Questions and Answers from the DevChat "Test".
[15:21] <gaute> nice meeting you
[15:21] <Cz> Ok, let's get started with this test then...
[15:22] <Marius> #t !' 5br
[15:22] <Cz> Basically, Devchat (the op) is a bot whom you can send questions to. We have our filtering people, and some auto.filters, and assign it to the correct dev for answering.
[15:23] <Cz> Please do not spam it too much to behin with. We want to test the system normally first, then do a load test afterwards.
[15:23] <Cz> begin*
[15:23] <Lucien> To send a question just /msg devchat <question>
[15:23] <Cz> Maybe a quick presentation of all the Funcom peeps first?
[15:23] <gaute> Hello, everyone. I am Gaute, the Game Director
We shall today talk about... Shadowlands
[15:23] <gaute> (quick huh)?
[15:24] <Belith> Hello everyone. My name is Johan Karlsson and I am the Lead Designer of Anarchy
[15:24] <Marius> Hello guys! I am Marius Enge and I work as a game designer on AO ..
[15:24] <Lucien> Hey, I'm Lucien the destr... err Customer Service Coordinator
[15:24] <blackmane> Hello, I am Andrew Griffin and I am a game designer on AO, mainly on the nanos
[15:25] <Cz> And I'm the Community IRC macsot
[15:25] <Cz> Ok, feel free to start sending questions to Devchat
[15:26] <gaute> Ok, are we going to have a Shadowleet?
[15:26] <gaute> (question from myself)
[15:26] <gaute> Yes we are! He is the AO mascot and shall not be forgotten!
[15:27] <gaute> He will be cute, but beware!
[15:27] <gaute> He hides some nasty surprises ;p
[15:27] <gaute> Azzazzimon: hello, what will happend to all xp we got after lvl 200 when sl comes out? will it just get removed
[15:28] <gaute> You will get Shadowknowledge! This will take over your XP bar, and you will advance with experience no more.
[15:29] <gaute> You will only gain this knowledge through killing certain monsters, not everyone.
[15:29] <gaute> You will not see the xp anymore Azzazzimon
[15:30] <gaute> but the stat will still be there, hidden from you.
[15:30] <gaute> hm, you cant really use it for anything though. Did that answer it?
[15:31] <gaute> You actually do not get anything past the max you see. The stat is maxed out.
[15:31] <gaute> it isnt added up. it has always been lost ,(
[15:34] <gaute> Lorrides: with all the new things in sl are we going to have new ipr?
[15:35] <gaute> We havent decided yet. We shall think about it.
[15:35] <Lucien> Remember you can send questions for the devs (its probably the best chance you'll get to get your questions answered!) by simply sending a msg to Devchat with the question
[15:36] <gaute> Dhurdahl: the info we have gotten so far on sl points ao in the direction of more and more team based content. so how soloable will sl be?
[15:36] <gaute> It will still be soloable. There will be mission dungeons. There will be soloable monsters. It will take longer though. You dont have to play for ever as solo to get anywhere, but you will have to play longer...
[15:37] <gaute> scrapFx: can you get shadowknowledge pre level 200?
[15:37] <gaute> No. The Shadowknowledge is something you get when you have committed your life to your faction with the Redeemed and Unredeemed. This committment you can only do at level 200!
[15:38] <Marius> Iranu: shadowlands sounds almost a new game with a new skill tree, when shadowlands arrives will there be any point in actually playing on the real rubi-ka any more?
[15:38] <Marius> marius: Yes, there will still be enhancements made to the exsisting Rubi-Ka and still fun stuff to do there. Just like with Notum Wars, that changed gameplay alot, the same will happen with SL. You will only get more of an option really
[15:39] <gaute> Sin_Chase: will jobe clusters (nano regen, ncu clusters etc) be available to buy in sl as the city of jobe itself i making an appearance
[15:39] <gaute> Yes, most likely, atleast the ones under 200...
[15:39] <gaute> (but dont hold me to it if we change our minds. it is to do with balancing later
[15:40] <Marius> Iranu: when is shadowlands going to be released?
