Test Update 08/13/13

I didn't have to lull any of them I had the room cleared I know My toons are a bit undergeared but I don't have raid or raid copied gear mostly t2 and some t3.

Sk has 7k aa's shaman has 10k mage 4k just seems most group content lately is either super easy or meant for people with raid gear that don't need the gear that drops. my group can kill 4 trash mobs at 1 time without mez so I don't know why I am having a rough time with nameds I must be getting old.

Who said anything about raid gear? My guys are completely group geared with mostly t3 gear. In addition I use a merc for tank my monk and shaman are both 10k aa while bard is about 3500. I can't kill 4 trash mobs at once unless I'm totally locked in. I'd say I probably have more dps but you probably get to roll with 2 dps Mercs so I'm not sure abou that. Do you heal with shaman in addition to cleric merc? I have to heal like crazy on shaman in this zone on names where in t2/3 I could dps

Named are definitely over-tuned for their gear level. T2 group gear for nameds that are a tad tougher than T4 named? Hmmmm. However despite the blatant overtuning in their design, it's still incredibly fun! I cannot tell you how much fun I had trying to molo Djarn, or the imp familiar when i already had two adds. Or how excited I was when I ended up winning.

There are definitely issues here and there with the new revamp duo but overall i'm having more fun in them than i have in any revamp since Blackburrow went up the first year of Hardcore Heritage. I do still wish they had reverted the new npc models back to the old ones (gargoyles, kobolds, beetles, spiders, bats etc) temporarily just for the revamp...for nostalgia's sake. But oh well.

There is three issues I have with them though. The first is, again, the bugged Nagafen raid. Maybe it's just on Test but like we've said, he crashes at the ~5%ish area each time. It's random really, happens oddly with no apparently noticeable connection between each crash other than his hp percentage, and even then that's not exact (3% on one, 2% on other, Nagafen died on one and then 4% on our last attempt). When he crashes you, you still sit in game. Nothing is going on but you can see things like people talking in General Chat still. You basically just desync. you would sit there literally forever if you didn't /ex.

The second is, it appears the collector's item "Bad Kobold Poetry" seems not to be on the ground spawn list. As I've cleaned out Nagafen's Lair of ground spawns, the entire zone, every nook and cranny, at least 30 times, with like 15 of each item but not a single one of the Poetry ones. Also the dropped (from mobs) collector's items are either really rare or not dropping at all. Yet to see one. Though I admit I haven't really messed with the bats and insects in Naggy's Lair or the vampires in the castle itself in Mistmoore very much so it may just be me.

The last thing is the collector's items in the lava in Nagafen's Lair. At 9.7k a tick mitigated with max resists/AAs/MPG/DoN etc etc the lava decimates you fast. Short of DAing repeatedly and using Zomm to scout them out first I don't see this one going over very well

When rogues use counterattack and purchase the aa's to lower counterattacks reuse it looks like it resets the ability however that is not the case as it doesn't allow you to use it afterwards unless the previous cd has been observed.

actually I've tracked since 1999... and I agree, track message spam is almost as bad as the old cleric spell "sentinel" with "A rat has triggered your sentinel"... but we didn't have the map tool back when track was first introduced, and lines on the compass was not introduced until LDoN

but imagine if one could put track NPC's on the compass... for a visual... have one main line there, and a second line on there... or normal track the main and second track on the compass only... or maybe real short range visual range mainly, on the map...

or maybe 2 targets on the track, but have the second track only ping in when the 1st disappears or has the track turned off on it... pet attack queue, track target queue...

then again, maybe allow a tracker to see on the map the targeting rings up to their track range limit.

Look, not much more can be done to track that wouldn't be detrimental under certain conditions or wouldn't be pure fluff.

An example of detrimental: Putting the target on the compass, normally would be a godsend. Having said that there are tasks and missions where you get multiple targets on the compass. I have seen as many as 15. You would lose the ability to track under these conditions. Color code the lines on the compass you say? Works well for most people but those who are color blind would be just as bad off as they were before color coding. Change the lines to pips? Sure, that would work, but you are also adding complexity to one of the few simple and clean interface items we have.

Tracking multiple targets? Very seldom is there a need. The usual drill is track one target, engage and kill the target, move on to the next. I can switch tracking targets as soon as what I am currently tracking comes within visual range. This is fluff or at best a minor convenience. It really isn't worth the coding effort.

Placing what you are tracking on a map. That would really only be useful when you are unfamiliar with the zone. Once you learn where things like Quest Givers are, you can do that kind thing in your head, by using a distance sort and watching the tracking spam. Additionally, most things that are worth tracking are static and can only appear in a limited number of places. This would just be a convenience and not much more.

I would like to point out right now, that SOE really didn't share out any ranger power, they pretty much only shared out ranger convenience. Once the other tracking classes get done OOOOing and AHHHing over their sorts, they will settle down and do what most rangers do under most circumstances. When they first zone in they will set their sort to rAlpha or Consider (they might do both) to determine what is up in the zone. Finding out what is up is something they could already do, but now they can do it quicker with less eye bleeding. After they chase down anything that looks interesting, they will set their track to Normal (which is what they had before they got all the sort options). It will pretty much stay on normal as long as they remain in the zone (unless something odd happens. The reality is that the only thing bards and druids got out of this deal is they can save a little bit of time when they first enter a zone. Pure convenience.

Instances are bugged again it seems. Getting the "there is no expedition currently available for you" when clicking guild hall for a few minutes.

Guild halls bugged on AB are bugged, clicking the neighbourhood guild hall results in nothing, no message no zoning nothing, Clicking the other you just get the try again in 10 - 15 seconds. Tried for 5 mins then gave up.

Instances down again tonight, turning into a nightly occurrence. Also, one of my characters on an alt ccount is no longer showing the extra merc slots I purchased. Logged in and the merc window was there but no merc, tried suspending/dismissing/unsuspending and nothing was happening. Tried to purchase a new one and says I currently have a pending mercenary purchase... Only happening on the one character, really odd, should have access to 3 merc slots and also have the Test Clicky for one bonus one, but the merc window is only showing 1 unlocked slot

After relogging about 5 times, my mercs returned to normal, hooray, and guild halls started loading at the same time

Test server reverted to old school Mistmoore and Solusek B today... any chance Test Server can get the Hardcore Heritage versions back for a bit?

Test normally gets HH earlier and for less time than Live. It's just the way it is I'm afraid.

I'm pretty sure it was an unintended consequence of double xp going off & I was told the devs are looking into it, so we'll see what comes of that.