Developer Chat - 2001/01/17

Original Link (now dead) -
http://www.zone.com/asheronscall/news/devchatJan1.asp
http://www.zone.com/asheronscall/news/devchatJan2.asp
http://www.zone.com/asheronscall/news/devchatJan3.asp

Transcript of Developer's Chat, January 17

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On Wednesday, January 17, the Turbine team met in the Zone Theater Chat Room to discuss current issues with Asheron's Call and the world of Dereth. This dev chat continued to follow the question-first and queue-clearing format, allowing as many people to participate. The following transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

Nik@turbine> As we say in the industry, "w00t".

Nik@turbine> With me tonight are: Dave "Sausage King" Javier, lead design, Dave "Original Dave" Namerow, Ken "Where have my thrashers gone?" Troop, Sean "Sean" Huxter, Cardell "No hope for you!" Kerr, and Sandra "Too New For A Tagline" Powers.

Nik@turbine> And someone let Jesse in. Will we ever learn?

Nik@turbine> Me, I'm that mean producer man, Nik Davidson. And without further ado, let's get right to it. Fire away, Chaos!

nei@turbine> no love. they toss me out like yesterday's meatloaf.

sean@Turbine> Hi. I love my new car.

SageZ_MeRcEnArY> With the recent lag issues on darktide and in a prior Dev chat you had mentioned that you are aware of the situation that is causing the lag in DT and are going to fix it....morean you enlighten us as to the cause......is it God Mode or another issue all together?

Nik@turbine> Well, as far as we can tell, it's not god mode. Some of it has to do with the way DT population spreads out - at any given time, there are people in more places on DT than on other worlds.

Nik@turbine> It's something we're working on. Beyond that, I can't say much.

Lilmage> Turbines adds of the bandit weaps totally nuked my high level U/A guy, not to mention there has been no luv for u/a. I feel 2x the pain since 2 wks after I got lifeM, prots were nerfed. 3x pain on add of Sturdy Irons and L/P. What Gives guys?

Crowley@turbine> okay

Crowley@turbine> UA does not need further help

Crowley@turbine> prots were not nerfed

nuway> Greetings, could you please tell us what is the length of the timer for the Bandit hilt? It has been rumored as little as 3 weeks and as much as 3 months, more...

nuway> hile I think we can all live with 3 weeks, 3 months is a little unreasonable as I think people will start losing interest and we don't want that do we hehe, more.

nuway> If it is 3 months or more, please shorten the timer, thanks. Fantastic game BTW, done.

Crowley@turbine> it's a long time

Crowley@turbine> it has to be a long timer, because we need to strictly control the supply of bandit weapons in-game

Crowley@turbine> aw, we'll just spill the beans, the timer is 4 months

Cynnamonn> Are stacking healing kits, potions in larger than groups of 12, mana stones, or same vender-same denomination notes, going to be implemented?

Cynnamonn> You have a tough job keeping all of us backseat Devs in line with great updates and coding. And most of use are very hard on ya, but don't think we don't appreciate the hard work.

Crowley@turbine> we're not expecting to change much in the inventory system, so I wouldn't hold my breath for it

NekatEman> When will the lugian fortress near Qualaba'r be open? It's been there about 5 months and still no way in. The few spawn locations for the Tiatus Raiders are always camped. Nice job with the Blade Hilt!

cardell@turbine> The Lugian Fortress is still a project in the works. Hopefully, they'll get their act together and hurry it up, but as you all know, Lugians is slow.

Blitzkad299> Im wondering if there is anything neat you can do to make UA lethal with your fists? I know UA is a very viable skill but when I choose UA a long time ago it was to fight with my fists and be deadly not wave my nekode around!

Crowley@turbine> UA is pretty deadly with plate gauntlets.

Crowley@turbine> especially when you slap a BD on them.

Crowley@turbine> I've also heard of people killing Olthoi soldiers with two kicks from steeltoed boots.

nei@turbine> nerf boots!

cardell@turbine> Nerf Olthoi!

