Friday with Means - November 21, 2008

[dockside]

As for silirrions community contact, imo sure he wrote a lot but he did not listen to the players. Except some professionals, from the profs he played? You have accomplished more and been able to keep up with the community more then sil ever did.

[lordran]

Damn!! Great. Rly looking forward to 18.0 especially for the Solo AI and Perk reset changes!

[RaffaChicken89]

Summer 2009 is a kick in the balls.... but:

Really glad to hear that character model improvements are being looked at, it could potentially take years off the game's aged appearance.

Now just confirm AA, antistropic filtering and better draw distance!

[Snakebite]

Q - Can we expect to be have fr00b Org Members allowed into our HQs?

Hopefully soon. I keep hoping we'll get this done in the near future. 18.0 is a maybe...depending entirely if we can find time.

Well, I've campagned (often half heartedly) for this since the AI buildings came out, & I'm VERY excited to look forward to showing our fr00b Org members around our meeting halls ^^

[macattack]

First off... Hats off to ya! Nice collection of responses to (almost all more later...) questions provided

Q - I'm really looking forward to the playfields but will they require the same amount of organisation (regarding gathering people) as the DB quests and instances?

A great deal of the new content is made for solo style play. It will not be necessary to organise teams for the majority of the missions. That being said there are two new team instances and a final raid instance that will definitely provide challenge for group play.

So glad to hear about the solo content mixed with Team stuff... now is it only geared for top tier lvls? instances lvl locked? lvl adjusted like RK/SL missions? new instances with dynamic maps or static a la Alappa/Alb?

Q - Will we be able to order the booster pack early & if so, will there be a 'reward' for doing so?

A pre-order is currently being organised and I hope to see it out inside the next week. Players who pre-order will receive the new social Hoverchair. Useable anywhere, comfortable and stylish at any social occasion. I want one for the office.

(links to renders of the Hoverchair are at the bottom of this post!)

THis hover chair moveable? or jsut stationary? (cool idea btw)

Q - What can avid PVPers expect from 18.0?
Enforcer - Knockback Stun and Single Target Fears
Doctor - Fear Removal from Friendly Targets

Tied to blunt wpns? I would think 1/2hb would prove HUGE to this effect

Q - Fix for Parry/Riposte soon'ish?

Adding parry and riposte was tried 4 years ago with horrible results. It ended up making life harder for melee classes. If anything life will become easier for melee classes in the near future.

So what about removing the requirements then? just a waste of IPs for non-existent capabilities on wpns

Q - Pandemonium instance, when?

Very carefully early 2009.

:-( saddens me. No more content that can me set for us "older" players on schedules and families. Even if I used the bot there never was a requirement to use it. I liked the convenience of knowing specific times to schedule for and have nice huge gatherings for. (~not going into a comparison w/APFs... I've done that already before ~)

Q - Old entrance hall back to game, yes or no?

Never. This area of the game represented a huge drop-off point for new players.

OK then how about a new training section/module to learn about imps, nanos, and wpns? You have a quasi good help manual but (as I did when I first played many (many.. many..many) moons ago didn't read it)

Q - When will we get some solo AI content?

A great deal of the new Alien Quest line is meant to be done solo and should help significantly with AXP.

That is actually nice to hear

Q - Is it possible to implement an option where a sound plays anytime we get a /tell ? Sometimes I'm not paying attention or in the other room and it would be nice to hear a sound if I get a tell.

I'll think about it...but only as an option. Otherwise when I play it would sound like a slot-machine.

lol.. yes an option but it would be a warm welcomed one

Q - Regarding Symbiants, do I have to redo the 2 month of twinking that took me to wear a EOE 300 again?

We have plans to significantly reduce the time spent in perk reset. This should also arrive with 18.0.

You dodged the bullet on the HOW (may questions/speculations on what the NEW upgrades would entail) sneaky.. sneaky.. sneaky... we are on to you...

BUT PLEASE!!!! PLEASE!!! PLEASE!!! comment on the 1/2 HB!!! (~ I am sure it was mentioned in the threads once or twice ~)

[vallikat]

Q - Is there any eta on the engine and how is it progressing?

The new engine is coming along well.

...

Our current goal is "Summer 2009".

I sense a DragonCon 2009 unveiling.

