Developer Chat - 2002/08/13
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Dev Chat
August 13, 2002
MrQuazarr_MS says: Welcome to the monthly Asheron's Call 1.0 Developer Chat.
MrQuazarr_MS says: My name is Ken Karl, the Producer at Microsoft for Asheron's Call 1.0.
MrQuazarr_MS says: And no, for those of you who have asked, I have not died
MrQuazarr_MS says: I have simply been traveling the world a lot over the past 1.5 months. I hope to start my regular visits back on the fansites very soon
MrQuazarr_MS says: Before we begin, I have a few VERY important announcements to make
MrQuazarr_MS says: First, I want to remind everyone that this chat is JUST for Asheron's Call 1.0. No questions about AC2 will be taken
MrQuazarr_MS says: That said, I have one piece of news about AC2 that will make most of you very happy
MrQuazarr_MS says: Starting about 2 hours ago, we started the invitation process to the AC2 beta for all the remaining AC1 players that will in the snapshot we took back in May.
MrQuazarr_MS says: Yep, thats right, you are finally ALL being let in (unless of course you were not in this snapshot, in which case, you will have to wait just a few more weeks till we go into open beta).
MrQuazarr_MS says: Later tonight or tomorrow you will receive your invitation to the AC2 Beta Community.
MrQuazarr_MS says: Then, about 1 or two days later, you will receive your account information and where to download the program... Then... you will be helping to make the next great MMORPG!
MrQuazarr_MS says: On the lines of AC2, we are also ramping up the AC2 Live team. Much like AC1, we will have a dedicated team to monthly updates.
MrQuazarr_MS says: You may notice that Mr Ken Troop is not with us this evening.
MrQuazarr_MS says: That is because Ken Troop is officially moved over to the AC2 Live team as the Producer
MrQuazarr_MS says: I too will be joining Ken as the Producer from Microsoft. We are very excited about taking everything we have learned from Asheron's Call 1.0 Live process and using it to make a stronger AC2 Live team
MrQuazarr_MS says: Also joining Ken and myself will be Kim Payson as Lead Designer
MrQuazarr_MS says: Now fear not, AC1 is not going away.
MrQuazarr_MS says: Quite the contrary as you can see with the last few months props and what is to follow, we intend to keep going strong.
MrQuazarr_MS says: So with that in mind, I would like to introduce you to the new Producer at Turbine for Asheron's Call 1.0, Tim Holman.
MrQuazarr_MS says: Tim comes from VR1 where he worked on both console and online games, including Tides of War, Hired Guns, Nomads of Klanth, EmailSoccer, and Lost Continents, a pulp-era MMORPG currently in development.
MrQuazarr_MS says: Please take a moment to welcome Tim to the team. Initiation will begin in 1 week
MrQuazarr_MS says: One final announcement before I turn it over to Tim for other introductions, The August Prop is scheduled for Thursday. WOOT!
MrQuazarr_MS says: Now, Tim can tell us who else is with us this evening.
Tim_Turbine says: Sorry folks, small tech problem Greetings to all! I'm very excited to join the AC Live team and continue the delivery of quality content you've all come to expect - being a long time player of AC, this is a dream come true.
Tim_Turbine says: I've been a fan of AC since it's launch and while I have only been here one week, the talent and dedication of the team amazes me.
MrQuazarr_MS says: OK sorry about going slow to begin with, we have some rude people spamming questions
MrQuazarr_MS says: But, we just banned them from the chat and AC.. they won't be a problem any longer.
MrQuazarr_MS says: Now, on to the questions.
Tim_Turbine says: Ken Karl, solver of problems
lrdka in AsheronsCall asks: What was the armor that was in the teaser pics?? As in AL and quest or loot gen. stuff?
srand_Turbine says: Well, we don't want to give away too much about upcoming content, but I can tell you that 1) this armor drops as loot, and 2) it looks *really* nice.
Ultimatus2 in AsheronsCall asks: What ever happened to the extra storage for dwelling?
MrQuazarr_MS says: While extra storage is something we always have and still want to do, in adding in Residential Quarters and other features for housing, we discovered some issues that make it not quite as easy as we had first hoped it would be.
MrQuazarr_MS says: Those problems basically would result in extremely bad performance across all of Dereth. While we still want to do this, it is unlikely that it will every be added at this point.
