Ask Your Producers: September 2016

Aegis

Jinsun said: 

@Aegis (since the other minion gods were mentioned) can we convince you to ditch eris, become nihilist and bring back Pandemonium? If you do, can we call him Scary Lord Panda?

Man, who wouldn't have fallen for a rainbow-eyed goddess? I question your taste in women.

Nicola

I'll be closing this in the next couple of hours, if there are any more questions to ask, get them in now!

Asmodron

I am now very upset that belladona did not win. Damnit @kasa I told you we should have supported her T.T

Quisse

Do you enjoy or resent when players come up with flavor or roleplay ideas that require a fair bit of work on your end? 

Do either of you have favorite locations/areas/rooms in the game?

What is the most challenging aspect of keeping Achaea evolving and engaging for players, both new and firmly entrenched?

Armali

What was the reasoning behind approving Purification being blocked by selarnia?

Tahquil

@Makarios : would you be up to writing/dictating a guide with tips and tricks for visually impaired players to help them get into the game?

Korben

Are Icons coming back any time soon?

Aegoth

How close was the tank Mhaldor just blew in Hashan (cuz they stopped fighting ) to getting lv 2?

Mindshell

Feeding off that question, you guys seem to like big tanks. Why doesn't guard bashing progress sanctions/tank levels to break the impasse on "they won't engage"?

Ahmet

Nicola said:

@Ahmet and all OOC clan members who will hop on this bandwagon.
I don't love OOC clans much in general.

Wait what about me?

Has someone been spying?

Silvarien

edit: never mind, please delete.

Jurixe

What sort of advice would you give to players who are trying to create their own additions to the game's lore and/or carve out their own niche? (past examples include POM, Revolutionaries, things that didn't exist before) What, in your opinion, is likely to be the primary reasons for their failure/success?

How would the Garden choose which sorts of player-driven plotlines to support, and which to ignore?

Is there any chance of getting more love in regards to drinks (drink creation or at least just the ability to pour a bottle into a glass?

How do you choose what's more important to work on first (combat vs rp things)?

What sort of advice would you give for people who want to run events but have never done it before? How much help can the Garden give players in events?

Is there any chance future promotions might be housing-related? There are just soooooo many minipets that it's getting ridiculous. Admittedly I know they might not be as popular.

Sorry if it's a lot of questions, I'm just throwing out a few that I think would be interesting to hear from you guys on!

Trey

The big problem with drinks right now in regards to Jurixe's (wonderful) idea is that all flavor messages are tied to the drinking vessel rather than the liquid inside. You can fill empty glasses with water or blood and it still fores the message of the original beverage. 

Zulah

Sarapis said:

How does this chart roughly look to you guys in terms of appropriate bashing levels for the area?

Bracket refers to the rough level bracket we think it's appropriate for bashing. Mobs is # of mobs in the area. Level is average level, which may differ dramatically of course (we also can look at means and modes) within a level. Speed is average attack speed in seconds. Actually, looking at this, and the modes and means, some of the flat-out averages are pretty highly distorted. In any case, here's a table. Look at it with your eyes, not your hands!

(Annwyn shows as multiple areas 'cause it is.)

