Let's Ask Ledaye - Week Three

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Week Three of our 'Let's Ask Ledaye' series begins here! Stratics is grateful to have SGW Creative Director Chris 'Ledaye' Klug with us answering our SGW questions, and we thank you too for your participation!


Let's kick off another great week of Q&A's with Chris!

 

[DemonFerrat]

Hey Ledaye,

My question is, How gear based is SGW going to be?

You say that some of the 'Best' gear will be crafted, but is this gear a necessity to be useful to a team in PvP or PvE alike.

In the MMO iv played, Star wars galaxies, it was very gear orientated, causing the player to spend a tremendous amount of money just to compete on an even level, and of course this caused casual gamers to suffer because they didn't have the time grind cash to purchase the items all the hardcores had.

For example: Am i going to need 'X' armor at level 'X' to be powerful enough against another class. but to get that armor im going to have to run 'X' instance 'X' times a week for the cash/items.

Thank you.

 

[kvamic]

hi im new here dident know abouth this site before today in i defently want in to the beta low stargate sg-1 and atlantis cant wat for the 3 serie got stargate arc of truth first day it came to the store in norway preorder ftw

ennyway got 3 questions i like anser on whits i cant recall to have seen on the other 2 week ore this for that mather

1) say u are a jaffa with a simbioth can u cinda be a spy for a system lord ore something and cinda pretend to go good if u know what i meen to gather inthell ore go the other side ore is the other side only kill
im cinda asking if u can play both side to win for ur master ore ur self to make ur self gain power. sins in sg-1 the golds was at war menny times and thats how they work they always want power so say u ally with a gold cant remember how its writen and get him to fight the army of humans in a town and then u go inn with ur own army and flank them both sins ur army wasent strong enofh to take them outh before they had kild eatshoter off and u take the tresure/minerals ore something.

2) sins this is an fps mmo i was wondering say u are a lvl 1 can u headshot a lvl 50 ennemy and he be dead if u manage to hit a certen plase where its no armor unless he use a sheald ore simular and u hitt that offcose i mean if u hit someone in the head with a shot from a gun they shod die unless medical opperation realy fast ^^

3) and if u are realy good in fps games fast amer and stuff is that an advantage that u know how to aim?

cant think of enny more questions for now

sry if i write little bad english got a sicnes cald dysleksia ore osmething in english read and writh problems ore something. whatever it is

ps plz take me in to the beta cant wait to play it no school now so got massive time i want to use on playing stargate if i haddent seen all sg1 and atlantis like 4-5 times already, witouth scipping an episode. i wod proly do that now

 

[Lynandra]

Greetings Ledaye !

First of all, thank you for taking time to answer our questions; usually game developpers try to bury themselves into a special bunker so no information can filter out before the official game release

I'd have a few questions I hope you'll have time to answer.

First, you said you would try to eliminate those stupid stinky horrible "Kill 10 wolves" quests that gives you suicidal tendencies. That's cool, indeed, but could you give examples of a few quests you would make ? Even if every single MMO player hates those quests, they are still used in every single MMO as the basic standard quest you'll have to do a thousand times, unfortunately =/


Second thing, you said you would give tools to encourage Roleplaying. I'm one of those old-fashionned girls whose time on a MMO is often taken by Roleplaying, and I'm wondering if there will be, either :

1) Rules that will enhance immersion, for every single server, so there is no "Lieutenant D4RK~K1LL3RZ0fd44sg4rdCl4nZLAWL" and such stupid names we see everywhere, the only thing that can completely smash immersion.
2) Rules for a few "Roleplaying" servers (just like WoW).
3) No rules at all, if some mental-damaged people come with a stupid nickname and yells weird coded things ("plxlol gimme gold plzzzzzz11111oneoneone") everywhere, it's our problem, not yours (just like Lineage II or Anarchy Online).
4) Something else.

I personnaly do hope that there will be at least a minimal regulation. As you said, the game will not be player-driven economy, there will be no player housing, all these things, and the objective will be to focus on the storyline. Therefore something might be done, as I said, having to go stealing some Goa'uld technology with a team made of "Sgt. f0ckC0wZ", "Ltn. 1pwnn00bZ" and "Dr. AFK-Bio-plx-lol" will not be great for immersion.


Last questions, will there be a "farming" system ? For example, to have some gear, will you be able to get it on static bosses (like WoW instances) ? Will you automatically have to craft it (like Lineage II) ? Will you have to buy it ?
The question is kind of important, as games like Lineage II, where you need to farm 43645255 animal bones, 43314 cokes, and 467035131513 leather to have some low-quality armor, are quickly transforming people into drooling, brain hacked, larvaes So far for immersion, again hehe.
The less farming you have to do, the best the game is !


Thanks for your time, I hope my questions won't trigger some kind of hidden epilepsy or something

 

[Esquire]

Ledaye said;

These locations really have no story function in an MMO. The locations we build need to be 'bang for the buck' locations and in a story that is centered on a galactic threat, it is hard to drive the story to what, but definition, has to be a generic location. Here's what I mean. What makes Jack's cabin unique is that it is HIS, filled with his stuff. Pictures of his son, etc. The writers can use those items to tee-up story stuff. It isn't that its 'a' home, it's Jack's home.

Think about trying to do that in an MMO. How can we drive missions to send you to YOUR home when we don't know what makes it YOURS?

Now, long-term, we have a different issue. You can't simply look at the housing issue from the SGC-centric perspective. What would an Asgard home look like? What would a Goa'uld home look like? How would we USE them for story purposes. Obviously our artists could conceive of this, but we need to USE it, story-wise.

I just don't know how we do that and get our money's worth out of doing it.

There are categories of things that people who look at an MMO as a place to LIVE that are important to them. Player shops and Player housing are two of the top things. But I don't look at the universe as a place to live everyday lives. I look at the the universe as a place to have epic adventures. Through that lens, housing and other mundane things are 'nice to have' but not 'crucial.'

