Zordak Ragefire

[Tricky Beverage]

Kanras,

I have posted in a new thread because I thought it might be cleaner/easier than bumping the old one. However, Elethia's thread that I refer to throughout can be found here

http://www.project1999.org/forums/showthread.php?t=60446&highlight=ragefire .

I realize that you made some fixes to the Ragefire spawn cycle in this past patch. However, I'm not sure they're working as you'd intended. Or if they are, I'm not sure his current spawn implementation is classic. Either way, I thought I'd bring it to your attention and plead with you to help the server's clerics out.

According to all of the classic evidence in Elethia's Ragefire spawn cycle petition thread, Ragefire should pop 0-72 hours after Naggy dies and then every 23 hours thereafter until the next Naggy spawn. This spawn pattern seemed to receive overwhelming support in Elethia's thread as being the classic spawn mechanic.

You replied to the thread saying only that the Ragefire spawn would be fixed, 0-3 days post-Naggy, multiple spawns possible per Naggy, pending update. Although you never explicitly said it, it seemed that everyone in the thread believed your response to mean the during the next patch (which turned out to be on 2/20) the spawn cycle would be implemented according to the classic evidence presented by Ele and supported (at least anecdotally) by all the clerics in the thread who played classic. Everyone seemed to be under the impression that Ragefire would spawn 0-72 hours after Naggy dies, and that Ragefire would then pop every 23 hours thereafter until the next Naggy spawn.

When Naggy and Ragefire both spawned in one afternoon immediately following the patch (2/20), we all believed that Ragefire's spawn cycle had been fixed to the classic system and that he would be popping roughly once a day for the next week until Naggy respawned (+/- Naggy's variance). However, after being at this camp over 30+ hours between Ragefire pops, I can say with certainty that Ragefire is NOT spawning on the 23 hour schedule we thought was intended. I'm not clear on whether you did modify the Ragefire spawn to ALWAYS be 0-72 hours or if neither half of the spawn cycle fix went in at all. Thus far, it's possible we just got lucky on the first Ragefire and the spawn cycle hasn't changed at all post-patch (seems unlikely, but we won't know for sure unless/until Ragefire takes over 72 hours to spawn).

Was this forgotten, or are we doing it wrong?

Thanks!

[Kole1]

afaik the 23 hour theory was just a theory.
If you check eqcleric.gameglow.com and go back around to page 100 in the items/drops section, you can do some deeper research.

Back during the ragefire poopsocks, Elethia and I were both doing independent research in this forum and I don't believe either of us found anything saying "0-23 is spawn time after the initial 0-72".

There were many EQ servers back then, and a lot of the time on eqcleric you had people posting about their early spawns, but no one was rushing to the boards saying " mine popped in 60 hours".

Part of being a cleric on classic was knowing that the initial 0-72 hour spawn(mault's that was 5 hours in post-naggy death) was the best one to have, simply because it was guaranteed you knew in 3 days there would be a Ragefire. The other ones were more vulnerable to server repops, especially if Nagafen had stayed up for a few days after a patch.

[kanras]

It was forgotten. Right now it's just a repeating 0-72 hour window. Pending update, the window will shorten to an average 23 hours after the first spawn, but there's still going to be variance.

[Tricky Beverage]

Edit: hadn't seen Kanras' post when I wrote this.

[Lazortag]

After the first window, is it possible it's just respawning every 3 days? Either that or Emmdano is one extremely unlucky cleric (going on 66 hours now)

[Tricky Beverage]

THANK YOU KANRAS! This will save all of us clerics a sizable amount of time and self-mutilation.

[Werlop]

It was forgotten. Right now it's just a repeating 0-72 hour window. Pending update, the window will shorten to an average 23 hours after the first spawn, but there's still going to be variance.

72 hours since last kill, no spawn. Is it possible that this was left out altogether and only 1 Ragefire will spawn per naggy?

[Tricky Beverage]

It's official: it's now been more than 72 hours since the last Ragefire died. We've been here the whole time. So I'm not sure even part of the fix was implemented. Just thought I'd update on the issue.

Thanks again for expressing your intention to fix this, Kanras. Waiting is miserable, but it's reassuring to have some official word.

[Lazortag]

The time of death was 9:45 EST so it's been 72.5 hours. I feel very bad for Emmdano who's had to wait 3 days for nothing. Perhaps a dev could spawn a ragefire since at least one should have spawned normally by now.

[Ele]

This is most unfortunate indeed if the spawn is not actually corrected yet. :(

[kanras]

I just tested the version that's running on Blue right now (but with a shorter window so it's actually testable) on my test server and he was respawning in that window as expected.

