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Artha
09-08-2003, 07:11 PM
GEMSTONE IV LIVE LAUNCH

GemStone IV may be launched as soon as a month from September 15th. We have some surprises that are planned for you, some of which we will keep secret.

However, a couple are either appropriate to announce at this time, or are necessary to announce at this time (so that you can take advantage of them.

Our Gift to You (Thank you for your loyalty):

Starting on the day that GemStone IV is launched, and extending 45 days after that, all basic characters who have been billed at least once will be granted a 1.5x experience multiplier. The multiplier will expire 45 days after GemStone IV is launched. (To be clear: NOT 45 days after the character first logs in.) Characters who have been a premium member for at least thirty days prior to the GemStone IV launch will receive a 2x multiplier until it expires 45 days after the GemStone IV launch. (To be clear: NOT 45 days after the character first logs in.)

GS3 to GS4 Level Adjustment:

As we have completed our auto-converter, a few problems have come to light:

First, we have made significant adjustments to the Rogue profession. It's clear at this time that in many ways Rogues have been the Masters-Of-All-Trades. As a result, their skill costs have been increased in order to balance them more appropriately to other classes. The result of this is that the Rogues in many of our test cases (particularly Rogues that were very HEAVILY oriented towards magic) were unable to meet all of their ratios.

Second, we have known for a long time that there would be difficulties with Semi conversions. The fact that Semis were once single-trained spell users, combined with the new experience curve, has resulted in Semi's losing more spells than we're happy about. Unfortunately, after serious discussion, there was little that could be done about this loss.

Third, no matter what profession, there are those who have created unusual characters (you call them mutants) that simply will not convert into GemStone IV without experiencing some loss.

We understand that it is not fun to lose abilities that you earned, so in order to try to defray some of that loss, we will be granting all existing characters two levels worth of experience based on the character's level. This will be two full levels worth of experience, NOT just enough experience to gain two levels. This experience reward will be granted AFTER the character is auto-converted.

By our calculations, we expect that users will earn AT MINIMUM, three levels with the multiplier mentioned above alone. When added to the flat two levels of experience, MOST users will experience an overall gain.

This message was originally posted in The Next Generation of GemStone, Discussions about the new GemStone. To discuss the above follow the link below.

Link (http://www.play.net/forums/messages.asp?forum=30&category=101&topic=3&message =9990)

Artha
09-08-2003, 07:12 PM
From the same post:

COMBAT SYSTEM CHANGES

This evening we will be taking down both test instances in order to roll in many changes to combat. These changes include, but are not limited to:

* Evade, Block, Parry -- as well as the incorporation of the dodge skill.
* Revisions to criticals to be less dependent upon weapon Damage Factors.
* Changes to encourage the use of lighter armors.
* Changes to STANCE to make more stances useful in combat.
* Changes to Ambush to reduce a target's stance, but with less lethality compared to the current version.
* Improvements for lighter weapons to make them more appealing. (Faster RT)
* Revised 2 weapon combat handling
* Introduction of spell caster staves for defenses to offer alternative to weapon/shield approach.
* Adjustments to AS/DS modifying spells as required by other combat changes.
* Adjustments to shields

For more information consult:
http://www.play.net/gs3/news/gemstone_iv/combat.asp

A shop in town square central will be made available for those who wish to purchase staves or one of the new shield types for testing.

PLEASE NOTE: None of the creatures in the game have been updated yet, so testing against creatures will not yield the results that you would expect. A more accurate test of the combat system at this stage would involve PvP.

PLEASE DO NOT ATTACK SOMEONE WITHOUT THEIR PERMISSION.

Adhara
09-08-2003, 07:29 PM
I hate reading the official boards so I haven't kept up with all of this so if someone could answer my question I'd appreciate.

This 2 levels' worth of experience they mention, is that only for those who use the auto convert instead of manually reallocating? Or is it for everyone?

Taernath
09-08-2003, 07:36 PM
Starting on the day that GemStone IV is launched, and extending 45 days after that, all basic characters who have been billed at least once will be granted a 1.5x experience multiplier. The multiplier will expire 45 days after GemStone IV is launched. (To be clear: NOT 45 days after the character first logs in.) Characters who have been a premium member for at least thirty days prior to the GemStone IV launch will receive a 2x multiplier until it expires 45 days after the GemStone IV launch. (To be clear: NOT 45 days after the character first logs in.)

DAMN IT!! I won't have internet access for a couple months.

StrayRogue
09-08-2003, 07:36 PM
Originally posted by Adhara
I hate reading the official boards so I haven't kept up with all of this so if someone could answer my question I'd appreciate.

This 2 levels' worth of experience they mention, is that only for those who use the auto convert instead of manually reallocating? Or is it for everyone?

Well people below lvl 28 gain one level automatically. They feel the 2x exp modifier will also grant us some levels.

This paragraph is perhaps the most crucial one however:

We understand that it is not fun to lose abilities that you earned, so in order to try to defray some of that loss, we will be granting all existing characters two levels worth of experience based on the character's level. This will be two full levels worth of experience, NOT just enough experience to gain two levels. This experience reward will be granted AFTER the character is auto-converted.

All existing characters. So I think yes, even those who do not go through the autoconverter.

theotherjohn
09-08-2003, 07:49 PM
anyone want to take a bet that Simu will push back the release date so that more people will be able to join premium?

Edaarin
09-08-2003, 11:34 PM
It works out to something like a 3 level difference (for me anyway) if you get 10k worth of exp (before modifiers) per day over the 45 days, between premie and regular. Like, 450k exp worth in GS III translates to 675k for the 1.5x modifier and 900k for the 2x modifier. Just have to ask yourself, is that extra 225k (like 180 hours) worth the extra $20?

Then again, not many people are going to be powerhunting like that.

longshot
09-09-2003, 10:08 AM
That's an insane amount of hunting

Taernath
09-09-2003, 12:05 PM
Do the modifiers translate into actually earning more experience per kill, or are they more like RP awards, where you just absorb faster?

CrystalTears
09-09-2003, 12:08 PM
If they are anything like when they moved over to the web, it was actually that you learned 1.5x or 2x what you would normally learn. So if you usually earn 200 experience from a creature, it will actually be 400. You absorb the same but you learn at a faster rate because you're absorbing more experience at a time.

StrayRogue
09-09-2003, 12:25 PM
Its just 2x experience. For example, if that rat you are killing is worth 100 exp now, come GS4 (all things remaining equal) it would be worth 200 exp.