Monthly Development Update - 28th February 2014

[Psikie]

With mandatory inspect, "evenly matched" PVP will decline, getting sure-fire ganks will increase.

Ah, and nobody would ever use inspect in PVP to kill the weakest geared and avoid the best geared, am I right? So yes, no downsides...

Ok i'm calling BS on this one again. You seem so pre-occupied with PVP but the reality is that pvp is OPTIONAL. No one making you subject yourself to it.

I say BS because honestly even on BS once someone encounters you they either kill you or run away. That is not going to change regardless of your gear. Either they can beat you and farm you for BS duration or they avoid you for the duration. That is not going to change. If you think somehow during a fight instead of hitting perks/buttons people are going to sit down and inspect you, maybe you should give them a reason to pay attention to the fight lol.

I think that is just a smoke screen. As far as duels, again no one is making anyone accept duel requests, you can look at it on the flip side also. Those players with maxed out best end game gear won't be able to get duels because no one will want to fight them.

[Leetlover]

ceo-interview snippets:

It surprises me to find that all of Funcom's games, from the 13-year old Anarchy Online to The Secret World, are all running at a steady profit.

"We think that revenues will still decline until the launch of LEGO, that's our prediction. Now we've done all the restructuring, operating costs will be stable. Revenue in existing games will slowly decline over time, that's the long term trend. It will have bumps, but we don't expect anything major to happen. The strategy is to maximise the revenue we can get and minimise cost. That's the strategy we're using for our online portfolio and we hope to be as innovative as possible with our new projects."


http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2014-03-12-funcom

I guess there goes the 'fix ao' hope, economists...tsk tsk coulda learned from mistakes and revamp current games, imo.

[Antimony]

The strategy is to maximise the revenue we can get and minimise cost. That's the strategy we're using for our online portfolio and we hope to be as innovative as possible with our new projects."[/I]

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2014-03-12-funcom

I guess there goes the 'fix ao' hope, economists...tsk tsk coulda learned from mistakes and revamp current games, imo.

Now we know why our TSW director posted this silly idea that inspect will catch cheaters.

Awesome way to maximize revenue and minimize cost if your customers do the work for you!

We pay FC to do their work. They are so full of crap, it's sad.

[ultion]

I think based on that interview posted, we can expect little more than money grabs from FC with regard to all of their MMO titles. They do not seem to have much hope for any of the games other than the future low budget titles they will attempt to crank out pump and dump style.

[Gimpynoob]

It makes me sad sometimes to be always right. Next patch will bring a lot more P2W to the item store, a few changes to game mechanics that will replace the existing FOTM setups with new ones, a new "easy mode" startup area and EXACTLY zero fixes to all the fubar game content.

And the reason the inspect feature is going to be turned on is to shame noob players into using the item shop more.

PS: Where I was born we have a saying "there is none blinder than the one who doesn't want to see".

[Dragocze]

I don't mind inspect change. But I don't think, that anyone (our game director included) believe, that it can help with exploit reports. As I know, equip requirements are also validated by server, not just client. So what kind of exploit you can find? I think, that this change is for new players, to help them understand, what veterans use. Also item shop theory, can be right.

[Leetlover]

I think based on that interview posted, we can expect little more than money grabs from FC with regard to all of their MMO titles. They do not seem to have much hope for any of the games other than the future low budget titles they will attempt to crank out pump and dump style.

Played aoc a little the other day, and on each logon the itemshop (in which they sell power) loaded up. Talk about giving bad taste a whole new level of lame hope it not happen in ao.

My biggest issue is that there is almost no 'game' anymore. Except in pvp and certain pvm-encounters.

Many mmo's fill their product with bloatware and don't focus enough on creating good games.

[ultion]

Played aoc a little the other day, and on each logon the itemshop (in which they sell power) loaded up. Talk about giving bad taste a whole new level of lame hope it not happen in ao.

My biggest issue is that there is almost no 'game' anymore. Except in pvp and certain pvm-encounters.

Many mmo's fill their product with bloatware and don't focus enough on creating good games.

Every login? That would be enough for me to uninstall AO I think.

