Page 1 of 12 123456789101112 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 229

Thread: Monthly Development Update: August 2012

  1. #1

    Funcom employee Monthly Development Update: August 2012


    It is with sadness that I write to you this month, as many good developers, and dear friends will be leaving Funcom this fall. A sad time for our otherwise very happy family. You can read the official statement here: (http://www.funcom.com/news/funcom_re...t_world_launch)

    For Anarchy Online, this means that we will not be able to continue growing our team right now, as we had hoped. The work will however continue as scheduled with some exceptions; some of the additional features for the new player experience, like the new character creation, will be down prioritized until we have the play experience feature complete.

    The silver lining is that the AO dev team has always been a small but very talented team, even while producing booster packs, so our team is in control and AO will remain strong!

    Our Dreamworld engine upgrade is still one of our top priorities! We believe this is an important step in evolving AO and building for the future, and as this work is done in parallel to the rest of our commitments, we do not have to delay any other content because of this!

    AO-Con!
    AO-Con was a huge success! Over 50 people showed up to celebrate a joint love for this game and our community! We were very happy so see Cube and Michizure hold a Q&A session and a small presentation to show off some of the things we are working on. This is available on youtube (www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCNVxykCwLs). Some of the screen shots of this presentation can be seen on (www.AO-Universe.com)!

    Seasonal Content
    We’ve tried a new strategy regarding seasonal content this year, finishing all of the Halloween and Christmas assets in July! This means we will not be pressured to release patches in October and December, as this content can be easily turned on “on the fly”! Previously seasonal content updates proved a little stressful for the team, but now we will be able to kick back and just enjoy these times with you! If you want to help test this content or maybe just get a sneak peek you’re welcome to ask for it on Test Live.

    The New Player Experience
    In August we patched a soft release for the New Player Experience on the Test Dimension. Together with some of you, we play tested the freight shuttle and the new system that allows for a profession specific experience, and we got lots of good feedback. We’ve fixed most of the issues reported and we’re ready to begin the beta testing phase in the next version. If you are interested in playing this, please create a new character on Test Live and talk to Hank the Peacekeeper located in ICC.

    The next part of this content is being tested internally as we speak, and I expect a little more time before it’s ready for Test Live. We’ve rebuilt ICC completely from the ground and up, with the addition of little unique spots for organizations to claims as “theirs” and unique possibilities for travelling via whom-pa’s, the grid, a space elevator and various shuttles to all the remote outzone locations!

    Pack of Noobs
    I had the pleasure of attending the org meeting of “Pack of Noobs” on RK2 last week! Their agenda to recruit and help new players and returning players is really cool, and they brought up some very good questions about how we as a Dev Team plan to address concerns that new players may have. We discussed the possibilities of re-purposing older content, something that both designers and players have wanted for a long time, and we talked about letting froobs and paid accounts play together as one community! The full interview can be found here:
    (http://forums.anarchy-online.com/sho...37#post6086337)

    DNW Transfer
    The transfer service from Die Neue Welt to Atlantean and Rimor has been re-enabled! If your have a character that is eligible for transfer, you may use this service directly from the AO account page. This service will be enabled indefinitely until we announce otherwise! Everyone that reported having characters stuck on DNW should have been contacted via email already.

    Systems Changes/Profession Balance
    The healing power from the MA proc Disharmory was boosted for PvP in the previous Live Update, but not for PvE. We’re working on addressing this in the next version, boosting the healing amount for PvE. Thank you for reporting this!

    We’ve had the pleasure of being able to update our developer tools further this summer due to the addition of Vhab! Our work environment has been very neglected the past years due to having such a small team, and with the addition of only 1 man, we have accomplished great things!

    The most important thing is that we’re now able to import all data that was previously not accessible, into our tools. We were technically prevented from improving many of our items and fixing bugs due to this, and now this is finally possible thanks to our eminent coders.

    In addition to this, we will be able to remove nano formulas from the game, meaning we can finally rid ourselves of redundancy nano formulas that just take up space and cost creds without giving you much of a gain. The NT nukes line is the best example I can think of, where you have literally more than 100 nukes to chose from. Instead we can scale the power of the ones we keep based on your skill, giving you the same functionality as you have now but with way less nanos you need to buy and keep track of! We feel this will go a long way for any new player that wants to get into the game and enjoy it! Plus, hoping to reduce the huge time sink that setting up your character hotbars currently is.

    PvP
    So many people have sent me PMs and asked about PvP, and I wanted to tell you a little about my own experience.

