IRC Dev Chat

[420]

Here are some highlights from the HGL dev chat.

Full Chat Transcript Here

[Clythoss]: Hi. My question is about the Boss named Legendarys. Items like "Gulkars demonic Shredder" These are cool items when you find them in normal mode, but in nightmare, they drop with the same level as in normal mode. Is this made to be so? I would like the Idea of adjusting their level to the other items you find at this stage. What do you say?
[Erich Schaefer]: Certain named unique items don't scale to nightmare level equivalents. We paniced and thought there would be balance problems. After looking at it more we think it is safe so we will be scaling them soon

[Lupercaleb]: Can you please explain how accuracy effects the Evoker's spells?
[Erich Schaefer]: A handful of evoker skills have a tighter spread as you imporve your accuracy. Accuracy also increases the damage Evoker's do, when they score a critical hit

[EzCheez]: Are there any plans to add more Nightmare level type swords? As it stands now, interesting swords such as the cricket bat and cinderspike are not available in Nightmare.
[Erich Schaefer]: We are adding some really cool nightmare-level swords in patch 1. They will be subscriber-only. I was just playing with them and they are beautiful. Working on the blanace now...
[Erich Schaefer]: (acually cricket bats can drop in nightmare levels - they are very rare)

[Muchacha]: Is there any sort of bonuses or extra content/items we can get on elite mode that we can not get on normal mode, and is it going to change ?
[Erich Schaefer]: Elite mode has no special items as of now, but there are around three times as many champion level monsters spawning, so you should be getting a lot more chances at good loot. My medium term plans include making some magic affixes that only drop in Elite-mode, but I hesitate to say it because its controversial around the office...

[Lupercaleb]: Can we expect better PvP options within the month, like an arena?
[Erich Schaefer]: We are working on more formal dueling arenas right now, with some cool options. These will likely go into patch 1.0. They will still be one-on-one duels, however. Longer-term plans will include party-versus party battlefields, capture-the-flag type matches and more.
[Erich Schaefer]: Within the month? I hope so, but I really hate to make time estimates... Its not my best strength

[Muchacha]: Are you going to add an auction house and mailbox soon in game? Considering it would add a lot of value to cash and items.
[Bill Roper]: We have started working on our in-game email system that is the technological foundation for the auction house. This should also address the desire for a shared stash between characters (or account stash) since youâ??ll be able to send items between characters. We donâ??t have a release date for this yet, but it is at the top of the list.

[Military]: any plans to redo the look of the engineer drone?
[Phil Shenk]: yes, we're working on some changes to the drones. We want to make them look cooler

[heprea]: what is the secret behind warts leg?
[Erich Schaefer]: I can't tell you, but it might be wise to hold onto it. It seems like it might combine with something somehow

[Ilantio]: What can we expect from the December content patch, aka 1.0?
[Erich Schaefer]: Patch 1 has a lot. Most incredible to me in testing are the new backgrounds. Completely different from the base game. New monster to go in it, with new drops, or course. But below the surface is a cool new structure. In brief: it combines structured boss runs and some party-only content.

[Carch]: Any plans to improve the artwork of existing areas? More variety would be great, like more buildings you could enter in streets, or big crypts in the mausoleum areas.
[Dave Glenn]: Yes. We have a ton of ideas we're working on to add to existing areas. Some entirely new set-piece type of areas, think boss-fight rooms and quest areas. As well as new themes in regards to environment types, etc.

[Gale]: Randomly generated levels are great, but what about more random elements? For example random stores would be a nice addition to the outdoor and underground levels. Example a merchant that has barricaded into a building or settled in a basement.
[Erich Schaefer]: Yes, we had a more of these at one point in development, but they got slighted. We DO want to improve the randomness, features, and rare events that happen throughout the base game. Watch for a trickle soon, and more later

[Secu1ar]: what is evasion and can you explain what exactly evasion +2 does with an example?
[Erich Schaefer]: I'm not sure whay it says +2... But evasion is a straight % chance to avoid any direct damage. So +2 should probably be considered 2% chance to evade an attack

[[SF]Ayana]: There has been a lot of discussion and arguments on how 'luck' works. Can you give us a official statement on how 'luck' works in HG:L. Thank you.
[Erich Schaefer]: Luck is a bit of a mystery even to me. It increases the chances that random drops will be of higher quality. I do know that, and it does work. But when we looked into the system it seems overly complex and scary. Itâ??s due for an overhaul soon.

Finally, my prediction regarding this statement is that the new Cabalist class will be a "morpher" shapechanger type. I've explained my reasons to Mo and it seemed reasonable.

[Sp3tSnAz]: any info on the three new classes and when they are due?
[Erich Schaefer]: I'm not going to go into specifics, but the new classes will fit into the faction structure. A new Templar, new Cabalist, etc. We have a lot of the art and varying degrees of design and implementation done. We know which one is next... We want to take the factions in new directions, so expect a suprise.

And last but not least, wtf "Stonehenge"!?!?

[Naturzauberer]: Many players think that HGL Multiplayer is a "singleplayer game with a chat mode". One of the reasons would be that the stations always seem kinda empty, which is because of the instanced system. Why aren't the stations increased in size and there are simply more players (around 100-200) allowed to join the same instance?
[Erich Schaefer]: We reduced station population density to help solve memory problems. We should be able to ratchet it up. Going forward, Stonehenge will feel like more of a multi-player game, both in town design and game dynamics

[Soul Sojourner]

Summing it all up... it looks like this may be a pretty good game when it's actually finished.

[Anheg]

The game is pretty much spoiled for me. Im thinking about uninstalling it.

[Mo]

The game is pretty much spoiled for me. Im thinking about uninstalling it.

[snapback]38769[/snapback]

Whats spoiled about it?

[Tyrael]

Im playing Tabula Rasa until they actually finish the game (HG:L)... as of now Tabula Rasa has much more and more interesting content and has a huge patch coming today,  the GM/Devs are actually in game often and talk in general channel because they actually care for the game, there was a gold farmer on few days ago and he got banned right away when he advertised the first time... unlike in hellgate where the gold farmers where spamming right at the devs face.

[420]

Whats spoiled about it?

[snapback]38771[/snapback]

Uh, zombies? But they are more "rotten" than "spoiled".

-420

[Soul Sojourner]

Maybe he spilled milk on the disc...