As I see it at launch, that's where we are. There are so many locations we need to build for the game after launch, for the episodes, that it's hard for me to envision a time when characters homes become crucial to that effort.

That could change.


Esquire writes;

Thank you. And btw, applause to Ledaye and Stratics for making such a thing as this happen. Nice to actually get an answer from a dev! Hats off to both of you.

You certainly, with your reply, opened up some interesting ideas, at least in my mind. Hidden rooms inside player houses, generic in nature, hidden artifacts, to be unlocked with a quest line, etc. etc.

I am very aware that MMOs are a work in progress. What we will see in SGW, as far as content, 5 years down the road will be a lot different, and a lot more, than at launch. What you have basicly said in all your posts, even tho it's not included at launch "That could change". Nice to see a creative director open to ideas. You've certainly sold me. Nice to see a creative director taking ideas from a player base that does not even exist yet. If this is the way your company will do business, I see nothing except good things in the future for SGW.

So, the next important ?, Is there any requirements or who, exactly are you looking for for that ever elusive "beta key" to start? Will these requirements be expanded in the future as "beta" expands?

I'm already signed up for it.

 

[Quette]

Hiya Ledaye, thanks for taking the time to answer our questions. Listening to your answers on different parts of the game has got me charged up to play.

Are there any weapons or tools to detect commandos? What all is displayed on the PDA? Will there be a DHD in front of the gate or will it just be the gate? Deployment belt? Are there backpacks ingame?

How many levels can a player be above another player and still be able to group for quest?Are any of the quest or instances timed? You mentioned before about a archeologist or scientist dropping a med tent, are there other kinds of tents they can drop? How low and high will the ranks go ingame? Also one more thing can a player be rezzed?(revived)

Thanks again.

 

[Psykeman420]

Here we go week 3 and I thought of some more questions heh.

1.) Waypoints - again I have to reference SWG but it is the only system I know that had the WPs like I am referring to. Will there be a waypoint system similar to SWG, which I found very useful for finding friends and locations and wouldn't be too far out of the realm of SG?

2.) Mail - Will we be able to send items and do we have to go to a mail box to read the mail? (Not necessairly wanting to be able to get the items anywhere but being able to read the message would be nice)

Thanks again

 

[Ledaye]

Hey Ledaye,

My question is, How gear based is SGW going to be?

You say that some of the 'Best' gear will be crafted, but is this gear a necessity to be useful to a team in PvP or PvE alike.

In the MMO iv played, Star wars galaxies, it was very gear orientated, causing the player to spend a tremendous amount of money just to compete on an even level, and of course this caused casual gamers to suffer because they didn't have the time grind cash to purchase the items all the hardcores had.

For example: Am i going to need 'X' armor at level 'X' to be powerful enough against another class. but to get that armor im going to have to run 'X' instance 'X' times a week for the cash/items.

Thank you.

To be viable in combat, you'll need decent gear, not necessarily the best gear. The combat paradigm is 1-on-3, meaning that at equal level a soldier can take on three MOBs at once and handle himself. So, if you think about it a bit, that means that choosing how you pick your battles is as important as what gear you're wearing.

Since 50% of the best gear is crafted, and since crafters can charge what they wish, at this time it is impossible for me to predict how difficult it will be to garner enough cash to buy what you wish. Those answers are what Open Beta is for, actually.

 

[Summv]

Hey, Ledaye, thanks for all of this great information. I have learned quite a bit about the game just from reading this forum.

Here is my question. Will I be able to distinguish my character as a member of the Marine Corps, as opposed to the Air Force? We know there are marines within the SGC, and I would love to have my character be a marine!

 

[Ledaye]

1) say u are a jaffa with a simbioth can u cinda be a spy for a system lord ore something and cinda pretend to go good if u know what i meen to gather inthell ore go the other side ore is the other side only kill

No, we don't have a spy archetype.

im cinda asking if u can play both side to win for ur master ore ur self to make ur self gain power. sins in sg-1 the golds was at war menny times and thats how they work they always want power so say u ally with a gold cant remember how its writen and get him to fight the army of humans in a town and then u go inn with ur own army and flank them both sins ur army wasent strong enofh to take them outh before they had kild eatshoter off and u take the tresure/minerals ore something.

No, sorry, the mission arc doesn't work that way.

2) sins this is an fps mmo

No, it is not an FPS.

i was wondering say u are a lvl 1 can u headshot a lvl 50 ennemy and he be dead if u manage to hit a certen plase where its no armor unless he use a sheald ore simular and u hitt that offcose i mean if u hit someone in the head with a shot from a gun they shod die unless medical opperation realy fast ^^

This does not play like an FPS.

3) and if u are realy good in fps games fast amer and stuff is that an advantage that u know how to aim?

Aiming has nothing to do with gameplay, sorry.

 

[Ledaye]

First, you said you would try to eliminate those stupid stinky horrible "Kill 10 wolves" quests that gives you suicidal tendencies. That's cool, indeed, but could you give examples of a few quests you would make ? Even if every single MMO player hates those quests, they are still used in every single MMO as the basic standard quest you'll have to do a thousand times, unfortunately =/

Larger view:

Most of our missions are part of larger story arcs – so pieces fit together to form a larger narrative. For example, players recover lost artifacts which reveal the location of a long-secret world. Missions are pointed at something with a palpable context, and never presented as unrelated favors players do for strangers.

Specific Missions:

- Players are sent on a simple pick up mission, but discover that the object they are after has been stolen. They track down the thieves, recover the object and finish the delivery
- Players work with an NPC who offers advanced technology – they secure a supply line for his business and receive the reward: Discovering that the armor he gives them is Replicator Technology (kicking off a trip to another world)
- Players coerce a Goa’uld to join the Praxis by tracking down and killing her would-be assassin.
- Players meet an Ancient AI, they do tasks which prove that they are “advanced” enough for the AI to even bother with them
- Players save a series of poisoned Jaffa, fighting through enemies and healing (mini-gaming) the Jaffa with an antidote recovered on another world.

