Page 1 of 15 123456789101112131415 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 297

Thread: Friday with Means - February 6th, 2009

  1. #1

    Friday with Means - February 6th, 2009

    The weeks and days seem to fly by so quickly. It seems like I come in, dig into the booster, and before I know it my wife is calling me to find out why I haven't left work yet.

    Everyone here is hard at work polishing the booster based on the excellent feedback we have been getting.

    "Too easy." What!!! I'll **** you up you bastards!

    Tests of the Mitaar Hero instance have gone well and some mild tweaks will be in for the version in the middle of next week.

    2nd Team Instance and Final 12 Player Raid

    I am considering opening the additional two instances (one team and one raid) for open testing on TestLive next weekend. But we'll see...I don't like to spoil the surprise on all the new encounters...and historically we have a problem with "how to" threads being posted the day of release. It might be nice this time to have everyone struggle to victory together..so the guild that says "First" is actually speaking of a real achievement. This is a mental struggle for the following week.

    Community Questions:

    Q - "Preorder..When?"

    A - Imminent.™ The booster is coming very very soon. If I give the exact date marketing will want to kill me...then the feeling will be mutual. Can't have that now can we?

    Q - "Instanced Pande? When, where, details?"

    A - This will be the first thing we get to after the release of the booster and after the staff here have a brief chance to breathe/sleep. I'm hoping before the middle of March. Initially this was held back because we wanted to see that the instancing/raid technology worked well..and I felt that the largest raid was not the best place for testing in this area. So the wait shouldn't be long. I want it done as badly as you...the only thing that can really delay this initiative is the possibility of leaving "both" versions of Pande running..with the old non-instanced version being a new "Nasty" version requiring greater numbers for greater rewards...but again not set in stone.

    Q - "How is the new Graphics Engine progressing? I know you hesitate to give an exact release date for it for obvious reasons, but do you expect it may be ready by Fall 2009 or End of 2009 perhaps?"

    A - I really can't give a specific date. What I can say is that the engine is close to being "feature complete" meaning everything is in place. That being said there are a great number of effects that need replacing and a great deal of performance tuning that remains to be done. I think we can all agree that the new engine should be smooth, stable, fast and beautiful. Until those criteria are met we are going to keep working on it. Don't worry, when we get even close I imagine the video previews will be coming out of our ears.

    Q - "Does FC recognize a problem with the current ability of a single character (150 fixer) to blitz up to and solo kill the bosses in Sector 10? Or is that just a game mechanic that other players have to deal with?"

    A - Yes. No. This will unfortunately have to wait until after the booster to be tweaked.

    Q - "How is the new perk reset system going to work?"

    A - Speaking with an NPC and paying a modest fee will clear your current perk setup. You will be unable to speak with that NPC for an as yet undecided amount of time. This will at a bare minimum be 100% faster than the current time a complete reset/equip/reset takes.
    The exact amount of time until the NPC is willing to grant this service again is up for discussion/flaming.

    Q - "Crypt of Home, chests, wtf are in them already? Thanks."

    A - Bottles of cola from the office for recycling. We never know where to put them and we never seem to have the time to take them in. I will put something more fun here at some point in the future...this kind of long term legend deserves something special.

    Q - "With the profession balancing act, wil that bring new content or fix old content(ie perk lines/actions)?"

    A - I'm hoping for a delightfull combination of both.

    Q - "What's going on with the Sector42 and Pandemonium crashes? Do you need more information? Have you identified the problem? What is being done to fix it?"

    A - We have so far been unable to determine the source of the problem. Every effort is being made to try and track it down. The upcoming update will be adding some additional server monitoring to try and isolate this issue.

    Q - What evil has Macrosun wrought this week?

    A - Macrosun would like you all to know he has:

    Implemented a method for getting guests into instanced cities: Get key from machine in your city..give key to friend. Friend gets in!

    Been using all the powers of his brain to combat BS synch issues. He has found a significant issue and fxed it. I don't understand what it was. So don't ask.

    You will not be able to delete your nanos...but now you will be able to HIDE the ones you don't wish to see in your interface.

    *************************

    Thanks again to all who helped with great feedback on the booster this week! It really is because of your efforts that it keeps getting better and better.

    You should all get cake.

    Cheers,

    Colin "Means" Cragg
    Colin Cragg
    This "Means" Cake
    Past Game Director (2008-2011)

  2. #2
    First!
    This forum requires that you wait 60 seconds between posts. Please try again in 9 seconds. nerf

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by Means View Post
    The

    Cragg
    Everything between The and Cragg in this post is full of awesome!

    Quote Originally Posted by Means View Post
    Q - "Crypt of Home, chests, wtf are in them already? Thanks."
    Dont shoot the cola out of your nose, as noted it does not feel well.

    Quote Originally Posted by Means View Post
    You will not be able to delete your nanos...but now you will be able to HIDE the ones you don't wish to see in your interface.
    As and engineer, I feel I must actually be NICE to macro for a short period of time.

