Test Release Notes - August 20, 2009

[Basil Dreadflint]

Originally Posted by wulfric

Arg. I lost test server access when my hard drive crashed and I can't figure out how to reload the test server.

IF you are a member of the Helm, here on POF, you can follow these links to the test server download. Zep has the links posted for both PC and Mac users.

http://www.piratesonlineforums.com/f...04&postcount=1


Also, I did get to spend a little time on test last night. I only went to Murky Hollow, but I can tell you the following things that I noted.

The graphics are GREAT!
The caves are confusing. Real caves, tunnels, rocks, roots, twists and turns, AND DEAD ENDS!!! I love them.
Disney has definitely changed the way you earn rep. You can earn a lot more rep per enemy now.
Example:
Lars is a level 19, almost 20. He still has double rep from the Father's Day quest. The first enemy I saw was a GREY level 6 Skeleton, Pirate I think, and I took him out using about 4 swings of the cutlass. This would normally earn me about 3 rep points. Yesterday, I got 6, and then it doubled.
Later, I found General Bloodless?, (The one who hangs out in Murky Hollow.) and he was level 13. He showed as a RED enemy. I treated him as if he were Timothy Dartan on the back beach, using each of my 4 weapons, and not using combo strokes. I took about 1/4 of his health with each weapon, Cutlass, Pistol, Doll and Dagger. I waited for him to respawn, and did this a total of 4 times. I was getting rep in the range of 650 to 760 from each kill. (Now remember, I was getting double rep.) But, I think I was getting quite a bit more rep than I would have from before the update.

Another item I noticed, and tried a few times, was the aggression level. It seems to have changed again.
As I ran through the cave, if I ran past a Grey enemy, I could go stand right next to it, and it would not attack me unless I attacked first. BUT, if the enemy was Green, Yellow or Red, my nearness would set them off and they would attack me without me attacking first. (Almost got beat a couple times testing this theory.) Then, I tried to figure out how far I needed to run to get them to disengage. They seem to disengage at a reasonable distance. In other words, an enemy wouldn't latch on and chase me through the entir ecave, but would give up after a short, but hardy, chase.

OVERALL, I can't wait to get this on open! I can see me letting my two younger pirates go into stasis, and bringing out the big guys again! I just hope Disney doesn't try to rush this too fast and not give the testers time to debug it first. And, I hope the testers actually TEST it, and not just try to be the first one to reach level 50.

[Sven Niscadae]

Originally Posted by Basil Dreadflint

Another item I noticed, and tried a few times, was the aggression level. It seems to have changed again.
As I ran through the cave, if I ran past a Grey enemy, I could go stand right next to it, and it would not attack me unless I attacked first. BUT, if the enemy was Green, Yellow or Red, my nearness would set them off and they would attack me without me attacking first. (Almost got beat a couple times testing this theory.) Then, I tried to figure out how far I needed to run to get them to disengage. They seem to disengage at a reasonable distance. In other words, an enemy wouldn't latch on and chase me through the entir ecave, but would give up after a short, but hardy, chase.

I noticed that as well. Also if you're notoriety level is EXTREMELY lower than the enemies, they won't attack you unless you attack them. Lil Test Sven (Noto 14) was tromping about almost all of the caves, even Tormenta, without getting attacked. But if I got near something that was within my capacity to fight (and win) such as in Thieves Den, they would attack me if I got too close. I suppose that way, lost lower levels won't become fodder if they wander off into the wrong area.

Originally Posted by Kelly

Other things.. I actually like the compass. (just opinion)

We're the only ones probably.