[2022] Albion Online | Fifth Anniversary Stream | Albion Online Dev Tracker

Transcript (by Youtube)

0s	foreign
5s	[Music]
10s	TV's AO Daily Show Your source of real
14s	news in an unreal world I am the chosen
17s	one and today I am joined by Robinhood
19s	RS and Bogle for a very special show
23s	celebrating the fifth anniversary of
25s	Albion online in just a few minutes we
28s	will be joined by the game director and
31s	CEO Robin henkees the senior combat
34s	Designer Michael Schwann and chief
36s	technical officer David zaltz one of the
40s	founding members of Albion online and
43s	sandbox interactive and he's got some
45s	great stories for us and we're going to
47s	take a a look at an alpha clip but first
50s	we have some notes for today's broadcast
52s	Marco do you want to let everybody know
54s	what they need to know about twitch
56s	drops yeah I'm seeing a lot of spams in
59s	the in the twitch chat already going
60s	exclamation point drops you guys do not
62s	need to do that all you guys got to do
64s	is link your Twitch account to your
66s	online account
68s	um all you have to do is head to
69s	albertonline.com forward slash twitch
71s	connect your account and then you just
73s	have to watch a stream and that's it
75s	um 30 minutes of viewing time and you'll
77s	be able to claim your exclusive twitch
79s	drop here it's only available on this
81s	channel on this show today
84s	um and it is tradable as well so there's
86s	a potential
87s	um it's for it's becoming pretty
89s	valuable later on down the line so it is
92s	worth it
93s	um also
94s	some of our things to go over we have
96s	some free emotes for all the followers
98s	that you can use in the twitch chat
101s	um simply follow the channel and then
103s	refresh it and you'll be able to use the
104s	five emotes we do have a special one in
107s	there that we'll be using in just a
109s	moment
110s	um and also for all the giveaways we do
112s	have a handful of uh skins to give away
116s	today's vanity skin sets you just got to
119s	be interactive in the chat talk to us
121s	ask questions whatever talk to each
122s	other and you'll be entered in and it
125s	will be randomly drawn throughout the
126s	stream so
128s	make sure you're active there we go all
130s	right chosen anything else no that's all
132s	we need to do at this point we just need
134s	to introduce our guests Robin Michael
136s	and David uh why don't we get them on
138s	screen and how are you guys doing thanks
140s	for joining us
144s	hi guys hi
146s	hey guys yeah happy to be here
149s	yeah doing pretty good
151s	excellent uh for some quick
153s	introductions why don't we start with uh
155s	going around the room uh when did you
157s	guys start working at SBI and what do
160s	you guys do there
161s	I guess we'll start with Robin and then
163s	work our way through well I was going to
165s	say we're going to start with the person
166s	who's been with sandbox the longest yeah
170s	that that is actually me surprisingly uh
174s	I'm hi I'm I'm David uh I'm the CTO of
177s	sandbox and I am actually one of the
180s	original founders of the company the
183s	others don't like to be on camera
185s	uh but but I'm here yeah so what I do at
188s	sandbox is I'm responsible for
190s	everything technical ultimately
193s	and I literally wrote the first lines of
195s	code for that wonderful game
200s	I'll go next then uh uh people probably
203s	know know me from the dev talk from the
205s	occasional interview and early in the
208s	back in the days also from press uh
212s	releases and and interviews I'm Robin
215s	I'm the CEO of sandbox interactive and
218s	I'm primarily the game director for
221s	Albion online so uh my job is uh both
226s	the creative direction for the game but
229s	also the resource allocation where where
231s	do our what what are we doing and how
234s	are we doing it that's my job and uh
237s	yeah get a lot of love for it and a lot
240s	of hate for it
242s	oh I can't relate to that
245s	[Music]
247s	so I guess then it's me I'm Michelle I'm
249s	a joint sandbox in 2015 and preparation
253s	for the summer Alpha
255s	and since beta 1 oil preparation for
258s	beta1 I have mainly been responsible a
260s	for the combat for especially PVP part
263s	and the items for players or all player
266s	items and also have been involved in
269s	various other
270s	um features and game design topics in
273s	general mostly related to PVP
277s	all right uh you guys talked a little
278s	bit about how you started there do you
280s	want to talk about maybe the first
281s	things you did there because it's very
284s	interesting to have all of you on and I
286s	just want to give the the viewer a bit
288s	of an understanding of how you started
291s	where you where you are
294s	I guess you can go in the same order too
296s	with David yeah absolutely so the first
299s	thing I did wow when we
301s	basically when when I was approached
304s	with the idea to to Albion
306s	um the first thing I did was a lot of
308s	research actually right we uh actually
311s	talked to people who had done MMOs
313s	before because we had not
316s	um we we yeah did a lot of research I
319s	read absolutely everything there is to
320s	read about online games about
322s	multiplayer games
325s	um yeah and we talked to some Partners
327s	uh middleware providers Etc and uh yeah
332s	create a technical Concepts and then
334s	then I created an empty folder called
337s	all the Albion online and I set up the
339s	the directory structure of the project
342s	and that is largely still there
345s	and um then yeah and then we started to
348s	write the first lines of code and and
350s	started to make a prototype for the game
353s	right of course we didn't know where
355s	this was going back then um the first
357s	thing to do was really make a prototype
359s	figure out if if a we can make this
363s	technically and B if the game design
365s	works at all
367s	and a little bit later in this show
369s	we're gonna see one of those very early
371s	uh versions yeah I'm looking forward to
373s	that
377s	yeah I I think I'm gonna go next um I I
381s	was kind of called in a little while
385s	after after that
387s	um
388s	uh I had I had been working in online
391s	games for a while
393s	um my entire career has been working on
397s	games with swords and spells and RPG
401s	stats
402s	um and in 2014 I was approached uh by a
408s	friend and also a game designer who said
411s	he had just interviewed for a job with a
413s	with us with a small group of of people
415s	with a very ambitious project
418s	um who who might be just the right
420s	people for me
422s	um
423s	and yeah I I uh I went there I listened
427s	to what the plan was I thought it was
430s	completely insane and I went for it
435s	because because it was the
438s	uh basically the dream come true as a
441s	project
442s	um
443s	I mean I I was a ultimate online gamer
446s	of the earliest days I imported Ultima
448s	Online into Germany when it was released
451s	so I could play it from here and um it
455s	was yeah it it was the perfect project
458s	so I joined uh as soon as I could and my
461s	first role was actually to tie a lot of
464s	the early ideas together so for example
467s	back then the mob factions I mean this
469s	was in Alpha right early Alpha for
471s	Albion so a lot of the base Tech was
474s	already there the stuff that David had
476s	been working on
479s	um you will see that in the alpha
480s	footage as well but like we didn't have
483s	mob factions properly defined at that
486s	point we didn't have a main sort of
488s	World building idea and that was one of
491s	the earliest things I worked on and
493s	specifically actually I I one of the
495s	first things I did was balance the mobs
497s	I think for
498s	a winter Alpha in 2014 or a summer no
503s	probably a summer Alpha in 2014.
