Portal:News/IRC Transcripts/22 October 2010

22 October 2010 dev chat with Cameron McNeil.


 * [19:03] Cameron_McNeil: So I’m the Lead Systems Designer work on Rift. Basically that means working with the numbers of the game including items, souls, npcs, crafting etc. We of course have a whole team to handle it but that’s a general overview. So in 50 words of less it means I spend all of my day in Excel trying to make sure Pyromancer’s aren’t too OP
 * [19:04] Cameron_McNeil: Each class has about 20 abilities available to it.


 * [19:05] Rifty: Ancient asks: How important was synergy between souls withing a calling?
 * [19:05] Cameron_McNeil: Very important, the core of the Soul system is giving players the choice of how they want to spend their points. Making sure Souls play well together and that there are reasons to branch out is something we look at every time we examine them.


 * [19:05] Rifty: Ancient asks: Are PvP souls meant to work with PvE souls or are they stand alone
 * [19:05] Cameron_McNeil: Rift is all about the giving you the option to create your own classes so having PVP and PVE Souls work together is something you can expect to see.


 * [19:07] Rifty: WarpCode asks: what has been your favorite class to work on?
 * [19:07] Cameron_McNeil: Personally it was the Pyromancer I think it’s turned out really well. Right now I’ve been having a lot of fun playing through a new Assassin though, sneaking about ftw!


 * [19:10] Rifty: WarpCode asks: With so many souls/classes, how hard has it been to keep them balanced?
 * [19:11] Cameron_McNeil: It all comes down to how you approach it. We use a common set of tools across to define basic attributes like how much damage or healing a spell should be doing. After that it comes down to testing and looking at feedback, if we identify a problem then we see if it’s a one off or systemic and fix it. We have a lot of tools we can use and a good team so we can iterate and respond to issues very quickly.


 * [19:13] Rifty: charlionfire asks: We know there are cross-calling roles, such as tanking rogues and healing mages. How powerful will these souls be in these out-of-calling roles?
 * [19:13] Cameron_McNeil: They should be more than capable of filling the role of a tank or healer in a group, like most things it comes down to player skill.


 * [19:16] Rifty: Tekis asks: Rofl, fair enough. My real question is: "Although I understand that mix-matching souls will be beneficial in regards to adding some spice and flare to your class that you otherwise wouldn't have had, how will hybrids remain viable with only 51 points to spend in soul trees that max out at 51 points spent?"
 * [19:17] Cameron_McNeil: Actually it’s currently a pretty even split on a daily basis people asking "How will 51 points be viable?" vs "Why would you ever go 51 points!" It’s a fine line to walk but we’re aiming to ensure that both multi-souling and putting all your points into a single soul are viable options.


 * [19:20] Rifty: charlionfire asks: How do you go about creating a new soul?
 * [19:20] Cameron_McNeil: Generally we sit down and work out what we what the soul to do e.g. tank, heal, dps, cc, buff, debuff, pvp etc. After that we’ll look at what planar themes we want to use and what makes it special/what it’s thing is e.g. is it the mage healer? Is it the uber shield tank?
 * [19:20] Cameron_McNeil: After that it goes off to the individual designer who puts together a Soul tree and ability outline which we review, iterate on and once we’re happy with it, implement. And then it’s time to play it and start collecting feedback.


 * [19:22] Rifty: shyntyrr asks: When working with numbers, do you plan on making stats (standard strength/agility/etc. as well as crit/etc) follow diminishing returns, caps, or how do you plan on implementing these?
 * [19:23] Cameron_McNeil: We don’t have any diminishing return caps on base stats. We use a rating based system though so while 10 strength might grant you 5 attack power at level 10 it might only grant you 1 attack power at level 50.


 * [19:28] Rifty: Crowl asks: It appears that each calling can branch into other callings (i.e. Healing Mages, Melee Clerics) how challenging has it been to achieve this while giving each calling its own flavor so to speak.
 * [19:29] Cameron_McNeil: We’ve actually gone through a number of different mechanics trying to ensure each Calling feels different and fun. It can actually be more of a problem within a single Calling though, how do you make sure Healer A and Healer B feel different but are both useful when they use the exact same mechanics, weapons and armor. Trying to make sure the Mage healer and the Cleric healer feel different is actually kind of easy by comparison.


