Early, huh.

Q: Are you allowed to use profanity in a different language and not get in trouble for it?

A: No, is the simple answer. However, the multicultural fellow doing the cussing may not get into trouble for swearing. Sadly, our CS team does not speak every language on this globe. Therefore, when you find yourself being subjected to nasty language in a language we don't understand, please place the speaker on /ignore. If the person doesn't take the hint and actively tries to get around the ignore filter, appeal the person for harassment, and we will investigate on those grounds.

Q: I've read that with the new patch the SI client will no longer be supported and that the classic client has not been supported for a while.  Does this mean I remove these programs and folders from my PC? Is there an install program I can use so if I need to reinstall so that I don't need to install the original client plus 4 expansion packs?

A: From our Patcher King: "If have multiple versions of the game installed, but you only use one version, say... 'Darkness Rising', you can safely uninstall all other versions.  You can find which versions you have installed by running 'Add/Remove Programs' from the Windows control panel.  Alternately, you can look for versions installed under the 'Mythic' Program Group (Start->All Programs->Mythic).  In either case you can safely remove or uninstall any version that you don't use. 

Please note that the uninstall program will not uninstall any files that were added after the original install, this includes patched files, character .ini files and any screenshots you may have taken.  You should look through these files to see if there's anything you want to save, but ultimately they can all be safely deleted too.

Finally, to do a 'fresh install', install from the latest box release you have, then install any downloaded upgrades, then patch and you'll be good-to-go!"

Q: Please explain the fatigue item bonus. Is it an increase to your endo pool or a boost to your endo regen? Both?

A: I said to the Code Warrior, "Pool, right?" And he replied, "Pool. Regen bonus is a different bonus (Tireless, which some classes get inherently now)."

Q: I'm a level 50 reaver with 370 str (aug dex 2 - 98/98 str) and 391 dex (aug dex3 101/101dex) and 50+21 skill in flex. I had a weapon skill of 1812 with red +25% buffs. I switched some items around in my template and raised my strength to 373 with dex remaining at 391 but my weapon skill did not go up one bit. Is there a cap on weapon skill, if so I couldn't find any documentation for it?  I also noticed that when I used to get a yellow spec str/con +25% I would have 1798 weapon skill, now I get 1805, so my weapon skill did raise a bit in that situation, but it did not raise past 1812 like I think it should have, is this the cap for reavers or is something wrong. Please help.

A: Dude. I have to admit, I cried a little when I read this one. But I sent you to the Code Warrior, and he said: "There is no cap to weaponskill, since "weaponskill" only exists as an expression of multiple factors such as statistics and weapon specialization, but there are caps to statistics which it appears he's getting awfully close to reaching (especially with buffs). There is no single cap for statistics, different skills have different caps (such as a hard cap of 250 quickness for affecting swing speed) but at that level he's close to reaching all of them."

***

I know it's a little short tonight and way early, everyone, but we have some variation of the bubonic plague going around the office. I've been hitting the 'Quils pretty hard for the last few days. The last time I abused the Qs this hard I think I wound up watching the Lifetime network for three days. I gotta get some rest before that happens again.

I had several people write in and ask if their year old bans were permanent, because they want to come back and play again. I am afraid I wasn't clear last week, so I'll try again - you, the human, are probably welcome to return. It is only in rare cases that we won't let you roll a new account. But we will not reopen a banned account unless we discover we were wrong to ban that account, and because we bend over backwards to give people the benefit of the doubt before banning in the first place, our reversals are extremely rare.

Speaking of bans, I recommend that you NOT buy accounts from strangers for the time being. (Account sales are not illegal. Selling gold and/or items is against our EULA, but you're welcome to trade and sell the accounts themselves.) Many of the people who bought and traded accounts last week found themselves out a couple hundred bucks over accounts that were banned. I know, what a shock, the kind of loser who uses cheat programs is also the kind of person to sell his banned account. Anyway, be careful, and don't hand over any cash until you verify the account is open.

Public service announcement - and by public, what I mean is the Herald team. We ask that you only send ONE feedback form on a particular issue. If you send many forms at once, we delete the multiples, so it's not doing your cause any good. But because it takes time to open, read, and delete those multiples, we're actually losing time that could be better spent reading more message boards. Please, don't just copy and paste a message board post and spam the Herald. We appreciate everyone who takes the time to submit thoughtful feedback, and thank you all for doing it.

Finally, for all of you folks planning to attend the Roundtable in Orlando tomorrow night, the Content Queen, Code Warrior, the Lovely and Talented Miss Juli, and Missy are looking forward to meeting up with you! They'll be at the airport with boarding passes in hand tomorrow morning, hoping against hope that the snow doesn't keep them away from the 150+ people who RSVPed.

Y'all have a great weekend. If you're on the east coast, mid-Atlantic and points north, don't forget to grab the bread and Hot Pockets tonight for a weekend of snowed-in gaming.