507s	all right and Michael
509s	yeah I joined then a while after in
511s	April 2015 and um after getting
515s	introduced to the game and and learning
518s	all systems the first big task I had was
521s	quite a big one and a very nice
523s	opportunity that is kind of to define
525s	the core abilities and the core combat
529s	for the PVP situation and that is a very
532s	nice chance because often when you join
534s	a project that's kind of settled and
536s	then you have to work what it's there
537s	but here since it was still early there
539s	was still a lot of of
541s	um Room to Move it in a way or influence
544s	the direction that was a
546s	really nice that was a really nice
548s	opportunity and I'm really thankful for
550s	that
550s	and um so when we when I worked on this
554s	so the first ideas or the direction I
557s	wanted to go in was definitely since I
560s	liked these more um skill based games
561s	and I'm a big fighting game fan too I
564s	wanted to try to make this combat less
566s	about stats and and have a strong focus
568s	on out playing your opponents and also I
572s	don't like virtual lag that's why we
573s	don't had any crits maybe some person
576s	like it that much or do it's about PVE
579s	Centric thing but I want to have it very
581s	clearly focused on PVP and so my biggest
584s	role model back then already was I kind
587s	of try to look at mobas what they do
589s	because they had a different
591s	um perspectives they had a skill based
593s	combat and we had also not many skill
596s	buttons so not a traditional MMO combat
599s	where you have like 20 skills or so but
601s	a rather short selection but every skill
603s	matters a lot and there's a lot of
604s	outplay potential
606s	and that was kind of the role model of
607s	course we have to go bit back
609s	technically David uh can definitely
611s	relate to that because we can't have the
613s	same reaction times and the same um ping
616s	in a globe on a global server with uh
619s	that many players in one cluster so we
621s	have to
622s	pay attention to that or keep that in
624s	mind and build everything around that
626s	um but yeah that was a very very
629s	um nice task and I'm really thankful to
631s	get the opportunity to work on that and
633s	that was then
634s	that we wrote out with uh beta1 that was
637s	the first
638s	big task ahead well Albion online might
641s	not have a lot of skills you can use at
643s	one time like I said we only have the
644s	six skills we use at one time but the
646s	combinations of skills I don't think
649s	there's many games out there that allow
650s	you to combine skills the way that
652s	Albion does so to balance the skills
655s	that you're going to use and how they
656s	work together is so much greater than
659s	even the ones where you get page after
661s	page because you're locked to those
663s	skills you're only going to get those
665s	pages and those pages only have to
667s	interact in a certain way those skills
669s	only have to interact in a certain way
671s	here
672s	because of the fact that you are what
674s	you wear your skills can be anything and
677s	you're going to have some really wild
679s	interactions between them
681s	yeah yeah that's also the fact that like
682s	it's kind of like um the stick building
684s	process in a cut trading card game right
687s	yeah that's where I compare kind of
688s	create your own decade in a limited way
690s	yeah you have a deck of like six cards
693s	yes
694s	exactly but it's but it's a deck where
696s	you can have you can pull from really a
698s	lot of cards right and that was actually
700s	one of the the things that I thought was
702s	crazy at the beginning coming from from
705s	games that were trying to control the
708s	balancing to such a degree that nobody
711s	would ever uh approve of such a concept
714s	just because it's so challenging to
717s	control but that was part of what I
720s	thought was extremely appealing and and
722s	part of what I still think is very
724s	exciting about working at sandbox and
727s	working on Albion online is that we
730s	we never tried sort of the the the the
732s	the path that other people have have
735s	already gone or like that that would be
738s	safe to do
739s	we we really like to uh to try to do
743s	things nobody's done before or
746s	nobody dares to do it's just so complex
749s	what you guys do it's really quite a
751s	challenge
752s	um David you were there from the the
754s	very beginning can you tell us what that
757s	pitch was that really brought you on
759s	board and
760s	uh convinced you to join this team and
763s	start working on Albion online
766s	yeah for me it was maybe a little bit
768s	different because uh I like I said I'm
771s	one of the founders so the situation was
773s	pretty much that uh I I had my I had a
777s	small company at that time and we were
780s	mostly doing games on the Nintendo DS
782s	and and stuff like that
784s	and then I was approached by uh actually
788s	yeah by by a guy with a concept for a
791s	game and that game was was Albion online
793s	and he was looking for uh basically
796s	looking for a team to build the game
798s	with and and looking to you know found a
800s	new company
802s	and uh I thought that was a a brilliant
806s	idea right it was basically a dream come
808s	true I I had for many years tried to
811s	build my own my own company
813s	uh and and and suddenly there was a
816s	chance to make some something uh that
819s	was a lot bigger and a lot more
821s	ambitious than anything I had I had done
823s	before so
825s	I was I was actually super excited about
827s	that and I'm I'm not really a game
829s	designer right I'm quite different from
831s	from Robin and and Mikhail in that
833s	regard uh for me it was all about the
836s	technical challenge right and the
838s	opportunity to build to build an MMO uh
842s	that's something I just couldn't
844s	couldn't let go
847s	um we're going to be looking at some of
849s	that Alpha footage that you brought in
852s	just a moment do you guys want to talk
854s	about some of the differences that were
857s	in Alpha before we look at it compared
859s	to what actually made it into launch
863s	I mean be easier to talk about what's
865s	still there I guess not no there's a lot
866s	of stuff still there but yeah it's
869s	actually fascinating I can I can quickly
871s	say what the original pitch was that uh
874s	that I was also approached with the idea
877s	was to have a very hardcore game
880s	something that's that was more like
882s	Ultima Online and a lot less like World
885s	of Warcraft
886s	uh because obviously going
888s	to compete with World of Warcraft was
891s	insane right we were never gonna do that
893s	we were you know looking to do a a niche
895s	game
897s	um so the original pitch was essentially
899s	we're doing a you know medieval version
902s	of Eve online but we're doing League of
906s	Legends combat
908s	that was kind of the idea
911s	um so again very much focused on PVP
913s	very much focused on guilt versus guilt
917s	and uh not at all focused on PVE for
921s	instance initially we even believed that
923s	we wouldn't need PVE at all right that
926s	we would not need dungeons we would not
928s	need monsters we would not need loot
930s	chests and and and stuff like that that
933s	it would all be about PVP and
936s	essentially Albion is that game but we
938s	obviously realize that we need a little
940s	bit of of content to fill the you know
943s	gaps between pvping
946s	um
947s	but that was the initial pitch right
949s	crafting PVP very hardcore for loot also
954s	part of the initial initial idea and we
957s	were not at all concerned with Graphics
960s	or or appearance right the idea was to
963s	make a relatively simple game that
966s	didn't you know need to look like much
968s	because it would appeal to a hardcore
971s	audience that wouldn't care right uh
974s	fortunately we quickly found out that we
977s	could do something that actually looks
979s	nice and that we could potentially
981s	appear to a broader audience uh so we
985s	went for that but yeah that was the
987s	initial pitch in a way I'm very
989s	impressed with how the the graphics have
991s	evolved while still keeping that
993s	simplistic style that allows for uh
996s	cross-platform play such as on the
999s	mobile and stuff like that it's so
1001s	impressive how you guys have
1002s	continuously improved that I still
1005s	always uh talk about the day we gained
1007s	fingers it was a big day for for the
1009s	people of Albion
1013s	you have no idea how much it pains our
1015s	art director that he has to be or that
1017s	he did that you know one of the
1019s	challenges obviously is to be
1021s	conservative with with with resources
1023s	not only because it's cross-platform
1024s	that's one part of it but also because
1026s	we have hundreds of characters
1028s	potentially in a fight and we don't have
1032s	the advantage of LOD right because of
1034s	the isometric perspective you can't
1036s	really Fade Out detail based on distance
1038s	which you would normally do in in a 3D
1043s	World game so
1045s	um
1046s	yeah there's there's a lot of technical
1049s	or a lot of challenges to the to the art
1052s	side but I I think it's a very
1054s	interesting
1056s	how from that early version that David
1059s	built or or the the guys back then then
1062s	built the concept evolved quite quickly
1066s	as we started to notice that there is a
1068s	big interest in this game right because
1070s	obviously we we didn't start like a big
1073s	uh
1075s	studio with with a massive backing from
1078s	a publisher where everybody sat there
1080s	and said all right look this is what's
1081s	this is what is going to be it's gonna
1083s	cost this chunk of money but it's going
1085s	to have a huge audience so you know we
1087s	go all out from the very beginning it
1090s	was much rather a you know we have this
1093s	idea we want to do this game we have
1094s	limited resources let's let's push it to
1097s	a certain point let's see what interest
1099s	there is
1100s	and and take it from there and and we
1103s	very soon realize that there is a lot of
1105s	interest and as the interest was growing
1108s	we started to up the ambition as well
1111s	right so like like you said the graphics
1114s	the quality of Graphics was pushed up it
1116s	was pushed into into full 3d obviously
