Ask your Producer: October 2014

Tecton

Jukilian said:

So are all weapons of each type going to have the exact same stats? Just wondering from the comments I've seen.

If that is true, how is forging going to change? Will there be any differences among each type of weapon, or only runeblades? Will there be a system like Lusternia's where you can add a max of X points on top of the stats to finesse the items?

Also, I hope decorative armour becomes available. I totally want customized pauldrons and gauntlets on my magi to go over my robes. Also opens up another avenue of player created items on top of tailoring/etc.

You'll have to wait and see! But there will be more customisation available, yes!

Jukilian

Fingers crossed for my own unique pauldrons and gauntlets, then!

Naisar

Tecton said:

Nim said:

It's been implied that there's no GMCP support for afflictions by intention. Is this true and if so why? T_T

1) Correct - we feel it provides too much of an advantage having that information sent via GMCP.

Do you mind elaborating on this a little?  If the GMCP updates are only sent alongside definitive regular lines, what advantage does it provide?  Especially now that server-side curing is implemented?

Aktillum

@Tecton @Sarapis
If you guys had like a $50 million budget to re-create Achaea in its entirety as a graphical MMO, what would definitely make it into the game, and what would be like "fuck this, there's no way to translate this mechanic to 3D"?

Kayeil

If you create more crafting types of tradeskills, will be allowed to have all of those, or will you limit us?

Also, will the other tradeskills be limited? Like enchanting, venoms, etc.

Tecton

Aktillum said:

@Tecton @Sarapis
If you guys had like a $50 million budget to re-create Achaea in its entirety as a graphical MMO, what would definitely make it into the game, and what would be like "fuck this, there's no way to translate this mechanic to 3D"?

I imagine dragons would have to be reimagined, based purely on the difference of physical scale. You can dragon form, but you couldn't enter any doorways or buildings. I'd like to think that ships would make it in there too, as that's a system that's never really been tackled (well) in a 3D MMO. 

What couldn't work... hrrm, many of the free-form RP scenarios that happen, especially Divine-initiated ones. It'd be impossible to have, say, Ashaxei's fall into the desert (which destroyed el'Jazira and drastically changed the landscape) be an immediate real-time event. We'd need to do a content patch, probably downtime, and the cat would certainly be out of the bag before the event!

Tecton

Kayeil said:

If you create more crafting types of tradeskills, will be allowed to have all of those, or will you limit us?

Also, will the other tradeskills be limited? Like enchanting, venoms, etc.

There will be limits, yes. We don't want to lose the interpersonal aspects of the game by making every person entirely self-reliant for everything.

Naisar

1) Can you describe how the direction of Achaea's combat design has changed over the years?

2) What do you think are Achaea's greatest strengths as a MUD?

3) Tell us about a design decision that turned out to be a mistake, or had unexpected consequences.

4) Do you think Veils are a positive influence on the Achaean experience?

Amarillys

Will all the trade skills have to be purchased like they are now, or will people get a free license? Of course, then everyone's a trader, so that may not be so fun... well now I am torn on which way I want it to go...

Amarillys

Side question, am I asking way to many/pointless questions?

Tarkanian

@Tecton: not really a question, but more a confirmation...

With the advent of blunt weapons being a viable option for knights, will that remove a knight's reliance on venoms?

Tecton

Naisar said:

1) Can you describe how the direction of Achaea's combat design has changed over the years?

2) What do you think are Achaea's greatest strengths as a MUD?

3) Tell us about a design decision that turned out to be a mistake, or had unexpected consequences.

4) Do you think Veils are a positive influence on the Achaean experience?

1)  We pay a lot more attention to how things are balanced these days, and all of the new additions are a lot more unique in their mechanics and design. 

2) Awesome player-base and volunteers, everyone from organisational leadership, to guides, all the way through to our team in the Garden. Combine that with a willingness to really have roleplay and player actions having a lasting effect on the world, and you've got an experience that's unrivalled. 

3) This feels like a job interview question! We've had a couple of releases that probably weren't thought out as fully as they should have been, but we strive to get those resolved as quickly as possible (some recent artefacts if you're after a specific example). One of the downsides of being a small team is that you have limited brainstorming input. We've released something and then someone brings up a point and you say "Hrrm, yeah, I didn't think of it from that angle." So we'll tweak things or pull them until they're at the point where we feel that they should be at.

4) I don't think they're a negative influence. 

Tecton

Amarillys said:

Will all the trade skills have to be purchased like they are now, or will people get a free license? Of course, then everyone's a trader, so that may not be so fun... well now I am torn on which way I want it to go...

Things that have player designs will require a license.

Tecton

Amarillys said:

Side question, am I asking way to many/pointless questions?

Not at all!

Tecton

Tarkanian said:

@Tecton: not really a question, but more a confirmation...

With the advent of blunt weapons being a viable option for knights, will that remove a knight's reliance on venoms?

Blunt weapons can't be envenomed, so no need for venoms for them.

Tarkanian

Tecton said:

Tarkanian said:

@Tecton: not really a question, but more a confirmation...

With the advent of blunt weapons being a viable option for knights, will that remove a knight's reliance on venoms?

