42. Boxers. Norris. No. Did it stop? Probably not...but if I really thought about this I would probably never do it at all...this is better than nothing. Ask Ingrid..I have no idea AND drugs are bad http://www.livescience.com/health/05...nesthesia.html . Kinda. My back hurts from pulling fence posts out of the ground yesterday...normally I can wield the bat without pain.
Colin Cragg
This "Means" Cake
Past Game Director (2008-2011)
I won't be pushing to develop Neutral as an equal strength faction. Giving Clan the opportunity to become Omni would also not help. If there are actual balance issues they can be addressed...I think we have shown we are willing to look into old issues. Failure to "win" Neutrals over to the clan side was a very damaging blow to the Clan side...but was definitely a part of what makes AO a MMORPG. One person can make a huge difference...I can't code in better leadership for the Clan faction.
Colin Cragg
This "Means" Cake
Past Game Director (2008-2011)
We tried out the idea of VP dropping from individual kills on the BS for this years birthday. I think this went very well and will likely be added to the BS (as a regular thing) in the near future. BS win/loose scaling also needs some adjustment.
More PVP experiences and quests for VP should be coming in the near future...we just need more time.
Colin Cragg
This "Means" Cake
Past Game Director (2008-2011)
We'll think about it.
I don't think Gaute made it envisioning people doing this 2500 times. I do think we can probably do something to make it easier. Ideally we should also add some other ways of obtaining tokens.
Raid is for getting items and achieving larger goals...not for completing quests and getting XP/SK. I think Hecklers was an excellent example of "getting everything" in the same place and we don't want to do that again.
SL was essentially a relaunch of the entire game...it was huge. We won't be releasing anything on that scale anytime soon as you would be waiting 3+ years to get it. More Dungeons would be great. We are working on one now conceptually for the next unannounced booster.
Sounds fun.
Thank you for the suggestion.
Thank you for the suggestion.
Thank you for the suggestion.
Thank you for the suggestion.
We will not be updating the GUI anytime soon. You guys hate it every time we do.
Colin Cragg
This "Means" Cake
Past Game Director (2008-2011)
Colin Cragg
This "Means" Cake
Past Game Director (2008-2011)
A good deal is putting it very mildly. Most of the old items are "vendor trash". Updating these would be an enormous effort for very very little gain..given that for new players to "roll" these in missions would require clicksaver or enormous patience. I'm more inclined to provide missions with new decent lower-level weapons are rewards to help smooth out the nasty weapon aquisition problem at lower levels.
Decreasing quest monster spawn time has been going on for some time...as soon as we identify quest monsters on long timers we decrease them as soon as we can. Let us know what quests have this issue and we will get to changing it. That being said, I remember when we had significantly higher numbers and I also remember still having fun.
There will always be a "1% faster" leveling path, and as long as it exists players will follow it...even if it is mind numbingly boring. While I can't pretend I haven't done hecklers I did have some fun when I did. We will do what we have been doing the whole time...keep adding alternatives to current leveling process and players will choose their own path rather than us forcing them on it. That being said I think this is more an expression of displeasure of the speed of leveling than a real question. I would also like to mention that any in-game activity that has been done for 1000000's of hours over a period of 6 years can't really be described as a design "failure".
No level locking...ever. If anything we need to incentivise players to actually do the content in those zones. If the content isn't being done then it must not be worth it...reward adjustment is likely the route we will take. Quest-Style content is poorly rewarded in AO in terms of XP...I hope to change this.
It isn't an issue at all. All the content in LE represents an "opportunity" for an experience...purchasing the expansion does not forgo the achievement of actually completing it. Any legal issue surrounding our content would be laughable and certainly would be treated as such by the legal establishment. Just out of morbid curiousity...what content do you believe was not "Legally" accessible (with effort) in Lost Eden?
No we are not looking at making mech combat more involving. Mech Warrior is a completely different game...they do what they do well. I also think that the Pre-Order mech from LE is one of the best looking mech models I have ever seen. We are looking at adding some new "kinds" of vehicles at some point...but it isn't a burning issue.
If we add new vehicles there will likely be new global research to obtain them. I'm actually relieved that the global research was completed as quickly as it was...anything else would have been very very boring.
If that was the design you were nice enough to send me (twice at my request) concerning the low level alien sector it was a good one. If we haven't done something similar recently it is because we have been working on other content/fixes. I'm sure you can understand how busy we get. Excuse me now while I look at your 9th question. :P
Nope. The players have organizations, not the company. More access to aliens? Yes! Great idea. Why don't you start a newbie org and have a city? I'll give you the credits I farmed from selling XP-Stims!
I'd love to have an Armory for AO. I am also certain players would complain if others could look up their setups. I'm gratefull for the amazing sites our fans have built over time for you guys. We have a coder/designer who has been wanting to do this kind of thing..who knows when we might get a chance to start it. For now those other sites seem to work well...perhaps we'll have her finish her first playfield first..it looks great!
Yes.
With the next booster and new engine we will be investing in advertising. Before that we are satisfied with the large numbers of free players who try the game every day. Our immediate focus will be more along the lines of keeping new players rather than getting more to try it. Hundreds of thousands of players try AO every year...if that many stayed we would be laughing...exposure to new customers is not the current problem...retention of new players is.
A little mystery is ok. I won't be giving those secrets away.
They outleveled me quickly. I'm not finding the time I need to play..being busy with other things...like your 14th question.
I would generally agree with your ranges..but I would add "End-Game" at 215+.
Colin Cragg
This "Means" Cake
Past Game Director (2008-2011)
1. I don't mind the nemesis series...I would prefer that they were more "equal" from one profession to another. There will always be professions that are more difficult for some professions...I think this is ok as long as that profession has weaknesses to other professions. When strong classes lack a weakness we run into problems like we have now.
2. Pure luck offense like the Stun Procs is crap. Even the PVP crats hated it. What we replaced them with doesn't seem right either though...more work is needed on that one.
3. I'm not sure I agree on this one...it might be great to have done a great deal of preparation and be largely immune to the tools of others...but it can't be much fun for the person fighting you who finds all his tools useless because of something you did 6 months ago. Some things simply need to land...you can't prepare your way out of them completely Given the chance I would love to rework the perk system so it becomes "decreased" rather than "On or Off"...unperkable/unhittable is god-mode and boring for everyone else but the over-geared person. Seeing your toolset actually function in a diminished way has to be more fun than to see everything you do resisted all the time.
You can let me know what you think about a perk system rework when I reopen this thread...only a few thousand questions left...Damn you all and your thirst for information!!!
Colin Cragg
This "Means" Cake
Past Game Director (2008-2011)
Colin Cragg
This "Means" Cake
Past Game Director (2008-2011)
Bows - No idea...you might want to ask Metaing on TestLive about that one. I've never thought about it.
New Players - We'll take them whenever we can. If they see we are working on issues and in dialog with the community I don't think they will take it as a "bad" thing.
Map - We'll need to update them at some point soon. ICC needs a grid exit. I'm probably forgetting some completely logical story reason for why there isn't an ICC grid exit..Aythem will likely kill me for putting one in when she is away on vacation.
Breed locked weapons - Might be fun...but not immediate plans for that. Secret Information - Belith is my brother-in-law!
Statue thing - A statue of me in-game is the only thing that would be cheesier than Atroxes in thongs...I vote no.
Colin Cragg
This "Means" Cake
Past Game Director (2008-2011)