Astarae

I can use traceroute to find the route to the server. It isn't really dynamic. I have seen variation in ping based on server load, which means the biggest variation is due to server load + changes on the server. The ping time on the route doesn't vary by more than about 4-5ms.

So people spend X amount of money, say 1000 to raise soul to max before this event. Now to raise to same level, it's only maybe 600, with 1000 being a few levels into the new soul type. So why aren't soul owners being offered an exchange to the equivalent upgrade level or some part of that upgrade amount as progress in the next soul. This is even more needed if souls lower than max have their stats reduced. I know some people can come up with an excuse for anything, but that doesn't make it seem fair for those who invested in in leveling up those items before and now have that amount discarded. I know, how about issuing it in outfit vouchers we can use for any outfits/accessories in the 'wardrobe'? Only partly serious, but better than nothing -- and it would have to apply to all outfits, not just the same group that gets partly rotated through in F10.

Why would it be in Pacific Standard? 1) why would it be on standard time when none of US is on standard time (is on Daylight Savings time now), and 2) servers are in central time zone (texas) (continental US is mostly on 4 time zones, Eastern, Central (including Texas and Servers), Mountain and Pacific (up to pacific coast), so Pacific is 2 hours later than Central). I've seen most times given in server time, but don't know if that is true for new hours. Nor do they say if times will change when NA moves clocks hour ahead (spring ~March) or an hour behind (1st weekend in November). But none of the US is on Standard time rt now, so announcing times in standard time seems odd.

That you have no problems might indicate something about your equipment and internet connection that might also explain why you don't have difficulty completing game challenges or doing timed mechs. I find it interesting that I can go from under 100ms response time on several days to maybe 130-140 during busy times, to over 1800ms (according to the ingame display) with one showing over 9000ms! I tried to take a screen shot, but my keyboard was locked out. Instead, I've lost connection to the game completely about 5-6 times in the past day -- would likely have been more if I hadn't found it depressing enough to stay out for hours at a time when some events happened. Perhaps if we compare your connection and your friends' connections to those having problems it might help find multiple problems.

They game has alot more to offer than mechs. Mechs are one aspect. In another series of games, there was occasionally a need to break into a locked container or room. Rather than try to simulate you actually having to break into a safe, they substituted some little game that challenged you via timing and coordination. It had nothing to do with the game and was annoying, but I found out if I used a drawing pad for one of the games, it made it a piece of cake. I have several popups on my screen, most of which are annoying and get in the way, so I usually try to dismiss them as quickly as possible. It's especially annoying if I come into a battle and a game pops up at the same time, that won't go away by pressing ESC, but instead does the microsoft thing of asking if you are sure, of course if you just want it to go away, and ESC is set to close 1 window at a time, you keep pressing ESC, but in that UI, ESC means cancel. Similarly is where you make mods to something that won't save if battle starts: It **seems** that neither yes nor no works, but you have to press a third option, 'confirm' to really exit without saving. So all normal methods are broken, trapping you in the menu where you can't respond to the attack. Then you remember it some other key to get out, and press that key -- if the attacker was your level or higher, you might be dead before you over came your panic and were able to exit. It's designed to mess with you. So finally you get all those popups closed, and there isn't anything on your screen related to a quest letter, so what are you talking about again? You know nothing of what a disability is. Whether or not it is physical, is irrelevant. It prevents you from being able to do what normal people do. The law doesn't differentiate between those who discriminate based on physical vs. mental disability. In fact for some areas disability isn't required at all. Differing levels of *access*, caused by race, creed, color, religion, medical issue, age and sex have all been successfully used to push cases involving different types of access and different types of discrimination. The meaning of discrimination has been expanded over the past century and applied to more areas. There is little to support some "narrow" interpretation. Whether or not those laws might apply to an online game isn't even the whole issue, but how it affects the perception of the company in the public eye. I understand that some people have unreasonable advantages and some have unreasonable disadvantages and many are in between. I also understand that it isn't a black+white issue. The person who was able to compete in non-handicapped events with his augmented body -- should he then be able to turn around and compete in handicapped events as well? I wouldn't want to be someone deciding that case.