[Gunforhire]

It makes me sad sometimes to be always right. Next patch will bring a lot more P2W to the item store, a few changes to game mechanics that will replace the existing FOTM setups with new ones, a new "easy mode" startup area and EXACTLY zero fixes to all the fubar game content.

And the reason the inspect feature is going to be turned on is to shame noob players into using the item shop more.

PS: Where I was born we have a saying "there is none blinder than the one who doesn't want to see".

Just wondering what inside information you have abut all the new P2W stuff in the next patch. What "stuff" would that be?

[simplyme]

The shop window pops up only if you're on a free account (AoC) so I expect it to be the same for AO.

[Tryptophy]

And the reason the inspect feature is going to be turned on is to shame noob players into using the item shop more.

Sorry but that is just speculation. Bitterness and skepticism are often just defense mechanisms against the pain of disappointment, and they can lead to seeing the world as worse than it really is. Have the courage to give people the benefit of the doubt. You might get burned sometimes but you will be happier overall.

[Antimony]

And the reason the inspect feature is going to be turned on is to shame noob players into using the item shop more.

PS: Where I was born we have a saying "there is none blinder than the one who doesn't want to see".

Na, that would only happen if FC decides to go full pay-2-win. Wouldn't put it past them though.

I think it's much more likely that prices for AI armor, symbs, etc. will double or triple with inspect.
People gotta ungimp, so there's gonna be a BIG rush on everything valuable.

So the gold spammers, the guys who sell to them, and everyone who has benefitted from the gmi glitch will make mad profits.

Instead of catching cheaters, FC is gonna reward them, big time!

But like they said in the press release, they are totally cool with losing subs <shrug>

[Gimpynoob]

Sorry but that is just speculation. Bitterness and skepticism are often just defense mechanisms against the pain of disappointment, and they can lead to seeing the world as worse than it really is. Have the courage to give people the benefit of the doubt. You might get burned sometimes but you will be happier overall.

Giving people the benefit of the doubt THE FIRST TIME they screw up is really nice and stuff. Some of them will no doubt mend their ways and do better. But many will see only impunity for their bad actions. If you trick me the first time, shame on you. If you trick me the second time, shame on me. If you continue tricking me for years, please continue "cos I'm not a dweeb, just a sucker with no self-esteem".

I obviously have no "inside information". But I am an intelligent being and can make logical conclusions based on the facts I observe and predict future developments based on those facts.
The company is the first one to admit that they don't expect any increase in the number of paying players and are going to milk their existing games to finance the new ones they have in development. This can only mean that they have no interest in fixing the broken parts of the leveling experience. They are not going to put any effort into fixing the game to make it a smooth leveling and equipping experience. That would eat on their profits from the item shop. OTOH changing a few game mechanics will give a new incentive for a few to make (or remake) their twinks and continue paying subs.
And open inspect means that veterans farming for profit or leveling toons in Inferno missions can kick from team anyone they consider subpar. The gimps with medsuist and ql 100 imps but also the ones with ql 200ish symbs, lower ql aruls, and non ql 300 ofab will have a strong incentive to go make credits (IE buy from the item shop to resell) to have better equipped toons. Because the only way in AO to equip a toon is to buy LR from other players. And the huge inflation in the game atm will make buying directly from the item shop the best option.

It's a pretty straight forward conclusion. More and more stuff in the item shop, a deceptive easy starter area and no effort put into fixing broken gameplay.

[Traderjill]

Because the only way in AO to equip a toon is to buy LR from other players.

lol @ this

[Tryptophy]

open inspect means that veterans farming for profit or leveling toons in Inferno missions can kick from team anyone they consider subpar.

Plenty of people have pointed out that this won't be a common occurrence; most people know what they're getting already. I suppose what I meant is that you said that increasing itemstore sales was the reason for opening inspect, as if they had no other motive that was less selfish. I don't think they thought of this idea in a brainstorm session for increasing itemstore sales, because that is just too pessimistic. More likely (speculation on my part) if they even thought of it at all is that it occurred to them as they were trying to think of ways to stop exploiters, and was put into the plus column as one thing among many. I also suspect that the number of people who buy more things from the itemstore because they know they can be inspected is pretty low, but this is more speculation.

