Runes of Magic US / AU

Quoted from "Dionaea;512406"

snip

EU has no items and no loot drops which you can not get just the same.

Item Shop sigils?

Quoted from "Whippingboy;512411"

The version NUMBER may be identical, but the installations have not been the same for over a year. For example, they have had some special events activated they we have not had, and they continue to have some NPCs activated they we do not have.

Events may indeed be different -- you guys had an event recently on a Sunday that we did not have so your point here fails!

Event NPC (Cedric, Agnes, etc.) are indeed controlled by Frogster and I fail to see how the event NPC's can in any way influence what drops in Grafu Castle, Dungeon of Dalanis, Forsaken Abbey or any other instance!

My M/P/S on Osha currently has a purple bow equipped that dropped from Ancalon. Since I have never seen that bow drop on the EU server, I must therefore conclude that she doesn't drop it in EU? I think not...

Quoted from "Whippingboy;512411"

The version NUMBER may be identical, but the installations have not been the same for over a year. For example, they have had some special events activated they we have not had, and they continue to have some NPCs activated they we do not have.

The EU players that I used to communicate with on an uncensored independent forum have long since quit, and [censored] had threatened legal action so even that forum was shutdown, so I have lost all touch with the EU player base, but I would be interested in the other installation differences. I did create an toon on an EU server just to check up on their Item Shop differences from time-to-time last year. MegaMouseSEC's current examples are interesting, though.

And corrected as by my last post

To your other assumptions:

The installations are the same, all game files and all databases are identical.

There are two kind of events.

One that requires a patch and content creation by Runewaker.

And then there are those events that require the placement of an NPC (usually just in Channel 1) and also have us CM GMs appear in game for some of those events. As I already explained in some other thread, we do have a contingent of pre-created NPC, among them Hillary and Frank, which we can adjust to certain limits to fit for some events which are hosted purely by us and need no further patch or content development. We just need to make sure the NPCs are placed by us after maintenances.

Thus was the case for example with the Riddle Relay Event.

Now these can have been different in the past between EU and US, but we are aiming to make them similar for both more and more. But they do not hint to different installations, those were still identical.

Item Shop was another matter which is/was different for a while between EU and US, but as you notice same here we are now adjusting them to be more or less identical (not referring to different running times due to time zones for offers).

EU and US are identical client-wise and game-version wise, thus you can not have any items EU does not have and vice versa.

Did the EU have T13 weapons, as long back as a year ago? I still see that T13 weapon on Artemis from time to time. He has had it about a year now.

Quoted from "Whippingboy;512420"

Did the EU have T13 weapons, as long back as a year ago? I still see that T13 weapon on Artemis from time to time. He has had it about a year now.

lol whip, this was braught up in another post as well. kinda bogus if you ask me that nothign has been done abotu it.

Quoted from "Dionaea;512418"

Item Shop was another matter which is/was different for a while between EU and US, but as you notice same here we are now adjusting them to be more or less identical (not referring to different running times due to time zones for offers).

EU and US are identical client-wise and game-version wise, thus you can not have any items EU does not have and vice versa.

Meaning that we are stuck with EU offers and will be paying more then we used to for some items, right?

So, what happened to NA sales team that you said still exists?

Quoted from "Dionaea;512418"

snip

Assumption? No.
Observations. Yes.
Statements from ex-Frogster employees. Yes.

Do you even really know what an 'installation' is?

Thanks for verifying the although Jones' client files in the US is the same as Millers' client in the EU, some of the server files are indeed different. Hense why sometimes we get a spawned NPC (without being placed by the xM after mainenance) that EU does not have. Is it supposed to happen? No. But does it still occasionally happen? Yes. Further proof of different server setup files.

Add to the differences, the server setup/configuration files that keep reverting to a "bugged" state that prevent more than a few of us from entering siege.

Quoted from "RoMage;512424"

Meaning that we are stuck with EU offers and will be paying more then we used to for some items, right?

So, what happened to NA sales team that you said still exists?

Maybe he works full-time at a German owned brewery in the States, and only works part-time as the NA sales 'team'?

