Rift Patches March 17-18: Patch 1.02 and Hotfix 8

NOTE: This article is about RIFT Patch 1.02, not Patch 1.2.  I regret the error in the original title.

One problem that has plagued the early days of RIFT has been account hacking.  Trion came out with Patch 1.02 Thursday that introduced the Coin Lock system to help prevent hackers from stripping players' accounts.  But apparently a big gaping hole existed in the system that was closed with Hotfix #8.  So hopefully this major issue will at least, if not halt, at least subside.

But the developers have added and fixed more than the account security systems.  Here are the details of the last two days code changes:

Rift 1.02 – 3/17/11

COINLOCK FEATURE — Account Security

• If your account is logged in from a significantly different location, your characters will be ‘Coin Locked’ until an additional ownership verification is made.
• A Coin Locked account will receive an e-mail to their registered account address containing a code to enter in-game to unlock the account.

• A Coin Locked icon will appear on the bottom center of your screen if your account is in this state.
• While you are Coin Locked, characters on your account cannot:
  • – Access the Auction House.
  • – Send Mail (can still receive and view mail or remove items).
  • – Sell to vendors.
  • – Salvage, Runebreak, or destroy items.
  • – Trade.
  • – You can continue to play and gain coin and items, but cannot get rid of them.
• If you are Coin Locked, click on the Coin Lock icon and enter the code found in your e-mail from Trion.
• You can also have Coin Lock emails re-sent to your email address by clicking the button on the Coin Lock interface.
• Once you have verified ownership from a new location, that location is whitelisted for future account access.
• If you cannot access your email or are otherwise unable to change your Coin Locked status, contact Customer Service.

MAIL SPAM FILTERING

• Reporting mail as Spam now works a lot more like the chat and /tell spam system.
• Sending mail that the game filter recognizes as spam results in an additional coin charge.
• Mail you receive that has been flagged as spam will go to the Spam tab of your mailbox UI.

GENERAL

• Made a number of changes to how NPCs react to higher level characters:
  • – Characters under the effect of Exposed no longer have an additional chance to be dismounted.
  • – Reduced the minimum aggro range of monsters significantly below a character’s level.
  • – Increased the rate at which aggro range reduces as a character’s level increases relative to a mob.
• Fixed Forest Disruptor companion so his footsteps are not as loud as a full-size Treant.

ZONES

• Runic Descent: Expert: Corrected an issue where this instance could end with players still inside.
• As a result of the above change, the Captured Soul NPC will be re-enabled after this update.
• Moonshade Highlands: Rational Ward: Fixed issues with quest not updating.

RAIDS

• Greenscale’s Blight: Ongoing tuning for Duke Letareus, Infiltrator Johlen, Oracle Aleria, and Prince Hylas.
• Greenscale’s Blight: Prince Hylas is immune to player abilities that reduce healing taken.
• Greenscale’s Blight: Fixed an issue that could cause Greenscale’s protective Life Aura to occasionally not spawn.
• Akala: Reduced health of Stone Wardens in the Akala outdoor raid to make the first phase possible with 10 players.
• Akala: Akala’s Aegis of Stone and Gift of Laethys buffs can no longer be purged.

Hotfix #8 – 3/18/11

SECURITY

* Characters cannot be deleted while an account is Coin Locked.
* Characters cannot accept CoD mail if they are coin locked.
* Decreased the cooldown between requests to re-send Coin Lock key emails.
* Logging into an account with an existing connection will now force the connected account to fully exit the game.

GENERAL

* We now correctly refund your money in edge cases where you bid on an auction while it is no longer available.
* Being feared should no longer allow you to be scared right through solid objects or underground!
* Reduced Plaque of Achievement rewards from second-tier Expert Dungeon quests to 4 per completion.

ZONES
* Fixed a bug involving zone event Wardstone targets being destroyed by NPCs just before an event begins.
* The Battle for Port Scion, Whitefall Steppes: Using Riftstalker’s Flashback will cause you to drop the Sourcestone.
* The Battle for Port Scion: Stealth abilities no longer work when carrying Sourcestone.