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Message ID: 25927
Date: Mon Feb 25 07:08:59 GMT 2002
Author: John Grady
Subject: Re: [eqbards] twisting 5, added note


Kenross,

Thanks for clearing that up so completely. Seems the legendary 3.5 song maximum has some factual
basis behind it.

Tzeetch

--- "Kenneth E. Bachman" <kbachman@...> wrote:

RE Twisting 5 songs:

Songs take 3 seconds to cast.
Songs last until the third pulse after they are cast.
A pulse occurs once every 6 seconds.
There is overhead between songs (songs have to ungray, you have to start the next song, it takes
sometime).

Assume 1 second between songs:

T-2 Song 1 starts
T0 Pulse 0
T1 Song 1 hits (1 up)
T2 Song 2 starts
T5 Song 2 hits (2 up)
T6 Pulse 1, Song 3 starts
T9 Song 3 hits (3 up)
T10 Song 4 starts
T12 Pulse 2
T13 Song 4 hits (4 up)
T14 Song 5 starts
T17 Song 5 hits (5 up)
T18 Pulse 3, Song 1 and 2 drop, Song 6 starts (3 up)
T21 Song 6 hits (4 up)
T22 Song 7 starts
T25 Song 7 hits (5 up)
T26 Pulse 4, Songs 3 and 4 drop (3 up)
...

So it's possible to have 5 up at once for awhile. But it's NOT possible to have 5 up at once all
the time. Do the same thing with 0 time between songs, you'll go from 4 to 6, but you'll always
drop back to 4. And 0 time between songs is impossible. At some point between 0 and 1 second
overhead time, it becomes impossible to maintain 4. That assumes no missed notes.  And
clearly, that fractional difference of less than a second may well be due to connection and
computer power, and have nothing to do with the competence of the player.

The way to APPEAR to get 5 up all at once is to twist in the BoH. I don't know for sure, but I
suspect the Epic and the Siren's Song also blink when they proc, so they may make it SEEM as if
the Bard is singing 5. Charm and Mez last 4 pulses, Anglitsch's Assonance lasts 10, so they can be
used to bump things up. You can with proper ordering and timing of songs, and the right weapons,
have 8 effects up at once for about 1 second, then it comes tumbling down like a house of cards.

I would also suggest that the only way another player would KNOW that a Bard was twisting 5 was if
the Bard was singing 5 buff songs, and I challenge you to come up with 5 useful non-conflicting
buff songs that are worth the work.

Kenross Cantoforjado, Virtuoso (possibly retired) of Innoruuk

PS, I went to the BotB and I had trouble keeping 3 up. We beat a pretty good team in the first
round, too. Twisting 4-5 was only possible for me when I was sitting in one place.

PPS, I've been able to consistently maintain 3 songs (I know from checking logs) even in
conditions (such as NToV) where I was receiving text messages 15-30 seconds behind the event they
were referring too. This is possible because the outgoing information in EQ is about 1/10th the
size of the incoming, and the outgoing info is pretty much a steady stream, as opposed to the huge
bursts you get on incoming. So I would never rely on the screen timer. Nice and rhythmic, just
like a percussionist, is the way to do it.


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