Hey everyone,
Winter is upon the Sandbox office, and many of our development team are already with their families back home during the holiday period.
Since it will probably be fairly quiet around here for a couple of weeks I wanted to take this chance to keep you informed on what to expect going into the new year, I know how much you guys like to be prepared!
Leading into 2019
Everybody('s feedback) matters
2018 is drawing to a close, it’s a good time to be thinking about what’s ahead of us.
Thank you all of you for taking time out of your day to share your feedback with us this year, directly, here on the forums, in-game, Twitch, in the form of videos and on our social channels (of course not forgetting the Reddit memes, we take them very seriously.)
In 2019 we want to take further measures to bring your thoughts, feelings and opinions into the Sandbox Interactive office. Therefore, we want to inform you that we are putting together a Community Feedback Survey that will be emailed to all recently active players, in order to collect results that, along with other deciding factors, will be taken into consideration when making development decisions in the new year.
Can you give us an idea of what the survey will include?
Subject matter will include general development focuses, stability, presentation, usability and the features you would like to see more of. There will also be some specific questions on community hot topics such as Alliances, the World Map, the Realmgate system, Territory and Resource placement, etc.
When and how will I get the survey?
The survey will be sent via Survey Monkey from this email: [email protected] to your registered account email.
You can expect to receive it by tomorrow the 22nd of December, and will be able to submit your responses until the 19th of January. Be sure to check all of your inboxes.
How long does the survey take to complete?
It’s estimated to take roughly 12 minutes to complete, but this also depends on the length of your responses. With roughly 15 required answers. The rest we left as optional, so it’s up to you how much time you want to spend on it in total.
Will I get to hear the results of the survey?
We plan to discuss the most interesting results of the survey in our next live Dev Q/A, exact date yet to be announced.
Between GvG Seasons
When can we check out the Conquerors’ Hall?
The hall is still under construction as we prepare to commemorate the Conquerors of Albion past and present, but it will open its doors to the public from the end of next week.
When and how do we get the GvG Season rewards for Season 4?
If you qualify for GvG season rewards, you should receive them in via in-game mail when the season ends on Saturday the 22nd of December.
Will Crystal GvGs be available between seasons?
Unfortunately, between the conclusion of Season 4 and the beginning of Season 5 the Crystal GvGs will not be available. However, we are already looking into implementing this as an option in the future.
The beginning of 2019 and Season 5
Season 5 changes
There have already been a few indications and hints of what to expect for the next season around our channels, so here is that information in a more consolidated format.
Crystal GvGs
What will happen to Crystal GvG Auto-Wins during Season 5?
Starting with Season 5, Crystal GvG Auto-Wins will no longer generate season points or Siphoned Energy. We are making this change to make it less attractive to have a majority of towers queuing from one Alliance.
Territory GvGs
What will happen to IP caps during Season 5 and why did you decide to introduce them?
In our last development roadmap, we announced that one of our mid-term goals was to make GvGs much more accessible to players and teams looking to establish themselves in high-end combat.
As part of this initiative, we have introduced several opportunities for new teams to practice and make their first steps into the GvG scene through training GvGs and capped Crystal Realm GvGs.
As a continuation of this, to make low/mid Outland GvGs less expensive to get involved in and to create a clearer progression throughout the zones, we will introduce scaling IP caps to GvGs that take place in the Low and Mid Outlands.
The IP caps will be as follows:
Castles
How many Season Points will Castles yield in Season 5?
As stated previously in this thread, the points generated from Castles will be adjusted as follows:
Castle Season Point Generation (per day):
Will there be changes to alliances in Season 5?
After following the discussion with Retroman, and as you are probably already aware, we have decided to not adjust the alliance mechanics in Season 5, as we think the issues we’re facing lay in the general game structure and, therefore, needs to be addressed at that level.
Ultimately, we came to the conclusion that alliance mechanic changes, such as member caps or season point sharing would not achieve the desired goal.
Instead, we believe that with the introduction of these systems, we expect to see the strongest guilds find ways around these limits, still establishing unofficial mega alliances which in the end would leave less established guilds to struggle against those elite official or unofficial alliances.
Instead, we aim for a scenario where new and potentially smaller guilds can form and have the opportunity to compete independently if they would like to.
Nonetheless, the outcome of this open dialogue has lead us to refocus on:
Rewards
What GvG season rewards can we expect for Season 5?
We are not yet ready to unveil the rewards for Season 5, but you can expect to have this information on the 3rd of January!
What is the Season 5 schedule?
You can find the in-game schedule here and the combined in-game and AlbionTV schedule here.
The next major update
As a followup to the roadmap post, our development team have been recently focused on developing the randomized open world dungeons, the social & new player experience, the upcoming Adventurer's Challenges, and GvG Season 5 rewards. You can expect to have more information from the team as we progress into the new year.
Until then, we hope you all have the opportunity to take time off during this holiday season, and on behalf of everyone at Sandbox Interactive we wish you all a very happy new year!
p.s. I have word that Uncle Frost may be paying a visit to Albion soon...
- Evoque & the Development Team
Continue reading...
Winter is upon the Sandbox office, and many of our development team are already with their families back home during the holiday period.
Since it will probably be fairly quiet around here for a couple of weeks I wanted to take this chance to keep you informed on what to expect going into the new year, I know how much you guys like to be prepared!
