Coming To D&d Online...

[Cutedge]

Here's the latest news on DDO.

Last Updated: July 17th, 2006 11:50AM

Upcoming Updates / Modules

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Next update

Coming in August

General

* Loot messages from other players will be tagged as loot messages and can be filtered out.
* Players will no longer get stuck while dismounting from ladders.

Monsters

* Improved the dragon's spellcasting AI and line of sight recognition.

Items

* Vorpal weapons will behead monsters as per the Players Handbook - you must roll a natural 20 and confirm a crit to vorpal your target.

Spells

* The Fragment of the Silver Flame's Protection from Evil effect will no longer give protection against Neutral and Good casters trying to affect the wearer with Charm or Enchantment(Compulsion) spells.


Module 3

Performance

* Overall bandwidth of the game will be reduced another 1-3%, and certain problematic dungeons and laggy areas will be significantly improved by 20-50% (when your client gets flooded with information about objects in your local area).

General

* We are pleased to announce the addition of the /showhelmet <on | off> command which can be used to hide your helmet graphic.
* We are improving the combat/damage feedback mechanism. This will not only eliminate "false" hits where the target would flinch but no attack roll would take place, but also give better feedback as to the strength of the hit.

Monsters

* Widow type spiders will once again shoot functional webs.
* Elemental Empathy will work properly on Earth Elementals that have used their Earthgrab ability.
* We are fixing an issue with the death animations of Arcane Skeletons. They will no longer "eat collectables" they should be creating.

Items

* The Freedom of Movement effect on the Kundarak Delving Boots will ward the movement effects of Storm Giant weather control. It will no longer ward the Beholder's petrify eye beam or the Mummy's Despair ability. We are also working on exempting the boots from the movement restrictions of Sleetstorm and IceStorm.


Module 3 / Post-Module 2 hotfixes

Level Increase

[Sporkfire 5/16]: We all know that the level cap has to go up and tried to express as much last week. It is simply not happening for Module 2. But we understand that we can't go any longer after that without the cap increase.


In the future

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The Twelve
[PCGamer Jan]: Sometime in the subsequent two to three months [after launch], a seventh ward - The Twelve - will become available. The game's level cap may also be raised to 11 at that time.

Randomized Traps
[The_Rocking_Dead 3/25]: Random elements like these are some of the things we have been looking at in the past few months. While I can not guarantee that we will retrofit every existing dungeon with random spawns/traps/etc, I can say that we hope to include more of these going forward. My advice to players: don't run off without the rogue, unless you're looking for an impromptu haircut from a nasty blade trap that wasn't there the last time!

Future content updates for free?
[Sporkfire 3/14]: That line was simply to clarify that this is not a paid update, not to point to the future. There will be future content updates that are also free. Business being what it is, there may be initiatives in the future where we develop content as a paid add-on and, of course, there will be expansions. But you should not expect to pay for every content update.

[Marketroid 3/17]: The upcoming Dragon's Vault module is what we consider part of the regular content update cycle and is therefore included with your subscription free of any additional charges.

Large scale expansions will be of greater scope than is possible in a regular content update. These will most likely be released as boxed product with an associated price which would be additional to your monthly fee.

Where the wording of the original announcement about the first module may have been ambiguous, let me clarify:

Turbine will continue to deliver on its tradition of releasing quality content on an ongoing basis to our subscribers at NO ADDITITONAL CHARGE.

Player versus Player
[Sporkfire 6/12]: I want to keep assuring you that PvP will not impact your regular gameplay as you know it. We won't balance dungeon combat for the sake of PvP. Any necessary balance changes will be in the PvP Arenas themselves, and not in the PVE game. Also, you will never be in a situation where you were happy doing your own thing, when somebody comes along and ganks you to steal all your gear. That's only fun for one person in the encounter, and we all agree that it sucks.

One of the cool things about PvP is that we can use it with the Eberron setting, relating it back to the Patron system as another means to gain the favor of the different houses. PvP rankings will provide another metric for your own achievements, in addition to experience, loot and currency.

It's also another activity to do between adventures, and if you have been following our discussions on future plans, you know we have a lot of those kinds of things in development. PvP, crafting, tavern games, social tools and all that are all part of the plan to provide lots of reasons to visit and live in Stormreach.

Further content
[Gamespy 6/22]: There are at least three more modules in the works for D&D Online, set for release in July, August, and a larger one with an unspecified date.

Module 3:
Slated for August, this update will reportedly add a good number of story elements to the game, and will be more episodic in nature than the two modules preceding it. Specifically, Turbine told us that the entirety of the story chain won't be unleashed immediately; rather, the designers will develop it over time, so as to give it a good deal more scope. As far as specifics go, things are still hazy, but one thing has been promised: a raid encounter with a powerful vampire.

Module 4:
There's no set date for this update, which is primed to be the largest the game has yet seen. With this update, Turbine will attempt to alleviate many of the player base's most acute concerns. Primarily, it will introduce some more meaningfully explorable areas to the game in order to give the world a feeling of greater breadth. It will also introduce some consensual PvP elements to the game, as well as an auction house, and a reputation (or "faction") system.

Clearly, Module 4 is where a great many players expect to see their hopes and dreams realized. If there isn't a viable solo path starting to take shape in Stormreach by then (as well as a considerable bit of endgame content), something has gone horribly wrong. In the immediate future, Module 2 looks like it'll provide a decent stopgap for the content-hungry end-gamers. On a more general level, however, Turbine seems to realize that the game needs to incorporate the niceties of modern MMO design into its gameplay, and fast. How soon they manage, we predict, is critical, as many players seem to be at their wits' end. In any case, we'll be very interested to see where the game will be in six months' time.

Expansion
[PCGamer Jan]: Turbine is also shooting to release the game's first expansion pack in October 2006.

[NUKE-MAN]

The max level is 11? How long does it take to level?

[Cutedge]

There's 4 ranks per level, so while there are only 10 levels max right now, there's essentially 40 levels.

[NUKE-MAN]

Ahhhh that makes alot more sence.

[Cutedge]

March 14th Update:

* The Founders Helm is now available! If you were in a guild of at least 10 people by the end of the Head Start Event, the Founders Helm should appear in your inventory. Thank you to all of our preorder customers for participating in the Head Start Event!
* The Guild cap has been increased!
* We have made some changes in Redwillow’s Ruins. The quest is once again available.
* We have made some changes in Tempest Spine. The quest is once again available.


