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Xsyon
12-01-2010, 08:46 AM
Questions prior to 12/3 2010

Deacon asks:

Am I correct in assuming that spear throwing will come in about same time as archeryPossibly. Bows are arrows are ready, spears are not made. This would not be difficult to add at the same time though.


Will we be able to remove rocks from tribal areas, so we can terraform?Yes, this will be implemented before the launch.

Aliksteel asks:

I have seen where othere MMO's was going to try and make it where the Druids (Or who ever) would be able to create storms for fighting. But it has never been done as far as I know. The main reason I have heard was that the weather has always been on it's own server. Making it next to impossible to do.Though it will be a while before we add this kind of magic, the short answer is yes. Weather magic will be possible and is planned for.


Any way, One of the big "Oh shit!" moments (and not in the good way) I had in DF was when I ran across the first person with a racist name. Well Xsyon allow any one to have any name, No matter what? I am hoping for a filter for Character name and Tribe name as well.There will be a filter eventually. I'm not sure when we'll implement this, but yes, there will be some limits on this.


From the Xsyon Gallery we see old broken down automobiles, Is this something that will be added before prelude? or will this be put in after prelude?These will be added as we expand the world. Originally these were just decorative objects. We haven't placed them within the starting zones because I want them to be serve more of a purpose when we add them to the game.


Will tribes be able to train their members in pvp fighting without losing good or neutral alignment in training fights?Yes, within tribe territory. I am also thinking of allowing mutual 'friends' to fight without alignment gain or loss. This will, however, give less skill gain than fighting creatures or actual enemies.


Have you thought about if you will have world events later on? (natural or get togethers)Yes. We will definitely have both natural events and world events. We do have a lot of surprises in store once we can get the basics wrapped up!


Will there be a time when we will be able to swim under water?

If so, What about drowning?

Also as a side question, Will there ever be water/under water content added? Yes, we will implement underwater swimming, drowning and underwater creatures and plants during the Prelude.

Tredo asks:


What about blowguns with poison darts?No plans for blow darts. Other ranged weapons will include thrown daggers and axes. I'd like to set things up so that players can throw all kinds of objects (like rocks). We'll see.


Will these objects be able to be picked back up without loosing them?Yes. Construction sites work like containers. You can load them with the required materials or remove materials if the final construction is not finished. Once a building is complete, I plan on allowing players to dismantle the building with some material loss. (Dismantling is not yet implemented).


Will tents, huts, and other buildings have their own storage capacity or will we have to drop bags and bins inside of them for storage? i.e. will we be able to click on the tent or building and open up a storage window that would simulate putting stuff in there?For now, you will use containers inside buildings. Some building parts might later have built in storage. With buildings I will change the permission system somewhat so that your building permissions apply to all objects inside.


Will every item (tent, shack, fence, wall, teepee, or whatever else is in the architect recipes) have to be placed / dropped on tribal land?For now, yes. I originally planned to allow building outside tribe lands, but it would cause too many problems (imagine waking up to a wall built around your city for example). If I allow buildings to be destroyed if built on non tribal land, someone will destroy them right away. I have some future ideas for all of this, including small homesteads for solo players, but this will evolve with the game.


If we do have to use / place storage bins inside of the buildings, will be able to enter into the building or just basically stand just outside and click on the bags or bins?You can enter buildings.


So, will buildings with storage be coming in game any time soon? Using baskets to store things works for now, but is there plans to make functional shops?You will be able to store containers within buildings soon. The original plan was to have some buildings with built in storage, but I am thinking of adding more furntiure and containers instead (as part of the woodcrafting and masonry skills).
We will add worktables that aid in crafting during the Prelude.

VeryWiiTee asks:


When magic is implemented will it then fall under the Religion and Faith attributes listed as Intelligence and Spirit or will magic fall under the other combat attributes such as Strength, Dexterity and Agility? Magic will fall under religion, faith, charm, intelligence and spirit.


Furthermore will magic be considered as combat or a sort of craft to help the village or will it be both kinds?Both. I plan to make it similar to cleric / druid magic in D&D with both general helpful spells and combat spells.

KeithStone asks:


Would it be possible to activate all skills so we can actually test out the features?No. We already implemented too many temporary systems like the permissions and easy levelling that are still being reverted and balanced. Our goal now is to push forward with how things will actually be at launch. Soon we'll have training and the quest system implemented. These should make things much easier for starting players.


What are some of the construction skills that come with this new feature?Masonry, building walls, building tents and most likely building houses from some simple components. Buildings from components was originally planned as an evolution but I'm getting it done right now and we have enough parts for players to build log huts. We should have multiple story buildings at launch or shortly after.


Are buildings part of the construction skills, or is that something different?One and the same. Though construction includes some building parts such as creating bricks or building components.


After prelude- will tribes be able to conquer other tribe lands by destroying their totem?Yes. How this will work is not fully decided yet. Since we first started working on Xsyon, many games have come out with some good ideas for this type of warfare. We're going to spend some time checking these out before we implement what we think is the best solution.


As it is right now tents, buildings etc don't have any purpose- you can't use them for storage- you can't drop bins when standing inside them. Are they going to be given a purpose before the game launches?Yes, this will be fixed and finished. Logging off from your house will give you a rested state so you gain more experience and you will be able to store containers within homes. We will add more features to housing in the future.

Mrcalhou asks:


I'm curious as to an ETA for Bows/guns and magic.Bows: shortly after launch. Magic will take a while. Guns, I don't have any real plans for this. I know some players saw the guns in our sketches, but those are there only because the artist felt like drawing them in the armor concept sketch.


Will there be skills related to being a medic?Yes, either within the next month or shortly after launch. We'll see. This is partially set up already.


Would the way the game is programmed allow for player created turrets, like the ones in Team Fortress 2?I'd have to check out Team Fortress to see what you mean, but we do plan to have defensive turrets in the future. I've added this to the suggestions list.


How in-depth does the game engine allow crafting? Does the way the game is program allow for variability within items. Like, with different quality materials affecting the outcome for the same weapon and so on?Yes, the system allows for materials, tools and skill to affect the final product.

Airbornenik asks:


I notice the fires do not give off any sort of useful light, making it hard to find objects on the ground and continue working on terraform. Will functional lighting be implemented?Yes. Fires should give off useful light now. There was a bug where fires loaded when we restarted the server were not loading lights properly but this should be fixed. This will be reviewed again soon and light from fires will be adjusted.
During the Prelude we will add torches.

Gegezerg asks:


I was wondering will there be Small or Large carts in the game to carry loads of items from gather areas back to the Tribal area?There are no plans for carts. This will be added to our Suggestion List and I will consider this.

Treyu asks:


Can we have an estimate on when the prelude release date will be?My best estimate is mid January. I plan to assess the situation and set a fixed date after the Tribe and Quest updates.

Chade asks:


What happens if two borders touch each other?Tribes can't be built close enough for borders to overlap. There is a maximum tribe radius and other tribes can't place a totem within this radius.


I'm curious what you guys have one the agenda and in mind to tweak, implement still, revise before you go into prelude.The main goals are to finish the Tribe, Quest and Construction systems. We've been testing our World Update that breeds creatures and decays objects among other things. The World Update will be turned on for the main server in about 2 weeks. This will cover almost all of the features. After these we will review and revise crafting schemes and combat variables. We should also be able to turn on animal taming and pets. This was implemented a long time ago but as we've made many changes that can affect this so we'll see after the next few updates.

Trenixdecease asks:


What will tires be for? what skill and for what?Tire armor and furniture will be added.

Kinslayer asks:



Will it be possible to still raise multiple skills up to mastery, be it with much slower skill gains?
Will there be an option to reduce skills, hence allowing us to manage our skills, or change our minds on the path we chose skill-wise?


Will there be Primary and secondary skills, where support skills that have little ability to make things on their own become a secondary skill that doesnt count toward your hard cap?You will be able to master several skills. I haven't thought about an option to reduce skills, but it's possible to add.

Some skills such as masonry and woodcraft are currently considered 'supporting' skills and they will not count as much towards the skill cap. There is no hard cap on skils, just a soft cap so that skills become harder to gain.

Xx1327 asks:

Is it possible for a creature to become mutated then become legendary or vice versa? and while I'm at it can epic and/or mutated creatures be tamed? Are they going to be given a purpose before the game launches?Yes, creatures can both mutate and become legendary. Mutated / legendary creatures can also be tamed.


"Town quartermaster can collect resources and goods" can this be explained in more detail perhaps? also when it comes to tribe taxes, will we be able to set taxes for each individual/groups of people or will it be a system where its a tax for everyone or no tax at all?The system has been changed since this was first asked. Tribes will be able to create their own custom rank with the ability to set a tax rate based if the tribe has a chosen currency. Collected currency will be controlled by the tribe leader or assigned ranked members. Tax will currently apply to all members. I will think about different rates for different members.


What are your current thoughts on Traps when is the earliest we would see things like this implemented?I think your suggestions are great and this is something in our game documents that is already designed for the future. When we can expand I want to spend a lot of time implenting a cool trap system like what you've described. Realistically, this won't start to happen until a few months into next year.

Traps for catching birds and small critters will come sooner as we already have these objects made and they won't require too much code.


What are your plans for player customization?In game, skills for changing and dying hair will be implemented.

During character customization, I have a face system designed but it was too difficult for my old programmers to implement. The plan it to revisit this system and also see what else is out there in other games once we can expand the team.

Xsyon
12-12-2010, 03:54 AM
Questions for the week of 12/3 through 12/10 2010

Trenixdecease Asks:

Will there be some sort of "Looking For Tribe" feature? Sort of like how players look for guilds or groups in MMORPGs? I really don't think relying on the forums is the best way to bring people together to join or create tribes.Tribes will be able to set if they want to be in the public spawn point list and set a brief tribe description. Players will be able to choose spawn points from this list in addition to the basic starting spawn points.

Will there be a "invite a friend" feature which will give us something in return for getting someone to register?After launch I will consider this and other promotions, yes.

Keithstone asks:

Can architecture structures be damaged by other players at any time?As the game evolves yes. This won't be in for a while as towns are planned as safe zones in the Prelude, though I am considered tribes to allow to choose if they want to be warring tribes during the Prelude. Warring tribes will be able to attack each other.

Will architects get towers that can be placed without having to build or terraform dirt towers.Yes, we will add towers in the future.

Can you explain how the market system will work, as in how will we be doing trades?Players will be able to post items with prices at a trade totem.

I know you said you don't plan to implement carts, however is there some other way you plan for us to do large quantity trading over large distances?I don't plan to add carts soon. Many things will be added as soon as we can expand the team and evolve the game. I plan to allow pack animals to carry additonal loads before we add things like carts though.

Will global chat be in at the game at prelude/launch? It doesn't bother me, however I know there are a niche of people that will feel like it's game breaking.No. It will be removed for launch. Later we will probably add a system of linking tribe chats or having communication dishes as some players have suggested.

Venciera asks:

Will there be any form of tribal upkeep? Either paid through currency, or items?Tribes will be able to choose to collect tax (currency). In addition, buildings will decay so there will be a need for players to keep up their town.

Will player run trading markets be implemented before, or after the beta? Or at all?The will be player trade totems (or player will trade using the main totem). I'm not sure if we can get this done before or shortly after the final wipe and launch.

Will we be able to place sign posts with short messages on them? Like in Minecraft? I have this on my suggestion list and yes, I'd like to add this in the future.

Jadzia asks:

Will we be able to gain stat points and assign them ? If yes, will there be any restriction about assigning them?Stats will increase through actions (very soon). I may add some stat points to the levelling up as well.

Mrcalhou asks:

What are your plans for how you will set up the in-game economy?This will start off with simple player bartering / trade. We will add trade totems to allow players to set up offline trades. Tribes will be able to set currencies based on common items. Object decay and loss of quality as well as resources limited to certain areas should help to drive trade and the economy.

What are the current plans with regards to handling skill points for characters as new skills are introduced into the game? Will we be allowed to respec our skill points so that we can become a different role if we get bored of something? Say, I start off by leveling up bladed weapons and sink all my skill points into that, then I get bored with it, could I switch my points over to "archery?"You won't be able to switch points between skills. I will consider a system where you can choose what skills degrade to allow you to build up new skills at the cost of old skills, but I don't know when we'll be able to implement something like this.

Are there plans to have seperate skill point pools? Like, you can get so many skill points to be allocated to combat skills, some for crafting, some for harvesting?Yes. This is already implemented. There is a soft cap for each skill group.

Are there any plans to add sub-skills and sub-sub-skills to current skills?
No.

Deacon asks:

Will we be able to actually place bin and stuff in our houses/tents?Yes. Before launch.

And what system for making terraformed area level, if you plan to remove coordinates?I will leave in coordinates until I can implement a levelling system as you and others suggested.

Aliksteel asks:

I know that you said that we was going to be able to sit, And that you already have a lot of dance moves ready to go. As far as this type of stuff goes, What more will we be able to do? Like different sitting positions, Laying down, Back flips, Drunk walking/runningAdditional moves that we have almost ready are sitting, sitting on objects, sleeping and dance moves. Dance moves will be implemented as a feature well into the actual Prelude. If you have suggestions for emotes or other moves you'd like to see, feel free to post them.

Kitsume asks:

Are there plans to update the character creator, where we can customize faces beyond the template faces we have now? If so, will existing characters be able to use this or will players have to reroll the character?When we can expand our team, yes. We have a character facial system designed but it will take a lot of work to implement it. Changes we make will be available to all players.

Gamefreak asks:


The primary question is what will entice people to perform quests, and how will they be ensured that they are actually going to receive what is enticing them?
What system will be in place to ensure that the required items reach the player when he has completed his/her task?
Players will be able to create quests at a totem. They will be required to add a reward to the quest. When a player accepts a quest, he must come back to the totem to submit objects collected or claim quest completion. There will be timers sets on quests so that if a player that accepts the quest does not complete it with the alloted time, another player can accept the quest. The quest creator will be allowed to cancel a quest and retrieve reward items if the quest is not currently taken by another player.
Both the creator and the questor will receive experience for a completed quest. This will entice players to both create and complete quests. You will get more experience by completing quests created by other tribes.

Foreseer asks:

Will we be able to create preservation area's where resources and land are protected from chopping, forming, and gathering within our lands?You will be able to set tribe permissions for individual ranked members to prevent tribe mates from chopping or terraforming if you wish to do so.

I've heard we'll be allotted Three character slots. Will each character be able to join separate Tribes, or are all character's to be restricted to one tribe?This is incorrect. There will be only one character slot.

How will quest materials be handled?See the above answer.

Will said items disappear into an interface window or will an object or tent house them input/retrieval?There will be an interface similar to construction 'ghosts'. The interface will be accessed through a totem. I like the idea of a quest house though, so maybe in the future quest items will require more physical storage. I'll consider it.

Will said Quest system be automated or will the Tribe leader be required to preform the tedious duty of finding items, counting items, and rewarding after players complete them?It will be automated as described above, but the rewards will have to be gathered before placing them into a quest. Any tribe members given quest creation permissions will be able to create quests.
 
 
 

Xsyon
12-26-2010, 08:54 PM
Questions for the week of 12/10 through 12/17 2010


Aliksteel asks:

I understand the concept of a automated quest reward system, But have to wonder about what happen when the quest giver has asked for 10 long logs. After clicking the quest totem to pick up your quested items. Do they stack beside you right there? or Will we be able to move them in a stacked ghost form to our stockpile yard?Logs and similar items will be stored at the totem and you will be able to take them out one by one (or in bundles) similar to how construction ghosts work.

I'm pretty sure that good and neutral factions can trade, I'm also pretty sure that neutral and evil factions can trade, But will good and evil factions be able to trade?There are currently no restrictions on this, but I plan to add them. You should not be able to trade with opposing factions or foes.

Jadzia asks:

Will there be any indicator of a tribe's or a player's alignment?Yes. Names will show in different colors to indicate friends / foes and known evil players.

Treyu asks:

Will you change the way we see player floating names (and NPC animals too, but my concern is mainly with players) so that you only see the name above the player's head WHEN you are aiming at them? What about the colors, will we get different name colors (the grey one we have now makes it very difficult to see it at times) or different colors depending on alligment (Pk, neutral, tribes at war, friends, etc)?Yes. With the most recent update, names show only when you are aiming or selecting a creature or another player. Colors indicating status and alignment will be in soon.

Trenixdecease asks:

Will stealing ever be implemented in the game or is it already planned?The original design included a stealing system similar to UO, but limited to small items that could be pickpocketed. Right now there are no immediate plans to add stealing, but it's something I will reconsider in the future.

Will there be drugs? If so, will it give us any effects, benefits, or consequences?Not for a while, but yes, with effects, benefits and consequences.

Will we be able to create our own religions or will we have to select from a variety of pre-assigned religions?Existing religions will be introduced first. I haven't thought about creating your own religions but it's an interesting idea.

Will there be alcohol? If so, will it give us any effects, benefits, or consequences?Not for a while, but yes, with effects, benefits and consequences.

Will animals and livestock have meters like we do that we must help adjust? Will they be visible?Yes, they will have the same hunger, thirst and energy meters and you will have to feed them or let them rest.

Will tracking ever be implemented in the game or is it already planned?It's part of the original design, but won't be in game for a while.

Will paving ever be restricted for masons only?There are no plans for this, but I've added this to the suggestions list.

Will buildings affect comfort?Yes, and will increase your regeneration rates.

Will animals undergo a growing process?Yes. They already do when the daily World Update is turned on. We've been running this on the test server. It will be made live on the main server soon.

Will fires affect comfort?Yes, and will increase your regeneration rates.

Will livestock require us to nurture them?Yes. See answer above.

Will the quality of an object be a number like in Wurm Online, or will it be ranked by color like in a MMORPG?It's currently a number.

Foreseer asks:

I've noticed the /g (Guild) chat. What are your plans for Guilds?Guilds are planned for the future (next summer or later). Guilds will be sub groups within a tribe of players with similar professions.

Mrcalhou asks:


Can we have the option to turn off floating names, the circles underneath npcs and objects, and the targetting glow?I added this to our suggestion list. I can add this, however, not being able to see what you are targetting or selecting will make things difficult.


MrDDT asks:

What are your plans for combat? Are we going to get skills or power like moves?My plan is to take some time after the launch to review the combat system of Mount and Blade and other combat oriented games that players have suggested to me and redesign the system after I have seen what's out there.

Xsyon
01-07-2011, 06:28 AM
Questions for the week of 12/17 through 12/24 2010


aliksteel asks

What type of mythical creatures are we talking about for the game?
Based on local mythology (BigFoot for example).


Will we have chat tabs?
Eventually, yes.


Will we get slider bars for UI windows?
Also, yes. It's on our list.


When added, Are puppies going to be as fun and cute in game as they are in real life?
I hope so!

mrcalhou asks:

Will we get the option to change our options before the first login or, alternatively, have the game auto-detect our resolution?
This isn't planned. I've added it to our suggestion list.

Xx1237 asks:

Will there be celestial events, like a lunar eclipse, which can maybe boost certain things or cause certain enemies to rise?
This is part of our design, but not planned to be implemented for a while. Events such as this are planned for the full Xsyon launch (after the Prelude).

Pandamin asks:

Are there plans to allow tents etc, to be set up by single players outside of tribes territory?
No, but players can create single player tibes. I may allow building outside of tribe territories later, but they won't be protected as in tribe zones.


Are flowing streams (current taking logs down the river) on the table?
Not for a long time. This would be a major undertaking, but I would like to do this.

Deacon asks:

will built defenses ever protect agains NPC's ? Will creatures alway climb straight up cliff faces, and run thru barricades etc like they're not even there? Will HIDE ever work against creatures as well?
NPC collision against slopes and buildings will be fixed before launch and hiding will work against creatures as well.

treyu asks:

what happens if for some reason there is a low population in the server that is not enough to generate a big number of quests?
We are creating a starter island where guides and developers will create quests if there are not enough.


Is taming going to be included soon? How many creatures can we control at a time? What grade of control will we have with our tamed creatures? How will this affect the PvP and alligment system (being attacked or attack another player's creature, etc)?
It will most likely come soon after the Prelude starts, if we can't get them fully implemented right before. You will be able to control one creature at a time. Creature attacks will affect alignment the same as your attacks.

afterclap asks:

I was wondering about the ping times, i haven't read up on server location but i get serious ping spikes up to 900ms and usually keep a steady average of 300ms here in sweden, 200ms on good days. Is this ping to be expected on release from my location or is this gonna be adressed somehow? (i mean is there anything you can do about it? or plan to do? im not well versed in network technology so please excuse me if dumb question)
The ping rates measure server activity in your zone in addition to actual ping. They are an approximation and actual ping should be faster than what you see. There is not much we can do about actual ping right now, but we are constantly working on optimizing calculations on the server. Currently terraforming can cause ping spikes and this will be greatly reduced when we 'bake' terrain on a daily basis.

Xsyon
01-07-2011, 06:45 AM
Questions for the week of 12/24 through 12/31 2010

trenixdecease asks:

Will there be the typical farm animals? For example, chickens, cows, horses, pigs, and sheep? In addition, will there be mutated livestock?
Chickens will be in soon. Others will come later, yes. We haven't planned for mutated livestock (only wild animal mutants), but it's a good suggestion.


Since there is going to be drugs (which includes alcohol), will there be withdrawal symptoms? In addition, will there be addictions so we would have to abuse a drug to reduce the withdrawal symptoms?
This hasn't been planned in this amount of depth yet. I like all this detail, but we can only do so much. We'll see how things go when we can expand the team.


Will weather affect livestock? For example, will we have to store hay for the winter and keep the livestock inside of a ranch so they wouldn't freeze?
The plan is yes. These are things planned for us to develop during the Prelude phase. Buildings will protect animals and humans from weather and so on.


Are crops going to be altered and be affected by season?
Yes, definitely.


Is there a chance that livestock could get sick?
Yes.


Will the overall mood of a livestock determine the quality of the dairy products produced?
Yes.


Are there going to be ways to enhance crop production? For example, adding manure, water, and picking out weeds?
Over time yes. Most likely agriculture will be simple at first and we will add to the system as we can.


I've heard that instruments are going to be implemented, will they benefit us in some sort of way or will they be purely for entertainment?
They will provide 'buffs'.


Like our characters, will animals have a visual weight loss/gain depending on how they're fed?
Animals will definitely grow in size and change from children to adults. We do not have multiple versions of animals to simulate weight gain though. Maybe in the future.


I've seen people purposely put walls on steep hills in order to barricade themselves. What are your plans to keep this balanced? Will we be allowed to climb these hills or would we have to use ladders?
We will have steps and ladders in the future, but players should also be able to barricade themselves as well.


Since we have a comfort meter and weather affects our stats, can our characters get sick?
This is planned for the future, but not soon. Weather effects will first affect players in terms of being wet, hot or cold, which will affect actions.


Is there going to be an injury system? For example, burns, cuts, bruises, poisons, infections, broken bones, and so on?
No set plans for this right now.


Will food spoil overtime? If so, will there be ways to slow the process?
It will decay / spoil, yes. There are no plans right now for ways to slow this.


Will there be achievements and titles?
Yes. Some titles will be in soon. We will add achievements over time.

aliksteel asks:

Discarded objects can be found by later scavengers or picked up and used by creatures. Does this mean when we drop items from our bags?
Yes, but the current system has changed so that discarded items count towards the 'respawning' of scrap piles.


Town mail boxes where players can send items and private messages. Will the ingame mail be for local(your tribe) only, Or will it be linked to every one, As long as you have there name?
It will be local and will require delivery between tribes.


Player honor lists will keep records of player achievements. Will player honor lists for achievements be anything more than just a list? Or is it going just be so we can see who did what and when?
The first lists will be things like top hunters, top questers, top crafters etc.

treyu asks:

What kind of NPCs will there be at launch? Will there be (if they are not in yet which I don't know) NPCs different than animals and wildlife, like human NPCs? I remember reading somewhere that there will be mutant humans, is that true? What kind of loot will they give after being killed?
At launch there will be only animals. Others will arrive during the prelude...


When I have played during this beta period I haven't seen a big quantity of NPCs, just some single bear or fox, is this going to be like that when the game goes live? Will there be pack of animals or "spawns" so that when many players are playing there is enough resources and pve content for everyone?
There will be packs. There will be more animals as they will breed and spawn children with our daily update. There will be many more types of animals. About 20 more animal types are ready.


Will there be any changes to the UI so that we can actually bind keys to actions, like equipping different weapons, using skills, etc? At the moment almost everything needs the mouse and click (equipping weapons, armor, using terraforming, etc), will that change?
You should be able to drag skill actions to the action bar and use assigned keys. I am thinking about quick equipping of weapons as well. This is on my list of things to do.

Xsyon
01-09-2011, 06:40 AM
Questions for the week of 12/31 through 1/7 2011

Deacon asks:

can we get it so the posts can actually touch on the verticle flats sides? A they touch...B they wont. the gap in between them just looks tacky, as well as you can fall thru if walking across top, and possibly get stuck. The yakitil corner post(A) allows it........but yakid stone post(B) does not ... (image in link)
Please report this as a bug and we will fix this.

Caduryn asks:

Will we be able to continue Buildings that other Tribe-Member started? Feels stupid that i canīt access them as the Tribe-Leader. ^^
This will be done in 2 or 3 weeks when construction is revised.


Deacon ads:

shouldnt tribe leader be able to allow "anyone" he want to add to projects or even build or start them.
This will also be done in 2 or 3 weeks when construction is revised

Treyu's question:
Was answered here (http://www.xsyon.com/forum/showthread.php/2522-Official-FAQ-List?[/COLOR]p=36778&viewfull=1#post36778)

Gandhi asks:

I read, that there will be no hard skill cap. So, how much skill i can max out? I hope Xsyon will be no grind-game, like Darkfall is. In Darkfall the developers also promised a soft skill cap, but in reality you could max oiut almost all skills, when you spent enough time for grinding. I hope this will be different here.
I am not done balancing the skill cap, but you should not be able to grind all skills. There is a general soft cap and soft caps within each skill group (crafts, combat etc.). I am currently finishing the effects of tools and materials and revising crafting so that proper selection at crafting will be as important as skill level.

afterclaps's question
Was answered here (http://www.xsyon.com/forum/showthread.php/2522-Official-FAQ-List?[/COLOR]p=36779&viewfull=1#post36779) (last question)

otomotopia asks:

When will we be able to raid other tribes? And what systems are you planning for that?
Not for a while. This was planned for after the Prelude, which will last at least 6 months. When a raiding system is implemented I will first look at what other games do and what systems have had success.


February will be wipe time, but I'm assuming its also major content patch day. What should we be looking forward to testing in the coming weeks?
Most content will be in before the wipe. The only content that will be added at wipe are a much larger variety of creatures. Over the coming weeks the main things to be added and tested are the quest system, and changes to crafting, construction and combat.


*edit* Also, will we be able to participate in wars soon? What are the conquest victory conditions? Can we take more then one territory now?
As with raiding tribes, this won't happen for a while. The first implementation will allow for players to claim and fight over additional territories, but not their main tribal zone.

Xsyon
05-30-2011, 05:00 PM
Questions for the week of 1/7 through 1/14 2011


Caduryn asks:
Are Tools lootable in PVP?
Yes

Will Tribe Alliances work inside the Game-code?
Yes, eventually we will add coded alliances which will allow tribes to share housing and permissions with allies.

A single player could destroy a single tribe by removing any near by trees, what preventions will be put in place to avoid this? (this question was summarized)
You can no longer cut trees in other tribe zones.

mrcalhou asks:


What will happen if there are more tribes than there is space to allow them to
have land access?
We will continue to expand the world. This hasn't become an issue yet.

trenixdecease asks:


Will you be able to teach pets how to do tricks?
We don't have plans for this. It's been added to our suggestions list.

Will there be a process that you have to undergo in order to teach a pet his or her name?
No. You will simply be able to name tamed pets.

Would you have to command the pet to attack by text, would it be an action, or would it be automatic?
There will be a pet command bar with icons to select attack, follow and other pet actions.

Are insects ever going to make their way into the game? Whether for bait, food, or even possibly honey?
There are no immediate plans for this, but anything is possible for the future.

Will animals die from overage?
Yes.

Are we ever going to have the ability to customize our own structures? For example, choosing the size of the house, choosing type of house (wooden, stone), making two story houses, and even making rooms inside of a house?
Yes. As the architecture system expands, it will be more based on components such as walls, floors and stairs. Multiple story buildlings will be possible to build.

chaotix999 asks:

Will there be a menu to at least allow you to see which tribe members are online or at least within the zone? I know its not exactly a realistic menu but ideally if this were real you would know who is around the tribelands at least at any given moment without having to wander around the camp to see if they are still there
This has been added to our suggestions list and will be done eventually.

Demiwar asks:

From my understanding of previous answers, tribes will be able to adapt certain
items as currency, such as bottle caps or pennies. While I love the idea, my
concern is inflation. Will there be any way to authenticate common items such
as bottlecaps by stamping them to show that they are authentic currency of a
certain tribe allowing the tribal leaders to control the flow of money into
their economy? If yes, would we be able to customize the name of our newly
stamped currency?
Tribes will be able to select a specific currency, but there are no plans for customizing or marking currency.

naneweer asks:

Will there be improvements made to the GUI, such as slider bars, customization
(as far as size, i.e drag your pack window to a certain shape)?
Over time yes, starting with sliders for scrolling through text lists.

Tool tips / Item information? Will there be item information, be it in pop up
tool tip form, so that you can see the weight, condition, crafting and combat
stat related?
Yes, this is functioning now.

As far as content currently in the game, available for construction/crafting,
are there plans to put in alot more? So far the game comes off as Native Indian
Survivor Man.. ish. Different type/sizes of housing, stuff that doesnt seem to
be only native american themed.(Nothing against it, just curious)
Yes, there are 8 sets of architectural components almost ready to be added to the game.

I know that it is planned to have variations in item quality and effectiveness,
but, will the type of material used affect the color as well? Most notable is
cloth gathering, seems to be a large array of cloth types and colors.. would
the color of the cloth chosen for each component affect the color of the
finished item? (I.E if an item needs fabric sheets and cloth straps, the color
of the fabric would decide the color of the main body of the item, and the
color of the straps would dictate the "secondary" color of the item?
Yes, this works now, but only the primary color of the crafted object is affected.

Will other forms of food be available? Hunting all those animals for crafting
parts and no meat seems rather odd. Fishing seems to take care of all food
needs starting out..mmm raw fish.
You will be able to gather meat from creatures and with agriculture players will be able to plant and harvest various crops.

More craftable props/items decorations, now or in the future?
Yes, starting with furniture such as tables and benches.

syriocop asks:

What UDP and TCP port xsyon uses, because some of us (me) would like to play
through a proxy
Port 2013 for the game. Port 10111 for the downloader.

Proxy support will be included?
Yes, should not be a problem.

Jikiki asks:

Will there be the possibility to salvage materials from crafted items or skill reverse-engineer crafted items to set the recipie.

Yes, crafted items will soon be able to be broken apart into components. Reverse engineering to obtain recipes has been added to our suggestions list.

Xsyon
05-30-2011, 06:20 PM
Questions for the week of 1/14 through 1/21 2011

trenixdecease asks:

Will rain water crops?
Yes.

Is magic going to make its way in or out of battles? Or both.
Magic will not be implemented for a long while, but eventually, yes. It is planned as nature / shaman type of magic system.

I wonder about the siege system or similar as you plan the end game pvp?
We will review other games siege system when we implement this. We will start with allowing siege of expansion totems.

banyo84 asks:

Will resource requirements for crafting be optimized and be more logical? Like
the "Metal Needle" from Toolcrafting uses "small metal plates"?!
Some recipes have been revised and others will continue to be revised over time.

Will the crafting UI get a revamp? So there's Filters for Sets or Arhcetypes?
And enabled mouse-scrolling and such?
Eventually yes. Mouse scrolling and a slider bar will be added first. Filters for sorting will be added later.


Ryskim asks:

Will we be seeing Energy regeneration bonuses and penalties from actions and
environments any time soon? EG: Resting, shelter, and
comfort/hunger/thirst/encumbrance modifiers.
Yes. Shelter will increase regeneration rates and provide additional experience gain for being in a well rested state. Hunger and thirst already affects regeneration and health points as well as the success or failure of actions. We will continue to balance this.

xmechna asks:

can we get a list of the current Dev team. id love to know who my devs are
(forum names of course)
The current developer page is up to date and I've listed forum names for the active team. Most of the developers read the forums to stay up to date with the community, but don't post.

since this is a progressing game will we see new player character types
cyborgs or quadrupeds (iconic animals not half animal half human) quadrupeds
being rarely seen in games ( just no elves or orcs please i beg of you).
We don't have any plans for player cyborgs, elves or orcs, but we may allow for players to control or play animals or other creatures in the future. Player mutants are a possibility. Other character types are planned but will not be announced until we are ready to introduce them.

in pvp will we be able to do full body loot ( i hate the idea it makes pvp less
appealing to normal people and a hayday for hardcore players)
We have full loot on a timer. We will balance the loot timer after our revised combat system is working. We are considering a few slots for protected bound objects (it's on our suggestions list).

will tamers be able to have more than 1 pet out at a time?
Initially, no. In time it's likely, but we will need to test this first.

is tinkering going to be ingame for release if so what types of things will you be able to make?

We have no immediate plans for tinkering, but of course as our team expands and time goes on we'd love to add more and more! Tinkering is something for the future.

Xsyon
05-30-2011, 07:12 PM
Questions for the week of 1/21 through 1/28 2011

xmechna asks:


will there be more than 1 unarmed combat style be it kickboxing karate or something that could represent a monk style
We currently have no plans for this.

yoori asks:

What about water storage? Will we have water pouches to carry with us?
Yes. This is partially implemented and should be in game soon.

What about public water storage or personal water storage in village like barrels, to use while working in village?
We have no plans for barrels or public water storage, but it would not be difficult to add. This has been added to our suggestions list.

Our livestock will need a water source too are there any plans for that?
We will lay out the details for tending livestock in the future. This is not on our current list of tasks. Combat revisions, architecture changes and agriculture will come before this.

Will we get shields? It's reasonable and easy to make with wood sheets or metal sheets and leather straps for example, shouldn't be hard to code in combat system either.
Yes, shields will be added in the near future as part of our combat revisions.

Will we be or are we able to divide stacks of objects for example take 50 nails from 200 nails stack?
Yes, this is implemented now.

Will we be able to hide/sneak while in combat mode?
Currently, no.

Fiku asks:


Will we get a borderless fullscreen window mode?
Yes, we have a borderless fullscreen mode now.

Stundorn asks:




is it possible to make the storage dragable, maybe like the movement for architecture projects.

It's cumbersome to empty a 50 slot basket just to replace him instead of dragging him some meters away.

This would be possible and has been added to our suggestions list. I will consider adding this with the coming architecture revisions.

lp0okmnji9 asks:




Will we ever be able to move the ui? Will we ever be able to have custom made ui's like in most mmo's. Will you'll make the system so we can custom make ui's to tailor our own well being?
We will improve the UI over time, but this is not a high priority item right now.

Will we be able to make farm land sections? If so will we be able to plant different seeds in the future of xyson?
Yes, we are currently working on this.

Will there be a way to craft nail and bolt molds to allow the crafting of nails and bolts by smelting down metal parts into hot metal then using the mold and hot metal to make nails and bolt? Could also lead to other progression along the way in the crafting system as the future unfolds in xyson.
Yes, metal crafting will during the Prelude phase.

chaotix999 asks:

Will grass or other plants ever grow back over terraformed land?
Yes, grass will spread during the Spring and trees will sprout near other trees.

Also what is with much of the flowers we find from foraging? Can we know what future use they will have.
Future uses will include dyes, medications and poison.

Sakho asks:

How is the situation of cooking? Will be at launch? What kind of food can we expect
The cooking system was put on hold a while ago. The initial basic system was scrapped in favor of a system that allows for combining items to create custom recipes. This was almost completed but put on the back burner as other tasks became priorities and the programmer assigned to complete cooking didn't work out. Cooking will be implemented along with agriculture.

aliksteel asks:

I have never seen the combat logs for Xsyon. Will you allow a parser (reads combat logs) like Advanced Combat Tracker (http://advancedcombattracker.com/home.php) to work with the game?
I'll look into that, but probably not. Combat calculations are processed on the server and much of the statistical information is not currently sent to clients.

Xsyon
05-30-2011, 08:36 PM
Questions for the week of 1/28 through 2/4 2011

Deacon Asks:


In relation to aliksteel's question. There are "auto targeting" softwares out there. Is there a plan to prevent this type of thing being used? I'm not familiar with the difficulty of using them or stopping them, so just asking.
With our coming revised combat system, auto targetting systems will not work. Targetting will be based on directional swings and checked for validity on the server.

In the tribal rank privleges section under resource...there is gather. Does that mean that outsiders wont be able to gather resources on junk piles without permission? I ask because it seems odd if a tribe member cannot physically gather because of not having this checked, but any outsider can come by and do it, with only a message saying he is transgressing on a tribe's land.
Yes, outsiders should be blocked from gathering junk on tribal lands now.


Shaggy Asks:


When will we be able to design our own buildings?
More basic parts will be introduced in June with additions throughout the summer.


Can we ever expect any sort of tooltips? I like the idea of having to figure things out for yourself but its the kind of thing where idealism is trumped by practicality. You can't really expect the game to take off keeping everyone in the dark for too long.
Tooltips are on for items and will display additional information as needed. Additional tooltips will be added as we progress with adding new features.


Will we ever get a "who's online" feature?
At least for your tribe mates, yes. This is in our task list.


Aliksteel Asks:


Will tribes still get to pick there own Tribal Colors and Emblem? I know you have some pre-set colors and emblems in game now, But I want to know if the larger tribes will still get to submit our own emblems? If so, Well it be in game before the end of Prelude?
This is actually set up, but we haven't dealt with it because of the chaotic launch. I've taken a note to get this finalized in June.


The plan that would let us have our tribal colors on our armor and it giving us a boost in stat's, Is it still on the table? If so when can we look for this in-game?
Wearing tribal colors already gives a minor boost to crafting and will give boosts in combat as well.


Will meat ever be loot off of animal's? If so will this be in before the end of prelude?
Yes, meat will looted. It's a simple switch to turn it on. It hasn't been turned on yet as there is no need for meat until we have cooking properly implemented.


Can you loot skin already? I don't remember looting leather/skin.Will skin ever be loot off of animal's? If so will this be in before the end of prelude?
You can gather leather from animals already.


What will be the max number of expansion totems for a tribe be?
This will be decided after testing expansion totems.

Xsyon
05-30-2011, 09:32 PM
Questions from 2/4 to 5/23 2011

Gandhi Asks:


I know there will be a soft skill cap in game. But does that mean, that you can be for example both: a really good crafter and a really good fighter? Ordo you have to choose, if you want either be a good crafter or a good fighter? I hope, that you have to chosses, because if everyone is able to do everything, there would probably be no need for specialized crafters.
There currently is a soft skill cap but it needs balancing. The goal is slow gain both within and across skill groups so that players will tend to focus on either combat, actions or crafting and specialize in particular weapons or crafts. This will be balanced after our combat revisions are done.


mrwooj Asks:


As a solo player will i be able to claim some land and build on it, knowing that it cannot be taken away in a heartbeat. If i cannot, then what is the point of me playing. i would forever be building and losing, or i would give up on owning land and building, at which point i would surely leave the game.
Yes, you can currently claim a homestead which is safe.


STAR_GOD Asks:


What happens if I take holiday and dont wanna pay but like to deactivate account is there such option to deactivate account for some time without loosing toon?

What happens if I stop miss date of monthly subscription? Do I get automaticly deleated, deactivated and what implications are there to totems?
Characters are not deleted if your account subscription is deactivated either intentionally or because of a skipped payment.


What happens if I deactivate account and I am tribe leader does that mean I lose totem?
Currently, nothing.


How are you dealing with people that have totems placed but have left the game? Does it get deleted and tribe automatically disbands or leadership gets passed on? what about homesteads do they disapear?
We will implement totem decay for abandoned homesteads and tribes in the future, but this will take into effect only for players that have been completely inactive for a long period of time (6 to 9 months for example). All players will be informed of this before it is implemented.


Volcom Asks:


Anymore info on safe zones and territory control? A lot of people looking at this waiting to see how he handles it. To me this could make or break the game. You need something to fight over.
Our first step will be to add expansion totems and resources that can be fought over.


Tredo Asks:


So if I set up a tribe and its neutral or good aligned, and I know gates are coming, can the gate be set so that "evil" characters can't use that gate???
Gates will be set so that only your tribe can use them. Tribes will also be able to allow allies to use the gates if they desire.



Can I section off a part of the tribal area where only certain people have access? Set like a pass phrase you have to enter for the gate to open? or have to be set a certain rank in the tribe to able to go past that gate?
This is a good idea and has been added to our suggestions list.


vagabond80 Asks:


Do architecture buildings that require multiple components allow for differences in colour/fabric?

For example a lumberjack tent, can I use 1 red wool 1 green linen and 2 blue denim tarps? Or do they all have to be exactly the same as in 4 green linen, 4 blue denim etc.

Considering the vast area (I quite like this) of cloth and colours this might make architecture a bit more difficult than it needs to be.
Right now this requires the same type of cloth, but we plan to add patchwork cloth tarps in the near future.


De7ilx Asks:


What will be after prelude? Is the game going to be in different ERA-s starting with the prelude?
If so will the game go into modern civilization like it is today and beyond into future ?
If it will be in ERA-s and we reach into modern civilication then the features that are in Prelude will be still in?
Like New players starting in Prelude age and evolve into future? For example older players have modern guns and you only have knife and axe? Like future vs stoneage ?
After the Prelude the game will be released in expansions that will add new lands. The plan is to introduce new parts of the world and cultures with each expansion.


Will there ever be customizable houses and buildings? Like castles and keeps where we have many floors and you actually can walk inside and build additional parts of the castle, expand it and build new floors on it? Something like in Sims franchise has - custom build houses not pre made models.
Yes. The basics for this are already in place. Soon we will add more walls and component parts such as floors, roofs and stairs. Eventually we would like to create smaller tileable component parts similar to the Sims.


Will the game graphics will stay same or replaced with more better one in future?
As our team grows and time goes on we will of course improve and update graphics.


Will there ever be terraforrming like making holes into mountain? With some kind of drilling machine? Tunnels mines etc ?
We would like to add this, but it will require major changes to how we store terrain data. It won't happen any time soon.


Will there ever be boats/ships? That can be built and used to move on water?
We plan to have boats, but they won't be in game for a while (after summer for certain).


Will there ever be structures like bridges that could be placed over the rivers?
Yes. The models for a few bridges are already created. We will add these to the game soon.


Will there ever be possibility to expand the Tribe territories (after the maximum user limit is hit) with some kind of land control towers? (Just like in Settlers 4)
And the claim towers would be vunerable to attacks and when destroyed the land would be lost? (The structures inside that land would became vunerable to attacks)

Yes. This is basically what our expansion totems will be.


Will the game world be expanded further into different landscapes than the current one is ? Like sea and other continents where u possibly can get only with boats/ships?
If so will there be weather conditins like storm on sea that could sink the boats/ships?
Yes. The first expansions will cover other areas of California and Nevada, but we plan to expand to other parts of the world as time goes on.


Will there ever be introduced Mining where you could get materials like Gold, Silver, Bronse, Iron and many other materials ?
Yes. Should be during the Prelude.


On the loading screen of the game there is 2 man sitting on a camp fire and background there is huge modern skyscrapers. Are this is the part of where the game will go or just random picture not related to future game content?
There will be modern ruins in the future and we've built models for these. We will implement them once we design a mechanism for how these can be destroyed and manipulated.


Will we ever be able to build skyscrapers just like on the loading screen of the game?
Possibly. We will have limits on building construction initially and need to test to see what effects on loading and rendering huge structures will have.


If the game goes into the future will be able to eventually build skyscrapers etc? What would happen with the current game landscape?
The current landscape will stay the same with terraformed changes.


If the game would go in to the far future will there be features like space, other planets, spaceships, space warfare, crew inside spaceships etc?
No plans for this. One day at a time.


Joph Asks:


When new skills are added to the game that use Charm will our stat points be refunded so we can realocate them?
Yes, we will allow for shifting of stats when Charm and Spirit become more useful.


Hellaciouss Asks:


Question 1. The "Dirt" System. Currently you are required to have dirt in your pack to raise land and when you lower land dirt goes in your pack. This system is very inconvenient to the player when a player just needs to lower a small hill, or raise one. I don't quite see a reason for the "dirt" other then a slight "realism" factor that adds a lot of inconvenience. What is the worry about not having the dirt? Couldn't some system be implemented that when a totem is destroyed/removed all land is put back to its original levels? If the Dirt System is kept in what keeps someone from just filling a bin, walking down the river and dropping the bin off? Do bins vanish after a certain time on non-tribal land if they aren't interacted with? If not would you rather have tons and tons of bin filled with dirt all over the game world?
This is something to think about and has been noted in our balancing notes for the future.


Question 2. When are "Gates" going to be put in that we can open and close on our walls to keep people out?
Yes.


Question 3. When are more items going to be added to Masonry and Bonecraft? Cooking?
We don't have any immediate plans for this. We may shift some wall recipes over to Masonry.


mrtastycakes Asks:


when are you adding gates to are bases so people cant just log in and the pking system for evil vs evil tribes...
Should be working by the end of June. We will be testing these this week.


coca Asks:


Have you considered limiting the total number of recipe types per character?
Yes, but as we plan to add many more recipes in the future, we haven't set any limits yet.

Xsyon
05-30-2011, 10:38 PM
Questions for the week of 5/23 through 5/30 2011

Jemmus Asks:


How do the animals interact with each other? If we have bears in an area, do they drive away/consume the deer? If dogs, do they drive away/consume chickens? Do dogs and coyotes get along? Basically what I'm wondering is if there's a check and balance among the animals. If we, say, conserve bears, are we losing deer population?

P.S. Where are the pumas? : )
Aggressive creatures (bears) do attack and kill non aggressive creatures (deer). Some creatures tend to run and hide from others so they will move from one area to another. We will implement some creature tracking tools soon so that we can observe the results of our current system and balance things as we go. The pumas are hiding.

Aiden Asks:


What kind of options are being looked at for transport/travel (pack animals, carts, etc) and is there any kind of timeline on implementation of those systems?
Carts (pushed by humans and creatures) are on our task list, but we don't have a timeline for this. It all depends on how things go with the new programmers and how well our plans to continue to expand this summer go.


Are there any plans to do away with the "same-type, same-color" requirements for crafting/architecture? For example, will I eventually be able to make a spiked log wall out of several different types of logs (as long as I have 10 logs available)?
No current plans for this.


Are there any plans for totem decay in the future? I know it will need to be awhile (many people may come flooding back in after combat, etc). Just curious.
Yes, but totems will take a while to decay. I think a minimum of 6 months, but this will be discussed with players before it's implemented.


MrDDT Asks:


Are there any plans to help exporting of items other than killing yourself and respawning at your totem? Carts, mules, take a rope and tying stuff up and dragging it, sleds etc?
Yes, pack animals and carts. We'll look into the possibilities after the combat revisions and agriculture system are done.


Skill decay? Soft cap? Hard cap?
We have a soft cap on skills that needs to be balanced. When we balance this skills will decay. This will be looked at in June.


Stats WTF? They almost never change. Planned? Going to be changed? (IMO I think they should change much much faster based on skill usage)
Balancing this is part of the plans for June.


How are the pools going to be split up? Are there going to be pools like talked about before with Combat being one pool, crafting another, misc another etc.
Skills are grouped as follows:
Combat
Crafting
Construction
Resource gathering
Physical actions
Trade skills

Trade skills is the group that will grow the most in the future and will include skills such as healing and cooking.


HP system seems a bit off. Right now combat skills do not give exp (Pretty sure) also there are only a few combat skills. So to be good in combat you must trade every skill in the game just to get HP. Is this going to be reworked?
Combat will give experience and increase skill much more with the combat revisions being worked on right now.


NorCalGooey Asks:


How are you going to prevent warring tribes from abusing ALT ACCOUNT safe zone tribes???


Meaning that even if there is a REQUIREMENT for warring tribes to have their home totem area completely unsafe because they are attackers themselves, that doesn't make their items unprotected. People think outside the box.
We'll have to think about this when the time comes. We don't have everything perfectly worked out and of course issues like this will arise.


Krimara Asks:


Are we going to able to terraform rocks, such as granite and the like in the future?

Sorry if this one has already been answered. I haven't been able to find anything relating to it so far.
Yes, though we will first see if we can implement tunneling.


ColonelTEE3 Asks:


Currently you need to open a bag and drag and drop your weapons to change them out.

Are there plans to make switching weapons easier, or add weapon hotkeys, to allow for people to change easily and swiftly from archery to melee back to archery during combat?
We have this on our suggestions list and will consider it when we have time.


Gandhi Asks:


Good evening,

Is there a skill decay for the crafting and gathering skills? I leveled up several of these skills, but i dont see any decay. I think that is a big problem of this game, because it enforces the problem of almost every tribe being self-sufficent, when everybody is able to produce everything.
Currently no, but skill decay will be worked on in June.


KeithStone Asks:


Are safe zones going to be removed at some point where we need to use walls/gates to keep people out of tribe zones?
Starting with expansion totems, yes. After we see the dynamics that happen when tribes war over expansion we plan to allow tribes to turn off their safe zones permanently to allow them become warring tribes. The option to remain a safe tribe will be in place during the Prelude. The future will depend on how the game evolves and this will be requesting feedback from all players regarding this (through emails and surveys, not just on the forums).


Thraz Asks:


When will cooking and farming be implemented?
We don't have a set date, but we've started working on farming, which will be accompanied by cooking. It will be the focus after combat revisions are in place.


Subspace Asks:


First off, wanted to say I think you guys are doing great.

Here are my questions:

1. Do you see value in allowing us to have global chat for the purposes of buying and selling. We could only access it by building a HAM radio, and only use the radio in our settlement. It would give us a reason to use the carts and transports mentioned by others above.
Yes, we are considering linking chat between allied tribes for the purposes of trade. We don't know when this will be looked at though.


2. 6 months from now, how many additional skills will have been added to the game?
I'm unsure, but cooking, healing, farming and metalworking are in the works.


3. Will PvE elements such as ruined cities be added to the game? Underground cave systems? Will we ever run into modern technology?
Unklikely during the Prelude. When we expand Xsyon after this year, yes.


4. I notice that some of the tents do not have the ability to enter. Are these symbolic structures that you will eventually be able to get inside of and have more space, or is the intention to be what-you-see-is-what-you-get in terms of usable space?
These will be fixed so that all tents can be entered.


