Interview with Danu on Stratics

[Fratricide]

Funny how you don't have to be a fanboi to see a little bit of positive here and there. And quite honestly... I gave up on seeing results in Horizons for years. AE couldn't produce any results fast, nor could TG... And no one is saying EI will be any greater if at all. ALL i'm saying, is find ONE itty bitty thing positive that you like. Is that so hard? Ya mention something bad too but find ONE tiny thing you like. Just because I chose to see a little ray of sunshine doesn't mean I don't have doubts, doesn't mean I'm a fanboi either as you so elegantly put it. I'll refrain from comenting on your kind =/ I guess to every side, there's always the other "side" too...

I hope the rain clouds over your head aren't to thick... But, like any storm... they blow over eventually.

K.. here's the only thing I saw..

We have some very smart people working...

Wait.. did I read that right??? yup.. I did...

If the fact that they have smart people working isnt positive I dont know what is. However the fact that they have smart people doesnt mean they know what their doing with an MMORPG.

[Phillip]

At least they have smart people.

[Cerjar]

Smeg: The guy who made Blighted loot. One which oh so many people here applauded to no end hahaha. Until reality bit them in the booty....I remember getting reamed on irc when I said all the time and resource putting into that will amount to crap. This was during the hype of that ever lasting wonder.

Blighted Loot was a very good design idea. It is loot that you can use out of the box (if you find something good), or you can give a crafter to make new items (and with some luck get something very good as well). It also fit into the storyline and felt like natural loot on most WA mobs (not all, but spiders got it removed anyway). I hoped that after the loot revamp most loot would have gotten a more natural feeling as well. No more animals that drop weapons e.g. The last event showed a good new perspective how it can be done: The monsters drop trophies, you can give these to a trophy hunter and get token. Another NPC sells formulars for these tokens. Not only that it feels natural about what the animals drop, it also creates a new form of currency for adv. to pay the crafters.

Look at WoW: This is crap loot. Why? You NEED to collect this loot to get into the next instance to get better and rarer loot to get into the next instance to get ... well you know... Crafters? What a waste of time to bring them into game anyway, nobody needs them... And why do animals drop armor pieces??

This is my opinion on this topic....

[Jodokai]

Not at all. I just know more about how the game actually works than you do.

While that's probably true, I'd bet people that make games for a living could think of ways to do things that you hadn't thought of.

[AA0]

Not really. You have to think of a few things like what technology limits horizons has, as it is very significant to the rate and why things are changed. The devs never have, and never will just do this or that because they simple CAN'T. EI might say we want to do this or that, but they'll hit that brick wall when they try it.
A responsible dev also has to think what systems/mechanics are in place in the world already, most players only think of one topic, not the whole world. You just can't do something because its cool, and end up messing up another part of the game.

It is amazing how many people have strong opinions of what should have happened, and how it should have been done, but never bothered to learn anything about the game's workings. Ignorance is bliss.

[MadDwarf]

They already admit to the billing fiasco and stating they are working on it. That is the one thing you're gona hold them over? I'm no fanboi here. Just stating what they said.

It took DB 2 years to own up to the fact the current system can't handle a dynamic war hehe...Oh and the client issue have been in the works since launch. We working on it and happy to say it's right on track...

2 years for Conf to go on a "Preview" with a note attached: it's not complete hahaha

Acient ROP in by December, remember?

So many things, I lost count.

Yeah I have billing issues too, ticket sent. But I won't hold much over the new chihuahua, still alive and not yet on crack.

actually yes I will. I know what it take to

1) setup a secure account maintenance system
2) acquire whats nescessary to make it secure
3) interface with any existing system

It should have taken then 1 week tops to

1) get numbers 1 and 2 in place
2) interface it with the game so that it could talk to the game account authentification system.

They haven't because they have no one capable of doing the work. So they have given the task to someone who hasen't the skill set or the experience. This poor person is no doubt learning on the fly but this of course slows down the process ten fold. EII is just a small company here. I think they thought horizons was something it was not.

That it was pretty much complete and that tools where already in place to add basic content. I bet they weren't expecting what they got and are now trying to get everything done. To do this they need to open the purse strings and hire people in the know.

Now of course my tune would be 180 degree's opposite had a basic account system been in place. That when they asked everyone for new account information it wasn't on a non secure webpage that uploaded a simple text file to their server for all to read. Its something so basic so very fundamental to any online based business. Something so very basic that could have stopped all these problems before they started and kept things civil all around. Many people would be supporting them via an account had that very basic system been in place. Myself included but until they can prove my information is safe and my card will not get billed 5 times in a month its not going to happen. Nor should it since I take such matters very seriously. So should all of you.

Tulga AE well of course they did do and did not do many things. But its already been pointed out there is a brick wall with Horizons. If EII ever gets around to development they will hit it as well.

