Rants of a Geek

Well I don't blog much, usually just toss out dribble I am thinking of here and there related to MMOs, SharePoint, and general crap. Scary dribble really...but dribble none the less. Dribble anyone? :)

Author: farlin

Well just finish reading the "final" patch notes today.  Quite happy to see a lot of important fixes in there and look forward to playing around with some of the new changes.  The Keep Upgrade System was a major improvement that needed to be implemented.  I just hope it balances out the keep and fortress strengths sufficiently to keep servers with population imbalance issues in check.  While its not a direct fix for population balance, it can assist by giving the "under dog" an opportunity to focus efforts and upgrade keeps making defense in their favor.  Although the same can be said for the higher population side.

Previously I posted my discontent with Mythic regarding the state of the game for version 1.2. I know they are working on fixes, but the speed at which they are releasing changes is terribly slow. Its been too long for some of the minor fixes to be released that should have been done quickly and easily, such as fixes to the Guild Interface, etc.  Patches need to be quicker and resolve the glaring issues as soon as possible.  Putting patches into test earlier is also going to give players an opportunity to try the changes out and weed out the bugs or problems with the patch.  However, sometimes putting a patch out into the live game can do more than just throwing it on the test server given that many players do not bother with that system.  No, not talking about sweeping or large changes that should be on the test first, just those minor things that could be immediate fixes for some major problems, like broken keep doors, etc.

Speaking of guild Interfaces, have to update my Guild Management mod now and make it an actual release (its on Curse Forge here as Alpha build if you want it - have to be registered I believe). :) Been lazy on that one kind of waiting on 1.2.1 to make adjustments.  Comments welcome and it is an alpha build, so many features not implemented yet and yes, it does have bugs.  Geesh, need to get back into modding again, but might need to enlist "helpers" as the mod is getting huge and code documentation/restructuring needs to be done.  But I digress.

One thing I did note in the patch log was the effects on Pit of Shades and Rain of Fire.  I play a 40 sorc, so this impacts me directly, but really I do not think it is going to be a negative impact as much as a balance change.  I'm not sure if the BW changes are going to be sufficient to "equalize" the classes though given the extended range some BWs seem to have over my bolt range (can not confirm this directly, but consistently seems in oRvR that I have to "nudge" closer than BWs).  Right now I feel a bit gimp on the battle field when there is a ton of BWs dropping Rain of Fire all over the place, could be my spec, lack of healing, or squishiness.  Half the time I can't get in range to do anything back to them, which is another problem in and of itself.  Hopefully though the change to stacking on the channel AoEs will have an impact on that.  I just hope more healers start playing on destruction side of Iron Rock server as they seem to be a scarce resource right now.  Don't get me started on the Warrior Priest or the Disciple of Khaine.

The new medallion system is very nice.  I have been grinding my Sentinel set for months now and I am still missing two pieces.  Now the medallion system does not help there, but I never finished the Annihilator set either and heck if I could get one stinking Conquerer piece.  Last two city sieges, when we actually made it to the city, I never got close to obtaining a Invader piece, so it will be nice to help those who seem to have little to no luck on rolls (contribution has not been much of a problem).  Some could argue this will just gear up everyone and not require work, but based on how Mythic implemented the system it looks like it won't be a cake walk, but it won't be a grind fest either.

I am still not sure about the Zone Domination system.  It seems to benefit the higher population side more than anything.  Right now it appears that Order has approximately a 2:1 versus Destruction on Iron Rock in T4 RvR.  Just a rough estimate based on battles and comments from other players in oRvR.  Could be a result of lost subscriptions or people just not playing their T4 toons.  However, it seems nearly two to three times a week we have our city sacked or get constantly pushed back to our fortresses and have our warcamps "camped" (no pun intended).  It could be destruction is lazy, but pre-1.2 we had the upper hand, so the tide has obviously, and dramatically I might add, turned.  Here's hoping the 1.2.1 patch brings some players back to T4!  Oakey, if your reading this I am going to hunt yer arse down, but all in good fun. :)

The new Beyond the Sands live event looks fun and the new Land of Dead dungeon looks intriguing.  I am excited as I am a DAOC veteran and loved Darkness Falls.  If they get that element into the game and do it right, I think it will be a fantastic addition and a great place to spend hours in RvR. :)

Anyway, enough dribble.  Personally I like the changes and while still see potential class imbalance issues I am going to keep playing and see how things pan out with 1.2.1.  Now that I vented in my last blog post and 1.2.1 is out, I feel better and can start enjoying the game again. :)