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Rimor - RK2 |
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Friday with(out) Means - August 27th, 2010: (re)Balancing Act- Wednesday 01 September, 2010
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With Means out at the Norwegian Game Awards we have Kintaii up and at it once again with this week's Friday with(out) Means!
Welp, Means is out today attending the Norwegian Game Awards in Trondheim so it's me again. Not really a *whole* lot to talk about this week but a couple of things to share here and there so I'll try and keep it brief (as brief as I can, at least - I mean this is still *me* we're talking about here and I tend to write like they're paying me per word [note: they ain't] ;P).
So last week saw us toss out the Fixer and Enforcer nano change documents. On the up side, most everyone seemed to like the Fixer changes. =D But about them Enforcers - Not quite as much positive feedback on that end. So today we're tossing out what is pretty much version 5 of the document with a bunch of additional tweaks and changes based around what you guys have had to say. I should note that this version of the document still doesn't include The Plan™ we have regarding Enforcers and being able to catch up with their target; still waiting on confirmation of code support before we start talking about this one to a wider audience. That said, if we *aren't* able to do what we want code-wise then we'll definitely be looking into alternative solutions to the issue using more normalized parts of the AO abilities. Hopefully this will work, though, as I think it's something that quite a lot of you would really enjoy seeing as an addition to your toolsets. =) MA's got Zazen, Keepers have received Clarion Call - We wanna be able to give Enforcers something unique as well.
I also think it's important here to state, again, that this *is* an iterative process, and we will continue making changes/alterations where need be both during the process of designing the rebalancing and past the point where the changes hit the Live dimensions. This isn't something where we're just tossing stuff out and saying "Here you go, enjoy it or not, we don't care" - Quite the opposite. We do take feedback seriously, and even though I won't claim that we'll always agree on all of the feedback we receive our goal is to make AO a more entertaining, engaging experience at the end of the day. To do that we are making sure we are dedicated to tweaking, adjusting and altering our work until it's *right*, and if this means further adjustments after it's been unleashed into the wild then so be it. Together, with the feedback from you guys and with the work from us, we *will* make this work.
I've also heard a lot of people on the forums raising concerns that we've 'forgotten' about PvM during this process and are focusing solely on the PvP balance of the game; far from it. PvM is actually a larger part of our design effort than most people seem to know. In this process of balancing and normalizing profession toolsets/stats/abilities one of our primary goals is to make the PvM aspect of our game more engaging for players of all levels while making the individual professions of AO feel as though they can actively contribute to a team-based environment, something that a lot of our current classes lack in many ways. That said, our goal isn't to destroy the soloing aspect of the game either, not in the slightest; as bitnykk put it over in the Balance Discussion forum, our goal isn't to provide "less solo action" but "more team action". We don't want to destroy that aspect of our game, simply enhance it, and with the changes that Genele and crew have been working on I think we're working very solidly towards that goal.
In further rebalancing news we still don't have the nemesis nano changes quite ready for public viewing yet, but they should be going up for the Professionals early next week - Work there has been slowed down a bit by both the changes we've been working on to the Enforcer document but also the work happening for the next profession in the pipeline: Bureaucrats. Genele's already started in on their nano document and we should have that out for the Professionals late next week as well (barring any disasters) with a public release shortly there-after. Again, when reading through these, please remember that we *are* open to changes and will listen to feedback given - We won't always *agree* with said feedback, but I hope that the changes to the Enforcer document show you guys just how vital gathering feedback is during this process. =)
Otherwise on the team Lindelu has been hard at work on the new Alien Daily Missions and is getting close to time for testing with them. To start there will be six individual missions, scaled across all level ranges, and a couple of team missions tied into the new Sector 7 playfield. As Genele has been keeping herself busy with the rebalancing work I myself will be giving her a hand with creating a few of the bosses in the new playfield, and I've got a few interesting ideas up my sleeves already. The Sector itself looks really great and is very different in terms of theme from the rest of the alien sectors already in-game; I think you guys will like what we've managed to come up with thus far once it gets out to the live dimensions.
