+Chaos@AC> Greetings to all here! We'll get started in just a minute !
Dave@turbine> HI all thanks for coming.
+Chaos@AC> Welcome one and all to tonight's chat with our honored guests from Turbine, those wonderful folks who have brought us Asheron's Call.
+Chaos@AC> +MrQuazarr@Zone, our regular emcee for these events, is away this week, and has graciously asked me to assist our guests this evening.
+Chaos@AC> Please limit yourself to one question, and have that question pre-typed and ready to post when you are moved into the asking position.
+Chaos@AC> That being said, I would like to introduce the Co-Lead Designer of Asheron's Call, Eri Izawa ! Take it away, Eri !
rei@Turbine> Hi all!
rei@Turbine> I'm going to do introductions and then talk a little bit about how we answer questions.
rei@Turbine> Since I've already been introduced....
rei@Turbine> With me today are:
rei@Turbine> David "Crowley" Javier, game designer, dungeon maker, and dialogue meister.
rei@Turbine> Jesse "Nei" Kurlancheek, game designer, scripter, general systems guy.
rei@Turbine> Chris "Stormy" L'Etoile, cranky game designer, story writer.
rei@Turbine> Dave "Sarneho" Namerow, Turbine-side Community Manager.
rei@Turbine> Sean Huxter, Lead Artist for AC....
rei@Turbine> And guest starring Jason Booth, artist extraordinaire.
rei@Turbine> First of all, thanks for coming! As I did last month, I'd like to talk about how we answer questions.
rei@Turbine> To give you an idea of our schedule, we are already hard at work on the July event. So we can with some confidence answer questions about that material (though we won't give away all the secrets ;-).
rei@Turbine> That said, we usually cannot give you concrete dates or feature details for anything new beyond one or two months out.
rei@Turbine> This is because of many factors, including the experimental nature of events, schedule changes, and the fact that something that looks simple may turn out to be very complicated or even impossible!
rei@Turbine> In other words, promising specifics for many of your suggestions would be premature. We don't like promising things we might not be able to deliver.
rei@Turbine> Also, because we have so much planned, new requests on the boards or from here may not be implemented til some time after the suggestion is made.
rei@Turbine> But I want to assure you that we are listening! The spellcasting UI changes happened in large part because of your suggestions at a chat much like this one some months ago.
rei@Turbine> (That includes the improvements to the spellcasting UI this month.)
rei@Turbine> OK, we're ready!
Ceazar_AC> Good Evening, I'd like to start this chat by thanking Turbine and Microsoft for the best game I've ever played and one that continues to get better and more interesting as time passes.
Ceazar_AC> My question regards the cooking skill. In May I would have my alchemist make oils and my cook would produce foods with those oils that were superior to potions in weight, cost and sometimes
Ceazar_AC> points returned. That is, alchemy + cooking yielded a result that was better than either skill could achieve by itself. In June the potion weights were reduced to the point where cooking was rendered useless in day-to-day use.
Ceazar_AC> I can spend four hours making a pack of hearty-healing-hot-kimchi or I can spend 15 minutes making a pack of healing potions and the only difference between the two packs will be that the healing potions are just marginally heavier.
Ceazar_AC> There is simply no tangible reward for using the cooking skill now that alchemy alone (or the town healers) can produce what used to take cooking and alchemy together to achieve: lightweight advantageous tools to restore health and stamina.
Ceazar_AC> My question is this: Hopefully by July, Can cooking and alchemy produce REAL superfoods again - things that are worthwhile to make and carry despite the time and effort involved in making them? Please don't leave cooking as "that useless skill you need t
Ceazar_AC> "that useless skill you need to make the composite bow". Thank you. DONE.
rei@Turbine> I care about cooking :)
letoile@turbine> Well, that was thorough...
rei@Turbine> We're going to be looking at cooking and its utility....
rei@Turbine> I don't know that there will be drastic changes, and certainly I don't think we can promise anything for July.
rei@Turbine> But I'd like to make cooking more interesting and useful.
rei@Turbine> (And add new foods down the road, too.)
rei@Turbine> Done.
+Chaos@AC> GreenNun, you're up :)
jgoldshlag> As my mage gets higher and higher in level, I notice that I have to spend more and more xp on my strength to carry spell components. I don't want to make my mage into
jgoldshlag> Hercules! Is there any chance spell component weight will be reduced? Alternatively component burn could be lowered and component costs could be raised. Go Triad (Skystreak Cloudrider)!
nei@turbine> terribly unlikely since mages are already a very powerful group.
nei@turbine> done.
GrubbDawg> *bowdeep* Thanks for the best RPG game I have ever played (been addicted to). One minor question regarding enhanced user control. Game control (specifically while hunting) would be much more enjoyable if the directional pad on game pads/joysticks...
GrubbDawg> (i.e. MS Sidewinder) was integrated. Movement (all on x,y axis) currently is only accessible through the keybord. Do you see this functionality being implemented to the game anytime in the near future? --- ga --- ** HAIL RAIDERS OF THE LOST WORLD! **
rei@Turbine> Hmmm....
rei@Turbine> There are no specific plans for that -- it would take considerable investment to fully implement that.
rei@Turbine> Meaning, support for combat and magic and so on through a joystick.
rei@Turbine> (Movement by itself I think would be easy.)
jason@Turbine> I think that time could be better spent on other UI improvements as well..
rei@Turbine> So, no, I don't see it in the near future.
rei@Turbine> Done.
nei@turbine> you can also bind the joystick to the keyboard... might help some.
nei@turbine> done
lashwyn> Awesome game! Love it! Was wondering is it possible to make a player arena wherein non pks could battle it out one on one or many on many for prizes put up by other players or such? A place where you'd not lose items upon death, but rather pride hehehe
lashwyn> And one more thing how about a light spell for mages? and what July hints can you give us?
lashwyn> done
rei@Turbine> One question please :)
nei@turbine> light spell? ... *scratches chin*
rei@Turbine> *wonders how to code pride loss upon death*
jason@Turbine> I kind of like the idea of making more quest items cast light..
rei@Turbine> So in other words...
rei@Turbine> (Figuring out who was typing what)
rei@Turbine> There's some interesting possibilities....
rei@Turbine> ...with lights & light spells, but we'd have to do some looking into the issue.
rei@Turbine> Done.