5. Having played many client/server based games, I am unaccustomed to such long loading times. Can you please explain what is going on behind the scenes in making loading so slow. Are there plans to speed it up, and what is your best guess on what the eventual load times will be.
Loading times are erratic as not all players experience slow loading times (for example, the game always loads within around 2 minutes for me). A few things seem to be happening, and one is a conflict when many players are entering the world at the same time. Because of the changeable terrain and construction projects, a lot of information does load when you enter the game. We plan to reduce the loaded area to about 1/4 of what is loaded now and then continue to see what can be improved to reduce loading times. This is slated for soon after combat revisions are done.


fatboy21007 Asks:


i have 1 question. What is your version of content and when do we expect to get that version of a content update?
The question isn't clear to me, but we have a lot of physical content that we plan to add in June and July including architecture components, furniture, female armor sets, two handed weapons and terrain beyond the mist. Most of the actual content has already been patched out but we need to catch up with recipes and some necessary code adjustments.


Perefim Asks:


how long does it take to find chalk? I stood, ran, hopped, skipped, ate and crafted on above water lvl limestone today for 2+ hours and received 8 flint but no chalk...

if my demands are not met within 48 hours, I shall build campfires across the entire server.. and we shall enter a second age of apocalypse!!!!
Chalk has the same discovery rate as flint, but you must be in a limestone area. Have you started your wall of campfires?


I have a serious weekly question. zombies, they going to spawn at night, kinda like minecraft, regular animals during day... then muties, freaks and hell things at night.. would really make night time shelter needed and a blast to defend city during night.
When we introduce undead (technically called revenants, not zombies) they will arise from the ground at night and usually hide during the day.


Drevar Asks:


Will woodworking and masonry remain relegated to "secondary" skill status or will they receive content that makes them desireable as primary skills?

It is more work to get woodworking to 100 than toolcrafting, yet the "rewards" are very far from equal.
Woodworking and masonry will be expanded when we add furniture. You can expect some furniture in game this summer. One step at a time.

Xsyon
06-07-2011, 03:51 AM
Questions of the Week 5/30 through 6/6

Creator Asks:



(1) How soon till crates, and building storage are implemented. Loading times, and rendering, as well as server performance would increase if we didn't have 1000 bins per camp wouldn't it?
I can't give a time estimate for this. Crates would be easy to add, but would be no different than bins. One of the things we are working on now is reducing the amount of data loaded at any given time. This will slightly reduce the maximum view distance of detailed terrain and trees. We will check this on the test server and if it's acceptable it will load 1/4 of what is loaded now which will improve loading times and performance.


(2) Any plans for non silly hat gas mask? ( gas mask without other things attached, since you guys have a face slot. ) I have been told this is low priority and face mask slot is currently bugged.
There are no armor parts that currently use the face mask slot. We have plans to add masks but not for a while.


(3) From my professional experience, dev teams even indie ones have people with particular talents, or teams which focus on one side of the developments and one on another. Since coding and art are kinda opposite sides of the spectrum, why are we not seeing small amounts of content trickling into patches, such as new buildings, huts, walls, clothing and animals. which may share same or similiar code, ai and such?



Many scavengers have expressed disappointment and frustration over patches which offer no new content, as they are currently bored with the lack of things to do.
Would it not be best to implement maybe a new mob, or couple of new buildings every patch, especially ones where so much server side work is done and no new content is added?

We have a very small team, but of course we have separate artists and programmers. Our animator is working on combat animations and one of our character artists is taking a break, getting married this month! The rest of the artists have been working exclusively on terrain which will be ready for an expansion on June 15th, but are switching to new tasks this week.

We do have a lot of physical art done that hasn't been added (architecture parts, two handed weapons) because it requires additional code and testing for a proper implentation. We will add more regular content when our the terrain expansion is ready and the combat revisions are made public.


(4) Any plans or is it pheasable to reduce the subscription price for prologue players as the game lacks content, and many feel it is hard to justify paying the same price for a slow developing 10% - 20% finished mmo verses another mmo.
We plan to add some free time to all accounts soon and are going to improve our account back end so that we can do this.


(5) This one is a little more blunt but why can't Virtus, do anything about the severe issues with forum and website lag, 404's, loading etc? Doesn't take a genius to admin a website.
The problems that we had were due to our shared server host overloading the machine with too many sites. We've now moved to a dedicated web server so that we no longer haver these issues.

NorCalGooey Asks:


Three very important questions.

1) How are you going to prevent using alts AND/OR having a tribe member leave tribe to level up combat skills? Shouldn't combat be leveled up through fighting true enemies? I don't know how to prevent this, hopefully you do. I was thinking something along the lines of NPCs for leveling combat only...but then it just becomes "how many monsters can you kill?" for leveling combat. It seems hard to get this one right.
This is a tricky situation, however one thing that we have planned that may resolve this is keeping track of recent and frequent targets. Fighting with frequent targets (an enemy alt for example) would reduce skill gain.


2) Is HP gain going to remain how it is? Currently filling up the xp bar is the way to gain more HP. This forces everyone who wants to be good at combat to have to train all skills. Why? Because the lower the skill, the more xp you get and therefore the more HP you get. This kills any sort of character specialization if everyone who wants to have more HP has to train all skills equally (why equally? lower skills give more xp. so they would train those first).
This is a valid concern and I've taken note of it. I don't have an answer for this right now.


Also, with skill softcaps, skills will decay allowing for in theory, infinite level ups and HP?
Yes, there can be infinite level ups in theory. We will revise HP gain to slow it more as you gain levels.


3) Will stone walls decay? I personally think they shouldn't, unless not claimed by any land...then they should.

Look at this Xsyon video of our tribe really quick if you would. The video should auto jump to 2:28, so you can see what I mean.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SThQRhdsr5M&feature=player_detailpage#t=148s

How are we suppose to upkeep these walls here (at 2:28)? I can't even access them. Only the top and bottom rows I can access. Not to mention my tribe has close to 1k limestone walls. Or not to mention how unrealistic stone wall decay is.

I think it would be OKAY and actually somewhat necessary for stone walls (and everything) to decay if these areas are not inside a tribe land. This way, abandoned totem areas with completed structures would eventually clear themselves to clean the game world up. This would work well with totem decay. If a totem still had members in it, but all members were unsubscribed to Xsyon, the totem would begin to decay. After the totem decayed, the structures, including stone walls (and maybe even terraforming? this could be hard to code) would decay.
Off tribal lands, yes. On tribal lands, likely yes also. Even though it's not so realistic, it's important for driving the game. The problem with restoring hard to access walls should be resolved when you can build stairs and ladders.


Can you add something that shows our level on the UI? It would be nice to know what level I was without having to save all my skill points or write down my level on paper every time it changes.
I don't plan on this. Your level is not meant to be a visible stat.


Are we going to get any sort of auto zoom in feature for entering buildings? or even when there is solid objects in front of the camera, like a huge wall of dirt? right now the camera just gets stuck on the dirt and you have to manually zoom in
I will look into this when we finish architecture improvements.


b_ulam Asks:


1.(When) Will our crafting menus have sorting options?
-I would like to be able to sort by name of the set, slot the item fills and recently learned.
-I would also like a scroll bar and/or a scroll button which accelerates the scroll as you hold it.
Currenly it takes me almost 5 mins to get through my leather list.
Yes, to all of this. It's high up on my task list.


2. Will crafted items using rare/masterquality resources have a chance to craft items with additional features (e.g. +2 perception on a coyote-head-hat with ears on top)
Yes, very soon, and not just for master quality.

Aiden Asks:


#1 for me...is the lag/desync that plagues the server right now (especially but not only during combat) going to be resolved before and/or with the new combat system?
We've made some changes already on the test server and are awaiting feedback.


What kind of timeframe are we looking at for architecture changes and agriculture/farming being implemented?
Architecture, this month. Farming, unsure. I hope in July.


Same question for trade/transport options (carts, pack animals, etc.)
No current plans for this. We'll see what we can get done this month first.


Same question for a way to store/transport water.
I will bump this up on my task list as many player are asking for it, but I can't give any time estimates as we are working on many other tasks already.


Also, this coming spring (in-game) are trees already set to grow around those standing? (Is this in-game yet or will it be soon?) I ask because people are already working on clearcutting again...
We have been testing this and it should be ready for next in game Spring, yes.

mrwooj Asks:


- It seems that for such a long time there has been a problem with playing the game in fullscreen mode. If i alt-tab to windows 9 times out of 10 my game will crash. What are you doing about this issue? Playing a game in fullscreen mode is a fundamental aspect of any game.
This is on our bug list and we will get back to it again when we can. The problem is that none of the developers can reproduce this issue and we have tested a lot.


- I travel several zones trying to find 1 creature to kill. Sometimes i find a few, sometimes i find nothing. My running skill is maxed, so i dont even get any skill ups when i invest large amounts of time in the game TRYING to do something. Don't get me wrong - i like that creatures dont have static spawn points, but i do want to be able to hunt creatures on a regular basis. What are you doing to rectify this issue, or are you happy for me to waste hours of my time attempting to play the game? This makes the game more like a mecano set where all i can do is make things, than an RPG.

One of our programmers is working on a tool so that we can visibly track creatures better. There are currently several thousand creatures in the starting area (over 100 per zone at any given time), yet players complain that they can't find them. We're going to investigate this further once we have more time.


- The user interface cannot be moved onto the bottom corners of the screen, effectively forcing me to place interface items into my viewing area. This looks very unproffessional and cuts into my viewing area. Are you addressing this?
I will look into this. There was a reason that panels were set so that they can't overlap with the main command bar, but I will review this when we make interface improvements soon.


- Are there any plans to allow architecture structures such as walls to follow the lay of the land instead of always needing to be horizontal? If my totem is placed on sloping land fences are useless currently, as it is easy to jump over the low spots. Go for a drive and look around in real life - walls can follow the lay of the land.
Architectural parts need to stay horizontal so that they can snap together. You will soon be able to build multiple story walls, and this has given me the idea of adding additional double story wall parts.

MrDDT Asks:


Why does "ALT" pause the game?
I have never noticed this and this is the first I've heard about it. Please report this as a bug and we'll look into it.


Whats the plans for stronger animals?
I will review feedback this week and if stronger animals are needed we will adjust the current parameters. Animals do age and grow stronger already but we need more feedback to know what needs to be improved and balanced.


Scavenging seems really good. I get Master and VHQ stuff all the time. Plus with high Scavenging I get Master and VHQ stuff from junk piles (scrap). I dont really see the point in not training it up for just about any crafter. Is there going to be balance at all to this? IE hunting is almost worthless due to the fact you get it all scavenging.
Yes, I plan to make huntable resources more scarce through scavenging.


Whats the ideas behind better types of healing? So far Ive heard only healing in tribe buildings, and some plants. Is there going to be other things that can be used during combat? Also maybe like bandages, and some magics? (I know magics is far off, but things like that).
Yes, there will be bandages and salves made from plants.


Ranged weapons? We all want them, any ETA?
When we (developers and players) are satisfied with the revised combat, we'll add two handed weapons, then bows. So this is coming as soon as possible.


Protections for Newbie spawns? Right now a new player spawns and can be killed in seconds, plus they spawn in areas that can be controlled by other players without them even knowing it.
Spawn areas were set as safe zones. I will look into this.


Hotkeys, any word on actions being bound to hot keys more? Also more hotbars? Hot swapping weapons/tools?
Please submit a suggestion regarding this. What actions need bindings for example?


Weight limits for some bins? Right now I can carry 5000 brick in a grass basket. Im not sure thats right.
Weight limits for bins will be added.

Gandhi Asks:


You wrote, that you will introduce skill decay in june. Will this skill cap be a soft one? If yes, how many skills will be able to max out? And will the cap include all skills (I hope so), or will fighting and crafting skills be divided? What I mean with this last question is, if it will be possible to be a good crafter and a good fighter. I hope this will not be possible, because a sandbox game needs different types of players and not players who are able to do everything (you can see the result of this at Darkfall).
It will be a soft cap, or rather it is a soft cap, but I need to personally review this. The soft cap was coded over a year ago by a programmer no longer with the team. I will post more details after I've reviewed what is currently working or not working.


Will there be a possibility for players, who didnt start with basketry as starter skill, to learn how to produce baskets?
Yes. This is not working correctly. Basket will be found as scavenged recipes and will be gained as 'inspirations' for players who haven't started with basketry.

Drevar Asks:


Will we have skill locks similar to UO when skill decay is implemented? I know I will go all emonerdrage if I lose my 100 Woodworking or Toolcrafting to a fickle RNG when I would be happy to give up some useless (to me) basketry points.

Will it be made public how to prevent decay on a skill if locks are not in place at the time it is implemented? (use 40 times to keep it from falling, etc.)

Also want to say thanks for all the recent answers! Keep up the great work!
I will consider locks as a suggestion, though it wasn't part of the original design. Higher skills will decay less than lower skills.


Does QL on edible plants and fish currently have any effect on how much hunger is restored, or will QL only be used once they are needed as a craft material, e.g. in cooking or alchemy/medicine, etc?
Currently quality level affects only crafted items. It will affect cooking and medicine.

demondarkus Asks:


Will be a skill bar, that show how many you need to progress to gain 1 skill up, with indicators (example green if increase and red if decrease), because i think without this it will be difficult to know where you progressing or regressing.
Please submit this as a suggestion. This is not currently planned.

VeryWiiTee Asks:


1) I know that there were 20 animals that should have been ready at launch. I know of 3 new models.
The chicken, the manx, the douglas squirrel. Do you have a rough eta on the rest of the animals or have more been released that I haven't seen/discovered?
Will we see more animals that we can fight instead of critters?
There are currently 20 animals in game. One of our artists is fixing mutant creatures now as they had problems running with our animation sets. We have a few large animals planned for this summer including horses and cows, but they are not made yet.


2) In the beta we had canopys. Where they ditched in the prelude for now, will we gain them later or have no-one simply discovered them yet?
The canopys were moved into one of the architecture 'groups' not currently in game. They will be back when I'm done with the architecture revisions.


3) Animals should grow in strenght (age, experience, stats) is this working as intended and should we expect to meet animals soon that requires more than a single person to kill?
Will we be able to tell the difference on a weak animal and a strong animal?
It's working now. The tool we're building will help us determine differences between strong and weak animals so that we can adjust the balance to make sure it's noticeable.

ColonelTEE3 Asks:


Are manx heads and coyote ribs just for show, or is there a plan for what (currently) useless bones / animal parts will be for? As in -- will there be a bonecrafting recipe that uses generic rib cages, or any thing that uses chicken heads and feet?
There should be already some recipes that use generic ribs. I'll look into this. Most useless parts will eventually have uses such as in cooking. Some are just there for the distant future and may be used in shamanistic rituals for example.


Will there ever be any non-basketry related storage units craftable (leather pouches, bone crafted or wooden bins?)
Yes, there wil be leather packs and wooden bins. I'll see if I can add some of these soon. They're just waiting for recipes to be set up, which is one of my jobs. There's just only so much I can do at one time!

vectrexvo Asks:

1) It seems everyone is so focused with combat, when the combat system is fixed what will be the main focus to improve the game? The current plan is:

1) Finishing the architecture revisions.
2) Balancing and relatively simple changes requested by players.
3) Cooking.
4) Farming.
5) Expansion totems that can be fought over.


2) What plans are in the work to get more people interested and wanting to play?
Once we are satisfied with combat revisions and other small balance issues we will set up some free time for all players to get inactive players back in game. We will then also start to do press releases with regular content patches throughout the summer. We have been holding back on all publicity until we these combat changes are ready.


3) One last question, Will there be a system in place to make use of baskets for water, and food. You have no food or water for 3 days, you move super slow or die.. some sort of penalty... let's start doing something.. I'd rather not have to go back to playing wurm.Yes, there is a system in place. This should already affect movement and regeneration rates. It was balanced based on player feedback a while back. It may not be enough now as other things have changed in game.

Thanks for the questions. Most of these question this week are more of feedback to help me determine what we should work on balancing. The feedback helps!

Xsyon
06-14-2011, 03:33 AM
Vandal Asks:


1. What are your ideas about dealing with totem from dead tribes?
I am thinking of setting up totem decay and upkeep. At first it may be something as simple as requiring a tribe member to interact with a totem to keep it active.


2. How long is it going to take before the tribe is considered dead?
We will solicit feedback from players before this is implemented, but my thought right now is about 6 months.


3. What actions is going to be taken once a tribe is considered dead?
The totem will be removed and items will be freed of permissions. Abandoned buildings will be able to be removed.

Jadzia Asks:


When will you open up new lands ? It was promised for April, is it still in plan ?
The new lands are ready now. I will patch them out this week. I am going to hold out on clearing the mist on the public server until I'm done with redistributing resources (which is in progress right now).

b_ulam Asks:


i) Can we have a vessel to carry water? I'm always thirsty
This is on our task list, but I'm not sure when it will be ready.


ii) The [spine,flat,round] bones from small animals never successfully gather. Is this a bug or do those bones not exist in game yet? Will we be able to dissect small animal heads for small skulls later?

Small animals should yeild only small bones. I will check on this to ensure that it's showing the correct selections.


iii) Will there be a limit on the number of stories a structure can have when modular, multiple story structures are possible?
Yes, I have been testing these limits now. Three stories is the planned starting limit, possibly increasing this over time.


iv) Will we have altered field of view while inside? currently when i go inside my detumu chief tent i have a hard time navigating, opening bins, etc, as i cannot see myself half the time.

You can change your camera view to adjust for this. I have added more camera control to our suggestion list.


v) Is the tribal area a cylinder or a sphere? (will tall buildings have their peaks outside the tribal area)
It is a cylinder (based on the world as a 2D map).


vi) When my toon's feet are in water, no matter how shallow, he cannot jump. Is this on purpose or a glitch?
This is a glitch and will eventually be fixed.


vii) When terraforming ground which is covered by water, texture and resources are preserved (if there is a road or grass, etc, underwater where one raises, lowers, levels or clears the terrain, the road/grass/etc remains) Is this on purpose?
I will look into this.

NorCalGooey Asks:


Can you add more penalties to being hungry/thirsty...such as increased rate of skill/stat decay? Anything to give us more incentive to drink. Some skills in the game, that don't have a success rate and don't require much energy at all, don't need any water or food and there is no downside to it. This should change I think.
Yes, this will be revised again soon. Hunger and thirst had more effect originally, but it was reduced. It will be increased again when we add cooking and water containers.


Will SIEGE be added with or VERY soon after adding gates? If so, will safe zones be removed at that time? Safe zones cannot really be removed without a system in place for break down gates or climbing over walls.
It will take us a while before we add siege to towns. We will set up contested expansion totems first. After that we will allow tribes to first choose to remove safe zones.

Osirrus Asks:


How will the new architecture schemes be learnt in game? Will there be scavengable architecture schemes? And if so will they be level locked? My personal hope is no, we'll only learn new arch schemes through grinding. But then how is someone with level 100 arch sposed to learn the new stuff.....
There will be found schemes and I am revising scheme gain so that you can continue to gain schemes based on number of successful crafting attempts, not just skill gain. I will explain the changes better when they are ready.

VeryWiitee Asks:


1. When will we have the ability to ally with other tribes
I can't give a time estimate on this right now. I will try to incorporate this with expansion totems.


2. Perhaps more importantly when will we be able to tell friend from foe. Good from Evil and Neutral?
This will come in soon after combat revisions are done, if not before.


3. Will tribes get an activity row so we can see active/inactive members? When they were last online?
This is on my suggestions list, but again, I don't know when we'll get to it. We have a lot in progress right now.


4. Did animal taming drown in the combat/server updates and can we expect it soon?
Animal taming is on hold until we're done with combat, architecture and resource distribution revisions. Once we're done with the current tasks in progress I will be able to give a better estimate of what is coming next and when.


5. Would it be a viable solution to let people train animals for mounts to make trading easier instead of introducing/planning carts and wagons which needs animals to pull them.
Yes, I think so. However, mounts were not originally set up as 'containers'. NPCs do have a stored inventory similar to players, so this could be set up.


6. Are stat gain/decay in-game and working?
Yes. It is slow, but from examining the database it seems to be working correctly.


6a. If so will you give us a list of what skills affects what stats?
This should be in the manual already. I will ask Virtus to check this.


7. Have you thought about multi threading in Xsyon. Both SLI and Dual Cores/Quad Cores etc?
Xsyon is already multi threaded. Of course, we can and will continue to optimize this.

leagolx Asks:


1. When are we getting more mobs to hunt in the game.
Soon there will be mutant creatures. One of our artists is revising mutants right now so that they animate correctly with our current animation sets.


2. As always a update on the zombies.
No set time for this, we'll see after our current improvements are done.


3. When will pvp incentives be added.
The incentives for pvp are to gain loot and improve combat skills. If you have other incentives in mind, please submit a suggestion.


4. when will skill decay be added.
This is on my list for after the current improvements (so I should look into this in a few weeks).


5. Regional resources comming anytime soon?
Yes, with the next public update.


6. Any rarer recipes comming?
Yes, with the next public update.


7. Taming?
This has been put aside until combat and other changes are done. Then we'll see.


8. Cooking?
This will definitely come soon after combat and other changes are done. It's something that has been almost finished for a long time but had to be put aside.


9. When will comfort be put into the game
Same as skill decay.


10. Will we ever be able to go inside of the buildings we build?
With the exception of a few teepee structures that need to be fixed, you should be able to go inside of them now.

MrDDT Asks:


Combat changes to XP/HP. You said before that you were going to give combat skills more weight to HP, how are you going to give more HP to people that have already trained up combat?
This will be a hit point modifier based on your current skills.


What are some of the ideas for rare resources having effects on crafting and making people want these rare resources?
Rare resources will add stat bonuses to crafted items. This is already done and in testing now.


Im going to ask this every week, but carts or something like it should be #1 thing you are working on, when is this likely to come into play?
I will think about it after our current improvements are done. We really have too much going on right now and need to focus on what's almost done. I know it's something players want but it's something that is not implemented at all. You can keep asking though!


Any plans for more tiers to totem controls over resources and baskets/bin/containers? Like maybe a tribe bank.
No plans, but I've read some suggestions about this and will consider it.


With new skills like hunting coming into the game, are there going to be options to reset skill points?
I am thinking of setting up this option sometime this summer, but not within the next three or four weeks for sure.

Cctcowboy Asks:


1. Why did you lay "groundwork" for trees by adding tree data, then switch gears to combat without finishing farming directly after? Why not finish one thing before moving to another thing?
We didn't switch gears. Both combat and farming revisions are being worked on by different programers simultaneously. Combat revisions will be ready first so we are focused on testing those. Farming will take more time as some of the groundwork included reducing the amount of data loaded before we load up zones with farmland data. Also the programmer in charge of the farming changes helps with many aspects of the code, while the combat programmer is more focused on this singular task.


2. Why are things that were "close to being ready" in December still not released?

3. Why are there so many things "up in the air" but nothing completed?

4. Why are there so many small issues we've been asking for not fixed? (1 easy example being scroll speeds on recipe books. not most important just 1 example)
It's the same reasons for all of these things.

Primarily, we're a very small team. In December we had only two programmers (myself included) and I personally managed support, bug reports, monitoring the server and dealing with the community. Now we have four programmers, but one is working entirely on creating a server cluster system, optimizing the server code and creating tools to help us with testing and balancing. We have additional staff to handle a lot of my previous tasks, but only very recently are things finally getting in line so that I can focus better on programming.

Additionally, our original code from our old programmers (who have been gone for over a year) looked great on the surface but wasn't up to par. We've struggled constantly with this code and many things that we should have been able to put the final touches on required a complete recoding once we really looked into it. At this point almost all of the code from these old programmer has been redone.

Since the beginning of this year, because of the large influx of players, many small changes were put on hold to work on bigger tasks and to deal with daily emergencies including previously undetected exploits, system compatability issues and handling player disputes (and providing guides with the tools to do so).

Now that things have quieted down, I'm getting back to all the little unfinished tasks. It's just a matter of not enough time!

darkviper1 Asks:


1) Is it possible to add small parts of skills each patch rather than big "miracle" patches that include everything for that skill? Small amounts of new will go along way.
It's actually more productive for us to put out larger, less frequent patches right now. We've been trying to rush out patches but we're still working on too many critical changes. Once these critical changes are done we will be able to put out smaller patches more consistently.


2) Could zombies be implemented by using the zombie skin on bear AI, with beefed up hit points and damage, and just have them spawn near people at night?
Almost. The problem is that zombies wear armor and yield weapons (that can be looted). Since we completey revised AI and now combat, both systems need to be adjusted for NPC armor, weapons and inventories.


3) Even without armor and using starter weapons bears are too easy to kill. Is it possible to make bears a bit more challenging?
Yes,will be done within the next week or two.


4) The game definitely needs regional resources and rare resources. Is this possible? Also if rare resources are introduced can they be in a contested zones so there will be something to fight over?
This is in progress now, so it will be part of the next public update.


5) Can destroying a structure have a progress bar and be fairly long so we do not accidentally destroy our own structures?
This makes sense, yes. I will, however, probably just set up proper building dismantling first.

Thanks for all the questions!

Xsyon
06-23-2011, 09:59 PM
Vandal Asks:


1) It is going to be possible to eventually make party and be able to see our teamates HP/Stamina information in display windows?
We do plan to add the formation of parties, primarily for party chat. I will add the viewing of health and stamina to our suggestions list.

MrDDT Asks:


Is there going to be a chat revamp?
Yes, possibly soon. We have a new programmer helping out with interface tasks (he added the proper scroll bar and we are testing keyboard input for the split panel tonight). His focus is interface improvements, so feel free to start a thread with suggestions for the chat panel.


Are we going to get patches faster than once every 3 or 4 weeks?
Eventually, yes. This current patch has been taking a lot of time because we are pushing out a lot of big changes at once. After this patch we don't have any major changes (like the converstion to a 512 meter zone size), so we should be able to get patches out faster. It's really a matter of balancing things. More frequent patches means we get less done because we stop working and focus on testing and fixing for a day or two before each patch, and patch day is usually hectic.


Can we get more testing tools on the test server? Like maybe something to attack? Or global chat?
Global chat should be turned on. There are 5000 creatures wandering the test server and I keep getting mobbed by bears when I test.

b_ulam Asks:


Can you provide us with a complete, detailed breakdown of systems/features partially complete and/or being worked on? - Instead of us subscribers guessing each little thing that you're working on and asking about it, wouldn't it be easier (for us) if you just gave us up to date details on everything? - Anything which work has gone into we are interested to know about. - This thread feels like Xsyon Unreleased Feature Trivia, IMO
With each update I list what we're currently focused on. Additional tasks are usually decided and done on a day to day basis. It wouldn't be productive for me to give updates every time we add or complete a new task as just reporting it would take half my time. :)

There are some things I prefer not to announce in case they might not get finished or we end up not patching them out after testing them.

NorCalGooey Asks:


Will there be rare, hard to make (meaning time investment) items in this game that have use better than the more basic items?

Perhaps there is a rare chance to find some very tough metal...right now there is only ONE kind of metal (if you don't count the iron and steel wedges which don't make any specific type of item, such as IRON this or STEEL that). You can do this with pretty much all items. Just make different types of items (for metals, iron, steel, titanium etc) and give those different types better STATS (not quality, STATS...like perhaps a POOR QUALITY steel suit of armor would be heavier and more defensive than a MASTER QUALITY set of bone armor)

I think if i could sum up Xsyon right now, it would be "There is essentially zero risk and zero TRUE reward for everything you do a cool looking town is not a reward for RISK, it's just a reward for your time investment when it comes to having a nice tribal area. Something like finding rare resources and crafting powerful items is a reward because it makes you better than the next guy. I think what we have now is perfect for BASIC resources that SHOULD more or less be abundant to all. However, you need to do something more with the same type of resource, but a higher quality (again, using the metals...is titanium tougher than iron? I think so. This applies to everything. Certain types of wood are stronger or at least BETTER for specific tasks than other types of wood IRL as well)....just make titaninium much rarer to find and harder to craft than iron. Do this for all skills and along with removing safe zones you have brought risk/reward and therefore MEANING into the game.
Yes, done and coming in the next patch. Rare materials are distributed in different zones and they impart stat bonuses to crafted items.


Will the areas where mist is being removed be expansion totem lands? Or at least lands that have some sort of conflict and no safe zones?
The current plan is that they will be buildable as the current zones. We may expand to add some completely 'wild' zones but not with the first expansion. Placing a totem will reduce the chance of rare resources within a range of the totem.


Are we ever going to be able to terraform rock like granite? Perhaps we would need a much stronger tool and it would take 5x as long to terraform a square of granite.
This is planned for the future, yes, but we will first look into converting our terrain data into a system that will allow for digging caves. This will be a major undertaking so it won't happen soon.


A) is the desync an issue you know how to fix but cannot at this current time do to budget or some limitation of some sort? b) if not, why hasn't it been fixed. i think it maybe somewhat improved on the test server.
We did add improvements for this on the test server. If it continues to be a problem we will continue to work on solutions.

unclean666 Asks:


Can we get metal handles and blocks put into scavenging until you can get a metal works craft made which im sure will be quit awhile.I wouldent think it would be much work items are already coded and
back in alpha-beta I know I found some metal blocks from scavenging.
Done for the next patch.

Rudder Asks:


Can we get Travois instead of carts? Since the wheel has NOT been invented so far it would seem easier to program. A pair of small or medium poles, and a harness made by either a basketweaver or a leathercrafter. Travois are historical in this area as the Indigenous tribes in North America used them. Either Human power or Dog/Horse's were used to drag them around. Used for toting heavy loads - especially useful in this game since strength keeps dropping.
I've added this to our suggestions list. Yes, this would be easier than a cart (or we could do a cart without correctly rotating wheels for now). After the coming patch I will sit down and think of what's best to do next, carts (or somethings similar) or mounts, as this seems to be at the top of many players' list.

Trenchfoot Asks:






I want an FFA/FL open world where the players are given the tools to alter the world, and then set loose.
I want structures to be as safe as it gets.
I want siege mechanics to be one of, if not 'the' most difficult thing to achieve in the entire game. ie. The method by which you get past structures.
I want the ability to make peace (through war if necessary).
I want my enemies to be formidable (not pushovers).
I want my achievements to have a linear purpose (if conquering a resource is only valuable as a means to conquer more resources, this is circular to me, and therefore meaningless to pursue).
I want a predominantly zone free world (no amusement parks).
I want the world to be able to change (areas become safe/unsafe through alliances/war dynamically, as the players carve out the world).
I want communities to be able to enter into a state of victory with the opportunity, through hard work, to retain that state (victory being defined as: made safe by our own hands, for our people to enjoy).
My questions:

Which of these do you fully intend to remove?

What 'idea' (if any) will it be replaced with if you do remove it?

Which of these will definitely remain on the table for alteration?
It's difficult to answer this as these aren't all statements that I've made about the game, but I'll try.
Xsyon should be an open world, but not with attacking or destroying anything at all times.
Structures should have a level of safety, depending on defenses and choices made by players (alliances, choice to war or not etc.).
Siege mechanics have not been planned out yet. This was not part of the original design, and as I've stated before, it's something I'd like to add as many players have requested this. I want to first examine other games that successfully deal with siege systems.
Yes, you should be able to make peace.
Achievements should server different purposes, whether they provide something useful or are just for bragging rights.
Enemies should be formidable (and we will make creatures stronger soon, they are increasing in power, but not fast enough).
Xsyon should be a zone free seamless world.
The world should change dynamically, as determined by players.
Attaining 'victory' and maintaining safe zones through hard work (I think that's what you're getting at) is on the table.


inhabit Asks:


Why are you reluctant to implement totem decay now, is it simply not ready or another issue/concern? The game needs this sooner.
Paintbrush and a bit of varnish once a month j/k
Not reluctant, we just have too many other things to do first.

VeryWiiTee Asks:


1. Do stats increase even though a skill is maxed out? Will you still gain strength from terraforming even though terraforming is skill 100 (presuming terraforming is related to strength)?
Yes, you should.


2. Come agriculture, will we be able to replant terraformed terrain?
Yes.


3. Seeing that it is now spring, can you confirm new tree spawns?
They spawned on the test server. :) We haven't been able to patch this out because of the many changes we've made. Once we get the current patch out we'll add tree planting so players won't have to wait until the next Spring.


4. Will we see trees spawning throughout spring, or is it a set spawn?
They spawn throughout the season. They are not visible until a few days after they spawn.


The launcher/patcher, does it migrate patches/data into the files that is subject to a patch or is it a conventional patcher?
It migrates data into the larger files.

Drevar Asks:


Currently basketweaving and leatherworking have basic recipes for base clothing (many term these "underwear"), yet tailoring, the actual clothes making skill, does not. Was this intended or simply an issue of time or what? Will tailoring get such clothing in the near future?
Yes, in the near future you'll be able to make the same 'starter' clothes and more.


Some tailoring items inherit the color of the used cloth only on the icon but not on the 3d model and some others do not color corectly on either, namely white cloth items. Does the system still see the color correctly for "team color" purposes in these cases? Will these be tweaked later to be correctly shaded?The items do store the correct color for tribe bonuses. If an item does not seem to be showing the correct color, please report this as a bug so we can look into the specific armor or clothing part.

treyu Asks:


The most important thing that needs a change in the game for the rest of the new things (combat revision etc) to fully work is the desync and warping isues. You can't have good aiming combat in PvE or PvP if you see chars warping around, some desync etc. In the recent updates I haven't read anything regarding this, and I fear that when the updates are made into the public server, it will be bad due to the desync still there. Are you aware of this and do you have a fix in the very near future so that combat feels finally right and polished?
Yes, we've worked on this on the test server. If this is still a problem after this next patch, one of our programmers will focus on this more.


Are you going to change how camera moves while in combat mode with the new combat revamp? Now, when you swing and move the mouse to make a directional attack, the camera moves too and you can end up with the camera on top of your character ( not seeing what you have in front of you, for example, which can be a mess in combat), or at the ground. Shouldn't we have some fix camera when you enter combat mode to make it feel right?
We've adjusted this already and you'll be able to check this soon.

darkviper1 Asks:


Is it possible to get the dimensions of the functional gates?
They are 4 meter wall segements. The actual gate size will vary.

Book Asks:


Comfort, Hunger and Thirst... on a scale of 1 to 100 of things you're working on with 100 being the more distant future, is it closer to 10, or 90? Just curious. Sorry if this has been asked many times before, and feel free to extend the scale past 100 as I'm sure you're looking at all kinds of stuff.
20. Hunger and thirst effects were reduced many months ago but they will be increased soon. I will post more about this after this coming patch.

Xsyon
07-09-2011, 08:54 PM
MrDDT Asks:


Whats your plans to make items in game worthwhile to craft, acquire, or have?

1) Revise recipes so that better tools and armors rely on more rare items
2) Add materials with various bonuses (already done now).
3) Make these bonuses have more noticeable effects (in progress).
4) Add comfort, improve hunger, thirst and other states so that bonuses have more importance (in progress).


AI of animals, is this being worked on?
Yes. One of our programmers is working on combat and AI primarily. AI is being worked on in this order:
Movement synch (much improved now).
Animation synch (in progress).
Finding where the animals are going (a backend animal tracking tool is almost ready).
Animal stats (need to be made more difficult and balanced).
Collision map (it was working well, but there have been recent issues with this, possibly because of the conversion to 512 zones).
Additional AI, especially combat, so that creatures can dodge and parry.


Harder animals like mutants and zombies, or vampires or something is there something we going to see anytime soon?
Yes. We're going to make the current animals more difficult first. We have started some zombie testing already and mutants need fixed artwork which is being worked on right now.


Carts, or sleds? How soon before these items are in game?
I've bumped this up to a priority issue. I'm going to start on carts this week. I don't know how long it will take.


Stats? Right now it would take years to change your stats, is there going to be a change to this or should I just forget it and reroll now?
I'm going to review this within the next few weeks. Some players report that stats don't change, yet some players have definitely gained 10+ points in some stats. It does need to be improved. That's for sure.


Soft cap on skill pools and decay. How is this going to work? Whats your plans on how much limiting this will be?
One overall soft cap. An additional soft cap per skill group. I need to review the current state of player skills and skill gain before I can give more details on this. There currently is a soft cap, but clearly it wasn't enough, as nobody is noticing it.


Skill pools, what do you see for being about what is allowed for people to have per pool?
The goal is a balance, for example: A player can be a great fighter and master one craft, or a great crafter but only an average fighter, or the player can have decent overall skills (jack of all trades, master of none). The master levels (80+ in a skill) should have the most effect both on outcome and the skill cap.

NorCalGooey Asks:


Are you going to give tall characters a buff? Shorter chars have half the size as max size chars and the advantage in smaller hit box is very noticeable.
Tall characters have a longer reach. We will be testing this more as we continue to work on combat to make this a noticeable difference.


Do you guys know how to fix the zone out bug where after passing through 2 zones, all terraforming, trees, totems and buildings disappear? When I relog it all reappears.
This has been fixed and tested. If this still happens for you, please report this as a bug.


When will weapons be better than pre order weapons? I have supreme axes and from my testing they do about 4/5 of the damage a pre order does. Not bad, but still, there should be signifcantly better weapons than pre order. That or just tone down pre order weapons to be equal to a master quality weapon (in damage) or something.
Reducing the power of pre-order weapons is now on our short 'todo' list.


When will we get pole arms, staves, 2handers, archery? At least the first 3 should be pretty easy to implement. I'm a 2handed guy myself and saving some of my skill points for 2handers.
We don't have a set timeline for this. It's not difficult to add, but it takes time and we have other priorities to take care of first.


Architecture with "sims" like customization and ability to free design. How soon will this be implemented? Can you give a ball park (1-3 months?, 3-6 months?) estimate on when this will be patched into game?. I'm assuming this would also come with the multi story construction. I'd be surprised if this came out with the most recent patch, I understand the patch to be just new architecture recipes, not customization with wall building and multi story?
Our latest architecture patch is a step in this direction. We will have more parts and possibly multiple stories within the next month.


Shouldn't low level recipes stop giving XP? Why should it be as easy as grinding thread, string, and twine to 100 in basketry or tailoring?
Yes. Skill and XP gain is modified by the level of the recipe. This will be looked into this week. Balancing craft gain is one of our top priorities now.


Why can ANYONE craft EVERYTHING? this is so wrong on so many levels and is actually one of the major reasons not related to PVP that the game is dead population wise.
This is not as originally intended and balancing the whole system is a now a priority.


[QUOTE]Terraforming doesn't increase strength. I think it may be broken. Will you look into this? I'm 89 strength and I've terraformed enough to level 3 characters to 100 terraforming.
Will be looked into.


Will we ever be able to move our totem WITHOUT moving the tribe boundary? This could work by simply keeping the center of the sphere that is our tribe boundary at the same point, and having the totem independent from that.
Yes, this is on our list of improvements. I'm not sure when we will get to it, but it will happen.


Also, I know this is likely to never happen (because its the equivalent to permanent death), but if capital totem sieges and capture come into play (perhaps through MUTUAL AGREEMENT only), the tribe should get to choose where the clan stone (so to speak) goes. It should be big and obvious so it cannot be hidden, but can be in an area chosen by the tribe and independent from the tribe boundary center.
This will be considered. As with all suggestions that are not part of our original design, we need to think of all the positive and negative consequences.


You sure about stone wall decay? I hope you give it some thought
I have given this some thought. Right now stone wall decay isn't on our list of priorities. If it will just be something tedious it won't be added. It's not part of the original design, or something I find important to add.


Also, here is a simple idea I had for how safe zone removal could work in CAPITAL totem areas, but still have no capital totem capture...as well as giving Good Aligned tribes some options for SOME safety (too much causes abuse by warring tribes too and cannot work all together)

I guess my question is, could you read this idea really quick and give your thoughts on a system something like my proposal below?
I've kept your original proposal for our Suggestions. In short:

1) I don't plan to add NPC towns at all.

2) The idea of number of expansion totems per level of 'exposure' is interesting and something I will consider, though I think it should be based on safety or exposure and not alignment. (For example a Good aligned tribe could remove it's safe zone to allow for more expansion). We'll see. We're not quite ready to work on this yet.


You said yourself you want evil players to be like the monsters of the world. Wouldn't this work out better if you gave more incentive to evil players to be evil? This would give more PvP opportunity to good and neutral players as well, without the consequence of having an evil reputation.
I agree and I think the steps we've taken recently will encourage some players to be 'bandits'.


Will we ever gain hit points from other ways than gaining combat levels?? This is what I have started calling the level bar that gives 10 skill points and + hit points. Is there a better name than combat levels you could use for this? I can't call it skill levels because that is already taken.
Hit points will be better adjusted based on your combat skills and stats soon, but that's all I have planned.

Jadzia Asks:


The alignment system was a very fundamental part of the game. Do you have any ETA for that ?
It's in game. All of you have alignments, but they are not visible. We plan to work on consequences starting with death penalties within the next few weeks. We originally did have a few differences but they were removed because of player feedback.

VeryWiiTee Asks:


1) As far as I understood, Prelude ended safe zones, with the possible addition that war happens tribes could remove them sooner. This hasn't been altered or anything, has it?
1a) Well you did have an idea that meant permanent safe zones, but is this still the plan to go forward with that specific idea to restrict rather than to give options to protect yourself?
The plan hasn't changed for now.

I have some ideas that have been fermenting in my mind about the possibility of tribes creating safe territories but with outposts that would need to be defended. This could allow a coalition of warring tribes to have 'carebear' tribes under their protection. This is just an idea for now and I don't have the time to discuss the details (I'm sure questions will be asked). I just want you all to know that we have been paying attention and do have ideas for a balanced system when the time comes. We're not there yet. We need to balance what's in game first.


2) Will we be able to build diagonal instead of just horizontal/vertical so that we may utilize more of our area?
We are adding diagonal walls and other parts that will allow for this. (Very soon).


3) Will we be able to get more options concerning permissions, perhaps to keep out common tribe members from the tribe councils ruling area (rank permissions). Or say I have a house, but I only want GuideMihr and myself to be able to enter it and no one else (name permissions)?
Yes, we plan to have permissions on individual homes. This will be tricky for homes built from parts, but it will be added for tents soon.


4) You mentioned a The Sims sort of building 'mode'. Would that include the same effect with walls (but also kitchen tables/bathroom tables) melting together? Right now we have walls with cracks in the corners.
If have walls that don't fit tightly together, please report this as a bug. Walls should fit tightly in general (some, like the branch barricades won't). We can't have walls 'meld together' however. We will add furniture.

Book Asks:


I. Regarding the "keys" part of our inventory:
1) Will these keys allow us to lock / unlock our gates?
This is a place holder intended for future use for buildings and containers, but not for city gates. City gates should work for all tribe members. We'll see if it makes sense to change that in the future.


2) Will I be able to make a spare key to allow a friend access to my homestead if visiting on holiday?
Yes, keys would replace permissions if / when we add them.


3) Will these keys be lootable?
No plans for this.


II. It seems like your interest in Archaeology and Architecture comes through in the content of the game. In order to perhaps extrapolate future updates, and more importantly to make suggestions in keeping with the original design, did you have a main area of interest in Archaeology? The faint circular design in the background of the website's main page makes me think Aztec/Mayan, but thought I'd ask... paleolithic, epi-paleolithic(my favorite), neolithic? New world, old world? Just curious.
I have a degree in Egyptian Archaeology and wrote a book on Egyptian Temples. My interests are in ancient and medieval cultures. I do hope to expand Xsyon someday to have a an Egyptian zone as well as other areas. (Egyptian tops the list though).

unclean666 Asks:


Will you ever change up mats for tools.When I get orders for 20+ tools I find myself pulling WAY to much scrap metal just to find master small metal plates.There just way over used in tools.
Yes, we will revise all recipes this month to balance materials and distribution. It's now a priority.

Dubanka Asks:


Regarding the ability for players to dynamically shape the world.
- What percentage of the world do you envision as being able to be put under tribal control/conquerable?
It's hard to answer. I never envisioned Xsyon as a siege warfare game, as I've stated before. This is something players have been asking for which I agree is interesting and only adds to the original design.

The percentage of the world that is under tribal control and open for warfare is going to depend on our player base. I think it's something we can only see as time goes on. My goal is to provide the tools and see what players do with them. I want players eventually to be both the 'Players' and 'Dungeon Masters' of the world.


- Do you have a mechanic you will use to determine tribal control over an area, ie. how will a tribe establish control over an area?
The same as now, through totems.


- How much area will a single tribe be able to control?
Undecided for now.


- How will players know when they are in an area controlled by a tribe (as opposed to the tribes totem area)?
It will be the totem area.


- How can a tribe prevent another tribe from obtaining control of an area?

- How will a tribe resist being placed under the control of a tribe seeking to control an area?

- Will a controlling tribe have the ability to tax, or otherwise gain some benefit from the tribes in the area under its control?

- How do safe zones factor in this? or will safe zones not be permitted within area that is able to be controlled by tribes?
All that is planned is for tribes to potentially siege and conquer other tribes totems. It seems you are envisioning something completely different, that we do not have designed. As I've stated before, when we get to the point of full on sieges, myself and the other programmers will examine games with working siege systems and come up with a design that makes sense for Xsyon. The first step will be contested expansion totems or the ability for tribes to drop safe zones and be vulnerable to combat in exchange for better resources within their area.


- How do you plan for expansion totems to work? Will they work just like regular totems now - will they be safe zones? How many expansion totems will a tribe be able to place?
Expansion totems will not be safe. They will be claims of land that can be contested. I haven't decided on the totem limit, but it will be based on tribe population.


Regarding Combat
- When will we begin to see gear balancing? Or does the development team feel that gear is currently 'OK'?
Combat is still being worked on. The functions that determine damage are not balanced right and still need adjustment.


- Is there a design (functional) intent, besides weight, behind grass vs. cloth vs. leather vs. bone (armor)? Or is the distinction meant to be primarily vanity?
These all have very different stats, but as stated above, the damage functions need to be corrected.


- Is there a design (functional) intent behind blade vs. blunt vs. axe vs. pick (besides vanity)...furthermore is there meant to be variation within the weapon subsets (ie. axe type a vs. axe type f), or are the different models meant primarily for vanity.
Weapon groups have different stats. Individual weapons are more influenced by the quality and materials. As with armor, the damage functions need to be corrected in order for all of this to be noticeable.


- are there any plans to limit player speed in combat...i understand there is the intent to allow players to get away, but players should not be able to fight and 'get away' at the last minute of a fight...something along the lines of your character speed and stamina decrease along with your health.
Energy will be depleted more during combat and this will have more effects on movement.


- are there any plans to implement equipment that give bonus to player stats or abilitys (hp, speed, stam, armor, etc?).
Yes, and this was added last week. The changes are still in progress.


- I have seen herbs in 'preview' phase that enhanced health rejuvination. These appear to have been removed. Is that correct? If so, are there plans to reintroduce them?
No plants were added then removed from the game, but we do plan to introduce healing which will use herbs.


regarding character advancement.
- As it has been reported that char hps increases with levels, the char with the most skills trained, will be the highest level and will have the most hps, question: Once skill degradation is implemented, will it be possible to lose levels/hps as you lose skill levels?
You will not lose levels as that is simply a hidden stat to track overall skill gain through xp and has no other effect. There are no plans to have players lose hp, but these will be adjusted by stats and combat skills.


- Once skill degradation is put in place, will the game save the 'maximum %' achieved for a skill? Or will i gain experience by retraining it.
Retraining will gain more experience. The maximum skill achieved is also recorded in our database.

Darkviper Asks:


Currently our characters follow the terrain of the land beneath us when we are jumping or climbing on objects. You can not jump over a hill, regardless of how high you jump, if side of the hills slope is unclimbable.

Will this be changed so we can actually jump or walk on objects past impassible slopes?
We plan to add a climbing skill so that you can climb steep slopes, but it will be dangerous with a chance for the player to fall. This won't be introduced for a while.


Can the rank permissions be changed slightly so there is a "Build" and a "Destroy"?
Yes, I have added this to the suggestions.

Krimara Asks:


What affects the bonus provided for wearing tribal colors? Specifically, do you need to be wearing both colors, and would wearing multiple items with tribal colors increase bonuses?
Currently you get a bonus for wearing 50% of tribal colors (either one counts towards this). I plan to revise this soon, however, and we will add the final system to the game manual.


Would you consider adding information on the game play systems to the manual? I love that you're willing to answer these questions, but I think it would help if new players knew exactly how their character will change as they play and how those changes will affect their actions. For example how will their stats raise/lower? HP would probably be important as well.

On that note I've been curious about the end effect of stats.
Most actions are roughly based on 75% skill and 25% stats. We will add more information to the game manual after things are revised and balanced over the next few weeks.

Xsyon
07-09-2011, 09:36 PM
MrDDT Asks:


What are your plans to do with combat as far as strife and what to fight for or over, and how?
Non safe expansion totems that can claim better resources (that don't limit resources as a safe totem does).
Dropping safety in order to allow better resources in exsiting tribe zones.
Resource distribution and improved road movement (and probably carts) that should encourage trade but the need to protect trade routes from bandits.

That's what I have in mind for now.


How tight on skill caps for soft pools do you expect it to be? Like 1 or 2 skills per grouping? or 3 or 5? etc.
5-10. The groups are: combat, crafts, actions, trade skills and construction.


What are your plans next after this patch is out?
I will post a full update after answering these questions, but probably not tonight as this is taking a while.

NorCalGooey Asks:


If bows were ready 6 months ago, why haven't they been patched in yet? Is it first necessary to work out the desync issues
The art and animations are ready. The code needs to fit with our revised combat system, and yes, desynch issues need to be fixed (which now they have been). We first need to be satisfied with regular combat before we add bows.


ETA on removing green mist on East side of world?
A large portion of the east side will be ready for expansion in 2-3 weeks. For now though, I want to try to breathe life back into the main starting zones before expanding the green mist or it will just spread out players to 'more of the same'.

VeryWiiTee Asks:


1) You alked about trees 'dropping' cones, in which seeds can be found in. Are these going to be common are, uncommon or rare?
I've been discussing this with the team. They may be quite common, but planting seeds succesfully will not be so easy. We definitely need to have the system controlled or players will cover the world with trees. We need to make sure the amount of trees planted is manageable, and we do have restrictions, such as distances between trees, in the works.


2) With the resource distribution system, will it be possible to make variations in how a trees grows?. So that some trees (eg. Weeping Willows) grows near large amounts of water (streams, the lake etc.) but also spread out the tree types so that certain trees just can't grow in certain areas (the living conditions are not there. Or are we talking advanced system. Trees that are restricted in some areas can be planted by tribes if they tend to them (watering, etc) but they cannot spread in the area by themselves.
Yes, trees will grow better in certain zones and based on terrain type.


3) Can you add certain qualities to wood. Soft wood being exceptionally good for tools, weapons and the likes (increasing whatever.. precision, speed or decrease the weight of the item) whereas hard wood are more suitable to resist the ravages of weather (more durability and resistances to weather - it would deteriorate slower meaning less repairs) (that and question 2 would initiate trade between people)
Yes, these properties are set but not fully functional. Some materials should already be decaying faster. The effect of weather will be in soon as we've set up a temperature gauge for the next build.


