Editing AC2:Announcements - 2002/12 - Emergence (section)

== Developers' Notes ==
{{AC2 Article
 |  Link = microsoftgamesinsider.com/AC2/Guides/epguide_12-02_devnotes.htm?nc=1
 | Title = December 2002 Developers' Notes
 |  Text = For the most current information about known issues, please see our '''State of the Code''' page. 

''The people emerged with trepidation, wondering if the evils that had driven their ancestors into the Shelters still haunted the land. The quiet that followed their first tentative steps back into Dereth was reassuring; however, those first few weeks of quiet were shattered by a violent resurgence of the same threats that had destroyed the Golden Age.
<br><br>
''Uncommonly powerful creatures have been seen stalking the land, striking out at all those who dare cross their path. In addition, the Drudges have surged forth from their lairs and laid siege to many areas of Osteth, even threatening the Shelter Holdings. The mortal races, though, have not been idle in the face of these threats. Many have responded to the Warders' call, trying to uncover the Drudges' plans.
<br><br>
''There are rewards for those who brave the threats now resurgent in Dereth. Those who challenge the creatures stalking the land tell of powerful treasures being found among their remains. Others speak of caches left behind by the Kingdoms for their followers. They say that these caches can only be opened with unique keys found scattered throughout the land. Many have devoted themselves to finding these keys and discovering the caches' contents, hoping to gain both riches and power.
<br><br>
''Although their quiet has been shattered, the resolve of the races to reclaim Dereth remains…
<br>
During the December episode, you may notice some enhancements, modifications, and fixes to the game. AC2 just keeps getting better....
<br><br>
'''New Starter Experience:''' The entire experience for new players has been updated, providing new players with much more information about the game world and directing them in the process of rebuilding Dereth. Players should note that if they had an existing character logged off in one of the old training halls, their character will login at the beginning of the new training halls.
<br><br>
'''Dungeon Enhancements:''' Dungeons on all three continents have been tweaked and enhanced. These enhancements range from adding new sources of treasure, to refining the textures and feel of the dungeon, to balancing the difficulty of the dungeon.
<br><br>
'''Experience Rewards:''' Many mid-level solo creatures (level 25 through 40), have had their experience rewards boosted. With the exception of level 25 creatures found on Osteth, creatures level 25 and 40 have received a 15% boost in their experience reward. Creatures level 26 through 39 have been given a 30% boost in their experience reward.
<br><br>
'''Skill Dynamics Revised:''' Many non-harmful skills have had their Vigor cost reduced. These skills, which have short durations and cool-down periods between uses, now cost 1 Vigor point to use. (Note that the Vigor cost of Health and Vigor heals has not been reduced to 1.)  In addition, unless a skill specifically uses a shield (such as a shield bash skill), the vigor cost on the shield is ignored. Finally, many class-specific skills have been updated for this episode. Full details on the affected skills can be found in  Class Changes and Fixes below.
<br><br>
'''New Types of Monsters:''' Several new varieties of monsters are now scattered around the landscape. In addition to the existing solo and group monsters, the following types of monsters may be found:

:''Champions'': These creatures hit harder and have more hit points, but provide considerably more experience and somewhat better treasure.
     
:''Uniques'': These creatures are the heroes of their race and are as difficult to defeat as Champion creatures. While unique items may be found on these creatures, finding one of these creatures can be difficult.
     
:''Bosses'': A boss is a leader of his race, and can be found in the most challenging areas of Dereth. While these creatures are difficult to overcome, they provide significantly better rewards, both in experience and treasure.
     
:''Quest Starters'': These creatures have more normal stats and abilities, but their death triggers a quest for your character. The quest will direct you to kill a certain number of creatures in the area. Completing the quest will result in an experience reward for your character.