Performance and Stability

* Implemented various server performance optimizations.
* Made some changes to address an issue that would cause characters to rubberband when first trying to move after entering a crowded instance, such as a tavern.
* Your instance should now be your own! Other groups of adventurers should no longer be able to invade your instance.
* Fixed a client crash that could occur when playing in windowed mode.
* Several bugs within the launcher have been resolved. The launcher should also no longer get stuck on “Examine Programs.”
* Settable connection speed for 56k modem users. This update contains some initial network optimizations which will improve the play experience of users without broadband connections. These optimizations can now be enabled by explicitly setting your connection speed in your user preferences. A knowledgebase article with detailed instructions will be posted soon. Please note: we are still working on improving performance for 56k modem users. For the time being players with 56k modems should still avoid resource heavy content.
* Players should now be able to use all of the in-game help request forms and will be notified that their help request has been accepted into the system.
* The Microphone Test in the Audio Options will properly terminate when exiting the Options UI. Some players will still experience a display issue when opening the options panel from the ‘ESC’ pop-up menu: the mic test will sometimes still be shown as on. This is just a display issue and not a functionality issue.


Spells

* Flame Arrow spell will now only be castable inside a dungeon. The arrows produced will also drop from your inventory on exiting the dungeon.

Quests

* The Warforged servant in Gerald Goodblade’s Steal the Healing Elixir quest will now always give you the cask of elixirs once you’ve solved his puzzle.
* Guard Heorogar now has better communication with Gerald Goodblade. He will now be able to accurately determine if you have completed enough tasks for Goodblade to be allowed into the Harbor. Unfortunately this will not help players who have already experienced this.
* Waterworks Quest, Lost Seekers: Venn’s Fate. We have removed the “gather your party safely at the exit” requirement to prevent some players from not receiving credit for quest completion.
* The altar in the Caverns of Korromar will not trigger monsters and open the gate unless you are a Cleric or a Paladin.
* We have made some changes in the Caverns of Korromar - take caution on your next adventure there.
* Some of the optional objectives in the Caverns of Korromar are now required objectives.
* Fixed an issue where certain quest NPCs would only speak to one player at a time.
* Fixed an issue that would prevent quest items from being dropped upon exiting a dungeon.
* Improvements have been made to the way monsters handle movement in outdoor landscapes.

General

* Cloud Spell effects: In a few cases, if you were standing in a cloud spell’s radius the spell’s effect would persist indefinitely. This should no longer be the case.
* All printable characters (for example, punctuation or numbers) are now allowed in the guild Message of the Day.
* We have implemented a potential fix for some of the problems that people have been having with Guild Chat. Please share your feedback on Guild Chat in our forums.
* Fixed an issue with repeating crossbows not working properly.

[Cutedge]

Module 1
April 5th, 2006

This update contains the first content update to DDO, the Dragon’s Vault Module! Can you gain access to the impenetrable Vault of Night?

* Fight in the notorious Tharashk Arena, defeating all other combatants to survive.
* Explore the most dangerous prison of all – that of a mind locked in torment, in The Prison of the Mind.
* Discover the hideous secret that has ruined the Haywire Foundry.
* Delve into the subterranean depths of the Jungles of Khyber.
* After you’ve conquered all four of those dungeons, the most challenging and compelling dungeon experience of all awaits you – the Vault of Night, as you face the full array of Kundarak magic and tricks meant to keep you out…or kill you.
* If you somehow manage to defeat the Vault of Night, you can earn your rich rewards…there remains just one last obstacle…

In addition to the Dragon’s Vault chain of quests, there is even more great content to explore!

* Fight against the first vampire boss in DDO…you’ll love this challenge.
* Stop a planar invasion in “The Xorian Cipher”
* Explore the immense demesne of the Arzag-Khor…can you acquire the Tear of Dhakaan?
* Stop the nefarious plans of the Grave Robber
* Can you uncover all the secrets of Stromvauld’s Mine?
* Will you aid the Bounty Hunter and bring down an infamous assassin?
* And more!

We’ve opened the gates to Kobold Island: a fun and replayable landscape experience for new players still getting a feel for what their characters can do in combat.

Patch Notes

Performance

* Players should no longer receive falling damage when they are simply walking along minding their own business.
* The number of people allowed in each tavern instance has been lowered to help performance within taverns.
* We have implemented another batch of changes that should help players who are experiencing rubberbanding and “glued to spot” issues.
* A new tab has been added to the Options Panel, the "Troubleshoot" tab, which contains several new options to help tweak game performance. These options should help players who are trying to improve their dialup experience or players whose video cards are overheating.
o The trouble shoot UI adds the connection speed setting instead of needing to set it in the userpreferences.ini
o It additionally adds two methods of slowing down graphics for systems having graphics issues
* A number of graphics related crashes have been resolved.
* Update to timing code to better handle Dual Core, HT and dynamic overclocking setups.
* Network latency now properly measures round trip times, instead of one way.
* We have implemented another batch of changes that should help with dialup performance. If you are a dial-up user, we would appreciate your feedback on connectivity performance after the update.


UI Improvements

* The /roll command now simulates dice-rolling and broadcasts results to the Party.
* Chat improvements

* The enter key will now correctly activate the chat text entry field.
* There is a new (and louder) sound when you receive a tell.
* Setting your outgoing message type to "guild" will no longer generate the error "no such command." You will also now be able to correctly chat with your guild while on the guild chat tab.
* Players should now connect to guild chat more reliably when logging into the game.
* /General chat channel no longer appends an ‘1’ to the end of the user’s name.
* Friends List improvements
o You now receive a message in chat when one of your friends goes online or offline.
o Friends Lists are now specific to a character, not an account.
o An Invite Button has been added to the Friends UI. Simply open your Friends list, target the person you want to party with, and click “Invite.”
* The Guild list now properly updates members' online status.
* Pawn shops will now be marked on the map with a distinctive marker to make locating them easier.
* The mapnotes for Phiarlan, Kundarak, and Deneith have been updated for greater accuracy.
* You will now correctly see your own Voice Chat status icon in the party display.
* /squelch command is no longer case sensitive.
* The Mic test will now automatically shut off if you close the window.
* Your avatar will now face the correct direction upon zone entry after teleporting while in mouselook mode. The days of zoning in and finding yourself facing some crazy direction are over.
* Magical versions of Light Repeating crossbow and Shuriken now have the correct blue magic background for their icons.
* Battle Axes and Falchions now have the correct icons.
* If a player is affected by Slicing Blow they will now see the correct alert icon.
* Corrected the icon for the Fire Elemental’s “Burning Touch” DoT.

