Varlyndria: Ascension - Fall of the Gods Expansion - Fall 2013
 

With this expansion, I am going to focus on the storyline more. I want to explain in quests/tasks the story of how the Ascension came to be, what Voldroth did to cause it and how the old dying gods are going to do whatever they can to help Varlyndria defeat the new wretched factions of the world and hopefully restore their power back from the clutches of the Evil Dragon God, Voldroth the Destroyer - Son of Veeshan and brother to Varlyn and Dria the Dragon Goddesses who protect Norrath now.

Expect to see some changes in Toskirakk and a quest line that starts there and spreads out to various areas and more. The details are small right now but I have some big plans to get the server back on track. As you can see from the current changes, I have made all the older zones the way they are so players can bleed out every single thing they can out of them and get to the point where they can't go any further. 4000+ Gearscore is not easy to get right now in the current game, but it's not impossible. This is a huge goal in its self for everybody to strive for so they can be right there and ready for the new expansion.

It's as simple as this: You achieve 4k GS you're top the line right now with everybody else. It's a balancing act that will hopefully get everything where it needs to be and fix the economy when FotG releases.


More info coming later.

SPEED FIX 08/28/13

4000+ Gear Score is possible but it was almost impossible with the old mechanics of
the server. Here are some solid fixes to speed things up and make your time on Varlyndria
more enjoyable.

• Permanently increased the amount of experience players gain from killing mobs to 1.0 up
from 0.2. The server seemed really slow paced so we decided to speed it up so players can
get into it much quicker and enjoy themselves with a steady amount of progress.

• Enemies now drop roughly 20% more money then they did before.

• Increased the dedication point price of experience potions to 2500, 5000, 7500, 10000,
12500 and 15000. This change was made because of the new experience mod. Players will
need to spend lots of money on 300% potions now because the amount of AA they can gain
will be insane.

• Overlords AND Bosses now have a 35% chance to spawn up from 10-25%.

• Removed the Treasure Keeper. These special boss items need to be found again. Players still
have things to spend their AA points on like augments and getting their attributes up.

• The bazaar is still down until we can get the very game-breaking bug we found fixed. We are
still looking into it.

Emergency fix.

1.0 exp mod got too many complaints of easy mode so turned experience down to 0.3 Exp mod used to be 0.2.

EDIT: Would be awesome if I could edit my post at anytime instead having to post over and over. (that's why it happens if you didn't know already) I don't like doing that at all but no choice on these boards. I also feel other developers who are moderators have advantages in that way that others do not.

Of course people who are moderators are going to have advantages that others do not. This is a forum for the EQEmu project in its entirety. Server specific things are allowed here, more than 80% of anything server specific belongs on it's own forums or communication medium

It's not an extreme measure or disadvantage to ask a forum moderator to take care of something for you outside of your own forums.

Since this has bothered me in the past, I have raised the global forum 'Time Limit on Editing of Posts' to a day instead of 1 hour.

Hopefully that helps. :-D

Yeah. One day helps a bit more..

Going to be taking a break and getting away from this for a little bit to clear my head. The server's not going anywhere but I am just really stressed out right now about a lot of things.

Thanks for your help Akkadius.

You are burning yourself out man! Stop listening to everyone's opinion about your server. It's your sandbox, design it to how you would want it as a player. You can't make everybody 100% happy so do what YOU think you would like. Keep up the great work.

Yeah, don't listen to the nay-sayers (Especially here, I've noticed a couple of people that like to bash on you specifically on these forums)

However, I do think it would be a good idea to let people know what your vision is so you can just say "Oh yeah, read that post and STFU" :D

I appreciate the support guys, it makes me feel a little bit better.

Here is a post about things that are going on right now and an apology for the rough alpha so far:

Click Here

EDIT: All enemies no longer summon players to them anymore. It caused too many issues with ping ponging around
for casters.

UPDATE 08/30/13 - MORE COMING SOON


GENERAL FIXES
• Your characters now earn dedication points based on their Gear Score. Dedication points
start at 5 and go up by 2 for each 250 points of Gear Score you have earned. This change
was to keep the flow of progression solid and reward players for getting stronger by giving
them access to higher and higher dedication items they can use at a much faster pace.

• Moozilla's Breastplate now works correctly but you need to unequip it and log out and put it
back on for the effect to work. If this doesn't work message a GM and have them get you a
new one which will work for you. (tested)


CHALLENGE FIXES (SERVER NEEDED MORE CHALLENGE/COWBELL)

• Items now have less mana and endurance and way less regeneration to bring back some
challenge to the game with spells and disciplines not being unlimited.

