GU57: Roehn Theer, Spell Effects, XP Calculations, Quest Journal, and GPU Shadows

The hits keep coming for GU57, and we don’t mean critical heals. Some quick updates on GU57 from the overnight dev responses all in one handy post…

From Rothgar on the EQ2 Forums:

Just to comment on a few things I’ve read since my last post.

Several of you are saying we completely ignored the feedback on Test server and that couldn’t be further from the truth. If you read through this thread, you’ll see several things that were modified directly based on your feedback. When it comes to the other complaints, like the XP bar, I gave an explanation that it was not within our control to make those changes.

http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/…topic_id=483438

You have the option to modify your UI or load any of the existing mods out there to custom tailor your experience if there are things about the default that you don’t like.

As far as the spell effects go, we aren’t going to maintain two different sets of spell effects from here until the end of time. But that doesn’t mean we aren’t willing to make changes to the new system. So I’d recommend posting in a new thread about your specific issues with spell effects. Be sure you mention the class and spell that you have an issue with, and why. Will we change something that only 1 person is upset about? Probably not. But if we see that an issue is affecting many people, we will certainly look closely at a solution.

Regarding the issues with the Palace of Roehn Theer zone, creating multiple instances, Silius is on the case:

Hey all,

Really sorry about the delay in a response. I am testing the fix for this right now. My apologies for the inconvenience.

Players hoping to see Vitality work at level 90 sooner than GU58 got this response from Rich Waters:

This is a change we’d like to get done soon, so yes it’s on the high priority list. We hope to get it into the next game update or sooner, but don’t have a planned date to give for it.

Further, a player, Kraqen, posted his theory on how XP bonuses stack with GU57’s changes:

Vitality alone = Triple XP (+ 200%) each kill is worth 3 kills — Faster gain than before

100% potion = Double XP (+100%) Each kill = 2 kills — Faster than old system

Vitality and 100% potion = Quad XP (200% + 100% = 300% bonus) = Same as old system

Rich Waters confirmed the formulas above as well as answering another question. Kraqen asked: “If I have a potion that gives combat and aa xp, do I ‘double dip’ the bonus when (the slider is) at %100 AA?”

Both adventure experience and AA experience bonuses stack for an increased benefit.

Since GU57, when sorting the Quest Journal by Zone, that zone’s quests no longer jump to the top of the list. Rothgar had this response:

Thanks for bringing this to our attention, we are looking into the problem and should have it fixed soon.

Regarding the Roehn Theer breastplates not being much of an upgrade over Tier 3 breastplates, Kander posted this:

The breastplates from Theer are going to get upgraded to more of a T4 quality. Much better effects as well. Soon.

This should have been done a lot earlier, but it did not.

My apologies.

drakkenshield reported that with GPU shadows, we’re now seeing wavy lines in certain configurations:

When using GPU shadows, I get wavy lines on my screen, somewhat around and ahead of my character. CPU shadows doesn’t cause this, but GPU shadows look far better so I use them.

It looks like interference patterns basically.

Imago-Quem’s response:

Sorry about that. I’m working on it right now. It’s actually due to an offset value that separates shadows from the casting surface. The offset has to be balanced just right to work correctly. If you still have the slider option for “quality vs distance”, try moving the slider a little up or down for now to make the lines go away.

That’s our update for the morning. More news as we have it…