Hirelings: Here to stay!

[Tarrant]

Thanks for all your feedback on the hirelings, the December preview has been a great success! We will continue to make changes to hirelings, but have decided that in the mean time, we will go ahead and leave the hirelings on indefinitely. We hope you continue to enjoy them, and we will bring you more announcements and updates as hirelings continue to evolve.

[Beherit_Baphomar]

Cool...ty Tarrant.

How about doing some advertising now?

:)

[JakLee7]

GREAT!!!
I love being able to grab one to do favor runs & such.
Thank you!

[Gratch]

Yeah... throw out some advertising. :)

My top 3 hirelings issues:
-load screen/cleaning up connections issue (a pre-Mod9 patch would be nice for this one as it could easily infuriate new players).
-defensive mode incapability of using abilities on other targets
-the cure light spell slot on all high level clerics. So many other things they should have in those slots (mass cure or mass energy pro being the biggest omission from most).

[Missing_Minds]

My one thought. About freaking time. Just more blunt is all.

[Oblongmana]

Good stuff

[query]

Wherer are all the level 4-6 barbarian hirelings?

The ONLY spot to hire is at the marketplace gates and not one barb is to be seen!!

Please rememdy that.

Oh, and also add rogues and allow existing/future hirlings to use runes they obviously qualified for (for example, a L 6 wizard hirling in a L 2 Sunken sewer favor run SHOULD be able to use the int runes like he did in the Tome run at the lighthouse.)


But THANK you for keeping them in. Sometimes we just need to solo something we can't solo but can Duo quickly.

[VonBek]

Yes, Thanks :)

Though, I,ve felt this pain..


-load screen/cleaning up connections issue (a pre-Mod9 patch would be nice for this one as it could easily infuriate new players).
...and look forward to it's resolution.

[Strakeln]

-load screen/cleaning up connections issue (a pre-Mod9 patch would be nice for this one as it could easily infuriate new players).I was getting pretty good at using the hireling healers as party clerics, but now my friends won't let me summon them anymore... they're sick of getting booted out and nailed with this issue.

Please fix it ASAP, Turbine.

[szalkerous]

I was getting pretty good at using the hireling healers as party clerics, but now my friends won't let me summon them anymore... they're sick of getting booted out and nailed with this issue.

Please fix it ASAP, Turbine.

Agree with all of the above.

[Adaram64]

I recently picked up and started playing DDO again. Have not played since the pre-launch trial. I liked the game then but none of my friends came, so...

Hirelings is a great bonus that I was not expecting!!

I assume we'll start to see hirelings when we leave Korthos and
head to Stormreach?

Where is the thread on the Hireling information?

Thanks!

[Tarrant]

I recently picked up and started playing DDO again. Have not played since the pre-launch trial. I liked the game then but none of my friends came, so...

Hirelings is a great bonus that I was not expecting!!

I assume we'll start to see hirelings when we leave Korthos and
head to Stormreach?

Where is the thread on the Hireling information?

Thanks!

Welcome back to DDO! Hopefully you can convince your friends to join us. :)

All (or at least most) of the Hireling information you need can be found on this thread. (http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=163357) If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask!

[Alexander_Illusioni]

If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask!


Is the next Mod really not coming out until the end of FEB?:D

[Strakeln]

Is the next Mod really not coming out until the end of FEB?:DGood news! The answer is no!

See you around the beginning of April... :D

[Lorien_the_First_One]

Is the next Mod really not coming out until the end of FEB?:D

They said publically it was being timed for their next aniversary, which is around Feb 28 - so figure late Feb if they are on time, March/April if they fall behind.

[HumanJHawkins]

Thanks for all your feedback on the hirelings, the December preview has been a great success! We will continue to make changes to hirelings, but have decided that in the mean time, we will go ahead and leave the hirelings on indefinitely. We hope you continue to enjoy them, and we will bring you more announcements and updates as hirelings continue to evolve.

Do you have an ETA on the issue where having a hirling in party causes players to get stuck on load screens and then locked out of the server when they force quit to try to come back in?

All you have to do to reproduce this bug is take a party of 5 +1 hirling (healer type cleric was my choice) through Waterworks and/or Tangleroot.

On average it will happen at least once per series quest like this. Probably twice. And the effect is game breaking.

[Draccus]

I can't believe Turbine would keep them in with all the problems they have. They aren't ready for beta yet but they're staying on the live servers?

Some things to think about:
- Maybe add some hp to the fighters. A level 2 drow in Searing Heights can take 1/8 of my frail little sorcerer's hp in one hit. Yet the same mob can take 1/3 of a fighter's? Pathetic.
- Click on a rez shrine and try to get your cleric to rez himself...he says "Can do!" and just stands there.
- Oh, and the entire party gets booted when the hireling zones. LOL.

Here to stay? Are you nuts?

