Interview With Jeff Skalski - WAR's 1-Year Anniversary and 1.3.2

PhoenixRed · 09-01-2009, 01:52 PM

As WAR's one-year anniversary rolls around, there's a lot about the game that has gone well, a lot that has not gone as planned, and a lot to come in the future. Warhammer Alliance caught up with Producer Jeff Skalski to talk turkey about WAR over the past year, as well as get some tidbits and teases about what's coming in the 1.3.2 patch.

Tell us a little bit about how specifically RvR has changed over the year since WAR came out. What do you think were the best changes and adjustments made to the system? What are the current issues you're observing in RvR besides what's already been mentioned/addressed (City Siege and Keep Taking)?

Since our launch in Sept ’08, we’ve revisited our RvR mechanic every patch by improving the experience, expanding it, and really just reacting to our players’ concerns along the way. For me, some of the RvR feature improvements we’ve added that I feel very positive about are the RvR token system, RvR Ward rewards, Land of the Dead Purge mechanic, recent city siege improvements along with how city instances get populated, the second Keep ramps, RvR status updates (icons, timers and zone control detail bar) and finally being able to queue for Scenarios from anywhere. Now, we couldn’t do everything, but we still have several more cool ideas to spice up the RvR playing field. As we finesse and introduce new things to the RvR experience, our main goal is to make sure we are encouraging players to magnetize towards each other and fight. Those are the fun moments we want players to never forget.

As for the biggest issue, we’re now focused on how not enough players are experiencing the end game content, revisiting the purpose of Fortresses in the Tier 4 campaign, and population imbalances. And just to clarify what I mean by imbalance, I’m not just referring to situations where this side out numbers that side 2 to 1, but also areas where one side just never catches a break and is always being dominated. These are the challenges we knew we were going to face in doing an RvR game with just two factions. There will always be one winner and one loser. We’re taking a hard look at systems to make sure we don’t continue to always allow the rich to get richer, and make sure to give the underdogs a chance. One thing we have learned is the winners and losers do flip flop back and forth, but sometimes not as much as we would like. And dominating your opponents all the time can get old since the challenge isn’t always there, so we have some things in the works. More details on that soon. =)

Coming up on one year since release, what are the things you think were done well when it came to WAR? What about things that could have been a bit better?

I think one of the best decisions we made early on was to not focus the whole team on a boxed expansion. We directed the whole development staff on the live product. Now, I read boards and know there is a group of players (you know who you are ) who feel our time could have been better spent fixing other issues in the game rather than introducing our free content expansion, the Land of the Dead. One thing I like everyone to understand is that the main team who was responsible for that awesome content was tasked with LotD from the day we launched. At that time, we felt players would be crying out for new PvE content nine months out from launch. Of course, being an RvR game we had to add an RvR twist to that concept, which gave birth to our purge mechanic and how the land is RvR gated via the campaign.

If I could rewind time I would not have launched with so many servers. It really just wasn’t needed, but you live and learn and move on. A lot of what we know now, I wish we knew back then, but quite honestly I don’t think we would have been able to come to the conclusions we have now (which, by the way, we are addressing) without seeing how players played WAR and watching the servers matured over 6+ months.

There's a lot of "woulda/shoulda/coulda" when it comes to the process of releasing an MMO like WAR, especially coming up on a one-year milestone. How do you address this notion of hindsight among the WAR community, both now and in the future, to build confidence in your product?

First and foremost, we need to be a little more transparent with our community about where we are and where we are going. My monthly producer’s letters we’ve been releasing are just one piece to support this initiative. The Executive Producer’s letters that Jeff Hickman wrote over the summer are another example. I hope you’ll continue to hear more from all developers on the team to gain a better insight into our process and decision making. We’ll continue to strive to keep you guys and girls in the loop on our priorities.

What else can you tell us about 1.3.2 and beyond? Anything you can reveal that will give the players insight on your future plans?

I pretty much covered most of it in my last letter, but the one thing I left out by accident was details on our career balance fixes going in, and the boards burned me for that. =) Now, this by no means is everything we wish we could do in time for 1.3.2, but it’s the most we could get done while making sure we retired stun out of the game and introduce stagger correctly to continue the positive changes we’ve be making since 1.3.0b on CC and AoE. Here are a few examples of what we are thinking…key words “few” and “thinking.”

