Dev Chat Highlights

-We'll be getting new powers for the existing Incarnate slots before we get new slots
-Power Proliferation was mentioned as being possible for Issue 21
-2 more Incarnate trials on the way, as well as non-trial Incarnate content
-Black Scorpion has a Seltzer machine
-BS turned up with all the badges on his account including one not on the wiki: Recluse's Right Hand
-Kheldians are on the short list of powersets that are go9ing to be looked at when time permits
-Water Blast was brought up, but though a good idea it's not on the table since the blasts would require Ultra Mode to look right, and requiring Ulta Mode for a powerset is right out
-Positron would like to have us be able to fight Dinosaurs, but has no idea how he can do so without having a new animation rig made
-Posi on HEROCON: " HeroCons are EXPENSIVE to run... we took the money and did multiple Meet & Greets throughout the year in various locales"
-Black Scorpion on Martial Arts Blaster Secondary: "On one of our lists is a physical defense training secondary for blasters, possibly based on MA. It is not yet being built currently though, but we are thinking about it."

-Black Scorpion, on updating the character models to have fingers rather than 'glove-paws' like we currently have: " Be lucky you have paws. I have a cannon and a ... grasper thing... I think it came from a claw game."

-Dark Watcher, on skipping cutscenes, "We did look into skipping them, but ran into a host of problems." Baronyx adds: "The cutscene has to play for the trail to continue."

-Mother Mayhem, Azuria, Eochai, Jack in Irons, Siege, a Mystic Aspect, the Jade Spider and the Rikti Master at Arms were summoned for PC's to fight.

-Azuria is hard. :P

-A league formed to beat on Azuria. We won.

-Steampunk Pack!
-Backpack!
-Clanker Aura!
-Bronze chest piece
-Victorian Hightlights!
-Mechanical Wings!

New, more detailed face tech!

Quote:

Originally Posted by reiella Until I see something that states to the contrary, going to assume VK is right .

U-stream highlights

STEAMPUNK BOOSTER:

cog/bits aura

Steampunk BACKPACKS - and they're animated (showed pic)

Steampunk rifle (showed pic)

animated victorian decor aura - victorian designs that move (showed pic)

new face technology - for more detailed faces. (showed pic)

Steampunk mechanical wings (showed concept art)

Travel power - Steam jump (showed video)

Oil geyser costume change emote

due June 1

Server Merge:

Passport badge will not be re-activated at launch, but there will likely be a way to gain it at some point in time.

Account reactivation and a global rename token will happen.

all trial account global names will be renamed to "trial####"

May's closed beta is *not* issue 21 - new trials will be 20.5

I'm unfortunately not gonna be available, but if they have a Q&A at the end, would someone mind asking if there'll be any weapons for the Steampunk pack and if so, anything other than ANOTHER sword?

Edit: wait, saw the above about a rifle, that's a start! But still...more pistols/bows/bots laser rifle plx!

Release date: June 1!

Quote:

Originally Posted by reiella Until I see something that states to the contrary, going to assume VK is right .

Oh that pack looks fantastic. Just fantastic.

Also: Steam jump travel power. Not like Ninja/Beast Run.

Quote:

Originally Posted by reiella Until I see something that states to the contrary, going to assume VK is right .

That pack looks great, thanks for the screen shots! I'm not a huge steampunk fan, but the backpack option gives me hope for some permanent back options (maybe even permanently present jet packs? Maybe? )

Do we get Armor Options with this pack too? I'd really like to make a Steam Punk Robot.

I was hoping these costume pieces would be more like the 'steampunk' stuff shown on the GR concept art page. These are rather so so.

Awesome job on the steampunk pics but...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bubbawheat new face technology - for more detailed faces. (showed pic)

Any pics of this?

Oh good lord that pack looks awesome!

I want that rifle...I want it so bad...

I think my heart just stopped, I can barely handle all the news
European and Praetorian invasion
Issue 20.5
Steampunk (I kinda fainted on this one)
Khledian powerset looking
Defense Training Blaster secondary
New Zone
More Trials
and more

Yeah I definitely died, now I'm a zombie

(Edited: was a little excited yesterday to pay attention)

...What am I supposed to be seeing with the new-face-tech picture?

My uStream liveblog copied over:

9:09 - Steampunk pack!

9:11 - Close second: My Little Pony pack.

9:13 - Steampunk backpack! Clunker aura w/ trail of oil. Brass chestpiece. Strappy boots. Very Victorian.

9:14 - Steampunk rifle. Victorian decor - animated victorian patterns on your body.

9:15 - Updated face technology - more polies, more detail. Steampunk backpack has jets of steam.

9:17 - Mechanical wings part of the steampunk pack, concept art.

9:19 - New temp travel power: Stalling... stalling... Steam powered jump!

9:21 - Described costume change: "Oil Strike". Oil geyser comes out of ground after a stomp and by the time is vanishes - new costume!

9:24 - Releasing June 1st, 2011.

9:26 - Gilbert departs; Posi arrives!

9:27 - Global server access May 3rd.

9:28 - Extended maintenance that day, of course. If there is a bug, it will be delayed, of course.

9:30 - Passport bag: not enabling it yet; eventually will be enabled for everyone. Reactivation week starting Tuesday May 3rd through May 10th with global server access. (No Double XP.)

9:31 - Global rename token will be issued at well.

9:33 - For global rename, all trial accounts will be prepended with Trial_, or something like it, to allow paying customers to make sure they keep their name.

