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WoW's garrisons aren't a guarantee in future expansions
It was open season for World of Warcraft fans yesterday as the development team opened up with an AMA session on Reddit. The eight-person team taking on player questions included director Tom Chilton and lead designers Ion Hazzikostas and Cory Stockton, meaning that fans got plenty of in-depth answers to almost everything. Whether or not you liked all of the answers is another story altogether, but there's a handy-dandy summary of answered questions and links to the full answers that should save a great deal of scrolling through comments. Chilton confirmed that there are currently no plans for queued scenarios in Warlords of Draenor, although they're not off the table for future expansions. He also stated that there may or may not be Garrison-like elements in future expansions and that there will be "a surprise" regarding the last boss of the expansion. Check out the full summary for more quick links; there's a lot of information in there.
Follow Reddit's crazy AMAs from its official app
Reddit's Ask Me Anything (AMA) interviews with celebrities run the gamut from stellar to ugly, but they're usually entertaining -- and there's now a dedicated app. That means you won't have to wade through the site's copious content to find interviews with the likes of Aaron Paul (above) or Bill Gates. You can choose hot, recent or all-time popular AMAs, then see a description of the interviewee. From there, you can narrow it down to just questions that were answered, or see every question posed. Reddit told Variety that it's trying to be more proactive in marketing features like AMA, rather than solely relying its (formidable) organic growth. For instance, the AMA's recent explosion in popularity was due in large part to an impromptu session by President Obama. The AMA app is now available for iOS and should be hitting Android next week.
Today's Elder Scrolls Online AMA discusses bug fixes, housing, spellcrafting, and more
The Elder Scrolls Online's Paul Sage, Matt Firor, Rich Lambert, Brian Wheeler, and Nick Konkle descended upon Reddit today along with a bevy of community managers to run another ask-me-anything, perfectly timed after the release of this morning's release of ZeniMax's plans for the game in 2014. Here are just a few of the highlights: Spellcrafting will involve the rediscovering of "traditional" Elder Scrolls schools of magic, like alteration and destruction. Wheeler hinted that aesthetic changes might be en route for the Imperial City. There are no current plans for smaller scale PvP zones or dueling. Grouping, werewolf, quest achievement, and PvP vampire issues are being worked on. SLI support arrives with Craglorn. Lambert confirmed the Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood will have their own skill lines. There's no time-frame for player housing right now. "We want to do it right," Community Manager Jessica Folsom said. Guar mounts are also planned sans timeline. Aside from weekly stability patches and "after the dust settles," the team still plans content updates every four to six weeks. The complete AMA is on Reddit for your review. [With thanks to tipster Leiloni!]
WildStar hosts a PvP AMA
Are you ready to fight for your faction in WildStar? Are you eager to feel blood and gore and guts and veins in your teeth? Then you're probably all eager to jump into the game's PvP. We've hosted some previews, but you probably still have questions, and that's why the PvP design team took to Reddit to host a PvP AMA. While the team couldn't answer every question posed by players, you can go on over and find out a lot more about how facing off against your opposite numbers will feel. Some of it is probably expected, like the fact that there will be no cross-factional communication during battlegrounds. Other pieces of information are a bit more interesting. For instance, the developers haven't placed much emphasis on open-world PvP for launch, mostly because they want to see what areas are the most densely populated in terms of PvE content, which will give a good idea of what can be made more interesting with PvP. Take a look at the full AMA for more details on how you can smash faces against your enemies when the game goes live in a couple of months.
Pantheon posts Dwarf reveal, new pledge addons, McQuaid AMA [Updated]
With the imminent closure of Vanguard after seven years, there are a lot of eyes on Brad McQuaid's Kickstarter project for Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen. With 23 days to go on the project, McQuaid took to Reddit to answer a variety of fan questions about the game's design goals and his feelings about Vanguard's closure. He's sad to see his previous game close down, but he also states that he's happy it had seven years of life before it went. As for the design goals, if you had any doubt remaining that the game would be a very group-centric venture, McQuaid puts that theory to bed. He stresses again that the game is inheriting a variety of traditions from the original EverQuest, including corpse runs and uncapped raids for immense numbers of people. It's a throwback to an earlier time in MMO history, even if McQuaid does emphasize that the game should be playable in 1-2 hour increments. [Update: Pantheon's Kickstarter page has also just posted the Dwarf reveal and new pledge addons.]
