Weekly Development Activities

June 26, 2006

Check out the latest updates to the "Weekly
Development Activities."
The goal for this feature is to give solid expectations on what you can
expect to see in future updates.

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In QA

These items are in QA and should be a part of the Twilight Forge
Module. Please note: this list is still a work in progress and should
not be viewed as final.



UI Improvements

We are adding Guild Names! They will be visible under player
names. Party Member names will be distinguished from other player names
by color. The colors for names of party members, other players, npcs, and
monsters will be able to be changed. Displayed damage values for sneak attacks and critical hits will
appear in a distinctive fashion. Hostile
monsters names will now appear in a configurable color (default red).
Friendly or neutral monster's names will look like NPCs names rather
than hostile monster's names. "Accept Choice" is no longer
mapped to the number pad enter key by default. Existing players will
still have this mapped to the number pad enter key and will need to
change the setting on their own if they wish to unmap it. "Accept
Choice" is intended to be what you use to answer "yes" to dialogs in
the game. This change will prevent players from accidentally releasing
from their body when they did not wish to. When dragging items
over the equipment slots in the UI, they will only highlight if the
slot is compatible with the item. In addition, whenever you select an
item, all of the compatible inventory slots will be highlighted. The latency meter will be located in the main menu bar. Also, the
latency meter will no longer want to be on top of everything (tooltips,
for example). Apostrophes and spaces will once again be allowed in player
surnames and guild names. The player biography panel will be adjusted to allow for more
punctuation and printable character types. The alive/incapacitated/dead state of members of your fellowship
will
update properly even when your group members are far from you. The tooltip for feats will display how many times you have
acquired the feat if you have acquired it more then once. The tooltip for "Sneak Attack" will display how much extra
damage you cause when performing a sneak attack. Correcting
a text error with the tooltip for Greater Bane items that improperly
states that Greater Bane is a +2 bonus instead of a +4 bonus. Alerts for "Missing Spell Component" will now list what the
missing component is. The "/help alias" description of the /alias command is being
updated to properly reflect /alias' capabilities. There is now an option to ignore all guild invites. Guild invites from squelched players will now be ignored. The correct error message will now be displayed if your guild
invite expires. If
you die from constitution damage you will no longer have an ability
damage icon appear on your screen after you have resurrected. In
order to explain the death penalty more clearly, the Death Penalty
tooltip will be changed to read "You are significantly below the
minimum amount of experience points required for your level. Your
maximum hit points and spell points have been reduced, and you suffer a
penalty to your attack rolls, saves, skills, and caster level." When
you hover over the icon for items in your inventory, shops, chests, and
reward UI, you will receive the examination information in a tooltip.
This is in addition to the current method of examination (using the "z"
key or the magnifying glass on the focus orb). The effect
descriptions will be displayed directly upon examination, you will no
longer need to hover over the effect names to get the descriptions from
a tooltip. We are fixing a display issue where players who are
wearing a +Con item or are under the effect of a +Con spell during
level advancement see an incorrect increase to hit points. The
"Play this Character" button in character generation will be renamed to
"Create this Character" to more accurately describe what the button
does. NEW - Pressing the "Default"
button at the bottom of the options panel is incorrectly setting Engine
Speed to "Very Low". It will be fixed to correctly set it to "Very
High".

General

We are adding a new emote into the game! You will soon be able
to /eat. You will now be able to log out while incapacitated. You will no longer be able to be both exhausted and fatigued;
exhaustion will remove and block fatigue. The upper limit of 40 on skills will be removed. We
are changing the way "Over Time" spells and effects work. The intervals
will be closer together (i.e., 2 seconds instead of 6 seconds), but
will do less damage/benefit during each interval. There will be no
change to the total amount of damage/benefit, this is purely a change
to how the damage/benefit is spread out over time. This change also
applies to the way lava does damage over time. Owing to their construct nature, Warforged will find that they
are able to hold their breath under water significantly longer
than they could before. NEW – Human males are being given a more
"manly" run. NEW - You can no longer hear the sounds
of dead party members running along with you.

Combat

UPDATED
- All enemy trip and knockdown attacks (including Grease) will give the
player a reflex save attempt every 2 seconds for the duration of the
knockdown. * Check out the "In Development" section below for more
detail. Ranger's favored enemy bonus will now apply a +2 to the bluff
skill against favored enemies. All races will be able to cause damage when they attempt to
attack while sneaking with a shield. The display for your party member's HP/SP bars will refresh more
frequently. We
are fixing a display issue where the damage over time component of
Slicing Blow isn't displaying properly (please note: the DOT is
occurring properly, it just isn't displaying properly.). We are
fixing a display error that sometimes causes the damage numbers over
your target's head to be incorrect when a sneak attack is performed
while the precision attack feat is active.

Enhancements

Warforged with Improved Fortification will no longer be healed,
even if they have taken the "Healer's Friend" enhancement.