Second thing, you said you would give tools to encourage Roleplaying. I'm one of those old-fashionned girls whose time on a MMO is often taken by Roleplaying, and I'm wondering if there will be, either :

1) Rules that will enhance immersion, for every single server, so there is no "Lieutenant D4RK~K1LL3RZ0fd44sg4rdCl4nZLAWL" and such stupid names we see everywhere, the only thing that can completely smash immersion.
2) Rules for a few "Roleplaying" servers (just like WoW).
3) No rules at all, if some mental-damaged people come with a stupid nickname and yells weird coded things ("plxlol gimme gold plzzzzzz11111oneoneone") everywhere, it's our problem, not yours (just like Lineage II or Anarchy Online).
4) Something else.

As of today, there are no plans at launch for RP servers. The rules you speak of require engineering support and we'd rather put that time, at present, into gameplay features.

I personnaly do hope that there will be at least a minimal regulation. As you said, the game will not be player-driven economy, there will be no player housing, all these things, and the objective will be to focus on the storyline. Therefore something might be done, as I said, having to go stealing some Goa'uld technology with a team made of "Sgt. f0ckC0wZ", "Ltn. 1pwnn00bZ" and "Dr. AFK-Bio-plx-lol" will not be great for immersion.

There are rules for naming characters.

Last questions, will there be a "farming" system ? For example, to have some gear, will you be able to get it on static bosses (like WoW instances) ? Will you automatically have to craft it (like Lineage II) ? Will you have to buy it ?
The question is kind of important, as games like Lineage II, where you need to farm 43645255 animal bones, 43314 cokes, and 467035131513 leather to have some low-quality armor, are quickly transforming people into drooling, brain hacked, larvaes So far for immersion, again hehe.
The less farming you have to do, the best the game is !

1/2 the best gear is crafted, 1/2 the best gear is obtained through missions and drops. We try to minimize farming as much as possible, but to balance the economy we do need to make some things rare.

Thanks for your time, I hope my questions won't trigger some kind of hidden epilepsy or something

Nope, all good here

 

[Ledaye]

Thank you. And btw, applause to Ledaye and Stratics for making such a thing as this happen. Nice to actually get an answer from a dev! Hats off to both of you.

You certainly, with your reply, opened up some interesting ideas, at least in my mind. Hidden rooms inside player houses, generic in nature, hidden artifacts, to be unlocked with a quest line, etc. etc.

I am very aware that MMOs are a work in progress. What we will see in SGW, as far as content, 5 years down the road will be a lot different, and a lot more, than at launch. What you have basicly said in all your posts, even tho it's not included at launch "That could change". Nice to see a creative director open to ideas. You've certainly sold me. Nice to see a creative director taking ideas from a player base that does not even exist yet. If this is the way your company will do business, I see nothing except good things in the future for SGW.

Yeah, see the reason I love MMOs is that there is a live audience. They react. We react back. In that way, we co-create the experience.

So, the next important ?, Is there any requirements or who, exactly are you looking for for that ever elusive "beta key" to start? Will these requirements be expanded in the future as "beta" expands?

I'm already signed up for it.

Our community manager, Khatie, makes those calls.

 

[Ledaye]

Hiya Ledaye, thanks for taking the time to answer our questions. Listening to your answers on different parts of the game has got me charged up to play.

Are there any weapons or tools to detect commandos? What all is displayed on the PDA? Will there be a DHD in front of the gate or will it just be the gate? Deployment belt? Are there backpacks ingame?

How many levels can a player be above another player and still be able to group for quest?Are any of the quest or instances timed? You mentioned before about a archeologist or scientist dropping a med tent, are there other kinds of tents they can drop? How low and high will the ranks go ingame? Also one more thing can a player be rezzed?(revived)

Thanks again.

Commandos can use Reveal items and abilities to detect stealthed targets. Stealth detection objects exist in the world and can also be deployed by certain archetypes and mobs.

The PDA was recently cut.

DHD placement is controlled by content but I in most cases it will be in front of the gate.

There are items that increase your inventory as well as your deployment ammo count.

Mission ranges are controlled by content and are specific to each mission. As for mob kill xp, players can squad up with players of any level and the xp will be distributed between them. Also, the squad/team mechanic grants lower level players help with regards to being effective against higher level mobs as long as they remain in the squad.

No other tent types at this time.

Ranks are still in development.

Players can be revived by other players.

 

[Ledaye]

Here we go week 3 and I thought of some more questions heh.

1.) Waypoints - again I have to reference SWG but it is the only system I know that had the WPs like I am referring to. Will there be a waypoint system similar to SWG, which I found very useful for finding friends and locations and wouldn't be too far out of the realm of SG?

2.) Mail - Will we be able to send items and do we have to go to a mail box to read the mail? (Not necessairly wanting to be able to get the items anywhere but being able to read the message would be nice)

Thanks again

With the gates and ring networks, we don't see this as a problem for us.

There will be a mail system, but the final details are in development.

 

[Ledaye]

Hey, Ledaye, thanks for all of this great information. I have learned quite a bit about the game just from reading this forum.

Here is my question. Will I be able to distinguish my character as a member of the Marine Corps, as opposed to the Air Force? We know there are marines within the SGC, and I would love to have my character be a marine!

No Marines specifically, sorry. In fact, the SGU is a multi-national multi-planetary force, and the fact that the humans are in the air force isn't really that germane. If you want to say you are a member of the Marines, go for it.

