Update 34 Feedback Thread - Post-Update Feedback

The auto-stacking is great, and the /bits command is useful, but did you purposely remove the 'code bits' tab in the archive?



The only way to see the bit stacks is on the 'all code' tab, so if I
want to take bits out of my archive I have to search through every item
in my archive now.

Not good.



Haven't tried anything else yet, but the changes all look good to me.

The only things I'd like to see changed for the archive now is more
space (which many want), but there really needs to be an auto-sort for the items in the
archive.

Alphabetical by type is the logical choice, in my mind anyway.

I'd really rather have seen the sorting than the /bits command, and I
feel  /bits wouldn't really be necessary if all the bits and frags
sorted together in alphanumerical order.



Some items have the wrong classification flag too, as some of the
looted messages, collector frags, etc (used to) show up in the bits
tab, while others would only show up under all tab, or various other
places.

It's really hard to see what you have when you have to search through every item in the archive.



-Edit-

Oh, and I'm so glad you finally got the signal boosters working, even
though we were told 2 months ago by CSR-Twitch that they were
working.

He even said we should send in /ccr if we thought it wasn't working correctly.

Message Edited by WyPhy on 09-01-2005 03:57 PM

My auto stack seems not to be working. I have a stack of 4s (10) and like a row down I see another stack of 4s (7). Other than that everything else a go

The autostack appears to only stack if there are more than 2 sets of bits.

Also of note, the Consumable Killcode Tools of Wooden Stakes, Holy Water, and Silver Bullets only give a single bit when decompiled now.  This makes them competely worthless at the higher levels.  Pity we don't get the $info it says for recycling them.

Wow, the corpses with loot animation looks much better. I like this patch since it shows a sign of toning down animations that do not belong here. Like the flaming fist from the two abilities, Power Shot and Energized attacks. Also the animation from the buff from the Awakened Jacket aka Anti-Assassin Jacket and the Awakened Glasses aka Code-Stream Glasses, the clothing was cool and so was the animation but the animation to that buff really should go from this game.

Message Edited by Woreku on 09-01-2005 05:37 PM

*stands and applauds for Walrus hoping to get him to do the flipper dance*



((SOE, excellent work from one dev to another))



-Shks

ok, i've enjoyed the patch except for 1 issue



I DO NOT like getting only 1 **bleep** BIT back from decompiling something I
already know.  The skill says you'll get some bits (note the 's'
making it plural).  It's not like we really get the rare ones like
3, 7, and 8 out of them.  Second, i noticed that i decompiled a
stacked item like my pills (i had 7) and didn't get any when it was
stacked like that.

I am having trouble with twatching the cutscene, it keeps crashing the game now, hopefully this get's fixed as I have never had this problem before, I even went and uploaded the latest drivers and it still keeps crashing

That upgrade frankly sucks.



I'm not level 35+ so I won't be seeing the Pandora's Box stuff, but I
can say that as a primary Coder for my group of friends I'm greatly
displeased with the...



Stealth Nerfs.



Less xp for coders. Less code bits for breaking down some of these
least desirable loots in the game (Health Pills, Boosters, and
Antibiotics).



And now... Shutting down the Servers on Friday frickin night of Labor Day weekend.

After the excessive downtime on patch day, I hope this isn't a forecast
of how the weekend and SOE's management of Matrix Online will be be
going.

Uh, I'm actually content with the temporary shut-down of the servers. The lag in Downtown only subsided *TEMPORARILY* but it keeps biting us in the *CENSORED*.

As for improvements:

- Is there any way we can shorten the "hidden timer" on the critical missions? I keep calling my controller for a new critical mission every five seconds, but the critical mission doesn't appear until like five minutes later.

- I'm sure it's been asked before: Can we keep the Downtown lag as low as possible? It keeps jumping up and down badly

I ahve to agree, eather intentional or not, they have badly nurfed the coders, with the single bit from low level items and the number of charges from items code reduced GREATLY!! (1 or 2 charges is the most I have been getting when making clothing).

I don't mind the amount of charges being changed from 15 to a semi random number, but 1 or 2 ????

Please, everything else is great, but please fix this nerf devs (and the holy flippered one!)

I'm having a blast with the Pandora's Box and the new Critical missions -- excellent work guys!

