Friday with Means - November 26th, 2010 - Spreadsheet Assault

[Cyberleet]

Work on the professions nano documents has been going well but at this point I think it is important to say clearly that we are not going to complete and test this work before Christmas. We knew this wouldn't be an easy process and when we were estimating the time involved we didn't budget enough time for the feedback and adjustments that would be made as the process evolved. So while this won't be out when we hoped we feel the changes we are making based on the excellent feedback provided by the playerbase will be worth the wait.

Just remember you probably will have to keep adjusting things after they gone live too!

[Surm]

Just as a side note, it would be awesome if you pointed out the changes done to the worksheets since the last time. There's a bunch of em atm and they're all quite long. Plus excel is kinda a bitch to move around in. Finding out new details while trying to remember what was old and what is new is not that fun.

[Ctrlaltwin]

First of all, thanks for the new signature Means. There was a lot of things I wanted to say to people like Oliver, Alternity, and pretty much everyone who complains about when the engine comes out, who is quitting, who is disappointed with AO's timing... and you nailed it. Bravo sir, bravo.

[Suicidal]

First of all, thanks for the new signature Means. There was a lot of things I wanted to say to people like Oliver, Alternity, and pretty much everyone who complains about when the engine comes out, who is quitting, who is disappointed with AO's timing... and you nailed it. Bravo sir, bravo.

Pff.. I still have the best Means quote.. whole conversation was even better, but that's not something to post here.

[Ctrlaltwin]

Pff.. I still have the best Means quote.. whole conversation was even better, but that's not something to post here.

PM it, would love to see it. I love when Means has to take valuable time to answer to trolls, and even then what do you say to post like these:

Great my main is useless until 2012, oh snap the world ends then. GG

Means, instead of giving us false hopings, just dont say a deadline to the community, if ofcourse you are sure that you will make the deadline..

it'll only piss off the community even more.

/facepalm, people, who already know AO and AO team, knew that you won't finish your job in time, so at least you don't have to apologize to everyone.

I don't know, but it looks like really old phrase, like from 2008?

Excellent feedback? I saw only whines about what the hell are you doing again? Aka MR thread or in game Item shop, selling veteran items, tokens, VPs, levels, xp, etc.
This game lost everything thanks to such effort, it is only about money nothing more.
Btw when are you planning selling 220/30/70 with endgame armor and symbs? Probably soon and getting more money from people through Paid points is probably more important than everything else.
You are on the way to make from Anarchy online new game called Noob trox online.
Do you ask me why?
1. MR, it is better than old mr after what you removed negative effects after use.
2. Why Noob?
a) your planned "balance" act will kill all twinks, which were made since SL/LE expansion.
b) your super paid point system aka "Do you have money? go and buy what you want."
I logged a few days ago only for 5 mins, when I saw some notum war action and after killing 4 people with full expansion I got this tell:

Instead of thinking about how to make twinks, how AO mechanisms work, people in AO rather pay for everything and if they don't have knowledge about AO, they can call only more similar noobs and this game works that one twink can't kill team of such lazy people or your best pvp level range.
This is your way, AO is losing veteran players and you are getting more clueless people from WoW, but this is what you want, because WoW people will pay for every ****** and they don't want to work hard for their setups, skills, items, etc. (aka item shop).

Sigh...

[Siyra]

You know those 30 seconds are there for a reason right? :P

First: Gz on your position

Second: Tell us what the reason is. There's other MMOs out there that can quit instantly, or do it in 10 seconds rather then 30. Perhaps the long delay is due to the older code I don't know but it seems kind dumb to me that it can't be changed.

[Krattonomic]

some of the things that have been done were with older tools that they do not have anymore, if they go to recode it, it could break everything id think, however I still would love to see the logout on AoC here on AO

[Windguaerd]

We'll begin work on some kind of "stupid" filter immediately.

Wouldn't that mean that 99% of the whiners will no longer be able to send you tells Means?

