hold of bread-and-butter nanos?

Is it because FC is too lazy to think outside of the team-mission box? It certainly appears that way and a very sad thing it is indeed. It just shows that FC is not REALLY listening to the feedback your customers are giving you. Very disappointing.

As these are preliminary patch notes - show us that you are prepared to listen.

One more time ...
Class-fixes should never be put on the same level as class-bonus issues

[_____________Mr Bean]

Bosses are annyoing
Veery annyoing
And getting five people togther to kill an annyoing boss is even more annyoing as normal 2 outtta the 5 are annyoing
Or slow
Or just new to the game
Or idiots

Oh yes and the bugs with making a nano form a disc and it is made with 0 charges is still here so that could be even mooore annyoing

I'm annyoded Can you guess?