OK one response to rule them all.
Q: OMG Why AI run away then come back LOL:
A: AI has issues, the "run away then come back" is a bug, the fail fear check, flee but something doesn't clear good enough and they decide to come back.
Q: ZOMG Why u no make troll and add? U had all dem grafix!
A: We do have the troll, it does have all the graphics and animations. But we want it to pick you up. And doing requires code, a fair amount of code. Similar to how some ai now can spawn other ai we need a new type of behavior for these attacks. But this new type of behavior for the troll can currently ONLY be used by the troll while spawning other mobs can be used by a wide amount of other creatures.
Q: I want them molvas back plz ktnxbie.
A: Molvas are awesome! BUT, if we re-add them we want them as mounts, and mounts take some time to add due to the fact that they need to follow the same system as horses. This means that once we add molvas we get a good 5-7 different movlas but it's more complicated then just "re-add" them. They need to have their rigg re-rigged in such a way that it can be used by the dynamic system.
Q: You said AI would do cool stuff, all they do is hit me in the face with a claw!
A: This is more or less just time, the AI can do a lot of cool things with the new system but the mobs we have are mostly furry things with sharp nails. In wow you could have a pig that charges,hits you and you catch fire. This.. is something we want to stay away from. We will be looking into making the mobs that can have more interesting things to do more interesting. Say witches that raise skeletons, elements that put down "tower" type of things etc.
Q: Why you LIE and say you fix it when U did not NOOBSEB!
A: I did! Every note in the patchnotes about changes to the AI is indeed a improvement, it's just been a bunch of fairly minor improvements rather then one giant "this fixed all" type of deal. For the next patch I have for the first time some real time to put into the AI and I should be able to tick of a lot of "minor improvements" that hopefully makes the experience better for you.
Q: But WTF did you do with that time Seb, I heard you just drank whiskey and watched the Sin City movie over and over again.
A: All AI was scrapped and I started from nothing again. These were my main goals:
1.Give the client more time to handle movement to make it look better.
2.Give the designer more variety in what attacks each mob can do.
3.Add patrolling and make every NPC an AI too.
4.Add support for several pets and build a more solid system to control them with.
And all of this did indeed get made, its the polish that still needs to be there, the client part of movement can be made a lot better and after that it can be polished infidelity.
The attacks can be made, but we don't use them to well yet. Patroling NPCs are in, and one of the reasons why we can now have the guards instead of the old insta-wack guards.
Several pets are in and the new control system is better and gives GMs the ability to directly control the ai for events etc.
XOXOX / The seb