1119s	um you know we added a soundtrack that
1122s	was even recorded
1123s	with a life Orchestra and all the things
1125s	that you would expect from a uh you know
1128s	a high quality MMO but that wasn't what
1130s	we knew what we knew we were doing from
1133s	the very beginning because we had no
1135s	idea
1136s	how a MMO that was so against the
1139s	mainstream at that time would even fare
1143s	in terms of like interest right
1146s	yeah everything at the time was pretty
1147s	much theme park it was very much a theme
1150s	park world out there and then Albion
1152s	came along and it said play with each
1154s	other instead you know like you are the
1157s	content the other players of the content
1159s	don't look for us to make the content
1161s	for you you're the content creator
1163s	absolutely and that was also a a
1165s	financial decision because these theme
1168s	park MMOs easily cost a hundred million
1172s	dollars and uh to be honest we did not
1176s	have that kind of money and we were not
1178s	we were not going to get it uh so we we
1180s	knew we had to take a completely
1182s	different route
1184s	but why don't we take a look at that
1186s	that road that you guys took in some of
1187s	the early Alpha footage I understand
1189s	that you put together a build and you
1192s	did a bit of recording on that and we
1194s	talked about it just yesterday Bogle do
1196s	you think you can uh play that for us
1200s	yeah we're going to introduce it right
1201s	now
1205s	David you brought with you a build from
1209s	alpha of a video uh what kind of things
1212s	are we going to see on this what
1213s	actually are we looking at here
1216s	okay so this is a very old build that is
1220s	actually from December 2012. so this is
1223s	like six seven months into development
1227s	and uh yeah it's almost 10 years old now
1230s	this is a very early build of the game
1233s	that was never shown to anyone outside
1236s	of the company this is an internal build
1238s	that we use to play test a our early
1241s	vision of the game this is obviously
1244s	very rough but you'll see that a lot is
1246s	already there
1247s	so you see this is all placeholder
1250s	artwork obviously a lot of it not
1253s	finished very rough icons actually
1256s	downloaded from the internet mostly uh
1259s	because we didn't have time to make our
1261s	own
1262s	yeah you see us running around
1264s	Gathering resources and uh yeah trying
1268s	to build up our our first settlement
1271s	built the first craft buildings we're
1273s	crafting the first tools here selecting
1276s	the first spells for an item
1279s	and I see them here they're actually are
1281s	they they're crafting and they're
1283s	putting the skills on the items
1285s	themselves that's something we don't
1286s	have to do anymore
1288s	uh right yeah back then you had to
1290s	select the skills when you crafted the
1292s	item and you couldn't change them
1293s	anymore nowadays you can just switch
1295s	them at any at any time
1298s	yeah that's a big resource we're seeing
1300s	right here big resource node
1302s	also something that's changed there is
1305s	the way that the nodes look completely
1306s	they uh very generic here that kind of
1309s	looks like our tier one stone
1310s	yeah and that's the wolf's uh funny
1313s	thing about this build is that uh
1315s	there's no live animals here because we
1318s	didn't have any mobs in this build
1320s	originally actually we wanted to make
1322s	the game without any PVE right it was
1325s	supposed to be a PVP only game
1328s	so we thought We're not gonna need mobs
1331s	but we we soon changed our mind
1334s	and here we see buildings in progress
1336s	where it looked like they were there was
1338s	a timer going on those buildings
1340s	yeah that's that's a mechanic we don't
1342s	have anymore so this was uh more similar
1345s	to a mobile game right where you set up
1347s	a building and it would say okay and now
1349s	wait three hours till construction is
1352s	finished that was a bad idea
1356s	and they're showing the the building
1358s	menu that they're using here which is
1361s	very similar to the building menu that
1362s	we have
1364s	on the islands that exist now like the
1366s	player islands and the guild Islands
1367s	very similar but with a a very basic
1370s	coat of paint yeah uh it is basically
1373s	the same menu still right it has
1375s	obviously received a facelift but
1377s	essentially it is still the same menu
1382s	that's the player house right there the
1384s	tent you just saw that's uh that's
1387s	basically the tier one player house that
1389s	you could build you still get that on
1391s	the island too right yeah we don't have
1393s	the tent anymore but uh we still have
1396s	the player houses so you see that a lot
1398s	of elements are already there right we
1401s	already had all of those ideas and if
1403s	you look down in the in the middle
1405s	there's the auction house uh icon oh
1408s	that's the auction house icon down there
1410s	so you have your inventory or auction
1412s	house and what is the third icon
1415s	I don't recall
1417s	it's your home Islands yeah it's some
1421s	kind of home feature clearly something
1423s	like that yeah it's quite interesting
1425s	right so this is this version of the
1427s	game already has guilts
1429s	it already has an auction house even
1431s	though we're not showing it in this
1432s	video
1434s	but it doesn't have mobs right you can
1436s	clearly see where the focus of the game
1439s	was back then
1440s	all about the player to player
1442s	interactions of Guild versus Guild and
1445s	player versus player and players
1448s	creating the content not the world
1450s	itself
1451s	that you don't need NPCs if you've got
1454s	players to fight
1455s	yeah exactly and the red wall we just
1458s	saw is actually a territory barrier so
1461s	we already had territories and you could
1463s	close the barrier to let others in or
1467s	not
1469s	and the building right here we're seeing
1471s	right now is the smelter building and
1474s	you see that there's basically a heating
1477s	system going right so had you had to
1479s	feed it with uh combustible materials
1481s	and uh bring up the heat in order to
1484s	smelt iron
1490s	now
1491s	yeah we have a fair PVP actually
1495s	you see again all all placeholder uh
1499s	icons uh actually play solar abilities
1502s	uh pretty much right we're still testing
1505s	what we what we could do
1507s	but yeah you could uh you could already
1509s	fight targeting was horrible there was
1512s	no no balance at all but there were
1515s	already different tiers of items
1518s	different abilities you could use and
1520s	there was already full loot right when
1522s	you
1523s	when you killed somebody you could
1525s	already pick up all this stuff
1528s	and you are dead and you can respond yes
1537s	all right thank you guys for uh hanging
1539s	out with us on that Robin you were
1541s	saying earlier that it would be easier
1543s	for you to say this things that had
1545s	stayed than the things that that weren't
1547s	there you know weren't there anymore
1550s	um one of the things that did stay and
1552s	you can see this is that there's these
1553s	buttons on the side for example because
1556s	Albion has always been intended to be a
1560s	cross-platform game before we move on to
1563s	the rest of this you want to talk about
1564s	that a little bit how from the very
1566s	earliest days of Albion it really was
1569s	meant to be a crap cross-platform game
1573s	yeah and I mean that's that's a bit of a
1575s	funny story too right
1577s	um basically when the development on the
1580s	game was started it was a time where
1583s	game engines like Unity for example
1585s	we're we're really beginning to
1588s	um establish their
1590s	you could almost say dominance
1592s	um because of their cross-platform
1594s	compatibility and
1598s	it was the time of the tablet height
1600s	where the expectation was that 10 years
1603s	down the road
1604s	possibly nobody would have PCS
1607s	and you know while we know that that is
1611s	a repeated
1612s	statement frequently that that you know
1615s	the PC is eventually not going to be
1616s	used anymore and every all the time it's
1618s	wrong
1620s	um
1621s	we
1622s	didn't want to build on an MMO that
1626s	would be stuck on one particular
1628s	platform because our intention with
1631s	Albion has always been to run it for a
1634s	really long time
1636s	because we're looking at other games
1638s	that were started in the late 90s or or
1642s	early 2000s that are still going through
1644s	strong and you know those are our
1647s	references we want to
1649s	keep going with Albion online for as
1651s	long as we can and for that we wanted
1653s	something that technologically would be
1656s	uh say future proof and and you know
1660s	funnily enough
1661s	actually the the mobile version of
1664s	Albion online
1666s	uh
1667s	actually kind of proves that we were
1670s	right in that because there are certain
1672s	countries in the world where there is
1674s	very few people
1677s	um actually being able to play on PC but
1679s	there's a lot of people joining from
1681s	mobile devices nowadays so you know that
1684s	while it might not might not be true in
1686s	in our home country and a lot of other
1688s	countries there are certainly certainly
1691s	parts of the world that we are only
1693s	reaching because Albion online can be
1696s	played on mobile devices as well as
1699s	PC and all the other platforms
1702s	absolutely the mobile launch has really
1705s	I feel like it's gone beyond
1707s	expectations personally
1709s	um I was kind of of the impression that
1711s	it was going to be very much you know
1712s	Farmers you know farming
1715s	um do you guys feel that this went
1717s	beyond expectations that the mobile
1718s	launch did more than just provide people
1721s	with an alternative access point for
1724s	farming
1726s	uh it it must have uh if we look at
1730s	numbers right now we we see that like
1732s	half of the new players are joining from
1735s	mobile devices
1736s	so that's clearly not the existing
1738s	players farming it's clearly uh like
1741s	like Robin said lots of people uh from
1745s	probably from countries where mobile
1747s	gaming is dominant and not PC gaming but
1749s	also also generations of players right