MicroBorg> My question is about the thought process behind releasing the new spells
MicroBorg> You were kind enough to add a step by step manual for the new bow quest yet expect mages to camp diamonds for days and waste scarabs on trillions of possible combinations for a spell.
MicroBorg> I do not want clues or hints. I would simply like to hear and understand your thought process on why mages are expected to randomly discover their quest while anyone who wants a Composite bow is given an instruction booklet. I do not want clues or hints
MicroBorg> PS I hope the new spell does not turn out to be a glorified volley spell. Spending days to find an extremely rare scarab just to lose it casting one 30-60 point volley in all 8 directions. If it is massive yet expensive "death blossom" spell then you guy
MicroBorg> get a big thumbs up from me
MicroBorg> DONE
nei@turbine> let me speak of a time before split pea and the ilk, there was a lovely thing that mages had to do to attain their power: research.
nei@turbine> guess what? it's back.... 1 week and the boards are showing massive progress.
nei@turbine> done.
Dave@turbine> clap clap
Purrpetual> [A suggestion, not my question: The world is turning into a sea of Matty Coat/Olthoi Helms and Greater Shadow Amuli/Gold Heaumes. It would be great to at least get some variety in color by having a skill by which the color of armor could be altered...
Purrpetual> Perhaps as a part of alchemy. Powdered gemstone + neutral balm = dye. Dye + armor = identical armor with new color]
Purrpetual> My question: Is there any hope for the poor Sword of Lost Light? It is universally considered a useless quest item, as by the time someone can meet the hefty sword skill and arcane requirements, they invariably...
Purrpetual> have much better weapons (e.g. an atlan with self-buffs, since every viable swordswinger has item magic). Should I just give up on it and sell it, or do you have something nifty up your sleeves to rescue this poor abandoned stepchild of the atlan?
Purrpetual> You guys have made great improvements to the game since release, by the way. Keep up the good work. [done]
letoile@turbine> Everyone yelled me back into the room...
rei@Turbine> (Irrelevant comment: *waves to people doing point by point analysis of this chat on the fan boards*)
letoile@turbine> Expect SOLL to become uber once again sometime in the near future. It won't be immediate. It won't be obvious. It won't be easy. But ultimately you'll be able to wipe the room with it.
letoile@turbine> *done*
grimwell> It's common knowledge that any character who does NOT have magic is at a serious disadvantage on ANY server as far as power, any plans to recognize this and make a change for pure melee/archer characters who don't want to use a wand? (I'm a mage but...
grimwell> I feel really bad for the melee guys who can't scratche me when I fully buff a ugly yellow robe
grimwell> I think I'm done :) that stank. Gothar don't let the illness get ya down!
sean@Turbine> I'm a pure blademaster and I love it.
nei@turbine> yeah, for july, melee'rs w/o item/critter/life are getting a touch of love. or rather a large dollop.
nei@turbine> we'll see what develops out of some new tech we've gotten... yummy.
nei@turbine> done.
letoile@turbine> Yeah, those robes are ugly aren't they?
sean@Turbine> Yay, I'm gettin' some luv!
letoile@turbine> ^_^
MxRacer_14> During these "scheduled" downtime for maint. I have noticed suttle changes in the game after the downtime. After the update, IMP VI on my robe used to make it 262, now its 258. Tuskers are beating the poop out of me, 1 out of 4 hits is a critical......
MxRacer_14> 1 out of 8 is a super-crit. Are you tweaking things durning these downtimes to cut down on the number of people in the dungeons?...
MxRacer_14> Can you please whipe Arwic and Qalaba'r off the map - those cesspools need to go! Thanks for the great game! Evil Elvis Rules!(done)
rei@Turbine> The spell economy resets after restarting....
rei@Turbine> That's probably what you're seeing.
jason@Turbine> I've wanted to blow up arwic for a while now, but rei won't let me..
rei@Turbine> There's a time and a place for blowing things up.
rei@Turbine> 'sides, people would just find a different town to go to.
rei@Turbine> Done.
Genghis_Magnus> Hail everyone! Genghis X of Thistledown (will work for World Builder experience) here Axe and Staff have bludgeoning weapons which outclass Maces (lower burden, better damage varience), yet there's no difference in skill cost between Axe and Mace, and
Genghis_Magnus> staff is a free skill. What kind of changes/quests can mace users expect to make mace worth 6 skill credits, and when will we see those changes? (Feel free to add mace quest teasers) DONE
nei@turbine> *looks to DeLT* this'll make ya happy... now answer crowley.
Crowley@turbine> Mace and spear are filling my time right now.
Crowley@turbine> Expect it next month unless I prove to be totally incompetent.
sean@Turbine> And some of mine too.
rei@Turbine> He's not totally incompetent.
sean@Turbine> Not totally.
Crowley@turbine> And Elliot's and Nei's time, to be fair, yes.
Crowley@turbine> As for teasers: It's not the cough that carries you off, it's the coffin they carry you off in.
Crowley@turbine> Done.
paulen> *Steps onto stage and bows* Hail Turbine, thanks for the great game! Much prefer it over EQ ;^) ...
paulen> First, 2 quik comments...please pass this one to the AC server maintenance group...PLEASE vary the hours of maintenance on the servers. Some of us can only play 6AM-8AM PST and server maint kills our play time. Although this MAY be a lighter load time...
paulen> ...for the servers, consider the fact that the reason it is a lighter load time might have to do with your choice of maintenance time, and it seriously influences my desire to stick with the game...
paulen> ...Second, the corpse locking algorythm seems unfair for UA melee people. Often I will sit making consistent hits against a foe only to have a weapon user stumble in the middle of my fight, score a big hit and lock my corpse (especially at lower levels).Ä
paulen> ...Considering my hits cause the monster to agro ME, and consequently I suffered most of the damage, it is hardly fair for the other player to get the loot. The only way I get decent loot is to hunt with players lower level than myself...
paulen> ...VERY frustrating. Now for the question...
paulen> Q: Will there ever be any distictive advantages of specialization aside from the point cost? e.g. weapons only usable by specialists, perhaps a bludgeon attack for sword specialists, spells only available to specialists, items only...
paulen> usable by specialists, etc. As it stands there is very little that distinguishes 1 mage from the next or 1 sword user from the next and it's commonly agreed that the point cost curve difference doesn't warrant the expense in points at char...
paulen> creation. Distinctive advantages would add to specialization and enhance the role playing aspect of the game. GA
nei@turbine> we really don't currently have the tech to do much past numbers in relation to the skill curves... there are a few "maybes" but those are far off.
nei@turbine> done
SpellSpoiler> My question is about diamond scarabs and how difficult they are to come by. Diamond golems seem to be the only place for me to obtain these. Adding to this difficulty, are the numorous taper combinations that are needed to even learn the new eye
SpellSpoiler> of the storm type spells. While most of the bright mages have already figured out the obvious powder/potion components of the spell, if they do learn it, the scarab components to cast it are not regularly available.
