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Developer Q&A transcript
This evening's Developer Chat has concluded, and while there were no earth-shattering announcements hidden within, the chat certainly had its interesting moments. Among the topics of discussion were: The Alliance's role after the siege of Orgimmar Balancing classes in PvP The continuation of reputation-based questlines The possible return of world events The state of Skyclaw and Pierre Class quests ... and more! You can check out the transcript below the cut. Participating developers were Dave Kosak (Fargo), Ion Hazzikostas (Watcher), Brian Holinka (Desvin), Cory Stockton (Mumper), and Greg Street (Ghostcrawler).
Developer Q&A on Thursday, April 25
Yesterday evening the WoW official blog announced there there will be a CoverItLive Q&A session at 5:30 pm PDT with Blizzard developers Dave Kosak, Ion Hazzikostas, Brian Holinka, Cory Stockton, and Greg Street on the subject of Mists of Pandaria's gameplay and design. Familiar community managers Bashiok, Crithto, Daxxarri, Rygarius, and Zarhym will be your friendly neighborhood moderators for the event. The session is scheduled to last around 45 minutes, though I'm certain many more minutes worth of questions will be asked! I'm excited to see this event come around, Blizzard has hosted a few CoverItLive chats in the past and they're always very interesting to see. The real-time interaction is fun and gratifying, and we always learn new things about the game and Blizzard's approach to development. For those of you who may not have seen one of these before, you can check out WoW Insider's transcripts of previous live developer Q&A's to get a sense of what to expect: Mists of Pandaria preview, Oct 2011 Class Balance and Design, Nov 2011 Customer Service, Dec 2012 Get your questions ready for Thursday, and we hope to see you there!
The Road to Mordor: Digesting the LotRO dev chats
Apart from the nightmare of Twitter spam that the recent two Lord of the Rings Online dev chats have produced, I'm pretty happy that Turbine's being more interactive with the community and taking on some of these topics head-on. Of course, everyone has his own areas of interest that were probably not covered to satisfaction, but looking through these two chats (December 20th and January 24th), we can deduce a lot of useful information about where LotRO is headed in the future. Personally, I am pretty excited about 2013 for the game. It feels as if the team isn't slacking at all, and while there are always my wish list items that go unfulfilled, often the devs add cool changes (like the Bree update) that are equally welcome. So let's sift the wheat from the chaff and see what we come up with from these dev chats as well as the recent producer's letter!
LotRO devs talk Updates 10 and 11
If you had questions that weren't answered with Lord of the Rings Online's last dev chat, then maybe you'll be covered with Turbine's latest Q&A between players and the development team. Today's dev chat took place on Twitter as the team tackled 40 questions from the community. Chief among the topics was Update 10, of which the team spilled a host of details. The update will go to the test server next week, and promises to contain new armor sets, standardized power pools, the removal of dread on the landscape, a big change to Wardens, and the second half of the instance cluster. Turbine also said that while Update 10 won't have a new book in the epic story, Update 11 definitely will (and it'll be "super-sized"). Update 11 is also slated to add a whole new region to the game that includes mounted and standard combat. We've got the beefy Q&A transcript for you after the jump, so check it out!
Best Buy hosting Mists of Pandaria Developer chat on Tuesday, Sep. 18
Best Buy Unboxed, the forum community for Best Buy stores, will be holding a Mists of Pandaria developer chat on Tuesday, September 18 beginning at 6pm CST. Included on the developer panel are a few familiar faces from the recent Reddit AMA -- Lead Systems Designer Greg Street, Lead Content Designer Ion Hazzikostas, and Lead Quest Designer Dave Kosak. Also included on the panel is Lead Content Designer Cory Stockton and Community Managers Zarhym and Crithto. To participate in the chat, all you need do is visit the official page on Best Buy's forums when the chat itself goes live. If your question wasn't addressed in the Reddit AMA, or if you simply missed the opportunity to ask, this is an excellent chance to get all your questions answered. It's nice to see the developer community so active, particularly on the eve of a new expansion's launch. Be sure to hit up Best Buy Unboxed on September 18 whether you've got a question to ask, or you just want to watch the show. It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
Class design and balance Q&A session coming this Wednesday
Hot off the heels of its wildly successful Mists of Pandaria live Q&A, the WoW dev team plans to hold another online Q&A, this time on the subject of class design and balance. Community Manager Zarhym's just announced that it will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 9, from 10:45 a.m. to noon PST. The chat will be held on CoverItLive, hosted by Bashiok and Zarhym. Answering questions will be Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street along with Celestalon, Koraa, Watcher, Wradyx, and Xelnath. As with the last Q&A, the chat will use the CoverItLive system, so make sure you're signed up and familiar with it if you want to ask a question. Check after the break for the text of the announcement.