 * [19:32] Rifty: PsiKoTicK asks: Will feedback still be able to affect classes and their balance as the game goes on, or is it going to basically be alpha/beta feedback helps change it and then strictly in house?
 * [19:32] Cameron_McNeil: There will definitely be updates over time, online games are a service and part of that for us is making sure the Souls are fun and hitting the marks they should be. Feedback from players is something that’s key for us, it allows us to know what areas that maybe we have to focus on and look a little deeper into.


 * [19:35] Rifty: iMehuge asks: how easy will it be for a complete newbie to pick up the game? What systems will there be to help the new player?
 * [19:35] Cameron_McNeil: We’ve actually just spent a lot of time on our new user experience. Part of that is of course making sure it’s fun and exciting but a large part of it is also making sure players aren’t overwhelmed and are getting the help they need as they progress through the game.


 * [19:38] Rifty: Miach asks: In terms of DPS, how big will the disparity be from top to bottom? Do you intend for it to be competitive, or will there be a clear 'king of the hill' when it comes to DPS?
 * [19:38] Cameron_McNeil: In a game where you can mix and your abilities and passive effects like ours I expect the "King of the Hill" to change on a weekly basis as people try different builds for both themselves individually and a raid as a whole. Like everything it comes down to player skill but we’re not intending to create classes where "well this is obviously the best raid DPS class and if you’re not playing it you’re doing it wrong."


 * [19:44] Rifty: lokitrixter asks: In changing and updating souls from feedback after the game goes live, how will that affect how souls interact with one another. Will updating Soul A no longer compliment Soul B and how will that affect players with that setup
 * [19:44] Cameron_McNeil: That’s something we have to consider when we look at updating Souls. We have to look at how people are actually using them, what does this change mean for those people. Basically yeah we need to ensure we’re not breaking your stuff :)


 * [19:45] Rifty: Ciovala asks: Why the use of both classes and souls when talking about what is ostensibly the same thing in the game? Is one term more appropriate to use?
 * [19:45] Cameron_McNeil: Think of it this way, we give you Souls to play with and you make your own class from them


 * [19:47]Rifty: Virindi asks: Do "PvP souls" refer to CC classes such as the Dominator, or are there souls specifically designed for use on other players?
 * [19:47] Cameron_McNeil: I can assure you that no-one has seen our PVP souls yet.


 * [19:52] Rifty: brammator asks: why so little cross-archetype synergy? looks like all souls are self-efficient in raid
 * [19:52] Schemer left the chat room. (Read error: Connection reset by peer)
 * [19:52] Cameron_McNeil: I think each class brings something to a raid, there’s no-one who can do everything themselves. Buffs and debuffs alone you’ll need to have some friends of different Callings along to help out.


 * [19:54] Rifty: Miach asks: what sorts of defensive abilities can we expect (block, parry, dodge etc.)? Will they all be roll-based, or will there be force abilities too?
 * [19:54] Cameron_McNeil: Our system includes the usual block, parry and dodge for physical combat and resists for magical combat. On top of that yes there are certainly abilities you can use to force outcomes or significantly increase your defenses for a short amount of time.


 * [19:56] Rifty: Ciovala asks: What is your favourite class to actually play and why?
 * [19:56] Cameron_McNeil: I’m fairly certain I’ll be shot if I mention names. So let me just say I’ve been having a lot of fun in PVP lately playing a support class recently that allows me to significantly buff my allies, in fact I’m pretty sure it’s the main reason we just totally owned in the last match


 * [19:57] Rifty: iMehuge asks: Will there be any reactionary abilities, for example after parry or dodge etc
 * [19:57] Cameron_McNeil: Yes, certain Souls have access to reactionary abilities.


 * [20:01] Rifty: Alliya asks: Will character looks come close to Aion after you have done all the changes?
 * [20:01] Cameron_McNeil: Our characters actually look pretty damn awesome right now our artists are doing some great work, pretty sure I lost and fell in love at character create the other day