[greystone306]

Do you have an ETA on the issue where having a hirling in party causes players to get stuck on load screens and then locked out of the server when they force quit to try to come back in?

All you have to do to reproduce this bug is take a party of 5 +1 hirling (healer type cleric was my choice) through Waterworks and/or Tangleroot.

On average it will happen at least once per series quest like this. Probably twice. And the effect is game breaking.
Not confined to having hirelings in party, i've also had that happen in parties with no hirelings in them lately, seems to be game wide recently for some reason.. get stuck at loading screen and either alt-f4 after waiting for about a minute and no progress on loading screen or game crashing then coming back to cleaning up old connections...

[branmakmuffin]

Like there was ever a chance that all that effort would be put into hirelings and they wouldn't (eventually) be be here to stay?

[donhoffman1]

great news the clerics do help for the lowbies.
Jointer

[shawnvw]

I think its really cool that your hireling can pick up your soul stone, then follow you. That means that after you die, you can reach any rez shrint -- its never out of range!

BUT...

When was the last time you died and your hireling survived more than a few seconds longer? The fight that kills you will kill him too, especially when he's lower level than you.

Two things the hirelings need:

1) a "Retreat" command. We can already order him not to follow us into danger, but sometimes he's already next to you and in over his head before we know it. I'd like him to run away; maybe after I die and the monsters wander off, the hireling can come back for my stone.

2) Whenever she's next to me and I die, I'd like her to automatically grab my soul stone (or at least give me the option: "Flower would like to pick up your Soul Stone -- Yes/No"). Otherwise I have to try to select the stone and order her to "Use" it, and in those few seconds she could lose the fight.

And if there's a Retreat command, I'd like her to do that by default after grabbing my stone.

[PaintHorseCowboy]

Bah. Buffbots.

Ruined every game they've ever been put into.

Hirelings should not pick up soul stones and save you from your own stupidity. Anyone can complete a quest no matter how stupid they are now. I'll just run run my head into this wall and if I die from it, my buffbot can resurrect me. Eventually, the wall will fall over, if not from the shock of being hit, then from the slightly acidic pH of blood.

Where's the skill?

[shawnvw]

Hirelings should not pick up soul stones and save you from your own stupidity. Anyone can complete a quest no matter how stupid they are now.

<snip>

Where's the skill?

Skill takes practice. Practice involves failure. Failure involves dying.

When soloing my wizard, I'm quite likely to walk him headfirst into a flame trap, because a) he failed his Spot check b) has never done the quest before and doesn't know its there, and c) doesn't have the hitpoints to withstand the damage. What's the non-stupid way to prevent that?

[greystone306]

While were on the subject of Hirelings, somebody needs to tell Aidren Rumrunner to stay off the rum a bit and that Level 4 Wizards can't be the best lockpicker's in all of Xen'drik....
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ZvWfHXkvXBw/SWGKmDL39LI/AAAAAAAABXY/tiaAslkLF1g/ScreenShot00000.jpg

[Narmolanya]

I have used hirelings quite a bit and in general like them. I have never been in a party where they have been summend but it would be very frustrating to experiance the getting stuck/booted bug. Please fix that.

The other thing that bothers me is that I can only have one hireling active at a time. I play a lot late night West coast time. It's pretty dead most of the time and not being able to find a party has already caused me to leave the game once. My suggestion is to allow a player to have enough hirelings to fill the party. I don't think it a a valid fear to assume players would no longer group. I would much rather have a party of real players but that doesn't always happen during my play time. Also sometimes I like to take my time and enjoy the quest. Other times I just want to Zerg through it. There is more fredom to do what you want with a hireling party.

Last thing is please put in rouges.

[branmakmuffin]

Skill takes practice. Practice involves failure. Failure involves dying.

When soloing my wizard, I'm quite likely to walk him headfirst into a flame trap, because a) he failed his Spot check b) has never done the quest before and doesn't know its there, and c) doesn't have the hitpoints to withstand the damage. What's the non-stupid way to prevent that?
Easy: ask someone to help you solo it.

Doh!

[Malakimon]

well, i am totally new to the game, i used to play night after night pen and paper. but then my friends got into world of warcarft..but i got sick of it, i have been looking for a good MMO to take its place.

been though several,

This hireling things sounds cool, hire a NPC to fight with you so u can solo. I read playing a Battle Cleric is the best for solo, sort of like a retrobution pally in WoW.

but sadly every class can solo in warcraft some alot better than straigt healer classes like preists.

But i may not go with battle cleric casue i have never been one to do heal botting, or buffing others.

but anyways i am here for free 30 days and if i like it i will be here longer.

but luckily my computer specs are above and beyond what is needed to play. 512MB graphics card, pent 4 3GE, 4GB ram.

so i will see you all as soon as i am done patching. 557/14335 see you guys in about 1-2 hours.