Blunt weapons can't be envenomed, so no need for venoms for them.

Follow-up: would there be a skill or additive to blunt weapons that would provide the same advantages afforded by using venoms for cutting weapons?

Tecton

Tarkanian said:

Tecton said:

Tarkanian said:

@Tecton: not really a question, but more a confirmation...

With the advent of blunt weapons being a viable option for knights, will that remove a knight's reliance on venoms?

Blunt weapons can't be envenomed, so no need for venoms for them.

Follow-up: would there be a skill or additive to blunt weapons that would provide the same advantages afforded by using venoms for cutting weapons?

They have other advantages, including greatly increased limb damage. The blunt specialisations are built around these strengths and the lack of venoms is overcome through other means.

Tarkanian

^it sucks that i can only either click like or awesome your response. thank you!

Another question: @Tecton, have you finalized the kinds of blunt weapons that will be introduced into the game? Or is the dev team limiting them to what's already available?

Amarillys

Is there any plans for making transmutation less time consuming? Or am I the only one complaining about that?

Tecton

Amarillys said:

Is there any plans for making transmutation less time consuming? Or am I the only one complaining about that?

No plans, no. The additional time it takes to prepare alchemical cures is balanced against the availability of the primes.

Tecton

Tarkanian said:

^it sucks that i can only either click like or awesome your response. thank you!

Another question: @Tecton, have you finalized the kinds of blunt weapons that will be introduced into the game? Or is the dev team limiting them to what's already available?

The knight overhaul will take advantage the vast variety of underused weapon types already in the game.

Kinilan

What about halberds, clubs, forged maces, bardiches, spears and javelins? Anything in the works to repurpose them?

Oh and tridents, I forgot about tridents...

Tarkanian

Another question: is Sword&Board limited to wielding swords only? Or is it just a placeholder to describe the skillset (using a one-handed weapon, either cutting or blunt, and a shield) itself?

Suladan

1) When concoctions is split off as a tradeskill, will Sentinels, Druids and Sylvans all get the same replacement skill or will it be different for each one?

2) Currently concoctions gives a sip bonus when trans'd. Will that stay and anybody gets the sip bonus? Does Transmutation also give a sip bonus?

Suladan

Tecton said:

Suladan said:

Any new news on when Mhaldor renaissance will happen?

I'm hoping this week, just waiting on the final RP pieces to be wrapped up!

Hmm.. Do we need to jump in the puddles some more? Or .. ?

Melodie

Treat the puddles like stalagmites. What could go wrong? 

Cynlael

Suladan said:

1) When concoctions is split off as a tradeskill, will Sentinels, Druids and Sylvans all get the same replacement skill or will it be different for each one?

2) Currently concoctions gives a sip bonus when trans'd. Will that stay and anybody gets the sip bonus? Does Transmutation also give a sip bonus?

Transmutation gets a bonus to potash consumption, if I remember correctly. Been a while since I've been Alchemist. I think HELP TRANSMUTATION should say.

Cynlael

@Tecton since you've said no to the GMCP afflictions, would it be possible to at least get a CONFIG option like all the other IRE games have, for a generic affliction line?
Something akin to: 'You have been afflicted with paralysis.' / 'You have been afflicted with left_leg_broken' etc. Which tacks on after attack lines?
example:

Lightning-quick, Tecton jabs an ornate steel rapier into your left leg.
<affliction line here>
You have been afflicted with <affliction>.
Tecton viciously jabs an ornate steel rapier into your left leg.
<2nd affliction line here>
You have been afflicted with <affliction>.
<----prompt line---->

Edit; obviously things like Loki would show say 'afflicted with hidden' or something of that nature, not what you got hit with.

Kinilan

Are there rough numbers on what the populations of the city-states? Not players but the background population. The unseen peoples that live in them? What about Sapience? Meropis? How many people actually live in the small slice of Achaea that we as players experience?

The picture of Sarapis with His hands around Achaea shows Sapience, Meropis, the edge of Kashar, and another continent/chain of islands south of Meropis plus some other rather large islands. My question is do you have an idea of what's on the OTHER side of the planet or is that all just open potential still?

Questions like that have always been bouncing around in the back of my head. Why does Sapience and Meropis, after 500 years without, have this population of super powerful mortals fueld by freaking dragon cores, or whatever the hell we got retconed into having inside of us.

Do you blink at the big picture questions like we as players do, or is there, tucked away somewhere, notes and details that describe Achaea in it's entierity?

More importantly, when will I be able to circumnavigate Achaea? 3 months from now? 4?

Cynlael

@Daeir‌

Tecton said:

Eld said:

What's the major advantage you want to avoid by not providing affliction info by GMCP, now that serverside curing is up? Just the possibility of those of us with particularly good pings and good clientside curing having access to the same info as the serverside system but without introduced lag, or am I missing something else?

Creates too much of a divide between the people who do and do not have the coding knowledge to utilise the functionality. 

Already answered, yo.

PS: Illusions aren't used 'offensively' anymore anyway. Wouldn't punish clientside users either, considering it's coloured in the other games. (Use a color trigger to negate the illusion of it, if it was ever used, gg)