Not really, you talk about how games "Should" be which doesn't sound like your opinion of what you would want, but what you think is right for 'games' -- you're not even saying why you want it the way you want it -- you just say "I don't like the idea simply because events are events and that's [the way] they should be." I.e. games should be the way you say because you don't like anything different. Then (above) you say anyone who doesn't remember everything like you do, it's because they are brainded and because they aren't paying attention like 'he'[sic] should. I've already told you more than once, other people's brains may not work the way yours does. That doesn't mean you get to call all of the brainded. People who don't pay attention like you want them to likely have some for of ADHD -- a medical condition with genetic and environmental causes. You may not like it but the rest of the world has sided with https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Pistorius -- a double amputee who was allowed to participate in the Olympic games with an assistive device. Just because people aren't equal to you, doesn't mean they shouldn't be allowed to win with assistance and get their outfit that might otherwise not be available to them. The game won't have to change for you. Only those who need extra reminders or ways to compensate would see a change. You can still play the game at the difficulty level you are wanting. I don't know that lack of time is a protected handicap, but certainly being reminded of something isn't a big deal. Tons of geniuses like Edison et al, couldn't memorize details -- instead they said that you shouldn't have to memorize something that they could look up in a book or ask someone else about. Einstein couldn't make it through school due to attention problems. So are you going to be the one blocking them? But suppose you can't do the normal content? Suppose you can't find a group to do the event you need to get the dress you want, or if you do, suppose you can't handle the mechs? Challenges in a good game are tailed to the individual. Pro's get stronger challenges. Think of Pro Golf -- the pros don't complain about others getting a handicap, but that's common. Not everyone can do the same challenge. Hey, what a great idea!. Ok, let's go with Grim's idea.... ... (not!)

Is something wrong w/the network or is there a DoS attack going on? My pings which were hitting 99ms yesterday afternoon, are hitting over 300ms with some activities causing a connection drop & game crash. Heard similar from others, including outright crashes from people who'd never had it crash before. Ug.

Have you ever thought that the real absurdity is you dictating what others "should" be doing?

You are changing the topic, not answering the question, though in at least 1 case that list is wrong. One of my characters has a Darkstorm Necklace that still need upgrading, but the dragonflame jewels are not an option on its upgrade page -- only green salvage+other ingredients. Also, aren't Horizon Belts non-upgradeable these days? To re-iterate the question: "what can I use them for"? A list of things that don't apply or don't work for an answer to my question, while perhaps useful to some, isn't exactly what I was looking for. SMH...

At one point someone mentioned that gunners weren't real popular w/non-GS players (not really changed alot, IMO) and alpha call was added to encourage including gunners on missions. Hopefully that won't change that much...(?) Does the side-step dodge mean GSs will get that as well? I mean it would _make_ sense, but gunner's limited ability to dodge and recover from anything (takes forever to get up & SS takes forever to cooldown). Even with 25pts added to speed, I've seen other classes outrun my gunner. What's up with that? Will archers have to come to a stop and be frozen for an arrow barrage? There's no way it makes sense that gunners have to stand full-frontal, in place to do the one skill that gives them any advantage. Archers -- especially elves, could shoot when not on the ground and while running, but most gunners could shoot from moving vehicles as well as when running. About the only shot that makes sense to be frozen (but lying prone) is a sniper shot. But only because of the 300m distance -- 15m for a sniper rifle is a joke. Take a look at any chase scene -- neither side needs to stop to shoot. Are archers going to need a 1.5-1 minute cooldown so their bow+arrows don't overheat as well (that would be as insane of requiring that long a CD for gunners). Gunners haven't been that slow since they were muzzle-loading -- even breach loaded weaps were faster. Only Gatling guns came close to requiring that long of a cooldown but as they were usually mounted on a wagon or truck, even they were more mobile than a glued-in-place gunner. I'm on both sides of any disparities between gunners and archers, though from my perspective, gunners and archers should be able to trade off weaps more easily after a learning stage, as they do have similarities. That could be fun -- having a dual-classed character...

