Hey everyone,
There’s a new patch that will be going out the door later today with some fun and exciting new changes to the game. (Note that the patch will most likely not be gong out until later this afternoon, around 3 or 4 PM).
Mounts
Our new mounts are now included in the game, which allow you to get around much more quickly than before. If you’ve already finished the “Job Seeker” quest (or the entire Main Story Quest), just visit the Master Smith Alfred in Guild City to get your Disc Mount for free. Otherwise, you will now be prompted to visit the Smith when you reach the appropriate part of the story.
To summon your Mount, just press both of the Grip buttons on your controller while your hand are close together, then bring them apart to “phase in” your mount. Release and your mount will spawn in and go to your feet. To dismiss your mount, just perform the same action over again. Note that your mount will also be dismissed automatically if you take damage or deal damage to an enemy, and it cannot be summoned while you are already in combat.
Cosmetic Shop
We’re also introducing a new Cosmetic Shop today. You can access this shop from a new menu option in your Player Menu (the icon that looks like a piggy bank). You’ll find a variety of cosmetic-only, non-gameplay-affecting items for sale, including pets, mounts, and hats. The prices range from $3.99 to $9.99 currently. We’re excited to receive your feedback on this so please let us know how the purchasing experience is for you if you decide to buy something.
Once you purchase an item, you will find that it will appear immediately in your inventory. On your other characters on the same account, you can go to the Backer Rewards vendor in Highsteppe to receive the items as well, so you only have to buy it once on each account even if you have multiple characters.
New Networking
The new networking code which was previously on the Beta branch has now been rolled into the main branch. Fast-moving objects such as Fireball spells should now move much more smoothly, and you should see decreased crashes overall with the game.
This patch is rolling out in phases
The first phase today will have the cosmetic shop and mounts. The next phase tomorrow will feature some additional changes to the Shard Dungeons to provide rewards for those who no longer really need to run them for gear, as well as some new potion recipes to facilitate faster potion creation for key raiding potions. The final phase will roll out Friday with the addition of the Expert Mode raids as well as some raid bugfixes.
Miscellanous Changes
Other changes rolling out today:
- Made a small change to the way that haptic feedback works on the Oculus Rift controllers to make it more “smooth”
- Capes can now be transmog targets just like other pieces of gear. All capes in the game are now destroyable, and destroying them will unlock the transmog appearance just like any other piece of gear. This also now provides a handy way for you to see what capes you haven’t yet collected!
- Windup pets can now receive the same “gameplay” bonuses as Dragon pets by feeding them the special pet treat which confers a random bonus.
