Thanks to everyone for sending in these questions, and remember to please keep sending in your general grab bag questions for our devs! You can submit any game related questions you have for our DAoC Devs through our Grab Bag submission form. Please note this is for game mechanic questions. Feedback/ideas/suggestions should be sent in through our feedback form.
On to the questions!
I'm not sure I fully understand what this is all about. Can you give a quick summary of what Endless Conquest is?
Sure thing!
Currently Dark Age of Camelot is a subscription-only game where accounts must subscribe monthly in order to access the game and its features. Endless Conquest will be a new account type that does not require a subscription to access Dark Age of Camelot and allows EC-enabled accounts to explore the realms, participate in our fabled RvR combat and generally play for free, albeit with some gameplay-restrictions like certain classes, buffs, and more.
With the launch of Endless Conquest, players will have a choice to play on an EC-enabled account (no subscription) or a Veteran (subscribed) account. Veteran accounts will have access to several rewards and events that EC accounts won't and generally have unrestricted access to all gameplay features, classes, and more. Our announcement earlier this week goes through those restrictions and privileges in detail.
Will accounts get any special treatment for being previously subbed for a long period of time and attaining the elder title? I feel like some special perk should be given to those who subbed for a long time before EC.
We absolutely agree! Subscribed accounts will receive a choice of at least 1 Veteran Reward at each of the 11 planned cumulative subscription thresholds. The Veteran Reward can be redeemed once per account and some of them can be traded to other characters (though they won’t be usable by an EC account).
The full details of this system will have to wait until the Patch 1.126 notes but we can promise they’ll be coveted rewards and the longer you’ve subscribed, the more coveted they’ll become!
Additionally, subscriptions will get a bonus quest every month that gives a meaningful reward to every level 50 character on their account.
Will we be able to post on the Official Forums if we have only have an active EC account?
Yes! Users with active game accounts can post on our Official Forums. We currently are not planning on any forum-specific restrictions on EC-enabled accounts, but that could change if necessary.
How will EC work regarding multiple accounts/multiboxing? Can I run a macro-team?
No, Endless Conquest accounts are not permitted to multibox/macro-group in PvE or RvR. Further, one Endless Conquest account is able to be logged in per user at a time.
If that restriction is somehow circumvented, any EC accounts that are being operated with 3rd party multibox/macro-team programs will be actioned on a much shorter leash than for Veteran accounts. This can include the revocation of that account’s eligibility for Endless Conquest or simply termination of the account for even first or second offenses, depending on the severity.
The same can be said for any violations found on EC accounts.
Quick question about EC and Battlegrounds. Will existing characters that already have xp/rp off automatically have them turned on if it is not a subscribed(veteran?) account?
Yes. /xp off and /rp off commands will not be usable and any returning EC account with them already enabled will have them disabled upon login.
Additionally, characters will no longer lose experience on PvE deaths and EC accounts will be prohibited from using the Realm Point Remover NPC. EC accounts will be able to visit the Mithril store and have the option of purchasing temporary buffs that cease XP/RP gain for their duration if they want to stick around a particular battleground a bit longer.
How were the classes that EC players have available to them chosen, and for what reasons? Will the available classes ever rotate or be expanded upon?
With the five chosen classes, EC accounts have access to their realm’s primary, secondary, and tertiary healing, primary buffing and crowd-control, and a maximum realm speed class, along with a ranged and melee DPS class.
As any experienced player knows, those aspects are extremely valuable to have in RvR groups. We want to encourage the ability for EC accounts to be invited to groups and to be able to add to the experience of their fellow players. By choosing classes that would be sought after in RvR, we aim to have EC accounts add value to the existing Veteran accounts who just need that 1 more support or crowd control class.
On the flip side, the chosen classes are not necessarily the greatest or most popular in PvE encounters, which limits their self-sufficiency there, and there are certainly some fun and awesome classes and races that EC accounts miss out on. As such, we’re quite happy with the balance struck. We do not have plans for expanding which ones are offered beyond the five and will not be rotating them with other classes.
There's already been some excitement in region about EC coming live with new people popping in to the chat to possibly check things out. If an account was recently inactive for 180 days does that still count, or does it need to remain inactive until EC starts for this to work?
Unfortunately we have to draw the line somewhere.
Only previously-subscribed, 180 day+ inactive accounts, in good-standing, or newly created accounts will be eligible as Endless Conquest accounts. Any account that is currently subscribed or was subscribed less than 180 days ago (starting from the launch day of EC), will not be eligible for EC. We feel very strongly that EC will be adding to the value of our current and future Veteran accounts but if a user wishes to or circumstances dictate that an account be deactivated, it will only become eligible for EC again after 180 days of inactivity.
Endless Conquest is about giving players an opportunity to try and play Dark Age of Camelot for free as first timers or to return and rediscover their love for their realm and characters, all while still able to contribute towards the end-game in a meaningful way. Without that ability to contribute, we don’t think Endless Conquest would be worth it. We strongly feel that the more players playing DAoC, the better the experience is. Veteran accounts will especially benefit with more people in the game RvRing, PvEing, and socializing, making the value of a subscription increase that much more!
If I subscribe, make a non-EC class like a Bonedancer, then end my subscription at a later date, do I have to wait the 180 days before EC kicks in to play DAoC as a free player? Once the 180 day period ends, can I play my Bonedancer?
Yes, if an account’s subscription lapses, it only activates Endless Conquest after 180 days of inactivity, regardless of the classes on it.
Once the 180 period has passed and it becomes an EC account, the Bonedancer will only be playable if it has 7+ days on their /played stat, is above level 15, and was created *before* the initial launch of EC. Otherwise, the account will only be able to play or create the EC-enabled classes.
From the EC FAQ: Returning EC account characters that have already trained Realm abilities will have those abilities automatically respecced and their realm skill points refunded on first login; any existing Champion abilities will be automatically removed too.
Regarding this... what happens if you upgrade your account to a Veteran account? Do the CL abilities and Realm skill points get restored?
Yes, any account that upgrades from EC to Veteran will have their applicable Champion Ability points restored (if the character has CLs completed) and will be able to spend above the 60 realm skill point threshold. Characters on upgraded accounts will also have any trained realm abilities automatically respecced to ensure they have the full availability of realm skill points.
This is also a good opportunity to clarify that accounts who upgrade from EC to Veteran will need to fully log out their game client before the Veteran (subscribed) status benefits will apply.
When does the realm timer countdown start? From log out or last RP gained? Why 15 minutes and not 30?
The timer starts when realm points are gained from an RvR kill, not logout. We have gone back and forth between 30 and 15 minutes quite a bit and it may be that something in between ends up being the sweet-spot, but we want to start out on the low-end and increase from there if it’s still not long enough; rather than the reverse.
Are there any class or RvR changes planned to go in with EC?
Yes, some! We are mostly focusing on Endless Conquest with patch 1.126 but we have some impactful RvR and some much-requested class changes on the way too. No hints though!
Okay, fine.
For RvR, we’ll be performing some fairly-involved progression changes within the Battlegrounds to help give all players a chance to once again spend some quality RvR time there, as well as taking another look at Frontier daily rewards and RvR bonuses, along with spreading some Bounty Point love to non-RvR areas. Is the ‘Supplies for the Cause’ quest going back to fully repeatable!? /wink. For classes, we still feel a few are over-performing in certain areas and some need a little love too. Oh you wanted to know which ones? Not yet, friend!
Choc full of info!
That's it for this week, have a good weekend all :)
See you in the frontiers!
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