Grab Bag - September 27, 2013

Player Questions & Developer Answers

Marty: It’s possible. =) But it might make more sense to fix the buffs that shear buffs.

Talal: The answer is: Yes- we’ve absolutely considered it and have had several discussions on the topic. As most players know, our free level timer was once a function of population, but this was removed when it was determined that the population swings between realms was too frequent to justify a week-long bonus. We have discussed the subject of different low population bonuses as well as ‘Realm Loyalty’ bonuses, but with the recent elimination of the realm timer – it would require a much higher level of planning and implementation.
We are a fan of Realm Loyalty, but are also very understanding of the player that wishes to experience all realms. It comes down to implementing a solution that would be best for the majority of players, and our discussions with the player base have proven that the preference for this topic is among the most varied in the game.

Talal:I don’t see why not =] We could look into what it would take to surface this information, and what the implications are for doing so. If it means we can have birthday parties for all my toons , I’m totally on board :D

Talal:We’ve talked about improving the Market Explorer to include much finer granularity on searches. This is absolutely on our list for upcoming changes. When the change is made, we will ask that as many players as possible test it out on Pendragon to make sure that everything is in good order.

Is it possible? Yes. Would it represent a healthy balance decision for the game? The answer is basically: No. Templating is an art and a science, and a big part of this is the compromise between player crafted items and the ROG, OTDs, and other high-end drops. We have to make sure that we stay within reasonable bounds with player crafted bonuses. Adding bonuses such as these with the very powerful drops out there could very easily present a problem.

Talal: SI is a wonderful and expansive series of zones, but as I've mentioned before – it’s a bit lacking when it comes to having a modern feel. For some players this area provides significant nostalgia, and for others the dated art and mobs make it unappealing.
It wouldn't be impossible to update a few areas, tweak some encounters and create a few new quest lines, but if you’re inquiring about a complete overhaul of the Shrouded Isles with new art, mobs, and items I must tell you that this is not on our list. DAoC is a game of significant size, yet most of the action/population is restricted to some key areas. It’s on these areas we try to focus our efforts.
That said, a response to this could be that SI (and indeed several other areas) are not populated *because* they’re dated and have no new features, and that is a perfectly good argument. It is, however, a catch - 22. My response to that particular argument is our intention not to disperse the player base too thinly around the game areas.

Talal: We have no current plans to retire Gaheris. We absolutely acknowledge that Gaheris has not received its due love and attention for quite some time and we can only apologize. We are currently in discussions about what we can do to revitalize our PvE server in a meaningful way.

Talal: : I’m totally open to bringing back Caledonia on a somewhat regular cadence. I believe we’re overdue for a Battleground weekend. It won’t be DF this time, I promise. =]
As for Wayback Wednesday – Alas our time with Grakulen has come to a close, but we have been in discussions with a few other folks that are willing to host a streaming Q & A with the Devs. For now, however, the Post Count Grab Bag is here to resolve your curiosity about what’s next for DAoC.

John: The Hub Epic Encounters do behave similarly to Public Quests in Warhammer, albeit without the UI support and contribution/reward chest mechanics. If a player hasn't killed the hub boss and wanders into the area they will get credit for the kill and associated quest.. We'd certainly love to port over the UI support for Public Quests and leverage the reward and contribution mechanics in more content throughout the game. A general UI revamp will have to happen first for that part of the equation though and while we always are looking to add engaging new content, the NF revamp is at the top of our priority list for now.

John: Some of the charm of DAoC is the lack of information our UI gives at times: no big red highlight around your selected target, target of target windows, and other things you see in a lot of new games. That's not to say we're against them, but when we do get around to giving our UI lots of love, we'll want to balance out new functionality without completely altering how the game is played.

Marty: It’s possible. The difficulty of each request would be based on what information you’re trying to display. Specifically, for target of target, the client doesn’t currently keep track of other player/mob targets. So we would have to add that before we could add the adapter.

Marty:I don’t know of any specific cards/drivers that are especially good or bad, but I do know that Camelot has run remarkably well on most cards that support DirectX 9.0c and up. Our low-end requirements are still any “Compatible (i.e. supports DirectX 9.0c & Pixel Shader version 1.1) 3D video card with 64MB video RAM! If your card meets these requirements and is having problems specifically with Camelot, please send detailed reports (including card and driver information) to us and your card vendor. If you’re having problems with more than just Camelot, you should contact your vendor and have them help you troubleshoot your card.