Dionaea, is the Giant's staff a possible drop yet? If not, is it planned to be? I do not want to get the shackles staff if the Giant's staff is going to come out. But if Giant's Staff is expected to come out as a drop, I will hold off buying a new staff.


Of course, considering I only play 1 hour a day for dailies/minigames it does not really matter what weapon I have. Fix the game and customer service and I will not only play more, I likely will start buying diamonds again.

Quoted from "xanth444;512431"

Dionaea, is the Giant's staff a possible drop yet? If not, is it planned to be? I do not want to get the shackles staff if the Giant's staff is going to come out. But if Giant's Staff is expected to come out as a drop, I will hold off buying a new staff.


Of course, considering I only play 1 hour a day for dailies/minigames it does not really matter what weapon I have. Fix the game and customer service and I will not only play more, I likely will start buying diamonds again.

I have seen the Giant's staff for sale multiple times in the AH on Govinda so yes it does drop.

Quoted from "Inferiority;512415"

Events may indeed be different -- you guys had an event recently on a Sunday that we did not have so your point here fails!
snip

Actually, you just proved my point there. Thanks for the additional data point.

Quoted from "xanth444;512431"

Dionaea, is the Giant's staff a possible drop yet? If not, is it planned to be? I do not want to get the shackles staff if the Giant's staff is going to come out. But if Giant's Staff is expected to come out as a drop, I will hold off buying a new staff.


Of course, considering I only play 1 hour a day for dailies/minigames it does not really matter what weapon I have. Fix the game and customer service and I will not only play more, I likely will start buying diamonds again.

Giant's Heart staff (lvl 70) is in the game. Giant's Staff (lvl 70) is, as far as I know, not in the game atm. Only 99% sure, will wait on the 'official' answer.

Quoted from "gigilomann;512401"

I blieve they get the actualy bow and xbow that are supposed to drop in hard mode, not jenny anger/power. Don't thinkt hey hae giants heart yet tho

Quoted from "Thunderous;512435"

I have seen the Giant's staff for sale multiple times in the AH on Govinda so yes it does drop.

Would you please either stop talking BS or get the item names right? thank you.
These 2 posts are about as good as "Mages need DEX" from a certain other person.
I mean, ENGLISH servers exist in EU (not only german :p) and they have cleared ToSH, too. Its SOOOO hard to actually click on the british flag in the upper right corner of the forum and take a look in the threads there, right?

Xbows:
Jenny's Power XBOW Boss3 hardmode.
Jenny's Lethal Implement DOES NOT DROP*
Staff(2H):
Giant's Heart HEAL staff - Boss6 hardmode.
Shackles of the Cursed Face MAGE staff - Boss7 hardmode.

Giant's Staff MAGE Staff - DOES NOT DROP*
Fetters of the Cursed Face HEAL staff - DOES NOT DROP*

*and according to "romwelten" (german fansite which regularly dissects the client for nice information like new instance maps or a world map => http://rom.onlinewelten.com/news.php?catid=63 ) is not even linked to any NPC right now internally in the DB.


As for differences US/EU from a EU player pov:

- itemshop offers are/were different. (higher special/weapon runes on US side vs X standard runes on EU side, chapter4 runes (raid etc) earlier on US)
- stuff like rune-npc from beta which was online for a short time never existed on EU live servers, same as the US never had a diamond npc like EU has for 15 dias a day.
- We had those sigils in the itemshop almost 2 years ago (when DoD was "endgame") once, they were bugged for quite some time after, then fixed, then bugged again, and AFAIK finally fixed with the beginning of chapter4 (so they would always disappear instead of randomly - like every other consumable item ).
- You have/had rice dumplings and similar stuff that we dont have etc.
- different events from frogster-controlled NPCs on both sides at different times

so: the GAME *is* the same.
what differs are itemshop-related things and events with NPCs that are Frogster-controlled and not by Runewaker.

Here comes the tl;dr post :p

Quoted from "Nytefall;512090"

There are two different types of GM - the Customer Support type (like myself, primarily tasked with resolving ticket issues) and the Community Management type (Which is who you will see on the servers).

Totally forgetting about QA You might see me online when big patches are released, I tend to go online and ask for Bug Reports through World Chat.

