SYSTEM MESSAGE: hello, and welcome to today's episode of Tea Time with Ryme, a Q&A session with
the players and me, Ryme!
[N]
Ryme: This is
the pre-retcon announcement episode, where I'll talk about what'll be upcoming over
the next couple of months.
[N]
Ryme: So, it doesn't look like any questions were prerecorded on
the forums. How about anyone here in chat?
[N]
Ryme: Or maybe I should just start with a bit of an update, and maybe that'll generate some conversation.
[N]
Ryme: What I can tell you is we're proceeding with testing. We've got a lot of
the basics worked out in terms of a choose-your-own retcon process.
[N]
Ryme: Much like has been on
the forums for a while now.
[N]
Ryme: I think we've had a dozen, maybe fifteen different runs from testers, mostly just trying to catch
the obvious bugs and get a sense of how a run works.
[N]
Ryme: There's still a lot to do. When we think we're close we'll do a big announcement and a countdown. Probably 30 days.
[N]
Ryme: At that point I'll scramble to fix and patch and test, and then Kaboom!
[N]
Ryme: So, uh, that's
the gist of it.
[N]
blackmatter615: need any more testers?
[N]
Ryme: We might add a few more testers at some point. I'll be more of an invite process than a sign-up, probably.
[N]
Zillow: So "full" runs have been done? i.e. start from level 1 and do all quests to 11 and retcon
[N]
Ryme: Level 11 isn't actually done yet. That's one of
the last major things that needs to be done.
[N]
Ryme: Yeah, right now we're testing without level 11, so there's some stuff we don't really know yet, like average run length/turncount, etc.
[N]
Ryme: There are some things like
the "give me a break" option (KoL's ronin) that aren't decided yet because of that, and won't be until right at
the end.
[N]
Ryme: One thing that will change, and might get some groans, is that
the XP/level scale is going to shift a bit.
[N]
blackmatter615: what is meant by that?
[N]
Ryme: It'll take more XP to go up a level in
the early levels.
[N]
Ryme: Not a lot, maybe 10% more on average. Seemed to fit better with
the duration of quests, so that you're not just always behind on finishing them, and have time to do other things.
[N]
Ryme: That's going to carry through level 50.
[N]
J James Johanson: will any areas at range 5 be added that will be usable at
the retcon level range? (ie: sub-12)
[N]
Ryme: I think range 5 will probably stay post-retcon (also probably called "aftercore")
[N]
Ryme: range 5 is hard to get, especially at early levels.
[N]
Ryme: Now in
the future I have always wanted to do another 4-5 quests beyond
the level 11 stuff. That'll probably optional, though.
[N]
blackmatter615: along with 4 skills per class, or are you not designed to do
the level 11 quest easily at level 11?
[N]
Ryme: not sure I follow
the "4 skills per class" part.
[N]
blackmatter615: well, there are skills up to level 15
[N]
blackmatter615: but
the top level quest is level 11
[N]
Ryme: Oh, that's unrelated, mostly.
[N]
Ryme: Just figured that was about
the right number of skills when I started.
[N]
Ryme: Level 11 is designed to be doable at level 11, I think. Since it's not done, it's hard to say. Final showdown may be tough without some extra leveling (or more skills from retcon)
[N]
Harry Dresden: There's always Retcon-15 a few years down
the road.
[N]
Ryme: KoL's experience with NS13 (expanding from 11 to 13) has me gunshy about expanding required quests. That's why I'd probably keep
the higher level stuff optional.
[N]
Zillow: Maybe just better rewards for later quests?
[N]
Ryme: Certainly you'd get good rewards at that level.
[N]
Zillow: Well I mean retcon rewards, you are doing those right?
[N]
blackmatter615: for going to different levels/finishing certain quests?
[N]
Ryme: Absolutely. We're just starting to work those into
the testing phase, but they'll exist for sure.
[N]
Ryme: What I call "retcon rewards" would be things that can be earned based on
the difficulty/quality of a complete run.
[N]
Ryme: We'll have a way for those "points" of a sort to be carried over and usable in future runs.
[N]
Ryme: Similar to
the KoL-
style stainless and plexi items, but in a format a lot more like a store.
[N]
Heather Robinson: will there ever be a mall?
