Developer Chat - 2000/10/18

Original Link (now dead) - No Link Available

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nei@turbine> *casts a singular red eye about the room*

+Chaos@AC> Welcome to our Monthly Asheron's Call Developer's Chat.

+Chaos@AC> With us today is one of the Lead Designers, Eri Izawa and Producer, Charles Bandes.

+Chaos@AC> A few reminders of the ground rules:

+Chaos@AC> 1. You must have your question typed out and ready to cut & paste when your turn is up

+Chaos@AC> 2. Limit one question per person will be strictly enforced.

+Chaos@AC> 3. The question *must* appear in the first line you post. If not, you will be moved back to watching.

+Chaos@AC> 4. You may support your question with up to 2 additional lines of text.

+Chaos@AC> 5. If the developer needs more information, we will move you back to asking.

+Chaos@AC> 6. Repeat Questions will not get a response other then 'Asked and Answered'.

+Chaos@AC> Please watch for your question being asked before you.

+Chaos@AC> 7. As always, the Code of Conduct is in full effect during the chat.

+Chaos@AC> This is all in an effort to keep the chat running more smoothly, make it more informative and give more people a chance to ask questions.

+Chaos@AC> With that, I will hand over the floor to Eri for introductions and we will be off to the questions.

rei@Turbine> I'm Eri "reijin" Izawa, lead designer for Asheron's Call and general spec shuffler.

rei@Turbine> With me are:

rei@Turbine> Jesse "Nei" Kurlancheek, game designer, scripter, general systems guy.

rei@Turbine> David "Crowley" Javier, game designer, dungeon maker, and dialogue meister.

rei@Turbine> Ken Troop, Martine's tormenter, is with us tonight.

rei@Turbine> Cardell Kerr is the Mask Meister.

rei@Turbine> Sean "artist extraordinaire" Huxter, lead artist, is also with us tonight.

rei@Turbine> Charley producerly-figure, is with us....

rei@Turbine> And Jason, techno artist with attitude is also with us :)

rei@Turbine> As usual, I'd like to talk about how we answer questions.

rei@Turbine> To give you an idea of our schedule, we are already hard at work on the November event.

rei@Turbine> We generally cannot give you concrete dates or feature details for anything new that we're not pretty sure is going in.

rei@Turbine> Also, because we have so much planned, new requests on the boards or from here may not be implemented til some time after the suggestion is made.

nei@turbine> if he's got attitude, what do i have? _<

rei@Turbine> A BAD attitude.

rei@Turbine> But I want to assure you that we are listening!

rei@Turbine> And here's one more announcement:

rei@Turbine> We recognize the changes to heaumes significantly altered many characters'appearances through no action of their own, and further that many players found the change to be aggravating.

jason@Turbine> Hey, I'm working on top secret lunch picking technology.. Opps, now I'm gonna have to kill you..

rei@Turbine> In this case, we have decided to go ahead and revert existing heaumes to the way they used to be to rectify the situation.

rei@Turbine> The new "smooth look" helms will still be available as "armets," and all newly generated heaumes will be upgraded with more detailed artwork.

rei@Turbine> OK, I'm done.

rei@Turbine> Let's get rolling!

LillithsJabber> Question: Could we see new portals to dungeons placed some where more interesting than out in the open?

LillithsJabber> i.e.Some Portals now are in Crypts, I know of one in a statue head, also know of another that is up a flight a stairs in the desert. Although this is not as important as the content inside a dungeon, the portal placement can create the mood(excitement)...

LillithsJabber> for what may lie inside. Could we please see more of this creativity? Perhaps a portal within the trunk of a large tree or one behind a waterfall (is that even possible?) - Shouts out to Nei but not to Devilmouse =P Done. GA.

Crowley@turbine> We can put portals in more interesting locations. There've been some good ideas bounced around about this.

nei@turbine> i put portals in my pocket to keep them safe.

Crowley@turbine> Having stuff inside a tree would be cool, and that's an idea we've thought of, but it requires more dev time that usually ends up going to other things.

Crowley@turbine> But yeah, we'd like to do more with "atmosphere" than just plopping stuff down on landscape.

Crowley@turbine> So your suggestion is noted, thanks.

Crowley@turbine> Done

Minuo_of_LC> What kind of love is lockpick looking at? Right now lockpick is only a minor convenience. No one needs to spend 6 skill credits to be able to lag through a door. There are no good chests that can be picked. Might you be able to make a switch that ...

