# Changed the XP requirements per skill point for advanced characters. Previously, the required XP kept increasing with each successive skill point, making it very difficult to continue earning skill points after taking on a new secondary profession. Now, the required XP caps out at 20,000 per skill point.
# Doubled the XP gained from killing boss monsters.
# Introduced rare scrolls which, when used, grant the entire party double or triple XP for a limited duration. We also added traders for these new scrolls.
# Changed the XP reward for ascension. Previously, when a character ascended, he was automatically advanced to level 20, regardless of his current level. This meant that characters who had already advanced to level 20 prior to ascension received no reward for ascending. Now, ascension gives a fixed reward of 50,000 XP.
# Updated secondary profession quests so that when a player accepts a new secondary profession, he now gets the starter skills for that profession.
# Improved salvage kits so that they always successfully salvage runes from monster-dropped armor. There is still a chance of destroying a rune when using a salvage kit to try to retrieve it from your own armor.
# Added confirmation prompt when dragging an item to the ground during a trading session or just after a trading session, to prevent scammers from closing the trading window in the middle of a trade to try to trick their trading partners into dropping an item.
# New quests: "The Ascalon Settlement" in North Kryta Province; "The Price of Steel" in Silverwood; and "The False Gods" in Temple of the Ages.
# Added unique artwork for the ascended version of the Monk's Saintly Armor.
# Updated the descriptions for skills Fertile Season, Balthazar's Spirit, Chimera of Intensity, Irresistible Blow, Mind Freeze, Ice Spikes, Deep Freeze, and Glyph of Energy to more accurately match the actual skill effect.
# Updated mission victory conditions in Thunderhead Keep and Iron Mines of Moladune, and monster spawns in The Dragons Lair and Ice Caves of Sorrow, to allow players to capture skills from boss monsters before completing the mission.
# Updated monster and loot spawns in Sage Lands, Watchtower Coast, Frozen Forest, The Scar, Vulture Drifts, Snake Dance, and Ettins Back, and for quests Iron Horse War Machine, The Monks Path, and Seeking the Seer.
# Fixed issues with last week's update that could cause loot drops to completely stop for some players after repeated map entries, and substantially improved the loot system so that only the most extreme forms of farming will cause monsters to start to run low on loot.
# Updated boss monster spawns in various explorable areas to fix issues with boss monster distribution and balance.
# Made numerous changes to the "Undead Horde" quest to add more to the storyline and environment of the quest.
# Changed the "Behind Enemy Lines" quest so that Aidan uses the correct model and players have a little more time to follow him.