 

[kvamic]

so if it dosent work like fps u wont see tru the scope on the sniper rifel ass commando? and aim for the enenmy? and if it do that wil u do more dmg if u hit them in the head than say the leg?
that remind me ifu dmg someones leg wil they run slower ?

when i sad fps i dident mean u go around and aim like in the fps game and shot to kill fast it was more along the line ass zoming is conserned and u aim where u shoot in one episode of sg1 where they was giving the free jaffa p90's she 1 shot a rope and u develpors sad u want to give it the feal ass the tvshow and that is to be able to do stuff they can

i saw the gameplay teaser outh of that i figerd ither u can swiths betwine see behind and a fps screen ore when u press the key to use ur scope u see it ass in pfs and aim and shoot where u want and it go outh again when u exsit back to 3 persion

and how u shoot probely ither work like that ore u see and corser on the screen whits u use ur mouse to control and there u shoot cind of way

im cureus on hwo that gona work. i playd difrent cinds of games that is shoter but not actuly a 100% fps
outcast, tomb raider, indiana jones and more i dont rmemeber the name on.
i wonder mostly how it wil work the fighting

and be nice to know the range on sniper compare to p90
say can u stay with a sniper on a cliff and kill 4 ppl without them iven gething close to u mention a cd i figerd that was like changing shot ore something

 

[SteveTheMachine]

So, you mentioned that Commando's will be able to melee. What weapon will they use for this? My first thought would be a combat knife, but the team at CME may have different ideas?

 

[Ledaye]

So, you mentioned that Commando's will be able to melee. What weapon will they use for this? My first thought would be a combat knife, but the team at CME may have different ideas?

Combat knife is one, yes. The Goa'uld Ashrak have a knife as well.

 

[Ledaye]

so if it dosent work like fps u wont see tru the scope on the sniper rifel ass commando? and aim for the enenmy? and if it do that wil u do more dmg if u hit them in the head than say the leg?
that remind me ifu dmg someones leg wil they run slower ?

when i sad fps i dident mean u go around and aim like in the fps game and shot to kill fast it was more along the line ass zoming is conserned and u aim where u shoot in one episode of sg1 where they was giving the free jaffa p90's she 1 shot a rope and u develpors sad u want to give it the feal ass the tvshow and that is to be able to do stuff they can

i saw the gameplay teaser outh of that i figerd ither u can swiths betwine see behind and a fps screen ore when u press the key to use ur scope u see it ass in pfs and aim and shoot where u want and it go outh again when u exsit back to 3 persion

and how u shoot probely ither work like that ore u see and corser on the screen whits u use ur mouse to control and there u shoot cind of way

im cureus on hwo that gona work. i playd difrent cinds of games that is shoter but not actuly a 100% fps
outcast, tomb raider, indiana jones and more i dont rmemeber the name on.
i wonder mostly how it wil work the fighting

and be nice to know the range on sniper compare to p90
say can u stay with a sniper on a cliff and kill 4 ppl without them iven gething close to u mention a cd i figerd that was like changing shot ore something

You target like an MMO, by clicking or tabbing. Damage is not done to body parts but to the whole target. Damage has no collateral effects (slower, etc). All weapons have the same basic range, there are some slight differences but it is not an FPS.

 

[SteveTheMachine]

I've been watching the trailers and looking at the screens and I've noticed that (In my opinion) the graphics aren't quite as impressive as I'd hoped they would be (they are still great though). I understand the game is still quite early on and you probably haven't put on the final coat of wax to really make it shine (and that MMO's don't always have the most astounding visuals for sake of it running smoothly). Anyway, my question is: are there any games that you might be able to compare it's final graphics with?

Also, my friend has been wondering what the archaeologist talent trees are going to be?

 

[commander_c9]

Hello and Thanks for answering our questions!

I've read a lot about the human characters, but what about the Goa'uld/Tok'ra because I have this voice in my head that keeps telling me we need to know if we both can play our characters. How will their abilities work will we see them with a higher healing rate and strength compared to the humans?

Our other question is, will there be a badging system like City of Heroes?

Thank you,
Dennis and Cam'ral

P.S. I was stationed at Cheyenne Mountain Air Base from 1998-2003.

 

[zirka]

I've played alot of Tabula Rasa and alot of Age of Conan and those 2 games I ended up HATING. I've played alot of Guild Wars and I still LOVE it. So...... what about this game is different enough from those 2 first MMOS or similar enough to Guild Wars that might convince me to play this game (other than me being a huge Stargate TV show fan)?

Also, from my experience of MMOs most ppl just skip the dialogue and story text that the NPCs give them for quests and just go do the quest and they skip the story text after they finish the quest too, they just care aobut the rewards and story is not one of them. Now I always read all the dialogue and story text for all my quests and I need a good storyline to enjoy my games, but I'm wondering why you made this huge decision to be heavily in-depth with your stories when most ppl will probably just skip it anyways?!

 

[Ledaye]

I've played alot of Tabula Rasa and alot of Age of Conan and those 2 games I ended up HATING. I've played alot of Guild Wars and I still LOVE it. So...... what about this game is different enough from those 2 first MMOS or similar enough to Guild Wars that might convince me to play this game (other than me being a huge Stargate TV show fan)?

Also, from my experience of MMOs most ppl just skip the dialogue and story text that the NPCs give them for quests and just go do the quest and they skip the story text after they finish the quest too, they just care aobut the rewards and story is not one of them. Now I always read all the dialogue and story text for all my quests and I need a good storyline to enjoy my games, but I'm wondering why you made this huge decision to be heavily in-depth with your stories when most ppl will probably just skip it anyways?!

We're not telling the story through dialogue we're telling the story through what you do. People will understand that story even though they don't read a word of the dialogue. It'll be a better game (and funnier, too) if you do read it, but you don't have to.

I also have a trick up my sleeve about that, but time will tell if I'm right.

Regarding those other games, I haven't played any of them enough to really compare. I'll let SGW stand on its own merits.

