Coming to Grips with the Burning Crusade Pre-Patch

I am going to remind everybody up front about the general stink eye that I have given The Burning Crusade over the years.  When I rank expansions I tend to put TBC down in maybe third or fourth place, behind Wrath of the Lich King, Mists of Pandaria, and even Legion if I am in a mood.  Even when I try for some objective measures, it ranks down the list.

There are a few reasons for that.  I didn’t really start playing WoW seriously until the instance group formed up in September of 2006 and by the time TBC launched we were still in the middle doing instances at around level 40, so it was just around and a thing for much of our time doing dungeons in old Azeroth.  It was also a time when I was a lot less focused on a single game relative to today… I think I could juggle four MMOs back then, now I max out at two… and I was not very invested in the WoW lore.  I mean, I am not all that invested now, but I am at least not asking, “Thrall who?”

With the pre-patch, which seems to be running pretty smoothly despite Massively OP calling it a “mess” repeatedly, TBC is my current favorite WoW expansion… which is saying something since we can’t actually go through the dark portal until next week.

Through the Dark Portal

In that sort of twist of irony that time tends to bring vanilla WoW, viewed back in 2004 as the “easy mode” MMORPG, all cartoony and colorful and not very serious because you could solo any class to the level cap to a point where that very same play style in 2021 feels a bit like walking five miles to school in the snow uphill in both directions.  Compare and contrast WoW Classic and Shadowlands and what it takes to get to the level cap… a level cap that is 60 for both of them, welcome to 2021… and you feel like you could do the latter over a long weekend.  I think I did, in fact, run a demon hunter up to at least level 50 in a time easily measured in hours rather than days.

And into that contrast of experiences, the TBC update brings relief on that snowy, uphill walk to and from school in a myriad of ways I am still coming to grips with.

There was a bit of an easing of the level curve to start with, though that almost caused me a bit of frustration.  I was keen to get in with the pre-patch with my pally and get him up to level 60, having found a pile of quests I had totally missed in one corner of the eastern plaguelands.  And then I got in and was at the level cap before I knew it with my hunger to play as yet unsated.  And  all the more so because with the new paladin talent tree introduced with the patch, he was actually useful.  He has a ranged attack when wearing a shield!  And he didn’t even have to spec up the holy tree to get consecrate.  But he was all leveled up now.

So I dragged out my druid Alioto, whom I had mostly given up on.  He was lingering around having just made it to level 36, the start of the great vanilla dead spot for questing.  But the new patch brought a free re-spec, so I dropped his resto plan… he was slated to be a backup healer in case Earl came back and the mix of the group needed to change, an opportunity that has long since expired… and went feral with him.

He was over in Theremore for a quest and I realized that the place had changed.  There were a bunch of new quests there, which I would see on the mini-map because quest givers now appear there with exclamation points, including a few of my old favorites.

Quests no longer hidden away

When I think of Theremore, I think of the deserters, whose lines Skronk and I will quote now and again.

It is good to see you defending Theremore with pride, friend!

They are discredited by a disinformation campaign worthy of… well, modern politics I suppose, ascribing bizarre beliefs to your opponents in order to undermine their credibility.

Clearly what the deserters are pressing for

Always a laugh, suppressing dissent.  But there is a whole pack of new quests in and around Theremore to fill in the gap for my druid, who has since made it to level 41.  Part of that was a full ration of blue bar being available, but having a decent selection of quests has helped as well.

And I keep stumbling over little things that have been updated.  The strange aspect of this is that the pre-patch delivered a whole bunch of items that were previously meted out in individual patches over time, so we ended up getting one giant birthday present of changes.  I keep finding things that are different… and often better.

It is at a state where I am sure that some people are going to start complaining that this or that quality of life change was the start of the downfall of the game, but I’ve been happy enough, or at least able to adapt, so far.

And it is clear that other people are getting into the swing of things.  While there haven’t been any login queues on the Bloodsail Buccaneers server, others have started to see that.  My own measure for server population is the auction house, and how many pages of auction the Auctioneer addon reports.  (Nobody from the Auctioneer team got an invite to the BCC beta, so were behind in updating, though you can find a beta version that works if you Google.)

Before the pre-patch I was seeing 220-250 pages of auctions depending on the day.  Since the patch I have see the count exceed 700 pages on the weekend and well into the 600s on weekdays.  That indicates a substantial boost in activity in my book.