SpellSpoiler> Is there hope that less difficult monsters like revenants, lightning gromnies or elder reedsharks will drop these new scarabs or that they would be available at a tough to travel to mage shop?
SpellSpoiler> Oh and a feature request for v2: Add a button for an XML (or html) dump from the enter game screen of our character information, such as stats and inventory including the value and numbers on our weapons etc. patron/monarch/vassals etc.
SpellSpoiler> Enjoying the rhymes with spoon additions by the way. <done
nei@turbine> the availability of the scarabs is one of those things i spend too much time stewing over...
nei@turbine> while i doubt they'll ever be for sale, they MIGHT have a chance of increasing the drop rate on the golems.
nei@turbine> past that... *shrug*
nei@turbine> done.
+Chaos@AC> V_Spaz_V?
Quadratic> Hi Turbine. Are the new trade skills still way back on the "to look at later" list, or have they moved to the "possibly look at doing" list now?
Quadratic> Oh, and Chris, what do you think about fuzzles? {Done}
letoile@turbine> Uh...
rei@Turbine> *smack head*
rei@Turbine> (That was about fuzzles)
rei@Turbine> New trade skills ... would love to do them.
rei@Turbine> July is booked....
rei@Turbine> Maybe within a few months, but that's just a tentative maybe.
rei@Turbine> So since we can't look at them now, they are technically on the "to look at later" list.
rei@Turbine> Done.
sean@Turbine> *Fuzzles Quadratic*
Leviathen1> I'd like to say that while waiting I enjoyed an ice cold glass of cola and that it's on sale at the quickie mart on mainstreet for my question
sean@Turbine> (Cut that out, Sean!)
Leviathen1> <Gargamel "There was only one identified trojan in the past used to steal account information from players, but that has been taken care of. The recent batch of hackings apparently originate from Zone secuity flaws.
Leviathen1> What steps does Turbine intend to take to protect their product from the dificent security provided by Microsoft ?"
Leviathen1> (insert allegiance and monarch plug here) go ahead
rei@Turbine> We provide the best security we can for Asheron's Call itself....
rei@Turbine> Done.
+Chaos@AC> For those who have concerns about Zone security itself, please email zmaster@microsoft.com - security issues are being looked into.
bangui> Hail. This is a request from the posters at AC Stratics.
bangui> I would like to see text filtering switches added. This would be a switch for each text type. Combat messages, spell words and NPC random speeches are the types of text that some of us would like to filter out.
bangui> Some people feel that watching the health bar is sufficent in combat. Mages practicing spells annoys almost everyone. The Collector's speech gets old very quickly.
bangui> ga
rei@Turbine> Is that a question? :)
rei@Turbine> anyway, my answer is: Yes.
nei@turbine> where's justin when you want to give him props?... (justin being a weenie)
letoile@turbine> (weenie=functionality programmer)
rei@Turbine> There's stuff coming soon.
rei@Turbine> I think it will answer most of what you're looking for.
rei@Turbine> Done.
pLaYbOyTd> Im a high level mage from DT, have 2 chars there casting level 6's very well...no fizzle when buffed. NEVER. I've been all over the land, searched NW of dryreach for that sister of the sister who was captured. She was no where to be found...
pLaYbOyTd> I've given the drunk in Ayan Baqur enough Stout for his Blood Alcohol level to be 147.8. Thats 147.3 over the legal limit where i live !!! I dont want direct answers, or to be given the spells...but a nudge in the right direction will never hurt anyone.
pLaYbOyTd> I've spent countless hours fighting diamond golems, and i think i have a record of diamond scarabs spent reseaching your "new" spells...can anyone beat 24 ? Please give us the "NUDGE" we need, because nothing has turned up....
pLaYbOyTd> btw, that comes from EVERY high levle mage, looking for these spells...if you cant answer that, then tell us what youre doing for EVERYONE's sake...( from General_Sun_Z ) all the way at the bottom !!!!
letoile@turbine> 24? Yow.
nei@turbine> a nudge? i can't say much really - but i'd point you over to the CoD collegium board, they're getting remarkably close.
nei@turbine> cod.xrgaming.net
nei@turbine> done.
pLaYbOyTd> btw, GO DT RULES, carebears...well, inhale profusely ;p
smugs> hiya,if i spend time learning the terrain im fighting in time to get to know what im fighting planning out a battle that will could last a while casting vulns and debuffs to kill the monster in an heroic fight shouldnt i get more exp then killing ...
smugs> somthing in one shot why do you fell i should get less?
Crowley@turbine> Using terrain to your advantage, shoot and scoot, dodging, all this is different from wall-licking.
Crowley@turbine> The XP code seems to be pretty misunderstood. It ONLY affects people a monster cannot even get to, a la perchers and wall-drainers.
Crowley@turbine> Taking a lot of time to kill something, a long drawn-out battle in a fair fight with a monster, will not loose you any XP.
Crowley@turbine> Done
rei@Turbine> Plus it only starts AFTER you attack it.
rei@Turbine> Done
SageMadHatter> First, Lillith (yes from CoD) and I would like to extend congrats on a great job done with the windmills! We only found out recently when lookup to the ceilling, that you can actually see the gears and sprockets turning in sync with each other! Great work
SageMadHatter> Love the detail! :) Alright, and now for the question/suggestion. Originally you guys had planned 4 heritage groups, for one of these heritage groups you have some concept art of a city (Rennaj City) Although the 4th heritage was drop... Could you guys
SageMadHatter> look into... perhaps in the distance future (okay, well maybe not years from now! but sometime...) considering bringing Rennaj City to life? :) It's a wonderful concept and I'm sure many of the fans would love to see a floating city :) Preferably a hidden
SageMadHatter> secret floating city! I know I asked this before on the boards, but wanted to ask it in the semi-unoffical chat, who needs balance? Content rules! oh and shouts out go to Pepto Bismol, cause she is so looking foward to seen her name here *grins* GA
jason@Turbine> thanks..