# Increased the gold reward for completing the secondary mission in Divinity Coast.
# Increased the energy increment on some Druid Leggings, so that all Druid Leggings now provide 2 additional energy.
# Updated henchmen in Marhans Grotto to use infused armor.
# Updated positions and paths for NPCs in various towns and outposts to prevent NPCs from getting stuck.
# Updated the Hall of Heroes so that the defenders Ghostly Hero starts on the altar.
# Fixed the Sacred Temples tournament map so that it is no longer possible to pass a relic through the gate.
# Fixed elemental damage in the Domain of Elements in the Dragons Lair so that it does not damage monsters.
# Fixed Forgotten Cursebearer and Forgotten Necromancer bosses so that they use their skills properly.
# Fixed problem with quest "The Ambassadors Quandary."
# Fixed Oink in "Gates of Kryta" so that he recognizes his owner even if another player has already completed the quest.
# Made text fixes for quests "Tower of Courage," "The Elementalists Path," and "Unsettling Rumors."
# Fixed the damage ranges on Raven Staves and Ghostly Staves.
# Rebalanced Blessed Griffons and Phantoms to better reflect their level.
# Renamed the version of Defenders Scalp Design which provides a bonus to Smiting to Zealots Scalp Design.
# Renamed Mirror Self to Doppelganger.
# Fixed teleporter effects in the Crystal Desert explorable areas.
# Fixed various animation and scripting issues in cinematics.
# Fixed environmental effects in The Crag.
# Fixed teleporter in Vulture Drifts.
# Fixed icon for Dwarven Ale so that it no longer appears as "under construction."
# Fixed various icon issues in vendor windows so that icons do not appear as "under construction."
# Fixed a bug that sometimes caused Error #95 to be displayed when trying to arrange a guild battle.
# Fixed a trade bug which prevented trade between two players when both tried to initiate trade at the same time.
# Added a cursor for item identification.
# Updated the layout of the login screen.
# Enabled clicking names in whisper text.
# Updated European and Korean translations.
# Fixed miscellaneous rare crash bugs.
New Patch June 15
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Padishar
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They completely trashed my farming spot lol, the first sets of mons don't even drop loot at all anymore 
I guess my past farming was recorded so now they don't carry loot, so I just completed the mission and will find a new place now 
I guess my past farming was recorded so now they don't carry loot, so I just completed the mission and will find a new place now -
Padishar
- Posts: 1713
- Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2004 11:15 pm
- Location: Next Door
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Contact:
They completely trashed my farming spot lol, the first sets of mons don't even drop loot at all anymore I guess my past farming was recorded so now they don't carry loot, so I just completed the mission and will find a new place now
I am glad they are laying smackdown on Bots tho
I guess my past farming was recorded so now they don't carry loot, so I just completed the mission and will find a new place now I am glad they are laying smackdown on Bots tho
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Padishar
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- Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2004 11:15 pm
- Location: Next Door
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Since the latest patch affected such a wide playbase, I thought I would post there response to some questions asked about it and the latest topics:
Taken from Here
GHA: Many players of all 3 worlds in the game find that access to the special levels of The Underworld and The Fissure of Woe should be distributed more equally. If a world is not as efficient in completing the requirements for 'unlocking' the special levels as the others, many players who would otherwise be ready to cooperate on the special levels get stuck outside of them. Do you plan to make a change in those areas?
Gaile: Gaining access to The Underworld and The Fissure of Woe was specifically planned as a reward for successful competitive play. After all, PvP in Guild Wars is a competitive type of gaming, and there should be and need to be bonuses and rewards for those who do well. I am unsure what sort of proposal would be reasonable, really, when you consider the objective of giving meaningful recognition for success in competitive play.
There are some games where there isn't a victory standard. But realistically, becoming a good player in Guild Wars takes a certain investment in learning the skills, forming the teams, and creating the builds and strategies that ultimately lead to success. Is there sufficient incentive to take those steps, and to learn to do well, if there are no rewards?
If you know that by winning the tournament your name will be broadcast to the world, and you will achieve something good not just for yourself, not just for your guild, but for the entire "home team," that certainly seems a great incentive to aim for excellence. And if a particular team is not doing well or a certain territory or region is not gaining rewards at the same level, I believe that with greater strategizing, with more careful planning, and with better collaborative team play, victory can and will be achieved.
Having said all that, we will continue to keep an eye on the tournament. It is our intention to offer good, fair, and meaningful rewards for exceptional play. However, we don't intend that any region should find itself unable to access certain content. My Community Team members and I are in Guild Wars a lot, and we've noticed that there seem to be representative teams from all of the Guild Wars worlds accessing the special levels at some time or another. The Dev Team will certainly to monitor this, however, and will make adjustments if they prove necessary and advisable.
GHA: The recent changes which were implemented to prevent exploitation by farming bots leave many players dissatisfied, and the question whether what type of farming is right or wrong has been present for some time. What do you plan to offer to those players who enjoy farming in part-time or on a regular basis?
Gaile: We understand that for some players, farming is fun. If players farm in the normal manner, that is, work their way through an area and kill monsters, they will not trigger any sort of alarm in the bot detection programming. Even if they engage in relatively repetitive behavior, farmers will still be able to get drops and they will not raise the question of their account's or character's legitimacy. Now admittedly, there was a point last week where players were not getting any drops at all. But that was an error and it was adjusted in this week's update, so that players can find good areas and hunt them often, if they desire, in order to receive items and gold.
Ban parameters were set quite high and in this week's update they were raised even higher. I would warrant that it would be almost impossible for a human being to perform actions that would raise a bot alert. In other words, there are ways to determine if a character is a bot or a player, and it's highly unlikely that a human player is going to run into problems. This means that players are free to go about their business, even if it means farming.
However, it's fair to say that we do not actively encourage an excess of player farming. Some players insist that farming is the only possible way to achieve their objectives. I would say that farming may be a way, but it is not the only way. There will be future changes that will address our intention not to penalize farmer-type players, but instead to make playing through the game lucrative and rewarding so that farming is perceived as what it is meant to be, just one of many gameplay options.
GHA: Lots of the community members miss being able to see specific data when it comes to deciding which skill, piece of armor or pet is more worth it. In future updates or expansions, do you plan on adding more game/item related information into gameplay?
Gaile: I was just talking to the writer and editor of our Online Manual this afternoon. She is very eager to continue to expand the manual over the coming months. In fact, it's probably her Number 1 task. Now, I am not sure if we'll ever offer elaborate spreadsheets with numeric data on each monster, boss, item, skill, NPC and ambient creature in the game. Such spreadsheets sort of take the whole "mystery" out of the game. And in a roleplaying game, in particular, there is a value in world and gameplay discovery that is greater than a bunch of numbers on a spreadsheet. On the other hand, we don't want players to be so bound by what they do not know that it impacts in a negative way on their ability to enjoy the game. So we need to weigh disclosure, and find the point between "not enough" and "too much." We'll continue to monitor fan forums to learn more about what players want to know and, when possible and desirable, we'll make that happen.
GHA Bonus Question: A lot of us who have been following the story line wonder if we Will see any unvisited parts of the world of Tyria, like The Kingdom of Orr, or the City of Arah in upcoming expansions?
