Friday with Means - September 11th, 2009 - Video Q&A, Sceenies and Info-Nuggets

[Raynefists]

You are assuming that his statement about one is referring to the other. I wasn't referring to your statements to me, rather the tone you took in this thread in response to means and his team.

Again, disagreement is not 'being nasty'. I don't like what means has purposed. This is a forum. A place where people can voice their opinions. He has specifically asked players for more engagement in the forums. I made no personal attacks, i used no harsh language. i simply expressed my opinion. Here is the quote i was responding to, one more time:

The new instance will likely not have ANY new loot...and only be a new/alternative way of obtaining loot available in other areas of the game.

Dark ruins has new loot. It's designed to be general purpose gear for players to level from title 5 to title 7 in. I have no problem with this, but it means the dungeon he is talking about cannot be dark ruins. We only know of two new upcoming instances. These two facts imply he can only be talking about the new end game raid instance with this statement. Why do you believe he is talking about dark ruins?

[Aethyrguard]

Again, disagreement is not 'being nasty'. I don't like what means has purposed. This is a forum. A place where people can voice their opinions. He has specifically asked players for more engagement in the forums. I made no personal attacks, i used no harsh language. i simply expressed my opinion.

Why do you find a problem with new ways to obtain loot that might be harder or more time consuming to obtain other ways? If you read your post you threaten to not spend money if the booster comes out without new items. That is about as nasty as you can get, you are threatening with your dollar.

Personally, I don't want any new items added to the game. I would love to be able to have more than 1 character setup to play so I don't get bored. It however becomes next to impossible to do this when every couple of months the distance between starting a character and reaching end game pvp usefulness is increased by a factor of 10 with new "MUST HAVE ITEMS". The only new loot I want added to the game is social stuff and other options such as different skins for weapons and armor that already exist. Stop tacking new crap on top. Just give us more diversity of what is already there. That is my point.

[Raynefists]

Why do you find a problem with new ways to obtain loot that might be harder or more time consuming to obtain other ways? If you read your post you threaten to not spend money if the booster comes out without new items. That is about as nasty as you can get, you are threatening with your dollar.

I think i've explained why i dislike it. I think it's a waste of resources. If it's hard to get something, then they can make it easier. I have no problem with them making things easier to obtain. New content should have new items, even if the items are sidegrades. I want to have a reason to do the instance more than once. If you have a problem keeping up, then perhaps FC should reduce older grinds. I, however, don't feel it difficult to keep up, and would like some new content that is useful to me.

I'm giving my honest opinion. If there is no new content worth doing in the booster, i won't be buying it. That isn't nasty, it's just the truth.

[Alexanderw]

wut?

Las is referring to a fellow Org mate of third faction... and yes Las that was Fawn

I didn't think it was her until I heard her yell "free borealis"


also extra points for confusing Means

[PhoenixOfAges]

If old content is too much of a grind, then increase drop rates. You don't need to make an entirely new instance with new fights just to get more people the items. New instances should have new loot, especially if i am paying extra for them. If there's absolutely nothing new in the instance, then i won't be paying for the booster. LoX instances were good because they provided solid upgrades for nearly half the equipment slots in the game.

The problem is that the PFs and such tend to be very set and predictable. This is what makes them easier to do. If you know what will be where and when you can come in with just a bare bones group and do just fine. Instead of the task to get a chance at the loot being the hard part you just need to do that often enough and get lucky enough to get the item you want. That's why it's a grind, the task is easy for decked out chars but the odds of getting the desired item is low so you need to do it over and over and over...

If they just up the drop rates while leaving the task as is it would be too easy to get things. So they need to adjust how we go about getting things, not just the odds of getting it. This new booster for alternate ways to get items seems to be aimed at that but I agree that it's not really a good way of going about it. If they add some new better way to get items people are less likely to do the original way, just look at Pand now. So instead they need to adjust the way we get things in the one way we have now, not add another way.