jason@Turbine> if your gonna do windmills...
jason@Turbine> burn them..
letoile@turbine> More than four, in fact.
letoile@turbine> I'm not sure we could easily do the floating city in the current engine....
letoile@turbine> Buildings themselves take a long time. In order to do this properly, we'd have to make the city a bunch of multiple floating buildings that all fit together.
letoile@turbine> Jason, you want to add something to my fumbling here?
letoile@turbine> Oh, and I'll shout at PeptoB too...
jason@Turbine> a large one would be hard,
jason@Turbine> but small ones would just be a time suck.. perhaps one day, but I don't know when we'd have the time to work it in..
jason@Turbine> done
Close2Sane> Comment, Id just like to say yall have done a great job with AC, been playing since Beta0, and you havent bored me yet :)
Close2Sane> Comment,the Det2 + GeForce2 produces garbage in AC, seems to work fine for all other games I play, and i have the up to date drivers.
Close2Sane> Question, When are we going to see the new islands? We need new places for us to go, as us higher levels are always gonna ask for something new =)
Close2Sane> I agree with a comment earlier, have another fire in the sky ;) arwic? Q'alabar? BOOOOOM? =) Evil Elvis rocks!!! (done)
nei@turbine> *nods to HM* i won't answer, i'll just nod.
letoile@turbine> I'll just chuckle...
rei@Turbine> What's this with Arwic and Qalaba'r? (Oh)
nei@turbine> oh yeah, and for the higher levels, this is one of those be careful what you ask for..
letoile@turbine> BOO Arwic!
rei@Turbine> (I think we're done but I could be wrong)
nei@turbine> i still have the critters that one shot my admin, but they're still a little tough for the sub 100 crowd :)
jason@Turbine> no, bomb arwic..
nei@turbine> done.
XWA_eeezee> I'd like to comment on how great AC really is! Your spell system is ingenious, graphics are remarkable, and everything else is just plain great! And bombing Arwic/Qual'bar would solve the world's problems!
XWA_eeezee> And now for my question, What plans do you have for new spells in other schools of magic, such as Creature enchantment, item enchantment, and life magic?
nei@turbine> oh pooh... i have to be all vague now..
nei@turbine> there are plans... past that, um...
nei@turbine> erm... get down and boogie?
nei@turbine> done.
Dave@turbine> heh
auspice0> First off - Solclaim RULES! I love it! Great job! Really gives me a sence of accomplishment doing everything for myself , and competing with other people who arent too much bigger than me.
auspice0> Now for the question. I am a melee'r with creature and item, you just said a bit ago, that melee fighters without magic schools are getting a touch of love, what does this mean? Don't you love me?
auspice0> By the way, any recommendations of any freeware/shareware 3d rendering software that I could use to learn would be appreciated.
auspice0> Thanks to ACSage for hosting My guild's site!
letoile@turbine> I love you, man! *hands auspice a beer*
jason@Turbine> there's not much in the way of free 3d programs other than povray that I know of..
nei@turbine> it meant that there will be some new toys for people to use that won't rquire magic to become powerful and useful
nei@turbine> done.
jason@Turbine> but there are a lot of cheaper ones out there..
jason@Turbine> done
Amusary> AC needs an skill cost cap. Once level 60+ is attained the benefits of fighting no longer seem worth the effort.At level 1-10 you advance rapidly. At level 20-40 you truly enter in your prime. However, after level 50
Amusary> skills and stats begin costing ridiculous amounts and noticing any increase in fighting effectiveness is seldom. Leveling is nearly impossible after level 70 so you would think I would be able to raise lots and lots of skills each level.
Amusary> Hell no, my strength costs over 2 million points to raise. Hmm, lets see, thats 4 points of strength per level. That's not much at all! One points of sword and an extra point of damage (maybe). Big deal and its only going to get worse as I level.
Amusary> Why not cap the skill and stat costs at 1 million and let us make some truly exciting characters that have nice high skill and stat levels (over 300+) to reflect our high levels more??!
Amusary> done
nei@turbine> when i was playing with the spec curve, i started to look at all the other curves as well.
nei@turbine> at high levels, they become next to impossible to raise and we acknowledge that..
nei@turbine> and in the vaguest way possible: and when things are not working well in-game, they have a tendency to be nudged and fixed...
nei@turbine> done.
letoile@turbine> Hey, CoD's lagging... too many mages at the Collegium Arcani?
treymule> With the addition of 'Searing Disc", Mages, already overpowered, are now overpowered and faster. Melee fighters, finally, after months of updates start to see equal footing with the other classes and now promptly get sent right
treymule> back down to the bottom of the dung heap. Archers 'n their +110 +6 +6 BD V Bow Mast V (No drop) Railgun to kill Tusker Guards in 2 hits and now Mages can kill multiple Tuskers in one spell. A 320 sword skill cant even kill a Banderling Raver in one hit!™
treymule> Where are the Warrior's one hit kills (not including small bunnies and cows)??
treymule> btw cool about the lowering skill costs ;) done
nei@turbine> never seen Hell Hawk go nuts in the plains? ... see the above "melee gets some love" comments.
Crowley@turbine> Gee Trey, you could at least wait until people discover the new spells before going off about how they;re overpowered.
nei@turbine> done.
_stroker_> The new creatures ( old creatures of a different color ) arrived with no real explaination ( no back story )So where is the story behind all these creatures ?also make NPCs, if you give them the wrong item they return it
_stroker_> i want my item back if they dont need it
rei@Turbine> One "question"(?) per person....
letoile@turbine> Whoo, backstory Q! I get to be useful! *dance*
letoile@turbine> The story is, portalspace is fluxing as a result of the Shadow Spires' influence. During the invasion, random portals spawned across the landscape...
letoile@turbine> Now, some of them have connected across worlds... and that means new waves of critters are arriving.
letoile@turbine> Those darn Shadows...
letoile@turbine> *done*
Archemist> A level 6 Mire Wasp can hit me consistantly with Flame Bolt 3. I am level 61 and have a 167 unboosted magic defense. This is ridiculous! If a level 6 magic casting creature can affect me with spells of any type (war, life, creature) then that creature is
Archemist> ungodly boosted and should reflect so by giving at least triple exp per kill. Its bad enough trying to get millions of experience points to raise str, but to get only 40 exp from a creature that has the potential to kill me quickly is an insult.