Crowley@turbine> so UA without "weapons" is viable, but there won't be elemental weapon types on bare fist action

netmage01> UnArmed is totally undesireable now, why is it you find nice swords with magic, where are all the decent Cestus/Katar? Please do something about macro'rs, Suggestion, 30 mins in pool=auto PK:) They ruined this game, especially since they talk now.

Crowley@turbine> all the decent cestuses and katars are in the hands of the massive numbers of people who play UA

nei@turbine> or in my pants. *sideways glance*

Crowley@turbine> UA weapons don't spawn as often as, say, swords or axes, but there's still a bunch available

Crowley@turbine> it's just that any decent ones get snapped up and hoarded

doh_jhed_con> Q: Can you make the Health Elixirs available for sale somewhere, and/or else greatly increase their loot spawn rate? Once a character gets more than 100 HP, the Health Potions are basically useless cuz whatever you're fighting

doh_jhed_con> takes off more than 25 HP in the time it takes to drink one, and Elixirs are really rare, so much so that I can't use them regularly. I suggest you make one person that sells them, and put him/her in a town that's almost never used.

doh_jhed_con> How about Underground City? You could charge a lot for them (5000p or so) to make sure only those who really need them can afford them. And no it's not too powerful cuz it takes like 6 seconds just to drink 'em.

Nik@turbine> There's some debate going on...

ken@turbine> At this time, we are not going to make health elixirs available for sale...l

ken@turbine> Either by judicious use of Melee D, or a skillful combination of prots/banes I would suggest that a simple health potion can indeed be your best friend

DarkMarcus> My question: availability of arrow supplies and special arrows in general. Currently if archers want to use all damage types you have to run to 3 out of the way cities for heads which cost a fortune. Other bowyers run out of BASIC fletching supplies...

DarkMarcus> (normal heads and shafts - imagine the outcry if you were able to exhaust the supply of, say, scarabs, charges or kits). You nerfed the value of greater elemental arrows so that it was no longer financially desirable to make arrows and sell them?

DarkMarcus> Either add more places to buy blunt, AP, frog and broad heads or allow us to retrieve arrows off our kills. But for Asheron's sake, fletchers and bowyers should NEVER run out of plain heads so that we have to wait for a restock.

ken@turbine> This is one thing we will be looking at over the next two months.

_cell_> What happen to the mage love for the lvl 1 to 40's?They have no shot in casting a lvl 7 so Where is there love? When ever there is love it always seems to always go to the high lvl mages,archers or anything like that.Are the lower lvl's mages getting love

_cell_> STAFF NNEEDS LOVE ALSO !!!!!!!!

cardell@turbine> Well, we've increased the availability of spell components all across Dereth.

cardell@turbine> That alone aids mages of all levels for convenience.

Sir_Lancelot_I> Hello, Will there be any bow updates... new quests for bows? i want elysa's bow!!

Sir_Lancelot_I> Bow's have been left out for quite some time sept the speed witch was not of that much enjoyment.

Crowley@turbine> There are certainly going to be more bow quests in the future

Crowley@turbine> whether or not bow is going to get significantly more powerful, which is what people seem to want, that's another question

Crowley@turbine> we're kicking around ideas here

Crowley@turbine> that's really all to be said on it right now

jmcconnell1> When is ua gonna get a new quest item ???? all we have really is hamauds katar actually just for ua, oh and any comment on when wintersebb will be up plz!!!

Crowley@turbine> UA will get a new quest weapon some day

Crowley@turbine> there are other melee classes with a more pressing need for quest weapons though

Crowley@turbine> so don't look for it in the next few months

+Chaos@AC> For the folks eagerly awaiting the arrival of Wintersebb - it will be here soon! When we posted the announcement, we felt confident it would be up shortly after that. We encountered some technical setbacks, and those are being resolved now. We apologize for the delay and thank you for your continued patience.

SN_Zenogias> Will Atlan Weapons ever be givable in the Future?

SN_Zenogias> I don't see why you couldn't do this. Sure you may have newbies running around with peerless atlans, but that is no worse than newbies running around with Shadow armor is it? Also this would help the majority of people that rerolled atleast once and . . .