4) At what range does animals, players and to come (mutants, revenants etc) render? I can see that objects such as logs, grass etc begins to render around 40m distance. Is this the case of mobs (animals, players etc)? My primary worry is it might be too low. (100-150m sounds to be an alright range taken that this game doesn't have static mob spawns - thus we need to look for the mobs, 40m in game is not all that much). It would also explain some people complaining about the inability to find mobs.
Creaures render at 128 meters. We are looking into this distance to see if it's why players are not seeing creatures, because there are many creatures in game right now (thousands in the starting area).


5) Would it be possible to allow roads to be build regardless of an object, such as Rock, Architecture Structures etc. are in the way? It would ease up village/town/city construction.
I will think about this and what negative consequences it would have.


6) Can you clarify what exactly is meant with "Having a high attribute score in one area will make some skills easier to learn and master" in the manual and especially the underlined in the quote?
Each skill or craft has associated stats. If you have high stats in that skill you will succeed more often and gain more skill and xp with each success.


7) Does it only increase your chance of finding rare object the further away from your own safe area you are or does it also include other safe areas?


7a) If both are taken into account, do the distance away from safe areas increase the chance equally or does the chance increase more if it is your own safe area than another safe area?
It includes all safe zones, but primarily your own. This is being adjusted.


8) Are you able to gain basket recipes without having basketry as your starting skill or is this still bugged?
Recipes for this can be found but we've made them too difficult. We will adjust the chance of finding these through scavenging for the next update.


9) Where did all the Small and Large Metal Plates, Small, Medium and Large Metal Sheet go? Did the uncommon (rare?) versions of nails, bolts, screws, rivets, Wedges etc overburden Scrap Metal stacks? We're getting nothing but nails etc. and no plates or sheets.
Sheets should be found now as well as small plates. Large metal plates have been removed from recipes now.


10) Whenever I sort stacks of scrap metal and leather from a nearby scrapyard I gain nothing from either of the mentioned resources. Is this a bug or intentional?
This was a bug as you are in a zone technically assigned to the green mist, so it wasn't yet set up for resources. We will patch out an updated distribution list this week.


11) Can you pretty please *doggy eyes and everything* increase the rate at which you gain stats, especially if you intent to increase the penalties for hunger and thirst. This would also allow us to more flexibly to change our build to fit the impending soft cap + skill decay.
Yes, after reviewing current gains and losses in the character database.

Dubanka Asks:


1. are there any plans to make certain zones expansion totem only, or even forbid totem placement entirely. With the above statement, those areas would likely become very active.
There are no plans for this. I am not convinced an area like this would be active. When we surveyed players to see how many would want a new server without safe zones less than 15% of players who responded to the survey in private wanted this, including most 'PVP' players. I would consider something like this in time, but only after a player survey. Our last surveys garnered a lot more responses than what we see here on the forums.


2. When are expansion totems planned to roll out. With new areas being opened, tribes/players will be forced to abandon months of effort to relocate, or be forced to spend long periods of time running just to get 'there'.
I don't have a set date right now. We will focus on other issues first and I will post regarding our plans in a full update. Players will not be forced to relocate. The plan is to add value to the starting areas as well as the new areas and players can use the new areas as hunting and scavenging grounds without having to dwell there.


3. WIth the relative distance of the game, and no current mounts available, are there any plans to implement a long distance running ability (must be out of combat for 5 mins to use, be under 50% encumberance, have over 80% stam, etc.) that will allows players to make these long distance runs more rapidly?
This is good suggestion and I will consider it for the immediate future. Thanks!

TheIsh Asks:


I would also like to know when bows will be implemented, as I like playing with a bow in most games. Also, will there be a way to cancel shots? Some games does not have this feature and it's really annoying. Thanks.
We don't have a timeline for this as we need to get regular combat finalized first. We will allow for canceling shots (we've set up canceling swings already).

meissner61 Asks:


Seeing as there are now maps all over the internet and its quite hard to travel without them, any chance for some sort of a map being implemented into the game? maybe something where the player has to explore to get the basic outline of the world. and then manually insert notes/marks for places of interest to him/her
I'm holding off on this until we have more time, as I'd like to set up an in depth mapping system.

inhabit Asks:


Will some form of new transport be added before death penalties are introduced?
We're planning to add carts now, which I believe is the main concern here as I know players use death as a means of rapid transport. :)

Osirrus Asks:


All question refer to post patch

does rebuilding dismantled structures give same skill gain as building a fresh structure?
It currently does but I will adjust this. This is one reason for losing materials during dismantling.


to clarify one of the new arch posts take only one long wood post as material use. i can build and dismantle it 3 times before losing the post and have to craft a new one. does that give 3x xp of building one "new build" post?
Correct for now, but this will be changed.


are stairs in game yet?
Not yet, but soon.


will gates be lockable and require keys?
For now, they will be useable by all tribe members only and not lockable.


is it currently possible to build multistory building in game?
Not yet, but soon (with stairs).


are bridges now in game?
Also not yet, but we have models built for this and they should be in within the next 2 weeks.


any plans to have roofing section that dont require there own support legs? (i.e can place on architecture walls as supports instead)
Not for now. We added the posts to avoid complications in the system. We will add larger floors and roofs though.


any plans for other types of lighting apart from fires. ( i.e wall mounted torches, street lighting etc)
Yes, but after we take care of more priority tasks.


are there architecture recipes that are scavengable only? and viseversa any that can only be learnt through grinding
Yes, there are a few parts that are scavengeable only. There are none that are grind only. I have been reading a lot of feedback on recipe gain and am thinking about revising the system. I will post my thoughts on this later.


pre patch i was lvl 77 Architect.
Post patch i learnt 2 recipes in 7 levels
i felt that my only recourse was to reroll my character (if i wanted to learn a fair amount of the new recipes in a short time)
and fair to say i was rather displeased with having to do that


how long before the fix for learning recipes past level 100 is in?
Revising recipe gain is a priority issue. I am going to discuss my thoughts with the other developers first then I will lay out my plan for this.

Thanks for all the questions!

Xsyon
07-11-2011, 08:11 PM
MrDDT ASks:


Can we get a direction of where this game is going in the next few months?
Yes, I've been preparing an update to post our current plans and will do so by tomorrow.

Shaggy Asks:


Can we get an option to turn off the visible grass in game? Seems like giving us the option to turn this off would assist some players with loading times and/or performance issues.
I've added this to our suggestions list, however grass has a minimal impact on loading and performance.


Is the thread dezgard started titled "5 realistic things you'd like to see in july" going to be what you guys really try to get done in July, based on which things people voted on the most?
I wanted to get a feel for what issues are most important to current players. What I got from the responses are that we need to add carts as soon as possible and that we need to balance and improve current systems before adding too many new ones. I will post details about our current goals for July and August in an update.


Will animal population be fixed any time soon? Some players, including myself, have systematically covered many zones in one session and not seen one animal the entire time. Taking hours to find an animal is nothing close to realistic and definitely isn't fun.
One of our programmers is working on a tool to figure out what's going on with the creatures, by plotting their movements and hiding states. The population isn't a problem. There are around 4000 creatures in the starting area, some zones are sparse, but some near the lake apparently have a few hundred creatures in them. We ran some queries on the database and the population density and distribution doesn't match what players are reporting. Once we get this tool finished we'll be able to see better what's going on, and we will fix whatever problems exist. It seems that either animals are hiding or running away from players too often or they are getting stuck in some locations out of reach (possibly in mountainous areas).


Is underwater content possible, and if so, something you guys may do in the future? Obviously this would be a long ways away but I'm just curious. One use could be secret underground caves (player made AND natural, mind you) that you have to hold your breath and swim to the bottom of the lake to find the tunnel/entrance, popping up to a open cave below the water. Another could be scavenging certain items and maybe even foods that are only found on the floor of a body of water. Sunken ships anyone? =)
Yes, it will be possible and it's something I want to add in the future. Regarding caves: One reason we switched to 512 zones is so that we can hopefully convert zone data to full 3D data in the future and allow for caves and tunnels. This is long ways off, but it wouldn't have been feasible with 1024 zones.


It was once said that new weapon types were coded and 'ready' but we still haven't seen anything like this. Why hasn't this been turned on?
Since we've revised the combat system, animations for two handed weapons and bows need to be redone. We're still working on the combat revisions and once we're satisfied with one handed weapons then we'll make the necessary revisions to add two handed weapons, and then bows and thrown weapons.


Why have you been reluctant to add carts and portable water? People have been begging for both for nearly a year now and still we see nothing. The former is completely necessary for trade to flourish and the latter simply is common sense and also very necessary.
We're not reluctant to add anything! There's just only so much a small team can do. Much of last year was spent rewriting faulty code from our original programmers and much of this year so far was spent dealing with exploits, lag and other problems that arose from the influx of players at launch.

It's made more sense for us to fix and finish systems already in the code rather than introduce things like carts that haven't been coded at all. Some 'new' systems were added as a way to kill two birds with one stone. For example, we decided to move all tree data to the server only to eliminate the need of 'baking' these changes and having players download frequent changes through the launcher, and also to improve loading. We took this as an opportunity to improve the tree system as a lead in to adding agriculture.


When can we have signs? Nameable baskets?
Signs won't be in for a while. There are just too many other little things to add first. I have nameable baskets on my list to look into this month. Nameable baskets is typical of a suggestion that I really need to sit down and think about, to determine what other things in game could benefit from a naming system.


When will we be able to rotate arch structures at finer angles than just 90 degrees? The game world begins to look fairly plain and boring once you realize everything is perfectly 90 degrees everywhere. A slider to rotate buildings would be optimal, along with the ability to input a degree of rotation if you want.
The component parts (walls, roofs, floors) won't be rotateable but we will add corner parts. The freestanding parts could be rotated and I'll think about adding this soon with the next round of architecture changes.

Willowhawk Asks:


Will animal taming, riding (and Cooking) be implemented anytime soon? Or any ETA on these. And if I understand this correctly, I read on the features page that "As societies will advance new features will become available to the larger, more civilized tribes and towns. Animal taming and riding" Am I reading this correct? If so why would those features only be available to larger tribes? Thanks.
I honestly can't give an ETA on these right now. After reviewing feedback over the past week or more and play testing a lot myself I see that we need to first balance and improve a lot of the current systems to give them more meaning before putting in new features.

Animal taming and riding will be available to everyone. That's not written well and I will update the features page after I've taken care of some other important tasks.

VeryWiiTee Asks:


1) A lot of players seem to think that there are hidden quality levels within a visible quality. Is this true? Eg. Does it matter if I've just turned 90 in lets say scavenging compared to another being 99 in scavenging?

1a) The reason why I'm asking is some players say they've gotten worse quality when crafting items from Master quality items that were gathered with a high scavenging (lets say 92 for the example) than master quality items gathered and crafted when they were 100 in scavenging. The crafting skill you are using has at all times been 100 during this.
There are no hidden quality levels, however there are a few other factors that need to be considered: Tools used (quality, and type, such as Forager vs Pioneer), stats, and luck, which adds a random factor.

What you are describing though I think is simply that 'master' quality can range from 90 to 100, so yes it's possible that a borderline quality material scavenged at skill 92 (maybe the quality was barely at 90 because of other factors involved) will yield lesser results than a material scavenged at skill 100 (with an actual quality of 99). I hope that's clear!


2) You say you want slow skills gains so players will focus more on one side of the game, what if I want to change I'd have to spend months to redo my skills and stats to join another branch of the game, isn't that a bit harsh? I could understand it would be an undertaking over a week or two. My other major concern are people spec'ing for combat. What the hell are they supposed to do all day? Animals are rare and players are even more rare..

I don't necessarily want to slow gains, but balance them so that not everyone can master everything. This would include skill decay and some players have suggested locking their top skills which I'm considering.

Animals shouldn't be so rare! One of our top priorities is to figure out what's going on with them and fix what's causing them to be so elusive. We will also make them tougher in general and increase the rate that they grow in power (they have been growing in power, but not enough).

One we balance the current systems and finalize combat revisions I think many players will return to populate the world and will find more reasons to stick around and interact (and kill each other).

Thanks for the questions!

Xsyon
07-17-2011, 07:20 AM
MrDDT Asks:


What are your plans with the next patch?
Today's patch:
Minor interface improvements including fixed glitches to dragging and dropping icons and the ability to label baskets.
Animal AI pathfinding and movement improvements.

Next patch:
Disconnect issues.
Combat hit and damage overhaul, including combat messages.
Crafting scheme limits.
Crafting scheme checks and revisions (revised skill level, components and tools if needed) to create a more consistent system.
Distribution revisions to complement the crafting revisions.
Animal AI improvements.


Whats your plans on how rare recipes should be to find?
Less rare than now! Schemes are in groups, and these groups should be distributed regionally. The overall chance of finding a scheme will be increased after we've set scheme limits.


What are your plans to do with the tool tips and interface for that? Like right now it is a little buggy and just text over stuff.
We fixed some of the 'bugginess' with today's patch. We will add a background and outline to the tooltips soon and I'm considering adding more detailed statistical information and text colors to show the rarity of an item.


What are your thoughts on making this more of a survival game? I know you want people to fight for survival but how do you plan on making that happen?
Increasing immersion with:
Increased effects of hunger and thirst.
Comfort effects based on temperature, weather conditions, clothing and shelter.
More aggressive and tougher creatures.

afterclap Asks:


Will we get the ability to set rank permission, or similar, to our gates rather than having all tribe members being able to open all gates?
For example if you have a treasure chamber which only the treasurer is allowed to access, the gate leading to the treasure chamber should be able to be set to only respond to the treasurer's rank.
Could work as well with crafters not being allowed access to open the gates to the military wing, etc.
I think its a nice feature, for big cities and small alike.
I'm considering this, but this could become a problem if players end up locked out of their cities without anyone around to let them in. I do plan to add rank and private permissions to individual tents and huts and remove basket permissions.

Xsyon
07-25-2011, 03:39 PM
MrDDT Asks:


What are your plans for AI/Animals? Do you ever expect animals to take groups of people to kill and attack as they are so strong?
Animals, especially bears will be much stronger than now and we will increase their power growth as it's currently not enough. Yes, some animals should take a group of people to kill.

mrwooj Asks:


It has been mentioned before that when skilling changed there would be a way to reset your skill points. Is this coming soon? I think that it is about time for this feature seeming as there are different skillcaps etc in place now.
The skillcaps haven't changed yet. The plan is to allow for a stat reset when we've added more skills that will require spirit and charm.


Are you working on fixing fullscreen mode? Most people are forced to play windowed mode now due to the way fullscreen mode crashes when you alt-tab back to windows.
Thanks for reporting this. This was tested a lot and reported fixed a while ago. I've taken note to look into this issue again.


It has been mentioned that ladders are coming soon. Have you thought of the possible use of ladders when sieging another tribal area to get over the walls? This might be a cool feature. Maybe they can only be made in tribal lands but can be moved away for seiges. Making them very heavy to carry like logs would make this exciting.
Ramps are coming soon. I've thought about ladders for sieging, but we're a ways off from that.


Will we be able to change the terrain near rivers and on rock soon? It is a little annoting that i cannot terraform areas of my own lands due to it being granite.
There are no plans for this as we don't want players to destroy rivers or mountains. If there are small pots of granite that are obstructions however, you can ask a Head Guide to take a look and see if we can convert that patch to dirt so that it can be terraformed.


Architecture is very time consuming and uses large, heavy resourses. Im fine with that, but it is a real letdown that we get no xp from creating buildings etc. When so much time and effort is spent creating things ingame, it should be rewarded with xp, in my opinion. Are you fixing this asap?
Yes, this will be fixed with our next round of architecture changes.


Old saw blades are very hard to come by. They are only used to make saws, which is a basic tool. Why have you done this? It seems to me a much better idea for people to be able to get tools made more easily, otherwise crafts that require a saw are at a large disadvantage compared to other crafts. I think this affects the balance between solo player and tribal player.
The distribution list is being further revised. We'll start a feedback thread where players can post regarding what seems too difficult or too easy to find.


Are you keeping in mind the players who want to play solo when you are creating all the new content? Yes, we want to create movement around the map and trade and conflict, but can you please consider the ramifications of the new content on solo players before you implement?
Yes, I do. Solo players, especially new players should be able to use towns for trading and questing and basic materials will be readily available.


It has been mentioned that the scheme structures for skills are going to be revised. Many people including myself are dissapointed that they are not getting many new recipes (the big example is Architecture). The way i understand it, these things are going to be fixed. Will these types of fixes be "predated"?
The way that schemes are gained will be revised soon. This will allow players to gain schemes after skill level 100, but there will be a cap on the number of schemes learned per craft. This limit will change every time we add new recipes.

One reason architecture scheme gain is difficult now is that we don't want everyone to learn all schemes as this creates stagnation. Once the new scheme system with limits is in, it will be easier to find new schemes.

VeryWiiTee Asks:


1) How many of your actual coding/programming Developer Team does actually have a degree in either Computer Science or Software Programming (and equivalent).
Two out of three. (I don't). All of us had 5+ years experience programming games before starting work on Xsyon.


2) Is the current Xsyon In Development the full extent of the plan for the upcoming 6-8 weeks? Or is that hoping a bit too much ?
That is our general plan. As usual, if crucial problems arise we will work on those, and we will continue to make simple changes based on suggestions and reports if they fit with what we're currently working on.

This past week things are a bit slow as I've been settling in here in Russia, one of our programmers has been in the hospital and we're spending a lot of time trying to fix this disconnect / loading entities issues that some player have for good.


3) It is getting incredibly tiresome to see abandoned totems everywhere and I can only imagine how new players feel when they constantly see these abandoned areas, what are your plans for introducing totem decay?
The plan is simple. Totems will have a decay timer. This timer will reset any time an active tribe member uses the totem. I haven't yet decided on how long it will take for a totem to decay, but we plan to start this soon and will notify and solicit feedback from all players before we do so.

aliksteel Asks:


Is the economic system still going to be left up to the players? Or do you have any plans for a real economic system for the game?
It will be entirely player run though we are working on changes to make trade more valuable in game.


When will you have someone write up the lore for Xsyon?
We don't have any plans for this.

fatboy21007 Asks:


Can you explain the scheme limits, Are they all trade skills recipes combined limit, or just each trade has it own lock? Also what is the limit for schemes we can have? and how do you plan to add it? ( i know for architecture @ lvl 100 you should be able to 100 recipes, considering the sheer amount of updates you plan to do to arch soon) what is your opnion of learning 1 recipes per level and leting the level limit how many you can learn?
The limits will be per craft and based on a percent on your skill level and the total number of schemes available for that craft. The limit will change as new schemes are added, so it will be a flexible limit.


When will we see a upgrade totem/remove totem button added for tribes?
Not for a while. Moving a totem may be added soon. Upgrading is not allowed as it can cause overlapped tribe radii. We could allow tribes to upgrade as long as other tribes are not in the way, but we just have too many other issues to deal with first.


Do you have any screenshots of the new zones that you are about to open up? Also is the scenary different? Ie, is their old ruins lefts like cars, buildings etc? (i sure hope so) :-)
In general, the scenery is not different, though there are some interesting areas. There won't be any cars or ruined buildings in the new zones. The entire terrain was built 2 years ago. We launched with only the current starting zone mostly to keep the population together. We've been improving the rest of the world (adding boulders, cleaning up river edges, distributing resource patches and creating interesting areas) but they are not very different from what exists now.


And 1 final question, will we have the ability to make other types of roads?
No plans for this right now.


would it be possible for us to be able to make are own custom armors/weapons/buildings and turn them into recipes which can be traded ingame? Say i make a cabin and select the peices needed on the menu and name it cabin and make the recipe and then trade it with other players? Also would it be possible to make signs we can place on the buildings we make and put a name on the sign ( 10 letters or less)?
Anyting is possible. :) We don't have plans for customizeable recipe system. We do plan to add signs, but that won't be until after our current tasks in the works.


When will the new scav/recipe tweaks be ingame? ( this is a very imporant game feature and is game breaking in its current state) Also what is your stance on new players wanting to go solo? as the current patch and state seem like they cant and as for trade it is no existant ingame. No matter how much you try to force it. my question is when is these fixs coming and wat are you going to do for solo players as sum do not like to be forced into groups or tribes?
The tweaks will be in as soon as possible. We first need to finish: disconnect / loading entities issues, combat revisions and AI revisions. I will be working on the scheme and scavenging revisions later this week.

Players should be able to solo and we'll make sure that it's not to difficult to get the basic stuff needed.

L0rd0fIvIetal Asks:


are you going to make a map and make exploration of the xsyon world better or should i just keep paying you for nothing?
We plan to add a map system in the future, but only when we have time to give it more meaning than just a regular mini-map with your location.

stonedogg1 Asks:


Are there any further plans for the Masonary skill past the 6 availible recipies? If so, could you elaborate?
Yes, when we add furniture, the new schemes will be in both masonry and woodworking. We also have plans for concrete components that will be used in new architecture parts.


(Unrelated) what engine is this game based on OR what programming language is the team using for the game? For that matter - what other programs are being used in the developement of the game?
The game engine is our own proprietary engine, coded in C++. The tree system is SpeedTree. Our primary art tools are 3D Studio Max and Photoshop. We use our own exporters, terrain editor and other basic tools.

meissner61 Asks:


How hard is it to keep up with all of our crazy questions and requests ?
It's not easy. :)

b_ulam Asks:


-Im level 100 Architecture, have only 37 recipes total.

-I was at 60 pefore the patch and so I have more than 2 projects from each of the 7 sets (Scrapper, Scavenger, Bamati, Gadu, Banyana, Pioneer, Masons) as when the new items were added, projects I already knew were renamed and some were filed into each set.

- I do not have any 1 set anywhere close to complete. I do not have any fortress projects.

- I only gained recipes at skill-level-ups, but not at every level up. Ive had up to 8 consectutive skill-level-ups withought gaining a recipe.

Was this how architecture was intended to work?
Not exactly. You are supposed to gain more recipes from your most complete set. This was working well when we tested it extensively a while back.

Recipe gain is affected by Luck, and this might be a reason you haven't gained many new recipes. We will be looking into this later this week when we work on scheme revisions.


China Asks:


1) Does Xsyon have, or future plans to have female specific armor or female specific clothes/grass armor/leather/bone armor recipes? (Personally, I'm tired of looking like a female dressed in boys clothes). If so, what is your timeline?
Yes, we will be adding about 20 female only sets very soon (as part of our scheme revisions, the art for these sets is ready).


2) Do you plan in the future or near future to cater to female interests in tatooing, hairstyling or other things that ornament both the female and male character. If so, what is your timeline?
Hairstyling, yes, but not for a while (6 months or more). Tattoos, no plans.

khalart Asks:


1) Can you describe how temperature and weather can influence comfort?
Hot and cold temperatures, rain and snow will all lower your comfort level. Proper clothes and shelter will raise the comfort level.


2) Can you describe which stat (energy, thirst, hungry, etc.) and how comfort will influence them?
Comfort will have an effect on all skill based actions, including combat.

Jadzia Asks:


When will you open up new lands ? It was promised for April.
Right now we're waiting until most of what's listed as In Development is done. Once that's done we will add some free time to all accounts to get players back in game and then we'll open new lands. The new lands are mostly 'more of the same' though of course they are untouched and have some interesting locations.

Thanks for all the questions!

Xsyon
08-11-2011, 09:41 PM
Questions for the week of 7/25 through 7/31 2011

soulless Asks:


In a previous Q/A, you stated that you wanted to add permissions to tents/buildings and remove permissions from bags, as this is a big change that will effect lots of camps, when do plan on implementing this?
Permissions for tents / buildings is being worked on now and should be in by the end of next week. We haven't decided when we'll remove permissions from containers and we will solicit feedback before we take this step.


also, carts were mentioned, how soon can we expect carts (your best guess)?
thanks for your time...
Best guess is 2 to 3 weeks. The artwork has been made and the basics for attaching cart objects to players has been set up but we are working on many other small tasks before finishing the code for carts.

fatboy21007 Asks:


Latley, in irc and the fourms ive noticed alot of new folks asking for a trial, Where are you with a trial server?, or are you still waiting to make the game better before doing one?
See answer below.


the new system you all are trying to do, i was told rare items would be dependant on area instead of zone...this true? (if it is how do plan on use being able to search all areas as their isnt a pop to help search them and personally i dont wanna feel like its a job to go find something) Also how are we to search areas when their full of totems.... i think the leader of the totem if hes inactive beyond 60 days totem should be removed and basic tools placed in his inventory.
Yes rare items and materials are based on territories (Round Hill, Zehpyr etc.) not zones.

Regarding totems, we will implement decay (as mentioned in the updates) see answer below.

Mactavendish Asks:


Are there any plans for adding something in very soon that will help retain the few players that join? Things that any new player would find immediately entertaining?
The main things we are going to work on over the next few weeks are improvements to give meaning and balance to the current systems. In addition, I think combat is much improved and mutants will be arriving soon. I hope players will find these things entertaining!


Question 2: Are you wanting new players to join the game or do you feel the game is not ready yet?
I like new players to join, but we're not ready for a big influx right now. Our plan is to wrap up what is listed as In Development first. Then we'll be ready for: totem decay, a trial server and an influx of new and returning players.


On totem decay...

I like your simple plan, but can you not add to that plan, that when a player cancels their sub that it removes the totem completely IF they are a single man tribe?
No, we would still have homesteads decay. Many players have left for a month or two and then returned. Removing their totems immediately would drive away a lot of players.


Also, whatever timer limit you put on totems, Please factor in that some people made a character, dropped a totem to hold a spot, then dropped the character and made another character joined or made another tribe and may even be playing the game as another character.

So would it not seem reasonable to you to remove ANY totem made by a character that is not in your database as an in use character?

I would think that having all these totems scattered about, does not make any new player feel welcome, especially after they realize that most are just abandoned ones with no active player there.
When a player drops a character it removes them from their tribe and if they have a homestead it should remove it also. If this is not happening, please report this directly to Dezgard and we will look into this immediately. If there are any totems without an owner, we will remove them.

VeryWiiTee Asks:


1. Can we expect a patch this coming wednesday :P?
Answer irrelevant at this point. :) There was a patch last week and will be one this week.


2. I second Mactavendishes question about totem decay too!!
Answer above. I realize that totem decay is a big issue, but we won't start decay until we're ready to first give all players a week of free time to check out the current state of the game.


3. The new housing models are 4m x 4m. Take any given Long Log. The Long Log will juust, with a little bit in each end or a larger bit in one end, stick out side the building.
- The question is this. Will the upcoming weather decay affect the entire long log because of the little bits/larger bit sticking out side of the building.
No, any object with it's center inside the volume of a 'roof' or 'room' area will be protected from the weather.


3a. If the weather decay won't affect the log, can we presume that any given material that has more than half of its volume inside of a building not be subjected to weather decay?
Yes!


4. Seeing it's spring again can you confirm new tree spawns on the live server?
Yes, there have definitely been new tree spawns. You should be able to see small trees that have sprouted up.


5. Will the weather decay also include a slow general decay over time for items?
The plan is, yes.


6. How is the animal population doing with the recent changes?
The bears killed everything and there were thousands of them. This is why we reset the population and are adjusting the aggression code.

MrDDT Asks:


Disconnects patch ETA? Its been on the test server for over a week now and still not on live. Right now this is the biggest problem for most people.
Whats the reasoning in allowing guides to spawn animals? With breeding in game, and animals spawning on their own, shouldnt this option be removed? Its been an issue for a long time now.
Disconnect patch is live now. Guides should be allowed to spawn creatures for events and to help balance things out while we balance the creature system.

aliksteel Asks:


I see you have three items set as a #1 Highest priority from the player suggestions

1) label contianer

2) Add clan/tribe names

3)hiding broke

I know that the labeling contianers are done, And that the disconnects is at the top of every list right now with the the combat a close 2nd.

Assuming(yea I know assuming is bad) that you are done with the disconnects this week. How soon will you start on fixing hiding, and adding tribe names and faction color to the game?

I also see there is only one suggestion "Sand in the rivers" that you have set as #2 on the Priority list. Can you tell me how far down the "to do list" this fit's into?
Honestly, I am waiting for all of our collected Suggestions to be moved into our new tracking system before I take a solid look at what's on the full list. The Suggestion tracker will include suggestions from emails as well.

Once it's finalized I will take a good look. The current priorities were set by our Bug Trackers so they don't currently reflect the order we'll work on things, but rather what they think I should take a look at first.

Regarding the specifics:

The effect of faction colors is in, but needs to be adjusted to have more effect and that will happen this week.

Tribe names listed with the player's name will be in next week.

I'll need to look into the 'sand in rivers' suggestion.

Hiding will be worked on later, after what's In Development.

Osirrus Asks:


which is 1st, totem decay or new lands beyond the mist opening up? how long til the 1st is implemented? then how long til 2nd?
Should happen at the same time. The plan is to do these both after the current In Development list is done, shooting for early September.


if disconnects and combat revisons are done what is the next major project you hope to see on the live server? and what timeframe til it goes live?
Right now the major project is a lot of small tasks to improve the current systems. Then: carts and mutants.


how are carts coming along? had chance to look at them yet? or you been stuck working on the disconnects all week?
The artwork is done. The basics attachment system is set up, but it will take another 2-3 weeks as we want to get many other tasks done first.


and just a random one.. what is the current DX rating of the game? DX9? / DX9 enhanced? DX10? DX11?
is it a DX11 tessalation effect you use on the brown/gold roads? anyway to make them look better from a distance, because currently a heavily roaded area looks horribly from far away, as the cracked effect is way to big and out of proportion when viewed from a distance.
DX9


after the zone sizes were changed, the high quality view distance was severely shortend. is this the way it will be staying or will you be looking at increasing the view distance again or is this more to do with entites not loading correctly?
The high quality view distance will stay the same, but this did not affect the distance of loaded entities. We will improve the quality of the distant terrain to compensate for the shortened 'high quality' view distance, when we can.


most systems that are in game are working ok-ish and just require tweaking now imo. but what i believe the game is really lacking now is some fun things to do as a group/tribe. do you have any short term goals to inject some more fun into the game?
The improved combat system and giving meaning to what's in the game should make it more fun as will the advent of mutants and revenants.


dying and respawning back at my totem is not fun. healing my way through a tough spot and surviving is. when will healing be in game?
going toe to toe with a bear and button mashing the mouse til i have 30% health and the bear is dead is not fun. using archery and real world physics to take down the bear from a far without getting a scratch on me is fun. when will archery be in game?
working together as a team to accomplish tasks i couldnt do on my own is fun. any plans for group activies other than arch/terra soon?
Both archery and healing will be in our next round of development after what's currently listed. If you have any good suggestions for group activities (I get the feeling you do) please suggest them!

stonedogg1 Asks:


I have a question regarding material bonuses (damage, quality, etc...):

When using materials that offer a bonus, does the bonus have to apply to the item or the user of the item?

i.e.: I use iron screws (damage bonus) to craft bone armor. Does my character deal more damage, or should I have used the screws to craft a weapon (damage bonus applied to the weapon, not the person)? Same thing for materials that offer a quality bonus - if I apply the BRASS fasteners to my closths, will I craft better quality items or should i use the brass to craft tools in order to pass on the quality bonus?
Stat bonuses apply to the wearer of the item. Quality bonuses apply to the item itself (So crafting quality tools makes sense to pass along the quality to crafted items. Wearing quality clothes will not pass along that bonus to crafting or other skills).

Xsyon
08-11-2011, 10:03 PM
Questions for the week 8/01 through 8/07

MrDDT Asks:


I keep hearing about things people talk about you say in emails to them or talk to them in game about. Is there a list to some of these questions so others can read these answers to questions we all have? It seems almost like some people are getting early information just by emailing you. Should we all be emailing Xsyon all the time to get faster answers to questions?

Email questions and suggestions get passed along unless they are very specific things I need to deal with. They are not the best way to get answers. Questions that haven't been answered are collected for the FAQ list or I answer them as part of updates. Suggestions get passed along the Bug Trackers to enter into our Suggestion tracker.

Questions asked in game when I am there are not really tracked unless someone asks something I feel is important. In those cases I take a note and include it as part of my updates.

Permission
Isildor1990 Asks:


Hey Guys,

i have a regrown tree near my camp...

But somehow i can destroy its (old) stump.

Its kinda like a Tree in a stump, or vice versa...

Is that a bug, or "normal"?

Greetings,
Isildor
This is a left over stump from when we reset the trees (when we introduced the current tree spawning system).

VeryWiiTee Asks:


1. When are we going to see carts?
It's in progress, so I hope in 2-3 weeks.


2. How many will we be able to choose from?
Four (Forager, Trapper, Pioneer, Scrapper).


3. If we can choose from multiple carts, do they then differ in their speed, maximum cargo load etc?
Yes, but the specifics have not yet been decided.


4. Will it be Woodcrafters that can create them?
Yes.


5. The new combat is awesome.. When will we see an awesome ranged system ?
Thanks. We are going to collect more feedback on the current system and make a few more improvements. If players are satisfied I'll have our combat programmer start on ranged (we'll start with thrown knives for easy testing) in 1-2 weeks.

Aliksteel Asks:


1. Can you, or have someone update the "Xsyon In Development" page please, to show what has been done in-game and what is now in progress. Thanks
Yes, I will do that today.


2. With all this cart talk, Are you really going to add wheels into the game already? Or will it be more like a sled?
The carts have wheels.


3. With as much work that is still ahead of you and the team, Whats the chances of you adding a little *fluff to the game any time soon?

*Fluff: Means something that is not game changing but is light hearted, soft and easy to do, or a pretty pretty(Think shiny). E.g. Furniture, Statues, Wells, New road looks
A good chance. Furniture is some 'fluff' that should be in the next round of development.


4. Any idea how soon or far off lighting will be added into the game? E.g. New looking camp fires, Torches that can be place in the ground / on the wall / or carried by hand, Personal and hanging lanterns
This could be in the next round as well. The disconnect issues and revising the combat functions on the server (these were completely redone from scratch) were huge time sinks over the past month. With these out of the way we can get a lot of smaller tasks done quickly. I expect a lot to get done by the end of this month.

fatboy21007 Asks:


in your development updates you said *revised thirst a hunger* Does this mean we will have the ability to starve or is that planned for the future? Also if doesnt mean that, can you elaborate on it some more? Also, blades and old saw blades are still not droping, How soon can we expect to see a high increase in drops for scav? Also will you guys be able to tell us where things will be and what they do? (we also need this info if you really want us to test things, as it stands atm we dont have a clue what drops where and atm nothing is droping but same as we keep saying, So we cant test things to make sure their actually working.)
Revised thirst and hunger means that all actions will be affected by players that are not properly fed. You'll have to keep your player at normal thirst and hunger levels or your actions (crafting, combat, scavenging, etc.) will suffer.

We patched out a table with revised saw blades last Friday. The main distribution of scavenged objects is with materials and patterns, not so much with components which should be found in most territories. It really doesn't make sense for us to post full tables of what can be found where as players should be figuring that out by exploring!

Xsyon
08-17-2011, 05:05 PM
Questions for the week 8/08 through 8/14

MrDDT Asks:


When do you think we will start to see events happen in game?
If you mean player run events, I'm not sure. Guide run events will continue as they are run now.


Whats your plans for what types of NPCs that will be coming into the game?
No new NPC types are planned. NPCs will continue to be creatures, though some creatures (such as undead) will be able to loot players and eventually attack towns. The plan is to continue improving AI and NPC abilities but not to add any new types (vendors, quest givers).


Whats your vision for PVP in this game?
PVP should be balanced between character and player skill and based on decisions, favoring slower, strategic combat and not quick 'gankfest' type of battles. It's getting there, but we have a bit more balancing to do.

mrwooj asks:


I chose basketry and can make one "range" of baskets after raising the skill extensively. Why did you decide not to have the whole range of basket recipes open up for those who choose the skill at character creation?

New players who do not choose basketry at character creation will never be able to make any type of basket unless they find a recipe. Nobody has ever found one yet. Why have you chosen this path when new players are finding it very hard and many leave the game very quickly?
This was not intentional and is being worked on this week. Basket recipes are available but will be made easier to find and the scheme gain system is being revised.


The scavenge table is STILL broken, even after you have "fixed" things in the new patch. Nobody has found an old saw blade for example. What are you going to do about this? Most people i have talked to prefered how it was before you tried to fix it the first time.
Since our last public update (8/12) we've had reports that players are now finding these objects, so this should be correct now.


Animals are extremely scarse even though this was apparently fixed in the last patch. When can we expect a decent amount of creatures to hunt?
The problem is still creatures getting stuck in places where players don't find them. There are thousands of creatures around the lake. We have been revising creature pathfinding code and testing this extensively over the past few days.


Do you employ a developer to play the game and relay the problems they encounter directly to the dev team, so you can have a totally unbiased account of the things that are very frustrating, the things that make the game unplayable in some ways and to report the things that are working well? Players are often too biased, with their own agendas, and this i believe is why the loot table for example was changed to a worse state in the first instance. It really feels like none of the dev team play the game and so are very distant from the real issues and which ones to prioritise ingame.
Yes, our in house test team plays the game. We've expanded the test team to include volunteer player testers to get better feedback and we read all feedback requested in the Developer Zone. If you feel something is not being addressed, please post it in the Developer Zone threads.


Why did we see some things fixed in the resourse table, such as shells, chalk, obsidian and flint showing up at a much more reasonable rate for about 2 weeks, but now they never show up again (with the exception of flint)?
This is strange. We tested this specifically for a few hours after I read this comment, as the code hasn't been adjusted since this was updated. I personally found obsidian, quartz and shells. The testers also found this to be working properly. Resources reset only while you are moving. Maybe you are not moving around enough to find these resources?


One time all the tree stumps grew back trees. Many people thought that was awesome. Why did you decide not to make this happen every spring as was mentioned?
Tree stumps never regrew trees. This only appeared this way before launch at times when the terrain data was wiped (resetting trees to their original positions, where stumps were left behind).

Trees are spawned near existing trees every spring (not from stumps).


Can you give us an update on the status of carts etc? For example, what are you making first - carts, sleds, mounts? When can we expect to see some way to move large numbers of items?
Wheeled hand pulled carts are coming soon. These are in the works and hopefully we'll get them in by the end of the month.

soulless Asks:


Forum posters have been asking for more content that sandbox players can use to create purpose, What new content, in your opinion, can you create soon, for them to do just that? Thanks for your time.
Our main 'content' goals right now are to add more 'meaning' and use to current content. Once this is done we will be adding more physical content: carts, creatures, armor and architecture parts and more systems: cooking, healing, farming. The immediate goals are listed in our In Development section.

thurgond Asks:


Will a standalone roof with no walls or floor protect against item/container decay?
Yes. Walls and floors will eventually increase the protection offered by a roof part but we are still working out the details on how to calculate this.


Is there a mechanism to prevent "unlearning" basic starter patterns like thread and straps? If not, is there a mechanism for regaining these.
Yes, basic recipes should not be able to be unlearned. Likewise you can't unlearn a recipe if you have a master recipe that depends on it. Master recipes will be in soon.


You mentioned that:

You will have to explore and get away from your safe zone for a good chance at new materials and architecture recipes.
Virtually all the junk piles in Round Hill are either within my safe zone or paved over. Does this mean I won't be able to find the rare items in Round Hill but others might if they scavenge on my piles; anyone can find these items, but they will have to get extra lucky on the non-junk table away from any camp; or these items unattainable?
Yes, others will have a better chance in your area than you. We are making adjustments to the rare items (recipes) as they are still too hard to find right now. Nothing will be unattainable. If something can't be found in your area, the best thing is to trade or quest for it. Promoting trade and questing is one of our main goals right now.

Young Asks:


When will Farming and Cooking be implemented along with Animal Meat?
These will be worked on after our current round of features listed as In Development. We have a few more weeks to wrap up the current round of changes.

inhabit Asks:


Looking for confirmation of the following for future planning:

Jimmy...has been abandoned buy his tribe and now sits lonely on his own in a tribe area meant for 50.
Does Jimmy have to worry about the future developers plans to deal with him, will his area shrink/will items decay quicker outwith a certain area etc or will he be fine
If Jimmy's tribe abandons him, the tribe should already shrink as the members leave. If the members are still there even if they don't play, Jimmy has nothing to worry about. If the members log in and actually abandon the tribe, the tribe will shrink. I hope that answers your concern!

Thanks for all the questions!

Xsyon
08-22-2011, 04:08 AM
Questions for the week 8/15 through 8/21

MrDDT Asks:


Any plans to add special moves to combat?
Yes, planned moves include knockdown kicks, stunning and disarming. Once our lead combat / AI programmer is done with AI improvements in progress he's going to focus on combat moves.

Derek Asks:


Has there been any thought, and is there a strategy in place to keep the GUI and key binds simplified and compact? For example, have action bar slots that swap when in combat mode so that one whole set of key binds can be used for two purposes. (i.e. "1" key = scavenging while out of combat, "1" key = special melee attack while in combat) I've elaborated on this in the combat feedback.
We will improve the AI over time. We do plan to add scrollable rows to the action bar so you will be able to do what you mentioned. I'm not sure about the automatic swap in combat mode, but I'll think about it. It wouldn't be difficult to do.

Aramanu Asks:


When will we get bushes? (I want to pick my berries fresh off the branch, not the floor. :P )
Probably in October we are going to revise the grass system to include more bushes and better grass.

meissner61 Asks:


What are your thoughts on the way distant locations look right now? Personally i think the game is pretty and everything but in the distance the environment has some big issues. I Think a way to keep things pretty from a distance is to have a sort of "Fog" instead of trying to render everything. Also Water is beautiful but has some glitches that are .
I want to improve it. We recently reduced the amount of loaded terrain to 1/4 of what we used to load. This had freed up a lot of memory, so we plan to increase the detail of the distant terrain backdrop and I want to look into better methods to texture this.


Would it be a complicated issue to make a tired character walk instead of fully stop? Its such a sore to have to completely stop and sit. Runescape does this.
We could allow the character to continue to walk slowly. I'll think about this. If I set this up, the character will regain less energy while walking slowly than while resting, of course.


Just gonna go ahead and voice my concerns for jumps. They are really glitchy (Water, jumping over a hole) And even just the animation has a very lengthy ending where you cant do anything for a few seconds (I can start walking/running right after i hit the floor typically in real life)
Yes, this needs to be further revised. It's on our list, potentially for late September.


Oooh ooh! And also can we please get functions to click on the screen to rotate camera (With left mouse button) and also when zooming in all the way have it go into first person mode automatically instead of having to press home
Please submit the first as a suggestion if you haven't already. The second is already on our list.

dali2gala Asks:


will there be circular arch recipes?
One of our artists is working on a few curved walls right now. We'll need to make curved roof and floor parts to match and we need to test how these will fit with the current parts. These are trickier to work with than the current parts. We'll see at the end of the week if these will be easy to add or if there are complications with placement and combining them with current parts.


also will we be able to place items in more than 2 fixed positions? currently we can only place walls facing east(3) to west(9) and north(12) to south(6). it would be nice if we could place them in more than those positions (1 oclock, 7 oclock etc)
No, but we will have specific corner parts aligned to ordinal directions. The parts need to snap to the grid, so simply rotating them 45 degrees (for example) will create gaps. I was thinking about automatically swapping in different meshes as needed, but this can be complicated.

Thanks for the questions!

Xsyon
08-31-2011, 09:01 PM
Questions for the week 8/21 through 8/29

Liquidblade Asks:


1- was wondering, will we ever be able to run just using the mouse? or are we stuff pressing the w keys? at least out combat mode...it would be nice to have.
This does conflict with combat, but yes it would be possible out of combat. I've added this to our suggestion list to look into soon.


2- do you have an idea when we will be able to contest abandoned totems?
There is no plan to have contested abandoned totems. (If they are abandoned, nobody will be around to defend them!). The plan is to set totems on a decay timer and if nobody from that tribe visits the totem within the time limit (likely a few months), the totem will be removed and all objects remaining will be up for grabs.


3- floor tiles, when we terraform we have a square area the size is aprox 2sq feet, are we going to have floor tiles for this size?
I'll consider this, however the smaller the tiles, the more objects in game, which needs to be kept manageable.


4- Combat takes way to long....even with animals....is anything being done about this?
Yes, we have been working on combat this week including increased damage and increased armor effects.


5- Any possability in adding a color when placing objects...as in red=item can't be placed there green=that item can be placed there that same spot.
The question isn't clear to me. If you mean while placing objects (like bins) on the ground, no, this would not be easy to add.

Virror Asks:


Any possibility that you can make it possible to build stuff on floors? Would add alot more flexibility to an already very nice system : )
If you mean placing bins and furniture on floors, yes. Bins should be placeable on floors already and furniture will be added.

VeryWiiTee Asks:


Seeing that you release patches on any given day (when they are ready), why do you have wednesday as patch day?
- Wouldn't it make more sense to have any given daily maintenance day as a possible patch day instead?

I favor patch days that are done when the patch is ready instead of waiting for a specific day, which is why I'm asking :P.
Wednesday is an extended maintenance day and was a 'potential' patch day. We will correct the display on the maintenance schedule to remove this. Updates will be patched out when ready (as we've done with the last couple of patches on Fridays).

Thanks for the questions!

Xsyon
09-08-2011, 08:50 AM
Questions for the week 8/29 through 9/04

MrDDT Asks:


What are your plans to remove these unused totems?
We will set totems on a timer. If no tribe member uses the totem for a set period of time the totem will be removed and all items on that land will be accessible to other players. We are considering setting these abandoned tribes as spawn points for undead, until the land is claimed by a new tribe.

Mactavendish Asks:


When will we see animals back in the game? ( haven't seen ANY in an 2 weeks )
They are around. We've reset the creatures with today's update (9/08) and will be monitoring their movement.


When will we see some form of ongoing and repeatable fun things to do like mutants, roaming giant bears or Zombies?
Very soon. These things are being worked on right now and will be ready for the next big patch.


Can you explain how tree sprouting works? It looks to work well in the wilds but so far in our tribal area we have has 1 ( one ) tree sprout and it was right beside another tree. I was of the understanding that they can sprout as far away as 500 meters from the source tree.. but that does not seem to be the case. Is there restrictions placed on sprouting trees on tribal lands?
Trees spawn near other living trees. They shouldn't spawn on blocked surfaces and they avoid spawning on buildings, which is why they may fail to find spawn locations in tribe zones.


Is is ever going to be possible to have the chat box have an opaque background?
Done!


Some housing parts will slide UNDER suspended floor and roof pieces like the mason heavy gate. To build multi-story structures, can you modify it so that wall sections can be directly on top of other wall sections, or does that conflict with collision detection?
We will work on this, yes.

Virror Asks:


Maybe i was a bit vague in my last question. I was wondering if we will have the possibility to place walls, posts and other structures on top of floors to add to the variety?
No, as the parts need to snap together properly. We will add more parts, however, including corners and different size floor parts.

thurgond Asks:


Does the "display resolution size MISMATCH" popup serve any purpose? Can it be removed? Windowed mode is more stable when you alt tab frequently. This window seldom has focus and is a huge pain.
Fixed!

This did serve a purpose as there were problems with setting your game to the max resolution in windows.


Why is the icon for small sheets large than the one for medium sheets?
Not sure. I will check this.


Can you please fix the bin labeling permissions bug before putting in object decay. Moving bins that can't be labeled/relabeled is twice the pain.
Please make sure this is reported directly to Dezgard. I was not aware of this bug.


If we can't have more frequent, but smaller updates (my preferred situation), can the server be reset at least once a week to fix animal spawn problems?
We've created a new distribution that will allow us to do this if necessary.

Liquidblade Asks:


Currently when playing in third person, when we go inside buildings we see the top of the roof or outside of walls etc. Is there plans to allow the camera to recognize that there objects and zoom in according to the roof height etc? Like when I enter a roofed building..instead of viewing the top of the building the camera zooms in close and I'm still able to see my self.
Yes, this is on our list (with many other things!).

VeryWiiTee Asks:


1. What is the status with borderless windowed mode?


2. The current windowed mode is not centered properly. Would it be possible to center it correctly?


3. Why are the icons, bars, gauges etc tooltips/lighten up when hovered over offset? Gauges are an example. Energy's tooltip doesn't show 'till you hover over Adrenaline, Health's tooltip doesn't show 'till you hover over Faith. Same with the otherside. It is like that with most in-game that has tooltip/lightens up/clickable.
- Not items tooltip.
We made some changes to this with today's update (9/08) Previously if you set your resolution to maximum in windowed mode, there were problems due to improper sizing of the window. That is why we had a warning pop up. These problems should be corrected now.


4. Tools doesn't add durability/quality. I think Unclean will say the same.
- Does the quality/durability of a given tool (quality/durability adding) matter how much it adds to quality/durability or is this just it's own quality/durability?
I will look into this. Testers reported this is working correctly.

Thanks for the questions!

Xsyon
09-14-2011, 06:10 PM
Questions for the week 9/05 through 9/12

MrDDT Asks:


Can you tell us your plans you have to keep people active in game? Whats your short term plans and long term goals on what would be some things or over all ideas to keep people active, and logging in.
In brief:

Improve and balance current systems to give them more meaning (quest system, combat, housing, buffs, skill gains).

Finish systems that were long placed on hold as we had to deal first with critical stability issues. This includes cooking and planting.

Add new physical content that is ready including mutants, undead and more craftable items.

Add new features that have been requested (for example, carts).

Start totem decay and invite all players to return with some free time added there accounts as soon as we are ready.

Add expansion totems and allow tribes to remove safe zones.


(Edit: This has been fixed.) Is there a reason to remove 1600x900 resolution size off the list? It used to be there.
It hasn't been removed. The available resolutions are added automatically by DirectX functions based on your graphic card and drivers. If you haven't submitted this as a bug report, please do so, but nothing has been changed that should affect this.


Combat, is this your idea of how long combat should last? For a rat it should take over a min for a high skilled player to kill? For PVP it should take mins of non stop attacking without misses with high skilled high QL weapons?
In short, no. However, I have recieved many conflicting reports about combat. I am going to read through combat feedback that has been collected tonight. In my direct tests, combat lasts nowhere near as long as some players have been reported. Are you using swing power at all, or spam clicking the mouse buttons?

Mactavendish Asks:


Can you please outline for us all what YOUR vision for the game is?
Honestly, I think what is posted in our About section covers it well. My vision is a game where players are shaping and running the world. I know there is a constant discussion about 'carebears' vs 'pvp'. My vision is about balance and evoloving with the community.


Specifically... a few feel that the only thing that will "save" xsyon is full FFA open pvp with no safe zones... ( i.e: gankers heaven )
So, Is armed combat the primary vision for xsyon or is it more a combination of all sides of the game?
No. It is part of the game, but has never been my primary vision.


You have allowed players to interact in many ways that allow great freedom, like removing all trees around a tribes area to cut them off from resources, but you have not put in any way for that tribe to recover the loss. And even though trees sprout now, they only sprout where there are other trees... again not allowing a tribe to recover the loss of threes in an area complete completely denuded of trees.

How soon will we be able to plant trees?
Planting trees is in our current round of development, so it will be ready for the next big update. I will update the In Development section to reflect this as soon as I've sorted out our full plans through October.


To make sure that there is reason and purpose to pvp...

Will you have an alignment system in place that provides a way for good aligned players to sanction evil aligned players that abuse their desire to play in peace?

