Q&A Time Again!

Nicola

Makarios and I consider ourselves to be pretty brave as Co-Producers go (unless you're a spider then you can jog on.) So! Being Friday the 13th, a fittingly traditional night of horror and torture, we're opening up this thread for all your questions!

This thread will be open all weekend, so ask away, and for the next couple of hours you'll be able to find us in person NE of NoNT! So feel free to stop on by, ask questions, or chat to us!

Wicella

Hi!

What is the current status of new divine, specifically Nature ones! I know it's been brought up in the past, but I was wondering if there were any updates on this.   Thanks!

Morthif

Do you consider this months promotion a failure and any chance on improving upon the idea? Mid month refresh now with better chances of robesthread and robesneedle?

Faur

Wicella said:

Hi!

What is the current status of new divine, specifically Nature ones! I know it's been brought up in the past, but I was wondering if there were any updates on this.   Thanks!

Not until they can find a new Lord Phaestus. Our Order has dibs! Joking, if I recall correctly, it's up to the person being moved up to Divine status, but I don't remember hear if any are yet at that point.

Makarios

Wicella said:

Hi!

What is the current status of new divine, specifically Nature ones! I know it's been brought up in the past, but I was wondering if there were any updates on this.   Thanks!

We can't really comment on this - we don't force volunteers to play a specific role, so this will basically happen when a volunteer applies and wants to play a nature god. Could be tomorrow, could be next year, etc.

Makarios

Morthif said:

Do you consider this months promotion a failure and any chance on improving upon the idea? Mid month refresh now with better chances of robesthread and robesneedle?

Definitely not a failure, its been pretty popular for the most part. Lots of grandmagi pieces entered the pool as well.

Kayeil

1.) Will you ever make shop logs a possibilty to show which items sold and for how much without revealing the buyer?

2.) Will you finish the remaining classleads under CLASSLEAD LIST SUBMITTED that have not been rejected or approved yet?

3.) Any plans to change hunting mechanics again? I find that gold cap is a hinderance to group hunts because the higher level and stronger person will usually take more of a hit to their gold cap than their companions, and this sucks for dragons who are more able to hit gold cap on a regular basis. So far I find there is little reason for dragons to hunt with non-dragons because of gold cap, having to choose risking them in higher level areas or going to lower level areas we shouldn't be in, and the only mechanic left to encourage it is battlerage. Forays only encourage group hunting of similar level companions, but hunting is a great bonding activity for citymates of all levels.

4.) Are there any plans right now to improve shopkeeping, like more options for pricing bins or handling enemies?

5.) How often do you look through submitted ideas?

Morthif

Makarios said:

Morthif said:

Do you consider this months promotion a failure and any chance on improving upon the idea? Mid month refresh now with better chances of robesthread and robesneedle?

Definitely not a failure, its been pretty popular for the most part. Lots of grandmagi pieces entered the pool as well.

Can you force people to sell to me then?

Kayeil

Oh and most other Orders seem to have heard or knew when their Divine and the person behind that Divine was leaving... however, communication with Lady Pandora has been very sporadic for over a year. May I ask if you know if she is still considered the person behind that Divine role, or has she stepped away from it? We really miss her, she is so fun to interact and talk with.

Makarios

Kayeil said:

1.) Will you ever make shop logs a possibilty to show which items sold and for how much without revealing the buyer?

2.) Will you finish the remaining classleads under CLASSLEAD LIST SUBMITTED that have not been rejected or approved yet?

3.) Any plans to change hunting mechanics again? I find that gold cap is a hinderance to group hunts because the higher level and stronger person will usually take more of a hit to their gold cap than their companions, and this sucks for dragons who are more able to hit gold cap on a regular basis. So far I find there is little reason for dragons to hunt with non-dragons because of gold cap, having to choose risking them in higher level areas or going to lower level areas we shouldn't be in, and the only mechanic left to encourage it is battlerage. Forays only encourage group hunting of similar level companions, but hunting is a great bonding activity for citymates of all levels.