Illyria

UM  the    missons  arnt  starting the keep saying misson  error  and  conections being jamed y cant i do  my  pandora's box misson

Message Edited by Xiose on 09-01-2005 09:43 PM

Pandoras Box is the sweetness. I was in awe at what happened when you
activate the box.  It was like a mini end of beta.  This will
keep my attention for some time.  Good work Devs!

let me see I am not that impressed by pandoras box. hey it has to be said not every 1 has to think its the best thing ever. its fun dont get me wrong but its another 5 minute wonder.

um I cant really watch the cinimatic I have the reccomended system and it stops and crashes my video card. going to see the bloke in the dungeon for the first part of the pandoras box i runn the whole dungeon fine get down to him and my video card crashes. once again.

thats it for video card crashes.

U'm I thought this thing was meant to be hard? I mean yeah the last wave is the only 1 I had a tad of trouble with on solo. I beat they other 2 yeah I had to constantly be clicking on my health pills I'm only level 48 but the last wave only just finnished me off, and I'm appauling at PVP or anything to do with fighting. I thoughtthis was meant to be difficult?

I mean they said the missions will be verry difficult and even the most advanced players will have to try atleast twice to complete the final stage before you get the pandoras object. this is miles before you get a pandoras box.

but no the reality is run a couple of slightly different missions with a few more NPCs get your self a box. (not verry difficult to do (then grab a friend or 2 or 5 and take on the waves of NPCs you can even dance whilst waiting for the next waves.

nice attempt. something a bit more challenging please. I mean how long is it untill people use this as a kind of exploit to just run the missions and stand there with 6 people all owning pandoras boxes and just getting all the clothes then people come back ehere to say whats next

this was your biggest Idea and its a weekends work for some of the gamers on here who never sleep. its a shame you had a good Idea there.

---

Anarcist wrote:

let me see I am not that impressed by pandoras box. hey it has to be said not every 1 has to think its the best thing ever. its fun dont get me wrong but its another 5 minute wonder.

---

what is life but a series of 5-minute wonders?

---

 um I cant really watch the cinimatic I have the reccomended system and it stops and crashes my video card. going to see the bloke in the dungeon for the first part of the pandoras box i runn the whole dungeon fine get down to him and my video card crashes. once again.

thats it for video card crashes.

---

get a new video card.

---

 U'm I thought this thing was meant to be hard? I mean yeah the last wave is the only 1 I had a tad of trouble with on solo. I beat they other 2 yeah I had to constantly be clicking on my health pills I'm only level 48 but the last wave only just finnished me off, and I'm appauling at PVP or anything to do with fighting. I thoughtthis was meant to be difficult?

I mean they said the missions will be verry difficult and even the most advanced players will have to try atleast twice to complete the final stage before you get the pandoras object. this is miles before you get a pandoras box.

but no the reality is run a couple of slightly different missions with a few more NPCs get your self a box. (not verry difficult to do (then grab a friend or 2 or 5 and take on the waves of NPCs you can even dance whilst waiting for the next waves.

nice attempt. something a bit more challenging please. I mean how long is it untill people use this as a kind of exploit to just run the missions and stand there with 6 people all owning pandoras boxes and just getting all the clothes then people come back ehere to say whats next

this was your biggest Idea and its a weekends work for some of the gamers on here who never sleep. its a shame you had a good Idea there.

---

wow...you finished all 4 arcs?   /applaud

some people are never happy. This month, I gladly fork over my $$. Good job on Pandora's box.

Excellent patch. Nice new emotes  (except /mimerope and /horns and /backflop dont work)...

and what is  /snoopfactionmanager and /snoopcrewmanager supposed to do? oh...and /rezid?

Maybe we'll work those out in the next patch..  /twobigfatthumbsup

Err, you were running the first arc. You know, the one which says six level 35s? I'm not too suprised a 48 could solo it.

Now, if you can go do the other three arcs, I'm sure you'll find it more challenging by the time you get to the one which needs 6 lvl 50s

---

Anarcist wrote:

U'm I thought this thing was meant to be hard? I mean yeah the last wave is the only 1 I had a tad of trouble with on solo. I beat they other 2 yeah I had to constantly be clicking on my health pills I'm only level 48 but the last wave only just finnished me off, and I'm appauling at PVP or anything to do with fighting. I thoughtthis was meant to be difficult?

