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Champions Online News - DevChat Transcript
Posted by Michael Bitton on Sep 11, 2009 | 14 comments in our forums
The transcript for yesterday's devchat is now available. Thanks go to Darkshrike from the official Champions Online forums for posting it!
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Below are some of the more interesting questions from yesterday's devchat:
On balance:
[18:41] <@cryptic_chronomancer> As for balancing, our goal is to only decrease the effectiveness of powers if they are honestly broken (doing multiples of expected damage, for example). It’s better for us focus on fixing broken powers that aren’t effective enough before we lower the effectiveness of powers.
[18:41] <@cryptic_chronomancer> Basically, we’re thinking more surgically moving forward in regards to how we address balance as opposed to dropping huge bombs.
On level gaps:
[18:57] <@Cryptic_Ignoble> We are currently working to add a number of additional missions and instanced content to help fill several content gaps we have identified. These will begin making their way out to the server over the next few weeks and will hopefully integrate seamlessly with the content that already exists.
Sorcery auras:
[19:00] <@Cryptic_Balseraph> Sorcery: Sorcery is, right now, getting a major "quality of life" overhaul. some bits (like the sigils) are being made stronger. Other parts are just being made less difficult to use. One big thing, Circles of Summoning are now being flagged as "Rituals of Summoning". They look exactly the same, and work exactly the same, but now are cumulative (stack with) C
[19:01] <@Cryptic_Balseraph> Circles of Power. Additionally, we're elminating the property where they eat ALL your energy, so you can get back into the fight more quickly with them. And, yes, we'll be increasing the range of the auras. =)
Two-handed weapons:
[19:02] <~COquestionbot> <Vahn> Q: in single blade powerset, why theres no love for two handed weapons?
[19:02] <@Cryptic_Balseraph> Single Blade: We're going to give BIG GIANT two handed weapons so much love, they're going to get their own set. Eventually. =)
Celestial power set:
[19:07] <~COquestionbot> <Dawnfire> Question: What kind of set will Celestial be? What will it's passive be?
[19:07] <@Cryptic_Balseraph> Celestial - A support set that really pushes flexibility over raw power, every power will have at least two distinct uses depending on <secret sauce>. The passive for the set emphasizes this. We're building this set this way because we love you, and we hate sleeping or ever going home.
Retcon & the economy:
[19:19] <@Cryptic_Balseraph> Retconning and the Economy: First, there isn't enough money flowing into the game right now. This is a completely known issue, and we have several different options that we're testing. Basically, yes, we knowingly erred on the side of a too restrictive money supply to see what trends happened, and be able to catch issues (like dupe bugs) very quickly. Now
[19:19] <@Cryptic_Balseraph> we're getting ready to make some significant changes to drop rates of items and resources from critters... and all of them are basically going to be "more". =) The question, of course, is how much more; since neither we nor you wants the economy to be something that changes several times. For retcons in specific, I think that the cost scaling when you go deep
[19:20] <@Cryptic_Balseraph> might be found to be too high even after we've inflated the economy to where we want it to be. If so, well, we'll change it. Easy. The current balance goal is that all of the money you earn in a SINGLE level should allow you to retcon back FIVE steps.
For lots more, view the full devchat transcript here.
Basicly they are saying, buy our game in 6 months it will rock. Well maybe i'll give it another try in 6 months, right now it's just too frustrating to play. One day you play something that's fine, next day it gets nerfed to the floor.
Thats the same approach I've had to nearly all MMO's and it's more or less worked until recently due to suffering an MMO drought with no half decent MMO's being released for quite some time now.
CO is fun, if your hardcore then it's definately not the game for you for at least a year, then again nor is any other MMO when it's released, teething problems, nerf bats swinging regularly to get rid of exploiters and the insane lvling speeds (why do devs always underestimate how long it will take someone to lvl a char *Sigh*) not enough content and definately not enough end game content.
CO is definately casual friendly and I like that just fine, it will do until SWTOR or something better comes along.
I was felling tempeted to pre-order but I learned my lesson with Tabula Rasa, no more pre-order. I Love alot of things in beta but Thank God I didn't pre-order. I will probably get this game in a few months.
"Stay subscribed! We are adding all kinds of awesome! We can't tell you about most of it yet, but you can bet it's fantastic!"
Devspeak BS. I had a year of that in Warhammer.
=( aww poor you.
Lets all give Doubter a group hug.
Im never surprised by a devs ability to speak volumes, but never say a damn thing
The Devchat was great, we got our questions answered and light shed, not sure what more people can expect? For a first time event it went very well.
The games shaping up nicely, people are having fun, its what we thought it would be, casual and simple.
i pre-ordered and im having a good time. got a level 25 electricity spec going. found the leveling slowed down once i got to 20 but i dont expect to have the complete game finished in one month either. all in all, im enjoying the hell out of it.
When EQ1 first came out it was unheard of to lvl quickly, for instance it took me as a casual gamer months to lvl my way through the "Hell" lvls, these days it's not unusual to lvl a character to max within 3-4 days in games such as WoW and AoC, the whole lvling mindset skews more to the easy than the difficult.
It's progression ofc, making it more fluid to reach max lvl in a shorter span of time due to the game being all about the "End Game", however I've found that I'm already playing encounters that would be considered max lvl in other games in my teens within CO, whats wrong with that? Nothing as it makes the game far more appealing throughout the entire lvling process, rather than racing off to hit Max to see all the "Cool" encounters.
This game is worth every penny, it is fun and entertaining. The quests/missions are written well and make sense. There is a clear direction and of course the customization has depth.
The graphics fit the game, the story fits the game, and there is huge potential here. I have about six characters and have encountered zero bugs in the first 24 levels. Of course, that doesn't mean there isn't any but there are very few.
Anyway, my two cents.
When EQ1 first came out it was unheard of to lvl quickly, for instance it took me as a casual gamer months to lvl my way through the "Hell" lvls, these days it's not unusual to lvl a character to max within 3-4 days in games such as WoW and AoC, the whole lvling mindset skews more to the easy than the difficult.
It's progression ofc, making it more fluid to reach max lvl in a shorter span of time due to the game being all about the "End Game", however I've found that I'm already playing encounters that would be considered max lvl in other games in my teens within CO, whats wrong with that? Nothing as it makes the game far more appealing throughout the entire lvling process, rather than racing off to hit Max to see all the "Cool" encounters.
I agree, there are at least half a dozen encounters that have the raid-ish feeling to them but are either solo-able or enjoyable with a group.
Not only that, but the feature that random citizens run up to you and give you a quest is absolutely brilliant. Great potential there.
In the end it'as all "We are going to do SOMETHING SOMETIME". Blah.
Many people are upset by the day one huge nerf. But the reason for the nerf was because of PLAYERS complaining the game was too easy.
And for the record I still find the game way too easy, I have a few different builds that can solo anything. Fight Club at level 16, solo is a peace of cake for me with any build. So some players just need to learn how to play.
QFT someone else who can read here :P