Ask your Producer: April 2013

Nemesio

Sena said:

Serpent isn't untanky, scales are great. Alchemist isn't untanky either, robes are also great, and they have sip/potash bonuses (although having your sip bonuses constantly fading is very annoying).

If you're comparing shaman with runes to another class with runes, shaman is untanky, but being able to sketch your own runes and have them last 12/24 hours is really nice. Shaman also has one of the highest damage outputs of any class, which more than makes up for a lack of non-rune defence.

It's been a while since I played a Shaman, so chances are I've got some facts wrong... But last I played it they had to place swiftcurse up every 6 attacks and at lv91 killing a single fernbeast in the Mirror Caves was almost getting me killed.

As for Alchemist, try hunting with it in comparison to a Blademaster, Runewarden, Monk, etc. The sip/potash bonuses help, but most mobs attack twice for every iron eduction.

Xenomorph

How does one secure a review (5 minute presentation) for High Clan? This is only after every single item in all help scrolls have been satisfied to the letter, which includes the obvious clan charter.

Currently I have two I'm advocating for, but by no means did the work, I'm just the voice and spur to action guy. We well understand the patience aspect we need to maintain as players, but that said, being told December of this year is completely fine by me, as I finally got a date. And that is the extent of this complexity, just need an appointment for 5 minutes. Thanks!

Sena

Edit: Spoiler'd because I realised this is pretty off-topic for the thread. [spoiler]

Nemesio said:

It's been a while since I played a Shaman, so chances are I've got some facts wrong... But last I played it they had to place swiftcurse up every 6 attacks and at lv91 killing a single fernbeast in the Mirror Caves was almost getting me killed.

For the first swiftcurse, you can get 9-10 bleeds. After that (since swiftcurse reduces its own eq cost), 11-12. You can also put up swiftcurse before entering the room. With swiftcurse, unartied bleed's DPS is about the same as a tekura combo in scorpion stance (a bit lower with full swiftcurse eq, a bit higher with swiftcursed swiftcurse), and with bleed being a magic attack (so it's increased by collars), artied bleed is probably the strongest denizen attack in the game, easily beating monk damage.

Nemesio said:

As for Alchemist, try hunting with it in comparison to a Blademaster, Runewarden, Monk, etc. The sip/potash bonuses help, but most mobs attack twice for every iron eduction.

Alchemist is much tankier than blademaster. Runewarden (assuming good weapon/armour stats) and monk easily beat alchemist both offensively and defensively, but those are two of the best bashing classes, so that doesn't indicate any problem with alchemist. Alchemist damage/speed is on the low end (though they are the only class with a critical bonus), but they're far from untanky.[/spoiler]

Sylvance

Q: Is there any current thought, producer-side, towards re-working Theft, or is it staying as-is?

Q: Do the producers share the sentiment of some elements of the playerbase that Achaea has become too 'safe/soft'?

Q: Five years from now, what single thing do you want to be able to say that you've achieved with Achaea?

Q: Did you design the Named Blade quest? If so, I love you ever more than @Kyrra does.

Antonius

Changes to artefacts/the artefact system have been mentioned previously, is there any concrete information about what those plans are yet?

Daslin

My only question is....

Instead of gunslinger, can we have a class that REALLY utilizes crossbows? like, that's their main weapon and then allow them to be used in room because they'll have smaller crossbows to dual-wield them and allow them to be the rootinest tootinest crossbow totinest badasses?

(Only halfway serious, it's really more of do you guys have plans for new classes any time soon)

Tecton

Sohl said:

Thanks for taking the time to do another Q&A!

What do the folks in the garden (including yourself) say they enjoy most about being a god?

Personally, I love the feeling of releasing something new for players to enjoy! I get all giddy with excitement before any big launch.

Tecton

Nemesio said:

While I understand the desire for non-uniformity in bashing classes, have you considered giving a second-look to the less tanky classes to evaluate their attack speeds and damages?
Specifically in mind are Shaman, Serpent and Alchemist however there are likely others.

