Developer Chat - 2003/01/28
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January Dev Chat
Tim_Turbine says: Greetings one and all and welcome again to the Asheron’s Call Dev Chat!
Tim_Turbine says: Our apologies for not holding the dev chats on a regular basis, but we are going to resume these on a monthly basis.
Tim_Turbine says: With me here are Srand, engineer extraordinaire, Speedy, coordinator of 1’s and 0’s, Maki, gigolo and astronaut, and Zontar, herder of cats, master of the atom.
Tim_Turbine says: We’ve introduced a lot of content in the past few updates, as well as a lot of systems changes. I’m sure you all have questions, so without further ado, let’s start!
techsyn in AsheronsCall asks: Are the new high craft items on all monsters intentional? Getting Craft 9 items from low level monsters doesnt make much sense.
srand_Turbine says: WIth the last update, we tweaked the workmanship on all loot. In general, this meant that you are finding higher workmanship levels on treasure.
srand_Turbine says: Workamanship 9 on a low level creature is a bit of an exageration, but if you were used to finding workmanship 3 or 4 loot, you may have been surprised by the new workmanship levels.
srand_Turbine says: These higher workmanship levels, however, are very much by design. By finding higher workmanship loot, you can more easily put together full bags of salvaged material, which means that everyone can tinker their equipment more readily.
Sean_Turbine has joined the conversation.
srand_Turbine says: It also means, of course, that it is more difficult to tinker items the maximum number of times. SInce our goal, however, is to get more people enjoying tinkering, as opposed to getting less people tinkering things to the max, we are pretty happy with
srand_Turbine says: this new dynamic.
drewcomp66 in AsheronsCall asks: What was the purpose of the Death Item change?
srand_Turbine says: In the past two months, we have fixed two bugs with the algorithm that determines what you drop when you die.
srand_Turbine says: The first bug was causing the algorithm to randomize the 'death value' of items far more than it should have.
The second bug was preventing the algorithm from halving the 'death value' of items the way that it was supposed to.
srand_Turbine says: Fixing the first bug made it much easier for players to determine what they were likely going to drop on death -- which meant that they can more easily protect their good equipment. We felt it was very important for us to fix that bug.
srand_Turbine says: But the second bug was making it rather easier than we intended to protect equipment. By fixing the second bug, we restored the death drop algorithm to its intended form.
srand_Turbine says: Overall, these fixes made it easier -- but not too easy -- for players to protect their valuable equipment.
Bequah in AsheronsCall asks: Will we see another Major storyline or an Expansion? The thread on accmty is getting quite long. Great Job btw.
Tim_Turbine says: Hehe, seen a lot of rumors on this one - in fact, I saw one post that said we were releasing in March 2003, if that’s the case, we’re way behind J
Tim_Turbine says: There are no, repeat, no plans for an expansion pack at this time.
Tim_Turbine says: If we do start one, we've got a feature list a mile long built from all of our player feedback, but there are no plans at this time.
Darktider in AsheronsCall asks: Will we see a Tusker Recall Scroll for people under level 80?
Tim_Turbine has left the conversation.
Orion_Turbine says: At this point there are no plans for adding a scroll for under 80. The one tidbit that was supposed to have been changed this month was that the recall gems were supposed to have become tradable. That was bugged, but rest assured this should be done
Orion_Turbine says: in time for next month.
ToolboxofTruth in AsheronsCall asks: Are the high-HP mobs in "death valley" an experiment that you plan on implementing all over dereth soon enough? EXTERMINATE!
Orion_Turbine says: They are an experiment of sorts, but they WILL NOT be appearing all over Dereth. That would just be too cruel.
Rean_Slayter in AsheronsCall asks: Is Updated Silifi of the Crimson Stars quest repeatable?
srand_Turbine says: Yes.
srand_Turbine says: I think there's a one month timer on both the haft and the rubies.
lilwill000 in AsheronsCall asks: What's the point to these huge monsters like Obliterators and Trem Monogous? Your going ac2 on us.
Orion_Turbine says: AC1 and AC2 are very different games. The purpose of the new creatures was too offer the higher level players a place where they could get together for some serious group battles.
Orion_Turbine says: Plus they are pretty cool to just see as well.