• All enemies now give heroic points based on their HP. The formula is
Enemy HP /5000. Bosses/Overlords no longer give what they used to.
This change is so players can start earning these points for donator
items early on and balances them based on hp now. Only PR2 or higher
mobs give heroic points. If you fight any normal or PR1 mobs you will
see that you earned 0.

• All normal non-custom zones are back to 1.0 experience up from 0.1 because of the fix to
mass zone pulls with mobs summoning players.

• Reduced the exp mod of the old raid style zones to normal exp zones
as it should of been since they aren't raids any longer.

• Demolisher of Dreams now has a 25% chance to drop his unholy relic
down from 100% because of his new spawn chance.

• Increased the experience mod up to 0.4 up from 0.3 because of the summon changes.

• The Regeneration PER tick is once again back at 5% instead of 10%. Downtime was just too
fast with 10%. This is also another challenge brought back into the game.

NEW CONTENT COMING SUNDAY! ADVENTURE INTO OLD SEBILIS AND SEE WHAT HAPPENED TO THE FROGLOKS!

http://www.weebly.com/uploads/1/1/2/...82384_orig.png




QUICK FIXES - SERVER RESTART 08/30/13

• That summoning change has been reverted. It made almost everything
impossible to solo for casters.

• Reduced the aggro radius of mobs to 30 down from 60+.

• Mana and Endurance on items has been increased by 30%. The last change over-nerfed mana/end too much.
This should make things a bit better but not crazy like it used to be.

NEW AUCTIONEER! YES! AN AUCTION HOUSE!

Natedog's amazing creation! Come check this out in our bazaar!

http://i76.servimg.com/u/f76/18/49/67/08/auctio11.jpg

NOTE: This auctioneer has all the items you posted before with the last custom bazaar!


EDIT: Natedog is hard at work to bring more features to this badboy like searching for stats
and more. The awesome thing about this guy is he is able to be changed on the fly with no
source code to deal with! More to come!



HERE COMES SEBILIS LIKE YOU'VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE! ARE YOU READY!?

The server will be coming down later this evening to release the new Sebilis zone that
will surely challenge a group of 3000+ Gear Scored characters.

Sebilis is going to have less drops per kill than other dungeons to make the new tier very
sought after and only bosses will drop the good loot this time around. However, the trash
mobs will drop quest items and there will be a lot of quests in this place. Also, there are 8
bosses to find and 17 different types of mobs in here to challenge you to the fullest. Many
npcs in this place are loaded with path abilities and if you dare try to run and collect them
up you'll be in for a world of hurt. It's advised to come into this place with a group of friends
lest ye meet your certain doom.

http://www.weebly.com/uploads/1/1/2/...38671_orig.png

http://www.weebly.com/uploads/1/1/2/...68763_orig.png

http://www.weebly.com/uploads/1/1/2/...54286_orig.png

I've put a lot of work into The Ruins of Sebilis to make sure it's challenging, fun and loaded with content. This group dungeon will be live later today.
I had to hold it back a bit from its normal launch date for many reasons.

Sebilis is live! Enjoy all and have fun.

This new dungeon is hard! Just saw a sunbearer AND thane get iced. Can't wait for more players to get on for a full group. Looks like you have a winner here!

Spellblades in Sebilis no longer stack buffs and one shot you. This is not a nerf to the zone's damage and challenge. I won't touch that unless it's 100% impossible to get through. I want this place to challenge all those who said Varlyndria was too easy and no content. Seriously, jump in and give it a whirl now and bring friends. 3000-4000 GS toons will be tested to their limits.

Looking pretty neat Drak :D

Thanks man. Appreciate it. I'm doing what I can to make things a lot more fun for everybody and challenge them to the fullest. The server was lacking that for a while but sebilis has surely changed that.

I'll need to stop over and say hi on Akka's Funhouse sometime. Good job on it.
Must of taken you a good deal of work to get all that in. Don't burn out. Sound advice for any dev.

You need to take your own advice, I've been doing this for going on 6 years, I've experienced the ups and downs and serious disappointments of putting your heart and soul into a project that has dwindling results. I've been through serious amounts of stress, I've absolutely busted my ass for this community and not just my own projects while maintaining an absolutely jam packed schedule. I think I've learned the heard way to manage my own, as you are now.

The reason why I'm responding in this fashion is because I wasn't happy to find out AFTER I just posted in this thread for gods sake that YOU were the one trolling my thread I cleaned up. I don't appreciate someone who is trying to be a community advocate, complaining over other developers having 'advantages' when you pull shit like signing into another username and post on my expansion thread that everyone in EQEmu thinks that I post too much, are you fucking kidding me?

http://www.eqemulator.org/forums/sho...954#post223954

You make minor posts in your thread EVERY day and I get complaints about it from folks, and do you know what I say? I say 'He's pouring his heart into a project and he is just wanting to get people to know about it'. But no, you had to do that on my one fucking post I've made since hmmm, years?