[macattack]

I sense a DragonCon 2009 unveiling.

hmm.. I hope that is a plan for new AO marketing... common.. lets see some commercials already now!!! drop the WoW

[AbsoluteZero]

2hr Carlo timer! w00!!! *dances the running man* Uh...uh...break it down!

Do the knockbacks work in PvM also?

[Rewo]

Nice update Means, hope you're feeling better. Good stuff, I can't wait for more details and previews of this booster.

Now just confirm AA, antistropic filtering

Already works, just set it in your video driver.

[RaffaChicken89]

Nice update Means, hope you're feeling better. Good stuff, I can't wait for more details and previews of this booster.



Already works, just set it in your video driver.

Doesn't work on my 8800gt with latest (or indeed any) drivers.

[Rktim]

Doesn't work on my 8800gt with latest (or indeed any) drivers.

and yet it works on my 6600 :P

I'm guessing your missing something ^_^

[egadsrk2]

Erm, is Summer 2009 the beginning of the year? What region of the world are we talking about.

'Cause over here in Perth, its pretty damn hot and summery at around 0:00am January 1st 2001, and I'll be wanting an engine to go with my frozen teatowels and beers.

[Rktim]

Erm, is Summer 2009 the beginning of the year? What region of the world are we talking about.

'Cause over here in Perth, its pretty damn hot and summery at around 0:00am January 1st 2001, and I'll be wanting an engine to go with my frozen teatowels and beers.

Hush j00! No one cares about the southern hemisphere! :P

Obviously he meant June/Juli/August... ^_^

[lainy]

Q - Old entrance hall back to game, yes or no?

Never. This area of the game represented a huge drop-off point for new players.

Really? I remember when i was newbie and how I was glad about all ****loads of informations gived by entrance hall's NPCs. At least give us back teh Nurse!


Q - What kind of new stuff MPs will get in this 18.0? Only 2hours attack pets?


Btw, Means ftw!

[PhoenixOfAges]

One question regarding the booster. What lvl of chars can particapate in it? That is will it be more of a high lvl only area or is there stuff low lvls can do as well?

Q - Is there any eta on the engine and how is it progressing?

The new engine is coming along well. We are slowly being able to strip out the work done by the old engine and soon all basic/core functions will be provided by the new engine entirely. The removal of the old engine means a complete removal of the old effects system...and the re-creation/improvement of all the effects in game. This is of course a very significant amount of pure time consuming work. At the same time work will be done to improve the look of the game where possible...things like character model alterations, new trees etc are all adding to the time required to get this done...and get this done right. We really want to take our time with this to make sure it lives up to all of our expectations. Our current goal is "Summer 2009". I'd like to promise it will be ready...but all I can really promise is that I will not release it until I am certain it looks amazing and is well optimized to ensure excellent performance on the vast majority of systems.

One thing to note about this is that some time back they said the new textures and such would come along at some point after the new engine was added. Now it seems they decided to wrap it all up together at the same time which certainly would have kicked the ETA back some.

[Berinda]

Alien armor was originally concepted as something players would have one or two pieces of.

Is that why, prior to the BBQ pillows this last halloween, a doc needed a full suit of supple-based armor (which they don't typically wear) to equip both dreadloch pistols?

[Rktim]

Is that why, prior to the BBQ pillows this last halloween, a doc needed a full suit of supple-based armor (which they don't typically wear) to equip both dreadloch pistols?

no thats because by then the supple armor was 3 years old and could talk by itself and run around and do all those cute things 3 year olds do! ^_^

[Solidstriker]

no thats because by then the supple armor was 3 years old and could talk by itself and run around and do all those cute things 3 year olds do! ^_^

Just wait until it hit puberty, oh man that was a shift.

Nice going Means, btw.

[egadsrk2]

Question for next week:

In last weeks FWM, you let us know that spirits for Shades in QL ranges 280 to 300 would become available in 18.0. Are these spirits newly designed items, old items previously unavailable, or a mix of the two?

Just want to know if we need to start panicking and dumping the 270's.

[Rktim]

Just wait until it hit puberty, oh man that was a shift.

Nice going Means, btw.

Omg! It will get stats where there where no stats before and negative modifiers and the sleeves will have scars on them! >.<