4.) Are there any plans right now to improve shopkeeping, like more options for pricing bins or handling enemies?

5.) How often do you look through submitted ideas?

1. Improving the shops system is on our longterm goals list.

2. Yes.

3. Most likely not anytime soon.

4. See 1!

5. Often.

Tysandr

For ship trades, will you consider making the intermediary trades at each port procedurally generated?

Makarios

Tysandr said:

For ship trades, will you consider making the intermediary trades at each port procedurally generated?

Not something we've discussed, but quite possibly!

Krypton

What is the reasoning that Gare exits should enter defendable?

(Eta: "Solution 2 [exits at defendable] is the intended behaviour." sounds like this was always the plan from inception.)

Jonathin

Krypton said:

What is the reasoning that Gare exits should enter defendable?

$$$$$$

Makarios

Krypton said:

What is the reasoning that Gare exits should enter defendable?

(Eta: "Solution 2 [exits at defendable] is the intended behaviour." sounds like this was always the plan from inception.)

Basically because this is how most worked already and there were only a couple of ones that functioned differently.

Sobriquet

How do you feel Talismans have affected the balance of gameplay? Many have small combat implications in isolation which are fine, but are there any you have concerns about in combination?  Also, business income aside, any regrets with introducing them? 

Prythe

For those who were not there (took out some superfluous) :

Nicola says to Zulah, "In fact, the biggest release in Achaea's history will be happening before the year is out."

Zulah, The Legendary Gambler says to Nicola, "Oooo?"

"Oooooooooh!" you say to Nicola, eyes wide with wonder.

"Oooooooooh!" Thalak says, eyes wide with wonder.

Nicola says, "Super Oooooo."

Zulah, The Legendary Gambler says, "That tease."

You say in a firm, but gentle voice, "Super ooo even!"

Shirszae looks surprised and says to Nicola with a faded Kamleikanese accent, "...Tease."

You say in a firm, but gentle voice, "Better than chocolate?"

Zulah, The Legendary Gambler says to Nicola, "You were just weaiting to drop that."

Melodie says to Nicola with a flowing, cultured accent, "How do you qualify "big", exactly?"

Discurean Ranger, Ahmet Ter'sez says, "Bigger than Meropis? ."

Nicola says to Melodie, "Bigger in terms of build and development time and scope."

Nicola says, "And bigger than Meropis."

Makarios, the Meticulous says, "Bigger than the last three times its been said."

Keorin

In your opinions, what are the best ways that players can help make things more fun for godrole admins? It seems like those roles see a heck of a lot of burnout, right now.

Makarios

Sobriquet said:

How do you feel Talismans have affected the balance of gameplay? Many have small combat implications in isolation which are fine, but are there any you have concerns about in combination?  Also, business income aside, any regrets with introducing them? 

No real regrets with these. The crucible was the only problematic one I feel we introduced, but I think we've got that in a much more reasonable spot now. We do have some plans on how to improve this system going forward, though.

Krypton

Start a Patreon account for them XD

Makarios

Keorin said:

In your opinions, what are the best ways that players can help make things more fun for godrole admins? It seems like those roles see a heck of a lot of burnout, right now.

Do stuff and be positive. If your negative and not doing things, its hard to get excited for people who are a step further removed than you.

Jurixe

Recently Imperian announced a new role where players don't have to give up their characters but will be able to play an RP entity. Do you think something like that will ever happen in Achaea?

Any love for housìng or housing servants anytime soon? 

Makarios

Jurixe said:

Recently Imperian announced a new role where players don't have to give up their characters but will be able to play an RP entity. Do you think something like that will ever happen in Achaea?

Any love for housìng or housing servants anytime soon? 

We're keeping an eye on how it pans out for them, fairly confident it will not be an Achaea addition, however. Imperian is working under a different set of constraints to us in many ways so their requirements are different.

More housing changes is definitely on the cards - probably not this year, but it is something we can always add more of.