We hope to continue to enhance this dynamic in future episodes, so always be on the look out for new types of creatures.
<br><br>
'''New Fellowship Options:''' When creating a fellowship, players can now choose to make it loot-sharing. To enable this option, select the new "Share Loot Amongst Fellows" check box (located next to the existing "Share XP Amongst Fellows" check box) in the Fellowship Creation panel. With this option enabled, the members of the fellowship may loot the kills of another member. This option remains enabled until the fellowship is disbanded.
<br><br>
'''New Chat Options:''' The chat interface has been improved and now has a host of options for customizing the way messages are displayed. You can use the Options panel to change the color and size of the eight different types of messages that are displayed in your chat window. In a forthcoming episode, players can expect to see full control on chat window opacity, but for this episode, the opacity of the chat windows has been darkened slightly.
<br><br>
'''Examination Panel Changes:''' The examination panel has been revised to make important information easier to find and more distinct. In addition to revising the layout of information and changing the font, stats are now offset in bold. In addition, the names of monsters and items now display their own unique color in the panel, as follows:
<br><br>
Normal Creature: Off-White
<br>''Boss/Unique Creature'':  Yellow
<br>''Champion Creature'': Blue
<br>''Quest Starter Creature'': Green
<br>''Group Creature'': Dark Orange
<br><br>
''Normal Items'': Off-White
<br>''Magical Items'': Blue
<br>''Crafted Items'': Orange
<br><br>
Finally, to make buffed or debuffed stats more noticeable, these stats are colored blue when examined.
<br><br>
'''Quest Panel Upgrades:''' The Quest button now flashes when you have received an update to your quests. When you bring it up, the Quest panel now highlights in green and expands the updated quest with the new information. Other quests that have been updated, but have not been viewed, are highlighted in green as well. Also, updated text of a quest is no longer sent to the chat window, since this information can be found in the Quest panel.
<br><br>
'''Map Panel Upgrades:''' The in-game map has been updated to provide even more information about the game world. In the default map view, each continent now has its name displayed near it. Clicking on the continent's name opens up a new window, displaying the names and difficulty levels of that continent's various sub-regions. Towns have also been given a new icon on the map. We've also corrected a variety of minor map note errors, such as missing or mis-positioned labels or erroneous information.
<br><br>
'''Transforming Items Into Gold Made Easier:''' You can now disable the "Are you sure you want to turn this item into gold?" dialog box from the Options panel. In addition, you will not get the confirmation dialog if you hold down the Shift button while dragging items to the gold sack in your inventory interface. Finally, to provide some indication that an equipped item cannot be melted down into gold, the gold sack will no longer highlight when equipped items are dragged over it.
<br><br>
'''Toggle Item Names:''' The "Show Names" key ("V" by default), which causes names to float above items and creatures, is now a toggled option. The option default is OFF, but can be toggled ON (and OFF again) by pressing the key to which you've bound this option.
 
'''Enhancements'''
<blockquote>
There's a chill in the air…
<br><br> 
The treasure found on a monster's corpse is now personalized to the first person who opens the corpse, not who killed the monster.
<br><br>
The swimming penalty has been reduced.
<br><br>
When examined, Lifestones and portals will tell you if you can recall or summon to them.
<br><br>
All avatar-shaped NPCs have floating question marks above their heads to make them easier to find.
<br><br>
Starter weapons can now be crafted for free. Note that there is a 24-hour reset period on using these recipes.
<br><br>
Vitae shouldn't be as hard to work off at higher levels of play.
<br><br>
Southpaws rejoice! Left-handed mice are now supported.
<br><br>
The game now fully supports many foreign keyboards.
</blockquote>

'''Miscellaneous UI Enhancements'''
<blockquote>
Coordinates are now displayed by default below the radar.
<br><br>
You can now save yourself some typing by using the commands "/t", "/r", and "/rt" instead of "/tell", "/reply", and "/retell", respectively. (The longer commands still work too.)
<br><br>
There are now new, revamped level-up and quest advancement particle effects.
<br><br>
A new vulnerability effect has been added. Now it is easier to see when to use skills that do additional damage when a target is vulnerable.
<br><br>
Issues that prevented many particles from being drawn in game have been addressed.
<br><br>
Particles should now be drawn correctly.
<br><br>
Various creatures have had the proper color assigned to their compass dot.
<br><br>
Previously, changing your screen's resolution could potentially interfere with your ability to select items in-game. This has been corrected.
<br><br>
Unless you are currently scrolling in the chat window, chat windows will now automatically scroll down to the end of any new text added to them.
<br><br>
The timers displayed in the Quest panel are now properly synced with the timers on the server.
<br><br>
Fire arrows now cast light.
</blockquote>

