Game updates:March 2008

March 2008 updates

• Monday 31^st of March (talk)
• Friday 21^st of March (talk)
• Thursday 20^th of March (talk)
• Tuesday 18^th of March (talk)
• Thursday 13^th of March (talk)
• Friday 7^th of March (talk)
• Thursday 6^th of March (talk)
• Monday 3^rd of March (talk)

Update - Monday, March 31, 2008

Taiwan service update

• Made modifications to certain game features for Taiwan/Macau/Hong Kong accounts in response to recent changes to Taiwanese law.

Miscellaneous

• Domain of Anguish has been changed to allow the final boss in each realm to spawn without players keeping the quest Mallyx the Unyielding in their quest logs.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug with the Destroyer skill Inner Fire that caused its user to not receive any healing from the skill.
• Fixed a bug that caused the Monk skills Spotless Mind and Spotless Soul to remove hexes/conditions after the enchantment had been removed.
• Fixed a bug that prevented healing bonuses/penalties (such as Healer's Covenant) from affecting Patient Spirit.
• Health degeneration from Chalice of Corruption will no longer affect players during Polymock matches.

Guild Wars Wiki notes

• This update caused level 20 characters to turn into Stick Figures both in PvE and in PvP. These take on male Ranger emotes and are unaffected by the Divine Aura.
• No other NPCs are affected by the stick figure implementation for April Fools' Day.
• PvP characters were not able to make new PvP armor. It all showed up as Ranger armor and was not possible to create. However, loading equipment templates worked. This was later fixed.

Update - Friday, March 21, 2008

Bug Fixes

Assassin

• Shadow Walk: this skill now completely prevents the casting of enchantments. Previously the enchantment would fail immediately after activation, causing the caster to lose Energy.

Necromancer

• Dark Aura: fixed a bug that caused the caster of Dark Aura to take damage instead of losing Health.

Update - Thursday, March 20, 2008

Skill Changes

Assassin

• Fox's Promise: functionality changed to: For 5...17...20 seconds, your dagger attacks cannot be blocked. This enchantment ends the next time you fail to hit.

Dervish

• Guiding Hands: decreased number of attack skills that cannot be blocked to 0...2...3.

Mesmer

• Enchanter's Conundrum: functionality changed to: For 10 seconds, target foe casts enchantments 100% slower. When this hex is applied, that foe takes 30...102...120 damage if not under the effects of an enchantment or hex spell.
• Hex Breaker: decreased duration to 5...65...80 seconds.
• Mantra of Concentration: decreased duration to 1...31...38 seconds; increased recharge to 30 seconds.

Necromancer

• Angorodon's Gaze: decreased Energy cost to 5; decreased Health stolen to 10...34...40; decreased Energy gained to 1...7...9.

Ranger

• Power Shot: decreased damage to 5...17...20.
• Precision Shot: decreased damage to 3...15...18.
• Sundering Attack/ Penetrating Attack: decreased damage to 3...9...10; decreased armor penetration to 10%; increased recharge to 4 seconds.

Warrior

• Magehunter's Smash: increased adrenaline cost to 8 strikes; updated the animation to match Hammer Bash.
• Mokele Smash: decreased adrenaline gained to 2 strikes.

Automated Tournaments

• You now lose K value (25 for daily, 50 for monthly) rating if you sign up for a tournament and forfeit the first round.
• Tournament Reward points are now based off the number of teams who did not forfeit in the first round.
• Bonus tournament reward points are now awarded for playing in every round of a daily tournament: 5 for 1v1 daily tournaments, and 15 for GvG daily tournaments.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug that caused the map marker on the reward NPC to not appear when the Clear the Chamber quest completed in the Underworld.

Miscellaneous

• Added new text to Kun Shao regarding the Xunlai Tournament House.

Update - Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Real-Money Trading

Today we are taking steps to further protect the game from abuse by real-money trading (RMT) companies. Please read our Policy on Real-Money Trading for more information on how and why we block real-money trading.

• We are adding the ability to block certain IP addresses from the game. In the coming days and weeks, we will be using this capability to block addresses of RMT companies that heavily abuse the game.

• We are also adding code to detect and block IP addresses that are running an open proxy, so that players cannot mask their real IP address by connecting to the game through an open proxy.

