Chef Archive

I've noticed that the playerspursuing the chef profession are often very patient and forgiving — which explains why we have been willing to play a broken profession for so long.

Unfortunately, although the current buff bug is extremely problematic for all chefs and many non-chefs, it is in danger ofbeing neglected because chefs are typically less vocal thanthe other professions.Patience is a virtue, but please keep this issue alive on the main forums by letting everyone know how you feel about this bug. There are many threads on this topic (e.g., http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=Development&message.id=732117) but they quickly sink to the second or third page of posts if they are not frequently updated.

I make one post per day, since the last publish (read: screwup), on this very issue and it quickly leaves the front page.

This is a SERIOUS issue, but the devs don't seem to be taking it as such.

I log into Test Center to check on the buff bug almost every night. After making this post tonight, I found some changes have been made to try to ameliorate the buff bug.

Visually, in addition to the wounds column on the stat page, there are also buff and encumbrance columns.What is more important, the way that buffs (don't) work appears to have been changed. In the small amount of testing that I was able to do, I found that actual (not just maximum) secondary stats did increase with the second and third doses of food. Also, when the first buff period expired, I didn't get the huge stat deduction that is occuring on the live servers. There seem to be some issues which occur when the last buff expires. I need to test more toreplicate the "last buff"issue, but from what I can tell at the moment, it is distinctly different from— and hopefully less severe than— the"first buff" issue that is haunting the live servers.

I didn't get to test extensively, so I will withhold judgement for now. However, I will post when I get a chance to document (to the best of my ability) what has and hasn't been fixed on test center. Have any other people who play onTest Center tested this more thoroughly yet?

Saark5, have you noticed anything different about the way buffs are applied? I got disconnected from Test Center just now in the midst of trying to continue my testing.

Starting with 1000/1000 action, I drank two spiced teas (which each added +17 to my action). However, I purposefully lowered my action stat by sampling while the buffs were wearing off. When the first buff expired, I was at 729/1034 action (that is, about 70% of my maximum). My action decreased by 12 (about 70% of the actual buff) rather than the full 17. When the second buff expired, I was at 864/1017 (85% of my maximum). My action decreased by 29 (or, about 170% — twice 85% — the original +17 buff). Asplit second later, it increased by about 15.

So, although the problem with the temporary double decrease from thelast buff was still happening, the decrease in the final stat seemed to be proportional to the original one.You need to have quick eyes to test this out (maybe quicker than mine!), so I was hoping someone else had seen this too.

Also, Test Center was being taken down for an update. I can only hope that they are fixing the double decrease problem, which would make buffs usuable again.

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Akane wrote:

(d) Unfortunately, when my third Travel Biscuit expires, I temporarily have 564/564 constitution. That is, the calculation subtracts twice the amount that it should. Even if I eat two foods that buff different stats, the last buff to expire has this effect.

(e) A split second later, my constitution magically returns to the right number (600/600).

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OCT 22nd patch....hmmm nothing about this bug being fixed yet...so how did it not effect us prior to the patch? I think they should do away with the stat readout that shows your max stat cap....truth be told i feel that that little problem is where they messed up....you had something that worked...now they broke it and say oh I wonder what the problem is???? Man someone e-mail them a clue.

I wish they would fix it, this has gone on too long.

It's making life horrible for those chefs who struggle on and it's making the rest of us move on to other professions

Nuff said

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Akane wrote:

So, although the problem with the temporary double decrease from thelast buff was still happening, the decrease in the final stat seemed to be proportional to the original one.You need to have quick eyes to test this out (maybe quicker than mine!), so I was hoping someone else had seen this too.

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I got a chance to test a bit more on Test Center. Since I can only make travel biscuits, aitha, and a few other items, it's hard for me to test all the possibilities. However, I verified that:

1. When a character eats more than one serving of food or drink, the buff is added correctly to both their current and maximum statistics. The total buff is listed under the buff (modifiers) column on the character page. And, the buff appears to actually work to increase regeneration or decrease HAM costs (as appropriate).

2. If the character has eaten more than one serving of food or drink, they experience a new bug when the last buff expires. Currently, on the live servers, when the first buff expires, the character loses all buffs on that stat. Then, as subsequent buffs expire, theykeep losing points so that their stats end up stuck below their base numbers. This does not appear to behappening anymore on Test Center. However, if a character eats more than one serving of food or drink, the last buff temporarily decreases their stats by twice the amount it should. There were no patch notes for this change yet, but I doubt that this is intended. For instance:

(a) My character started out with 600/600 constitution.

(b) Ieat3 Travel Biscuits (+36 constitution) in a row, increasing my constitution to 708/708

(c) When the first Travel Biscuit expires, I have 672/672 constitution. When the second Travel Biscuit expires I have 636/636 constitution. So far, so good!

(d) Unfortunately, when my third Travel Biscuit expires, I temporarily have 564/564 constitution. That is, the calculation subtracts twice the amount that it should. Even if I eat two foods that buff different stats, the last buff to expire has this effect.

(e) A split second later, my constitution magically returns to the right number (600/600).

The split second between (d) and (e) is not too much of a problem for secondary stats. However, this might be a big problem for primary stats. I suspect that if your health, action, or mind dropped below 0 in the splitsecond between steps (d) and (e), you would be incapacitated. It is possible thatit is only a displayissue, although I doubt it.I tried for 30 minutes to incapacitate myself on Test Center, but I was unable to make any food with a big enough buff to do so. Also, since doctor, entertainer, and smuggler buffs have been suffering from the same problem as food buffs on the live servers, it is not unlikely that they will also be affected by this new issue.

I did submit a bug report, but I couldn't include all the possible information.I could not find out for sure (1) whether the new bug can incapacitate youor (2) whether the bug also applies to non-food buffs. Does anyone have any information on this?

Well this is my experiences of the food bug.

Ex.

I eat some bread (can't remember the name) that adds +70 to stamina.

My base stamina is 500

After I eat one I have 570

After I eat two more I still have 570. I should have 710.

When the buff ends I have 360 and I have to wait 20-30 min before it returns to the base value

The result is that I never buy food or drinks. This is a bug that needs to get a higher priority.

I can't understand why they don't fix this.

The only explanation is that they have so much to do that they are ignoring this matter.

Some hints for them how to fix it.

1. Talk to the project manager for the developers (if any)

2. Describe the problem step by step and ask who is responsible for the chef code(or stat code)

If they fail to under stand the problem ask them to log in and eat some **edit** food

3. Developer who is responsible for the chef code, write a patch to fix the problem. (and get a kick in his butt for not doing it sooner

4. Problem is solved, customers are happy.

This should take 1-2 days to fix if they dedicate one developer for it. The problem is that no one is working with this at all