1. Magus: Add Throwing Arm ability, like the Engineer has.
2. Black Guard: Add "Bodyguard" to mirror the Ironbreaker’s Oath Friend.
3. Marauder: Clone main hand weapon stats/dps to offhand weapon with a proc added based on Mutation.
4. Witch Elf: Change Kisses to match Bullets as long duration buffs that proc off finishers.
5. And more. Don’t worry Order you’ll get some love too. We’re just fleshing them out.

It's pretty clear that the MMO landscape is going to get a bit more crowded with titles like Aion and Champions Online coming in September. What are you or the Mythic team thinking of doing to best maintain WAR's viability and life throughout these next very competitive months?

In the coming months, we plan to stay focused on our 1.3.2 and 1.3.3 goals and, more importantly, keep improving the elements in WAR—such as open RvR and our city end-game experience—that our competitors simply don’t poses. Meanwhile, we will continue to address player concerns and introduce more polish across the board.

Tell us how you guys are going to be celebrating one year for WAR. We've heard all about The Wild Hunt Live Event, bonus items, unlocks, and rewards, and the like, but what can you tell the community about these things that you feel will give them incentive to participate, to say "I WANT to do these things?"

Wow, if The Wild Hunt dungeon, all the bonus items we’re throwing out there for our players and great improvements we’ve made with 1.3.1 is not enough, I’m not quite sure what anyone could do. =) Event cloaks giving speed buffs and fancy Veteran Rewarded banners with Renown Point and Experience Point gain bonuses sound like a good start to me. The Wild Hunt goes live on August 31st, so get your group ready! You can read more details about our veteran rewards for our loyal players here.

Your recent patching cycle appears to be a deviation from previous patching processes in terms of communication, number of things introduced, and overall execution. Is this a perception that is true and regardless of if it is, how have you seen a significant shift in how you're fixing problems, bugs, and issues since WAR's release?

I’m glad you asked this question. The answer is definitely “Yes.” Over the summer, we made some changes and took a hard look at the game with the help of our players, people we trust outside of the studio, internal Mythic devs, and our new brothers and sisters at BioWare. We pretty much tossed out our old patch plan and refocused it on the top issues in the games from you, the players. This started to trickle in with 1.3.0b, and the first wave just hit with 1.3.1. We have a lot more in the works for 1.3.2 and beyond. The only thing I will say is, I wish our launch of 1.3.1 was smoother. Let’s face it—the first four days of 1.3.1 were rather problematic. The issues were mostly driven by server and client stability issues, which have all now been addressed, along with a handful of content issues. I wish we could have caught these sooner, but even with three full weeks of Game Update 1.3.1 being tested on PTS, it didn’t matter. Rest assured, we have things in place for future patch releases to catch such things, and the WAR team and I are committed to making patch days as headache free as possible.

What do you have to say to those players who haven't stuck around for WAR but who may be watching for something to draw them back in? In coming upon one year with the game, what do you think are the main things that will hook these folks back into the WAR effort?

We’ve made huge performance improvements since launch, and have a few more things cooking that I think will make both our PC and Mac users happy. Career balance fixes continue to be introduced to help support a more fun and engaging play experience. We’ve made it easier to stay connected with your friends in-game, and this trend will continue as we introduce the apprenticeship/hireling system in 1.3.2. This new feature will allow players to play with their friends anywhere, regardless of Rank. The Land of the Dead offers exciting new challenges through our PQ system for those PvE-centric players out there, while making it an experience filled with danger and thrill, since you never know exactly when your enemies will arrive to kick you out. The first phase of our city siege revamps have occurred, making the end-game even more entertaining and action-packed. And lastly, players can now acquire Wards needed for higher level content through both PvE and RvR tracks that are no longer tied to gear.

The key drawing points for WAR remain the same, and if anything they’re stronger now than ever before since we’ve had a year to tweak and polish them. WAR is all about RvR play experience where your actions have outcome, slaughtering your enemy, capturing enemy objectives and assaulting their city—and if you’re good enough, defeating and capturing your enemy’s king. From day one, we offer an RvR play experience while also bringing you a blend of fresh new PvE content through our Public Quest system, living guilds that grow and change depending on your decisions, and competitive Scenario game-play that is always just a click away.

From an RvR perspective, where are your priorities here at the one-year anniversary of WAR? What on the long list of fixes and issues takes the highest priority now and for the coming months?

