Grab Bag - February 14th, 2014

Player Questions & Developer Answers

The most straightforward answer would be ‘resources’. Under Broadsword and Rob Denton’s leadership, the DaoC team have returned to a singular focus on the project. This translates to access to resources which, over the past few years, were not available to us for a number of reasons. Access to Art, Web, Marketing, Community (Hi Carol!!!), Engineering, and Design resources will allow us to make the right decisions for Camelot’s future while having stronger interactions and communications with our most excellent community.

We’ve talked about this concept in previous Grab Bags, and our response previously was one of cautious optimism. One thing you will hear from us often is our commitment to transitioning DAoC from Mythic to Broadsword as seamlessly as possible.
Following that, we have a considerable possibility space which we can explore, and the addition of newer content in older zones is on the list. We have some very prominent changes closer to the top of the list, but when it comes time for a change like this to be made, you can be sure that we will reach out to the community to determine their preference on which zones they’d like to see changed in this way.

That’s the plan. DAoC has so much to offer. It’s an utterly unique game with one hell of an endgame (or Elder Game, as it’s often called). We want the game to grow, and for more players to experience the thrill and satisfaction of DAoC – to say nothing of the fact that we want DAoC to thrive. It’s our job to make sure DAoC stays profitable, so that the game may remain available for years to come. How this Marketing effort will unfold is currently being discussed behind the scenes. It’s a very exciting time!

1. Fantastic question Pravius, and I’m personally buzzing with excitement about the answer!
Beginning very soon, DAoC will be creating and maintain ‘Official Guilds’!!

These Guilds will be managed and moderated by members of the community (DAoC ‘Official Advisors’) that will be contracted by Broadsword (and paid!) to guide new and returning players, organize and lead events (such as PvE raids), and alleviate some of the frustration new players sometimes feel about the unique aspects of DAoC which at first seem daunting.

These concepts and features are what make Dark Age of Camelot so beautiful, challenging, and satisfying. The objective is giving players a chance to realize those great features, and that’s precisely the impetus for these Official Advisors.

Our wonderful Community Lead Carol (a.k.a. Beib) will work with the community regarding the selection process. She will also be providing more details on this most exciting development in the very near future, so keep your eyes on The Camelot Herald as well as PostCount for more info!!

2. You are just full of great questions, my friend. This very concept is in the works as we speak! An up-to-date item database with a good deal of helpful information, as well as a Spellcrafting calculator will be integrated into the Camelot Herald as part of its update. The database will be official, which is to say that it will be current, and updated when items are introduced, or changes are made.

The answer is ‘No’. I’m sorry, bud. Those bridges were removed for a good reason: overwhelming player feedback. I’d like to remark that the aspects of action and strategy offered by those old bridge models can be found around and amongst the ‘Ruined Keeps and Towers’, which are part of the upcoming New Frontiers changes in Patch 1.115. If there are other aspects the old bridge models which represent a really positive improvement to the game, get a discussion going about them, and we will listen.

Yes, there won’t be any limitations on player movement in or around Agramon.

1. Great question, and not one that can be answered quickly!
The New Frontiers Revamp is meant to improve and facilitate community in many ways. For one, having a single launch point for each realm at the new Portal Keeps will help new players and veterans alike find groups more easily. Second, the portal ceremony will give realms a chance to take a quick breather and strategize how to break a blockade or to plan an invasion.

In terms of gameplay, we hope to keep the ‘sandbox’ feel of the Frontiers while adding new ‘toys’ like the return of the Doppelgangers, the Ruined Keeps, improved minotaur relics, new quests, and capturable docks for players to engage with. Additionally, we hope to increase conflict by removing some of the safer areas like a few towers and keeps in each realm while still providing plenty of towers and keeps to fight over when invading a realm. Our aim is for each of the objectives mentioned above to be best tackled by different sized forces so we that the gameplay for tthe smallest, largest, and all groups in-between are improved because they each something meaningful to accomplish. In terms of community, we hope that these new objectives and the new ‘flow’ of RvR will encourage more communication and cooperation within each realm.

Our hopes and aims are one thing though, letting you get in and play will be the true test of what the repurcussions will be. The transition to Broadsword has taken a lot of our focus over the past few weeks and months but we are full steam ahead on our response to the Revamp’s feedback. Expect an update sometime next week outlining our changes and a new Pendragon soon, complete with a rewarding test event!

2. We are discussing several options to foster Realm loyalty without punishing those who derive satisfaction from playing all three Realms. It’s an on-going discussion, but our focus for the moment is Broadsword’s transition, and the upcoming Patch. Normally, I would suggest that you leave feedback, but with our presence on PostCount, I believe a thread on the topic (I know there are already a few out there) would be a great way to watch the subject evolve.

This is another one of the updates to the game which we have started and intend to finish after the successful transition. I think we’ve all agreed that an update like this would yield an all-around positive result for the game, and we maintain that perspective.
On this note - we certainly have not forgotten our previous discussions and the decisions we made together during previous Grab Bags and live streams. I just want to reiterate that right now our priority is starting off on the right foot under Broadsword, and maintaining a great track record going forward.

We have some tweaks in the works now on how docks and boats will function (they will still be capturable though!) so stay tuned for a full explanation. However, as to your question on why bother, aside from cutting a valuable travel avenue of your enemy, the answer is that non-home realm dock captains will grant repeatable and rewarding quests, that can only be turned in at the same dock captain. This will encourage realms to capture docks, and (try to) keep them!

Unfortunately, merging of two accounts remains unavailable. However, one of our objectives is to re-introduce character transfers between accounts. This requires some investigation, but it is a widely requested feature that we would be very excited to offer once again. We will share our progress on this investigation.

Dark Age of Camelot and Ultima Online maintain dedicated teams. That is to say, 100% Team DAoC’s time is dedicated to Camelot – and the same for UO. There are some central resources which are shared between the games, and that time is simply dedicated on an ‘as needed’ basis.

This process is occurring as we speak, and we are always looking for dedicated players with solid expertise in the game to act in a more official capacity as internal forum members. Those whom we feel would make a strong addition to the internal community will be contacted by Carol for an invitation to the boards. You may also work with Carol to set up a community based ‘election’ of sorts. As for us, we vote for Akdave for president. Of everything.