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robiwan
Moderator
1035 Posts |
 Posted - 04/12/2008 : 23:29:49
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Producer Note (04.12.2008): Hoth, Life Day, 2009
Guten Tag, Konichiwa, Sveiki, and Hello,
To begin with, let me thank you for your generally warm reception of Hoth. The team was very happy to see all their months of hard work appreciated by so many people in the SWG community. It was an exciting Chapter to create and we're very proud of the results.
So, with the giant Hoth beastie out of the way, it's time to focus on the next batch of upcoming releases.
Our last release of 2008 will be Life Day. Life Day will return mid month; in fact, it should be up for public testing any time now. A lot of the content this year is directly inspired by the Star Wars Holiday Special. I'm sure most of you have found a way to see it and... well, it's certainly special. Loche and I sat and watched the whole thing all the way through when we started planning for Life Day this year. I wouldn't recommend this to anybody as I'm still bleeding from both eyes months later. That said, we did find a lot of fun inspiration in it.
Our main new gameplay mechanic for this year (destroying presents / decorating trees) was directly inspired by the scene of the Imperial troops smashing Lumpy's presents; many thanks to Blixtev for that idea. A number of the gifts this year are lifted directly from the special such as the pocket aquarium, holographic table, and proton chair. Other gifts, like the first home wroshyr tree to be given out since the 2003 and the Kowakian monkey-lizard house pet, are there to satisfy fan requests that we've heard over the years. Last month someone mentioned that they wanted Ackmena to make an appearance. While Ackmena could not be booked for the occasion this year, Saun Dann is on hand and desperately needs your help. The reward is well worth it so be sure to seek him out.
On to 2009...
We are going to reorganize our Updates a bit over the first few months of the year. Don't worry, nothing is being pushed off, we're simply adjusting the timing on a couple items to be sure we can give them the attention they need. Over the first portion of the year you can expect to see the following updates:
Update 6
AdeptStain, being the sneaky engineer that he is, managed to find a way to get the often-requested Appearance Tab done while we were all finishing off Hoth. Since it's nearly ready to go, we wanted to get it out for you folks sooner rather than later. That is, we didn't want to hold it until the Spy update was complete, which is going to take a touch longer. Again, we haven't pushed Spies out a full update; the Spy update will come at the same time it would have if the Appearance Tab had not existed, we just didn't want to hold Appearance Tab. Thus, Update 6 has become Appearance Tab.
The Appearance Tab is a new entry on the Game Menu bar. It essentially allows you to wear whatever armor or clothing you feel best enhances your stats yet you may appear as though you are wearing a completely different outfit. We hope that this will inject a great deal of visual diversity and customization into the game as players will now be able to wear whatever they like without negatively affecting their stats. Do you think a Padawan Robe looks cooler than the Shatterpoint Cloak? No problem; you can now wear the Shatterpoint Cloak and receive all the stat bonuses it applies while your outward appearance shows the Padawan Robe. Of course the usual rules still apply. If your character couldn't equip it before, they can't appear to wear it now. For example, Jedi cannot appear to wear armor.
Update 7
Update 7 is where the Spies will get their love. Shadowbrak is working on this update right now (with some Hanse input). While we may not be able to fulfill every request made, we are looking at the Spy Top 5 (PvE, expertise tree, etc) as well as the list of bugs that Spies would like fixed.
Update 8
We have moved Player Associations and Player Cities to their own update to give them the amount of time we feel is necessary to accomplish what we would like to do. I will have more details on the refinements to be found here in the coming months.
Ewok Festival of Love
February will see the return of the second annual Ewok Festival of Love. The chocolate fountains (bathing pools) will be back along with a few new mini-games for you folks to enjoy.
Lastly I wanted to discuss a new reward program that will be introduced early next year by our team (including Marketing!). Starting with our next re-entitlement we will be instituting a loyalty reward program. Loyal players who are subscribed (active and in good standing) before the entitlement is announced, and still subscribed/in good standing when the entitlement period closes, will receive a deluxe version of the reward the returning players receive for re-subscribing. This should hopefully keep the discontent that arose from Hoth's re-entitlement hologram at bay as well as help us to reinforce the value we place on you, our loyal players. We intend to do this for all future re-entitlements... yes, really.
The first of these loyalty rewards will be a Sarlacc Trash Can. Players who have let their subscriptions lapse and are eligible for our next re-entitlement program will receive an awesome Sarlacc Trash Can decorative item for their homes. However, loyal players who are subscribed before the re-entitlement promotion is formally announced, and still subscribed when the re-entitlement period closes, will receive the Deluxe Sarlacc Trash Can. The Deluxe model is not only a great decorative item, but also has an extra feeding feature. Feeding the Deluxe Sarlacc junk items once per week for four weeks will award the player a random collection item. We're not ready to announce when these excellent new items will be premiering, but it will be in the first few months of next year.