As half-Moderator on the US forums I also fall under the 'Community Management' type.

Quoted from "Whippingboy;512188"

Would you care to itemize what has improved?

Here are some concerns:
* LoS now more problematic than ever, both in open world and in instances.
* Targeting still waiting to be addresses after 3+ years
* Lack of honesty with dealing with reoccurring database and server problems.
* Reduced ease-of-access to support system.
* [tired of typing, but I could probably go on for another 10-20 pages]

This is unrelated to FA, FEU. Frogster America never had a Quality Assurance department. The QA department is and always has been located in Europe - Berlin (FrogsterEU). In terms of adressing issues (US wise) it improved significantly, as you now have a dedicated person to look at your bug reports (me).

Quoted from "Whippingboy;512188"

* Communication from Publisher still inadequate.
* Forum censorship of real issues still a problem.
* Publisher still unwilling to go full disclosure to show ANY progress with dealing with cheaters.

As from the lack of communication from us, I'd glady hear some extended details about this. Are there any particular subjects which you think lack official information or an official reply?

The forum censorship is a difficult thing to discuss, we are definitely encouraging a free forum where everyone get to share his or her opinion, however, in some cases unconstructive rants may be closed or removed, as well as insults and other serious breaches of our forum rules. I personally think we are improving a lot in terms of allowing posts. It makes me sad to see that you think elsewise, again, I'd gladly hear some more specific details about this (In PM though). We are still improving as a Community Team and are still adapting to our new rules and new management. We need some more time to completely realize what we planned.

The cheater part is tricky as well. We do take actions against those who abuse bugs or use third party programs, however, we will never publish accountnames, charactername or whatsoever. Like I've said in a different thread. Germany, as well as our company have very strict data and privacy protection policies. We have the privacy of our users in a high standard, even if they are breaking rules.

Quoted from "Whippingboy;512188"

* Favoritism still active, with friends/guild members of 'employees' granted special gear/items/treatment.

Please send me a PM with more detailed information about this. This can't and will not tolerated in Frogster.

Quoted from "Whippingboy;512188"

* Lack of honesty with dealing with reoccurring database and server problems.

With all due respect, but I have to disagree with you here. We have been and are very honest in terms of sharing server issues. I am not sure what information or rather, what lack of information you're pointing at, but I can tell you that when we experience issues and we say that we are working on it, we are actually working on it. No, we don't go into details, for several reasons. One of them would be that the Community has no need to know what servers we use, what software, etc. So when a server crashes or when we have some issues with an extended maintenance for example we will not say: 'File X on Server X had X problems and we did X to solve the problems with File X'. We continue to keep you informed about server problems, but I don't think we will share full details about the servers in the near future.

Quoted from "drizztdewrden;512321"

That is what they are suppose to be doing, it is their game after all. All day they should be working on fixes and bugs. That is their JOB!!! They are suppose to have people working on this game and fixing it, but wait they have other games too.

So our designteams should be working on fixing bugs? Community Management should be working on fixing bugs? Sales Department should be working on fixing bugs?

Many different employees in both Runewaker and Frogster have very different tasks and may not be trained or does not have the knowledge to fix bugs.

Quoted from "Whippingboy;512352"

I am not sure what you are trying to say. Are you saying that Vault Networks is allowing Frogster employee(s) direct and local access to Vault Network hardware? Are you saying that Frogster relocated Frogster employee(s) from SanFran to Miami?

And if answers to both questions is yes, then maybe it is time to invest in some more training for that employee or maybe even .....

I am saying that the servers are being monitored from FrogsterEU, just like they have always been. We don't have acces to the hardware directly in terms of connecting the cables, but of course we do have connections with Vault Networks and together with them we can remove possible causes of problems.

Quoted from "Whippingboy;512411"

The version NUMBER may be identical, but the installations have not been the same for over a year. For example, they have had some special events activated they we have not had, and they continue to have some NPCs activated they we do not have.

