Tasos posted details concerning a forthcoming update to the game for new players. This is just one of the many changes they’re working on to address the new player experience in Darkfall. Is it a step in the right direction? Maybe, but there are other issues concerning the alignment system, wardecs, farming alignment, and more that I think could have a larger impact to the newbie experience.
Regardless, I’m cautiously optimistic that this is a good move. As long as they respond quickly to any abuse that arises through the newbie system by patching and refining the feature, it could certainly help. The forum thread discussing the changes is already 13 pages long and growing.
….
We’re introducing a new feature possibly as soon as the next patch which provides optional protection against player attacks to brand new players. This functionality is very limited and only lasts a few hours but it should be enough to allow someone logging into Darkfall for the first time to learn to control his character and to get his bearings while still having proper access to the live game.
If you’re a new player entering the game for the first time, newbie protection is on by default. There’s an option to turn it off if you don’t want it.
You won’t be able to damage other players and other players won’t be able to damage you.
You can only damage monsters.
The protection only lasts for a few hours of gameplay. There’s a visible count-down timer. You’ll get a warning before the protection expires
The protection is active only in the racial starting areas. If you wander outside your starting area, you’ll get a warning and if you don’t return within a couple of minutes, you will lose the protection.
There’s a visual indicator that signifies you’re a new player with protection on.
You can trade and interact with NPCs without restrictions
You cannot use any items that cause structural or player damage (battle spikes, warhulks, cannons, ships etc.)
You cannot use mounts
You cannot unspawn objects
You cannot teleport
You cannot use Runestones
You cannot use portals including Nexus
You cannot create a clan
You can give and receive buffs and heals
You can join a clan
Newbie protection works only for new accounts
You cannot skill up on other players or be used to skill up on
….
The new patch is live and the details are now available.
Fixed several issues relating to virtual address space.
Fixed handling of unstable and drifting system clocks.
Fixed a problem where you could, in certain circumstances, sprint without losing stamina after performing a double jump.
Fixed a bug where you could not destroy a city structure, if it had been disabled before a conquest challenge was initiated.
Fixed a bug where sometimes the disabling blow effect did not show up on players.
Changed so that if in game mode you press any of the shortcut keys to toggle i.e. mini map/paperdoll, these windows will not show up again in GUI mode.
Fixed a problem where your mount would stop if you tried to sidestep while mounted (you should not be able to sidestep while mounted).
Fixed tool tips for items placed on player vendors.
Fixed a bug that let you bind stone recall, house recall and teleport while doing a trade route run.
Fixed a bug in the persistence of trade route runs.
Fixed a problematic village in ‘three pirates’ where the large villa was placed inside a regular house.
Fixed so that healing spells or buffs that land on target’s back do not produce blood anymore.
Fixed a bug that could block player trading, if the player who initiates the trade dies before the trade is accepted by the other player.
Fixed a problem regarding the clan boards.
Added system message for damage on clan stones and siege stones.
Changes to Sea Fortress Timers: Sea Fortresses go vulnerable again after 3 days with a random factor of +-4 hours.
Quest fixes.
Quest updates.
Visual updates to trees.
Visual updates to rocks.
Visual updates to harvesting and skinning tools.
More Kobold spawns have been introduced around the starting areas.
Monsters strafe and run away less often.
Fixed a bug that caused some mobs to stay in run mode and never stand still.
Increased reagent drop for some low level monsters.
SFX Updated for the following:
Water Magic:
————–
Ice Storm
Clear thoughts
Blizzard
Cold Shield
Cold Ward
Frostbite
Delayed shot
Slow
Necromany:
————–
Bludgeoning weakness
Mental weakness
Piercing Weakness
Slashing Weakness
Undeath
Unholy Caress
Unholy Flames
Vampiric Touch
Other:
——–
Mortar Cannon Impact
Player Water Splashes
Cold Damage Impact
A friend pointed out this new article today at gamasutra. It’s five pages of interview material with Brian Knox from NCSoft. Here’s a sample question:
Are patches going to be global and simultaneous once the game is out in both territories?
BK: We’re going to get them as close as possible. I think that everyone will be a little different in terms of the timing. If a patch is maybe heavy on some sort of content that maybe doesn’t require as much localization work as another patch, than maybe that one will be a little bit smaller, as far as the delta. There might be an instance where it’s best for all of us to launch all at once. I think we’re just going to take it on a case-by-case basis. It’s definitely our goal to stay within one to two months, as far as up-to-date.
In an effort to deal with the many players abusing the private store feature in order to stay permanently logged in, they’re patching the servers today. The patch will add a limit to how long a private store can be used.
Official Notice at Aion Online announced via Twitter:
NA Version of the Notice:
We are bringing the servers down at 6:00AM PST (more), September 25th, for maintenance. The purpose of this downtime is to tweak the way Private Stores work. A timer of 30 minutes will be implemented to prevent these shops from being abused as a means to prevent disconnection and alleviate queues.
The maintenance is expected to run no longer than 1 hour.
Thank you for your patience!