Minuo_of_LC> can be picked and opens 10 doors? That way it would take a lot longer to lag through them.

rei@Turbine> Yes, we are thinking about how lockpicking can be helped....

rei@Turbine> Lockpick-requiring doors and chests are still part of the solution, but we are interested in interesting suggestions too :)

rei@Turbine> Thanks.

rei@Turbine> Done.

eedmond> Can you make more quest items a bit better? The Fenmalain shield is useless and so is the new crystal bow cause fragment pieces are so hard to get and so valuable nobody wants to waste them on arrows. I Like the new Gharu and Sho Masks. DONE.

Crowley@turbine> Sure. We'll make quest items "better."

Crowley@turbine> Done

fathercordell> Q: Will you please "fix" the trade skills so new items merge with similar items in the backpack upon creation?

fathercordell> It can't be that hard to do, it's the exact thing that happens when you pick an item up, surely you must be able to fool the client into thinking it's just picked the item up. I'm developing alchemy related RSI with so much clicking.

fathercordell> And a major shout out to whoever worked on the new underground city. It's gorgeous. Buy them all beer and charge my account. Oh, and my devilmouse wannabe wants cheese on his holtburger, please make an ingame cheeseburger. GA.

Crowley@turbine> please give us your account number and expiration date (jk)

Charley@Turbine> There actually is a fix to that already

Charley@Turbine> For some reason people don' t know about this, (even some of the folks here) but I use it all the time

nei@turbine> on the upside: in november, alchemists will save 200+ clicks/per 50 infusions made...

nei@turbine> it's not all that great, but it takes the pain out of the first step in the process.

Charley@Turbine> If you select an item, say an arrowhead, and hit the "f" key, it will stack automatically

Charley@Turbine> Not perfect, but it helps a lot.

Charley@Turbine> done

Miles667> Will you fix the Ranking System,( help us out ) its been a year and nobody can hang onto rank 8 let alone higher, It would be easier to have it go off the # of followers instead of a set structure. That way you dont have 600+ followers and are rank 5-6.

Miles667> Instead of rank 9, with the limited # of people per server due to lag issues. The chance of too many rank 9+ people is very minimal. Belag Strongbow- Leafcull

nei@turbine> rank system doesn't seem to be broken to me.

nei@turbine> if you can maintain a rank 8+ allegiance that means something.

nei@turbine> sure the tools aren't there, but i've known 1200+ groups... if they organzied right, they'd hit 10

nei@turbine> *shrug*

nei@turbine> done.

rei@Turbine> We are also kicking around ideas to make maintaining an allegiance easier.

rei@Turbine> Done.

Scutter_0> Well, me first question was jacked so here is one a friend wanted to know. What OS / Platform does AC run on? Hey guys, kudos for the absolute best game I have ever played. Ever. Period. Thanks! -Fizzlus Maximus of HG. (Shouts Paz, Erde, and Ghough!)*GA*

nei@turbine> ac runs on windows.

nei@turbine> color me confused.

nei@turbine> done.

+Chaos@AC> Robz, you're up!

Buffy_Becca> Q: What non combat skills and content are being developed and if you cant tell me that, what do you want to see in the area of noncombat skills and content. ( Petion lets get Sean a nickname . Bring back jesse, devilmouse stinks ;) Done )

rei@Turbine> There are no definite NEW non-combat skills in the pipeline.

rei@Turbine> We add non-combat material all the time (e.g., dresses, pumpkins, etc.)

rei@Turbine> We can't go into future specifics though :)

rei@Turbine> Done.

doh_jhed_con> Q: Can you *permanently* fix the Three Towers Quest in the Dires (the one where the Accolyte opens the portal on its death)? It's almost ALWAYS broken! I've run to the dungeon 5 times since it was put in, and only ONCE was it working...

doh_jhed_con> Every other time, something was broken. In fact just this week, a few of my friends and I were there, all of whom had completed it before, and we couldn't even get into the 2nd tower. We couldn't even complete 2 of the 3 things to get the

doh_jhed_con> dungeon portal open, and all the advocates said "we were told it is NOT broken" even though it clearly was (we'd all done it successfully before, some of us multiple times!). Maybe you'd consider changing it to a regular, dependable portal.

doh_jhed_con> Hail Doh Jheds! Buff the Skulker!! and Down with Sticky!!!!! Done.

Charley@Turbine> We are aware of a bug in that quest, but it's a tricky one. It seems that sometimes if players complete the quest out of order it will confuse some of the mechanics. We're working on a fix, but we have no ETA.