China was approached as a possibler publisher. Instead, they wanted to be able to develop things as well. It may not be an issue where something is all one way, i.e. it is possible in many situations to release development rights and materials for some things but not others. So while you say NCWest is a publisher, that doesn't mean they are or forever will be limited to that. It may very well be that they stay in that limited role, but it doesn't mean the role isn't mutable if both sides agree to it.

So what can I use a Dragonflame jewel for? It says for accessories, but have never seen an option to use any of them. If they are just junk, when will characters who are getting junk now get something useful while everyone can collect junk for a few-several months? Last event, some 3-4 months back, neither my GS nor FM could begin to deal with the DPS requirements needed for a level 4 turtle and with this event it seems it's only for those needing RK or HQ equipment and still no way to earn anything to get Bloodlust dress & accessories from Kangcha. Seems like there are some players getting caught in cracks who with no access to the new dungeons (they need a group and last group I was in kicked me for pushing to go explore ET before the guides and vids were out). Silly me had just finished the story update and was all excited to go in and see what else was new. I can't believe how some of the 'best' players who only need a few days practice to be able to do new content haven't ever watched the story vids & dialog -- some who've been w/game since it was intro'd to NA. A☆a

Yeah, cuz it would never be possible NC West to do anything different in the West like make items more rare in dungeons so you have to buy them in the stores or get them from troves because NC West was determined to see how much of the player base they could get convert to p2w or get rid of or how they could squeeze out of that shrinking base before they'd have to commit to the resources to port an Unreal IV version to the western market. Yeah, literally impossible.... ... just literally!

And they have the same names?

Or NCWest might change it.

How would you know? Were you born knowing that? Of course not. You or others would have to try. How would their game be different such that they need to allow trying, and we wouldn't?

Except that the who post-awakening system is new compared to previous systems, so you can't really *know* the first time things are tried -- because there is no documentation .

And this is one of the biggest things people with various Attention Deficit Disorders (of various types) hear. It's documented that people's brains who are wired differently may not have a problem paying attention -- or being lazy, but they pay attention to different things than you do. Mainstream people often give the reason of those with different attention systems of "not trying hard enough" (or being lazy), or not paying attention. Yet when researchers study the brain activity of people who are supposedly not pay attention or trying hard enough, they find their brain is working a huge amount more than a normal person's is -- their brain is working overtime -- vs. someone who is skilled at an activity. In a similar way, there are differences in brain activity between males and females. More often, when doing some tasks, male brains will intense activity in a localized region of the brain, more often on 1 side. This is compared with a different result on most female brains where there is not as intense of a reaction in 1 region, but instead, a more defuse reaction over both hemispheres. Before I go further, there is considerable overlap between the sexes with as many as a third of males showing more diffuse+bi-lateral patterns and maybe a sixth of females showing a more localized reaction than other females. So these patterns aren't strictly segmented by gender, so anytime I use short-hand notation talking about female/male <whatevers>, realize there is overlap. But the overlap isn't something an individual can "choose" -- it's the way their brain is already working, like right vs. left handed. Imagine if left handers were dominant and if you were a right-hander being told that you weren't better with your left hand because you were lazy or weren't paying attention or weren't trying hard enough. Knowing what we now about right vs. left handedness most of us would realize how ridiculous that statement sounded. It's the same way with other things like how well you can memorize and repeat mechs among other things. It really isn't a matter of lazy or not trying hard enough anymore than it is for most people to be equally good in life using their "non-dominant" hand vs. their dominant hand. Another interesting example that is a bit harder to try -- if you think a mechanical skill is just a matter of trying, try becoming a 220 wpm typist. If you aren't one already, you will find it very hard to practice enough -- EVER, to achieve that goal. If you are fairly good at typing without looking on a qwerty keyboard (standard keyboard named for top left to right 6 letters), then you know you are good at typing -- so try using a dvorak keyboard -- that was designed to speed up typing (but has the keys located in different places). The original keyboard, designed by IBM, was designed with keys in awkward locations to slow down typing so early design typewriters wouldn't jam, yet it is still taught today as the standard because it's too hard to change, even though people could type significantly faster if they were brought up on a dvorak keyboard. You can find software programs that will switch your keyboard layout to dvorak. Even if you put tape over the keys with the new positions, if you have any facility with a regular keyboard, you will quickly find yourself getting a headache trying to use the dvorak keyboard. It's not lack of concentration, or trying, it's different wiring.

