Large Weapons (2001-12-04)

[Etaew]

Originally: http://www.camelotherald.com/more/32.shtml
Hibernian Weapon Confusion - A Ray of Light
Posted By: Sanya Thomas 2001-12-04 18:29:59

Some loyal Hibernians were under the impression that their large weapons worked the way large weapons work in Albion - indeed, the much-abused, much-appreciated team leads seemed to think so. But Hibernian large weapons work in a similar way to Midgard, and they've never worked any other way! Why then the confusion? I got a note from a beta tester:

"Hi Sanya! I've been one of the beta testers of DAoC since april, extremely active and read every single developer post I saw especially those concerning melee. I've got some insight on how the large weapon speccing misconception occured.

"First, as you may be aware, all game testing started with Albion. In Albion the weapons all have base skills that must be trained in addition to secondary skill. So, a slashing two hand user must train both Slash and 2 hand. The base skill that needs training is listed on the weapon info, as it is for all weapons in game, supposedly. It's actually the damage type but it has become accepted that this is base skill type since that's how it works in Albion.

"Now when Hibernia came out with new skills, I cannot recall an explicit explanation as to how the weapon skills were different. It was therefore assumed that large weapons required the base weapon type to be trained as well, since that's how it worked for Albion. This was posted, not by devs, but by team leads and other knowledgeble testers, and this misconception was never spotted by an appropriate dev who could correct it. Therefore, it was correct by gestault (what a concept, eh?) and therefore was used as the explanation by anyone who needed to explain it. After all, go look at the weapon info for the large weapons and they all list base type. Yeah, we all know it's really not base type but damage type. Useful information for choosing your weapon against mobs that may be more sensitive to one type of damage. However, because it appears there, it "confirms" what the TL's and others had been saying.

"Basically, it all boils down to everyone being too busy to make sure everyone else understood all the implications of all the changes. There were a lot of things that came through that way. Most of them due to come to light when large numbers of people start not understanding.

"One important point. Someone that has specced in both places isn't gimped. We testers did a lot of work to try to insure that that isn't possible. Instead, they are simply more versatile. Look, if I'm a tank deep into hostile PvE territory and I'm having problems managing agro with my large slow weapon and the healers/casters are dying, then because I have specced in a faster weapon skill (and blades are faster then large weapons) I can wield a sword in this situation and do a much better job managing agro for my group. This makes me a much more useful player than someone who only has one weapon skill, large weapons. (emphasis mine - ST)

"Ah well, I hope I've help shed some light and provided you with useful information."

Thanks to Glenn for this concise and accurate analysis. I'd like to apologize to those who were confused because I did not catch and correct the misperceptions earlier. I would also like to apologize to the team leads who felt that their honor was in question. They have always done an excellent job communicating with the people they represent, and the fault was with us, not them.