SN_Zenogias> . . .have atlans on their old chars that are just gathering dust. January's patch was great, Sword and dagger love was awesome, keep up the good work!

cardell@turbine> Atlan weapons were meant to be a reward for higher level players since they are crafted using that character's ability.

cardell@turbine> Therefore, I doubt you will be seeing them change to giveable anytime in the near future.

whiskey62> I was wondering what your reasons were for removing the "exploit" that allowed us to tie a bit away from the LS.

whiskey62> Of all the people I have talked to, both anti and PK, no one had a problem with this. It allieviates lag when recalling into the LS area, makes the lame practice of LS camping more difficult, and just overall does way more good that bad.

Nik@turbine> If people were sly, they could previously lifestone anywhere they could run. This was an unacceptable bug, so it was fixed.

CableChewer> Is anything coming for a mid-range no-drop mage quest item? Items w/ Casting Mastery II or III (boosts all trained schools) or maybe a wand that can be cfged with gems

CableChewer> (like the Silifi). Target users w/War skill of ~150. Limiting mage love to lvl 7 spells will dissapoint. Eagerly awaiting rebalance of monster resistance mentioned in prev chat...

CableChewer> PS Please remove the mana pools. I've seen up to 10 macroers in the Yaraq M.H. abusing them. Multiply by the number of meeting halls -perhaps 100+ of them per night per server.

ken@turbine> There is currently a quest that results in wands with casting masteries II on them

ken@turbine> they are also effectively no drop

ken@turbine> im not sure that answered your question...but done

BluMonkey> What are the current plans for lvl 7 item magic(IE:Will we be able to cast spells like the ones on the ravenous weapons or will it be something different(read:new types of spells)), if any at all?

cardell@turbine> Well, the spells on the ravenous weapons are unique to the process. Therefore, Level 7 item spells will not be able to duplicate their effects.

cardell@turbine> Level 7 items will be unique in their own way, however, much like level 7 war spells are. Those Essences sure are tricky.

poll3975> Do the Client and server have to negotiate or agree upon your position within Dereth? My characters are often outrun by chars with lower run and the same burden percentage. Does

poll3975> the server require confirmation I am still in Autorun? Does the server move me to where the client thinks I am so that I perceive a smooth (but slow) run?

nei@turbine> *tags in*

nei@turbine> basically, the server has final say in where you are at all times.

nei@turbine> the client will attempt to aproximate it, but the server can pull you back if it decides that the client is wrong.

nei@turbine> (this is where you see the blipping effect)

nei@turbine> the client is forced to take what the server says... once you start auto-run, the server will keep on going until it's told to sto.

nei@turbine> so yeah.

Saffron_Dusk> Where is that scoundrel Asheron? A year, now, a year spent toiling as pawns in the Empyrean's games. Illservian, the shadows, the Yalain, they all see us as fools, as mere cattle. I long for the fields of my people,

Saffron_Dusk> the bright spires of Thrushaven, the great halls of Tirethas, the soft flow of the Canfeld. I am tired, the scars on my body enough to cover the steppes of the Souia-Vey. Agents of Asheron, when will I see my Ispar? When will I rest?

Saffron_Dusk> (Sorry, had no other good question :) Best game I ever played, but you don't need that coming from me. Done.)

Crowley@turbine> oi Saff

nei@turbine> *panics at the sight of IC-ness*

Crowley@turbine> Chris L'Etoile says:

Crowley@turbine> "Asheron has spent the last ten years trying to find a portal back to Ispar for your ungrateful butt."

Dave@turbine> That is a quote... I heard it.

asheys_world> Hello. Have you guys considered putting in horses with say 500 run? Or any other type of mobility to get from town to town faster? Also, have you considered varying the day and/or time of the dev chat?

Crowley@turbine> to help with mobility.... there are portal gems in game

Crowley@turbine> horses is an old-time issue that's been debated endlessly and we decided we can't do with the current resources

Crowley@turbine> so yes, we've considered it

Nik@turbine> We could put in horses with 500 run. But you wouldn't be able to ride them.

Crowley@turbine> no, it's not going to happen

nei@turbine> i have a horse.

nei@turbine> but he's actually a cow.

