Translation of <NCsoft Office Interview - Part 2 - TIG - 01/09/08>

[Shoee]

oooooo *slurr at stigma* =)

[Momo]

Omg, just release the game already! HAHA x'D
You can't give people information this good and still hold it back 8'(

[eVenom]

Thanks a TON. Some of the best info I've heard in a while. Everything looks really, really good so far Can't wait for all this stuff they might show us sometime, and after release, too.

[Shmak]

Originally Posted by lyankyj

We've been discussing this in an other thread (forgot where:P)!

Sounds like they might be doing something similar to this:
http://www.aionsource.com/forum/gene...ncounters.html

[zornhau]

Originally Posted by lyankyj

My assumption was based on this part:



First it says they are strong in solo, then it mentions huntng as a different thing (previously mentioned as party-hunting). Now, since soloing involves grinding aswell, that problem with equipped stigmas can not be referred to hunting aka grinding.

First he addresses a problem regarding grouping (grinding or questing is not relevant here). Then, he says solo is cool, then he goes back to party-hunting.

And just like he referred to grouping in the "how effective they are in hunting" part, he could easily refer to grouping as hunting in that other part aswell.

Does this make sense?

I don't know . . . I think you're stretching a bit there .

Anyhow I think some of these features are stuff they might add much later like striders+ took couple chronicles to implement in L2. Even if 1/2 the stuff they've hinted at are there before the game starts, I'll be a happy camper.

[Riku]

Let me see if I got this right, correct me if i'm wrong please.
Is he saying healers with the right stigma's are very strong solo builds, but these same stigma's used in groups / parties are less effective ?

[Mygo]

Some good news
Some bad news

Perfection is not of this world, but thx

[Swati]

Originally Posted by Riku

Let me see if I got this right, correct me if i'm wrong please.
Is he saying healers with the right stigma's are very strong solo builds, but these same stigma's used in groups / parties are less effective ?

I'm confused...

[Riku]

Originally Posted by Swati

I'm confused...

I'm just kinda confused about what he is saying here

TIG> There was lots of cases where healers had a hard time to find a party b/c their party-play efficiency was too low.
- We are already fixing the problem of party-hunting efficiency and healer class. We’re tuning the player’s experience so that the effort put into party-hunting matches the reward received through experience pts and items.
Furthermore even now, healers have sufficient power to solo effectively. The problem is that in the case of healers what type of items and stigmas are equipped makes a huge difference in how effective they are in hunting. Instead, we have now completely fixed the sections pertaining to healing and buffs.

I'm I to think that healers are ineffective in parties or am I just lost in translation

[zornhau]

Originally Posted by Riku

I'm just kinda confused about what he is saying here

TIG> There was lots of cases where healers had a hard time to find a party b/c their party-play efficiency was too low.
- We are already fixing the problem of party-hunting efficiency and healer class. We’re tuning the player’s experience so that the effort put into party-hunting matches the reward received through experience pts and items.
Furthermore even now, healers have sufficient power to solo effectively. The problem is that in the case of healers what type of items and stigmas are equipped makes a huge difference in how effective they are in hunting. Instead, we have now completely fixed the sections pertaining to healing and buffs.

I'm I to think that healers are ineffective in parties or am I just lost in translation

Yeah, I'm kinda lost in translation too . . . not necessarily the language but lack of info about the game .

1) Healers have weak attacks.
2) Healers can be tweaked w/ stigmas so that they have more offense (for solo).

I'm assuming that if you laid out stigmas for more offense than more healing/buffs, people won't include you in parties as often . . . or maybe there were too many healers in this setup and most of testers thought healers were not worth-while in parties. I don't know but this seems like the most likely scenario.

[Frein]

Originally Posted by zornhau

TIG> When there are lots of stigmas with really long cool-times, it’s possible to finish a fight with 1 skill. Are there plans to counter this?
- The stigma you’re describing is unique, so we don’t think it’ll cause that much unbalance. There are many rank-based stigmas that have even more power.
For example, it’s possible that right now a good player can win vs. two opponents. Rank-based stigma users can take on an opposing party and win. There will be many stigmas that are hard to gain and have lots of restrictions but will equivalently be more powerful.
Depending on the rank, there will be stigmas that allow you to take on a raid-boss 1v1. We will tell the public specific details of rank system at another time.

Smells like the 2h cooldowns in FFXI. It's a bad idea and should be scrapped. No fight should be decided by who has their super move up.

Brand new type of instant dungeon where war and raid coexist!
TIG> Are there plans for instant dungeon?
- Instant dungeon will appear during open beta. First, common type of instant dungeons will be introduced. However as the game progresses [later patches/chronicles ala L2 I’m assuming], you will be able to see special forms of instant dungeons only seen in Aion.
(Due to the author’s request for further explanation) For example when looking at Age of Conan , they’ve designed good dungeons. However, when PvP is the aim, instant dungeon doesn’t match very well. On the other hand in Aion, instant dungeons and RvR will be integrated naturally. Please anticipate dungeons that are head-and-shoulders above what have been seen before.

Seriously, what the heck is an instant dungeon? Are they talking about instanced dungeons?