I mean they said the missions will be verry difficult and even the most advanced players will have to try atleast twice to complete the final stage before you get the pandoras object. this is miles before you get a pandoras box.

but no the reality is run a couple of slightly different missions with a few more NPCs get your self a box. (not verry difficult to do (then grab a friend or 2 or 5 and take on the waves of NPCs you can even dance whilst waiting for the next waves.

---

RockyB wrote:

Err, you were running the first
arc. You know, the one which says six level 35s? I'm not too
suprised a 48 could solo it.

Now,
if you can go do the other three arcs, I'm sure you'll find it more
challenging by the time you get to the one which needs 6 lvl 50s

---

============================================================





There are 10 types of people in this world, those who understand binary and Zionist scum.








I agree wholeheartedly. (btw RockyB: I luv ur byline. lol--and I'm Zion:])

• No code bit tab in loading area: WHY MAKE IT HARDER FOR NO REASON?
• 1 Bbit from consumables: WHY? With all the pluses to coding, why
  mess with that? Please bring back normal amount of bits for decompiling
  consumables. I mean, REALLY!
• When will coding be "real"? We want to modify items so we dont look like clones when we have the best clothing, dar!
• PB is the best. Love it!
• There's
  autostack of code bits in loadingarea? Really? /scarcasm I haven't
  noticed that it happens, and I've checked. Good idea though, if it
  worked.
• I like the toned down Power Shot/Energize animations. Keep the animations, but more sutle. Cool.

It's a step in the right direction, yeah.



.

well, all i have to say is /giddiyup.

and that the patch tahkfully fixed the terrible graphics glitches I was getting after the last patch (people going invisible, the mouse disappearing).  Pandora's box was fun until I finished a segment and didn't get the next piece I was supposed to (the crucible--and I'm pretty sure my inventory wasn't full at the time). 

All in all, I'm pretty content with the patch.  Also, the code bits wern't autostacking for me, though.  Not sure the problem.  I read what someone said about not stacking if there arn't more than 2 stacks, but I think that I had a few stacks less than 20 of certain bits that didn't stack.  *shrug*

Yeah I  like this new patch but I hate the new coder nerfs 1bit
per consumable? thats madness might as well kill ever gang in the mega
city to get the correct bit needed. and my charges were made 1 and 2
for some of my items? what!? I hope they fix it soon I already am
thinking of giving up on coding

I think everyone else has mentioned my gripes, so I'll just reiterate here:



* The 1-bit return on decompiles.

* Bit-stacking only works if you have 3 or more of the same stack.

* Code bits tab

* The really low number of charges on coded items



I have a gut feeling none of these things are bugs, and that they were
all intentional for balancing issues... but if that's the case, could
we at least get a quick post from Walrus or patch notes or something to
explain the rationale behind some of them?



Griping aside, I've never coded stuff for the sake of leveling, so I
don't notice the XP change as much as the others who have posted here.
Working signal boosters and the new Coder ability has made crafting
more interesting for me. Having pertinent critical missions to run
helps too... I got the game after the previous story arcs had kinda
died off during the SOE transition.



And finally, although I realize it wasn't part of this patch, and thus
is slightly off-topic, I'm with Antcrist in that being able to talk
while coding would be a pretty major benefit, especially since those of
us who code as a side "business" need to be able to take orders while
coding.

This is whats wrong with this patch (some of these issues have been mentioned i know):

-Decompiling consumables only give you 1 codebit.

-Charges on compiled items have been extremely reduced, so you only get something like 1 charge on an enhanced item.

-The turn in for Pandora's box, arc 2, for the 2nd gi requires you to
turn in 3 caligraphy brushes for the male version, but the female
version only required tigercloth... the problem with this is, the
caligraphy brushes are like the squad leader insignia for arc 3, only 1
drops per box. So in order for you to to get the best version of the Gi
you are required to turn in a total of 4 caligraphy brushes, for the
male version, and only 1 for the female, this is bull**bleep**, it would
take a group of 5  20 runs to get that many.... i hope that isnt
how it was intended to be.

-You still havent fixed my invisibility, that so called "quickfix" that
monolith put in to reduce speed and make u unable to jump/hyperjump was
put in to make spy less effective in missions, that makes it worthless
for PvP, please fix this... it sucks.