Buffy_Becca> Q: Can you give us any hints as to who will be our next adversary after the shadows and Bael'zharon? Suggestion (olthoi!!)

ken@turbine> I think the next nemesis will soon become obvious

Crowley@turbine> I think our next adversary will, by necessity, be a unified Europe.

Genghis_Magnus> What is the ETA for eliminating the runcast/godmode issue? It seems like it could be fixed by not allowing someone to jump while in casting mode (or while switching between casting/peace modes) & not being able to toggle into combat mode while in the air.

Genghis_Magnus> If it isn't that easy, any clarification on a potential fix would be appreciated. Thanks again...don't forget the mace/lockpick/appraisal love and please add body armor with the regeneration spell to the loot generator.

Crowley@turbine> (sorry, really, I have nothing against Europeans)

Nik@turbine> There is no ETA yet. There's not much more I can really say on this one just yet.

Kakarotte> Do you guys ever plan on beefing up the graphics and sound alittle? I personally think the graphics are great but what I have read in reviews it seems to be the only thing that is behind other ORPGs. The game is awsome by the way. Good work guys.

sean@Turbine> Do NOT get me started!

sean@Turbine> :-)

Crowley@turbine> I actually think our graphics are pretty good in comparison to others. Some areas are strongers than others, definitely. But this is Sean's deal, I think.

sean@Turbine> To allow for a huge set of options, much of the graphic work in AC had to be limited in appearance...

sean@Turbine> ...for example, palettizing images allows us to have a bu-zillion colors for clothing, but to get that we sacrifice a little detail.

sean@Turbine> Also, when we shipped, we had to meet a minimum system requirement that is now generally considered to be obsolete. But you can still play AC on a low-end system.

sean@Turbine> Ok, you got me started. :-)

sean@Turbine> When it comes to game reviews, I honestly think that most of the people who put our graphics below some of our competition played for a few hours (like most reviewers) then gave up, and judged us on a very small set of game graphics.

sean@Turbine> I have never heard of any other game where people have e-mailed us telling us that after running over the crest of a hill, they just stopped and stared at the sun until it set.

sean@Turbine> Added to that we have a firmly established commitment to improve graphics where we can.

sean@Turbine> New models for tuskers, drudges, and higher poly models for NEW creatures are just a few steps we have taken.

sean@Turbine> The thing is that we still are committed to running on low end systems as well, and while graphics scale fairly well, with degrade modes, and graphics settings, our sound engine is not as scalable, so adding lots of great new sounds would increase memory

sean@Turbine> requirements so that lower-end users (and we have quite a few) would lose out.

sean@Turbine> Personally, I'm aware of some of the sacrifices we made in detail so we could have diversity, and I would never change that. Diversity is very important.

sean@Turbine> However, note that in most content added since we shipped, we have tried for higher-end appearance.

sean@Turbine> Sorry to be so long-winded, but then again, I feel pretty passionately about this topic.

Dave@turbine> air need air

BaDSeeD5> ok, so here goes, what are you devs going to do to rebalance the melee weapons, now that the addition of the bandit handle for swords and dagger has made all other melee classes obselete?

Crowley@turbine> oh, probably cut to the chase and remove all other melee weapons

Crowley@turbine> just kidding

Crowley@turbine> okay, so dagger is pretty good, and sword, as far as I can tell, is now worth the skill credits

Crowley@turbine> axe may need some help, mace and spear need some help, definitely, but beyond that, I don't see a need to improve other weapons

Crowley@turbine> so we've got some plans in mind. but no guarantees that things will be changed. certainly no drastic changes.

Aphonous> Are the new war spells the end of current efforts to make war more viable at high levels? War(with life) has never had a problem with damage done when a spell hits, but the issue has been the difficulty in hitting at all due to bad pathing...

Aphonous> slow casting animations, and the permanent 15% vitae for mages (life/war inepts) in high level play. 40k scarabs?!

nei@turbine> they let me answer the fun ones... whee!

nei@turbine> nah, it's never the end... it'd get boring if new things didn't happen...

nei@turbine> those *crazy* mages are always up to no good..

nei@turbine> it just is a matter of getting them out and trading power for... um... erm... reliability?

nei@turbine> ah never end though...