    Quote Originally Posted by Means View Post
    Q - "How is the new perk reset system going to work?"
    One week sounds perfect to mean.

    Quote Originally Posted by Means View Post
    Tests of the Mitaar Hero instance have gone well and some mild tweaks will be in for the version in the middle of next week.
    Thank you, I was wanting a little bit more "randomness" to this as we were able to do it with just 3 people.

    And just so everyone knows, Macro made me do it.



    Quote Originally Posted by ThePartisan View Post
    Can you please explain what a "modest fee" is? Probably something silly like 500 mill Credits
    250k to 500k per level, 72hr - 1week lockout per full reset.

    OR 500k to 1m PER PERK, same time lockout.

    THE CURRENT PERK SYSTEM WILL NOT BE REMOVED

    This is a luxury mechanic and credit sink, it is not something that all of the masses need very often.
    Last edited by Technogen; Feb 7th, 2009 at 01:26:03.
    "A whole new place to run around for ages in then die suddenly without warning."

    "I know who coded pet pathing... and when I see him I say "/follow" and I start waling in to walls :P"

    The "Trolls" option is incorrect. The term trolls is not used to describe the gathering of information on the Internet.

    <@Kintaii> L2P

  4. #4
    sweet.. when will we see the synch update on test?
    Last edited by Harios; Feb 6th, 2009 at 18:27:02.
    Harios - [Enforcer] cookies 220/30
    Advass - [Adventurer] nerf 220/21
    Wackios - [Shade] gankzsz 220/16
    Soldios - [Soldier] FA Burst 220/22
    Docios - [Doctor] healsplxz 220/20
    Cratios - [Bureaucrat] tape 220/19
    Proud Board Member of Dark Front Cookies >> Bacon, remember that!

  5. #5
    First page!

    ALL HAIL MEANS

  6. #6
    ima "hide" my wrangles *snickers*
    woofwoof!

  7. #7
    Can you please explain what a "modest fee" is? Probably something silly like 500 mill Credits

  8. #8
    Wow Means... I mean, pretty much EVERY question answered, and omg @ being able to hide nanos!!!!

    Thank you so, so much for the information!

  9. #9
    Great news, especially the part about hiding old nanos and a working system for getting guests into instanced cities.

    Looking forward to more info on the perk line fixes.

    For the perk reset NPC, here's my two cents and a straw:
    First one, most expensive (75m?): Full perk reset, 25% "locktime" of what it would normaly take to reset those perks.
    Less expensive (35m?): Full perk reset, 50% lock time of what it would normally take to reset those perks.
    Next-cheapest (10m?): Reset either AI or SL, 75% lock time of what it would normally take to reset those perks.
    Cheapest (1m?): Reset the perk reset timer to 0, and lock the NPC for 4h. Allows three perk resets in the time you would normaly get to do two.
    Last edited by Demoder; Feb 6th, 2009 at 18:35:36. Reason: Typo
    ::: My Tools & Stuff :::
    ::: Cratine Savagedheals Enfine Zoewrangle Demoder :: Solitron Demotionform :: IRC Demoder Savagedlight :::
    ::: AOItems :: Blog :: CIDB :: HelpBot :: ItemsBot :: PlanetMap Viewer :: Tower Wars :: Twitter :::

  10. #10
    Q - "Crypt of Home, chests, wtf are in them already? Thanks."

    A - Bottles of cola from the office for recycling. We never know where to put them and we never seem to have the time to take them in. I will put something more fun here at some point in the future...this kind of long term legend deserves something special.

    Oh My Word is all I can say to that. (although mysteries when solved are seldom as much fun :P)
    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

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Means View Post
    Q - "How is the new perk reset system going to work?"

    A - Speaking with an NPC and paying a modest fee will clear your current perk setup. You will be unable to speak with that NPC for an as yet undecided amount of time. This will at a bare minimum be 100% faster than the current time a complete reset/equip/reset takes.
    The exact amount of time until the NPC is willing to grant this service again is up for discussion/flaming.
    Please make it very expensive, or it will be too easy to twink symbiants I like the fact of having to "sacrifice" myself to twink on new symbiants...

    If you do this for like 10m credits, or even 100m, next patch will bring an NPC which gives CI for 1m, or any other buff for a small amount of credits ?
    Nerf "Goupille" Me
    RK2 Clan NT 220/27
    Veteran of Phoenix
    Setup : pvm / pvp

  12. #12
    How about a trash-category for nanos?

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by goupille View Post
    Please make it very expensive, or it will be too easy to twink symbiants I like the fact of having to "sacrifice" myself to twink on new symbiants...

    If you do this for like 10m credits, or even 100m, next patch will bring an NPC which gives CI for 1m, or any other buff for a small amount of credits ?
    TIME != Sacrifice
    "A whole new place to run around for ages in then die suddenly without warning."

    "I know who coded pet pathing... and when I see him I say "/follow" and I start waling in to walls :P"

    The "Trolls" option is incorrect. The term trolls is not used to describe the gathering of information on the Internet.