But the installations are if you look at it from an IT perspective different on every single server. Not specificially US or EU or AU. In terms of Siege War for example, the serversettings were identical at some point, but the issue remained. Eve Ballusha for example appeared by accident on the US servers, but it sometimes also accidently appeared on 1 of the EU servers. Each server has its own database, thus its own settings.

Did we fail the US Community? I certainly hope not and I hope not everybody thinks this way. We are doing the best we can and it's not nice to hear that people are feeling that we failed them. I hope we can correct this and I hope in the near future you'll say different as to what you say now.

Quoted from "YomanROM;512469"

so: the GAME *is* the same.
what differs are itemshop-related things and events with NPCs that are Frogster-controlled and not by Runewaker.

And now the CS and NPC events are the same (last one being Riddle event) and plan is to have the same non-npc events as well - so we are in the same boat, it seems... Reminds me of picture of Noah ark with WOodpacker making home on haul.

Quoted from "Roeksha;512472"

Here comes the tl;dr post :p



Totally forgetting about QA You might see me online when big patches are released, I tend to go online and ask for Bug Reports through World Chat.

As half-Moderator on the US forums I also fall under the 'Community Management' type.



This is unrelated to FA, FEU. Frogster America never had a Quality Assurance department. The QA department is and always has been located in Europe - Berlin (FrogsterEU). In terms of adressing issues (US wise) it improved significantly, as you now have a dedicated person to look at your bug reports (me).




As from the lack of communication from us, I'd glady hear some extended details about this. Are there any particular subjects which you think lack official information or an official reply?

The forum censorship is a difficult thing to discuss, we are definitely encouraging a free forum where everyone get to share his or her opinion, however, in some cases unconstructive rants may be closed or removed, as well as insults and other serious breaches of our forum rules. I personally think we are improving a lot in terms of allowing posts. It makes me sad to see that you think elsewise, again, I'd gladly hear some more specific details about this (In PM though). We are still improving as a Community Team and are still adapting to our new rules and new management. We need some more time to completely realize what we planned.

The cheater part is tricky as well. We do take actions against those who abuse bugs or use third party programs, however, we will never publish accountnames, charactername or whatsoever. Like I've said in a different thread. Germany, as well as our company have very strict data and privacy protection policies. We have the privacy of our users in a high standard, even if they are breaking rules.



Please send me a PM with more detailed information about this. This can't and will not tolerated in Frogster.



With all due respect, but I have to disagree with you here. We have been and are very honest in terms of sharing server issues. I am not sure what information or rather, what lack of information you're pointing at, but I can tell you that when we experience issues and we say that we are working on it, we are actually working on it. No, we don't go into details, for several reasons. One of them would be that the Community has no need to know what servers we use, what software, etc. So when a server crashes or when we have some issues with an extended maintenance for example we will not say: 'File X on Server X had X problems and we did X to solve the problems with File X'. We continue to keep you informed about server problems, but I don't think we will share full details about the servers in the near future.



So our designteams should be working on fixing bugs? Community Management should be working on fixing bugs? Sales Department should be working on fixing bugs?

Many different employees in both Runewaker and Frogster have very different tasks and may not be trained or does not have the knowledge to fix bugs.



I am saying that the servers are being monitored from FrogsterEU, just like they have always been. We don't have acces to the hardware directly in terms of connecting the cables, but of course we do have connections with Vault Networks and together with them we can remove possible causes of problems.



But the installations are if you look at it from an IT perspective different on every single server. Not specificially US or EU or AU. In terms of Siege War for example, the serversettings were identical at some point, but the issue remained. Eve Ballusha for example appeared by accident on the US servers, but it sometimes also accidently appeared on 1 of the EU servers. Each server has its own database, thus its own settings.

Did we fail the US Community? I certainly hope not and I hope not everybody thinks this way. We are doing the best we can and it's not nice to hear that people are feeling that we failed them. I hope we can correct this and I hope in the near future you'll say different as to what you say now.

EXCELLENT post. It's refreshing seeing moderators stand up for the game rather than close threads (like in the past on our older forums cough cough). I, for one, think EU is doing an amazing job. After taking a three month break, I can definitely see a big difference in how things are being run, and I am impressed. Keep up the great work guys!

.

Good read Roeksha.

