Shame be on whomever ruined my enjoyment this evening!

[kgb]

Yes as the title says - strange things transpired tonight.

This all happened in the space of 30 minutes:

1. My low level character is set upon by a stealthed leopard. Low and behold I am wounded and near death as i try in vain to kill it with my bow. But wait there's more I try my two hotkeyed heal kits - nothing happens. I try and drink a ptn - nothing happens. I only survive by the grace of a killing bow. WTF? No Lag to speak of nothing else on the screen except it and me.

2. I buff up on one screen and then am de-buffed on the next.

3. Up against a gorgon it casts Ghostly Visage, Bull Str and Barkskin as it proceeds to crit me for 40hp!

What is going on? Either a DM/Quasi-DM or sadistic grunt was on having fun at my expense or I was imagining the whole thing but alas I was not because I was partied with one other person and we both suffered similar misfortune.

So please if this was DM intervention - please go away. Because the particular DM(s) in question's "assistance" is not appreciated.

Oh just for the record I have been on this server nigh on 2 years so am no newb. This stuff is no *bug*!

Happy hunting

And yes shame on you. You know who you are.

[Ragefist]

If you've been on the server nigh unto 2 years, you'd definitely realize that the first two happenings are pretty easily explainable as server antics. I'm rather certain that the DM client can't supress your hotkeyed healing kits and potions wihout removing them from your inventory -- something you'd notice as they'd be de-keyed. Buff loss can happen with wonky server loads and/or area problems. Were you for sure debuffed, or did the buff icons just jump off the screen, as is wont to happen?

As to 3 <shrug>. I don't fight gorgons much, so I can't be sure of their AI, but I've had plenty of low lvl goblins/ogres go to town on pots before a fight and make it narsty.

In short, it doesn't sound like you were robbed of buttloads of XP or time (unless there's a longer story here), so does it really merit a topic of it's own in which to cry DM abuse? There are ways to report this so that it can be looked into, but raising a hue and cry on an open board is a little less than the most tactful way to handle it.

[P. Fricebottle]

Yeah, theres plenty of the people who have had worst experieces. For example, my level 5 was crited two times in a row by ferocious penguins, lol. I don't think its DM abuse, but more of Bioware abuse. Blame Bioware, lol.

[TGPO]

Well I havent seen the hotkey issue in a few years, but guess what thats an engine bug. The simple trick is to relog and it will go away.

If your low level, I fully expect your buffs to wear off about that fast. They do to me.

All NPCs have a random chance of getting one or two potions to use. Its a low chance granted, but I have seen the laws of probability turned on its head.

[Elagneros]

As the others have said, this could have been massively bad luck. The big cats in the game more actively stealth after their AI was bumped, and since treasure is generated on mobs when they spawn, not when they die, they will occasionally use the stuff (I really hate it when the mobs waste MY potions like that ).

Now I haven't had problems with using healing kits or potions, but it sound similar to a problem that occasionally pops up for me when I have trouble equipping an item I have hotkeyed.

As for the debuffing, if you transition while one buff wears off, the icons up at the top of the screen that shows all your active buff will disappear. The buff will still be active though.

[$chase$]

Yes as the title says - strange things transpired tonight.

This all happened in the space of 30 minutes:

1. My low level character is set upon by a stealthed leopard. Low and behold I am wounded and near death as i try in vain to kill it with my bow. But wait there's more I try my two hotkeyed heal kits - nothing happens. I try and drink a ptn - nothing happens. I only survive by the grace of a killing bow. WTF? No Lag to speak of nothing else on the screen except it and me.

2. I buff up on one screen and then am de-buffed on the next.

3. Up against a gorgon it casts Ghostly Visage, Bull Str and Barkskin as it proceeds to crit me for 40hp!

What is going on? Either a DM/Quasi-DM or sadistic grunt was on having fun at my expense or I was imagining the whole thing but alas I was not because I was partied with one other person and we both suffered similar misfortune.

So please if this was DM intervention - please go away. Because the particular DM(s) in question's "assistance" is not appreciated.

Oh just for the record I have been on this server nigh on 2 years so am no newb. This stuff is no *bug*!

Happy hunting

And yes shame on you. You know who you are.

if you have been here for 2 years, then i dont see why this post. there common issues we have on ns4.

#1 hotkey issues happen , there is no way a dm can mess with your heals

#2 the buff 1 screen not showing next has been a issue since ns4 opened. you are buffed they just dont show up on the top of your screen. again NO dm there either.

#3 some of the mobs ai has been worked on.. and sounds like bad rolls. DMs dont control rolls

SO next time you want to rant about the DMs ruining your fun try to sit back and relax for a bit first. again if you have been here for 2 years and this is the first time you have seen these issues, all i have to say is you are lucky

[kgb]

True I have been fortunate if that is the case. However as to the de-buff issue I can assure you my level 6 toon cast ghostly visage and cat's grace. The blue hue was up and my dex on toon sheet was raised accordingly. I traversed from one transition point on one screen to the other transition point and I was no longer "blue-hued" and my dex bonus on char sheet was gooone!

Perhaps I over-reacted and I apologise as I am becoming quite annoyed at some of the ramping up of AI while good on medium to high creatures (I applaud those changes) the stealthing of dire rats etc. is a bit much and makes levelling a new toon a cumbersome exercise.

I hope you can appreciate the convergence of problems coupled with the "stories" posted on these boards about DM intervention to "enhance" player fun, leading me to post what does amount to a bit of a rant. I guess in error I felt things were evolving down that path and well I was not amused

In future I will make my grievances in game on DM channel.

Thank you all for your measured replies.

[Milkman99]

well it might not be the place for it but i was the other partied with him and how funny ive never seen a gorgon use a potion but this 1 used 3 then proceeded to crit us both in a row and both for exactly 40 damage ??? the other issues may be your hotkey bug thing but who knows, we both had dex and visage up and both went missing not just the icons

Frustration is growing madly on the server and my biggest gripe is when u loose lvls, xp, items etc from resets/crashes. U r partied up and someone can verify that u gained 1 or 2 (whatever lvls) so u r not lieing but the policy is u never get it back!!!

I guess i just wanna know if anything is being done about the lag problem which is getting worse (cluster come back??) or should we just accept that to play here is to spend 15 minutes sometimes trying to buy lvl 5 gear or get a ferry ticket? I realise ppl are working real hard and player numbers are up but im no dm or dev but i would be stopping all work to do something about this problem ( but thats just my opinion)

any info on whats doing about lag would be appreciated so we can look at the light at the end of the tunnel