    When I started playing Anarchy, I did not like PvP. I thought it was a little stupid and frankly terrifying to have someone else that I didn’t know shoot at me. The stupid part came from not understanding the fun in it, and I was terrified because I thought the PvP population were a bunch of griefing jerks who only cared about crushing other people. Then something happened, I got to know someone who enjoyed PvP. I looked up to this friend, he was always looking out for others, and as we started doing more and more things together, and before I knew it, I found myself agreeing to a duel. I got my ass handed to me of course, but it wasn’t so bad. (:

    From that point, we started hanging out behind one of the tall buildings in one of the major cities and take turns fighting each other to 25%. We were both of the same profession and level, but he killed me every single time. I don't know what fascinated me at that point because I just died a lot, but somehow I started learning to stay alive longer and longer, until one day where I stayed alive for so long – that I killed him! I was so caught up in the moment that I forgot to stop myself at 25%. It was no longer a game, it was his life or mine, and we fought for over 20 minutes.

    After that, we started to enjoy it in a different way, we started to try find ways of surprising each other, find tools and gear to counter the other's tricks, and tip the numbers to our advantage. Not long after that I found myself often engaged in the Tir Arena, practicing my newly found skills on different people, and what I found was nothing I had expected to find! I found a community, Clan and Omni and Neutral alike, just as eager as me to learn and improve, to laugh and to have fun!

    We exchanged tips or simply hung out, and sometimes, when the occasional griefer came to gank one of us, he often found himself chased across Rubi-Ka by the rest of us. I started participating in the wars, to protect our towers and our allies towers and even sometimes, our “enemy allies’'” towers, only for that sweetness of owning the land and seeing our side xp% go up. I’m one of these people that surely like to save the world together with others!

    The old title level system was a large part of the fun for me, as you learned to fear certain people and it was just really satisfying to win to those who had a better title than I had, and to finally get that Novice title. The Glyph of Archana, and the concept of lootable objects is also something that I enjoyed in PvP, but I can understand how it’s not for everyone.

    As a development team, there are many things we would like to do with PvP, but with the current commitments we will not allow ourselves to prioritize this right now. We have initiated discussions with several of you, to hear your suggestions and hear about what you enjoy about PvP!

    Please never hesitate to send me a tell when you see me in game!

    Kindly,
    Fia “Lindelu” Tjernberg



    Tarib edit: German Translation
    Last edited by lindelu; Sep 5th, 2012 at 15:45:42.
    Former Game Director of Anarchy Online.

  2. #2

    Funcom employee

    *steals first and runs off*
    My posts are my own and do not reflect the views of my current nor former employers/clients

    Remco "Vhab" van Oosterhout
    Former Anarchy Online Game Programmer


    Live Chat Support | E-mail Support | Forum Rules | AODevs | Vha.Chat

  3. #3
    first of the baying masses

    EDIT

    Quote Originally Posted by lindelu View Post

    I thought the PvP population were a bunch of griefing jerks who only cared about crushing other people.

    you know me too well
    Last edited by Lazy; Sep 5th, 2012 at 15:45:32.

  4. #4
    Vhab cheated!

    Edit:
    On the note of deleted nanos; Will players get a replacement for deleted nanos, such as the 'adjacent' nano in that nano line if they do not already have it?
    Last edited by Demoder; Sep 5th, 2012 at 15:52:23.
    ::: My Tools & Stuff :::
    ::: Cratine Savagedheals Enfine Zoewrangle Demoder :: Solitron Demotionform :: IRC Demoder Savagedlight :::
    ::: AOItems :: Blog :: CIDB :: HelpBot :: ItemsBot :: PlanetMap Viewer :: Tower Wars :: Twitter :::

  5. #5
    Uhoh
    One profession to RoO them all, one profession to proc stun them, one profession to calm them all and in the darkness Exp perk them!

    Crataiken 220/30/70 General - Primal Evolution - 3rd AI 30 'Crat on RK 1 Setup
    Calms 220/30/70 General - Primal Evolution
    Medicaiken 220/30/70 General - Primal Evolution Setup
    Newen 220/30/70 President - The Galactic Milieu
    Mettagirl 220/20/** General - Primal Evolution
    Krataiken 150/18/40 General - Primal Evolution Setup

  6. #6
    first!


    EDIT.. i just had to read it first.... .
    Thabeast 220 Engineer
    Rylourne 220 Enforcer
    Annasan 220 Soldier
    Annamorgane 220 doc
    Psyfreakout 220 crat
    Nanobots 220 Nano-Technician
    Shadowlordi 220 shade
    Ifixnotalot 220Fixer
    Milajojovich 213 Agent (soon to be 220)
    SneakyBeast 200 Agent

    Equilibrium

  7. #7
    5-1+1

    EDIT: On a more serious note I hope the AO dev team enjoys what they do and that it will be long and prosperous work. New engine, new stuff, if it comes it comes... just have fun and do your best, cause we just love whining... well I speak for myself at least.
    Last edited by Dreamsofnano; Sep 5th, 2012 at 16:50:12.

  8. #8
    Scaling nanos is good direction, less clicksaving etc.

    The New ICC should include the old Arrival Hall as the 1st building you arrive at from the orbiting station. No reason now to *not* have it as part of the startup.