Charley@Turbine> done

Collosis> Can we get a key map option that allows us to put items in the first container after the backpack or last container selected(like the F key works for the main backpack)? Any empty container can be moved to the first slot after the backpack with ease.

Collosis> This would facilitate the speed at which loot can be organized and/or sold, for everyone. Great job on the masks :) and especially the game ;) done

rei@Turbine> It's something worth looking into, certainly.

rei@Turbine> Thanks.

rei@Turbine> Done.

jkircher> Q: Are there any plans for "Seeker" type spells? The existing bolt-style spells work for creatures standing still or charging at you, but are inadequate against targets changing their speed or going after a comrade. Even creatures attacking someone ...

jkircher> else can throw the lead of a "bolt" or "streak". See http://members.home.net/cdrradar/acspellseek.html for an idea on implementation. Don't worry, no java or anything, straight HTML. Suggestion: ...

jkircher> A *hug* social? (Tilt torso and head to the right, bring arms around, left high, right low, lean forward a small amount - just a thought) Ajianta on Frostfell. Done. GA. Whatever.

nei@turbine> no. simple as that.

nei@turbine> done.

ashputtle01> May we please have another way to earn skill points; either through a buy-back, a one-time quest, or simply purchase them with XPs? I love this game, but have too much time invested in this character to reroll. May we please have another way to earn s

ashputtle01> I'll do what ever it takes to save my sorcerer; a trip to Aerlinthe or the heart of the Obsidian Plains, or even to the Turbine offices with a cooler of beer and a stack of pizzas. (done) I'll do what ever it takes to save my sorcerer; a trip to Aerlinth

Charley@Turbine> What kind of pizzas?

nei@turbine> i was about to say no... until i saw the part about the beer.

rei@Turbine> There are no current plans to implement that, sorry... we also do encourage creating new characters.

nei@turbine> but no, the only thing i could see are one-time quests for at most a single point or MAYBE two.

rei@Turbine> Done.

nei@turbine> done.

Cravin1414> Are there gonna be anymore new servers and if so think its possible to have a RACE war server where say for instance sho are nonpk to other sho but are pk to the other races and vice versus? This is something me and a few friends would like to see! Done

Crowley@turbine> ewww, race wars, all sorts of creepy connotations there

nei@turbine> especially with our 3 human races...

nei@turbine> eegads.

rei@Turbine> We are not going to have racewar servers :)

Crowley@turbine> as for new servers... I don't think that's our row to hoe

rei@Turbine> Done.

Crowley@turbine> Done

cwpool> I am a level 64 Aluvian female mage without my dagger skill, I am a member of a very large Monarchy 2000+ and have found that many of us females are without our heritage skill...

cwpool> With the new quests: Atlans, Ravenous, Hollow and the new masks we are finding quests useless to us. I hear this is a bug and if it is will you be fixing it? TY GA

rei@Turbine> Hmm, that's a difficult bug....

rei@Turbine> We are looking into what can be done, but it's not an easy situation.

rei@Turbine> Done.

mike_henry> Q: Any ETA on when we are gonna be able to know where a monster hit us? I.E. "Drudge Skulker hits you on your abdomen for 64 points of electrical damage"...that would help alot and add alot more realism...

mike_henry> I would also like to say hi to my awesome monarchy that doesn't care about me, and all my cool friends who just use me as bait...kudos to the guy who designed Soul Fearing Quest...done

rei@Turbine> No ETA, but it's still in our want-to-do-list.

rei@Turbine> Done.

meolas> Competitive ( want to have a shot at montly events and drop ),OVER 3 months,30 bu knife slower then 135 cestus, atlan 2-8 *LMAO*,no doable monster loot weapons,we have waited long enough.what does this all mean, DAGGER... THIS YEAR?????? JUST GET IT DONE.

meolas> done

nei@turbine> well, if that was the "Dagger complaint"...

poll3975> Can Mentors and Items that permanently increase skills be added to the game? ex Raising my Alchemy skill with xp from killing skeletons....

nei@turbine> wait

nei@turbine> go back

nei@turbine> stop

poll3975> Are fleshless jaws clacking alchemy formulae? :) I'd rather quest for secret books on Entarra's Mystical Flying Potion. Such items pour X xp into a skill maybe lvling the char. Usable once/char. Mentors meet you weekly to teach...