I’ve also seen a host of Draenei.  I was pretty impressed when I saw a level 58 Draenei shaman last Friday, but I have seen a few level 60s since then.

And then there are the special mounts, which you get with the deluxe edition which I mentioned when the patch went live.  I always expect to see anything like that hanging out by the bank in Stormwind, somebody showing off their shiny new toy.  But I have been seeing a bunch of those mounts just out and about.

Another one out near Mirage Raceway

Blizzard is apparently selling more than a few $70 deluxe editions.  I guess it is only $30 more than the level 58 boost… and you get a mount on classic and another on retail… but still.

It is all feeling like the jump to The Burning Crusade content is going to be a big deal for Blizz.

EQ Aradune and Rizlona Servers off to the Usual Rocky Start

Yesterday was the big day, the day that saw the launch of the two latest EverQuest progression servers, Aradune and Rizlona.  You can read more details about these servers at a previous post.

Nostalgia goes live

And things looked to be going better than normal, with the server launches hitting the promised noon Pacific Time launch window unlike so many past launches so that Daybreak was able to post the news on time.  I was even able to peek in and see that they were up and going.

The launcher shows them live

Of course, as the situation often unfolds, there was a rush to get on the servers and into the game as soon as the servers went live, though it appeared that Daybreak’s somewhat opaque queuing system might be up to the task.  Some people got in while others had to wait.

19 minutes isn’t a bad queue… it just doesn’t update

And then things fell over.  I saw an update pop up indicating there were problems and bringing up the launcher seemed to confirm that all was not well.

Yeah, that is not looking good

That apparently sent people scurrying to the forums to find out what was going one, so that they too promptly fell over.  Too many connections.

These are not the forum messages you were looking for…

The forums were available again after not too long, but all the forums are interconnected, so it seems that the EverQuest II forums were seeing problems.  And, apparently, the EverQuest II login servers as well.  I did not know they were connected, but I guess since the games share accounts that makes some sense.

Twitter updates not too far apart

Once the forums could handle the load there was a note about working on the issues followed by updates.

I am loathe to blame the user base for believing that Daybreak could successfully launch two new servers on time and without issue… but really, it is the same story every launch, isn’t it?  Delays, crowds, problems, they are all part of the authentic experience here now.

This is one of the three problems I feel MMORPGs are never going to solve, or bother solving at least, because it is transitory.  A week from now the crowds will have thinned and in a month any additional hardware applied would be sitting idle.

On the bright side, it does speak volumes about the ongoing popularity of EverQuest, now past the 21 year mark, and the desire to get back to a more primeval state of the genre.

As we got into early evening Pacific Time it seemed like Daybreak had finally gotten a handle on the problem and that things would finally kick off at about the usual time for these servers.  Logins were allowed and the queues quickly swelled up t about an hour.

And then something fell over again and all the servers were taken down once more and stayed down until around midnight, when the situation seemed to finally be settled.

This morning the servers appear to be up and running.  Maybe they should always launch at midnight?

The Aradune server, the true box progression server, had a queue this morning when I checked, once again running close to an hour in length.

The Rizlona server, which allows multi-boxing, seemed less in demand and I was able to pop right in and make a character to try out.

Halas on a crisp May morning

I ran out to Everfrost where I almost immediately had somebody train a red con skeleton onto me, which stunned me then killed me before I could do anything.  So all is normal in the world.

I haven’t really decided if I will give either server any sort of real effort.  I am always a bit interested, but I am not sure I am up to the task.  We shall see.  And if I let it pass, there will likely be a new server next year.

Others on this topic:

• Chasing Dings! – Primed and Ready
• Inventory Full – Increase The Population : EverQuest

Rorqual Kills in Malpais

When the ping says “Rorquals and Supers Tackled get in fleet now” you go.

After a three day weekend where I missed out on a number of fleets simply by being a minute late and getting the “fleet is full” message… :goonrush: is a thing and I’ll have some more on that in another post… clone jumping back to our SIG staging to jump into stealth bomber for some capital kills seemed like a good idea.  And when the follow up came asking for dreads I sent my dread alt back over there as well.

PanFam has decided to concentrate their forces in SH1-6P as a base of operations in order to strike at any exposed Imperium operations in Tribute.  That has pulled forces away from other areas of their holdings, including Malpais, where ratting and mining had previously been under the protective umbrella of NCDot.  This, in turn, has led groups like Bomberwaffe and Black Ops to start hunting for targets there.  They found nine Rorquals happily mining away in an anomaly and the call went out.