Don't get me wrong, this is probably the first patch since the game was
released that actually made the game better instead of gradually making
it worse, theres just room for improvement, obviously.



For those wondering about the codebit tab, u dont really need it
anymore, just type /bits or click on the item/ability ur trying to
compile, and it shows u what u are missing for bits in the system chat.

Good Patch overall. Taking my time but having a blast with the Pandoras box. The critical missions are always fun (thanks for the special mission item . Cinematics are always great to see, just wanted a little more . Coding changes despite the 1bit return were awesome. Thanks to boosters I finally got some items I failed previously. (wyphy was right btw, Twitch told me the same and was coding by the satellites anyway)

Aweswome patch!  It did reduce lag in some disctrits, but not all of them. love the /bits command, and most of the Pandora's Box.  Now i hope you all will keep it updated every 3 months or so.  I mean give us whole new mission arcs, and new/better clothing.  this will make people come back!   Also this may sound disengenuis, but more things like this would be great!  I mean we a have a whole megacity lets get people to use it!

Keep up the god work guys.  I'm interested in what you have going on for the rest of the game.

No way!!  The construct bosses are supposed to be tough; orgionally you weren't supposed to kill them alone, now it it's better since you actually have to work for the items with  a group

well yes they are meant to be hard, but what im saying is, they were a good source of exp, not they wont be. this means that u have to do missions, access nodes, grinding and whatever else, which gets boring real fast.  you just do the same things, over and over. u do that in construct, but u get decent money, good xp, and good items sometimes  for it.

Message Edited by Xiven on 09-06-2005 03:23 AM

I think that the balance on archives is off. It used to be that if you got together a small group of people that weren't at the max level for the archive, they could take out the boss reliably every time. That was probably too easy. But now taking out the boss is nearly impossible - I literally haven't seen it done since the update. I know some folks have, but it's mostly teams of at least three who are at the max level for the archive.

There ought to be a happy medium somewhere between the way things were before and the way they are now.

Another problem that's come up with the patch is that NPCs have a tendency to get jammed - I think there are two ideas of where the NPC is in the code somewhere, and when a correction happens, the NPC heals all of the damage you've done to it and becomes impossible to hit. It is now impossible to hit a character like that with a stealth attack, because in order to get them to unglitch you have to get them to notice you, at which point they attack, at which point if you are a stealth character, you're dead. This happens sometimes in the archives, and a lot in exile hideouts. If you go behind the Hampton Green Hotel, there are NPCs there who literally are impossible to ever hit. Fortunately they also never notice you.

Like many others, I also really like this update, but there are a few bugs to iron out yet. :')

"I think that the balance on archives is off. It used to be that if you got together a small group of people that weren't at the max level for the archive, they could take out the boss reliably every time. That was probably too easy. But now taking out the boss is nearly impossible - I literally haven't seen it done since the update. I know some folks have, but it's mostly teams of at least three who are at the max level for the archive.

There ought to be a happy medium somewhere between the way things were before and the way they are now."

Constructs are supposed to be hard, that's why the bosses are 10 - 15 levels higher than the max level for each construct.  Plus the clothes you can get from them are great not to mention the many red frags.  They were never meant to be kill by one person alone, that's why they give good XP and sometimes $Info.  The bosses CAN be killed they way they are now, it just takes some planning instead of brute strength.  They are fine the way they are.

As for missions, it's the fastest way to leve.  Monolith/WB/Ubisoft/Sega all said when the game was being made it was the major part of level development.  It's a grind that everyone has to do, get over it.

"Another problem that's come up with the patch is that NPCs have a tendency to get jammed - I think there are two ideas of where the NPC is in the code somewhere, and when a correction happens, the NPC heals all of the damage you've done to it and becomes impossible to hit. It is now impossible to hit a character like that with a stealth attack, because in order to get them to unglitch you have to get them to notice you, at which point they attack, at which point if you are a stealth character, you're dead. This happens sometimes in the archives, and a lot in exile hideouts. If you go behind the Hampton Green Hotel, there are NPCs there who literally are impossible to ever hit. Fortunately they also never notice you."

Yea evade combat bug still isn't fixed.  Maybe the next patch will fix it.