Jurixe

Wow I had more questions but the forums ate them.

Any plans for adventurer cities on Meropis?

Will it ever be possible for clans to own subdivision housing and/or to make furniture dropping permissions/facilities like stables shareable? Currently the cost for many of these is prohibitive for a single person but worthwhile if sharing.

Why does housing have to be destroyed upon a person's retirement, especially out of subdivision? Could any exceptions be made for housing that has had a significant RP impact?

What part of your daily Achaea routine do you most enjoy?

Tahquil

Delosian Eagles?

Also how does the admin feel about how the mementos program rolled out in actuality?

Edit: also, how is Aurora doing?

Makarios

Jurixe said:

Wow I had more questions but the forums ate them.

Any plans for adventurer cities on Meropis?

Will it ever be possible for clans to own subdivision housing and/or to make furniture dropping permissions/facilities like stables shareable? Currently the cost for many of these is prohibitive for a single person but worthwhile if sharing.

Why does housing have to be destroyed upon a person's retirement, especially out of subdivision? Could any exceptions be made for housing that has had a significant RP impact?

What part of your daily Achaea routine do you most enjoy?

1: No plans for Meropis cities.

2: Possibly!

3: We can't do exceptions here. Its because of how retirement is handled behind the scenes for us.

4: I enjoy touching base with our team, because its usually what keeps each day different. At least someone will have some new idea/concept/must have.

Makarios

Tahquil said:

Delosian Eagles?

Also how does the admin feel about how the mementos program rolled out in actuality?

Edit: also, how is Aurora doing?

Delosian eagles will happen, we are resolved.

Pretty happy with resolutions generally speaking - they were always intended as a small side thing just for fun and I think they mostly fill that role.

Morthif

Tahquil said:

Edit: also, how is Aurora doing?

She is still bound to her bed but she was recently allowed to go home. She's as she always is. In very good spirits.

Dairon

This is my first time participating in one of these Q&A's! I just want to say thank you guys for all the great work and awesome content. I've got a couple of questions regarding talismans. 

1. Is there a reason for such a high drop rate of azatlan knives? They've got limited functionality and the drop rate on those are abnormally high compared to the rest. It's not that I want higher drop rates on the others, I just wish I'd stop seeing azatlan knife pieces. 

2. Will you introduce a redemption value for seafaring and wonders pieces? 

3a. Do the seafaring talismans drop from the random caches for this month's promotion? 3b. Will seafaring talismans make a return in the near/far future?

4. The talisman market seems to be dysfunctional due to two reasons. First, the pricing is entirely based on the seller, which does not allow for interaction between the buying and selling parties, which results in the same pieces being offered for exorbitant prices. Secondly, this often leads to an over-estimation of the selling price, which in turn further discourages talisman sets being completed (which ultimately lessens the value of the promotion packages in the eyes of the player/customer). I know likely a lot of work and very unlikely, but having a bidding system for the talisman market would fix some of the issues. I feel like many people would attempt to make/create more talisman sets if they could find more reasonable prices. 

Mindshell

Diving:
Do you have a list of all possible treasure that can be found?
How does a dives chance to find treasure function nowadays, there's only ever one bell and do zones get farmed out and/or is there a risk/reward setting to the zones you choose to dive?

Population:
Can we get another state of Achaea classes/races breakdown again?

Work:
What's been your favourite addition to Achaea this year?

Personal:
Who is the punniest?

Ahmet

For those who missed the live Q&A

Q: To clarify, it is 3 people in the [ranked spar] queue before it will start matching yes?

Nicola says, "Should be, yes."

Makarios, the Meticulous says, "It will not always match you."

Makarios, the Meticulous says, "It has some things to only match people who fit certain criteria."

Q:Are there still plans to use Delosian Eagles as a form of currency?

Nicola says, "Yep!"

Q: As a sort of guiding philosophy, do you prefer perfect offense or perfect defense as an overall design schema?