 

[viisamurai]

Oh great and powerful Ledaye,

Thank you for starting another thread like this. I am sure people missed it when the first was closed on the SGW forum. Assuming Goa'uld players' eyes glow, will it be an emote or a random animation. My first character will be a Goa'uld, and this question has been bugging me. I want to strike fear into the hearts of my enemies at will.

 

[kvamic]

wil it be some sort of movies now and then a little like in the red alert game there they got live actors in some short movie before evry map ore some
im not trying to ask if its something like that when entering a new world i mean maybe when u come to a bar forecsampel u see the start on a figth annimated maybe ore other things made little like a movie the longest jurney also an exsampel of movie ingame sins thats a way to thell the storry also

 

[Ledaye]

Oh great and powerful Ledaye,

Thank you for starting another thread like this. I am sure people missed it when the first was closed on the SGW forum. Assuming Goa'uld players' eyes glow, will it be an emote or a random animation. My first character will be a Goa'uld, and this question has been bugging me. I want to strike fear into the hearts of my enemies at will.

The emote list is not final, I'd prefer to talk more about it when it is.

 

[Ledaye]

wil it be some sort of movies now and then a little like in the red alert game there they got live actors in some short movie before evry map ore some
im not trying to ask if its something like that when entering a new world i mean maybe when u come to a bar forecsampel u see the start on a figth annimated maybe ore other things made little like a movie the longest jurney also an exsampel of movie ingame sins thats a way to thell the storry also

We have plans for cinematics. I don't want to tip my hand too much, but if you read this thread and the earlier parts of it, you'll me mention specific times in the game that I reference as climaxes to the story. Wouldn't it be interesting if at some of those climaxes you also saw a little movie?

Hmmmm

Also, we currently plan to open the game for each archetype with their own cinematic. One that, instead of being useless fluff, actually sets up who you are and what you're doing in the world.

 

[UberNoober]

This is a repost of my question from the Week Two thread, I'm not sure whether it was overlooked or not. Apologies for the double post.

------------------------------------------------------------

I think I saw a poll somewhere for which archetypes people would play. On it the Jaffa seemed pretty low compared to a lot of the other archetypes. Is there anything you can tell us about why Jaffa will be a fun character to play, and what sets them apart from other characters?

Also, what are some of your personal favourite aspects about the game?

 

[Ledaye]

This is a repost of my question from the Week Two thread, I'm not sure whether it was overlooked or not. Apologies for the double post.

------------------------------------------------------------

I think I saw a poll somewhere for which archetypes people would play. On it the Jaffa seemed pretty low compared to a lot of the other archetypes. Is there anything you can tell us about why Jaffa will be a fun character to play, and what sets them apart from other characters?

Also, what are some of your personal favourite aspects about the game?

Well, they will be an interesting hybrid warrior, and have different ability sets than the human soldiers. But the biggest thing for me about them is their look. We've expanded the Jaffa armor sets in amazing ways, and they look so cool!

My favorite aspects are: the visceral combat system that is so much more compelling than any other MMO combat, you have FUN playing it instead or it being repetitive, the Missions are always interesting and compelling instead of same old thing rehashed, and the mini-games broaden the gameplay in amazing ways.

it's funny, people talk about grind like it's unavoidable in MMOs, but you never hear about 'grind' in, say, Medal of Honor. Maybe the other MMO combat systems aren't fun enough?

 

[Invisible01x]

First of all:
Thanks for answering my questions, even I'd hoped for some another answer, but that's usual I guess *grin* (especially about RP'Server... out of my knowledge I know that it's already difficult enough to get a community for just rp'er on them, on normal servers it's near impossibility... hoping that there is done something fast, too many MMOs already which do not care about their roleplayers since they're so less seen on the rest of the people who play these games)


But another question:
1.) So I do understand right, that a sniper is actually just a "special strong weapon" user and no long'range attacker? (so same like a soldier using a rocket'launcher e.g.?)
(just seen on the sniper'part, the explosive and stealth I already love at this class *grin*)

2.) About the "stock up explosives":
So you have a limited amount per use or per mission?
So you have e.g. 10 mines to use, so you set up all of them and then can set new ones first when these exploded or are recovered (if you can recover unused explosives?) or are there special places where you get new ones?

3.) Again to roleplayers: Will there be any help besides the areas and extra clothes for them or is it just like all MMOs where this small part of the community is totally left alone and have to fight their way that they can actually play their way?
(Would be good to know from beginning, so the community can actually plan a bit more instead of hoping some GMs will later help them)

Sorry to ask so much about that part, I know your first priority is to actually finish the game, but I'm a roleplayer and without that part I do not play an online game (no matter if monthly costs or not) so asking alot about this part since all MMO I saw so far do not care at all about their roleplayers.

4.) Is already known about the way the names will be made:
- First name has to be unique (which surely will give problems to tau'ri player, since first names usually are used very often, like John, James and so)
- depending on race (these within the series without lastname - so actually all but tau'ri/opcore - unique first name, else unique lastname)
- is there actually a lastname possible for the human race?



Thanks again, cleared up alot in my mind so far what questions I saw answered *bows* Hope not all my questions are just annoying ones *smiles*

 

[Quette]

Hiya Ledaye, will there be any M203's on a M4 or M16?

 

[Ledaye]

3.) Again to roleplayers: Will there be any help besides the areas and extra clothes for them or is it just like all MMOs where this small part of the community is totally left alone and have to fight their way that they can actually play their way?
(Would be good to know from beginning, so the community can actually plan a bit more instead of hoping some GMs will later help them)

Sorry to ask so much about that part, I know your first priority is to actually finish the game, but I'm a roleplayer and without that part I do not play an online game (no matter if monthly costs or not) so asking alot about this part since all MMO I saw so far do not care at all about their roleplayers.

Okay, I'm going to concentrate on the RP issues because let's get this out of the way and then I'll get to your other questions, okay?

You say that MMOs don't care about their role players. What, exactly, would you have MMOs do that they don't do now?

