Oakwynd Feedback

If you go into the bug sub-forum you can find many instances of bugs that show a complete lack of QA at all.

Like the "stomples day bunny" (and every item from EQ2 for years) bright glare on the texture ruining the really well done item.

They don't even look at things stuffed into the marketplace from EQ2.

You can see beta bugs that made it into each new expansion. Where beta testers say "I pointed this out on the beta forum but they still haven't fixed it."

You can see bugs that were 'fixed' that are still happening.

Bugs that should be on a list every QA person looks out for.

They don't QA at all, or seem to actually understand what that means.

At the end of the day, the bug forums shall we say, Your Mileage May Vary.

I wonder where all the casual FTE defenders went. They seem to have shut up since it hit the test realm.

Nope, the test server is the final smoke test before it goes to live. They use the beta server or one they spin up themselves for all the testing.

FTE, helping players kick EQ addiction since 2023!

If you are "Shocked" you havent been playing EQ over the years, and cant fathom why people went on to other MMO's.
memberries of us Rangers fighting for Autofire back in the day ? a simple thing, took forever to get that done. never been shocked since =P

The people who have sat idly by for 25 years knew what to expect!

all joking aside , thanks to Devs that put it on Test =)

oops. Posted in wrong thread.

I was an FTE defender. But what they released is not what they wrote in the FAQ. Sorry for not being cynical and actually believing what the developers wrote. Looks like I learned my lesson.

What do you want us to say? It brings you joy to see the game you obviously care about crash and burn? Congrats you were right EQ sucks you sure told us! But, the question is, why are you still here if this has been your experience for 25 years? Sounds like you're the fools!

If we do not point out the issues from an informed standpoint then how do you expect the developers to understand the problem area enough to correct the bugs or at least provide a better definition of their resolution? I mean, most long time players fully understand we are the subject matter experts on how the game functions, not the developers.

We are still here cuz we addicts yo. But sometimes the strain is weak (TLP) We looking for that good good (TLP)

Its "EVERCRACK", everyone an addict sept chanters!

After spending the evening on Test trying to get a feel for it, I have to pivot my position slightly. I understand that not every component of this patch was 100% ready at the time of release on Test, I still observed enough to be worthy of comment.

I. Taking Prisoners

Previously, i had posted this regarding the FTE system:

After jumping onto Test, I see nothing that would mitigate my first concern of 'hostage taking'. In fact, during the course of my testing i realized that the 10 minute "reset timer" doesn't trigger unless the mob is AFK'd against, with no further modification to the hatelist. This means that all someone would need to do to block epic mobs forever would be for a bard to just run any sort of debuff song against the mob. Even if the 10 minute reset timer DOES work, if the mob is inherently KOS, the mob will re-trigger against the npc and not unlock.

Since the "hostage taking" concern has been one of the greatest I had with this system, I cannot support any solution that does not include a method to halt this issue.

However that was not the sole issue I came across last night.

II. Feigning the Flames

The fact that FD and memblur training are not only possible, but relatively easy, despite being one of the stated goals of the Encounter Locking/ FTE system is disheartening. During the testing I and others performed, it was still very easy to Feign Death, Evacuate, Memblur, or Exit the zone in order to drop mobs onto adjacent players. If players cast beneficial spells or songs on the engaged group, even Harmshield or Divine Aura would cause the mobs to be dropped on the unrelated parties. There were cases reported where the mobs would not be unlocked when engaging an outside party. While i have faith that this component would be fixed, the underlying issue I have is that you can still, very easily, drop 10, 20, 30 enemies on top of someone, feign death (or die), and the mobs will pick up where they left off with the unrelated parties. Training is still alive and well, and the system appears to show little in terms of mitigating the issue.

III. Bad Rune Rising
There has been discussion regarding what has been intentional and what hasnt been during the short time we've been on test. We know that undead mobs and KOS mobs engaging outside parties without cause was not intended, and is slated to be fixed. Likewise, we know that the mobs are supposed to unlock when they engage a third party who agroed them using beneficial spells, although this has not yet been 100% true. But one thing we do know that is intentional is beneficial effects pulling agro, because the alternative is invincible out of group clerics. Thanks to this, we know the avenue that people will attempt FTE kill stealing. Namely, Enchanter Runes and extreme agro from healing/buffing. A properly timed Rune IV from an enchanter could rip a named off a puller and make the mob FFA for about 10 plat. Small potatoes for an FBSS or some GEBs. Even with the encounter lock, DPS races will make appearances on open raids and major named once the tools to do so are discovered. And if its not runes, it will become AoE bard songs, or complete heals, or some other high-agro beneficial effect to snap agro off of a monk's Antonian javelin. This turns the stated goal of preventing Kill stealing into an aggro arms race that places everyone back where we started.


Because of these issues, I cannot support FTE as it is currently sitting, and I do not believe that there is sufficient time or code available to resolve them all without critically harming the launch of the server, or significantly altering the game as we know it. I implore Darkpaw to halt the plans to release it on Oakwynd server.

Well thought out, thank you. I agree with your sentiments entirely. I would just like to add to your last line though. Were not only back where we started but with the additional headache of bugs and also LESS tools to work with. Many classes wont have an equal opportunity to compete in this new environment without a high aggro beneficial spell to sling.

Obviously their intention is NOT to have us compete this way for an encounter lock, by using high aggro beneficial spells to steal or compete for the tag. Its currently what we have though and will be used to bypass/grief. I dont think ill have much of a problem or worry about tags until epic time or during OW contests. Once kunark hits then my point above will be 100% a cause for concern.

Some would say, well isnt it already a problem and does it really change anything? Well yes, but FTE was sold to fix these issues and its brought only uncertainty and a host of bugs that i dont think the community should endure. If were talking about business as usual with LESS tools and MORE bugs then FTE is worthless.

I would also like to point out that I am firmly against removing out of group social play. I am sure this is the pickle of the situation. attempting to retain social aspects of the game that makes EQ what it is while introducing a modern FTE mechanic to decrease toxicity. I feel for the dev team and have no solutions to offer.. I dont see how FTE will fit into EQ without removing the social out of group play though...

You don't even need a high aggro beneficial spell to steal a mob; just use low health aggro and mob will snap to you everytime.

Def not buying bags for this TLP lol. That would be a big waste.

Come on... LOL I hope this was sarcastic. I did laugh.

Its literally says "so you can /claim them when you start your new adventure!" under the title Oakwynd is launching

Some of the marketing is targeted to the new TLP. However, that does not negate the fact TLP is not the only players or that other players, even on Live servers, don't buy bags and potions. Several of my guildmates on FV buy bags and bag packs all the time and not to play on TLP.

They could have just post about bags.... Info is info.

There was no new info on Oakwynd and it was posted under the title Oakwynd is launching soon. Please don't for a second try to convince me that that was not targeted. Please just stop.

You obviously did not read the first sentence of my reply.