Makarios, the Meticulous says, "Neither, if you can achieve either we need to fix something."

Q: As far as consecration/desecration mechanics go, are you happy with the inability of non-Order members to participate in shrine conflicts?

Makarios, the Meticulous says, "Yes."

Q: Any plans to remove, repurpose, open, or otherwise solve the issue of all those old temples, househalls and other areas?

Nicola says, "There are plans, but not how you'd imagine."

Makarios smirks.

Q: Any ETA on getting the underworld back, so people will stop complaining things down there end up on foozle cards?

Nicola says, "Soon, not as soon as birthday cards, but Soon."

Nicola says, "Other things keep getting in the way, but we are eager to see it open again."

Q: Can the Ur'vamps just be... removed from the foozle cards? Ugrach too. He's a bit tough.

Nicola says, "Possibly."

Q: Are you all-around pleased with the way folks get into the inner underrealm?

Nicola says, "I'd like to see it used more, but I like the purpose that it serves."

Nicola says, "And I feel like if Targossas or another city wants to get in there, it's a nice avenue for discussions and awkward IC negotiations."

Q: What city has gotten entry at the Underrealm the most so far?

Nicola says, "Hashan!"

Q: Is it possible to get into the Garden of the Gods without Divine intervention?

Nicola says, "There may be!"

Q: What is the rough timeline for UW reopening?

Nicola says, "Soon."

Nicola says, "But less Soon than birthday card rewards."

Q: Are there any ways that some of the old temples could possibly be opened? I really rather miss spending time in Lady Miramar's temple.

Nicola says, "They won't be opened, but we do have plans for them."

Q: Are there any big world events on the immediate horizon? Or more focus on smaller things that need working on.

Nicola says, "Yes and yes."

Nicola says, "In fact, the biggest release in Achaea's history will be happening before the year is out."

Nicola says, "Super Oooooo."

Q: How do you qualify "big", exactly?

Nicola says, "Bigger in terms of build and development time and scope."

Q: Bigger than Meropis?

Nicola says, "And bigger than Meropis."

Makarios, the Meticulous says, "Bigger than the last three times its been said."

Nicola says, "I can say for certain that it is not the expansion of Cyrene."

Nicola says, "It could have been Azatlan, but it's not."

Makarios, the Meticulous says, "Safe to say it is not something that will be guessable."

Q: Speaking of continents, any plans to expand on the lore of the other continents? (outside Therophage, that is).

Nicola says, "No immediate plans."

Q: How do you guys feel forays turned out? Up to expectations? Above? Below? Sideways?

Nicola says, "I love how forays turned out."

Q: Nobody does them anymore, though. The rewards are not really commensurrate with the deaths.

Nicola says, "For those that they're really designed for, death isn't a turn off."

Makarios, the Meticulous says, "I think we need to reevaluate the rewards a little, but happy with how they worked out."

Q: In regards to forays, how are the 'rankings' for them calculated?

Nicola says, "Completion and foray difficulty."

Makarios, the Meticulous says, "We weight forays based on difficulty and that plays into the ranking worth."

Q: Could we get a quick breakdown of the Black Wave potential endings? I don't think I missed that anywhere, but I could be wrong.

Nicola says, "I don't really want to give out the possibilities we had for Black Wave. Just because we didn't end up using them then doesn't mean they're locked out, it might spoiler future stories."

Makarios, the Meticulous says, "There are also lots of things we did show that noone have figured out yet."

Nicola says, "Kal-tai-vakha as a race was one." [Possibly a joke?]

Q: Are the Tsol'teth and the black wave stories related to the underworld, not just the underrealm?

Nicola says, "Events news should give you some insight there."

Nicola says, "What with Slith and Thoth and so forth."

Q: How likely is it that we'll be getting new lore for the playable races? Most of them have next to no real lore, and haven't for the entire time I've played, but player created lore always ends up stuck in this weird grey zone where everyone knows that it could be replaced at any time.

