Friday with Means - June 4th, 2010 - IIBAWDKW

[Means]

It Is Broken And We Don't Know Why

This is typical of a Thursday/Friday. The item used to instantly resolve "some" of the daily missions when they are deleted to get directly to the 18 hour timer is different from the version currently on the Live dimensions. Mondays and Tuesday are generally "We know why it is broken" days of the week where we do our best to fix it. This particular item has been great today as we have traced through the build process to try and find out "why" it is different (after figuring out why it doesn't work) and not finding any empirical evidence of any kind to justify the problem. This is what one of our legendary coders "Enno" used to refer to as "WTF". Thank the Redeemed that Macrosun is here to help us figure it out.

Needless to say:

"Some daily missions will still require you to return to the agency to start the timer."

We are going to attempt another build shortly and we are hoping for different results. Not very scientific...but here we are.

On a positive note:

Thanks to everyone who provided us with information to help us track down the "stuck in sneak" issue that is currently associated with SA and AS attacks from sneak. Astralsky on D1 finally helped me get a perfect test-case together for this issue last night and a fix for this is currently being deployed to TestLive. Again the hope is for this issue to be gone in the next version which is tentatively scheduled for next week.

Also in next week's theoretical version:

- Making those missions actually resolve themselves so you do not have to return to the agency.
- Increased drop rate on LE Alien Mission Biomaterial and decreased "level range" on Boss Drops. ie: a level 250 Boss should always drop Biomaterial close to level 250.
- Significant nerfstick treatment to LE Alien Mission nasty Aliens to make it easier to survive at all levels.
- Changes to longer version Composite Nanos to make them more accessible to everyone.
- More Daily mission tweaks.

Other news:

The Alien daily missions are coming along well and so is the "open" pvp area that will serve as a kind of "waiting room" for the Battlestations. Both soon I hope. We are also going to start making the Birthday Items for this year next week...a sneak preview of which will be on AOUniverse before they are released.

Sorry I don't have any new heads this week.

Have a great weekend and wish us luck!

[Alternity]

First

[Flyingengi]

2nd

[Shadesy1]

Third.

[VinniePaz]

4th!

[Ninjatrox]

Five!

[Omutb]

Originally Posted by Means - Significant nerfstick treatment to LE Alien Mission nasty Aliens to make it easier to survive at all levels.

This should be nice.

[Lasliana]

Lol Astral was happy when you said you had the what was it? 100% breaking?

I'm actually looking forward to running LE missions again soon, as in the past ive hated them for the reasons you stated.
Im going to be interested by those birthday items...and good job on supporting the community sites, by giving them the sneak preview.

[Javafan]

Originally Posted by Means - Changes to longer version Composite Nanos to make them more accessible to everyone.

As in froobs will get it too? That would actually be nice (at least the composite for attributes, ranged, melee and nano skills).

Or just some changes to the +2/4/8h composite buffs?

[Graftmage]

Originally Posted by Means I'm really hoping to get another video to you guys within the next 3 weeks.

Just 15 weeks have passed so far!

[tasker]

10?

[Aiken]

Interesting

[Hvyshadows]

Originally Posted by Means - Significant nerfstick treatment to LE Alien Mission nasty Aliens to make it easier to survive at all levels.

Wewt! This will be great to see! I hope you are looking specifically at the Cythaus mobs. Those things are ego killers.

Ps. The Alien mobs look too Asian.

[Akchosen]

wullabulla?

VIDEO!

[Sephiroth56]

Seventh!

[Waldgeist]

Tsherman Translashion

[Graharbos]

cool :/ .. wtb new engine info (vid's etc)

[-Klod-]

I wish you luck...





...in fixing pets to what they used to be, prior to last two/three patches.

[Hokutonoken]

what's the "longer composite nano".....froob able to access? or the paid toons will not be restricted to use 4hrs compisite..etc?

[DePreach]

Seems patch testing involves downloading the code to a machine in the car park while in the Funcom code testers bunker, and emerging after an hour then sending Macrosun out with a questionnaire reading...

1. Did the box we installed to...
a) explode spectacularily
b) get warmer and warmer until it melted
c) develop sentience and apply for a job on the AoC team.
d) none of the above it appears 'inert'

2. After remotely logging into the box, is the playerbase
a) murderous
b) suicidal
c) furiously banging messages into the forums.
d) inert - lying there like a 2 bit crack addict ex wife coz every time they try to move they sproing back to the same place.... (the ho)

3. Peek out your door, is the management team
a) Storming the dev offices with weapons fashioned from office supplies.
b) Sobbing into their large cups of indigestion cure
c) Playing WoW
d) Inert, as usual

If you answered inert to the above questions release to live.

Suggested fix list.
Make the single mission lockout timers several years, thus deferring the problem to AO 2
Add comedy 'sproing' sounds to the rubber banding.