Weekly Development Activities

June 19, 2006

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

• NEW – We are adding
  Guild Names! The will be visible under player names.
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• NEW – Party Member
  names will be distinguished from other player names by color.
• NEW – The colors for
  names of party members, other players, npcs, and monsters will be able
  to be changed.
• NEW – Displayed
  damage values for sneak attacks and critical hits will appear in a
  distinctive fashion.
• NEW – 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.
•  NEW - "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.
• NEW - 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.

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.

Combat

• 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.
• 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

• 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 - 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 - 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 - The alchemist
  fire thrown by kobolds will have a reflex save for half damage instead
  of having the regular to-hit roll.
• NEW - We are making
  some adjustments to Fleshrender, Ice Flenser, and Fire Reaver AI's.
• NEW - 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 - 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.
• NEW - Any open
  conversations with an NPC will be closed when a player recalls out, to
  ensure player and NPC don't get locked.

Quests

• NEW - 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.
• NEW - Attempting to
  abandon a story arc quest will alert the player that they will be
  abandoning multiple quests (and will list these quests).