This is a great patch. The lag is mostly fixed Downtown, even if not completely, at least it's playable again. The new missions were interesting, and the bugged contact, Opperetta is now playable. And best of all, there's a new feature that has an interesting plot and great buffed clothing.

Message Edited by Megaritz on 09-06-2005 05:17 PM

Id have to agree with Unholyfactions the archive is supposed to be a really tough challenge what is the point of going in solo killing him over and over again anyway im no hacker and i refuse to hack but I know some hackers and they stayed in the archives log in till log out just to try and get the item but the boss would appear and then bout 30secs later dead wait for respawn, I myself dont see the point in it. U say that missions r boring Id say archives r boring and im speaking from alot of experience with ppl falling asleep while trying to get items with the VD boost now hackers finally get a challenge and it forces teamwork. Archives r fun the bit i dont like is the fact that u have to be a hacker to beat the boss cause I love a challenge ask any1 that knows me if I see an agent running I jump in the same with archive bosses Im right in there.

P.S  What really needs to happen is hackers need to be weakened

So, to be clear, I didn't say that the archives should go back to being easy. I said that I don't think they're balanced. There are a bunch of reasons, one of which is that when you attack the boss, it's not unusual for him to spontaneously regenerate all his hit points. But another is that in general I literally just can't hit the boss at all now, even with major buffs. So it's not the case that it's doable now - no matter how big your team is, if nobody can hit the boss, there's no way to win. At this point you pretty much have to be at the top level for the archive, and be there with several friends at that level. There is simply no hope for you if you are not at the top level. Also, when you have a gang that size, the bosses don't drop often enough for it to be worth the effort. This is my point - the economics are off now, and there's really no reason to go into the constructs anymore. They've been deserted since the change, whereas we used to have a lot of fun in them. I think this is a shame, particularly for characters who are not yet at level 35 where Pandoras' boxes start to be interesting.

Oh, another thing - it looks like rez doesn't work anymore in the archives. This is just a pain in the neck - it means that you have to go through the whole trip of going back to the archivist, waiting up to five minutes, and finally you get back into the archive where you can rejoin your team. Also, books seem to die much quicker now. So in general it's unlikely that you'll make back the cost of your book before it's toasted if you are trying to take out the boss, because it's much harder now and you have to use the book so much. It's become routine to lose my book since the patch - before that I'd lose it often enough to notice, but not so often that it became a serious drain on my $i.

The economics of the game seem very different now - I'm always poor, whereas before I usually had enough to at least upgrade my skills within a few missions of leveling. Again, the change doesn't seem balanced.

Personally I feel that now that archive bosses are harder to kill (which they certainly should be) the rate they drop the "rare" loot should now be increased to match the difficulty. So the 0.05% chance or so for a bandana to drop, for example, should now be raised to say 75% That alone will encourage people to team up and use the archives. Even if their original purpose was for PvP and not getting loot >_>

"Oh, another thing - it looks like rez doesn't work anymore in the archives. This is just a pain in the neck - it means that you have to go through the whole trip of going back to the archivist, waiting up to five minutes, and finally you get back into the archive where you can rejoin your team. Also, books seem to die much quicker now. So in general it's unlikely that you'll make back the cost of your book before it's toasted if you are trying to take out the boss, because it's much harder now and you have to use the book so much. It's become routine to lose my book since the patch - before that I'd lose it often enough to notice, but not so often that it became a serious drain on my $i."

Revive is probably a bug.  send in a petition next time to let the devs know about it. they might be able to fix it in a future patch, and we've discussed evade combat bug.  That definately needs fixed, Monolith was working on it who know what they got done.

Archive books don't cost that much, start conserving your info so you'll have it for later on or ask your crew/faction for a loan.

The economics of the game seem very different now - I'm always poor, whereas before I usually had enough to at least upgrade my skills within a few missions of leveling. Again, the change doesn't seem balanced. "

Easy - Small missions help you gain money.  do some of those if you're looking to earn info quickly, for XP Easy - Large.

Yes drop rates should be adjusted in archives.  Also boss respawns.  I hate wating an hour in a hide out for the boss to come back.  they need to let the boss respawn like the others, but reduce the chance of dropping enhanced items that way it will balance out that way.

You might as well go back home for all the good your doing here, every
update brings worse and worse crashes, and bugs. And I' sick of trying
to keep the faith.