Test the Big Gnomes, Big Problems mission on the Test server this weekend

Discussion in 'The Veterans' Lounge' started by Augur, May 24, 2013.

  1. Augur Developer

    Greetings, fellow Norrathians!

    As we discussed earlier this week on the forums, the "Big Gnomes, Big Problems" anniversary mission has undergone some significant changes that we hope will allow us to reactivate it on live servers.

    Before it goes to Live servers, however, we'd like to test the new version of this mission on the Test server this weekend, to make sure that everything is functioning properly and that it's not sucking up too many server resources.

    This is where we need your help. It's important that a lot of people run the mission this weekend so that we can stress-test the technical side of the mission and measure the impact it has on our server.

    Please log onto the Test server this weekend and try running the new Big Gnomes, Big Problems mission.

    The mission can be obtained from Sheriff Knotter Botter in Steamfont Mountains, although one person in your group will have to complete the precursor quest to request the mission.

    Report your feedback for the mission content here, and we'll be keeping an eye on the server resources to see if the mission causes any problems during the weekend.

    I'll post a summary of our findings in this thread on Tuesday after the holiday, and will hopefully be able to give you an update on when we expect the mission to be back on Live at that time.

    Thanks!
    Augur
  2. Augur Developer

    I wanted to include a quick recap of two mechanics changes in the new version. Hopefully this will help players adjust to the new version of the mission, and not report these intended changes as bugs.

    1. Shaky Skeletons can no longer spawn infinite gnome skeletons at one time. Shaky Skeletons will only spawn more gnome skeletons if there are less than 3 gnome skeletons currently active.
    - The total number that can be spawned over the course of the mission has not changed (it's still unlimited), but only 3 gnoem skeletons can be up at a time.
    - This cap does not affect events that spawn gnome skeletons independent of the Shaky Skeletons.

    2. Gnome Skeletons no longer apply the damage debuffs to all giant skeletons near them when killed. Instead, the buffs are only applied to the giant skeleton that spawned the gnome skeleton.
    - In the Gogmagog and Cormelian fights, all gnome skeletons spawned by the server at the start of the events will debuff the boss NPC.
  3. Yinla Ye Ol' Dragon

    Not a good time to be asking for a stress test with it being double exp this weekend
  4. RaceCondition Augur

    I've never done the mission before, so first I had tried completing the prequest.

    I was not able to complete the prequest "Ogres at the Gates" since "Master Tailor Sticklepoke" did not appear to be up in Lesser Faydark on Test.

    I also tried requesting the mission without completing the prequest, but that did not work either.
  5. Augur Developer

    The sooner we stress test, the sooner the mission gets up on live ;) Nobody has to stress test it this weekend, but I'm hoping some friendly, selfless, good-looking people will.

    It might take ~10 minutes for Master Tailor to spawn after the zone loads for the first time on the server, due to the way the Controller works. Can anyone else confirm that he's still not active?

    It's intended that you cannot request the mission without having done the precursor quest. Like most missions, the person requesting it has to have completed the quest, but everyone else in the group can just piggyback in.
  6. RaceCondition Augur

    I revisited the zone on Test and Idled for 30 minutes and it did not look like he was going to show. Red circle is where I believe he spawns.

    [IMG]

    I have track too, so I don't think I'm missing him somehow; I think he's just not up.
  7. Augur Developer

    Thanks for the confirmation on that, Race :) We updated the server on Tuesday after the holiday and the quest NPC should be active and ready to help!

    And on that note, I'd like to encourage everyone to run the mission on the Test server this weekend. We've had very few test runs made since I posted this last week, and we're not comfortable pushing this mission live until we have more data to confirm that it's working properly.

    Please test the Big Gnomes, Big Problems mission on the Test server this weekend. I will give you a high-five at SOE Live if you do :)
  8. Tegila Augur

    so this is still broken with only 3 weeks left. nice job. can you maye open the tasks taht are live to bigger level spreads or allow them to scale for lower level groups at least? the only tasks available are high level while the augs are lvl 10+. obviously the point was that augs were acquirable at lower levels, but long as theyre not available to do i hope you're thinking about extending these even longer at this rate. started at 2months 10 days, now there's 3 weeks left and they only worked for like a week to start, figure ower some ppl another 4-6 week extension at least on the tasks taht have been broken
  9. •Obss• Journeyman

    I had this same problem this morning, I couldn't find the Master Tailor anywhere.
  10. •Obss• Journeyman

    I found the Master Tailor up and got the prequest today.

    Two boxing the actual mission these are my notes:
    1. Sometimes the outlaw bunny name that had the flamethrower on it didn't change names. No big deal.
    2. I got stuck on "Consume power serums Neringa is offering to your group 0/2 (Steamfont Mountains)". First I got the giant, then the mystery, and the task remained at 1/2. I removed the Mystery aura and requested it again and the task completed.
    3. Fighting the final mob, my giant tried to change out a spell and was hit for 21,000,000 hitpoints I guess because he was sitting. I was able to drag/rez and recover and finish the mission.
    Augur likes this.
  11. Zoggrak New Member

    Hey Augur, completed the mission and everything works fine.
    Augur likes this.
  12. Augur Developer

    Thanks for the updates, Obss and Zoggrak! I'd love to hear from anyone else that ran the mission.

    Bunny names: I'll look into it, but I agree that it isn't critical, and I won't hold up the mission for it.
    Power Serums step: This is working as intended. The mission is designed for having multiple people in the group, but it can be worked around as a solo/molo player too.
    Damage spike: As a general rule, it's probably a bad idea to sit down while fighting the main boss of a mission ;) If you're hit while sitting, your attacker deals maximum damage (which for the bosses in this mission is a very large number). I'm glad you were able to recover the corpse! This is working as intended.
  13. Rhymez Thebard Elder

    Seems like everything is working as intended in this mission. Boxed it with bard and ranger and had no problems.

    Bunny names do change when they are suspose, but the debuff isn't in sync with the name change (debuff can last on the previous bunny after the name change resulting in a frenzied bunny with the debuff).

    I never ran the mission/pre-quest before today. Both completed sucessfully at the time of this post. Took about and hour and a half to finish both combined.
    Augur likes this.