I logged in and clone jumped down to our old staging, which was just two gates from where Zungen had a black ops battleship ready to bridge us.  He sent us to a mid point, jumped in with us, then after a bit of a cool down sent us on our way to the target system in Malpais.  One DBRB and his bomber fleet had already dealt with one Rorqual by the time I dropped in, but there were plenty more on the field.

I arrived in time to see that first one blow up

The Rorquals on field were in various states of defense.  We were sharing coms with DBRB’s fleet, which was a bit of a challenge at times.  Those familiar with his enthusiastic style will know some of what I mean, but he also kept forgetting that there were two fleets on grid and in coms and had to be reminded to call out target names rather than just saying, “Shoot the target I just broadcast.”

Rorqual getting hit, another in the background

We were only a couple of kills in when the first defense response showed up in the form of a small Jackdaw fleet.  That would have done for DBRB’s fleet, but Black Ops dropped in Lokis, which were enough to chase off the Jackdaws.  A few bombers showed up to take shots at us as well, including one guy in a Manticore who managed to get the final blow on himself with his own bomb.  It has to sting to get your own kill mail.

Meanwhile we were still shooting and watching the time for the Rorquals that had gone into PANIC mode.

Rorqual with the PANIC mode active

Six Rorquals had gone down and we were working on a seventh when NCDot showed up with a Muninn fleet.  When they appeared on grid with us it was time to go.  We warped out, got to safe spots, and cloaked up.

Zungen got his fleet cloaked up on his black ops battleship and we were soon back at the Astrahus mid-point from which we had dropped on the Rorquals.  That was as far as my dead alt had made it.

Dreads tethered up on the Astrahus

The part about supers tackled didn’t pan out, so there was no call to jump the dreadnoughts in.  That’s a pity, as my insurance is going to expire soon on my Naglfar, so I’m disposed towards losing it.  I’d have jumped it in on the Rorquals if asked even knowing it was doomed.  But I guess I at least got to undock it and drive it around a bit.

We bridged back to our initial jump point, followed by the dreads, and escorted them back to our staging.

The Rorquals all top the price list for recent kills I am on

This is the reason I log in when Zungen pings.  At least half the time we end up just sitting on the black ops battleship waiting to bridge, only to stand down as the target was spooked or moved on.  But when it does pan out, it is always a blast to drop in and blow up something big.

The Invasion Expansion Arrives in EVE Online

Today is the day, the Invasion expansion for EVE Online is here.

The Invasion is now

The Triglavian theme is right up front as the expansion features three new Triglavian ships.  They are:

• Nergal – Assault Frigate
• Ikitursa – Heavy Assault Cruiser
• Draugur – Command Destroyer

These are tech II ships, which means that there must also be the related skills, Triglavian Encryption Methods and ,Triglavian Encryption Methods as well as Triglavian Quantum Engineering datacores and Triglavian tech II components, so that players can go through the invention process to build these new ships.

There will also now be Mutaplasmids for modifying Damage Control and Assault Damage Controls modules.

In addition, there is this item in the patch notes:

The Triglavian Collective have begun to exert influence on systems within of the Hi-Security regions of New Eden. Escalating System-wide effects have been observed and Triglavian forces are roaming these systems in varied fleet sizes and compositions. Rumors spreading from capsuleer expeditions into abyssal deadspace indicate that these first waves of Triglavian vessels may be the vanguard of a larger invasion force yet to reveal itself.

This is no doubt the “invasion” to which the expansion refers, but as to what it means and how intrusive it will be in high sec space is left to be seen.  The trailer for the expansion is clearly focused on something happening as well.

However, we don’t know what it all really means, whether these will be like incursions or pirate faction FOBs or something completely new, though I am sure the whole thing will make somebody angry.

The expansion also brings round four of the War Declaration revamp.  With the expansion any aggressive war will now require the attacker to declare an Upwell structure as their HQ.  Destruction or removal of the HQ will end the war and the attacking party will not be able to declare war on the same target until a two week cool-down has passed.

The cost of wars has now been simplified.  They are a straight up 100 million ISK per week.

Mutual wars have also been simplified and do not have a weekly charge to maintain.

There is also a big revamp of The Agency as part of the expansion.