Area                                Bracket Mobs   Level   Speed   DPS           
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
the Valley of Lodi                  1-20    133    6.99    9.69    3.35     
the land of Minia                   1-20    168    5.61    7.25    3.52     
Mount Gheladan                      1-20    93     7.83    9.01    4.19     
the Eastern Shore                   1-20    29     17.58   7.82    11.87    
the Valley of Actar                 1-20    56     23.92   9.50    12.14    
the Sangre Plains                   1-20    35     25.91   8.57    12.32    
the Dungeon of the Beastlords       1-20    77     22.57   7.16    14.94    
Xhaiden Dale                        1-20    56     30.80   9.96    15.68    
Lake Narcisse                       1-20    31     32.90   10.09   16.19    
Green Lake                          20-40   39     34.61   9.38    16.90   
Enverren Marsh                      20-40   92     32.17   8.02    18.76    
Forest Watch                        20-40   79     26.89   6.58    19.12    
the Monastery of Shala'jen          20-40   96     30.26   8.08    19.25    
Inbhir Ness                         20-40   47     32.38   9.65    18.64    
an Underground Lake                 20-40   30     29.66   7.86    18.56    
Riparium                            20-40   65     30.15   7.93    18.93   
a filthy goblin village             20-40   63     35.19   8.00    20.04    
the Mhojave Desert                  20-40   104    33.24   8.50    20.79    
Manara Burrow                       20-40   181    28.09   6.01    21.03    
the Island off the Northern Vashnar 20-40   31     33.70   11.09   20.79    
Maim's Mansion                      20-40   62     36.12   7.87    21.16    
a Dwarven camp                      20-40   28     40.67   8.35    22.43    
the Ulangi Isles                    20-40   55     36.61   7.83    22.59    
Mount Piraeus                       20-40   33     39.69   8.81    22.97    
an Orcish outpost                   20-40   23     40.56   8.17    23.39   
the Siroccian Mountains             20-40   25     30.52   7.28    23.19    
the Isle of Ageiro                  20-40   103    43.98   8.80    23.88    
the Village of Aran'riod            20-40   44     37.68   8.36    25.19    
the ruins of Phereklos              20-40   102    50.78   9.05    25.73    
the Northreach Forest               20-40   27     45.18   8.66    26.54    
the Lost City of Kasmarkin          20-40   61     41.22   8.00    27.62    
the Isle of Polyargos               20-40   53     44.33   7.43    29.07    
the Creville Asylum                 20-40   152    39.90   6.57    29.01    
the Sea Lion Cove                   20-40   45     50.11   7.91    30.23    
the frozen tundra                   40-60   52     46.84   7.25    31.63    
the Island of Tuar                  40-60   120    64.12   9.92    31.50    
the Village of Tomacula             40-60   37     56.27   9.18    31.37    
Arcadia                             40-60   187    47.02   7.59    31.67    
the Azdun Dungeon                   40-60   224    50.94   7.75    33.09    
the Darkenwood Forest               40-60   40     61.62   8.60    36.96    
the River Mnemosyne                 40-60   25     55.88   8.84    36.71    
the Caves of Delmarin               40-60   48     60.31   8.29    38.11    
Saiha'balan Grotto                  40-60   39     60.25   8.28    39.47    
the Keep of Belladona               40-60   71     58.53   9.66    39.33    
Hriddan Settlement                  40-60   43     62.23   7.23    40.41    
the Istar Jungle                    40-60   80     72.57   8.90    41.01    
the Central Vasnari Mountains       40-60   27     62.59   7.92    40.80    
the village of Qurnok               40-60   67     63.67   7.28    41.41    
the Isle of New Hope                40-60   74     48.01   7.00    41.43    
the Northern Atrousian Jungle       40-60   23     64.34   7.17    42.35    
the Halls of Blackrock              60-80   63     69.28   7.26    45.65    
the Black Forest                    60-80   23     62.56   8.60    44.76    
a network of caves beneath New Ther 60-80   48     53.95   6.35    46.81    
the Caverns of Riagath              60-80   64     71.56   7.53    47.41    
the Caverns of Nuskuwe              60-80   91     75.05   8.17    47.74    
the Barony of Dun Valley            60-80   232    65.38   7.02    47.53    
the Dakhota Hills                   60-80   26     87.11   8.53    50.50    
the Thraasi Foothills               60-80   21     48.80   4.61    50.70    
Tapoa Island                        60-80   49     73.77   7.22    51.88    
Zaphar Isle                         60-80   97     66.13   7.60    51.66    
somewhere in the Notic Ocean        60-80   22     86.59   7.31    52.96    
the Isle of Harae                   60-80   42     46.35   5.59    52.91    
the Village of Genji                60-80   69     48.26   7.10    55.12    
the Vents of Hthrak                 60-80   30     63.06   6.60    56.21    
the Port of Umbrin                  60-80   47     77.65   7.10    56.46    
the Port of Mysia                   60-80   51     61.80   5.23    56.68    
the salt mines of Ulsyndar          60-80   34     76.58   6.00    57.39    
the Southern Vashnar Mountains      80-100  36     76.02   6.66    58.56    
Isaia                               80-100  38     73.28   6.47    59.42    
Zanzibaar                           80-100  120    74.55   6.96    59.46    
Grukai Swamp                        80-100  161    121.18  14.59   59.13    
the Ruins of Morindar               80-100  163    83.61   8.00    61.60    
Moghedu                             80-100  250    88.91   7.40    63.21    
the Northern Vasnari Mountains      80-100  101    84.05   6.94    68.83    
Quartz Peak                         80-100  44     79.95   5.97    69.83    
Wegava Valley                       80-100  35     58.71   5.42    69.83    
the Aalen Forest                    80-100  81     76.28   6.01    70.49    
Tenwat Prison                       100+    46     75.28   6.17    72.20   
the Mirror Caves                    100+    63     78.96   5.11    72.59    
Sirocco Fortress                    100+    119    93.57   7.18    76.37    
Istarion                            100+    219    117.57  7.75    76.06    
the Battlesite of Mourning Pass     100+    49     89.28   5.83    78.54    
Clockwork Isle                      100+    39     80.38   5.38    80.74    
Judgement Mountain                  100+    37     91.48   5.45    82.49    
the Lupine Hunting Grounds          100+    35     73.71   6.45    82.14    
Annwyn                              100+    51     99.01   5.70    85.70    
the Mines of Iskadar                100+    56     84.37   5.25    90.55    
Tir Murann                          100+    74     97.22   5.09    93.23    
The Gulf of Nilakantha              100+    38     111.18  7.10    94.01    
the Den of the Quisalis             100+    124    105.05  5.87    96.76    
the Underworld                      100+    167    115.08  7.26    97.78   
Annwyn                              100+    87     100.00  5.05    100.93   
the Azdun Catacombs                 100+    112    113.25  5.65    104.77   
the Isle of Prin                    100+    63     108.93  5.71    112.26   
Annwyn                              100+    45     118.00  4.40    126.81   
Annwyn                              100+    45     116.00  4.00    156.50  

