Ragefire Beta FAQ and Update Notes

Discussion in 'Test Update Notes and Bug Roundup' started by Aristo, May 8, 2015.

  1. Aristo Developer

    Welcome to Ragefire Beta!


    First of all, we'd like to thank everyone who has participated so far in our beta test. You've helped us find and fix several bugs already, and we're hoping for similar success over the next few weeks. If you haven't tried it out yet, I would encourage you to download the Beta patcher from this location:

    http://launch.soe.com/installer/EQ_Beta_setup.exe

    Anyone with a valid Daybreak account can log in and play, and we would like as many of you as possible to do so! The more eyes we can get on the server the more likely it is for someone to see a potential game-breaking problem in time to fix it.

    Frequently Asked Questions:


    Q: I'm on Beta. What do I do now?


    Whatever you like! Go play in areas you're familiar with, and look for problems. Are you gaining levels too quickly? Is some particular NPC or quest giving you way too much XP? Have you found a quest that is giving out rewards that are far better than you should be able to get in the era? Do what you find fun, because you're more likely to keep playing if you're enjoying yourself, and the more you play the more likely you are to run across something we need to fix.

    Q: I am a robot and don't like fun. What should I do?


    I would like to extend a special welcome to robots. You guys are great and we are totally on board with your impending rule of our species. If you truly don't have something in mind that you want to do, we need help looking at the following things:

    • We haven't used zone load balancing on a wide scale like this before, so look for problems with that system. We're especially concerned with what happens if you ride a boat in to Butcherblock Mountains from the Ocean of Tears when Butcherblock has more than one version active. We can also use feedback on whether new instances require too many people to trigger or too few.
    • As of this morning (May 8th) all of the PoP-era newbie quests (the ones that end in a combine in a special container) should be out of the game for now. Confirming that they're gone and that we didn't also take out necessary NPCs (like, say, guildmasters) would be a great help.
    • Have a look at the Marketplace and make sure we haven't left any items that give out stats, buffs, or other bonuses that are out of place. Also make sure we haven't left things on the marketplace that you can't use (mounts before Luclin, mercenaries before Seeds of Destruction, etc).
    • Make sure that we aren't allowing access to spells and abilities that don't work yet or aren't supposed to be available for your class. For example, some people have reported that there are druid Zephyrs available to zones that aren't unlocked yet. That's important!

    Q: What are these Stones of Beta Adventuring doing all over?


    Those are placed randomly on NPCs that live in the expansion zones that we want you to test. Right now that's Classic EverQuest. When you loot one, right click it and we log a 'point' for your account. This is one of the ways we use to tell how active you are in the Beta.

    It doesn't matter if you delete a character or /betacopy over it -- any stone you clicked will give you your proper points.

    Q: How are there already level 50 characters running around?


    They are using the /betabuff command, source of much confusion and consternation. Here's how it works:

    • If you are a level 1 character of any race or class, you can use the command /betabuff <class> <level>.
    • Your character will then be kicked off the server and a new character will be copied into that slot with the name you had. The new character will be your selected class and level, but gender and race may be different.
    • The characters that are copied are always the same. Any level 50 shaman is going to be a male ogre. Any level 50 bard is going to be a Vah Shir, which is problematic right now. If you want a bard you'll have to try other levels.
    • Some of the characters have fantastic gear for their level, and some of them have pretty terrible gear. They were mainly blind copies of characters that happened to be at the level we needed back in 2004 or so. While not ideal, it's not something we can address quickly. We began custom-building characters at level 75 and it's produced much more equitable results.
    • Almost all of the characters will have items on them that were unobtainable in the original game. This is fine, as long as there isn't a way to get those items through natural play.
    • Needless to say, /betabuff is a Beta-server-only command and won't be on any live server ever.
    • Most betabuffed characters will start in the Plane of Knowledge. You can exit that zone by using the Qeynos portal stone (the others have all been removed) or your Origin AA.

    Q: What should I do if I find an NPC that shouldn't be there?


    Please tell us! Use the /bug command, and, with the NPC targeted, check the "send target info" box. This little box sends us information that helps fix things much more quickly. If you can't target the NPC (if, for instance, it kills you), please give us as much information as you can. Full name, name of the zone where it was, and when you think it should show up instead.

    Q: I found a problem, but the people in general chat say it's known about. What do I do?


    You can check the EverQuest JIRA project at http://dgcissuetracker.com to see if it is listed. If it isn't listed there, enter it there or use /bug to report it. It's better to have duplicate reports of a problem than no reports of a problem that "everyone" knows about.

    Incidentally, this is a good practice to follow for things you find on Live servers, too.

    Q: You said Veteran rewards wouldn't be available on the server, but I have a full set of them on Beta!


    Beta has its own set of rules about Veteran rewards and it automatically grants all of them to every character when you log in. Please don't use /veteran on Beta.