Like I posted earlier - “You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time." - Abraham Lincoln or P. T. Barnum (Your choice)

.

agreed with everything you said there roeksha. however...

your game from half the world is in serious jeopardy. you may or may not see it, but if you look at the number of people unhappy, you can prolly puzzle it out if you use a little applied human intuition after reading the forums.

i'm not gonna turn this into a 'fix siege' forum, but i am going to use it as the gravest example.

all the peeps here want more communication, more this, more that. what you guys really need to do, is take a break. not in a 'gotta smoke brb' break way, a 'put down your mouse, rub your temples, and get prepared to tell off your owner' break. you folks need to back off trying to push out more and more stuff, and get a crew together to handle the things that are massively screwed up, and put some serious dedication into it.

make a quick change to siege, and lock all rewards, and have siege sign up every hour of every day for 15 minutes, and siege activates every other hour. get some of your dudes in to these guilds, and look at what's happening. take a couple servers for use, and reset them after each siege after implementing an idea. put some serious, hardcore work into fixing some of these problems.

since there's no true beta testing going on for this game, it's not communication we need, it's cooperation. in the us, with -our- issues, we're your beta servers. come get you some, and play with us, see the stuff happening.

i could have picked falling through certain floors, i could have picked how epically fail dalanis was put together, i could have picked the unyielding boss mechanics, i could have picked housing issues, i could have picked a number of things. but i picked siege, because yes, it's the most screwed up, and ffs, most of us want it fixed.

seriously. you're QA. assure quality. make them believe they need to put stuff on hold, and find a more proactive way to be fixing stuff.

no meanness pointed at you roeksha, i think you've said in your post more than a lot of GM/CM combined posts, and for that, you are already appreciated by a larger number of people

Quoted from "deus69xxx;512496"

agreed with everything you said there roeksha. however...

your game from half the world is in serious jeopardy. you may or may not see it, but if you look at the number of people unhappy, you can prolly puzzle it out if you use a little applied human intuition after reading the forums.

i'm not gonna turn this into a 'fix siege' forum, but i am going to use it as the gravest example.

all the peeps here want more communication, more this, more that. what you guys really need to do, is take a break. not in a 'gotta smoke brb' break way, a 'put down your mouse, rub your temples, and get prepared to tell off your owner' break. you folks need to back off trying to push out more and more stuff, and get a crew together to handle the things that are massively screwed up, and put some serious dedication into it.

make a quick change to siege, and lock all rewards, and have siege sign up every hour of every day for 15 minutes, and siege activates every other hour. get some of your dudes in to these guilds, and look at what's happening. take a couple servers for use, and reset them after each siege after implementing an idea. put some serious, hardcore work into fixing some of these problems.

since there's no true beta testing going on for this game, it's not communication we need, it's cooperation. in the us, with -our- issues, we're your beta servers. come get you some, and play with us, see the stuff happening.

i could have picked falling through certain floors, i could have picked how epically fail dalanis was put together, i could have picked the unyielding boss mechanics, i could have picked housing issues, i could have picked a number of things. but i picked siege, because yes, it's the most screwed up, and ffs, most of us want it fixed.

seriously. you're QA. assure quality. make them believe they need to put stuff on hold, and find a more proactive way to be fixing stuff.

no meanness pointed at you roeksha, i think you've said in your post more than a lot of GM/CM combined posts, and for that, you are already appreciated by a larger number of people

Eloquently put and from my state none the less.

You people sit here and complain endlessly about everything under the sun and then you blame the low population on who? YOU are the ones to blame for that. Do you honestly think new people will come after reading nothing but negative comments from you people? If you dont like things leave! The game would be better off without you. It would free up the deverloper from your nagging to work on real problems and not your pet peaves that were not even in the original version of the game to begin with. Siege was not here in the beginning! And there were more people here! You want a siege game go find one or find you a pk game! That never was what this game was about from the start! But your stupid complaining about it so much certainly drags the developers attention from more important task! And it causes the population of the game to stay low by making new players not start playing! So dont run your mouth about how if you stop spending money this game cant make it. You are hurting this game already. It would probably be doing much better without you here! You are obviously in the wrong place!