Postive things about patch!!!Follow

Okies.

You guys have had your thread to ***** about the "negative" aspects regarding the patch. I actually think that the patch is pretty darn cool. I haven't experienced any problems targeting, or the fog. I did get stuck on a ladder but the problem was solved simply by logging and then re-entering eq.

The differences in the skies look really cool. The graphics seem a bit more crisp. No lag problems that I saw. I have an Nvidia card (64mb geforce something or other) and even downloading the new driver was a piece of cake.

I would like to say congratulations to SOE for a job well done! Progress sometimes causes some pain and they will fix the bugs in due time.

Fordd
Level 33 Enchanter
Bristlebane

Edited, Wed Mar 24 13:10:02 2004 by bubspeed

I think the patch would be worth it just to have the starry skies.

I haven't seen any of the problems that others are complaining about(cross my fingers, knock on wood). The graphics are a lot better, I love the fact that they finally fixed the gamma slider so you can see when you're in window mode again, Yay! for that change. Some of the new armor graphics are excellent(I especially like the new vah shir chain look). I've noticed the general fog, but it doesn't seem to be as bad for me as others, and I'm sure SOE will fix the problem in an upcoming patch(remember, patience is a virtue). The only problems I have with targetting are ones that I've always had(those darn skeletons are too skinny, the only way I can reliably target them is to click on thier skulls), so I'd have to say all in all, good patch so far, I'm impressed.

Another positive aspect of the patch is that you can push mobs through the wall, they regen (in wall where you can't hit or cast on them), and they come back and own the raid.

Also, the mob can push the tank through the wall, the tank will head to the safe point in the zone, and the raid gets owned.

Thanks Sony! It adds flavor to the game.

I'll throw in my appreciation for the latest patch. The improvement to the sky, both day and night, is nothing short of outstanding. Watching the distant moon slowly creep across the sky, in a backdrop of tiny stars, was amazing.

I also noticed my fewer framerate problems in bazaar and the PoK. I have a geforce 5900 ultra 256MB card, but previously I had to take my clip plane to 0% to get my framerate to a managable state in bazaar. I downloaded the latest drivers and now, with clip plane at 100%, cruising through bazaar is nearly flawless. Also noticed that the way objects at the extent of the clip plane come into view seems to be much smoother. The graphics overall seem a little clearer and crisper, but that's just my perception.

I've not played much since the patch (mostly cruising through bazaar, PoK, and some in Gfay/Lfay/steamfont) so I haven't had a chance to put the new targetting system through its paces. I did notice what I assume people are referring to as "the fog" but it seemed like it was only foggy at a distance (which makes sense) and, it seemed like it was only really foggy at daybreak, and it seemed to clear up as the day wore on. Again, that may just been my perception in a limited amount of time in Faydwer.

Also looking forward to seeing the line of sight (LoS) changes. That has always annoyed my ranger, especially in dungeons.

Overall, a good patch I think (although my sympathies to those who aren't having such an easy time with it), and certainly makes me look forward to seeing the finished product with the new engine.

Well, after a few hours stuggle, I took one look at the stars in North Ro and headed my butt straight up to PoT for the sunrise.

Awesome

Then down to EW to refresh my FG Beard - again awesome - yup its all weather, but the snow and watching the sun come up .. again...


Can't wait for the rest.


../wonders how many screenshots got taken last night

Hey. They changed the portin from Pok to nexus so that you're actually facing down the tunnel instead of back at the darn book. That's good enough for me right there... ;

Any issues with performace regarding particle effects? I'd like to turn them back on sometime, but not at the sacrifice of 60% drop in framerate. I'm loading it up on my desktop (Radeon 9600 256mb) right now, will do the laptop later.

Loving the sunrise/sunset effects...can almost tell what time of day it is now with out using /time. The colors in zone actually reflect whether it's noon, sunset, or night. I'm totally happy with the graphics part of the patch. I'm just hating the fact my horsey gets stuck on places like small steps around BoT zone. lol

I intalled the latest drivers for my GeForce FX 5600 256MB Video card, and DirectX 9.0b (even though I already had DirectX 9.0 it didn't work) and my system froze up right after the "checking for updates" window finished it's thing and I hit play. I had to manually shut down my computer and restart it three times.
But after reinstalling the older drivers for my video card everything loaded fine. After such a frustrating attempt to get things working, I have to say I was TOTALLY impressed. The sky is beautiful, I've not had any lag anywhere (although zoning times went up for me), the terrain models look MUCH better and overall I'm extremely happy with the changes. I can't wait to see what's coming next for the graphics engine.


Edit: I almost forgot to mention it, but my friend that plays a Halfling Cleric said he's had to jump up steps a LOT more since the changes. Personally, I think it's funny to watch him jump up the stairs I have no problem navigating. :-)

Edited, Thu Mar 25 07:37:49 2004 by TheWingedLancer

Well put...nice to know that SOE will "weed us out" after we have paid for the game, paid monthly to play and have invested vast amounts of time when our machines meet the recommended on each software upgrade we purchsed.

So I have two machines, 2 accounts and one is fine but the other looks like it will be one of the "weeded out".

Those of you who do not care and just think we should all shut up and buy new equipment obviosly do not understand the real world, financial obligations, raising a family or any of the other things that do take priority over playing a video game. This is not a new game but one we have owned and invested in for 5 years. They have EQ2 coming out and every right to make that require higher performance equipemnt. Leave us alone and let us continue to play without stars.

<And no, I am not going to take this to another thread...the weeding out comment was here and that is what I am addressing.>

The patch atually made any lag that I had nonexistant. I used to have to turn the clip plane all the way down and stare at the ground in PoK or Baz...but now I can walk with my head up. <pats self on back>

Yeah, I thought that my bazaar lag had decreased too, but then I realized that there were just a lot fewer people in the bazaar at the time. Might want to wait and see if you have less lag once the bazaar gets full...if it does again. I know many who cannot get their second PC on so their bazaar mule is out of order. Many people had lesser equiped PCs as their second for bazaar, etc.

Once again, I will have to disagree. Very few people play EQ for the graphics. They play for the game itself...and that can evolve without requiring hardware upgrades. Change and evolution is good...but the truth is that when people buy this game they expect it to run on their PC...which meets the requirements stated on the package. Period. When they make an arbitrary change that cuts out a percentage of the playing population (which, by the way might be friends and guildies of yours who you value and will miss if they cannot get back in the game)that is wrong and it hurts all of us. It hurts me because many of my friends are older married people who have other things to spend their money on than upgrading their pc.

They are currently developing EQ2. That game can require whatever hardware they want to set for it. They can write the code to take advantage of the cutting edge for all I care. If my PC won't run it I won't buy it. I bought EQ 1 and all of the subsequent expansions (1 at a time for top dollar...not some bundle package deal) and it is not wrong for me to expect it to play on the system I bought it for.

I had to add one more thing...as for competing...EQ has always been behind the curve when it comes to flashy graphics, etc. DOAC and even Ashrons was better. It is the nature and playability of the game that keeps people and makes them come back. I left for DOAC...it looked better then than EQ does now. I still came back...as has many others. So if that is what this is...they would rather lose hundreds or thousands of loyal custoemrs to TRY to attract more??? Does not make any sense at all. Their EQ2 should be ther competing product.

Edited, Thu Mar 25 17:13:41 2004 by lhuffman