• Ywain housing data should be reverted to the state it was in just prior to the server downtime last Tuesday (1/5/16).
  • Housing data specifically includes ownership of lots, house type, decorations, total CM money, permissions, etc. 
  • Any changes made to a house while the regions were enabled on 1/5/16 (new purchase, decorations, transfers of ownership) will be rolled back and will be as though they never happened.
  • Please note that housing data does not include Consignment Merchant and House Vault inventories; which are a separate matter (see below).
• Items sold from Consignment Merchants after last week's downtime will be restored to those CMs prior to the server being re-opened today. We decided to do this since the CM money will be reverted with the rest of the house data and since in some cases prices on CM items were incorrect when the housing regions were up on 1/5/16.
  • In other words, players that had items sold from their CMs will not be receiving the monies from those sales but will instead get the sold items restored.
• Be sure to check your CM and house vaults as soon as possible. While we've made every effort to check the data for missing items, we couldn't check every item moved to CM and housing vaults during the time the housing regions were up on 1/5/16. However, the number of these items we couldn't check is extremely small and their restoration will be handled on a case by case basis by in-game support.
  • House vaults and Consignment Merchants may need to be picked up into your character's inventory and placed back down in the house to display their inventories correctly.
  • Any players noticing items missing from their House Vaults should first refresh their vaults as described above. Then, contact any friends and guildmates who may have had access to the vaults to see if the item was removed by them. If not, and you cannot locate the item(s) in the rest of your inventory, please file an in-game appeal with the following syntax:
    • <character name-server> placed items into the house vaults on lot <lot#-server> and they are now missing. The items were <item names/quantity>.
• ALL items on ALL Consignment Merchants will have their prices set to 0 (not for sale) when the servers return. Please visit your house to re-price your items for sale.
  • Additionally, the Market Explorer has been cleared. If you had your items listed before, please visit your house and use the /listmerchant command to re-list your items.
  • We've done this to protect against any residual incorrect item pricing on the CMs.
• Please log in as soon as you can and check your house, house vaults, CM items, prices, and house permissions. If you have lost ownership of a house that existed BEFORE the servers went down on 1/5/2016, please let us know as soon as possible. There's only going to be a short window available to research and restore house ownership after this fix goes live.

• When the server returns, the RP bonus on Ywain will be increased from +50% to +100%. This bonus, the Midwinter Event, and the Traveling Merchants will be extended to last through January 25th.
  • The extra, temporary potions added to the Traveling Merchants while the housing regions were down will also be removed.

Our DAoC Knight Podcast returns this Sunday and to kick start the new year DAoC artist Gerg Grimsby is first on Luvly's list!

Tune in this Sunday January 17th, at 8PM EST (5PM PST/1AM GMT) on our official Twitch channel. Knights Luvly and Aendam will be chatting with Greg as he shows us some basic animation workflow and character model creation!

See you there!
 

Friends and realmmates, 

Brace yourselves, new-anti-cheat-policies are coming! ...Err they're here. The New-Anti-Cheat-Policies. Are. Here. 

Read below for more details!
 

I wanted to take the time to update you all on our last several months' efforts to combat some different types of cheats in-game as well as announce our upcoming enforcement plans and policies for other types of cheats and violations going forward.

Since our last anti-cheat pass in August, we've been hard at work tweaking things and ensuring that our mechanisms in place are as air-tight as can be. As such, we're happy (and also disappointed in those that still think this behavior is okay) to announce that another few hundred accounts have been issued suspensions for use of radar/map hacks, third-party program hacks, and/or speedhacks. We were happy to see that the number of accounts issued suspensions was less than half of the number from the first pass, with relatively few repeat offenders; however it appears we still have a way to go before the rest of these cheaters get the message.

As such, we have issued suspensions ranging from 3 days for minimal usage and first time offenses to 7 days for extreme usage and 2nd time offenses with 5 day suspensions levied inbetween.

All accounts actioned today have been sent an email to the address on file.

If you received this email, and do not use these programs, check the name of the suspended account carefully before you panic. If you sold or traded your account to another player, it’s possible that they didn’t change the contact email information.

If you did not receive this email, but your account has been suspended, you should update the email address on the account ASAP.

If it’s your account, and you received the email, please uninstall your third party programs immediately.

For those that think we will stop here, think again. Rest assured we'll be doing another pass at some point in the future and if you cheat you Will. Be. Caught.


With that out of the way, we have one big announcement to make in our enforcement policy as well as some other, and still important!, general policy updates.

First, the big announcement:

Going forward, we will be heavily enforcing and removing any "macro groups" found in the Frontiers or battleground regions but will now be allowing non-trial "macro groups" in PvE areas. We will be starting off with issuing written warnings to ALL, non-trial, accounts that are detected using macro programs to simultaneously control multiple characters at once that are found in these areas. This is to give those accounts a chance to logout or immediately leave the regions. If accounts are found in a "macro group" in those regions again they will be suspended and eventually permanently terminated if they continue to venture there. Trial account "macro groups" will be immediately terminated, wherever they are found.

In addition to our new mechanisms put in place that help us verify "macro groups," this is a change in enforcement policy that we hope will greatly help the integrity and fun of RvR. For now, non-trial account "macro groups" will be allowed to exist in PvE zones and PvE/RvR zones such as Darkness Falls, Celestius, and Labyrinth. "Macro groups" already in Passage of Conflict or Summoner's Hall will be left alone as well but be warned that venturing through the frontiers to those dungeons will put your accounts at high risk to be actioned.

Due to our resources and based on player feedback, we feel this is the right first step to better combat "macro groups". We will certainly be keeping a close eye on things and revisiting this policy if need be. This policy should draw a clear line in the sand so that everyone knows what is and is not a violation when it comes to these "macro groups." Please note that this policy change is only going forward; we will not be retroactively removing previously applied violations on accounts that were caught. If you see a "macro group" in the frontiers or a battleground, please file an appeal (or take a screenshot and email it and the character names to support@broadsword.com) and they will be taken care of.

To file a proper violation appeal, use the following syntax:
/appeal Violation: I witnessed <character-server name(s)> operating a macro group in the frontiers.

Appeals without the character-server name or proper information make it that much harder for our support team to investigate in a timely manner.


In general, we have some other important policy changes to announce. These changes will not be updated into the existing Rules of Conduct in the event that the policies need to be changed or enforced differently in the future. The current Rules of Conduct gives us the proper flexibility to enforce violations that may make use of the now-allowed software/hardware but go beyond the scope of what we'd intended. As such, please use the guidelines in this letter as our new enforcement policy (for the issues stated here) until otherwise updated; though understand that we can enforce based on the existing Rules of Conduct when it is so desired or necessary.

1) We will now accept player-provided evidence such as screenshots and videos for players that you feel are violating our RoC. All screenshots and videos (or links to them on forums) should be emailed to us at support@broadsword.com. Please note that this evidence will not be the sole cause of any action given against an account but will be used to supplement our investigations.
2) We will no longer be enforcing against multi-keybind software or hardware that allow for multiple actions per keystroke per character. An example would be setting up a 'macro' that allows your "w key" to cast both disease and a heal spell. This is a common feature on most gaming keyboards and mice and is something we'd like to add native support for in-game in the future. In effect, using this hardware or software will no longer be a violation.
3) Caught realm point farmers will now lose a commensurate amount of realm points earned, depending on the severity of the farming, in addition to their account being suspended from the game. Terminated accounts will lose ALL RPs on the characters that were RP farming; this is in the event that that account is ever given a one-time reprieve and allowed back to the game in the future.

Thank you for your time and we hope that these new policies show our commitment to stamping out cheating of any-kind in our game while transitioning to a more mordern approach; on the whole we feel that these changes will make for a more positive and fun in-game experience for all. Stay tuned for more updates on our development plans this year, in the coming weeks!

Onward!

-John Thornhill
 

• The Buggane's Obelisk RvR objective in the center of Ellan Vannin has had the following changes made to it:
  • The Buggane's Obelisk and Obelisk Rubble have had their hitpoints significantly reduced so that small groups can destroy them in a reasonable amount of time.
  • The obelisk's buff, Buggane's Folly, will no longer still persist through death and has had its duration increased from 30 minutes to 2 hours.
  • Finally, the RP, BP, and Coin buff now provides different bonuses based on the character's realm rank, as follows:
    • Realm Ranks 1L0 through 3L9 receive a 75% bonus to RP, BP, and coin buff.
    • Realm Ranks 4L0 through 5L9 receive a 50% bonus to RP, BP, and coin buff.
    • Realm Ranks 6L0 through 7L9 receive a 25% bonus to RP, BP, and coin buff.
    • Realm Ranks 8L0 and up will receive the original 15% bonus to RP, BP, and coin buff.
    • To receive the buff, destroy the obelisk rubble so that your realm's obelisk can be built. Then, simply right-click on the obelisk to receive the bonus!
• (Gaheris-only) Manannan mac Lir's encounter inside the underground keep on Ellan Vannin should behave properly now.

• A Matter of the Heart: This quest will give players of all realms the chance find the imp, Russel, located mainland side of Castle Sauvage/Druim Ligen/Svasud Faste. He's ready to offer some interesting tasks from the local imp's union in return for a Lawn Cupid trophy, experience and coin. Don't forget to speak to Lady Payne and earn your ROG Valentine's Ring or Bracer too!

• Keeping Company: This quest will be offered to characters level 45 and above and will have a unique challenge for players in Albion, Midgard and Hibernia.  As a reward, players will receive a Tiny Compatriot Crate, experience and coin. Visit Lailen in Jordheim, Pondar Cully in Camelot, and Harris MacCullogh in Tir na Nog to start the quest.

• Valentine's Traditions: These quests will offer three old style quests which were part of the original Dark Age of Camelot Valentine's Day content. Players will be able to complete the quest up to six times, which is based on the number of times the original quest has been issued online.  Players will be rewarded with a Hearts Cloak, Heart-Shaped Box, experience and coin. Visit  Rumdor in Mag Mell, Hrolf in Mularn, or Sir Prescott in Camelot Hills to start the quest.

The Electronics Arts Origin store has made the following change to in order to better prevent fraud: it can now take up to 72 hours to receive a code from Origin on some purchases.

This timeframe is dependant on the number of codes purchased at once as well as other variables. Most players should still receive their codes within 24 hours, however, it would be a good idea to order any new game time codes 72 hours prior to your account subscription ending if you wish to guarantee no subscription downtime.

If, for some reason, a purchased code is not sent within 72 hours, please contact Origin's support directly. 

When contacting Origin, please only state the following: "I did not receive my code after making a purchase on the Origin store. My order# is #####." Mentioning Dark Age of Camelot can sometimes result in being directed back to our support team, who unfortunately cannot assist with this issue, so be sure to only mention the above quote.

We apologize for the inconvenience this causes and appreciate your patience and understanding as we work with Origin to streamline this process.

• We highly suggest separating out your normal game directory from your Pendragon game directory *before* patching and testing on Pendragon.
  • ​If you do not do this, you may experience issues when patching back to live.
    • To force the live client to fix these issues, you will need to delete the mft.myp in your game's directory and run the patcher again.

• Spell effect icons now start blinking with 10 remaining seconds (as they did prior to 1.120) but will continue to display their duration on their tooltips down to 3 seconds at which point the duration text will change to "fading."

If already logged in, players will need to log out and run the patcher in order to see this change.

 

• As part of the quest, players will be shapeshifted into a realm-specific "leprechaun" but have ALL of their stats debuffed by 75%.

• But fear not, leprechauns may be weak but they are also nigh impossible to catch: shapeshifted players will also have an unbreakable CC-immunity and speed buff for the duration of the shapeshift.  

• Oh, and we hear the real leprechauns love hiding their treasure on the new RvR zone of Ellan Vannin. Enjoy some zany RvR through the weekend!

• The ROG reward is a choice between a ring or a bracer similar to the Valentine's Day event with some slight differences. These ROGs will only allow up to 5 slots for stats but will also have 1 of 6 possible /uses.