    <@Kintaii> L2P

  14. #14
    Friday with Means > Every other Game director communique I have seen.

    Having an easier time resetting perks is the best news I've heard in AO in a long time.

    Lets say that a 220/30/70 character with 70 perks need to do a perk reset to change implants and such. This is a pretty heavy perk-change as you need 2 different perklines for treatment and 2 lines for abilities. Let's say 25 perks in total. Pretty nasty with the current mechanics. Especially when you keep in mind that those perks have to be changed back after the new implants are in place.

    2 hours per perk is 50 hours one way and 50 hours the other way. That's 100 hours. But no one is able to be online and do perk resets every 2 hours so we could maybe double that number. 200 hours total maybe. That's over a week. Just to change some implants.

    If FC now makes it possible to withdraw all perks at the same time so we can replace them, then the cooldown before we can swap back is important to iron out.

    Lets say Means example of "a bare minimum of 100% faster" leaves us with a 72 hours cooldown between getting perk-resets from the NPC. That's 3 days. Now, what is the point of these 3 days? What is the point of this cooldown in general? I think it's important to set this cooldown to a specific timer based on this "reason" rather than creating a cooldown-timer that is solely based on how long it used to take to reset perks.

    If we say "3 days", then why not say "2 days"? What is the difference between 3 and 2 days? There is nothing special anyone can do in 2 days that they can't do in 3 days. So why have 3? Why not only 1 day a.k.a. 24 hours?

    If you switch to ability/treatment mode to put in new implants for example, then the cooldown to change back into combat-mode only does one thing, it keeps you from doing effective combat until the cooldown is over.

    So it becomes this punishment for doing a reset.
    "Want to reset your perks? Ok but then I wont let you PvP effectively for X amount of time. Just to make resetting seem more substantial/important/grand than it really is."

    I guess the cooldown is there also to make perk-setups seem and also BE more important. If you can swap perks at will, then choosing a perksetup becomes less important as you can just change it instantly to fit your current needs, be it PvP, PvM, tradeskills or XP gain.

    Then again.. the only difference between being able to change perk setup once a day and changing it once every 3 days is.. that the 3 day version is more waiting than the shorter one. The end result for the player and everyone around him is the same either way.

    So I guess what I am trying to say is that several days waiting is basically just making resetting boring just for the sake of making it boring. Like having a 18 minute wait to swap a NCU belt.

    If I had to choose a number for the cooldown I'd say make it 24 hours or 48 TOPS. It's a wait but wont feel like "a wait just for the sake of waiting".
    Last edited by Wrangeline; Feb 6th, 2009 at 19:14:06.
    Veteran of Equilibrium

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by Technogen View Post
    TIME != Sacrifice
    Awwwww technogen beat me to it xD
    Rktim - 220/70/30 Omni Soldier.
    Imdrunknow - 157+/XX/15+ Omni MA
    Quote Originally Posted by IHaveHugeNick View Post
    Messiah has spoken.

  16. #16
    Still cant find much that will make me personally hand the cash for that booster. *shrug*

  17. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by Kaylinne View Post
    Still cant find much that will make me personally hand the cash for that booster. *shrug*
    What exactly is in the booster btw? I've only heard of a handful of small things but half of them are no longer a part of the booster it seems.
    Veteran of Equilibrium

  18. #18
    WTB 1/100th drop of bots in instanced cities, and then its a spiritual if its gunna be anything less than 100m to rent one

  19. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by Wrangeline View Post
    What exactly is in the booster btw? I've only heard of a handful of small things but half of them are no longer a part of the booster it seems.
    I am interested in profession balance, can almost say exclusively.
    Since I play only one TL7 toon that is somewhere on the bottom of the food chain, and booster doesnt provide any content for lower TLs, I am not going to get it until I know exactly what it gives me personally for my money.
    You can say I got burnt on LE, going to be more careful now.

  20. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by goupille View Post
    Please make it very expensive, or it will be too easy to twink symbiants I like the fact of having to "sacrifice" myself to twink on new symbiants...

    If you do this for like 10m credits, or even 100m, next patch will bring an NPC which gives CI for 1m, or any other buff for a small amount of credits ?
    Do you have some kinda severe disabilities that makes it very hard/difficult for you to hit the "reset" button in the interface?

    Getting buffs and so on requires you to interact with other players and/or the world around you somehow and/or have a crapload of alts on other accounts to get buffs...
    Perk resets just requires you to log on, click..click...click... log off...

    See the difference?



    20-50 mill for a full instant reset would make for a good cred sink, and would keep most from doing it every other day.
    Mekhdoc 220/27/70 Equip | Mekh 220/28/67 Equip | Shadesch 220/21/70 Equip
    Mekhkeeper 220/22/70 Equip | Roflmao 220/15/50 | Fixyaself 200/23/64 Equip

Page 1 of 15 123456789101112131415 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
  •