Posts Tagged ‘travel revamp’

   

Game Update 57 Update Notes for Test/Test Copy

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Art, Appearance, Housing, DGC Wants Feedback, Game Updates & Maintenance, Grouping, PvP/BG/Proving Grounds, Raiding, Tradeskill

Game Update 57 is now up on  the Test and Test Copy Servers and we’ve got the Update Notes. We’ve already taken some new screen shots of the new default interface including the new pictorial tutorials for new players.

  • User Interface – One of the touted features of Game Update 57 is the revamped User Interface. The Persona and Inventory windows have been merged into a Character window. The XP bar has become a sort of “dock” at the bottom of your screen. All buttons and window corners have been rounded off. And for the most part, everything that was blue is now red! No doubt UI modders will come out with a classic re-skin to turn everything back to blue. We will be posting a preview of the GU57 Interface Changes soon. Discussed Here
  • Map Points of Interest – Many points of interest have been added to the default map, including quest locations. This will provide some of the functionality of EQ2Maps.
  • Additional Travel Revamp – There have been additional revamps to Travel. With path linking, you can now choose the ultimate destinations of any inter-zone travel and it will “connect the dots” to get you there. All transport pads in Kingdom of Sky connect to all others, and travel between the three Kingdom of Sky zones is much easier.
  • Character Creation & More Neutrals – The Character Creation screens have been revamped, and several more classes have become neutral, including Assassin, Ranger, Templar, Inquisitor, Coercer, Illusionist, Monk and Bruiser.
  • Extraneous Spells/CAs Removed from Levels 1-15 – Many spells and combat arts that new players generally did not use at level 1-20, such as Taunts, De-Agros, Agro-reduction, etc. have been postponed until level 15+ to decrease the number of new spells/CAs that players are exposed to in the increasingly brief sprint from level 1-20. First Discussed Here
  • Spell Effects Visual Revamp which was rumored for GU55 is now on Test. This is an update/revamp of the animation which plays for each beneficial and hostile effect cast by characters.
  • Lucan D’Lere has returned!
  • Additional Tradeskill Quests have been added at level 20 and 30.
  • Starting Zone Conflicts – Frostfang Sea (New Halas) and Greater Fay starting zones are now under attack by invaders, adding an additional level of interest to these zones. In addition, Gorowyn has received yet another architectural revamp to hopefully improve navigation.
  • General – You can also expect the usual array of tweaks and bugfixes to raid zones, battlegrounds, AA lines, Quests, and Items. Most classes got some kind of benefit here.

As this is all on Test and Test Copy, the EQ2 team are really looking for bug reports, feedback, and comments on everything that’s been added.

Complete Game Update 57 Notes after the jump…

GU56: Travel Revamp

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Game Updates & Maintenance

This information was part of our Game Update 56 post on May 4th. However considering the importance of its content, we have reprinted it as a separate article and rewritten it for clarity.

GU56 Travel Revamp

Travel in Norrath has been substantially consolidated. Changes and bugfixes continue to be applied on Test, so this information may change before May 25th.

Worldwide Travel Revamp

  • Players may travel from and to nearly every zone in Norrath by using the Worldwide Globe system, which have consolidated all existing bells and gained many unexpected destinations.
  • Flying carpets, boats, and airships are now entirely optional means of travel. The destinations offered by these modes of transport have been added to the Worldwide Globe system.
  • Individual mariner’s bells which connect to only one or two zones (i.e. Everfrost, Lavastorm, Isle of Mara, etc.) have been removed.
  • Travel within cities is maintained through the City Mariner’s Bell.
  • Worldwide Gryffons continue to provide travel between Butcherblock Mountains, Neriak (Darklight Wood), and Gorowyn (Timorous Deep), and have gained a new destination — New Halas (Frostfang Sea).
  • Druid Rings no longer require players to have visited them prior to use. Rumor has it, a live or prelude event will rebuild additional druid rings and connect them, allowing travel between the Rings.
  • Wizard Spires, as rebuilt in a previous Game Update, continue to provide access to over a dozen interconnected wizard spires. With GU56, six additional Wizard Spire destinations have been added that players can travel directly to (previously these spires could only be reached with the help of a Wizard or Warlock).
  • All Call of Qeynos, Call of the Overlord, Call of Kelethin, etc. spells have had their cast time reduced to 10 seconds.

Intrazone Travel Revamp

  • Sokokar posts within the 4 Kunark zones no longer require having visited each post prior to using them and the sokokar item requirement has been eliminated (players must have completed either the tradeskill or adventure sokokar quest).
  • A Gryffon Tower has been added to the Gorowyn Beach so that players may easily reach the newbie area.
  • A Gryffon hitching post has been added to the Butcherblock Mountains dock so that players may easily reach the cliffs.
  • Gryffon Towers in Thundering Steppes and Nek Forest no longer require your assistance in gathering gryffon eggs before allowing travel.
  • Flying Carpets within Sinking Sands and Pillars of Flame have learned all of the intra-zone routes available to them.
  • Horses have been added to the Steamfont Mountains, Zek, Feerrott, Enchanted Lands, Everfrost.
  • Gryffon Towers in Greater Faydark and Nektulos Forest have been updated with additional destinations.
  • Guild Hall decorators will be interested to note that the various (now redundant) Mariner’s Bell amenities have been given unique appearances as a player choice. Choices include a boat captain npc in front of a large steering wheel, and a sculpture of the Worldwide Globe item.

Performance Motivation?

For the last 2 1/2 months, players have been reporting severe delays when traveling from one zone to another. Players have reported 20-30 minute delays when switching from zone to zone, a process normally taking 20-30 seconds. So it seems likely that these changes are being made for player convenience, or to put nearly every zone in the game into the reach of players with just 1 zoning screen!


Powered by Warp Theme Framework