You say RPers are a 'small part' of the community. How small do you estimate you are? 5%? 10%? 15%?

Just so we're clear, I *LOVE* role playing games, and until things got very busy here I ran a weekly role playing game with my development group, and I am old enough to be one of the designers in the games business who helped invent role playing games (I've been awarded one Game-of-the-Year for one RP title, and been nominated for two or three others). Now, that being said, I think I can claim without fear of being questioned that I know role playing games very well.

I have some opinions about Massive Multiplayer Role Playing games that I will share, but I'd love to hear your thoughts first.

 

[Magnatolia]

Hey Ledaye,

Questions:

1. With the story, is this one complete story, or do we all get our own 'copy' of the story? What I mean is this. Do we all work together to obtain a specific goal?

And can we lose? I don't mean individually but can we lose the war? And say alliances are created with smaller cultures, can they be defeated by the enemy to the point where they are gone?

There's a story based game called Tabula Rasa, but the 'story' basically evolves as you level up.

2. Will there be lots of worlds and different races? And can we actually explore hq?

I think the idea of a story-generated mmo is awesome. I can't stand the whole 'do x urgently or y will happen' yet you can ignore the quest for months and nothing happens. Will there be much of that in SGW? Or will there be consequences from our actions?

Thanks

 

[Ledaye]

Hey Ledaye,

Questions:

1. With the story, is this one complete story, or do we all get our own 'copy' of the story? What I mean is this. Do we all work together to obtain a specific goal?

And can we lose? I don't mean individually but can we lose the war? And say alliances are created with smaller cultures, can they be defeated by the enemy to the point where they are gone?

There's a story based game called Tabula Rasa, but the 'story' basically evolves as you level up.

2. Will there be lots of worlds and different races? And can we actually explore hq?

I think the idea of a story-generated mmo is awesome. I can't stand the whole 'do x urgently or y will happen' yet you can ignore the quest for months and nothing happens. Will there be much of that in SGW? Or will there be consequences from our actions?

Thanks

Okay, so I think I need to clarify some of my terms here.

I focus development around a central story. What this means is that, like a traditional RPG, there is a spine of things the players do that relate to each other. Mission #1 when you enter the game begins this story, and mission #9,531 (just a wild guess) ends at level cap, and each mission leads to the next, one after the other, all the way from 1 to 9,531. These missions are called the A-story.

The B-story, which also are called the factional stories, center more on the issues at stake on your side of the story. An example would be the state of the relationship between Ba'al and Anat. Or what the Asgard know about the Big Bad and the history of their involvement with him/her/it.

When we build a world, a POI, invent a character, etc., everything we do relates to either the A-story or the B-story, It helps to explain one or the other, set up a conflict central to one of the stories, give information (clues) about the story, etc. There are no 'one-off' or 'extraneous' side missions, or NPCs that have nothing to do with the story, or missions that only relate to a local situation. Everything we place in the game drives the central story forward or comments on it.

This helps give the world a sense of realism, of drama, and helps give the players a clear sense of what they are doing in the universe. What their 'purpose' is, if you want. If you are killing Jaffa, for instance, you are not just doing it mindlessly (read: grinding) you know WHY you are killing those Jaffa. The story serves as context. I believe that knowing the context of your actions adds to immersion and roleplaying, two things near and dear to my heart.

But, since it is an MMO, I realize there is a strong possibility a player will know how the story ends. Blogs will discuss it. Spoiler sites will abound. A player will have to try hard to keep from hearing that info. I hope it will be possible to play the game this way, but we are fully prepared for the eventuality that it may be impossible.

However, if the player succeeds at this, the story is surprising, especially for Stargate fans. The story works even if you don't know the lore, so to speak, but is even more interesting if you do. I hope players will succeed in keeping some of the bigger surprises 'secret' from themselves.

Now that, hopefully, the way we use story is clearer, I will answer your questions.

Yes, you all work together towards a goal. Each races' methods are very different. The only way you can see the story in its entirety is to play every archetype.

No, you cannot lose the war. I think setting up a story where a million players can all feel like failures is not very entertaining. But this is like most stories. It's not that you believe that Batman will die, but rather how he escapes from the desperate situations that is entertaining. It's more about the journey than the destination.

I'm not sure how Tabla's story is told, but people I know familiar with both say that what we're doing is different.

There are different worlds and some different races, but the story centers around the races of the player characters and the conflict between them.

Ignoring quests/missions: while we do a better job than most of evolving the universe based on the player's actions (a bombardment of a planet begins because of the player's actions) there are limits and conceits we have to maintain because the universe is shared and many, many players inhabit it. Example: in the first large instance, which takes place at the climax of Act I, the players accomplish a goal that has consequences for the rest of their game lives. But that instance gets reset for those characters below them in level that haven't played it yet. But, if you skip that instance, or if you simply never take any of the missions, the universe won't stop.

I don't know whether all this answers your questions.

 

[Quette]

Will any finalized game features be announced this week at ComicCon?

 

[Invisible01x]

Okay, I'm going to concentrate on the RP issues because let's get this out of the way and then I'll get to your other questions, okay?

You say that MMOs don't care about their role players. What, exactly, would you have MMOs do that they don't do now?

You say RPers are a 'small part' of the community. How small do you estimate you are? 5%? 10%? 15%?

Just so we're clear, I *LOVE* role playing games, and until things got very busy here I ran a weekly role playing game with my development group, and I am old enough to be one of the designers in the games business who helped invent role playing games (I've been awarded one Game-of-the-Year for one RP title, and been nominated for two or three others). Now, that being said, I think I can claim without fear of being questioned that I know role playing games very well.

I have some opinions about Massive Multiplayer Role Playing games that I will share, but I'd love to hear your thoughts first.

First of all:
Sorry if my words were a bit wrong chosen - english is not my first language - I never intended to say that you have no people in your team that 'do' care about roleplaying at all.