ChyEld in AsheronsCall asks: How about some info on Magic Tinkering.
srand_Turbine says: I get all the tough questions tonight. *grin*
srand_Turbine says: So, no detials -- you'll find them out soon enough. But a few comments to whet your appetite: the first three Magic Item Tinkering effects are what we've been calling 'weapon imbuing'. You can apply these to melee and missile weapons, and two of them can
srand_Turbine says: be applied to magic casters (wands and orbs).
srand_Turbine says: The three effects are: Critical Strike, which let's you critical more often; Crippling Blow, which let's you critical for more damage; and Armor Rending, which let's your weapon ignore some portion of your opponents armor.
srand_Turbine says: It's important to note that the power of these effects, once they've been imbued into a weapon, depend on the skill level of the weapon's wielder.
exaMagus in AsheronsCall asks: Will you ever open a new pvp server?
MrQuazarr_MS says: There are no plans on adding a new PvP server.
STRONGJ25 in AsheronsCall asks: Concerning pvp: What changes in the near future are taking place with War dmg, Hollow arrows, and Fast Casting
Toddb_Turbine says: Well, we are making several PvP changes this month. For starters, there will be a logout timer for PK to making it harder to flee from combat...
Toddb_Turbine says: We are also adding the normal portal recall delays to Portal Sending spells and Portal Sending gems...
Toddb_Turbine says: Next month also sees further changes to Hollow weapons to help melee PvPs...
Toddb_Turbine says: And there are some projectile spell changes which I'm sure will come up later that should address some mage concerns.
Toddb_Turbine says: These changes are all in for August, and these timer changes only effect PK players on all worlds.
Gothor_X in AsheronsCall asks: Will Quiddity weapons get upgraded like Singularity weapons were once?
Orion_Turbine says: At this point in time we have no plans to adjust quiddity weapons.
Orion_Turbine says: But as stated in previous chats, we are looking over many quests items for adjustment in the future.
bigmikeCR01 in AsheronsCall asks: How many more mansions do u guys plan on adding, as i hear dereth is running out of room?
MrQuazarr_MS says: Over the next few months we will only be adding Residential Quarters. Come October, we will analyze the housing picture, how much room is left on the landscape and how many houses/RQs are available, then determine if/when we will add more housing.
sun_tzu000 in AsheronsCall asks: Any details on the upcoming War spell Economy that you can share with us?
Toddb_Turbine says: Well, for starters the old economy is not coming back. What will will have is a skill based damage bonus for mages.
Toddb_Turbine says: Basically the higher your skill the more damage potential you will have.
M_a_C1 in AsheronsCall asks: Will the issue with greaves ever be addressed?
srand_Turbine says: Yes.
srand_Turbine says: Oh .. err .. you want more?
srand_Turbine says: Okay .. in August, you will begin finding upper leg armor in loot. It's a little strange in some ways -- there were some graphics engine issues we had to work around, but it works.
NATHAN_538 in AsheronsCall asks: Will the protect Gems the 2 lugie vendors sell be fixed, last time I used one, it gave only 15 min. instead of 30
srand_Turbine says: Yes, the Lugian Gemsellers' gems have increased duration in August. So does Arcane Restoration and Unnatural Persistance.
Zifadel in AsheronsCall asks: Will we be seeing a change to banes at any time soon?
Toddb_Turbine says: Yes, banes will be changed to cap at 2.0 in August.
nacoomer in AsheronsCall asks: Are there ever gonna be any hangable portals for houses?
srand_Turbine says: Eventually. This is something we've wanted for awhile now, and we still plan on doing it, but it's not quite ready yet.
Mike_15_UK in AsheronsCall asks: whats with the new Arc spells? give us some info !
Toddb_Turbine says: These spells are the same casting cost and damage as normal war bolts...
Toddb_Turbine says: but they travel in an arching path similar to the way arrows travel...
Toddb_Turbine says: the are also special in that they don't track like normal spells. Instead of leading the target they aim at the exact location the target is standing when the spell fires.
Toddb_Turbine says: They can be fairly helpful when fighting on uneven terrain though.
Diane657 in AsheronsCall asks: What happened to that idea of a "high level playground"?
Orion_Turbine says: Well the first touch was the obsidian plains.
Orion_Turbine says: They got a little tougher this last patch.
Orion_Turbine says: However, the alteration and addition will not end there. We have plans for more in the future.
Crimson_SC in AsheronsCall asks: How will the new hollow arrows work?
srand_Turbine says: Unfortunately, hollow arrows are trickier to implement than we had first thought.
srand_Turbine says: We wanted to get them in this month, but they just aren't ready yet. We hope to have them ready soon, however.
Brave_Phoebus in AsheronsCall asks: Will we see the implementation of armor ignoring hollows anytime in the future?