You really need to watch your shit because you're walking a fine line with someone who you really shouldn't. I do NOT deserve that kind of bullshit.

You have reaped EXTREMELY EXTREMELY cheap hosting through my 'community hosting' because I have decided to give back to the community once AGAIN through offering such cheap hosting, go somewhere else your equivalence is creeping $200 unless you cheap out on a VPS. I host several EQEmu servers that I don't need to name off.

I've bailed you out of piss poor management with your source and database. I've helped you many times for damn near nothing, expecting nothing in return. But when I get this, it is really hard for someone not to get a bit urked about.

Donations are your business but when you wonder why players are getting pissed off about them you need to take MY advice and listen to their concerns, what they feel and see is the perception of the reality.

And no, this is not me taking a power trip. This is not me parading with a seemingly active server recently. I really do NOT care about the latter, because I do not ever bend my integrity or trust. If I was that kind of asshat - I do host your server don't I (Fill in the blank here)?

My server may be active right now, but that could change tomorrow, that could change next week, it is what it is! Whatever happens happens! Hopefully my playerbase enjoys it and if they don't that is totally their choice and my fault for not delivering or listening to what they were trying to say from the beginning.

You are a community figure and you need to stop acting like a snake, it will get you NO where.

You're right. You didn't deserve that. I sit here daily working my ass off to the fucking bone as hard as I possibly can and you make a video of the angel statue (dedication vendor) DYING in your video as a personal attack against my server. You wonder why I got a little pissed off at you. I did fucking nothing to you man yet you attack me personally? I'm sorry for being an asshole and sneaking around. I admit I did it but maybe I am stressed beyond fucking comprehension right now. No excuses. I had utter respect for you in every possible way until I saw that video personally attacking me and obviously a plan to steal away everything I worked for. Sure, maybe some of the changes lately were not agreed on but I am trying to get things together on the server. The stress levels I am under makes me want to quit all together.


EDIT: Dude, I sound like the biggest asshole right now but I took it personally what you did in that video. I think it was intentional. Can you seriously tell me it wasn't?

Dude, listen to yourself, you sound like a crazy person. My video has NOTHING to do with your server. I would NEVER make a slander on another server, after all, I'VE HELPED EVERY MAJOR SERVER OUT OF MY OWN SELFLESSNESS, every single one. And I don't even know what the FUCK you are talking about with a dedication vendor. It has EVERYTHING to do with my new content maybe?

Maybe the fact that there are over 20 'Angel of Dreams' in the starring zone for Visions of Morell?

You really need to wake up bud, you took but 5 minutes to respond to that hunk of glory I posted which tells me you are not thinking about what you are doing, you need to stop and really listen to not just me but others. You are contributing directly to your own stress which further concludes my claim that you need to step back and get your perspective back for your health. I went through the same exact thing.

Do you have the required copyright behind those angels to make sure they are actually your property and are in fact a dedication vendor?

You're an egoistical freak and slightly insane if you think an SOE model is your own 'dedication vendor'. Furthermore, you're delving way into an idea that you fabricated in your head. I can't even begin to understand how using a character model is a direct attack against your server short of you being paranoid that everyone is out to get you and fabricated some sort of sob story to make yourself feel better. Akkadius even GAVE you hosting. He could've ended it at any time. You should be happy for that.

Well, if you keep dreaming it, and acting like your insanity is reality, it will soon become reality.

I demand rights to flame any server that uses crushbone orc model! Obviously since I use the model, anyone who makes another server where the orcs are attackable is personally attacking me.... /rolls eyes

The amount of childness in this thread from a certain individual (not Akka) is astounding.

-Vaion

I admit I was an asshole to Akkadius. I live up to it. Did I mean it though or want to cause him any grief? No. I'm sorry for what was said and my actions. This is honestly not like me at all. I feel I have changed over the months from the stress.. trying to keep a server up and only having a couple people who help me. I appreciate everything you did secrets, natedog, akkadius and others.

EDIT: The shit with the angels.. you're right.. it's childish of me to even think that way. But yeah, I blame it on the stress I have been under lately with not only the server but some real life events that haven't helped matters. Like seeing one of your family members get sick...


Am I okay mentally right now knowing all this is happening in my life? I've been better...

Does it make me make stupid choices and irrational decisions in my thought process or take things personally? Yes absolutely.

Is Varlyndria done for? I don't want it to be. I really don't.. I worked too hard on it to just give up.

This is one of the saddest bs I've ever seen on emu. Akkadius is a great person, always helpful, trustful and fair, a true friend. Someone must be really miserable and ill minded to backstab a guy like him. :mad:

Seeing your posts Drakiyth, you must have some serious RL issues. I know nothing about that so not judging you but if you want to be part of this community, try to have fun and most importantly provide fun to others and leave your shit outside.