[maverixdamighty]

what is the version running now? last i heard he hadn't spawned again...

[Lazortag]

I just tested the version that's running on Blue right now (but with a shorter window so it's actually testable) on my test server and he was respawning in that window as expected.

He was respawning even after he died once already? In other words, you can confirm that the window repeats? Because (unless there's been a recent development I'm not aware of) it was confirmed by multiple sources (including a GM) that he spawned at the time I said he did, and he still hasn't spawned, meaning well over 72 hours have passed.

Thanks once again for all your hard work, I hope you can find out what's wrong. And while it's a bit of a long shot I hope Emmdano can get compensated for his time :p

[kanras]

I'm saying that when I tested it, he respawned as expected.

1) Naggy dies, window starts.
2) Merchant Zordak spawns.
3) I give Merchant Zordak pearl, he despawns, window restarts.
4) Repeat steps 2 and 3 until Naggy respawns.

If it works in my test environment but doesn't work on P99 live, there isn't anything I can do except wait and see for the next patch.

[ElanoraBryght]

Mon Feb 20 17:23:59 2012] Lord Nagafen has been slain by Schortt!
Mon Feb 20 21:46:07 2012] You gain party experience!! (out of range for logs, but TOD for Zordak Ragefire )
Mon Feb 20 21:46:49 2012] Zordakalicus Ragefire has been slain by Astizen!

No Ragefire has spawned since.

[maximum]

Mon Feb 20 17:23:59 2012] Lord Nagafen has been slain by Schortt!
Mon Feb 20 21:46:07 2012] You gain party experience!! (out of range for logs, but TOD for Zordak Ragefire )
Mon Feb 20 21:46:49 2012] Zordakalicus Ragefire has been slain by Astizen!

No Ragefire has spawned since.

Did you kill the Zordak NPC (as opposed to turn-in)?

[Jomar]

Did you kill the Zordak NPC (as opposed to turn-in)?

Yes, we killed his aggressive form, as required.

NPC: Zordak Ragefire/Zordakalicus Ragefire

* Location: Solusek B in back of Nagafen's lair, may roam on Nox spider path by some reports.
* Spawn Timer: Uncertain. May spawn within approximately 24 real-time hours after Nagafen is killed. May be related to death of fire giants.
* Level: 60 (initial spawn), 55 (after receiving "Shimmering Pearl"), 54 (dragon form)
* Drops: Initially, he is a vendor that sells Imbue Fire Opal (Solusek Ro deity-specific spell) and Oil of Fennin Ro (~1700pp). In dragon form, always drops "Heart of Zordak Ragefire", plus one or more pieces of "Blazing" armor and Nagafen loot table items, including red dragon scales.


Spoken Text: (when hailed) Zordak Ragefire stares at <your name> with unblinking eyes. A wide grin crosses Zordak's face and flames flicker in the depths of his eyes. 'Welcome to the new fortress of the Plasmatic Priesthood! It's a shame about Lord Nagafen's untimely death, really it is! Such a powerful and noble creature should not perish at the hands of mortals.'

(when given "Shimmering Pearl") Zordak Ragefire laughs maniacally as he crushes the pearl in his hands with inhuman strength. 'The Triumvirate missionaries think their petty magic can affect me!! I will send your heads to Omat as a symbol of what is to come for all of his missionaries!'

Tactics: After being given the pearl, Zordak Ragefire will attack you. When he is killed, his true (dragon) form, Zordakalicus Ragefire, will spawn on the spot where he dies. Zordakilicus Ragefire is a clone of Lord Nagafen, but will not banish level +53 characters. Normal Nagafen tactics apply. (http://web.archive.org/web/20010211010823/http://everquest.allakhazam.com/quests/Water_Sprinkler_of_Nem_Ankh.htm)

[Tricky Beverage]

Kanras,

I remember you said even once you implement the 23-hour respawn window, there will be variance. I know that several of us in VD were there on and off for the whole first 73 or so hours after we killed the first Ragefire. The camp was never left unattended. So if there is a 72-hour window, it's definitely not working as intended on p99 right now.

What I'm wondering is if somehow the variance is playing games with us. We (Emmdano and company) left soon after we realized it'd been over 72 hours. Like I said, I'd guess we might have been there till the 73 hour mark.

Divinity was still there when I left. But when I checked back in on the camp later, Divinity was gone. I'd guess that would've been around 8 hours later, but I couldn't say how long it had been with any real accuracy. I suppose it's possible (although unlikely) that Ragefire repopped after they gave up too. If so, it's conceivable that someone either triggered/killed him or just killed the merchant. Lazortag or Dumesh could give you better information on this latter part than I can.

