What's new?
This week brings a few UI updates, dynamic threat scaling, and a new Ember Vein.
Bug fixes / improvements:
Exit Delay
A number of people have been taking advantage of our good will by exploiting the instant exit feature of our game to get around aggro. Because of this a delay has been added to exit the game. Attempting to exit the game will force your character to sit for this delay; which can be cancelled by standing. There are a few exceptions to this rule - the delay timings are as follows:
We've gone through a few balance iterations for the the dice modifier to crafted weapons. This modifier is the ability to go from say a 1d4+2 to a 1d4+6 with certain crafting materials. Unfortunately, weapons at higher levels and of lower delays were close enough to one another in dice modifier that crafted weapons were far exceeding dropped items. This resulted in rare weapon finds feeling worthless and difficult to balance. For the time being, the crafting dice modifier bonus has been replaced with a +Haste bonus. We are actively working to raise up the lvl 30-50 weapon tier gaps to have more room for things like dice modifiers to return on imbued weapons at a future date. But we felt that addressing the imbalance of these items was important enough to address on its own.
Ashen Updates
Ashen creatures have gotten a slight update this patch. Previously, Ashens would "scale down" (2^ to 1^ for example) when spawned and have a blank aggro table. They will no longer scale down (i.e. 2 chevrons will remain 2 chevrons) but will instead spawn at half health. In addition to this change, all targets from their progenitor will be inherited with their threat reset. This means that the ashen will know all of its previous targets but your position on the threat list will be reset.
New Ember Drift
A new high level (45+) Ember Drift has been spotted in Redshore Ridge!
Threat Scaling
New tech has been implemented that allows for a dynamic threat bonus on Provoke, Roar, and Fading Strike. The purpose of this tech is to allow the players to more effectively "close the gap" between themselves and another player on the threat list.
For Provoke and Roar this bonus only applies if you are not on the top of the NPC's threat list; the bonus threat value is proportional to the difference between the top threat and your threat. For Fading Strike this works in the opposite direction: you get a negative threat bonus if you are at the top of the threat list; the negative threat bonus is proportional to the difference between your threat and the next highest person on the threat list.
Works in progress:
To see a full list of what is currently in progress head on over to this thread. I will do my best to update this list on a weekly basis and highlight the differences from the previous week with bold font. Note that what is listed here and in the linked post is not necessarily everything that is currently in progress. Below I will highlight some of the upcoming changes in more detail.
Dueling (1 week)
Have you ever wanted to duel someone in our game? Soon you can! Although, you will be dueling with dice not weapons...
More info to come next week!
QA Server (1-2 weeks)
Our new QA server is up and running internally. There are a few more kinks to work out but we should be able to get this going within the next week or two.
Quests (1-3 weeks)
A number of new quests are currently in testing on QA and will be launched soon (TM).
Patch Size (ongoing)
Improving the patch sizes is still being worked on. But given that this has zero gameplay implications it has taken a back seat to other design and tech related tasks.
Known Issues:
This week brings a few UI updates, dynamic threat scaling, and a new Ember Vein.
Bug fixes / improvements:
- Tech
- Defender threat role bonus now applies to threat-only abilities such as Provoke.
- You no longer stand up if hit by a DOT's tick.
- Environment / Art
- Fixed rendering issue with the water in Newhaven City on MacOS.
- UI:
- Added lock buttons to the Roll, Blacksmith, and Merchant windows.
- Coloring active defenses in the combat log green.
- Updating parry and block tooltips.
- Design:
- Increasing base parry damage mitigation value
- Normalized rare spawn rates for Redshore Ridge
- Increased Riposte damage and threat
- Added Ashen Quillbacks
- Added a 2nd reagent to Quillbacks, Raccoons and Ravens
- Added threat modifiers to shields
- New inhabitants appear to be leaking out onto the beach in Redshore.
- Rat Nest rats are now 0 chevron rats.
- +Heal stat now only impacts actual healing abilities.