Sorry about my french! Just really pisses me off to see Akka treated like this. :???:

I agree. Yeah.. I have some issues outside for sure. Once again i can't apologize enough for my irrational actions in this. Akkadius didn't deserve anything I said.

Actually Drak, it kinda is. Except for the "kinda." You do tend to vacillate between egomaniacal demigod mode and spite-filled teenager mode quite often. Once in a blue moon you can be vaguely reasonable, but that doesn't last long. This behavior you're exhibiting isn't new, it's simply the same old same old amplified and put down where it can't be erased and forgotten.

Let me remind you that the weight of the world is not on your shoulders. You're tinkering with an emu server here, not working up a cure for cancer. Protests that you've got a rough life and are sacrificing your incalculably valuable time for the good of the community by slaving for hours to produce a shining gem in a sea of mediocrity aren't exactly the way to go.

You recently responded to someone who accused you of being schizophrenic by saying that you weren't delusional. That's kind of like responding to "Do you like Beethoven?" with "No, I'm not even hungry." Hate to break it to you sunshine, but anyone who thinks that they're going to make a living running an emu server is most assuredly delusional. Your behavior is at best delusional, and I strongly suspect a certain amount of bipolar disorder.

I know, on the internet (and real life) that anyone hinting vaguely that someone isn't on the right path is engaging in negative and vindictive behavior. I assure you that this post is not made to tear you down, you've done enough to that end on your own with no help. This is a wake up call mate.

TL;DR? Get your personal issues under control before engaging with the public, either online or in public.

Well said.

Drakiyth, the sooner you realize that EQ Emu servers are all part of the same community and really not in direct competition with each other the better off you will be.

Trolling Akkadius is probably the dumbest thing you could do... He really should not have to waste his time with that.

Kayen
GM Storm Haven

For most servers I would agree with you but when the core of your server is donations, then people playing on other servers hits you directly in the pocket book.

I think its pretty clear Drak is unemployed or underemployed, had a good run on donations when his server was fresh and he is now feeling the squeeze.

At the very least, hopefully you can keep all of your server update spam on your server website now.

I want to claim the rights to all the Gnoll models while they still available ;)

This whole thing starts to looks like another King Mort venue...

Makes me quite sad to see this.. /cleanup

Wow....


I thought I was bad.

P.S

Lillu, welcome to EQEmu forums, it's been a while.

You wanna do what to my fudge?

Anyway, I've already started on it, I just hate worldspawning.

No I switch databases often because I like to make sure nothing breaks.

http://memecrunch.com/meme/B7P1/not-...king/image.png

Stress can make you behave erratically sometimes, but I don't believe Akkadius deserved any of this from the sounds of it. You honestly opened up a can of worms by letting it get to you in the first place regardless of Akkadius did something to directly try to irritate you by admitting it.

People are far more inclined and likely to lightly jokingly or harshly intentionally spitefully mock your server and forum name now than they were before. You unintentionally invited unwanted attention upon yourself. It's kind of sad, but it's the truth you shouldn't throw stones if you live in a glass house.

Word of advice don't burning bridges you might need cross in the future or you might just be making things harder on yourself and be in for a rude awakening and everything that glistens is not gold. I don't think you need to give up on your server, but you probably want to re-access your approach to it if there is too much unwarranted stress right now to deal with surrounding and tied to it all.

He absolutely DID NOT deserve that. I've already apologized for everything that happened to him over personal text, these forums and everything else. I made a mistake. There is nothing else I can do but just hope people can understand that and move on. I am not a villain or bad-guy. I was just irrational from an ass-load of stress and took it out on Akkadius unfairly because of his success. I let my ego get the best of me and lost all sense of the word "Humble". I've learned to just accept things and to stop with the bullshit rising to the top and trying to be the best.

It's all about who can be the most humble wins in this world not who has the most players or who can be the biggest douchebag (which I was in this case).. I wish I could do even half of what he can. He's a marvel of emu. I should of just looked up to him instead of get down on him. He has helped me more than you can imagine and is a wonderful human being.

With that said, can we please get this mess cleaned up so people don't have to see 5 posts of Varlyndria? I want to see other servers in those threads. Not mine.. I have a lot of work to do on mine and I need to shape it up but that also requires players still having some kind of faith in me. I don't even want to post on here anymore until I know for sure it's going to be a humble one that has a big update with well thought-out changes, and even then, I will hardly post in that thread. I'm done with the lime-light stuff. I don't want to be there anymore but I want players to know the server exists and I am trying hard to keep it alive.

I'm sorry once again for everything.