+Chaos@AC> Hold on a sec Poll, ok?

poll3975> sure

+Chaos@AC> thanks!

nei@turbine> dagger fix: pt 1 in november... quick fix..

nei@turbine> pt 2 (the interesting one): "after that"

nei@turbine> pt 1 = tweaks to some weapons.

nei@turbine> pt 2 = something that will have other classes crying since dagger got something cooler than them =p

nei@turbine> done.

+Chaos@AC> Okay Nei, thanks :)

+Chaos@AC> Poll go ahead and finish out your question please :)

poll3975> their skill. Each meeting skill may go up by 5 pts. Limit char to 1 mentor, must pay NPC mentors appropriately. Mentor must have skill char & limited # of students. Done properly great use of patrons w/new Mentor skill. Thnx for the game & chat. Done.

+Chaos@AC> thanks!

rei@Turbine> It's a neat concept, probably difficult to balance, and not likely any time soon.

rei@Turbine> Done.

SmokeBuddha> Are there any plans to make Missile Def. a viable skill? Missile Def. is only an 8 credit arcane. I would like to see high lvl monsters shooting hard hitting missiles or the option to sell it back, as it is it is utterly worthless. Thanks for your time.

SmokeBuddha> Koji Miyamoto of Frostfell of TBU Monarchy.

SmokeBuddha> done

nei@turbine> (the conversation is being held presently)

rei@Turbine> It's certainly a good issue ... we'll have to look into it. There aren't current plans but that could always change.

rei@Turbine> Done.

shekoush> Q: r staff users going to get some luv soon? staffers r the only melee users that don't have a quest/special weapon, unarmed have Hammud, sword have SoLL; axe have SoC (u get the idea). pls don't tell me we have the atlan/rav/hollow cuz all melee have'm

shekoush> done

nei@turbine> *coughs something about the atlan...*

nei@turbine> but there's more staffing coming your way shortly.

Crowley@turbine> Staff (and spear!) are getting quest items some time soon

nei@turbine> done.

Crowley@turbine> Done

Fry9> Question: I was wondering if u can improve the platemail?... same burden, and armor level. however improve the protects like the superior helm. The reason i ask this...

Fry9> hang on

Fry9> platemail is ... well... horrible for darktide, and when i thought of knights, and armor, i thought of platemail... i'm not talking about store bought,

Fry9> it could be quest platemail, spread out around the land.... simular to that superior helm... [in difficulty to get, and in protects]

nei@turbine> talk to cheeseman...

nei@turbine> he loves his plate =p

Fry9> done.==== nei@turbine *casts a singular red eye about the room* sounds like og, never saids anything, just looks around.

nei@turbine> there exists plate that has GOOD ele prots...

Crowley@turbine> lol

nei@turbine> the problem is on DT, you'll be dropping it all the time.

nei@turbine> (instead ask for a price reduction in the metal armors.... *Hint*)

nei@turbine> done.

starchboy> Hello, I was wondering if you could add in some type of clothing that you could wear over your armor like a sircoat or a robe or something you could use for guild destinction Done.

rei@Turbine> That's an interesting question that has been kicked around for a very long time (before AC came out actually)

rei@Turbine> However, it is not currently possible.

rei@Turbine> We are not likely to do it any time soon.

rei@Turbine> Done.

+zParaduck> Hello! Do you plan to have a live destruction of a town on Thanksgiving by Giant Turkeys (or similar)?

+zParaduck> They could be 2-3 times as tall as a human and go around in packs stampeding Dereth and causing cahos among the land! A live destruction of towns would be cool! *Imagines seeing a turkey casting War Magic Inept. V on him*

+zParaduck> Stampeding Turkeys.....Turkey Feather Robes =) Chaos in Dereth rules! PS: Note to Sean to check your e-mail. Thanks for these chats and nice updates ^_^ Shootouts to those who asked :p Done

sean@Turbine> Ok, who's been leaking November's event?

Crowley@turbine> I've seen rampaging turkeys in the South Park FPS. Not going to repeat that here.

nei@turbine> turkeys? feh! who needs em when a single bunny can crush a town by himself?

rei@Turbine> Thanksgiving vs. Easter?

nei@turbine> moving along.

Polloc9> what is better against blunt attack.... olthoi helm 230al below, heaume 150al average, or superior helm 100 al above average, ..... [assuming no buffs] .... done

Crowley@turbine> I have some plans for poultry-based loving, but prolly not for Nov

Crowley@turbine> (done)

jason@Turbine> the bunny 0\/\/