Nicola says, "If player created lore is submitted to us, we're always willing to take a look, no guarantees on if we deem it suitable for acknowledgement."

Nicola says, "But I don't plan on combing every clan in game to see if there's some clhelp with a story idea in it."

Q: Do you know if the Keepers of the Song lore/history submitted for Sirens was ever submitted or rejected/approved?

Nicola says, "It'd be acknowledged by the denizens or an event if it were."

Q: Is there an official channel for submitting world ideas?

Nicola says, "RP@achaea.com."

Q: Are there any plans to do anything to support class roleplay? Multiclass and the Renaissance, for all their awesomeness, seem to have gutted that side of things pretty hard, and I rarely see classes discussed beyond being a choice of mechanics, anymore.

Nicola says, "There is absolutely nothing stopping players from roleplaying, and we aim to support where we can and notice."

Q: It would be cool if you guys could highlight stuff in double quotations the same color as say text in long form emotes. Is there any way you could do that?

Nicola says to Armali, "It's not something we really want to do, due to the number of players on Achaea that becomes quite expensive [performance-wise]."

Q: There are some projects as far as the city, house, and order that have been languishing. Is there anything aside from waiting that we should be doing to accomplish these things faster?

Nicola says, "Patronage requests are best for cities and Houses to get things done. Orders require a God and I can't comment on the likelihood or not of that."

Q: Are there any plans so far for the use of leadership points left over from the time of the icons?

Makarios, the Meticulous says, "No, we should probably just remove those."

Nicola nods Her head emphatically.

Q: Are resolutions going away at the end of the year, or are they here to stay?

Nicola says, "I don't hate them, so resolutions may well stay."

Q: So uh... Artisanals and Bardics. They went from monthly to three months to... whenever? Any chance they'll start being more regular?

Nicola says, "Probably not more regular for artisanal and bardics, but as world events allow and I fix up the website to make submitting possible."

Q: What -was- the purpose that bardics and artisenals were designed for, then? It was sad to see them go, even if I never really managed to compete in them.

Nicola says, "Originally they were designed to help supply content for Achaea."

Nicola says, "Artwork for races and events, lore expansions and the like."

Q: With commodities moving into the player's hands for the most part, what should we be expecting to happen with wood, leather, rope, et cetera?

Makarios, the Meticulous says, "Something."

Q: On the note of commodities, will lode availability be increasing or adjusted at all? They seem faily locked down furrently.

Makarios, the Meticulous says, "Lode availability is based on current demand, we adjust it periodically but them being highly contested will likely always be the case."

Q: Any new talisman sets that will be obtainable by in-game methods planned?

Nicola says, "Yes!"

Q: How has Shikudo and Depthswalker panned out, in your eyes?

Makarios, the Meticulous says, "As for Shikudo and Depthswalker."

Makarios, the Meticulous says, "Pretty happy with how Depthswalker and Shikudo turned out generally speaking. Shikudo still needs a few more tweaks, but it only had a couple of weeks of dev time compared to the year we put into Depthswalker."

Makarios, the Meticulous says, "So mostly happy."

Mathilda says in a low, melodious voice, "Are there going to be more Greater Miracles for orders?"

Makarios, the Meticulous says, "We have more greater miracles planned."

Q: Are lay orders ever going to become somewhat relevant? Or congregations or the like?

Nicola says, "We hope so, yes."

Q: Will there be a bonus to folks who completed the entire [birthday] card, over say.. 15?"

Nicola says, "Perhaps."

Q: Can we convert talisman pieces to other talisman pieces of the same set for a small gold fee or credit fee? Maybe 10% of the redeem value.

Makarios, the Meticulous says, "No talisman rerolls."

Q: Can only coders fix bugs?

Nicola says, "Depends on the bug."

Diplomat Ictinus, Arcane Architect says, "It depends on what the bug is."

Q: Do you make volunteers take exit interviews?

Nicola says, "We try to find out why someone leaves where possible, yes."