RvR priorities right now are our upcoming Fortress changes and new and improved Keep difficulty system. Both of these are on target to go live with 1.3.2 along with an underdog system to help encourage more balance between the Realms. Removing the Fortresses will allow more players to experience the new revamped cities and the new Keep difficulty system will better reward players for fighting each other around Keeps, along with clearly showing up-to-date Keep status on the map.

As for the long list of fixes, we’re looking at fixing things such as the contribution distribution on the rams, and pricing adjustments to the Ordinance system. For additional features, we are discussing ways to spice up the Tier 4 open-field RvR experience, introduce an RvR component into the city Warlord and King encounters, and bring a new purpose to Fortresses now that they won’t be tied to the Tier 4 campaign.

How's the morale or feeling around the office? From my brief interactions with your team, you're definitely a "work hard, play hard" type of office.

Definitely. Some of the most passionate people I have ever worked with are here at Mythic. We all play MMOs, tabletop games, TCGs, and console games. I think general impression of our one-year anniversary for WAR coming up is disbelief. It’s hard to believe one full year has already past. It feels like five to me. Don’t get me wrong, it’s been fast, but it just seems like it was a long time ago when we launched. There are a lot of cool things coming down the pipe for Warhammer that I can’t wait to share. Till then, enjoy 1.3.1, and be on the lookout for more 1.3.2 info over the coming weeks. After you play a few hours of those “other” games and are left feeling there’s just something missing, remember we’ll be knocking on the gates of your capital city and you’re only a click away from joining the action.

PhoenixRed · 09-01-2009, 02:00 PM

Of note are perhaps some of the 1.3.2 hints we got from this interview (the removal of stun, for example, is huge), so I was personally pleased to get more detail than we asked for. It's going to be an interesting patch, for sure.

But it was good to hear some plain-spoken answers to some of the questions we asked, about where they fell short (too many servers) and where they can improve (being transparent and communicative with the playerbase), and even how they fell short with 1.3.1 (first few days being extremely problematic). Some may say "too little, too late", but to be honest, the alternative is what - doing nothing? It's no secret that WAR is in for a couple of turbulent, difficult months, so if they're intending on taking steps to get back some of the reputation they've lost, that's fine by me.

Gaugamela · 09-01-2009, 02:28 PM

1.3.2 seems to be huge. Jeff mentioned some important things about it in this interview:

1 - Apprentice/hireling system, i think this is needed, even if it wasn't mentioned as a priority by the playerbase. In an MMO where few new players enter and the leveling areas are underpopulated they really had to do something to allow high level players to go back. There were lots of complaints that the leveling was lonely.

2 - Underdog system, finally! This should've been in the game from way earlier. But only now after an year, is the RvR getting better.

3 - Fortress changes, really necessary. I am glad they are introducing these.

4 - CC and career balancing, another necessary thing. Seems like Destruction will finally get some love. This and the underdog system may level the playing field in the game.

5 - More performance improvements, will the game finally perform decently in all its aspects? I doubt but more improvements are always welcome.

Although the last producer letter was underwhelming it seems this patch is focused on the correct areas of the game. It is very likely that the game will suffer a lot with the Aion launch and it may be true that it is too little too late for the vast majority of the people who unsubscribed but they shouldn't just quit. They owe their still paying subscribers this improvements. There's still a lot of people playing the game and a bunch more, like myself, watching from the sidelines.

I just hope that when 1.3.2 is implemented that it doesn't breaks so many things as 1.3.1 did. Maybe if that happens they will be able to start working on other stuff in the game like more crafting professions, emotes and things to improve the immersion feeling as well as probably introducing some of the remaining capital cities.

akalukz · 09-01-2009, 02:36 PM

Good interview, be interesting to see what 1.3.2. has in store for us. Hopefully it will also address the PVE only items that help unbalance PvP.... specifically weapons and talismans that can only be gained thru pve.

Fingoniel · 09-01-2009, 02:37 PM

interested in what "removal of stun" means...

Siberwulf · 09-01-2009, 02:41 PM

Big Kudos for the Underdog system. Hope it works out the way they anticipate, and doesn't turn into a "reward the losers" system. Would hate to see that come about.

junkee · 09-01-2009, 02:44 PM

Inside source has stated stuns will break on damage like the fire/ice cages.

