"Ask SoE Interview" at IGN

[Akaran_D]

Sassee: With new types of valuable items being made available to soloers and small groups, as well as greater chances for "ultra-rare rewards" for full groups, are there any plans to implement a new kind of lottery system? Many claim that the random numbers don't seem as random as they should be.


Steve "Moorgard" Danuser: We don't currently plan to add more forms of automated loot distribution, because no matter what tools we could devise, loot calls ultimately come down to a group of people deciding what's fair. And it's difficult to automate fairness when people tend to have different views on what that means.

Random number generation is a topic that will be debated until the end of time. Some people complain that random numbers don't behave the way they would expect them to. Well, that's what makes them random. With random numbers, you're just as likely to see the same number five times in a row as you are five totally different ones.



Sassee: Is SOE looking into improving the quest journal in regards to proper conning of quests as well as sorting quests by group/solo requirements and possibly even sorting quests by zone involved at its current step rather than just the zone that a quest was started in? (Question originally submitted by Loki_d20)


Steve "Moorgard" Danuser: Quest con color is set on an individual basis, so if you have quests that are obviously tagged too low or two high, please use the /bug command to let us know.

While we want to keep improving the quest journal and making it easier to use, allowing you to sort by zone on a per-step basis has a downside. We don't want people playing the journal instead of the game. What I mean is, having a list of all the quest steps you need to do in a particular zone turns your journal into a shopping list, and you lose the story and flavor behind the quests. Though it takes effort to go through your journal and find quests in a particular zone, the very act of doing that makes you read through the steps and remember elements of the storyline that you may have forgotten.

Adding a tag for specific solo quests is an interesting idea that I'll pass along.



Sassee: Are more spells planned to be included in the game anytime soon, including fluff spells, that reflect many of the most liked spells from EQ or just in general? Examples: levitate; summon weapons, armor, gear; cannibalize; summon hybrid elementals. (Question originally submitted by Loki_d20)


Steve "Moorgard" Danuser: Spells and arts will definitely be added as we continue to expand the game. Right now we're in the process of evaluating existing spells and combat arts for purposes of balance and class utility, so we don't plan to add a lot of new stuff until those steps are complete. Some future spells may indeed bring back some of the flavor of EQ, but our goal is not to duplicate every spell or effect used in the original game.



Sassee: Many druids and druid subclasses feel they generate far more agro than the other priests through their heal-over-time spells. Is this a design decision based upon the amount of health replenished over the full duration of the spell, or perhaps is there some other problem causing more agro than is intended to fall upon the druid? {Question originally submitted by Tenel_LC)


Steve "Moorgard" Danuser: Heal spells generate hate for the priest based on the amount of health they replenish. There isn't anything inherent to regenerative heals that makes them draw more hate than instant heals, reactive heals, or wards. If a healing spell has secondary effects attached to it, keep in mind that those effects may incur extra hate as well.



Sassee: Will there ever be actual "guild halls" or are we just stuck with the larger apartments already in game? (Question originally submitted by ElysiaDragon)


Steve "Moorgard" Danuser: Currently property--including housing--is owned by individuals, not by guilds. Since guilds are much more of a real entity in our game (they have levels, XP, etc.), we may add a sense of property at some point. However, we don't have any such changes planned at the present time.

Some of the large floor plans (like the multi-room mansions) are geared specifically toward guild leaders who buy the housing on behalf of their guild. By setting various permission levels, any house can be made to feel like it belongs to the whole guild.



Sassee: When will the Plane of Fear open? (Question originally submitted by Sanjuro_30)


Steve "Moorgard" Danuser: When the gods withdrew from Norrath, their planes became inaccessible. The Fear Gate itself seemed to stop functioning. However, the mortals have found ways to breach the planes before, so perhaps they will again someday.



Sassee: Will we ever be able to change our bind point? (Question originally submitted by AriochKinslayer)


Steve "Moorgard" Danuser: Currently players are assigned a recall point in their home village after completing the citizenship quest, and there is no way to change it short of betraying your city. We probably won't add the ability for you to choose any recall point you want, though it is conceivable you may be able to select a different recall point in your city someday. Keep in mind, though, that housing prices are based partly on how convenient the location is, making out-of-the-way houses lower in price as compared to those that are near zone lines or high-traffic areas.



Sassee: Any plans on implementing a 'share quest' feature? The ability to 'share' your quest with others so that they don't have to run to the quest giver would be more conducive to establishing groups, and cut down on wasted LFG time. Everyone in the group would get credit for the quest, whether they initially had it or not. (Question originally submitted by Alaina_Blackbow)


Steve "Moorgard" Danuser: While this is an idea we have considered, shared quests again promote playing the journal instead of the game. You lose a lot of the flavor and meaning of a quest if you don't encounter the quest giver on your own.

One thing a lot of players don't seem to be aware of is that there is a "group" tab added to the quest journal when you're in a party. Examining this tab will show you details on what quests you share with your group mates, as well as which quests they have that you don't. You can usually find out how to obtain the quests they have by reading through the journal text. While not the same as sharing quests directly, it is still very helpful and informative.



Sassee: Players in beta mentioned seeing email commands in game as though there might have been plans for in-game email at some point. Are there any plans for in-game email? I know a lot of people would really like to have this feature. (Question originally submitted by ElysiaDragon)


Steve "Moorgard" Danuser: In-game email is something we had planned to integrate during beta, but since it wasn't finished by launch we removed the mail icon from the main menu. It is in progress right now, and should be showing up in game in the next several weeks. We'll provide more details about the system in either the next Producer's Letter or in an update on the official forums.

[Zaelath]

Random number generation is a topic that will be debated until the end of time. Some people complain that random numbers don't behave the way they would expect them to. Well, that's what makes them random. With random numbers, you're just as likely to see the same number five times in a row as you are five totally different ones.

I hope this fucker isn't teaching maths in his spare time...

[Fash]

something to keep in mind with his quote is that their random number generator isnt taking care of just you... so you getting the same number 5 times in a row doesn't mean it rolled the same number five times.. your random first come first serve hits on a stream of random numbers came back the same. i think this makes his statement a little less rediculous.

[Rayquan]

Steve "Moorgard" Danuser: While this is an idea we have considered, shared quests again promote playing the journal instead of the game. You lose a lot of the flavor and meaning of a quest if you don't encounter the quest giver on your own.

I think making it so anyone can accept a quest through a group member is both great, and not so great.

While its great to just have anyone get a quest thru ppl, what if some quests have pre req's? (such as havign to complete one quest in order to get this one).

Also, having class-specific quests would be another bad side.

I think they need to make the "solo/group" quests, and make the "group" quests those that are related to "go kill this many" or etc, and the solo ones be the ones where u need to either find things, talk to npcs, tradeskill, class-specific, or etc.

[Zaelath]

something to keep in mind with his quote is that their random number generator isnt taking care of just you... so you getting the same number 5 times in a row doesn't mean it rolled the same number five times.. your random first come first serve hits on a stream of random numbers came back the same. i think this makes his statement a little less rediculous.

Not at all, he's getting confused between the chance of rolling a 6 on a dice after rolling 4 sixes, and rolling 5 sixes in a row.

The chance of getting a 6 is the same every roll; even if you've rolled 5 sixes in a row, your chance of rolling another is still 1 in 6.

The chance of rolling 5 sixes in a row is *much* lower.