1751s	like I'm I'm starting to feel my age as
1754s	a gamer after after you know almost 10
1758s	years of headlining uh a a game like
1761s	Albion online
1764s	you start to realize that you didn't
1766s	don't have that much time for gaming if
1768s	you're actually working on something
1770s	like this you you you you get to play a
1772s	few of the anticipated titles that but
1775s	that's about it
1777s	um and you know I I I realize that there
1780s	is a real big disconnect between myself
1782s	for example and and the younger
1784s	generation that primarily starts playing
1786s	on mobile devices and it doesn't
1788s	necessarily uh start playing on a PC
1791s	just because also a lot of a lot of
1793s	households have done done away with a
1795s	home PC
1798s	um you know it I think I think that's
1800s	that's something really interesting and
1802s	and and anecdotally
1805s	um
1806s	you know there's guilds that are
1808s	entirely made from from mobile players
1810s	obviously
1812s	um but that is something for example
1814s	that I did not anticipate where I didn't
1817s	you know I I I thought
1821s	it would be used in a cross-play
1823s	capacity a lot but I didn't think we
1826s	would really see builds that are almost
1829s	entirely or even entirely made up just
1831s	from people playing exclusively
1833s	exclusively mobile which was probably
1834s	naive for me but that's that's slightly
1837s	where I come from right yeah clearly our
1840s	initial expectation 10 years ago was was
1842s	very different
1843s	um like Robin said we had the the tablet
1847s	type so we knew okay we're gonna be on
1849s	tablets just in case people are not
1851s	gonna have PCS anymore and everything is
1853s	going to be on tablet but we completely
1855s	ruled out the possibility that anyone
1858s	would play on a mobile phone
1861s	uh because clearly the screen was too
1863s	small to ever play an MMO on that
1867s	um so even that very old version that we
1869s	just saw that was
1871s	working on an iPad one back in the day
1873s	so we've always had a working mobile
1876s	version of Albion online basically from
1878s	day one that is clearly thanks to the
1881s	unity engine and and and that uh and a
1885s	lot of hard work on our side too and a
1887s	lot of hard work on our sides yeah
1888s	clearly the art style uh needs to work
1891s	with mobile etc etc so uh for a long
1894s	time we've swallowed all the
1897s	disadvantages of being mobile compatible
1899s	and did not release the mobile version
1902s	so I'm really happy that finally
1904s	happened
1905s	um but yeah for me phones was a big
1908s	surprise because for the longest time we
1911s	had completely ruled out even the
1913s	possibility that this game would work on
1916s	phones
1917s	actually from a friend of mine the kids
1920s	they create they are playing Albion on
1923s	phones in their school he told me that
1924s	and they created a guild and they're
1927s	communicating on their phones via
1929s	discorder that was also uh very
1931s	surprising for me and they they
1933s	are playing that but to be honest yes
1935s	there might be a lot of these players
1937s	watching right now and and thinking like
1938s	yeah you know we you guys are so uh
1941s	outdated yeah you're always you're
1945s	always a product of your generation and
1947s	your upbringing you know your our most
1949s	intense gaming years were our early 20s
1953s	and and late teens I guess and and you
1956s	know I I still carried my PC to land
1959s	parties and the big
1962s	tube monitors my PC had a handle for for
1966s	land arcades that's how often I was
1968s	dragging it around and of course now
1970s	they have their mobile PCS in their
1972s	pockets of course they're gonna say what
1974s	are you guys doing carrying around that
1975s	50 pound piece of uh antique when you
1978s	could just play on your phones I mean
1980s	you guys do have phones don't you
1983s	yeah we do
1987s	I want to get back to that video that we
1989s	just saw because uh there was a lot of
1991s	talk and chat they were really impressed
1992s	by that I want to give a shout out to
1994s	Elsa for helping us with that video and
1997s	all of the other great videos that he
1999s	has done throughout the years there has
2001s	been a huge shift I mean you've always
2004s	had great ads you guys have always had
2005s	great ads great Dev talks uh great
2008s	trailers and stuff but there's been a
2010s	shift and a push to have better media in
2014s	Albion online you guys have done a great
2015s	job do you guys have any specifically
2018s	fond memories of some of these ads that
2021s	you worked on or a specific Dev talk or
2024s	a point in this process that really
2025s	sticks out to you
2029s	got a few uh yeah absolutely a font I
2033s	don't know I remember we at a very early
2036s	point I don't know which year it was
2038s	probably 14 15. uh we did a trailer uh
2042s	at a at an actual windmill which was a
2046s	great back background and the only thing
2048s	I remember about that shoot is that I
2051s	had a granular fever on that day and my
2054s	throat hurt like hell and I don't know
2056s	how I how I got through that shoot
2058s	that's what I remember I've done a few
2061s	I've done a few death talks and live
2063s	appearances completely drugged up on on
2066s	on cold medicine because I've had such a
2068s	bad fever the queen trailer for example
2071s	was completely on a fear actually that
2074s	that shoe that David is referencing I
2076s	was one of my earliest videos I did for
2079s	Albion and it was also a very poor
2082s	performance because for some reason
2085s	video team we were working with decided
2087s	to put us on these tall boxes that we
2091s	had to balance on while doing our talk
2095s	so that they could get the windmill in
2097s	the background and I was nervous about
2100s	my first video appearance and then I had
2102s	to also worry about not falling off
2104s	these boxes is one of the worst uh one
2107s	of the worst experiences filming for
2109s	Albion online
2111s	um I mean my I I've already obviously
2114s	had a quite a few appearances my
2117s	favorite has to be the mobile launch
2118s	trailer
2120s	um just because
2122s	it was
2123s	just very fun from a creative process
2127s	perspective to the execution to
2130s	everything the only thing I regret in
2132s	that one is it's a very similar
2134s	situation that my short appearance in
2136s	the video
2138s	um had to be done
2140s	in like one or two takes balancing on
2143s	the edge of a staircase
2145s	and like not not even getting a chance
2148s	to do this I think I got it to do it
2150s	twice but like
2152s	not really a chance to do any to do
2154s	anything uh about like my performance
2157s	and I'm certainly not an actor but um
2160s	I uh I quite enjoyed that overall
2163s	experience I also really liked how it
2165s	turned out a shout out shout out to
2168s	Watchmen by the way Watchman Productions
2170s	in Berlin who who are our long-term
2172s	partners for
2174s	our video production
2176s	always lovely to work with those guys
2181s	that's fantastic I really have uh
2183s	enjoyed a lot of those ads and the
2185s	mobile ad specifically it really really
2188s	just it's fantastic it's funny it's kind
2191s	of like just goofy in a way that really
2193s	um I feel like one of the things that
2195s	you guys do best and it's really low-key
2197s	in Albion is throwing a little bit of
2199s	humor here and there it's always kind of
2201s	represented in the game and to show that
2204s	in your ads to show it in everything
2205s	that you do is kind of cool it really
2207s	personalizes you guys as a development
2209s	team and it's bold to do since we're
2212s	German yeah yeah it's hard to believe
2215s	that you guys actually have a sense of
2216s	humor
2217s	changing hearts and Minds every day
2220s	Ryan
2222s	um do you guys speaking of like uh the
2224s	the media in Albion do you guys uh pay
2228s	attention to the fan made media like the
2230s	music or the art
2232s	uh yeah somewhat
2235s	absolutely yeah do you guys have any
2237s	favorite music because I know that uh a
2239s	lot of the guys here in chat are big
2241s	fans of the Albion fan created music
2243s	yeah I have fun it's uh Judy boots it's
2246s	my favorite I think and uh the second
2249s	would be probably the song about the
2251s	rats was the passive on the boots or the
2253s	carry away on my boots yeah those two
2256s	are really great
2257s	no that is this type of content it's
2260s	really um nice to see if you work on
2262s	this game like because like the terms of
2264s	Albion it becomes like its own words
2266s	like I I'm gonna Judy boot this like
2268s	they make a word out of it and um
2271s	that is very uh satisfying to see like
2273s	that you have such a connection bird
2275s	with these players that they put us into
2277s	their everyday vocabulary kind of like
2279s	it comes in terms of it on its own
2281s	that's really cool also the passion that
2283s	they create this kind of content is a
2285s	really cool
2286s	I have I have two uh two things to share
2290s	here so one we have a in our internal
2293s	Communications we have a fan art Channel
2295s	where like if anybody spots fan art
2298s	there we'll throw it in there and just
2299s	re you know the team reacts to to the
2301s	fan art and there's one thing that we've
2304s	been super happy about there's actually
2306s	a couple of fan art pieces framed up in
2308s	in in the office that we were sent
2311s	um we have all the artworks that were
2313s	ever created for Albion online uh lined
2315s	up in the uh in the office and there's a
2318s	few fan art pieces that we were sending
2319s	on those walls as well so
2322s	um fan art is great and then
2324s	uh the other community created content
2327s	that I personally love is is the
2329s	streamers
2331s	um I I I once did a super cut of like
2335s	you know Great Moments in I'll be an
2338s	online streaming with just all this raw
2341s	emotion that we're getting from the
2343s	streamers and that's you know that's
2345s	really what we work for so no sexual
2347s	reactions and that you know those
2349s	that excitement I I can't totally relate
2352s	to when you have like a really tough
2354s	week and it has a really a lot of stuff
2356s	uh so they had problems then it it also
2359s	gives a lot of energy to just watch a