Leading into 2019
Everybody('s feedback) matters
2018 is drawing to a close, it’s a good time to be thinking about what’s ahead of us.
Thank you all of you for taking time out of your day to share your feedback with us this year, directly, here on the forums, in-game, Twitch, in the form of videos and on our social channels (of course not forgetting the Reddit memes, we take them very seriously.)
In 2019 we want to take further measures to bring your thoughts, feelings and opinions into the Sandbox Interactive office. Therefore, we want to inform you that we are putting together a Community Feedback Survey that will be emailed to all recently active players, in order to collect results that, along with other deciding factors, will be taken into consideration when making development decisions in the new year.
Can you give us an idea of what the survey will include?
Subject matter will include general development focuses, stability, presentation, usability and the features you would like to see more of. There will also be some specific questions on community hot topics such as Alliances, the World Map, the Realmgate system, Territory and Resource placement, etc.
When and how will I get the survey?
The survey will be sent via Survey Monkey from this email: [email protected] to your registered account email.
You can expect to receive it by tomorrow the 22nd of December, and will be able to submit your responses until the 19th of January. Be sure to check all of your inboxes.
How long does the survey take to complete?
It’s estimated to take roughly 12 minutes to complete, but this also depends on the length of your responses. With roughly 15 required answers. The rest we left as optional, so it’s up to you how much time you want to spend on it in total.
Will I get to hear the results of the survey?
We plan to discuss the most interesting results of the survey in our next live Dev Q/A, exact date yet to be announced.
Between GvG Seasons
When can we check out the Conquerors’ Hall?
The hall is still under construction as we prepare to commemorate the Conquerors of Albion past and present, but it will open its doors to the public from the end of next week.
When and how do we get the GvG Season rewards for Season 4?
If you qualify for GvG season rewards, you should receive them in via in-game mail when the season ends on Saturday the 22nd of December.
Will Crystal GvGs be available between seasons?
Unfortunately, between the conclusion of Season 4 and the beginning of Season 5 the Crystal GvGs will not be available. However, we are already looking into implementing this as an option in the future.
The beginning of 2019 and Season 5
Season 5 changes
There have already been a few indications and hints of what to expect for the next season around our channels, so here is that information in a more consolidated format.
Crystal GvGs
What will happen to Crystal GvG Auto-Wins during Season 5?
Starting with Season 5, Crystal GvG Auto-Wins will no longer generate season points or Siphoned Energy. We are making this change to make it less attractive to have a majority of towers queuing from one Alliance.
Territory GvGs
What will happen to IP caps during Season 5 and why did you decide to introduce them?
In our last development roadmap, we announced that one of our mid-term goals was to make GvGs much more accessible to players and teams looking to establish themselves in high-end combat.
As part of this initiative, we have introduced several opportunities for new teams to practice and make their first steps into the GvG scene through training GvGs and capped Crystal Realm GvGs.
As a continuation of this, to make low/mid Outland GvGs less expensive to get involved in and to create a clearer progression throughout the zones, we will introduce scaling IP caps to GvGs that take place in the Low and Mid Outlands.
The IP caps will be as follows:
- Low Outland 50% scaling above 1000 IP
- Mid Outland 50% scaling above 1200 IP
- (for example, 1500 IP becomes 1250 effective IP)
- (for example, 1500 IP becomes 1350 effective IP)
- (for example, 1500 IP becomes 1250 effective IP)
Castles
How many Season Points will Castles yield in Season 5?
As stated previously in this thread, the points generated from Castles will be adjusted as follows:
Castle Season Point Generation (per day):
- Mercia Castle: 1152 → 648
- Cumbria Castle: 864 → 504
- Anglia Castle: 576 → 360
Will there be changes to alliances in Season 5?
After following the discussion with Retroman, and as you are probably already aware, we have decided to not adjust the alliance mechanics in Season 5, as we think the issues we’re facing lay in the general game structure and, therefore, needs to be addressed at that level.
Ultimately, we came to the conclusion that alliance mechanic changes, such as member caps or season point sharing would not achieve the desired goal.
Instead, we believe that with the introduction of these systems, we expect to see the strongest guilds find ways around these limits, still establishing unofficial mega alliances which in the end would leave less established guilds to struggle against those elite official or unofficial alliances.
Instead, we aim for a scenario where new and potentially smaller guilds can form and have the opportunity to compete independently if they would like to.
Nonetheless, the outcome of this open dialogue has lead us to refocus on:
- Tackling the issues raised on a more fundamental level, which means evaluating current incentives and mechanics for the various structured and unstructured PvP activities, and
- also looking at the overall outland map design and topology.
Rewards
What GvG season rewards can we expect for Season 5?
We are not yet ready to unveil the rewards for Season 5, but you can expect to have this information on the 3rd of January!
What is the Season 5 schedule?
You can find the in-game schedule here and the combined in-game and AlbionTV schedule here.
The next major update
As a followup to the roadmap post, our development team have been recently focused on developing the randomized open world dungeons, the social & new player experience, the upcoming Adventurer's Challenges, and GvG Season 5 rewards. You can expect to have more information from the team as we progress into the new year.
Until then, we hope you all have the opportunity to take time off during this holiday season, and on behalf of everyone at Sandbox Interactive we wish you all a very happy new year!
p.s. I have word that Uncle Frost may be paying a visit to Albion soon...
- Evoque & the Development Team
Continue reading...