    The current Character Creation sequence is fine, especially with the expected higher-polygon heads and bodies coming. No need to direct resources there at this point.

    The new character experience from that point on should be all that is getting a (needed) makeover.

    The shuttle aspect I've already commented on, with the main concern being that that is not a good point to be teaching WASD and weapon use etc, as the shuttle pilot should be busy landing you. Story flow logic 1st, please.
    Last edited by Dagget; Sep 5th, 2012 at 16:11:54.
    .
    Dagget
    President,
    Venice Academy

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Dagget View Post
    The New ICC should include the old Arrival hall as ther 1st building you arrive at from the orbiting station. No reason now to *not* have it as part of the startup.
    .
    That arrival hall was great. It was so TLJ/Dreamfall <3.

  10. #10
    Infracted Vhab for cheating. <3 the pvp story It brings back some of my first pvp encounters.. tho mine was when i was a enfo in formans. I mongo'd then a engi and crat sent their pets on me. I killed em both then I was out of breath lol. I haz been hooked ever since.

    P.S. Thanks for pet pathing problems <3
    220 crat ~Frocratarox~
    130 doc ~Mrfunny~
    150 engi ~Miniwheats~
    220 Shade ~Tsume~
    60 NT ~Nomorenano~
    220 fixer ~Barlock~
    Spirit Guide You

  11. #11
    nice
    Shade lover (trox all the way :P)

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by Dagget View Post
    Scaling nanos is good direction, less clicksaving etc.

    The New ICC should include the old Arrival Hall as the 1st building you arrive at from the orbiting station. No reason now to *not* have it as part of the startup.

    The current Character Creation sequence is fine, especially with the expected higher-polygon heads and bodies coming. No need to direct resources there at this point.

    The new character experience from that point on should be all that is getting a (needed) makeover.

    The shuttle aspect I've already commented on, with the main concern being that that is not a good point to be teaching WASD and weapon use etc, as the shuttle pilot should be busy landing you. Story flow logic 1st, please.
    +1

    I loved that place, and were werry sad when i had to remove char who did sit in it... At least make ability to come back there. Organise excursion shuttle to there Or make a notable places tour

  13. #13
    I am very glad to see Vhab and others have helpped get you all those tools updated so you can get at all the game-data to fix bugs and/or update things.

    The scaling of nano's seems like a good idea indeed. I assume from the example that an NT only needs to buy one Chem-dmg target nuke and the damage will scale with the NT's MC skill? The NT would still need to buy a poison dmg, cold dmg, etc. nuke ... correct?

    Heal nano's might be another example for doctors especially. Maybe you could also cause the LE research proc's to at least list according to their strength/power ... or change the names to heal-1, -2, etc. ... they are another hotbar issue because it is too hard to remember which one is better than another of the same type. Enough so that there are bot-modules to list them for us.

    Glad to hear the AO team won't be reduced, just can't grow.

    A nice discussion about your experience with PvP ... but I am still just a PvM player. The equipment set-up is so different from PvM and the play mentality as well. I do have many friends that enjoy it ... but they only PvP with specific toons that are set up just for PvP.

    Any news on when the 18.5.2 patch will come thru with its fixes ... it has been on Test-live for about a month now.

    Thanks for update

    Kinnik

    Wow!!! first page

  14. #14
    the door needs more animation!
    Tir Muffin Co-op : Free muffin lovin' for all teh clanners

  15. #15
    Good news for all the info.
    I am glad you would be scaling these to skill and not a level based as that would ruin some of the fun of twinking those nano's, kudos!
    RK1 - Omni
    Vakasha - Fixer | Transmutant - Meta-Physicist | Friska - Trader | Eagleclaw - MA | Xytech - NT | a few other alts.

  16. #16
    As for upcoming patches, we really, really need the MP crystal fix on live ASAP. Hunting non-temporary crystals to fill should not be necessary to get PB's made.
    .
    Dagget
    President,
    Venice Academy

  17. #17

  18. #18
    First page? Yay!

  19. #19
    i have to say this last months report is somewhat underwhelming.
    there is some staffing related stuff, pack of froobs stuff, mention about scaling nanos and some pvp-experience.

    i was hoping something more :/
    You hit Tarasque with nanobots for 18280 points of melee damage.
    First shade with Blades of Boltar
    ---
    How much is enough?
    Member of Halinallet!

  20. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by Otansaanpas View Post
    i have to say this last months report is somewhat underwhelming.
    there is some staffing related stuff, pack of froobs stuff, mention about scaling nanos and some pvp-experience.

    i was hoping something more :/
    Like this?
    ::: My Tools & Stuff :::
    ::: Cratine Savagedheals Enfine Zoewrangle Demoder :: Solitron Demotionform :: IRC Demoder Savagedlight :::
    ::: AOItems :: Blog :: CIDB :: HelpBot :: ItemsBot :: PlanetMap Viewer :: Tower Wars :: Twitter :::

Page 1 of 12 123456789101112 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •