Q. My Question is about skilling up Spellcrafting. I thought that I had read in an earlier Grab Bag that if you crafted an item that conned red or orange to you and were successful your skill would always go up a point as opposed to trying to skill up using yellow to green items (the chances of always raising your trade skills were not as high). I was crafting in TNN and noticed that I wasn’t always seeing my skill raise as I made each gem, and in fact, it sometimes took 5+ successes before I would see a single point raise in my trade skills. Is this normal or was there a change or something that I missed?

A. Someone by the name of the Lady of Jewels seems like the perfect one to ask: Making a tradeskill recipe will never guarantee a skill up, no matter what the recipe cons to you I'm afraid. However, we did increase skill up chances across all tradeskills in a previous patch cycle.

Q. With the release of the ‘Origins’ server, are there still going to be patches on the live ToA servers for those of us who choose not to move?

A. The Bearded Wonder explains that the ‘Origins’ server is just another ruleset server: Updates and content for all servers will be ongoing.

Q. I have been hunting glimmerlings in Sheroe Hills now since level 38, mainly because they have a drop I want: The Glimmer Spirit Cloak. I've had several level 50 drops. I saw this cloak has gone through quite a change in utility and was wondering if he still drops from glimmerlings?

A. I caught the Lady of the Jewels just in time as she was in dragonly frame of mind: When the utility of this cloak was adjusted it appears it was removed from the glimmerling's drops. This cloak now has a chance to drop from the highest level monsters in Sheeroe Hills, including the adolescent dragons and Cuuldurach himself.


Q. How far back will styles go for the ‘Origins’ server? Will it be the original styles or will be how they are in the game today?

A. The Balancinator’s eyes were a bit glazed over from focusing on a spreadsheet of balance, but says: The styles will be the current styles with some modifications to their effects.


Q. Is the current clip plane range going to be kept, or will the original game clip be used for ‘Origins?’

A. With his hand to his head pretending to block out the light for better vision, The Bearded Wonder says: The current clip plane will be used.


Q. What item bonuses are going to be available in the game? The FAQ mentions a number of specifics that will not be there, but many bonuses that originated in ToA now exist throughout the classic areas, especially in the revamped dragon zones. Are these items with those bonuses going to be available? I don't want to have to farm the dragon in order to get a competitive template.

A. The Bearded Wonder mentioned a pond frog so while I giggled, he said: The bonuses that are available on the new server will be primarily classic and items that need adjusting will have alternative versions available on this ruleset. That being said, you aren’t going to get dragon quality loot on a pond frog. There are naturally going to be items whose utility reward the risk taking to get them.


Q. Will there still be the new dragon items in game?

A. The dragons sure are popular! The Bearded Wonder confirms: There will be modifications to the dragon items for the ‘Origins’ server just like there were separate items on Classic and Gaheris.


Q. With Origins I understand you want the new archery system in place, but crossbowers and short bowers still use the old archery system, would they be switched to the new or the archers back to the old?

A. With a concentrated look, the Balancinator explains: No. As noted in the FAQ, the archery system will remain how it is currently on all servers. This means primary archers have the new system and the rest have the old system.


Q. Will anything at all be changed in keeps/relic keeps? Or will both remain exactly the same as they were before? Will it purely be keeps only that control Darkness Falls, or do you intend to have towers as part of the realm war?

A.The Bearded Wonder smiled and responded: There will be no towers like there are in NF. The keeps will determine ownership of DF. There will be cosmetic changes, but the overall feel and difficulty of the keeps should be consistent with the classic feel.


Q. What are your plans for the DAoC: Origins relic system?

A. The Bearded Wonder was quick to say: The relics should work like they did in OF.

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Just a quick announcement this week to remind everyone that the Camelot Road Trip is heading to San Diego, California on July 26th. I'll be there along with the Lady of the Jewels to answer your questions, give out prizes and of course talk about Camelot. Come out and join us.

This has been quite the week. I hope everyone is enjoying the housing love that came with 1.94. I'm north of the border at the moment, in Toronto, Ontario (Canada) getting ready for Toronto Games Day tomorrow, if you are in the area, stop on by eh?

See y'all on Monday. Have a great weekend!