    Q: I don't seem to lose any experience when I die. Is this a bug?


    Not on Beta. Having characters lose levels was enough of a deterrent for testing that we removed it on the Beta server. You will still lose experience on Ragefire once it launches.

    Q: How do I turn the Advanced Looting System off?


    You can type /advloot, click on the "Edit Filters" button, and then uncheck the "Use Advanced Looting" option there, but we do recommend taking the time to learn how to use it, especially on Beta where there aren't lasting consequences. Most of the people we have asked have found it to be much more convenient once it is set up to their liking.

    Q: How do I enable Autorun?


    You'll have to set a hotkey for it. Use Alt+O to open the Options window, go to the Key Bindings tab, and select a key there. Have a look through the other keys available, too, as many people are surprised by some of the abilities that are available but not mapped by default.

    Q: If I'm in one instance of a newbie zone but want to meet a friend in another, how do I get there?


    You can use the /pickzone command, or it is also available on the EQ button under Navigation.

    Q: Why is everything I say flagged as Spam?


    The Spam filter is a little bit overzealous with new characters that talk a lot. Be kind to people who aren't spamming and report them as not-spam, please! Eventually it figures things out.

    Q: Why does Freeport look different?


    We've answered this before, but Freeport and the other zones that have been graphically revamped need to match the versions that are on live for a variety of technical reasons. We can't run two versions of geometry for the same zones at the same time.

    Q: You said OOC Regeneration wouldn't work on this server, but I still see the icon.


    That's true, the icon is still there, but you don't increase regeneration speed while you're out of combat until the feature is fully enabled with the Serpent's Spine.

    Q: Help! I'm stuck in the Plane of Knowledge!


    Sometimes when the game doesn't know where to put you, you will get placed in the Plane of Knowledge, even before Planes of Power is unlocked on a server. If this happens to you, you can take the Qeynos stone to zone outside Qeynos, or you can use the Origin AA ability at level 5 or above.

    With some betabuffed or beta-copied characters, your origin point might be set to an invalid zone, in which case you'll have to make friends in Qeynos.

    Q: Where are the boats?


    They should be running their courses. They've been sped up from how they were at launch, and are generally more reliable than they were before.

    Things DO occasionally go wrong, however, so the gnome translocators are going to be there as a backup.

    Q: Why can't I zone in to Sky/Fear/Hate/the Hole?


    Those zones require Vox, Nagafen, and Phinigel to be killed before they are open. As of this morning all three had not been killed.

    Q: What happens when you die?


    Greater minds than mine have pondered that for millennia. I don't have an answer.

    Q: What happens when you die on the Ragefire server?


    Much easier! You will lose experience (if you're level 6 or higher) and reappear at your bind point with all of your items. You will be able to be resurrected to restore a portion of the lost experience.

    As mentioned above, the Beta server does not take experience away from you when you die.

    Q: How often are Beta Copies run?


    We have an automated process that runs it once every night just before the automated patch.

    Q: Can you give some examples of things that will be on Ragefire that weren't available at EverQuest's Launch?


    • Augmentation vendors with weapon augments
    • Soulbinders
    • Translocators
    • Noble Exchanges
    • Some new NPC types that were added for newbie armor quests (the quests themselves shouldn't function yet).
    • Maps and the Find window
    • The ability to memorize spells using right click on a gem
    • The ability to scribe spells by right clicking them
    • The shared bank
    • Some achievement types (particularly zone entering)
    • The Raid window
    • Features that originally came from Leadership AAs (Target's Target window, finding group members, etc)
    • Saving recipes in tradeskill containers
    • Guild ranks
    Mardy and Soltara like this.
  2. Aristo Developer

    Reserving this post for game updates.
  3. Barton The Mischievous

    You can also toggle advloot on and off using the chat command /useadv
  4. sihpa Augur

    Sigh.. This implies tradeskills, quests, out of era npc's and all that other nonkilling nonsense that is EQ does not need to be incentivized to be tested. Instead lets just all roll up a mage over and over and over to farm these SoBA's for a higher quality beta reward!

    Thats exactly what this reward system encourages. It's disheartening to say the least. =/
    Blingx likes this.
  5. Vaclav Augur


    The amount needed is generally equivalent to killing mobs for 2-3 hrs at the most assuming the quotes people have been making are accurate.
  6. Doltish New Member

    Will spell research be required or will all spells be available for a given expansion from its launch?
  7. Behee Augur

    Some sold, some quested, some dropped, some researched (either by requirement or by scarcity).
  8. Pani Augur

    Beta won't let me in today, Been trying for over an hour. It gets to the screen where you pick Beta, then says the client has crashed. Anyone else having problems?
  9. Rhodz Augur

    Yeah they hosed something wierd yesterday.
    Was looking for info but see no posts by DB, not a good sign.