Prometheus

I think what most people are angry about is that EA/OSI flat out DENIES there is a problem with EV/BSs. This is a quote taken off of Stratics:

The energy vortex and blade spirit AI was rewritten to remove alot of inefficiency in their cycle counts. This has resulted in substantial reduction in dungeon server cpu cycles used by these programs.

As a result they now attack targets with better prediction and spend less time "thinking" and more time fighting their target. The z exploits have been removed so that they can be dispelled correctly. Using a blade spirit or Energy Vortex on creatures that have the ability to dispel them is not going to be effective unless those creatures are mana drained.

Ive done some checking and they appear to be working (they do damage, they are dispelled correctly, they attack).

Balrons are one of the most challenging monsters in the game - it may indeed take more of them to kill the more challenging monsters but for the (upper mid) level creatures they should be functioning the same.

- Adrick

Update: Adrick dropped in to give some more info here:

Im taking the feedback here seriously and I just concluded a test on the Lake Superior shard. I created a normal lich, I set its mana to 0. I then at 100 magery cast 1 energy vortex and it imeddiately attacked the lich - I timed it in 29 seconds the lich was dead and the energy vortex was the slightest sliver harmed.

Yes there were changes to the energy vortex spell as I detailed in several posts.

1] They now actually fight an enemy in that they can hit or miss.

2] They no longer spend extra cycles evaluating targets - they chose a target and fight it thus reducing lag mostly on the dungeon servers where these spells are common.

3] They no longer poison.

A lich is a mid level creature so my information about the relative strength of EV vs mid to high mid creatures was correct.

- Adrick

Now Adrick claims there is no change, yet everyone else seems to report a change.  Now here is my problem:

1. I agree partially with nerfing bladespirits a bit. It was too easy for low level mages to easily kill strong monsters with it.

2. Energy vortex is an 8th circle spell. It is MEANT to be powerful. It costs 50 (half) of any persons mana and even a Grandmaster Mage will fizzle it about 2 in 8 tries. Why oh why did it have to get nerfed? The general consensus is that the only useful 8th circle spell is Ressurection.

In all, I am really really really getting tired of the unwanted, not even asked for, and totally unbased nerfing of skills, spells, etc. I know people don't like to hear about people leaving, but quite frankly, there is nobody to blame but EA/OSI for this. They simply do not care about their established players and are only concerned with reeling in new accounts. But it'll bite them in the back when all these accounts get cancled. I may not like Everquest, but there are thousands of other people who do, and of course, theres the other upcoming games like Shadowbane and such.

People find Diablo 2 to be "tedious" and all "hack-and-slash" but I am enjoying it more than UO. Funny thing about Blizzard ... just this last week, there was a major glitch of some kind, and many people lost their characters, their posesions, etc. Know what Blizzard did? They actually did a "rollback" of the realms, restoring everything. They LISTENED to their customers, and gave them what they wanted.

The point to this rant is .... that my future on UO, along with others such as Martok and Baltazar, is purely dependant on whether or not EA does something major to rekindle our interest in UO.  Unwanted nerfs and "newbiefying" of the game are NOT gonig to do it.  Localaztion and 3rd Dawn will NOT do it.  Vet rewards will NOT do it (at least for me). In the meantime, don't be surprised to see Prom up for auction on Ebay.

After hearing this bit of news, that is also the last straw for me. I will also be looking to put my account up for sale on Ebay as well. In the meantime, I'm still having a blast playing Diablo 2 LoD .... so if anyone wants to find me, that's where I'll be ... for now.

Quote from Kalinaf, posted on

ON a bad note was you go in, from what i can gather is there is no way out

Actually, it SEEMS like there is no way out. I had that same problem, but figured out that when you reach the end of the tunnel you started from, you most turn to the RIGHT and along that wall is the exit/entrance. It's different than mos of the other dungeons.

Ok, I'm going to say it again, I LOVE THESE NEW BOARDS!! They are the most user-friendly ones I've ever used, and they have so many nice features too!! Bal, you've outdone yourself on this one.

I heard its buggier than 3rd dawn (no joke)

Test

I also Gm'd inscription. Drop me a line and I'll hook you up

In fact, I think you are the only Gm bowyer. Unfortunately, my sister Charsi is only a Grandmaster in Tinkering and Tailoring

Congrats to your mother! Nice to have another GM Bowyer around. Not too many of them out there anymore.

Aye, I was collecting them. But got rather sidetracked. But for those who are interested, I do have the entire collection of the NPC books, several copies of "quest" books, and a few player written books in my library at my house. If anyone wants to see it, let me know.

Oh, and congrats of course, Liz.

I know I've convinced a few people to get the expansion, and I'm trying to figure out who else still plays D2.

Love the new boards!