[CallakDW]

Wow... yeah. After reading through a few of these posts, I would say I wasn't very far off in calling the community sour in Nagafen's thread. Very true and very good points made here though.

[Chioxin]

Meh, high hopes and clinging to promises that are achieved way far in the future has kept this game running. I don't think it's going to be anay different this time. Incompetence was cried for any team that took the reigns and whenever something "drastic" happened like bankrupcty, server merging, plot lottery... many many things.

I agree with AAO about the brick wall coming, it will be interesting to see how that's handled and what other direction they may take because of it. I'm very much with Jodokai as well though. The brick wall can be hammered down or have a door added in places. I think it personally can, I've seen it done.

I wasn't, and still am not a fan of blighted loot. It all becomes Hoard Fodder to me. I saw a few pieces that made me go "woo, that looks useable!" and it just didn't work out. I'm not a fan of them adding loot though to be honest. I like the system as is, and the loot being rare drops to enhance eyour equipment. Now, if they really want to improve it.... knock up the drop value of certain tech item drops? =p Have to consult with Jayne and Kwinn on that one =)

I'm interested in this!!! "we definitely plan on having new real estate available to players sooner than anticipated." What real estate!?!? =) Housing? New bits to put in lairs!? Or just knew plots coming soon??? Grrrr, time will tell... OH! I wanna know what this blight cavern is too, and what the plans were for that. Sounds neat! Istaria's first dungeon? =P

Fatricide:: C for effort I guess, but I think that might have earned a D because you slammed it too... You can't slam your good points!

[Jayne]

Just to straighten Kulamata and Peaches.

I thought I already posted this but maybe not.

Smeglor is not with HZ anymore, don't know where you got that from. He and family are now in Seattle and he is working for a new company. The house in AZ is for sale if anyone is interested.

Jayne

[Jayne]

Ahh blighted loot. Yes at first I was like what is this stuff, but I grew to love making it and getting epic pieces. It was like playing a slot machine. I have several jewelry pieces I use at epic mobs that boost me up far beyond any piece in game. Also you can get pieces that have tech's that normally can not be crafted. For all that have given up the farm, don't.

But I know Smeg was going to revisit the Blight stuff on the revamp and if I remember correctly was thinking of removing the negative tech's so the item would only be positive. If that were/was to happen I think we all would be using blighted weapons

Jayne

[Theolaerynn]

Whatever floats your boat. The idea of structural crafts and dragons, factional PvP that was the backbone of HZ. We didn't have factions but nonetheless, buildable plots and dragons were more than good enough. Nonetheless, those ideas didn't come from DB.

DB took it, and made a mess of it.

Oy vey, you act like any of those were original ideas. Besides, what did your first group have to show for two years of 'work' other than vaporware and pink slips? While I am far from a fan of DB, at least he released something.

Again I say, you played for a while and you said you have returned, so AE obviously did something that you enjoy.

And as far as EI goes, I keep seeing a lot of talk but not much action. With the loss of Smeg goes most of my remaining hope that EI has an ice cube's chance in heck of making this work, but stranger things have happened. I will continue to watch and observe in case they do turn things around, but I think I have a higher probability of winning the lottery.

I do know heralding a post that a politician would be proud of as an indication of Horizons' future just isn't giving me anything to dance a jig about. It would be nice to actually get solid answers to those questions, but I believe it is a bit too soon for EI to even know the answer themselves.

[Peaches]

Lets stop the pot shots, at this point, it doesn't matter who did what, discussing the interview is fine, but without the pot shots. If this trend continues, I will lock the thread.


Thank you

[Kulamata]

A couple of posters above said that there were three ex-Tulga employees, of whom Smeglor was one. This came as quite a surprise, so I asked if he had indeed returned. My post was a query and a conditional...

[Goriax]

Stratics: When Can we expect to see game patches and updates to Horizons?
Danu: Ahhh, the culture of all of us gamers is the desire for the future to be here immediately.
'tis very natural, we have all dreamed about a car when we were 12, hoped for the last day of school in October or for Christmas morning in July.
I fear Horizons has tried to get to the future immediately…… from Beta until July 21st of this year. As of July 21st we began a foundation building period. We have endeavored to understand Istaria's Cultures and to build a foundation of disciplined documentation and procedures for running the software for our shards.
I believe a strong foundation is necessary for any good construct, this will take time. We will now slowly accelerate the growth of content, we will not be rushed into premature rollouts and we will respect the unique culture of each of our shards. We will commence updates and patches this fall.

I'm sorry but this does not give me a warm feeling. Quite the opposite. AE/TG were trying for too much?

I'm afraid this did not change my increasingly pessimistic expectation for HZ.

One person talked about a new client. Don't hold your breath.

I've been having a hard time coming to these boards lately or even logging on to HZ. It's too depressing. This hasn't changed that.

[LaughingOtter]

Yep. Too much, too fast. I guess that means EI won't be rushing stuff out the door as - frantically, shall we say? - as Tulga did.

