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PlanetSide 2 devs answer questions via Twitter
MMO Crunch has the details on Sony Online Entertainment's PlanetSide 2 Twitter question-and-answer session that went down on September 16th. The chat covered a lot of ground and answered quite a few of the PlanetSide nation's most burning questions. What kinds of questions? Well, there are bits about customizable armor, bunny hopping, strafing, sun glare as it affects pilots, online vs. offline skill training, and dozens more where those came from. PlanetSide 2 fans will also be happy to know that each of the game's continents will support over 2000 simultaneous players, and said continents will feature varied environments including snow-covered terrain, glaciers, and forests. Check out an abbreviated list of discussion points after the break.
SOE gearing up for PlanetSide 2 dev chats
PlanetSide 2 is in the news again this week, but to be honest we don't know all the details as of yet. Sony Online Entertainment has sent out a press blurb stating that it will be "brief[ing] the troops on anything and everything related to the art of PlanetSide 2." This includes a chat with senior art director Tramell Isaac (whom die-hard fans will recognize as the art director on the original PlanetSide) scheduled for Tuesday, September 27th. Tramell will be discussing "the original PlanetSide's legacy and influence on PlanetSide 2's art style, and how SOE's powerful ForgeLight engine will carry this vision forward." Thursday brings a PlanetSide 2 webcast (also with a focus on art direction). After that, fans can look forward to a Twitter chat on Friday, and the dev team will be fielding multiple questions relating to the upcoming sci-fi MMOFPS.
WoW developer chat on Twitter this Friday
Community Manager Zarhym recently announced another fancy developer chat on Warcraft's Twitter account this Friday, July 16 at 5 p.m. PDT / 8 p.m. EST. This time around, players will be able to ask questions of the systems design team who is currently hard at work cranking out Cataclysm. The focus of the chat will be the recently released talent specialization and mastery system changes. At WoW.com HQ, we're hoping for more information on the radical talent changes that have shown up in the latest beta build. Want to participate? follow @warcraft and @ them your questions using the #BlizzChat hashtag between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m PDT (8 p.m. and 9 p.m. EST). And as always, if you happen to miss the Twitter chat, Blizzard will provide a recap on the official forums, and we'll provide coverage of the event right here on WoW.com. Don't use Twitter? Sign up now and follow @warcraft and @wowdotcom for everything WoW!
New Caverns of Time instance coming in Cataclysm
The recent Twitter dev chat confirmed what is fast becoming a tradition: We will be getting a new Caverns of Time instance with the upcoming expansion. It's certainly not something I have much trouble with. The Caverns of Time are an excellent tool for looking back and understanding old pieces of the story that brought us to the current world as it is. Unfortunately, the devs were not willing to drop any hints as to the exact nature of the new instance, but we can, of course, make our own guesses. The original questioner suggests War of the Ancients as a possible destination. In a way, that might be an interesting battle. It would, if nothing else, give us some insight into the character of Malfurion Stormrage, who promises to be a key figure in the expansion. That said, Rhonin, Broxigar, and Krasus have already traveled back in time to deal with the War of the Ancients, and you'd have to think that if you keep shoveling more time travelers back there, something's bound to give.
Breakfast Topic: Your favorite news from the Twitter dev chat
Like its last incarnation, the latest Q&A from WoW developers over Twitter was full of some great information, both about the current expansion and what's coming next with Cataclysm. Even better, you didn't even need to be on Twitter to read it, for those still hemming and hawing over social networking being a big fad they don't get. We found out a few choice tidbits about Cataclysm, including what's going on with the Blasted Lands revamp, the possibility of more old-world heroics like Shadowfang Keep and Deadmines, and the state of the Plaguelands after Arthas' defeat. How Tol Barad will (and won't) be like Wintergrasp also came up. We also learned a bit about Wrath's design philosophy, including what Blizzard liked about Wrath (questing), what they didn't like (limited attempts on bosses), and what's sticking around for Cataclysm (Dungeon Finder). And that stuff's only the tip of the iceberg. What was in the Q&A that spoke to you personally? What are you excited about now that some of these questions have been answered?
Twitter developer chat tomorrow
There will be another twitter developer chat tomorrow, with Lead Systems Designer Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street and Lead Content Designer Cory Stockton. The chat will take place at 5:00 p.m. PST, and if previous chats are any indication, it'll last around an hour or so. WoW.com will be keeping a liveblog of the chat for the record, and we'll be sure to point out all the major news from the chat, if it happens. Hopefully this chat will be a lot like the last one where useful information came out. I would expect Greg and Cory to cover a lot of the patch 3.3.3 changes and perhaps some information on the Ruby Sanctum coming out in patch 3.3.5. You can check out the transcripts of the previous two chats here: October 22nd, 2009 Twitter developer chat January 15th, 2009 Twitter developer chat Official Wracraft Twitter Join us for #BlizzChat on Twitter Friday, Feb.26, at 5 PM PST with World of Warcraft's lead content designer & lead systems designer. source Bornakk We will be holding our next Developer Chat on Twitter on Friday, February 26, at 5:00 p.m. PST with World of Warcraft's lead content designer and lead systems designer. This chat session will focus on Icecrown Citadel and other Fall of the Lich King content. Questions will be taken live through Twitter, so be sure to sign up for a Twitter account at https://twitter.com/signup and follow account @Warcraft in order to participate! To submit a question for the Developer Chat, please tweet using the #BlizzChat hashtag between 5:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. PST on February 26. Due to the character limitation on responses within Twitter, all answers will be posted on the World of Warcraft forums in a dedicated thread. source
Why so empty, Crystalsong?
Some actual new information from tonight's developer Twitter chat with Lead Systems Designer Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street and J. Allen Brack? I'm as surprised as you are. When asked why the resplendent (and glowy) Crystalsong Forest is oddly barren of anything to do beyond sightsee (and, of course, the rare quest), we received some interesting info about game performance: Part of the problem is that it sits beneath Dalaran, which ended up being more of a resource hog than we had anticipated. We didn't want to draw too many more players to that zone. Initially the Crusaders' Coliseum was going to be there, which is why some of the quests send you there. We just worried too much about the performance hit. So what does this mean to the average WoW-player? That you can enjoy the peace and quiet of Crystalsong Forest for a long time to come, because additions to the zone just aren't on Blizzard's agenda. And it's probably for our own good -- we all know what a lagfest Dalaran can be, don't we? Now close your eyes and just imagine combining that with all of the players that come and go from the Crusader's Coliseum. If your thoughts on this imaginary scenario are anything other than "do not want," well, we'll just have to agree to disagree.
How Blizzard can improve the next Twitter chat
Coming up tomorrow at 5 p.m. PST / 8 p.m. EST is the next Blizzard Twitter chat with J. Allen Brack and Greg Street. Both of these guys have done plenty of panels before and are veterans in community interaction. They can easily answer and dodge any question they like; and if Ghostcrawler sees fit I'm sure he's got a few quips to hand out to the attempted troll as well. But despite the two figureheads at the top answering questions in the Twitter chat, it's important that we look back at the last chat and make a few critical, yet fair, observations: Target Audience and New Information The people following Blizzard on Twitter and paying attention enough to participate in a developer chat are going to be well informed individuals. There might be details here and there that they don't yet fully understand -- but that's the nature of a game as huge as WoW. Nearly every questioned answered in the previous Twitter chat was also previously answered at BlizzCon in one way or another. All of that information is widely accessible on sites like WoW.com and through the forums. The targeted audience of the Twitter chat, by the very nature of its medium and community involvement therein, should have been people already aware of the basics of upcoming changes; not people who want to know if Goblins are going to come with a new dance.