Examination Issues

* Many spells should now have their damage ranges and bonus types displayed when examined. This is part of an ongoing effort on our part to provide more detailed spell descriptions.
* Weapons, Shields, and Armor now display their proficiency requirement when examined.
* The descriptions of many items have been improved.
* Certain Immunities (for example elemental damage immunities) now show up on your character sheet under Resistances.
* Thrown Weapon Damage bonuses on character sheet should now display properly.
* Wands now display durability when examined.
* Shields now display their attack penalty if they have one.
* Several typos have been corrected in spell descriptions.

Combat

* Improved Feint now works as an instant AOE bluff, performing bluff checks to all nearby targets. Bluffed targets are open to sneak attack attempts. Please note that the attack animation for Improved Feint is misleading and will be fixed in an upcoming patch.
* Sneak attack bonuses no longer apply to glancing blows since a sneak attack is intended to be a targeted attack and should not apply to collateral damage.
* You can now shield bash if you have a shield and thrown weapon equipped, instead of queuing up a thrown attack for when you release the block button.
* Some improvements have been made to repeating crossbows.

Quest Mechanics

* Some very high-level quests now have a “reset timer” (initially this is just the Vault of Night sequence). The quest reset timer will activate once the quest sequence is completed. You cannot replay the quest sequence until the timer finishes.
o The timer is indicated in your quest journal.
o You can use the /quest command to view all active quest reset timers.
* The Plane of Night has a new loot mechanic for dividing treasure from the dragon. For full details please read this thread
* A few different bugs with Encounter XP have been fixed
o Higher level encounters are now worth more XP than lower level encounters.
o Certain areas had a bug where their encounters were worth zero XP. This has now been fixed.
* If you are 5 levels or more below the max level of someone in your Party, you will see reduced XP, culminating in potentially zero xp.
* Character files now automatically save after completing a quest and earning XP, or after receiving a quest reward.
* Completing an adventure while at the XP cap will no longer count towards that adventure’s repetition count (even if you are carrying a death penalty).

Quests

* Completing many of the longer quest sequences now presents you with a unique reward selection panel where you can choose from a list of special items. Previously only the Waterworks had this type of reward system.
* Several adventure areas have had their treasure tables adjusted to be more in-line with their level of difficulty.
* Small changes have been made throughout the world to help prevent pathing issues.
* Numerous broken traps and control boxes have been fixed.
* Fixed several false danger alerts (warning of traps that were not there etc.).
* Some bugs have been fixed that were preventing certain quests from being completed.
* Many quests have had a revamp of some sort. More details will be posted tomorrow with the update.

Character Abilities & Spells

* We have made improvements to many of the spell effects. Also, many player-cast spells now contain inherent lighting (cast a fireball and you will see the difference).
* Flaming Sphere and Lightning bolt have been changed so that they do more damage. Previously, if monsters were standing in a line the spell would hit the monster at the head of the line and then stop. Now the spells will travel down the whole line of monsters with a chance to do damage to any monster it hits.
* Flesh to Stone is now permanent but, like Hold Person, now grants periodic saving throws to end the effect. Break Enchantment will still remove this status effect. Characters with high Fortitude saving throws will find the average duration lower than before. Characters with low Fortitude saving throws may hope for some good rolls.
* All undead will now properly react to Turn Undead. Turned undead will now properly flee in terror from the cleric or paladin that turns them rather than cower, rebuked.
* When resting, Warforged should now heal at least one point of ability damage, regardless of their repair score.
* The Improved Fortification feat now works correctly.
* Mithral Fluidity now works correctly.
* We fixed a bug with Fear where it would hit no target if no target was selected. It now correctly has a cone radius for its effect, even with no target selected.
* Warforged racial paralysis resistance now correctly applies to ghoul and ghast resistance.
* Max range of Feather Fall and Mass Cure spells now is consistent with other AoEs.
* Flame Arrow spell will now summon 50 arrows.
* Shaken state no longer prevents spells/skills/feats from being used.
* Undead are now immune to Blind.
* Spell Resistance no longer affects your susceptibility to Web.
* Feeblemind now prevents spellcasting.
* If you’re immune to an effect due to racial or feat immunities, you will no longer see an irrelevant saving throw roll, but instead just get the immune feedback immediately.
* You now get a save vs. Mindfog.
* Blindness spell is no longer affected by the Extend Metamagic feat.
* Neutralize Poison’s immunity effect duration has been reduced to 1 min/level to bring it in line with other immunity effects.
* Hand Axes have been added to Dwarven Enhancements involving axes (Axe Attack and Axe Damage). This is not noted in the tooltips for these enhancements.

Monsters

* Many monsters will now heal and buff themselves and their friends more effectively.
* Monsters should now react more intelligently to inanimate obstacles that are preventing them from moving where they desire, with a greatly increased chance of being able to navigate around objects that may have been impassable barriers to them before. We have also improved monster targeting behavior in doorways and other bottlenecks, as well as their behavior landscape and dungeon areas.
* Charmed monsters should attack enemy creatures more reliably.
* Monsters should no longer clump up into a mob when encountered in large numbers.
* Kobold Shamans no longer cast Bestow Curse when playing dungeons on “Hard” difficulty level. However you should be wary of their replacement spell - you might actually prefer Bestow Curse.
* The Beholder's Scorching Ray eyebeam now functions properly.
* The antimagic cone emitted by beholders now properly strips magical effects from those caught in its front arc and prevents spellcasting.
* All elementals are now immune to Vorpal effects.
* All vermin are now vulnerable to Vorpal effects.
* Previously, there were several instances in the game where using Command Undead on specific undead targets would render the quest uncompletable. These powerful undead are now immune to Command Undead.
* Slimes unable to reach a target will no longer stand in place waiting to die. They will now instinctively retreat if peppered by arrows from an unreachable location.
* Golems and animals should no longer occasionally disappear when attempting to return to their home locations.
* The Aura of Fear of a Thaarak Hound will no longer scare off creatures that are non-hostile to the Hound.
* Spectres that have not entered the world will not prevent players from moving through their ghostly selves.
* The Guardian of Shan-To-Kor will now enter melee combat more often rather than staying at range, and should no longer occasionally stand around doing nothing.
* The third scorpion in the Warders defense should now spawn correctly.
* Zombies should now disappear properly if they explode.

