Lord Reepacheap was seriously enough bothered by pet changes that he went to the trouble of posting thusly.


So a number of PvPers have brought up a major issue with one of the new petball changes. The proposed change to add a delay when using a petball is a big problem in the Fel lands.

Currently, when one is dismounted, there are only two reliable ways to remount, either by summoning in a trusty steed, or having the Ninjitsu ability Animal Form. With this change one will no longer be able to summon in a mount while fighting, any delay over a second would simply be too long. Mounting an ethereal or charger has never been an option because of the similar casting delay.

In a fair one on one fight this is not much of a concern, but few fights in Fel are one on one. Getting dismounted while fighting multiple opponents, without a way to remount, is a guaranteed death. Guaranteed deaths are something EA has always tried to avoid in the past (i.e. WoD, Honor, etc).

Now some might say that if you're fighting more then one person you should die, but this is poor logic. It's often the case, that when everyone is mounted, one player IS better then two... this new issue would cause him to die no matter how good he is. It's also very often the case that the single player wasn't even initially fighting the group, they came across and attacked him. This solo player SHOULD have the CHANCE to get away.

Now some might also say that just because this new situation (caused by the petballs) is horrible and unjust, but you still have to get dismounted first in order to be put in that situation, and a good PvPer should be able to avoid that. Well there are two really cheap ways to guarantee that an opponent will get dismounted. The first is the Heavy Cross Bow, something we all hate but have come to tolerate, even when it's used up-close from stealth. The second is far more damning and is the Bola + Teleport exploit. The use of the teleport spell, after throwing a bola, allows the thrower to get a guaranteed dismount off on whoever they like, no strings attached. It can be done in a macro and, coupled with the above mentioned pet ball change is unavoidably deadly.

My friend and I made a short video to show how one cannot avoid this bola+teleport exploit by running. Notice that my friend is standing about 10 tiles from me, and is expecting the bola. He's been instructed to run the instant he see the message, and does so. Time and time again we tested this and I was always able to dismount him, no matter how fast he responded. He also was standing at a good distance, and knew it was coming, in the field the bola thrower would have even more of an advantage.

Video: YouTube - Bola + Teleport Exploit

So, in conclusion, dismount is already a large problem in fel, but this new petball change is going to make it even worse. Any group is going to be able to dismount and kill any innocent player they come across without any hope of escape.

If the new change must go in, then it needs to be changed. Several players have proposed that the delay in summoning be linked to the number of follower slots the summoned pet takes up. One system uses one second intervals, with a 5-slot pet taking 5 seconds, and a 1 slot mount taking 1 second. This seems to be the best suggestion to solve this absurd problem.

We can only hope that the team understand the impact this change will have on fel and takes the appropriate actions, like was done with the Arch Cure problem.

*Edit* I should add that I (the bola thrower) am also laggy from the use of the screen recorder and that a normal thrower would, again, have an even better chance to hit the target... hmm... but what is better then 100%?

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Noted. I won't promise anything, but I will pass this on to the team. I informed QA of the issue in this video.

and

Looks like the delay is a flat 2 seconds for summoning a pet with the Crystal Ball of Pet Summoning. Not sure if you're aware of that, but I thought I'd mention that here.

Patrick "Leurocian" Malott
Lead Designer, Ultima Online
EA Mythic

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Sarphus pointed out

It seems the fix for this issue has nothing to do with the petball...

It has to do with preventing people from teleporting (whether with items or the spell) directly after using a bola.

Am I crazy, or is that too complicated?


and Mechanic said

agreed, casting a spell should null the bola target

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Leurocian agreed

That's my initial thoughts also. I'll go over this with the team and see what we can do. No promises.

Patrick "Leurocian" Malott
Lead Designer, Ultima Online
EA Mythic

But please please don't null targets for everything in the process.

For example: A stealth thief depends heavily on the ability to target a player with a bladed object, then 'steal - last target' to lift an item from a pack.

Given that it is so difficult to 1) find something stealable and 2) get someone to stand still long enough to steal from them, this would completely kill what little fun remains in thieves.

(Waits expectantly for Rico and the 'come to Seige' speech...la)

~M

This has always been the tough part of stealing in the field. It's why I prefer to be a disarm thief when out in the wilds, at least you can disarm steal their weapon, without needing to be right next to them to lock onto the "last item".

And yes, coming to Siege would definately aid your loot count...I haven't been doing much stealing lately (retaining on some new skills for my new soul stones) but I still have fun doing the quick in town pet ball stealing. My collection is growing, Ireally need to get my vendor up to start fencing these goods ...la

Not to wander too far from the topic:

I would submit that stealing on a non-seige shard requires more skill and trickery than stealing in an environment where everything is up for grabs. Of course, it does get frustrating on the days when you are one altar behind the spawning guild and no one is hanging out at the fel gates.

Thank goodness for scripters and the blackrock they carry!

Back on topic: I've never much cared for bolas, except in Faction battles. Seems like stealth archers do just fine without them. Why bother telegraphing your intentions when you can just feather someone?

Funniest thing I've seen lately was Vlad the Impaler in Kir-in form (not sure how he managed that) popping in and out of visibility at Brit Fel gate racking up massive kills and insurance money as a sniper.

~M

Not sure if it takes better skills or just better patience in finding marks. Besides, we do it without the aid of many of the tools the thieves on production shards use to boost their skill totals (high resist armor, burgler bandana, doom leggings, jewels) since we don't have insurance to use for ourselves...la

Ki-Rin form is achieved from a minimum of 100 Ninjitsu using the 'Animal Form' spell.

Ah - many thanks for the info! I will never make it to 100 Ninjitsu at the rate I'm gaining...

What's the form's special ability?

~M