It's Friday and time for Sanya's weekly "Grab Bag o' Stuff" over on the Camelot Herald. This weeks grab bag covers; legal cheats and exploits, item bonuses affect on Longbow spec., chance to crit hit, tinctures, Ripper effect, pets seeing through stealth and more. Below is one of this weeks Q&A's, you can read the rest of the grab bag here:

Q: Currently pets can see through stealth as long as they are set to attack a player before he stealths, this seems a little unfair. Is this an intended part of the game or a bug? A: It is an intended part of the game. Now, I realize you make not LIKE the way it works, and as with all things, I take and report feedback to that effect. Just remember that it is not broken, and that your feedbackshould reflect that you're asking for a change, not a fix. (It does matter – fixes are a higher priority than changes.)

Grab Bag o' Stuff from Sanya Thomas 2003-05-09 19:01:48 Go to it: Q: What forms of cheating and exploiting are allowed in DAOC? A: I know people are going to think I made this question up. I wish I were making this up. The answer is "there aren't any." And "please report any new cheat or hack programs you may encounter as you flit across the internet." We know about most of the programs out there, and actively work on breaking the programs or banning the users – but I can't be everywhere, and greatly appreciate any tips. Q: What I would like to know is how item bonuses affect Longbow spec. Since critical hit 9 (the last one) is at spec level 27, will my overall experience be any different if I continue to spec in longbow to 50, or if I stop at 38 and continue to 50 with items? Also, will the new archer abilities be gained naturally as we level or with our bow spec, and at what levels? A: The new archer abilities (Penetrating Arrow and Rapid Fire) will only be learned through specialization in your bow skill. A combined spec/item bonus above 50 will give you better results with a bow against targets above level 50. Q: Is the base chance to critical hit the same for all weapons (bow, sword, spell, etc)? A: All attacks have the same base chance of a critical hit. This chance can then be modified by things like realm abilities and frenzy mode. Q: In the Grab Bag of Feb 21 (http://www.camelotherald.com/more/762.php) the uses and efficacy of various tinctures was clarified. Specifically, it was stated that reactive procs would not fire when applied to a shield that then blocks. I have personally observed several shields wielded by several different players proc a reactive in testing. The one player would execute the Engage skill, and the other would beat on him. The reactive would invariably fire after enough hits. Is this a bug, or was the usage reconsidered (frankly, a reactive SHOULD logically work on a shield)? I don't want to run to an Alc to get one applied, to have it later switched off. :( A: Grab bags often turn up bugs, or things not working right, or wrong answers. In this case, the answer was incomplete. Here's what I got from the Programmer In Charge Of Such Things: "[The code says] that if a reactive proc is placed on a shield, it will go off when the shield blocks but not when you bash with the shield. If an offensive proc is put on the shield, it will go off for bashes but not blocking." Q: What effect does Ripper have? Does it still come off Leaper? This seems unfair – the infiltrator's Dragonfang is a single chain off evade. A: The effect is a bleed. It still comes off Leaper. And it's set to do a whole lot more damage than Dragonfang, so it's not exactly comparable. Q: Does Wild Healing (critical heal Realm Ability) have a chance of critically landing on Battery of Life (resulting in a larger pool)? A: No, but Mastery of the Arcane will increase the size of the pool. Q: Currently pets can see through stealth as long as they are set to attack a player before he stealths, this seems a little unfair. Is this an intended part of the game or a bug? A: It is an intended part of the game. Now, I realize you make not LIKE the way it works, and as with all things, I take and report feedback to that effect. Just remember that it is not broken, and that your feedback should reflect that you're asking for a change, not a fix. (It does matter – fixes are a higher priority than changes.) Q: I am looking to buy a laptop. I want to know if the newer ATI Mobile GPU's, or Nvidia Geforce2Go video processors will display all of Shrouded Isles graphical enhancements. Can you tell me if there are any known issues running DAOC on current model laptops? A: I asked our technical guru, as I am not yet willing to be tethered via a laptop :) He replied: "Definitely go with an NVIDIA graphics chip, HOWEVER no laptops really right now run SI without some sort of glitch with the SI engine. We are hoping newer graphics chips can keep up soon." So – if you really must play DAOC when you're on the road with only your laptop for company, you may want to consider installing the classic client. (Edit: and BIND in one of the classic zones before you leave for your trip!) Announcements: Browsing one of my favorite forums today, I realized that it's time for the regular reminder of what "impossible" really means to a game company like Mythic. When someone from here uses the word "impossible," what they mean to say is "this cannot be done with the staff we have and/or the time we have available to dedicate to the problem." That's why you'll see someone saying something is impossible… and six months later it appears in patch notes. As a company, we are constantly evolving. Fresh blood often brings fresh thinking, and more help means more time to devote to things we couldn't schedule before. If you somehow missed the announcement yesterday, we have a new poll up and ready to get your feedback and commentary. A side note – one of the questions is a list, asking you to pick your favorite thing. Please rest assured that we're not going to throw out the rest of the list! We're just asking what you'd most like to see, to make sure there's an interest in all those things, and we're looking for which item we should schedule first and foremost. Watch the patch notes for future details. Some of your favorite sources for Camelot news and information around the internet had housing beta Sneak Peek contests this week. All those account names have been submitted to the testing crew. If you were a winner, you should get your invitation around the 27th or 28th of May. The invitations will be arriving at the email address registered to your account – so if you think your email address as changed, please be sure to update that information in the next week! Feeling disappointed that you didn't win a Sneak Peek? Well, they're called sneak peeks because the plan is currently to go to open beta shortly after the sneak peek players get their tour. So you won't have to wait too long. If you haven't checked the wallpaper section lately, take a look. Some fun stuff there. Got this letter from a guy on Bors: "Not sure if you can assist us on the Bors server, but there is a player that has been diagnosed with a Brain Tumor. I am trying to coordinate a multi-realm picture taking event for this individual to raise their spirits in this sad time. Can you post anything on the Herald to spread the news so we can have a successful and great turnout? The event is taking place Saturday May 10th in Hadrians Wall at the crossroads/aquaduct." For more information, check the Vault board for Bors. Going to E3? I personally am completely booked at this point, but we'd still love to meet you. Not the royal we, the Mythic we. There will be people at our booth in West Hall all three days, ready and willing to give virtual tours and shake your hand. So stop on by, check out Foundations and Trials of Atlantis, and share a few laughs. Hold back your tears – the Grab Bag is about to hit a two week hiatus. Next week is E3, and the week after, I'll be out of town. That's not true of the rest of the company, of course. Everyone else will be back at work, putting the shine on 1.62 and Foundations. I'll miss you, but I keep hearing about this bright yellow thing in the sky that purportedly provides heat and light. I no longer believe the rumors, and am forced to see it for myself. You all have yourselves a wonderful weekend. I don't say this enough – but thanks for being part of this community.