Thank you for considering my questions. Well done so far on ALL your hard work to make xsyon a unique and interesting game
Yes, there is already an alignment system in place and we will give more meaning to this soon, including harsher death penalties for evil players.

kiwibird Asks:


Will players be able to see item stats? For example, weight, bulk and any special properties the item may have (perhaps linked to a skill)?
You should be able to see most of the stats already (quality, duration and special properties). Please submit a suggestion regarding what other properties you would like to see.

Liquidblade Asks:


I was wondering about the terraforming skill. Can we have a level up or level down option? basically the same as lower terrain and raise terrain, at this time we have to lower the terrain, then raise up to get ground leveled.
I need more information about this (Please contact Dezgard via PM to explain the problem). The level terrain command should be doing what you describe.

Thanks for the questions!

Xsyon
09-26-2011, 11:22 PM
Questions for the week 9/12 through 9/19

VeryWiiTee Asks:


1. With the manual you get an easy overview of which skills increases what stats and what stats helps a specific skill along.
My question is, would it be possible to obtain a list of which skills is opposite of each other in terms of stat gaining/losing. Eg. If you raise Architecture, your Intelligence and Spirit would gradually gain, but your strength and dexterity would gradually decrease.

The stats that decrease are your least used stats, independent of what skill or stat you are gaining.


2. Would you consider revising the current system to vary how much effort is needed to change stats through skills in the way that; A high skill will be more likely to provide you with a stat gain whereas a low skill would be less likely to provide you with a stat gain?
- This would be based in reality where it is easier to maintain and increase said physical attributes if they are already a regular event in your everyday.

Yes, I will think about this. As it is right now, the farther you are from your original stat, the more difficult it is to increase it.


3. Can you, at the present time, give us the dimension of fields in agriculture? 1m x 1m, 2m x 2m. 3m x 3m etc.
- I'm quite aware that they are a way of into the future, I'm just curious to see how 'big' you Devs are considering to make them. A shot in the wild is more than fine btw.
2x2 m is the current plan, but this may change.


4. Would it be possible to reduce the length of a long log so that the longest of them just fit inside a 4m x 4m house? They should still vary in length.
- I'm aware that it has no technical importance, but it would cool to be able to have doors on houses you use for logs.
Please submit this in our Suggestion Tracker. I will consider this, however I need to discuss this with the team to make sure that this doesn't conflict with structures such as bridges that are already build out of logs.


5. With the home buff introduced to the game, would it be possible to hand over privileges (permission) to Roofs and thus transfer the builder check to the person you gave the privileges to
Yes, transfering ownership of buildings is on our short task list.


6. Do you intend to make equally hard for Good players, seeing that evil players should be sanctioned even more? As you say, you want a balanced game, but it isn't a balanced game if only evil players are getting sanctioned. My concern is that being good is favored more than evil.
In general it should be more of a challenge to be evil. Being evil already comes with built in benefits.


6a. So, will you consider penalties for every kind of Alignment (perhaps just Good and Evil) instead of focusing on just Evil? Evil can have a death penalty, Good players for example have a penalty for just killing people (regardless of alignment - but Good players won't fall in alignment unless the victim is neutral or good.)
The penalty for good players is they can't perform 'evil' actions without losing alignment. I don't think Good players need further restrictions.


7. What is up with the Suggestion forum. It seems a lot more complex than that of the old with a lot of threads being spammed.
It is meant to be easier for us to use as we can sort Suggestions by type and priority. The actual suggestions are copied to our internal system where I can read them without the additional talk. Suggestions should not be spammed however.


8. What happened to the 'baby' animal models? I haven't seen a single since pre-launch.
This is strange. They are all in game and I've seen screenshots submitted with various child animals. It's possible now that creatures are aging too quickly. I will look into this.

Aramanu Asks:


When will we see Archery and how will it work? (Do we have to go into 1st person mode ala darkfall? Will there be a reticule? will arrows be effected by the enviroment as in wind/gravity?)
There will be a reticule and arrows will be affected by wind and gravity. I have never played Darkfall, so I can't compare the system. I don't know when you'll get a first look at this as we now how a lot to catch up with.


When will we see zombies and stuff? (Will they attack player settlements or just stand around waiting to be killed like other games?)
As soon as possible. They will be aggressive and not slow as they are undead but not typical zombies.


When a totem decays away everything left is up for grabs? (will add a much needed exploration factor to the game.)
Yes!


Any plans for adding other enviroments in the future? (dead towns, proper cave systems, swamps, underwater etc etc.)
Yes. We have a lot of plans like this. We just need to be able to grow. The Prelude is just the beginning of what was planned and designed.

Drevar Asks:


1) How do bonuses like +Strength on a tool affect the crafting result, if at all? In all other cases you have to equip the item to get the bonus, but you don't equip tools.
Bonuses should work differently based on the item type. Most bonuses work for armor and weapons only right now. Tool bonuses should apply to the end product, not directly to the player.


2) There are several material bonuses that are vague or off-type for certain crafts. For example how does the +damage bonus work in cases where the item cannot contribute to combat damage, like on tools? I also noticed there is no +durability bonus on any materials. Is there any chance we can get a rundown of how applied bonuses affect different item types? (+speed is a big one...could be swing speed, run speed, progress bar speed depending on the item type, though not sure how much faster a building would move, lol.)
Some of this needs to be finished and further revised. We will update the manual with a run down on this once we get to all the currently planned revisions.


3) Will wood and leather/fur types be gaining different material bonuses?
Yes! Also I plan to set up different properties for trees based on regions.


4) On the current quality scale Supreme means the quality is 100. Is this a hard cap or can the value exceed 100? It would be nice to be able to stack +quality (mats and tools) in order to hedge against a vindictive RNG.
This is a hard cap of 100.


5) Could we get similar schemes/patterns to stack? The quality level doesn't mean anything here so no loss on combining a master with a low Scrapper's Screwdriver scheme.
Revised answer: yes, we can stack these. I will put this on my list of things to do.


6) Can crafting menus gain the ability to remember the last crafted item? How about the last sort state?
Please submit this as a suggestion.


7) Can we have our open UI windows states saved when we log off? The positions are already saved, we just need the open/closed state saved as well.
Please also submit this as a suggestion.

MrDDT Asks:


Where did the numbers go for the combat tab? Moved over to a combat tab and lost most of the info we had in combat. Reasons?
It was cleaned up last minute prior to the patch and is being further revised.


Combat still taking a long time, is there balancing being looked at here? Looks like random guessing or poorly tested combat systems. You said last week that you tested combat and its not lasting near as long as people are saying. Even AFTER your last patch with mobs and people with less HP its STILL taking way to long. Is this really what you plan on it doing? Taking mins for mobs to die, and even longer for people?


Weapons are they being looked at for balancing? How soon if they are?
Combat revisions are still the current focus right now.


Where is the survival in this game? This game was meant to be about it, where is it? Is it coming soon I hope?
We're doing our best to give everything in the game more meaning.


Can we get the bonuses of items looked at? They are so minor, even going from a JUNK to a SUPREME items is really not much when you consider how very very very hard it is to make a SUPREME. Can we please get some better bonuses for using top of the line stuff?
We will look at this after the next combat patch. Bugs in the system were throwing off the values.


Long time ago you said people were not going to have to "grind" items just to level. Now people are asking for throwing stuff away options while crafting. Seems like just what you didnt want is happening. Is there plans to make lower QL items more used? Or maybe better bonuses for making the best stuff for skill-wise? Right now, to train tool crafting I will take the crap of the crap resources and make the easiest item 20000 times to get to 100 skill. There is ZERO reason to make harder items or items that require more resources. Is this your plan? If not what is your plan to fix this?
No. It's not my plan. You gain more skill for crafting a high level object than a low level one. You gain experience points so you can use skill points instead of always grinding. As with everything I need better feedback and testing so we can balance things out.


When do you expect Prelude to be over, and contested resources, and "choice" for for totems to be PVP or not?
I can't give any time estimates given the current situation. I am just barely able to work right now, though I'm better than last week.


What is the reason/reward for a tribe to choose not to be safe?
Better resources within and near your tribe location.


Do you plan any type of "sieging" system in the game ever to come along? If so about when? How? What are your plans for it?
This has been asked and answered before. Yes, I think it would add to the game, but as it wasn't part of the original plan, I will look at other games that work well first and then design a system. I don't have solid plans for this.


Do you have plans for more NPCs types (not really animals, but maybe like Zombies, or Vampires etc) that will be more hostile and harder to kill? Or even with more thought behind what they are doing? Instead of just wondering bears, and coyotes?
If so when, and how do you see those plans working into the game?
Yes, we will have undead and they are being worked on right now.


When and how are death penalties coming into the game?
When, as soon as possible. There will be skill loss and stat loss on death.


You talked about good vs evil actions being tracked and "evil" actions will have stronger death penalties, do you have plans for other types of penalties or rewards for evil? Also what do you consider evil? What actions in game cause people to be evil?
When do you think we will see this evil/good system?
Killing and looting people is evil. The reward for being evil is taking other people's stuff!


Skill decay, soft cap, and skill pools. When will we see info on this type of stuff released so we can make plans and not waste time right now training skills we will never be able to keep?
I will detail the plans as soon as I can catch up with everything else that is going on.


How many skills do you expect people to have after skill decay is in at 100?
The system is based on soft caps within the skill groups, so this will entirely depend on the player. A player can have a lot of mid level skills or a balance of high and low skills.

Liquidblade Asks:


Even do I do not play an evil class, I do not think is fair to give penalties to evil players. If there is a "Death" penalty for every, this pretty much will only affect evil players. We as a whole need to decide who is evil, by the action the person does. Think about it in real life one would never know if someone was a murderer, we have to have witnesses and trials to prove that someone is a murderer, well perhaps we can do similar in game? I just finish watching "Jeremiah" and loved the show. There where evil tribes "Groups" everywhere and the people around it either sign up with those groups or fought against them. so with this being said here are my questions:

1- are there going to be death penalties? in other words "carebear" comes to mind.
Yes, there will be death penalties (stat and skill loss, possibly item decay).


We do not have reasons to kill people, I mean I cant kill anyone just because I have everything. so you are working so hard on this pvp system, but people are not using it. The matter of fact is we all want t pvp, but have no reason for it. Instead of penalizing players for killing...how about rewarding players instead. Like dropping dogtags or something with rare stats to be used as a collection in whole to be used in "rare" armor. IE: (Collect 20 dogtags to make a dogtag plate with so and so stats.)

2- what ideas do you have to encourage pvp?


Right now anyone can be anything they want, and to be honest I hate doing everything my self. I mean it used to be more fun for me to get a group of people together to go kill a dragon and half the group dying to get this task accomplished. I know some of you have maxed out stats in every craft skill, but I wish we had to depend on others to do stuff (this would encourage trading).

3- What plans do you have for the crafting skill system?. Is to easy for people to do everything.


With "to easy for people to do everything" being said. I think that resources are to easy to gather (well except for logs and sand) everything else is pretty much in piles. How bout getting leather "only" from animals, stones from rocks, cloth from insects and animal hair, plastic from tree sap, metals from iron, copper veins etc, instead of everything being found on junk piles. Some items could be scavenged in junk piles as it is now, but since its so easy to lvl up crafting at least make the resources a little harder to "get"

3-are there any plans to make crafting more difficult so we have to depend on others? or at least resources harder to get?

I will answer all of these questions together. It seems to me the major issue that that items do not decay enough, so the world is flooded with them. What should encourgage PvP is rare resources and more difficult to craft items (tools, weapons and armor) that are worth looting.

We introduced a lot of rare, regional resources that provide bonuses. The feedback I got is that the good quality resources that provide bonuses are hard to find (as they should be), thus valuable. Leather and bones from scrap piles should be rare and not near the quality of that gathered from animals. We added master and artisan recipes and scheme limits so that not all players would be able to master every tool. We will make similar changes to weapon and armor crafts.

I will request more feedback on all of this soon. I think the current system and plans are fine but I need to make things more difficult so that they work as intended.

Xsyon
09-28-2011, 10:33 PM
Questions for the week 09/19 through 09/26

MrDDT Asks:


Where are the updates you said you were going to post last week?

We going to get the answers to last week before this week's is up?
As was posted, I was unable to do anything at all for about a week because I was ill. We are catching up now.

Mactavendish Asks:


We have 6 trees in our tribal area. NONE of them ever sprout trees. If we use what happens to other trees as an example, at least one tree should sprout since it has clear ground all around it.

Question 1. Do trees actually sprout on tribal land, and if so, can they actually sprout further away than 10 meters like we see in the undeveloped areas?
They should, yes. I will look into this issue. Buildings block potential tree spawns, so this may be what's happening in your tribe zone.


Before we took this spot for our tribe, there were many trees on the ridge above, but someone came and cut them ALL down. And since you have to have a tree to have new trees sprout, and since planting is still sometime in the future...

Question 2. Can you sprout a few trees in ares completely denuded of trees or at least allow the ones close by to sprout 1 or two into areas that have NONE?


Question 3. Is there any info you can give on how soon we will get planting?

Tree planting is a top priority right now. We further revised the database system on test server to accomodate for this. Once combat revisions and carts are ready, tree planting will follow.


Question 4. can you provide any info on when decay and zombies will be implemented? And can you tell us how Zombies will work?

I know you have given some info and I love the idea of them spawning at abandoned totems, but have you finalized what you are going to do yet?

Decay was implemented but overall decay was cumbersome on the server, so it needs revisions. These will happen after tree planting.

One of our programmers has been working on undead combat over the past week. Undead will work differently than the current animals. Current animals breed, while undead will spawn at junk piles and at totems when they are abandoned. Undead will be aggressive and will be able to loot players and use their equipment, so they will gain power by defeating players.

Willowhawk Asks:


1) Are there any plans to use tribe Name Tags or Tribe Colors?
Yes, you will get a buff soon for wearing predominately tribal colors. We don't have any plans soon for tribal name tags, but we have tribal banners that should be ready soon.


2) Will branches and twigs ever re-spawn and if so will they spawn on terraformed areas also?
Yes we will spawn 'forest' terrain around new trees so you can gather branches and twigs.


3) Any plans to have fishing reward you with rare or unique items other than fish? (could add some appeal to fishing)
We have this on our suggestion list and I like the idea, so yes. Before this though, there will be buffs provided by eating rare fish types.

unclean666 Asks:


Can we please get white stone roads.Im sure i speak for everyone that this brown road is getting old and ugly.Looks like guides can do it so i wouldent think it to much work for use as well.
I've put this on our suggestion list. If everyone doesn't like the current texture, we can change it.


Oh and can we get shovels to break when used I have 300 plus shovel heads and no use for them.Plus it would help build trade.
Yes, all items will decay soon, especially on use.

krimara Asks:


1. Can we get some further clarification on Totem decay, I couldn't find anything recent with a good outline of how you are wanting this system to work.
The plan right now is simple. We will set a start time for totems to decay. Tribes simply will neeed to use the totem to keep it active. If a totem is not used for x amount of time (the amount of time will be decided after we hold a survey), the totem becomes abandoned. At that point, undead will spawn at the totem and all objects in the tribe zone will be become accessible. We are working on having undead rummage through bins as well, though this is a bit difficult and may be saved for the future.


2. What are your current thoughts for safe zones and expansion totems?
The same as was outlined a while back. Expansion totems will not be safe zones, but will provide better resources. Tribes will be able to remove their safe zone and gain the properties of an expansion totem if they wish to do so. The first removal of safe zones will mean that players will be able to attack on the tribal lands.


2A. Are we going to be able to have both?
2B. Are they going to be restricted to certain zones?
Both regular and expansion totems will be able to be placed anywhere.


3. Are two handed weapons still in the works? If so how soon could we expect to see them.
They will be added once we're all satisfied with the combat system. I am hoping that the coming revisions will be well received. Then we'll see.


4. Can we expect any new armor sets being available sometime in the near future. Specifically bone armor sets, we have a lot of animals but few armor sets.
Yes, we have many new female armor sets ready and some scrap armor sets that will be gained from undead.


5. When zombies come in will we be able to get bones from them for the human armor sets? Also on that note will we be able to gather bones from players? I would understand if not as this could cause problems with "farming" alts.
Yes to gaining human bones from undead. We won't allow this yet from players until we have solid death penalties in place.


6. How have you been? XD
It was horrible week and a half, not being able to do anything, but it feels great to not be dizzy 24 hours a day as I'm recovering now.

inhabit Asks:


1. Foraging - when is the stuff actually going to have a use, self heal sounds interesting but what are your plans for these? (edible plants i know but pointless when fish fills you up quicker)
The plan is that the different plants found will be used primarily in cooking to add properties to recipes created. Some plants will also be used for healing and poisons.


2. Scavaging - again things like freeway rail, lampost heads etc etc when are we going to get a use for these?
There are building parts that use these parts that will come with the undead.


3. Im interested in the human bones too, because i want a deathbone armour set , but do the bones of different animals have different strengths currently, or is this planned for the future?
The bones do have different properties. I will look into this as they should be functioning.


4. When is weather/basket decay actually going to be "turned on", i know we got icons added in last patch but when will they have an effect?
As soon as we get back on track, after combat revisions, carts and tree planting.

eric Asks:


When will carts or whatever form of 'mover' it will be be introduced in the game?
Trading heavy items (like bricks or posts) just will not happen without transportation means...
In progress right now. This is not a quick and easy task.

thurgond Asks:


Can you confirm that tents will provide protection from decay?
Yes.


Why do leather straps weigh considerably more than the leather scraps and thread used to make them?
I wasn't aware of this. Please submit this as a bug. (I didn't personally create the weight tables).


Any plans to revise existing weapon recipes (not two handed and bows)?

Yes, they will be revised and we will add Artisan and Master recipes like we did with the tool system.

Thanks for the questions!

Xsyon
10-05-2011, 10:16 PM
MrDDT Asks:


We going to have an update on what and when the next patch is about?
The next few updates should be frequent small updates with combat revisions, bug fixes and other small improvements leading to the addition of carts. I will post more information in the main announcments thread.

Hodo Asks:


Can we get some developer feedback on this?

http://www.xsyon.com/forum/showthread.php/7511-Combat-overhall.?p=89305#post89305
After we improve the current parrying system, we will add an injury system that temporarily affects players stats. We won't, however, copy the Roma Victor system.

VeryWiiTee Asks:


1. Where is my physics! I cant get water to go down into a stream, leading it to lower ground or do the opposite. Isn't this kind of pivotal for a sandbox game?


2. When can we expect to see physics applied to water?
I would love to implement this, but it won't be for a while. This would be a big undertaking!


3. Can we get a notice a week prior to adding the one week game-time?
Yes, that is the plan!


4. Marksmanship, how soon or will it be in the next round of development (pretty please put it as some of the first added feature)
It's not in our current round of tasks for this month, but I am hoping we'll get to bows in November.


5. You speak of Revenants as they will be entering the game very soon, is this likely? The upcoming patch or the next perhaps?
5a. Will it include mutants?
We will have small patches before this, but both Revenants and Mutants are planned to be in by the end of this month.


6. I thought a little on the penalty for Good and I kept thinking, what prevents them from abusing the alignment system. They can just fill up their Good alignment to the max and then do evil, all they needed to do was stop before turning Neutral and then start working on their Good alignment. Just a thought since people didn't buy the whole combat for the sake of just improving skills, but requested more objectives in combat. I'm a bit worried that the alignment system will just be a meh-whatever-system.
This has already been thought about quite a bit. Some actions, such as random killing of other good or neutral players result in an automatic alignment drop to evil.

The actual alignment system has been implemented for a long time. It just doesn't have any visible effects since we removed your alignment affecting revival location after death. It does need some revisions and we're going to study current player's alignments to see what can be improved.

We will reset alignments when we add consequences.


7. I dig Liquidblade's idea of being able to make custom names for cities.
7a. Would it be possible to create 'zone' names within a tribe area at some point? Could be cool for stuff like Crafting Quarter, Entering the city of XXX.
Customizing your zone name would be easy. Creating zones within your tribe area would be more difficult. Please submit this as a suggestion if you haven't already. I agree this would be a cool addition, but I'm not sure how a quarter would be marked out. This requires some thought...


8. Have you seen a doctor and are you being treated? No good just letting an ear infection run its course!
Yes! This is a very serious problem and I've been treating as such. I've got another visit with my doctor planned tomorrow. Thanks for the concern!

Liquidblade Asks:


Is it possible that our cities instead of having our tribe name, could be named such as "Rome" and perhaps adding "Founded by Legion" ??
I think this would be easy actually, so I've added it to my current tasks for this weekend. If it is easy (I'll know after I revisit this part of the code, I'll add it by next week.

Derek Asks:


Is there any chance of re-balancing the energy drain mechanic? It just seems too harsh at the moment. I spend ~25% of my time resting while logged in. If the jogging drain could be at least cut in half that would be a good start. Others seem to be having the same issue. Please read this thread:
http://www.xsyon.com/forum/showthrea...Drain-Mechanic (http://www.xsyon.com/forum/showthread.php/7536-Energy-Drain-Mechanic)
Yes and this is on my task list for the next two weeks. Being well fed will also have a greater effect on this.

Deacon Asks:


hmmmm....where do I begin....

1.) are we going to get a way to carry water.....I spend more time going to river to drink than anything else..except resting.
Yes, hopefully soon. I am going to look into this after a few other tasks are out of the way.


2.) are shields going to be introduced?...it's a natural form of protection...even the Native Americans had hide streched over wood frames....as a kid, I'd pick up a trashcan lid for protection during dirt clod fights....
Yes. Shields are being designed already and animations are in progress. The models and textures should be ready in 2 weeks and they can be added shortly after.


3.) Are we going to get lighting/torches of sorts other than campifires ? Campfires dont seem to really light anything up much, and we also need indoor lighting/torches.
At some point, yes. We have a lot of other things that need to be finished first though.


4.) Can we get differing lengths of wall sections...like 1/2 and 1/4.....would make building to utilise area more efficiently (and is there a fix for yakid post soon ?)
I'm considering this, but the more small building parts we add, the greater effect towns will have on frame rate. We will definitely first add corner parts and a fixed Yakid Post will be patched out with the corner parts.


5.) Speaking of campfires....are they ever gonna be destroyable by anyone if not on a tribe lands? And will they ever actually burn out?
Thanks
Deacon
Yes to both. Improving campfires should happen in November.

Kazkid


Using Roads that exist DO make my char move faster, however, it also appears it uses more energy.....

Shouldnt traveling on a road use less energy instead?
I took note to look into this. They shouldn't use more energy right now.

thurgond


What crafting skill will be used to make shields?
All of the crafts that contain armor sets will have shields.

Thanks for all the questions!

Xsyon
10-10-2011, 07:11 PM
Questions for the week 10/03 through 10/09

Derek Asks:


Are there any plans to add an option to make totem quests visible from other totems within the zone? I'm not suggesting to allow players to pick up quest rewards from their remote totem - only the quest itself. Players would have to travel to the remote totem to drop off quest requirements and pick up the reward. This would really help to build trade within a zone.
No plans for this, but I like the idea. I added this to my notes for when quests are improved and revised. I'll have to think about how difficult something like this would be to implement.

MrDDT Asks:


You are changing stat gains with combat. Yet some of us already maxed out or have high combat. How are we to gain those points that we should have got from training combat?
I'll think about this. Stat gain and loss in general needs some revisions. Stats should increase and decrease more, based on your recent actions regardless of skill gain.

Shaggy Asks:


ETA on carts?

ETA on water jugs?

ETA on agriculture?

ETA on ranged combat?

ETA on zombies?

ETA on terrain expansion?

You keep saying "soon" or "its in the works". Can we have more definitive answers please?
I really can't give specific dates. With our small team, problems such as injuries, illness or one team member not producing can set us back (as this past month with me being unable to work properly).

However, my best estimate for these things are:

Carts - 1 more week. This was a very involved task, but it's getting there.

Water containers - next week.

Undead - end of the month.

Terrain expansion - early November. This has been ready for a while, but there is no reason to expand right now until we have more players. It will just make the world feel more empty. I'm glad we held back on this because last month we revised the terrain to leave pockets of green mist in the expansion zones. This will allow creatures to mutate within the new zones and not just around the edge of the world.

Ranged combat - November. We're almost satisfied with melee combat right now. After another week or two of revisions I will have one of the programmers work on ranged combat.

Agriculture - End of November or later. We've been setting up the base for this but this isn't something I want to just throw into the game. A lot of things need to be improved and balanced first.

Those are my best estimates for now.

Solei Asks:


I realize the chat box has been greatly improved but Im wondering if there is any chance at all that this box could be tweaked? Id like to be able to resize it for one thing. It takes up a huge amount of my screen and kind of gets in the way of whatever Im doing. Id also like to be able to readjust font size. I am visually impaired and this is something that would help a great deal not only for myself but others with similar problems seeing.

Yes, the chat box will be improved, but we have many tasks ahead of this on the list. The first tweak will be to allow for transparency of the chat box. This will either be automatic (more opaque when you hover over or use the chat) as in some games, or it will be a setting. Other improvements planned are font size settings and custom settings for the chat tabs. I don't know when we will get to these, but they are planned.

Thanks for the questions!

Xsyon
11-07-2011, 11:24 PM
Questions for the week 10/10 through 10/16

Drevar Asks:


When can we expect a fix for those of us at skill level 100 being unable to learn new recipes via crafting and inspiration? It has been acknowledged and has even had a pass at attempting to fix it, but the fix didn't work.

This was working the last time I ran some tests. I've taken note to run more tests on this to make sure this is working by next week's patch (Nov 15 approximately).

MrDDT Asks:


Is there a reason guides are not allowing players to play how they wish? Preventing other players from attacking players in the "FFA PVP" world? I would like to know why rules are being changed by guides?
I will look into this situation.


I like the guide events dont get me wrong, but when will there be reasons for players to do these events? Right now guides are able to give out loot that players cant even get in the game. Zombie armor, Supreme weapons and armor, cloth braided rope. When will these rewards be things that players dont have rely on guides to spawn them for them?
Zombie armor will be available as loot from zombies. Cloth braided rope will be in with the next patch. Supreme quality items should be craftable now with master tools (might even be too easy now). Some special rewards will be available for events, but in general these things you mention will be attainable without guides as soon as possible.


Is there going to be a change is how guides can spawn animals for other players? Or Devs that spawn trees near players totems? Where is the oversight for this type of actions that guides and devs that do this?
We are continuing to adjust the code for creature and tree spawning so that guides should not be using these commands except for when creating special events.


What are your plans to drive the economy in this game? Still after talking to many people trading is very limited. Even players with high skills have issues of people wanting their master crafted items?
We've fixed issues with crafting bonuses and will continue to make adjustments. The main adjustments planned are to add skill decay, provide Quest xp rewards based on distance from your own tribe and improve bonuses as well as rarity of special materials.


What are the plans for these master recipes and artisan recipes? Currently they do not offer any bonus over using normal tools.
These have been fixed to provide additional bonuses to the material bonuses used as well as to quality and durability.

thurgond Asks:


Are there any plans to increase the availability of bonus (bear, raccoon, deer, coyote) fur? Currently this type of fur is only found through scavenging and is extremely rare.
Yes, and these will be made available only through hunting.


Are there any plans to increase the spawn of animals? Currently trees spawn faster than critters.
Creatures are actually spawning quickly. There is a cap to the maximum number of animals so there may be some areas with a lot more creatures than others.


Are there any plans to increase the difficulty/danger of animals? The damage done by critters was nerfed right before combat changes went live and has remained low.
Yes, we are working on this right now.

NorCalGooey Asks:


What are your plans for expansion totems?

If I remember correctly, you want them to able to placed anywhere in the world, just like safe totems are now. You also want safe totems to be able to placed anywhere in the world. So any type of totem, anywhere.

Is this your plan for when you open up the new lands? Have you thought of the massive abuse problems this would bring in? They are so great in fact, that it would defeat the purpose of even having non safe zones.

A tribe of 100 players who do not have a safe zone could have 1 extra account, in which they make a safe zone homestead. The tribe of 100 would then use that homestead to keep all their goods safe, yet still have the benefit of being able to attack other expansion totems and be able to have their own expansion totem. So if it is done this way, it defeats the entire purpose of non safe zone expansion totems.

I'd greatly appreciate some detail on this matter, as speed of development isn't what concerns me. It is the intent of the development. And if you intend to do it this way I simply won't play. The potential for fun times with non safe zones and expansion totem is the only hope I have left for my enjoyment of this game. Because if you add this in, all of a sudden everything has meaning. Comfort bonus has meaning, high level gear has meaning, skill levels have meaning. In addition to adding skill decay and a much, much stronger soft cap which will cause more crafting specialization, which will give pure crafters more value in this game.

I don't have a good definitive answer for this right now. You're right this is a type of exploit I need to, and will, consider. I've thought about similar situations and we will think of solutions for this before the system is implemented.

Xsyon
11-08-2011, 12:24 AM
Questions for the week 10/17 through 10/23

NorCalGooey Asks:


What plans do you have, if any, to balance larger characters with smaller characters?

As of now, advantages for being smaller = being lighter, smaller hit box, and faster (because of being lighter), so uses less stamina as well as being faster

I think it would be fair enough if you could give taller characters a larger base range with all weapons.
Taller characters do have a bigger attack range. This should be working and I've taken a note to have the testers check this again.

KeithStone Asks:


1. Do you have plans to make buildings work like bins where you can open them up and store stuff - there is currently so much clutter from the hundred's of bins everywhere.
Yes, I've thought about this, but there are no immediate plans to do this. We'll see after the current important features are released (mutants, undead, carts, skill decay and other things in progress).


2. Would it be to difficult to make it so we can dig under our totems in order to move it up or down?
Yes, this could cause problems. I am working on allowing players to move containers as you now move buildings. I will see about setting this up to allow players to move their totem back and forth within a range of the actual tribe center.


3. Can you give us a select all contents when opening a bin, there's many times when I just need to trash the entire contents of the bin but instead I have to trash each item 50 times - it's hurting my wrists?
Please submit this as a Suggestion if you haven't done so, but it would not be a quick and easy thing to add.


4. Will different types of structures provide more or less protection from decay like for example a house made from wood vs a house made from brick?
They should provide different levels of physical protection and the plan was for them to decay at different rates. However, I've been thinking about this and the balance between realism and game play so as not to make some walls useless (for example if brick walls decay less and provide better protection in all cases, there would be no other type of walls). This won't be implemented for a while still and I will give it a lot more thought to balance the use of all wall types before this is publicly implemented.


5. Right now we have to click too many buttons while crafting, for example if I want to make 500 mortar I would have to click the mouse button at least 2500 times (I have to click each of lime, sand, bucket, paddle, craft and then I get 1 unit of mortar) - do you have anything planned to help with this?
I do want to add a command to add a count for crafting stackable items. This is on my task list to look into but there are many items ahead on the list. We're going to stay focuses on what's currently in progress, than look at what improvements like this are most needed.


6. What's your reasoning for allowing everyone to have access to all craft skills? During beta we could only have 1 and this seem to work really well, everyone was out in the world trading. Do you have any more input you can give us that will explain how someone who currently has maxed all their crafts to 100 will not be able to literally be the master of all trades?
This was set up as the one craft per player limit was one of things players most complained about before the launch. When I allowed players all crafts, the feedback was very positive. In hindsight, I think this was a mistake. Skill decay will start to rectify this as should the scheme limits when we add more schemes, as even masters will not have the ability to master all items of a given craft.

As we add more crafts, masters of all current crafts will have to lose some of their current crafts if they want to learn the new crafts.


7. You mentioned at launch that you wanted to eventually give tribes an option to turn on or off "safe zones" - have you given this more thought as to how you want it to work?
The first step, as explained before, will be to allow tribes to become 'unsafe' which will allow them better access to resources in their area as well as. This will be a one time switch and not an option that can be turned on and off. Being unsafe will allow other players to fight and attack within your territory, so walls and gates will be important to keep enemies out.


8. Your answer to a previous question: Add expansion totems and allow tribes to remove safe zones.

My Question: Have you thought about how to prevent a tribe that opts for safe zones to be turned on in one totem to keep all their stuff safe and setup a tribe totem next to the safe one to be used for conquest?
This was asked above and need to think about this and other potential problems. I don't have a definitive solution right now but it will be dealt with.

Deacon Asks:



from me
4.) Can we get differing lengths of wall sections...like 1/2 and 1/4.....would make building to utilise area more efficiently (and is there a fix for yakid post soon ?)
Yakid post has been finally fixed and yes, we will add different size pieces with another round of architecture parts soon. This will include larger pieces (larger roofs in particular).

Next up are corner roofs though. We may also soon add interior walls that can be placed on top of floors (only, so they will be sized to take into account the floor thickness).


from you
I'm considering this, but the more small building parts we add, the greater effect towns will have on frame rate. We will definitely first add corner parts and a fixed Yakid Post will be patched out with the corner parts.

These are from my previous question...but now you have me worried. I have done extensive "building" in my tribe's location. Once I complete the builds from ghosted projects to finished projects...am I gonna have a lagfest?

At one spot, I have 17 large granite wall sections....Have you considered making some 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x, sections as well? (turning that wall into 3 5x sections and 1 2x section, thereby reducing number of building parts) the more nx sections available, along with 1/2x...1/4x sections the more precise and efficient we can be.

Yes, I now this wouldnt be a priority, but with comment in red, I do have concerns.
The lag effect is actually more for ghost projects (as they render semi transparent) than for the built items, so you won't have any more lag from finishing projects. Yes, I'm thinking about adding larger as well as smaller components.


Please tell me that mounts/pets will be persistant in world..and not get stuffed into our packs when done...hated the DF with people having a dozen horses in their packs. Hopefully pets/mounts can be killed as well...forcing people to go to an animal trainer to obtain a new one.
Yes, the plan is to have them be persistent and they can be killed. We plan to have commands to summon and unsummon (send them home), but they will go to your home location, not your pocket.


Are we gonna be able to move projects without losing action on them soon. It's intense to move anything very far right now....click, select move...move one increment, lose action...repeat until project at desired location. Sometimes I do get a couple increments of move, but not often.
This is a bug that is driving me crazy. I can not reproduce this at all, on any of my computers. Neither can the other programmers. I've seen videos of this and can't for the life of me figure out what people are doing that is causing this while moving projects works absolutely fine for me. As I see this reported again and again I will sit down with our public testers once some critical tasks are done and try to figure out what is happening here once and for all.

khalart Asks:


1. Is there any plan about Tribe vs Tribe like, for example, totem destruction or conquest?
Eventually yes. Tribes will be able to opt to become warring tribes. We still have a few major features to wrap up, including totem decay before getting to this.


2. Will carts be lootable (the cart itself)?
Yes, off of tribal lands.

Shaggy Asks:


Why do we still have the bug where an arch project gets deselected after a few moves? It's been around since arch was around and many many people have reported it.
Answer is above. (Deacon asked the same).

VeryWiiTee Asks:


This will be mostly centered on carts (since players have yet to be able to test them... Why not by the way?! More test results = better patch, no?)


1. Carts cannot enter too deep water. Won't that make carts rather obsolete for most as rivers divide most of the playable areas, water that you need to swim across?
We are adding bridges soon, but players can also build land bridges. This is something that hopefully will lead to some player cooperation as land will need to be claimed near rivers to build bridges.


2. Will rivers be a part of the restricted depths or is this intended to be lakes only?
Currently deep rivers are restricted. We do still need to test and adjust further.


3. Considering that a cart is primarily wood (Wood floats.. I mean, just look at a ship or raft.. Even metal can freaking float..), shouldn't it be the amount of items and thus the cart's total weight that should determine whether the cart could cross a body of water instead of a set in stone depth.
3a. This would also include steep hills.


4. Instead of imposing such a restriction as not letting it cross too deep water/too steep a cliff, impose debuffs that would make it use more energy dragging up the hill/swimming through the water? (More of a suggestion, I know, but I actually want your own input rather than I want to suggest it..).
4a. Thus, should the water be incredibly deep, you would be using a lot more time crossing it than you would with more shallow waters.
4b. If a cliff/hill etc is climbable you can drag the cart up, the steeper the hill (while still being climbable) the more energy used.

I agree with your ideas, however carts are already becoming a much larger and complicated task than hoped for. We're trying to make them as functional and possible without getting into more complications just so we can get them to the public soon.


5. Where is the skill decay??
On the list, but other things are being done first (carts, bug fixes, mutants, water containers).


6. Any general object decay coming soon to create some meaning with trading/crafting?

General object decay is set up but needs more optimizations before it can be made public. At the moment it's on hold until we wrap up other features.


7. Agree with DDT, where is the reason for strife?
(The three questions, 5-7, would boost the game up to normal MMO standard.)


My primary worry is that carts will be yet another feature that will be.. why did we get this when we can only use it in very specific places and defo not for trading (I have yet to see an area accessible without swimming through a river/climbing a very steep cliff. Especially trade between Mist People and Lake People will be impossible, still.)

It may or may not have been thought of, no way to really know when we can't test it!!!
If carts have problems like this, we'll remove and adjust restrictions. One goal is to have players build and maintain travel routes for carts.

MrDDT Asks:


What is the reason to play in game?
What are some objectives you see for players?
Where are the needs coming from?
Where is the survival aspect of this game?
Where is the strife?
What is the reason to trade with someone else?

These are questions Im asking myself. I cant really die (Players might kill me if I were mostly afk, animals cant kill me, and dont die from anything else). I have every skill in the game, make just about every item in game, and build just about everything in game that never decays.

My main question is when are we going to get something to shoot for? Things that require teamwork and tactics. Skilled playing and planning?

We're working on it! I realize many things still need balance and a lot of improvements were patched out and things are still too easy. This month one of the main things is to bump of the difficulty with skill decay, tougher creatures and increased importance of rare materials.

Xsyon
12-05-2011, 01:32 AM
Questions for the week 10/24 through 10/30

MrDDT Asks:


Any idea when you think you will be re-releasing the game? (doing ads and stuff)? Like when do you plan to have it ready enough to do this?
We will send out regular press releases to many game sites in order to announce the current state of the game, new features and events starting this week (December 5). We will hold of on actual ads for a while.


Rion Asks:


1)

This question has been asked before, but I think it was misunderstood .. or I'm missing something.

Q: Will we get a borderless fullscreen window mode?

A: Yes, we have a borderless fullscreen mode now.
How can we have the game in windowed mode, but in a maximized way, without titlebar and borders? I see no option for this. Could you elaborate on how we can do that if it's really already implemented?
Yes, this was misunderstood. We have normal fullscreen mode now. We are not planning to remove the window border in windowed mode any time soon. I've put this on our suggestion list for future consideration.



2) Will we ever get a more detailed stat effects tooltip? Saying something increases Stat X, doesn't help a ton, especially if there are a lot of different items around at some point that do the same. If we don't get an exact number will there be at least tooltips that mention a value range like "slightly increases, majorly increases" etc. so we can differentiate between low stat bonuses from really good items?

EDIT: Thanks a lot, this has been added with an update today
This was added.


Melaire Asks:


Q: What are the following stats for or supposed to be for at some point: "Flex", "Tension", "Heat Resistance" compared to "Fire Resistance"
Flex: for resistance to breaking in combat and for bows. Tension: Cloth property that will allow improved movement. Heat Resistance: Resistance to hot temperatures. Fire Resistance: Resistance to fires. These are reserved for future use but were set in the game so that we don't have to retroactively apply these stats to old items.



Q: How does the "Armor" stat work and how do resistances work if they are already added in some way. Is it a flat reduction, a percentage reduction based on the basic armor parts you have, a percentage based on some stats?
Armor is a sum of armor parts worn, reducing damage by a percentage based on other factors including skill.



Q: How are the different skills that can create armor (leathercraft, bonecraft, basketry & tailoring from what I know so far) supposed to work in the future. Are there plans to make them about equal, are there plans to give each of them special benefits and weaknesses? Are there plans for some of them to be less effective with pure armor, but will they get more normal clothing maybe more intended for comfort and the like? Overall where do you expect these skills to go.
The plan is to balance these crafts further so that all armor types have their benefits and drawbacks and different armor types will be favored depending on your activities and play style. For example, heavier armor will provide protection but will uncomfortable.


Crokus Asks:


Will zombies and mutants be able to climb high dirt walls without stone or wood walls placed on them?
They will have the same limits on slopes as players.

Xsyon
12-05-2011, 02:17 AM
Questions of Week 10/31 through 11/6

KeithStone Asks:


1. What is your ETA for implementing the skill decay?
This is currently in progress.

2. What is your ETA for implementing structure decay?
No plans right now. Our tests with overall decay were causing noticeable server lag so we will come back to this with revised plans in the future.


I'm not looking for exact dates, just want to know if it's on your short term, mid term, or long term list.

3. Can you give any details on how structure decay will work, for example will the quality drop by a quality per season until it breaks or by some other factor?
The current plans are structural decay based on attacks and weather events only, and for abandoned tribes. The team has discussed this in depth and overall decay would just be burden. We'll see. We're not working on this for a while.


4. Will there be a way to repair structures?
When there is decay, yes.


5. Have you thought about how the quality would affect the HP of a wall or structure if it were to be attacked?
Yes, it will be basic, higher quality will provide more hp. Different materials will have more or less resistance to different types of attacks.


6. Have you thought about what it would take to destroy a structure if it were to be attacked, for example would you be able to run up to it and start beating on it with your fist or weapon - or would you have to use some type of siege equipment like a catapult or battering ram?First implementation, when we come to this, we will allow direct weapon attacks against buildings. Fists, however will be useless.


MrDDT Asks:


Status on Zombies/Mutants?
Mutants are but progress on these continues. Revenants (zombies) are also in progress but will take a while longer.

How are they going to behave? They will be aggressive and we are setting up group / pack behavior.

Are they going to destroy walls to get in? Eventually yes. This won't be for a while, possibly months. We are not set up on the server for npcs to interact with walls as players can. I will require major work.

Are they going to loot baskets/bins? Yes.

Are they going to loot players? Yes.

What types of resources will they provide? Revenant armor. Human bones. Whatever they steal from humans.

Are animals going to be killed by them? Yes. Creatures currently kill each other. Revenants will do the same.

Will they be faster than animals now to make them remotely harder? Yes, similar to current mutants.

Will there be many versions of both zombies and mutants? Revenants have variants like player characters (body size, head, hair styles etc.)

Will they be able to tear down totems? No.



Whats the status on changing the totem system? This is on our short term list after carts and skill decay. Next up will be comfort and totem decay.


Whats going on with totem decay? As soon as we have our revised account back end working this will start. T


What are your plans to promote trading and economy in this game? By continuing to balance and limit existing systems and improving the current resource system.


Where is the survival aspect of this game going to be coming from? Primarily the comfort system, revised hunger and thirst and the challenge of fighting revenants and mutants.


Is food and water going to play a part in survival? Yes and we may implement harsher penalties for low hunger and thirst.


Is clothing going to play a part in survival? Yes as a major part of the comfort system.


Will people need or even want shelter in this game? With comfort implemented, yes.


Whats your plans to get new players? We will start with regular press releases to game sites and will reinvite old players to return. We will offer free time to all current and returning players when our account system allows for it.


Whats your plans on making it easier for new players to stick it out? For one, we are releasing today the ability for tribes to set their town as a starting location for new players. Hopefully this will help new players find active tribes to interact with and get them started. One of the original goals of Xsyon was for new players to arrive at existing towns and use them as they would use an NPC town in a theme park game.


Skill decay plans ETA?
Skill pools " "?
Stat changes?
Skill caps?All of this is currently in progress this week (week of December 5).

Kakary Asks:



Question how will the tradingsystem work in the future.

Will it be a window that you open by clicking on you totem. And when your goods is purchased by a player will the goods automatice end up at the buyers his totem.
or will the goods were bought end up in some type of mailbox directly outsite your tribe. this way people still need to travel to get there goods. I think its good people need to travel to pickup there goods because then there will be more options for the pvp player. You can become under attack on your way home. This also will stimulate people to travel together to prevent losses of there goods.
Trade will happen at the totem where the vendor sets up the trade so players will have to travel to other towns to see what is for sale, similar to the current Quest system.



Then is it possible to get all people that are online will be showed in the chat window with there name. By clicking on there name you will get information about this player or his tribe. We may set up the ability to see what tribe members are online, but not a full list of all online players.



Xsyon is in my experience a game with lot of mousclicks. I do know young people don't have a problem with that but i am older then most of the players and will get easly RSI. Is there a way to reduce the amound of clicks that is need it and still lot of thinks to do for the player. I am thinking about selecting several goods at once that are in the bins. Maybe some limeted automated sorting of goods.
Yes, and we have received many suggestions and requests to reduce mouse clicks. We do plan to constantly improve things like this, but have no estimate as to when right now.



unclean666 Asks:


When are tools and crafting ever going to get the kind of time and work from the devs it needs? It has allways seemed to get pushed to the side with only small improvements and most if not all are A not working yet or B dident work for a very long time.The whole crafting system and stats for crafting needs balanced.As I feared the game was patched with the tool fix with out proper testing and balance.It is way to easy right now and will ruin any kind of trading left in the game.while im a very high end crafter i shouldent be able to craft master bone sets with a skill of 69 or supreme.Yet I can.
Our next patch will require players to have high enough skills to use Artisan and Master tools. We are doing our best to continually balance things.


Severin Asks:


Chat box:
As it is now, the chat box is way to huge on lower(ish) resolutions.
When will we be able to resize it?
Will there be options for the font-size and colour?
Will the dark background be scaleable (opacity)?
Will Local chat show craft and similar messages and whispers?
The chat box has been revised now. It's not resizable, but is not as wide and has a transparency slide and configurable chat tabs. Font size and color changes are in our suggestion list, but we don't have time to implement this yet.


inhabit Asks:


Whatever, happened to basket decay etc, a lot of people rushed to build roofs etc because they would offer protection so when will we see this and why was it not added at that time?
We set this up and it caused too much of a burden on the server. It's been put on hold until after we finish other tasks in progress.


What are your plans for dirt aesthetically? Like dirt walls built by players they look dull and boring we need something other than brown road players put a lot of work into their areas and this takes away from its appearance.
Currently, we don't have plans to revise this, but this is on our suggestion list.



How about giving us a grass tile or something or you already got plans for this?
We might allow players to plant grass as they plant trees, but we have been testing systems to store more massive surface changes and need to optimize these systems first.


Melaire Asks:


How is the scavenging system working in regards to cloth fabrics and scraps? In specific, are colors and cloth types based on the junkpile you scavenge on, are they based on the player character? Will two different chars on average always find the same cloth type and colors, are some cloth types or colors based on skill?
These are based on region and your selected tribal colors. There have been reports indicating that this isn't working so it's on our short term list to look into.

Xsyon
12-05-2011, 03:42 AM
Questions of Week 11/07 through 11/13

Crokus Asks:


We cannot dismantle a built structure item when it interlocks with others. Some players have requested a guide’s help to remove the item(s) and I assume they lost the resources in the process. Is this working as intended? If so, would you consider changing this so we can dismantle the targeted item of the 2-3 interlocking items and not lose the mats? Would it be a PITA to change this?
This has been fixed.



I'm planning a new tribe land layout with a need to provide area for crops once they are patched in the game. Can you tell us the approximate size of the crop "tile"? Will it be an architectural item, similar to a floor tile? Movable and/or flat?

Or will the crop be placed like the road feature in the teraform functions?
Crops will be placed like roads, but might cover 2x2 tiles instead of 1x1.



Will crops be required to be placed on flat land or will we be able to grow them on hillsides?
They will grow on slopes, but there will be a slope limit.


Deacon Asks:


because my comment was removed to this, I'll ask it more direct.


NorCalGooey Asks:

What plans do you have, if any, to balance larger characters with smaller characters?

As of now, advantages for being smaller = being lighter, smaller hit box, and faster (because of being lighter), so uses less stamina as well as being faster

I think it would be fair enough if you could give taller characters a larger base range with all weapons. Taller characters do have a bigger attack range. This should be working and I've taken a note to have the testers check this again.

Please tell me there is more advantage to being large than just this un-noticable 'reach/attack range' of which you speak. Are you going to turn this into another Darkfail with midgets ruling the world ?

I know all the small badasses will speak up here, telling us all how they are stronger and kick ass on the big bad dude in their hometowns, but we all really know different. If they do indeed do this, they are the exception...not the rule.
Currently the only differences are that small characters have smaller bounds and larger characters have longer reach. Small characters do not move faster by default right, nor do they use less stamina. I will set up a new combat thread for further feedback.



Are Canopys considered roofs? Do they offer same protction, or some protection? Can they be placed over floors?

Thanks
Deacon
Yes, they are the same as roofs.


banden Asks:


Currently leveling up crafts mean that you will make a huge amount of items that you will never have room or use for. What are your thoughts on the massive amount of crafted items that will just be discarded that everyone has to make to level up their crafts? Will you eventually impliment a mechanic that makes these items more than just trash?
Nothing is currently planned for this. We did have a mechanism that added discarded items to a list to be found in scrap piles and create new piles (before launch), but this was very demanding on the database so it was deactivated.



What are your thoughts on making the menial gahthering and crafting less clicky and less attention demanding?
One change planned is to allow crafting of items in stacks.



Thurgond on the forums posted an idea about dynamic resource- and creature spawning. I find that something like this would add some much needed substance to the game, what are your thoughts on this idea?
I haven't read this. Creatures do spawn dynamically, they breed from other creatures and there are no fixed spawn locations. Resources are currently becoming more dynamic with the advent of tree planting.


Ushi Asks:


Hello,

I am writing because I have just come back to your game to see the changes.
I left the village in our project and I saw a few things still annoying.

Terraforming:

1. When adding or removing dirt it would be to have a benchmark.

example: if I get seeing the field at a height of 540.50 on a large area, it's really complicated! (my area is 300mx300m: ().


Placement of buildings:

1. When you place the object and that the moves that it deselects itself.
2. To rotate the object that we have 45 ° angles not great! A color circle as in 3DMaya (horizontal movement) would be to move top!
3. The reference point of the object when it is placed, the height is at the center right? when I place and the ground is not overgrazing are not entitled to the same height! making it very ugly. Height adjustment of the object is planned?
4. we can ask an object to another object without the cross?

Those are my questions for now, I would not be others later.

ps: I do not screen for me to understand better now, no worries!

Bye Ushi
1) The problem with object deselecting is hard to fix as none of the programmers can reproduce this. We've seen videos but just don't understand what is happening. It works fine on all of our systems, but we will set some time aside to look into this again.

2) Most building parts need to snap to the grid or they won't fit together.

3) Yes, height adjustment is planned.

4) The question is not clear, but I think you are suggesting for building parts to snap together rather than be moved into position. Changes to this are not planned right now.


Khalart Asks:


1. When will we see agricolture on test server? And how will it work? Should terrain be plow before?
Not for a while. Terrain will need to plowed / cleared.


2. About terrain: many tribes used terraforming to create walls by raising terrain very much. Is this considered like a brick wall by creatures pathfinding AI? What about mutants? Will they climb those "walls"? Yes, these re considered walls and if players can't climb them, neither will creatures.