Thieves_Knight> I was wondering if u had any plans on mayeb adding a boat across the inner sea(or anywhere were boats could be used) like in Everqeust, That would make travel more fun and easier, Also u think u can get low lvl monsters to drop stuff actually usable......

Thieves_Knight> like armor newbies can use

Thieves_Knight> not just fruit

Crowley@turbine> no boats. you'll have to settle for portals.

Nik@turbine> Portals are easier than boats. And much, much faster.

Nik@turbine> The Society quests address the low-level-loot issue quite nicely, too.

LionHe4rt> Q: Will you please add a new island with Powerful melee monsters - like a olthoi with 3000hp that even a fully buffed mage would be hit for 20-50 a shot, something fun for high lvl groups to actually hunt, not just mobs of spell casting bandies or shadows

LionHe4rt> I've played since beta, love the game, just tired of rerolling each time I get a character to lvl 60+ range, again great job on the game

ken@turbine> no concrete plans on when, but we have been discussing something along these lines, vaguely similar at least

I_own_j0> Wanted to kown if there is any chance for housing! or somting of the sort.

I_own_j0> I played Ultima Online for 3 years and what kept bringing me back was the housing because it felt like I had somthing to come back to. AC would excel much more if it had this type of system.

Nik@turbine> At this stage in AC, don't expect it.

ulti_r0x0r_j00> lockpick luv: u promise luv for it, but continue to nerf it! sturdy chests where good idea, but nerfing the overlord w/o giving "small tools" luv... dont promise luv when im not seeing any, and the nerfing continues!

ken@turbine> there are two quests being planned for lockpick for march...they may change somewhat from now to implementation time, but we are working on it

Drexus1> Will war VIIs stay as is or will they be altered? Some think they are to expensive, others think they are to powerful. My first opinion, war was utterly broken. I still feel that way to an extent, but I know life will never be nerfed. War VIIs are NOT to

Drexus1> powerful. The burn rate is perfect. The cost of plats is a tad bit high. I could see 22k or 25k but 40k is just to much. Other than that two thumbs up on VIIs. Now where did you hide that war VI-life VI orb...

nei@turbine> i'm in again! yay me.

nei@turbine> no... war 7s wil pretty much be staying as they are now... (the spells themselves, that is -- mana cost, power, diff, etc)

nei@turbine> the surrounding elements (specifically the comps) are still being ponderized.

GoD_FiNiXX> i would like to ask this question.Why arent ther any spells on staff of light bringer i think ther should be some kind of a spell.When i walk people always ask what does it cast and i say it dont cast any thing and they say that sucks i think it should

GoD_FiNiXX> cast some kinda spell any spell that no one can learn that would be rly cool.It wasent that easy to kill Bael'zharon and all we get is staff with nothing.Is it posible some kinda spell will be added l8ter on?

Crowley@turbine> no spells will be added to the staff.

Crowley@turbine> the adulation of the masses ought to be enough of a reward.

dysan1> any thoughts of lowering the burn of comps for spells. it seems they burn so fast and costs so much money just to restock after fighting. especially being on the DT server, it gets to be quite expensive to be a mage.

Nik@turbine> It's a balance-of-power thing, and isn't going to change.

+Astyrrian> What is your stance on the reverse engineering and third party development with Asheron's Call, which includes things such as, mapping of the cell/portal.dat files, reverse engineering of the client, and disassembly of the protocol?

nei@turbine> dear god it's in bold!

Nik@turbine> Our stance is, we have no stance.

nei@turbine> hey, i have a stance.... i dig it =p

sean@Turbine> But I thought we agreed it was a jailable offense... I was wrong? Ooops.

Nik@turbine> I think the real question is, Will you be banned? Nope. That's not our gig.

MrScruffleNuts> Hey guys/gals, Ever considered a level cap for asheron's call! Leveling up is basically what asheron's call has become for some people, Having a level cap would allow those competitive people to say Yay i'm the level cap now! i can finally see the game!