Archemist> Please we see a reflection in increased experience given by killing magic casting creatures?
Archemist> done
jason@Turbine> thats because we flagged you character specialy..
jason@Turbine> it's all a big conspiracy..
rei@Turbine> It's a possibility to make some creatures provide more XP.
rei@Turbine> Based on whether they cast spells or not....
rei@Turbine> It's definitely something to consider.
jason@Turbine> seriously though, I resist them with my 105 or so magic defense.. not consistantly or anything, but I do..
rei@Turbine> (I'm done)
StacyAnn> Thank you for taking my question - Can't wait for the Boston Gathering Thank you for taking my question - Can't wait for the Boston Gathering Its very very grey world in dereth - since there is only one color matty coat - Can there be shops where we can
StacyAnn> since there is only one color matty coat - Can there be shops where we can pay to dye our armor? Stacy-Ann the fashionable wife of Circeus Hi Aldur and Long Live the Verdantine!! Done
rei@Turbine> That's an interesting topic that's come up before....
rei@Turbine> I can see many more color coordinated outfits if that happens, and perhaps it will take some of the fun away from collecting the pieces via combat....
rei@Turbine> All I can say is we know people want it and it is on the list of things to consider.
rei@Turbine> (The boards are going to blast me for that answer, I can tell :p)
rei@Turbine> Done.
Korenth138> With all the new MMORPG's to be released in the next year or so, what are some of your future plans(such as new lands, expansion pack etc) for Asheron's Call to stay competitive with all these new releases? All must visit www.asheronslore.com<g
Korenth138> You guys should really check out our Dev Center. It has a lot of great ideas that I think your whole Development team would enjoy.
Korenth138> Done
rei@Turbine> You'll see some of our plans soon.
rei@Turbine> We will continue to add new features, new content, new places to explore.
rei@Turbine> We do it monthly for free... rather than as an expansion pack.
jason@Turbine> well, one, we give our expantions away in little installments each month called events - and we don't change you for them..
rei@Turbine> Done.
WetMajik> I don't think housing in the general sense will ever happen, it would change the game too dynamically.
nei@turbine> he meant "charge"
WetMajik> But could we have a First Level Spell (so not to discriminate) that would take us to A) a private dungeon or B) a private allegiance castle?
WetMajik> This would be a quick solution (and frees up Arwic Traffic) ;)
WetMajik> A private chest or placed items that don't dissapear would eliminate mule characters almost completely and if you are in an allegiance, you almost have to have mules and spart equipment. Done.
rei@Turbine> I don't think it's as quick as you think it is :)
rei@Turbine> But certainly it's an idea to consider ... again, though, think about the number of private dungeons that would be.
letoile@turbine> One for each player on a world? 2500-3000? Ack.
rei@Turbine> Anyway, permanent storage is on the list of things we want....
jason@Turbine> ok letoile, get toi work - I want them all different too ;)
rei@Turbine> But the technical hurdles are non trivial.
rei@Turbine> Done.
airety> I was wondering if wands that cast high level spells practically instantaneously (sp?) are the way you want them to be or if a "fix" is being considered, as these wands are considered huge PvP imbalancers. . . Sorry if this has been asked before.
rei@Turbine> I think Jesse gets this one
letoile@turbine> Jesse SO gets this one.
nei@turbine> hehe... wands.
nei@turbine> wands are a silly thing.
nei@turbine> i dont like wands in PK.
nei@turbine> hmm...
nei@turbine> yeah... that's probably enough.
nei@turbine> done.
nhaskell> This has been the most addicting game I have ever played. Great job. I watch a lot less TV, but I don't see the sun much either :)
nhaskell> I really hate to be "That guy" who worries about other players quest items, but before this bow (with a terrible name), every single quest item has not really been worth using.
nhaskell> I always thought that was a good thing, because I don't want us all to be using the same items. But the "Composite Bow with a handle" is equivalent to the very best bows in all of dereth.
rei@Turbine> (You see the in-game sun, though, right? Isn't that good enough? lol)
nhaskell> Why have you changed the way you design quest items, and can we expect updates to exisiting inferrior quest items? Done!
letoile@turbine> *whumps Rei*
nei@turbine> on the bow: have you tried attaching the best string to the bow? it's no small feat..
nei@turbine> as to existing weapons/quests: yeah, they're getting some luv might soon.
nei@turbine> done.
PaladinsOfFate> (I'm SO nervous)...
PaladinsOfFate> Thanks for a wonderful game!...
PaladinsOfFate> What are the chances we can see some enhancements to fellowship/chat? Specifically,...
letoile@turbine> *guides paladin gently to the mic*
PaladinsOfFate> I would like something that works like fellowship, but without XP. This would allow...
PaladinsOfFate> us to hold conversations with groups of people regardless of their playing level....
PaladinsOfFate> This would be an aid in three specific situations: Allegiance meetings/groups, body...
PaladinsOfFate> recovery missions of low-level vassals, and just general chatting (especially in...
PaladinsOfFate> crowded towns) (and maybe an audible alert for some kinds of messages?).
PaladinsOfFate> Gwen Normad -- Frostfell Archer
rei@Turbine> That's actually a good idea....
rei@Turbine> Something I've considered, though something as huge as an allegiance able to all talk together is probably not good for the server.
rei@Turbine> Allegiance communication is something I'd like to see fixed too.
rei@Turbine> So, I'll keep the suggestion in mind ... right now our dev time is booked for other things in the near future though.
rei@Turbine> Done.
+Chaos@AC> elhefe007a?
