View Full Version : The tweak blitz continues...
I will be looking to bring more small changes and improvements to the module over the week. I'll be in #wpnwn waiting for your ideas.
Im going to need a tad bit more than a name! :P
Unien and I had a chat about this following his post and it seems I was due to fix the "Diversionary Tactics" at the stage where Vithos Kalem will join your party as a henchman. I must of been dragged onto another job back then and forgot all about it - my apologies for that.
I know this is an issue that has been exploited (knowingly and unknowingly) for a while now, but it is now resolved as of the next module update, later today.
For those who want the detail:
Vithos originally spawned in via a conditional encounter, triggered by a PC undertaking the quest. Either this was not working properly (not that I could see anyway) or, PCs with the quest activated but not attempting it were walking into the trigger and spawning him in, leaving him free to be "recruited" by passers by.
I have now removed the encounter trigger and made him spawn in during a conversation with the group of card players - the people involved in the scene which introduces the character Vithos. This means that the only way he will spawn in, is if the PC speaker has the quest activated and has been playing the quest for the past 3 hours to get to this stage of the quest. Vithos cannot be left behind as he is an integral part of the quest and it wont progress without him.
For the information of those who have done the quest before - the card player will spawn in like before. Speak to any of them to initiate the card game conversation and Vithos will appear and from that point the quest will function as before.
Sorry about leaving that a while. Sorted now :)
DM__Sauron
16-05-2007, 22:36
Is Goblin Gate the same place Bilbo encountered the goblins and later Gollum ? It is very near if it is not. One wonders after reading The Hobbit recently if the main section might be concealed by a secret door ?
Something for a larger update perhaps :)
Once again I await ideas in #wpnwn for todays blitz of changes to the module :)
Goody Appleseed in Woodhall in the Shire does not sell anything, and indeed, does not even talk to characters. Yet in the starting area, it is possible to buy heal kits which bear her name (for hobbit characters at least), and so far it seems to be the only source of such kits...
Also in Woodhall is an elven trader Lomel, who offers non-regionalised items (in particular, potions). He also claims to be an apothecary, but does not have any heal kits, which is strange.
Seeking more updates! Hit me.
That might not actually be a tweak.. but here goes.
I find it rather unfair that the xp rewards for killing npc's with 'very difficult' level brings ~16 xp points for a solo [without party] player character.
I got a lvl 6 goblin and i finished duty at Dol Guldur. I was suggested by Khamul to seek further employment in Isengard. When i went there, none npc's there wanted to talk with the likes of me, except merchants. I was told later by the-small-print, that Isen quests start from lvl 8.
Now how am i supposed to raise ~12 000 xp points to reach the required level, without partying with players that are still 'on the trials' and doing quests in Dol Guldur ?
It looks to me that there is no way to somewhat smoothly jump from one stage to another, without repeatedly doing the same quests.
I think there should be more xp reward for killing much tougher creatures/npc's, as 16 xp points is not even worth the risk. On my way to Isengard i encountered 2 very difficult Rohirrims, and according to my char's role i simply attempted to kill them. I killed one of them with the help of setting traps and finishing with a bow, another one killed me and i've lost 600 xp. I respawned at Dol Guldur and went the same way to finish him off, then i got killed by a Wild Cat in 3 attacks. Respawned again, and killed the Rohirrim.
I gained 32 xp, but lost 1200 xp. Thats really confusing.
I did boost quest xp rewards in Dol Guldur some time ago but it may not have gone far enough. There is indeed a gulf still there for evils. It's not as big but I have to agree with you and you make some good points.
This will be the focus of my work this afternoon.
I will look into boosting the party XP rewards a little for killing higher CR creatures.
I will also make sure none of my previous changes were overwriten and i will also inspect the Khamul range of Dol Guldur quests as I suspect I didnt get round to improving those.
Thanks for pointing this out.
Dakota Strider
22-05-2007, 14:25
Even Goblins and Orc characters can travel to Forachel, albeit by foot, rather then by ship if they do not feel they can slip into the Tharbad docks for the ship ride. I would hope they would have the sense to wear a helm, and the Lossoth natives will talk to them and give them the Forachel quests. I believe there is enough xp there, for them to bridge the gap between Dol Guldor and Isengard. My evil, being human, of course had no problem finding things to do to bridge the gap. Perhaps what should be added, instead of increasing xp rewards for current evil quests, are some goblin/orc specific quests, that only they can do, to help push their level a little more.
That's always an idea and one I have done myself.
Something we are working on may also make "bridging the gap" easier.
Another thought on kill XP rewards, and how they play with quest XP.
Instead of giving out a large XP bonus upon completion of a quest, you could raise the kill XP reward for all enemies in quest-related areas for those players who have that quest active in their journal (and for as long as it's non-completed). That way, the XP distribution is more even, and those players who have to log out midway or right at the end still get it all. Yet no way to farm it for high-levels...
Dakota Strider
22-05-2007, 16:39
int19h, I thought that was a good idea, until I realized a way to exploit that. A character, could constantly take the quest, then not turn in for the reward at the end, as to get the kill xp over and over. I would have to say, the current system does a better job of preventing exploiting. If someone has to log off before completion, that is unfortunate, but does not happen that often, that we should risk making a system that can be exploited too easily.