Either way, the above possibility seems highly unlikely. If someone had killed Ragefire, we'd have heard about it, either in the form of a friendly heads up or "u mad" trolling.

I'm sure you've thought of this already (far be it from me to tell you how to do your job -- I just truthfully don't know), but do you have mob/spawn logs for the p99 server? If so, I'm sure you can probably tell US how long it's been since Ragefire popped far better than we could tell you.

Anyway, thanks for your continued interest, testing, and help on this matter. I can tell you all of us clerics are really anxious about getting this resolved.

[Lazortag]

We definitely didn't see him up after (I know this wasn't what you were implying, but we would have told you since it was still Emmdano's turn). Maybe someone from another guild, or unguilded, saw Ragefire up, but it's doubtful because we had a presence in the lair for a very long time and would have likely noticed.

Don't some GM's have a #spawnstatus command? It's nice to know when the window began, but knowing when the server thinks ragefire is going to pop would be even more interesting. edit: to be clear I'm not saying to use that command to tell a player when it's going to pop, but rather that maybe the devs could use it to help them figure out what's wrong.

[Ambrotos]

No new log encounters since the 20th, of the Naggy/Ragrfire spawn cycle. Hope that helps.

[Tricky Beverage]

That does help, Ambrotos. I'm pretty sure that's what we were all thinking, but it confirms that we didn't just miss it. Thanks for the info, Ambrotos. It helps remove any doubt that the spawn is still acting wonky on the live version of p99. Not sure what the discrepancy is between here and Kanras' private server, though. Sorry I can't provide you with more useful info than that, Kanras.

[Ele]

Any confirmation whether this has been hot-fixed or not?

[Werlop]

We had an early Ragefire spawn after Nagafen died. If ragefire spawns at all over the next 3 days then he's working as intended.

[ElanoraBryght]

Naggy died 17:32
Ragefire popped 18:18
[Tue Feb 28 18:42:55 2012] Zordak Ragefire has been slain by Kitai!
[Tue Feb 28 18:43:43 2012] Zordakalicus Ragefire has been slain by Kitai!

[Lazortag]

Ragefire just spawned which means two have spawned for this naggy, which means it might be working correctly.

[Xeliso]

Grats Divnity! Glad to know it was fixed.

[Lazortag]

This isn't really relevant but I'm wondering if zordak has a chance of dropping red scales on this server, since he should:

http://web.archive.org/web/20010421131117/http://eqbeastiary.allakhazam.com/search.shtml?id=5218

Zordakalicus drops the "Heart of Zordak Ragefire"... plus one or more pieces of "Blazing" armor and Nagafen loot table items, including red dragon scales.

[Rusl]

Pretty sure we got scales off him on one of our kills giegue

[nilbog]

but I'm wondering if zordak has a chance of dropping red scales on this server, since he should:

http://web.archive.org/web/20010421131117/http://eqbeastiary.allakhazam.com/search.shtml?id=5218

Yep

[Lazortag]

This might seem like a weird question, but can naggy spawn if ragefire is up? What happens if ragefire is left up, and naggy's window expires? Or what happens if both are in window at the same time, and ragefire pops first? I know that Ragefire cannot pop if naggy is up but I was wondering if the reverse is true.

[Ele]

This might seem like a weird question, but can naggy spawn if ragefire is up? What happens if ragefire is left up, and naggy's window expires? Or what happens if both are in window at the same time, and ragefire pops first? I know that Ragefire cannot pop if naggy is up but I was wondering if the reverse is true.

According to the original Ragefire bug report, the evidence pointed to Nagafen being able to pop while Ragefire was up.

I think it would be the same here, since Nagafen's respawn timer is known before the subsequent ragefire spawn timers are created. Not sure how those would be checked against each other to avoid an overlap.

[getsome]

Feb 13, 2002

http://www.mobhunter.com/mobhunter_archive/1190646841.html

** Quest Related **

- Made adjustments to the Whistling Fists quest
- Reduced the spawn time of the Zordak Ragefire in SoldungB. He will now reappear every 24 hours
- Repaired some problems with the Luclin Owlbear Dart and Vah Shir Runed Totem quests

http://www.tski.co.jp/baldio/patch/20020213.html

Quest Related:

Made adjustments to the Whistling Fists quest.
Reduced the spawn time of the Zordak Ragefire in SoldungB. He will now reappear every 24 hours.
Repaired some problems with the Luclin Owlbear Dart and Vah Shir Runed Totem quests.