+Chaos@AC> Arphaxed78, you're up!
suceava> Comment: Along the lines of Alchemist's comments, I have to say I'm more afraid of level 12 gromnies and rats than I am of level 128 Tuskers. Doesn't seem right.
suceava> Are items on monsters (including quest related items like matty horns, guts, etc.) assigned at spawn time or at death time? So if I run past a dual fragment, could I be passing by a crystal fragment, or is that only decided when the creature dies? Thanks
nei@turbine> trophies are assigned at spawn and treasure is assigned at death.
nei@turbine> treasure being the random loot, trophies being horns, shards, etc.
nei@turbine> done.
timsp> Great Game, Great Work, Keep it up!!!! My question is mainly suggestion, with just the question of 'would you ever try this?' I think that the dungeons you've designed are great but can we have some of the fun too? (The game is partly player-driven)...
timsp> I was thinking that if you released a public version of dungeon builder, with enough of a 3D engine attached that one could test a dungeon they designed, individual users could design their own dungeons, and then submit it to a comittee of volunteers...
timsp> who test the dungeon. They would filter out ones that are easily exploitable or not well made. The best ones would be forwarded to the DevTeam and you could incorporate some of the dungeons into the game. Why do I suggest this? Because a lot of...
timsp> users would like to contribute to the game in a unique way, or want to try deisgning a 3D dungeon. More dungeons would mean people are spread out more, reducing lag. Lastly, with different people working on the dungeons, new ideas would be seen and...
timsp> the game would grow faster, with more plot twists as individuals start making small in-dungeon quests, or groups make multi-dungeon quests, etc... Guru is cool! ga! (Done) (what happened to ga?)
rei@Turbine> Hmm, the committee of volunteers is an interesting twist....
rei@Turbine> There is huge overhead with adding dungeons right now.
rei@Turbine> If the volunteers misses a hidden cache of super loot, then it would certainly be a problem....
rei@Turbine> No matter how it's done, it would be costly in terms of time & energy :)
rei@Turbine> We DO like the idea of more people building content, though....
rei@Turbine> Likely not for AC at this point.
rei@Turbine> Done.
Awake33> Hello all, and GREAT game btw! I have noticed that when you cast a level VI spell for example, that its duration determines...
Awake33> ...the duration of all level VI spells (with the same possible duration, i.e. 12-21 minutes) cast directly after it.
Awake33> For example when you cast Armor VI, Bludge VI, Pierce VI, and Blade VI protections one after the other.
Awake33> When Armor VI wears off, 1 or 2 seconds later Bludge VI, then Pierce, etc. As you can imagine, having everything wear off at once...
Awake33> ...can be very deadly. My question is this: Can the spells be made to last an individually random amount of time within it's duration.
Awake33> This would seem far more realistic, and less annoying than suddenly becoming vulnerable to anything. As it is now, its not really random. < Done
nei@turbine> that's related to how the spell economy works. the economy works in phases, so given spells in the same "power" range will all be affected in the same way.
nei@turbine> ie since your lvl VI protects are all "flowing" through you, they'll all last the same amount of time.
nei@turbine> done.
beaud> The existence of the Olthoi queen has yet to be confirmed. Will you confirm that the Olthoi Queen is not currently in Dereth, and if she isn't, can we expect her to grace us w/ her presence in Rhymes with Cow Pie? Hail to Heysun of Harvestgain and the
beaud> Knights of Dereth *done*
letoile@turbine> The Queen exists, but is not in Dereth... because our dear Elysa Strathelar, non-perching archer, smote her. ^_^
letoile@turbine> If another queen appears, you can bet it will be a very big to-do.
letoile@turbine> *done*
Xea> I thought you (Turbine) were trying to make a game where all sorts of char where able to play, but you have made a char with out item two times harder to play then on with. We cant portal we have to run. It's not fun. Why can't you make high dungeons clos
Xea> closer to towns? We have the portal gems that no one know where and how to get you need to do something else. What abut making item magic in to two skills, portal magic and item magic? Skill cost 4/4
rei@Turbine> We are highly unlikely to change the layout of existing spells....
rei@Turbine> You can imagine how upsetting that would be.
rei@Turbine> That said, putting in more portals and portal-accessing options is definitely a possibility.
rei@Turbine> Plus, there are some places even item magic people will have to run to.
rei@Turbine> Done.
AFF_DaFuGiTiVe> Hello, Fugitive the Dork here (hello to all my friends on HG *kicks Evil Elvis* :) and to the people on the CoD boards who are going to judge me) Ok an now the question *drum roll*.....
AFF_DaFuGiTiVe> Is there going to be anyway for spells to wear off quicker? Like the level VI debuffs the new monsters cast. A lot of people dont enjoy sitting around for 15 minutes doing nothing. Possibly where you lay down and they wear off faster or even a dispell
AFF_DaFuGiTiVe> spell? *Tap dances out* - Fugitive the Dork of the Sin'athian Order - Harvestgain *done*
nei@turbine> another excellent time for a vague answer: "yes"
nei@turbine> rooted in the mysteries of sausage no less.
nei@turbine> done.
letoile@turbine> Jesse has been taking lessons from the Vorlon ambassador.
Crowley@turbine> No Vorlons here.
Zakna> Since Gharu has a wand quest, when will sho/aluv get no drop wand monkeying? oh yah TM/Sin/DDH roqs DT .. K thnx :p and ...
Zakna> What is the spawn rate of Fragment pieces (crystal/tiny/small/cracked shards) and why does it seem so impossible to get even one?
Zakna> ga
rei@Turbine> One question please.
nei@turbine> if you only want them for monkeying, i wouldn't want them for much longer...
nei@turbine> but adding more race quests is on the plate, its just one of those funny things that takes awhile since the non-chosen race tends to get upset.
nei@turbine> done.
krs82> hey. I only have 9 questions for you(like everyone else): 1) i have heard alot of complaints about high speed modems(mainly cable) having bad packet loss in online games, including AC.
krs82> most of the problems that i have heard of have been with @home, and since I am getting @home on the 23rd I am just wandering if
krs82> there is anything that yall can do to improve the packet loss with high speed access that I have heard about.
krs82> and my last questions, in no specific order: 2)how are you tonight David? 3)how are you tonight Jesse? 4)how are you tonight Chris?
krs82> 5)how are you tonight Dave? 6)how are you tonight Sean? 7)how are you tonight Jason?
krs82> 8)how are you tonight Eri? 9)and how are you doing tonight Chaos, didnt see your real name =]
krs82> ok, im done and am ready to be booted *looks at Chaos*
letoile@turbine> *boot boot bott*
rei@Turbine> Whoo! Go Chaos! lol
+Chaos@AC> I'll be nice :) But expect only the first one answered
sean@Turbine> No... how YOU doin'?
rei@Turbine> No, we get our choice :)
rei@Turbine> Fine.
rei@Turbine> Done.
rei@Turbine> :p
+Chaos@AC> true!