First Mists of Pandaria developer chat Thursday
Missed BlizzCon this year? Went, but didn't get a chance to ask a question? Well, here's your chance! Community Manager Zarhym has announced that the first Mists of Pandaria developer chat will be held at 5 p.m. PDT this Thursday, Oct. 27. One important thing to note: This chat will use the CoverItLive system instead of Twitter, so you'll want to register an account prior to the chat if you intend to ask a question. If you can't make the chat, don't worry -- your fearless WoW Insider writers will have a transcript and analysis ready shortly after the chat ends. See the full post below: Developer Chat This Thursday, October 27, we'll be hosting a one-hour live online developer Q&A with Lead Content Designer Cory "Mumper" Stockton and Lead Systems Designer Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street, beginning at 5:00 p.m. PDT. I'll be moderating the discussion to help facilitate a smooth and productive conversation. Given all the information revealed last weekend at BlizzCon 2011, we feel it's fitting for this chat to be focused on the next expansion, World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria. While we've held some developer "chats" in the past, we're going to be using CoverItLive for this event. We welcome anyone to join us for the chat, but in order to participate you'll want to visit the official CoverItLive website beforehand to create an account -- it only takes a few moments. The Q&A itself, however, will take place on the front page of our website with the CoverItLive platform embedded in a blog. Once the chat goes live, all you have to do is log into the CoverItLive client embedded on our front page, ask any question relating to Mists of Pandaria, and read along as the developers field as many questions as they can. This will be a moderated chat, meaning your questions will only initially be seen by the developers. If selected, your question will be published for all to see, and an answer will be provided. We ask that you keep the questions as concise as possible and understand that we won't be able to get to all of them. We'll be choosing questions based on the information we can reasonably provide, and what kinds of answers we feel will be the most compelling for the entire audience. Questions can no longer be submitted once the chat ends, but you'll still be able to review a transcript of the questions and answers that were posted. We'll be taking note of what works and what doesn't during this Thursday's chat, as we hope to make CoverItLive our standard tool for facilitating live developer Q&A sessions going forward. Join us this Thursday at 5:00 p.m. and let's all work to make this a successful discussion between players and developers! source
Let's get physical, physical: Brian Knox fields dozens of TERA questions
With that newfangled Twitter that's all the rage these days, TERA proves that developer chats can be even more accessible -- and within a 140-character limit! Recently, Senior Producer Brian Knox fielded a grab bag of questions about this upcoming action MMO, although he put a kibosh on queries related to the release date and events. PvP, obviously, was a huge topic of discussion, with questions ranging from death penalties (same as PvE) to open world conflict (starts at level 12 and requires the purchase of special items) to guild vs. guild battles (still in the works). TERA's famed political system was another subject for inquiry -- would it be in the game at the start or will we have to wait for it? "Day 1. It is up and working now and will be available at launch," Knox assured fans. Raids are something else that future players has been asking for, and apparently the TERA team is at least exploring the possibility of implementing them: "We know how badly the community wants raids! We are looking very hard at this and is one of the reasons we have focused on five-man content." You can read the full dev diary over at TERA's official site.
Live chat on Ustream with the Gods & Heroes developers
One of the big upsides to the communication venues available online is that players of MMOs can connect with developers like never before. Gods & Heroes fans will have a chance to connect with the development team tomorrow via Ustream chat, giving hopeful players a chance to ask almost anything they could want about the decidedly Roman game. Starting at 7:00 p.m. EDT, the chat is open to any players via the development team's regular live streaming channel. If you can't make the event itself or you just want to try to get a question in early, the team is ready for that as well. Questions may be submitted early via Twitter, Facebook, or the game's official forums; the team is planning to round up the best questions and answer them on the air. If Gods & Heroes is on your radar for future play, you might want to take the time tomorrow night to get involved in the live broadcast.
City of Heroes first ever livestream developer chat
When speaking to this reporter outside the City of Heroes panel at PAX East, producer Nate Birkholz could not emphasize the importance of the community enough. In fact, according to a post back in January, the whole team has upped developer communication to the fans. The players of CoH really help steer this mighty superhero MMO, and the development team wishes to have as many opportunities to speak to its committed community members as possible. Next Thursday, John "Protean" Hegner and Tim "Black Scorpion" Sweeney of the development team and Andy "Zwillinger" Belford and André "Beastyle" Carlos of Paragon's community team will be on UStream to help promote the upcoming Issue 20 and answer viewer questions. For the first time ever, Paragon Studios is opening its doors to video livestream. As an intrepid fan, you will have to watch every minute on the edge of your desk chair. On March 31st from 9:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. EDT, tune in to the official City of Heroes UStream channel to catch all the latest news from Paragon City.
[Updated] Gods & Heroes developers preparing for another live chat!
