Portal:News/IRC Transcripts/27 August 2010

Chat with Abigale and Amary, our Community Managers, post Gamescom 2010.


 * Abigale: Hello, all :)
 * Abigale: Nice to see so many of you here! :)
 * Abigale: Yes, Amary is joining us today. She is the Community Coordinator for Rift, in case you don't remember her :)
 * Amary: I didn't want to miss the Abi chat. :D
 * Abigale: So... we don't have one of the devs for you today. It's been a bit crazy around here with these two shows going on so close together
 * Abigale: You are stuck with just me today. But I'll answer questions I can answer :)
 * Abigale: Gamescom was incredible! So many people! We had such a great time!
 * Abigale: Any of you guys going to PAX?
 * Abigale: If any of you are in the area but can't make it to PAX< let me know. We would love to get you tickets to the community party :)


 * Flapjack46 asks: Abigale, do you work based out of the SF HQ?
 * Abigale: Yes, Flap... I am in Redwood City


 * Azuman asks: Abi are there any plans to have a show in Vegas before release?
 * Abigale: Not before release, Azu. But I am hoping that soon after release we will start doing more fan events. Nothing confirmed yet but that's what I would like to see


 * Ciovala asks: So the last one before release is PAX, right?
 * Abigale: That's the last show we have scheduled for now, Cio.


 * Abigale: Yeah, we are just being informal today. So ask your questions and I will try to answer what I can :)


 * Alyvian asks: Abigale any details about the guidlsystem ya can tell us yet? (besides that its robust) (like a possible membercap/guiildquests? guildachievements?)
 * Abigale: Aly, no I can't give more info on that yet. There are some pretty cool guild features I have seen but until things are done being developed, we can't go public with them


 * Thekk asks: After the release of the game, can we expect more Souls to be added in content patches/expansions
 * Abigale: There are plans for more class reveals over the next few weeks, Azu


 * rabb1t asks: Has my iPhone and Droid wallpapers infected everyone in the office yet? ;)
 * Abigale: rabb- I haven't gotten to follow up on your wallpapers yet. I have been so busy and am behind on a lot of stuff. Sorry :(


 * Abigale: Hmmm.... there are so many questions I really don't have the authority to answer. But here is my plan....
 * Abigale: there will be more info coming from PAX. After that, we will do a special post-shows Q&A so I can start getting specific answers for you
 * Abigale: I especially can't reveal dates yet. No dates until they are written in stone. And we aren't there yet ;)


 * Xanax asks: In regards to the online community, Will more moderators be assigned to handle the increasing post/thread volume? To ensure relating discussions and threads in the right place?
 * Abigale: Yes, we will be adding more moderators. That is a must as the community grows


 * Krassus asks: Can you clarify something you answered before @ E3 ? =)
 * Abigale: Krass, ask away and I'll see if I can answer


 * kundvagn says: Ayonyx devtracker doesn't seem to have been updated in a while, for example Amary doesn't show up in it.
 * Amary: Nobody wants to see my thread locking posts. :D
 * Abigale: We are working on a dev tracker for the forum. Hopefully we will have that up and running soon


 * Syrix_II asks: Will the Pax presentation include new information not shown at Gamescom?
 * Abigale: Syrix... the PAX booth will be hands on playable, just like Gamescom. There are no specific new press releases coming that I know of. But your fellow community members will be


 * Slacka asks: Are there any plans to improve the selection of boards on the forums? such as the ongoing absence of Dwarf/Kelari boards, the desperate desire for an art discussion forum for all those threads that are currently randomly spread through general and off topic etc?
 * Abigale: Slacka, we are going to probably shuffle around and add some categories for the forum. We've just been a little busy and haven't gotten to that yet :)
 * Abigale: Sorry to have to keep saying we are busy. But we lost some community people and the community is growing pretty fast as we get ready to hire more people. So we have been a little short handed. But we are getting caught up ;)


 * Sarverous asks: Abigale - Can we get more sound clips of the music in game? I love music and want to hear some of Rift's beautiful music ^_^
 * Abigale: Sarv- I will see what we can do about some sound clips. I'd like to get those for you :)


 * Xanax asks: Everybody is wondering, but nobody has asked... In regards to Beta... For those unable, to have attended GamesCom or attend PAX, yet heavily involved in the community, will there be alternative ways for Beta participation?
 * Abigale: Xanax- YES! There will be lots of ways for people to get into beta. But we will always pull people from the established community as a priority. As we get closer, there will be more details. But don't worry... I am making sure you guys are kept in mind :)


 * kilrathi asks: Will there be press presentation at pax or no?
 * Abigale: kil- Yes, there will be press appointments at PAX.So we are hopeful that we will get more coverage through that. But PAX is really more about the gamers than it is press :)