Work on the open PvP playfield is more-or-less finalized at this point, with the official final name of the area being "SBC-Xpm Site Alpha-Romeo" (long name, but it's there for a reason i promise). What remains right now is working on separating the playfield for the individual level ranges in-game and otherwise shipping it out for the Live dimensions. There's still a couple more interesting things happening here which I'll leave Means to talk about when he's ready, but it should hopefully make you guys pretty happy overall - Some definite improvements on the horizon. =)
I also wanna take a few minutes to thank Chrisax and crew of the Testlive Squad, who've recently been putting in work on creating a 'floating object/visual error/worldbuilding bug' tool for the team, which has been a *massive* boon for us. His site tracks bug reports created around floating objects and other worldbuilding errors/issues in-game and gives us an easy way to look at visual issues in-game and fix them when we have the opportunity to do so (if we've gotta re-export Milky Way anyway, might as well take care of the floating trees in there while we're at it, after all). So major thanks to Chrisax, Darkbane, Dagget, Phoenix and all the guys who've put effort into the tool - You guys rock. =D
And yeah, that's about it from me. See? Not *that* long today - Under 1200 words, even! (yes, i count this as an accomplishment) Meantime, I'm gonna bust outta here like a bad habit - Me, MstrBstrd, and Daniel (one of the former AO artists) are about to go get our crunk on in da club. Or something like that. Have a great weekend, guys - See you all on Monday. =)
PS: The player gathering next month is shaping up to be one hell of a party! If you haven't checked out the details for it yet, make sure to visit this thread and read up. Hope to see you there!
Brad L. McAtee
Senior Designer, Anarchy Online
Enforcer Nano Changes - Aug. 27th, 2010.xls (requires an Excel-compatible spreadsheet program to open)
To view the original post on the official Anarchy Online forums, please visit the following link: http://forums.anarchy-online.com/showthread.php?t=580447
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Friday with Means - August 20th, 2010 - Enforcers + Fixers- Wednesday 01 September, 2010
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Not much to say but good stuff to show, as this week's Friday with Means contains the nano change documents for both Enforcers and Fixers upcoming in The Great Rebalancing!
This week was spent trying to put the finishing touches on the new PvP playfield while arguing about Nemesis Nanos and getting the Enforcer and Fixer nanos ready for release based on feedback...whew. Streamlining the process of getting to this playfield AND the BS will should be done next week with a probable to Live date the week after that...while some continue working on the Alien Daily missions.
Enforcers
What the excel spreadsheet does NOT say is that we have listened to the professionals about concerns that Enforcers will no longer be able to "catch up" to their target and we are working on a solution for this issue that the changes will introduce. The exact way we plan to handle this concern is something we will share once we are certain that it works. These are some pretty heavy changes...while
Fixers
The constructive feedback we have received from the professionals has been fantastic. This has been exactly the process we were hoping to work with to get this profession where it should be. I'm actually glad we are putting ourselves through this
Nemesis Nanos
The nemesis Nanos for Fixers and Enforcers should be in these documents...we plan to release the others next week.
On a side note I will be speaking at the Norwegian Game Awards in Trondheim next Friday. This should be a fun event and if any of you are there be sure to say "Hi!"
Have a great weekend everyone
Fixer Nano Changes - Aug. 20th, 2010.xls (requires an Excel-compatible spreadsheet program to open)
Enforcer Nano Changes - Aug. 20th, 2010.xls (requires an Excel-compatible spreadsheet program to open)
Colin "Means" Cragg
Game Director, Anarchy Online
To view the original post on the Anarchy Online forums, click here: http://forums.anarchy-online.com/showthread.php?t=580121
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AO Fan Gathering! Oslo, Norway - Sept. 11th, 2010!- Wednesday 01 September, 2010
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We on the AO team are holding a small, impromptu gathering of the fans here in Oslo, Norway next month and would love it if you could attend!