Items

* When you loot an item from a chest, a message is sent to everyone in the Party.
* Banishing effects will now only work on critical hits.
* When picking up a Bind on Acquire item that is not reserved (for example, in a treasure chest from which only 1 pull for the Party is possible), there is a confirmation dialogue box opened. Currently this only applies to the Plane of Night.
* Wands found in treasure chests now start with a random number of charges instead of fixed number of charges. This change does not affect wands purchased from vendors.
* Level 4 Bard components have been added to Arcane Reagent vendors in Kundarak and Jorasco.
* Named docents have had their durability increased.
* Previously items could be generated from chests that had both a temporary damage amplification and an inherent spell effect. This has been corrected and all items should now have only one effect or the other.
* Ghost Touch bows now successfully impart their magic to the missiles they fire.
* Magical Shields no longer add their enhancement bonus to attack and damage rolls for the shield, they only apply to your AC bonus per D&D rules.
* Tower Shields now correctly cap your max dex bonus.
* Scarabs of Absorption and Spell Resistance items can no longer affect your own spells.
* Max stack size for throwing weapons is now 50. Throwing weapons loot will still be found in stacks of 20.
* Bolts of “X” Bane costs have been reduced to be in line with Arrows of “X” Bane.
* Three new weapon effects added to treasure generation system – True Law, True Chaos, and Pure Good. Each of these effects gives the weapon an additional 1d6 damage versus non-aligned targets, and requires the wielder to have that alignment. UMD skill of 20 to bypass the alignment requirements.
* Hold Person scrolls can now correctly be scribed by Wizards.
* The Chill Shard Weapon will now function properly.

NPCs

* Lowest level pawnbrokers have been moved to the Marketplace.
* Merchant names are now visible in the Marketplace tent.
* Pawnbrokers have also had their dialogue tweaked to be slightly more useful.
* The Harbor weapons vendors now carry Exotic weapons.
* Guard Healfdene will now always allow players to return to the Newbie Harbor.
* Steppy the Barkeep in Delver's Canteen, Ruins of Threnal will now repair all types of equipment. Of course, he has to charge a little more due to the difficulty of getting parts out in the wilderness.
* Delera will no longer say "The girl was to be spared!" after all her "Return to Delera's Tomb" conversations.
* Hargo Kimmare will no longer offer to sell you information twice. Instead he will proceed with his story arc if you have completed the first part of his quest.

Miscellaneous

* Chests will no longer sparkle after they're opened up.
* Control boxes for traps will now highlight with the normal selection FX when selected.
* You can no longer jump much higher that normal while pushing up against nearly vertical walls.
* Several new light sources have been added throughout the world.
* If you log out while in a dungeon you will now find yourself outside that dungeon when you log back in, unless you log back in before the instance has reset. If you camped in a dungeon the last time you played before this update, the first time you log in your character will appear in the harbor.
* Graphics performance while swimming has been improved.
* Dead players will no longer pop glass spider eggs while they're a ghost.
* Character generation will now look correct in widescreen mode.
* Fixed several collection points that were incorrectly set to reward only one player.
* Fixed many places in the world where players were able to get stuck.
* Clicking on the Fountain in Aspirant’s Square will no longer bring up the Stats Portal UI window.

[Cutedge]

New game mechanics in Module 1

We are very excited about the fact that the Dragon’s Vault Module contains DDO’s most challenging raid content. The Vault of Night sequence will truly put player’s skills to the test as you face monumental obstacles. With the introduction of this raid content we wanted you to be aware of two game mechanics that are new to this quest sequence and currently only apply to this sequence.

Quest Timer

The Vault of Night Sequence is comprised of six parts.

1. Tharashk Arena
2. Prison of the Mind
3. Jungle of Khyber
4. Haywire Foundry
5. Vault of Night (dungeon raid)
6. Plane of Night (dragon raid)

When you have beaten the dragon and completed the whole quest series, you can’t start the quest series (1-6) again for 66 hours (real-time hours, not in-game hours). However, you can “tag along” with players who are on phases 1-4 of the quest and help them complete Tharashk Arena, Prison of the Mind, Jungle of Khyber or Haywire Foundry (however, when your quest timer resets, you will need to redo parts 1-4 to advance your own quest). You can’t enter the two raid dungeons (Vault of Night and Plane of Night) unless you are on the correct phase of your quest – even if someone else in your party has the correct quest phase. To see how much time is left before you can restart the entire quest sequence again you can either use the /quest command to view all active quest reset timers or check your quest journal.

Loot Mechanic

When you slay the Red Dragon guarding the Vault of Night, you will have a chance to share in the rewards left behind as loot. The dragon’s chest is protected by a pair of objects called the Glyphs of Ward-Breaking, which you must possess in order to pull items out of the dragon’s chest. Two Glyphs will appear next to the dragon’s chest. Only the leader of the party can pick them up. Once they are in the party leader’s possession, he or she may trade them to another party member, allowing that member to choose an item from the chest.

When you take a piece of loot from the chest, your Glyph will be destroyed and you may not choose another piece of loot unless you have the other Glyph. The items are bind-on-acquire, and display a confirmation window to that effect to prevent accidental looting. As bound items, they cannot be traded.

Currently the Plane of Night is the only place in the game where loot works in this manner. The release note “When picking up a Bind on Acquire item that is not reserved (for example, in a treasure chest from which only 1 pull for the Party is possible), there is a confirmation dialogue box opened.” refers ONLY to the Plane of Night. We have not changed the loot mechanics for the entire game.



Solas' comments on the new loot mechanic

Well, I'm leaping on a live grenade by posting on this thread. Here goes...

So - some people don't like the dragon loot mechanism. That's fair. But, I think the dragon loot is a trickier design problem than most people give it credit for. Below, I'll offer up the line of thought that led to its design. I'm honestly interested in where players think we went wrong.

But first off - I'm saddened to see how many posts are willing to dismiss DDO as a "typical MMO clone" over this chest. Do you really believe our loot model is the only thing that makes DDO special? If so, that's disappointing. I feel there's so much more that differentiates DDO. Maybe people are just exaggerating to get their point across? If so, I'd rather folks just say "Hey Turbine, I don't like this dragon chest thing for these reasons”. Generally, I pay a lot more attention to a cool-headed critique than an angry rant.

On the other hand, maybe I should be flattered that people think our existing loot mechanism is so awesome, they're willing to cancel their subscriptions over a single misbehaved chest.

Ok, so on to the dragon loot. Let’s talk about some the DDO team’s goals

* A fraction of our high end content will be 12 man raids (our prime focus is still on single party adventures, even at max level.)
* These raids are designed to be very challenging
* These raids will have lots of treasure, including a small amount of special and powerful items - which must be kept somewhat rare, for balance reasons.
* These powerful "dragon items" should be bind on acquire - so it can't be sold (in game or out).

This lead to the current dragon loot model.

So, what could we have done differently?

Idea #1: Give out dragon loot to everyone in the party.

