Upcoming Changes

most of this is what Runewaker(the developer of Runes of Magic) has to say. 
these are from posts on the EN(Europe) Runes of Magic forums.
posted by Runewaker on September 11, 2009
Hi All,
1. I will not answer things concerning "preferences". I will only leave some comments and direction. Usually there are no correct way of doing things as there will always be someone who would prefer another way. All I can say is that we read the forums, we get constructive feedback and suggestions from Frogster, and we will work on possible changes based on them. I hope everyone will understand that balancing is an on going process, and we will have to be extremely cautious as the "skill web" gets more complex. 
2. A developer can't really answer operations questions.
3. Ultra difficulties - I am sure that every game has something that is ultra difficult. I for one probably won't try it, but there probably will be someone who will.
4. Not answering all questions - The truth is, that I may not be able to answer them, but that doesn't mean that your suggestions and concerns are being ignored. 
We are now wrapping up ch2. Lots of testing going on, not sure when was the last time our team had a weekend off, but things look great and everyone here is excited about ch2. Planning will take us all the way til early next year with lots of things coming. Everyone's constructive comments and suggestions are all vaulable to us. Thank you for supporting RoM!
posted be Runewaker on September 1, 2009
1. "clean" drops (the ones with only a yellow stat) will be made possible for Heart of the Ocean. 
2. More white 50+ items will be added over time. We have been and will be on an extremely tight schedule until after the release of ch2. 
3. The issue with the noobie bag. It will only explode if and only if the same level bag has been open before on the same char. Somehow the player must have gotten another same bag and try to open it... the system notices the activation of the same bag and kills it to prevent really smart players from "farming" the bags somehow... ( I probably just opened another bag load of complaints.... ) We will look into a few that have had exploding bags and see if there was any errors.
4. The Volcano - so close.. it does look very nice on our side. work is still being carried out, but overall it looks good. Hopefully you will all find it entertaining when you reach there. cant say too much about it.
I am sorry about the long absence without replies. We are launching RoM everywhere globally and therefore my travels have been picking up the last month or so and will keep me moving for the next 2 months. Thanks for all the support!
posted by Runewaker on July 8, 2009
Hi guys,
1. Dynamically generated instances - we have a prototype but currently it is buggy. the generated dungeons had holes, or area that players can walk or fall through, the art looks horrible. The diablo randomly generated dungeons was the original idea, but having it work in an actual 3D world (where you can move the camera in every angle) is actually quite tough.The workload (both art and tech) is delayed so we can finish other things in game (like dynamic shadows and other improvements).
2. Raidable Instance - All I can said is CH2.
3. Shared Housing - So our solution to this would be a friend's list for housing, which you can assign rights to your friends (which could be your other char.) Shared housing created a nightmare for DB. 
4. 20% Bonus - To calm fears, the current situation does not change. Which means that even when we get to fixing the item DB issue, we will make sure the current system stays the way it is.
5. CTF/Arena - As some of the posts have pointed out, currently if we split the levels then there could be players that will wait for a long time. So, there are a few functions like entering as a party or a queue for all servers (which will be done soon) that can help. We do plan to have level seperations once these are finished first.
6. New items - If anyone have interesting items that you feel the games needs, we are always open to suggestions! Though new timers would most likely be avoided.
7. Races - I cannot say more than that Elves is not the last race you will see added.
8. Botting - I am pretty sure that no MMO out there is free of botting. The best defense against bots is the players! So, we have a design to allow players to do something about the bots. But working out the details so that it cannot be abused and cause normal players grief.
Keep the questions coming and I will attemp to give a post once a week or so. And thanks for keeping them constructive.
posted by Runewaker on July 7, 2009
The 20% bonus will stay since that is the way things have turn out to be. We don't think that is the problem. 