• To clarify our policy on blocking IP addresses from the game, we added the following line to section 7 of the User Agreement:

NC Interactive may from time to time in its sole discretion implement various forms of filtering, blocking or monitoring of IP addresses or proxies used to use, play or access the Game(s) or the Service, including without limitation blocking or filtering measures that restrict your ability to use, play or access the Game(s) or Service outside of the territories in which NC Interactive makes the Game(s) or Service available.

• To combat a growing problem with account fraud, newly created accounts are now restricted from trading with other players within the first 24 hours after account creation. Please see today’s Dev Update for more information on this change.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug in the Fissure of Woe quest The Tower of Strength [sic] that sometimes caused one of the Shadow Patrol groups to spawn inside the tower.

Guild Wars Wiki Notes

• There was a second unannounced update. This included the new User Agreement text which was missing in the first build.
• Players had to re-accept the EULA.
• The weekend event login announcement for this weekend had no collapsible text describing the weekend event. Three hours after the second update the login announcement was fixed. It originally read as follows:

  Sweet Treat Weekend"

  text=This weekend

Update - Thursday, March 13, 2008

General

Concise Skill Description Option

• Guild Wars now supports two types of skill descriptions: traditional and concise. Traditional descriptions maintain the classic style and have been in place since the first campaign. Concise descriptions are a new style, and are generally shorter in length.
• The first time you log in, you get a message asking if you'd like to keep using traditional skill descriptions or if you'd like to change to concise descriptions. Once you make your selection, login will continue normally, and you won't see the message again. To change the skill description style while in-game, use the General tab in the Options panel. (Menu > Options > General)
• Example of a traditional description for Defensive Stance:
  • For 1...6...7 seconds, you have +24 armor and you have a 75% chance to block melee and projectile attacks. Defensive Stance ends if you use a skill.
• Example of a concise description for Defensive Stance:
  • (1...6...7 seconds.) You have 75% chance to block and +24 armor. Ends if you use a skill.
• If you find any problems with the translations of the concise skill descriptions, or general translation bugs, please report them to:
  • French: User:Jason_Yu/French_Localization_Bugs
  • German: User:Jason_Yu/German_Localization_Bugs
  • Italian: User:Jason_Yu/Italian_Localization_Bugs
  • Polish: User:Jason_Yu/Polish_Localization_Bugs
  • Russian: User:Jason_Yu/Russian_Localization_Bugs
  • Spanish: User:Jason_Yu/Spanish_Localization_Bugs

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a spawn bug that prevented bosses in the Domain of Anguish from appearing if everyone in a party had already completed the Mallyx the Unyielding quest.
• Fixed a bug in Underworld that sometimes prevented mission failure if a Reaper died too quickly after spawning.
• Fixed a bug that would sometimes allow Necromancers to cast Putrid Flesh and Feast for the Dead while having no living minions for the spell to target.
• Fixed a bug in the Tower of Strength quest within the Fissure of Woe that sometimes caused the Tower Mage to become stuck and never reach the tower.
• Fixed a bug in the Dajkah Inlet challenge mission that could cause teams to crash after a long time spent in the mission.
• Fixed a bug that caused some treasure chests to not work if more than one player attempted to open the chest at the same time.
• Fixed a bug in the Moa'vu'Kaal, Awakened quest in Nightfall that caused the starting NPC to sometimes not display a quest marker even though the quest was available.
• Fixed a bug that affected various sign posts and redirectors in the Eye of the North, Sifhalla, Olafstead, and Gunner's Hold [sic].

Miscellaneous

• The daggers known as Dragon Scythes are now named Dragon Kamas to avoid confusion over their weapon type.
• The axe known as White Scythe is now named White Reaver to avoid confusion over its weapon type.
• The second RAWR Cup Tournament is now listed on Tolkano.
• The Xunlai Tournament House NPC now offers prizes for the February tournament and can be found in the Great Temple of Balthazar, Lion's Arch, Kaineng Center, and Kamadan.

Guild Wars Wiki Notes

• Many German localization bugs are already listed on the project page of the German translation task force, please add only undiscovered ones to the new bug report page and vice versa as both articles are monitored by Arena Net
• For English textual bugs, report them at User talk:Bobby Stein/Text bugs.

Update - Friday, March 7, 2008

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug that allowed players to steal monster skills.
• Updated the models for two winning items from the Design a Weapon Contest.

Update - Thursday, March 6, 2008

Skill Updates

Guild vs. Guild

• Victory or Death: reduced damage increased to 10%; this skill now reduces healing by 10%.
• Victory is Ours: both teams now get this bonus at Victory or Death, regardless of how many NPCs either team has; increased damage to 20%.

