Dark Cloak of the Sky and its haste effect

[Mud]

This thread is meant to serve as a discussion on whether the inventory-usable haste effect of Dark Cloak of the Sky (http://wiki.project1999.com/Dark_Cloak_of_the_Sky) can be activated by non-ranger classes. I had assumed it had been debunked long ago, but so far I've found no evidence that non-rangers couldn't use it, while I found one post stating that at one time it could be used before two patches that occurred in early 2002. These are the only patches to mention Dark Cloak of the Sky:

http://web.archive.org/web/20030730011703/http://www.tski.co.jp:80/baldio/patch/20020123.html
"Dark Cloak of the Sky must now be worn to activate.

http://web.archive.org/web/20030930172625/http://www.tski.co.jp:80/baldio/patch/20020213.html
"Dark Cloak of the Sky from 'worn to activate' to 'Race/Class to activate'. The previous change that made it 'worn to activate' was an error."


These patches imply that the haste effect could be used by non-rangers before these changes. Currently on P99, the Dark Cloak is configured to be 'Race/Class to activate,' just like the Feb. 13 2002 patch. Here is a post shortly after the second patch:

http://web.archive.org/web/20021029185448/http://everquest.allakhazam.com:80/db/item.html?item=6054&mid=101459248153859 (http://web.archive.org/web/20020804134844/http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=6054)
"They changed it because non-rangers could use it from inventory and get the haste click effect. So they changed it to worn only and then to class only....exactly like they did with Soulfire"


Interestingly, the same Jan. 23, 2002 patch also nerfs Soulfire (http://wiki.project1999.com/Soulfire), restricting the Complete Heal charges to only be paladin-usable:
"SoulFire charges can only be used by Paladins (though they can be used from inventory)."

The nerf of Soulfire during the same patch further suggests that the Dark Cloak effect was usable by all classes from inventory at one point. Ele posted significant evidence (https://www.project1999.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1074166&postcount=12) for an April 2001 date for the Sky 2.0 quest upgrades. With the January 23- and February 13 2002 patches nerfing the Dark Cloak, there was roughly a ten month window for non-rangers to test their ability to use the haste clicky effect. Given the rarity of the Fine Velvet Cloak needed for the quest, and the often multi-day Sky clears back in the day, I can't imagine very many non-rangers completed the quest.

Is anyone aware of additional evidence for/against the ability of non-rangers to use the clicky haste effect? Am I missing a prior discussion on this?

[paulgiamatti]

Good catch, but I'd argue there's more incentive for P99 devs to leave this as 'Race/Class to activate' simply because, as you eloquently stated,

Given the rarity of the Fine Velvet Cloak needed for the quest, and the often multi-day Sky clears back in the day, I can't imagine very many non-rangers completed the quest.

Come the day that all Sky quests are rewritten to be multiquestable, Dark Cloak of the Sky would instantly become the most desirable item in the entire game were they to de-nerf it and make it inventory-clickable for everyone. Keeper of the Souls (and probably island 2-3 mobs as well) would become insanely contested, and given the time-locked state of the server, what you'd eventually end up with would be unrecognizable from live EverQuest during the same era. You could make the same argument about SoulFire, but I'd imagine SoulFire abuse was more ubiquitous on live simply because acquiring one wasn't restricted to the small window of opportunity that DCotS was.

So this is an instance where it'd be wiser to go the slightly-less-than-classic route, because those means would be justified by a more classic end.

[Doctor Jeff]

None of this is relevant to P99. Our timeline does not extend into 2002.

[Jimjam]

The implication is before January 2002 (i.e. 2001) the cloak was useable by anyone from inventory. That would be within the timeline.

I'm sure the Devs would like in era evidence for such a huge change, instead of implication thru forum posts though.

Personally I'm glad my ranger already got his own cloak before the flood gates open!

[paulgiamatti]

The implication is before January 2002 (i.e. 2001) the cloak was useable by anyone from inventory. That would be within the timeline.

Correct - all of this is relevant to P99.

I'm sure the Devs would like in era evidence for such a huge change, instead of implication thru forum posts though.

It seems like more than an implication given the statement by Calmari, but I agree. And even if someone provides incontrovertible evidence of a non-ranger using the DCotS clicky, I still wouldn't change it simply because it would've been such an anomaly on live. Not to mention the post-Luclin nerf surely would've been retroactive - the 9ish-month period during which people could multiquest Sky stuff and potentially obtain an all/all-clickable DCotS would've literally been the only time a non-ranger could've clicked a DCotS.

So I don't think you can overstate its rarity, assuming it even happened at all. I mean, think about it - first, someone would've had to have the idea, "Hey, if rangers can click that from inventory, what if I can too?!" Then they'd have to obtain the quest components, or find someone willing to multiquest them - but who knows, maybe it was someone who looted a Fine Velvet Cloak when there were no rangers at the raid, as a last ditch effort in case they could multiquest it later. Either way, the first person to discover this would've been going way out on a limb, with stakes and item scarcity much higher, and probably banking on item restoration if it didn't work out. For all we know, it may have been an incredibly short amount of time that any non-rangers owned a usable DCotS - a month, a week, a couple days - if that was even a thing. And if it was a thing, it might have been what prompted the patch on January 23rd.