'''Fixes'''
<blockquote>
If you are disconnected from the chat server, the client will attempt to reconnect and reauthenticate your connection to the server. Note that if you were in a fellowship when you lost your connection, you will need to rejoin the fellowship after you reconnect to receive fellowship chat again.
<br><br>
Allegiance channels are now more specific to your allegiance, preventing the accidental creation of cross server allegiance channels.
<br><br>
A bug that caused the animated effect for many missile attacks to veer off in a direction away from the target has been corrected. (It should be noted that this bug did not cause missile attacks to actually miss their targets; it only affected the animated effect.)
<br><br>
We have fixed a bug that caused the server to be unsure of your avatar's location and resulted in your character "blipping" about to different locations.
<br><br>
Players should no longer receive the "Item In Use" error from many objects in the game.
<br><br>
Various terrain problems, such as those involving misplaced bridges or trees, have been corrected.
<br><br>
A few Lifestones that were placed below ground have been dug out.
<br><br>
Several portals and Lifestones that had the wrong summon/recall flags assigned to them have been corrected.
<br><br>
The level restriction on the Tou Tou Vault has been corrected.
<br><br>
Many Vault entrances, and the Lifestones near them, have been cleared of landscape monsters. In addition, the coordinates displayed for many Vaults on Vault Glyphs have been corrected.
<br><br>
The pit in the middle of the Yokketh Bell Tower has been filled in.
<br><br>
The Broth of Tanacha cauldron no longer floats a few feet above the ground.
<br><br>
The Burun Despoilment quest has received a sizeable increase to its experience reward.
<br><br>
The Vermin Smuggler King and Cursed Rea-bal are now dropping treasure.
<br><br>
The Browerk Burun Chief should be a bit easier to find.
<br><br>
Toadfang Earrings can no longer be equipped in a secondary ring slot.
<br><br>
As originally intended, only Humans and Lugians can use the Golden Age, Ancient, and Sunblaze Spiritseekers.
<br><br>
Although it always had an effect, the special effect found on the Drudgebane sword is now visible to players.
<br><br>
Gurog Warlords no longer drop Behemorn Oil as treasure.
<br><br>
Sclavus Faisi Seeker is now dropping the Amulet of Seeking.
<br><br>
If their master is attacking a target at range, pets are less likely to return home to their master. Instead, they will continue to attack their master's target.
<br><br>
Pets that are caught on landscape objects are more likely to recognize this and teleport to their master.
<br><br>
Monsters are now more likely to attack whomever has most recently done the most damage to them, whether that be a pet or a player.
<br><br>
Those fortunate enough to own a pet Tyrant should find them a bit more intelligent now.
<br><br>
Tyrant flame effects are a bit snazzier. Get burned by one today!
<br><br>
The chance of a drum being generated for a Tumerok character has been increased.
<br><br>
Platemail Boots are now displaying the traits they always had.
<br><br>
Various "Fickle Fate" recipes now actually have an effect.
<br><br>
A few recipes have been corrected that were referencing the wrong product type.
<br><br>
Crafted robes now display the proper name for the item, based upon the race for which the robe is intended.
<br><br>
Characters are drinking from the right end of potion vials now. In addition, the potion vials have been scaled down a bit.
</blockquote>

'''Class Changes and Fixes'''
<blockquote>
'''''Lugian Melee:
<br>'''Lure and Battle Cry can no longer be used empty-handed.
<br><br>   
'''''Lugian Raider:
<br>'''Shattered Soul now removes a large portion of the target's Vigor.
<br><br>   
'''''Lugian Tactician:
<br>'''Turrets and Walls now have no defensive skills. How can a wall dodge anyway?
<br><br> 
'''Turrets should no longer be born "brain dead."
<br><br>   
'''''Lugian Magic:
<br>'''Previously, the range for the Earthquake skill was set incorrectly, causing targets that appeared to be in range of the skill to actually be out of its effective range. This has been corrected, and the skill now has a larger effective area.
<br><br>   
'''''Lugian Sage:
<br>'''Saving Graces now affects the caster's fellows.
<br><br>
'''The particle effect for Hypnosis has been fixed.
<br><br>   
'''''Tumerok Melee:
<br>'''Renewal's description now correctly says it affects the target instead of the caster.
<br><br>
'''Resuscitate now correctly says it affects the target and not the caster.
<br>'''If not evaded, the Growl skill will now successfully taunt creatures and draw them.
<br><br>   
'''''Tumerok Claw Bearer:
<br>'''Thunderous Motion now has a 5-minute cool-down timer.
<br><br>   
'''''Tumerok Feral Intendant:
<br>'''Lumbering Might's description now correctly says the caster can summon a Shreth, not a Reedshark.
<br><br>
'''Reap can now be used while wielding a shield.
<br><br>   
'''''Tumerok Magic:
<br>'''Interlope now lasts 2 minutes with a 5-minute cool-down period between uses.
<br><br>   
'''''Tumerok Invoker:
<br>'''Intervention now lasts between 2 to 10 minutes, depending on the skill of the caster.
<br><br>   
'''''Human Enchanter:
<br>'''The Blade of Frost and Blade of Fire skills have had their durations reduced to 5 minutes.
<br><br>   
''''' Human Melee:
<br>'''Hail of Blows now strikes the target three times.
<br><br>   
'''''Human Defender:
<br>'''Righteous Fury now strikes the target three times.
<br><br>    
'''All Flails now generated by the treasure system will have their base damage increased to be the same as other specialized weapons. Note that previously generated Flails will not be affected by this revision.
<br><br>   
'''''Human Alchemist:
<br>'''Dark Side now lasts 5 minutes and has no cool-down period.
<br><br>   
'''''Human Magic:
<br>'''Characters can now train Fireball at level 18, the same as other skills on its tier.
<br><br>     
'''The description for Tenaciousness now correctly says that it affects the Vigor regeneration of the target, not the caster.
<br><br>
'''Enclosure now lasts between 2 to 10 minutes, depending on the skill of the caster.
<br><br>   
'''''Human Sorcerer:
<br>'''Turnblade's description now correctly says it only affects the caster, not the target.
<br><br>   
'''Turnblade now lasts 2 minutes with a 5-minute cool-down period.
</blockquote>
&nbsp;
}}