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Update on Awakenings
GMTheia
Member Posts: 204
Hello mmorpg.com MO Forum Community!
I'm refreshed and up for some more friendly boxing over here 
(I needed a rest TBH and had started to lose focus and become emotional over some of the posting here) - Also the work-load has been pretty high with pop going up in the game of course in game support becomes more busy, that and trying to finalise some of the structures in Tindrem too - it's been an intensely busy few weeks! Anyhoo, thought it a good time to let you know about progress on the new Expansion.
Tindrem is looking very nice at this point. The largest structures and buildings are nearing completion. I've been working hard on the Magic Academy - one of the more impressive buildings in Tindrem and I am so, so looking forward to it being in-game so everyone can enjoy it. It's a huge lofty structure, certainly the largest in-door space in Nave so far with and a huge space that we'll be able to use for all kinds of things RP as well as directly involved in the new magic schools over time.
AI is progressing very well at this point we've been looking at some of the new features that will come with AI and they're very exciting. MO *needs* an excellent PVE side to the game - that has been lacking since launch and we're well on course to provide something - I think - not seen before in a MMO. Many new mobs are nearing completion as well as the new AI that will drive them. We started with a goodly sized number of new beasties but as we've been in slight delay coming up to the holidays this has actually meant that we'll be adding more than I was expecting for Awakenings so radical PVE change is coming and the whole team is very, very excited to see this arrive. Roving Guards and moving AI is coming along with this too - so we'll finally get to see 'real' guarding as oppose to the insta-kill that we have with Lictor at the moment. this will make keeping yourself safe far more realistic - I think it will of course make the world an even more dangerous and exciting place than it is now!
The other side of AI other than just more realistic reaction to players encountering them is the migration of herds / mobs - this is going well, but something we're really excited about is the way the AI can react to player - think your HP is too low and decide to run away from a mob? Think again, if you're fighting the wrong kind of mob he (it) may very well draw a bow and start shooting at you or indeed shooting back if that's your approach in the first place.
The Trade Tools system has required a lot of thought - we spent a lot of time thinking through how to give players the tools to trade their wares without removing the implicit danger in Mortal Online that's needed and indeed vital to keep the sense of risk - moving your lootz and wares will still be dangerous and people will of course have to travel to take full advantage of the system - thus closing the circle and providing more for the 'Wolves' in the game.
Henrik has tweeted that there will be some vids / screenshots coming along soon so I’ll send those to news@mmorpg.com when they are made available to you can all see the tangible progress.
Quick Update on the China Server: We're finalising the last of the changes needed to MO to launch in that market - but worth saying that MO China will be exclusively for China and won't be connected to the world-wide MO server. This is for them and we're looking forward to that launch too. We're having to make some changes to core MO to fit into their rules / laws and customs - skeletons (for example) are a no no in China so we've taken them out. But it's good news for both sides of the equation as new content developed will have significant benefits for both arenas.
That's all for now. Thanks for taking the time to read this brief update. As we approach the release of Awakenings there will of course be much more info coming and I;m looking forward to being able to share a lot more detail with you.
Thanks!
Theia
PS oh nearly forgoet - Veteran Reward Design is now complete, so there will be news on this too and I hope all not just some of the rewards will be released with Awakenings. We've been polling our community about thier views on this and will of course listen very, very carefully to what our player base wants, has requested and deserves.
Any quesiotns? Feel free I'll try to answer.
GMTheia
Comments
Why is there a habit of deleting important threads with promises in them such as the case of deleting the veteran rewards thread?
mmm That's an interesting quesiton - I didn't delete the thread, it's possible that somebody was just doing house - keeping.. but really.. nothing machiavellian is going on.
We started the Vet Rewards as a direct response to feedback from this forum that I personally took to Henrik and negociated this to resolve long standing upset.
Vet rewards are most certainly coming. Nothing happens (of course) as fast as we'd all like but I've been involved in Design meetings for this so obivously we've not just paid lip service to this we're actually doing it.
Vet awards will come - if you're a vet then there will be something for you.
I posted last week asking our community for their views as Henrik wanted some direct feedback..
I guess if something machiavellian was occuring then... that wouldn't have happened. i also woulnd't have mentioned it in the OP.
Thanks
GMTheia
hype!!!
Hope!
S'ok I understand why you might think that but this is real stuff that I'm eye-balling every day.
GMTheia
Ever thought about Relaunching MO when it gets upto par ?
www.daneslaw.com
@GamerKurisu
Awaiting Darkfall Unholy Wars
No. There will be NO wipe and NO relaunch and NO MO 2.0. At least not for many, many years.