LiquidBlade Asks:


1- Once barrels are implemented can we create our own ponds, lakes, etc? I mean can we carry water and drop it in an area?
No, water barrels are for drinking water only right now. I like this idea though and it's been put in our suggestion list.


VeryWiiTee Asks:


1. Is it possible to put General Obejct Decay, Tougher Animals/Mutants/Revenants and Skill Decay on top priority as soon as a spot of already top priorities comes along?
Tougher animals and mutants have been patched. Skill decay and revenant AI is in progress. General object decay has been put on hold until we get other priority tasks finished.



2. How are you doing on ranged combat ?
We're currently not working on this. Too many other things are in progress.


fatboy21007 Asks:


Is their any plans for a full character reset (all stats, skill points) , and if so, any idea on how you plan to implent it, and what will be needed for the reset to happen?
No. We will probably allow for character to reshuffle stats at some point.


KeithStone Asks:


1. If you opt to turn off your safe zone will non-contested tribes be able to attack you on your tribe area? (I think they should not be able to, if they want that experience they need to turn off their safe zone as well)
Only warring tribe members will be able to attack you if you take down your safe zone.


2. Have you thought about structure (asset damage)?

3. Will you be able to beat on a wall with your axe to break it, or will there be some type of equipment like catapults, battering rams etc to take down structures? (should only be able to do it with equipment)
When this is first implemented you will be able to attack structures with weapons.


4. If there will be asset damage will it be allowed 24/7 or only during a siege? (In darkfall you can do it 24/7 but you have to use siege type equipment that uses rare/expensive mats, which makes people think twice before bringing them out to do damage just fun)

5. Will there be ladders that can get you over a wall, so you can raid tribes that turn off safe zones without having to do asset damage? (you may just want some pvp but not want to destroy someone's walls to do it.)

6. How will a structure's HP be determined? (will quality + durability give it however much HP it can withstand)

7. Once a structure is destroyed will it be like when it's dismantled, will there be some salvage in materials?

8. Will there be a ghost wall left behind when a wall is destroyed?

9. Would a limestone brick wall have less hp then say a basalt brick wall but more hp than a log wall? (not sure if there is basalt brick wall in game, but we can make basalt bricks so I assume there will be an option at some point)
I appreciate the questions, but as we're not working on siege I can't provide accurate answers to these right now. Siege was not part of the original design documents, but it's something we will work towards in the future.


stonedogg1 Asks:


1.) WIth recipes having various "qualities" now, must they be learned in order? I.e.: If I scavenge a Master quality Water Barrel recipe, (assuming my skill level is high enough) can I learn it without having previously learned "lesser" quality recipes?
1.a.) What advantage is there to learning lower quality recipes (aside from the obvious "you don't have it yet")? Should I be relearning already known recipies since there are now higher quality ones?
1.b.) I noticed there are now 6 Masonary schemes/recipies & I only know 5. Did you sneak one (new recipe) in on us?
Lower recipes can be used to create tools when you don't have the materials for higher level tools or to create low level but high quality tools to trade.

It's possible we snuck in a recipe. We do add things from time to time.



2.) In the developer feedback for waterskins forum topic, someone (sorry - forgot who) posted a terrific idea for wells (that one of the admins/guides/devs liked as well) posted an idea for a "Well" recipe for masonary. Are there any plans to implement this?
2.a) Following on the idea of a new recipe, when is the Masonary skill gonna get some attention?
Currently no plans, but it's been placed on our suggestion list.



3.) Safe Zones: Could you possibly give a quick list of ideas that are being bounced around for advantages/disadvantages of making a tribal zone safe/un-safe?
3.a) What's going on with expansion totems?
If you become a warring tribe (unsafe) you can attack other tribes. The main advantage is enjoying the game as more of a pvp conquest game with other like minded tribes. Expansion totems were put on hold as we had too many features in the works.



4.) Agriculture: We've been waiting for a while for this. You've stated that it is basically done (only needing tweeking). What's going on with this?
4.a.) Could you give us a general "this is how we plan on (subject to change) agriculture working & being used in game"?
Tree planting was almost done and is now in game. Agriculture still requires some work and like expansion totems is on hold until we are satisfied with recent released features and others in progress (mutants, revenants, skill decay, carts, totem decay).


5.) Where's the carts? Haven't heard anything for a while (other than they're in the test server).
5.a) Mounts were mentioned with carts a couple of months back. Any update on this or have mounts been put off?
Mounts will come later. Carts have moved to the top of priorities along with skill decay this week.


6.) Where's the ranged weapons? Haven't heard anything for a while.
As with the other features, we need to go one step at a time. I will post a full list of what we have planned in order in our In Development section.

Thanks for the questions!

Xsyon
12-05-2011, 03:56 AM
Questions of Week 11/14 through 11/27

This Weeks Questions was extended to 2 weeks of Questions due to circumstances.

VeryWiiTee Asks:


How's Mutants and Revenants (each of them) coming along?
Mutants are in, but we are working on improvements to AI. Revenants are coming along well, but we have a plan to release them at the right time.


How is Archery/Marksmanship coming along?
Currently not in progress.


How is Carts coming along?
We'll see this week. These had many complications so we put them aside to wrap up other tasks. We're getting back to carts today.



KeithStone Asks:


1. Will we ever be able to terraform over granite like we can with limestone? It would open up so many areas for players to put their totems down knowing that the granite will not block them from building up their areas.
Possibly, but I need to think about this.


thurgond Asks:


Any plans to sign Xsyon Launcher.exe?
I don't understand the question. :)



Will we ever see clothes/armor in the extra slots (those on the left of the paper doll)?

Ravelli
Possibly. These are body parts covered by most base armor. More accurately current armor should show what parts are covered (for example short sleeve or long sleeve).


Shaggy Asks:


Is it possible to code a feature that allows us to remove snow?
Anything is possible, but I don't think this would be easy to do.



Why are Large Metal Sheets so difficult to obtain? We used to be able to sort them a while back.
They are more common in some areas.


grimreaperguild Asks:


When in the development stage is cooking going in?
I will post this in our In Development section later this week.


fatboy21007 Asks:


in 1 months time, How many hours have you put into developing the game?
10- 20 hours a day, seven days a week. I took 2 days off this year in addition to a few travel days. :)


Asharad Asks:


What software do you use for 3D modelling, and do you need any volunteers to help develop 3D models?
3D Studio Max. Please contact GuideRaguel regarding volunteering.

Thanks!

Xsyon
12-05-2011, 09:43 AM
Deacon Asks:


Will we ever get the ability to make small logs from large ones....leather scraps from leather....fur scraps from fur....
Yes, these are on our list to fit in when we have time.



me...
Are we gonna be able to move projects without losing action on them soon. It's intense to move anything very far right now....click, select move...move one increment, lose action...repeat until project at desired location. Sometimes I do get a couple increments of move, but not often.


you...
This is a bug that is driving me crazy. I can not reproduce this at all, on any of my computers. Neither can the other programmers. I've seen videos of this and can't for the life of me figure out what people are doing that is causing this while moving projects works absolutely fine for me. As I see this reported again and again I will sit down with our public testers once some critical tasks are done and try to figure out what is happening here once and for all.

had any luck on this issue? I cant fugure out why you cant reproduce it, i have trouble Not reproducing it. Maybe try a non-guide/dev account...on a nonserver machine. I know guides and devs have game and system power we dont, maybe that is why you cant reproduce it.
I haven't had any luck reproducing this issue. I've tried personally on 6 different machines and many accounts. Please email our bugs email with as much detail as possible. I need to know if:
This always happens regardless of location.
What your screen resolution is.
Your OS and mouse specifications.

Visigoth Asks:


will we be able to plant or regrow grass?
Possibly, but there is no current plan to add this soon. We will work first on some optimizations to storing surface changes.

Mactavendish Asks:


1. When can we expect all these abandoned 1 man totems to be removed?

It currently is limiting paying customers from expanding their tribal areas, and with new lands being opened I really have a hard time understanding why you believe that a player that spent NO mony to try the game and placed a totem then left, never to return .. will one day come back. Shouldn't they have to buy a sub first before being allow to have a spot of land?
All players that placed totems paid for a game account. We are going to start totem decay as soon as possible and it will be faster than I originally planned. We are just waiting on fixes to our account system at this point as we plan to offer a free week for players to check out the game as totem decay sets in.


2. When will we see zombies in game?

Before carts like it was mentioned? or is there some major thing holding them up?
With totem decay. The major hold up was revising inventory transaction functions so that they could be used by NPCs.

MrDDT Asks:


When will these large tribes hogging up all the land be put to normal size because they have 1/2 or more of their members inactive?

Right now, active tribes cant use this spot that large tribes with 159m radius's or more taking up the land when really they should only have about 50m radius's. I would love to see a warning go out to all players saying that totem decay is coming. Give people a chance to keep their radius and stuff.
major

Shaggy Asks:


Can you explain in a little more detail how the mutant thing works? Love the way they look by the way =)
As creature enter toxic zones they get a radiation count. With a high enough count they are marked as mutants and transform. This is an instant swap and takes into account the current creature's age and power.


How's Archery coming?
Currently not in progress. I will update the In Development section this week so you can see where it lies in our order of tasks.


Because you just gave us mutants, are you working on a fix for animal distribution? Seems like people still report seeing hardly any animals anywhere.
We are looking into it. Creature are supposed to be driven away by players and currently there is a very high creature to player ratio in game.


Also, because we just got mutants, does that mean zombies are right around the corner? How will they work?
Yes. I posted about revenants in answers to previous questions in this thread. Please read through the past few weeks of answers.


edit- Have you thought about a mechanic that lets us create our own junk piles? Obviously this would need to be difficult
Yes. We had an old mechanic that did this, but it was too storage intensive to be worth it. Right now we don't have plans for a different system.


edit- Seems like we're close to terrain expansion How much longer until the new terrain is opened up?
This will happen as soon as: 1) Our account system is ready so that we can set up players with free time. 2) We email all players regarding the start of totem decay. I am planning to do this for January 1st but I am waiting on step 1.


edit- What's that other recipe in firebuilding?
Good question and a mystery to me. If you have a second firebuilding recipe please submit this as a bug.


edit- On that note, do you have any plans to give us torches or some form of mobile light?
Plans, yes, but there are many other things ahead of this on our list.


edit- Have you seen the recently blown up threads on totem decay? What's your opinion on the discussions?
I've read only a portion and have asked my team to provide me with a summary. Right now I have no opinion as I haven't read enough of the discussion.

thurgond Asks:


What are the stats for Forestry and Resources?
Perception and Spirit.


Can we have a new manual to reflect these stats?
Yes, this has been assigned to one of our team members.


Will we see a return of the rare cloth colors (orange, brown, cerulean)?
I've made a note to look into this. These were never removed from the game.


How soon till fires require firewood?
I'm not sure. This is on our list as a minot feature to squeeze in when we have time.

Thanks for the questions!

Xsyon
12-12-2011, 11:50 PM
VeryWiiTee Asks:


1) With many features still missing, such as Archery, Revenants, Cooking, Animal Training to some extend still Agriculture, Carts and the likes do you, honestly, think it is a good idea to start re-advertising the game again? I'm just thinking of launch and how many that felt ripped off. The game has -really- improved, but for most of those that left I actually think the above titles if not the major reason then at least a very important reason for them to not continue with Xsyon.
- I know most Lux'ers are waiting for Archery/Animal Training before they will bother with Xsyon
Yes, I think it's a good idea to do some press. We need more players to keep the game active and we need the additional revenue to expand the team and make faster improvements.

Our feature list has been revised to reflect things that were added, revised and removed. It's been made clear what is still in development.


2) My second concern is in the form of animals. If you readvertise again, even if it is just making people aware of your situation, then you -really- need a tracking system for animals or make them breed a lot more. It still seems to be a problem to find animals or mutants (and I live right next to the mist..)
This is something that is always being adjusted. There are a lot of creatures in game, but the problem seems to be that they wander too far from players and into the mist. We've made three adjustments for the next patch: pack behavior where animals tend to stick together, a better homing system to keep creatures out of the mist and an increase in the maximum numbers of creatures in the world. These should alleviate this problem.


3) Except for design what other notable differences are there with the new launcher?
A major improvement in data compression while transfering files, fixes for improper patching that was sometimes causing corruption in packed data files and fixes for specific connectivity problems that some players were experiencing.


4) Is it possible to increase the amount of time which creatures spend breeding to provide for a larger population of animals. There need to be roughly 100 per zone at all times if you want to satisfy the general population OR you need to make PvE mobs primarily Undead for now whereas animals and mutants are Gathering Mobs too which the population would be fine.
Larger population of creatures, yes. We might set creatures to breed in more seasons (they currently breed only in Spring), but this is on the table for discussion with the team this week and is undecided.


5) Would a simple tracking system be possible soon?
Possibly. However, we've rushed too many new systems into the game already. We're going to stick to the current task schedule with carts, skill decay and revenants first.


6) How long does trees grow before they are fully grown (real life days/weeks)
Currently about 1 real life month.


MrDDT Asks:


Any plans for making it so there is more stuff to PVE? Not the # of types but the amount?

Right now seems like I can travel the whole map and I would be lucky to see 1 to 5 animals. (When I say whole map, I mean corner to corner)
Yes, as stated above.

Derek Asks:


Has there been an in-house stress test to confirm the current builds can handle the influx of new players brought on by advertising? If not, it would be wise to thoroughly stress test before this happens. We all know how first impressions stick with a game.
Yes, as stated above.

Mactavendish Asks:


1. Will HP decay along with skills/stats?
It is assumed it will work this way, but can you confirm?
Yes, as stated above.


2. Will skill & tactics play more of a part in the future?
For instance, if you keep hide at 100 and have camo bonus from armor, your shadow still gives you away. No point in the hide as a tactic..
Yes, and I have plans to improve hiding so that detection is based on what is in player view, not camera view. Shadows will be turned off with hiding, this is how it originally worked.


3. Will we ever see the ability to re-distribute point into different stats to re-define our characters build?
Even if it "cost" something to do I am sure many would want to as they had no real idea what stats to choose, what effect they would have in actual usage, and they have been modified a bit along the way.
Yes, I plan to allow for this. You won't be able to constantly redistribute your stats, but it will be allowed either 1) at specific times after introducing new skills or 2) on a regular but limited basis, such as once every 3 months for example.


How many players do you want this game to support? 5k? 10? 200?
Ideally 3000 to 5000 soon increasing to 10000 within a year. That would including expanding to cover the entire world (around nine times the current playable area). Of course, I want to expand beyond that, but the goal has always been to grow slowly.


With so many systems not working, is it your intent to keep things limited?
System are working, just need improvements and balance. The Prelude was intended to have systems in their basic forms which them improving over time as we've been doing. We do intend to keep things limited though. We are not going to do major advertising, just some press to increase the game population.


I have been playing and paying a long time.. some play and don't pay each month. Would it not be more fair to all to stop charging current players and allow anyone with a game account to play for free until you get the game into a state you feel is ready for prime time?
This is due to problems with the account system that has always been a thorn in our side. Attempting to stop charging all current players would compound our current problems. A revised back end has been in the works for a while now and this will solve the problems.

Crokus Asks:


When do you plan to have the new, larger roof & floor tile items ready for archtecture? Q1? Q2?
Q1


Do you/will you have designs for walls with windows or more options for doors (not gates)?
We don't right now, but will keep adding parts every other month or so. We do have small fences, porches and bridges almost ready to go.


Will you/have you consider(ed) making different wall items with a fireplace?
I hadn't planned on this, but it would be a great addition and has been put on our list.

Thanks for the questions!

Xsyon
12-21-2011, 10:18 PM
VeryWiiTee Asks:



1. Do you have a server on which in-game chat runs through?
1a. If not, then have you thought of getting such a server, to give the game server more power for other processing tasks? (It's quite common in MMO's to do it this way..)
We currently don't have a separate chat server. We started to set up a server cluster with a chat server this past summer, but as the programmer who worked on this failed to make proper progress and then left the team, this has been on hold.


2. How many active subscriptions do you have? Estimated is totally cool.
We have roughly 500 active players.


3. Any eta on combat related abilities?
3a. If paused, then what is the reason?
No ETA right now. The next combat revisions will include improvements to parry and more balancing of armor and weapons. Adding carts became a huge chore as many systems such as collision and inventories required major revisions. Because of this other planned improvements have been pushed forward to the future.

Mactavendish Asks:

Would you please clarify your plans on the following...


1. Did you always intend for there to be "epic" players that had much greater abilities than an average player, and if so, what was this to be based on? HP? Damage? Mitigation?
Yes, primarily based on stats and hp. However, epic players have become more powerful quickly than I intended and when skill decay is implemented along with stat gain and loss revisions epic players should be more balanced.


2. Some stats like HP are hidden. Is it your intention to keep these hidden after prelude or will we all be able to know where we stand respects all stats and skills?
Some stats, such as luck, will remain hidden. I intend to add skills or actions that help you sometimes gauge your luck or other hidden stats. HP will likely remain hidden, but we will see. I'm personally not a fan of numerical stats in game though I know a lot of players are.


3. Do you feel that the game needs more scarcity of resources and better balance or do you like the setup we currently have. I don't like the current balance and this is going to be worked on once carts are finally done. Specifically we need to revise material distribution, implement skill decay and revise crafts so that players have individual strengths and weaknesses rather than have too many players that feel that 'everyone can do everything'.

Xsyon
12-29-2011, 10:38 PM
Deacon Asks:


How hard would it be to give us a destroy option for bins, baskets, backpacks, pouches, and bowls? Why doesnt bins left outside of tribe areas become public? We could clean up alot of clutter in the world if we could destroy abandoned basketry and campfires. They have one man tribe areas available, I dont understand the need to have private basketry out side of that. It would also prevent the 'drop backpack' when attacked scenario, when someone is attacked....hard to loot a dropped backpack..because it is now a private basketry...outside a tribe area.

Thanks
Setting up a destroy option for bins wouldn't be difficult, but functions do need to be revised to destroy all of the contents. This is on our list to do soon (we keep a list of small issues to do in between more major tasks).

Regarding bins outside public lands becoming public, we've planned to do this for a long time, but want to email all old players first to give them a chance to return and reclaim objects that they left as safe. This had to wait for the account system changes and we still have a few issues to fix. I hope we can send out a few emails shortly after New Year then we can remove bin permissions on public land and start totem decay.

Mactavendish Asks:


You have done well with mutants.

Question: will we ever see zombies get added back in? I know they were tried in beta, and that you needed to have them work with the new combat changes.. but When?
They will be in as soon as possible, but after some of the recently mentioned improvements (skill decay, quest revisions) are done. Currently the programmer who will finish the undead AI is still improving overall creature AI and balance. When he's done with that he will resume work on undead.

banden Asks:


Nice to see you mention the abandoned totems in the update today, I assume this means we will see some work on this in the near future? Have you settle on a mechanic for totems? Will there be upkeep? Is so, what items will we need for upkeep? Will there be expansion totems?
The plan is to first have simple decay based on whether tribes actively use the totem or not. Later we will implement totem upkeep and we have a system in place for replacing totem parts to customize your totem. After our current round of development, yes there will be expansion totems.

VeryWiiTee Asks:


1. How are Carts actually doing? Near completion? Half-way there? need to start from scratch? Somewhere in-between two of them?
Near completion, but they've been nearly completed for a while. Carts had many issues getting stuck and not properly being able to cross water. Collision functions needed to be revised and the programmer working on this decided on redoing a lot of the collison system in order to better support future features.


2. Have you noticed any increased fps lag?
I haven't personally and the last few updates have increased rendering speed slightly. If you are have lower framerates it's probably because of the larger number of trees in view.


3. Have you seen the recent lag spikes?
There were some lag spikes due to connectivity problems last week. If you are still seeing more lag spikes please make one of our Guides aware of this.

digdug Asks:


Was thinking about coming back and playing xsyon, but by the look of the forums it seems like the community is fairly dead.
How many people are online at a time? less than 100?
At a time, roughly 50 online.

Thanks for your questions!

Xsyon
01-02-2012, 04:56 PM
Deacon Asks:


I've tested a high quality shovel, and moderate quality shovel when terraforming. Both seem to wear out at almost exactly same pace from condition level to condition level + or - one action. Is this working correctly? I also used a master qual shovel yesterday, and while i didnt count actions used to decay it, it seems to have done about the same or worse than two tested today.
Quality currently doesn't affect decay, but the durability of these shovels should depend also on the skill of the crafter and materials used. I will look into this further when we work on decay revisions soon.

thurgond Asks:


Will schemes, particularly in bone crafting, be modified to accept or require mutant parts?
Yes. Schemes will accept mutant parts with the next patch (early next week). I'm thinking about setting up master armor sets that require mutant parts.


To clarify my earlier question, the Xsyon launcher does not have a digital signature. Windows and sometimes my firewall complains about this. Any plans to acquire a signature for the executables?
No plans for this right now. I'm not sure what this entails but I will run it by the programmer who set up the launcher.


Now that everyone can gets a bin scheme at lvl 25 basketry, are there any plans to add value to basketry. Currently, a lower quality bin holds as much and lasts as long (forever) as a supreme bin. There are only three grass armor pieces that can take a buff including the grandmaster hat, so grass armor seems to be at a big disadvantage. As it stands, the only reason for high basketry is for higher level twine.
Ravelli
When we improve decay the quality of baskets will matter to protect the contents. Grass armor will also be improved to affect hiding and provide camouflage against creatures. These are planned improvements that will come after the current features in development that were recently announced.

Thanks for the questions. It was an easy round this week!

Xsyon
01-09-2012, 09:15 PM
dem1urge Asks:


Currently, and as far as I know, the only way to build a multi-story building is to use the 'dirt method'. Is there any chance of it being able to be done outside that method soon? As in, actual stackable pieces?

Thanks for all your great work, Xsyon-team!

Yes. We started working on an easier method to create multiple story buildings and we will finish this up in the future. However, it's great that players have been using terraforming to allow them to create multiple story buildings now. It mimics ancient building methods.

brewswiller Asks:


I notice that in some crafting disciplines there is the ability to craft a hat for that school, starting from novice through to grandmaster.

1. Is there any bonus to that discipline whilst wearing that hat whilst crafting, or are they just for show/bragging rites.


2. If there is does the GrandMasters exceed the 100 limit or convey other advantages whilst crafting that school.
These are just for display / bragging rights right now.

Thanks for the quick round of questions!

Xsyon
01-16-2012, 01:55 AM
VeryWiiTee Asks:


1. How are you doing on grass/branches spreading. I know you deactivated spreading of forest ground during spring to optimize, any improvements?
We've discussed and written down some ways to improve this, but haven't yet worked on the code. For now it will stay off.


2. How are you doing on animal distribution, especially critters vs large game? Will you put up restrictions on critters to allow for more large game?
The test server currently has a new spawn distribution with more large game and we've completely readjusted the breeding system. Now that we have the creature tracking tool the breeding patterns are much easier to observe and things look good so far. This will be patched out to the live server this week.


3. What exactly are you working on atm?
Quest system, skill and stat system revisions and ongoing creature AI primarily.


4. Will there be a check to avoid natural tree spawning from spawning a lump of trees, like there is for players?
There is a check but distances need to be increased. We need to review tree spawning at some point.

thurgond Asks:



In general creatures are behaving as they should. Creatures are rare in areas with a lot of human activity, but more remote zones are plentiful with creatures. Players have been hunting the larger game animals, so the smaller critters have bred like rabbits. Mutants abound on the edges of the green mist in hard to reach areas.

How is human activity figured? Just by distance from the lake? In some areas, I can skirt the mist for several zones and not see as much as a hamster, while in other areas there are often 3+ critters in view at the same time, even between two tribal areas.
Human activity is based simply on players online. Creatures tend to move away from players, so areas with less active population should have more creatures.


After the daily server maintenance, the bonuses on newly crafted items all display as #.00. Is this rounding a bug, a display error, or working as intended?
Please report this directly to our bugs email.


Can you give me an ETA for porches or at least more walls with doors?
Not at the moment. I really haven't been doing well healthwise the past few weeks so things are coming along a bit slowly (but steadily) right now.

Xsyon
01-26-2012, 05:43 AM
Gustaph Asks:


Once revanants are in game, (I know it is still a while off), have you planned on them being mutated by the green mist the same way creatures are?
No plans for this, but I've added this to our suggestion list.

VeryWiiTee Asks:


1. While you optimize the code for forest ground to spread, would it be possible to turn on grass to forest ground conversion for trees during autumn? Btw it's nice to see that roads retreated during the forest ground spreading !
Right now, no. This will remain turned off until we can really completely optimize this surface changing system.

Crokus Asks:


I had asked for an ETA on the larger roof and floor tiles on a previous QotW post and you gave us an approximate release this first quarter. With all the of the unusual delays recently (I hope you feel better soon.), and more urgent items on your to-do list, will the new arch items be release in Q2 instead?
They should still be in during this 1st Quarter.


Once decay from the elements is patched into the game;

1) Will the roof and floor tiles prevent decay of the bins AND resources (i.e. logs, scrap, grass stalks, etc.)? Or just the bins?
Yes, they will reduce decay for both bins and resources.


2) Will the preventative benefits of the roof and floor tile require the combo to receive the benefits? Will there be a partial benefit (or no benefit at all) if you just have bins placed on a floor tile without the roof? Or resources placed under roof structures without the floor tile?
When this is first patched out, only roof parts and complete buildings such as tents will prevent decay.


3) Most roof structures are wider and deeper than the 4m squared floor tiles. Will the larger roof shield the elements outside to the 4m squared foot print? (i.e. 5m squared?)
Only the area inside will be protected.

ggnomely Asks:


I would like to know if white paved roads are going to accessible to players? Guides can make them, and it seems like an easy add.
I've put this on my list and I'll think about. I think you mean the 'asphalt' surface. Right now we're sticking to current priority tasks.

unclean666


Yes I agree with ggnomely I would think it would be an easy add (but what do i know) and would give us SO MANY more options and styles for our tribes.

On that note and same why can we pave outside our tribe areas but cant remove the paved areas it really is a pain when you want your place and the area you live in to look nice but someone went nuts paving.So any chance we can use clear/terrain on said paves?
The idea behind allowing tribes to extend roads outside of boundaries was to enable them to connect tribes with roads. If we allow players to remove someone else's roads it renders this feature useless.

You're right though, it's become a problem with some players going crazy paving. I have some ideas to resolve this problem.

These ideas include:

Allowing players to pave and remove roads based on distance from their existing tribe totem.
Allowing players to pave and remove roads only inside the region of their tribe (Round Hill / Zephyr / etc.).

If a tribe is abandonded, others would be able to pave over the remaining roads.

It will be a while before we have time to implement these changes, but we do realize this is an issue and it will be dealt with in time.

Thanks for the questions!

Xsyon
01-31-2012, 06:28 PM
Gustaph Asks:


I know that both bows, and thrown weapons are planned. Is there any possibility of having slings in game. I would think slings would be easy to implement, with a similiar mechanic to power swings. You hold down the button and your character starts swinging the sling around, when you realease you release your shot.

I just think with the simplicity of making slings, and the simplicity of the ammunition, that slings would be an obvious missile weapon for surviviors to create. And although I wouldnt try taking a bear on with one, they would be perfectly usable against smaller game, and in pvp.
It's possible, but not planned for now. We'll add bows first since we have the artwork and animations done for this.

masterqgj Asks:


is there anything planned like rails for fast travel / carrying loads between tribes?
Not for a long time, but I definitely want to add the ability to lay down a rail system in the future.


What about the future plans? Any great ideas you or Jordi or whoever can talk, even if its just an idea and not scheduled or even not sure if it works with the engine?
I am Jordi. :) The big future plan is to expand the game to different areas of the world. Each expansion would bring to life the architecture, history and mythology of the region. The first big expansion of this type would be Egypt. Xsyon will have to grow a lot for this to happen, but this is the original dream!

fatoy21007 Asks:


I noticed the graphics settings need a good fix me up, where some u cant even notice their effects and others may cause a crash or lag ya. dont get me wrong, i love the look. But when can we see this fixed up? , Also, Whats next after totem decay, when is bridges and porchs coming? and 1 finaly question, did ya sleep yet?
One of our programmers is working now on optimizing graphics. If you can reproduce a crash by changing specific settings please email me.

During the totem decay phase we will be adding the current features in progress (real estate, stat and skill revisions, quest revisions etc.). After totem decay we will have a round of new architecture parts including bridges. Next up we want to finally get cooking in and ranged combat. Really we'll see how things go in February. Yes, I am finally getting normal sleep the past week and we're making good progress now that my health is better.

thurgond Asks:


Help settle a bar bet (well, it would be a bar bet if you'd put in brewing). Are mutants normal animals that wander into the mist and mutate, or do they spawn as mutants?
Mutants are normal animals that wander into the mist and mutate. Did you win the bet?


Will we get an activity that will raise charm any time soon?
We'll see. While I am revising stats and skill I was thinking of having luck rolls affect charm (charm affects luck now, luck is a hidden stat but it has a small influence on many activities).


What's the reasoning for not allowing items to be dropped into water?
Because they can drop to the bottom and then can't be retrieved. When we have time to add the ability to dive and swim under water this will be changed.

Deacon Asks:


1. ) Because we get no feedback from bugs section, I'll post it here and ask if it's intended to be changed, or will be left as is.


Currently, when tribe leader unchecks his box for dismantle projects in privleges, and apply's it, it doesnt take....he still gets dismantle button every time he clicks on structure in tribe area.
This is quite dangerous with all the clicking going on, as well as annoying...can't look around a tribe area without getting the dissmantle option constantly.
Yes the tribe leader does get an override on this. I made a note to look into this this week. If it can be changed without affecting anything else I will do it.


2. ) I know gate/doors were not intended to be above the ground. But, some of have built structures several levels high. But...when using a gate as a door, there is a considerable gap, even with the thinest gate, which is difficult to pass over without falling thru to the ground, especailly if encumbered. Will we get doors that prevent this, or is it possible to put a lower sill on gates that would also prevent this ?

This is also a good idea and I've made a note for the artist who is working on new architecture parts to add sills to doors with the next batch of parts.

Thanks for the questions!

Xsyon
02-08-2012, 09:38 PM
MrDDT Asks:


I know you can give us a date, but when do you plan on seeing ranged combat?
What are your plans for dodging?
Ranged combat is planned for in the next round of combat changes, after the current round of work in progress. Dodging may be part of that as well. I don't have a set plan for reimplementing dodging but most likely it will give the player a speed boost to enable faster quick movements in combat.


Do you see advanced skills that use more than 1 craft (like wainwright) being put into the game?
Yes and some recipes such as furniture will require second crafts depending on materials used(bone, leather etc).


Do you see advanced sub skills being put into the game (IE. bladecrafting sub skill to weaponcrafting)
Possibly, but this isn't planned right now.


Whats the status on bonuses for items? Like AGI working, or Damage.
This will be looked into after our optimizations and current round of tasks (real estate etc.) are finally done.

Niburu Asks:


How do you think about Autocraft and Autogathering abilities ? To reduce the amount of clicks and giving macro users less of an advantage the GUI could support auto harvesting 4 grass for example or the ability to craft 100 exemplars of one itme depending on ressources in your backpack and space left.
I will consider this and just added it to my request list.


The ability to remove safezones is planned for the near future. What will the bonuses look like if i remove the safezone ?
Better scavenging and resources on tribe land to begin with.


Do you still have one guy dedicated to work on the combatsystem only ?
No. The main combat programmer is currently working on optimizations and continuing animal AI revisions.


ETA on 2 hand weapons and shields ?
Soon after the current tasks are done. Shield artwork is in progress. 2 handed weapon artwork has been done for a long time now but we need all new animations since we changed the combat system.


I noticed some players had problems with activating there accounts and it had to be done manually by Guides. Are you aware of that problem ?
Yes, I had to activate the accounts. This was a problem with the account system for a few days that has been fixed.

H3atmiser Asks:


Does the development team have any plans at all to install an item system to where you can drop any item (ie: shows up on the ground where you drop it)?
No. This was our original system (to allow players to drop and throw any item) but we quickly changed this as it was too massive of a task for our team and would cause a lot of strain on rendering scenes.

Hodo Asks:


Any idea on when spears, shields and ranged weapons may go into the game?
Ranged weapons and shields should come in the next round of improvements, which I will announce once the current round is done.


And why didnt you go with the combat damage system out of Roma Victor?
I never considered it. I had no input in the design of Roma Victor and honestly have no idea how the damage system worked. I worked only on the client side.


Lastly...

Mounts or draft animals, will they be in sometime this year seeing as we have carts?
Mounts, yes. Draft animals, doubtful as this would be a much bigger task.

Deacon Asks:


Some animals are growing quite large...like IS' deer....would it be possible to increase amount of resources from them as they get older, bigger, and tougher?

Thanks
Yes, this is planned for the near future.

thurgond Asks:


I did win my previous bet on mutant spawning. Now we need you to settle another bet. Based on your earlier statement, we will need to scavenge away from our save zones to find rare items. This is what the guides recommend and what I have experienced, but MrDDT says he finds rare items within 10 m of his safe zone. Is this the way it is intended to work? Can having over 100 perception or an exceptionally large tribe effect the results?
The size of the tribe doesn't matter, but over 100 perception does increase the chance of finding rare objects. It should not be impossible to find rare objects withint 10 meters of a safe zone, but it should be much harder than at a distance. I will look into this.


The February 1 patch notes mention:

Animal AI improvements for pack behavior and creature aggression.
I've seen herds of deer and a pack of coyotes, but more often I've seen groups like a deer, rat and kitten together. That's the sort of group that should walk into a bar at the beginning of a joke. Is this working as intended?
No. We will look into this. Only animals of the same species should group. However, the animals that you mention do tend to ignore each other so they may seem to be in a group when the AI is not actually grouping them.


Currently, in PvE the only armor pieces that take damage are shirts and pants. Will this change?
Yes, when we get back to combat revisions.


Critters pass right through low platforms. Should they, and if not will this be fixed?
We are aware of this and it will be fixed, but it's not an easy thing to fix so it will take some time.

wrangler Asks:


Hey guys just want to say first you have made a awesome game iv been looking for this type of open world for years. Decided to buy the game even if it wasn't finished to just support you. I'm sorry if this has been asked but do you plan on having any boats in the game?
Not for a while. Boats would only really be useful in the lake. Boats are part of the original design though.

masterqqj Asks:


I heard, that some mining is planned. Is there any eta yet? It would be awesome if players were able to dig tunnels through the mountains to connect tribes using them.
Mining would just allow for gathering of more rock resources. We won't have tunneling any time soon as it would require a complete revision of the ground system.


Together with that question:
If there's really some mining coming someday, are there any plans to increase the crafting by, lets say, smelting different ores and alloys, make your own nails and such?
This, yes and we will have blacksmithing with metal armor sets (these sets have been designed but not made yet).

Drevar Asks:


A while back you made a pass at stackable items, increasing stack sizes for a lot of stuff, but some items (newer leather and fur types among them) were left out. Could we get another stackables pass, and could this include making schemes, patterns, and blueprints stackable (I know this was already on your to-do list)?
This is easy to do so and makes sense, so I've added it to my todo list for this weekend.


Also, any plans for multi-threading the launcher? It takes so long with analyzing files that restarting is a real pain (only adds to the loading pain once you try to get into the game). As the analyzer finds files it needs to update it can pass them to the DL thread and begin DLing immediately, instead of waiting until it is finished checking all the files.


Is there any way to add a client/server version check on the launcher for the Test server? We can see if its up or not, but not whether the test client we have is useable on the current build of Test. Having to go through the long analyzing (see above suggestion) and second login only to find out you can't get on because the client is incompatible is really annoying.
We don't have any plans to further revise the launcher right now. We just don't have the man-power and too much else in progress!

Thanks for the questions!

Xsyon
02-15-2012, 10:31 PM
Amnesia Asks:


A player's stats (and how one allocates starting points) have quite a big impact on how the game plays out. I only recently learned that you will need a very high stat in a specific attribute if you want to create supreme items of the related craft. I'm also having quite a bit of trouble when doing things with my tribe, only because I did not take 90 Strength, 90 Fortitude and 90 Agility.

Have you thought about the impact stats currently have on gameplay and are you considering creating a mechanic that lets players relocate stat points (i.e. scavenge or craft a hard-to-get item which enables the player to relocate x stat points, or even grant relocation points on 'level up')?
We do plan to allow players to reallocate stats in the future, definitely when we release new skills that require stats not currently used much by players (such as charm) and possibly it will be allowed every several months.

Before this we will release our start and skill revisions which will make stats fluctuate more based on the character's activities.

MrDDT Asks:


What are your plans for building a better economy?
Basically our currently features in progress:
Real estate, revised quests and revised skill and stat gain.

These together should incite players to adventure and travel more rather than grind. Travel will be risky with more enemy player and creature encounters, including undead. Armor and weapons, which are the primary 'end crafts' should then have more value for trade.

After these revisions we will see what's next.

We also plan to revise resource distribution again once we have a proper tool to visualize the distribution better and localize more resources, including more metal resources, tree types and when implemented, crops.


What are your plans for a healing system?
First, simple bandages and herbs to increase life directly and increase regeneration rate.


What are your plans for energy regen system changes if any?
No current plans until I get more feedback on this.


Is there any plans to have lands revert back to terraformed normal state after a time?
No.


What are your plans with how farming is going to be done? IE. Watering? Tending? Using soils or dirt types? Regional type of planting crops? etc.
Like many of our systems it will start out simple, requiring watering and harvesting at the right time, but not much else. Different crops will grow better in different regions. Soil types and other improvements may come later.


You said in the next combat update that archery/thrown weapons would come into play. Can we get a little info on how this is going to be planned? Like will there be crosshairs for it? Will first person mode be active? Will the arrows have weight (like arc them in the air to hit longer ranges)? What types of systems will be in place with this?
Ranged combat will use crosshairs and there will be targetting error based on character skill. It will work in both 1st person and 3rd person mode. All ranged weapons will follow a gravitational arc and be affected by wind.

Jadzia Asks:


Will totem decay affect active (subscribed) players' totems ? So if solo player doesn't (can't) play for a while, but he does pay his subscription, will his totem decay ?
Totem decay will not affect active paid subscriptions for now.

aliksteel Asks:


I was going back over the feature list to see what you have changed and saw that "Accumulating snow" is still on the list. I thought I remembered reading that this was out. Or is this still something you want to try to have in-game at some point in the future?
This has always been in the game. Snow starts in small patches and accumulates over time. The depth doesn't accumulate and that's something we may add in the future but not for a while. We attempted this but it was too resource intensive.


I also saw this "* This system is currently being adjusted." /// "** Characters will age at the rate of 9 years per real year, commencing January 1 2012.". This was new to me, Not the part that we will age, But the part that we started aging at the start of (this)year 2012. Are we aging now? or is this been pushed back?
Characters are aging but there are no visible effects right now. They should have reset at the start of the year, but honestly things have been too hectic and I haven't even checked. If it didn't reset, it will be retroactively set to that start date when age comes into importance.


And a follow up on MrDDT question: "What are your plans for building a better economy?".
If you don't plan on doing anything for the economy. Will you think about getting rid of dollars coins and bottle caps?
No. These currencies are integral to the Real Estate system and will be further used when we set up Trade Totems (in addition to the Quest System).

Thanks for all the questions!

Xsyon
02-22-2012, 11:29 PM
Hodo Asks:


Will there be harsher consiquences for death in the future?
Yes there will be skill and stat loss associated with death. This is part of the skill and stat system revisions in progress.


Why is draft animals or attaching animals to carts doubtful? Is it a code issue, or a programming issue?
(It is done in a simple Java game in the same market as this, and it doesnt have to look good as they have shown.)
It's an issue of not enough programmers and time. Other improvements and additions take priority right now. We would like to add many things in the future, but need to progress one step at a time.


Will there be the ability to reroute water later, like canals, damns, and possibly aquaducts?
Players can currently dig canals but only at the current level. Flowing water and aqueducts may come in the future but are not in our current list of priorities.


Will shields have a "hitbox" or will they just be a defense bonus?
(in my experience hitboxes work better for the shield and give the shield a HP limit, this will mean that it can be destroyed through use.)
They will have a form of 'hitbox' and yes they will take damage.


Will 2handed weapons, spears, poleaxes, and everything else, have a different "reach", over shorter weapons? Or will they just be big slow hard hitting weapons that are the same as the one handed counterparts?
All weapons currently have a different reach. Two handed weapons will have a longer reach than the current weapons in game.

Runtlington Asks:


Is there any chance we could be allowed to mix the kind of trees/branches etc used in walls/barricades. It makes no sense they they have to be the same unless the attributes of the wood did something to make them harder to get through or the look.
This is already on our request list, but is not likely to be implemented soon. Originally (before the public pre-release of Xsyon) the wood used affected the look of all structures. We changed this as it became too big of a task for us. I'd like to implement this as it was originally planned, but we will see how things progress this year.

znaiika Asks:


Will you restrict totem to be placed on or near the roads and scrap piles? In my opinion roads should be clear of structures, and who would live on top of junk piles?
No, we don't have any plans to restrict totem placement. If a tribe wants to live on a junk pile, that is ok.


Will you allow solo players to have a bit larger territory?
After we expand lands, possibly. This will depend on the population.


Will you add more hit boxes, like head, lag, arm, foot and also, different damage for different body part, like head should be most sensitive and take more damage.
Yes, this is already partially implemented, but we will set up more critical damage based on specific body parts hit.


Can you add timer to containers outside of tribes? maybe one week or so.
We will be removing permissions on containers entirely outside of tribe zones soon.


Will you have PVE server in the near future? I don't mind to start over with a new character.
We don't have any plans for this right now.

soulless Asks:


1. Have you considered, and is it feasible, to add to the development team to increase the rate of development of this title? (love the game, just would like to see it evolve faster (grin).
If we had the funds to increase the team, we would! Things have picked up lately and we are looking for more programmers at the moment. If you would like to donate to help us increase the team we gladly accept!


2. Is it possible to add an auto sorting feature to storage? and is this something you would consider, to ease the amount of clicking in storage? And, is it possible to make it so we can "dump" the contents from one container to another, instead of clicking and dragging stack by stack? (Btw tested building storage a bit on test server, like what i saw so far).
It's possible, but not something that we can implement quickly. Improvements such as this are on our list for the future but not in our current priority list.


3. would you consider removing the depth limit on carts for crossing water until we get working bridges and boats in game? (suspended immersion I know, but would be functional until then)
I will discuss this with the team. We did set a depth limit that should allow most rivers to be crossed, but not the lake.

johnthebeast86 Asks:


hello, i'm a new player and i really like this game.
I have some question...
I have seen around a lot of baskets (hundreds) outside tribes area and in the middle of nowhere that can't be open and probabily their owners don't play anymore. So what you think about introducing a some kind of "lookpicking" in order to open and remove them? obviously it works only on baskets outside tribes area.
We will be removing permissions on these baskets on public land soon, but first players will have a chance to return and collect their items.


What you think about to increase a bit animals population? they seems nowadays too low. Hard to find someone (not impossible)
The creature population fluctuates based on many factors, but yes it will be increased. We have been monitoring the creature population and will be increasing breeding rates.


I have increase my skill in scavenging from 25 to 70... and i found only 20 feathers. I think they should be more 'common to find. it is absurd that my skill in weaponcraft is stuck for a lack of ornamental feathers, which are not even essential for making weapons in hindsight. therefore i hope that the feathers become slightly more 'easy to find, is currently very difficult.

This really depends on the area as resources are distributed. The best way to get something you can't find is to trade.

YamiOkami Asks:


1.) Are you planning to release features that are similar to each other together, at the same time? For example bows, polearms and other combat skills? If they are released separately i can see everyone switching skills each time ones comes out.
Yes, we will be releasing the next features and improvements in groups. Right now the building changes are leading to our Real Estate features. Revisions to skills, stats, experience and quests will be released as a group as they tie in together. The next set of combat revisions will also be released as a group.


2.) Are there planned features to help players create their own fun? I don't need to know what they are if they are secret, but i find the main reason people stop playing and disappear is because they burn through all the features and can't think of anything to do.
The main thing for players to create fun for each other is the quest system. It's currently not used much, so it's one of our priorities right now. Along with the Real Estate system that will enable players to have a home away from home I hope this will bring more adventure into the game.


3.) Will it be possible to brace polearms? As in plant it in the dirt and let the bear, or soldier on horseback [or whatever] charge into it?
No plans for this, but I've added it to our request list.

kegan Asks:


Is there going to be any safe zones (by safe zone i mean tribal area) for the PvE/crafting/solo players in the future of this game or are you going to eliminate that all together in the end?


I don't want to spend months building up my tribe and have it mowed down by a raiding party and have to rebuild. If you look at other games like Wurm Online the PvE side of it is much larger then the PvP and i think you will be doing your game a disservice if you do not leave at least Neutral tribes protected. Maybe have Good vs Evil to be in war with each other and can be raided just give them some kind of reward for that and leave the Neutral tribes safe but small and no rewards/bonuses?

I don't care about outside of my tribe area kill me if you want/can but i don't want to lose all my hard work building and shaping my tribe.
Safe zone removal will be up to the tribe and will be provide rewards and bonuses for those that take the risks, so you will be able keep a safe tribe as you describe.

Fangbeorn Asks:


1) Are campfires going to have a decay system or something? I've only been playing for a few days, but I notice so many campfires that it kinda ruins the immersion a bit. I extinguish or destroy the ones that I can, but there are so many others that won't allow. It would be cool if seeing a campfire was an actual sign of recent human life.
Yes, they will. Fires will have to be fueled.


2) This has probably been asked before, but I was wondering when Animal Taming would make it's appearance, will it be in the next few months?
I'm not sure. Right now we are looking to add some programmers so we can make faster progress.


3) When skills such as animal taming are implemented, will one have to make a new character with spirit/charm, or will there be a way to restat them (not instantly, but without having to grind them from whatever they currently are)
There will be a way to reset stats but also stats will fluctuate more once the current revisions to the stat and skill system are released.

MrDDT Asks:



Originally Posted by Jadzia
Jadzia Asks:
Will totem decay affect active (subscribed) players' totems ? So if solo player doesn't (can't) play for a while, but he does pay his subscription, will his totem decay?


Originally Posted by Xsyon
Totem decay will not affect active paid subscriptions for now.

Last week you said this, does that mean there will be a time where paid accounts will not have decay, and unpaid subscriptions will have decay even though neither logged in? Because you say "for now" when nothing has decay right now.
I meant when totem decay is implemented. Tribes with actively subscribed players will be marked as abandoned, but they will not be removed.

SemiHuman Asks:


Any chance of adding a 'Move' command to empty storage baskets - similar to what we have for the water barrels? Just to save me any more wasted hours trying to get my baskets to line up :P
Yes, this is on my short list. We will be checking this on the test server this week.

Thanks for the questions!

Xsyon
03-18-2012, 01:50 PM
MrDDT Asks:


When are we going to see this?


Originally Posted by Xsyon
The system will be revised after I patch out the tribe rank system and I think JCatano outlined it best. I'm convinced, there will be no respawn at your body. There will definitely be no forced 'ghost runs', but I'll let you stand and suffer a ghost for a minute while you watch your enemies loot you. :P

I like Jadzia's idea about being able to bind at ally tribes. I think solo players should be able to bind at friendly tribes. I'll consider the bind slots for a few items. I just need to think about how to implement and display that properly.

I agree with keeping it simple.

Thanks to everyone for all the input. This is exactly what I'm looking for with Xsyon, making the game you all want to play without compromising the game that I want to play.
http://www.xsyon.com/forum/showthrea...ll=1#post32733

Instead of binding to ally totems, players will be able to bind to homes rented through the Real Estate system.

Ferigad Asks:


Well i suggested in suggestions, but didnt hear any of it, so i simply ask. Will campfire fuel reactivated in the next time? I mean tree planting works, chop firewood works and if i remember correctly the fueling system for campfire was allready implemented and just deactivated because the lack of regenerative fuel.

This is on our list to be completed when we can fit it in. There are many small things like this that we squeeze into our builds if we have time while waiting for the major features we're working on to be tested. We place a higher priority on bug fixes so this might still take a while to get in game.


Second question, as example tar, atm it has still no use but some players (and i dont mention any name) have allready occupied spots with a Second account. What will you do or what possibility will tribes have agains players with second, 3th or maybe 4th accounts, that occupied a rare ressourcespot with a 1 man homestead?
For now this is certainly something tribes can do. I will discuss plans for resource revisions later as right now we are focused on other tasks.


And last question, can you allready be mention what the rare ressources, like tar (and i only know of that atm) will be used in the future? Maybe just a little hint?
Tar will be used in some construction and to waterproof armor and containers.


Another one, will there be in the future any kind of specialised production architecture buildings or furniture parts like smelter, oven, forge, brewery, sawmill or somethin like that, maybe to boost quality or for complex stuff?
Yes, we will have furniture, including ovens for cooking and eventually forges and other production furniture.


After lookin today at the forum and what people talks. Question Bowcraft / Bows. It seems like many peoples are intressted in Bows and specially the Arrows could become a new sort of trade-item to boost the trade. Would you consider it to push archery forward so we could excpect them sooner as next round? I am not even sure what it means on a time table when you say next round. =)
I also don't know exactly when the next round will be, which is why I talk in terms of rounds of development and not specific dates. :) Combat revisions such as this will come after we finish what we have in progress:

Skill, Stat and Experience revisions
Quest System revisions
Death penalties
Totem Decay
Coming of Revenants
Real Estate System completed

We will continue to fit other small changes and bug fixes within this 'round' but archery is too big of a task to just squeeze in.


When can we expect the possibility for Tribes to switch there Save-Zones on/off or to decide if you want a PvP or a PvE tribe?
This will come after Totem Decay runs.


No offense, but i dont understand why real estate is more important then cooking feature, as example. Would you maybe consider it to start a vote-pool for the next 5-6 features and let the people vote to see if they would be more intressted that the basic skills get done or new features like real estate?
The Real Estate system fits in with the revisions that we are making to the quest system and how players gain skill through experience instead of grinding. Real Estate is key to allowing players to set up camp away from home, use Quests in other tribes and hunt and gather from various locations rather than just stay within their own camp.

It is meant also to make it easy for new players to set up a base to hunt, gather, craft and especially quest from without placing a totem or needing to join a tribe.

The current round of revisions all tie together, as will the next round which will include cooking.

johnthebeast86 Asks:


hello, thank you for responding last week.
I have a couple of question.
Are you going to introduce something to slow down animals when try to escape? being heavy injured should not run so fast right? it is difficult to run behind them, especially if they are large animals that run much faster than you. Or allow to mutilate limbs during combat in order not to make them run ... or use strings or rope to retain... it's just an idea (well, twith the early introduction of ranged weapon the music could change)
At some point, yes, we want to add more realistic injuries to creatures and traps or other combat abilities. Right now this isn't on our schedule.


What about boulder outside tribe area? they are very annoying because it does not allow you to plant trees even if they are not closer. In the future is there a possibility to remove the buolders or plant trees near them?
We won't allow players to remove boulders outside tribe areas. (If we did, there would be no boulders at all by now!).