2361s	stream and see how the players are
2362s	engaged at this sometimes it can be a
2364s	bit frustrating but for the most part
2366s	you see like how how much they are
2368s	engaged and invested into this game and
2371s	how much they enjoy it and like you see
2374s	also cool interactions in this game
2376s	happening that is actually the most one
2378s	of the most gratifying parts of this job
2380s	I would say
2382s	because that's why you really can see it
2385s	through the player's eyes right
2386s	otherwise we kind of have to analyze
2388s	data we play it ourselves a bit but it's
2390s	very different to see this raw emotion
2392s	from the Stream
2393s	and it's very different than the forums
2395s	too generally forums you're going to get
2396s	like Peak emotions oh my gosh fanboying
2399s	you know like you guys are so great or
2402s	you guys are the worst how could you
2403s	dare touch my weapon and make it two
2406s	percent less effective don't you know
2408s	now that I have to quit the game yeah
2410s	yeah and also just think that each uh
2412s	Forum already does they have kind of
2414s	like their own tone you know of kind of
2416s	feedback you get like this
2418s	you get like a specific type of I try to
2421s	pay a bit attention it always depends on
2423s	how busy we are so if I have time I'd
2424s	usually try to scroll a bit through and
2427s	even if I don't reply I try to read and
2429s	make notes if there's a good point but I
2432s	cannot Implement a we cannot Implement
2434s	anything they ask for because that would
2436s	be a very interesting uh patch they
2438s	often contradict each other and be um
2442s	the best thing is if you can provide
2444s	like a what content you play uh stuff in
2447s	and uh why you think it is broken then
2449s	often we make notes and investigate it
2451s	that means we have to check because we
2453s	can't take everything as at face value
2455s	and we don't and I often don't know the
2457s	person who's posting this I I don't I'm
2459s	not involved enough with many members so
2462s	some I do know but a lot of this it's
2464s	really hard to filter through what
2467s	um how reliable each feedback is because
2470s	not every feedback you get is
2473s	that in depth with the game right
2475s	sometimes they have a very gut feeling
2477s	reaction and right oh
2480s	stupid game I died to this yeah remove
2483s	it uh and until something but sometimes
2487s	um someone has a stone right he's like
2489s	um really angry but actually he plays a
2491s	lot and then it's kind of hard to
2492s	distinguish this so oh he actually has a
2494s	very good point it's just
2496s	because the way he framed it it was
2498s	kinda a bit suspicious that I thought
2500s	that maybe it's just renting and then
2502s	later oh no I actually had a good point
2503s	it's very hard to like filter out the
2507s	noise with oh yeah absolutely absolutely
2509s	and when you use the the twitch streams
2512s	and you watch them perform live and you
2514s	see them engage with it yeah while their
2517s	their own emotion to their fans Not to
2519s	you who they're trying to get a change
2521s	from but to their fans who they want to
2523s	say this is how I'm feeling right now
2525s	and this is who I want you to know when
2527s	you see that reaction from them you can
2529s	really go okay um yeah it helps a lot
2533s	that helps a lot because I see the
2534s	situation I tell what to use where he
2536s	used it what happened oh that looked
2539s	annoying to deal with I can't I agree I
2541s	understand why he's angry and then you
2543s	have to check okay that is annoying in
2545s	this situation but if he knows this
2547s	ability maybe uh this item has a problem
2549s	then in all other content so we have to
2551s	find a way to lessen this frustration
2555s	here say interrupt dungeon is a typical
2557s	example but don't destroy it in the open
2560s	Word and um that can be very challenging
2562s	because we have so many different types
2564s	of content uh but uh usually we also
2567s	keep like a list of uh points of stuff
2569s	that we want to improve right we have to
2571s	go by priority because we don't Focus
2574s	100 only on on rebalancing and patches
2577s	we have to spend a lot of our energy on
2580s	working on the next updates and new
2582s	features and new patches
2583s	but yeah we try to keep an eye on on
2586s	that and make adjustments accordingly
2589s	and if you have feedback please don't
2591s	feel discouraged if you don't react
2593s	immediately or if I especially if you
2594s	don't reply we try to keep an eye on
2596s	that
2597s	it's it's impossible to reply to
2600s	everybody and you just can't do it um
2602s	we've now thrown in player feedback with
2604s	with the player created fan art and
2607s	music well it's similar it's similar
2609s	honestly like fan art is often like one
2612s	of the great ways of seeing feedback you
2614s	can see where the passions lie uh like
2617s	and you can see what things people
2618s	really care about what they're invested
2621s	in and where their love for the game
2623s	lies and you know
2626s	with feedback sometimes it's a mixed bag
2628s	but I do want to get back to the the
2631s	beginning of the game to the launch of
2633s	the game five years ago and talk about
2635s	like what some of your favorite memories
2637s	from that time where I know it was a
2639s	rough time and that there may be only
2641s	like two or three favorite memories or
2643s	positive memories but can we talk about
2645s	some of those
2648s	uh I mean I mean a lot of the the
2651s	positive memories honestly from that
2653s	time
2654s	come simply from the work and the Spirit
2658s	uh and and the and you know the
2660s	camaraderie of of of
2663s	the sort of work environment we were in
2665s	because at the very beginning we were
2669s	less than 10 people in a in a flat in
2672s	Berlin uh uh before we've got the first
2676s	proper office and uh
2678s	it was very tight
2680s	uh a group of people that was working a
2683s	lot
2685s	um and they were just you know they were
2687s	very tired but also very excited about
2689s	uh what we were building
2693s	um I don't know do you guys have
2694s	anything any specific moments yeah it's
2697s	this incredible moment when you open the
2700s	flood gates and there's just this um you
2703s	know basically we have we have the
2704s	ability to watch the game right it
2706s	probably doesn't come as a surprise but
2708s	we can like open a window into the game
2711s	and watch the players play and uh you
2715s	have that countdown to launch and it
2719s	goes down to zero and then suddenly
2721s	there's an avalanche of people you know
2725s	streaming from the initial spawn point
2728s	you know and that Pier it was back then
2730s	into the just an avalanche of naked guys
2735s	dreaming into the cities that is just an
2738s	incredible sight
2740s	they're like wow that was that was
2742s	awesome yeah but that's already at the
2745s	end well I guess we had that in every
2746s	Alpha phase right yeah for launch it was
2748s	obviously the most yeah every time
2752s	you're surprised that people actually
2754s	come right if you've set up this you've
2757s	set up this big party and you've invited
2759s	everyone
2760s	and it's still an exciting moment when
2763s	they actually come
2765s	in large numbers
2767s	yeah I
2771s	I have some fun memories from alpha that
2774s	aren't necessarily I would say enjoyable
2777s	memories like I have this one rememory
2780s	from an alpha where a player found an
2784s	exploit during a
2786s	test phase and we caught that exploit
2789s	and we knew
2791s	uh if they were to able to get away with
2795s	what they had gained that that would
2798s	probably ruin the test phase so I
2801s	actually went in on my GM account and
2805s	appeared in front of this player and and
2807s	said look dude uh you know we we know
2811s	what you've done please hand over the
2814s	please hand over the merchandise uh you
2816s	can continue playing I mean this is
2818s	Alpha right we were supposed to be
2819s	finding
2820s	problems but don't ruin the test and he
2823s	was like yeah I fully understand here's
2825s	like the I don't know what it was 100
2827s	billion silver uh generated uh and
2832s	but then he was like can I just keep a
2834s	hundred million for myself and I was
2836s	like no no you can't I'm letting you
2840s	stay in the game I'm being nice enough
2841s	but he was begging begging quite hard
2844s	and and I I but but the thing is we have
2847s	a we have a very very harsh stance and
2850s	we still have it to this day
2852s	um obviously like protecting the Albion
2854s	economy is our number one
2856s	priority so even an alpha I did not let
2859s	him get away with any penny
2861s	but uh yeah that was like I've I've done
2864s	more of these
2866s	direct undercover
2869s	um
2870s	game master actions during Alpha to to
2873s	uh to protect test phases and and some
2876s	of them live as well so uh there's a
2880s	there's a lot happening in the in the
2882s	shadows to keep Albion safe
2885s	yeah there is always with an MMO you
2888s	have to find some way to always be
2891s	present and always monitor the world and
2894s	with such a unique economy it's got to
2897s	be even more difficult with Albion
2898s	because it's not a NPC driven economy
2901s	it's a player driven economy and it has
2903s	to maintain balance just like the combat
2905s	does because the the economy is is a way
2909s	for people to compete in this game and
2910s	if you break that that ruins the game
2912s	for a huge number of people
2915s	yeah yeah
2918s	um there was a there have been a lot of
2920s	changes since the launch of the game to
2922s	now are there any of these changes that
2924s	you would think that some of the newer
2925s	players might be surprised about that
2927s	they might not realize weren't things
2930s	that were available at launch
2932s	quite a lot
2934s	[Laughter]
2936s	that's changed that's a lot to change
2937s	the one so what was today one thing is
2940s	um
2942s	you might have done that to launch I
2944s	can't remember but the Spells were
2946s	locked on your equipment I think we
2948s	changed that and better already so you
2949s	the crafter choose the spells for you
2952s	and then you could never change them you
2953s	would would need to buy the item versus