Items

NEW - Common collectables will have
their stack sizes increased to 99. NEW
- Wizards and Sorcerers will have a greater chance to receive Damage
Amplification modified weapons as part of NPC-based quest rewards. NEW - Scrolls for Death Ward and Ball
Lightning will be added to the game. NEW – Outsider-Chaotic, Outsider-Lawful,
and Outsider-Evil Bane effects will function correctly on the
appropriate monsters. NEW – We are adding Immunity special
effects to treasure effects (for example, Proof against Poison). NEW
- The Kundarak Warding Shield's minimum level requirement will be
changed from level 2 to level 10 for shields looted after this change
goes live. Any wand offered as a quest reward will now be fully charged. We
have fixed a display error in the description text for mithril armor
where the text stated that mithril armor was a medium armor instead of
a light armor. This was a text error only and will not change
performance.

Spells

NEW - Jump spell bonus will increase to
20 at 5th level and 30 at 9th level. The
Phantasmal Killer spell will include a will save to disbelieve and
completely negate the effects (this will bring it in line with the
Player's Handbook 3.5 rules). We are fixing a problem where the Flame Arrow spell can fail
based upon your spell resistance. We are fixing a problem where holy smite is not properly stunning
evil creatures. Lightning bolt and flaming sphere would periodically hit targets
more than once. This issue will be fixed. The Divine power spell is being fixed to properly apply the
correct amount of temporary hit points to its target. We
are fixing the Bard song "Inspire Greatness" and the spell "Greater
Heroism" so that their greatness effects will no longer prematurely end
when the bonus temporary hit points are used up. Melf's Acid Arrow is having its look and effects changed so that
it appears bigger and brighter. We
are fixing an issue where if you've been hit by multiple blindness
spells, all of the spells would end as soon as the first spell expired.
Now your full sight won't be restored until the final blindness effect
has ended. The "doom" spell will now properly give you a -2 to your attack
rolls (as per D&D rules). Having the benefit "Improved Heightening" will no longer give a
discount to spells that are already maximum level. The poison spell will now show immunity effects if cast on an
immune target. When you resist a spell due to an item of spell resistance, it
will now send feedback to the combat chat tab.

Monsters

NEW
- We are adjusting several monsters' vulnerability to light. Ghouls,
wights, skeletons and slimes will no longer take extra damage from
light. On the other hand, Vampires will be more vulnerable to light. The
Beholder's Scorching Ray eyebeam will function properly. Beholders will
also no longer be able to shoot through walls. Dead beholders will no
longer emit antimagic fields. NEW – Vorpal
weapons will no longer effect Beholders. The alchemist fire thrown by kobolds will have a reflex save for
half damage instead of having the regular to-hit roll. We are making some adjustments to Fleshrender, Ice Flenser, and
Fire Reaver AI's. Storm Giant's arrows will no longer disappear before being fired,
and will also now fire from their bow. The Guardian of the Seal of Shan-to-Kor will now be less likely
to walk on top of people (float) during combat. Xorian skeletons will no longer be immune to fire. Casting "Blind" on Velah the Dragon will have no effect. When a wraith kills something that is already undead, it will
not spawn a new wraith. Icestorm will have the proper visual effects when cast by
troglodytes, kobolds, and hobgoblins. We
are fixing a bug that is incorrectly inflating trolls' vulnerability to
poison. In conjunction with this fix, we are also raising the strength
and damage capabilities of trolls and ogres on the "hard" and "elite"
settings.

NPCs

NEW - Henda Boulderbreaker will actually
pay you if you win your gambling game. NEW – All vendors in House Jorasco once
again give price discounts for finishing the Delera's Tomb storyquest. Many
dungeon-based NPCs will only converse with one player at a time. This
will alleviate a number of quest NPCs who might toggle a door or item
twice in succession due to multiple conversations taking place
simultaneously. Any open conversations with an NPC will be closed when a player
recalls out, to ensure player and NPC don't get locked.

Quests

Party
members will not be able to leave their party while in a dungeon. If
you wish to leave your party you will first have to recall to a public
space. Attempting to abandon a story arc quest will alert the
player that they will be abandoning multiple quests (and will list
these quests). NEW - Caverns of Korramar A chest will have its loot table adjusted upwards. NEW - Sharpwood's Warehouse You will have to complete all objectives in order to finish
the quest. NEW - Sorrowdusk Island Fane of the Six Sear will no longer respawn. Grey Moons Den Hammerfist will no longer count towards the kill trolls
objective. NEW - Stormcleave Outpost Killing 50 minions is now a required objective NEW - Tear of Dhakaan The Warmage will always spawn. Karnat Thaar will have the appropriate quest chalices over
his head. NEW - Three-Barrel Cove Fixed a bug where both Red Tom and Rosie the Jinx weren't
giving players the option to repeat their quests.

Under Development

These items are currently in development and are scheduled for after
the Twilight Forge Module.



Combat

MOVED FROM "IN QA" - All
enemy trip and knockdown attacks (including Grease) will give the
player a balance skill based save attempt every 2 seconds for the
duration of the knockdown.

To discuss the weekly development activities visit the official target="_blank" href="http://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45913">DDO
Forums.