[paulgiamatti]

Another thought is that someone could've just botched a multiquest, accidentally handing in items in the wrong order for some poor ranger who was hoping to get his cloak. Then, for shits and giggles, the non-ranger recipient decided to give it a click, and lo and behold.

[Rygar]

The patch message itself just seems to mention that, if you factor in their correction, that it was changed from worn to activate to race / class to activate (meaning rangers didn't have to wear it anymore).

The phrasing seemed to leave it open to speculation that others could use it, but i don't think that was correct. The poster didn't seem to be talking from experience, rather just his educated guess.

If someone chimed in saying "wtf now i have to destroy the cloak on my warrior, enjoyed the haste boost before this patch" that may strengthen the argument.

[Mud]

The patch message itself just seems to mention that, if you factor in their correction, that it was changed from worn to activate to race / class to activate (meaning rangers didn't have to wear it anymore).

No -- before the Jan. 23 patch, it could be activated from inventory. Rangers were not happy about the "worn to activate" change (who would want to swap out their Cloak of Thorns for DCotS during an encounter just for the haste?). From the Alla link in my original post (and this is not the only statement out there like this):

It is usable from general inventory. Basically, you stick it in your inventory slot, and bind it to kick or something.

It seems to me that the devs original intent for the DCotS change on Jan. 23 was for it to be "Race/Class to activate" and not "worn to activate," just like they did with SoulFire to prevent non-paladins from abusing it. They goofed and the latter option went through for DCotS, which was later fixed on Feb. 13 to what their original intent apparently was.

Good points, Paul. Something to keep in mind is that top-tier guilds were often secretive about strats and items, and you'd rarely see them posting uncommon information on sites like Allakhazam. Non-rangers attempting the DCotS quest is something members of a hardcore guild could afford to do due to raiding frequency, and surely the ability for rangers to use it from inventory piqued the interest of other melee classes. I myself completed the DCotS quest here on P99 on my rogue out of curiosity back in 2013, and I later learned that another old rogue guildmate of mine completed it in 2011/12 to test it also. Perhaps private guild forums of the old hardcore raiding guilds would hold more answers, if any are actually still around.

[Rygar]

No -- before the Jan. 23 patch, it could be activated from inventory. Rangers were not happy about the "worn to activate" change (who would want to swap out their Cloak of Thorns for DCotS during an encounter just for the haste?). From the Alla link in my original post (and this is not the only statement out there like this):

The wording is very confusing, so help me understand this... They changed it on the Jan. 23 patch to be 'worn to activate' but it was previously activated from inventory? Meaning, after that patch it needed to be worn, it wasn't a mistake in the patch message text?

Their clarification of changing from 'worn to activate' to 'race/class to activate' fixed it so that it can be used by rangers from inventory again. The confusing part is WHAT exactly was the error? Did they not mean to change Dark Cloak of the Sky at all and it was always Race/Class to activate? Or did they make the mistake of changing 'Activate from Inventory for all race/classes' to 'worn to activate', then later fixed it to 'Race/Class to activate'?

I think it is confusing which they meant, without something more first hand or dev comment.

You could totally be right, but I think it deserves a harder look before making so monumental a change.

[paulgiamatti]

Or did they make the mistake of changing 'Activate from Inventory for all race/classes' to 'worn to activate', then later fixed it to 'Race/Class to activate'?

Allegedly. Mud isn't stating that this was the case, but that this case is likely considering the following:


SoulFire was changed in the exact same way in the January 23rd patch.
The statement from Calmari stating that it was changed explicitly because non-rangers could use it from inventory.


And another thought, which is a point against making DCotS all/all clickable - it's entirely possible that nobody figured it out before the devs did, if it ever was. They designed the game, after all.

[Mud]

The wording is very confusing, so help me understand this... They changed it on the Jan. 23 patch to be 'worn to activate' but it was previously activated from inventory? Meaning, after that patch it needed to be worn, it wasn't a mistake in the patch message text?

Correct. However, they admitted it was a mistake in how they changed the DCotS, evidenced by their correction in the Feb. 13 patch.

Their clarification of changing from 'worn to activate' to 'race/class to activate' fixed it so that it can be used by rangers from inventory again. The confusing part is WHAT exactly was the error? Did they not mean to change Dark Cloak of the Sky at all and it was always Race/Class to activate? Or did they make the mistake of changing 'Activate from Inventory for all race/classes' to 'worn to activate', then later fixed it to 'Race/Class to activate'?

Based on their corrective patch on Feb. 13, it seems to me their original intent was to make the DCotS "Race/Class to activate," and not "worn to activate." This implies that the Cloak was usable by all classes from inventory (why else would they even need to make this change?). They nerfed SoulFire charges to being usable by paladins only in the same Jan. 23 patch (while still being inventory-usable by paladins), which lends evidence to their original intent being to nerf DCotS to being usable by rangers only (=race/class to activate, still usable in inventory).

[Rygar]

Just want to post a bit of info I came across, was dev comments from original patch message:
http://web.archive.org/web/20021225162458/http://boards.station.sony.com:80/ubb/everquest/Forum1/HTML/000490.html

Just wanted to take the time to thank you for changing the Dark Cloak of Sky back to its original functionality for rangers only. Thank you so much for listening to the community, and such a quick change. Cheers!

We just flipped the wrong switch when changing the item. We're sorry for the trouble.

Unfortunately not very concrete, but seems to imply there was some community outcry if you wanted to search other message boards.

[Mud]

Bump.