Issues with the 1/6/05 Update

[Moorgard]

<DIV>There are several issues with today's update that are negatively affecting gameplay. Here are some of the key issues that our team is focused on right now, with the status of their resolution:</DIV> <UL> <LI><SPAN class=174022019-06012005><STRONG>Tradeskill zones crashing. </STRONG>We have tracked down the cause.</SPAN></LI> <LI><SPAN class=174022019-06012005><STRONG>Certain zones being down when players attempt to enter them.</STRONG> We are briefly bouncing all servers to take care of this issue. The zones in question should be accessible very soon.</SPAN></LI> <LI><SPAN class=174022019-06012005><STRONG>Missing character art at certain LOD settings.</STRONG> We have found the problem and are in the process of correcting it.</SPAN></LI> <LI><SPAN class=174022019-06012005><SPAN class=739045419-06012005><STRONG>Some quests being reset to the beginning, even if completed. </STRONG>The cause has been found and fixed. See specifics below.</SPAN></SPAN></LI></UL> <P><SPAN class=174022019-06012005><SPAN class=739045419-06012005>Our plan is that as soon as all these issues are confirmed to be fixed, we will do another update. Since the amount of data needed to be pushed is relatively small, we don't anticipate longer than a 45 to 60 minute downtime.</SPAN></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN class=174022019-06012005><SPAN class=739045419-06012005>We'll update you again when we have a better idea of the timeframe of the update. Thanks for your patience.</SPAN></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN class=174022019-06012005><SPAN class=739045419-06012005>The quests that have been reset by today's bug are listed below. If your character has any of these quests in any stage in the quest journal, they will be reset to the beginning if you log in before the fix is applied. After the fix, characters logging in will be unaffected, but unfortunately we will NOT be able to retroactively fix characters that have been affected. We sincerely apologize to those for whom this will be the case.</SPAN></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN class=174022019-06012005><SPAN class=739045419-06012005><STRONG><FONT color=#ffff66>If you have advanced in any of the quests below and do not want to lose progress on them, we STRONGLY encourage you not to log in until our next update is complete. </FONT></STRONG>Again, if you log in before the fix is applied we will not be able to reset your progress to where it was before.</SPAN></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN class=174022019-06012005><SPAN class=739045419-06012005>If you have previously completed any of these quests, you will find that they have been moved to your active page and reset to the beginning. <STRONG>When we apply the fix for this bug, quests you have already completed will be moved back to the Completed tab of your journal. There is no need to delete them at this time.</STRONG></SPAN></SPAN></P><SPAN class=174022019-06012005><SPAN class=739045419-06012005> <UL> <LI>Zarvonn's Legacy</LI> <LI>Rings that Thirst</LI> <LI>Antonica Creature Cataloging</LI> <LI>Commonlands Creature Cataloging</LI> <LI>Creatures of the Creators Creature Cataloging</LI> <LI>Enchanted Lands Creature Cataloging</LI> <LI>Fire and Ice Creature Cataloging</LI> <LI>Freeport Sewers Creature Cataloging</LI> <LI>Nektulos Creature Cataloging</LI> <LI>Outlying Freeport Creature Cataloging</LI> <LI>Outlying Qeynos Creature Cataloging</LI> <LI>Qeynos Catacombs Creature Cataloging</LI> <LI>Steppes Creature Cataloging</LI> <LI>The Feerrott Creature Cataloging</LI> <LI>The Halls of the Dead Creature Cataloging</LI> <LI>The Minions of the Mighty Creature Cataloging</LI> <LI>Zek Creature Cataloging</LI> <LI>Bloodskull Warrior Bounty </LI> <LI>The Broken Halfing Skull </LI> <LI>The Mouth of Evil </LI> <LI>Hops for Galenus Kazar's Focus</LI> <LI>Pretty Ponies, All in a Row</LI> <LI>At Low Tide</LI> <LI>Blood Ore Basher</LI> <LI>Blood Ore Bracers</LI> <LI>Dragoon Zytl: Blood Rank </LI> <LI>Dragoon Zytl: Green Rank </LI> <LI>Dragoon Zytl: Black Rank </LI> <LI>The Monsters </LI> <LI>Bird Watching: The Do's and Don’t's of Nektulos Forest At Low Tide</LI> <LI>The Failed Assassin </LI></UL> <P><STRONG><FONT color=#ffcc00>Edit: Note the change made above concerning those who have already completed these quests. Also added some additional quests to the list.</FONT></STRONG></P></SPAN></SPAN> <P>Message Edited by Moorgard on <SPAN class=date_text>01-06-2005</SPAN> <SPAN class=time_text>03:50 PM</SPAN></P><p>Message Edited by Moorgard on <span class=date_text>01-06-2005</span> <span class=time_text>06:53 PM</span>

[Moorgard]

<DIV>In addition to the issues I posted a little while ago, many players are reporting that spells and arts that were usable independently of one another before today are now using the same recast timer. I wanted to take a moment to clarify this situation.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The Training options are intended to act as a higher-powered replacement for abilities you are already using. Training is not meant to give you an additional ability; rather, it is meant to act as a significant upgrade to an existing spell or combat art. Since these are free upgrades that are much more potent than the Apprentice I spells you ordinarily receive, they need to share a recast timer in order to maintain game balance.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>However, a number of other spells and arts that had been separate are now tied together as well. For instance, certain heal or damage-over-time spells that were independent of one another now prevent similar spells from being used. We are working at this very moment to reverse this change so that the affected spells and arts will work the same way they did before this update.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>To sum up: Training options are intended to replace existing abilities and thus will share the same timer. The recast timers of standard spells and arts that were affected by today's update will be reverted to function the way they have since launch.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Unfortunately, this change will require some additional testing, so we will probably not be able to apply it along with the fixes for the four key issues mentioned in my first post. We will push the spell linking change to the live servers just as soon as we can, but it will not happen until Friday or Saturday.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>We're sorry for the confusion this has caused, and I hope this post clarifies how the Training and recast timers are meant to work.</DIV>

[Moorgard]

<DIV>Thanks to all of you who sent me examples of crashing the tradeskill zones. We have found the problem and created a fix for it. No need to send me anymore PMs about it. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Our current status is that all four issues listed in my first post have been addressed. We are testing the fixes to ensure they work properly and plan to release this update to the English-language servers at 7AM PST tomorrow morning. This update will include a few additional fixes as well that were missed today.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The removal of recast timer changes not related to the Training abilities will go through further testing tomorrow, and will be going live either later in the day Friday or on Saturday.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Thanks again for your patience while the team works to resolve these issues.</DIV><p>Message Edited by Moorgard on <span class=date_text>01-06-2005</span> <span class=time_text>07:22 PM</span>