The New Agency?

The old user interface of The Agency represented the conflict between good intentions and poor execution, so we will see if CCP has been able to act on the many complaints about their all-in-one PvE content finder.

Other highlights from the expansion:

• Faction, storyline, and office weapons can now use tech II ammunition
• There is now a button to get a rookie ship, a corvette, rather than just handing you one automatically when you dock up in an NPC station in a pod and have no ship in your hangar
• A new pointer tool has been added to help you explain the arcane EVE Online interface to friends you rope into playing
• You can opt-in for the 64-bit client beta

There are lots of other details in the Patch Notes and on the Updates Page for the expansion.  Word is that the expansion has been deployed successfully.  Now we’ll just have to see what those Triglavians are up to.

Memorial Day 2018

Marching Men

Under the level winter sky
I saw a thousand Christs go by.
They sang an idle song and free
As they went up to Calvary.

Careless of eye and coarse of lip,
They marched in holiest fellowship.
That heaven might heal the world, they gave
Their earth-born dreams to deck the grave.

With souls unpurged and steadfast breath
They supped the sacrament of death.
And for each one, far off, apart,
Seven swords have rent a woman’s heart.

–Marjorie Pickthall (1883-1922)

June 10th will be a Landmark Date

There is a long held belief that if you want to announce something, but want the story to get mostly buried or ignored, you do so after the markets have closed on a Friday before a holiday weekend.

And so we have the news from Daybreak, posted to their forums (a further attempt to bury the story?) at 15:48 Pacific time yesterday, that their long in early access title Landmark will go live on June 10, 2016.

I don’t know why they decided to announce this during a time frame that is often a black hole for news.  Was this intentional or just another of those oh-so-familiar SOE/Daybreak gaffes we have come to know over the years?

Furthermore, I am uncertain as to why they want it to finally be available on a Friday.  Companies in the US generally ship things like this on a Tuesday so their team doesn’t have to work all weekend to handle the inevitable rash of issues which pop up during any transition to a live product.

And, of course, it is going live coincident with the Warcraft movie, though given the reviews that has been getting, I am not sure that will draw of much of the little attention Landmark can expect.  I suppose we can at least credit Daybreak with their previous statement that Landmark would launch this spring.  The conspiracy of calendar makers here in the US has declared that summer starts on June 20th this year, that being the date of the summer solstice and all.

The announcement itself doesn’t have much new to add outside of dates.  We knew about the change from a Free to Play cash shop model to a Buy to Play cash shop model and even the $9.99 price.  Here is the bulk of the statement from Daybreak, quoted for posterity.

We’ve been building to this moment for quite some time and we’re happy to announce it’s almost here! Landmark will officially launch on Friday, June 10th.

If you have been participating in the Alpha and Closed Beta of Landmark as a Trailblazer, an Explorer, or a Settler Founder’s Pack holder, you will have automatic access to Landmark at launch. For those who played on a shareable beta key, or those who have not ventured into the game yet, it will be available for USD $9.99 on launch day.

For the committed Trailblazers* among you, don’t forget you have an additional 48-hour head start to scope out and stake your claim on your favorite build sites. The Trailblazer Head Start is scheduled for Wednesday, June 8th at 10AM Pacific.

The last day to purchase any of the Landmark Founder’s Packs is Monday, June 6th at 10AM PDT. Don’t miss YOUR chance to pick up any of these packs or the special perks that are parts of any of those packages.

Also for our Trailblazers who spent this development process making your mark in game, now make your mark by adding your name to the Landmark credits! In order for your name to be displayed in our list, you must opt-in. To add your name to the Landmark credits, please click here. Don’t miss out! You have until 11:59PM Pacific on Thursday, June 30, 2016.

I’ve already hashed out a bit of what I feel is problematic about the game previously, (claims, entropy, horrible neighbors, and the removal of PvP for a start), though I haven’t otherwise dug into the huge list of changes they made a while back.  And I probably won’t bother any time soon.  The game has never really interested me, except through its connection to another Daybreak title.

Landmark is all that is left of EverQuest Next, the tool that was supposed to help players create the game.  I will be interested to see how people will react to the game after launch and how much traction it gets after having spent so much time available as an early access title.

Here is where I would generally link to all the other people who have written about a given event so you can get more than my rather limited point of view.  We shall see how many such posts bubble up.  As of my writing this, there is exactly one.

• Inventory Full