Hip, Hip, Hooray, zone bonuses are back!

We've decided to implement the following Zone Bonuses through this weekend:

On Classic or Normal Ruleset servers, the following bonuses have been added:
200% bonus to XP in all classic zones and dungeons.
200% bonus to BP in all NF zones.

On the PVP ruleset server the following bonuses have been added:
200% bonus to BP in all classic zones and dungeons.
200% bonus to BP in all NF zones.

On the PVE ruleset server the following bonuses have been added:
200% bonus to XP in all classic zones and dungeons.
200% bonus to BP in the capital cities.

Please note: The bonuses above will last through Monday 8/11/08.

Friday is here, and so is the weekly Grab Bag !

Q. I have a question concerning Armor Factor. According to an old patch note (Patch 1.79) Armor Factor does increase your blocking rate. Many people have been telling me it doesn’t help in blocking at all. Could you clear this matter up for us please?

A. After some searching for the 1.79 notes the Balancinator quotes: Item-based AF bonuses now actually increase your AF, block damage, and report as such on your character sheet. - From the 1.79 patch notes on 2005-09-13 13:19:27

I believe you are referring to this line in the 1.79 patch notes. The term "block damage" is confusing. It refers to your armor factor "blocking" or "reducing" the damage, you receive from being hit. Your armor factor does not help your block rate.

Q. When on my Friar (Level 39) and I have a dragonsworn accommodation buckler equipped with a 5% enhancements stat cap. The bonus doesn’t show up when I look at my /bonuses, and it doesn’t make a difference when I buff my self. Is it bugged?

Second part of my question is; I buff myself with a vestshieldweapon that all have a bonus to stat enhancement on them, and than switch to my normal vestweapon will those stats stay on me since I buffed using my concentration?

A. After a few minutes of looking into this, The Equalizer states: The bonus on the item is not affecting your character for one of two possible reasons. First, the bonus in question is a fifth-slot bonus on a crafted item, and these bonuses will only affect the player if the item has been fully spellcrafted with four other bonuses. Second, this bonus doesn't increase the cap on buff effectiveness, but instead just provides an additional 5% bonus. Since buff effectiveness caps at 25%, your character may already be capped on buff bonus.

Head's up for those of you planning to play Monday morning:

On Monday, August 4th we will be performing updates to our login servers from 7:00am to 11:00am EDT. Because of this, the login servers and account systems will be unavailable during this time. Once the updates have started, players will be unable to log into their accounts until the login servers are available again. Players that are already logged into the game at the time that the updates begin can continue playing uninterrupted as long as they don't log out. Please keep an eye on the Herald for any updates. We'll try to get the login servers up as soon as we can!

A wee tweak for the Doppelganger's:

- The doppelganger lords that have been wandering around disguised as Shrouded Isles denizens will now drop an Ancient Doppelganger Coin when killed. These coins can be turned in to the Royal Treasurer for bounty points and champion experience at level 50 and for a large chunk of experience at levels below 50. These monsters are now also worth Master Level experience.

Note: Due to the powerful magic emanating from these coins, players can only have one of these items in their packs at a time. Be sure to turn them in frequently.

'Lil hot fix today:

- Fixed a display issue that was causing a cloak reward to appear as an Optional Reward for the quest A New Threat in an Old Form.