http://forums.anarchy-online.com/showthread.php?t=562051

I had hopes this week for us being able to share the plans for ALL perks and actions accross all professions this week. Unfortunately it isn't going to happen as we really feel we need to make the ENTIRE plan concerning research, perks, nanos and other changes available at the same time or the changes to perks will only be taken out of context...and a source of MORE questions and argument as opposed to LESS. There are still some details we are fighting about...if we can't agree yet it isn't ready.

A good example of additional changes not contained with in perks would be PARRY and RIPOSTE.

One of the downsides of working on a project for as long as I have is that sometimes you can get "stuck" in the old way of thinking. The previous attempts at implementing parry and riposte actions in the past had been unsuccessful for many reasons...so the idea of resurrecting this old code had always been a firm "no" in my book for good reason. This brings us to the value of having such a good team working on AO. Kintaii (unlike myself) did not see this as a lost cause and continued to work on acceptable solutions to these unused skills and has put together with the rest of the team a good alternative to the old systems for Parry and Riposte that will allow us to bypass all the "old" reasons for not activating these actions. So here is the basics of what we can expect from Parry and Riposte in the larger effort of balancing/renewing that we are currently working on:

Parry and Riposte

A free full IP Reset will of course come with these changes. The addition of Parry and Riposte actions will come along at the same time as the changes to perks and nanos.

Parry

General duration will be 10 seconds.
Based on your Parry skill (and having a martial arts/melee weapon equipped) you will acquire a new action (like Backstab) that enables you to parry/block both regular and special attacks for the duration of the action. As your skill in Parry increases, your chances to negate damage from regular and special attacks during the active time of the Parry action increases. As your Parry skill increases the cooldown of this action will also decrease. The Parry action will always negate the damage of at least one attack…how many additional attacks are parried will entirely depend on your skill.

Riposte

Riposte is an active melee/martial arts action that will do damage based on your Riposte skill. A Riposte is a quick counter-attack based on a temporary opening offered by an off-balance attack by your opponent. An attack by your opponent will “activate” your Riposte ability giving you a short window of time to use it to inflict additional damage on an in-range target. This will not be a “huge” damage special but more of an active combat action that is available often during the course of regular combat. Individual player skill in taking advantage of this action will be a significant factor in how effective it can be.

In-Game Mail:

This week was a milestone for AO. We got to see the huge moment where the first mail (with an ITEM!) was sent and received by another player. The first item sent was the iconic foam-finger that Macrosun uses as his head on TestLive. Go Macrosun! ...and yes...I am a horrible boss...please come back to work on Monday. Screenshot complete with coder-graphics is below!

New Engine

Thank you all for the feedback concerning the appearance of the first screenshots with the new engine. We will be sure to turn on a lot of the expected features (filtering etc) in the next set. You all drew attention to some areas we may not have thought of...so thanks again.

Have a great weekend everyone!
Attached Images
forums.anarchy-online.com/attachment.php
__________________
This "Means" Cake
Game Director

Cratters: Devs aren't people. They have no rights. Every paying subscriber gets to stomp on them. We pay 15 euros a month. That means we are not just their employers, but their rightful owners.