Assassin

• Shroud of Silence: decreased duration to 1...3...3 seconds.
• Shadow Prison: decreased duration to 1...6...7 seconds.
• Dark Prison: decreased duration to 1...5...6 seconds.
• Siphon Speed: increased recharge to 30 seconds; decreased duration to 5...13...15 seconds; this skill now recharges 50% faster if cast on a moving foe.
• Augury of Death: increased recharge to 20 seconds.

Mesmer

• Imagined Burden: decreased duration to 8...18...20 seconds.
• Enchanter's Conundrum: functionality changed to: "For 10 seconds, target foe casts enchantments 100% slower. When this hex is applied, that foe takes 30...102...120 damage if not under the effects of an enchantment spell."
• Psychic Instability: this skill has been moved to the Fast Casting attribute; decreased casting time to .25 seconds; functionality changed to: "Interrupt target foe's action. If that action was a spell that foe is knocked down. (50% failure chance with Fast Casting 4 or less.)"
• Power Lock: decreased recharge to 12 seconds.
• Cry of Frustration: decreased Energy cost to 10.
• Simple Thievery: decreased casting time to .25 seconds; increased recharge to 10 seconds; decreased duration to 5...17...20 seconds; changed functionality to: "Interrupt target foe's action. If that action was a skill, that skill is disabled for 5...17...20 seconds, and Simple Thievery is replaced by that skill."
• Power Leak: decreased Energy lost to 3...14...17.

Necromancer

• Foul Feast: decreased casting time to .25 seconds; this skill has been moved to the Soul Reaping attribute; changed functionality to: "All conditions are transferred from target other ally to yourself. For each condition acquired in this way, you gain 0...36...45 Health and 0...2...3 Energy."
• Enfeebling Blood: decreased Energy cost to 1, decreased casting time to 1 second; increased recharge to 8 seconds.
• Enfeeble: decreased casting time to .25 seconds; increased duration to 10...26...30 seconds.
• Plague Signet: changed functionality to: "Transfer all negative conditions with their remaining durations lengthened by 100...180...200% from yourself to target foe."
• Strip Enchantment: functionality changed to: "Remove 1...2...2 enchantments from target foe. If an enchantment is removed, you steal 5...53...65 Health."
• Weaken Armor: decreased casting time to 1 second; this skill now affects all adjacent foes.
• Plague Sending: decreased Energy cost to 1.
• Wail of Doom: decreased Energy cost to 1; decreased recharge to 10 seconds; decreased duration to 1...3...4 seconds; changed skill type to hex; changed functionality to: "For 0...3...4 second[s], all of target foe's attributes are set to 0."
• Rip Enchantment: functionality changed to: "Remove 1 enchantment from target foe and that foe suffers from Bleeding for 5...21...25 seconds."
• Vampiric Swarm: decreased casting time to 2 seconds; decreased recharge time to 8 seconds.
• Deathly Swarm: decreased casting time to 2 seconds; increased recharge time to 6 seconds.

Elementalist

• Glyph of Lesser Energy: canceled spells now count as a use of the Glyph's effect.
• Glyph of Energy: decreased Energy reduction to 10...30...35; canceled spells now count as a use of the Glyph's effect.
• Blinding Flash: decreased duration to 3...7...8 seconds.
• Mind Blast: decreased Energy gain to 1...7...8; increased recharge to 3 seconds.
• Flame Djinn's Haste: decreased duration to 8...13...14 seconds; increased recharge to 20 seconds; the skill now recharges 50% faster if you damage a foe with it.
• Rodgort's Invocation: increased recharge to 8 seconds.
• Lightning Orb: functionality changed to: "Send out a lightning Orb that strikes target foe for 10...82...100 lightning damage and that foe has Cracked Armor for 5...17...20 seconds if it hits. This spell has 25% armor penetration."
• Shock Arrow: increased recharge to 8 seconds; functionality changed to: "Send out a Shock Arrow that strikes for 5...41...50 lightning damage if it hits. If Shock Arrow strikes an attacking foe, you gain 1...7...9 Energy. This spell has 25% armor penetration."
• Aftershock: removed the long aftercast.
• Ward Against Foes: removed the long aftercast.
• Ward Against Melee: removed the long aftercast. increased recharge to 30 seconds.
• Inferno: removed the long aftercast.
• Flame Burst: removed the long aftercast.
• Frozen Burst: removed the long aftercast; increased recharge to 8 seconds.
• Crystal Wave/ Teinai's Crystals: removed the long aftercast.
• Shockwave: removed the long aftercast.
• Double Dragon: removed the long aftercast.