I'm more than willing to elaborate, but I don't really have anything prepared on the matter with numbers and calculations prepared at this moment. If you took a look at it from the non-artifacted mortal perspective for each class and just sampled a hunting ground or two for a couple level ranges I'm sure you'd notice that skills which augment a bashing attack don't really come into play if you can't survive to use them.

@Sena beat me to the punch here, hitting the nail on the head.

Tecton

Xenomorph said:

How does one secure a review (5 minute presentation) for High Clan? This is only after every single item in all help scrolls have been satisfied to the letter, which includes the obvious clan charter.

Currently I have two I'm advocating for, but by no means did the work, I'm just the voice and spur to action guy. We well understand the patience aspect we need to maintain as players, but that said, being told December of this year is completely fine by me, as I finally got a date. And that is the extent of this complexity, just need an appointment for 5 minutes. Thanks!

The High Clan application process really could do with some streamlining, so we'll look into making some improvements there. I can tell you that in (at least) one of those situations, the application is in limbo while other game-related changes are made. When we make a High Clan, we look at things like their relevance to the game world both now and in the future, as we don't want all the effort to be for naught on any side of the fence.

Tecton

Penwize said:

Are you planning to give endgame some love beyond just dragon yet?

We've got some rough ideas for things we'd like to do in the future, but nothing definite at this stage.

Tecton

Sylvance said:

Q: Is there any current thought, producer-side, towards re-working Theft, or is it staying as-is?

Q: Do the producers share the sentiment of some elements of the playerbase that Achaea has become too 'safe/soft'?

Q: Five years from now, what single thing do you want to be able to say that you've achieved with Achaea?

Q: Did you design the Named Blade quest? If so, I love you ever more than @Kyrra does.

1) Yes, we're looking at changes.

2) Some corners are a little less sharp, but that's not a bad thing in some cases. That concern does factor in to our decision making process though!

3) I'll tell you in five years.

4) @Valnurana and I, yes.

Tecton

Antonius said:

Changes to artefacts/the artefact system have been mentioned previously, is there any concrete information about what those plans are yet?

We released those a few months ago. We may streamline and change this more in the future, but the ability to do pretty much all of your manipulation of artefacts (including customisations) was the main goal here.

Tecton

Daslin said:

My only question is....

Instead of gunslinger, can we have a class that REALLY utilizes crossbows? like, that's their main weapon and then allow them to be used in room because they'll have smaller crossbows to dual-wield them and allow them to be the rootinest tootinest crossbow totinest badasses?

(Only halfway serious, it's really more of do you guys have plans for new classes any time soon)

No immediate plans for new classes at this very second! My current thoughts would be that we'd spend that time/energy in adding new skills to replace trade skills for affected classes if/when that happens (see earlier posts).

Sylvance

Just to be clear, the idea of separating trade skills from classes is utterly bursting with win. I think that a lot of players will be pleased with this, and I suspect that IRE would be pleased with credit/membership sales following such a change.

Sylvance

Q: What's next month's promotion?

Q: What percentage of Celani go on to become gods?

Q: What's your favourite City?

Antonius

Tecton said:

Antonius said:

Changes to artefacts/the artefact system have been mentioned previously, is there any concrete information about what those plans are yet?

We released those a few months ago. We may streamline and change this more in the future, but the ability to do pretty much all of your manipulation of artefacts (including customisations) was the main goal here.

I thought I remembered a post from Cardan saying that the customisation changes weren't the previously mentioned changes to artefacts when it was brought up in a Dais thread. I'm a bit confused now, might go searching for the quote. EDIT: Cardan's first post in this thread.

However, if those ARE the artefact changes, then a new question: Do you have any plans to introduce different item types for currently existing artefacts? I know it's been done before with hoods/veils, amulet/circlet of the will, etc. Would you be open to suggestions?