TIG> There was lots of cases where healers had a hard time to find a party b/c their party-play efficiency was too low.
- We are already fixing the problem of party-hunting efficiency and healer class. We’re tuning the player’s experience so that the effort put into party-hunting matches the reward received through experience pts and items.
Furthermore even now, healers have sufficient power to solo effectively. The problem is that in the case of healers what type of items and stigmas are equipped makes a huge difference in how effective they are in hunting. Instead, we have now completely fixed the sections pertaining to healing and buffs.

Seems like mobs are too weak or it's not efficient to hunt stronger mobs. I can't think of another reason to not want a healer in your group.

Introduction of new zones dedicated towards stories (missions) involving special levels!
TIG> How far has new zones have come along?
- Basically for each race, there will be an introduction of a region that’s small and will be used to develop story line for special levels. Something will happen that will allow progression of story if you look at the later parts of the story. Furthermore, this will occur in public field and not in instance zone.

TIG> What’s special about the new zones?
- There will be more hidden contents and raid bosses. The hidden contents will be focused to give the players a feeling of wonder and discovery. Morehaim(?)’s hidden contents is just a hint of what’s to come. You’ll often say, “What’s this!” There were many in-house testers who were very surprised.

My FFXI sense is tingling! This sounds much like the praised missions from said game.

[Ayase]

I know that this is on the brink of necro-ing since the thread was in fact on page two. What I would like to say is merely a general disclaimer in case someone decides to refer to this thread in the future.

The nature of this interview was very casual and on a personal level. The questions and answers reflected Lead Designer Ji Yong Chan's own views on what may or may not happen in Aion's future, what he would like to do, and do not necessarily reflect what will happen.

That's all. o/

[Kolossus]

Originally Posted by zornhau

Brand new type of instanced dungeon where war and raid coexist!
TIG> Are there plans for instanced dungeon?
- Instanced dungeon will appear during open beta. First, common type of instanced dungeons will be introduced. However as the game progresses [later patches/chronicles ala L2 I’m assuming], you will be able to see special forms of instanced dungeons only seen in Aion.
(Due to the author’s request for further explanation) For example when looking at Age of Conan , they’ve designed good dungeons. However, when PvP is the aim, instanced dungeon doesn’t match very well. On the other hand in Aion, instanced dungeons and RvR will be integrated naturally. Please anticipate dungeons that are head-and-shoulders above what have been seen before.

TIG> In other words, raid and RvR contents will coexist in one dungeon?
- Yes. Of course, it will be a bit more complex than that.

Originally Posted by Mark

What teh ****, insta-dungeons? Interesting, very interesting. I have no idea what they're going for or talking about, but it sounds as if it's something someone hasn't done before...

Finally... FINALLY... a confirmation of a game play feature I was REALLY hoping would be in this game, seeing as it's base is PvPvE.

Regarding the "Insta-dungeons", I'm not sure if they are referring to an instanced dungeon, or maybe dungeons that pop up randomly, in random spots. That would be interesting, so as to randomize which legions end up in which dungeons, no monopolization.

On the other hand.. Mark, I can answer your question about raid and RvR content coexisting in one dungeon. This is what I was so excited about. Legion A(Elyos), enters a dungeon, looking to raid. As they progress through, Legion B(Asmodian), enters the dungeon. They may be looking to raid as well, or they may know that the Elyos legion is in there already. What happens is a very good demonstration of PvPvE. Legion A has engaged the raid boss, or is tangled up clearing some raid mobs out of the way. Legion B engages them, in hopes of overpowering/killing them, in which case they are free to kill the raid boss/mobs, and claim the spoils. In this way, it becomes very competitive. On top of the PvP, both sides will have to deal with aggro from NPC mobs, or possibly kiting the mob boss while most of the legion engages the opposing legion.

My pants aren't just tight. I need to change them.


Edit: Just read what Ayase posted. I'm still excited, for the above mentioned reasons. They make sense for a PvPvE game, and I've been predicting this feature since I first learned about Aion.

[Ayase]

Originally Posted by Kolossus

Edit: Just read what Ayase posted. I'm still excited, for the above mentioned reasons. They make sense for a PvPvE game, and I've been predicting this feature since I first learned about Aion.

Just keep in mind not to treat anything in this interview as a definitive confirmation. But hey, you may still treat it as a good sign and a beacon of hope.

[Hellrose]

Originally Posted by Riku

I'm just kinda confused about what he is saying here

TIG> There was lots of cases where healers had a hard time to find a party b/c their party-play efficiency was too low.
- We are already fixing the problem of party-hunting efficiency and healer class. We’re tuning the player’s experience so that the effort put into party-hunting matches the reward received through experience pts and items.
Furthermore even now, healers have sufficient power to solo effectively. The problem is that in the case of healers what type of items and stigmas are equipped makes a huge difference in how effective they are in hunting. Instead, we have now completely fixed the sections pertaining to healing and buffs.

I'm I to think that healers are ineffective in parties or am I just lost in translation

The interviewer is saying that because the rewards for hunting in a party aren't noticeable, priests are abandoning 'pure healer' builds so that they could solo instead.

Ji is saying that, yes, he agrees that they need to give better reasons to party, but the other side of the coin is that priest classes were becoming too powerful with certain equipment/stigma combos, and so they're completely reworking this aspect. (read: nerf)