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New monsters revealed for EverQuest II expansion; producer Scott Hartsman weighs in
MMORPG.com has posted part one of their Creature Feature article, in which they had a chance to chat with Everquest II senior producer Scott Hartsman about monsters being introduced for the game's upcoming expansion, and about bringing new monsters to an MMO in general. The feature will have two parts, and cover five new monsters from Rise of Kunark. The two nasties that we meet in this episode are the Burynai Casters and the Devourers. These races both debuted in the Kunark expansion of the first EverQuest. Fans will recall that the Burynai are usually located deep underground -- if you see one walking above ground, you can be sure there's a cavernous tunnel nearby. Devourers seemed to show up all over the place, but I always wondered what the heck allowed them to float in mid-air. Regardless, a very cool-looking mob.Hartsman's contributions to the article are insightful as he discusses ideas, balancing and time frames when bringing new creatures to MMO's. He also reassures us that beyond the five monsters featured in the two-part series, there are plenty more to discover in EverQuest II's new expansion. Click through to the full article below, and we'll let you know when part two goes up.
WoW Moviewatch: 20k DPS in Black Morass
Pretty incredible. Xetrov on Farstriders took a few friends (and a pretty good Pally tank-- never thought I'd say those words) into Black Morass, and trashed all the trash. At once. With AoE. Good lord, look at all those numbers. He says he cracked 20,000 DPS, which is pretty jaw dropping.And this is also a really good example of how Blizzard has more or less crushed AoE when you're taking on more than ten mobs-- Xetrov has almost 800 spell damage, and yet his crits are hitting at around 150-200, because with so many targets, his spell damage is pretty much negated. He's still pulling down tons of DPS (and when are you really taking on more than 10 mobs, except in wacky situations like this?). But showing numbers like 150 and 160 coming off of a Mage with 800 spell damage show pretty clearly how weak AoE can get with this many targets.
Daze of our lives, starring Drysc
Drysc has laid out the science on exactly how Daze works. When we all first entered Outland, it seemed like mobs were Dazing us left and right, but it wasn't really clear why or how it happened. Now, months later, Drysc says they've gone over the Daze code again, and it really is "working as intended."Daze, he says, is based on a character's base defense rating as compared to a mob's base attack skill. The standard Daze rating is 20% (so if you're facing a mob of equal level and your defense rating hasn't been increased, then a hit from behind should daze you 1/5 of the time), and it goes up or down from there from 0 to 40%. Characters below level 30, interestingly enough, have a much reduced chance to be dazed (it's almost impossible for a level 1 character to be dazed by an equal level mob), in order to make the game easier when players first begin playing.The reason Drysc gives for us seeing it more in Outland is a little shaky-- he says there weren't many actual level 60 mobs in Azeroth, and there are now quite a few level 70 (and higher) mobs in Outland, which means a fully leveled character will be dazed more. Finally, the reason, he says, for Daze in the first place is that they don't want to make it "safe" to randomly run through a group of mobs. "A cautious and alert player," he says, "is less likely to be dazed than one who is haphazard and careless."My only problem with that is that I get dazed more not when I'm trying to run away from characters (I understand I'm going to be penalized when I sloppily run through a group of mobs), but when I get jumped while fighting. Should the same penalty apply when a single add jumps me from behind? And while we're at it, shouldn't being mounted lower the chance of getting dazed as well? Having a flying mount has made serious dazing tragedies much less common, but for characters still on ground mounts, shouldn't being mounted protect them a little more than being on foot?
Hey! I needed that!
Nikol of WoW Ladies posts about something I shouldn't get so worked up about, but often do anyway-- higher level characters farming mobs that lower levels need for quests or rep.Now, Nikol is actually on the opposite side of the equation from the one I remember being on more. She was wondering if there is a certain etiquette when she goes to farm Timbermaw rep (as a level 68) and starts competing for mobs with level 58s. Which is actually very nice of her, because usually I'm in the other situation: I'm playing a lowbie alt and I have to go kill 50 pigs to get their spleens. Suddenly, a level 70 mage roars through the area, AoEing every pig he sees, rounding them all up in a pile so he can level up his skinning. A few seconds later, I'm left with nothing to farm, and he's standing over a pile of piggies, skinning away and humming to himself. For some reason, that makes me just see red. There are lots of other places he can farm skinning, so why does he feel the need to gank my quest mobs? It makes me seethe just thinking about it!Unfortunately, as Nikol finds out, there is no set etiquette-- outside of a group, it literally is a free-for-all. If you're in my place, your only real option is to just find another quest to work on while all the mobs respawn, or poke around to see if he missed any. And to tell the truth, I shouldn't get so angry anyway-- it could be that the mage didn't realize I needed those pigs, and in fact, there is probably a whole other cache of pigs just over the hill that I haven't found yet.But for some reason it just drives me nuts. Have you been on either side of this situation? And how have you handled it?
Breakfast topic: Most hated mob abilities
I have previous expressed my burning hatred for whirlwinding mobs, and very few people are fans of getting feared into a nearby group of enemies.. But while leveling my pally, I've rediscovered my least favorite mob action of all time -- enemies that heal themselves when they're at about 20 percent health. These mobs also seem to conspire and wait until my Hammer of Justice in on cooldown, so all I can do is flail impotently with my big axe as they heal to 80 percent and laugh at me. I can also do a quick mana tap and arcane torrent, but by the time I think of that they're usually healed already. As I write this, I'm fighting caster murlocs who are underwater, heal themselves, and run away when they're low on HP, which has got to be some kind of record for most annoying mob abilities combined in one. What is your most hated mob ability -- healing, fear, daze, or something even more sinister?
Air Force chief proposes testing "pain guns" on unruly Americans
It's a good thing that military personnel are not elected officials, because if Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne were up for re-election, we doubt that his proposal to test non-lethal weapons on American citizens before deploying them abroad would win him many votes. Specifically, Wynne told The Associated Press: "If we're not willing to use it here against our fellow citizens, then we should not be willing to use it in a wartime situation, (because) if I hit somebody with a nonlethal weapon and they claim that it injured them in a way that was not intended, I think that I would be vilified in the world press." That would certainly be a shame, Mr. Secretary, as it would really tarnish the US's hard-earned reputation as a nation beyond reproach in the eyes of the international community. So, next time you're looting or rioting or otherwise participating in organized chaos and you happen to inexplicably drop to your knees in horrific pain, you can thank Secretary Wynne for ensuring that America's enemies will be receiving just the right dose of incapacitating waves, beams, or pulses when the time comes.Update: Upon reading all of the comments so far (some insightful, some not) and re-reading the CNN article, it's clear that the AP reporter may have taken Secretary Wynne's statement out of context, and that the Secretary may actually be advocating against any use of these types of weapons at all -- a notion that's further supported by claims that the Air Force is withholding funding for this research pending additional medical inquiries. Therefore, please disregard any barbs herein made at the expense of Secretary Wynne, as they may turn out to be completely unwarranted.
