<Calelena> Welcome to another great Stratics house of commons with the developers of EverQuest! Tonight's topic is General Topic. So please keep your questions to this topic.
<Kytherea> Good evening everyone! I am Christina Delzer the Community Relations Manager for EverQuest.
<Rashere> Good evening everyone. I'm Travis McGeathy, Lead Designer for EverQuest.
<Vahlar> Hi, I'm Holly Longdale. Assistant Lead Designer on EQ!
<Maddoc> Thanks for coming everyone, I'm Jason Mash (Maddoc) and am an Assistant Lead Designer on the EQ team.
<Ngreth> Hello, I am Ngreth Thergn, Game Designer specializing in tradeskills.
<Prathun> Hello all. I'm Jonathan Caraker, or "Prathun", the spells designer for EverQuest.
<Oshran> Hello everyone. I'm Kevin Carter (Oshran), Game Designer for EverQuest.
*jimjohnson* What is the status of the progression server?
<Maddoc> I've been reading up on all of the threads on the Progression Server forum on the eqforums, getting familiar with what you guys see as the problems and coming up with solutions to most of them. I've got some documentation and notes on what needs to be taken care of. We've also got the hardware up and running, so I should be able to start any implementation that needs to be done starting Monday.
*Shmeeve* With the planned removal of the tutorial for the recently announced progression server, what strategies are being considered to deal with congestion in the classic Everquest 'newbie' zones?
<Maddoc> It’s interesting that you mentioned that because we were just discussing that very subject in my office prior to the chat. We're still discussing options on that subject, but I can say for sure that we are aware of it and will make some adjustments to ease the congestion as much as possible.
*Croix_FV* Rangers and Zerkers were recently given a mitigation increase to fix balance issues amongst non-tanks. What is being done to ensure that mitigation/avoidance balance issues are avoided amongst non-tanks, and between tanks and non-tanks.
<Rashere> The changes to mitigation for those two classes was to give them a bit of a boost over tanks who simply shouldn't have the same mitigation, but did previously. It was more of a fix than anything else. We're keeping an eye on the effects, though, and will make adjustments if it is warranted.
*Croix_FV* Will Knights be receiving upgrades to their respective aggro lines in order to stay with the increasing aggro generation by DPS/Debuff classes?
<Prathun> Aggro generation was a hot topic at Fan Faire, both for those classes who wanted it... and those who didn't particularly like being attacked. I'll be evaluating aggro across the board before making any firm decisions, but there's a very good chance that knights will receive abilities in the future that help in keeping casters and debuffers off the top of the hatelist.
*Chanaluss* With the announcement of the Progressive server, many people have been wondering about the fate of the Guktans. since many LoY features are very useful for the entire server, will there be a chance of the guktans going live on the progressive server before LoY zones are launched?
<Vahlar> The fate of many races are determined by the players' actions on the progression server. The Iksar, Guktans, and Vah Shir will all remain under lock and key (or continent) until those expansions are unlocked. The same will occur with the features available with each expansion.
*Croix_FV* What is the current status of Sullon Zek in Deathknell and is there an ETA on a fix?
<Maddoc> I presume you're talking about Sullon Zek in Razorthorn and the zone-crash related to her event -- This crash was located late in the afternoon yesterday and, while we did fix it last night, it was too late to push the fix to all live servers. We pushed the fix to our internal test servers and had our QA team verify the fix first thing this morning and then had the fix pushed out to all live servers shortly thereafter.
<Maddoc> The fix should currently be live. Also, another concern about the zone that was brought up was the NPC's in the zone that seemed to have no mana, even though they can cast spells. This fix should also be live.
<Prathun> Sullon Zek would like to note that she lives in Razorthorn, not Deathknell.
* Prathun teases Croix_FV.
*Kard* Is there an eta yet on the progression server? Or even an eta of when an eta will be announced? Also as all servers are named after something in the game I suggest the new server is called Lord Doljonijiarnimorinar or just Doljonijiarnimorinar
<Rashere> Right now, we're in the planning phase for the expansion. We're hammering out the details and figuring out exactly what needs to be done. Once that's done, we'll have a better grasp on when the server will be available and there will be more official press announcements with those details.
<Rashere> expansion = server
*Wycca* Greetings, any chance you could remove the monk weight penalty? It's sort of outdated in todays game and serves no real fuction besides providing itemiztaion problems and annoyance!
<Rashere> The monk weight penalty is simply a part of the class. Every class has its quirks and having to manage your weight is part of being a monk. We don't have plans to remove it.
*Nedrom* When can we expect a fix for the many problems encountered when charmed by an NPC?
<Maddoc> I’ve received a decent amount of information from the players on the problems that they've been having with Charm in general, especially when it's used in higher end events and encounters. Our QA has verified a good portion of them and issue-tickets have been created on everything they've found and assigned to the programmer team. I know that they've fixed at least one this week, so they are being looked into and worked on.
*Cinexa* Hi guys! Hope everyone's hard at work on the next expansion! Any idea when Deathknell will get a look see ~ word is it's mostly impossible atm bringing back visions of uqua, tacvi, etc...any info on this?