Also remember that FC's stated plan, whether you think it is foolish or not, is to finish the engine/NPE, launch on Steam and then do an advertising blitz once everything is reasonably polished. Prior to that it doesn't make much sense to attract new players as most likely anyone who would be interested in the game as-is has already tried it.

[Gimpynoob]

lol @ this

Sorry, my mistake. It obviously doesn't apply to everybody. Veterans with at least one endgame equipped toon of the proper profession playing during prime time not only don't need to buy loot rights, they can even sell them. And most of them do.

And ofc players with several years of the game under their belt and a solid group of buddies can even lol at the concept of needing to buy loot rights.

[Mastablasta]

I wasn't aware it was impossible to join orgs now? Or don't orgs raid anymore?

[Gimpynoob]

I wasn't aware it was impossible to join orgs now? Or don't orgs raid anymore?

You have already used that "join an org" argument before. I am still waiting for the list of orgs I can join during my usual playtime. GMT 11:00 to 17:00. Clan. Must consistently have a group of people willing to do any content.

[Traderjill]

Sorry, my mistake. It obviously doesn't apply to everybody. Veterans with at least one endgame equipped toon of the proper profession playing during prime time not only don't need to buy loot rights, they can even sell them. And most of them do.

And ofc players with several years of the game under their belt and a solid group of buddies can even lol at the concept of needing to buy loot rights.

You write as if you need to be endgame in order to do any of the content in AO that yields loot. Ofab can be obtained solo and a ql 225+ set, even, would be enough to pull off pretty much every endgame encounter. Definitely not ideal, but enough to start small (i.e. Pande) and build your way up.

Pande: (Belts, NCU, Armor, Hud/Utils, etc) Extremely dated content (Pre-AI/LE/Xan) and doesn't require much to complete.

Alappa: Easily done by a small group, yields a nice shoulder and 1st upgrade

DB 1/2: DB2 mainly has a raid awareness check, DB1 has a bit of a damage check since you're on a timer to kill him. But.. that being said if 2 people can get it done that are endgame then a team of 6 shouldn't have a problem.

Xan- 12man: You can generally get people, that need nothing, to attend just for the buff. Again, when we took this down when the content was fresh none of us were wearing alphas and in today's full endgame setup.

Xan-Vortexx: Very easy to do with 3 or 4 people so if you grab a couple extras for dd/support it should be a breeze.

Xan-Mitaar: The challenge here, if you do the encounter as intended, is getting a group of 6 people to all be awake and follow colors properly, not killing the boss inside.

APF's: We did Sector 28 (I believe) all the way up to the general with a group of level 199-200 toons. So.. yeah, 220's in reasonable gear shouldn't have an issue at all.

I just don't see how PvM players are having such an issue getting gear that they need to buy LR. All you need to do is play the game. A lot of the issue is motivation/coordination but this will only get better if more people play the game (at least the coordination piece). Also keep in mind I didn't name any of the things you can do for upgrades solo. Maybe you can't get the Alb bracer but you can still obtain the DB bracer and a 5-gem arul saba. Maybe you can't get the gauntlet pads but there's no reason you can't at least have an Alappa shoulder + whatever else (even a might of the revenant gives a very nice DD boost and some of the tier3 shoulders are still pretty decent until you can get better).

[Tryptophy]

When I buy LR it is usually under the following condition: I need a semi-rare drop from an instance that I've completed several times with the goal of equipping the toon I'm working on right at the moment. By the time I've done Beast 10 times without a Lust dropping, I pay for it. After 10+ Vortexx I buy a WU, if one hasn't dropped or I lost the roll. Obviously 10 is an arbitrary number that goes up or down depending on my patience at that given point in my life. I would never, ever buy LRs from something like APFs that do not depend on luck for drops, and I have mixed feelings about the people who do so but I wouldn't take it away from them just because I would never do it.

One time I made the decision to attend how ever many TNH raids it took to loot rather than buy all the int symbs I needed. In the end I just couldn't bring myself to do it; it simply wasn't worth all the trouble to save a few hundred mils. The same logic applies to buying LRs for me.