Here's an Elder Scrolls PvP Ask Us Anything
Ask Me Anything question-and-answer sessions are a good idea, in theory. But, like any other Q&A format in the publisher-controlled game journalism field, they're specifically designed to showcase the game in question as opposed to providing potential customers with complete or completely accurate information. Live AMAs are of course more challenging for devs and their PR handlers than email or forum questions, and it's the latter approach that ZeniMax takes with its latest Elder Scrolls Online publicity push. The AMA -- or really, AUA, for Ask Us Anything in this case -- focuses on ESO's PvP. Pre-screened questions include bits on bottlenecks, siege weapons, ranking systems, and the effectiveness of low-level players.
WildStar answers Esper inquiries
Continuing with Esper Week at WildStar, Carbine devs opened the floor to a wide array of questions regarding the futuristic spellcaster. Topics touched upon included the Esper's healing ability (the devs claim the class is "the best single-target healer" in the game), the lack of movement speed reduction while casting, its high burst damage potential in PvP, and that nifty Phantasmal Armor skill that was seen at the end of the re-reveal video. One fan asked if the Esper could be built as a pet class. "You also have the ability to focus yourself on a pet build," a developer confirmed. "Last week my build was based around Phantom Swarm (three small illusionary pets) and Geist (one large illusionary pet). I had tiered these guys up as much as I could so that they were doing tons of damage, healing me at the same time, and blowing up on their deaths to do AoE damage."
The Elder Scrolls Online opens a grab bag of questions
Sometimes questions don't fit together in a nice theme. The Elder Scrolls Online often bunches questions together with an overarching element, but the most recent round of questions is a real grab bag. It covers everything from resurrection and PvP environments to mixing and matching armor, from weapon styles to disguises. So there's plenty to unpack, in other words. The discussion of Veteran Points and the corresponding Veteran Ranks is probably the most meaty part, shedding light on a system that's only been discussed in brief elsewhere. In essence, Veteran Points serve as a new form of leveling after a character has reached max level, awarded for tasks completed rather than simply slaying enemies. While players still gain stat increases for improving Veteran Rank, the major benefit is the continued acquisition of skill points, allowing players to broaden their abilities even after reaching the apex of power. You can read the full set of answers on the official site.
Elder Scrolls AMA talks stealth mechanics and more
Now that the furor of The Elder Scrolls Online's business model announcement has died down, ZeniMax can get back to its regularly scheduled content drip. Wait, who are we kidding? Fans are still frothing at the mouth over TESO's launch subscription, but fortunately none of that discourse makes its way into this week's Ask Us Anything post. Instead, the devs focus on topics like character roles, magic, the UI, and stealth mechanics. This last one is particularly interesting given ZeniMax's description of how the tactic will function in PvP. "If you are in stealth, you will be invisible to enemy players unless they detect you. It will take more than just a casual look in a stealthed player's direction to uncover them," the post explains. "During a recent playtest, one of our developers was ambushed by a hidden enemy. It was a very effective tactic; the ambusher took advantage of the fact that his target wasn't being cautious and using the Magelight ability, which would have thwarted the ambush."
The Elder Scrolls Online answers questions about its livestream
If you're a fan of The Elder Scrolls Online, you were probably glued to the livestream earlier this month. But a single stream doesn't give you nearly as many answers as you'd like to have. So the development team took the opportunity to answer questions that potential players had about the stream, from game mechanics to elements as innocuous as UI components. And even if you were watching the stream with rapt attention, there are probably details that you missed. For example, the answers reveal that the game no longer includes a minimap, using a compass instead to encourage more player exploration. The party seen in the dungeon was also roughly level-appropriate, meaning that the healing and damage on display was roughly indicative of what players can expect from actual combat. Several of the animations shown were more or less finalized, but other elements (such as first-person mode) are still being tweaked. You can catch a few more tidbits from the full set of answers on the official site.
ZeniMax publishes dungeon-focused Elder Scrolls AMA
Have questions about dungeons in The Elder Scrolls Online? ZeniMax has answers, at least to a few of them. The firm has published a new Ask Us Anything on dungeons that gathers together various community queries in a single post. Hit the links below to learn the answers to things like whether or not ESO dungeons will be linear like most of their single-player Elder Scrolls counterparts and whether players will be able to wander into solo encounters in the multiplayer game. As for this last bit, ZeniMax says that the answer is basically yes, after a fashion. "Certain rare locales will just be for solo players, and some dungeons are meant for groups made only of people you choose to go in with. Most locales, however, will be accessible by everyone." Also of note is the decision to dispense with dungeon lockout timers. "We don't currently have any plans to use lockout timers. You can run through a dungeon as often as you like," the company says.
Elder Scrolls Online elaborates on crafting and exploration
ZeniMax scooped up all of the questions that fans had after seeing The Elder Scrolls Online's crafting and exploration video, and answered several of the most pressing of them in a new post. TESO will feature five crafting professions: weaponsmith, armorsmith, enchanter, alchemist, and provisioner. Of these, players are able to train in two fields so that a robust economy will develop between crafters. While there aren't any recipes in the game, players have multiple avenues to combine ingredients and make the same item. The studio indicated that those who have played previous Elder Scrolls games might have an advantage in knowing familiar plants and crafting ingredients and how they interact. Other topics in the AMA include fishing lures, how big your library can get (there's no limit, basically), the use of Mundus Stones, and the difficulty of lockpicking. "Your lockpicking will automatically improve as you level, gradually making chests that were once very difficult to open a much easier prospect. Though your lockpicking skill will increase as you level, the chests you encounter in higher level areas will also be more difficult," ZeniMax explained.
The Elder Scrolls Online answers all your questions, assuming they're about lore
We're not kidding about that title. The latest set of answers for The Elder Scrolls Online's Ask Me Anything is full of lore. Spilling over with lore. Its lore cup runneth over. Do you want to know how old an elf has to be before he's actually old? 200-300 years is old. Want to know if there will be any Dragonborn running around a la Skyrim? Nope, and shouts are a thing of legend. It's all the lore you've wanted and were clearly not afraid to ask about. There are some other answers in the mix as well. Players will have to guess about the abilities of their opponents in PvP to some extent, since the armor system will not allow you to guess at abilities by appearance. Players can also expect to find puzzles in the game rather than pure combat encounters, although no details are given. So while you'll find the most meat if you're looking for lore, even more system-focused players will find some relevant answers in the full set.
Learn about PvP in The Elder Scrolls Online's latest AMA
The Elder Scrolls Online team waded through an AMA about PvP recently. Are you ready for some knowledge? Because we are so about to drop some. Alliance Points will be tied to the PvP ranking system. Siege weapons can be obtained and created by anyone who has enough Alliance Points to purchase them; there are no other resources necessary to buy and deploy them. Players can effectively starve out an enemy area by depriving them of resources from surrounding lumber mills, farms, and mines. Seizing those resources before laying siege has a double advantage of also switching off various enemy patrols. Villages in Cyrodiil are Alliance-neutral, but if you control nearby keeps, you'll have NPC patrols in their surrounding villages and towns. The team isn't quite ready to talk about some features like territory ownership perks and large team sizes. You can delve into full detail over on the official post.
The Longest Journey creator Ragnar Tørnquist opens up in Reddit AMA
Ragnar Tørnquist, the creator of The Longest Journey adventure game saga and founder of Red Thread Games, is answering all the leftover questions from his mind-numbing puzzles with an Ask Me Anything thread on Reddit, right now. Tørnquist and Red Thread have a live Kickstarter for Dreamfall Chapters: The Longest Journey, a continuation of the Dreamfall tale that's been rooting around development for six years. If all goes as planned and the Kickstarter raises $850,000, Dreamfall Chapters is scheduled to launch on PC in November 2014.If you have a question for Tørnquist, check out the AMA thread on Reddit, but be warned, hackmed already asked the most important question: "How the hell did you guys come up with that rubber ducky puzzle?"
The Elder Scrolls Online answers queries about the Daggerfall Covenant
The word "Daggerfall" has special significance to the Elder Scrolls community, which is perhaps why the Daggerfall Covenant has received considerable interest among those following the development of The Elder Scrolls Online. ZeniMax has a brand-new player Q&A that covers the lore and history of this faction. The Daggerfall Covenant encapsulates the Bretons, Redguard, and Orcs, and is symbolized by a lion. A significant question is why the Orcs would join forces with the other two races. The devs responded by saying that the race feels inferior to others and is trying to get established as an Imperial province, although it's "an alliance of convenience." The developers also talked about the variety that's going into the Alik'r Desert, a plague of werewolves that's a significant part of the game, what towns we'll be seeing in the region (Bergama, Camlorn, and Lainlyn), and how the alliance between the races overcomes their religious differences.
Flameseeker Chronicles: Ascended gear in Guild Wars 2
It's time to take a look at the new Guild Wars 2 item rarity: the Ascended tier. The first bits of Ascended gear came in with the Lost Shores patch, but we've been a little busy since then, have we not? Anyway, ArenaNet's Chris Whiteside took some time (like, the better part of a workday -- and then he went home and kept on taking time) to do an Ask Me Anything on Reddit, which largely focused on the question of Ascended stuff and what it means for the game. So let's get into it, shall we?
Guild Wars 2 staff tackles the ascended gear controversy head-on
It's been a rough couple of weeks for Guild Wars 2, following the news that ArenaNet would be implementing a new tier of gear to the game. Studio Design Director Chris Whiteside and President Mike O'Brien took to Reddit today for an Ask Me Anything (AMA), accepting the brunt of the blame while denying that the team had gone against its stated design manifesto. Whiteside said that the addition of ascended gear was not meant to add a necessary grind to Guild Wars 2, but to fill in a necessary gap in gear that the team identified early on. "It's an exciting problem," he wrote, "but one that has been poorly communicated and handled. And for this I take responsibility and apologize." O'Brien chimed in to address the many comments levied about the design manifesto: "We're left with a balancing act. Some progression is OK, but pushing players onto a gear treadmill isn't OK and isn't what the game is about. I don't think [the ascended gear] invalidates the fundamental concept that GW2 can have gradual stat progression without being a gear treadmill game." The AMA didn't merely dwell on the ascended gear issue; Whiteside fielded questions about the game's approach to future events, a desire to reduce grind across the board, the potential fracturing of the community, and ArenaNet's definition of grind ("Repetitive game play that is not fun," is the official answer, in case you were wondering).
The Elder Scrolls Online grapples with questions of race, story, and setting
You have questions about The Elder Scroll Online (probably many questions, yes?), and ZeniMax has a few answers in return. The developers took on a half-dozen queries from the community, many of which were concerned with setting and story, not to mention why typical adversaries are working together all of the sudden. If you're concerned that the three factions will offer thinly veiled copies of each other's quests, the devs have good news: "Each Alliance's content in TESO is as varied and dynamic as the Alliances themselves are -- your adventures an Argonian in the Ebonheart Pact, for example, will be quite different than those of a Bosmer in the Aldmeri Dominion." Another player asked how similar places will be that are covered in both the single-player titles and the MMO; the devs replied, "The stories and events that unfold in these areas during The Elder Scrolls Online will be different than those in past Elder Scrolls games. The people living in these familiar places won't be too different from their brethren in later times; however, they will have different views and tales to tell, based on the current events that are impacting their daily lives."
Humble Indie Bundle 6 devs ask you to ask them anything on Reddit
A few of the developers with games in the rather fantastic Humble Indie Bundle 6 are hosting an AMA on Reddit right now.In attendance is Runic Games co-founder Max Schaefer, representing Torchlight (and Torchlight 2, it seems); programmer Matt Bush and composer Terrence Lee of Dustforce's Hitbox Team; Jan Achrenius and Sampsa Lehtonen of Recoil and Rochard; Mario Wynands of Shatter's Sidhe, co-founders of MinMax Games Andrew Hume and Richard with Space Pirates and Zombies; and John Krajewski of Strange Loop Games representing Vessel.Already the developers are discussing the likelihood of their Linux games on Steam, the benefits of being in the Humble Indie Bundle, and answering programming and gameplay questions galore. If you want to know what engines these guys use, how they handle physics or what those space pirates are doing hanging out with zombies in the first place, head on over to Reddit.
