Friday with Means - February 5th, 2010 - Epeen Epreserved

[ArienSky]

Question 1:
Is it possible to make an ingame system so people can see what nanos Agents can and can't use?

Question 2:
is it posible to get a change to the description of Remedy Inhibitor so new players will be able to read that it blocks CH, instead og having to go through the item database and figure out the stacking order, or hear it from a friend.


A couple of things I have that I would think helps turning the learning wall into a curve.

Kind Regards
-Ariensky

Thank you for making more things yes-drop, I like AO for being a more open economy than otehr MMORPGs; that you can choose what you want to do, not being forced to do everything on every toon

[gimpmasta]

Question:So...is durable bandages (LE proc) ever gonna get insta-recharge? last i checked it still isn't.
Question:Will there ever be Ultimate Ofab armor?? Penultimate being the final step is just....odd...
I know i had other questions...but can't think of them atm.

[ninst]

Questions? Oh yes! I have some.

1) When is a "balance beta" server (FWM 15.1.) going to be set up?

2) NT profession is going to be turned upside down, we know we will lose almost all current nukes. Would it be possible to release little bit more information on what NTs are going to have? We are staring at blank paper named "NT profession after rebalancing", we would really appriciate some examples of new nukes/nanoweaving examples in development.

3) I dont know when rebalancing is going to hit live, but there are several "elephants in room" like GTH, BR etc. Would it be possible to tone these things down before rebalancing is done? Why keep people frustrated when you can tone them down in one small patch? Does really reducing GTH duration to 15s (for example) require long extensive testing and a lot of human resources?

4) /assist in PVP. Are you planning to change something about it? Maybe removing it entirely from PVP? Or just limiting it to team? Mass PVP would be so much more fun without /assist.

5) I forgot my 5th question .

[Dancingrage]

I'm seeing a bit of questioning as to timeline on the rebalancing too.

The last documents on the Balance Discussion forums date to Nov 14th, and I don't think I was even a professional then.

The questions then are:

Are there any plans to put up new perk documentation for review or will this be sort of the rough sketch going into the Beta Server you announced a few weeks back? I recall a lot of screaming about this and that perkline when the docs were put up.


Another is since there's a tenative target date for the server transfers, is there a tenative target date for the Beta Server you've previously discussed? I know a lot is on the developer's plate at this point and those who aren't busy howling for the new engine are instead howling for the profession rebalancing instead.

[Mekh]

(I actually fixed this one myself...it was very exciting!)

uh oh....


PS.
Thanks for the update


Question:
Got a rough careful assumed guesstimate on next step in the re-balance work... Testing, specifics... so on and so forth?

[MstrBstrd]

I was here!

[Saetos]

Completely surprising no one:

Grand Theft Humidity?

Has the team made any progress as to taking feedback and drawing a guideline for an adjustment to this nano?

[Omutb]

Given that I dont recall ever seeing an answer to this one, ill ask.

When the new engine arrives, will you be keeping the existing client and running it in parallel?

[gimpmasta]

uh oh....

Lol nice.

P.S. Means you need to get a calendar that shows years not months!!!

[madrid]

Question:

Can you please add sex change to plastic surgeon? I've been waiting longer than some most posters here have been playing . This seems like pretty easy change. I know you said its coming with the rebalance but why not just throw it in the next update and you can have sex change for a small fee????

Anyway looking forward to dialy missions. Thanks for the update...still wondering what pizza in Norway tastes like....does it have whale peperoni?

[Macrosun]

I was here!

No you weren't. We're all here, but no you in sight.

[meatybtz]

Question:

Can you please add sex change to plastic surgeon? I've been waiting longer than some most posters here have been playing . This seems like pretty easy change. I know you said its coming with the rebalance but why not just throw it in the next update and you can have sex change for a small fee????

Anyway looking forward to dialy missions. Thanks for the update...still wondering what pizza in Norway tastes like....does it have whale peperoni?

If it was anything like pizza in Germany in the early 90s. Damn Tasty and fresh (less cheese more toppings.. often a bevvy of vegies and such.. less greasy than american pizza).

[Means]

Did you already post this?

oops...my bad.

* Before the Transfer, you will clean out names, how will that be done?

Level 5 and below characters on accounts that have not been logged in for 1 year will be deleted.

Player characters below level 174 on accounts that have not been logged in during the last two years (24 months) will receive a default name that will need to be changed.

Player characters ABOVE 173 on accounts that have not been logged in during the last 4 years will receive a "D0000....X" default name that will need to be changed.

* Who keeps his name after the transfer?

If the name of the transferring character is available...the transferring character keeps their name.

If the name is NOT available on the target server then:

1. IF the name on the TARGET server was created AFTER November 20th, 2009 and the German Character is created BEFORE November 20th, 2009

THEN the Transferring Character gets to keep the name.

2. If the name on the TARGET server was created BEFORE November 20th, 2009 and the German Character is created BEFORE November 20th, 2009:

IF the character on the TARGET dimension has NOT been active (logged in) for 1 year.
THEN German Character keeps the name.
ELSE

German Character must change name.

3. If the name on the TARGET server was created AFTER November 20th, 2009 and the German Character is created AFTER November 20th, 2009:

THEN The German Character must change their name.