+Chaos@AC> ArtfulSalmon, the floor is yours !
iMMy786> Great job with the game. Would it be hard to code a dungeon, where its a small room, with 1 monster in it and a locked door. You have to kill the monster to get the key. The first room would be a weak creature like a level 4 drudge.
iMMy786> The next room has a level 11 Hunter Shreth, and the next a Laguis Lugian, and so forth. Perhaps Olthoi Queen at the end? I'm sure you can create this type of dungeon with the existing code. This would really cool to see how "bad a$$" your character is :
iMMy786> Greets to Ecin for not telling me some things :P
rei@Turbine> Technical answer: no
jason@Turbine> the hall of testing..
Crowley@turbine> It'd be like Tekken!
jason@Turbine> I remember something like that from the proving grounds..
rei@Turbine> (I guess I don't see it making much ingame sense :)
rei@Turbine> Done.
RMEU_TransGold> Great game guys! My question to you guys today is that everytime I'm in a dungeon, take for example the Lugian Citadel near Qalaba'r, and I go into a room with 10-15 other people in there, each of them a higher level or lower level so i'm not the highest
RMEU_TransGold> or lowest level, and the minute I come into that room, every single monster that spawns there goes straight after me, the archer. What causes that? Is there like a hate list with my name on it or something? Mech Van-Gold Thistledown Rem Rules!! Don
RMEU_TransGold> Done even :-)
letoile@turbine> Wi flag?
rei@Turbine> I think so?
rei@Turbine> I have no idea.
Crowley@turbine> Don't worry, I have that same flag.
rei@Turbine> I've seen some people with bad luck....
rei@Turbine> You guys should get together and see who has the worst luck.
rei@Turbine> Sorry, no clue.
rei@Turbine> Done.
Lilla_Sparveln> And so it begins, Noone here is exactly what he appears to be...=)
Lilla_Sparveln> Will you ever restore the balance you broke with the Hoary Mattekar Robe with somekind of item which is equivalent? The Mattie Robe has made the game less fun for thoose who did not buy the game before you removed it. (And yes, MagicD is bad, a too big "l
letoile@turbine> *laugh*
nei@turbine> hehe... yeah..
Lilla_Sparveln> uck factor" is involved, I have resisted virindis with 56 in MagicD) oh, and btw, this might be a bug: Me and my friend NEVER gets more than 100 in mana when we do stamina to mana, we both have 200 in stamina so we should be able to get more than 100 in
Lilla_Sparveln> mana with the higher spells but we dont
nei@turbine> re robes unbalancing-ness: jesse gets to kill more people in the name of balance.
nei@turbine> balance will come once again!
nei@turbine> or i'll still be playing a stinky mage on DT....
nei@turbine> done.
joncrowl> Since I've encountered the diamond golem and various shadows outside of the dires. Is there any chance the we can see the more powerful...
joncrowl> lugians (forget the names) in the mountains east of qual? Done
rei@Turbine> There should be an increase in powerful lugians in some areas....
rei@Turbine> I'm not exactly sure which lugians you're talking about though.
rei@Turbine> And it's likely monsters will continue to shift around for a while.
rei@Turbine> Done.
Boney_Jellyfish> Do you think you could make shards/motes/bow pieces no-drop? A bunch of people(like me) who have no shards whatsoever have no chance at getting anything good. I would like to have a trade system like "the good old days" when you couldn't trade a
Boney_Jellyfish> scint gem for a matty robe
Boney_Jellyfish> and he meant extas and tiatus lugians
Boney_Jellyfish> done
nei@turbine> no, the component pieces aren't going to change since they've formed a sub-economy and that's something to be fostered, not taken away. there's still a healthy trade market, but the currency has become pieces instead of pyreals.
nei@turbine> done.
sean@Turbine> Ooooh! Nei "fostered" someone!
+Chaos@AC> NotoriousGOD, you're up :)
letoile@turbine> hehehe d00d g0+ f05+0r3d
Kung_Fu_Monkey0> Love the Game! Hate the Almighty Lag Beast though :-) My character has the bug mentioned on the "State of the Code" where his corpse instantly decays upon death, and all of his death items fall to the ground. This character is level 19 and this problem
Kung_Fu_Monkey0> has been on me for about 4 months now. I've already gone through the normal channels of sending emails to complaints@turbine.com and have posted messages in the Bug area on CoD. But there has been no reply to me at all from anyone as to what the progres
Kung_Fu_Monkey0> s of fixing this bug is. I know there must be others out there who have my problem. Is there any chance my character will be fixed any time soon? I really miss him. Done :-)
Dave@turbine> complaints@asheronscall.com not turbine.com
rei@Turbine> Fascinating.
rei@Turbine> I'll grab your info and send out some email....
rei@Turbine> No promises, though....
rei@Turbine> Sounds like a very rare occurrence.
Dave@turbine> KFM zm me, and I'll see what I can do
rei@Turbine> Yes, if it's consistent, it's that much easier to fix.
rei@Turbine> (There are many bugs out there that are rare and very hard to reproduce... that makes them hard to track down and fix)
rei@Turbine> (Consistently reproducable bugs are much easier to deal with)
rei@Turbine> Done.
+Chaos@AC> Vegetto241, you're up :)
Jason_400> Hi guys, love the game...you made me so addicted that I can't stop playing and my parents are pissed as hell, heh. Little tip, add a @alligence so we can /a "Hey all my followers, wuz up!", that would make monarchs job alot easier.
Jason_400> Anyways lets get down to the point. Oh, and brace yourself, this is long. This is a little nuts how mages are struggeling with this whole new war spell thing.
Jason_400> Eye of the storm etc. look awesome but you really expect mages to hunt diamond golems for their supply of scarabs? I mean the spells look awesome, but they will get no use! Which sucks!
Jason_400> Archers got a kick ass bow this month with total directions on how to do it...Meleers got kick ass atlan weapons and they are still going nuts with the Major stones.
Jason_400> Mages have to sit here and try a billion possibilities with no light to guide them. Then if thats not hard enough we gotta hunt one of the hardest creatures on the entire island of dereth just to cast these new spells.
Jason_400> AND from the looks of it, 8 waves of acid that cause 30-60 dammage and are sent outward from the caster are not worth the trouble of killing Millions of diamond golems just to stock up a supply of a few scarabs which right now seems impossible.
Jason_400> Most people can't even get ahold of 1 scarab let alone a decent supply to learn and succesfuly use these new spells in combat.
Jason_400> All I'm saying is are we going to have any Town Criers hinting us or ArchMages out in the wilderness throwing us some clues on the forumlas and will there be a more realistic way to achieve diamond scarabs? Why let these new spells go to waste?