August 23, 2002

http://www.thesafehouse.org/forums/showthread.php?t=7079

The following is a message to Guides/GMs from Brenlo, head of Customer Service, SOE regarding the post at pub23.ezboard.com/fgraffe...9860.topic

------------
Brenlo wrote:
This did in fact occur at my direction. It is not a change in policy but rather a single case exception. Please inform anyone that questions regarding this issue that it was not the norm and that Ragefire is being reworked to try to solve these community issues.

Brenlo Bixiebopper
Everquest Customer Service Manager
Sony Online Entertainment
------------


So yes, the Xev respawning of Rage for each of the clerics contesting the spawn did in fact happen and the above message from Brenlo also tells us of an upcoming change to the spawn.

Edited by: JustWatchingYou at: 8/23/02 5:48:10 pm

Sep 4, 2002

http://www.tski.co.jp/baldio/patch/20020904.html

Quests:

There is a fellow named Moltak in Sol Temple. Killing him gives a negative faction adjustment with the True Spirit faction. BUT, if you have a very, very bad faction with True Spirit, killing him will also reset your faction to a more tolerable level. So don't mess with this fellow unless folks on the True Spirit faction are willing to kill you on sight.

Made some modifications to the faction effects of the Wizard Epic quest.

A powerful warder has been seen in the Skyfire Mountains. Those who seek retribution against Ragefire would be wise to speak to her, she may be able to provide information about his whereabouts.

[Ele]

..

Except none of your links or information is relevant to the version of Zordak Ragefire that we have and should always have on Project1999.

The above links regarding Zordak Ragefire (human merchant) after he was moved to the Fire Giant castle on January 23, 2002 and the human/dragon version that was in Skyfire Mountains (http://www.eqclerics.org/forums/showthread.php?t=9322&highlight=ragefire+skyfire), but before the Skyfire Pearl shard farming change later in September 2002. There were also numerous issues (http://www.eqclerics.org/forums/showthread.php?t=4828&highlight=ragefire+respawn+patch&page=4) with broken spawn timers (http://www.eqclerics.org/forums/showthread.php?t=9324&highlight=ragefire+skyfire) and lack of spawning after the devs patched in the new versions of Ragefire (merchant-SolB and human/dragon-Skyfire), which resulted in the above noted February 13, 2002 patch ~3 weeks later.

http://everquest.allakhazam.com/history/patches-2002-1.html

------------------------------
January 23, 2002 3:00 am
------------------------------

*** Patch Information ***


** Quests **

- Ragefire portion of the Cleric Epic quest has been changed. Please
see the Developer's Corner on our web site for more details

http://www.eqclerics.org/forums/showthread.php?t=4828

Normally this isn't something I'd do. But, well, I'm going to outline the changes we're making to this quest in rather close detail. But first, let me try to explain the concern that players had with this quest.
With arguably the most popular Epic Quest item, the Cleric trying to gain his Epic item usually finds plenty of people to help in the process. Clerics are commonly the first in line with guilds to help with their epic quests. So Clerics tend to get further in their epic quest faster than many others. This has lead to a very nasty 'bottleneck' for Clerics trying to complete the quest. The Ragefire portion of the quest has been creating a lot of static among players.

So we have decided to make a change to the end portion of this quest. To reduce confusion and to help people understand why we're making this change, I'm going to give out a few specific details. These changes will go Live with the patch tonight.

For those that are not interested in quest details, consider the rest of this post SPOILER INFORMATION:


First, the 'merchant' version of Zordak will now appear at a different location in SoldungB. He will appear once each day (except after a server comes down, then he will spawn in one to three days). The appearance of this NPC will no longer require the absence of Lord Nagafen.

The cleric still turns in his Shimmering Pearl to Zordak. But now the merchant Zordak will return a Swirling Pearl to the Cleric and disappear.

At that point the Cleric will need to head out and look for him. A killable version of Zordak will appear independent of the pearl turn-in every few days (except after a server goes down, then he will appear a little faster). Killing Zordak will transform him into dragon form, and the Cleric (with help?) must kill him immediately.

The new dragon Zordak will drop a heart that is a container that requires the Swirling Pearl to be combined in it to create the Heart that is turned in to Omat.

The rest of the quest remains the same.


The goal of these changes is to reduce the problems with the bottleneck that existed before. They will not remove that bottleneck, but hopefully will remove the nasty competition for a single spawn with so many people willing to be? rude to each other.

Alan