[UPDATE: The Heatwave team has learned that the Ustream site is down for maintenance and may not be up in time for the live chat, so it's been postponed until next Tuesday, the 22nd, at 1:00 p.m. EDT] We've been hearing more from the Gods & Heroes team as development progresses, and now that the NDA has lifted, the devs are feeling chatty. Massively will be co-hosting a live chat with the developers on their Ustream channel, a chat similar to the one we did back in December. This time they'll have lots more to talk about, but they want to hear from you too! You can submit questions today through the Gods & Heroes Facebook page, through Twitter, or in the game forums, and the team will answer them during the live chat. Not sure what to ask? The developers will be talking about GDC, expectations for estates, social media features, and much more -- so use those topics to get some ideas and send your questions in today! The live chat begins tomorrow, the 15th, at 1:00 p.m. EDT on the Gods & Heroes Ustream channel. We'll see you there!
SOE teases The Penguin's appearance in DCUO Update 2
Now that the first monthly patch is live in DC Universe Online, it's a good time for the development team to take a moment to reflect on what was good and not so hot in this first update -- as well as let us know what's planned for the next step. Game Director Chris Cao and Art Director Mark Anderson sat down to talk with fans about just that through SOE's Stickam account earlier today and did just that. In next month's update, which is being called Update 2, players will have the chance to face off against The Penguin as the DC Universe Online team continues the gang war storyline that is currently in game. Along with The Penguin are a series of penguin henchmen players will battle, including robot penguins! Two-Face will also show up in game to take part in the ongoing gang war and to become a new Legends character for players to unlock. Knowing SOE, we'll likely see a reveal of more information on Update 2 and The Penguin sometime in the coming weeks. We'll be certain to keep an eye out for any umbrellagrams and bring you news as it develops!
Gods & Heroes lead designer and art team hosting live community chat
Normally, pre-release fan communities are overflowing with questions for a game's developers. Whether they're specifics on combat, crafting, or any of the traditional ingredients that make up our favorite genre, queries and concerns abound during the information void that usually accompanies an MMO's beta stages. Gods & Heroes is looking to rectify this situation with a live Q&A event featuring the game's lead developer and members of the art team. Heatwave Interactive is hosting a USTREAM chat today at 6:00 p.m. CST, and the devs will be fielding live questions from the streaming audience as well as those submitted prior to the broadcast. Get in on all the action by visiting the Gods & Heroes USTREAM channel, and don't forget to submit your questions ahead of time via the game's forum, Facebook, and Twitter pages to increase your chances of being heard.
EVE live developer chat tonight to discuss Incursion game design [Updated]
In years gone by, EVE Online developers CCP Games interacted with the game's playerbase very directly through the forums and live audio developer blogs. As EVE's subscriber-base has grown, developers began to take a more hands-off approach to forum discussions and the live dev blogs gave way to solely written blogs. Back in July, reactions to the June CSM summit highlighted problems with CCP's approach to communicating with players and the way feedback was collected. Since then, CCP has been making an absolutely colossal effort to communicate more with players through focused technical devblogs and a recent series of video blogs. Tonight, CCP is kicking that communication up another notch with the first of a new monthly live audio developer chat series. The first live dev blog will begin in just two hours at 22:00 EVE time (GMT/UTC). The discussion will focus on game design in the Incursion expansion, with EVE's lead game designer CCP Hammer being joined by senior game designer CCP Flying Scotsman and game designer CCP Omen. During a question an answer segment, players will have an opportunity to ask specific questions on the new character creator, Incursion game design goals and improvements to the planetary interaction feature. To join in, just log into EVE and join the chat channel "Live Dev Blog" and join EVE Voice. [Update: CCP has contacted us to tell us that it's received far more questions via the forum than the devs can answer in today's Q&A session, so the team will be unable to take additional questions from the live chat channel.]
Gods & Heroes USTREAM: Your chance to chat with the devs! [Updated]
Are you curious about the current state of Heatwave's Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising MMO? Are you desperate for a new MMO world devoid of pointy-eared elves and blobby aliens from another dimension? Are you a classical civilizations anthropologist hoping to see your field of study desecrated in a glorious union of hack and slash? Then join Massively tonight from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. EST as we help host Heatwave's USTREAM chat about the game! We'll be moderating live and forwarding your burning questions to the devs... burning questions like, did Heatwave's Anthony Castoro really shave his head last weekend in response to G&H's stress-test turnout? Log in to the G&H USTREAM page at 7 p.m. EST tonight to find out! And if you have any last-minute questions, add them right here in the comments so we can pass them along! [Updated: The live chat is over, but you can still watch the show after the cut!]
Massively's hosting a live chat with Gods & Heroes developers
Gods & Heroes is the MMORPG based on Roman mythology being developed by Heatwave Interactive. This exciting MMO pits you against the Telchine gods, who have started a heavenly war with the Olympic gods. While defending Rome against this crushing fallout, you attempt to gain favor with the gods of Olympus. Highlight Tuesday, December 21st at 7 p.m. EST on your calendar. Massively is helping to host a developers chat on Ustream. Key members of the Gods & Heroes development team will be there to answer your questions. They only have an hour to talk, so we would like to give you an opportunity to submit your question ahead of time. There are a few ways to get your question in early so it is more likely to get answered: post on the forums, send a tweet via Twitter, comment on the G&H Facebook page, or simply comment below. For more information on the game itself or to sign up for beta testing opportunities, be sure to visit the official website, and we will see you on Tuesday!
LotRO's radiance to be run over by a train and other future tidbits revealed
"We took Radiance outside, tied it up to some railroad tracks, and...well...I think you saw the end of this in Red Dead Redemption. Look for this in the future -‐ we will be removing Radiance from LotRO." Thus sayeth Turbine's Jen "Jalessa" Gordy, who confirmed that the controversial gear gating system is headed for a messy death. In the same WarCry developer chat, the team fielded a number of questions about where LotRO is headed after this week's mega-update. Some of the features in the works for Tolkien's digital offspring include a new raid, class changes for monster play, a barter item wallet, PvMP skirmishes, Isengard, additional minigames and -- yes -- vanity pets for all. The devs also admitted to slipping in a few pop culture mentions into the game, such as Firefly and Futurama references. And will there ever be any other hobbies than fishing in LotRO? Kate Paiz mused: "All of us devs really want to make golf next, but it's a tricky undertaking, so we don't have a timeline yet, but feel free to start practicing your backswings!" You can read the full transcript at A Casual Stroll to Mordor.
Join us in the Massively.com IRC chat room for our live Q&A session with gPotato!
Interested in asking gPotato some questions on Allods Online? Want to ask the team questions on the latest patch, the Revelations of Gipat? Want to chat with your fellow Allods players? Well then, look no further than the Massively.com chat tonight! Join us by pointing your chat client to irc.quakenet.org, #massively, or use the web client located at http://webchat.quakenet.org, and put in #massively as your chat room. The Q&A session will start sharply at 7 PM ET (4 PM PT) and will last for approximately an hour and 30 minutes. The chat room will be moderated for the duration of the chat, so you won't be able to talk, but you will be able to send the questions you want to ask the dev team to the chat room moderator, Sephare. Just type /msg Sephare once you're in the chat room, and follow up the command with your question. If your question is chosen, it will be sent to the gPotato team to answer live! Can't make the event? No worries, as we'll have a transcript available on Monday! If you wish to ask the team a question, leave it here in the comments, and our moderators will choose the best ones to send to the team!
Waging WAR: Patch 1.3.6 and the proverbial DPS-Healer
There aren't very many companies that open up planned patch changes to their players and fans for discussion; however, Mythic is one that does. This week, Waging WAR focuses on the suggested career balance changes for the Zealot and Runepriest coming in patch 1.3.6 for Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. We'll cover the issue as well as the proposed solution for these careers. We'll also discuss the impact that these changes might have on the affected careers and on the community in general. There's also a part where Greg throws some drama at the fan and rants about "DPS-Healers." Let's start by clarifying the main issue and the proposed change. Currently, the other healing careers (Archmage, Shaman, Warrior Priest and Disciple of Khaine) have their mastery paths organized by the role which they might play (i.e. damage focus, healing focus, etc.); whereas, the Zealot and Runepriest don't. Their mastery paths are organized by the delivery method of their healing (i.e. over time, direct, or area). The problem is, after deciding whether to specialize offensively or defensively and gearing to that role (a freedom of choice that they should be given), the Zealot and Runepriest are left with only one-half of an effective skill-set -- the other half of their skills being rendered ineffective by role choice and gear itemization. To bring these careers in line with their archetypical cousins, a new mechanism is proposed which gives Zealots and Runepriests a chance to retain some effectiveness in skills that are outside their chosen role.
Your Battle of the Immortals questions answered: Our developer chat with Clifton Chu
Didn't get to come to our developer chat last night with Clifton "Kantorek" Chu from Battle of the Immortals? Don't worry, as we've got you covered with this transcript of last night's question and answer session! Clifton fielded many, many questions in one hour and 30 minutes, covering everything from BoI's player-killing system to future updates and new skills. We even got a behind-the-scenes sneak peak at the game's Westernization, covering some of the many changes Perfect World Entertainment made to the game in order to make it "fit" better for Western audiences. So, without anymore time wasted, let's take a time warp back to last night, and see what questions you had to ask Clifton!