MrScruffleNuts> This type of I want to be better than the next guy mentality ruins what I feel asheron's call should be(But i aint no dev), Which Direction are you planning to take Asheron's call in the furture? Social Type game, Exploring, Leveling, LOot? etc?

Crowley@turbine> there is a level cap. the XP required to get there is astronomically high. the cap may be changed in the future, as the game continues to grow.

nei@turbine> "I'm the tallest guy on the island!."

BrendaRacko> can the new shreath pants be made into leggings instead so we can wear them with a matty coat, armadillo shirt or ursiun coat?

cardell@turbine> Actually, the pants were designed to be just that, pants.

cardell@turbine> Therefore, changing them into leggings will not be happening. But in the future, perhaps there will be other leggings added.

WhIp_My_Tool> Q: What programing language is ac based on or uses and if I wanted to work for Turbine what languages do you suggest i learn =)

nei@turbine> AC is all C/C++...

nei@turbine> that is all. done.

Atrus41> Storage chests would be nice, any plans to add them? They would elimate the need to mule...... Please! UA LOVE!!!!

Crowley@turbine> as a resource-monger, storage chests would only be slightly less complex than housing

Crowley@turbine> so it's not going to happen

KOF_megumiH> My question is what is the timers for obs dagger, virindi amulet, rumors of a 3 weeks of gameplay?

Crowley@turbine> three weeks, real time

ProfitLoop> Hello, I'd like to know what made you guys add Banderling Strikers and Bezerkers around the northern Osteth area? These monters are incredibly hard for lower level folks(1-30) and i don't think they belong there, thanks!

ken@turbine> The idea was to toughen up Northern Osteth some, we have heard many responses from people: some liking, and some troubled by the changes: we will continue to look at the spawns and make adjustments on them

Thomas1099> Are the barbed arrows supposed to do double hit/damage? If so at what skill level?

Crowley@turbine> no, there's nothing tricky about barbed arrows.

robdahn> What's the latest on peerless arrows/quarrels? If they are just a rumor (if so, ignore first part of question), then what information can you give us on possible high-level archer/xbow love? Idea: Allow the infusing of an HQ ingot

robdahn> with an arrow/quarrel glyph, then given to motey to yield 100 peerless arrowheads. (expensive, but worth it to the high levels) (Fill-in-the-blank, if you would... normal arrow:AP, broadhead:FC, blunt:?)

cardell@turbine> Peerless arrows/ quarrels are a myth. When archers get further love, it will probably be in a different format than you have presented.

GD_AC> Can it be made so clicking on a weapon or shield of a monster in combat mode selects that monster? Or so shields are "click through-able" while in combat mode?

GD_AC> Currently, if you click on an object in combat mode it gives you an error (cannot target that). As an archer, I'm often targeting far away monsters hiding behind tower shields, and it's very hard to click on their head or feet when it's half a pixel big.

GD_AC> I've also noticed times when monsters are quite visibly right in front of me, but don't show up on radar so I can't cycle-target them. Any improvements would be much appreciated.

Crowley@turbine> If you weren't able to select people's shields or weapons, you wouldn't be able to cast negative item spells on them

Crowley@turbine> which some people find useful against especially tough opponents

Crowley@turbine> so this mechanic is not going to change

B_Neely> Q: Since Devilmouse posted a rant area for Macros and Anti-Macros will you (the Devs) be taking an active look at other issues? (IE: the Starter Template gimps) I would hope so, as it was very disappointing that my 20th lvl Blademaster was unable to take part in the Dec. quests because he couldn't hit anything or make the pit jump.

ken@turbine> templates...retroactively making them viable...i dont expect any major changes on that front, except by changing dynamics on appraisals in some cool ways at some point...as for changing the templates for new chars (sorcerer, etc.) we would love to do ...

ken@turbine> that, but its a question of time and resources which means it gets put low on our priority list

Daluran> Q: Could minor magical cantrips be implemented, such as a light spell etc.

Daluran> Possibly added as "Illuminate self/other"=) I feel it would help during an AC night for those of us that hunt the wilderness.