 * Tolil asks: Do you plan on having dedicated UK/Euro community staff, or will the US office serve everyone?
 * Abigale: We already have community managers working on the German and French forums. We will probably add to the Euro staff after release, I am guessing


 * Thekk asks: How will the folks that can only get a PAX ticket for Sunday, get a ticket to the Party?
 * Abigale: I am making sure I save tickets for people who want to attend the party but can't get into PAX to get a ticket. I'll be making a post about it shortly. But I will make arrangements for those people to get their tickets
 * Abigale: it's a community paety after all. I want community people to be able to attend :)
 * Amary: The more the merrier :)


 * IDDQD asks: Can we have a character from each faction on the same server?
 * Abigale: We can in the alpha. I have several characters on each side. That is subject to change though. But I am hoping it stays that way :)


 * Neno asks: I was just wondering when we might see some more information about crafting in game.
 * Abigale: I just heard that they are getting an interview ready to discuss crafting. I can't promise when that will be released but it sounds like they are getting really close to releasing that info


 * Anasazi asks: can we get the dev in charge of crafting as our next speaker?
 * Abigale: Gina is in charge of crafting and she is looking forward to talking with you guys. We are just waiting for the green light on that. I can't promise she will be next but she is definitely in line to be here :)


 * qualabar asks: Is anything decided on cross-faction communication or up in the air?
 * Abigale: Right now, cross faction communication is not possible. I have heard nothing about that changing. But again, we are in alpha and anything could still change at this point


 * Thekk asks: Will a Soul Calculator eventually be available on the Website for us to play with?
 * Abigale: We have no plans to add a soul calculator at this time. But in case you haven't seen it, we already have one out there that was built by Kalbuir, one of our community members :)
 * Abigale: He has done a great job and we hope he has great success with his site. We support his efforts :)
 * Jaudark says: http://www.rift-calculator.com/


 * Ciovala asks: Any news on when more 'stuff' will happen in regards to the official fansite program? Right now there is just a sticky post
 * Abigale: Working on that, Cio. Again, I have fallen behind in some plans. Give another week to settle down and get over PAX and then you should start seeing more from me on that :)


 * Anasazi asks: how are you going to handle all the beta apps on the boards that have only 1 post count or very few?
 * Abigale: I'll be honest... people with only one post won't have nearly as good a chance as people with more posts. But again, we look at quality of posts. 10 posts that are insightful and well written means a lot more than 100 posts that don't say anything much
 * Abigale: There will be lots of beta pools that we will draw from. Some you haven't even heard about yet. But during all of that, we will also be pulling in community members based on their contribution to the community
 * Abigale: Beta is always a difficult process. There is no way to make veryone happy. But please try to remember that our goal here isn't to give people a chance to play. The goal is to get the game tested and ready to ship. :)


 * Goremarr says: So, if I'm chosen, does Ed McMahon show up at my door with a giant beta invitation card and a video crew?
 * Ciovala says: no, just Asha
 * Abigale: haha... I'll have to see if Asha is available for such things ;)
 * Abigale: By the way... not only is Asha beautiful... she is a great person. She never stopped smiling and being nice to people at gamescom. :)


 * Anasazi: is Asha carrying a steel sword or plastic the pics look like steel?
 * Abigale: It's steel. And heavy!
 * Amary: It really does look awesome up close in person.


 * Maxxy asks: Have you heard if there are going to be guild houses in the game?
 * Abigale: Not at launch, maxxy. I don't know if they will be added later but that is a possibility


 * Mira asks: will crafting have it's own forum?
 * Abigale: Definitely, Mira. I think you will see a number of changes and additions to the forum as we approach release


 * Abigale: I know there are lots of questions about beta. Everyone wants to know when and how it will happen. I've told you guys about all I can and will continue to give you as much info as I am allowed. But you'll just have to be patient and understand that I can't reveal everything :)


 * IDDQD asks: Abigale which calling & soul combination is your current favorite setup?
 * Abigale: You know... I still can't decide! During alpha, I have played all four callings and a bunch of different soul combos...
 * Abigale: They all have their own style and they are all fun. I don't know what I am going to do when I have to pick a permanant character. I can't even decide between Guardian and Defiant yet! :P
 * Abigale: The thing I notice though is that they are all so different! I can see this game having a LOT of replayability. But then I am an alt-oholic myself ;)
 * Abigale: Employees seem pretty evenly divided. And there are lots of little faction arguments taking place around here ;)


 * Abigale: Ok, folks.... I am going to have to wrap it up for today. I'm sorry I couldn't answer more questions. But let me get through PAX and we'll get back to having some devs here who can give you more asnwers :)
 * Abigale: Thanks for being here. It's always such a pleasuer to get to visit with you folks:)