[Windguaerd]

mainly i mean instant grid access items, wtb those dropping INGAME as promised anything giving any advantage would

Rubi-Ka Recall Beacon

Shadowlands Recall Beacon

You get those through vet points, 10 each. RK gets you to main faction city, about 10 seconds away from grid access, SL gets you to any garden if you have the key for it.

[Windguaerd]

PS: Gratz Vhab, you go infiltrate and learn all their zekrets and then sell them to the hobbit that is working on AO Cell =P

No, seriously, congratz man, I hope what you learn there may pay off down the line and become an FC employee. FC can always use good talent.

[Mastablasta]

Could you put these files in any harder to read format?

OpenOffice reads them just fine.

[Suicidal]

OpenOffice reads them just fine.

Don't think he/she means format that can be opened, but format that human can read.. you know.. no funky color schemes, some sort of explanation what column means what (most are ok, but some are mystery).

[Vhax]

First: Gz on your position

Second: Tell us what the reason is. There's other MMOs out there that can quit instantly, or do it in 10 seconds rather then 30. Perhaps the long delay is due to the older code I don't know but it seems kind dumb to me that it can't be changed.

I'm certain it could be changed if we desired and saw good reason to do so. But that was not entirely what I was getting at.
The delay is there to prevent you from logging off in a brief moment of being out of combat.
Same reason why doing a 'quick exit' with alt-f4 twice will leave your character ingame for a while.
My earlier comment wasn't as much about the exact value 30, but rather this value not being 0; which would be open to abuse.

PS: Gratz Vhab, you go infiltrate and learn all their zekrets and then sell them to the hobbit that is working on AO Cell =P

I've actually declined their invitation and dislike what that project is doing long before I started at FC.
I absolutely have no problem with the people working on it, but as a project I believe it has more potential for harm than good.

[Lusos101]

Grats to Means for pressing another slave into service. Well done.
@Vhab, stop trlling and go do something.



Things not done on schedule are no surprise. Regular feedback however is an acceptable substitute. I hope that the rebalancing is not considered finished with the implementation of current changes. Im pretty sure adjustments will be needed for a long time. Would like to know more about what has been done for the starter experience, I dont think a new noob island is enough. And would like to know if there is any intention of making adjustments to existing playfields to allow a fun playing experience for everybody. Playfields that are ignored or only used by specially made twinks are not good playfields. Lets hope the rebalance will help with that.

Oh, can I have a direct answer (from a dev) to my post? I miss my 15 seconds of fame.

Time for a Yomama joke nao...

[If6was9]

It's one of the Dust Brigade questline nanos. They've always required the NANODECK. Not a new "cyberdeck" requirement. See here: http://auno.org/ao/db.php?id=273370

TY Kintaii.

Globally I think it's a bad idea to require quests or quest items to obtain or execute nanos. Quests require us to be patient and follow instructions and this is what I call "work". Not in-game combat, questing, searching, fighting for in-game rewards but rather "you will jump through these arbitrary series of hoops when we deem fit, in the manner we deem appropriate, to gain access to the new bare minimum skill set for your profession". That is what quests, quest requirements, cybonanerdecks, neenercybodecks, all mean to me. Work. I think little of running a mission that takes an hour when I pull it: I chose it, I set the settings, chose where, how and when. If, however, I have to spend an hour fedexing spoo to location 1, 2, 3 and 4, then paging through anything (especially text that is supposed to detail major story line changes, but only insofar as the wall of text says it is) it will feel like a chore, like a job, like work.

I am not paying you guys to give me work. I'm paying you for escapist sex and violence with a cyberpunk spin. The less linear, methodical and mandatory the better. Content should be connected to the underlying story, should have some internal logic that's consistent with the gameworld, but it should not be Uncle Toad's quest on a rail for the McHappy hat of nano functionality.

In summation: boobies.