Gaile: Great question! That. I cannot answer. I don't want to put pressure on the writing team to reveal more than any of us should know at this point, so I'll hold off on asking that for a while yet.
Taken from Here
GHA: Many players of all 3 worlds in the game find that access to the special levels of The Underworld and The Fissure of Woe should be distributed more equally. If a world is not as efficient in completing the requirements for 'unlocking' the special levels as the others, many players who would otherwise be ready to cooperate on the special levels get stuck outside of them. Do you plan to make a change in those areas?
Gaile: Gaining access to The Underworld and The Fissure of Woe was specifically planned as a reward for successful competitive play. After all, PvP in Guild Wars is a competitive type of gaming, and there should be and need to be bonuses and rewards for those who do well. I am unsure what sort of proposal would be reasonable, really, when you consider the objective of giving meaningful recognition for success in competitive play.
There are some games where there isn't a victory standard. But realistically, becoming a good player in Guild Wars takes a certain investment in learning the skills, forming the teams, and creating the builds and strategies that ultimately lead to success. Is there sufficient incentive to take those steps, and to learn to do well, if there are no rewards?
If you know that by winning the tournament your name will be broadcast to the world, and you will achieve something good not just for yourself, not just for your guild, but for the entire "home team," that certainly seems a great incentive to aim for excellence. And if a particular team is not doing well or a certain territory or region is not gaining rewards at the same level, I believe that with greater strategizing, with more careful planning, and with better collaborative team play, victory can and will be achieved.
Having said all that, we will continue to keep an eye on the tournament. It is our intention to offer good, fair, and meaningful rewards for exceptional play. However, we don't intend that any region should find itself unable to access certain content. My Community Team members and I are in Guild Wars a lot, and we've noticed that there seem to be representative teams from all of the Guild Wars worlds accessing the special levels at some time or another. The Dev Team will certainly to monitor this, however, and will make adjustments if they prove necessary and advisable.
GHA: The recent changes which were implemented to prevent exploitation by farming bots leave many players dissatisfied, and the question whether what type of farming is right or wrong has been present for some time. What do you plan to offer to those players who enjoy farming in part-time or on a regular basis?
Gaile: We understand that for some players, farming is fun. If players farm in the normal manner, that is, work their way through an area and kill monsters, they will not trigger any sort of alarm in the bot detection programming. Even if they engage in relatively repetitive behavior, farmers will still be able to get drops and they will not raise the question of their account's or character's legitimacy. Now admittedly, there was a point last week where players were not getting any drops at all. But that was an error and it was adjusted in this week's update, so that players can find good areas and hunt them often, if they desire, in order to receive items and gold.
Ban parameters were set quite high and in this week's update they were raised even higher. I would warrant that it would be almost impossible for a human being to perform actions that would raise a bot alert. In other words, there are ways to determine if a character is a bot or a player, and it's highly unlikely that a human player is going to run into problems. This means that players are free to go about their business, even if it means farming.
However, it's fair to say that we do not actively encourage an excess of player farming. Some players insist that farming is the only possible way to achieve their objectives. I would say that farming may be a way, but it is not the only way. There will be future changes that will address our intention not to penalize farmer-type players, but instead to make playing through the game lucrative and rewarding so that farming is perceived as what it is meant to be, just one of many gameplay options.
GHA: Lots of the community members miss being able to see specific data when it comes to deciding which skill, piece of armor or pet is more worth it. In future updates or expansions, do you plan on adding more game/item related information into gameplay?
Gaile: I was just talking to the writer and editor of our Online Manual this afternoon. She is very eager to continue to expand the manual over the coming months. In fact, it's probably her Number 1 task. Now, I am not sure if we'll ever offer elaborate spreadsheets with numeric data on each monster, boss, item, skill, NPC and ambient creature in the game. Such spreadsheets sort of take the whole "mystery" out of the game. And in a roleplaying game, in particular, there is a value in world and gameplay discovery that is greater than a bunch of numbers on a spreadsheet. On the other hand, we don't want players to be so bound by what they do not know that it impacts in a negative way on their ability to enjoy the game. So we need to weigh disclosure, and find the point between "not enough" and "too much." We'll continue to monitor fan forums to learn more about what players want to know and, when possible and desirable, we'll make that happen.
GHA Bonus Question: A lot of us who have been following the story line wonder if we Will see any unvisited parts of the world of Tyria, like The Kingdom of Orr, or the City of Arah in upcoming expansions?
Gaile: Great question! That. I cannot answer.
I don't want to put pressure on the writing team to reveal more than any of us should know at this point, so I'll hold off on asking that for a while yet. 
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Padishar
- Posts: 1713
- Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2004 11:15 pm
- Location: Next Door
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Contact:
The biggest things so far to catch up on are the added Exp for bosses and some missions. You no longer capture a skill while a boss is using it, you now finish the boss then capture it from the corpse. There are now Rune merchants. A good dozen or so missions have been added to the game since release. You get a new skill points faster now........