BEST INTERVIEW PR they have released too this day. IF they deliver on everything for 1.3.2 this game might be able to get back on its feet and they better hurry before Aion takes 70% of the consumer base away.

Population imbalances are #1.
Underdawg release valve #2.
Performance #3.
Balance #4

This should be the list from top to bottom.

MasamuneSSX · 09-01-2009, 02:58 PM

This is really encouraging. The increased transparency is exactly what we need now.

Btw, has anyone else noticed the stuck bug seems to have simmered down now?

Siberwulf · 09-01-2009, 02:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by junkee

Inside source has stated stuns will break on damage like the fire/ice cages.

BEST INTERVIEW PR they have released too this day. IF they deliver on everything for 1.3.2 this game might be able to get back on its feet and they better hurry before Aion takes 70% of the consumer base away.

Population imbalances are #1.
Underdawg release valve #2.
Performance #3.
Balance #4

This should be the list from top to bottom.

Honestly, I wouldn't worry about Aion. It'll be a drive by game at best. I see many WAR players going to test it out, and then hop back after a month or two. You can't duplicate what WAR has.

Hypnosis · 09-01-2009, 05:52 PM

Overall good changes on the horizon. Looking forward to the next two patches - looks like they're planning to do one a month from here on out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Siberwulf

Honestly, I wouldn't worry about Aion. It'll be a drive by game at best. I see many WAR players going to test it out, and then hop back after a month or two. You can't duplicate what WAR has.

I flirted with Aion for a little bit but once I read how the PvP rank (Abyss Points) works there I tossed that idea in the garbage. For those that don't know, you lose rank if you die in skirmish and you can improve your rank solely through PvE mobs and questing in the PvP zone. It'll be like returning to 1.0-1.1 where everyone was RvEing constantly with no zone progression. That is, unless you have a huge mob so large you have no fear of death.

That isn't to say the RvE is still bad some of the time right now, but Aion will be like stepping back in time 6 months. Aion's system is also by design - WAR's initial system was just implemented in the wrong fashion.

I too expect that many of the people that have left WAR over the last month in favor of Aion (and into next) will be returning before November. Those of us left just need to stick it out for a while if the pops decline.

Ort · 09-01-2009, 06:01 PM

Anyone who has played this game since beta can tell you this is just more of the same type of "pie in the sky" type post Mark Jacobs was famous for.

Class balancing, especially focused on destro classes, sounds promising, but he also mentions giving love to Order. Which really means they will buff up destro classes, only to make sure their Order counterparts get an equal buff, leaving this a zero sum improvement. Sure, they'll buff the weaker destro classes, but also buff the Order classes to ensure they continue to have a slight to moderate edge. They can say they have buffed destro, without it actually having to mean anything.

Nah, this is just more of the same. The game is an utter failure and this type of post from Mythic seems to justify the massive player exits. Once there are better options, this game's population will dwindle down to near nothing, making a single server for each type just BARELY populated enough to have fun.

PhoenixRed · 09-01-2009, 06:25 PM

If you're here to actually productively criticize, whether it's the interview or each other, that's fine.

But if you're here to mindlessly bash and complain, and flame others who don't agree with you, don't bother. Go make yourself feel better somewhere else. You're better off not posting, if you can't summon the maturity to criticize the interview and provide a negative opinion of it in a respectful, productive way.

An example of providing a negative opinion of this interview in a critically productive way is as follows:

"I like this interview, but do think that Jeff is a bit too optimistic about the value of Live Events such as Wild Hunt and the appeal of LotD. While these are nice elements to add to the game, I would rather that that main focus of their marketing and drive be towards the changes to T4 RvR. City siege is getting there, but still lacks some of the appeal that Jeff talks about in the letter and this interview - it's not as good as he says it is, and it needs to be fixed as a first priority rather than advertising new instances and one-year rewards. A content patch focusing on the rework to T4 RvR's Fortresses and Cities would go a longer way towards bringing players back than the confident tone that RvR as it stands is sufficient to entice players at this time."

It isn't that hard, folks. There's room for both positive and negative opinions, but not for flames and mindless complaints.

p3squid · 09-01-2009, 07:01 PM

I'm very glad to see them directly addressing issues with their players. I think this game is decent now, but I believe after another year of improvements and added content, this game will be very good. As long as they continue this recent trend of listening to their players and acting on the feedback.

Khorneschosen · 09-01-2009, 07:10 PM

Quote: