Game Update Notes - Friday, March 16th 2012

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Game Update Notes - Friday, March 16th 2012

Post by Zahasha » Thu Mar 15, 2012 2:10 pm

http://forums.station.sony.com/eq/posts ... _id=184053

March 16, 2012
_____________________


*** Highlights ***

- Begin the Hero's Journey!
--- All players are now given a Tome of the Hero's Journey which will guide them with suggested tasks to complete along their journey from 1 to 85. Many of these tasks have been revamped and rebalanced.
--- A set of achievements have been added for the Hero's Journey which will grant rewards along the way.

- Added and improved a number of features regarding navigation.
--- Added a zone guide. This window is a quick way to look up zones in the game by level, zone connections, and other data about the zone. This is also the starting point for the zone path finder. The zone path finder generates a path between any chosen zone and any other zone in the world.
--- Find tracking is now visible in the map window. You'll be able to see your find wisp in the map window and it will auto center around the path and zoom in and out so you can see the whole path.
--- Maps now support custom map directories. Previously if a map was one of the patched maps it would get overwritten when patching. Now we support sub directories in the maps directory for custom maps. The game will now look for a map in the chosen custom map directory (at the top of the map window) and if it can't find one it will look in the default directory.
--- Added label searching. Now you'll be able to search through all of the labels on the map and select one to mark on the map.
--- Added the ability to right click on any point on the map to attempt to bring up a Find Path wisp to it.
--- Added zone connections to the Find window.

- Revamped the tutorial zone and quests within it. To enter the tutorial, select the "Tutorial" button from the character select screen. Your character must be level ten or below to enter the tutorial.
--- New quests have been created to explain important new features such as Mercenaries and Augmentations.
--- All existing quests have been updated with new information.
--- New rewards have been added to the tutorial quests, which should provide new characters with a much better set of starting armor.

- Created a new set of tutorials for advanced game concepts such as Alternate Achievements and Guildhalls. These tutorials are available at level 50 in the Plane of Knowledge. Seek out Secalna Galnor to begin them.

- It's EverQuest's 13th Anniversary! Seek out Sam Napth in the Plane of Knowledge for more information.

- Most Veil of Alaris rares have had their HP reduced by 10% or more. Many overly-difficult rares have had their damage outputs or mechanics altered.

- There were many changes made to the User Interface. If you are unable to log in to a character using a custom UI, contact your UI maker for an update or rename your custom UI's folder (in \EverQuest\uifiles\) to force the character to load the default UI again.


*** Items ***

- Changed the name of Valthon's Shard to Valthun's Shard. Valthun Woodswatcher was upset that people kept getting his name wrong.
- Housing anchors are no longer restricted to one per plot.


*** Quests & Events ***

- It's EverQuest's 13th Anniversary! Seek out Sam Napth in the Plane of Knowledge for more information.
- The Mechanical Fortune Teller in the Plane of Knowledge can give you directions on where to find previous anniversary quest givers for your level.
- All quest givers for anniversary tasks can now be found via the Find window.
- The elusive Iksar Lieutenants in the Field of Scale now have heralds which can be killed in their place in order to satisfy the requirements of Gorenaire's task "Cutting Off The Arms".
- Corrected a mix-up between the names Tynn and Marthor in Phara Dar's "Evil Afoot" task.
- Corrected a problem that could cause melee characters to be unable to exit certain Lost Dungeons of Norrath adventures.
- Erillion, City of Bronze - The first step of the mission "The Traitor Revealed" should now update properly when entering the prison.
- Venorin in Skylance may now use his intended knockback effect.


*** Spells ***

- Bard - Reduced the focus cap, Triple Attack Chance, and Flurry Chance added by the Arias, Auras, and Echoes of the Composer and the Orator.
- Melee classes - Increased the range of Throw Stone to 70 feet.
- Melee classes - Added an additional ability at level 5 named Elbow Strike. This ability is available in the Plane of Knowledge and anywhere else low-level melee tomes are sold.
- Player pets will no longer ignore their target's immunities when casting or proccing spells.
- The scholars of the Library of Myrist in the Plane of Knowledge have expanded their inventories. They now carry most spells, tomes, or songs that an adventurer will need. They do not carry ancient spells or advanced spell ranks.


*** NPC ***

- Most Veil of Alaris rares have had their HP reduced by 10% or more. Many overly-difficult rares have had their damage outputs or mechanics altered.
- Killing the helpless citizens in Argath will be less rewarding than it was before.
- The scholars of the Library of Myrist in the Plane of Knowledge have expanded their inventories. They now carry most spells, tomes, or songs that an adventurer will need. They do not carry ancient spells or advanced spell ranks.
- Merchants will now "Show Only Items That I Can Use" by default. Also spells that the character already has scribed and lower rank spells of the same spell group are now filtered out with the "Show Only Items That I Can Use" option.


*** AA ***

- Cleric - Corrected an issue with Battle Frenzy that was causing some damage spells to fail to crit.
- Enchanter - Unlinked the timers for Glyph Spray and Divine Companion Aura.
- Necromancer - Perfected Dead Man Floating will no longer conflict with the Mass Group Buff timer.
- Ranger - Corrected a problem that linked the Spirit of Eagle and Volatile Arrow abilities.
- Shaman - Restored the DoT proc on Languid Bite ranks 7-9.
- Shadowknight - Thought Leech has been changed to share a timer with Leech Touch instead of Harm Touch.
- Shadowknight - Explosion of Hatred should no longer affect the caster.
- Warrior - Warlord's Tenacity should no longer conflict with Druid HP buffs such as Stonebark Skin.
- Cleric, Druid, and Shaman - Corrected the Copious Healing effect of Abundant Healing ranks 21-25.
- Druid and Shaman - Silent Casting should no longer interfere with Paralytic Spores.
- Fixed many AA descriptions that were out of date.
- The next Veteran's Reward has been created. Blessing of the Devoted, which reduces the reuse time of all other Veteran's Rewards by 25 percent, will be available to players as it is earned.
- A new AA ability in the special tab called "Summon Tome of the Hero's Journey" has been created. This ability will allow you to summon a book that offers information on what quests you might want to work on.


*** Achievements ***

- A new category of Achievements has been created called the Hero's Journey. Many existing quests have had achievements added to them in this category.
- Created a set of Achievements to help you track your progress through the new advanced tutorials given in and around the Plane of Knowledge.
- Added a set of Achievements to track progress through our Anniversary quests and events.


*** Mercenaries ***

- The initial price to hire a mercenary has been significantly reduced.
- Improved the AI for healer mercenaries. In certain cases, they will now heal you even if you have heal over time spells or deferred heals on you.


*** Progression Servers ***

- Speaking to a Priest of Discord should now correctly allow you to change your vote when there is an active poll for expansion unlocks.
- Due to the recent unlock of Lost Dungeons of Norrath on Fippy Darkpaw, we have increased the experience modifier on both servers so that it will match standard servers.


*** Miscellaneous ***

- Right-clicking on an item that you cannot use now gives the specific reason why you cannot use the item (whether it be level, race, class, deity, or membership level).
- Changed the default memory management mode to Balanced and removed original memory mode. This should prevent many of the crashes that were occurring in large zones.
- Increased the targeting range on PCs through /target from 70 to 200.
- Many in-game help files have been updated with new information. Even veteran players will probably find something new in the command lists.
- Weapons will no longer go through the head of female Vah Shir and Barbarians when previewing them in the preview window.
- Players that are zoning when their raid expedition is acquired will now receive credit for completing the raid where appropriate.