In the same theme as that look at their plans to add new PvP areas. Think about what happens at the 150-174 & 210-220 BSs (the only reasonably active BSs) when a tower war in either range starts, the BS almost certainly dies. There aren't a lot of people looking to PvP in AO as PvP as it is doesn't interest them. If they add more areas to PvP in which we can be certain will be group PvP (since that's what they balance AO PvP for) and maybe structured group PvP (like BSs) keeping any of the PvP content going will be harder. They should finish up these rebalances and see about upping the population before adding more PvP content. If they don't all PvP content will certainly suffer for it and the new content could have as much activity troubles as most BSs do now and always had.

Just voicing my 2 creds on the incoming heal nerf, which, according to means will have something to do with docs ability to regen their nanopool at a rather impressive rate.

I'm not convinced that allowing the heal nerf to affect docs in pvm is a particularly wise idea. I fully agree that some sort of nerfbat action is in order for pvp docs, but not for pvm

Part of what makes end game healers and other heavy nano users so powerful now though is that they have a near limitless amount of nano due to a high rate and large nano regen. Due to that people often IP reset nano pool and put no IP in it when they hit 220 or so even if they are a heavy nano user. At sub 200 or so without some nano regen perks and items you'll be out of nano before long if you keep at it and those will keep you going only a while longer. You don't need to worry about that much at 220 though. That seems to be the issue they're looking at addressing.

[Means]

Only one question: Are neutrals still getting new neck items means? or will we get 221 application forms and a kick in the face?

The current Xan base board (usable by neutrals) will get a small boost and the 200+ side change forms will be in SL in the next update. Both should be on Test in the next version within the next day or so.

[Entventurer]

Means: Do you have any plans to make level 1's attackable by 214's?

[vadagget]

Any of your people get to go to GDC or just the AoC/TSW personnel?

[Berinda]

When your character equips a robe...your entire body mesh changes. This means a new body/mesh for every character type.

Eg:
Solitus Male Thin, Medium, Fat
Solitus Female Thin, Medium, Fat
Opifex Male Thin, Medium, Fat
Opifex Female Thin, Medium, Fat
Nanomage Male Thin, Medium, Fat
Nanomage Female Thin, Medium, Fat
Atrox Thin, Medium and Fat

21 new meshes and textures would be required to display the skirt models "correctly". This is a lot of work and heavy use of the artists...+ adding the new code support to add a new body type. This is not a bad idea...but unfortunately it belongs on the "if we get the time" list.

You could save a ton of work by still making them display like shorts on males and display like skirts on females.

Also, is it possible to change just the lower body mesh without changing the rest of the mesh on legslot items?

I understand that it's a lot of work for something low-priority, but I also figured it wouldn't hurt to throw the idea out there.

[Aethyrguard]

You could save a ton of work by still making them display like shorts on males and display like skirts on females.

Also, is it possible to change just the lower body mesh without changing the rest of the mesh on legslot items?

I understand that it's a lot of work for something low-priority, but I also figured it wouldn't hurt to throw the idea out there.

I just hope that if they fix the skirts they don't cheap out and put a poly across the legs at the bottom of the skirt.. that is just sooo tacky it is worse than the skirts being shorts imho. And no I don't say this to sound a perv. It just really really is terrible way to handle trying to make things "kid friendly" and seeing as AO is anything but kid friendly I would prefer to see it more "adult".

[Mereditche]

The current Xan base board (usable by neutrals) will get a small boost and the 200+ side change forms will be in SL in the next update. Both should be on Test in the next version within the next day or so.

Make sure it's only neut->clan and neut->omni.

[Troxxor]

Thanks for the response Means

Shame to hear that the floating feet will be so difficult to get rid of though Nice to know why "little" things like that don't get knocked on the head.

Yay for blinking though... there's a woman in the office here who stares a lot... it. creeps. me. out!...

*shudders*

Aaanyway, I seem to remember you (or was it Kintaii?) mentioning one of the devs was having a hard time animating the new player meshes due to tons of ancient dusty uncommented code (eww!). I also seem to remember you/Kintaii(?) mentioned the possibility of said dev talking to us about how this, amongst other things, hangs together: Can I just say, yes please!