The issue we will be fixing is the item data structure. For example: Do Quest A, NPC gives blessing to equipment, then the "blessing" can be a % bonus and will stack with the others instead of the current issue where the bonuses can't stack. Like I stated before the current situation isn't causing alot of problems and therefore it will remain the way it is. Changing the data structure does take quite a bit of time and therefore I will keep everyone informed if and when we plan to make this change.
My original answer was just an honest answer saying that it wasn't intended, but i should have added that we are not changing the bonuses given.
posted by Runewaker on July 6, 2009
hmm... I feel that my openess (or maybe just unclear) in my answers have brought more bad than good.
5. Durability - Yes, there is a slight bug with this... We intended for crafters to have the ability to create 100+ dur. item that will give bonus, but more like 5% or so. The golden repair hammer gives 20%. But due to technical issues (which we will be fixing) the current system treats 100+ as the same... 
That was an answer to another player's concerns about if the durability is working as intended. So, I gave information about how the original idea was and that we plan to fix it (meaning that we wish for the bonuses to stack). This "bug" isnt a priority but I felt that I should share this information.
I really appreciate those that can respond in a constructive way (like the post above). So allow me to go back and share the history, hopefully that will shed some light on some issues.
Some of you may still remember when the max durability will slowly decrease. The basic idea was that it could help "recycle" equipment and also creates a great demand for crafters. The original golden repair hammer was intended to repair max durability. BUT, the loss of max durability was a bad idea (constuctive comments from players made this change happen). So, no more max durability loss and the golden hammer was changed to give 200% durability and a bonus. We still wanted to make crafters more valuable, so we added the bonus for 100+ dura items. but was set at 5% (since it is a permanent bonus unlike the golden repair hammer. the original idea behind the golden repair hammer was to be used as a instant power boost when fighting bosses...) So that was the original plans and it went live and we realized the bug, but couldn't be fixed right away because of the data structure of items. So weeks passed and it doesnt seem that there are too many players complaining about it. So we left it as it is. 
I was being honest about this answer to the player and we always welcome constructive comments. I do not want to have to think for long to post information fearing that it might bring un-needed flaming. I hope most of you will understand. 
Lastly, I do apologize if some of my answers were not clear.
posted by Runewaker on July 5, 2009
For those of you that lives in the states, hope you had a great July 4th weekend! There will be some answers for questions from the US forums as well as from here.
1. Guild Level 7+? - Yes, Guilds will be able to expand beyond LV 7 when we have finished additional functions/upgrades for the guild castle!
2. Music - Some of you may be aware that we are working with Dynamedian on all our sounds and music! You should be able to hear some changes by next month's patch.
3. Elite Skills - We have been keeping a note on a few skills which players may feel are useless. I hope that players will understand that balancing comes first. (Changing an skill entirely may or maynot bring a whole lot of issues.)
4. Potions - They now work as intended. (God, how i hate that line.. ). But we also noticed that they may not be enough for longer or more intensive battles. We will look into creating new ones (maybe only through crafting.).
5. Durability - Yes, there is a slight bug with this... We intended for crafters to have the ability to create 100+ dur. item that will give bonus, but more like 5% or so. The golden repair hammer gives 20%. But due to technical issues (which we will be fixing) the current system treats 100+ as the same... 
6. Shadows - We are working on dynamic shadows and other visuals hopefully with an ETA pre CH2.
7. New servers, Trailers - I am sure Frogster is constantly working on things to show or open the players.
8. Info about CH2 - I believe plenty of information is already in the pipeline to be released.
9. Rent or not to rent - It is like an owner of an apartment building, to rent, or to sell. It is an issues we are discussing, but I do hope players will understand no matter the outcome.
posted by Runewaker on June 30, 2009
Good Day Everyone.
1. Profit from Crafting - we try to keep it so profit will only come from selling to other players. Any system that allows "printing" of gold will definitely encourage inflation. What we want to bring to crafting is market! We will try to create a market for crafters.
2. 3rd Party Website info - We are impressed with some of the websites out there. Will all the items they show make it into game, no...