Tim_Turbine has joined the conversation.
archamjg in AsheronsCall asks: Will it be possible to repeat the dark tree crystal quest in the future or will it be gone next patch?
les_turbine says: Yes, the dark tree crystal quest (otherwise known as 'Crystal Minds, Shattered Souls")..
les_turbine says: is repeatable in a month and 4 days
theinsanejester in AsheronsCall asks: Why do the glacial golems spawn in Qalaba'r?
Orion_Turbine says: That is part of Gaerlan's retribution upon the world. He's not exactly happy that the Isparian were here in the first place and now that he is undead at the hands of Nuhmudira...oh boy!
MetalGearGleeb in AsheronsCall asks: I've seen, on many fansites, that you guys have tweaked the game to your players. As a potential noob, what is there for people like me?
srand_Turbine says: I'm glad you asked that, MetalGearGleeb! There are many interesting and amusing things for a new player to do in AC.
srand_Turbine says: In the past year or so we've revised the newbie experience quite a bit. There's a pretty good tutorial dungeon to tecah you the basics of the game, and that feeds into a nice series of directed newbie quests that help you learn your way around central
srand_Turbine says: Osteth.
srand_Turbine says: After that, there's a goodly number of low level quests for new players. There's interesting dungeons to explore in search of loot, such as the Dungeon Fern. There's fascinating story, such as that found in the Elysa's Favor quest.
srand_Turbine says: There's even opportunities to match yourself against some of the most heinous villans in the history of Isparians on Dereth, such as the lowest levels of the Gaelan quest. And that's not even talking about the careers you can explore in craft skill and ti
TangerineFortune in AsheronsCall asks: Are mana refill (blue) kits in game and available to players? If they are, can we get a hint about how to get them as most people are at a loss.
Orion_Turbine says: This is most definitely in game. No one has yet found them, that is all.
ddean1988 in AsheronsCall asks: There have been quite a few reports of people not recieving a tattoo on the Bobo quest. Are the quest rewards functioning properly?
Orion_Turbine says: The quest is functioning as designed. The drop rate is just very low. I can say with certainty that not all of the reward that the Oolutanga quest offers have yet been found.
XenoMorpherer in AsheronsCall asks: Any plans to increase the drop rate % Of max swords(24-40)? Sword characters require more weapons to be imbued to be viable than say an archer...One bow has all the elemental damage compaired to us having to find multiple swords do to that.
srand_Turbine says: We recently increased the chance to find high damage melee weapons of all types. We also recently increased the chance of finding elemental melee weapons. Your chances of finding a great elemental melee weapon are higher than they have ever been before.
srand_Turbine says: And since you are now getting more salvage, your opportunities to imbue a great weapon are also looking good.
MrChowder in AsheronsCall asks: Are there any plans in the future to make SIK's and Singularity keys stackable?
srand_Turbine says: Well, maybe not stackable ... but wait 'til you see what we have for you in February along these lines. *grin*
Snow_Ball_II in AsheronsCall asks: Are there any plans to fixing Jump Spin to avoid melee attacks? Great job btw !
srand_Turbine says: We are currently focusing a lot of attention on attempting to improve the PK experience in AC. One of the things we've been working hard on is ways to fix or at least ameliorate the effects of animation breaking actions.
srand_Turbine says: Unfortunately, it's not easy. But we are trying.
dkclaw255 in AsheronsCall asks: Since Shadow armor is pretty much obsolete, are there any plans to give Crystal and Shadow fragments new uses?
Orion_Turbine says: Well that Shadow Armor has started gathering dust and we are well aware of that. You never know when it just might have a use again... but nothing in the very near future. So is a definite; Maybe.
pecrhead in AsheronsCall asks: Any changes to the PvP aspect of AC1 coming?
Orion_Turbine says: We are committed to bringing PvP into a more balanced arena. To that end I'll let srand explain a little more.
srand_Turbine says: Wait! What am I explaining? Darn it, Allan.
srand_Turbine says: Well, we are committing to a more balanced PK experience, and we've recently been focusing a lot of resources on these questions.
srand_Turbine says: The player feedback we get about the PK experience is invaluable to us.
srand_Turbine says: I can't go into a lot of detail just now, but we do have some exciting ideas lined up for the near future.
monk044143725 in AsheronsCall asks: When are we gonna see prismatic peas?