Monk

• Heal Party: increased casting time to 2 seconds.
• Guardian: increased recharge time to 4 seconds.
• Reversal of Damage: decreased recharge time to 3 seconds.
• Symbol of Wrath/ Kirin's Wrath: removed the long aftercast.

Warrior

• Magehunter's Smash: increased adrenaline cost to 7 strikes; functionality changed to: "If this attack hits, target foe is knocked down. If your target is under the effects of an enchantment, this attack cannot be blocked."
• Axe Rake: decreased adrenaline cost to 5 strikes.
• Axe Twist: decreased adrenaline cost to 5 strikes.
• Gash: decreased adrenaline cost to 6 strikes.
• "Shields Up!": increased armor gain to 60; functionality changed to: "For 5...10...11 seconds, you and all party members within earshot gain 60 armor against incoming projectile attacks."
• "Watch Yourself!": functionality changed to: "Party members within earshot gain +5...21...25 armor for 10 seconds. This shout ends after 1...3...3 incoming attack[s]."
• Lion's Comfort: decreased adrenaline cost to 4 strikes; functionality changed to: "All of your signets are disabled for 12 seconds. You are healed for 50...98...110 Health, and gain 0...2...3 strike[s] of adrenaline."
• Sprint: decreased recharge time to 15 seconds.
• Mokele Smash: decreased recharge time to 12 seconds; increased adrenaline gain to 1...3...3.

Ranger

• Pin Down: decreased recharge time to 8 seconds.
• Crippling Shot: increased recharge time to 2 seconds.
• Hunter's Shot: decreased activation time to 1 second.

Dervish

• Pious Assault: increased activation time to normal weapon attack activation time.
• Mystic Regeneration: decreased duration to 5...17...20 seconds; increased recharge time to 12 seconds.
• Wounding Strike: functionality changed to: "If this attack hits, target foe suffers from Bleeding for 5...17...20 seconds. If you are under the effects of an enchantment, target foe also suffers from a Deep Wound for 5...17...20 seconds."
• Grenth's Aura: decreased duration to 10 seconds; increased recharge time to 25 seconds; increased Energy cost to 15; increased casting time to 2 seconds.

Paragon

• Mending Refrain: increased Energy cost to 10; decreased duration to 15 seconds.
• Song of Restoration: increased Energy cost to 10; increased recharge to 20 seconds; increased healing to 45...97...110 Health.
• Barbed Spear: decreased adrenaline cost to 2 strikes.
• Blazing Spear: decreased adrenaline cost to 6 strikes.

Ritualist

• Ancestors' Rage: decreased damage dealt to 5...89...110.
• Soothing Memories: decreased casting time to .75 seconds; decreased recharge to 4 seconds.
• Death Pact Signet: now resurrects party member with 15...83...100% Energy, instead of the caster's current Energy; The energy returned now scales based on your Restoration Magic.

General

• Added a set of player-designed weapons and items that were winners in the 2007 Guild Wars Design-A-Weapon Contest.

Hero AI

• Improved hero AI for the skill Broad Head Arrow.
• Improved hero AI for the skill Warrior's Endurance.

Bug Fixes

• Shadow Fang: fixed a bug that caused the duration to incorrectly change based on the Deadly Arts attribute.
• Fixed a bug that could allow Kurzick players to leave their gated areas early in the Alliance Battle map Kaanai Canyon.
• Fixed a rare bug that would crash the game server.

Guild Wars Wiki notes

• The change to Simple Thievery introduced a bug which allowed players to use monster skills. This was fixed in a consecutive patch.
• A second small update added a 1 second recharge to Lion's Comfort to prevent spamming of the skill to gain adrenaline.
• Foul Feast decreased recharge to 2 seconds.
• Glyph of Energy is now linked to Energy Storage.
• The following weapons were included in Guild Wars:
  • Celestial Compass
  • Demonic Aegis
  • Draconic Shield
  • Dryad Bow
  • Emerald Blade
  • Frog Scepter
  • Obsidian Edge
  • Serpentine Reaver

Update - Monday March 3

Bug Fixes

• Fixed ctrl-click on some signposts that did not function correctly.