[TheHaunt]

I am positive... that I am waiting to see.

I have found a lot of things that make my mouth drop in shock, lately.

I have found things that made me laugh, outright, over the sheer stupidity of them...

What I can say, in response to Chioxin, is the ONE positive point I can find is that the community still feels this game is worth discussing, debating and arguing over... yeah, even arguing... it means the community cares, even if they don't agree about certain key aspects... If you guys didn't care, I really think you'd have stopped reading these boards long ago.

That concern, right now, is the single thing that makes me hopeful for this game... not anything from any of the "officials"... although I do hope the community concern affects their decisions...

(perhaps controversial, but at least I'm honest.)

[C`gan]

Interesting choice of questions. I happen to be pleased that Danu took the time to answer them.

[Drasdil Redin]

Ok...who are the 3 ex-tulga employees? Like I stated earlier...I've seen Dyn and Amadan. Who is the 3rd? (I never suggested it was Smeglor). Not sure who brought that up, and haven't take the time to go look.

[Jayne]

I believe one f the new artists that TG had just hired not to long ago was hired. But maybe someone else can verify that?

Actually for a time there I thought someone said Frid was hired. But for all intensive purposes Dyn and Amadan have been announced so only 2 employees that I know of officially. I still have seen know announcement on the new WM Galcondo, hopefully soon

Jayne

[Phillip]

Blighted Loot was a very good design idea. It is loot that you can use out of the box (if you find something good), or you can give a crafter to make new items (and with some luck get something very good as well). It also fit into the storyline and felt like natural loot on most WA mobs (not all, but spiders got it removed anyway). I hoped that after the loot revamp most loot would have gotten a more natural feeling as well. No more animals that drop weapons e.g. The last event showed a good new perspective how it can be done: The monsters drop trophies, you can give these to a trophy hunter and get token. Another NPC sells formulars for these tokens. Not only that it feels natural about what the animals drop, it also creates a new form of currency for adv. to pay the crafters.

Look at WoW: This is crap loot. Why? You NEED to collect this loot to get into the next instance to get better and rarer loot to get into the next instance to get ... well you know... Crafters? What a waste of time to bring them into game anyway, nobody needs them... And why do animals drop armor pieces??

This is my opinion on this topic....

I like this part, for the dumbinicity of stupid: "well you know... Crafters? What a waste of time to bring them into game anyway, nobody needs them"...

Change it to this and get both: "well you know... Adventurers? What a waste of time to bring them into game anyway, nobody needs them"...the game up to that point was just that. One of the reasons why people left. IGN was the official board at the time, you can go there and see it all for yourself.

It was right after merge which DB said that immediate, usable loot is one of the most important thing they will work on. I guess they missed the few thousand threads from beta to retail of players who found adventuring in HZ less exciting than Rosie O on a pogo stick. It's like two possums with an empty trashcan. In tune with an undomesticated can of cheesewiz on prozac.

I won't comment on your WoW statement. It's a sort of sideswipe hoping to make a point. Point not taken. This is not and will never be WoW.

I will make a point that lucrative loot can exist nicely in HZ. Boar Mask, Scapria's Heart Staff, Moss Club and others, remember?

The idea that many of us had at the time, wouldn't you know it, were very similar to the Valkor stuff of today. Except, you can add crystals and, the items will decay but not break. The notion is to use repair kits from crafters over and again. Something to keep both crafters and adventurers involved long after. It's actually better the system then, and now. Anyway...here's what happened:

Right after merge, there were quite a few adventurers left, waiting patiently to see what AE can muster in this department. Similarly was the story of my guild. When I learned of Blight Equipment, I was on this board protesting it. I went into irc to discuss it. I felt that BE wasn't going to do much of anything. The supposed one paragraph worth of "lore" on the subject matter was like, what the ... What in the world, all that work for that?

Most of the wonderful community here didn't take to kindly of my efforts. It's my fault too since I forgot to put on the Fine Mithril butt-plug. I got reamed here and irc. Ow.

The same thing happened when I thought the lack for the art of adventure, that the Anchors will render problematic. Mobs will drop comps. That's it. Yippefriggindoo. Adventurers will stop to bother with Anchors and they'll just be a pain on the side. NO! Phillip this game is about community. Community! You must respect my communitay!! Yeah I got reamed again and told that the beloved community will embrace such addition with glee.

hahaha...Anchors and Blighted Equipment. The art of adventuring at its finest. Why, people embrace blighted equipment you better believe it. I'm a crafter and I approve this message.

You know, both times I didn't get to talk to either Smeg or Amadan. I posted my thoughts in irc and literally got blasted by the brown nosed masses. I put it on the board and 12 pages of hate followed. I feel bad for them guys. The gamers here wrongly influenced their creativity.

I hope EI don't make the same mistake.