Official Livestream - February 9th @ 1 PM PST - Q&A thread

ArchivedUser

Hey, everyone! 
Once again we’re collecting questions to answer during Fridays' (9th) Twitch stream starting at 1:00 PM PST / 4:00 PM EDT / 9:00 PM UTC / 7:00 AM AEST (Saturday). 
Please post your questions in this thread and we’ll pick around 10 or so to answer live on-stream. Please, only one question per person. Additional questions will likely not get answered. 
Thanks for your help!
Catch the broadcast here on the Ashes of Creation Twitch Channel
Missed a previous Livestream and you want to catch up? check out the Ashes of Creation Youtube Channel

ArchivedUser

I'm curious about the stealth system.
Let's say there's a player using a stealth skill in front of me, will I be able to spot him if I look carefully at my screen, or do I need a skill to spot him?

ArchivedUser

You say you want combat to be meaningful. Zerg = bad.

However you say you want raids to be 40-man. Outside of things like castle sieges, this will easily become very zerg-like.

Can you provide some more light on plans for raid sizes in different settings, e.g. PvE dungeons, PvP and there potential sub-categories/scenarios.

ArchivedUser

Collision system question. We know that there will be player and spell collision. Is there a system of say "hard" collision in combat and "soft" collision out of combat to stop people from blocking doorways and parking mounts on top of npcs and mailboxes to grief?

ArchivedUser

The game has a very promising premise but that premise is very dependent on the servers population to work correctly. Can you give some examples of solutions you have in place for a small population early or later in the game's life.

ArchivedUser

1. What steps are being taken to identify duplicated items, remove them from the game, and to deal with those who exploit bugged mechanics to duplicate items on a large scale?

After playing other large scale PvP games, item duplication was a huge problem. It would be great if each item had a unique hash (DES, for example) attached to it so the server could identify duplicate items and remove them automatically. The hash should have the item creator's name encoded in the hash so players who exploit these mechanics repeatedly can be identified and banned.

ArchivedUser

2. What measures/mechanics are being implemented to prevent mega guilds (1000+ members) from splitting into 3-4 smaller in-game guilds and coordinating outside the game to take complete control of a node or entire server?

Mega guilds of 1000+ well coordinated members will be able to out-produce several thousand casual players. Such groups will not need any help from the "casual masses" to build, maintain or defend their node of choice. Needing to satisfy the "casual masses" is the linchpin of the whole node system balance.

ArchivedUser

It's been mentioned that crafting won't feature RNG, how does this work when breeding particular animals and does how they are cared for/nurtured play a role in the outcome? Thanks!

ArchivedUser

Charachter progression - Is this going to be the type of system where CharacterX works hard to obtain 'elite' gear and progress their character only to have a patch hit in a month and bring everyone up to that point with a lot less effort?

ArchivedUser

Crafting Question: Is crafted gear actually worth wearing or will PVE drops be the go to if you want to be good? I want to make a name for myself as a artisan of some sort.

ArchivedUser

Have y'all decided the range of how many letters we can have in a name? min-max

ArchivedUser

Will we be able to craft items for our homes? Furniture, paintings, rugs, fireplaces...Etc, etc

ArchivedUser

What sort of character naming system will you be implementing? 
Some games use the user name for uniqueness, like a last name, while others actually allow you to set a character's first and last name. Just wondering because I find as a game ages it becomes harder and harder to come up with valid names unless there is in place a first/last name system. 

ArchivedUser

I played PVP on the Vox server in EverQuest II years ago when PVP there was a wild and crazy (and fun) experience.  PVP no longer even exists in EverQuest II.  The reasons PVP died are complex, but my impression is that it died for the following reasons.

However, before presenting a long list of reasons I personally believe PVP died in EQ2, I guess my question is how do you plan to prevent a repeat of well-known, oft-repeated PVP pit falls?  Especially given that your game seems like it will have a large PVP element.

Now, here is my list of reasons I think PVP died in EQ2

1. level-locking was removed.  You could no longer develop and equip a great low-level PVP toon before the toon gained so much experience that it out-leveled its gear.  In other words, you might try spending a huge amount of time and in-game gold making the best low level PVP toon you could, but you out-leveled your gear before you could enjoy the fruits of your labor.

2. generally the squeaky wheel got the grease, and squeaky wheels tended to want developers to make things easier for them to win at PVP without engaging in any other aspects of the game.  This drove large segments of the community away, (people who enjoyed PVP but were not solely focused on it: like crafters and raiders) toward PVE servers.  Consequently the small band of remaining hardcore PVP'ers had nobody left to kill and they got bored and left.

3. crafting was marginalized by reward PVP gear and pay-to-win.  PVPers tended to be bored by crafting and did not want high-level crafters (especially tinkerers) making items that could influence PVP outcomes.  So, crafters went to PVE servers and PVP'er had nobody left to kill.