*** UI ***

- There were many changes made to the User Interface. If you are unable to log in to a character using a custom UI, contact your UI maker for an update or rename your custom UI's folder (in \EverQuest\uifiles\) to force the character to load the default UI again.
- Fixed a bug where all two-handed weapons, shields, and augments would have a green name when the equipping player was below the required level, while one-handers and armor had red names. They now all have red names when they are not usable.
- Added the ability to buy additional character slots and other account-based features from character select.
- Merchants will now "Show Only Items That I Can Use" by default. Also spells that the character already has scribed and lower rank spells of the same spell group are now filtered out with "Show Only Items...".
- The alarm window is no longer a pop-up. It is now accessible from the EQ menu button (EQ -> Actions -> Alarm) or the /alarm command.
- Added a new set of loading screens which feature helpful tips and concept art.
- Added an option to map the "Toggle Bank Bags" feature to a key on your keyboard.
- Added a new window for Alerts and an Alert History window to show any that you have viewed previously. The history window is accessible from the EQ button.
- Altered the EQ main window (the cascading popup window that opens when you click the EQ button) so that shortcut key combinations appear next to the item commands in the window.
- Updated the "Create Character" button on the Character Creation screen to read "Enter World" instead. The functionality of this button remains the same.
- Converted all of the buttons that were individually declaring the exact "A_BtnNormal" style to use the common "BDT_Normal" template.
- Converted all of the buttons that were individually declaring the exact "A_SmallBtnNormal" style to use the common "BDT_SmallNormal" template.
- Converted all of the buttons that were individually declaring the exact "A_SquareBtnNormal" style to use the common "BDT_Square" template.
- Converted all of the buttons that were individually declaring the exact "A_BigBtnNormal" style to use the common "BDT_BigNormal" template.
- Converted all of the arrow buttons to use the common template.
- Converted all checkboxes where appropriate.
- Added a new template type for buttons that display a color in them such as the tint window, and converted all references to use this style.
- Added new template types for buttons that display coin with a recessed button around them such as the inventory display of money, and converted all references to use this style.
- Added a new template type for buttons that display items in them such as the container window, and converted all references to use this style.
- Removed the Voice Chat Notification window.
- The Welcome Screen will no longer open automatically when zoning into the first tutorial instance.
- Made it so that the newbie character no longer shows when the player is at the character select screen and has no characters.
- Changed the Journal button in the Window Selector window to open the Quest Journal window when clicked.
- Greatly increased the 'highlight' area around label points on the map and changed the highlight code so that only the nearest label point will highlight rather than all that fall within the range.
- Added the ability to change the color of the player on the map window from black. The ini for it (MyColor) is found in the [MapViewWnd] section of your character's ini file and defaults to blue. Additionally, the ability to change the group color, the local player color, and the find path color is now available through the Map Toolbar window. Added new buttons in this window to allow easy modification of each of the color options.
- Modified the map window highlight functionality while the toolbar is active so that either a line or a label will be highlighted but not both. This should make modifying the map easier since it'll be easier to highlight the one thing that is intended to be modified.
- Marked labels no longer show in the map window when the toolbar is not active (this mimics the functionality of marked lines). Fixed a bug where marked labels were not highlighted while the toolbar was active.
- Increased the number of buy lines in the Barter Buyer Window from 50 to 200.



- Added -
EQUI_AlertStackWnd.xml
EQUI_AlertWnd.xml
EQUI_AlertHistoryWnd.xml
EQUI_HelpWnd.xml
EQUI_ZoneGuideWnd.xml
EQUI_ZonePathWnd.xml