2955s	beds you you wanted to add a
2958s	that was maybe more interesting for
2960s	Crafters but uh was quite limiting in
2963s	how you play daily life because you
2966s	couldn't change your spells you were
2967s	really locked into that that was changed
2970s	another thing also that is a smaller
2972s	thing that is interesting is we didn't
2973s	have a health bars for mobs in the
2976s	beginning and we didn't have that at
2977s	launch I think a couple updates in we
2980s	got these small red health bars that are
2982s	kind of like in Dark Souls games where
2983s	you know can see how much that was
2986s	really a difficult and a group PVE
2988s	because always uh there was a high risk
2991s	that everyone focused on different mob
2993s	and then yeah different mobs yeah yeah
2994s	yeah yeah yeah we had to call out mobs
2996s	back in the beginning by name and
2998s	everybody would have to pick the exact
3000s	mom because you couldn't tell I didn't
3003s	remember that that was that was a rough
3004s	time
3005s	I I think generally newer players will
3008s	be surprised at or would be surprised at
3012s	some
3013s	uh conv lacking convenience options uh
3016s	from back in the day and also
3018s	um the lack of a tutorial right like
3019s	when during Alpha the tutorial was
3023s	basically here's here's a couple of
3025s	Destiny Board nodes for you to complete
3028s	and here's an island that you can get
3029s	off as soon as you've completed those
3032s	but
3034s	you know there was like 10 steps and
3037s	then
3038s	you're out go go do the rest and and we
3042s	were always very happy with how that
3044s	um worked I mean the the crowd that we
3047s	were addressing
3050s	consisted of a lot of very smart people
3052s	who who you know had had that drive to
3055s	figure out
3057s	um how the game works and very driven to
3060s	explore
3062s	um
3063s	but you know down the road as the game
3066s	became more popular Drew in a larger
3068s	group of people also
3070s	there was obviously a need to explain a
3073s	couple of Concepts better and and do a
3075s	little bit more more uh I guess
3077s	hand-holding in the beginning to to help
3080s	people understand what is the sort of
3081s	game that they've just gotten into
3084s	um but we still try with the tutorial to
3086s	to to not give you a you know click here
3089s	click here click here type tutorial but
3091s	rather one that slowly starts to
3094s	challenge you about like
3096s	what am I how how am I going to go about
3099s	my goals before eventually just letting
3101s	you go into the world right
3104s	uh one of the things that I talked with
3106s	David about last night actually was some
3108s	of the earliest forms of the the game
3111s	had
3112s	I don't want to say like tutorial guilds
3114s	but they put you into two different
3115s	forces so they kind of encouraged you to
3118s	have active Wars right from the
3120s	beginning
3121s	um is there any plans to maybe
3123s	incorporate into the tutorial that we
3125s	have today or in the future
3128s	um some way to introduce people to PVP
3130s	in a more concrete way
3132s	very good question uh
3135s	action Warfare is is effectively aimed
3138s	at at providing an early accessible PVP
3142s	experience for players that once you've
3144s	you know managed to to grasp a hold of
3147s	the basic concepts you can go into
3149s	faction Warfare and rather safely start
3151s	to experiment with combat
3153s	um
3155s	it would be interesting to try and
3157s	basically get a Battleground into the
3159s	tutorial itself you obviously have a
3161s	question like who are you fighting you
3163s	know you're relying on other beginners
3165s	to also be there which which with a
3168s	24-hour cycle might not always be that
3172s	easy to provide but I'll think about
3174s	it's an interesting thought yeah I think
3176s	I think one other thing by the way that
3178s	people would be like if we're really
3180s	talking about differences between Alpha
3182s	and the launch version or Alpha and
3184s	nowadays
3186s	we had very ambitious ideas or or
3192s	naive as well about the um the use of
3195s	buildings in the game right like in the
3197s	alpha there were no building plots there
3199s	was no building plot ownership you could
3201s	just place a building wherever you liked
3205s	um in the it at least in some of the
3207s	earlier alphas and it very soon became
3209s	obvious that the world would just be a
3211s	graveyard of abandoned buildings yeah a
3213s	little because people just built them
3215s	everywhere
3216s	um so we we developed the the plot
3219s	system and then later on the island
3221s	system so that every player could have a
3223s	chance to build up their own uh
3225s	environment because you know the other
3226s	thing that we realized after we
3227s	introduced plots is obviously that
3229s	people occupy those plots and everybody
3231s	who comes after uh
3235s	is a way to also fulfill that that
3239s	Albion fantasy of building up your own
3241s	place
3244s	it needs to be competitive at some point
3246s	you can't just have permanent buildings
3247s	that drop down and then people like
3249s	secure land that can never be used again
3251s	you're gonna run out of land to fight
3254s	and that's what Albion is about uh I
3257s	mean so sorry I have to accept it
3259s	because that's that's a key point I
3261s	think where we where we are also
3264s	different from what a lot of other
3267s	um
3269s	people who are trying to do the same
3271s	thing or who are doing the same thing
3274s	um
3275s	what we always try to do is we we try to
3277s	think big we try to think in the in what
3280s	would be the awesome thing
3282s	but then it also has to work right
3285s	um and and you can't just naively assume
3289s	you know if you do something awesome
3292s	it's just gonna work you you really have
3294s	to think about upfront like
3297s	how is this going to get used and I
3299s	think that's something that we're very
3300s	proud of with Albion is that
3303s	um there's a lot of things that that
3307s	could easily fail completely
3310s	that we that we have managed to put into
3313s	a place where it's you know constantly
3317s	working
3318s	um example is just the overall economy
3320s	right it's it's uh it's not entirely
3323s	trivial to build
3325s	an economy that's that uh
3328s	remains stable
3330s	and and active for for such a long
3334s	period of time
3337s	yeah I'd have to say that the economy in
3340s	Albion is one of the most unique in
3342s	gaming period And I know that there are
3345s	people who just play the economy in
3347s	Albion whereas in other games it's such
3349s	a a minor aspect of the MMO that it is
3353s	generally an aside but Bogle plays just
3356s	the economy that's his thing that he
3359s	does in the game and he absolutely loves
3361s	it to the extreme and there's so many
3363s	people like him and it's not just they
3366s	play the economy some of them will play
3368s	the plots you know like the plot
3370s	ownership and some of them will be uh
3372s	the the laborers for example that's what
3375s	they work on or just farming or
3377s	gathering there's so many different
3379s	interconnected pieces to the economy
3382s	that it provides a gameplay type for so
3385s	many different players than just the PVP
3388s	oriented players and that was one of the
3391s	things we are tremendously proud of that
3394s	because if you watch our very very early
3398s	announcement videos this is exactly what
3401s	we're promising right we we may long
3404s	before the game was playable for for a
3407s	broader audience we made videos where we
3409s	promised exactly that right you can be a
3411s	Trader you can you can just play the
3414s	economy you can just be a gatherer you
3416s	don't have to PVP but you can etc etc so
3420s	that the fact that this has worked is uh
3423s	wow
3424s	yeah and and largely also thanks to the
3428s	players and everybody who participated
3429s	in the alpha phases and in the beta
3432s	phases and then who stuck with us
3434s	through you know the the pay-to-play
3437s	phase post launch and then
3439s	after the free to play launch where you
3441s	know these these weren't necessarily
3443s	times where the game was always doing
3446s	great in All Phases there were always
3449s	issues with these with these things not
3451s	like we we drew them up on paper
3455s	um and put them there and everything
3456s	which is work I mean
3458s	um
3459s	we went through so many iterations and I
3461s	think that's also that's also a strength
3464s	for at least we'd like to think though
3466s	so that we that we are willing to
3468s	revisit our Concepts and reiterate on
3472s	the concepts to to keep refining
3475s	um the systems and I know it's
3477s	frustrating sometimes when when
3479s	basically instead of some new awesome
3481s	feature we go back to a feature to to
3483s	put it into better place on the other
3485s	hand I know there's a lot of people who
3486s	actually prefer us to do that and who
3489s	don't like when we put new content in
3491s	but it's it's it what we actually
3493s	observe is when when an update focuses
3495s	on new content we get a lot of messages
3497s	about all the old contents that are good
3500s	and if we do an update where we focus on
3502s	Old content there's a lot of messages
3503s	saying where's the new stuff so you know
3506s	in reality we have to balance those
3508s	needs and that's one of the most
3511s	challenging things honestly about this
3512s	game is that
3514s	the diversity of experience how how are
3519s	you enjoying Albion online what is your
3521s	Albion online
3522s	that is so extremely hard to answer as a
3526s	team of of you know just about 60 people
3530s	out of which only really 40 are working
3534s	on the game and and are kind of in the
3537s	know the rest is working on on you know
3539s	publishing side things and and
3542s	working that closely with the game so
3544s	there's you know how how with this
3546s	relatively small number of people are
3549s	you going to get an idea what the
3553s	perspective
3554s	is that everybody has because even if
3557s	everybody in the team plays very
3558s	actively Albion online they wouldn't
3561s	even have the breadth of experience that
3563s	is that is there right so
3566s	um we can we can often understand when
3568s	players in certain areas of gameplay