<Prathun> Feedback from players currently raiding in Deathknell has indicated that fighting the equivalent of four Zi-thuuli's simultaneously is, at best, a logistical nightmare. I've removed the stun and blur ability from the Deathknell Enforcer gargoyles on Test and will try to get this pushed out to Live as soon as possible.
*Tranlin* While I don't speak for everyone, With the large number of sucessive expansions released I feel like I can not keep up with all the new content. My guild isn't super hardcore but we are fairly high end. I think that EQ most certainly needs a breather from quick expansions; will there a break from a quick release of the next? What type of expansion are you planning for when the time comes to introduce a new one?
<Rashere> While we haven't discussed time frames for the next expansion yet, we did give out some details at the recent Fan Faire. The next expansion is a big one. It's going to cover the entire level spread of the game, including a new starting city and content that covers all levels of the game, from the brand new player to the high end raider.
*Fongwoo-Zek* Could you provide any insight about the newbie armor quests on the progression server? Will they be staying in as is? nerfed? disabled until a later date?
<Maddoc> This was mentioned in one of the threads on the Progression Server board on the Eqforums and is on my list of things to investigate. This is actually a problem for much more than just the newbie quests, so it's something I'm going to have to look at on a more global basis to make sure we're not introducing gear (items, foods, money, experience, and many other things, for that matter) that is far beyond the era currently available on the server.
*dancia* why was the sky removed from everfrost?
<Rashere> The sky was accidentally turned on in a number of older zones during one of the previous patches. It was this change that first enabled the sky in EverFrost and the sky was removed when we fixed the problem so the zone should once again look like it did before the error occurred.
*Lyndro* Will magician pets be able to dual wield on the progression server. What about the speed cap on necro pets? What about things like innate crits for wizards, will those exists on the progression server?
<Maddoc> In general, most current systems will remain on the Progression server, which includes but is not limited to those that you mentioned.
<Prathun> Aside from unlocking new expansions and features, the progression server will be nearly identical to a Live server.
<Prathun> While I look back on the first few months of EQ fondly, I'm not sure I'd want to go back to the days of 1 point backstabs, spell books, or meditate buttons.
*taliefer* Is there any chance beastlords and berserkers will be allowed from the start on the
progression server?
<Vahlar> Like the races that will be unlocked by expansion progression, the same will go for the different classes. Basically, if the content or expansion you're playing through didn't have one of the races, classes, or features you mentioned, it won't be available.
*krimz-afk* what will be required as the "twists" or an example of to unlock an expansion other than just killing the main boss of that expansion?
<Maddoc> We are not really limited as to the requirements for opening up content on the Progression Server -- We have everything from raid-target kills to quest completion to discovery to guild-based accomplishments are at our fingertips as tools for expansion progression. That's not to say we're going to use all or even any of those, but it gives you an idea as to what we have available. Anything's possible.
*jimjohnson* Just to clear idea with the new progression server, nothing will be instanced untill LdoN/Plane of Time?
<Prathun> The instanced content in the old world (such as monster missions, for example) won't unlock until the expansion that is associated with them is opened.
<Prathun> So, correct. No instanced content should be available until LDoN / PoTime.
*Chanaluss* recently the magician fire pet was adjusted to not snare, root, and annul. are there any other plans at this time to adjust them to be more useful for magicians?
<Prathun> Rytan gets credit for changing the fire pets to use spell lists, to explicitly specify what they should and shouldn't use in combat. If after this fix, the pets are still out of balance and some are more useful than others I can take a look at them.
*Shmeeve* Recently Nodyin made a post on the official EverQuest forums, mentioning a set of notes being worked on, to provide players with more information regarding the profression server. Can we get any further information as to when these notes will be made public?
<Maddoc> The notes that Nodyin mentioned is the press-release regarding the server, which is currently being worked on. We're also still working on some of the details of how all of the intricate pieces of this server will work and formulating plans to handle all of the issues that we encounter (and that players have voiced concerns over). Once we have everything in a more solid state, we'll be answering questions and making posts on the Progression Server forums.
<Maddoc> Once we have everything in a more solid state, we'll be answering questions and making posts on the Progression Server forum. As a side note, we do plan on having a beta-cycle for this server, so you will get a chance to help
form the server and discover additional problems prior to the launch.
*oiingo* As Maddoc stated the Sullon Zek event is now fixed and live, that naturally means more guilds will progress through events and into Deathknell once the instance servers are fixed. Has any progress been made on the Ayonae Ro script to help bring the encounter into a potentially winnable form? It's a lot of fun, but I really want to see further inside the bell tower. 8)
<Prathun> Thanks, oiingo, I'm glad you're enjoying the bell tower raids so far. =) I'm getting feedback from raiders indicating that the second phase of the first event, where the Deathknell Enforcers attack, is simply impossible.
<Prathun> To scale back the difficulty of that fight, I've removed the Enforcer's ability to shrug off a tank and select a new target. Since there are 4 of them, and they tend to use this ability at the same time, it can wreak havoc on raids that aren't composed by inordinate number of plate tanks.