* Critique: Powerful items need to be rare. If we gave them out to every member of the party, we'd have to diminish the power of these items. We thought adding some rare, powerful items (to go along with all the other loot from regular chests) would be more interesting.


Idea #2: Make the dragon chest like a normal chest, and add in the dragon items as rare loot.

* Critique: There’s a chance a raid party would get 0 items.
* Critique: If you do get a dragon item, it would very likely be something you can't use. You can't trade it because it's bound to you. That sounds really frustrating!


Idea #3: Make the dragon items bind-on-equip instead of bind-on-acquire, so they can be traded

* Critique: This would fuel an in-game (and worse, out of game) market for dragon items.
* Critique: It’s cool to know that if someone has dragon loot, they earned it by killing the dragon. They didn’t just buy it.
* Critique: What happens if a sorcerer loots a plate mail dragon item? Does the raid party expect her to hand it over to the fighter? If so, yikes! Now you have to trust everyone in the party not to ninja loot, instead of just the leader you agreed to group with! That’s way more risky!


Idea #4: Figure out some other way to assign the items randomly to players in the party.

* Critique: The bind on acquire issue pops up again
* Critique: If the items are tradable, you inherit all the problems of idea#3


You don't need the dragon items to enjoy or “succeed” at DDO. If you want to form a raid guild, and spend a lot of time earning dragon items, go for it. If you are more casual, feel free to attempt the dragon a handful of times. Maybe you’ll get a dragon item, maybe you won’t. That’s how rare items work. But you will find a lot of treasure, and have a lot of fun along the way. If you hate 12-party raids, you can skip the dragon altogether. Play how you want.

For those would-be dragon killers who are in a small guild, or no guild at all, consider forming relationships with people you trust. The dragon raid is something that requires a considerable amount of coordinated effort and planning to defeat.

My personal recommendation for a PUG that manages to kill the dragon (and congrats to any who do!) would be to use the new /random command to distribute the dragon items. You may decide that only players eligible to use the items get to roll. It’s your choice.

I'd have to quit my job to respond to every post, but I wanted to let everyone know I'm listening.

Last thought – I want to reiterate that the majority of our content (existing and foreseeable future) will continue to be designed for a single party.

[Cutedge]

Specific quest fixes in module 1

# The Gate Chamber has had its CR rating reduced to CR10.
# Scorched Caverns/Taming the Flame remains closed for a complete overhaul. When the Caverns reopen they will be much more extensive, immersive, and fun.
# Stormcleave Outpost
* Fixed the quest objectives to make them easier to understand.
* A rest shrine in the boss area has been removed.

# Seal of Shan-to-kor
* Seal of Shan-to-kor Adventure Area now has appropriate quest rewards for completion.
* The Guardian of Shan-To-Khor is no longer vulnerable to Sneak Attack.
* Players are now always allowed to go on the Helm of Shaagh sub-quest regardless of whether they have done it before.

# Splinterskull/Tangleroot Gorge
* Splinterskull/Tangleroot Gorge Adventure Area now has appropriate quest rewards for completion. The dungeon has also been revamped to make sure that the monsters within match the CR rating – Beware.
* If you've completed “Finding Chief Ungurz” in Splinterskill, Eremic Quall will now teleport you directly to the Chief.

# Delera’s Tomb
* Delera’s Tomb Adventure Area now has appropriate quest rewards for completion.
* The wraiths will no longer wander – they will be waiting for you.

# Gwylan’s Stand
* Some changes have been made to the traps in Gwylan’s Stand. Proceed with caution.
* Added voice-over to the supply crates objective.

# Irestone Inlet
* Fixed a bug where Captain Yaar Yar’s chest would sometimes spawn inside a rock.
* Fixed a bug where players weren’t always getting credit for long range kills.

# Fane of the Six
* The Fleshrender now stays within his magical barrier.

# Sorrowdusk Isle
* The dungeon has also been revamped to make sure that the monsters within match the CR rating – Beware.
* Several rest shrines have been removed.
* Wight Lair – fixed an error with the optional objective.
* Iron Mines - Grust’s backup will now always arrive to aid him.
* Grey Moon Den - Fixed a bug where people were getting credit for killing all of the trolls before they should have.
* Grey Moon Den – Brother Qessul will no longer wander to strange locations.

# Quickfoot Hideout
* The final quest objective has been changed to prevent situations where parties were accidentally resetting the dungeon.

# Threnal Ruins West
* Reworded the “establish a safe route” quest objective so that the objective is clear.

# Threnal Ruins North
* Changed the appearance and location of a quest item to better match the DM text.

# Summoner’s Lair – removed the sealed door mechanic from the boss room.
# Caverns of Shaagh
* Changed the sealed door mechanic from the boss room so that it is harder for parties to be split.
* Polished the scripting of the boss fight.

# Clan Tunnelworm – it is no longer possible for slimes to block your progress up the ladder.
# Bonebiter Hideout – The Ogre will now call for backup earlier.
# The Lost Seeker’ quest is now repeatable without having to physically abandon the quest in your quest journal.
# Butcher’s Path has been adjusted so that it is no longer possible to get stuck between the two gates.
# Emerald Claw’s Lab – Made some landscape changes to prevent trolls from getting stuck.
# Gladewatch Outpost has had it’s CR increased by 1. Experience and treasure have been adjusted upwards accordingly.


Known issues in module 1

* We have inadvertently broken archery combat. It is no longer possible to shoot while moving unless you have the Shot on the Run feat. This was unintentional and will be fixed in the next patch. Our apologies to archers everywhere.
* Broken Wands - If you had unused wands in your inventory prior to this update they now have zero out of 50 charges. DO NOT DESTROY OR SELL THESE WANDS. We are working on a fix.
* Feeblemind is now incurable (except by death).
* It is possible to become trapped in the monster ready rooms in Tharask Arena. To prevent this from happening to your party you should hold off on exploring the rooms adjoining the arena until after you have fought all of gladiator monsters.
* Xorian Cipher: Gatekeeepr Chulkash does not have a quest grail above his head.
* Xorian Cipher: Gatekeeper Chulkash: If you close the reward window without choosing an item, Chulkash will act like you didn't give him the Cipher.
* Xorian Cipher: Urdak brothers can wander to unreachable areas and never return.
* The icons for the potions and scrolls in your inventory will not update to the new icons until you have logged out and then logged back in.
* Nothing shows in the Focus Orb when targeting the Aspirants Square Founders Commemorative Fountain.