On September 11th, 2010, we will be holding a small, last-minute gathering of the fans here in Oslo, Norway at the Funcom offices and would be delighted if you could show! Activities include a tour of the Anarchy Online offices, a Q&A session with the development team, and drinking down at our favourite pub The Dubliner! More information can be found on our official forums at the following link: http://forums.anarchy-online.com/showthread.php?t=579926
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Friday With(out) Means - August 13th, 2010: Friday the whatnow?- Wednesday 01 September, 2010
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Kintaii steps in again and chats about the new PvP playfield and offers a brief update on the Rebalancing nano doc progress!
Amazingly enough, for a Friday the 13th, not a whole lot has gone wrong today. This amazes me on several levels - Not that I'm a superstitious man by any stretch of the imagination, but it seems that most days of my life tend to suck in general so the fact that this one hasn't been anything dire makes it stand out regardless of the date. We even got the chance to show a player around a bit today - Racheloblade dropped in to check out the office and look at some of the new stuff we're working on; even got to show him the new engine, despite the fact that Parsed is unfortunately out sick today. Despite a few bugs that have cropped up in the last week or so, he seemed to really like what he got the chance to see - At any rate we now have at least one more person in the world who knows that the thing really does exist.
It's been a really busy week for me personally, as I've been cranking out work on the new PvP playfield like mad. This has been my first real step into doing worldbuilding (IE: actually 'creating' playfields) and I gotta admit it's been a total blast; MstrBstrd and Flaptoot both have been huge helps in getting me aquainted to the... er... "nuances" of working with TIDE (our worldbuilding software), and despite the fact that it can be a bit obtuse at times I really have enjoyed messing around in there and getting a chance to actually shape the world as I see fit. There have been tons of changes to the playfield, which will hopefully be hitting Testlive early next week (and with any luck actually seeing Live shortly there-after). Here's a brief list of what you guys can expect to see in the new version:
HP/NP regain inside the tower area.
Improved and expanded teleportation into the PvP area (seriously proud of this one, for real).
Banking and Surgery Clinic terminals inside the tower.
More distinct 'areas' within the zone.
Warping into the playfield has been removed (no more bacon wrap).
Improved building collision - Still no jumping on top of the buildings, but you will be able to run underneath the overhangs and such.
No more fence near the 'junkyard' area!
More 'types' of Notum Miners running around with different pathing - They carry the same loot and are the same level, but at least now you'll see more than just the one regular Solitus Male wandering about.
More lights!
And a host of other little changes here and there. The playfield's really starting to get polished and it's about ready for prime-time; the next version we release to Live will still be just a testing version to make sure that we've got the last of the major bugs squashed out and then our next release after that should be the finalized version. I should note that there's still no shop in the tower area - This will be coming, but we're still working on getting the playfield set up to where you can use the various BS healing kits and such in there, so I didn't want to add the shop in until we have that working. There are a few other things we're working on spurned from the new area which will have a much larger influence on the game in general but I'm going to keep those quiet for just now as they're really dependent on getting code in the right spots - You'll have to wait to see what we've got up our sleeve on that front.
One thing I wanted to mention, though - Initially we talked about this playfield serving as a "waiting room" area for the Battle Stations. Now that we've had the playfield out on Live and have watched people going through, we're starting to rethink that a bit. Here's the thing - The only 'fair' way to tie this new playfield into the BS system is to *force* people to (A) sign up for the BS to get there, and (B) force people to *leave* and auto-join the BS when it runs. Now, in a perfect world, what would happen is that everyone would sign up, go kick it in the new playfield for a bit, and then go do a round of BS once it starts up. However.... I know you people. What's going to happen with that setup is that when the BS starts to run, people will just abandon ship - If we don't force them to join the BS, then it'll start and instantly finish due to a lack of people. If we *do* force 'em to join, they'll just accept the Deserter hit and end up grinding garbage eventually. This isn't fun for anyone - Not the people who want to join the new area, nor the people who just wanna start up a round of the BS. So we're thinking very heavily about separating the two and keeping the new area completely untied from the Battlestation, not forcing anyone to sign up for one just to be able to do the other.