3. Crafting Sets - Definitely already in the works.
4. Jewels - We understand your doubt. So I will not try to convince you, but answer your questions instead. 
The value of an item can be based on rarity. Similar to having a +6, its rare and therefore "valuable". "Satisfactory" result can never be when working with chance. There will always be that someone who got unlucky, even if we increased the chances. 
So the value of the + system works inversely with satisfactory level. The more players are "satisfied" the less rare and valuable having a +6 is. Pretty soon, players might feel that since everyone has a +6 then the game must be "forcing" us to get +6 to be the same as everyone else.
Once again I am not here to convince anyone about the "correctness" of the system.
New ideas and Suggestions - We (well... atleast I do) read most of the posts and get plenty of organized feedback from the Frogster team! And the comments and/or ideas do hold their weight in our designs and planning. Ofcourse marketing and related issues are better addressed to Frogster. 
Just want to share a basic work flow. As the game grow in size, changes and improvements may come slower. Just like building a new sewer for a small city... or for New York!! Some issues are easier to address and others require an overhual of the game engine. We would like to continue to make this game even better! 
I would like to give thanks to all the players and their patience and understanding.
posted by Runewaker on June 24, 2009
1. Balancing - We are and will continue to do balancing for all classes. A few changes will be going live by next month (though I believe it may not be what players are looking for.) The bulk of the balancing will be in about a month before Chapter 2. Yes, we hear the scouts and the mages; but the balancing may or may not be what you are looking for.
2. Crafting - We are in the midst of re-working the crafting system. It will be in 3 phases and should all be complete and live before Chapter 2. The 1st phase will be a basic clean up and difficulty adjustment of existing recipes. 2nd and 3rd phase will be adding on the "value" and "fun" of crafting.
3. Jewels - I would like to say that the rates of the jewel's success has never been changed since CB. 
4. Graphical Update - Many have heard that we are doing enhancements to the graphical engine. It will not mean that the minimum specs will be raised as well.
Press Release posted on June 4, 2009
The Elven Prophecy
posted by a Frogster Representative on May 27, 2009
Dear Runes of Magic Community,
Once upon a time ago two friendly parties assembled in the depths of a frog-green dungeon to prepare for an epic raid!
To be exact Runewaker and we met a few weeks ago at Frogster's Berlin dungeon for a live raid to pry a mysterious treasure map, showing the way to the upcoming Add-On, from the greedy hands of one of the Demon Lord's evil vassals!
But before we - in a very professional manner - could reach the end-boss, we had to fight our way through the remaining encounters called May and June and a few other Trash-Mob months. And although it was a tough fight, the loot we found held a few nice surprises for us!
On our adventurous and dangerous way through the unknown reaches of the Taborean underworld, we met the occasional friendly party from the continent of Europe - and although they did not speak the language of the Germans or the Anglo-Saxons, their pure skill convinced us that they exactly knew what they were up to. So we continued our journey, our flag raised high, and fought off wave after wave of evil minions. Much quicker than expected, our expedition came to an end: we met face to face with our target, the Demon Lord's little sibling! After defeating a few waves of monsters and their special attacks, we wrestled the map from our opponent's lifeless claws. And here was a surprise: The map was larger than we initially expected - it had the size of a tome that was titled "chapter 2".
Quickly, we teleported back to a local tavern before we made our way to Ravenfell, where we bribed a moody pirate captain to take us across the sea. On the fourth day, after three long and sleepless nights, we finally reached the unchartered shores of a new world.
The time between our fights we used to plan and discuss the coming improvements and enhancements we want to bring to Runes of Magic.
Here, I would like to share some of these plans with you!
Starting now, we will make changes to our existing patching cycle. Instead of applying patches in irregular intervals, we are planning to publish new features, updates and content once a month.
The previous patching cycle was designed to gather as much feedback from our Runes of Magic community as quickly as we could so this could be incorporated in the further development. The new cycle will help improving the patch quality even more and will lessen the impact of our weekly maintenance on our community.
To still get as much feedback from our very active community, to test and review new content, we have already set-up a new powerful test server last month. Like we did in the Closed Beta, we will introduce more an more players to review and test new content and changes as early as possible and as long as possible.
Of course we are staying flexible. Should we want to release a feature earlier, we will apply this patch to the servers in between. In general this should only concern improvements to the game like extensions of existing features.
Maybe the one or other member of our community can hardly wait until the next patch goes live, so we are working on more Community- and in-game events.
Observant readers of the introduction will have already glimpsed at where the Add-On map will lead us from here. All others might be delighted to hear that from now on we will release more information on the coming features and content on a regular basis. Until we do, we at least want to give you a glimpse on what's coming in the meantime. We recommend, to regularly check your favourite fansite our own website for more.
Before that we want to reveal a few of the things that you can expect even before the second chapter is released: we are already working on expanding the icedwarf instance with a new area for high-level players, an improved spam-protection system for the in-game chat, permanent pets and an improvement of the target-system!
It is important to us that all the upcoming features will best your expectations and will only go live after we have gathered your feedback.
We are confident that this step will bear huge advantages for everyone, from Runewaker and Frogster, because we now have more time to test and optimise our patches, to our players who will profit from an improved gameplay experience.
Here's to a lasting and brilliant time in Runes of Magic!
With best wishes,
Daniel Ullrich
Director Product Management
posted by Runewaker on May 14, 2009
As mentioned before, bug fixes, adjustments, and other minor issues will still be fixed and patched when they are done.
It will also be a couple of cycles before we reach the 4 week cycle pattern.
A few things I would like to note:
The PVE raiding content is already in progress though I cannot give out ETAs or dates.
The test server is going well, and I believe once that is open to a selected few, then we will be able to iron out the bugs for the masses!
The PKer with 15 locked equipment issue - we know this exists along with other issues of the PVP servers. We are working on a revamp of the entire system, but please note that the new system must still function ontop of the game mechnics. There are still some technical difficulties with what we want to do and what is currently possible. I cannot release any details til we have confirmation that it can be done. 
Guild features - improvements and additions are coming. Some soon and others a bit later.
Lastly, thanks for keeping this thread clean.
posted by Runewaker on May 12, 2009
A few things about progress and fixes that I would like to share (thought about it for a long time if I should post this due to that some may feel the need to flame):
1. The new 4 week cycle:
Sounds bad at first.... but really means that new content or bigger changes (bigger changes may not be bigger in the eyes of the players) comes out every 4 weeks. Bug fixes and other smaller issues(things that can be adjusted) will still be ongoing and will be patched in when needed/finished. 
2. Reasons behind the patch cycle:
Building patches is a time consuming task, followed by debugging of the patch with a very minimal test team (compared to the large player base). Less patches equal more time to finish other issues, more time to test things, and less problems that were caused by rushing out patches... The previous 1 week cycle would mean a loss of atleast 3/4 work day (or more if the patch was not smooth) per patch. 
Other comments:
1. Shared housing:
We are modifying this feature to provide players with basically the same options of a single house but with other means (personally i believe the new modified feature will be better than the old buggy one). 
2. Diamond issue:
yes, we are changing this to reduce the frustrations that players may feel. The changes will require a big modification on the db... 
3. Diamond in AH issue:
all i could say is that your voices have been heard.
on April 20, 2009 Runewaker posted this
Hi guys,
Thanks for keeping this thread clean of flaming.. I know my next statement may generate quite a bit of flaming. Please understand that I will not be able to give ETAs (though i will occationally hint at a time frame).
1. Arena/BG - BG is similar to arena in that one is small and the other is a large scale fight! so once the arena is working well, we will have BG (ofcourse BG takes quite a long time to design the map, and we are not taking about just a couple of zones in BG... 
and yes, they are being drawn right now) and somewhere in between with be guild vs guild battles. As you see in game (though it kinda sucks), rewards are in for arena. The next step would be rankings. We will for sure have level caps and different ranges for arena battles (just completely unfair for a lv 20 to fight a lv 50). 
And yes, the group sign up option will also be available. (personally, I am predicting early summer for arena related stuff)
2. Marriage - Some of the players may have seen it during CB... the last thing to work out would be working out the "couple skill". Balacing is a big issue, and so is usefulness. 
3. Future: We are on a pace of 1 new zone every 2 months (a complete zone will also include instances, quests, etc...) Many players are spreading rumors about new classes and race... 
on April 19, 2009 someone made this suggestion:
i suggest to make some lvl req.. for example if 50 lvl joined arena. put all 40-50lvls in 1 match.. 30-40 in another etc..
and Runewaker posted this on April 20, 2009
The idea of level seperation is a good idea that we are already working on!
posted by Runewaker on April 17, 2009
Wow, a thread made just for us!
There are probably more questions than I have answers for. R&D is much more unpredictable than just basic planning. 
I'll quickly post a few thoughts/answers to a few questions mentioned above (and hope that flaming can be kept at a minimum).
1. PVP/reputation system - currently we have taken a couple of suggested plans from players (some of them are amazing page long detailed systems, good job!) and are working to put them in (requires new system creations and also able to fit the old data). 
2. Skills/Balancing - this is a tough one, with 6 classes, so many combinations and PVE and PVP worlds. All I can say is balancing is still being done. and yes, we read the contructive comments! 
3. Diamond Auction House issue - we are working on ideas of how to reduce this situation... 
4. G vs G, S vs S - I am not sure that if players have noticed, but we are building all the required systems a piece at a time. (hopefully soon the cross server system can be finished.... shhh you didnt see it here....)
5. Broken Quests - there always seems to be broken quests! We get thousands of possible bugs reported everyday, and there are tons of bugs that we can't reproduce. We must be able to reproduce the bug to find out whats wrong. I know players are not that bored as to report fake bugs.
What we can suggest is this: every once in awhile please download the newest FULL client (especially if you have been playing since CB) My client is still working perfectly and it has been patching since v1778. But a new full client can reduce the possibility of things going wrong. 
alright, thats my comments for today.
posted by Runewaker on April 6, 2009
Concerning the boss drop lower limit. 
Boss Drop attributes will now be randomly generated from a set of attributes that does not include some of the lower attributes.
It means that the value of the attributes that may come with a dropped equipment has a lower limit; which means a lower chance (or 0 chance) of getting "trash" attributes. Though depending on your current equipment, some of the players still may feel that they will get "trash" attributes on drops; but overall the lower limit has been set.
Hope this helps.
posted by Runewaker on April 3, 2009
I am gonna take a gamble and post about this since i see that this is getting out of hand.... (Let the flames begin...)
the interview was done and record with a recorder (was later written up by someone else...)
Right now, we're still doing a little bit of fine-tuning and balancing. Most of the classes are perfectly playable, they're actually fun, but maybe a few classes are a little bit more overpowered – the mage, the rogue. These are the two classes where we feel the players are constantly having more suggestions for. I think the rogue and the mage are too extreme right now and we want them more in the middle. So, we'll be looking at those two more.
Now Let say for example, it should have been:
Right now, we're still doing a little bit of fine-tuning and balancing. Most of the classes are perfectly playable, they're actually fun, but maybe a few classes are a little bit more overpowered. The mage, the rogue; these are the two classes where we feel the players are constantly having more suggestions for. I think the rogue and the mage are too extreme right now and we want them more in the middle. So, we'll be looking at those two more.
hopefully some of you will notice the difference...
(Just to be clear, incase some may not understand, the statement was saying that these two classes is currently being worked on with suggestions from the community)