As for the numbers: I mean seen on all the grinder/quester/powergamer/whatever who pays the games the roleplayer simply are the minority and so are not so strong in voice when it comes to protecting their way of fun.

Just from my experience - and the reason no MMO held me longer than 6 month at best - in the games itself it never really worked out since there is no clear line which should not be broken.

Just a few examples (I take some games, too, even I hate using other games for examples, but they fit well in showing what I actually meant)

- WoW:
Idea: They have extra RP'Server with some rules, on every login you're actually shown that these rules have to be read.
Reality: The Gamemaster do not care about these rules themselves, over 90% if not even over 95% of these servers are totally none'roleplayers who act like they really should play on a none'RP'Server, but the GMs do not care about anything so the roleplayers were slowly but steady simply 'chased of' since they're not as important as the majority who pays the monthly bills (better ignoring the 5-10% instead of risking to loose some of the 90-95% people who pay)

- EQ2:
Idea: It was once said that for roleplayer's it will be better since GMs look they're not griefed and their events are save if you take the help of GMs
Reality: Same as aboth: Noone cares about what was said, it's simply ignored. So the roleplayers are chased of again (change or forget to play)

- AoC:
Idea: Care alot about roleplayer, make even a special thread where you can discuss and add things to the rules specially made for RP'server. There was - seen on the german ones, since I played there - 1 RP'Server and like 5 or 6 none'RP'Server.
Reality: After the big forum'remake the thread got lost and never ever put up again. Till today the officials did not rewrite this rule'thread and so the people have to show some half'official anoucement on a fan'made site where the starting'rules - before the discussion was - are written down in news. The rules at all are simply ignored at all and since the only RP'Server is a free-for-all pvp one the majority is already griefer, pvp'er without any rp (in the discussed rules you had the idea against this bahaviour... as said: they vanished into nothing), lots of none'roleplayer... so after 2 weeks the place of WoW was already reached where about 90-95% on this 1 Server were none'roleplayer who simply love to bash every weaker they see.

Name-Policy:
Idea: I love that... Gamemaster look on the names and change or delete these characters and tell them there is a name'policy
Reality: You can never have enough gamemaster to controll this policy. In the beginning it works fine, but after a month or so too many of such "I want a cool name, haha!" are so many that it's even for GMs an impossible fight and soon - happened very fast in AoC - the policy is so understood "No rasist, sexual or such names" and all the "Deathstalker" and so are tolerated since fighting them is near impossibility. As someone said before: These names destroys the immersion and so can destroy a whole attempt to start roleplaying at all.

General Rules:
Besides the ones who goes against the company - hacking, gold selling - I hardly see any MMO who ever followed their own rules so far, lots of griefer where griefer are not allowed, lots of names which are not allowed, lots of behaviour that is not tolerated.

Sure I know that for one there are more and less important rules to be looked at from the gamemaster (RL-rassism is more important then a simply 'Deathclub'-named person) and that gamemaster do cost money and so are always rare... I just bring up all these examples to make clear what I actually mean with my words.
Many told me already "For roleplaying you can forget MMOs" ... actually I'm slowly willed to believe them, but I'm a stubborn person and so not give up easily on games I like and since I see still many roleplayer trying to fight for their place in these games I think it's not totally lost yet.


So how my question was meant form me was actually:
- Will there be anything looked at - like helping roleplay'events, which some griefer take as hobby to destroy with jumping around and yelling this 'leet-speech' - and are the rules really controlled, or is it again that GMs are rare and so the rules are more or less 'advices' how the players 'should' behave. Or is it directly said: Roleplayer: Fight for your place yourself. (just some clear words about that topic)


Again: I know gamemaster cost money and it's alot of work to actually find these people who made griefing to their hobby (and sadly many do this *sighs*) so I understand when this is all still "to be thought of"... I just would like to hear the reality on these terms one time instead of - what happened a few times already, as said: Without roleplaying the only online game I ever played was Diablo2 and that only cause it was my first Online'game ever - that most things are empty words to give the 'feeling' it is actually cared about.
And I know that roleplaying is often said to be "It is what you do out of it", and I agree that it is, but some people really made their 'hobby' to destroy the attemps of getting into this immersion, I experienced that very often, that's why I actually are so stubborn about this topic to get answers.

--------------------------------------

Hope it cleared a bit up what I mean with these examples, again: I not meant to say you have no roleplayer in your team or so, sorry if my words were really wrong chosen so it sounded like it.


P.S.: Sorry again if that with 'empty words' sounds a bit like attacking, I not mean it this way, I just want to hear the truth without nice words... so I am, so I ever been. Please not understand it like I'm saying you're lying or so, I know a bit it sounds like it, but english is really not my best language so I may oversee the words to say it more like I mean it, simply that I would like to hear how these controlls are planned. Hope I not make anyone angry with my missing of the right words to exactly make it sound like I mean it *sighs*

 

[Ledaye]

Will any finalized game features be announced this week at ComicCon?

What finalized feature are you looking for?

Honestly, I don't know what our marketing team is going to announce.

 

[Ledaye]

To Invisible01x:

I will read your post carefully and respond.

I did not take offense at your remarks, I just wanted you to know that I love role-playing. What is your nationality/native language?

 

[Invisible01x]

To Invisible01x:

I will read your post carefully and respond.

I did not take offense at your remarks, I just wanted you to know that I love role-playing. What is your nationality/native language?

Thanks *smiles*
Always difficult to not get into little troubles with explaining.
I'm german, learning alot of english but still getting into many traps when it comes to more complex discussions/questions or proverbs.

 

[Esquire]

OK, 1 last question from me, and it may be the hardest to answer.

SWG has changed game mechanics more time that any1 can count now. AoC, started rather good, and then, 2 months after launch, nerf after nerf to classes. Both of these action by game developers have cost each game, subscriptions. This is a personal "pet peave" of mine.

