Important Code Upgrades

[Raona]

Mask has been hard at work behind the scenes, undertaking a major update of the feat system! These improvements and updates are now being brought into the game, so here are some of the details:

20 feats have been removed -- feats that were outdated, hopelessly broken, considered not worth trying to fix, or needing such a significant change that the new version may not bear much resemblance to the old (such that people should be given the option of whether they want to learn it when it comes back): awareness, blooded, courteous magocracy, deflect arrows, evasion, foe hunter, great cleave, improved counterspell, improved familiar, improved trip, saddleback, shadow weave magic, silver palm, skill focus, smooth talk, stealthy,strong arm, spell mastery, sunder, and thug.

If you had any of these feats, the feat point spent to get it should have already been reimbursed, and the feat removed from your feat list.

A great many of the existing feats in the game have been re-worked or adjusted, to better balance them, bring them into agreement with canon rules, or make them operate more rationally.

Bonus feats have been brought into the game for three applicable guilds/classes: fighters, wizards, and thieves.

Going forward, additional normal feats will be gained every 8 levels, as opposed to every 5. Bonus feats will be accrued by fighters, wizards, and thieves, at a rate such that they will gain a total of 11, 4, and 4 bonus feats, respectively. *These changes are NOT retroactive. Except for the removed feats above, feats and feat points gained prior to this change will remain, and only characters created or guilded after this change will get bonus feats.* Fighters can only use their bonus feats on a specialized menu of combat-related feats; similarly, wizards can only spend them on a menu of spell-enhancing meta-magic feats. Thieves can spend their bonus feats on any feat.

Additional changes are in the pipe: feats requiring a major re-work will be brought back into the game as the work is done, and trainers for the new feats will continue to be added. Also, Rangers will get some manner of feats/feat trees/specialization, but we are still working on the details.

A great big thank-you to Mask for all the hard work he put into this change, as well as to the player of Harroghty for seeing the through the process of assessing and testing each and every feat. Kudos as well to the player of Moloch, for spearheading the difficult discussion about feat point amounts and for writing helpfiles for most of the new feats, and to everyone on the code council for helping with testing the feats and contributing to these difficult discussions. As always, Dalvyn worked much of the area code magic needed to provide trainers for these new feats in-game, and Balek's player put a good deal of work into both this project and the broader issue of how to improve and update our combat system.

To learn more about the new feats, please consult the helpfile system. If you find anything missing, wrong, or confusing, please shoot me a PM.

[Lathlain]

Because there seems to be a little confusion regarding the matter of bonus feats not being retroactive:

Please note that the standard feat progression rate has been changed from 1 per 5 levels to 1 per 8. Considering that not all classes gain bonus feats, if these changes were retroactive we'd end up with people who had negative feat points. Not good!

Be aware that these things will be considered in the event of a future soft reset, at which point I suspect you'll find that bonus feat points materialise

[Mask]

One user visible change in a bunch of other changes is that flight will no longer protect you from aggressive mobiles. Further changes around combat in general will be forthcoming over the next weeks and months.

[Elke]

I'm really glad I read this -before- logging on! Can I ask if flight is now lending any combat advantages whatsoever?

[Elke]

To avoid the reminder needing to be repeated, one of the changes made was to the Persistent Spell feat, which now requires a spell to use a slot six slots higher rather than four.

[Mask]

A bug around skill gain has been fixed.

[Dalmil]

New feats...

[The Town Crier]

For mothers with babies:

After the next copyover you will be able to use the command "babysmote".

syntax: babysmote <text>

Ex:
<worn in hand> a blonde baby
input: babysmote giggles, smiling at $joe
A blonde baby giggles, smiling at Joe.

Both baby and infant items will have the command. Please remember your infant items can not talk, and your baby items should only speak in small baby words.

Pregnant mothers keep an eye out for two new shops for some of your needs.

[Raona]

I thought we had it set up so people could read my replies to bug reports when I closed them out and moved them to the dead bugs bin, but that doesn't seem to (be/have been?) the case. So, here's a quick run-down of a raft of bugs Mask has recently crushed!

• Domination spells should work properly, helpfile has been clarified
• Polearms should now properly employ the Mounted Polearms skill if equipped while mounted, in one hand or both...and not otherwise
• Purchase by number should select the correct item in a merchant's list, without fail
• Echoes for Cause Wounds spells cast on undead should now reflect the fact it heals them
• Spontaneous casting should now tap spells in a logical order; helpfile has been clarified as well
• The EMPTY command should now correctly calculate fill levels, and allow ready transfer of everything in a container large enough for the task.
• Time programs that go off after an hour have been fixed, such that boats should leave and arrive more reliably, and devices and mobiles with hour-long timers should operate properly
• Access to the run feat has been removed from quadruped PCs (it did nothing for them)
• Fireshields and similar spells should now affect attackers even when the protected target is blinded
• AOE spells can no longer hit invisible mobiles (and make them hostile!)
• Limbs are no longer restored on Raise Dead
• The levitate spell no longer lasts forever. Helpfile updated to reflect LAND command no longer working for levitation.
• Stunned, held, and otherwise immobilized or helpless creatures will no longer execute attacks of opportunity

Whew! ...and those are just the ones I've been able to verify! I'm still working through confirming fixes on some of the most ticklish or complicated. I'll find a way to keep you abreast of such changes, one way or another. Thanks to everyone who took the time to report or help clarify these bugs, if you were not able to see my individual thanks in the Dead Bugs forum.

[Pirro]

... wow. All I can say is, thanks!