It's really interesting to know how RK ticks imo A bit of appreciation for the awesome work that you guys put in never hurts too!

Mission Tokens too?
We need more ways to get tokens... grinding guns is pain

Yes please to this... I'm at about 1900 of 2500 tokens on a new tl6 toon (who I'm taking to 220).

Given the amount of time I get to play, considering rl commitments, etc, I've been grinding green RK missions & the pvp quest for two weeks now. It's really not a fun way of spending my "me time".

[Neista]

The current Xan base board (usable by neutrals) will get a small boost and the 200+ side change forms will be in SL in the next update. Both should be on Test in the next version within the next day or so.

Will they finally be fixed so they add to projectile damage?

[howlin]

The current Xan base board (usable by neutrals) will get a small boost and the 200+ side change forms will be in SL in the next update. Both should be on Test in the next version within the next day or so.

Unacceptable, lower title levels need an upgrade too.

[Aethyrguard]

Unacceptable, lower title levels need an upgrade too.

Sez u.

/disagree

Working as intended.

[Camista]

1. Yes heal changes will affect PVM. It is likely healers will have to work harder at high levels to not run out of Nano.

*cries*

[drops]

Sez u.

/disagree

Working as intended.

xaun, go back under your bridge. Lower TLs need love too.

[drops]

1. Yes heal changes will affect PVM. It is likely healers will have to work harder at high levels to not run out of Nano.

Can we get any clues about how will this be implemented? Changes to nanodelta? Changes to those nanos' nanocost? Something else?

[Aethyrguard]

xaun, go back under your bridge.

Dropped on your head what?

Lower TLs need love too.

Lower TLs can still change sides.

I find the entire topic rather humorous when you speak such ridiculous rhetoric.

People (including you) give others grief daily for picking the wrong breed for a profession, citing "reroll" as the option.

Additionally, the lack of care for those who spend IP points wrong, perk this, for choosing the wrong lines. There is no mercy, no compassion, no care for those who make such mistakes, be they are easily fixable with IPRs & Perk resets for pvp.

Yet you actually expect someone to care at all about people who are too dim to "change sides" something that has been possible for as long as there was a game to remember to a side more effective for PvP?

Arrogance. Utter nonsense. Insanity. That is what describes your behavior, actions and demands.

Neutrals are NOT now or ever have been an intended PvP side and yet you sit here as a child banging your hands on the ground in a temper tantrum about how life is soooo unfair that you lack items that are only important for PvP really? I mean really now. I wish you weren't so thick headed as you see how utterly infantile you and the rest of your "Neutral troll squad" seem to the rest of us who wanted to PvP since day one and picked our sides accordingly.

Now I truly suggest you "troll" return to under YOUR bridge. Where you belong.

[Mekh]

1. Yes heal changes will affect PVM. It is likely healers will have to work harder at high levels to not run out of Nano.

Will you at the same time force weapon users to either go to a shop for ammo every 100 shots then and/or sharpen their blades every 50 slashes?

Would kinda make sense, no?



Seriously....
With my Doc's setup (In signature) I can not chain nukes/heals/DoT's without running out of nano pretty dasm fast...
Especially the nuke drains it extremely fast and I have maxed nano.


1:
Nerfing my nanodelta would result in me being forced to opt for some other damage dealing, since I would have no chance whatsoever to kill anyone using nukes/DoT's. Let alone trying to keep myself alive at the same time, which requires nano too.
Unless Nukes/DoT's get the nano cost lowered and/or their damage upped.


2:
Unless other professions gets a serious nerf of their defenses it will also result in Doc's being even less needed/wanted in PvM, since a nanodelta nerf would result in less DoT'ing in order to preserve nano for heals.

For most (95% ?) of all PvM today people do not need/want a doc because healing is not needed and damage is mediocre compared to many of the alternatives, who can ALSO heal more than needed.