There is plenty more coming down the pipeline as well, but the items above are all I can divulge as of right now. I think we have some really neat stuff in store for everyone in 2009. Stay tuned.
I hope you all have a great holiday!
-Dotanuki
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I have waited and planned and built my strength for fifteen thousand years. I have evolved. It is time.
(Omnius Evermind)
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Feyd'Rautha Saresh (Medic, Rebel Alliance, Europe-Chimaera), Robe Saresh (Force Sensitive, Rebel Alliance, Europe-Chimaera)
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robiwan
Moderator
1035 Posts |
Posted - 04/12/2008 : 23:30:30
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Otazky a odpovede:
Q: As the updates are off a little now from what your last letter indicated, what is the tentative plan for the updates post 8 since "8" was the open one that all the aspects were trying to "get"? Any sneak peaks?
A: I'll discuss what's beyond Update 8 in a future Producer Note.
Q: You post update 6, 7 and 8 and as the last point the Ewok festival (for Feb). Does that hint towards a much faster update schdule again and will we be moving towards one update a month again?
A: The order listed won't be the order of release.
Q: Yay Appearance Tab!!!! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!
Maybe we'll get more details in a FF soon™?
A: V and I want to do a FF sometime before it hits.
If you have specific questions I'll gladly answer them here, or in the Stratics chat tonight.
Q: What’s your best guess as a release date?
What design did you end up going with? A "paper doll" style like EQ2, your original idea of just having appearance items show a different color in your inventory when equipped or something new?
Will there be any additional clothing/armor slots we can hide like helmets? Like gloves, boots or jewellery (arms, jacket ).
Is there going to be a mechanic to have the true appearance revealed? Perhaps a special examine window or the buff icons showing the base armor type?
Do you have an address so that I can sent that case of cookies to you?
/giddy
A: Dotanuki does the dates. A-Tab has been pretty much feature complete since before I went on Thanksgiving break. Now QA is hammering on it and I'm adding some final polish. Look for it early (very early) 2009.
A-Tab uses a paper doll system.
No invisible items just yet. But if you are wearing something like a jacket, then equip some shoulder piece of armor in your appearance tab - the entire jacket is hidden. Vice versa as well. You can make some really cool outfits out of just about anything, I've been having a blast with it.
I'm working right now to have an option in your examine window to show a true appearance. This option will persist as well (meaning if you turn it on, then anytime you examine a creature you'll see their normal appearance until you turn the option back off).
Q: Please make the wroshyr tree different please! And make it like the aurilian plant! Make it interactive! (Like growing it and etc)
Update 7
Pushed back even further?
A: 1. Yes, it's a brand new tree.
2. No, Spies haven't been pushed back. As I stated in the note, their update would release at the exact same time it's slotted for now regardless of the existance of Appearance Tab. We just wanted to get the Appearance Tab out sooner rather than later.
Q: This is great and all... BUT....
Where are we at with the free CTS? Any more news? We're begging people to stick around daily, but the longer that CTS is held out, the more our hands are tied on the dead servers.
Free CTS needs to be a priority for implementation imho.
A: You'll hear more about Free CTS before the end of the year.
Q: With the advanced Sarlacc Trash Can, could it by chance drop a Sith WP 4/5, and if so would it have an equal chance to drop?
A: Yes, it could drop a Sith 4/5.
Q: While I do hate that the Spy Update has been moved a tad.
A: The Spy update hasn't moved at all since the original shift to accomodate Hoth.
We are simply making the Appearance Tab available to players when it's ready instead of making you wait longer for it.
Q: Dotanuki,
while all this is going on, are the rest of the professions going to see bug and issues looked as well? I dont mean an update like spies, but I know for a fact that there are things for BH (for example) that need updated, as well as the other professions.
What about other things that need the coding updated (Serpent Shard and DoT Ent buff to work with stackable DoTs)?
A: We have taken a long look at our notes from Fan Faire and from the boards. We want to get a few fixes and enhancements in whenever we have the opportunities. As stated in an earlier Producer Note, we'll try to call them out in the notes whenever possible. We actually hit a few of them on Hoth but forgot to call them out in the notes.
Q: Would you care to expand on that last statement, especially considering the "crit bug" that jedi and smugglers are experiencing?
A: - AFK space turrets fixes.
- BH shield improvements.
- Left-click UI problems.
- Heroic gaffi stick and Tusken rifle fixes.
These are all items that were on our Fan Faire list to be addressed. They have been.
We have a fix for that crit bug you mention. It will release soon.
