Boat vendors still MIA
by Mike Schramm 
Jan 24th 2008 at 3:30PM
Yup, the boat crews are still missing in action. First they were there, then they weren't, and then they were supposed to be back, and they probably won't be back in for the foreseeable future.I'm sure the coding here is complicated (anybody remember how buggy the ships used to be? In the early days of the game, there was probably a 50/50 shot that you would end up out in the middle of the water, having to swim back to shore on your own), but clearly this is a feature players want and Blizzard wants to implement, so why not just buckle down and fix it? Why keep pushing it back farther and farther? Give a programmer a clean room, a fast computer (or two), a case of Mountain Dew, and let him go to town until vendors are sitting on the boats.
It's probably not that simple, of course. There are probably a lot of issues with the code, and of course, programmers have lives, too-- even with Mountain Dew. But developers are always saying things like "would you rather us work on your crazy idea, or on something people actually want?" And this is something people actually want-- why not just get it done?
Filed under: Patches, Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, Blizzard
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Levache Jan 24th 2008 3:44PM
Am I the only one who thinks this is such a minor thing when you put it along side things like massive lag spikes, pets not working right, AFKers in BG's, too many Alliance players, etc...?
Sorry, but I'd rather my Lock's pet stay next to her and not despawn everytime I walk away from it.
SwiftBlue Jan 24th 2008 4:01PM
LOL.
One, take your pet off stay. *If you're having pet bar problems, hit Ctrl+2* If that doesn't work, get a better connection.
Two, how exactly do you expect to fix the fact that there are more Alliance players than Horde? And is this really a major issue?
Armature Jan 24th 2008 4:09PM
Actually its more than just taking a pet off of stay. There are terrain pathing bugs caused by how pets move since they implemented the feature where pets get behind targets.
My hunter's cat AND my lock's demons get stuck constantly...sometimes just going over uneven ground. I run on an upgraded cable line with a latency of less than 15 most of the time. It is not just a connection problem.
Pets now also get stuck when you get into combat. If they are on odd terrain they may bug out and not move until combat is complete...which basically screws you out of all your pet's melee range abilities.
Xeren Jan 24th 2008 4:27PM
weird, i've been playing a lock with a VW pretty much exclusively recently, and I haven't had a single one of the problems you've talked about. I think your connection is TOO fast, try fraying some of the wires.
Oneiroi Jan 24th 2008 4:36PM
I just like having people on the boats, I don't care about vendors per say.
It just always sorta "creeps" me out to have this self propelled empty boat. Kinda takes you out of the game.
Anyone know what was the problem before?
Levache Jan 24th 2008 5:06PM
@SwiftBlue
Seriously? That's your feedback? Take my pet off Stay or get a better connection? Thanks SO much. My connection is fine, I have no problems at all with other toons...just my hunter and lock.
If I run across a zone, it seems like my pet is moving at half speed. He can still pull aggro, though, when that happens...
When I send my pet to fight...he sloooowly drifts to the target (like he's swimming through molasses). But me, I can toss up DoT's just fine...and the mob responds as he should...it's just my dang pet!
Xeren Jan 24th 2008 5:19PM
You know what they say, a pet's behavior is a reflection of it's owner...
Levache Jan 24th 2008 5:37PM
You'll have to explain this...
How is my pet's inability to stay with me and properly attack a mob a reflection on my ability to shoot or DoT it?
And where are you questing? I have this problem the worst in Hillsbrad and STV...a little bit in Arathi as well....
George Jan 24th 2008 3:50PM
Thank you for oversimplistic viewpoint of who programmers are, what they do, and how much work is involved.
Xeren Jan 24th 2008 4:32PM
no, he's pretty much correct.
George Jan 24th 2008 4:31PM
*sigh* Whatever you say. *eyeroll*
Sky_Paladin Jan 24th 2008 5:48PM
*passes George a shirt that says "No, I will not fix your computer."*
You're welcome.
For the record, good healthy food is preferable to Mt Dew. You really don't want a whole bunch of hyperactive computer scientists. They get bored easily start doing things like sideways hacks in to the Pentagon and playing games of Thermonuclear War.
Keep your programmers happy. They run your world.
Theserene Jan 25th 2008 11:40AM
Agreed. We are not all sitting in dark corners glugging mountain dew (whatever that is, never seen it in the UK).
Stereotyping FTL.
Tekkub Jan 24th 2008 3:49PM
Did the vendors sell anything unique? I don't remember that they did... in which case this falls down to about the same priority as "redesign the entire old world to allow for flying mounts"... i.e. "it would be nice, but don't bother unless you've got nothing else to work on..."
Matt Jan 24th 2008 4:11PM
This was great because you could sell items and repair your gear while on your way to kara...for us hordies who go org>zep>grom'gol>stonard =-D buying reagents and ammo is nice to do on the way so you can land in stonard and head straight for kara =-D
matt Jan 24th 2008 4:46PM
why didn't you just go through the dark portal? Its way shorter
As for the issue with boats vender's its my understanding that the vender's were being used to dup items and other item hacks most likely to the zoning in and out. And that seems like a hard problem to get around.
superfrank Jan 25th 2008 8:54AM
It wouldn't surprise me if there was duping - I was bandaging myself just before the zep zoned, and when I got to the other side I had regained some health but didn't have the bandage debuff. Dunno whether it charged me for the bandage though
Shelby Jan 24th 2008 3:58PM
For the small amount of time people are actually on a boat, I don't see vendors being of much value or worth the time they're putting in to them, toss a few NPCs on there to add to the "realism" and call it good.
Aelfinn Jan 24th 2008 4:00PM
Sometimes its nice to be able to repair or unload your grey items while in transit on the boat. But in the larger scope of things there are much more important issues that need resolved. Its nice if the vendors are there, but not a huge issue one way or the other.
JPN Jan 24th 2008 4:04PM
It's cool but just seems to serve the purpose of something to do while you're on the boat. Would be cool to have an NPC to play a game with or something else.