Exit Delay
A number of people have been taking advantage of our good will by exploiting the instant exit feature of our game to get around aggro. Because of this a delay has been added to exit the game. Attempting to exit the game will force your character to sit for this delay; which can be cancelled by standing. There are a few exceptions to this rule - the delay timings are as follows:
- In the city = no delay
- At an ember ring and NOT in combat = no delay
- At an ember ring and IN combat = 10s delay
- Not at an ember ring (combat/no combat) = 20s delay
We've gone through a few balance iterations for the the dice modifier to crafted weapons. This modifier is the ability to go from say a 1d4+2 to a 1d4+6 with certain crafting materials. Unfortunately, weapons at higher levels and of lower delays were close enough to one another in dice modifier that crafted weapons were far exceeding dropped items. This resulted in rare weapon finds feeling worthless and difficult to balance. For the time being, the crafting dice modifier bonus has been replaced with a +Haste bonus. We are actively working to raise up the lvl 30-50 weapon tier gaps to have more room for things like dice modifiers to return on imbued weapons at a future date. But we felt that addressing the imbalance of these items was important enough to address on its own.
Ashen Updates
Ashen creatures have gotten a slight update this patch. Previously, Ashens would "scale down" (2^ to 1^ for example) when spawned and have a blank aggro table. They will no longer scale down (i.e. 2 chevrons will remain 2 chevrons) but will instead spawn at half health. In addition to this change, all targets from their progenitor will be inherited with their threat reset. This means that the ashen will know all of its previous targets but your position on the threat list will be reset.
New Ember Drift
A new high level (45+) Ember Drift has been spotted in Redshore Ridge!
Threat Scaling
New tech has been implemented that allows for a dynamic threat bonus on Provoke, Roar, and Fading Strike. The purpose of this tech is to allow the players to more effectively "close the gap" between themselves and another player on the threat list.
For Provoke and Roar this bonus only applies if you are not on the top of the NPC's threat list; the bonus threat value is proportional to the difference between the top threat and your threat. For Fading Strike this works in the opposite direction: you get a negative threat bonus if you are at the top of the threat list; the negative threat bonus is proportional to the difference between your threat and the next highest person on the threat list.
Works in progress:
To see a full list of what is currently in progress head on over to this thread. I will do my best to update this list on a weekly basis and highlight the differences from the previous week with bold font. Note that what is listed here and in the linked post is not necessarily everything that is currently in progress. Below I will highlight some of the upcoming changes in more detail.
Dueling (1 week)
Have you ever wanted to duel someone in our game? Soon you can! Although, you will be dueling with dice not weapons...
More info to come next week!
QA Server (1-2 weeks)
Our new QA server is up and running internally. There are a few more kinks to work out but we should be able to get this going within the next week or two.
Quests (1-3 weeks)
A number of new quests are currently in testing on QA and will be launched soon (TM).
Patch Size (ongoing)
Improving the patch sizes is still being worked on. But given that this has zero gameplay implications it has taken a back seat to other design and tech related tasks.
Known Issues:
- Resource nodes may occasionally tell you "invalid target". This means that your client thinks a resource node is there but the server does not. We are still investigating the cause of this.
- Occasionally a loot roll may be skipped entirely and a carcass will be given. When this happens please provide any relevant details as we are still trying to track this one down.
- Deconstructing crafted items returns junk 100% of the time.
- Not all clothing/armor has visuals
- Dragging a group-nameplate in the group window will set the wrong pivot point for the group window and the whole thing will drag a bit weird.
- Typing chat text may occasionally become invisible. Unfocus your chat window and trying again a few times typically resolves this.
- Sometimes when you respawn you don't end up at the proper Hallow --> if this happens please report the position where you died via the "/report" command or "/debugposition" (if using debugposition you'll need to paste the value here)
- MacOS:
- Zooming the camera while holding the right mouse button can cause your chat window to scroll. This is not intended behavior.
- At some camera angles the sun may go dark. This should not happen frequently but is readily reproducible at some locations. Investigating a fix.
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