| Subject: Good info in Letter to the Players - im more excited |
Author:
Doom
|
[
Next Thread |
Previous Thread |
Next Message |
Previous Message
]
Date Posted: 12:38:20 11/05/02 Tue
---------------------A Preview of What's to Come
...in December and January
One of the biggest differences between managing production of Asheron's Call versus Asheron's Call 2 is that we have to finish our AC2 monthly episodes three to four weeks before the episode goes live, as opposed to the one week differential we enjoyed (although there are a few other words I could use there) with AC1. There are a number of different reasons why, but a big advantage to those extra few weeks of lead time is that we can get a much firmer sense of what's going into our monthly episodes well before that episode goes live.
In this Letter, I'll talk about what we're relatively sure is going into our first monthly episode scheduled for early December. I'll then talk about other things that the team is focusing on for January and beyond. This list should not be taken as the definitive list of improvements and changes for December, but rather as an educated guess, given where we're at in production right now. Also keep in mind that this list does not focus on the numerous miscellaneous bug fixes that we're working on, nor the specific details of the new quests for December.
Currently, our December Episode is scheduled for the week of Dec 9th.
In the following days, we will be reviewing some of our more important bugs. We'll let you all know which ones are on the top of our list to address in the first few updates as well.
December Episode
Code/Features
New Chat Options - players will have eight color options and three size options for the different forms of text (e.g., combat messages, tells, says, text entry, etc.) in their chat panels.
New Examine Panel formatting - This is the first step of a multi-step process where we improve the formatting of the examination panel, using colors and different fonts to better highlight the information present in the examination panel.
Fellowship Loot Sharing - Fellowships will have the option to form with "Fellowship Loot Sharing" turned on, meaning that all players in the fellowship can loot the corpses of all their kills. (The treasure profile of the corpse is now tuned to who opens the corpse, not who killed the creature.)
Turn on "Item Name" view - The V key is now a permanent toggle, so you can press it once (as opposed to having to keep it depressed) to activate displaying the names of items and objects above their physical object.
We will do some preliminary tweaking of skills. For December, this will mostly consist of reducing the effectiveness of overly powerful skills, powering up overly weak skills, reviewing the vigor costs for many skills, and looking to reduce the costs in some instances.
Content
Increased XP for mid- and high level creatures. - Acting on Beta feedback, we will be substantially increasing the experience point rewards for most mid- to high-level "solo" creatures. This will be an evolving dynamic as we continue to balance solo vs. group play, and will ensure that the play experience as characters advance in power continues to be both challenging and fun.
A fun and involving new content experience for new and low-level players touching upon all the areas in Osteth. Players get their first glimpse at the townspeople slowly populating the world of Dereth in this new time of hope. These townspeople will have new tasks and quests for players to do.
Different types of unique and special creatures will be found roaming around the landscape. Some of these creatures trigger interesting tasks and quests directly upon their death. Other creatures can be killed for unique items. Still other creatures will cause potentially useful effects upon their death. All these creatures, though rare, will be visually and textually distinct from their "normal" counterparts.
Special Treasure chests can be found at the bottom of most of the dungeons in the world. Players of all levels will have the opportunity to find rare keys to unlock the powerful treasures available through these chests.
January Episode (This list should be considered as a rough approximation of what we will be working on)
Enhanced Treasure System - we will making significant improvements and additions to our existing treasure system. These will cover concerns raised in Beta as well as some of our own plans and ideas.
Enhanced Crafting System - for January, we will be addressing gold cost concerns, rare item drop rates, and numerous other issues. We will be making sure that Crafting acts well in tandem with the treasure system to ensure continuous equipment advancement for players as they level.
More chat panel improvements, including control over the opacity of all panels.
More chat channels available to players, including private chat channels.
There will be a focus on Omishan quests and content for January.
Thanks,
Ken Karl
[
Next Thread |
Previous Thread |
Next Message |
Previous Message
]
| |
Feedback: 