I know there are a few people who would prefer artefact crossbows for aesthetic reasons, and I'd love to be able to replace my anklet of dashing with boots that have the same effect. I expect there are a number of other suitable alternatives people would like to see as well.

Antonius

Sylvance said:

Just to be clear, the idea of separating trade skills from classes is utterly bursting with win. I think that a lot of players will be pleased with this, and I suspect that IRE would be pleased with credit/membership sales following such a change.

Oh, I'm definitely in favour of non-Knights getting to experience the soul destroying boredom of forging, followed by the intense regret at investing credits into the skill.

Tecton

Sylvance said:

Q: What's next month's promotion?

Q: What percentage of Celani go on to become gods?

Q: What's your favourite City?

1) Wait and see!

2) I'd say the average would be about 60% or so.

3) From a purely nostalgic point of view, I'd have to say Mhaldor, simply because I spent most of my time as a player there, as well as a few years as a Mhaldorian god before taking over as Producer. Mind you, with the way Targossas is shaping up, it could be my new favourite!

Tecton

Antonius said:

Tecton said:

Antonius said:

Changes to artefacts/the artefact system have been mentioned previously, is there any concrete information about what those plans are yet?

We released those a few months ago. We may streamline and change this more in the future, but the ability to do pretty much all of your manipulation of artefacts (including customisations) was the main goal here.

I thought I remembered a post from Cardan saying that the customisation changes weren't the previously mentioned changes to artefacts when it was brought up in a Dais thread. I'm a bit confused now, might go searching for the quote. EDIT: Cardan's first post in this thread.

However, if those ARE the artefact changes, then a new question: Do you have any plans to introduce different item types for currently existing artefacts? I know it's been done before with hoods/veils, amulet/circlet of the will, etc. Would you be open to suggestions?

I know there are a few people who would prefer artefact crossbows for aesthetic reasons, and I'd love to be able to replace my anklet of dashing with boots that have the same effect. I expect there are a number of other suitable alternatives people would like to see as well.

We weighed up the options of doing the whole "investible power" route with artefacts, and while it'd be nice, the cost vs. benefit wasn't in favour of the change. We'll see in the future though, you never know!

Oceana

Q: Why can't blue eels and giant chubsuckers be cooked?

Tecton

Oceana said:

Q: Why can't blue eels and giant chubsuckers be cooked?

Sounds like a BUG! Please file it as such in-game and we'll take a look as soon as time permits.

Oceana

Tecton said:

Oceana said:

Q: Why can't blue eels and giant chubsuckers be cooked?

Sounds like a BUG! Please file it as such in-game and we'll take a look as soon as time permits.

Bugged it years ago. Got the reply it was by design, but without an explanation. It still bugs me though!

Rinzai

Has there been any investigation in to loosing the constraints on only one house per city people capable of accepting a particular class ?

My reasoning is mostly Cyrenian, and I am unsure if other cities have this problem, but many classes could fight into several houses based on their ideals, and direction, and some classes in my opinion are simply in the wrong house (priests can't be neutral *shakefist*)

I would think it might help with House retention, and allow people to go to the house they fit into, instead of being forced into a house because it is so widely encouraged.

Tecton

Rinzai said:

Has there been any investigation in to loosing the constraints on only one house per city people capable of accepting a particular class ?

My reasoning is mostly Cyrenian, and I am unsure if other cities have this problem, but many classes could fight into several houses based on their ideals, and direction, and some classes in my opinion are simply in the wrong house (priests can't be neutral *shakefist*)

I would think it might help with House retention, and allow people to go to the house they fit into, instead of being forced into a house because it is so widely encouraged.

There has been, yes. As I mentioned earlier in the thread, there's some stuff we're trialling with Targossas, depending on how that plays out, we'll work out on further expansion of the system and related policy.

Mephaos

@Tecton: I have a few questions myself that I'm sure a lot of people here will either agree with/disagree with.

