Hailing Quest NPC Distance Change Intended, Although Not So Close

The stealth change made in the January 13, 2011 patch forcing you to be on top of an NPC to get a quest update was intended. However, the distance was made too short. It is expected that you will not be able to hail them across the zone but should not need to be in their lap.

I agree the range has been made too small. We'll be bumping it up. But not leaving it wide open like it was before.

- Steven S. Klug, EverQuest Lead Programmer

Read more about in in this SOE forums thread.

UPDATE:

Here is a bit more on the issue:

The bug has been in the system for a long time, and was considered an "exploit" (being able to hail an NPC from across the zone). We rarely put exploit fixes in the patch notes. What was accidental was making the range only 20 feet. That will be changed to 100 feet next patch.

- Steven S. Klug, EverQuest Lead Programmer

UPDATE:

So with next patch it'll be 100ft with no special consideration of z axis. Restriction is only placed on hails that trigger a task step. If there is no matching task step on the NPC no error is given. The NPC name will be formatted properly in the "too far away" message.

- Steven S. Klug, EverQuest Lead Programmer

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