Now, of course, this could potentially come with its own set of issues; naturally there's a chance that it will split the populace some, making BS run a bit less frequently. However, either way we go, there's that chance, and honestly it seems like its greater (and more annoying) if we go the route of forcing people to sign up for BS just to get to the new area. We've been reading the feedback posted in the 18.3 forums and this is a topic that's already come up quite a bit, with opinions from both sides of the debate. Since we can go either way at this point and nothing's written in stone, this is a chance for you guys to weigh in on what you think and how you feel about the situation. Do you guys think we should tie the new PvP playfield to the BS or not? And if we do, should we force people to join the BS after signing up if they're using this playfield? This is a tough decision on all fronts, so by all means share your opinion here in the thread. =)
While on the topic, I also want to thank everyone who's been running around in there and helping test the area/offering feedback. The amount of feedback we've gotten on the area has been fantastic, and most of it very valuable; getting the opinions and thoughts of the player base is always worth-while for us, particularly to me as a designer, and it's one of the reasons I really do wish we had more folks showing up on Testlive whenever we release a new update. Seriously, feedback *does* count for a lot when we're doing stuff like this, and the more feedback we receive the better the final product we can release to live. So if you haven't before, I'd really like you guys to consider checking out our Testlive forums, duplicating a character or two, and heading over there whenever we release a content update. Help *us* help *you*.
One thing I'm sure a lot of you guys are curious about: More Rebalancing documentation. Sorry to say we don't actually have anything this week, though - Between the big July Vacation Month thingy and other stuff cropping up at the office, work there has been slowed down just a bit. The Enforcer doc has been up for our Professionals for a couple of weeks now and is already being tweaked by Genele based on feedback, with the Fixer document set to go out to the Prof crew on Monday. With any luck next Friday will see Means tossing out both the Fixer and Enforcer documents for you guys, along with the finalized version of the long-awaited "Nemesis Nano" document. So yeah, next Friday should be pretty busy for you guys. =D
Aaaaaaaaaaaand... uh... hrm. Yeah, ok, that's about it I guess. Should be enough to get you guys settled into some calm, rational, mature discussion (read: ninteen posts of "first/second/3rd/89th" followed by six pages of people (A) wondering where the new engine video is [no i dont have it] and (B) trolling). Hope your Friday the 13th didn't completely blow, hope you have a great weekend, and we'll see you guys again soon. Cheers! =D
PS: Since I know someone's gonna ask, no, Means is just fine and was in the office today. Just had to dash out a bit early and was running really short on time, so I volunteered to take over the post. Nothing to worry about, The Man is just fine. ;P
Brad L. McAtee / Kintaii
Senior Designer, Anarchy Online
To view the original post on the official Anarchy Online forums, please visit the following link: http://forums.anarchy-online.com/showthread.php?t=579798
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AO Universe Developer Interview #3: Flaptoot- Wednesday 01 September, 2010
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In the third of their development team interviews, AO Universe sits down with Anarchy Online artist Flaptoot!
In this interview Flaptoot discusses his background as an artist and exactly what he's been up to the last two years since becoming a part of the Anarchy Online team.
You can read the interview by visiting AO Universe at the following link: http://www.ao-universe.com/viewtopic.php?t=4207
To comment on this article on the official Anarchy Online forums, please visit this link:http://forums.anarchy-online.com/showthread.php?t=579615
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Friday with Means - August 6th, 2010 - Preemptively Recursive- Wednesday 01 September, 2010
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With the new PvP playfield available for testing on the live dimensions, Means chats a bit this week about what's left to polish up in the new area and what to expect before its finally ready for prime time.
It was fantastic last night to sit in The Grind and just relax and listen to the show on Gridstream...thanks to all who kept me company...it was great to chat with you all. Good show too Nushen...really enjoyed it.
What made relaxing in The Grind so nice was that it was great to not be panicking on patch day. Everything seems to have gone out smoothly...and the "test" version of the new playfield has been running so generally well that the issues we are going to fix have not justified actually shutting it down in the meantime. People seem to be having a good time just casually shooting each other in a nice relaxed setting.
