Opinion on 14.7 notes
GUI changes
Shop prices above 10 millions will now show as "xM" in the shop, where M means million. E.g. a price of 123 456 789 will display as "123M". The price will still be displayed fully in the info window (shift + left click on the icon).
Unsure - are we talking about the little price on the icon window or the subtotal at the bottom of the trade gump here? If the first, then this is understandable, since there's not enough room for more than about 6 digits there. Subtotal should still display the correct price...can we have this confirmed please?
You will now get a pop-up box asking you to confirm when you use the /terminate command.
Presumably to stop pet owners from meaning to type /pet termiante and hitting /terminate instead - and a newbie protection.
Getting blinded (e.g. by nanos) now effectively turns the action window black, and the effect can’t be removed in the settings. Also, the visual effect of the Low Light Targeting Scope can no longer be turned off.
An overdue change on blinds. It was something of a joke that *blind* targets still saw perfectly. Of course, this doesn't say if /follow will let the AI take over and run you right up to the target regardless of if you're blind, sighted or are having your eyes looked after by a leet.
Also, will we see AI melee mobs groping about because they can't find their targets?
Not so sure on the LLTS being bundled in with the changes though. It would make sense that those scopes have the option to turn the night vision off but leave the targeting features on.
Game system changes
Recharge timers are now affected by modified initiative skill, not just base initiative skill.
Affected how? Does this apply to nanos as well?
Very high initiative ratings (1200+) will now have less speed effect on attack, nano execution and recharge timers per skill point.
Again, what's the extent of effect? Come on, give us numbers here - will it tail off in proportion to the second power - third, fourth, whatever?
If a pet's master leaves the PvP area while the pet is fighting with another player, the pet will stop fighting and enter follow mode.
Kill the owner (or force him to zone) and you disable the pet. Not sure on this, but I'd prefer it if the pet followed the last order it was given.
World changes
Tir Grid terminal moved to outside the south gate of Tir, and Omni-1 Trade Grid terminal moved to the north side of the playfield. New grid terminals placed in Old Athen and Borealis.
The bank terminal near the middle of Omni-1 Trade has been removed.
I'll handle these together. The Omni-1 Trade changes, I regard as overkill. The combination of bank, whompa and grid made things very laggy, certainly...but shifting both bank and grid destroys a very, very useful meeting and trading place. Thus forcing load onto the Ent BB. I'd say move the grid and keep the bank to begin with...
Due to more people joining in on the notum extraction, certain powerful individuals have lost some of their power, and have been tweaked somewhat.
So, who got tweaked? Ian Warr springs to mind - anyone else?
Several items to get rid of enemy nano programs (e.g. root and snare) running in your NCU have been added.
Availability? Presumably boss loot, but that business with Efnraam's toolkit and Izzy's Codex has left a bad taste in the mouth.
Sentinels and Omni-AF armour is now available.
Again, how do we get it? Presumably as boss loot. Maybe as rollable mission loot as well - after all, the whole idea of both the solo and the team terminals is doing the various power groups on RK a favour for rewards.
A merchant has set up a trade in special melee weapons. He's no city dweller, so you might have to look around for him.
Will hold comment until I've found him. What happened to Arul Saba, by the way?
The new tower and vehicle shops are now operational, but you need the booster pack to be able to trade with them.
No surprise here.
Nano crystal (Edge of the Buccaneer) is now available in Enforcer nano program shops.
I'l look this buff up before I comment.
The Nano Programming buffs for Nano Technicians are now available, as outdoor camp boss loot.
What FC would only say on the NT board: Contrary to the last patch notes, they weren't actually available. They wern't in the emegrency patch either. Hence my constant banging on about availability so far.
HSR Hedgehog 23 Throwing Grenades are now available in Advanced and Superior shops.
Remember kiddies: When you pull the pin, Mr. Grenade is NOT YOUR FRIEND!
Nano changes
Engineers, Bureaucrats and Meta Physicists have received pet buffs which increase the pets' attack rating. Each of these professions has their own nano line for this.
AVAILABILITY, people! Beyond that, I leave it to the specific professions to comment on the nanos.
There has been a change to the way root, snare and mesmerise programs work (note that only the pure mesmerize nanos were changed, while the adventurer versions did not change).
Suspected translation: Crats, NTs and Traders have been nerfed.
I have a sick feeling about this: It can't be good, they're not giving us the specifics. Actually, I know it isn't good, mainly from Stratics and a couple of friends on the beta server. Think Level -based resistance bonus.
The chance of a root or snare being broken has been reduced. For snares, this reduction is a dramatic one (the chances of breaking a snare through a normal attack are typically under 10%). This affects the programs being broken by normal attacks, by nano-damage attacks, and by debuffs. The chance that the root or snare will be broken by a debuff is now under 10% (and gets close to 0% for the highest level versions). Some professions' programs are harder to break than others’.
Will want to see how this works in practice. I note that it doesn't say what happens if a rooted character is attacked, merely debuffed.
Nano Technician and Bureaucrat mesmerize programs now have a chance that they will not be broken by debuffs (they still break 100% of the time when any damage is inflicted, however). Low level mesmerise will still be broken by debuffs often, but the highest level versions will rarely, if ever, be broken just by a debuff.
No relevance in PvM, but see below.
To allow mesmerise nanos to be somewhat useful in PvP they will now also debuff the initiatives of the target at the same time. Of course, if the mesmerise is broken by an attack, the initiative debuff will go away at the same time.