Hodo Asks:


Tents and Teepees, will we be able to tear them down and pack them up and relocate them, like real tents and teepees?

Thus giving us a chance to be nomadic. It would be cool to have a few people who work together but are all solo players, who pull up stakes in winter move down into the valleys till spring and then move back up into the hills for summer for hunting, and move their tents with them, instead of making new ones everytime they move.
We do have this in our design documents, but no plans to implement this right now (too many other things to do!).



As for mounts, will we be able to ride any animal large enough or will it be the standard horse? Also will we need a saddle and tack to ride?
You will be able to ride large enough creatures, so at first these will be bear and deer. You will not need a saddle and tack at first.


Will there be mounted combat, mounted archery?
Yes.


With archery, will we also have thrown weapons, spears and javelins?
Thrown knives first. Spears in the future.


Tribal warfare, aka seige warfare, will we be able to build catapults, trebuchetes, ballistas, and other such weapons? And will they be useable on more than just structures?
No solid plans for this. While I would like to introduce seige weapons, as I've stated before, it wasn't part of the original design and it will require a larger team to implement to implement these type of features. So we'll see how things progress.


Comfort system, will the weather actually have a real affect on our characters performance or will it just be a "pretty" feature that has no real affect?
Comfort will have an affect on all actions (crafting, combat, resource gathering etc.).


Will we see the implimentation of traps, slow traps, snares for NPCs, and damage traps for players?
This is planned, yes. As with full seige warfare we need to see how things progress this year.


Last question for this week.

The mist, will it move back some more after this round of patches to give us more world?
Yes, right after Totem Decay. This has been prepared for a long time we just don't really have the population for the new areas. After we reinvite players with some free time and decay abandoned tribes we'll be ready.

Archangei Asks:


What Quarter could we estimate to see things like:

Cooking, Comfort, Farming, Faith.
I can't give out any time estimates right now. Sorry.


Will there be various types of crops?
Yes, starting with just a few.


Seaons: Will we be seeing more weather effects? Maybe storms causing damage, heavy rain, lakes freezing over etc.
Hail storms causing damage possibly soon. Other than that, nothing for a while.


Hunger: Have you thougth about having the Quality of your food affect not only filling but how fast you use up your stamina again.
Yes and we will add more detail to this system along with the Cooking system in the next round of features.


What will the Real Estate "system" mean for the game, what purpose do you have in mind for it?
Please see my answer to Ferigad above. I am hoping it will also cater to players that want to use Xsyon as a game for questing and adventuring, using the current tribes as they would use NPC towns and cities in a 'Theme Park' game.


Have you thougth about letting people move their totems without dismantling it completely and having to reinvite all the members?
Yes, but it's easier said then done. We have just finished improving the upgrading to tribes. We will see about moving them as part of this current round of development.


Would it be possible that we in the future can name our Tribe and Village Separately?
Yes this is planned.


Considerd Carthographer as a skill instead of a minimap, where the character sits down and draws his surroundings with some landmarks and the better the skill the higher the detail?
Yes, that was the original plan, but the demand for a map was very high so we added the current mini map and will stick with it for now.

aliksteel Asks:


I was hoping you could talk about tribal faction (good neutral evil) for a little bit. I know there is a lot that will go in before tribal faction, But could you tell us if it's even something we could look for in the next few months or so? Have you thought how tribal facton will work with the way the game is now? If so could you give us a rough outline of what you are thinking about.

I ask because I still see people talking of Tribal war's, And it seems like before you started down that road we would need to have tribal faction in place first.

Thanks
I will have to answer this is more detail later as it's not on our current agenda and I'm going to sit down with the current programmers to go over what was originally planned then come up with a system that fits with how the game has already evolved.

Loke Asks:


Hi love the game! Not playing currently but im following the development closley. I have a question about the combat. When i was playing a while back many people wanted the combat to be like it is in Mount and Blade. The combat has since changed but it's still not even close to the mount and blade combat, will you continue to work on this? Mount and blade type combat would be really nice in a game like this.
We will continue to work on combat, yes. I honestly feel that it's quite similar to Mount and Blade already. We never intended to entirely copy the system. We plan to improve parrying and critical hits next.


And also will you let old players come back after the decay system or before the decay system?
Right before it starts.


And to my last question when will you expand the lands into the mist zone?
Right after Totem Decay (after the free time for players).
Thanks!

Azurfale Asks:


We as players get asked what we would like to see as our top 5 priorities, I would like to know what the dev team feels are the top 5 priorities?
Our priorities are what we currently are working on:

Server optimizations
Preparing Guides and fixing bugs and important issues in preparation for returning players.
Skill, stat and experience revisions
Quest System revisions
Totem Decay (this is ready)

I'll move on to the next round of questions!

Xsyon
03-18-2012, 02:48 PM
johnthebeast86 Asks:


Hello, other questions for you
the quality of the seeds affects the growth factor of the trees? and if so when the tree(from high quality seeds) is felled releases more pieces of wood? so how does it works the quality of the seeds? How long it takes to grow a tree to release many pieces of wood? is there a relationship between quality seeds planted and forestry?
Seed quality does not affect the growth factor. The amount of wood depends on the height of the tree which depends on how much time it has grown. Seed quality should affect tree quality which in turn affects wood quality. Forestry skill does affect the quality of seeds you find and trees you plant.


How long does it take grass to grow? or does not grow anymore once eradicated?
It doesn't grow back right now.


when you are going to introduce comfort? and what it entails? how it will change the gameplay?
This is planned for the next round of revisions (cooking, comfort, regeneration and combat revisions). I will post more details on the next round of revisions in a few weeks.


you are going to include a way to see who's online among our friends and fellow tribesmen? currently you can only see a list of friends and tribe members ... will you improve this feature in the future?
Not anytime soon. I would like to add this (and many other things!) but this is something that would take more time than what it's worth right now.


in the future will you implement public lighting as torches, oil lamps and similar?
Yes! We are holding off until we can further optimize rendering to support more dynamic lights.


what are your priorities for expansion of the game,in the short to medium future, after Real Estate System and ranged combat?

Thanks a lot for responding.... and sorry if i'm annoying with all this question...also for my speaking, i hope you can understand all my question
The current priorites were listed above (and I will post these in our In Development thread). After these our priorities will include combat revisions and cooking.

Yamiokami Asks:


1.) What affects animal parts and bone quality? I can get anything from moderate to very high quality from the same animal. Is it just hunting? The knife quality you use? Or the part you are harvesting as well?
Primarily your hunting skill and associated stats (Dexterity and Perception). Tools and Luck have a minor effect.


2.) For tracking, how do you plan to implement it? Will there be an arrow pointing to the desired animal? Or will there be more of a learning curve, with different animal tracks etc?
What we have in mind is directions (text) to follow, giving a direction where you see tracks leading to.


3.) What are the plans for the different animal parts harvested? Will they have more than one use? Decorations etc maybe?
Food, decoration and medicinal uses in addition to the current armor, tool and weapon components.


4.) Will hunting also be used for harvesting human bones? And are there plans to include specific recipes that utilize mutants' bones as materials?

Thanks
No plans for specific mutant recipes yet. You will be able to harvest human bones from revenants.

Kegan Asks:


I have just discovered today that a cart will not fit through some of the gates are you planing on fixing this soon? Like the "Bamati Lagag Gate" it has two doors and only one of the doors opens up and it only opens up about about half way causing the cart to get stuck when you try to go through. The cart would fit if both doors on the gate opened and if they were to open all the way instead of half way.
Thanks for this report. We will get these fixed right away.

Drevar Asks:


When farming is implemented, will the "field" structures also be rentable/buyable via the Real Estate system?
I hadn't thought of this. At first, no.


Trees grow on an incredibly accelerated timescale (relative to RL). What timescale do you have in mind for farmable crops? Plant and harvest within a single play-session or multiple days to harvest?
Multiple days to harvest.

Grushenko Asks:

Hi guys.


In the 02-22 update you talked about a skill/stat revamp. Are we going to see the soft cap/skill decay at this stage? If is it so, can you provide some information about?
Yes. Skills are soft capped in groups (crafting, combat, actions) and overall. Skill gain will slow after you hit the soft cap and least used skill will decay.


If you are not going to put a form of cap with the revamp, will you in the future or you dropped the idea?


Last question, if we are not going to have a cap, do you think that the actual crafting/economy where everybody can be, with less or more time, totally indipendent is the path the game will follow?
I can remeber that the cap was a controversial topic but also a firm point and i hope to see it soon in game.

First time i post something in the Q&A section so let me thank you for both great communication and the improvement the game is having. Hope my english is good enaugh to make my questions clear.

Boris Grushenko - Little Italy tribe

There will be a cap, so I think that answers your concerns. :)

Archangei Asks:


When will you start introducing us to this worlds gods and religion?
Not for a while. We have a lot of other features to improve and introduce first.


Ever considered more depth to architecture thinking along these lines: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_QM3EjfFvs
The construction progress in that video looks nice, but I'm not convinced that that is more in depth architecture. It looks like a set building plan. I am more concerned with flexibility and customization in our architecture system.

I have thought about the stages of construction, but it would require a lot of artwork for a bit of gain in visuals and immersion. It's not something we can afford to do.


If im out swimming and run out of stamina, shouldnt i drown?
We decided against it for now.


Will realestate only work with tents and finished construcitons or will i be able to apply it on houses built out of 3 walls, door and roof/floor as well.. i mean more custom houses.
At first only tents and complete huts. We will soon allow players to link building parts into 'rooms' that can be sold or rented through the Real Estate system.


Free time with Totem Decay, will it be applied to active accounts as well or just inactive ones?
All accounts.


What are you planned features for guilds (not tribes) and what will be the difference between a guild / tribe
Guilds were planned as groups within a tribe that would give a boost to a specific skill. For example a bonecrafters guild and all members receive a bonus based on the combined bonecraft skill of the members.


What do you think about the idea of having stone roads, similar to paving but you need rock in your inventory?
This has been suggested before and is on our list. I'd like to improve the road system now that we have carts, but it will have to wait until after this round.

Thanks for the questions!

Xsyon
03-18-2012, 04:23 PM
Questions of Week 03/05 through 03/11 2012

Eolhfehu Asks:


What is the magic system going to be like?


Are most the spells going to be geared for damage and fighting or will there be more domestic uses for it?


Watering crops, creating magic groves, finding resources, blessing construction sights.. That kind of stuff. How useful will a mage/druid/priest be over all?

Magic is planned primarily as religious and tribal nature 'magic' with healing, combat and 'buff' uses. This is a ways off though so it's a better topic for the future.

znaiika Asks:


ModEdit: Most of this post was requests and/or Suggestions.

Please post in Suggestions thread or if you have any other issues please contact Support (Support@notorious-games.com).

banden Asks:


What are your plans for the upcoming alignement system?
- what will the rules be for good, neutral and evil? Loot, PVP rules of engagement, rewards/penalties, territorial control etc.
As answered in the previous round of questions, I am going to sit down with the current programmers and we're going to revise our plans for this. For now I can't answer this is in detail.


- How will alignment be determined? You have stated that breaking locks on baskets will decrease your alignement, what else?
Actions that decrease alignment include:
Initiating attacks on 'good' players
Killing players
Looting



- Have you considered further alignement options like chaotic, neutral and lawfull?
Neutral, yes. Chaotic and lawful, maybe in the future, but they wouldn't be so easy to track.

Archangei Asks:


What's needed in the game for you to consider the next phase? (Prelude being this phase)
The current round of features.
The next round of features (combat revisions, regeneration, cooking, comfort)
Pets and mounts

Primarily we need to expand our player base and development team so that we can make Xsyon a much larger audience game for the 'full release'.


When will we see the first signs of metalworking?
No time estimate right now.


Whats the future plans for junkyards?
Discarded junk should generate new junk piles, but we need to further optimize the server before we can do this.


Anymore tools planned for Terraforming?
Not right now. A lot of players would like to dig tunnels, but that would require a complete revision of our terrain system.


Any Plans for NPC Guards / Vendors? ( would be a pretty good sink )
No. The plan is to stick with only NPC creatures.


Torches?
Yes and could be fit in with our tasks over the next few months.

ColonelTEE3 Asks:


copy pasted from my "How are things going" thread,

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

Reason for activity: Primary reason I and my clan Society of the Anvil left.

You can craft armor and weapons -- why? To be better equipped for killing mobs and players -- why would i kill mobs? To harvest their resources -- why? to craft more armor and weapons -- why would i kill players? To take their stuff -- i have access to all the same resources their junk piles have, there is no deficiency in any resource, and pvp in and of itself is not fun, so there is no recreational nor functional purpose behind pvp


How are problems / questions like these being addressed? Is there any indication from the developer that purpose will be given attention any time soon?


Regarding resources -- when i / we left, everyone had access to everything, contributing to some of the circular logic problems i stated above. Is there any indication resources will be harder to get, or certain resources becoming localized? Anything about better / more necessary resources being in safezone-less areas only?

We are continuously trying to balance game systems to give more 'purpose'. The revisions we are making to stats, skills, experience and questing is big part of this. We are developing tools to help us better distribute scavenged resources which are already localized. Crafting recipes will also undergo some changes after we better balance resources. The Real Estate system will give more purpose to towns and buildings.

Ultimately though, this is a game. It's meant to be fun during the journey not just the destination. I feel we've achieved this so far. The main issue is that for a lot of players it's not fun for long enough. We will continue to improve the game world so that there is more immersion and more to do and enjoy!


Is there any indication there will be penalties for safezones / removal of safezones / bonuses for tribes who do not have safezones in the coming future?
Yes, tribes will be able to remove their safe zone to gain advantages in gathering / scavenging local resources.

Omniwar Asks:


Will you increase the distance the camera is from the character? As it is now it just feels way to close to get a good overview.
We'll consider it. I think it's a good maximum distance right now. Are you zooming out fully? We've had more requests to make the limit closer not farther.


Working on stuff, mostly terraforming, can be a pain on the eyes during nighttime and the light from fires is rather weak, any plans on giving us the option to disable day/night while terraforming or perhaps giving us better lightsources?
More light sources like torches, yes.


Snow, bad for new players as they cant see junk piles, any plans on making junk piles more visable during winter?
Not right now. The snow system was coded by a programmer who no longer works with us so this is not part of the code any of us is fully familiar with to easily adjust.


Will we be able to make bone saws, or from other materials at some point?
Yes, we will revise some tools in the next few months.


Granite (not sure about Basalt and mountain Limestone) cant be terraformed, which kinda makes a big part of the world unsuitable for a tribe to settla down. Will we be able to carve them out or if not, have the ability to put dirt on top of said rocks?
For now, no. I've considered this and will consider it again in the future, but we really don't want players to able to destroy entire granite mountains.


Do you have plans on having a "mentor" ability in the game, where an older player can mentor a younger player and teach him how to make XYZ item?
Yes, we have something like this in our design documents. It's just not a current priority.


One thing I felt was really lacking when I started playing was the ability to make a basic shelter with branches, leafs and grass, nothing fancy and no or at most 1 slott for a container, but craftable by every new character so they can have a sense of a "home" from day one, is this something you see happening?
Yes. We were planning to have 'starter' tents like this originally. We just have to cut out many small details like this as we are too small of a development team.


Will we be able to build multistory buildings without raising the ground, start project, dig, new project ect, like just building the first floor and then another floor on top of it?
Yes. Though since players have found ways to build multiple stories without an explicit system, this has been put on the back burner while we work on more critical improvements.


Any plans to let us bookmark locations in the world, and when choosing a bookmark an arrow on the minimap will point to that location.
No, but I have added this to our suggestion list (it's a big list :) )


Will we be able to make maps of the world? A new skill Cartography, where you start by making small maps in a Journal, with the ability to "splice" smaller maps togather to make a big one, eventually leading to a full world map. Could go hand in hand with bookmarking and the Journal could either be traded or strictly personal.
I would like this, but this is something for when Xsyon grows considerably.


It would be awesome to be able to either move a heavy bin on the ground straight to a cart/house, or the ability to move content from container X to container Z with just one mouseclick. Will that ever be in the game?
Yes, we will likely set this up soon.


Crafting is rather tedious with all its clicking, few thousand clicks and mouse movements just to make few dozen ropes, any chance it will be more automated and you continually craft until the materials in your bags are finished? (Its only annoying to people that dont use macros or scripts or what ever they use to grind while afk) I'd be well happy if this could be done, even if it would take longer than doing it one peice at a time, fun is in playing, not standing still and clicking, imho. In EVE it was a very shortlived idea to have players reactivate their mining lasers after each batch or weapons after each volley.
We've been improving this over time and will continue to do so. For the next month or two though, this won't change as we focus on tasks at hand.

Simple69 Asks:


When will creature AI be fixed? Agil, damage .. etc.. when will these stats be fixed for armor and weapons?
Please report any problems with creature AI to our bugs email.

Agility should be working on armor. Other stats on weapons will be fixed with our next round of combat revisions.


When will we see MORE creatures -- right now when we go hunting, for hours we find many baron zones of creatures.. please fix ASAP Combat is a big part of this game and many people just quit because of the lack of creatures and difficulty with creatures. Bones are a great reward but what incentive is there to kill a Giant Bear or a Baby Bear they give the same reward what are you going to change to fix this??? Please elaborate.
You will see more creatures in Spring. Creatures breed most in Spring and least in Winter.
Creature parts for older creatures will give better bonuses in the future.

Book Asks:


How do you feel about Putin's re-election? Is it a hot topic where you are, or do people just go about their business not too concerned about it?
US media makes it sound like some sort of Russian Spring is brewing.

Not game related so apologies and understood if removed, just curious since you're on location.
Thanks.
Where I am people expected it and saw it as inevitable. I personally think there wasn't a strong enough second candidate to make a difference. There is a lot more brewing in Moscow and some other cities, but I'm in a small town so people here just go about their daily business. :)

MrDDT Asks:


Can we get an official answer to the question of pulling animals into the water to kill them where they cant fight back? Is this a valid tactic or not? Getting mixed reports from players/guides.
It's valid for now but this is bugged. Creatures should not stay and fight in water. We'll look into this.

tomduril Asks:


I would like to ask if you would provide us with some inside knowledge about the wear out factor of tools - meaning how many craftings a char can make with a single tool until it breaks.
There is no specific count. It depends on many factors including the materials used to craft the tools, the person using them and luck.


AFAIK there are 4 types of tools - Foragers, trapper, scrappers and pioneer-

You said in the interview (start of this year) that prestine/artisan/master/supreme does not influence the wear out time - is that still true?
You also said that the wear out depends on the skill level of the char (of the skill beeing used ?).
Quality doesn't directly affect the wear, but it should effect the initial durability of the tool. I would have to double check though. Wear is affected by the skill level of the character using the tool.



At the moment it is common believe that "pioneer" tools are the most durable ones - so a "Pioneer Saw" would yield the highest output before breaking.

Question: Would you reveal which type of tool "Foragers, trapper, scrappers and pioneer" would yield the highest durability (same quality of material - eg VHQ - if that is also used in calculating the durability) ?

Thank you.
This is the type of thing players need to figure out. :)

Crokus Asks:


Questions on roof structures this week….

I have a rough draft for a homestead project in the future. When do you expect to patch in the corner roof items? Q2, Q3, Q4? What size will they be? 4 x 4? 8 x 8?
We have 4x4 corners ready but they need checking, exporting and testing and we haven't had time. They'll be in within the next two weeks.


I’ve noticed the shelter bonus icons on the in UI when standing under a roof item that is placed on the ground, but I built my roof an additional 3 meters higher (cathedral ceilings are nice) and I do not receive the icon on my UI. Is this working as intended? Due to the increasing number of multi-level houses people are building, will the dev team consider changing this to give the bonus for all elevations below the roof structures?
It's working as intended. The roof structure only encloses the area between the base of the posts and the roof itself, not anything under the roof.


You have stated in a prior QotW post that only the roof structures (at first) will protect the bins underneath it after bin decay is patched in the game, but will the bins be protected if they are below the base of the roof structure as in the scenario above?
Bins will have to be within the roof structure's volume.

thunXa Asks:


1.)

Question about the planned loss of skills from dieing.

Will you also decay exp points/hp/lvl ups from the green bar?
So want to know if you give old/high skilled players a new opportunity to gain more HP by leveling up the lost skills again without removing exp from the green bar which wouldnt be bad in my opinion to allways have new limits.
No decay on experience points or level ups.
The health / hit points system will be revised as part of these changes.


Also mentioned the loss of stats there if im right.
How much % loss from dieing once and which stats will be choosen to get damaged?
The exact percentage will be determined after more testing. This will be available for testing hopefully next week.


2.)

Seems there are some new players.
Did the online players at a time number raise up?
Yes! We've had a steady increase in overall players and players online at all times since early January.

Thanks for all the questions. Sorry for some of the brief answers. I had a lot of questions to catch up with and we have a lot going on right now. We always do!

Xsyon
03-20-2012, 02:29 AM
Questions of Week 03/12 through 03/18 2012

MrDDT Asks:


We haven't really been updated in a while of some of the things to come in the short/medium/long vision.
Is there a way you can tell us a little of the plans you have for these time lines? Nothing we are going to hold you to, just something we can dream about.
Short term we are working as hard as we can to accomplish this current 'round' of development. The focus is game stability and balance. As posted in the In Development section this includes:
Server Optimizations
Loading Optimizations
Skill, Stat and Experience revisions
Quest System revisions
Death penalties
Totem Decay
Coming of Revenants
Real Estate System completed

Next up will be a round of development focused on game immersion and survival. This will include:
Cooking and other minor skills
Comfort and weather effects on players
Combat revisions including ranged combat
Ability for tribes to remove safe zones

Next up we plan to focus on creatures including:
Tracking
Pets
Mounts

We will be adding more architecture parts and other items and armor during this time.
We also will continue making simple changes based on feedback and fixing bugs

Our long term plans are very lofty and I will talk about some of these in the near future. It will all depend on how we can grow the game and company this year!

KeithStone Asks:


1. Is the plan to keep granite an unlimited resource, like how you can keep gathering from it forever in the same spot?
Yes, it's planned to stay like this for now.


2. Loading times are taking up to 10 minutes to get in game even after you die and load back in. Is there anything in the works that's going to reduce this time significantly? I know this will be on people's top complaints when you do the free time for old accounts.
We are working on some very critical changes this week. We've investigated loading times a lot the past several days, have found several bottlenecks and have major improvements already in progress.

You should be able to see a bit of improvement on the current Test Server build already.

thunXa Asks:


Will the progress on gaining stats and the progress on the quality forever be hide? Talking about a percent or maybe a coloured bar to show it.
Yes, I plan to keep these hidden or showing names (for example for the quality) rather than actual numbers. I may change this in the future, or allow a switch to show the precise numbers, but it's not something I personally enjoy in games.

Thanks for the questions!

Xsyon
04-11-2012, 01:31 AM
Questions of Week 03/19 through 03/25 2012

MrDDT Asks:


What are your plans to make economy more robust in Xsyon? So far economy seems to be broken and even with guides teleporting players to trade, you only see maybe 15 people trading.
This has been answered recently, but to summarize the plans in one word: balance.

This includes:
-Current stat and skill revisions so that players rely more on each other for goods.
-Redistribution of scavenged resources and adjusting their properties. This can be done easier now as we have a new visual distribution tool that was completed a few days ago and is undergoing final checks.
-Giving more value and range to resources (for example, recent changes to the bonus power of hunted resources)
-Increase decay for end products (tools, weapons, armor).


When are important things going to be focused in game? Cooking, Taming, Combat, PVE, Economy?
I feel the most important things are being focused on: balancing what is already in game, before adding new skills and features.
Regarding specific features, I've outlined our development schedule here:

http://www.xsyon.com/forum/showthread.php/7280-Xsyon-In-Development


Can we have an idea of how the new stat system is going to work? Many people have been waiting for this and upsetting to know that its all going to change and could be wasting a lot of time without info on the system.
Yes. Information for this is now posted in the announcement section and more will be posted in the testing and feedback section after we iron out a few bugs and are ready for more specific testing.


Are we going to have anything to improve the fun level of the game? So far we have some fun stuff like building a city, but what about like PVE?
Yes. I think every change we make improves the fun level of the game. That's the main goal! I think the improved quest system will be much more useful and fun.

More PvE will arrive with revenants and we're doing our best to improve creature PvE. We are still adjusting creature breeding rates and have been setting spawns for now as breeding has been too slow and too many adult females have been killed off preventing breeding.


Whats the use of walls and roofs in game? We going to see anything being used them anytime soon?
They will keep out revenants and as soon as I can get to it, walls and roofs will be joined to form building units that can be used for storage like tents.


Are buildings and walls going to be able to be damaged by animals or monsters?
Eventually yes.


Are there ever going to be areas where vet players can have fun? Its not bad to build a building all day, but after a year of playing, there is no challenges in game for a vet player or group. What are your plans to improve the game for the old timers, keeping them going?
Well, there are some legendary creatures out there somewhere that would definitely pose a challenge if you can find them! I think that the current balancing changes will make players interact more which is good for vet players. Creatures will also be more of a challenge and reward with these changes. This all sets the stage for us to add more actual features that will give vet players new things to do.


What's your plans on travel in the game? I know mounts are set to be sometime in the next few years of development but anything any time sooner?
Mounts will be sooner than a few years. Roads will undergo some changes to better affect movement speed. Base and max movement speeds have already been adjusted (on the test server).


Healing in game is it going to be improved so players can work as a team to heal each other, or even themselves?
Yes, when healing skills are added, players will be able to work as a team to heal each other or heal themselves.


What is the alignment system going to be like, and when is it expected or was it just scrapped and not going to see it?
The actual alignment system is actually in game. All players currently have a good or evil alignment based on their actions. However, there is no visible effect right now, it's just data in the database.

The original use was making death harsher on evil players to balance their advantages (being able to kill and loot at will on public lands). As this met so much resistance on the forums from pvp oriented players, it was shelved for the future. Right now it's not a priority.


What's your plans to improve working as a group in game either as a tribe or allies? Do you plan on having an ally system?
An ally and enemy system is planned. The plan is that quest and trade totems would be usable only by allies or neutral players. Ally settings could extend (if set) to permissions on gates and containers.


Contested resources are we going to see anything like that in game?
Possibly, but this would be a major task. Claimed resources would first be in the form of claimed areas not specific resources.


Contested regions is there going to be areas where tribes can fight over claimed land?
This is the plan but we need to expand our development team before we can get to major changes like this. We'll see how the next few months go. Right now things are going alright though a bit slow.


You have talking about a death punishment system, is this going to be broken down in with killing yourself or vs animals or anything? What is this system going to be like?
The first implementation will be loss on death (skill, stat and item decay) regardless of the type of death. (No death teleporting). I will be requesting feedback on this soon.


Are we going to get more permissions on our totem to set ranks? Like the option to set officers to pick up baskets? This was turned off, so only the leader can do it now, but is there plans to change it back or add something new?
Yes, but after more testing.


When are animals going to be able to be breed in captivity? if ever? What are your plans for this breeding also? Like will we need to feed them or be part of the taming skill?
When we implement taming we will look into this.


Is there any plans to help new players learn the game? I see in /y the same 10 questions asked over and over and over.
We've updated the manual and a wiki on this site is almost ready to be announced (www.xsyon.com/wiki (http://www.xsyon.com/wiki) in progress).

znaiika Asks:


When are bonuses would work? like speed, durability, armor, damage.....
These are being checked, revised and fixed during this round of development (next few weeks).


Will you make charm more powerful? would charm affect scavenging for rare items/resources? so then it would be more beneficial to have it?
Yes. All stats will be useful and more balanced with the current changes we are making.


Wile adding more dangerous elements to the game, will new players be able to survive solo or they going to either quit or join a big tribe?
Players should always be able to survive solo, though they will often need tribes for quests, resources and equipment.

Azurfale Asks:


What is the estimated quarter that Totem decay will be implemented?
This quarter (2nd quarter 2012).

aliksteel Asks:


Whats your time table for crafting tables? And how crafting tables will work?
They should be crafted like barrels now (and moved around, but not placed in your inventory). I'm not sure when we'll add these. The only reason we don't add them now is because of collision issues between objects and buildings that need to be resolved. Our current programmer who will work on this would like to implement a new collision system rather than try to fix issues with the current system.

NorCalGooey Asks:


Just thought I'd comment, DDT is asking all the important questions because he sees no reason to play.

I have no reason to play as well, other than the great people (this game is a crafting/building chat room to me).


What are your plans to add more spontaneous excitement to the game? I personally think the world needs to be much more dangerous, and revenants with aggressive spawns and aggro ranges will help this.
Revenants and more aggressive creatures are on the way. The current balancing revisions are more important in my opinion to set the stage for more 'danger'.


Does spirit effect stat gain/loss at all? I think some people are confused on what "experience gain" means for spirit. Does it mean you get more green bar level ups in the end?
No. Spirit will affect more skills though with the current changes in progress.

Aiden Asks:


You mentioned in a previous answer that the system for building multistory architecture had been pushed back due to players finding another way. Are there plans to implement this soon? While the current system works, it's very tedious (though I do admire those that are able to use it) and time-consuming. Having those raise and lower buttons work on architecture would be epic! Thanks.
This has still been pushed back in favor of more critical improvements. This is on the list currently to fit in when we can.

Thanks for the questions!

Xsyon
04-11-2012, 01:46 AM
Questions of Week 03/26 through 04/01 2012

agoddard82 Asks:


New player here. Just purchased earlier today, Played for about 8 hours. Joined Industrial Strength where I have gotten to know one of Xsyon's more vocal community members, MrDDT.

First, let me compliment the absolutely amazing game engine you have here, the potential for Xsyon is through the roof and beyond that of any mmo currently available. I have been playing sandbox MMO's for over a decade. I spent 8 years in Eve Online, some time in DarkFall and Mortal Online, as well as history in UO before any of the aforementioned.

Now to my questions,

Xsyon is lacking some very important aspects of gameplay that is severely hurting it's potential to appeal to a wider audience. While still a niche audience (as sandbox MMO's in general cater to niche communities) the market penetration for Xsyon is nowhere near where it could be.

First and foremost is some incentive to perform tasks such as crafting and various other activities beyond a general enjoyment of performing the task. For example, Xsyon has a fantastic crafting system that rivals even the most celebrated crafting in most mmo's, unfortunately the game offers very little reason to do so. The lack of meaningful combat (PVE and PVP) limits the demand for a great deal of crafted goods. The lack of decay on top of that leads to saturation that would occur even if there was a demand. This alone creates a double whammy.

Combat, PVP, PVE and the risk/reward game that comes with it. Xsyon is a full loot sandbox that should be an exciting and scary world to live in. Unfortunately it is not, it is a world of carelessness because there is no risk or sense of survival that would stimulate this game and bring in likely thousands of new and returning subscribers. A post apocalyptic world would likely be very chaotic and consist of many warring factions striving for dominance and a desire to be the new superpower government that arises in the aftermath of societies collapse.

While I could write a wall of text and further elaborate, I am going to leave it at just this for now.

Is there any plans to implement any of the above? if so what is the Xsyon development team doing to make this a reality? What kind of time frame can we expect to start seeing implementations leading to it? or am I confused about what Xsyon is and is striving to become?

Thank you for taking the time to read and reply to my questions and concerns, I look forward to spending many years here in your wonderful virtual world.

Sincerely,
Yosef of Industrial Strength

First, thank for for the positive comments!

Regarding increased risk and reward, we are always working on improving this and will continue to do so. I think that our current revisions to skills and stats will provide much needed balance. Death will become a risk with these changes and decay will be increased.

We have recently implemented tools that help us track creatures and gather data on resources. We have already started using these to improve the rarity and distribution of resources.

Regarding warring factions, there are players that are looking for these and players that aren't. It's one of my goals to have this at least in some areas of the game world, but it will still take time and a larger development team to reach this goal.

Willowhawk Asks:


Tree Regrowth
1) Will there be future adjustments to tree spawn numbers?

My concern is that trees grow like weeds in clusters making planting impossible because (The zone has reached it's limit) making us need to clear a few hundred trees to plant one tree. Then a short time later it's over grown again with the clusters even more packed, disallowing planting again. This makes for large treeless tracks, and small mass clusters of trees. It kind of kills the forestry skill as well as the resource value of lumber.

I would like to see trees spawn only in spring and in limited numbers allowing players more control of trees in their zone.


2) Can or will the distance between objects and trees be minimized?
As of now you cannot plant near other objects. That is fine but I can plant about 6 meters from another tree and some objects, but I can't plant within 20 meters of branches or logs on the ground, baskets and many other objects. (Sometimes it's the item in a basket that it says is too close). So the only way to plant on a busy tribe is to tear down everything, plant trees and rebuild. Which is what I have been doing It would be nice to be able to plant as long as nothing is in the maximum footprint of the tree.


3) Will the footprints of some large trees be adjusted to better represent the actual size of the tree? IE The Douglas Fir. The Footprint is about a meter larger in diameter than the graphics, making it very hard to build anything near the tree as it makes things inaccessible with it's invisible wall. As stated above, you need to tear down, plant a tree, then rebuild. If a ramp is a bit too close to the tree you cannot use the ramp.

Thanks for all you do!
Yes, all of this needs to be checked and adjusted. It's on our list but our list is big right now! I need to personally check these things as these things were set by another developer and should have already been set as you describe (for example, trees should only spawn in Spring and the footprints were supposed to match the models exactly).

thunXa Asks:


There was some server and loading optimizations - it feels like much better and faster then before. Is this "round" finished?
Loading optimizations are finished for now as we've seen a great improvement.


Next round include Skill, Stat and Experience revisions from what i can see.

Can you speak in numbers what there will be changed on the HP - Skill - Expierence problems we have now?
So for example if i skill up something from 5 to 25, gaining 1 full green exp bar and lets say 1 HP.
I put up another skill from my points i have from 5 to 25 - do i gain 1 HP?
This will be discussed better in the feedback section while we are testing and making adjustments. HP will depend on your stats and skills, not experience or levelling.


Some or better say most people go around the actual issue and grind skills they dont like to do just because of the HP buff.
So even if you will be giving 0.5 HP for this example, it will stay the same.
So will it be a 1,0 - 1,0 revising? No more skilling up something you dont really like to do at the cost of HP?
Gaining experience no longer gains HP, so now skilling through experience points will be the same as through grinding.

aliksteel Asks:


Do you still plan to revamp fishing? If so in what round is it planned for?
There will be some revisions when we add Cooking in the next round of development.

Thanks for the questions!

Xsyon
04-11-2012, 03:34 AM
Questions of Week 04/02 through 04/08 2012

MrDDT Asks:


Do you know that food/water have no effect on energy regeneration?
Yes. Currently they have only an effect on energy drain. This will likely be revised while we are balancing things this month.

prokop15 Asks:


In a previous answer session you wrote this concerning a lack of purpose in the game:


"We are continuously trying to balance game systems to give more 'purpose'. The revisions we are making to stats, skills, experience and questing is big part of this. We are developing tools to help us better distribute scavenged resources which are already localized. Crafting recipes will also undergo some changes after we better balance resources. The Real Estate system will give more purpose to towns and buildings.

Ultimately though, this is a game. It's meant to be fun during the journey not just the destination. I feel we've achieved this so far. The main issue is that for a lot of players it's not fun for long enough. We will continue to improve the game world so that there is more immersion and more to do and enjoy!"

Could you please expand on just how these changes will add purpose to the game? These changes, like experience and stat revisions, seem to be more of altering the path to fulfill a purpose, rather than creating a purpose.

Could you include some details on the questing and real estate changes, and how they will create purpose? A theoretical scenario including these systems would be great.

Some of these changes are meant simply to create balance and reasons for players to use systems like trade and quests.

My goal here is to improve the usefulness and purpose of these systems, not just to create purpose through them.

This is an open ended game world. As with other mmorpgs players find different reasons or 'purpose' to play. This could be:

- A sense of accomplishment: Completing quests, gaining achievements or items. (Theme Park games, Diablo)
- A sense of acknowledgement: Showing off these achievements and items with other players. (Theme Park games)
- A sense of creation: Designing something and seeing your designs fulfilled. (Minecraft, SIMS, Dungeon Keeper)
- A sense of immersion: Getting away from reality and feeling 'lost' in another world.
- Social. Making friends and interacting with other players.
- Risk and danger: The thrill of combat and losing hard earned stats or rewards. (RTS games, Multi Player FPS, 'Full Loot' MMOs)
- Conquest: Conquering other players. (RTS games, Multi Player FPS).
- Entertainment (of course!)

Currently I think Xsyon has much to offer in immersion, creation, accomplishment and social aspects. We've been running events and contests so that players can gain a acknowledgement for their creations (constructions) and achievements. I think Xsyon is entertaining though I want it be longer lasting entertainment!

My goal with the current changes are to increase:
- Accomplishment: Completing hard to do quests rewarded by experience, rather than grinding levels.
- Creation: Increased use of the quest system to make players feel more like 'dungeon masters' of the game if they wish.
- Social: increasing the need to interact as players will depend more on each other.
- Risk and danger: Death penalty loss making combat more risky. The need to venture out more to take advantage of the quest system and get better materials, which is inherently risky.

Here is one example of the improved Quest and Real Estate system in use:

Player joins the game.

Player encounters a totem with quests.

Rather then starting off by joining a tribe, starting a homestead or grinding skills, the player can accept some quests that will:
- give the player experience to gain skills without grinding
- give the player useful rewards (the quest creator is rewarded experience also partially based on the value of the rewards).
- give the player a reason to interact with others to obtain the quest goals.

With the Real Estate system, the player can establish a base in this tribe while quests are completed and establish a base in other tribes while questing or trading there. This gives players the incentive to travel to distant towns, knowing there can be reward and safety at the end of their risky travel.

With these changes, tribal towns can become more like NPC towns in a Theme Park game with tribe mates being 'dungeon masters' and town managers.



NorCalGooey Asks:


I kind of think people are looking for their sand box experience to have more an effect on the game play of the world, not just how the world looks. Any plans to add anything like that to the game? It doesn't have to be warfare related, although PvP really helps economy, especially if armor and weapons decayed much faster (maybe something like 2000 damage taken and given and the armor and weapon breaks completely). But there are many other things besides the warfare you can add to the game that would allow players to influence the game play experience, not just how the world looks.

Yes. The improved quest and real estate systems as planned will allow players to affect the game play for others. It's always been a primary goal of mine to have players to be the 'dungeon masters' of Xsyon.

We have other improvements designed to allow players more and more customization and creation effect on the game world (such as custom cooking recipes and assembled weapons) but these will come with time. One step at a time!

Xsyon
04-16-2012, 11:58 PM
Dakeen Asks:


I started playing about two weeks ago and only recently came across the fact that my stats actually effect more than just how fast I learn something. I read through the manual it makes no reference to this fact. I only came across it by reading through a lot of forum posts. Then, today some one tells me that what my Spirit and Perception are effects what quality granite I gather at a given Resource skill level.

Would you scrap the manual all together and add this kind of "need to know" information about how your character works in detail to the offiical wiki the Guides are apparently putting together?
Good timing with the question. Yes, this information will be in the official wiki which we will post about this week.
Once the current stat and skill revisions are done we will include the revised information.


Few questions about Fire Building: I understand more schemes are planned for this, but is that the only benefit the skill has, do you make better quality fire that helps regenerate energy faster? What effect, if any do fires have toward animals? I've witnessed a couple of animals going in circles around a extinguished fires, odd AI quirk or not?
Fire building is a skill we'd like to expand in the future. Currently animals should not go through fires, but that's all.


Along with totem decay, have you ever considered shrinking tribe size due to inactive players? Such as a player inactive for 2 months the tribe loses it's 5m bonus from that player until he comes online? Some tribes cover a massive area but most of their members are inactive.
I've thought about this but there would need to be another way to keep your tribal radius from shrinking. If not, tribes would shrink too often and walls and items would become exposed too easily.


How long will it take for a totem to decay fully and will all landscaping be rectified as some of these earthworks are extreme? Can you re-roll the landscaping locally?
The first round of totem decay will take a few weeks for totems that were not made 'active' during the free time period we will offer to returning players.

Landscape will not be altered after a totem decays. Reshaping the land will be up to players that claim abandoned land.



Speaking as a recent noob, hearing that death penalties are to be introduced can noobs have creatures they can actually defeat like bunny rabbits? I think some of the smaller mobs are over the top for noob combat.

Noobs will more balanced and have higher health points in general after our changes and we will also balance creatures a bit, so yes, you should be able to defeat smaller creatures as a starting player.


I accept the game involves a lot of grinding, but most players have real life jobs and so on and to get a wider audience perhaps some auto grinding is needed off line. This is done in other games and I'm sure the materials and tools could be put into say a special tent or shack for this purpose. I'd prefer to come online and explore the world and do more active things like hunting and gathering. Purists may complain, but I've already had two of my friends get fed up with trying to grind out thousands of granite bricks and so on. The game needs an active population, so would you think about a compromise on this issue?
Alleviating the grind is one of the main reasons for the improved quest system that we're currently working on. Players will gain experience points from both completing and giving quests. In this way, you can gain experience even offline if you set up quests that players want to (and can) complete. This gives an incentive for giving good quest rewards.

Shill Asks:


Thanks for answering these questions and taking time to talk with the community!!

As I've stated in my suggestion thread (linked below), this isn't a priority, but I'm extremely curious if this is even possible and, if so, is it something you'd consider? I LOVE building things and my only frustration is the one issue described in the suggestion thread.

http://www.xsyon.com/forum/project.php?issueid=1550

Thanks again!
I've read the suggestion and will think about it when we next work on more architecture parts or changes. If the main issue is to avoid accidental dismantling, I think a confirmation box on dismantling (which is on our todo list) would better solve the problem. We'll see.


Is fixing/turning back on grass growth and tree branch/seed/twig/etc. growth on the timeline any time soon? Not sure how many times this week alone I've heard someone ask about where to get branches (10billion trees and no branches near them) or if there's something that can be done about grass that's bee picked barren.
Not very soon, but after we run totem decay we will see. We do have a system running that generated 'forest' surface around trees, but this was changing too many surfaces and causing issues, so it's turned off until we have time to heavily optimize this.

garrethe Asks:



Originally Posted by Qwerty

Speaking as a recent noob, hearing that death penalties are to be introduced can noobs have creatures they can actually defeat like bunny rabbits? I think some of the smaller mobs are over the top for noob combat.

I 2nd this one. There are relatively no mobs in the game and when I do run into one I get my butt kicked. I accept that a bear, coyote or mule deer should beat me as a noob but why can a squirrel or some cat named ragdoll beat me senseless? what exactly as the developers do you envision me being able to kill to level up as a newbie to skill up and can you put some in the game. On another note why are there relatively no mobs at all in the game? Thanks for your consideration on these questions.
As answered above, both character and creatures will be more balaned with the coming patch.

Regarding the number of creatures, the main issue has been players killing off all adult females in populated areas, then the creatures don't breed. We are testing some changes on the test server so that adult females will 'hide' more often. With the coming patch we will reset creatures with a new spawn and adjust breeding rates daily to try to keep the population up while still having the system working as planned.

Players really need to manage their creatures. :)

tomduril Asks:


I second the question of Shill - with training Wraincrafting - I had a noticeable rise in grass picking - some areas are nearly depleted - I move on to other spots for now, but this will become and issue - and I would expect that a place with grass left - would sort of "recover" from extensive grass gathering after some while ... probably introduce the winter/spring change phase to not only spawn trees, but also replenish blank grass spots... it was implemented (I guess) and it probably needs a rework to make it more stable/performant - but we will eventually run out of grass (in some heavily used) areas in the near future - especially if we are expecting some players to come back for the totem decay, and new players that are joining every week. I very much like the system (that grass is not unlimited) - but grass growth would be essential (also from a more aesthetic point of view

Just asking about the timeline here
Thanks for making me aware that this is becoming an issue. I've put a note to bump up turning back on the system that generates surfaces. We need to stick to the current schedule and get the skill and quest changes wrapped up, but we'll see if we can implement some solution (possibly grass planting) with the next round of changes.

MrDDT Asks:


Is there going to be any stat reward for leveling up? (Like there are for skills?)
Your stats will gain (or lower) through leveling up the same as if you used the skills. I might allow some additional stat changes during leveling up, but we'll see. Most likely we will first release the current changes as we're anxious to get totem decay underway.


With the new stat system change, is there going to be any option for vets that put and trained up stats to be able to change over stats basic on their current levels or anything? IE. Say I wanted to be a scavenger so I picked high PER/INT stats. But after playing for a year I have say 120 in each of those stats. Now with the new changes, I need CHA and PER, well my CHA is -4.3 right now. For me to change over my CHA to near what I had before it would take many months. Is there going to be some type of system to exchange these stats?
Yes. With the new changes, stats adjust faster and stats adjust based on actions, not gaining skill. Once we're satisfied with the balance we'll see if it's enought for vet players to properly adjust stats with just skill usage. If not, I would like to add stat adjustment to the level up menu. It just takes time.

Thanks for the questions!

Xsyon
05-30-2012, 11:09 PM
Questions of Week 04/16 through 04/22

Deacon Asks:


1. Is it possible to remove the slope check for starting a project...seems a bit usless if you can move an item to almost any slope. Right now, it's almost impossible to start a project on anything but absolutely flat surfaces, the slightest incline prevents it.
Actually, the slope check was supposed to work for moving projects also. I've put this on my priority request list as it should be an easy thing to change. I will probably increase the slope for placment, but set the slope check for moving projects to be the same as placement.



2. Is it possible to start putting in meat as a hunter resource...so we can start to prepare for those that will cook?
Not yet. I would like meat to have a decay timer and I don't want to add more partial systems or unfinished items into the game right now.



3. These is use and lock selections on waterbarrels...they are not working...I'd like to leave a waterbarrel on public access so people can eat and drink while at the Citadel.
I've put this on my bug list. It should be an easy fix.


thunXa Asks:


I tried to find a question/answer for this, but no success.

1.)

Are we seeing a fix soon on the problem walking between floors?

No. We are going to implement a new collision system (based on NVidia PhysX) that will resolve this and other collision issues. This has been started but will take probably 2 months before it's fully implemented.




2.) You further plan with the rent system.

So i allready went ahead and started making a 4 story full with rooms with walls, roofs and gates.

Will we be able to give permission to specific players that can be able to open a gate and also multiple players?

How will it look like?
Will there be a craft item like keys to open my gate because its my property both the gate and the key made by me? (not lootable/tradeable) maybe with a decay over some time

Or do we just give permission to the persons we like to get in?

Maybe also like a system same as for friend and bins?
You will be able to assign walls and door to a roof 'master' to create a rentable building. The specific player renting that building or room will have access to its gate.

I will think about other options for communal gates.


Qwerty Asks:


1. Does the game move on eventually from hunter gatherers onto animal domestication and agriculture to grow crops? This would give the opportunity for more architecture
Yes. Agriculture is already in progress.



2. As a noob I've noticed the lowest grade of combat knife needs stag antlers. Stags are hard to kill and getting rare and so hunting & gutting animals, not to mention bone craft becomes impossible as I need antlers for a new knife. Can we not insert an easier starter knife that can be made? I appreciate the challenge, but not impossible gauntlets.
We are currently revising recipes for armor, tools and weapons for a more consistent and challenging system (for higher level artisan and master items). We will make sure that starter level tools require easy materials.



3. Does the game progress eventually back to bronze or iron age where we could mine the ore and forge our own blades etc?
Yes, mining and blacksmiting is planned for the future.


tybor Asks:



Xsyon Dev answered:
Not very soon, but after we run totem decay we will see. We do have a system running that generated 'forest' surface around trees, but this was changing too many surfaces and causing issues, so it's turned off until we have time to heavily optimize this.

So why not generating 'forest' surface around 2m a tree when it grows? And only on blank spots? (see suggestion http://www.xsyon.com/forum/project.php?issueid=1554)

This was my first thought after planting some trees, that I have to clean the surrounding of grass, until I heard that there is currently no 'grass' or 'forest' surface grow :-(

greets,
Tybor

The surface generating system was very close to what you propose. We ran it only one day and it caused too much lag, but also it was clear that this would become a big database resource hog which could lead to many problems. We will return to this system when he have time to optimize it and thoroughly test it. Right now we have other priorities.


lukesh Asks:


1) May I know if the "time of inactivity" that I can see on the various tribe's totems is true and respect the real time of inactivity of that tribe? Almost tribes I visited are inactive since 61 or 64 days, no more, nor less.
The time is in Game Days and was not accurate before the Free Time period started. It should now be Game Days since totems were reset on May 18.



2) What differences there are between having "Hiding skill" at low level or high level? I ask because I can not find particular advantages in using this skill...
Higher skill should provide more transparency to the hiding character. This was working fine, but as things are sometimes inadvertently affected by other changes I've taken a note to check this out.



3) Do you have in mind to introduce in the game other new recipes for all the professions?
Yes. All professions are currently being revised to have Artisan and Master recipes (like Toolcraft). We are also going to add some new armor sets, tools and weapons very soon.



4) wainwright is really arduos to level up! Really arduos! For create a carts i must know leathercraft or bonecraft (for some recipes), basketry (for rope) etc. Do you think to move this profession under the "construction line"?
Done.



5) do you think we can have a new system for recognize if our friends or guildm8s are online?
An improved system is planned for the future, but not soon.


Dakeen Asks:


We know animals have been depleted in some parts of the map. You added spawns to compensate until you can adjust breeding. My question is, is it really worth tweaking versus just having a spawning system that monitors how many animals are in the world?
Yes, the breeding system is worth tweaking. There were still some issues left over from past programmers. There are finally fixed on the Test Server.



I for one love the idea that animals breed and can be wiped out from a area but others feel different. How are you going to control players that do not want to play "your game" and instead will hunt every animal down to the last? I quote "im not going to not hunt because the sys dont work im going to kill it to show them thier sys dont work". This kind of thinking actually creates a paradox in which the system would work with out that kind of thinking. Since there are a percentage of people who will play this way is it not foreseeable that you just may be tweaking breeding again and again as the player population grows?

With the corrected system, creatures will shy away more from players as the population decreases. Creatures can 'hide' from players so that they can continue to breed if they are reaching a minimum population point.


This also stems into scrap piles, one day they just might be depleted or mostly depeleted, I know opening new land will come with new scrap piles. Is the idea for the old areas to be filled with grass wearing unarmed players? Is there a system in place to regenerate them? I read somewhere in these questions discarded items counts toward their regrowth, but I have seen no evidence of this. If no system is in place or planned is it truly up to players to preserve them or will you regenerate them manually as complaints roll in?
A system is in place, but currently turned off as it is resource intensive (like the forest surface regeneration). There is a lot of scrap in the lands that will open up next. If the center area becomes low on scrap and players will depend on scrap from the outer lands, this will encourage trade and expeditions to the new lands. We'll see what happens (that's part of how the game evolves!)

One thing that players may not be aware of is that scavenged resources can be found on almost all surfaces. There is just a much higher chance on scrap.



After a time of tweaking and added features will there ever be a point where take hard stance on the depletion of resources?
As resources get depleted we will introduce ways for players to generate them (like we did with forestry). I foresee resources becoming more region specific, but not depleted.