Now, with my last statement of games do tend to change, content wise. (which is a really good thing - adds to end game content), what is usually the problem is when developers, for balance reasons or otherwise, starting to change game mechanice to fit a vision or players that scream, so and so profession "killed me, nerf them".

Can we, as the future player base, expect the game mechanics, after launch, NOT to change in a drastic fashion? Will beta include enough levels to "balance" PVP in beta and not, after launch?

There has only been a very few games that tend to "polish" well, in beta. Any1 can see who those games are by the patch numbers and the shear amount of patches/notes.

Sorry for the hard question, but it is one I am very interested in hearing your answer.

 

[Quette]

What finalized feature are you looking for?

Honestly, I don't know what our marketing team is going to announce.

Well don't know of anything else besides races and archetypes. O and using terrain for cover.

 

[Ledaye]

OK, 1 last question from me, and it may be the hardest to answer.

SWG has changed game mechanics more time that any1 can count now. AoC, started rather good, and then, 2 months after launch, nerf after nerf to classes. Both of these action by game developers have cost each game, subscriptions. This is a personal "pet peave" of mine.

Now, with my last statement of games do tend to change, content wise. (which is a really good thing - adds to end game content), what is usually the problem is when developers, for balance reasons or otherwise, starting to change game mechanice to fit a vision or players that scream, so and so profession "killed me, nerf them".

Can we, as the future player base, expect the game mechanics, after launch, NOT to change in a drastic fashion? Will beta include enough levels to "balance" PVP in beta and not, after launch?

There has only been a very few games that tend to "polish" well, in beta. Any1 can see who those games are by the patch numbers and the shear amount of patches/notes.

Sorry for the hard question, but it is one I am very interested in hearing your answer.

This is sorta a trick question. We are always willing to change the game to make it better. Any change will leave some people frustrated, that is the nature of the medium. But I'm not going to promise that if a system needs changing or balancing, we won't do it because of fear of the audience and their reaction.

MMOs are a marathon. You need to be willing to fix what is broken. That being said, we will strive to make the game at launch as final and polished as we can. But we're human, and we will make mistakes. In addition, one of the great things about these games is that the audience and their play patterns help define the final version of the product. So we will emphasize what works and fix what doesn't.

What is 'trick' about the question is you make it sound like any change is bad. I agree that a product that radically changes after launch was badly designed or managed by people who tend to panic.

We are neither, but only time will tell how well we've done.

 

[Rocki]

First off, Hi, and thanks for being here answering our questions!

I would like to know a few things. First off is about servers. I am currently living in the UK but have made many good friends in the US and around the world who I would like to play with ingame. Will there be US and UK only servers where I will have to purchase a US version of the game if i want to play with these people?

Also regarding the commando's sniper rifle, do we know what the sort of range is going to be? Are we going to beable to stand far back and start shooting mobs or will it be like other games, one or two seconds sprint and your already inrange for a P90

Many Thanks

Rocki

 

[Ledaye]

First off, Hi, and thanks for being here answering our questions!

I would like to know a few things. First off is about servers. I am currently living in the UK but have made many good friends in the US and around the world who I would like to play with ingame. Will there be US and UK only servers where I will have to purchase a US version of the game if i want to play with these people?

Also regarding the commando's sniper rifle, do we know what the sort of range is going to be? Are we going to beable to stand far back and start shooting mobs or will it be like other games, one or two seconds sprint and your already inrange for a P90

Many Thanks

Rocki

I don't think any of the servers will be set up to 'only' allow people in from a certain region.

If we made a sniper rifle have much longer range than a regular rifle it would sorta be the ultimate weapon, don't you think? In PvE, one of your group-mates could snare a MOB then you could kill it with impunity because you'd be outside of its range to shoot back at you.

Similar issues in PvP.

 

[Rocki]

Yes, was just wondering how it was going to work

 

[Ledaye]

Well don't know of anything else besides races and archetypes. O and using terrain for cover.

Well, on our own forums we've discussed at length the theory behind mini-games, which are a big part of play, but we haven't released any hard information about what games we're doing. I'm not sure when that comes out, to be honest.

You know about the story?

The big points about the game are: innovative ranged combat with cover, mini-games, story-driven mmo, ability-driven archetypes.

Which of these would you like me to talk about?

 

[Quette]

Yes I know about the story. Could you elaborate on innovative ranged combat with cover and ability-driven archetypes. If not lets go with ability-driven archetypes.

Thanks Ledaye

 

[Asiak]

In general what can you tell us about the Asgard?

Specifically will the actual Asgard be customizable for the sake of character uniqueness? Or will the Asgard all look the same as seen in the show?

As the Asgard don't wear clothing in the show and as they are physically frail and seem to lack the strength to carry many items how will the inventory for the Asgard work?

My idea for this is perhaps their drones could emit a white beam at an object and break it down into energy similar to the Stargates, ring transports, and Wraith darts. And then store the item as energy in a buffer within the drone and re-materialize it when the object is needed.

Besides ships and drones will the Asgard utilize any of their other technology that was seen in the show to use their abilities?

Also related to their frailness will the Asgard be able to run and how would they do so? You simply never see it in the show and when I try and picture it in a game it looks like it has the potential to look clunky and silly.

 

[Psykeman420]

I recently read in the IGN preview that the Goa'uld will have drones as well as the Asgard. This seems a little odd on the Goa'uld side of things is this true or a misunderstanding and if so can you explain a bit on the logic on it so it isn't just a "well because this side has them the other side needed them too" type of arguement.?

 

[Ledaye]

I recently read in the IGN preview that the Goa'uld will have drones as well as the Asgard. This seems a little odd on the Goa'uld side of things is this true or a misunderstanding and if so can you explain a bit on the logic on it so it isn't just a "well because this side has them the other side needed them too" type of arguement.?

They probably mis-heard something in an interview. The Goa'uld have pets (Jaffa and such-like).