GMTheia
Which bit do you think I'm not being serious over?
GMTheia
I'm confused. The last time you were here posting you said the whole team is working on AI but now the team is working on a new city, a trade system and AI along with several other things? My understanding is the actual coding "team" (or in other words, the people who actually make things happen in the game) is made up of a single digit figure and can possibly be counted on one hand. Can you elaborate on who is doing what so we have some idea of what kind of changes to expect? If only one guy is working on AI, it would really go against your previous postings.
Several new threads have been deleted on the official forums so it is not a housekeeping issue as you suggest. Some of those threads have valuable feedback that could actually help your company to grow. Can you tell us who at SV is directing that any post that could be considered negative, should be deleted right away? Is this being directed from Henrik? If not, does he know it is happening? Do you honestly feel that hiding things is helping to improve SV's reputation among gamers?
With core systems broken like being hit from invisible enemies and the log-off inside keeps, dont you think SV should stop trying to add new (half-finished) features into the game in search of a hypothetical new customer base and instead fix what they already have to support the existing customers who have supported you? Honestly, if you could fix a few of those game breaking issues that have been in since launch, the current base would be happier and more people would come over.
You are once again posting how the population is rising and things are booming in-game. If the next financial report comes out and proves (once again) that you are misinterpreting the actual size of the population, will you promise to stop posting about the population until the financial reports actually prove it? I can go back and show you your old posts in the 4th quarter that claim the population is up and then show you the most recent financial report that CLEARLY states it has gone down. Either you are mistaken or SV is submitting false financial reports.
What is the plan to keep the company alive in the future if the break-even prediction of mid-year does not happen? Will there be a third stock split? Are the founding investors very happy that their initial investments have been reduced to less than 10% of what they started with?
You posted back in Dec that vet rewards were in progress and that they should be out in a week, then you disappeared and didnt reply to any of the threads. I wont ask any questions about this one since it is pretty self explanatory but I do hope you learned a lesson and that you no longer make statements here that you cant back up. I dont know if you jumped the gun or you got schmucked by your supervisors but either way, please dont give timelines that you can not back up.
GMTheia
Actually one of the community re-posed this .. not me
I was genuinely trying to give you guys a heads-up and some info as I've been away a little while (recovering from my last visit here)
thanks tho... much appreciated..
GMTheia
I have a question for the question askers...
1) Do any of you guys sub to MO? And do you ever plan to again?
2) Havent they answered the box question already? And what was the answer the last time someone asked?
3) Are you guys really that butt-hurt? It seems the level of vitriol would only be warranted if SV tortured your family, killed your pet, and burnt your house down?
PS- Im not a total fanboi.. I also am curious if they ever will make sure that people cant exploit into keeps. In addition I want to know if they plan to add mostly more fluff to the game instead of creating content that feeds more reds.
A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true...
Regarding the AI, how is it better than Darkfall? If you can't answer that question, you need to do some research right away. Darkfall has epic underwater, terrestrial, and aerial mobs. Darkfall has mobs with intelligent AI that: dodge attacks, use rangd and magic, alert other mobs of the same type when there is an enemy, have projectile based attacks that can be dodged by players, and yes there are migrating mobs from low end to difficult. What you see is what you get with DF mobs... if they have a staff, you get that staff when the mob dies.
If all those features are not in, I would stop talking up the AI until MO catches up.
A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true...
GMTheia
I see taking the moral high ground and name calling is the new "cool"...
A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true...
Sounds to me like they came to the conclusion that they will never send boxes. Conclusion being the operative word.
So if thats the case whats your next step?
No one needs to go through the trouble of making a trial account and then make an utterly subjective calculation about sub numbers - we have the financial report which clearly states that SV is losing money and that MO has a low pop with a very low retention rate. While you ignore this FACT in every post, people here are not as delusional as the bots over at your own forum. We won't be satisfied with your stories, especially not when the official numbers contradict them.
So I double dare YOU to provide something more than your word to back up all these claims that MO's pop is booming. The burden of proof is on you: you make a claim, you back it up - with hard facts, not anectodes and promises.
I'm just asking you to go and look with your own eyes - too much trouble? I don't see why that's so hard.. or is the game you so frequently comment on not installed on your HDD?
GMTheia
Pshh this a failed attempt to hype, so sad, but hey ill be there for the laughs, when all the rage happens when bugs and dupes will be introduced!