MrDDT Asks:


Is there going to be any kind of oversight in Guide abuse? Like guides giving players items?
Guides are allowed to give out starting items to players. Guides do not have the ability to spawn any items of above starter level quality.

Xsyon
05-30-2012, 11:17 PM
Questions of Week 04/23 through 04/29

MrDDT Asks:


Are we going to get an updated manual with what crafting skills are effected by what stats before the update?
This has been posted in our Patch Notes and should be in the current Manual version that was uploaded last week.

Xsyon
05-31-2012, 12:08 AM
Questions of Week 04/30 through 05/06

thunXa Asks:


From the last statement about shields in february and about the combat changes - are they ready to be implemented?
Not yet as we working on many other revisions and features at the moment.



Parry is not worth much do be used in combat.

So i think it should be on a higher priority to add some kind of defense into combat.


Will there be any changes on parry? Like parry with 1 weapon and at the same time hit with the other weapon?
Yes. We will revise parry before implementing shields so that they provide an additional boost such as a short delay in the attacker's next attack.



Also about shields, will they just have a passive use or also a active?
The reallity is that your able to block/parry and still beeing able to hit with the weapon at the other hand.

Sorry i might been watching to much Spartacus
The plan is for active directional control much like parrying, but the shield will block attacks that cross its path regardless of the player's active control. So, this is both active and passive.


raven Asks:


With the patch we have well known players bragging in chat that they are maxed on most all skills except fire building and won't be losing any of their skills since you only lose skills when something else raises. They lock the few skills they have below 100 and they never lose anything. My first question is how did you allow this to happen in the first place and the 2nd question is what do you intend to do to correct it? They get to keep all their skills at 100 while the rest of us have caps? Are the rest of us supposed to continue to pay monthly fees while being unable to hope to ever get to their level? With the system in its current state, they could quit today and the rest of us could continue to play for 10 years and we could never hope to get anywhere near where they currently are. How exactly is that fair to everyone else?
There will soon be skill loss as a death penalty. Skills are not currently hard capped, gain just slows as the soft cap is exceeded. Overall gains have been balanced and skilling through experience was made more viable through the patch.

Balance is achieved primarily through stats. High level skills are not valuable without the accompanying stats at high level.


Hodo Asks:


With the next update now on deck, will this mean the coming of crops and food from animals other than fish?
Meat from animals will come first, along with cooking. The basics of agriculture have been set up, but they will not be ready when cooking and animal meat is patched out.



Shields, are they going to be passive in otherwords have a hitbox that is there so if I hit the shield I hit THE shield. Or are they going to be an additional bit of armour that just adds encumberance?
They will have a simulated hit box much like parrying currently does.

Xsyon
06-09-2012, 05:03 PM
Questions of Week 05/07 through 05/13

tomduril asks:


Would you consider decaying waterskins (eg by Drink, Fill, Empty ...) like the other tools?
This was added with a recent minor patch.


Would you consider decaying waterbarrels on use (fill, fill from, etc ...)?
This was added with a recent minor patch.


How hard would it be to decay carts (use, unuse, move ...) - the "only problem" I see is what happens to the contents of the cart, when it breaks down ...
The plan is to set up decay that affects a cart's speed until it's repaired. This would not affect contents and players would be able to dismantle broken carts. This is slated as an improvement to 'fit in' over the next few months when there is time.

Drevar Asks:


Will the penalty to scavenging still apply with totems in various stages of decay?
The penalty is reduced depending on the stage of abandonment.

Xsyon
06-09-2012, 06:40 PM
Questions of Week 05/14 through 05/20

China Asks:


Please give us an idea when all roof structures will be capable of holding containers, and when they will be rentable.
We will try within the next two months. Unfortunately I can't give an accurate time estimate on any features until we are able to expand our team.


I know 2-3 story structures were put on hold but were almost complete. I did not see them in any "rounds of development". Do you intend to put them back on the table soon?
No. We are going to implement a new collision system using NVidia PhysX first. Then this will be added to the development schedule again.


Approximately a year ago I started bugging Guides/Devs about gender correct attire for female avatars....what is the timeline for implementing this ingame?
We are preparing the schemes for about 20 female only armor sets. I plan to add them in game soon after the totem decay phase. They will be released along with revamped schemes for all armor sets.


Have you considered making baskets/bins moveable using the same feature as the water barrels? If so, when?
Yes, but as there are collision problems with multiple story buildings we won't add this until we've implemented the PhysX collision system.


Wainwrights have to level bonecrafting & leathercrafting to make different kinds of carts, this prevents them from choosing the ability to master any other skill since the soft cap was introduced. They can rely on woodcrafters & basketry etc. for some parts & I think the same should be true for bonecrafters & leathercrafters. Would you think about changing this?
The idea is that wainwrights can specialize in one or two types of cart if they wish to have other skills.


What is scrapcrafting?
This is a future craft involving piecing together junk parts to create 'scrap' armor sets.

Hodo Asks:


Will the totem decay update, bring with it basket decay. In other words, will baskets/bags/pouches left out OFF totem land become accessable, no longer locked?
Yes.


I have noticed a lack of pants patterns in Tailoring, any chance of getting some pants, shorts, skirts, and dresses?
We will set up crafting of the basic starter pants with our upcoming round of crafting revisions and we have skirts as part of the coming female armor sets. Other than that, we don't have any additional cloth patterns in the works right now.


Totem safe zones in PvP, will there be a way to have real warfare, with tribal war, in the near future or is it a pipedream and this is just going to become the next Hello Kitty Litterbox?
Removal of safe zones is in the near future. Next will come the ability to fight over expansion totems.

Regarding full tribal warfare: It fits with evolving the game based on the player base, but it was not part of the original design. It won't happen until we are able to expand our team. It won't be imposed upon all players and will be tried out first on outlying expansion areas and it's not going to be made the focus of Xsyon.


On the Forums is it possible to link ingame Character Names with the Forum Account, like Face Of Mankind does?
This is on our suggestion list, but we don't have the staff to do this right now.

Whorlok Asks:


hi..
logging a tree have a realistic timer.
destroying a lying log is one hit!?..
is it difficult to change (the one hit for destroying) to a timer with destroying 10-30 seconds ?(its realistic)
It's not difficult to change, but I don't agree with a destroy timer with the game as it is. This would cause more players to litter the world with cut trees and logs rather than clean them up and attract more griefing.


i have many ideas to bring player events to life:
short look on one Event ALPHA-"Temple of Gods" http://xsyon.de/#buildingtemple.html
Yes! I liked your event idea but it didn't gather enough interest. If you are ready to give it another try, please contact GuideRaguel.

Deacon Asks:


After free time is over....

Will large tribes that have unsubbed members, lose tribe radius, due to insufficent members for current radius status, if their numbers drop below the number required to obtain it? Single member tribe totems will decay if unsubbed member, so in essence, they are losing radius for insufficent numbers required to maintain radius status. If not, how will you justify to 3 man tribes that are limited in space allowed in which to build. Will you implement a different system for determining tribe radius size?


No. For this first round of decay, completely abandoned tribes will be decayed and removed only. Tribe radii for tribes with any active members will not change. We reviewed different ideas for town / totem upkeep required to maintain a tribe's active radius, but we'll see. Right now we're a bit overwhelmed with what is already in progress.

Xsyon
06-09-2012, 07:17 PM
Questions of Week 05/21 through 05/27

Riverspirit Asks:


Do you plan on fixing the way stats average on bones and leather? I mix a stack of bones with 1.0 with a stack of 1.01 and I end up with a stack of .067. Those numbers don't add up.
This is a bug that has been reported but we've been unable to reproduce in our development builds. Please contact bugs (bugs@notorious-games.com) directly so that we can get more information from you.

Caper Asks:


Hi there, I'm new and I have a few questions about the upcoming features which seem exciting.

Questions about upcoming features

1. Cooking
Can you describe how the cooking system will work with the custom recipes? And will that custom recipe thing be in for the next round or is it a future addition?
Recipes will have slots for ingredient types (for example: meat, vegetable, grain, seasoning). The slots available for a recipe will increase with the skill of the cook. The final food product will grant buffs based on each ingredient used. The cook will be able to create and name a stack of the current item created.

This system will be in for this round of development.


2. Healing
Will debuffs such as wounds, sprained ankles (from falling from too high), ailments like sunstroke or cold be in game for healing to remove them or will healing be simply a form of regeneration?

Will healing only be a form of crafting to produce medicine or will you also be able to apply those medicines to the patients and will your chance of success then be dependent on your healing skill?
Healing will first be added simply as a way to regenerate health.

Healing skill will consist of both the creation and application of bandages / salves.


3. Talisman crafting
Can you give us a rough estimate on when talismans will be in game?

How will talisman crafting work? Will crafting consume faith? What materials will be used?
Talisman craft will be like other other crafts. It will not consume faith. Materials will range from hunted to scavenged items.

Talisman won't be implemented for a few months at least. It will come after revenants, crafting revisions and cooking.

Azzym Asks:


Two questions for you, one long and one short.

1) The way scavenging works it doesn't really seem to matter much what your stats are when it comes to the quality of what you find. I bumped my charm and perception by 20 points ea up to 90+ and couldnt notice any difference of quality, nr of items or the nr of recpies found. Spent long hours and wonder if I wasted points in the wrong stats. Can you assure me those stats have an importance for the scavenging skill? (did not try the extreme of minmizing the stats)
These stats do affect quality of found objects (roughly 20% of quality is based on stats). They do not affect the number of items found. I ran some quick tests and this seemed fine. I made a note and we will check this more thoroughly. It's possible that the quality of objects you found were boosted within the same quality range (for example from 91 to 99 quality).


2) Crafting is extemely annoying click-wise and even more so with the thing (bug) that forces me to click 2-3 times to add material for every crafted item. Are you planning on fixing this bug? And even better, are you planning to implement a simple queue-system for craft so we can do a batch of items?
I'm unaware of this and certainly I am unable to reproduce this on my machines. This may be dependent on frame rate. I am going to investigate this tonight.

A queue system is on our suggestion list but is not currently planned.

Thanks for the questions!

Xsyon
06-11-2012, 09:31 PM
Questions of Week 05/28 through 06/03

Qwerty Asks:


I have noticed that with a small player base that with no cart degradation that the market to sell carts to will soon become saturated. I am selling at the moment to mainly returnees and a few rare subscribing noobs and therefore becoming concerned. Is it possible to introduce cart degradation sooner rather than later please so wainwright crafters have some degree of sustainability for their trade?

tomduril added:


I asked the same thing about 2 weeks ago. As I found the market for new carts reducing fast - especially because more players are able to create carts and big tribes seem to provide the carts to their tribe members. So the market really narrows to a few homestadters that are reluctant to purchase more than 2-3 carts. The same is true for waterskins

I second the question (again).

Also see suggestions: http://www.xsyon.com/forum/project.php?issueid=1567

Regarding cart decay, I answered above:

The plan is to set up decay that affects a cart's speed until it's repaired. This would not affect contents and players would be able to dismantle broken carts. This is slated as an improvement to 'fit in' over the next few months when there is time.

Also, the demand for carts should pick up after the first totem decay runs as we are going to launch a promotional push then to get new players.

Qwerty Asked:


Good suggestion tomduril of which I have voted yes with my thoughts on the topic. Also I might have a gripe that having grind-ed up wainwright which as you know is quite a marathon that I find that I'm not able to do all the cart types without one of the supporting skills. A nasty hidden suprise when you have a message come up saying you need for example level 55 in bonecraft for a particular recipe. You may say every trade gets to build their own cart, but I say as a wainwright that I should be allowed to trade with leathercrafters and bonecrafters to complete the relevant type of cart, leading onto the repair suggestion. No good finding a player out in the wilderness when you find you can't repair his type of cart. After all an Architect doesn't need to know masonry or woodcraft to complete his or her projects so why should the Wainwright be severely punished?
It's not intended as a punishment, just a limitation so that players begin to specialize. I personally think there should be more schemes that require multiple crafts so that players do specialize more.


I wonder what the devs think about the above as this one is one of the reasons why some players rage quit wainwright?
It's possible.


Would you be prepared to change this as per my thoughts extending the number of recipes that can be learned by the wainwright to cover all cart types including the future scrappers cart?

Remember reward should equal effort and wainwright is a real tough grind just to put some emphasis on this.
If a craft feels like a particularly hard grind, it can be gained through experience points and experience can be gained through questing and actions. I don't plan to revise wainwright gains at the moment. If players are not using the experience and quests enough I will improve the system further so that it becomes a more viable alternative to 'grinding'.

Deacon Asks:



Actually, the slope check was supposed to work for moving projects also. I've put this on my priority request list as it should be an easy thing to change. I will probably increase the slope for placment, but set the slope check for moving projects to be the same as placement.

If you do this to moving projects, it will be impossible to build some of the stuff we build....we have to move some accross really steep places to get projects in place and to fit. What is the purpose to limit slopes we can build on anyway?
I see. The purpose was to prevent placing buildings such as tents on the sides of hills or half way hanging off a cliff. This should not apply to posts or walls. I see now that this was not implemented correctly. I'll have to spend some time to revise this properly. It's not going to be a quick fix as I thought because this will require more personal planning and testing by me.


1. What is supposed to be the difference between the hiding skill , and item camoflauge bonus?
Camoflauge will reduce the range that creatures detect you. Hiding works against other players.


2. What is the difference between the agility stat (effecting run speed and combat swing speed), and item speed bonus? What is the item speed bonus supposed to influence?
Item speed bonus will apply to weapons only and will increase attack speed with that weapon. It will not affect running speed.


3. When do you think item bonus (armour bonus, damage bonus, speed bonus, etc), other than those effecting stats will function?
In a few weeks. I'm working on a revision to crafts and bonuses right now.


4. Currently bear paws used in "hugaleti bearbone boots and guantlets" give no strength bonus, is this working as intended?
Yes. Paws were not assigned bonuses. This will be changed though as part of our current revisions.
Fyrex Asks:


Please reduce the time it takes for a creature to mature. It is way to long right now, and you can't ask a entire server to stop hunting for a month for creatures to grow up and be worth hunting. Its great to see lots of creature out and about now but they are just taking way to long to mature.

Also is there something wrong with hunting? It seems to be going up very slowly than what other skills do.
We've changed this on the Test Server and now creatures age by game month instead of game year, so they will mature much faster when we patch out these changes.

Osirrus Asks:


how many more 'free weeks' for old players are there to come?
Two more, until June 25th.


totem decay -

will there be a period of time when totem decay is on the test server so we can see how it functions before it goes live?
Yes, we'll test this out next week (week starting June 18th).


will we be able to place an expansion totem of our own over the decayed totem area? will this allow us to terraform and basically clean up the old decayed totem area?
Expansion totems won't be in yet, but new players / tribes will be able to claim decayed areas. (The old totems will be gone).


will there be a period of time where there will be a community discussion of how totem decay will work? / how the differently timed vunerabilities will work?
No. This first round of decay will run quickly.


when is totem decay starting?

when will totems start to disapear?

when will i be able to loot abandoned/decayed totem/tribelands?

will there be a period of time when a totem is still there/visable but the areas it should be protecting are lootable?

I will post the full plan later this week in the Announcements section rather than here so that all players are aware of the stages of decay.

Xsyon
06-11-2012, 09:41 PM
Questions of Week 06/04 through 06/10

Deacon Asks:


1. We used to be able to make leather scraps from leather, using shears....but we can no longer do this. Tailoring can do this with cloth scraps. Can we get the ability back to do this again ?
Strange. There never was a scheme set up to make leather scraps from leather. I can add this though as we are working on craft revisions now.


2. Before the skill degrade, some people bought schemes for skills they will most likely let decay now...some higher leveled schemes. Will high level schemes still be usable if the related skill drops below the scheme level ? If not, will there be a way to change that learned scheme, back into a trade-able scheme item?
I need to double check this. If a player drops skill, the schemes should remain in place but not be available for use unless the player gains the minimum skill level again. There will not be a way to turn the scheme into a tradeable recipe.

MrDDT Asks:


Is there any plans to add content to the game?
After having 100 in all the skills building a few tribal areas (for no reason other than looks) I'm wondering what is to keep people in the game.

Of course. The next content is as listed as part of the In Development section:

Current Round:
Crafting properties revisions - This will include a few new tools and many new armor sets.
Scavenged resource distribution balance
Death penalties

Totem Decay
Coming of Revenants
Real Estate System completed

Next Round: game immersion and survival.

Cooking, healing and other minor skills
Comfort and weather effects on players
Combat revisions including ranged combat
Ability for tribes to remove safe zones

Thanks for the questions!

Xsyon
07-09-2012, 07:37 PM
Questions of Week 06/11 through 06/17

Marilio Asks:


In relation to http://www.xsyon.com/forum/showthrea...Archive/page44 (http://www.xsyon.com/forum/showthread.php/590-Xsyon-Updates-Archive/page44)


Health Revisions
- Health is now variable based on stats (40%) and skills (60%)
- The following stats affect health points in order:
Fortitude
Strength
Spirit
Charm
- Skills increase health based on group and individual skill. Only Combat, Resource and Crafts currently affect health.

Is there a defined skill level that we should be looking for? I have new skills since the update at +60, +35, +25 in all the crafts. I haven't seen a single HP increase yet. I'm going to continue grinding to see when I get this, but any additional information would be good.

HP from skills are gained in order from highest to least effect:
Combat Skills
Resources: Hunting, Fishing, Logging, Terraforming Crafts: Bonecraft, Weaponcraft
Crafts: Toolcraft, Leathercraft
Crafts: Masonry, Woodcraft, Wainwright
Resources: Foraging,Scavenging, Forestry, Resources
Crafts: Tailoring, Basketry, Architecture, Firebuilding

You should have gained some hp from your craft gains and we've tested this extensively. Please contact support and we will examine your character to reproduce these gains and see if there is anything off.

Xsyon
07-09-2012, 08:42 PM
Questions of Week 06/18 through 06/24

banden Asks:


Hello there!

The crafting interface and mechanics have been improved quite a bit in the past dev cycles but what are your thoughts on improving the boring progress bar gathering mechanics of Xsyon?

As per: http://www.xsyon.com/forum/showthrea...ring-mechanics (http://www.xsyon.com/forum/showthread.php/8383-Dear-devs-Xsyons-resource-gathering-mechanics)

Thanks
In time yes. The mechanics for basic actions such as logging and scavenging were designed to be as is at this stage, as a step up from similar mechanics in Ultima Online (which was the primary online game I had played at the time that Xsyon was originally designed).

The goal for the future is to improve each action to become more of a fun mini-game that would take more time and provide a unique challenge. For example: a form of 'concentration' game to find scavenged items of what you are looking for, rather than a randomized roll. These type of improvements are not fully designed (nor were they intended to be designed at this phase). Continuous development and evolution of the game has always been part of the plan - the part that appeals most to me!

zoria Asks:
Lots of questions here! I'll do my best to answer them quickly!


- Are there any plans of adding canoes to the game, or any other boat?
Plans, yes, but not set in stone.


- Would it be possible to share/describe a possible increase of population in the Xsyon world (subscription wise)?
Yes. We are finally at a stage where I'm comfortable doing some advertisement (once the Abandonment has set in). With a bit of growth over the next two months we will also finally be set up a system to run and maintain a proper trial server.


- I heard in the past that you were thinking about adding the ability to make tunnels 'alla Minecraft'. This would involve lot's of reprogramming, but how is this plan proceeding?
It's not proceeding until we can really expand the team. It would require a full reworking of the terrain. It's still something we want to do in the future, but it's a ways off right now.


- Ranged combat is the next thing after Totum Decay to hit Xsyon. Are there any plans, and/or sketches, of how magic (both combat and non combat) is going to work?
Ranged combat will include spears and bows. Magic won't be added at this stage. I'm not going to go into any details of what's been designed as far as magic as development is still slow and I want to concentrate on what can and will be done in the next coming months.


- I read the announcement last week stating that there was a search to expand the development team. How is this going?
The search continues. I don't plan to actually add any new people until August. It's difficult to find the right kind of programmer for a project like this (who works very independently).


- The thing that Xsyon is missing at the moment is a stable and fairly big player base. Advertising campaigns are the way to do this, are there any plans, and if so, could you share them with us?
Yes. As stated above we will be advertising soon. This will be in the form of typical banner ads and a Facebook ad campaign. We are preparing a Kickstarter page to raise funds to really push Xsyon to the next level as well, but the goal first is to expand the player base by attracting new players with our ads.


- New players are pretty much screaming for meaningful combat. Revenants would bring some 'probably' meaningful combat. How is the development team intending to add meaningful combat in the game, when a relatively small player base is keeping them from PVP?
I think the creature revisions we've focused on these past few weeks plus the coming of revenants will provide much improved combat.


- For new people, including me, how difficult would it be to kill a Revenant? Will our game be heavily affected with their presence in the game?
They will range from being a decent fight for mid level players to being a challenge for high level players. New players should have to band together or seek the aid of higher level players.


- Recently several Arena's were created, wouldn't it be nice if there was an actual mechanic for this? In a way that people could teleport to an Arena, set the rules and fight..
Please feel free to contact one of our Guides and discuss. We are more than happy to assist with events run at player built arenas.


- Perhaps more of a suggestion, but is there a tutorial in the making for new players? It is difficult to get into the game when you are relatively new, and the low playerbase isn't helping that much, so perhaps a full covering tutorial would help new players to play this game independent at first.
It's something I'd like to do, but would take a lot of time that we currently don't have. I do like the fact that Guides and other players have been around to help new players and I think this has helped a lot with building a community.


- The fact that the homepage of this website hasn't been updated in a long time scares some people away. Are there any plans to make the homepage/website more interactive? Perhaps a blog, release notes page or anything that indicates that this game is alive and doing relatively well would give people are more comfy feeling.
We keep the forums active as that is really our 'face' to the community. We do have some volunteers working on setting up a better home page for us that will update with our latest news.


- Are there any plans, and/or discussions in the team, to increase the experience gained per action and therefor making it easier to level?
No, this hasn't been discussed. We did ask for feedback on this while we were working on balancing experience, stats and skills. I plan to increase experience gained for quests as these should be used more often. For actions, I haven't heard any other requests or comments to increase the experience gained, but I will discuss with the Guide team as they interface more with players directly.


- Last one for today; people are making a huge effort creating two story buildings, cant some love put into this to make two(or more)story building easier?
I was working on a two story construction, until I found out players found tricks to build the two story buildings with a bit more effort. Right now it's not a priority as I like the fact that it's something that takes effort and ingenuity and there are 'bigger fish to fry'. Really, we will get back to proper two story construction after we've revised collision using the planned PhysX system.


Alright, as for now, I have been playing several weeks right now, this game is not solo friendly. For a starter, even with my skills and some leather Armour I made from scavenging, it is still virtually impossible to fight against even the smallest of a deer (1v1 fight). This is frustrating, as bonecrafting and hunting in general is a no-go area for solo players this way. Don't get me wrong, I like to interact with other people, but I heavily prefer to fight and die on my own.


To make my point;
- Will Xsyon be more solo-friendly in the future?
With the latest revisions to creatures, I think so. Part of the goal is to have low level creatures easier for new solo players to fight.


- Can damage of certain animals get decreased? Just the more average animals is alright with me. Being able to kill a deer with 2 spears and leather armor shouldn't be a problem right? I hear it all the time, and it is just very frustrating to get killed by a pack of squirrels when you go into the game. It is very illogical and frustrating from the very beginning.
This has been done and is being balanced. Please check our Feedback Request post and let us know what you think of creatures currently on the Test Server.


- Is it possible to create a Social hub, perhaps on an island in the middle of the game, where both tribes and players can meet, trade and perhaps even challenge each other for a fight? Perhaps teleport is a nice idea. The game is large, VERY large, and going to players can take at least 30 min. It feels sometimes that I am playing a singleplayer game, and that is not where Xsyon is all about, even as a solo player.
Founder's Isle is meant to be a type of social hub and I hope that players will form other social hubs on their own. I believe that with more players coming and a few improvements in the works (trade at totems, real estate rental) these social hubs will come of their own.


- After totems (and tribes) got abandoned, how long will it take to get them *removed*?
Roughly two weeks after we patch the first phase.

MrDDT Asks:


Is it meant to have animals not attack? If so, where is the "survival" at all in this game and why?
Of course not. Feedback on creatures not attacking is best in the feedback thread. Creature AI has undergone a lot of small but important changes these past 2 weeks on the Test Server.


When do you expect your game to be fun?
I think it's fun now, and will only get better.


This game is mostly made for solo players it seems, do you have plans for large objectives for tribes and groups of tribes?
No specific tribal goals are planned for the current round of development.


AI is still doing very bad, and animals are way to easy, who do you have working on this code now?
The most recent revisions have been done by myself and one other programmer.


Do you have any devs that work on PVP objectives?
If by PvP objectives you mean siege or conquering of tribes, we are not currently working on those.


What are your plans for PVP objectives and when?
Again, if you mean siege or tribal conquest: this is something that can only be worked on after we can expand our team. Currently we are not at that point and I'll make solid plans only when I know that I really can.


Economy is still not working very well, I know you keep saying you are working on it, but when is this going to be top of the "to do" list?
As the economy depends on many factors, we can only work on these factors one at time to see how the economy impoves.

Deacon Asks:


a.) Will human bones get stat bonus ?
Yes, they will provide bonuses based on the highest stat of the human (revenant) killed.


b.) Can you raise the max quantity for 'Goal' on totem quests? 100 nails isnt gonna buy much of anything
Yes, noted and can be done easily.

Thanks for the questions and sorry for any hasty answers. As usual I'm in a rush with a lot going on, but I wanted to get a few of these questions answered.

Xsyon
07-09-2012, 10:41 PM
Questions of Week 06/25 through 07/02

Deacon Asks:


Something that has bothered me for quite some time..

Can you explain the reasoning behind having the windows in pioneer log walls not centered...and all the same height? It would be nice to be able to reverse one wall and butt it up to another, and have windows align correctly, and have round log walls inside and out...like real log cabins.
These were simply up to the artist's creative discretion.


And while on walls Are we gonna see brick walls in future with windows or even arrow slits?
Most likely yes.


Also, some of the roofs are not centered on the wooden frames, and the 8x8 mason brick roof just isnt large enough for the frame...walls dont look right with it.

Please report this to the bugs email so that we can check and adjust. These were checked before, but details do get missed.


Why dont items made with white cloth...come out white?
That's the way the shader shades them when set to pure white material. The textures have grey scale tint to them to bring out details when shaded in other tones.


.................................................. ....................

Now that hiding no longer gives XP, and is in 'Action' section like running ...does it still use perception as a deciding factor of how well you hide, and if someone can see you? And if it does..will it effect the stat when using it?

Thanks
Hiding uses your perception and agility, and it does run stat gain on these. Hiding using the perception of the viewer to reduce the effect of hiding.

Thanks for the questions!

Xsyon
07-10-2012, 06:23 AM
Questions of Week 07/02 through 07/08

Drevar Asks:


A little technical, but....Are there any concerns of differing results when using PhysX with Nvidia GPU cards vs those having to run in software mode? e.g. slower framerates or different level of accuracy on GPU vs CPU? This is assuming you are doing this on the client side and not just server side collision, of course.
Not at the moment. The first implementation of PhysX will be used for normal collision and will definitely be more optimal than our current system.


Also, were there any considerations besides price that made you choose PhysX rather than Havok?
Familiarity by the programmer who'll be implementing PhysX and available assistance from friends at NVidia.

marilio Asks:


Animal Mechanics:
When fighting an animal - If you do a left direct block you can block (on my last test) roughly 74% damage. When you use center,up,down you block about 42%. When you do Right it doesn't show block at all.

The other issue is when you block left, it will block at max twice. It'll hold the block position but continued damage comes through with no block rating.

Is there a way to work this to make it a little more consistent?

Block = Parry - sorry.
We will look into this. This is better reported to our bugs email. Seems odd as I was testing this directly a few days ago with proper results.

Deacon Asks:


Once the majority, if not all...abandoned totems have decayed away, and few if any players unsub afterwards...what will become of revenants? Where will they come from, or will they still be in game...and if so, to what extent?
The revenants don't leave an area once a totem is abandoned, only when land is reclaimed. When land is reclaimed, they look for new homes (other abandoned totems). If there are no abanonded totems, they either go way (are removed) or find empty locations on the map to haunt.



3) We reduce the stat bonus power of creature parts. Creature parts will still range in power base on age and creature power, but I plan to limit a full armor set to increase a stat a maximum of 25 points. Currently a full set of the right materials can increase a single stat too much. This is causing balance issues and sets a priority on gear that I did not intend nor desire for Xsyon. A 'quick fix' limiting the power of armor sets is running on the Test Server, but a proper revision is in progress and armor sets and creature parts will be evenly adjusted. The high end sets and parts will remain as the high end items.


I'm unsure why creature part add to stats at all...the point of armor should be varying degrees of protection weighed against the encumbrance of it. Even with the current change...some pieces of armor still use more animal parts..therefore giving more stat benefits...what does it matter if they max the main stat then spread the bonuses over several other important stats...people will still be using the SAME armor(clone armor syndrome )...so everyone gets the same amount of bonuses. When you have a certain helmet that uses bone, leather, fur and screws, why would some one take a helmet that uses bone and screws only....denying himself the leather and fur bonuses ? (used as example only)

Stats should be a reflection of how you live...your actions (and possibly what you eat)...not what you wear...a man who can barely run for low agil, suddley puts on 16 pieces of heavy bone agil armor, and poof...can run a marathon...or...a man too weak to pick up a short log, but pile on some super bone armor...and he can run with a long log...just doesnt make sense to me...I'm just saying...

Thankse...and if so, to what extent?
I understand your point, but it's a typical game mechanic and it's used to give additional value to armor and components. It's a fantasy / alternate reality game after all. :) We are revising armor sets and adding Artisan and Master sets so that all parts provide consistent bonuses (more materials required for Artisan and Master sets = more potential material bonuses).

Crokus Asks:


Will the reverents only spawn and stay around the totems, or do you have some coded to wander the map like you do with the animals?
During the abandonment they spawn only at totems. In the future if there are no totems and the population dies down, they will haunt other unoccupied locations of the map.

prokop15 Asks


You are still traveling between your home in the US and your team in Russia quite frequently, spending a fair amount of money, time, and effort, on just being able to work with your team.
Do you regret structuring the team in this way?
Will you make any changes to address this inefficiency?
No regrets and no inefficiency.

During the main development years of Xsyon I made two trips per year on average. This past year I made more trips, but for personal reasons (engagement, got married, and dealing with my wife's immigration).

The costs have been negligible compared to the cost of running a game development company in the US (which would not have been feasible in the first place). The effort of travel is minimal and something I've been doing my entire life. The travel time I use to catch up on tasks like answering these questions.

We've dealt with many problems slowing development: lack of manpower, rewriting code from our original programmers, illness and injuries affecting our very small team and difficulties getting things tested and balanced properly. Having our team in Russia and a few trips back and forth has been the least of my worries. The biggest issue has been the lack of funds to deal with the hurdles that have come our way. This is being addressed with coming promotions and fund raising.


In another tread, you told us: "The goal with revenants is for them to range in power from that of a mid level player to being a challenge for high end players. Newbies in groups of 3 or 4 should be able to take down a normal revenant". It seems to me that this conflicts with the original goal of totem decay: to clear occupied land for players to claim, especially for new players, so that they don't have to run across the world just to find a spot...
By making revenants this difficult, you will have created yet another way that newbies rely on vets.
I don't have a question here, just pointing out the issue. Care to respond to this concern?

A creature that can be dealt with by 3-4 new players is not extremely difficult, but I think this is a small challege that does several things: encourages new players to seek initial assistance from veteran players, welcomes new players to join an existing tribe for a while and then set off on their own if they like, urges players to work together even as a band of new players. All of this creates social interaction in game and helps build a positive game community.


What will happen with revenants when no tribe lands are being abandoned?
Some will disappear, other move on to haunt unoccupied lands.

Thanks for the questions!

Xsyon
08-02-2012, 12:03 AM
Questions of Week 07/09 through 07/15

Tesla Asks:


Could you please share with us what primary and secondary stats will be associated with the Cooking skill? Thank You.
Perception and Dexterity. This may change as we balance stat use for Cooking and other skills planned.

Donar Asks:


Specialization Enhancement Request:

With specializations I think it would be beneficial to increase the number of items we can learn. I know there is a craft update coming soon but is this something we can work into the game sooner?

This comes up because I'm currently grinding Tailoring. Specialized for tailor, I can currently learn 75 schemes at skill 79. This doesn't seem like enough as I have chosen to specialize in tailoring.
The number of schemes you can learn is a percent of available schemes. As we add new schemes you will automatically learn more.

numskull34 Asks:


24 hours into game ... just noticing a ton of Revenents making it very hard to get around. Wondering if you are planing anything to help on this as far as maybe being able to destroy inactive totems after a period of time or maybe making them spawn less the more time inactive they become.
We are making a few revisions to Revenants for the next patch.
- Currently you need to place a totem and kill revenants for them to move to other lands. Placing a totem will be enough to clear away revenants.
- Low end revenants will be made easier.
- Revenants will start to leave areas where abandoned totems have been removed.

In addition we are working on creature migration but this won't be ready for the next patch. Difficult creature will migrate to more abandoned and remote zones.

Crokus Asks:


Just curious. What is the health regen rate on animals? Are they different by species and/or maturity?

I have a very strong coyote around my place with 274 hps and 1 health/per second regen rate. I've tested this a few times. I haven't had much trouble with most of the other animals so I haven't paid attention to their health regen until now. I don't know, maybe the regen rates have always been that fast. I can't kill this coyote atm so I just avoid him.
I will check this. The regeneration rate should not be that fast.

Willowhawk Asks:


Exploring The Green Mist
Any ETA on opening up the green zones? If not soon are you waiting for more population? or more content? And when it does open will there be anything out there that we don't already have in game such as old structures and artifacts or any other surprises? Expiring minds want to know! Throw us a bone
There won't be any special surprises but the terrain artists did spend more time on the expansion zones to create some interesting locations.

The few differences will be in resource distribution and toxic pools in these zones where mutants can spawn.

Xsyon
08-02-2012, 12:09 AM
Questions of Week 07/22 through 07/29

Neo70 Asks:


Hi !
When comes a other form of Fireplace, like Torches ?
I don't have a time estimate for this.


When comes "PaySafeCards" as a Payment to Xsyon ?
Possibly when we move to our improved website this month. This may be an option with the upgraded account system we are implementing, but I am not sure.


When Mounts comes , come there Horses too ?
No. Bear and deer will be rideable.


If Mounts comes, come there a new cart , like Horse-Cart too ?
No, mounts will not pull carts at first.


How will the Taming and Pets Feature work, can u say us something about it (please )

ok, thats all for the moment, keep the good work on, cu and thx
Neo_aus_Tirol
Taming will be basic at first (similar to UO). Pets will have a menu with several commands (follow, stay, go home, attack).

Deacon Asks:


Can we get all the bonus an item has to be displayed? i have items that have 3 bonus, but only 2 display.

Thanks
This will be checked and fixed during this current round of crafting / bonus revisions.

Thanks for the questions!

Xsyon
08-08-2012, 12:25 PM
Questions of Week 07/30 through 08/05

Lordadamar Asks:


1a. When will UI see improvement i.e. show stats ( all of them ) , and show Item information
See post for more info http://www.xsyon.com/forum/project.php?issueid=1630#note6479

There will be fixes to stat effects and displays in this current round of development.


1b. at some point be able to lock UI window locations.
No plans for this.


1c. Have a world map with your location on it, and be able to set POI's on it. and have these POI's show up on mini map...
No near term plans for this. A mapping skill is designed for the future.


2. When will Armor stats actually start working ( especially cloth )
Stat effects work now. Other effects are part of what we're working on now.


3. When will There be more balancing to mobs ( Revs defense mod is outrageous, Coyote's and dogs hitting for 22 hp a Wack )
Balancing will continue. It's a constant task as I receive a lot of conflicting feedback.


4. When will Architecture positioning ever be added for up/down, Arch skill could be a lot more fun and creative if it didnt require massive mounds of dirt to accomplish multi story buildings...

Not for a while. We want to implement PhysX and an improved collision system before we add this.


5. Will we ever be able to terraform granite / basalt, just seems odd to be able to terraform Sand and limestone and not the others...

Possibly but I don't have any plans for this right now. I don't want players to be able to easily carve away entire mountains.

6. When will Grass grow back, It should grow back on any un-roaded piece of land...
We set this up a while ago but it was turned off as it created too many data changes and caused problems. Putting this back in is on our list for the future, but it's not a priority right now.


7. Will the game time always be determined by client side time or will server eventually control time/day/night cycle..
Game Time is supposed to be server side (adjusted every ten minutes). It's been recently reported to me that there could be a bug with this and I will look into it.

8. Are there any plans to create an economy other than bartering...
Yes. Players will be able to trade at totems using their local town currency.

sh1nji Asks:


1- i see that pet and mount are for the next round, you have any eta for it??
No, sorry. I can't give out an ETA. Our development team is tiny and small problems greatly effect our schedule. We are working towards raising funds to expand the team so that this will change.

2- when you implement it, you will put in game horses??
No. Bears and deer will be mounts.
TY

Riverspirit Asks:


Are you going to nerf the animals?
I used to have so much fun exploring and hunting and scavenging across the whole world. Now I have to be afraid of running into a 500 hp bear or 300 hp coyote or stupid 200hp cat around every corner. Are you going to fix this? It isn't fun anymore for most people that I have heard from. Revs are manageable, but getting boring pretty quickly.

I can't imagine how new players are surviving when veterans are having trouble. I just want to know if things are going to change back to reasonable hp. Sure, a big mob once in a while, but not every single mob in the world.

And maybe it is not the hp, since Willow and I used to be able to take on a 650hp bear by ourselves. Maybe it is that they are hitting way faster than we can, and they have so much reach that you can't successfully kite, since if you are 2 steps away they can still hit you, but you can't hit them. Or maybe it is the nerfed gear. But right now, a new player can't go hunting, even the hamsters have more hp than they do.
We will do another round of adjustments soon. When we do, please join in our feedback sessions. I get a lot of conflicting feedback on creature power and difficulty. For a long while players were mass killing all creatures before they could age or grow in power. Now creatures have allowed to mature and many are max sized adults with some legendary power.

Xsyon
08-13-2012, 02:06 PM
Questions of Week 08/06 through 08/12

Shaggy Asks:


What's the current timetable for getting grass regrowth turned back on?

I don't have a timetable for this. The grass regrowth needs to be heavily optimized and isn't a priority right now. (It's not something quick that fits in with our schedule.

Zaralis Asks:


When the sound problem will be solved?

Next patch, this week. This is a small bug that slipped by us last patch. It's been fixed and just needs to be patched out.


lordadmar Asks:


1. Will water collisions ever work more dynamic or always cause and effect...?
( What I mean is, right now if I want to dig a water canal through my tribe, I cant just dig it out and let water in and be done. I have to place stops every so often so the game doesnt cave it the canal. So the depth in my canal varies and is a pain to add architecture in).. Not to mention 5 times the work...



2. If the game world will always have collisions that stop you from flooding stuff. Can Walls, Posts, and Platforms be recognized as a water stop so collisions dont force dirt to cave in and block water?

This won't be improved any time soon. Realistic fluid dynamics would be great, but it's not feasible for us currently.


3. Can footprint of boulders be reduced, I get the fact its there for a reason but I have boulders blocking terraforming and planting trees up to 5+ meters away..

I won't change this any time soon as it's not the footprint of the actual boulders, but the radius checked for clear terraforming or planting that is the issue and without this large buffer players can (and will) cause other problems.


4. Is it possible to put a decay timer on Tree stumps, im under the impression they affect Zone tree limit...

We will add general decay for stumps and bundled materials left in the open at some point. Stumps do not affect the tree limit per zone.


5. What is the zone tree limit, parts of my zone seem pretty barren, do logs everywhere does this affect tree limit?

500. The limit counts only live trees. Logs and stumps do not affect the limit.


6. Hows the Official Wiki page coming.

It will be added to our new site. The new site will be ready in 1-2 weeks.

unclean666 Asks:


So what I would like to know is how you plan on fixing all this to making hunting worth the time and making it fun again

I condensed your question to answer the main issue.

Your concern is primarily with the stat 'nerf' on armor. The out of control stats caused several issues: None of the game systems were designed for stats in the range of 150-200. With stat gains so high on armor, regular stat gain over time is practically useless. Stats that primarily have effects limited at 100 (for crafting or resource gathering) become useless as starting stats as they can be replaced by sets of high stat armor when needed (with the coming crafting changes, 'high' stat suits for all stats, not just combat focused stats will be possible). There was a huge gap between mid level veteran players and a handful of players with high stat armor suits.

Add this nerf made me aware that a stat gain of 25 point is not valuable to veteran players. It should be! This tells me that the issue is NOT in the actual stat gain, but the EFFECTS of these stats. A 25 point stat different SHOULD be noticeable. 100 points in a stat SHOULD be highly desirable and STATS in the range of 125 SHOULD be exceptional! These are the goals for the next round of changes.

In conclusion, I feel that the armor stat nerf was a minor action but was our biggest step forward yet as it made me well aware of what truly needs to be adjusted and balanced.

I'm sorry that we had to switch gears and focus on our website rather than the crafting update. It wasn't what we planned. This was highly recommended by the ad agency we're working with and it needs to be done.

Mactavendish Asks:


1. Are you planning to let simple animals like rabbits, rats and the like act like normal versions of those animals and not like mutant steroid junkies on pcp?

Yes. The balance was set based on feedback from players on the test server. I will be balancing creatures based on my own playing for the current round of development.


Are you ever going to make it easier to delete items from our back packs then the current drag and drop one at a time?

Not anytime soon. The current system is standard.


Can you put in SOMETHING ( fun ) that will draw players to this game and not add to the current overt tediousness that seems to characterize the entire game? ( I don't wish to be irritating here, but of the hundreds of players that HAVE been here, we are now left with maybe 100 total, it almost looks like you are trying to kill this off to a degree )

We do our best. In my opinion the game is constantly improving. With each round of development we try to balance adding new features with improving current features and optimizing the client and server. Many small improvements go forgotten shortly after we release them, but the game is definitely far improved from a year ago in all respects.

My next goal is to really nail down the balance of creatures (especially creature migration) and crafting.

Regarding the number of players, the main problem right now is that we don't get enough exposure. Our coming advertisements should solve that.


rookster1984 Asks:


1. would like to know if there is any plans to add farming in the game, like growing crops maybe sugar for baking and bread etc, seen it on a few posts so seems like a much wanted addition, if so when do you think it will be.

Yes. I want to implement agriculture before the end of 2012. We'll see how things go (they are always hectic!)


2. i think adding metal working sort of thing would be good, to give people a choice instead of just scavenging, which can be a pain, like finding saw blades and parts for axes just so i can woodcut. i think this would be a good addition as well, you do this by changing fires into a holder as well to put mined metal in and after a small time its ready to be changed into nails saw blades etc, once unlocked on that skill tree. if theres any plans for this already have you got a time scale?

Plans, yes, but no time scale. We have a lot of other things planned first. See below...


another idea/question, what about like junk piles have small amounts of bone piles or dead animals, again to give more choice as scavenging doesn't give you a good amount of bones to do anything with.

The scavenging resource tables are being revised in the current round of development, though bones and leather will still be primarily obtained by hunting.


is there a link to a list of features and things coming to the game?

Yes. Our current priority list is here: In Development (http://www.xsyon.com/forum/showthread.php/7280-Xsyon-In-Development)

Deacon Asks:


Are you going to have one location where most of the answers to the commonly asked questions can be found? If your advertising works...then global is going to be flooded with the same questions over and over and over again...sort of like it is now. If they can figure out how to chat in global...lol

The Wiki will be part of the new site. In addition, updates will be on the front page and we'll work on a better FAQ when we have the time. Would you like to volunteer to help? :-)

Shaggy Asks:


Did you guys give up on the wiki? I feel like we haven't heard about it for a while, and since among the playerbase there seems to be some conflicting evidence as to the current mechanisms for many processes in game it seems that the wiki should be bumped up and done asap. That way whenever you make updates to the game, you only need to change x and y in the wiki.

It will be part of the new site and should be up in 1-2 weeks.

Xsyon
09-26-2012, 11:35 PM
Questions of Week 08/13 through 08/31

Deacon Asks:


Can you add the cargo shorts and beater shirt to crafting while doing the crafting update? be nice to have some solid color clothes that are made by players.
Yes, this will be part of the update.


would also be nice if carts could go up ramps O.O
We are implementing improved collision to fix this and other collision issues. It's a major task but it's currently in progress.


will higher danger areas, yield better scavenging results and more rare items?
Yes, more rare items will be found in the high danger regions.


Are you ever going to implement a totem placement system where we dont have to guess if where we're actually putting it, fits the spot we want, or is centered in our area, after we had to move it to work around it?
At some point we may allow moving a totem after it's placed. Currently totems are placed right in from of the player and the tribe is always centered on the totem. This is a change that seems minor but can cause issues with off centered tribes so it's not a priority right now.

MrDDT Asks:


Whats your plans for high level and high skilled crafters to do for trade and economy?
High level crafters will create the most powerful and high quality objects. In the future we'll add specializations. I'm aware that tools have made the creation of high quality top level objects too easy and this is being revised with the crafting changes.


What are some of your "end game" goals for players? Meaning not really end game forever end, but what do you expect high skilled and high geared players to be doing?
The goal is for players to create their own societies and adventures.

This could include:
Leading a tribe and managing the society.
Developing trade.
Conflicts with other tribes.
Designing and building extensive constructions.
Creating adventures and events for other players.
Hunting mutants and high danger creatures.
Experience in game daily life.

As we continue to add features and systems, there will be more possibilities.

Really it's up to you. What a player does for their 'end game' should be up that the individual player and not my expectations.

KMan Asks:


Question about luck. In this (http://www.xsyon.com/forum/showthread.php/8386-I-get-nearly-no-architecture-schemes/page3?highlight=luck) thread one of the players complained about not learning any new architecture blueprints from building things and one of the guides responded with info about hidden stat called Luck. I would like to know if it really exists and how it works. Is it something that gets generated during the character creation and never changes so if you are "unlucky" you are screwed or is it stat that changes (daily for example). Is there a way to modify it by keeping certain items in your packs (lucky horseshoes ;-).... I myself had a problem with wainwright blueprints. I got my Wainwright skill up to 90 and could not build a simplest cart which was very disappointing. Does it mean that my "hidden stat" Luck is low and I need to find a way to fix it? Thanks.
Luck is a hidden stat that does affect many actions. All players start with neutral luck. Luck increases when you pass a 'luck check'. It decreases when you fail. It reflects your real luck at these 'luck check' rolls. It does balance out and some players are lucky while others are not.

Luck is affected slightly by Charm and we will have items in the future that will increase luck.


Another question about armor defensive bonuses. I heard this question asked by many new players: which armor is better grass or cloth? There seems to be a consensus amongst older players that bone is the best then leather but opinions differ whether cloth or grass is next.

So is it:

bone > leather > cloth > grass or
bone > leather > grass > cloth ?
bone > leather > cloth > grass
This depends on the quality and wear of the armor.



Also since the quality affects defensive bonus that armor provides is the low quality bone still better than high quality leather?
A new supreme quality set of leather can provide more bonus than a worn lowest quality set of bone armor, but in general bone > leather > cloth > grass does apply.


Would it be hard for you to implement a display for each armor piece of the exact defensive bonus that it provides (kind of like you display stat bonus on the armor when hovering mouse over the piece)? That would help people figure out which armor they want to wear and also give us an idea of what defensive bonus we get from it. The total bonus from all armor displayed on the character screen would also be nice. People like seeing these numbers. Keeping them in the dark and constantly guessing is not a good idea. Thank you.
I am considering this, but not as a current priority. I realize that many players like to see the numbers. I personally don't and it's something I wanted to avoid. Howerver, the game does evolve and adjust based on what players want.


Case study: I have basketry at 92.3, Agility 94.3, Spirit 24.0 and Foraging 84.4. I can gather VHQ grass but I am unable to produce VHQ grass twine from them. Where is the problem? I assumed that having very high basketry level should be good enough but it is not. Is it my "hidden stat" Luck affecting me or my low Spirit?

This is a problem with objects created without tools and is being revised in our current round of development.

Xsyon
11-16-2012, 11:23 AM
Questions For the Developers 09/01 Through 11/16

Drevar Asks:

I noticed a lot of the new armor/tool templates were dumped on Test in incomplete form (the web update interrupted development there.) Will basketry armor also be updated as part of the new revisions? Also, will the crafted grass fabric vs scavenged grass fabric (in multiple colors, with camo bonus and only useable in tailoring patterns) issue be resolved?

Basketry armor, and all armor sets will have artisan and master versions. There will be new female armor sets (cloth and leather).

The confusion between crafted and found grass fabric will be resolved.


I don't know how many times I have already asked this in the past 2 years but I'll ask again: Will wood types be getting individual bonuses with this update?

Most likely not. This is planned primarily for when we can implement furniture.

Geozen Asks:

I would really like to know when grass will start growing again, or if we will be getting the ability to plant grass seed with the Foresting skill soon. It's making me really paranoid that I'm going to destroy the landscape.
We don't have a set time for this right now. It was implemented but caused server problems so it's currently turned off until we can optimize the system.

Morphinehit Asks:


Was just wondering if there has been any progress on the HP regeneration in the game. The downtime after fights is probably the only thing that actually annoys me at the moment. Even if faster health regen means having to eat a particular type of rare herb which must be gathered, I still reckon it would be a major plus to the gameplay.
Health regeneration was recently increased. This will be addressed further when cooking is patched out.

Willowhawk Asks:

Will we be seeing a use for Basalt bricks any time in the near future? I have a project in mind that I would like to build with these darker bricks =)
We'll see. If we can increase the size of our team we will be adding more architecture parts in 2013.

Azzym Asks:

I have read somewhere that you plan to implement PhysX for better collision handling. I can't spot it on the "In Development" list. Is that change so small that it warrants no spot on the list or is it included with something else in that list, like archery?
This is a big change and is in progress. It will first affect collision and later be used for improved effects. The first implementation (in progress) won't be noticed until we fully revise the collision system to use Phys-X and that will happen after the current round of development listed.


With the coming armor makeover. Will stats like Damage Bonus and camoflage actually work?
Yes. All stat bonuses are being revised.


It seems like the current round grows (from what I remember) and that we never get to the attractive cooking/archery skills. Do you have an estimate on when you will be able to work on the next/coming round of features?
Cooking will be part of this round or shortly after. I can't give any time estimates as a lot depends on raising funds to expand our team over the next month and a half.

zoria Asks:


How is Kickstarter going, any clue about when it is going to take place? Is there any reason for current members to invest into Xsyon for that matter?
It's ready but was held off for tax reasons. There are many rewards that should interest current players from small Xsyon memorabilia to assisting with new object design.


