IRC Fridays Developer Chat with Abigale from Trion Worlds
Abigale: We do have internal dates for Beta now. We aren't releasing that info just yet. But we are on the road to getting there soon
Abigale: But.... if you have a Trion account, be sure to be watching your email over the next few days for some big info
Abigale: Make sure you are opted in to receive emails! And no, it's something separate from the newsletter
Abigale: We have been working on the newsletter issue. Hopefully we will have less trouble when the next one goes out
Abigale: Now. I want to tell you a little about somethign we did around here the other night...
Abigale: We were all asked to participate in a big PVP play test on our new alpha pvp server
Abigale: Now I have to say first that I am NOT a pvp player.
Abigale: I suck at it. And I don't like killing people. But I did have some fun
Abigale: But what was really fun to me was to be in the channel with the devs as they were reading feedback
Abigale: There is a lot of balancing to be done and they are starting to do regular pvp tests now, several times a week. So I guess my pvp skills are going to get a work out whether I like it or not!
Abigale: I killed a few people. And they were people I knew! I don't like killing my friends. I am a totalcare bear
Abigale: I'll never tell
Abigale: A lot of the feedback was about balance. Which was to be expected
Abigale: I didn't notice any lag. I was concentrating on the fighting
Abigale: Same here, Amary. I didn't notice any either
Abigale: I was at home
Abigale: We are allowed to play from home. Most people stayed here in the office to play but I went home and lpayed from there
Abigale: Well, I didn't do to well. I came in late and just ran around killing. Like I said, I am no good at pvp. I never really did learn the strategies. But I have had that problem every time I try to pvp lol
faction V faction PvP?
Yes
Instanced for these tests. The server is pvp but we just logged on for the Warfront tests I can't share a whole lot more about it as this is the time that they are making changes. I really enjoyed reading what the devs had to say though. They were so excited to see people logging in and playing and then they just devoured the feeedback I have seen little groups around discussing the play sessions and coming up with solutions and ideas. It's really cool to hear these conversations Ok, I'll answer a few of the questions coming in that I can answer
Besides the Soul System and Rift events, what other features of this game stand out for you?
One things that stands out is the beauty of the world. It is so alive! There is movement and interaction among the NPC's, there is beautiful scenery... I often find myself stopping to look at a vista or exploring a city. I haven't done much of that in a long time The screenshots just don't do the game justice. I can't wait for you guys to see the real thing
Are we still in track for a Q1 2011 release?
Yes, still planning an early 2011 release. Adam said it on film so it must be true
Been waiting for crafting info for some time now and nothing really solid has come down the line yet. Is crafting getting some kind of a major overhaul?
As I mentioned earlier this week on the forum, we won't be releasing crafting info until it is done being tested. It's not that we are unhappy with it now. We just want to have plenty of time to test things and make changes based on feedback. If our crafting dev was here today, all she would be able to say is "Sorry, we can't talk about that ye." But I know how important crafting is to you guys. So I am asking about it on a regular basis. And the minute I am given the green light, we will tell you all about it!
How much interaction between individuals/groups are necessary to close a Rift? and How do you close a Rift?
Abigale: It depends on the rift. You close a rift by defeating the stages in it. Each stage is a wave of mobs. I've closed some with just a couple of people and some with 5 or 6. but it's really depended on the lvl of the rift too. But in addition to rifts, there are strongholds. Last night I was trying to turn in some quests and there was a stronghold on top of the NPCs. I died trying to kill them. So I had to ask if there were others around who could help someone else of my lvl came along and we closed it together. It took some team work but we did it. Was a lot of fun Yeh, I guess we are calling them footholds. My bad. All I know is I needed to get to the quest giver and those darn flaming trolls wouldn't let me near them!
I wasn't able to get to any of the recent conventions However, I do live in CA. Are any of the Trion/Rift offices open to the public? I would love to stop in and say hi and see what goes on there.
No, we don't allow visitors. We don't have the time, really. Or a lot of room. Everyone here is busy making the game. BUT... watch for some news soon about us bringing some visitors in. We would like to do that soon. It's always good to meet with the people who are supporting you. So we are hoping to do something along those lines. Watch for more info on that in the next few weeks
What levels were yall playing?
I am playing 6 characters right now. So a wide range of lvls for me. My highest is 35, I think. But I have been using this testing time to try out a lot of different souls and combos. It's been a lot of fun. Oh... in the pvp test, we all started at lvl 20 for this test
Any more community parties coming our way?
I hope so! I am all about community parties. I still miss the fan faires! I will be very happy if we have regular events. What we have said all along is that if the interest is there, we will have them. And it seems so far, people are really hoping we have them. It's wonderful to meet players face to face. And I found over the years that i ran the fan faires that people really enjoyed them so they could meet and hang out with each other. Nothing like getting 1500 gamers together in a hotel bar. Someday I am going to write a book about all the cool things that happened at fan faires. So yea, if I have anything to say about it, we'll be having fan events.
Regarding the Name a Soul for Rift thread, there have been lots of suggestions, will we be seeing a poll soon?
Yes. We should have the poll up on Monday, most likely. We'll leave the poll open a few days and then we will have our winner.
How are you intending to ensure high quality feedback from beta tester and letting in the "right" crowd of players.
Well, the "right" crowd of players is the tricky part, right? SO we are working on getting a good cross section of people in beta and alpha. While it is important to have people from the community (and we will continue to add you) we also look to other places, such as people who have tested for us before and done a good job. Remember that most of us here have tested games before... so we know a lot of testers. But don't worry... community members are very important to us and we will see that you get your chance. No beta selection system is perfect. Adn we will never be able to make everyone happy unless we just open the server to everyone. But we are really trying to take care of you
There seems to be a belief that high post counts better beta chances. Is this true?
It depends on the posts. We don't just look at post count and say, "hey, this guy has 500 posts, let's put him into beta". We look at posts people make and what they contribute. But mostly at how someone expresses him or herself. 500 posts that don't say much are not worth as much as 10 posts that are well written and really communicate well. Guys, remember this... we read the forums EVERY DAY. I read them probably 20 times a day. Don't you think we have gotten to know who is who just as well as you have? We see who starts posting when it's beta talk and who has been here all along contributing to the community. And one more thing.... You guys know there are some community people in alpha. There will be more added as we can. But it all comes down to numbers. We can only add a few at a time until we have what we need. But we will add as many of you as we can.
Can you elaborate on your community leader post from last week?
My whole purpose of the thread was to just get the discussion going on who and what the community leaders are. There had been some misconceptions, I thought. Some folks seemed to have an impression that I was selecting people to be community leaders. But I wanted to talk about the fact that leaders are really who you see as leaders. Not necessarily just me. Sorry if it was misleading. Not everything I say or do has to do with beta selection
Well, that's all the time I have today. It was really nice to visit with you guys. Thank you for being so hospitable
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