4. raiding was marginalized by reward PVP gear and pay-to-win.  PVPers tended to be bored by raiding and did not want high-level raiders equipping themselves with raid reward items that could influence PVP outcomes.  So, raiders went to PVE servers and PVP'er had nobody left to kill.

5. PVP rewards, like titles and showing off your gear at a public dock (in permanent immunity to attack), were removed.  This was done to satisfy people who lost at PVP and resented seeing others boast about their PVP prowess.  Removing the ability to boast about accomplishments made people less inclined to excel at PVP in the first place.

6. people wanted all classes to be 'equal' or 'balanced' which was impossible ( frustrating developers) and tended to reduce importance of grouping.  By removing the grouping aspect of the game, the game itself became less interesting, resulting in a lower server population and fewer targets for PVP'er to hunt.  This led to PVP'ers becoming bored and leaving.

7. reasons to go into the open world were gradually eliminated by the introduction of pack ponies (which automated harvesting of raw materials for use in crafting) and by introduction of transportation devices like bells that allowed any toon to instantly transport to any zone instead of having to walk, run, or ride through multiple zones, and by introduction of flying mounts that allowed any toon to simply fly through a zone impervious to attack from PVP'ers on the ground.  In other words, every time a game element became easier (harvesting, traveling, etc.) it led to lower satisfaction among the player base as a whole, at least of PVP servers.

8. pay-to-win (pay real money for items that could influence fighting ability) eventually became so widespread that it dominated all aspects of the game.  This was the ultimate in making the game easier, and made playing the game itself pointless and irrelevant.  The player base evaporated and PVP'ers had nobody left to kill.

ArchivedUser

How will your new fully 'supportive' class players defend themselves if they are not also some DPS, like the Minstrel and Conjurer classes?

ArchivedUser

Since the KS/Summer Crowdfunding packages have " Chat Emoji pack" in them, what they'll look like in game, and  are they moving (like MSN emojis) or staying still. And as being one who doesn't like moving in-game chat emojis, can they be turned off from chat/settings totally, or at least to their text versions ( turns to :-) or so .

ArchivedUser

Will hackers and exploiters (that exploit knowingly) be receiving permanent or temporary bans?



(In my opinion it doesn't matter how much damage was done. All purposely done hacks and exploits are equally horrible and shouldn't be tolerated.)

ArchivedUser

What are your plans for making sure Utility characters are balanced with the Trinity characters, and making Utility characters wanted in groups? For instance, how would an enchanter or bard be balanced with a true healer, dps, or tank?

ArchivedUser

Will smaller guilds be able to have a guild hall? And will guild halls be instanced or in the world?

ArchivedUser

Some MMOs have gone the route of publicly displaying hackers/Explotiers on a wall of same type webpage section with alliance names, server and character name. Will AoC do anything similar like this or just keep it all hidden from your community like most MMOs?

ArchivedUser

Will a guild hall be affected by the growth of the node it resides in and if so how?

ArchivedUser

How many freeholds can be placed in a given node and would a larger node area hitting level 3 have more freehold plots available? 

ArchivedUser

Can you give us some info if any on animal husbandry. I really want to know something about the breeding process.

ArchivedUser

Will diplomacy be prevalent between different nodes. For example, can nodes ally with one another and declare war on another node?

ArchivedUser

Alchemy. Will we heave to learn what ingredients do before our potions are any good or before we can use them. like eating a leaf to learn its affects on the body.

ArchivedUser

I'd like to know the dates when we can expect Alpha 1 to start please!

ArchivedUser

A friendly reminder that this channel is for questions directed at the upcoming livestream. Please, only one question per person. Additional questions will likely not get answered. 

ArchivedUser

Can you describe what the crafting system will actually look like, in your current intended design?

Will it be more open-ended in terms of what materials you can put in, or will it be a set list of recipes for various levels of gear that get quickly outdated by leveling?

How will 'Artisan Classes' work?

Outside of animal husbandry for mounts and pets, are there any crafting classes you intend to make that will be unique compared to those offered in other games?

Will gathering have its own classes, or will anyone be able to gather?

If a settlement needs a material that can be gathered that's only available in another settlement's zone of influence, what's to stop them from sending 100 gatherers there to get what they need in a day instead of establishing a trade route?

ArchivedUser

Will there be designated harbors for us seafaring tradesman?

My fantasy is to have my own shop on my own boat out at sea... or maybe my own harbor.

ArchivedUser

Caravans Caravans!!

Thank you for your time , My question is 2 parts  : 

1) Do Caravans scale up and down in relation to the node which launches them.
For example does a City Caravan have more guards,    is it faster?  can it carry more  goods and are the horses just bit prettier than say a Town Caravan ?

2) Also can a Caravan change its route once its been launched if it suspects the valley up ahead has some belligerent folks hiding in it.

Thanks again !

ArchivedUser

As the community continues to hype the game, the RP is stretched thin with just a few tiny details to play off. When can we expect more lore?