3570s	feel left behind because of certain
3572s	decisions just extremely hard to get
3575s	behind what everybody's actually doing
3577s	in the game when you compare it for
3579s	example to I don't know League of
3581s	Legends or something like that right
3582s	where you have a
3584s	already rather tight like really tight
3587s	everybody's playing the same game right
3588s	yeah everybody's doing the exact same
3590s	thing they're going forward and they're
3591s	splitting into Lanes
3592s	foreign
3594s	but uh yeah I wanted to touch a little
3596s	bit on the the old versus new content
3599s	because you guys just released an update
3601s	Into The Fray that focuses largely on
3604s	that Fresh coat of paint looking at
3606s	older systems and making them better
3608s	while still adding a bit of new to it
3611s	and I feel it was really well received
3613s	from the fans because so many people had
3615s	been asking can you look at some of this
3617s	old stuff can you do this and you know
3620s	we kind of joke around
3622s	in our office it is the fan service
3624s	patch it's the the quality of life this
3627s	is the one for the long term fans this
3629s	is for the guys who've been here and
3630s	asking for these updates forever and I
3633s	can tell you the fans appreciate it they
3634s	really do
3636s	yeah glad to hear that the crystal
3639s	reader also was something that we wanted
3641s	to do for a while so I was happy that we
3643s	could finally get it in
3644s	and I would like to add a point to what
3647s	Robin said this is iterative process
3649s	that we have is a very big part of our
3651s	philosophy and and I think what makes
3653s	the game so strong is we are always
3655s	trying to react to What The Players how
3658s	they interact with our content right we
3659s	have an idea we make a plan and then we
3661s	launch it and then we we see how do you
3664s	play it and then we need to react on it
3665s	so we if players do things differently
3668s	than we originally intended and we do
3671s	not need to definitely block that we
3673s	have to see okay what what are they
3675s	doing does that cost problems would they
3677s	like content to be more pushed into that
3679s	direction and then there's kind of this
3681s	back and force mentality that is uh very
3684s	important I think for for our whole
3686s	philosophy and that is also um
3689s	part of our patches when we reiterate on
3692s	older content and it's also very fun I
3695s	think to to like refine things and and
3697s	work keep working on them and see how
3700s	pleasant they act with them and then
3701s	making improvements that they enjoy this
3703s	content more
3704s	I think we're going to talk later a
3706s	little bit about uh how how updates
3709s	actually get made and planned and how
3711s	how does all of that work because that's
3712s	actually a pretty intriguing and complex
3714s	process
3716s	I I do want to talk about something that
3718s	you guys changed and it was a philosophy
3721s	change it was a huge change for the game
3723s	when you went from 5v5
3726s	content for territorial control to zvz
3730s	for territorial control with Queen it
3734s	completely changed the way the game was
3735s	played it changed uh philosophies in the
3738s	game it changed who was getting the
3740s	content do you want to go into that a
3743s	little bit and what
3744s	what kind of pushed you guys to do that
3746s	was it a technology change where you
3748s	suddenly had the technology to do it or
3750s	was it just hey um
3752s	5v5 is stressful and nobody gets to do
3755s	it maybe we should make it zvz
3758s	actually actually there was a
3759s	technological component there I don't
3762s	know if David remembers yeah they're
3764s	absolutely is the thing is that
3767s	um
3767s	you know if if this had been the
3770s	original proposition of the game you
3772s	know let's make a
3774s	350 400 people fight literally on the
3778s	same screen I would have said you are
3781s	freaking insane right that is never that
3784s	is never gonna work you know show me the
3786s	game that does that it's always a bad
3789s	sign if there is no other game in the
3791s	market that can do that right and then
3794s	you're the one hey I'm gonna pull that
3795s	off probably not
3798s	um but
3800s	um over time it turned out that we were
3803s	doing relatively good in that uh in in
3805s	that department right we we could
3808s	actually support much larger larger
3810s	fights than we thought
3812s	and then of course Robin and his game
3814s	design team started to push us in that
3817s	direction and said look guys can we can
3820s	we make that work better right uh this
3823s	is really something that that the
3824s	players are enjoying this is something
3826s	that they want to do
3828s	um what can we do to to technically
3830s	improve that and there is no uh there is
3835s	not a single you know technical decision
3837s	that enabled that right there was not a
3839s	really a breakthrough moment or anything
3841s	it was a continuous process of of
3845s	iteration right essentially we have the
3849s	unfortunately we have the ability to
3851s	simulate large fights in-house right
3854s	we're talking about 400 people right we
3856s	cannot have a play test with 400 people
3858s	every now and then so we use Bots
3860s	essentially in-house to simulate such
3863s	fights and and to do measurements and so
3866s	what we do is we examine very carefully
3868s	where the bottlenecks are they are
3871s	sometimes on the network side uh the
3874s	network Hardware as a component the CPU
3876s	is a component
3878s	etc etc and then you have to you know
3880s	you have to simulate you have to measure
3882s	you have to identify the bottlenecks
3884s	then you have to try and eliminate those
3887s	bottlenecks and then you rinse and
3889s	repeat
3890s	and we're still doing that by the way to
3892s	this day uh in in the last patch some of
3895s	you guys have probably noticed uh we
3898s	have released another important
3900s	Improvement to these to these large
3902s	fights we constantly have to right
3904s	because we keep adding stuff to the game
3906s	and and uh sometimes we make things
3910s	worse
3911s	and then we have to fix them again and
3914s	optimize them again yeah if I remember
3916s	correctly basically I mean I I you you
3919s	gave me the credit for pushing for this
3920s	but I actually remember the code team
3922s	itself having the ambition to improve
3925s	the large fight performance and heavily
3927s	driving that process yeah because you
3930s	got players to do it first right yeah
3933s	what what usually happens at the office
3936s	if you if you want to know the the real
3938s	story here is that that we me and my
3942s	team we get YouTube videos right of
3945s	fights with lag and then people are like
3949s	you know here's a video uh the
3952s	performance isn't good this is lagging
3953s	you need to fix that
3956s	and and then we look at that and we're
3958s	like this is really our game really this
3961s	is what the game designers have done
3963s	with it this is what you can do in it in
3964s	the game
3967s	um and and then we kind of have to fix
3969s	it after the fact right so it's a player
3972s	driven optimization right we first
3974s	shipped the feature and then we we fix
3976s	it afterwards yeah
3981s	I can tell you that now I get a lot of
3984s	video submissions of lag and I just pass
3986s	it on through to QA we can talk about
3989s	lag and then and and the associated
3991s	challenges but later but but to get back
3994s	to the decision about
3996s	um large scale fights so I remember that
3998s	basically the code team had pushed us
4001s	forward in the performance of large
4003s	fights to a point where we were
4005s	comfortable or more comfortable with
4008s	that decision
4009s	and it was something that we debated for
4012s	a very very long time because obviously
4016s	or up to that point five versus five
4019s	fights had been kind of one of the
4021s	centerpieces of albions
4023s	design
4025s	um
4026s	but eventually we we just realized that
4032s	the structures that
4034s	were being created
4037s	from the these high-end fights were just
4040s	unhealthy for the social
4043s	uh structures that were being created in
4045s	the game there were a lot of guilds that
4047s	were just built around supporting a few
4049s	players having these fights and
4051s	everybody else having to support them
4053s	and we noticed that that was making
4056s	people quit a lot of a lot of people
4058s	just didn't
4059s	join into these guilds and then the
4062s	other part was that guilds that were
4064s	successful didn't really have a reason
4067s	to invite new players to to show them
4069s	the ropes and to and and to get them in
4071s	so again
4074s	you players would come to the game and
4076s	they wouldn't find a place for
4077s	themselves because the territories were
4079s	all occupied and nobody wanted them in
4082s	their group
4084s	and I think opening this up to to
4088s	large-scale territory Warfare was
4090s	possibly the key decision that we made
4093s	for Albion online because it changed the
4096s	Dynamics that the guilds suddenly
4098s	started to care about new players they
4100s	suddenly started to care about involving
4103s	everybody and and and and and you know
4106s	build these social structures that
4107s	actually encourage people to stay and
4109s	not just exploit them from an economic
4111s	perspective
4113s	um so while we obviously we we really
4117s	loved the competitive meta that existed
4120s	in those fights and the the stories that
4123s	were being created I mean you probably
4125s	still remember some of the names from
4127s	those days and we all remember them
4130s	because we saw them so often but when a
4133s	key part of your game is dominated by a
4136s	few names
4137s	then you know that you have a problem if
4139s	you have an MMO right that is totally
4142s	fine if you have a Esports game where
4146s	you always notice the top end players
4148s	that's what you want to have
4150s	but in an MMO you want everybody to be
4152s	able to participate and so we made that
4156s	that was probably the most crucial
4158s	Direction Change we've done for Albion
4161s	online post launch
4163s	um and it was also the moment that the
4165s	game really started to take off
4167s	with that change basically the