<Prathun> I hope to get this pushed out to Live servers soon, and that it makes the event very hard, but doable.
*Igorath* Whats the possibility of letting non-subscribing posting on the forums, after a mod review the post?
<Kytherea> While I would love to open the forums to anyone whether they subscribe or not, we just don't have the man power available to approve posts of non-subscribers. Non-subscribers can certainly read the boards though.
*Loral* While Arcstone has proven very successful for pickup-groups, the other zones in Prophecy seem to see little use. Is this true and if so, will anything be done to make these zones more attractive?
<Oshran> We're constantly reevaluating underused content via player feedback on the forums. While no specific overhaul is planned for PoR, I can say expect to see more Arcstone-like content for single groupers in the near future.
*jimjohnson* Veteran rewards will be locked out untill later expansions then?
<Vahlar> We're looking at all the technical aspects of the Progression Server right now, but our plan is to withold the veteran AAs until the Progression server has essentially "caught up" to the Live servers.
*Raisty_* On the progression server are the frogloks still going to be in rathe mountains on server opening (not playable just there)? Also in rathe mountains are we going to see a return of hillgiants?
<Maddoc> I have to look into at it more in depth, but off the top of my head, the frogloks in Rathe Mountains will not be there until Frogloks become a playable race -- On that note, the hill giants are still in Rathe Mountains, they're just moved somewhere else in the zone.
*Kryai* Are expansions on the progressive server able to be unlocked in anything other than the linear order they came out? Example: LDoN before PoP etc..
<Maddoc> We have the ability to open them up in any order we choose. LdoN and LoY are the only ones that we've really thought about opening up in a non-linear progression, however... This is a progression server, so I would expect that the expansions will be opened up in the order they were released.
<Maddoc> As I mentioned before, some details are still being worked out, so be sure to visit the progression server forums on the Eqforums, since that's where I'll be communicating with most of the players.
*ellandar* can you give us any ETA at all, even a ballpark figure, of when the progression server will go live? are we talking a few months, end of summer 2006, winter 2006, etc?
<Rashere> We're expecting to launch the server within the next few months. We should have more details for you soon, though, which will narrow that down. Keep an eye on the EverQuest website for more details.
*krimz-afk* I'd like to suggest re implimenting the best of the best and test of tacticts tournaments these were widely loved events that brought together the eq community and should be considered. Thoughts?
<Kytherea> Best of the Best events certainly are fun! The guides are responsible for most of the events run on the servers these days. If you have a request for a particular type of event I suggest contacting a guide who is online to make the request or if you prefer you can PM me or Naylie-Delanews or Pex on the EQ forums with your suggestions.
*Dreaddor* Will people be able to farm epic items from old world before Kunark is even unlocked on the progression server?
<Rashere> In most cases, content will be remaining as it is for the progression server. In the case of the epics, if there are old world pieces you can farm before Kunark opens, then you'll be able to get them before that expansion is opened up. You just won't be able to complete the epic since they generally require Kunark specific content at some point in the quest.
*taliefer* so are you going to revert rathe mountains to the pre-froglok files? and remove all
bst/berserker guildmasters and npcs, and items from the old world, up untill those specific expansions?
<Maddoc> As Rashere just mentioned, we're going to keep most of the content remaining the same as it is on the Live Servers -- Rathe Mountains is a special case, since those NPC's shouldn't really be there in the "Progression" until the LoY storyline has been opened.
<Maddoc> In short, it's very likely that the frogs will not be up in Rathe Mountains and that Rathe Mountains will exist as it was prior to the frogloks moving in.
*Wycca* What is the current status of reviewing auras' usefulness, and on fixing the many bugs surrounding them?
<Prathun> I still need to review all the traps and auras available from Prophecy of Ro and evaluate if they need to be tweaked at all.
<Prathun> In addition to that, we do need to address a handful of bugs with them, mostly concerning stacking.
*Rocax* When the progression server comes to an expansion you may not own, will you need to purchase it to play that expansion?
<Maddoc> The Progression Server follows all of the same rules as the normal servers -- If an expansion is open and you don't own it, you won't be able to go there.
<Vahlar> Progression server will give DING a whole new meaning.
*Chanaluss* are there currently any plans to add on to the guild hall? like for example, a dueling npc?
<Oshran> We have no specific plans to change the guildhall NPC roster right now, but good ideas for it do come up from time to time. At the very least, expect some new gnome ports to Arcstone and Devastation with the next patch.
<Calelena> That will wrap it up for tonight. I'd like to thank the developers for coming! The log for tonight's chat will be up shortly on http://eq.stratics.com
<Calelena> Thank you all for joining us! You can join #EverQuest to chat more about the game.
<Vahlar> Thanks for stopping by everyone!
<Kytherea> Thank you for joining us tonight. We'll see you again next month.
<Prathun> Thank you for coming to the chat! =)
<Ngreth> Thanks for coming! And thanks for taking it easy on me!
<Maddoc> Thanks for joining us and asking all the great questions.
<Oshran> Thanks everyone!