So we can init debuff them...just so long as *nobody* then attacks them. Those init debuffs had better be stonkers.
To make it so that low level roots, snares and mesmerise programs cannot be used effectively on high level players or monsters, the level of the target is now used in the defensive rolls of these nanos. You will now have to use a higher-level version to be able to land the nano effectively on a high level player/monster. To slightly counteract this addition, the amount of Nano Resist used in the defensive calculations was reduced by 10%.
Several lines of programs for battling roots and snares have been added. The professions gaining these are Agent, Bureaucrat, Fixer, Nano Technician and Trader. Bureaucrats, Engineers and Meta Physicists also get such programs for use on their pets only.
Enforcers get Rage, which jacks NR to impressive levels. MAs get their new attack. This would seem to leave Docs and Soldiers high and dry.
Hitting yourself with an offensive nano program to remove hostile nano programs from your NCU no longer works.
See what I mean?
Bug fixes
The visual bug where you appear to stand up when using e.g. a treatment lab has been fixed.
Nice, but insignificant.
New characters will now enter the arrival hall with full health and nano pool.
Nice, but insignificant.
"Map - Newland City and Desert" can now be used even if you have one of the maps uploaded.
Nice.
May Fly grenades will now retain their correct quality level when primed (readied for use).
Should have been caught in 14.6 beta - and certianly in 14.6.1.
CAS Symbiotic Armour Helmet now correctly uses Stamina and Strength as requirements, like the rest of the armour set.
As Mayfly.
Right wrist implants now have their old, correct icons back, and no longer look a lot like eye implants.
As Mayfly.
[i]Boosted Hellfury Assault Cannon has had its Burst requirement corrected. [i]
As Mayfly.
Cloaking Devices no longer damage you after you have taken them off.
As Mayfly.
Your attack rating now updates properly in the Stats Window.
Nice. Truthfully, I hadn't noticed the update wasn't being properly done, but that shows how much attention I pay.
You should now be able to jump as normal in all indoor playfields.
Has the "jump through the roof" bug been fixed?
Having a Unique item force-moved to your bank from a backpack no longer shuffles your bank.
No comment here, or I go off on a rant. Nice that this is fixed though.
A corpse will no longer become impossible to loot when a member leaves the team during the fight.
Oookay....
The Rider Signet Ring now applies its bonuses properly.
Should have been caught in an earlier patch.
Adventurer
Because of PvP abuse, the execution time on the "other" version (e.g. "Sparrow Flight (Other)") of the reet morphing nano programs has been increased a lot.
Fair enough on the increase, but increased to...what? Specifics, AGAIN!
Bureaucrat
Speeches will now give the first pulse on execution instead of waiting 20 seconds.
I leave the crats to comment fully on this. Seems good to me though.
Charmed mobs now feel an intense hatred towards their former master, and are very likely to attack as soon as they are released.
Crat nerf! Again, I'll leave the crats to comment fully.
Engineer
Auras will now give the first pulse on execution instead of waiting 20 seconds.
See crat auras.
Enemies blinded with a blind aura will now have a black cloud effect around their head, allowing you to see who's affected.
Nice change.
Martial Artist
Added a new Martial Arts special attack, called "Upon a Wave of Summer", existing at QL50-300. It uses riposte as main skill. It clears all Same QL snares and roots, and has a chance to stun the opponent. You will get a Run Speed and Nano Resist boost for ten seconds to either close with the opponent, or run away. It also snares the opponent up to 20 meters away.
Availability, availability, availability. How many times do I have to say this?
Nano Technicians
Added new PvP direct damage nano programs that are designed specifically to take out Fixers in Grid Armour.
Oookay...considering that the last new nanos NTs got weren't actually available, that two of the nanos from the patch 14.5.1 haven't been found yet, and that I've been banging on about this in my comments so far....WHAT'S THE AVAILABILITY OF THESE NANOS?
And again, I come back to my other pet peeve: SPECIFICS: How are these nanos supposed to be good at taking out GA Fixers?
I realise that one of the reasons FC expects us to manage with only vague patch notes is to give the explorers something to explore.
However, this approach has, at least recently, backfired rather badly, especially in the case of two nano crystals: Enfraam's Toolkit and Izgimmer's Living Codex.
These nanos were introduced in the patch notes for 14.6, without mention of their availability - where they could be found. In this respect, it was per standard FC doctrine.
However, it emerged after a few days that the two nanos were, in fact, not in the game. An error in the loot tables had slipped through testing.
I suspect that the reason it had gotten through test is that the testers didn't know where to look for these crystals. (The alternatives being the FC knew about the bug and decided not to fix it, or that the testers knew and didn't report it to FC.)
FC, would it be too much to ask for the specifics on new items and rules to be officially published? There are good reasons for it:
1) Total disclosure of new additions/changes to game gives the testers a definite standard to test the beta builds against. If, say, item X is available through mission loot rolls, but nobody can get it that way then with DISCLOSURE people know this and it could be flagged as a bug. Under the current BAD setup, nobody knows if this is a bug or if the item is meant to be a really rare drop (like Nullity 2 or GA 4).
2) Total disclosure of new additions/changes would also ease the whole playerbase's mind about these changes. People dislike the unknown.
Also, why isn't 14.7 on test live? Surely increasing the tester base is a good thing? Right? I mean, it couldn't possibly be that the bean counters have nailed the devs to a Thanksgiving/Christmas deadline and they're running out of time...could it?