Jason_400> Right now, mages are sort of just saying "Screw research, I don't want to lose my diamond scarab, I'll wait till someone else finds out."
Jason_400> Because these are just way too impossible to come by. Give us mages a break! We wanted new spells, but not like this!
Jason_400> Oh and please don't say an extremley vague answer. We sit waiting to hear waiting in line for hours every month to hear some realistic answers from you guys...not to hear the dreaded words.."Its coming soon, DONE." Thanks.
nei@turbine> i think i already answered this, no? yes... i'm aware of the dearth of diamonds and people casting the spells and it's something that wracks me at night. putting work into something and not having people enjoying it (and in many cases, causing themselves.
nei@turbine> ... pain over it) is not an ideal situation.
nei@turbine> so yeah, but until july, there's not much i can do about it since any hints, changes, etc require a new prop.
nei@turbine> done.
shFlyer> Great game guys, my wife hates it but it's very fun. My question is on the fragment pieces. I have amassed all the dark matter, but have been entirely unsuccessfull in getting the fragment pieces. 1 full week of doing nothing else, I've hunted broken,
shFlyer> frags, and dual frags, and gotten for my effort one cracked shard. Any thoughts about making this quest a bit more attainable or at least increase the drop rate a bit to make it possible?
shFlyer> Right now I have about given up on it. Thanks.
shFlyer> oh, I'm a 40th level 4 magics mage.
rei@Turbine> It is unlikely that we will be making that quest easier in any way....
rei@Turbine> Perhaps there might be some balancing later.
rei@Turbine> (Hmm, can't really put to words what I'm trying to say.)
rei@Turbine> Done.
+Chaos@AC> tbuckleywa, you're up :)
hopalong_0> hi,my question concerns a important and avoided issue,LAG it is getting worse and worse and people are leaving cause of it, what is being done to fix it, regardless how good the game if laggy u wont have people to play it. specifics plz no run around. ..
rei@Turbine> The reason I can't give specifics is because I don't have the specifics....
rei@Turbine> I think I can say that both MS and Turbine are aware of the problem.
rei@Turbine> Solclaim's effects are being measure, I believe.
rei@Turbine> There are possibly some more optimization tweaks that could happen as well.
rei@Turbine> But honestly I can't tell you what exactly will happen.
rei@Turbine> Done.
rei@Turbine> (err, being measureD)
keldon2> First I would like to say that you really should have answered krs82's question because a lot of people have that problem…OK this is more of an idea than a question. A good way that you could make people that want houses and castles and banks would be to
keldon2> create large castles for monarchies with large amounts of followers. They could all live in small houses inside the walls of this castle and keep
keldon2> there stuff inside chests that can be locked and only you have the like. I know there are a lot of details that need to be addressed before something like that could be done
keldon2> but I think it would work out very well and make everyone happy… So tell me what you think and if it would be possible to do.
rei@Turbine> (I don't think anyone here is qualified to answer packet loss questions)
rei@Turbine> Yes, that is definitely part of what a Housing Solution would entail (if we went that far).
rei@Turbine> But you'd want to guarantee your equipment isn't lost....
rei@Turbine> You'd want to make sure you could control who goes in....
rei@Turbine> You'd probably want to kick out people who sneak in.
rei@Turbine> That's a LOT of new code.
rei@Turbine> So, yes, we'd like to do it, but it's not trivial.
rei@Turbine> Done.
Dave@turbine> Hey gang if you want to meet the Dev's in person, check out the link for the Boston player gathering----- http://cod.xrgaming.net/gathering/ thanks to Crossroads of Dereth!
+Chaos@AC> I held our guests over a wee bit, since we started a couple minutes late. GreyHawk01 will be our last caller for this evening
General_Sun_Zoo> Good day eh.... love the game... blah blah......... Anyway you've told us what you cannot or will not do in the near future. __Proto__ and I want some straight answers!
General_Sun_Zoo> How about telling us what you can do and will do in the near future. And quit with the vague stuff.
General_Sun_Zoo> Give us even one concrete answer and i'll be happy. Egg Shan of Morningthaw sworn and wed to Dragon Dancer.
rei@Turbine> Well, we are NOT going to give you the specific quests going into July.
rei@Turbine> That would be ... wrong in many ways.
rei@Turbine> Expect new monsters.
rei@Turbine> We are further along on Secure Trade.
rei@Turbine> Expect some new squelch functionality soon, hopefully July.
rei@Turbine> (in fact, it SHOULD be July, but things can always go wrong)
rei@Turbine> There are some specifics.
rei@Turbine> Done.
Crowley@turbine> Expect some melee stuff too!
Crowley@turbine> Done
GreyHawk01> Greetings all, just wanted to start off by saying thank you for the wonderful addiction that you have placed before us, and I just cant get enough of it. You guys are dong a great job....ok, now on to what I am here for...more of a suggestion, really...
GreyHawk01> I, like most people absolutely hate bringing up the map as we are dying, or trying to find a specific travel point. I would like to see our coords up on our displays, such as just below the radar screen in the top right hand corner of the screen....
GreyHawk01> Maybe a small black box with white Coords so that we can see them without them being lost in the background of the graphics. This would help ALL of us out a lot by being able to find our bodies, travel, etc.....
GreyHawk01> And please for the love of god, drop the high weight on the Celdon armor...that thing weighs a ton, and I carry the bare essentials only, and I am still burdened with a 160 strength. Thanks for your time, DONE, GA.
rei@Turbine> Interesting suggestion on the map coords.
rei@Turbine> It's not really a question, but I appreciate it.
rei@Turbine> Done.
+Chaos@AC> Thank you all for attending and asking some great questions tonight!
+Chaos@AC> Special thank you to all our guests from Turbine for taking the time to meet with us all!
+Chaos@AC> See you all at the next chat !!!!!
rei@Turbine> Thank you all very much.
Dave@turbine> thanks all
sean@Turbine> Thanks for comin' out, folks.
sean@Turbine> See you in Boston in July!
rei@Turbine> And big thanks to Chaos for hosting!
+Chaos@AC> Aww thanks Rei, my pleasure :)
letoile@turbine> *waves to Nik and Jamie*
sean@Turbine> *says Hi to Rebecca but not sure she's here*
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Community - Zone Chat Log 06/15/2000