Toddb_Turbine says: Yes.
razius in AsheronsCall asks: Will dagger loose triple strike this coming patch?
srand_Turbine says: At this point, we have not yet made a final decision about triple-strike dagger. We are still considering various options.
srand_Turbine says: So no, there are no changes to triple-strike dagger this month.
kenshinowns in AsheronsCall asks: Are we going to see new Dye pots at the Shadow Armor Vendors?
MrQuazarr_MS says: Nope.
Orion_Turbine says: There are plans for some quest items to become dyeable in the future.
MYLMiddie13 in AsheronsCall asks: Fastcasting..it staying or going?
Toddb_Turbine says: For those who don't know, fast casting is an exploit that allows players to cast spells faster than intended.
Toddb_Turbine says: This exploit is possible due to the limitations of our animation system.
Toddb_Turbine says: While we cannot remove those limitation, we are making a change that will limit fastcasting.
Toddb_Turbine says: Starting next month there will be server-side timing on how fast you can cast spells.
Toddb_Turbine says: This timer should be completely unnoticable to normal players.
Toddb_Turbine says: Only those who were using fastcasting should even notice it.
chillen_AC in AsheronsCall asks: People have been able to appear to log, and turn invisible and invulnerable, This a bug or some glitch?
Toddb_Turbine says: So while folks can still use animation breaking techniques to cast a single spell faster they will not obtain much benefit.
srand_Turbine says: Well, it *was* a bug.
srand_Turbine says: It should be fixed with the August update.
MercilessHunter in AsheronsCall asks: Will we only be able to imbue an item once, or will i be able to imbue my weapon with critical strike, crippling blow and armor rending
srand_Turbine says: Ah, I should have mentioned that before.
srand_Turbine says: You can only imbue a weapon once. So you only get one effect per weapon, and you can't change it once you've chosen. Choose carefully.
MrQuazarr_MS says: Just an off topic comment real quick:
MrQuazarr_MS says: There have been a lot of questions here and elsewhere about where I have snuck off too and why I am not posting on the boards as much.
MrQuazarr_MS says: I wanted to assure everyone that I shall return.
MrQuazarr_MS says: In starting some transition to AC2 as well as AC1, I have been traveling quite a bit lately (heck, I seem to never be here anymore). I spent more time in Boston then Redmond
MrQuazarr_MS says: I will be taking a vacation at the end of this week for one week, and then after that, I shall be back for at least one whole month (WOO HOO!).
MrQuazarr_MS says: I intend to pop back on the boards then and catch up as best as I can.
MrQuazarr_MS says: I will start a thread as normal on Patch Day for Patch Day questions only.
MrQuazarr_MS says: I will answer some of the questions and Tim will fill in for me.
MrQuazarr_MS says: Then when I return, I will dive into some of the off topic Qs (such as the big thread waiting for me about life magic
MrQuazarr_MS says: Just wanted to assure everyone that I shall return lol.
MrQuazarr_MS says: Ok, back to the program.
brk_it_dwn in AsheronsCall asks: Will The Glowing Trees on ML ever be given a purpose?
Orion_Turbine says: Actually the trees on Marae Lassel have a very real purpose.
Orion_Turbine says: There are three of them.
Orion_Turbine says: They each speak on things that have either come to pass, possibly that are happening now, or things that could come to be.
Orion_Turbine says: The trick is to ready into what they say.
firecross in AsheronsCall asks: Will their be deadly hollow katar staff or dagger?
Toddb_Turbine says: Staff, Unarmed, and Dagger will also see hollow weapon upgrades this month, including the addition of deadly hollows.
KKehl22 in AsheronsCall asks: What has happened to the "Bunny Master" Quest? Larry is gone for good?
Orion_Turbine says: Funny you should ask.
Orion_Turbine says: We may have finally found why Larry wanders off so often.
Orion_Turbine says: That being said, we want to make sure that when we make the fix that he never leaves again.
Orion_Turbine says: So it will be a while longer.
MrQuazarr_MS says: OK, and as normal, we shall end out chat with the completely worthless, why did they ask that question to end our chat.....
LordPetkov in AsheronsCall asks: Will Ken wear a boobie dress to the premiere of AC2?
Orion_Turbine says: I vote, Yes!
Tim_Turbine says: You mean apart from the everyday boobie dress?
Sean_Turbine says: *shudders at the thought*
Toddb_Turbine says: I'd pay a dollar to point and laugh at that.
MrQuazarr_MS says: Oh man, you would not want to see that picture... but just imagine me imagine me in a female Tumerok Armor Piece... with an attachable Tail... yeah.. that would be cool.
MrQuazarr_MS says: OK, with that, we come to the closure of another Developer's Chat.
Spd_turbine says: Yeah, we will make him
MrQuazarr_MS says: We thank you all for ocming
Orion_Turbine says: Good night everyone!