Daluran> Might be a technical task, but would definitely be neat. - - done.

cardell@turbine> Actually, there has been a lot of thought around here about new spells that deviate from the research norm.

cardell@turbine> As for a light spell? Sounds like a promising idea.

sean@Turbine> Dynamic lighting such as you ask for, (ie: a spell) does not work outdoors. Works fine inside houses and in dungeons, but not outdoors. There is no way to change that in this engine. Adding a spell to add light to a character, would do nothing outside...

sean@Turbine> ...where many people would want to use it.

p0rt79> I've heard reports that you as a dev team are "working on" the lag problem specific to DarkTide(horrid unplayable lag). It makes little sense that the actual number of people on the server is whats wrong at this point, when you can log into any "NPK"

p0rt79> server with almost double the people and a heckuva lot less lag. As for population-centric... I think you could log into FF and find WAY more people in AB than you could on DT.

p0rt79> Is it true or false that there is a code solution to DT's problem, or is it simply a lack of hardware allocated for our unique "need"?

Nik@turbine> One of the things that we've discovered when researching the DT lag situation is, that even though there are fewer players on DT, there are more areas of the world active at any given time.

Nik@turbine> While regular servers tend to have big clumps of people, DT spreads out, keeping more areas of the world loaded at any given time.

Nik@turbine> This is one of a few issues with DT, all of which we're making progress on.

Nik@turbine> That's about the extent of the update for now.

_pine_> I was curious if some time, there was going to be a shift select feature in the game, to select multiple items

nei@turbine> aside: ahh! she watched the tape! there is no hope for the world!

Crowley@turbine> no doubt that would be a useful feature.

Crowley@turbine> there's quite some enthusiasm for the idea.

Crowley@turbine> but there are a lot of technical complications that. "retrofitting would be a nightmare" is one opinion here.

Crowley@turbine> so nice as it is, don't count on it.

Imperveus> i wanna see more text descipt ... is this possible, ie ... somthing that should be easy to change.... like "you blister gigas luigan for 70 points dmg" or " you crush brown rabbit" . the text pool that you pull from ...could we update it?

Imperveus> i like the ones like ... " ancestors felt it " and " lifestone shakes " more along these lines...maybe where dmg is done....head, chest ..ect

Crowley@turbine> we'll look into the possibility of changing damage and death messages

Crowley@turbine> we're not sure how much of a task it is right now, but it's a good idea

OriginalMister2> Is it doable to have guards/monsters in town that attack those who attack other players? Golems make great protectors, and would be great as guards. If they attacked those who attacked others. Certain creatures react to provocation of "their" kind. more..

OriginalMister2> Is it doable to make the provocation for Guard Golems be the attack of players? In essance making the guards aware of attacks on "their" kind This is primarily a Darktide issue, but with Player Killers on every server, it would be nice to see some safe

OriginalMister2> zones, or at least safer zones, around towns. I can't imagine the local vendors are pleased to watch their customers slaughtered over and over. If I were a vendor, I'd want some one/thing to keep a little order around my place of business.

Crowley@turbine> there are some design questions on this. it's something we'd have to debate around here.

Crowley@turbine> but don't ever expect to see town guards

Crowley@turbine> that's not a box we want to open

Crowley@turbine> and PKs should be able to take care of themselves ;)

AC_White_star> Are there any changes in the works to make Magic Defense a more viable skill other than to PK?

AC_White_star> Creatures seem to have such a high magic skill that it would be impossible to resist the level 6 spells cast by them.

cardell@turbine> Magic resistance is not a worthwhile skill as it currently stands.

cardell@turbine> We've looked at it for a while, and we've begun fixing the issue. Currently Wasps have already been modified, and hopefully the process will not stop there.

cardell@turbine> But then again, it is a free skill.

+Chaos@AC> And this concludes our January Dev Chat!

+Chaos@AC> Special thanks to our friends from Turbine for taking time out to be here!! And thank you all for coming in tonight - we had another great crowd!

Dave@turbine> thanks everyone! http://cod.xrgaming.net/raffle.shtml

sean@Turbine> They got me started!

sean@Turbine> It's not my fault!