- Changed -
EQUI.xml
EQUI_AAWindow.xml
EQUI_ActionsWindow.xml
EQUI_AdvancedDisplayOptionsWnd.xml
EQUI_AdventureLeaderboardWnd.xml
EQUI_AdventureRequestWnd.xml
EQUI_AdventureStatsWnd.xml
EQUI_AlarmWnd.xml
EQUI_AlertWnd.xml
EQUI_AltStorageWnd.xml
EQUI_Animations.xml
EQUI_AudioTriggersWindow.xml
EQUI_BandolierWnd.xml
EQUI_BankWnd.xml
EQUI_BarterMerchantWnd.xml
EQUI_BarterSearchWnd.xml
EQUI_BarterWnd.xml
EQUI_BazaarSearchWnd.xml
EQUI_BazaarWnd.xml
EQUI_BigBankWnd.xml
EQUI_BlockedBuffWnd.xml
EQUI_BlockedPetBuffWnd.xml
EQUI_BodyTintWnd.xml
EQUI_BookWindow.xml
EQUI_BuffWindow.xml
EQUI_BugReportWnd.xml
EQUI_CharacterCreate.xml
EQUI_CharacterListWnd.xml
EQUI_CharacterSelect.xml
EQUI_ChooseZoneWnd.xml
EQUI_ClaimWnd.xml
EQUI_ColorPickerWnd.xml
EQUI_CombatAbilityWnd.xml
EQUI_CombatSkillsSelectWindow.xml
EQUI_ConfirmationDialog.xml
EQUI_Container.xml
EQUI_DynamicZoneWnd.xml
EQUI_EditLabelWnd.xml
EQUI_EQMainWnd.xml
EQUI_FeedbackWnd.xml
EQUI_FellowshipWnd.xml
EQUI_FileSelectionWnd.xml
EQUI_FindLocationWnd.xml
EQUI_FriendsWnd.xml
EQUI_GemsGameWnd.xml
EQUI_GiveWnd.xml
EQUI_GroupMentorWnd.xml
EQUI_GroupSearchWnd.xml
EQUI_GroupWindow.xml
EQUI_GuildBankWnd.xml
EQUI_GuildCreationWnd.xml
EQUI_HelpWnd.xml
EQUI_HeritageSelectionWnd.xml
EQUI_HtmlWnd.xml
EQUI_IconSelectionWnd.xml
EQUI_InspectWnd.xml
EQUI_Inventory.xml
EQUI_ItemDisplay.xml
EQUI_ItemExpTransferWnd.xml
EQUI_JournalCatWnd.xml
EQUI_JournalNPCWnd.xml
EQUI_LargeDialogWnd.xml
EQUI_LeadershipWnd.xml
EQUI_LFGuildWnd.xml
EQUI_LoadskinWnd.xml
EQUI_LootWnd.xml
EQUI_MailAddressBookWindow.xml
EQUI_MailCompositionWindow.xml
EQUI_MailIgnoreListWindow.xml
EQUI_MailWindow.xml
EQUI_MapToolbarWnd.xml
EQUI_MapViewWnd.xml
EQUI_MarketplaceWnd.xml
EQUI_MeleeBuffWindow.xml
EQUI_MercenaryMerchantWnd.xml
EQUI_MerchantWnd.xml
EQUI_MIZoneSelectWnd.xml
EQUI_MusicPlayerWnd.xml
EQUI_NameChangeMercWnd.xml
EQUI_NameChangePetWnd.xml
EQUI_NameChangeWnd.xml
EQUI_NewPointMerchantWnd.xml
EQUI_NewUserWalkthroughWnd.xml
EQUI_NoteWindow.xml
EQUI_OptionsWindow.xml
EQUI_PetInfoWindow.xml
EQUI_PlayerCustomizationWnd.xml
EQUI_PlayerWindow.xml
EQUI_PointMerchantWnd.xml
EQUI_ProgressionSelectionWnd.xml
EQUI_PvPLeaderboardWnd.xml
EQUI_PvPStatsWnd.xml
EQUI_QuantityWnd.xml
EQUI_RaceChangeWnd.xml
EQUI_RaidOptionsWindow.xml
EQUI_RaidWindow.xml
EQUI_RealEstateItemsWnd.xml
EQUI_RealEstateLayoutDetailsWnd.xml
EQUI_RealEstateNeighborhoodWnd.xml
EQUI_RealEstatePlotSearchWnd.xml
EQUI_RespawnWnd.xml
EQUI_RewardSelectionWnd.xml
EQUI_Screens.xml
EQUI_SelectorWnd.xml
EQUI_SendMoneyWnd.xml
EQUI_ServerListWnd.xml
EQUI_ShortDurationBuffWindow.xml
EQUI_SkillsWindow.xml
EQUI_SocialEditWnd.xml
EQUI_SpellBookWnd.xml
EQUI_SpellDisplay.xml
EQUI_StoryWnd.xml
EQUI_TaskSelectWnd.xml
EQUI_TaskTemplateSelectWnd.xml
EQUI_TaskWnd.xml
EQUI_TCGStartupWnd.xml
EQUI_Templates.xml
EQUI_TemplateSelectWnd.xml
EQUI_TextEntryWnd.xml
EQUI_TipWnd.xml
EQUI_TitleWnd.xml
EQUI_TrackingWnd.xml
EQUI_TradeskillWnd.xml
EQUI_TradeWnd.xml
EQUI_TrainWindow.xml
EQUI_TributeBenefitWnd.xml
EQUI_TributeMasterWnd.xml
EQUI_VideoModesWnd.xml
EQUI_VoiceActionBarWnd.xml
EQUI_VoiceMacroWnd.xml
EQUI_VoiceNoticeWnd.xml
EQUI_VoteWnd.xml
EQUI_ZoneGuideWnd.xml

- Removed -
EQUI_VoiceNoticeWnd.xml



- The EverQuest Team
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"It is good to have an end to journey towards:
but it is the journey that matters in the end." ~Ursula K Le Guin
Gildawen
Officer
Posts: 621
Joined: Sat Sep 04, 2004 12:07 am
Location: US Pacific Coast

Re: Game Update Notes - Friday, March 16th 2012

Post by Gildawen » Thu Mar 15, 2012 5:21 pm

Also, there's a 30% xp bonus through the end of March.
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