Dark Age of Camelot Developer Chat 2

Dark Age of Camelot Dev Chat - Logged by Donnie Temean
Hosted by http://camelot.xrgaming.net/

Q: *Meep* We all know that persistant games are subject to constant change, from new creatures to changes in how skills work. My question is how will DAoC allow players to adapt to changes in the game? Will it require players to reroll if they want to take new skills or be another class, or will it provide some mechanism for morphing your character while maintaining all or some of your skill level/experience?

A: At this current stage of development we are still open to ideas on this subject. At this point we rely mostly on our quest system to produce the needed changes within the realms. We plan to have the guild system be the main battlefield for the development of epic sagas and storyline.

Q: *Satarian* What historical figures of the medieval age will make an appearance?

A: We have decided to keep the actual main characters of the Aurtherian Legends as much a part of the backstory and current game. With this in mind, it is good to remember that "legend" will play a larger part of DAoC then actual history.

Q: *DarkhawkX* What is the status of seperate chat channels for player associations and groups of player associations (alliances). In, out, or still in development?

A: That's still in development. Once the big issues of combat and magic have been addressed, we will revisit our chat interface. We do plan on having a lot of player-friendly chat functionality.

Q: *Alisdair* 1. Regarding organizational structures within the game: Has there been any decisions made regarding the extent Player Associations will be incorporated into the game? And, on a related point, will the Guilds have direct player involvement such as leadership, meetings, goals, communication, etc, or will they just be NPC and code-driven career-paths?

A: Player Associations will be a part of Camelot, though we do not yet know their full potential. For the in-game Guilds, there will be some structure, but I'm not yet sure if their have a true leadership of their own.

Q: *Maya* Will there be tournaments, or tournament-type events? (IE, non-or-mostly-non-lethal-pvp-competition, possibly with strange visitors, major happenings, inter-nobility roleplay, the chance to turn up in "disguise" as the Black Knight, etc? To be Arthurian.)

A: If possible, we would like to incorporate tournament and festival type areas. It will be a while, however, before we are able to give them any sort of attention.

Q: *Morvix_XLGaming* Hello, I have been in beta for awhile.. I am wondering about what network systems you will be using to host the servers? This leads to the question about how valid would it be to think we could have huge realm wars with over 1000 people on the battlefield. Will there be any portal warps or such when that many people get together like that? I know it will cause some lag (ok a lot of lag) so how valid is that thought?

A: We have not yet decided on which host will best allow for the functionality of DAoC and it users. It is hard to current decided such an item without have a completed game. I would expect to be able to better answer your question once we enter final beta.

Q: *Savant* When all is said and done, and the CD is on the shelves next to the other MMOG's - What do you feel is going to set Camelot apart from the others?

A: We feel that our design allows for many different player types to enjoy the game. Our large world gives plenty for the explorer. Our "PvP with a purpose" gives plenty for achievers. Mahrin's working economy.

Q: *Headhunter* Might large characters..IE Trolls, Be able to Duel Wield Two Handed weapons?

A: I've put that on our wish list. It's very likely that we could have this, but it's not certain at this point.

Q: *Maya* Are you planning any sort of "religious communities" as bases for the clerical-type characters, and perhaps as strongholds or important points? Not just "deserted temple" but more "active monastery/church".

A: We will have some temples and centers of religious gathering, though they will probably be generic in nature or based on the theme of a particular realm. Clerics and similar classes will be based in or around areas that are appropriate. As far as strongholds, we haven't really thought of that just yet.

Q: *Nyrissa* What kind of setting will the boats from other realms enter from? In DFC in all cases they entered near the town which was the newbie area. And will there be a fairly easy way to avoid an invade and still hunt?

A: First, geographically, the "landing areas" are FAR FAR away from the newbie areas of the other realm. Well at the end of Frontier region. As to the setting, our design for those landing areas are, small fortifications controlled by the invading realm.

Q: *Arcanemaster* Question: In previous MMORPG's dieing at higher levels would cost players massive amounts of experience and set them back several hours of gameplay time. This could cause frustration and even in some cases quitting. What does Mythic plan to do to aleviate this problem?

A: We do have a death penalty, and intend to keep it. Eight hours of hardcore exp'ing to make up for one linkdeath is extremely harsh. And we intend to balance out our death penalty to a more acceptable level. We have several methods in place in beta now to make the death penalty less severe, and are open to more.

Q: *SealSkin* will there any way to directly affect an NPC Guild? perhaps become a leader of one such guild? for example, could a cleric eventually become a "Reverand"?

A: A person cannot directly affect the structure of the NPC in-game guilds. We have not planned on allowing a person to become a leader of the in-game guilds. That is what the player association system will be for. However, a player will get different titles as they advance within their NPC guild.

Q: *Arcanemaster* Question: All the players know what is on our wishlist for this game. Could you tell us the main things that are on Mythic's Wish List?

A: A good game and a good community where people will enjoy their time.

Q: *Satarian* "Will there be NPCs tradeing items for items, instead of items for cash?"

A: The item - item swapping will generally be during questing. We do however plan to implement a guild based weapon/item feature which would allow for continual upgrading and modification. Store based item swapping is not in our plans at this time.

Q: *Kyristan* What is Mythic's stand on powergaming? Will it be more efficient to solo, or will there be enough in-game incentive (group exp bonuses etc) for someone who simply wants to get leveling over with to look to grouping as an option?

A: Grouping is far and away the most efficient way to get experience in the game. The way the experience curve and experience caps are designed, grouping is the way to go. Soloing is possible, particularly at levels below 20 or so, and players should still be able to solo and make steady progress if they choose, for their entire Camelot play time.

Q: *Oakleif* Can you describe the planned length of playing time before PvP is feasible?

A: PvP defense is designed to start in the mid 20's - PvP offense more in the 30's. As to actual playing time, you know that a casual gamer's time to level 20 is nowhere near what a powergamer can expect, so I won't speculate with actual playtimes.

Q: *Arcanemaster* Question: Will there be areas in the game for players to simply sit and (socialize, discuss new occurances ect.) other than cities, that will be devoid of Npc's? Places like this might include meeting halls or parks.

A: Devoid of NPC's is easy. Yes, there is plenty of room to put these places in the game.

Q: *Malal* What is the chances of seeing a European/International based shard when DoAC is released?

A: It's highly likely that we will have these, though I'm not 100% certain. We are talking to oversea distributors. If it is possible, we do want to have this available.