Cindi Angelheart
22-05-2007, 19:33
I just wanted to say the Orc/goblin quest idea is a great one, though no doubt very time consuming. We have a very small Orc population and I believe it is in part related to the difficulties that come with being one. It is hard to be treated like dirt by non Orc PC's, most of our players are good enough to adapt and deal with that , but there is a certain amount of hardship with that. Also I have heard many times that the problem of identifying items causes them no ends of problems, they are forced to either discard them, or carry a small store until they encounter a PC with high enough Lore to help them. Add to that the the limited travel options and it is often too much for them to continue the effort. I would love to see anything that would encourage more player orcs.
Dakota Strider
23-05-2007, 19:20
Please get rid of Hide in Plain Sight for all creatures, not just PC's. There is no game logic that can explain, how a tiger the size of a large horse that is in combat with you, can suddenly hide behind a single blade of grass then launch a sneak attack at you just seconds later, even though you are staring right at the spot where this 1000+ pound beast is standing. Perhaps I am particulary bitter, because this happens to my level 20 ranger, who is supposed to be skilled in the outdoors, and has high ranks in Listen, Spot, and Search yet these wilderness creatures can disappear right before his eyes. If it makes no sense for a PC to have this ill-conceived feat, it certainly makes no sense for other creatures to have it.
Yes, I missed the nasty side of my idea on XP - scratch that one, won't work :(
As for HiPS, it is probably the most annoying thing there is in UTT at the moment. What's even worse is that it is available to some otherwise rather low-level creatures, and as a result, they, while being rated "Easy" and below, can often easily slaughter a lone traveller of quite some experience. If it was put in to demonstrate the point that HiPS is a cheesy feat, it is certainly highly successful; but otherwise, it is a major source of annoyance, and does not add anything above that to the gameplay.
Dakota Strider
24-05-2007, 19:47
Something I discovered, while taking Lance around on his patrols late last night, was while going through the cave in the Trollshaws, the entire cave was empty, and not a single creature spawned. I did look around and see the new improvements, which does look very cool. However, is it now the intention that the cave will only have trolls and goblins in it once per reset? It had been at least 4 or 5 hours since anyone else had been on the server, so I know I was not just following close on the heels of somebody else. I can understand, if the treasure is made to only spawn once a reset, to avoid exploiting, but I would assume with a growing number of players on the server, that place would be used more then once a day, by different characters.
DM__Sauron
24-05-2007, 19:51
One thinks it would be best if it were linked to actually having the quest.
Dakota Strider
24-05-2007, 23:10
One thinks it would be best if it were linked to actually having the quest.
Perhaps making the Troll Warlord appearing, as well as the treasure, dependent on having the quest. However, creatures will reside there, as they do other places regardless if someone is quested or not. I hope there will still remain places a person or party can go, without having an active quest to be able to play.
Nightspell
25-05-2007, 01:13
Please get rid of Hide in Plain Sight for all creatures, not just PC's. There is no game logic that can explain, how a tiger the size of a large horse that is in combat with you, can suddenly hide behind a single blade of grass then launch a sneak attack at you just seconds later, even though you are staring right at the spot where this 1000+ pound beast is standing. Perhaps I am particulary bitter, because this happens to my level 20 ranger, who is supposed to be skilled in the outdoors, and has high ranks in Listen, Spot, and Search yet these wilderness creatures can disappear right before his eyes. If it makes no sense for a PC to have this ill-conceived feat, it certainly makes no sense for other creatures to have it.
Bump!! I too, agree with Dakota....an all accounts of his protest of this feat.
HIPs will be gone with the next mini update. (this weekend)
The Trollshaws caves encounters were killed off due to an issue earlier in the server session. It will function as usual after the reset.
This weekend may be the last frequent minor update for a while so I intend to pack in as much as I can.
I've dealt with HIPs and i've changed the dying script back to -10 as I have a feeling that maybe the most you can bleed down to is -10, unless im overlooking something.
Why is the frequency of updates slowing after this weekend? You'll find out :)
In the meantime, give me some jobs to do!
Dakota Strider
25-05-2007, 17:07
In the meantime, give me some jobs to do!
Well, there are three places I can think of for sure, that need a trash container. One is in Forachel, preferably by the merchant. The second would be in Isengard in the underground merchant area. The third would be by the merchants in Loth Lorien.
Another very minor detail, is the Greyflood Inn in Tharbad, as being the nicest place to stay in the region, really should have some wine on its menu.
At this time, I really cannot think of anything else, though I am sure there are always little things that can continue to be tweaked. I must say, that I have been really impressed with the amount of changes so far, and thank you for listening to our suggestions. Good job to you and your tweaking staff.
I must say, that I have been really impressed with the amount of changes so far, and thank you for listening to our suggestions. Good job to you and your tweaking staff.
Couldn't agree more! Thanks to all :)
I'm a fan of wine myself (the real stuff) so i'll see what I can dream up :)
There is a trash container in Forochel, next to the general store. The model may br throwing some of you as its a crate or "box" model.
vBulletin® v3.7.4, Copyright ©2000-2008, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.