Q: Will their be an option to turn off the A-Tab in options? I dont want an option to just turn off my A-TAB like with /showb and /showh but turn off everyones if I want to and able to turn if back on if I choose to. Any more info on that you can share Adept?
Thanks!
A: No. The credo currently is you choose how people see your character, not the other way around. So while there are ways to see a person's true armor, there is not a way for you to simply turn off everyone's appearance items.
Q: Can we expect expansion in 2009?
A: No.
Q: adept is there a chanc eof having a "invissible" item to wear in the a-tab? IE make my cloak invisivble on my femal just to appear like Ashoka formt he clone wars. also the knight robes take up at least 3 slots, wil the a-tab respec that and alow use to equip boots, pants and a jacket for that item?
A: Jedi actually have a LOT of customization as far as the A-Tab is concerned despite their armor restrictions. Since you(jedi) normally wear multi slotted robes/cloaks, almost any item you equip to the appearance tab will cause that robe/cloak to be removed. So, you can easily create an outfit like Ashoka depending on what cloak/robe you normally are wearing.
Like I said, invisible appearance only items are something we are looking at down the road. I just have to do a bit more research before we allow them.
Q: You'll hear more about Free CTS before the end of the year.
More answers like this will go a long way in building player loyalty. Even if the answer is not something everyone wants to hear (not saying that is the case with this one), it's good to hear specifics instead of Soon
A: I'm happy to annouce dates and timeframes whenever I can. The problem is that everything has several moving parts and if any of them hiccup the date can slip. I'm hesitant to set up player expectations by giving information that has the potential to be invalidated. I will, generally speaking (there are always exceptions), only give timeframes on things that have enough bits resolved that there is minimal chance of slippage.
The other reason that I avoid some specific topics and timeframes has to do with official announcements. I don't want to step on the toes of any kind of official announcement that may be forthcoming.
In this particular case, Free CTS falls into the latter category.
Q: It would be cool if the Sarlaac Trash can actually deleted items
A: Well, it does "eat" whatever you feed it.
Q: Dotanuki,
Finally we're beginning to see you make the decisions on the progress and implementation of SWG works as we move onto next year.. hanging out with Loche? hmmm
can you tell us how's your transition into SWG been so far? and why such an interest in the festivals and such?
what is loche like in person? is he nice? is he stern? is he mean? how does he feel about the community? any feedback?
do you bribe him with free lunches?
A: Loche is seven feet tall and wears porridge to work.
His breath can peel the paint from a car.
We feed him kittens and wrap him in wet blankets to keep him happy.
Q: /showjewelry?
A: To be honest, I don't know if I'll do /showJewelry or just do invisible jewelry items. In either event it would be after A-tab is initially out. I just don't have the time to tack a feature like that on.
Jewelry works fine with the A-Tab btw. So if you don't like the look of your current necklace, you can appearance equip a different one.
Q: Dear Producer,
I'd like to point out that SOE's/LA's continous refusal to create a new expansion for SWG, makes the game look bad PR-wise since it creates an appearance of a game that's being totally neglected by it's creators, while other MMO's are getting their N-th expansions.
/care to discuss ?
A: Hoth was essentially the size of a small expansion. It was given to everybody for the price of their monthly subscription.
Q: The Spy update hasn't moved at all since the original shift to accomodate Hoth.
We are simply making the Appearance Tab available to players when it's ready instead of making you wait longer for it.
Can you promise that?
We've been constantly moved back for the last 6 months, what reason do we have to believe you now?
No dev has set foot in the Spy forums for god knows how long, Valara makes the usual "Your not ignored" post every month or two and yet we still get ignored.
Could a dev a least enter the Spy forums to talk to us?
A: Can I promise that the Spy update hasn't moved? Yes, I can.
It's already in progress.
Q: About the Deluxe Sarlacc Trash Can: If ones account is down due to financial reasons beyond their control, but they've been paying each month for the past 5 years without a break, can they still get this? I'm currently posting from my uncle's account and I'm kind of pissed that I might not be able to get the "cool" one because my account is down because I have to help my parents with some bills right now.
A: You'll need to have an active (i.e., subscribed) account in good standing before the next re-entitlement program is announced and still have that account active and in good standing when that re-entitlement period closes to obtain the deluxe reward.
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I have waited and planned and built my strength for fifteen thousand years. I have evolved. It is time.
(Omnius Evermind)
---------------------------
Feyd'Rautha Saresh (Medic, Rebel Alliance, Europe-Chimaera), Robe Saresh (Force Sensitive, Rebel Alliance, Europe-Chimaera)
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Edited by - robiwan on 05/12/2008 09:46:21 |
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Producer Note (04.12.2008): Hoth, Life Day, 2009
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