Since this was released to forums I assume it's not secret information. Could we get an updated version that includes all the new zones as well as changes to previous zones since this was posted?

Cooper

Type AREAS in game

Aesgar

Makarios said:

Puxi said:

• Have you ever ate Flaming Hot Cheetos with chopsticks?
• Favorite food?
• Favorite country to vacation in?
• Years you have been involved as a player/admin in IRE games?
• What other games do you play in your free time?
• How many volunteer Immortals do you currently have?
• What is the fastest someone has gone from levels 1-99?

1. Nope.

2. I'll do a lot for a good steak.

3. I do like the US, because its different and I don't have to learn a new language.

4. I've been a player since around 2008. Volunteered in January 2013, got hired in October that year as a developer, got made co producer with Nicola at the end of April when Tecton went off to conquer the stars.

5. Not really any currently, because free time is somewhat of a luxury at the moment. I do dabble in some of the other ire games when I have an hour or so free, but its nothing particularly serious these days. Street fighter and Soul Calibur tide me over as my thing for playing with friends who think text games are weird (uncultured swines).

6. Quite a few!

7.  I couldn't quote you an exact number, but I believe about a game year. Maybe slightly longer, maybe slightly shorter. "Fast."

@Puxi I think @Karren set it at 14 days or so. He could give you the exact number.


Karren beat Aerial who beat Cathy and she beat Nemutaur who beat Penwize who beat someone, or something like that?

Xaden

Aesgar said:

Makarios said:

Puxi said:

• Have you ever ate Flaming Hot Cheetos with chopsticks?
• Favorite food?
• Favorite country to vacation in?
• Years you have been involved as a player/admin in IRE games?
• What other games do you play in your free time?
• How many volunteer Immortals do you currently have?
• What is the fastest someone has gone from levels 1-99?

1. Nope.

2. I'll do a lot for a good steak.

3. I do like the US, because its different and I don't have to learn a new language.

4. I've been a player since around 2008. Volunteered in January 2013, got hired in October that year as a developer, got made co producer with Nicola at the end of April when Tecton went off to conquer the stars.

5. Not really any currently, because free time is somewhat of a luxury at the moment. I do dabble in some of the other ire games when I have an hour or so free, but its nothing particularly serious these days. Street fighter and Soul Calibur tide me over as my thing for playing with friends who think text games are weird (uncultured swines).

6. Quite a few!

7.  I couldn't quote you an exact number, but I believe about a game year. Maybe slightly longer, maybe slightly shorter. "Fast."

@Puxi I think @Karren set it at 14 days or so. He could give you the exact number.


Karren beat Aerial who beat Cathy and she beat Nemutaur who beat Penwize who beat someone, or something like that?

Nope, was Matias. Karren is a close second though.

Puxi

Karren said 20 RL days. She said she hated herself and all if you after it. I believe it. 

Xaden

Matias was 16 rl days, 9 of which were logged in bashing.

I took 8 years, fuck y'all

Karren

Puxi said:

Karren said 20 RL days. He said he hated himself and all if you after it. I believe it. 

Fixed that for you. You're the second person today

Anedhel

Karren's a good person. She's so helpful. 

Antonius

Pretty much the entire Great Hunt was spent listening to "Wait, Karren's a guy?"

Karren

@Makarios @NicolaAre there any auction plans for a one time name change? I will choose a much more masculine name this go around.

Makarios

Armali said:

What was the reasoning behind approving Purification being blocked by selarnia?

I like making useless afflictions useful, and it doesn't get much more useless than selarnia.