Orion_Turbine says: This is an idea that we have been tossing around but there isn't anything definitively in the works yet. Give us a little more time on this one.
Tim_Turbine has left the conversation.
KenHidaki in AsheronsCall asks: Was it intentionaly set that the salvage most commonly found(silver for me) is useless?
Tim_Turbine has joined the conversation.
srand_Turbine says: Some of the most common materials do have a use -- like gold -- although I know some players will debate with me whether gold is actually useful, as such.
srand_Turbine says: Seriously, though, when we matched up materials to effects we looked at a number of different factors. How common is this material, and at what levels of loot? Some materials are fairly common in low level loot, but not in higher level loot.
srand_Turbine says: We also looked at what type of material it was -- armoredillo hide is internally classified as a leather, for instance -- and what other materials of that type were used for.
srand_Turbine says: And we tried to keep things at least somewhat logical, at least when we could. Adding steel to an item, for instance, probably wouldn't make it lighter. But sometimes we did have to stretch logic a little -- or a lot -- just because of the materials
srand_Turbine says: available to us.
srand_Turbine says: At any rate, we hope to eventually use up all of the available materials, and perhaps even add more. So one day I hope that you will no longer find silver useless.
Obsidian121 in AsheronsCall asks: Will Marae Lassel ever recieve a Lifestone?
les_turbine says: Nuhmudira sure has been busy with lifestone research...
les_turbine says: though she did seem to lose some materials lately, hoever it is possible.
les_turbine says: however
les_turbine says: so stay tuned
AJFosth in AsheronsCall asks: What about Platinum Peas, or creatures that drop Plat Scarabs, will those be introduced anytime soon?
Orion_Turbine says: We had a thought about that just the other day. Stay tuned there might be something in store. But not of the vegetable variety.
DangerMouse2003 in AsheronsCall asks: When are we gonna see more tinkering?
srand_Turbine says: As soon as we have time to add it. *grin*
srand_Turbine says: Seriously, we do plan on adding more tinkering effects. Because of various other priorities, you may not see any in the next month or two, but we do hope to get to it soon.
Tandy_HG in AsheronsCall asks: Alchemists can make both Trade Health Elixirs and Trade Mana Elixirs. Do you plan on completing the Trade potion list by adding Trade Stamina Elixirs to the game, and if so, how long will it be before we can expect to see them?
Orion_Turbine says: A long time ago it was decided that cooking was the realm of Stamina recovery. We did not want Alchemy to encroach on that ground and so we left the stamina elixirs out. That still holds true today.
Orion_Turbine says: With that being said, there are indeed some things on the "board of dreams" that are further enhancements for Alchemy. No approximate time for now.
RoBNoX in AsheronsCall asks: Will AC1 every see an updated graphics engine?
srand_Turbine says: Anything is possible. For right now, however, upgrading our graphics engine -- although it would be nice -- is not one of our top priorities.
srand_Turbine says: The team wants me to be more clear that 'not one of our top prioroties' here means that it's not likely at all in the near future.
Tim_Turbine says: A graphics update is something that is huge, about two years of updates at once, and is only something that would come with an expansion pack, for which we have no plans at the moment.
Obsidian121 in AsheronsCall asks: Are any deeper levels of the Olthoi Arcade expected to be "found" anytime soon?
Orion_Turbine says: Those Olthoi are still digging. But who knows when they'll dig far enough through for everyone else to see what they were digging to.
les_turbine says: you dig?
volvus in AsheronsCall asks: Are there any undiscovered dungeons?
les_turbine says: Only the ones we haven't put in yet..
les_turbine says: and the ones you haven't found
les_turbine says: Been to them all?
Tim_Turbine says: Hehe, and the ones in my dreams. But I don't let the team look in there
Orion_Turbine says: There are an infiinte amount of dungeons that have yet to e discovered.
les_turbine says: Scary... lol
Tim_Turbine says: Okay, that’s all the time we have for tonight, thanks to everyone for showing up. The next couple months will be very interesting for Asheron’s Call and we hope that you enjoy the content.
Tim_Turbine says: So, now’s the time for us devs to go back to our holes, only to emerge again next month, and if we’re not scared by our shadows, then we’ve got six weeks of cold…or warmth, whatever. Take care everyone, see you in game!
les_turbine says: Aloha!