[15:40] <Marius> marius: in the future
[15:40] <Cz> haha
[15:40] <Lucien> haha
[15:40] <Marius> sorry, cant give out dates you know
[15:40] <blackmane> Lorrides: tell us a bit about the new nanolines you will introduce in sl
[15:41] <blackmane> The bulk of the nanos coming in SL will be more powerful versions of the existing lines - more powerful pet summons, more powerful nukes for the NT (really more powerful!), better heals, etc. The nanos are really about increasing your power to the levels needed to survive in the SL playfields
[15:42] <gaute> Lorrides: will the new breeds have great advantage over the old in sl
[15:42] <gaute> Hm, the Shadowbreeds are NOT something you select, it is something you become. It is a metamorphoses of the breed into something that will expand into your true nature. Like the inner power of a hero. It will be very powerful!
[15:42] <gaute> scrapFx: are there any major updates or changes to tradeskills in shadowlands?
[15:42] <gaute> Yes! There will be so many new, handcrafted, tradeskill processes. Some of the best weapons, armor and other stuff can ONLY be made with tradeskills... It is one of the major foci for Trond (Jim Salabim), he loves TS!
[15:42] <Marius> Sin_Chase: how will normal skills develop, such as agility, strength etc develop when gaing the 20 shadowlevels, will we be able to raise them beyond our breed cap - ive seen new armous that have impossible skill requirements..
[15:42] <Marius> marius: With the Shadowbreeds the characters will be lifted to a new level of power
[15:43] <Marius> Bothacker: do the new shadowbreeds make a diffrence to npc reaction?
[15:43] <Marius> marius: If you are talking about the PC shadowbreeds, they do not alter anything in regards to other NPC's
[15:43] <gaute> Heimdal: will the monsters we have to kill for shadow knowledge be easily accessible or will they be like what we today call unique mobs?
[15:43] <gaute> no, they will be all over shadowlands. almost all monsters and human can give shadowknowledge if they are alligned to your opposing faction... The balance of this have yet to be tested...
[15:44] <gaute> The SK is a mix of experience and Faction bonus...
[15:44] <gaute> If you are Redeemed, and the monster you slay is Unredeemed...
[15:45] <gaute> The Shadowknowledge gained is like a mix of your faction times their, if you get my drift...
[15:46] <Cz> Sin_Chase: have criteria for sl beta testers been set yet and how will selection be carried out?
[15:47] <Cz> Some criterias are set for the first round of beta. It's going to be very selective, focusing on quality over quantity. QA qill have final word on this selection, at least in the first few starges.
[15:47] <Cz> stages*
[15:47] <gaute> Gridfan: why not call shadowlands for anarchy online 2: the shadowlands ? because imo, this is lije a ao2. awsome love the info/photos/music etc released so far
[15:47] <gaute> Because the Shadowlands is for the existing players. You dont have to start all over, you dont have to buy a new account. It is more of a new game than any other EP ever made though. Jokingly, Sverre, one of the world designers, call it a "out-of-the-world-experience" an ambientic explorative journey through the past and the future...
[15:47] <gaute> Heh, and excitement too
[15:48] <blackmane> Sin_Chase: any info on whats ahppeneing to the ma profession in sl ? :p
[15:49] <blackmane> MAs in shadowlands will be the highest dealer of melee damage *when they are using their fists* - at least that is the plan. An MA using a weapon instead of their fists won't be doing nearly as much damage as an MA using their fists - we are trying to get the MA focussed back on using their fists, not weapons.
[15:49] <blackmane> Lorrides: (just since dev is here), when is the high lvl nt nano-prog buff going to drop? (i know this isnt about sl, but its needed to make high ql refined imps :p )
[15:49] <blackmane> The tradeskill parts for the Living Codex were forgotten (oops! my bad). I think they are coming in 14.8, so you should be finding it then.
[15:51] <gaute> Azzazzimon: we cant use yalmas and other vehicles in sl, will we have to travel by foot or will there be other ways? and what other ways?
[15:53] <Lucien> ok fyi going to restart Devchat for the next part
[15:53] * Cz : Ok, thanks everybody for the Q&A test. The devs like it, and it seems efficiency in getting answers increasd a lot compared to the last dev chats.