No, but slow loading is based in the server. You pay for 50ms on server, you get 80ping, you don't pay enough, you get the 90ms on server. Right after the server merge, my ping time went down below 100 for the first time I've ever played this game. No change in hardware. They just too the server-delays off of everyone because they didn't know how much delay all the new users would add. After the last update where they added the prize bags you could buy -- things went back to [sic]"normal". Doors that I used to be able to go through instantly (ones where you could see the other side), now went to a loading screen and it's stayed that way. Nothing to do with my PC -- all to do with how much delay they add on the server. Entitlement? Guess I didn't pay an extra 1k/month for priority access. So the OP isn't entitled to people waiting -- that's fine -- just give them double loot for any fight they missed due to group not waiting. Group doesn't have to wait, and OP doesn't have to miss out. I'm sure you'd agree those who get faster access already have their entitlement, right? If they get kicked mid run, -- they automatically get full treasure available at end and full credit. Problem solved.

??? huh? If that was true you wouldn't find such a wide range of selections among the top 10 on the various lists (solo pve and pvp). If there was only 1/spec, for example, there should, at most, be all gunners having 1 of 2 badges. Instead, you look and there are about 4-5, none of which was was a badge I had from pre awakening. So two things contradict the 1-right-badge statement: 1 people are not all on 1 of 2 badges, and 2, the system can change so what was right pre-awakening, for example, isn't right in a new system -- same can happen again. There are lots of "experts" on Faction chat telling people, for example, that if you upgrade from A9->CG3, you'll do less damage. Cept, that isn't true unless you have already gone with the wrong accessories that don't boost elemental, but if you went with non-elemental, then they could be right -- but they didn't know that if you went elemental their statement was wrong. If it is hard for all those self-ascribed experts to get it straight, then how can more casual players get it (just had another ask how much I paid for my account because I though doing 100 runs on Brood was insane, or, more likely, broken as req for gloves -- since they already figured out that 100 runs was too much for accessory achievements, but now, I see it again. They have the price lowered, like the rest, but forgot that it should be 10 to be achievable. Of course they told me to just go form a party and do it, it was easy. Funny how 2/3 of the parties I was in failed the last boss. And if you want the outfit? you have to do it on hard mode? What a bunch of jokers....or ....

Well that would make more sense...all i'd heard before this was the jin/lyn -- cuz like wardens, they wanted to see how a 6-ft weapon look on a 1-2 ft player character...; They can't leave it out of jin's, I can see that -- since throughout the world we see jin soldiers using bows. I could see han's not using bows as being too scornful to use such a little twig-like weapon.... Thanks for, I hope, setting my mind at ease....I hope...

Would especially like CS to clear daily by kill of 2nd boss. It's getting annoying how many drop out after they finish shopping after 1st boss kill.

And you would know in advance, which badge is best, how?

Is this the event you were talking about grimoir that wasn't too high or too low for my chars... Ha!..

How can you introduce an archer class and ignore a woodland/nature race like Yun's? It makes no sense? A group of female warriors, that don't specialize in bow? When in history has that ever been the case? Even woodland magic would go with Yun (if not exclusivly), but warlock isn't quite that class. But Please don't leave yun's out of archery? I'm really getting the idea that Korea really views women as a second, subservient class -- especially in their anime related products. Traditionally, and in any reality, women, often being smaller than men, wouldn't want to compete head-to-head on strength, but would use ranged-weapons that let them shoot down enemies *BEFORE* they get into jump or approach range. So it might not be a bad time to extend ranged classes's attack range to at least 20m if not 25m, otherwise, what's the point of being a ranged class? Sure, as others have mentioned more than one of the melee classes can pretty much 1-hit the other classes, they only chance range classes have it to get more than one hit 1st. Do developers ever try classes like gunner to see if anyone can do an equally good job as any other class? If not -- you ought to try sometime against expert melee-tank types and notice that gunners are dead instantly. At least you shouldn't make it so obvious that you hate the class! ;^)