1st: I would like to recommend a complete overhaul of class balances. For example, most classes have an easy time with hunting due to certain balance reductions. Here's an example. A Knight class with high speed rapiers can normally kill denizens faster than a Magi without an Aldar Talisman/Diadem. Why am I explaining this? Let me put it this way: Caster type classes ( not including Shamans ) have a really slow balance recovery. In the time it takes to regain equilibrium, the denizen could've already hit you 2-3 times in that time frame, thus, going through more health elixirs sips over a Knight class who can get a faster killing blow with the rapier proficiency. I understand the idea behind the class is to learn it, but when it comes to total hunting, Magi, Alchemist, Occultists and Apostates have a rough time. Heck, without using the "reflexes" ability that Druids/Sentinels have in Jaguar/Icewyrm, it makes it really slow as well. SUGGESTION: Either reduce the credits on certain items such as an Diadem/Talisman. Since Druids/Sentinels can use knuckles, reduce the 1st level knuckles (400 credits) to maybe 300? 250? Just a thought. OR: Change equilibrium/balance reductions for said classes to make it more interesting to play.

( I know that this thread may sound like complete and utter crap, maybe not even make sense, but I hope you get the idea behind what I'm asking/stating )

2nd: Are there plans to open up more hunting grounds? With the increase in the playerbase reaching level 99, it means less places will be open to free hunting. Thoughts? Suggestions?

That's all for now!

Tecton

Mephaos said:

@Tecton: I have a few questions myself that I'm sure a lot of people here will either agree with/disagree with.

1st: I would like to recommend a complete overhaul of class balances. For example, most classes have an easy time with hunting due to certain balance reductions. Here's an example. A Knight class with high speed rapiers can normally kill denizens faster than a Magi without an Aldar Talisman/Diadem. Why am I explaining this? Let me put it this way: Caster type classes ( not including Shamans ) have a really slow balance recovery. In the time it takes to regain equilibrium, the denizen could've already hit you 2-3 times in that time frame, thus, going through more health elixirs sips over a Knight class who can get a faster killing blow with the rapier proficiency. I understand the idea behind the class is to learn it, but when it comes to total hunting, Magi, Alchemist, Occultists and Apostates have a rough time. Heck, without using the "reflexes" ability that Druids/Sentinels have in Jaguar/Icewyrm, it makes it really slow as well. SUGGESTION: Either reduce the credits on certain items such as an Diadem/Talisman. Since Druids/Sentinels can use knuckles, reduce the 1st level knuckles (400 credits) to maybe 300? 250? Just a thought. OR: Change equilibrium/balance reductions for said classes to make it more interesting to play.

( I know that this thread may sound like complete and utter crap, maybe not even make sense, but I hope you get the idea behind what I'm asking/stating )

2nd: Are there plans to open up more hunting grounds? With the increase in the playerbase reaching level 99, it means less places will be open to free hunting. Thoughts? Suggestions?

That's all for now!

1) The may be slower, but they generally hit harder. All bashing attacks have normalised DPS (damage per second) to a certain degree at a base level.

2) Yes, there are always new areas in varying stages of completion!

Oceana

Q1: Is any of those new areas an island?
Q2: Any more news about Kashar?
Q3: Will there be another use for burdock root?
Q4: Any work on the mentoring system planned?

Tecton

Oceana said:

Q1: Is any of those new areas an island?
Q2: Any more news about Kashar?
Q3: Will there be another use for burdock root?
Q4: Any work on the mentoring system planned?

1) Maaaybe!

2) Nothing I can share.

3) Nothing specifically planned at this stage.

4) Nothing planned, if you have specific ideas for improvement, feel free to file an IDEA in-game.

Solteria

Will forestal classes forever be tied to Eleusis?
I have learned all the lessons I can learn and have them piling up. Are there any plans to be able to use those lessons or at least be able to gift them to someone else or turn them to credits?
Are there any plans for making ship trades more exciting and not the same things over and over?

Jhui

If/When artefact dirk stats get downgraded, will a full refund be available?