[15:53] <gaute> No, thats true. No flying or other "Rubi-Ka vehicles". There will be many ways to travel though. First, there will be access keys to take you to your garden. There will be gardens for each faction in every playfield. These can also be used to go from one Playfield to another.
[15:53] <gaute> I guess we are still ironing out the details, so i wont say more. What i can say is that ease of travel will still be something that should be an AO hallmark. It will only be, hm, slightly more challenging. I think you will enjoy it
There will never be any corpse-recovery or other travel-forced time sinks in ao...
Some Questions and Answers from the chat after the test (open chat)!
[16:01] <Poweredge|1> anyway... I'll say again "[15:04] <Poweredge|1> When are soldiers reflects and TMS clashes and NCU problems going to be finally resolved?" hehehehe
[16:01] <Lucien>
[16:01] <gaute> Does soldiers have Reflects?
[16:01] <blackmane> Shadowlands
[16:01] <Poweredge|1> we used to at about 11.6
[16:02] <gaute> Lol
[16:02] <Azzazzimon> Same as NS, when using that rrfe should only be temporary removed, not canceled...
[16:02] <Marius> this was very efficient ..
[16:02] <gaute> Then you had 190% reflects. The monstes killed themselves quicker than their damage output
[16:02] <gaute> i remember it well
[16:02] <sun|work> now he'll tell you reflects were supposed to be removed
[16:02] <Poweredge|1> yeah... slightly over-balanced
[16:02] <Tanis> mmmmmmm slayers
[16:02] <Tanis> Ok I cant break the bot
[16:02] <gaute> balanced has nothing to do with it
[16:02] <Tanis> >:(
[16:02] <Poweredge|1> hehehe
[16:03] <Poweredge|1> you looking into the whole TMS/reflect/NS and NCU issue tho Gaute?
[16:03] * Azzazzimon remember his first PvP fight, dimached himself to death when attacking a soldier
[16:03] <Tanis> hehe
[16:03] * sun|work wants pistols with Aimed Shot
[16:03] <gaute> Blackmane replied
[16:03] <blackmane> it'll be fixed in SL Poweredge. We have a new system for stacking that is independent of NCU cost, so I will finally be able to fix all those oddities
[16:04] <Poweredge|1> ahh wicked... thanks Blackmane
[16:04] <sun|work> fix reet + evade buffs stacking too please
[16:04] <blackmane> reet is an evade buff as well ... not sure about that, it isn't as clear cut as the reflect issue...
[16:04] <Cz> Oh, I got one more Q assigned to me... better answer that one.
[16:05] <Cz> Nexsus: is the beta test stil slated for late april/eraly may ?
[16:05] <Cz> Yup
[16:07] <scrapFx> gaute, FIX ENGENEERZ PLZ!!!!!111
[16:07] <scrapFx>
[16:07] <gaute> hm, fix = nerf?
[16:08] <Gridfan> lol
[16:08] <Torg|work> nerf engies!!!
[16:08] <scrapFx> "Engineer slayerdroid tried to hit you, but missed!"
[16:08] <scrapFx> "Engineer slayerdroid hit you for 12 points of melee damage."
[16:08] <gaute> Lol
[16:09] <gaute> Ninja nerfs!
[16:10] <gaute> Seriously, we dont like nerfing. In fact, we hate it! It would be good to discuss with the AC2 people, though, about "Nonerf" policy - and its inner workings...
[16:11] <Destructiva> gaute: how about you introduce a item decay on all items so people with nodrops will cry? :>
[16:12] <gaute> item decay could not work at this stage in the game. It would be the biggest nerf ever, im afraid
[16:12] <Destructiva> gaute: I am all for mass destruction :p
[16:13] <gaute> there will be new grenade launchers in SL's
[16:13] <Belith> We want to improve all weapons for shadowlands, grenade launchers included
[16:13] <Destria> Does that include Omni-Med Cream cakes?
[16:13] <gaute> eh, not improve old ones.
[16:13] <gaute> make new ;=)
- Transcript/edit by Gridfan of GridStream Productions (http://www.gridstream.com)