Things that will be fixed/changed:
1. People outsided the level range of the playfield will not be able to get in.
2. There will be a method of healing/nano refill inside the start area.
3. There will be no contagious flags inside the playfield.
4. More landmarks that make it obvious at quick glance where you are without having to look at the map.
5. Shop/Ammo/etc store added to the start room.
6. More random exits to different places in the playfield to avoid spawncamping.
7. A way to easily get back to the start area will be added.
8. More random fun elements will be added.
Things that likely will not change:
1. We will not be removing the ability to team. People will always be able to help each other in some way...even if it means simply not attacking each other. Nothing will truly prevent cooperation so there is no point in making it inconvenient for those who want to play together. I am not against the idea of some kind of "challenger" setup where it is always 1 on 1...but this isn't it.
2. Running on rooftops will not be in this area. Ranged professions enjoy a significant advantage everywhere and more so against pet professions. Allowing roof running would make this advantage larger than it already is. This can be the one place where standing on a box is not the best defense against a sophisticated kill robot. I know it would be fun to run accross the rooftops...but not for everyone.
Anyways, Kintaii/Mstrbstrd have done a great job in getting the playfield this far and I am sure they will get a changed version together soon for us to distribute accross all levels and get live soon.
Thank you again for all the helpfull feedback that will make this new area more fun for everyone.
Have a great weekend.
Colin "Means" Cragg
Game Director, Anarchy Online
To read the original post on our official forums, please click here: http://forums.anarchy-online.com/showthread.php?t=579500
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Friday with Means - July 30th, 2010 - Go Go Community!- Wednesday 01 September, 2010
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A slew of little tidbits from the Main Man this week, including some awesome news from the community and information on next week's update!
It isn't enough that we have one guy creating great new icons for us at the moment (Thanks Doc!) faster than we can implement them..but now you guys are helping us out with a badly needed upgrade to the default AO planetmap. Onack has supplied us with a "spoiler free" version of the map that all of you have been using for years (tweaked based on suggestions from all of you) that we are hoping to get in as the default map as soon as humanly possible. Demoder spent some time this morning helping me get a working version running internally here...and this should also take care of the little "Three Craters" issue with the GMS we have been having since the release of these playfields. If you haven't seen Demoder's tower war tracker site yet it is definitely worth a look: http://towers.flw.nu/content/
So again...Go community GO! It feels great to be working with such a big team This felt like a very good day.
In regards to further balance work, the "Enforcer" proposed changes are being released to the Professionals for a first look today. This represents some more significant changes to the profession and we hope to work through the feedback from the professionals over the next couple weeks. There will not be a different profession released next Friday simply because Genele will be enjoying a spreadsheet free week of well deserved vacation.
I am sorry that the release of the "Mystery Building" has taken as long as it has. We had some significant problems getting it to work correctly (not floating...doors working etc) as no new buildings had been added for many years and the documentation of these systems left a little to be desired. However..with ever cloud having a silver lining this delay gave Kintaii a chance to get the new open PvP playfield in a state ready for initial testing and we will be running some "event" type testing of this playfield on the live dimensions starting with the release of this update THIS WEEK. Possibly Tuesday but more likely Wednesday. This update will also include further tweaks to some of the daily instanced missions to make them scale *perfectly*. This update will also include new code to prevent friendly auras/aoe's from affecting your opponent in duels.
I am sorry that I don't remember specifically who asked me about a particular helmet being "not Shade" this week. As a team we have decided the "not Shade" tag is bad and will be removed from pretty much everything...ok..actually everything. There used to be some reason for it...but it stopped being valid a long time ago.
Have a great weekend!
Colin "Means" Cragg
Game Director, Anarchy Online
To view the original post on the official Anarchy Online forums, please click here: http://forums.anarchy-online.com/showthread.php?t=579169
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Anarchy Online Credits Security Guarantee- Monday 28 April, 2008
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The Anarchy Online Credits we selling are collected by our professional master players.
We guarantee:
*No hacked credits
*No game cheated credits
*No credits traced by Funcom
*No abnormal low or high credits prices
If you got Archchy Online account problems by shopping with us, we will compensate the same credits you ordered in case of you can offer sufficient evidence. |
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Specials
Erick Mongeau