4. If the name on the TARGET server was created BEFORE November 20th, 2009 and the German Character is created AFTER November 20th, 2009:

THEN The German character must change their name.

* How do you determine which organization gets a city build spot?

Four small playfields are currently being produced to accommodate 112 player cities. These 112 cities are first going to be provided to organizations with the largest number of active members based on membership before November 20th, 2009. Any remaining cities after the obvious larger organizations will be given away in a lottery process to organizations that existed before November 20th, 2009. This process will not be live at the moment of transfer as we do not want it to delay this process further than it already is.

* What happens if I have full slots on RK1/RK2?

The option will be to move your RK3 characters to a new account for a fee. The fee will include the transfer and three months of paid time. The fee will be less than three months of subscription time but an exact number has not been set in stone yet.

* What happens to my Org? Will I loose my Org and do i have to rejoin it after the transfer, or will the Org connection stay intact?

Unfortunately your organization will have to be reformed on the destination server.

* What happens with the bank of the Orgs?

Organization banks must be emptied onto player characters before the transfer. Any funds remaining behind will unfortunately be lost.

* How long will it take to transfer a character?

This process is likely to take up to 24 hours per character. The character will likely not be available on any server during this period.

[Dagget]

Questions:

1) Will we have the option, when the new heads arrive, to get a free one-time head change?

2) Can the fr00bs enter the swimming pools at AI cities? (I'd test this but atm they can't even enter Org HQ's on testlive)

3) Any progress on putting back into rotation on the billboards around the planet all the old, cool stuff that used to be seen there (not talking about the 'Real' ads by Massively, but the stuff like CoT/Ark/Org billboards )

4) Will the new engine work on Windows 98? Haven't seen current 'system requirements' but I was running AO after the start of AI on a Win98 PC, and it does support DirectX 9.

5) Will the Daily missions include any AXP content for levels below 100?

6) Is the 'mentoring' system still progressing towards going live, or mothballed?


And a couple of suggestions which are already on often-bumped wishlists in the suggestions area. I bet someone as brilliant as Macrosun could knock them both out in a day.

1) The ability to create our own categories in the friends list..surely this isn't a difficult proposition!

2) The ability to save/restore a backpack layout template so we all don't burn out our eyes and wrists while organizing stuff, sapping our energy away from actual gameplay. I imagine this is even easier to do than the Friends list categories.

[Lauri]

No you weren't. We're all here, but no you in sight.

I love you even more for posting this, Macro.

Lovin' that guitar face, youknowwho.

[Armus]

Question: Will anything happen to Borrow Reflect?

If so: What?

[PhoenixOfAges]

- LE Weapon upgrades found in LE Alien missions becoming Yes-Drop in the next update. I think we can agree that this was not "fun". These items will now become part of the world economy where they probably always should have been.

As already asked does this apply to armour upgrades too?

Always tried to get them to a char that could use them. When I didn't or couldn't do that it's a good thing I always stashed those away in packs rather than letting them rot or deleting them on the seemingly highly unlikely chance this would be done.



Questions

1. What can be gained through the daily missions? Will it be just XP/SK or can we get other things like AXP, VP, tokens, creds, faction and so on?
2. Any LE mission, BS or VP changes on the way?
3. More varied ways of getting VP you said was something you wanted to put in back in a FAQ in March 2009, next month is March 2010 and short of a "we're working on it" type response nothing has been said since.
4. Are those new cities being added flagged just for RK3 people? Then how big will they be, that is how many of those 112 cities will fit a large HQ?
5. Will working player shops through the mail system in instanced cities ever happen? From what I recall you did say something about the mail system allowing for other changes in the future, so if not that then what sort of changes?
6. Any chance of getting an exit button/portal after completing a team mission or dungeon so we don't have to run back out all the time?

Thanks for these FAQ threads, always a highlight.

[Ekarona]

Q1:(with obvious no as answer)
Can I has "dshark" like Full Auto-AMEP for my engineer?
Q2:
Will engineer nanos requirements be looked into?


Q3:
About new cities which will remain, will activity of target org play any role with lottery? I can see large amount of plot hoggers who will attack these (I included ;D)

Q4:
Can I has(as eng) more dd?

[imonlya]

Question:

What year was it again?


Anyway, looking forward to try those missions out.

/imon

[PhoenixOfAges]

1) Will we have the option, when the new heads arrive, to get a free one-time head change?

Way back when they first said new heads were coming they said we'd be given the option to change to the new version of our head or keep the old one.

4) Will the new engine work on Windows 98? Haven't seen current 'system requirements' but I was running AO after the start of AI on a Win98 PC, and it does support DirectX 9.

With the new 2gig+ database we have now you need XP or higher.

5) Will the Daily missions include any AXP content for levels below 100?

Why would sub level 100 only matter? LE missions below lvl 100 are pretty easy, even for shades (skip the boss though). The first ten AI levels aren't a problem, it's the next twenty that are a pain. So daily missions for AXP in general along with other things would be good.

2) The ability to save/restore a backpack layout template so we all don't burn out our eyes and wrists while organizing stuff, sapping our energy away from actual gameplay. I imagine this is even easier to do than the Friends list categories.

Yes please. Being able to link multiple packs so those packs full of multiple QL items could be easily sorted would be good too.