      

For players of all level ranges, there are three pesky little tricksters who are hoping you're not too lucky! A 'charming' reward will be bestowed upon those who have the cunning to out-wit:

Killaghe in Albion
Daighu in Midgard
Iollarme in Hibernia

The "Luck of a Leprechaun" quest can be obtained from the following:

Sir Prescott in Cotswold
Hrolf in Mularn
Epona in Mag Mell

Once again, the event will run until Monday, March 21st.

A happy and safe St. Patrick's Day to one and all, and we'll see you in the Frontiers!

Update 9 AM EDT / 2 PM GMT: Gaheris is now online and guild creation is enabled once again. Guild leaders on Gaheris should verify that their guild data and stats are correct after logging in.

The Gaheris server will be coming down tomorrow at 7 AM EDT / NOON GMT for maintenance to fix an issue with guilds. Guild creation is currently disabled on Gaheris and will be restored when the server returns tomorrow.

The Gaheris server is expected back up by 11 AM EDT / 4 PM GMT.
 

Our DAoC Knight Podcast this week will focus on the overall RvR game and playstyles! Joining our host, Knight Luvly, will be a collaboration of players including Xyorman, Rescu, Nightsmauler, Billings, and Joel to discuss RvR and balance across the realms.

This is one podcast you won't want to miss! Join us Sunday April 10th, at 8PM EST (1AM GMT) on our official Twitch channel and get involved in the viewer chat to share your insights. The podcast will be posted on our YouTube channel for those that missed it live, the following week.

We will also have a giveaway for a 1 month game timecode during the stream :)

See you there!

After a very successful and enjoyable tournament last year, we are pleased to announce the second Knights of the Roundtable ran DAoC 5v5 tournament! Gather your friends and team mates and prepare to face off against your friends, and enemies, in this spectacular event!

The 5v5 tournament will be held on Saturday, August 20, 2016 on the Pendragon server at 1 PM EST (12PM CST, 10AM PST, 7PM CET). Depending on how many teams sign up, the tournament may continue on Saturday, August 27, 2016 at 1 PM EST (12PM CST, 10AM PST, 7PM CET). Bookmark the tournament page below to keep updated on all the details!

• 25% bonus to realm point gain
• 50% bonus to bounty point gain
• 100% bonus to experience gain

To get to Caledonia, simply visit the Battleground Event Channelers as follows:

Albion: Master Truji in Castle Sauvage
Midgard: Stor Gothi Acheren in Svasud Faste
Hibernia: Channeler Inarea in Drium Ligen

Have fun!

• Keep Lords should no longer be able to leave their lord room.

• The traveling merchants have returned to their usual spots and are offerring their excellent selection of wares to any and all! They've even discounted their Darkness Falls weapons!
  • Albion: Outside Castle Sauvage
  • Midgard: Outside Svasud Faste
  • Hibernia: Outside Druim LIgen

• 50% bonus to RP gain in all NF zones (including the Labyrinth)
• 50% bonus to RP gain in all battlegrounds
• 100% bonus to normal XP gain in all classic zones and dungeons
• 50% bonus to normal BP in all NF zones
• 50% bonus to normal BP in all battlegrounds

• 100% bonus to normal XP gain in all classic zones and dungeons
• 50% bonus to normal BP gain in the capital cities
• 50% bonus to normal RP gain in the capital cities

• 40% Bonus to Crafting Speed
• 20% Bonus to Crafting Skill Gain

• 20% Bonus to Crafting Speed
• 10% Bonus to Crafting Skill Gain

Following on from our numerous and valuable Knight class focus podcasts with Knights and player volunteers, it's time to hear the thoughts and ideas on class balancing straight from the devs!


DAoC Producer John Thornhill will be joined by Knight Boxy on Thursday, May 19th at 3PM EST/8PM GMT/9PM CET on our official Twitch channel to discuss the previous feedback from podcasts, and a look a head to what we may see with the coming class balance patch.

A video and transcript of the Q&A will be available on the Herald in the days following the stream (in English, German, and French).