[Cutedge]

April 12th Update

* Scorched Caverns/Taming the Flames: The optional objectives will correctly advance. This adventure is now open again.
* Several issues with Velah the Dragon’s spellcasting have been fixed, and we have updated some problem areas in the Plane of Night.
* Glyphs of Ward-Breaking from the Plane of Night will now appear in the trade window when attempting to trade them to a party member.
* Monsters should once again switch targets normally. Intimidate and diplomacy function again.
* Monster’s self-healing behavior should be much rarer than before.
* Class icons should now be appearing properly in LFM want ads.
* Friends who had appeared on your friends list prior to Module 1 should now appear on it again.
* Feeblemind is now curable by casting "Restoration" and will be until players are capable of casting the “Heal” spell.
* You may now use rest shrines while you have an ability scores at 0 or are otherwise helpless.
* Missile Combat has been restored to its previous state – you will now be able to fire arrows while moving again.
* Xorian Cipher: Gatekeeper Chulkash will now allow you to get a reward if you accidentally closed the window.

[Cutedge]

April 19th Update

General

* Quest items should no longer get deleted when players go linkdead.
* Players will no longer be able to enter a completed quest for additional experience reward without retaking the quest.
* Fixed several stuck points throughout the world.
* Fixed the problem where sometimes scrolling your mousewheel would not zoom your camera in and out.

Items

* The drop rate of all lower level mini-bosses’ named items has been reduced.
* The +1 Returning Byeshk Shuriken now stacks correctly.
* Plate Armor of the Deep has had its extraneous charges removed.
* The Serpentbranch Longbow, Snowstar Shuriken, Ratcatcher Crossbow, Guidance Crossbow, and Swift Demise Crossbow are all now working correctly.
* All items that cast summon monster now share the same cooldown timers as the summon monster spells themselves. Characters are limited to having one summoned creature at a time.
* The max charges of future rewards of Misery Web trinket reward item have only 1 charge. The durability and hardness of the item have been reduced.

Quests

* Lair of Summoning has been altered to have more variety, both in monster type and trap type.
* Prison of the Mind:
# It should be much harder for Monsters to fall over the edge.
# In the "cut scene" with Mistress Orphne and the giant, Mistress Orphne's shadow should now path correctly and not collide with players.
# The shadowy figure of Marek Malcanus that appears behind Mistress Orphne with the rest of the Laughing Knives should no longer have a quest chalice above his head if you are on the Vault of Night quest series.
# A bug that prevented Orphne’s Shadow from being completed has been fixed.
# Recalling from the Prison of the Mind will now take you to the correct recall point.
* Southern Threnal Ruins
# Fixed some broken monster pathing in the Ruins of Threnal.
* Graverobber Quest: the rewards have been adjusted to meet the difficulty level of this quest. We have also lowered the required number of zombie kills slightly.
* Made some landscape changes to Stormcleave Outpost to help alleviate a problem with the final boss fight.
* Redfang’s Nesting Grounds
# Fixed some broken monster pathing.
# Fixed the stinger that was spawning inside a wall.
* Tharashk Arena
# The entrance to Tharashk Arena has been redecorated to match its surroundings better.
# Fixed some pathing issues.
* Vault of the Restless: the infinitely respawning skeleton has been fixed.
* Fixed a bug where players received the wrong alert text when approaching the dungeon boss in the Temple of Vol.
* Fixed a broken trap in the Jungles of Khyber
* Fixed a broken trap and a broken door in Gwylan’s Stand
* Fixed a broken door in Arzag-Khor Sewers as well as some broken monster pathing.
* Fixed some broken monster pathing in Xorian Cipher.

Monsters

* Certain boss monsters (dragon, vampire) will now be immune to ability draining.
* Shades in the Chamber of Insanity deal more damage and have more hit points, and have a higher CR noted.
* Incorporeal creatures (such as Wraiths) are no longer solid.
* Vampires, Spectres, and Wraiths should no longer have a chance of disappearing forever in the middle of combat.
* Muck has taken such a beating lately that he has become more reclusive. He will no longer spawn every time you visit the Den of the Kobold Brothers.
* Spite is now tougher and does more damage.

NPCs

* Many dungeon-based NPCs will now 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 (for example, Gate Warden Ironclaw in Stormcleave Outpost.)
* Karnat Thaar (Arzag-Khor Sewer) now properly displays his quest chalice.
* Gatekeeper Chulkash (Xorian Cipher) now properly displays his quest chalice.
* Shen Kulle (Prison of the Mind) now saves his final dialogue for when you have actually completed the quest.
* Grogan (Tharashk Arena) will no longer talk to you after he is dead.



Known Issues

* Vault of Night Dungeon (VON quest part 5): the Rust Emperor is not dropping the required crystal key when playing this dungeon on the Hard or Elite setting. This will be fixed in the next content update.
* Salar Riptalon (Arcane Reagent Vendor - House Jorasco) is acting finicky and is sometimes refusing to sell his goods to players. Until Salar is feeling less moody, a quick trip to the "Liquid Charm" shop in House Kundarak provides a nice alternative place to buy supplies.

[Cutedge]

May 10th Update Notes

News & Notes:

* Harbormaster Zin has been seen directing work crews in Aspirant’s Corner, and rumor has it that they have revealed some doorways to new adventures. With new neighbors in town, Kalimnal d’Kundarak has rented a new house, and the Harbormaster’s work has closed off the sewer entrance Edrun Faern was using to look for his wife. Luckily, Edrun was able to find another sewer hatch in Philosopher’s Row to continue his hunt for Arissa.
* After much debate, the Coin Lords have adjusted the experience given out in the Waterworks, Shan-to-kor, and Graverobber quests. There were many upset patrons in the harbor and market who were getting insufficient help in resolving their difficulties, and the Coin Lords felt that Harbormaster Zin and Wayfinder Dael would still be able to get enough help, while being more fair to the other citizens looking to the adventuring community for aid. In the same session, the Coin Lords granted the requests of many adventurers and citizens alike, and raised the experience for the Xorian Cipher, Haywire Foundry, Jungle of Khyber, Purgatory, Tharashk Arena, Tear of Dhakaan, and Vault of Night quests.

TRANSLATION: Waterworks, Shan-to-kor, Graverobber = xp nerf

* A new wave of Kobolds has moved into the Wavecrest Inn’s caverns. These Runty Kobolds have less strength than the previous inhabitants, but they must be more wily to have pushed the first group out. They also may have slipped something to Jacoby Drexelhand, for the cleric seems to be out of sorts these days.
* In response to much consternation on the part of their pupils, the fighter trainers have held a workshop, and have found a better way to perform the Whirlwind attack. Whirlwind will now correctly apply weapon specials (i.e., elemental damage etc.) to all of the targets you hit and bonuses (such as the extra strength damage bonus for two handed weapons). Bonuses will now be applied on the last attack in the combat chain.
* The Healers of House Jorasco have been hard at work curing the Laryngitis afflicting the Bards in Stormreach. The Healers are pleased to announce that the Bards have been successfully healed, and their singing voices are back in order.
* The Coin Lords are pleased to announce that to help make life easier for those adventurers out there who like to have a lot of equipment and spells on hand, you will now be able to define a specific key binding for your first 50 shortcuts (the first 5 hot bars). The key binding will display on the shortcut, so you can quickly access any of your gear, loot, or abilities.

