Games Day Baltimore - Land of the Dead Q&A

[PhoenixRed]

Our Games Day Baltimore coverage continues with the general Q&A we held with Jeff Skalski and Gabe Amatangelo! I was armed with your questions and some of my own, and I did my best to ensure that the things I've been reading in the community for Land of the Dead were asked.

Part 1:



Part 2:



Part 3:

[ManiaCCC]

Pretty awesome... hmm..maybe time for resub?

[Dana]

Yay for the new cloak looks !

[Azhul]

Interesting stuff. Thanks, Frank.

[Keigh]

I know quite a few people resubbing for this expansion based on how the game changed thus far and whats coming now with the expansion

[PhoenixRed]

FULL Q&A video now uploaded, all three parts. Be sure to check them out!

I'd love to hear what you guys thought, good or bad, of the questions I asked. Some came directly from the community, but some I thought of on my own. My voice is obviously the one closest to the camera.

[Azhul]

PART 2

You asked about the design issues with the traps. One thing I was wondering about was whether a skilled trap-avoiding healer will be enough to warp the rest of the party through an obstacle like the swinging blades.

I like the idea of teleports through the cleared portion of the dungeon and setting the traps to catch the enemy.

[PhoenixRed]

Originally Posted by Azhul

PART 2

You asked about the design issues with the traps. One thing I was wondering about was whether a skilled trap-avoiding healer will be enough to warp the rest of the party through an obstacle like the swinging blades.

I like the idea of teleports through the cleared portion of the dungeon and setting the traps to catch the enemy.

Hahaha - there's actually some in-game stuff that we didn't get a chance to film where we tried a little to do that, and failed miserably. The trap durations, while predictable, are still frenetic enough that an immediate rezzing might do more harm than good. If it happened, it'd probably be based on pure luck.

The real treat is all the in-game footage I got of us futilely trying to get past that trap. So you'll see what I mean.

[Azhul]

PART 3:

The applying of wards through Tome unlocks is a good change - IF the requirements aren't excessive.

Concerned about the 'tantrum' aspect of the boss. It sounds like it's activated by an excessive amount of DPS, but it should be based on the actual number of players. I prefer bosses to be instanced (actually, I'm a big fan of instancing. It fixes a lot of problems.), but I understand the devs want both sides to be fighting even during boss fights.

OT:
So, has anyone else noticed how many times these guys from Mythic start a sentence with "So..."? I noticed it at first with Jeff Hickman. It seems like he answers every question with "So...". It now seems to be typical of other folks there, too.

All in all, good questions, Frank (I noticed you raised a point of mine about whether LoD would be positioned as alternate endgame content). As someone who has listened to your podcasts, I'm not surprised. You and the others have a good insight into the game. Thanks for the job well done.

[Kazzy]

thats a pretty interesting presentation! i specially love the Ward updates.

[PhoenixRed]

Originally Posted by Azhul

PART 3:

The applying of wards through Tome unlocks is a good change - IF the requirements aren't excessive.

Concerned about the 'tantrum' aspect of the boss. It sounds like it's activated by an excessive amount of DPS, but it should be based on the actual number of players. I prefer bosses to be instanced (actually, I'm a big fan of instancing. It fixes a lot of problems.), but I understand the devs want both sides to be fighting even during boss fights.

OT:
So, has anyone else noticed how many times these guys from Mythic start a sentence with "So..."? I noticed it at first with Jeff Hickman. It seems like he answers every question with "So...". It now seems to be typical of other folks there, too.

All in all, good questions, Frank (I noticed you raised a point of mine about whether LoD would be positioned as alternate endgame content). As someone who has listened to your podcasts, I'm not surprised. You and the others have a good insight into the game. Thanks for the job well done.

#$@. I forgot to credit you in the commentary track for that one because that's precisely why I asked. Thanks. I'll re-upload it if I can.

When I was talking off-camera, the assumption I got was numbers, and not DPS actually.

[Azhul]

Originally Posted by PhoenixRed

#$@. I forgot to credit you in the commentary track for that one because that's precisely why I asked. Thanks. I'll re-upload it if I can.

No need. I'm just glad the issue was raised. I don't need to be famous.

When I was talking off-camera, the assumption I got was numbers, and not DPS actually.

That's good to hear.

EDIT:
One other point: I was pleased with this Q&A. It's a lot better getting real answers from the technical guys, rather than those involved primarily in promoting the game.

[Azhul]

Originally Posted by PhoenixRed

The real treat is all the in-game footage I got of us futilely trying to get past that trap. So you'll see what I mean.

I am very eager to see this.

[Gerd]

The question at ~6:50 in part 2...

"are you worried if there's 6 guys who plays together and 1 gets killed and can't get rez'd blablablabla"

isn't that the whole point of the rvr gating.

[Biffd]

Originally Posted by Gerd

The question at ~6:50 in part 2...

"are you worried if there's 6 guys who plays together and 1 gets killed and can't get rez'd blablablabla"

isn't that the whole point of the rvr gating.

Yeah I thought the same thing: "Uh, so don't let your healers die."

He also mentioned that the lonely healers would have nothing to do for four hours while the rest of the group ran the instance. If you're 6-manning something, and your healers go down, good luck getting through the rest of it, let alone for four hours...