[If6was9]

Different parts of the team are working in different areas. Engine people on the Engine. A couple designers on the rebalance work. Another couple on the Newbie experience.

It is many different areas and I do feel scattered at times. But dedicating all resources to a single one of these efforts would not neccesarily speed up any of them unfortunately.

I'll envy you your beer and warm chair for now

The game is chaotic, fun, and a bit insane again. I like that. I think most of us do. The quests suck, as always (see above), but other than that it's a hoot. Hire more people.

[Technogen]

That one was on my MP, and I took all doctors down with me

I have you beat, I once tanked the Beast on an almost naked Nanomage engineer in perk reset with in nothing but Gilthar's Summer Shorts on, I also survived and only 2 doctors died. (Long before iPande.)

[Keldros]

TY Kintaii.

<snipped stuff>

I am not paying you guys to give me work. I'm paying you for escapist sex and violence with a cyberpunk spin. The less linear, methodical and mandatory the better. Content should be connected to the underlying story, should have some internal logic that's consistent with the gameworld, but it should not be Uncle Toad's quest on a rail for the McHappy hat of nano functionality.

Kintaii, can my forum avatar have the "McHappy hat of nano functionality?"

[thombgun10]

Globally I think it's a bad idea to require quests or quest items to obtain or execute nanos.

It could be alot worse, there could be a requirement for enforced progression quests like some other online games require (the ones that require you to have done quest X before you can level up further).
In here they are only required if your lower then "skip this quest level" in shadowlands, excluding molar for getting from pen to inf.
This is one of many reasons why i like anarchy online alot more then those other games, freedom in how you play instead as you call it "jump through these arbitrary series of hoops when we deem fit".
I agree some quests that are quite long can be a real pain like the DB quest but atleast this is only one of the few that is really needed to be done for a true endgame char.


As to scheduled things well basicly they are a big pain because on inspection it seems like a breeze and it should be done in 10 minutes.
When the actual work starts you find out some hooks into the code you wanted to change make it alot harder then the estimates go from 10 minutes to several hours.
Then when testing that new function is finally possible you find yet another thing bugging up and the estimates go completely out of wack with "unknown / several days".
I can fully understand this as i have had this happen with projects im involved on myself too and know what kind of a pain it is not just for me but also for sales & customer relations.


VHab grats on your new position, i really hope that reworking the character selection will be a smooth and enhanceing experience and prove to funcom you fit well within the team.


Ow and means do not let the complaints get the better of you, i know how frustrateing it is when any positive words about work are hard to find or even absend while your getting swamped in complaints and negative comments.
It is a pain but the ultimate reward is in the end it all will work out good when so to speak the dust has settled.
AO needs to keep moveing with the market mechanics, i would be worried if AO wouldnt because then its a slow creeping in death of a game, wouldnt happen overnight but if a game gets behind too much its hard to catch up again.


One thing im wondering, are there any plans to make "game time cards" part of the shop or (might be good or bad i dont know) exchangeable for ingame currency.
I know eve online did that and it seems to be growing bigger then ever because money comes 2 ways, people normally not able to play can play when they pay someone who can afford to buy GTC's for their card in ingame currency so the money comes in from multiple sources then.
Not sure if it is a good idea or not because it might collide with the "selling power for money" possibly but then if some money sinks are added to it might also be a good way to move some money arround, its just ideas for stuff that might work out well.

[Vhax]

I have you beat, I once tanked the Beast on an almost naked Nanomage engineer in perk reset with in nothing but Gilthar's Summer Shorts on, I also survived and only 2 doctors died. (Long before iPande.)

But surviving isn't the fun part

Basically, for fun I announced I was tanking and charged the beast expecting to just die.
I just assumed everyone would ignore it and watch my corpse just lay there.
Instead every doctor and absolutely nobody else followed me.
So we ended up with me dead, all doctors dead and the rest of the raid still standing there trying to decide what the hell just happened.

This event also brought up the subject whether it was technically possible to ban a superadmin off the bot