General

* Ransack Mechanic has been fixed - treasure will regenerate faster!
o Fixed the timer for chest “ransacking” - it will now properly reset 1 week after the time you first looted the chest (the timer was broken, causing ransacking to reset much slower than intended.)
o For this update everyone gets a one time “full reset” on ransacked chests.
o Ransacking will now apply to quest rewards as well. As with chests, quest rewards will only be affected if you repeat the same quest an excessive number of times within a single week.

* Changed in-game messaging to reflect the difference between taking damage from falling, and taking damage when something has fallen onto you. Players should no longer take falling damage while running. This should eliminate “mysterious” falling damage.
* We have made some changes to help prevent the “Character still being saved” state.
* We have made some improvements to monster pathing.
* We have fixed several places where players could get stuck in the world.

UI Improvements

* The summary page of the spellbook in the character sheet now updates immediately when you acquire new spell slots upon leveling up. No more waiting for the system to recognize your new spells!
* Added a confirmation box to warn players that your ability scores will reset if you hit the Back button during character creation.
* The shortcut key being pressed is now highlighted.
* Chat windows will no longer snap to the bottom when new chat text comes in. Instead, the down arrow will blink to indicate unread chat messages are outside your viewable area.
* Fixed a bug that prevented scrolling up and down with the mousewheel when tooltips were open.

Combat

* Players will no longer accidentally kill each other with two weapon fighting and glancing blows.
* Per D&D rules, the manyshot feat no longer applies to crossbow combat.

Quests

* Xorian’s Cipher
o Adjusted the treasure levels for several chests and added some rare item drops to certain chests.
o Fewer skeletons will spawn in the split party encounter of Xorian Cipher.
o Moved the location of a rest shrine.
* Ruins of Threnal
o Find the Gate Chamber - This quest no longer requires a rogue. Also, a new rest shrine has been made available.
o Library –
+ Fixed a problem where players could prevent themselves from advancing through the quest by using a switch too early.
+ Fixed a problem that was allowing players to kill the final boss before they had received the objective to kill the boss, effectively breaking the quest.
* The Depths of Despair
o Fixed a chest that was frequently spawning without the random named monster it was suppose to appear with.
* Stormcleave Outpost
o There are some new challenges to the Boss encounter (General Xantilar). Adventurers beware!
o The portal for entry to General Xantilar is now a one-way ticket until he has been killed.
o The crate collection optional quest is now able to be completed.
* Tharashk Arena
o Levers have been added to the interiors of the monster ready rooms to prevent players from becoming trapped inside.
* Sorrowdusk Island (Justice for Grust)
o Fixed a room where players could get trapped.
* Jungle of Khyber
o Parties will no longer be permanently split by a closing door. The door will now reopen after a certain amount of time.
* Delera’s Tomb – The Missing Party
o Delera will now correctly path through the doorway.
* Temple of Vol
o Fixed a bug where players received the wrong alert text when approaching the inner sanctum.

Monsters

* Intelligent Skeletons who have Command Undead cast on them will now correctly perform a will save check.
* Shades in the Chamber of Insanity now deal more damage, have more hit points, and have a higher CR noted.
* Vault of Night Dungeon (VON quest part 5): The Rust Emperor will now correctly drop the required crystal key when playing this dungeon on the Hard or Elite setting.

Items

* Changed the description of tomes to properly reflect their usage. Characters only gain the benefit of the best “plus” tome read for each ability. These effects do not stack with each other.
* Fixed the description of Elixirs of Mnemonic Enhancement to properly reflect their effect (the add spell points).
* Fixed the Kundarak Shield of Warding to have the correct minimum level of 10.
* Warforged are now vulnerable to the Smiting and Slay Construct item effects.
* Redwillow treasure drops have been modified to make some high-value items drop less frequently.
* Added more detail to the descriptions of stability items, including the fact that they can be worn only by true neutral players.
* The Brooch of Shielding and Raktu’s Trifle now properly protects you from Magic Missiles as long as the item is equipped.

NPCs

* Salar Riptalon’s (Arcane Reagent Vendor - House Jorasco) vacation is over. His shop is once again open for business.

[Cutedge]

June 14th, 20006

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINE™: Stormreach™ delivers the most exciting group-focused experiences available in online gaming today. Up till now the city has held dangers that are to difficult for a single player to overcome. An all new solo setting is being introduced to help DDO players navigate through content on their own, allowing them the time and space to learn about their characters, try strategies and face monsters for the first time on their own. Players will be able to play at their own pace without having to worry about finding others to group with.

Experience Table Adjustment

In conjunction with the new solo options for the Harbor, we have made some adjustments to the experience required to get from level 1-3. Advancing to level 2 will now require 5,000 experience points instead of 10,000, and advancing to level 3 will require 20,000 total experience points instead of 30,000, allowing you to visit the trainers even earlier.

As a result of this sliding experience, the experience point requirements for level 3-10 will be 10,000 points lower. The amount of experience required to move from level 3 to level 10 will remain the same, but will require less total experience, as a result of the changes made at levels 1 and 2. To balance this out for existing characters, all characters who are currently level 3 and above will see a one-time, 10,000 point, experience shift closer to their next level. Please note: this is NOT a gift of 10,000 xp, merely a shift however depending on your current xp total this may grant you a new level or rank.

Performance

* We have fixed a graphics memory leak that caused performance to severely degrade over time, eventually causing instability or crashes. This should also help alleviate "hitching."
* In a continued effort to help our dial-up players we made some further reductions to bandwidth usage. All players should see some benefit from this reduction.
* We fixed a bug that sometimes caused players to crash while teleporting.

UI

* You can now use punctuation in your Guild Message of the Day!!!!! Use all the commas, exclamation points, and questions marks you like!!!!!!!!!
* We changed the text of the in-game help request for "Stuck" to reflect the best procedure to follow if you get stuck somewhere in-game. Previously the instructions directed players to log out of the game, which is not the best course of action. Instead you should submit a help request and wait for assistance.
* We have added or corrected several focus orb images.