Additionally, it was thematically appropriate and I wanted purification to be one of the better active cures, as the shaman has to give up a binding for it rather than just having it built in to the kit.

Makarios

Tahquil said:

@Makarios : would you be up to writing/dictating a guide with tips and tricks for visually impaired players to help them get into the game?

This is always something I'm happy to help with, though fair warning: tips only really go so far. I think any VI player can log in and play (muds are pretty much the ideal environment for that). It only really gets complicated in combat, and more so teams than one v one. I probably would not have read a VI guide if there was one when I'd started, because I'd rather just read the regular newbie guide. I think we can definitely do more to make the options that are available better represented (so everyone knows there is a screenreader mode etc), though.

As for the curve for pk, in one on one combat you can get away with using a lot of sound queues; you can't in team pk. So the reality is at some point you're going to have to learn to parse the giant wall of text very quickly, which involves a lot of scrolling around the buffer very rapidly. So unfortunately my advice for that would be "practice a lot", as there aren't many other options you've got. Just like a regular newbie getting into pk, basically.

Makarios

Korben said:

Are Icons coming back any time soon?

Not icons, but you'll see some more conflict systems crop up to tide you over. I'm not sure if we'll actually bring back icons in the form you know and love(hate?), but we'll definitely want to add a giant epic system at some point to fill that void for massive faction battles.

Makarios

Aegoth said:

How close was the tank Mhaldor just blew in Hashan (cuz they stopped fighting ) to getting lv 2?

I'd not have left.

Makarios

Mindshell said:

Feeding off that question, you guys seem to like big tanks. Why doesn't guard bashing progress sanctions/tank levels to break the impasse on "they won't engage"?

This is mostly down to the fact that while we know guard bashing is sometimes necessary (even just because you've had enough and need to prove a point for the good of your blood pressure), its not something we want to endorse as a "but guys, we need to do this", or as a mechanism to promote off hours raiding. I know its probably frustrating when people stop engaging, and I definitely think we can do more to break l2/3 tank impasses, but I don't think guard bashing would be a healthy option to fill that need.

Anedhel

Would it be super complicated to tie tank detonation thresholds to the current population in a given City while the kills are being recorded for feeding the tank? As in, a tank vs. a City with, say, 6 people in it, on-plane ('cuz they shouldn't count if they're on a ship or on an island or something), will blow with less kills than a tank vs. a City with 20 people in it, on-plane? Maybe there could be some time to get to the City if you're not available to defence before the threshold gets set, or something, and if the numbers change lots, it could go back to the standard? 

It just seems like, a lot of the time, one side'll get bored before you get the kills necessary for a level 2-3, unless to start with, it's like 15-against-15. 

Makarios

Jurixe said:

What sort of advice would you give to players who are trying to create their own additions to the game's lore and/or carve out their own niche? (past examples include POM, Revolutionaries, things that didn't exist before) What, in your opinion, is likely to be the primary reasons for their failure/success?

How would the Garden choose which sorts of player-driven plotlines to support, and which to ignore?

Is there any chance of getting more love in regards to drinks (drink creation or at least just the ability to pour a bottle into a glass?

How do you choose what's more important to work on first (combat vs rp things)?

What sort of advice would you give for people who want to run events but have never done it before? How much help can the Garden give players in events?

Is there any chance future promotions might be housing-related? There are just soooooo many minipets that it's getting ridiculous. Admittedly I know they might not be as popular.

Sorry if it's a lot of questions, I'm just throwing out a few that I think would be interesting to hear from you guys on!

1. Stick at it, and be consistent. Not everyone is going to like what you're doing, so you'll probably face a lot of opposition initially (or forever, even).

2. Too many factors there really. Quality of content, if we currently have need for something that said player created lore could help with, whether we think said lore is long-term sustainable, cohesiveness with the rest of the game world, etc.

3. There's always a chance!

4. We don't. We just do both. Often they go hand in hand, particularly for event systems! Classleads are the only combat scheduled thing that we try not to be flexible on where possible, but as you can see we shifted them a couple of weeks earlier this month to account for (..........................).

5. Try to plan out as much as possible, then accept that you'll probably have to throw out about 80-90% of it once players get their hands all over the proceedings. As long as you're ok with that, you'll probably do ok! For player run events, we can offer help but a lot of it comes down to content. If you want a ton of content creation we have to weigh up if its a good investment of time, like with all projects. Usually in that case the game as a whole is going to come first, unless your idea is particularly awesome (or you have a patron willing to invest the time, of course).

6. Too early to say. We will be doing something re: minipets cleanup, though.