9:37 - Inflatable obstacle winner is The Television, again.

9:43 - Posi started June before launch, so closing in on 8 years. They started making missions in a notepad-like environment, but quickly switched to something like Excel.

9:44 - Superhero game must be populated with NPCs, and Posi wasn't sure how they were going to pull that off. Z recalls beta where NPCs with names were walking around.

9:45 - "Famestring" is the text you hear from NPCs on the street recalling your exploits. It was fun writing the failure strings.

9:46 - First indication they had a hit on their hands was that all his developer friends went out and bought it instead of asking to trade for it. That's a AAA title definition. Like a food critic paying for his meal.

9:48 - CoH was one of the "earlier" MMOs.

9:50 - Introduced a lot of new innovations when it was released. Carried over into most modern MMOs. Which are you the most proud of? Posi - Badge system.

9:51 - Posi suggested "What if we tie it to things you do, instead of just visiting places?" and that influenced Achievements, Accolades, etc.

9:52 - Nate: Sidekicking was my favorite innovation. First day in game he teamed with level 30ish friends in Brickstown as an nrg/nrg blaster.

9:53 - Posi: We were not hardcore, so we designed the MMO for US, not the hardcore players.

9:55 - Z most appreciates scaling instances that ramp up to your team size - from soloable to true group content smoothly. Posi: That leads to interesting stories about 600 5th column in one building trying to steal one painting.

9:56 - Nate is a big fan of the Tip system and the organic way it leads to alignment.

9:57 - Yes, they are going to SDCC this year.

10:00 - Web fiction for Praetorian Surge (sounds like a soda): More details coming!

10:02 - Players were camping spawn sites during the Shadow Shard invasion - they've learned since then...

10:03 - Who actually sent the letter to the villain in the web fiction? It is a mystery.

10:04 - Producer's Letter: Excited about the 7 years of story they have under their belts. Revealed new zone coming in I21. But not ready to give any more details, but several people on the forums have been pretty close. Will advance some story lines to their eventual close. Very cool zone event. Stay tuned for details.

10:06 - Black Pebble throws a water bottle at Zwillinger.

10:07 - Keyes Island Reactor trial going into closed beta in May - extrapolate release date. (But that isn't I21 beta. iTrials are being released outside of Issue releases.)

10:09 - Q&A begins.

10:11 - Gilbert is back.

10:12 - What will the Omega slot be? "Awesome, and the pinnacle of the system, but not the final slot. Why paint ourselves into the corner. You'll always be chasing after 'the next big thing'."

10:14 - With the inclusion of backpacks in the steampunk pack, can we expect more? "Yes, eventually. Backpacks are popular."

10:15 - Wings do not fold up into backpacks. But they are still awesome.

10:16 - How far into development of Brass Monday did you get? Posi - "Lead artist said no way we can do that. Strip out phones, cars, etc. But it was in the design docs."

10:18 - "We use ParagonWiki more than we use the story bible. We use it to check what we've already told you."

10:19 - What sort of extra details are in the new face tech? "Looks like more definition on the nose, eyes, etc. Looks more expressive." (Team makes faces.) "Looks like geometry, but it isn't, so it doesn't make things more graphically intense."

10:21 - Posi: "In English, art magic."

10:22 - Team acting like old men, talking about days before internet. Talking about an interviewer re: using Usenet - he learned it in his Media History class...

10:23 - xckd. Bingo. Game dev retirement home has a "fat pipe".

10:24 - Will incarnate raids end with us fighting Emperor Cole? SHUT DOWN BY BLACK PEBBLE. "If it didn't end with Cole, where would it end?"

10:26 - How much would it take to make Shard co-op? Posi:"There are thing that we think will be huge, but turn out to be doable, and things that look doable, but aren't, once they start. We did investigate, and it's not as small as we wanted to do."

10:28 - Will we ever have updated SG options? Inheritance? "If you're SG leader is on an inactive account, contact CS and they'll be able to transfer it to someone with an active account."

10:30 - Well of the Furries! What happened to the audio chat? "We NEVER mentioned audio chat... It's not happening. Plus do you really want the illusion shattered?"

10:31 - What is the intensity of the Keyes Island trial? Posi: "Don't stand in stuff. You can't really sleep through it. Probably the most complicated one so far. Highest ever is like a 6 or 7 on scale of 1 to 10. We're casual."

10:34 - Possible to make an option for non-flapping wings? "It's a great idea and we can investigate it."

10:36 - Posi and Second Measure arm wrestle... Posi wins!

10:38 - Do we have any more plans for uses for Incarnate shards? "I think we do, but it's a question for Black Scorpion."

10:39 - How many red names play Minecraft? "A large amount, but not us."

10:40 - Can't we just enable facepalm emotes? "Noted."

10:41 - "We expected iTrials to be run multiple times, but we're looking at giving parity to BAF and Lambda in terms of Master badges and astral merits."

10:42 - Will Positron accept a dance challenge? "Probably later this summer." (We need a training montage. MONTAGE!)

10:43 - And that wraps it up!

10:45 - The Second Measure proceeds the first cut...

10:46 - Reminder: Booster packs on sale.

@SpaceNut - My 50s, AE arcs and current projects at ParagonWiki

That looks very cool.

Had a lot of fun watching that livestream. I (and plenty of others) flipped out when we saw the Steampunk stuff. That set looks great! DAY ONE PURCHASE!

For those of you who want the recorded version, here you go: Linky!