19C

Yes, Update 19 sure is a big update. I believe it is scheduled to hit the Live Servers before the end of this week, but obviously that is subject to change.

The notes for part C of the Update are now available and I thought I'd mention some points of interest.

Wisps will now update more frequently.
- You do not have to get as far away from a waypoint wisp for it to re-path to your destination.
- In cases in which the wisp could not find its way to the destination and would go through walls or the ground, there is now chat text that provides a compass direction to navigate with.

I am actually pretty excited about this. I tend to get lost quite frequently. I have often been known to say that I still get lost in the Down Under. I like to use waypoints to target group members but it is usually an ineffective method.

Now, I know many people use third party map add-ons so this is not an issue for them. But for those of us who don't this is a positive change.

The Antonia Bayle and Lucan D'Lere statues on the islands will now speak.

That's great and everything but it just reminds me that in over a year of playing EQII my personal communication with Antonia and Lucan has been nearly non-existent. When do we get to actually see these two when we're not betraying?

Tensions between the Ashen Order and the Ashen Disciples seem to be growing. The two orders have become more distinct in their appearance, philosophy, and combat techniques.

Wait a minute...there's two different types of Ashen monks? I must have been there a dozen or more times and I never noticed. This change is definitely a good one if people are expected to see a difference.

Most creatures are no longer immune to certain damage types. Many will have retained high resistance to particular forms of damage but should no longer be completely immune.

Interesting. Does this apply to epic mobs? It's slightly unrelated, by why is it that almost every wizard damage spell is heat based? Remember, it's supposed to be master of the elements, not master of heat.

Hunger and thirst messages will no longer repeat every time you zone or log in. They will only display once every 30 minutes.

Thank you. I don't need to be reminded of how cheap I am every ten seconds.

I know some people have been complaining that this update has been taking too long. But be fair. It contains major changes to much of the early game and there are a ton of other tweaks in there. The raid interface change is the one I'm most looking forward to checking out.