[N]
Ryme shrugs. Probably not.
[N]
Ryme: Nah, just kidding. Of course there will.
[N]
Orthag: good, auction house doesn't always work
[N]
Ryme: I wanted to get it done before retcon, but now I've got a lot of reasons to get retcon done first. It'll be a priority after that.
[N]
Lichen: would a mall replace
the auction house or just add to it?
[N]
Ryme: We'd keep both. They're useful for different kinds of things.
[N]
Lichen: indeed
[N]
Ryme: Speaking of priorities: once
the countdown starts, we're going to do a serious advertising blitz. Hoping to recruit some players for a little grass-roots advertising as part of
the process.
[N]
Ryme: Game growth and activity has been pretty flat for basically a year, and we need a big spike at retcon to really get it going.
[N]
Ryme: But I'm also hoping retcon itself is incentive enough for people to stick around longer, and play more, because it'll be more fun for them.
[N]
Lichen: I just got here so I'm not sure what I missed but is there anything on at Comic Con this year with TH?
[N]
Ryme: Sadly, no, Lichen. We're a little too small, and I'm a little too disorganized for that, yet.
[N]
Lichen: Just had
the thought that if anyone was going some simple cool flyers may give us a boost
[N]
Ryme: I did put a bounty on
the forums offering a reward if any players went to Con dressed in a TH shirt, but they'd have to make their own.
[N]
Ryme: Mostly I just didn't think about it until it was much too late. Next year in
the holy land, perhaps.
[N]
blackmatter615: holy land???
[N]
Ryme: Comic-con?
[N]
blackmatter615: oh, im not familiar with it beyond name and thought it might move around
[N]
Ryme: well, even if it did, wherever
the con is should
the the holy place for superhero gamers, right?
[N]
Ryme: One of
the other things that'll change in
the coming weeks is some adjustments to level requirements for equipment and food, and possibly some adjustments to XP gains for particular high-gain spots.
[N] blackmatter615: adjusting up or down generally?
[N]
Ryme: Mostly down, or adding a restriction where there isn't one. But some might go up.
[N]
Heather Robinson: level requirements for high-XP locations?
[N]
Ryme: For
the XP gains, it 's more a matter of scaling back if you're really low level compared to
the zone, and letting it give full value if you're of appropriate level.
[N]
Ryme: Also a possibility, Heather. Or stat requirements. Or something along those lines.
[N]
Heather Robinson: oh. so no more one-fight-per-level allowed?
[N]
blackmatter615: so pretty much forcing you to adventure in
the areas recently unlocked
[N]
Ryme: Not entirely. Just finding a balance.
[N]
Ryme: Also working on ways to improve
the level 5 quest, in particular. It drags on much too long at this point. Don't have a final answser, but it'll be better when retcon hits.
[N]
blackmatter615: maybe cut down on
the decryption time?
[N]
Heather Robinson: bm: it's being worked on.
[N]
Ryme: We'll definitely do something to reduce
the time required in
the casino.
[N]
Heather Robinson: oh, so there'll be increased chip drops early?
[N]
Ryme: ha ha, yeah, sure.
[N]
Ryme: Actually, there will be a few ways to earn more chips to start out.
[N]
Harry Dresden: So what about leagues? On
the list to be done after retcon?
[N]
Ryme: yeah. Probably after
the mall.
[N]
Cristiona: Ryme, why do you hate Fallout? ;_;
[N]
Orthag: because radioactive matter spread by
the weather patterns of an area is a
bad thing
[N]
Ryme: Because I'd rather
the world end in just fire or just ice, rather than both.
[N]
J James Johanson: when are villains gonna be playable by everyone?
[N]
Ryme: Heh. Dunno about that. Always wanted them to be part of retcon, but it'd take another 11 quests, more or less to have them make sense.
[N]
J James Johanson: ...and will class-modifiable items (like
the cristmas stuff) have villain versions?
[N]
J James Johanson: and if so... will you correct
the horrendous oversight on
the most recent one byt making yule clogs?
[N]
Ryme: can't say about either of those, at
the moment.
[N]
Ryme: Okay, I think I"ve got to call it a night. Sorry it's a bit short. Next Tea Time will come after
the retcon announcement, and will have more answers.