General

* Starting characters now start with 3 starter healing potions and 3 potions of light repair.
* Rogues now begin the game with a shortsword instead of a dagger.
* In order to bring the stealth and invisibility systems closer to the D&D Core Rulebooks, we’ve redesigned how the systems work.
o Monsters that think they have detected a hidden target will no longer unerringly home in on the stealthed character; rather they will rely on a "best guess" to target where they logically believe the character to be.
o Invisibility, rather than being complete undetectability, now routes through the stealth system as Hide and Move Silently do. When using invisibility, you will now have to make a stealth check with a +20 bonus. Invisibility does not grant Move Silently, and so you are advised to activate stealth when you are invisible.
o Both invisibility and stealth now contain detaunt elements when you are in a party. Opponents will prefer to attack targets that are visible, and if they cannot find you they will eventually give up, rather than omnisciently hunting you over long distances.
o Read more about the Invisibility changes here.
* We have fixed several typos.
* Fixed several stuck points throughout the world.

Vendors and NPC’s

* After months of pensively watching the citizens of Stormreach do their shopping at the Marketplace Bazaar Tent instead of at their shops, the jewelry brokers from the "Erstwhile Emporium" in House Phiarlan and the clothing brokers from the "Empty Hand" in House Jorasco have given in to the inevitable and relocated to the Marketplace Bazaar. They have leased their shops to local entrepreneurs who are hoping to make some money selling all kinds of non-magical consumable goods to House visitors.
* Fixed some (now) incorrect quest dialogue to reflect the recent relocation of several harbor NPCs.
* Scrag has become more sociable and less shy. He has acclimated to life in the big city and no longer becomes confused when more than one person attempts to talk to him at a time.
* Sailor Calatin of Smuggler’s Rest has taken a stroll down the dock. He can now be found next to the Rook’s Gambit Tavern. He is now more centrally located so that you can choose to skip the class-specific tutorials and head directly to Stormreach if you want. However, we still recommend running through the class tutorials that can be found in the buildings behind the Rook’s Gambit.

Items

* Permanently damaged items will now reduce in value at a slower rate.
* Haven’t been able to find the perfect Bane/Greater Bane/Slaying arrow or bolt for the monster of your choice? Fret no more – we’ve quadrupled the types of bane arrows and bolts in the game! In addition, all Bane and Greater Bane missiles have now been added to the loot tables for chests. Previously these powerful missiles were only available from a few collectors. As a side effect, players will no longer find Slaying arrows that don’t have killable monsters associated with them.
* The barkeeps and tavern owners of Stormreach have decided to reward the Warforged for months of dedicated service to the city. They are now stocking vastly improved Warforged Oil (Drink) so that the Warforged’s drinks have an effectiveness similar to non-oil drinks of equivalent cost.
* A temporary magical disturbance was interfering with the effectiveness of the Brooch of Waterbreathing but the Artificers are pleased to announce that equilibrium has been found and the brooches should once again give their wearer 90 seconds worth of air.
* The merchants of Object Desire in House Phiarlan have finally received a long back-ordered shipment of Hold Person scrolls. They are currently carrying a complete selection of level 3 Arcane Scrolls.
* We changed the description of some resistance items to help clarify stacking. For example "of resistance" items do not stack with items that give a bonus to a specific category of saves (i.e. will saves). You can read the full Knowledge Base article on this topic here.
* There is the possibility that some items have been created that cast Fireshield. Fireshield has not been fully implemented into the game and does not return damage to enemies that attack a fireshielded character. These items will no longer be created, but Fireshield items already in existence will not be changed. Fireshield does reduce damage from fire while it is in effect.
* Holy, Axiomatic, and Anarchic weapons no longer display the Immune message when a player of the correct alignment equips them.
* The Brooch of Shielding and Raktu’s Trifle will no longer display an alert icon for their Magic missile shielding effects.
* Any new Docents of Filtration will be properly identified as docents.
* Any new Thanatos Weave Robes will be properly identified as robes.

Quests

* In conjunction with the new Harbor solo system, the Challenge Rating for several adventures has been adjusted along with their experience and treasure. In almost every case this is an upward adjustment (the notable exception to this is Euphonia's Challenge, which was adjusted downward to account for the lower experience requirements between levels 1 and 2).
* The Blackheart chieftains in the Jungles of Khyber have become worried about their recent heavy losses and ordered rest and resurrection shrines be erected at their camp to aid their soldiers.
* The first kobold in Old Sully's Grog was finally awakened and chased out by the wily runty kobolds. Unfortunately, the runty kobold ordered to replace him on guard duty found the area quite comfortable, and promptly fell asleep.
* A mysterious illness is plaguing the Conjured Spiders that live in Euphonia’s training ground. They are listless and weak, and do not pose much of a threat to new adventurers as they once did.
* Temple of Vol – a door has been adjusted to allow monsters to pass through freely.
* We have removed a chest from Abandoned Excavation / Gate of the Black Moon.
* If you fail the “Arachnophobia” by destroying more than ten sarcophagi in the Jorn Family Crypt, you will now be automatically teleported out of the dungeon.

Combat

* We made some improvements to the combat feedback for critical hits. Effects triggered by a critical hit will now show up after the to-hit die roll in the combat chat tab. When you score a critical hit on a monster and it resists, you will now get a "Critical Hit Resisted!" message in the combat chat tab.
* We have changed the tooltip description for the Power Attack feat to help clarify that this feat only applies to melee attacks. We have also changed the language of several additional tooltips to help make sure their meaning is clear as well.

[Steefae/Izz]

Looks good so far.

[Cutedge]

June 14th, 2006 Addendum

There are now several quests in-game that are solo-only.

Here's a complete list:

Smuggler’s Rest

"Euphonia's Challenge"
"Healing Magic Training"
"Combat Training"
"Combat Magic Training"
"Stealth Training"

Wavecrest Basement

"Taking Stock"
"Cleanse the Evil Beneath"

Aspirant’s Corner

"The Miller's Debt"
"Defend Haverdasher"
"Home Sweet Sewer"
"Arachnophobia"
"An Explosive Situation"

[Cutedge]

June 26th, 2006 Hotfix

* Monsters will be less likely to end up stuck in inactive states.
* Kobold Shamans will now cast spells again on "Hard" and "Elite" mode.
* We have fixed an issue that was causing some users to crash while teleporting.
* Traveling back and forth between the harbor and the market could sometimes reset your bind point to just inside the market. We have fixed this so that your bind point will stay at the brother where you last bound until you intentionally bind somewhere else.
* We have changed the descriptions for item Damage Amplification effects to more accurately reflect what they do.