As for the coming patches, is there an ETA for it?
I can't give any ETA at the moment.

fatboy21007 Asks:


when will decorations, Porchs be ingame? Also any chance of a function to pick our totem up? (ie instead of disbanding we can pick it up, move to a new home, stick it back down, ill assume it will have a 6 hours or heck mb even 30day timer on it)

As above, I can't give an ETA. These things are not in our current development schedule.

Koll Asks:

1 Question: Farming and subsquently Brewing Booze, when ?
As above, I can't give an ETA. Farming is planned for after the current crafting and materials revisions.

Thorbrand Asks:

I need to know what is the current active population in the game? I want to come back and bring a few friends with but if there is no one playing no one will want to pay no matter how fun the game is.
Slightly over 300 active players. The active population has been slowly rising since mid September.

Thanks for the questions! Sorry for the delay on this round. These past two months have been hectic for me personally and with preparing for the future of Xsyon.

Xsyon
11-30-2012, 11:43 AM
Questions For the Developers 11/17 Through 11/30

Koll Asks:

Hello Xsyon ! Will we be able to attach carts to Mounts ?

This will depend on if we meet our current fund raising goals through Kickstarter and other sources. If we do, yes. If not, mounts will first be released without the ability to pull carts.

Xsyon
12-19-2012, 10:59 AM
Questions For The Developers 12/01 Through 12/18 2012

severin Asks:


1) Are there any plans to make scavengeable items more limited in-game in order to force more trade and interaction between players and tribes?Yes, this is part of the crafting update. We have a new tool available that allows us to re-distribute resources visually. Scavenged resources will be more regional, in particular material of items found.


2) Are there any plans to not have newly planted and spawned trees make new saplings and perhaps also not able to harvest resources from them?Yes, only mature trees will spawn saplings in the next patch. Resources will be properly limited from saplings with the crafting and resource changes.


3) Is there any estimated time on when logs not under roof will have a decay timer?Sorry, I don't have an estimated time for the release of any features or changes.

Nephilum Asks:


1) Will we be able to transfer ownership of constructed structures?Yes. We have a Real Estate system that allowed for this. The system was tested and almost ready for release last February or March. It was delayed because there were some potential conflicts with tribe permissions and abandoned buildings. We'll return to the Real Estate system after the current crafting changes and bug fixes are done.


2) For homesteaders it would be nice to be able to set usage permissions on gates similar to the lock features on canopy. Is this planned for the future?Yes, it's planned for when we revisit the Real Estate system.


3) Many of us have alts, good friends or even family members we play with. Will it possible to designate people on your friends list as siblings, parent or other significant family member and provide that as a separate permission group for existing lock/permission mechanics?As I understand, this would be a 'best friends' list. Yes, this is possible and I've put it on our suggestion list.


4) Regrowth of grass, forest floor... is there an eta on this? I know there are issues to be resolved for this to work correctly however is this on the list of items to be patched in soon or will this be delayed pending kickstart success?No ETA on this.

Vadio Asks:


1) have plan to add any structure decay? (to keep everyone login or don't made big castle without people to keep in?)I'm considering a system of decay where all structures on active tribe land can be preserved by 'feeding' appropriate materials to the totem.


2) Like know plans to made people keep login without pvp or pveBoth are currently available in game. We're going to do another round of creature balancing in January and increase the maximum amount of creatures in game.


3) Possibility to tribe archive one big goal ( no just big castle or city , because all here do same , i thing one unique )
4) World Boss? or any other group stuffs can need coordinate group to build/kill/craft or whateverI think these are a combined question. Larger goals such as epic quests that would require a tribe or team to act together were planned for when we could expand our development team and game. This isn't going to happen any time soon.

There are currently creatures that require players to band together to kill, basically 'world bosses'.


5) Just more structures and ruins from "old world" or start call this game "4000 A.C Game"Old world structures were not intended for the Prelude.

Zola Asks:


1) Will there be an ETA for when we are able to build a farm or tame animals to breed them?
2) Any ETA on planting grass? Or a possibility for terraformed regions (the grey area's) made green again?Sorry, no ETA on any features.


3) Will the animals contain special stats or conditions like some are more durable against weather or sickness?Possibly. Creatures do have different stats right now, but not what you are describing.


4) Will we be able at some point to destroy existing fireplaces not covered by Totems?Yes. This should be possible now. I've made a note to look into this and fix it this week if it's not working properly.


5) When we are able to breed and tame animals, do we have to feed them and will chickens leave eggs for us?You will have to feed them. Yes on chickens laying eggs.


6) Are there any plans relating to be able to pledge beside Kickstarter for Xsyon: Apocalypse via PayPal on the main page for rewards?Yes, we will set up fund raising directly on this site after Kickstarter runs its course.

tomduril Asks:


Have you thought about pushing the reputation of Xsyon at the different mmo/sandbox oriented sites?

From my point of view you have created something quite unique, there are an awful lot of sandbox projects currently in the making (but not running) - however Xsyon unique "selling point" is that it *is* running (not a promise) - it is (for me) the perfect example for a sandbox game - and it is not a *promise*, but reality. I do not think that the small dev team is a down point - it is what it is - and being open about it will get you more sympathy - the problem I see at the moment with the attitude ppl have towards Xsyon is: "Too many promises, not enough fulfillment - probably the "ideas - plans" sound too much like promises and you have to be much more defensive about them.Definitely. We do what we can. I am personally not going to post on other sites. I don't have enough time and I know it would be a thankless task of combating trolls. Thank you for your comments. You are right, I always post plans and what's in progress here on these forums and these are plans, not 'promises'.

We do have some players that regularly post in support of Xsyon on other forums. If you would like to join in, please contact us via support. (support@notorious-games.com)


Please state your plans towards cooking?Cooking is planned as a flexible system where players will be able to add primary and secondary ingredients. Cooked food will provide buffs. The ingredients used will determine the buff type, power and duration. The higher your cooking skill, the more ingredients you can use (and the more powerful buffs the resulting food will provide).

Willowhawk Asks:


1) I noticed that Mutants as well as Revenants do not seem to grow beyond a certain size/HPs unless they make kills. Is this working as intended or should Mutant animals be growing on their own?Yes, this is working as intended. Revenants grow in power only when they make kills. Mutants that have reached the maximum age also only increase their power with more kills.

2) Any plans to give us a "Duel" mode? This would allow tribes to hold tournaments within our tribes as well would allow people to compete without being sent back to their totem when they loseDuel modes was part of the original design many years ago. It's still on our list, but not planned for any time soon.


3) I thought I read somewhere that the free trial on the main server is only going until kickstart ends, is this correct? If not would it be possible to have some designation on the totem showing status as trial or subbed account? Without this it's hard to know who is contributing to tribe size and in fairness the available building space should be reserved for those who are contributing to the tribal territory.
4) In addition, are there any plans to enhance the tribe totem interface so we know when a tribe member joined and when they last logged in? This would help with allocating tents and living quarters, building permissions on tribe land and when to retrieve an abandoned cart among other things.Free time on the main server will continue beyond January 1. Yes, I'm considering ways for tribes to clearly see what tribe members are recently active and full 'citizens' contributing to the tribe radius.

Thanks for the questions!

Xsyon
01-13-2013, 05:13 PM
Questions For The Developers 12/19/2012 Through 01/13/2013

thepreston Asks:


What effect, if any, does food and water meter have on anything?

I've heard many different things including energy use per action, energy recovery, skill gain rate, and exp gain rate.
There are several people who say that food and water have no effect whatsoever, and if it does, it is so little that it makes the effort put into carrying food/water with you as you travel pointless (added weight < benefit of higher food and water meter).
I would like this cleared up so the players don't have to argue and speculate as to the possible usefulness/uselessness of nutrition.

Food and water affect energy regeneration rate. The magnitude of the effect will be revised as we are working on farming and cooking (work began a few days ago as the trade functions at totems are being wrapped up).


How are scavenged resources distributed in a general sense?

I'm finding that as long as I stay in 1 spot, or travel along 1 pre-set path/line, I tend to get the exact same items.
Not (for example) 'plastic things in general' but like, '5 Long Plastic Poles' almost every single time when I stay in a small area.
I know that resources are distributed by larger zones, so that 1 very large area may have a much better chance of finding rivets but a lower chance of finding screws, or vice versa, but being able to grab almost the exact same stuff in small areas makes no sense.

I've had several people tell me they get similar items if they stay in small areas/paths on a particular junkpile, so I know its not just me.

Resources are distributed per natural region (for example, Round Hill or Zephyr). What you describe sounds odd. Resources will be redistributed as part of the current round of development as we now have a much better visual tool to aid with this.

Xsyon
03-06-2013, 07:23 PM
Questions For The Developers 01/14/2013 Through 03/06/2013

ladguf Asks:


The Field of view is MUCH too narrow and there is no way to change this on my side.
It really feels awful for me - like looking through binoculars or wearing blinkers (http://filthyrichmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/human-blinkers.jpg) permanently. Is there any hope that this might be changed (soon ?) ?
We may make this a setting in the future but not any time soon. We have other priorities and increasing the field of view would decrease game performance.

booby_the_bird Asks:


1. How does the skill cap act on a trial player? you get it to 30 and can keep leveling it but you don't get anything better than 30 unless you pay? Maybe you get 30 and it just keeps track of how much more levels and adds them when you buy the game? I'm not sure but I don't think all the exp you earn is just nullified.
Any skill gain beyond 30 is nullified for trial players. The experience and skill use is not stored.


2. What's up with regrowing grass? does grass that got depleted ever grow back? is it only those that have at least 1/4 grass left? This might be affected by the farming update that is coming up, so I'll have to keep an eye out for that.

Depleted grass currently does not grow back, but grass growing will be part of the coming agriculture update.

emprepus Asks:


If I leave four skills in a category at 5.0 because I have the luxury of having companions having these maxed, will other skills start decaying at some point or will these four just continue to decay until they are negative and further?

Other skills will decay unless they are locked. Skills do not decay below 5.0.

MrDDT Asks:


Care to explain "Totem Upkeep" you posted about in your update?

The Totem Upkeep system will be posted in detail when we are ready to test, before the end of this week. In briefs players will need to upkeep totems with currency and resources in order for their tribe to function properly and with tribal bonuses.

Corbies Asks:


Would it be feasible, or at all possible for player trading posts? Or will it be forever bound to totems? I like the idea of there even being trade posts, for what it's worth, but it would be nice to have little outposts here and there.
Yes, player Trade Totems (Trading Posts) are part of the next patch and are currently implemented on the Test Server. Trade Totems can be placed on your own tribe land and allied tribe land.

lordadamar Asks:


I Have seen several mentions of improving the construction system
Currently we're not working on construction system improvements, but I will answer your questions. Revising construction with proper two story construction will require revising our collision system. This was started but stopped when we reduced the programming team to just me. It will be resumed whenever possible. The answers below apply for the future.


1. Does this mean elevation buttons will work?
Yes.


2. Does this mean no more giant piles of dirt just to get height..
No. I'm not planning to change the system of removing dirt with 'lower' and requiring dirt for 'raise'.


3. Will we be able to build, houses like normal people from the ground up, instead of from max height Down...
Yes.


4. Will a Truss, beam, post system be put in to make multi-level buildings?
There will be parts similar to the current roof frames, but without the roof in order to support multiple story floors.


5. Will we be able to move ghosted items through or into each other to move things around, really hate the Blah blah is in the way.. and sometimes I just want it to meld together not sit next to each other..

Likely yes for moving 'ghosts' but not for melding parts together.


6. Will it ever be changed so that you can Directly place Dirt into a bin thats in a cart, It will not let you, has to be entire basket with dirt in it from your person, it wont let your just place 20 dirt in the bin in the cart? seems odd.
Dirt needs revised, but I need to think through the details. Dirt was not meant to be easily disposed. When we added carts, the system got complicated and needs to be improved. We'll see.


I also saw building Decay, will this be handled with tribe totem and money/mats or will we have to individually maintain each piece...
Buildings will not require individual maintenance. Building will be kept up through the Main Totem using the upkeep system using resources and currency.


Will decaying building piece have a visual indicator, ( like smoldering ), I remember in Shadowbane things smolders and smoked...

I would like to have visual building wear and decay, but it's currently not feasible.


Any plans to add hire-able NPC's to aid in tribe maintenance and maybe have them say what they need or the cost of doing what they did... I dont wanna remove all the work from the player but with all the plans to make everything Decay, even base tribes could become overwelming...

No plans to add NPCs. Town maintenance should not be overwhelming.

Deacon asks:


1. What's current status of "PhysX" engine/sofware you were going to integrate ?
On hold until I can afford to re-hire programmers.


2. What happens to totems/tribe lands and structures on subscribed accounts that arent.....upkept?
Nothing unless the tribe becomes abandoned. The Upkeep system in progress will be required for a tribe to function correctly but will not affect buildings.

OrlandoKev asks:


In regards to stats, does having higher than 100 have any extra effect, example, in my charm suit i am at 112 charm, is it wasted stat on my suit, or does the extra 12 points over 100 help me when scavenging.
Stats above 100 do have an extra effect, but depends on the stat and skill. Part of the current revisions for the upcoming big patch include revised armor sets and effects for all stats beyond 100 will be ensured to have value.

shyhawk Asks:


IS there going to be a Donate to game button. I know not many would use this but it could be helpful and maybe allow the game to make more profit. The more money that is made equals faster the game can grow and the more content we get. The bigger this game is the more chances it has to get noticed by more people. I don't know if a donation button would help a lot but I know if I had some extra money laying around that I would gladly donate it to a game I love to help it grow.
There will be in the future. Right now the few players that want to donate can do so directly to our PayPal account (and a few have). Players can contact support (support@notorious-games.com) and we gladly accept!

Thanks for the questions!

Xsyon
03-11-2013, 11:02 PM
Questions For The Developers 03/06/2013 Through 03/11/2013

Willowhawk Asks:


When agriculture comes in will we have more freedom to plant near buildings and structures than we currently have with tree planting? I tried planting on test server and since the first action "Plowing" seems to use the same basic concept as terraforming I was not allowed to plow near objects. Also when planting I received the same message as with trees "Named Object" is in the way. It would be very useful if we could plant up against our buildings since that is where we have an abundance of open dirt lol, as well I have tribe members who would like to create gardens outside of their homes.

Yes, this can be adjusted. What you've seen so far is the first step towards agriculture. We'll ask for more feedback after the Totem and Upkeep improvements are finished.

Thanks!

Xsyon
04-18-2013, 06:28 PM
Questions For The Developers 03/06/2013 Through 04/18/2013

MrDDT asks:

I'm being told by other players in game that trapping animals is not allowed. Is this true and why?
Trapping creatures and 'feeding' them by allowing the creature to kill you repeatedly is not allowed because it's not playing the game as intended. Trapped creatures are not a challenge and this makes it too easy to boost creature based materials.

We do plan to implement death penalties and improve creature AI to prevent this type of situation with in game changes.


If it is true, how else do you expect people to get high end mats off aged animals?

By exploring and hunting. I am aware of the current lack of creatures because creatures are again wandering into the mist and not returning. This will be resolved and will be worked on within the next few weeks.

Khalart asks:

I took a look at terrain reset cycle on the Test server and I've a question about this system: the revert process follow the same terraforming sequence that players used while modifing it?

No, it simply reverts terrain in increments of 0.5 meters until the terrain reaches it's original state.

Nezdar asks:

Where are the useful animals like deer, bears, coyotes, etc? Will we have to wait for a full patch at some distant time in the future in order to re-balance the creatures, or can something be done in the near term? We know that the patch cycle is slow due to limited resources, but I think this will have to be addressed of the majority of our tribe will not make another month.

Unfortunately, re-balancing creatures will require another patch. Now that the big changes that were in progress are out of the way, checking and fixing problems with creature distribution will be a priority.

Deacon asks:

When or do you plan to increase number of staff to increase productivity? What are you plans to fund this if any?


Staff will be increased as soon as I can afford to do so. My main focus right now is improving the game. I hope and expect that patches that will be rolled out over the next 3 months, starting tomorrow morning, will increase the game population enough to where I can re-hire coders and expand the team.

I am open to but not actively seeking investors right now as over the past six months my funding efforts have only taken away from valuable development time.

MrDDT asks:

What are the plans with permissions for tribe leaders to move carts around? Currently we have to ask guides for help on moving them.

Tribe leader permissions will be added. This would have fit in well with the current changes but there are many small improvements I just didn't have time to add. I've taken a note to add this to the next patch.


With all the extra recipes coming into the game, is there any plans on helping with the storage or sorting issue with them?

Not right now but I am open to suggestions. I have considered different container types that could hold more items of a specific item type (recipes, food etc.)

Xsyon
05-13-2013, 09:20 PM
Questions For The Developers 03/06/2013 Through 05/13/2013

MrDDT asks:

Are there any plans to have carts decay?
Current plans are for carts to become abandoned in the same way that buildings become abandoned. Decay for carts and bins with use may come in time.


What's the status of the Steam Greenlight?
We reached a decent 'percent to the top 100' games but activity has been slow on Greenlight lately. It will remain slow without more publicity directing players to the Greenlight page. I am hoping to attract more players directly here with a publicity push over the next few months and players will be encouraged to check out our Greenlight page and vote for us.

Regardless of the internal score or number of votes we get on Greenlight, ultimately it's a decision of the Steam staff to give us the final approval.

ryanguru asks:

Sorting/Storage is a big chore, even bigger so with the new crafting revisions.
Q. Are there any plans to implement a right-click auto stack feature?
This has been requested and yes, I'm looking into it.


Q. If not, are there any plans to improve the sorting/storage system to reduce this work load?
DDT's idea about a recipe book would help out a lot: http://www.xsyon.com/project.php?issueid=1752#note6972
I like the idea but it would require database changes and is a complex task beyond what I can fit into my schedule right now.


2. Small animal innards (from my understanding), cannot be used in game yet because they cannot be dissected into guts.

Q. Are there any plans to convert small animal innards into guts so catgut thread is not so hard to obtain?
Yes, this has been added recently.

Sandman asks:


A few ideas that may increase trade: making money weightless could be a great idea. Boats need I say more? A road that goes all the way around the shore line that can not be built on or altered like a tribe land, this will allow immersion and increase trade in this game by ten folds in my humble opinion. Is there anyway we could get these ideas to happen?
The weight of money has been greatly reduced. Boats is too big of a task for now. I have some ideas for roads and bridges that would allow for easier travel, but these would be player created and maintained. Once I'm done with the next series of patches up through agriculture and cooking, I plan to develop and implement the road and bridges ideas I have in mind.


Can you edit out the live stream on steam that no longer plays, makes look like game is dead? Do you have a status update on how long it will take to go green on steam?
Yes, this has been done.


Trade totem issue I hope has been taken care of, MrDDT informed you.
Yes, thanks for the report.


Able to build on top of platforms, this annoys me why I would not be able to. Is there any
plans to allow this to happen?
It will require a revision of our collision system which was started months ago, using PhysX, but was shelved. I can't estimate at this point when we'll be able to get back to it.


Wiki needs updating, cooking/farming are not even listed etc
The wiki is an ongoing project and players are welcome to add to it. Cooking and farming will be added after they are publicly released, but there are other things that do need to be added and updated since the recent big patch.


Kickstarter for small patch updates, i'd be willing to support this. What advertisement plans for this game as I never knew the last kickstarter was even going on I would have supported you.
I've thought about it but from the last attempt I learned that it's a big effort for unpredictable results.

Our advertising plans include putting out more frequent press releases and increasing our use of social media. We are currently looking for volunteers to help with specific task so if you are interested please email SUPPORT (support@notorious-games.com).


Is there anyway to get a modding community in this game?
This would be a massive task and beyond the scope of what can be done now.


I understand why you have the totem radius like it is for people don't go around making empty cities all over the lands but for legit city builders like myself I have a small tribe and it's just not befitting for the lower level tribes.

Is there a way to increase the radius of smaller tribes that get new paid players or the starting radius?
I'm considering an option where players could buy additional land or tribe radius directly without adding new full accounts (at a lower cost per radius increase). We'll see.


Is there any way to make waterskins weigh less to encourage drinking and carrying water?
All weights will be revised in a coming update (next few weeks).


Currently there is a standard now of currency in game Dollars, Quarters, Pennies, Beer Tabs, BottleCaps, Nails. This is player driven but is there anyways to just get rid of beer tabs and bottle caps and make those into dollars/quarters/pennies? For the sake of simplicity?
I'm going to leave this as is for now and continue to observe the use of the different currencies over time especially as the game population increases.


I would like to put signs in the game is this possible? I would like to place traps in the game is this possible? (for hunt and base defense)
These are possible, but not planned in our current round of development. Signs may be added when I work on roads and bridges. Traps would come later in the future.


I am still having issues with having only four bins open at a time, the cart take two slots by maybe reduce that somehow to one would help a lot.
If you think there is a bug please report it directly to BUGS (bugs@notorious-games.com).

jwjohnson1978 asks:

In regards to mounts, could I suggest some small engine mounts? I know gas/diesel is pretty much non-existent, but with farming and cooking being added to the game in the near future, it would open up the possibility of having bio-fuel as a biproduct.
This is beyond the scope of what I have planned right now.

Nezdar asks:

Flying mounts? I'd love to have a hang glider in game. Seriously, I know that is far out on the dev schedule.
This too. :)


Are there plans for logging to be affected by the axe QL? It is very difficult to obtain Master QL wood and I think it's impossible to obtain Supreme QL wood now. Compared to obtaining other materials like rock or metal, this seems out of balance.
Yes, makes sense and I've taken a note to look into this as we continue to work on resource and crafting improvements in the next few weeks.

Thanks for all the questions!

Xsyon
07-02-2013, 02:02 PM
Questions For The Developers 05/14/2013 Through 06/01/2013

toolkit68 asks:

First of all i'd like to point out that the FAQ link in the other sticky leads nowhere.Can you fix that please?
Thanks for pointing that out. It's been fixed.


I do understand the goal to get paying customers and the general limitations of the free account to test out things. Would you consider a change regarding placement of a tent at least please?
I'm considering other options for free accounts but nothing will change with the current limitations and system for at least a few months.

The current system encourages new players to join existing tribes and seek help from other players, which in my opinion is a good thing.


Regarding the use of one tool as a substitute for another. Could you make it easier to spot what is eligable substitution please? As a new player its impossible to see/know that a mallet can be used instead of a hammer i.e.
I believe the only such case is the use of mallets and hammers. I will check this.


Could you introduce a beginner level of the tools shears and saw pls?.
I made a note to review the tools again when we are reworking weapon schemes within the next few months.


Can you add tooltips to the buttons in the character creation pls?
This is on our task list and will be done eventually.

fatboy21007 asks:

Any chance of us being able to move our totems( lift it out without loosing our entire tribe n being forced to reform).
This has been asked many times before. The answer is the same, currently no. The potential problems caused and time and testing involved is not worth the benefits.


Any chances of the *radiation areas* being push back a zone to let us explore more?
Right now, no. There are two areas that are physically ready to be opened but as we are now working on a new resource distribution system, the data tables for these areas will need to be reworked. It's not a priority.


Any chances of camp fires actually being brighter? I mean I light one and doesn't really feel like I have one going or heck im up for a new light source that is brighter.
I've added this the suggestions list.


Do you still plan to do a pve server in the near future?
Only if the population grows to support this.

MrDDT asks:

Any plans on having an in game tutorial?
Yes, and this is being worked on slowly right now.


Can you give us some details on your opinion on what hunting should be like or PVE? Things like basic hunting, risky/dangerous things, rewards, what you expect the world PVE to be like, goals of players you expect them to do?
Creatures ranging from easy (can be handled by a starting player) to difficult (require a group of veteran players) with the material rewards increasing with the power of creatures and with the distribution of creatures ranging from easier along the shores of the lake and more difficult along the edges of the green mist.

That's how the system and we continue to strive for balance based on feedback.

Regarding player goals and my expectations: My goal is to provide an open world and system so that players can set their own goals and create their own gameplay experience.

Very few items on the distribution table is rare. I know you plan on updating this table with the new recipes, my question is, What are your thoughts on how regional items and rarities of these items should work and how would they promote trading/economy?

The new distribution system will make items more region specific with more valuable items and in particular materials being found in more dangerous regions. This is intended to promote trade as nobody will be able to sit in one area and obtain everything they need, but will have to travel or trade.

We should be testing the new distribution in a week or two.

FrostyMug asks:

Can we get a sorting system in the containers that allows for quick stacking like items?
Yes, auto stacking in containers been added and will be available for player testing this week.


Can we get some Chat options to increase the font and change the colors for the chat?
This is in our suggestions list already in the 'fit in when there is time' category.


Can we get a Social are sorting for online only to show in Friend and Tribe tabs?
This is in our suggestions list already in the 'fit in when there is time' category.


Can we get a Idea when the Mackinaw fish will at least be stackable?
This will be fixed when cooking is added which is scheduled for this summer. The Mackinaw is a huge fish and was set up to be realistic where it would need to be cut up for cooking.


Can Hunting be a more gradual skill instead of the almost imposible task as a noob even with focus on str and weapon?
Hunting should be easier now with the reduced hp and power of small creatures.


Can we get a faster decay on the Hundreds of totems that are months old as still there?
No, I believe that the current tribe decay is fair.


Can we get a cost for someone to plant a totem?
It's in the suggestion list, but I'm not convinced that it's a good idea to add more barriers for players to start a tribe and get to the features they primarily enjoy such as building.


Can we get a climbing skill so we can chase the fuzzy bunnies up the cliffs?
The real solution is improving collision on the server to slow creatures running up hill. Currently animals were set to cross any slope to prevent problems we were having with creatures getting stuck too often.


Can we make upkeep a requirement on the totems that protect land?
If you mean that tribe land would shrink if an amount of upkeep is not provided, no. It's not something that I agree with.


Can we get the ability to add channels like Alliance chat Fishing Chat Mason chat Tailor Chat Wains Chat and a trade chat would be nice?
Yes, it's possible and it's on the suggestions list.

GreenSpade asks:

Would be good to even have a tribe1 tribe2 tribe3 channels, have them edit able so we can just call them whatever we want.
As above. I currently can't estimate a date for chat improvements, but we'll see after the current In Development rounds.

Snakepit asks:

Is it possible to change the information that a trade totem shows when i look at alley goods on my own trade totem. At the moment the lower window shows no detailed information of ally goods at a distance. I think its good to know this information before i start travel.
I will check. If this is a quick to add improvement, I will add it.


Second question, is it possible to show not only direction and distance for alley goods but also the zone where the trade totem is located. Now i ask my self what will be more fun. Direction and distance so you have to search more or travel to coordinate exact position.
I will check this also. I may add the region but not zone number / position.

vaudevillian asks:

Was wondering if you are going to optimize the game window for triple monitor setups? Right now in triple monitors the zoom function is very zoomed in and cant zoom out.
Sorry, right now, I have to say no. I don't even have a set up to test this.


Another question is world size, I have seen the world map and it looks awesome and was wondering when the current borders are going to be expanded to mach the world map?
Possibly in a few months. As stated above, there are two large areas that are physically ready but would need new distribution data set up.


Is it possible to see tunneling in the game as in mining tunnel?
I would very much like to add this, but it would require a complete revision of the ground system. It's not feasible in the near future.

Glorp asks:

When will you up the loot tables for Saw blades and will you make them available in Most Scav Piles
This is being done right now with a completely revised scavenging distribution table.

Thanks for the all the questions!

Xsyon
09-23-2013, 11:34 PM
Questions For The Developers 06/02/2013 Through 09/23/2013

osteth asks:

I have been attempting to set up quests and such to help new players out just outside of founders. however i have run in to some snags in the use of the quest totem. All quests types seem to function as a "collect" quest effectively eliminating all use of the craft and hunt quest types. Is there a way we could get this changes to were it checks if the player has crafted or hunted certain items/creatures?

I will check quests this week. Hunting and Crafting quests should require the person completing the quest to hunt and craft the delivered items.


secondly, is there any change of a batch post feature for quests?? I would love to provide more quests but many quests it takes me longer to post the quest than it does for me to collect the items myself (IE: collect 50 granite)

I've added this to my suggestions list.


Finally, is there any chance we could get an explore quest type. I would like to send players to explore places within the game that I find to be interesting much in the same way people go Geo-caching IRL. I think the simplest way for this to be accomplished would be for the quest totem to place a unique token(or unique token vending bin pending batch posting ability) in your bag upon building the quest that the player can take to points of interest or hide them places for added difficulty and make then the totem could accept the unique token in the same fashion as a collect quest.

Explore quests are planned (though not in this fashion). I do like the geo-cache suggestion and have designed a similar system for treasure hunting quests in the future. When I work on quests again I will definitely consider this.

Thank you for the positive comments.

Whorlok asks:

In the mountains are living lizards! ....would you bring also those lizards as a animal and with a mutant lizard who looks like this on my screen?

Someday. Right now I'm not planning on adding any new creatures for a while as I don't have the artists.


the arrows would make a woodcrafter? with many variations (metal,wood,plastic,with feather and so on)?

Bows and arrows are planned as a separate craft. Yes, there will be many variations.

Deacon asks:

in your guestimate, how far away is ranged combat?

I can't guess right now. Right now I'm working on farming and cooking. There are a few features also near completion including terrain reversion on public lands and resource upkeep. Once those are wrapped up I will see what feature is most in demand. Most likely that will be ranged combat.

Arkonick asks:

When or will you ever make a non pvp server for the pve player base?

Although PvP is an integral part of Xsyon's original design, I do understand there is a demand for a PvE server. I plan to open a PvE server if there is enough of a population to support two servers. Right now there isn't and I think that setting up a separate server would just divide the current population without attracting enough new players. The active player population has been on the rise the past two months though and we're getting increased traffic to the site (despite having less forum activity). I do have a potential solution in mind to keep PvE and PvP players on one server without conflict. The details and testing of this will happen in the next round of development, after what is listed on our In Development page.

Thank you for the positive feedback. It's greatly appreciated.

MrDDT asks:
With the introduction of female only armor sets are the other armor sets going to be for male only? If not, what's your plans on having a male only armor set? Or options to change to a female toon?

Right now I have no pending plans to add male only armor sets. Some are designed for the future, but I can't afford the artists to create them. The female only sets were created a while back and had been sitting around requiring only minimal work to complete.

If any players would like to switch to a female toon, I am ok with that. This can be done by emailing support (support@notorious-games.com) with a request.

Xsyon
10-21-2013, 03:10 PM
Questions For The Developers 09/24/2013 Through 10/21/2013

Thurgond asks:

One point on the current round's In Development list is:


Additional tools required for gathering actions



Are we talking about tools or weapons? E.g. to gather rocks will you need a stone chisel (tool) or a pick (weapon).
In some cases weapons (such as picks). In most cases, tools in your pack.


Will all gathering actions require tools? I.E. will you need a rake to gather leaves, or can you use hands?
Yes, though optionally the system may allow for gathering by hand or tools. Gathering with tools would have better results.


Do you consider foraging and scavenging gathering actions?
Scavenging, no. Foraging, most likely no, but I haven't decided.


Will the quality or level of the tool affect the quality or quantity of the resource gathered? E.g. currently a starter's stabby combat blade gets the same results from hunting as a supreme quality blade. Or a basic sickle gathers one grass and a masters sickle four.
The intention is to have tools affect the quality of the final resource gathered. In some cases the amount gathered may also be increased. This would cause problems for bundle items such as grass though, as you wouldn't be able to gather more than the room in your bundle.


Will there be specific tools/weapons for gathering? E.g. wood axes vs. war axes; skinning/boning knives vs. combat blades.
With this round, no.

Xsyon
01-25-2014, 05:20 PM
Questions For The Developers 10/22/2013 Through 01/25/2014

MrDDT asks:


What do you propose tribes do when unwanted players drop a totem near your tribal area? Whether it's because they are messing up scavenging piles, or terraforming, or killing off animals, or cutting/planting trees, or removing grass, paving roads, aggressive players etc. Many reasons I can see why many players want sort of a clearer area around their tribes free of this type of stuff.

How do players deal with this?

It's up to players. If players cross the line into making the game unpleasant for others, then we deal with the specific situation. It's difficult to set a rule with the server as it is. When we have PvE and PvP servers it will easier to define what is acceptable.


I noticed you said we are changing to a single currency system, what currency and how is that going to work? Do you plan on adding uses/value to currency? What about denominations?

The currency will be dollar bills. There will be no denominations as that would just add unnecessary complexity when the goal is to simplify the use of currency. The amounts required for upkeep will be increased. Future uses for currency are under consideration.

NorCalGooey asks:


Can you please back the new single currency with nails that can be withdrawn from the trade outpost thing near founders?

The only reason any fiat currency has value in other games is because you can always redeem it for items of real value that the players use in the game. ALWAYS.

This can be the case with Xsyon too, without using NPCs. Just make sure players can always swap their currency for nails at a fixed rate.

I may have some items you can buy with currency in the future at a general totem, but most likely not nails. The upkeep system was intended as a sink for currency (similar to repair bills in other games). Upkeep is currently trivial and needs to be adjusted so that currency has some value simply for upkeep. Once that has been established, I will consider other currency sinks.


Are you open to anyone helping you with this game or do you have some strange desire to do everything yourself?

I tried asking you last January but you shut me down.
I'd work for 10 hours a week for free, designing concept for new content and balancing the math behind new systems.

Literally I just don't get how people can offer to work for free and you still turn them down.

Apologies for any rudeness. We are all just a little frustrated with the lack of flexibility. Very difficult to believe that in 3 years no one else offerred to help you with this game. I mean, the last thing the artists even created since the architecture changes in 2012... was a) carts and b) female armor sets.. c)... trade totems?

Really? They could do a lot more than that. Who knows, maybe they have. Maybe all the art is done for archery, farming, etc etc and they are just waiting on the the code to be complete

I have always accepted volunteers. You were sent a standard NDA and I never received a response. While I greatly appreciate volunteer assistance, unfortunately our past acceptance of volunteer work has had an overall detrimental effect on development.

Because of past experiences, I currently first make sure that the assistance offered fits with our current needs and my vision of the game. I then prepare initial tasks for volunteers to ensure that my time is not wasted.

Thanks for the questions.

Xsyon
02-26-2014, 10:38 PM
Questions For The Developers 01/26/2014 Through 02/26/2014

MrDDT asks:

You posted this over a week ago in your blog post/updates area. Can we get an update/information you said would give in this coming week (over a week ago)?

Yes, I apologize about that. I did start writing up descriptions of the coming systems, but with one distraction after another I did not complete the descriptions and therefore I did not post. When I do have time to do this I will. For now my time is consumed with trying to wrap up current bug fixes, optimizations and the tutorial.

tinesionnach1 asks:

I have noticed when it rains in game we get an uncomfort count down in the top corner of the screen, Are there plans to make this a debuff and will it apply to snow as well, I think it would be cool if your out side in snow it adds a encumbrance Debuff like everything you carry is 10% more to your encumbrance bar.

Yes it was intended to affect a player's actions. It's still on my huge list of improvements.


Are there any plans to freeze over the lake in the winter season?
Sounds neat, but no.


Can there be deposit only setting put on bins, I know many times tribe mates want to leave me stuff but new tribe members may not know its stuff for me and will take it out.
Please post this in the Suggestion list. Although players have requested more complex permission settings, these are not things I originally planned on having in game. I will consider it but not in the near future. There is too much already in progress.

One solution for now is for you to have a bin or building set aside for items deposited for you with instructions (on the label for example) to other tribe mates to not withdraw items.

You could also follow one of the proposals set by xsyoncity:


Here is one work around for the bin question using existing rules...... The owner of Bin could set permissions to private so that bin cannot be moved except by him.... then adjust the lock to family or friends.... then add you and the other players that understand what that stuff is for .... that way only you and the owner (and other knowledgeable players) could remove stuff from the Bin. Amyone in tribe with proper tribal permissions granted by leader could also break that lock, but, i suspect that those permissions would not be given to new players..... Also Bin naming of "Deposit Only" could help to alleviate the problem..... ;-).


Are the upcoming farms going to be only placed on tribe lands or can they be built off of the tribe land?
On tribe lands only. Farms off tribe lands would cause too many problems.

Thanks for the questions!

Xsyon
03-18-2014, 10:14 PM
Questions For The Developers 02/26/2014 Through 03/18/2014

znaiika asks:
My question is, why ranged combat is postponed again?
I is it hard to implement? I would rather have ranged combat before agriculture and cooking.
It's not difficult to implement, but I need to resolve current desynchronization issues first and those are difficult to resolve. Farming and cooking have taken priority as they have been highly requested by players.

Wilson423 asks:

With the release of the new PvE server do you plan on giving players a stat re-roll? Most older players have probably used the three allotted ones and PvE changes the game a bit for stat requirements if your not a hunter.
This is a reasonable request. I will add a stat adjustment to all players this Friday during maintenance.

Thanks!

Xsyon
04-21-2014, 12:43 PM
Questions For The Developers 03/18/2014 Through 04/21/2014

Ledjlale asks:
I’m interested about your concept of PvE. Would it be just a “city builder” with some monsters/quests/scripted NPC/monsters or else?
A city builder with an increasing number of tools and abilities that allow players to create adventures for and interact with other players. The plan is also to introduce elements such as achievements and collectibles.


To be more precise : will you integrate a NPC faction that can capture our town and seek to expand their power (and not just wandering)? (same system as a PvP mode but opponents are replaced by bots)
No. I'm not considering anything like this for the PvE server right now.


I found a very good description of a PvE world : http://syncaine.com/pve-sandbox-mmo-design/

“As for combat goals, the world would be such that player hubs are all friendly to each other (or at least non-combative), and all players fight against a common enemy faction. This factions goal would be, of course, world domination, and player actions would determine just how close that faction is to its goal. As the world would ideally be larger than what the player population could occupy, the enemy faction would be in control of different areas at different times, based mostly on where the current player population has chosen to establish itself (more on this in a different post about housing/cities).”

=> Will it be one of your goal? If yes, what is your priority and is it your primary, secondary, last or optional goal?

And if you can answer, what do you think about the previous description on syncaine and what are the differences in your goals?
I agree with a lot of what is in that description. Many of my goals are similar. Finding the correct balance for progression and systems has been the most difficult and time consuming aspect of development, but is improving over time.

Regarding players uniting to fight against a common enemy, my original design planned on an epic storyline with an enemy faction that players would struggle against. The original design, however, was intended as large budget game and was scaled down a lot. For now, it's not really worthwhile to think about 'what could have been'. In the near future, something like this isn't in the plans for Xsyon, but it will certainly keep improving and evolving!

MrDDT Asks:
Are there any planned updates for doing anything with the PVP server?
The current round of development is focused on updates that will affect and improve both servers (tutorial, terrain reversion, farming and cooking).

The next planned update for improving PvP is again to attempt to address 'desynch' issues. This has been worked on several times and is not an easy issue to resolve. A major issue right now is the speed that players are allowed to move during combat. Imagine two players in different parts of the world with an average 200 ms delay between them. Players moving at 1 meter / second are going to need less positional adjustment than players moving at 10 meters / second.

Many games address 'desynch' by having servers local to nearby players. (I've experienced much of the same 'desynch' issues we have with Xsyon when playing other games on a US West Coast server from Russia). The original design for combat forced players into walk mode during combat. This was a deliberate decision made to reduce inevitable 'desynch' between players from around the world with variable ping to our servers, but it didn't sit well with the player base and was changed.

A huge benefit and primary goal of having a separate PvP server is that we will be able to add specific features, balance systems and allow for less restrictive game play on the PvP server that will please PvP players without alienating PvE players.

It's going to take time though. For now, the launch of the PvE server has greatly improved Xsyon's situation and development will continue on the current round as planned.

Arkonick asks:
Are there plans to add more swings that are more player controlled like thrust, above attack, left high attack, right high attack, side swing left, side swing right, Lower left swing, and lower right swing? Something like a small ui on the side that pops up when you enter combat and you click on the swing you want to do, also it could be tagged to the Numpad as well as programmable.
Those swings do currently exist and are manually controlled my your mouse movement. Currently the only effect is what armor / body part it hits on your opponent and is countered by the direction of your opponent's parry.


Do you plan on updating skins in the future of terrain and tree bark skins?
I'd like to, but not for a while. The mid and distant textures need work in my opinion. Foreground, the texturing is fine and we'll likely add better and more varied grass and ground details before revising foreground textures.


Are there plans in the future for a new system of building multi story building's?
Yes, but it will require an improved collision system, which is a major task. I may allow direct multi story building before a new collision system is implemented, but it could have some issues.


What Engine is Xsyon running on and do you plan or think you might change game engines in the future when Funds allow it?
Xsyon is running on its own proprietary engine. Switching to a new engine would be a huge task with little benefit so it's not likely. This of course depends on what engines are released in the future.


Do you plan on adding a target nearest object hotkey to battle the random stacks that vanish under ground? Would this be able to target the nearest stack hidden under ground and allow the player to destroy or pick it up to lighten the support tickets for this issue?
I'll think about it and have added this to my suggestion list. Although it's an annoyance, there aren't too many help tickets for this issue right now.


Will you eventually allow people to change rock terrain? As of right now you get a msg can't lower or raise cause rock. It makes no since that one can't throw dirt on top of that rock changing the rock to dirt so one could raise and lower that land. So will we ever be able to lower land with a rock surface using dirt or rock so if it is rock maybe having stone would allow you to raise it and a pick to allow for lowering the rock surface.
I'll also think about it. Rock is restricted so that players don't end up destroying mountains. With terrain reversion coming in however, I can revisit this. I'm going to focus on the current things already in development first though!

treenie asks:

Are there any plans to change the payment system in the future from a free with limitations vs subscription model.

Maybe to something along the lines of:
Free - Keep same skill limits e.t.c.
One off payment - Remove skill limit but xp gain is slower, can start tribes but limited to amount of members e.t.c.
Subscription - Same as now but slight increase in xp gain

Just wondering if this would stimulate player growth and help get an extra boost of cashflow towards the development of the game

I am considering testing out allowing less restrictions for free players. The current system is intended to give free players a trial of the game rather than becoming a permanent way of playing the game. Simply having a subscription give a slight increase in xp gain would likely make most current players cancel subscriptions. That would not be good.

The 'Free to Play' model generally depends on a small percentage of players that pay a lot per month to offset a large percentage of players that pay little to nothing. They also thrive on disguising the cost of play from players and leading players into paying more than they normally would with a flat subscription model.

Xsyon doesn't currently have incentives for players to pay more than the monthly subscription fee for one account. Switching to a typical 'Free to Play' model would require adding incentives that would make some players spend in excess of $100 per month. That's currently not feasible with Xsyon, nor is it a direction I would like to head.

Xsyon
05-01-2014, 01:43 PM
Questions For The Developers 04/21/2014 Through 04/30/2014

Sparky asks:

I'm wondering if you have any plans for a canoe or row boat for quick lake crossing or handy fishing?
Not for a while.


Any plans to be able to bind at different totems?Yes, but not exactly. Players will be able to bind at buildings when I revive the Real Estate system which was developed and in testing a while back. The system had a few issue of what happens when a Tribe gets disbanded so it was shelved, but it will be back.


A bulletin board system for messages?
Yes, this is on my list of things to squeeze in when I can. Improvements on that list do get implemented (quite a few are making it into the current patch.)


Player made notes in bins for quests?
Interesting. I'll put this on my list.

Glorp asks:

Since you split the servers, scavenging for BP's has become close to non existent. I have heard hearsay that the loot table was changed to help the economy grow and make currency worth something.The tables haven't changed since last August when they were revised.


Any chance you will be upping the % for BP's to drop?I'll look into this after farming and cooking are patched out.


Sister and I have set up a trading hub which has worked fairly well but the business will dry up if we cant acquire what people want to buy.Yes, I've been paying attention to this. It's exactly what I was hoping players would do. It does seem to be working well so far. Thanks!

MrDDT asks:

I've done some testing with blue print drops and they seem to be the same as before. Xsyon any chance you can run your tests to see what the % chance of them dropping is?Because some people report finding zero, while others are finding them same as before? I ran some tests. I ran 10,000 scavenges in every region with skill at 75 and without any tribes in range. Here are the results:

Architecture blueprints: Range from 10/10,000 to 200/10,000: 1/1000 to 1/50
Other schemes: Range from 250/10,000 to 500/10,000 : 1/40 to 1/20 scavenges

It highly depends on the region and keep in mind that being on or close to tribe land will reduce the rate.

Casondrah notes:

Many of us who are active have noticed the droprate loss in BPs...including those who are just as active now as before the server split. We had multiple discussions about it in global a few weeks back trying to figure out if it was just a personal thing or an issue for others as well. A couple seem to have some luck, but the majority have noticed the same thing as Glorp...a drop in the droprate of BPs, arch in particular, after multiple days trying in areas all across the map.It is strange as nothing has changed as noted above. It could be that players are looking in the wrong regions, too close to tribe lands or both. I do need to focus on farming and cooking this month. The range of finding actual blueprints does range considerably as noted. I will look into revising the tables again after the farming and cooking patch.

Anticules notes:

I have not noticed any difference in the bp drop rate for myself on pvp server.Yes, it hasn't changed. Thanks!

Xsyon
06-24-2014, 03:35 PM
Questions For The Developers 05/01/2014 Through 06/24/2014

MrDDT asks:

When cooking/farming is put on the live servers, do you plan on making changes to the survival/needs of people in game for food?
Yes, the energy and life gain rates will be adjusted as food will affect both.

jwjohnson1978 asks:

Are there any plans to add different types of bone armor. ie.. starter/mid grade that uses round, flat, ribs from other animal types (dogs, coyote, etc)? It would be easier for new players that want to start hunting animals/revs to get into a set of heavier armor.
Yes, I'm considering adding bone armor sets that use non specific bones or smalls from the mid size creatures. They won't be new armor looks though as we don't have the artists required to add completely new armor sets though. They would the same as some current sets but with different properties and material requirements.


Also, are there plans to make human bones available? Gutting Revs maybe? There's a lot of bone armor I'd like to make, but no resources.Yes, it's on my long to do list to add human bones from revenants when they are dealt a final blow (killed where they won't re-spawn.

Glorp asks:

Will Human Bones be harvest-able from revs in the future and will there be stats added to them?Yes, both have been on my list for a long time. There are just other priorities right now.

Xsyon
08-21-2014, 05:56 PM
Questions For The Developers 06/25/2014 Through 08/21/2014

MrDDT asks:

I was asking mostly of death from not eating or drinking. Is this still planned and will it come soon after the cooking/farming update?

Yes it's part of the update (as you know, but just answering the question for those not following the feedback thread.

Whorlok asks:


after the coming patch what you want doing?
Right after this patch, my focus will be on revising the 'free to play' system to be more effective.


Are you working on Master weapons and Two handed swort and bows with ranged combat?
Master and two handed weapons may come soon after the 'free to play' revisions, but we'll see.

Ranged combat is still a problem to implement because of desynch issues. One of the main problems causing desynch between players is the speed of player movement in combat. Originally (years ago) combat was meant to limit your speed which makes synchronizing actions and positions a lot easier.

Another issue is the real life distances between players when having players from around the world on one server.

In brief, let's say it takes 250 ms for a command to travel from one player to the server to another player. If you are travelling at 0.5 m/s the difference can be easily compensated for. If you're travelling 10 m/s (for example) your player can already be 2.5 meters away from your last position by the time the movement command arrives at the viewing player.

Now, there are definitely ways to improve on the current system to adjust for this problem, but it's not so easy!

Xsyon
10-26-2014, 04:41 PM
Questions For The Developers 08/21/2014 Through 10/26/2014

matilda asks:



I'm wondering what the plan is to counter new players overpulling grass, branches and twigs?
Grass and tree resources are restored over time now since the recent updates.

Tree resources also no longer require forest surface and forest surfaces do not change now as well.



On a different subject: I'm wondering what the plans are for "block", shields & polearms?
Combat is being revisited now. Plans are to be determined, so I can't say anything for sure right now.


On a different note: I was wondering what other things you are hope'n or plan'n to add in the future for hardcore survivor game players who are here for the pvp & survival aspect more then the pve & building community?

I don't have any specific PvP features planned for the near future, though the combat revisions will certainly affect PvP. Upcoming features will benefit both the War and Peace servers.

Xsyon
11-17-2014, 08:43 AM
Questions For The Developers 10/26/2014 Through 11/17/2014

Player asks:

A player asked if there was any intentions to add grass seed at some point for those wanting to plant grass in specified areas?
At some point, yes. Currently doing this is more trouble than it's worth and so I implemented grass regrowth instead.

Xsyon
12-19-2014, 12:40 AM
Questions For The Developers 11/17/2014 Through 12/19/2014

Greenspade asks:


Whats the plan for getting people to join this game without being able to try it in a market that supports free games and most players won't pay without first trying? I mean aside of steam, do you have any other plans aside of the steam release in case this doesn't work?Yes. We will try a different type of free trial or trial server. All I can say for sure is that what we had in place previously was not working for the benefit of the game or players.


What solution are you giving to players who have put work into their free to play players as an alternative to their main subscription accounts, who are no longer able to log into their players?They can add a Citizen account. The free to play aspect was intended as a free trial and not as a free to play model where the few pay high fees to support those who play entirely for free.


What was the main reason for removing free to play? (Yes I've seen your post, could you elaborate?) What did you think this would legitimately help?This has been explained, but the situation is quite simple. Free to Play was added as a free introduction to Xsyon with the hopes that it would benefit the game and community by increasing our player base and revenue. Neither happened. Development then focused on many aspects for the new player (tutorial system, revised character creation) which didn't help. Direct feedback and surveys showed that a lot of players enjoyed their limited introduction to Xsyon but did not stay around long enough to experience systems such as tribe creation, terraforming and construction. The main reasons were outlined in the Developer Updates: Players expecting a more typical Free to Play with cash shop model, players being discouraged by paid citizens and new players not feeling vested enough to 'learn the ropes' without an even more extensive tutorial system.


What is the plan for breathing live back into the 100% dead pvp server?The population should increase considerably with the launch on Steam.


Is there plans to eventually support the pvp server with events as often as the pve server?Only one time did we run an event on the Peace server only. In general, events will run on both servers if there are active players able to attend the event.

dprail asks:

What happened to the post here about the details of your steam early release campaign and the competition?A post from a banned player using an alt account was removed. I didn't read the contents.


Have you been playing any games lately? Any of the steam early release games?
I've checked some out, yes. The 'sandbox' genre is becoming more defined. From what I've seen out there and from what's being worked on in Xsyon, I'm comfortable that in time Xsyon will stand out from the small crowd.

thurgond asks:

Are we going to get other forms of beads (wood, metal, plastic, shell) to go with the stone beads?
I haven't thought about it, but please post this in the Suggestions if you'd like this to get more attention.

We are now closing up the Questions for the Developers. With a pending release on Steam an open ended session such as this would be counter productive. We can endlessly talk about possibilities but it will be far more beneficial to focus on what's actually in the works.

To that purpose, the In Development section will be updated and feedback sessions will be posted for what's in progress and what's under consideration for the near future.

I thank you all for your questions and look forward to the feedback sessions!