4169s	population numbers started ironic
4172s	ironically that was kind of a holy cow
4175s	internally that we slaughtered in that
4177s	moment right because that that 5v5 was
4182s	literally in the very first draft of the
4184s	game design it was one of the core
4186s	pillars of the game
4188s	and it sounded like a good idea because
4191s	the the notion here was there's large
4194s	guilds and there's small guilds and the
4196s	larger guilds are always going to
4197s	dominate the small goods are never going
4199s	to have a chance and so we're gonna
4201s	level the battlefields by making it
4204s	about 5v5 combat right and that sounded
4208s	like a very reasonable idea
4212s	uh at a lot of team members
4215s	um
4216s	a little clung to that idea right until
4219s	Robin ran the numbers and said look I I
4222s	can show you that it's literally a
4225s	thousand players who are you know
4227s	thousands out of hundreds of thousands
4229s	who are playing these 5v5 battles and
4231s	everybody else is left out
4238s	I was recording those matches and while
4241s	there might have been thousands of
4242s	characters who participated that was
4245s	because several players had dozens of
4247s	players and alts that they had made so
4249s	that they can be in multiple areas at
4252s	once and at one point it felt like you
4254s	guys were playing catch-up like gameplay
4256s	design wise to stop them from doing that
4260s	yeah yeah yeah I mean that's the other
4262s	thing the the gpg system just kept
4265s	growing in complexity to deal with all
4268s	the potential
4271s	ways that our lovely
4274s	um competitive players like to like to
4277s	push systems to the to the edge
4280s	um so we had to deal with like so many
4283s	situations that were being perceived as
4285s	unfair or as exploited just was very
4287s	very complex at that point already and
4289s	that was another hurdle for people to
4291s	get in right because it was just so hard
4293s	to understand the logic of launching
4295s	attacks and then
4297s	counter attacks and I can't even
4299s	remember retaliation attacks yeah all
4301s	the stuff that we had
4303s	high exam to the territory and we had
4306s	all we actually had that as a board game
4308s	right like we had that as a paper
4309s	prototype board game where we would be
4311s	like okay if these guys attack and then
4312s	these guys are attacking from here and
4314s	they they're launching in this time zone
4315s	and they have you have to play that out
4318s	on on a paper prototype to actually
4320s	instead of always ideas they always
4323s	found another way to to circumvent
4325s	whatever we put in there but I remember
4327s	this was quite a big discussion
4329s	internally it was uh that was like kind
4331s	of like a crossroad do we keep the
4333s	system or do we ditch it and it was
4335s	quite a big leap to take because like
4337s	like also David mentioned we built a lot
4339s	around that fantasy that those five guys
4342s	can defend the territory and there was
4344s	like this crossover like can we fix the
4346s	system maybe we have to improve it and
4348s	we built like the combat around it and
4350s	always about this fantasy uh but
4353s	changing it like Robin said was a very
4356s	good decision but it took a bit of
4357s	Facebook and so we weren't sure because
4359s	the meta and the whole game has been
4361s	evolving around it and was quite drastic
4363s	shift also technologically uh can we
4368s	handle actually these huge fights all
4369s	the time
4371s	I think one thing I gotta ask you retro
4373s	man talking about these large-scale
4375s	fights uh the introduction obviously
4378s	um outside moving from 5v5s to actual
4381s	foe scale 350 plus battles one thing
4384s	that had to come in was the cluster
4386s	queue system oh yeah how
4389s	hard was it and how difficult was it you
4392s	know to build and think about that whole
4394s	system because a lot of players right
4396s	now don't actually remember or weren't
4399s	actually playing back then I was I
4402s	remember massing up three hours before a
4404s	territory battle just to fill the zone
4406s	so if you can give us a little bit of
4409s	insight into the cluster queue system uh
4412s	sure yeah so the classic queue so first
4414s	why we did that even is there was a
4416s	problem that we need a limit how many
4418s	players can be in a cluster in a Zone in
4421s	the game right that was back then I
4422s	think it was 300 players
4424s	and um
4427s	what happened is if we had a super high
4429s	value objective like castles even back
4431s	then if there was a huge dispute or a
4434s	huge fight between large armies uh one
4437s	would just go in two hours early and
4439s	block it completely with 300 players and
4441s	then you couldn't end and that was how
4443s	you could decide fighter that was
4444s	something if you if you remove the 5v5
4447s	uh fighting about territories then we
4449s	need to solve that then we need to have
4451s	a way to resolve fights where you could
4454s	even bring a thousand players they
4455s	needed there need be a way to do that
4457s	and we have actually been uh discussing
4460s	different concepts for this
4463s	um one idea what my favorite was the one
4465s	where players get stumped by a giant
4467s	finger yeah there's too many of them
4469s	yeah I remember that actually
4473s	no and the other was um one idea was we
4476s	had would create a copy of the cluster
4478s	so you you have 300 players here and if
4480s	you exceed the maximum we would try to
4482s	copy players down into like a shadow
4484s	realm I kinda imagine like stranger
4487s	things upside down world it's like
4488s	Shadow version and then people could get
4491s	teleported would be teleported down
4493s	there and keep fighting and then get
4494s	teleported up there which sounds cool at
4497s	the beginning but when you think through
4499s	all the problems that educated it
4501s	becomes very convoluted and
4503s	also technically more challenging and
4505s	also absolutely scrapped it and uh turns
4508s	the whole mechanism of choosing players
4510s	to send down instead of sending them
4512s	down in this layer sends them to the
4514s	exits that's how they cluster queue was
4516s	developed and actually it was uh quite
4518s	an uh challenging feature uh with all
4521s	the edge cases and I had to work closely
4523s	together with David on it and even now
4526s	if you have to make an adjustment we all
4528s	have to look up all the details again
4530s	because there's a lot of edge cases and
4532s	timing issues when you collect the
4535s	players for this the item power how do
4537s	you organize them where do you send them
4539s	and what's actually quite a challenging
4541s	feature
4542s	but something we had today I think
4544s	overall I can't totally see why it's not
4547s	an exciting features uh for players
4549s	because this is just to prevent a
4551s	problem and but I think that we added it
4555s	was a massive was one of the key things
4557s	we needed to do to make the territory
4560s	Warfare uh open to get rid of this 5v5
4563s	com so it was a crucial feature for that
4565s	therefore I think I'm very glad that we
4568s	did it and that was also
4570s	one of those crazy features they say we
4573s	don't do it like other games we do it
4574s	like the Albion where we create
4576s	something completely new that no one
4578s	does
4579s	and find the solution for something that
4581s	didn't have a solution so far
4583s	and those Solutions did work as you were
4585s	saying before the zvz for territory
4588s	control is one of those things that led
4589s	to the success of Albion online that you
4592s	guys are enjoying today
4594s	did you guys ever expect this kind of
4596s	success when you were dealing with the
4598s	launch of the game and some of those
4599s	hard days in the early periods did you
4602s	ever expect that it would turn into this
4606s	but we were hoping for that of course
4610s	um if you ask about the very early days
4612s	the truth is that when we started that
4614s	project
4616s	um
4617s	we completely agreed also with our
4619s	investors that first of all a video game
4622s	is not uh is not the best investment for
4625s	money
4627s	and uh
4629s	that we would probably have a 20 chance
4632s	of success and back then I thought that
4634s	was even very optimistic
4637s	so yeah of course that's what you aim
4639s	for right when you build a game you aim
4641s	for that success but believing
4644s	um I don't know believing is a big word
4646s	there were certainly times when I
4650s	thought we would fail
4652s	right there were there were Dark Days
4654s	okay there were the occasional like this
4657s	I mean I told you already at the
4658s	beginning that I uh
4661s	um
4664s	I I thought the project was crazy when I
4666s	joined right I didn't I didn't join
4669s	really because I thought that this had
4673s	such a great chance of success
4677s	I joined because I thought it was crazy
4679s	enough to try
4681s	and
4683s	that you know you don't you don't get
4685s	the chance to to work on a game like
4687s	this twice
4689s	your life so uh you know that was that
4693s	was the primary motivation for for
4697s	trying to see if we can make it work and
4700s	doing our best to make it work but I and
4704s	and obviously you you always work with
4706s	the expectation or or with the
4710s	looking for Success you're not you're
4711s	not going to start something where you
4713s	think there is no chance right but um I
4717s	certainly did not
4719s	see us you know surpass uh 35 000
4724s	concurrent players
4726s	in in in in the game world like that
4729s	wasn't something I was thinking about
4731s	back back in those days we were like we
4733s	were thinking about much smaller
4736s	numbers
4738s	it really started as a niche product and
4740s	has grown in accessibility and and reach
4744s	over the years and I think a lot of that
4746s	is some of those special choices that
4748s	you guys made the ways that you took a
4751s	different path rather than the path to
4753s	other game companies were making like
4754s	you said nobody else has a game where
4757s	you can play uh 150 versus 150 in a
4761s	single zone uh there's no other game
4763s	where you can play 100 versus 100 versus
4764s	100 and it truly makes for an absolutely
4768s	unique game that I think really has
4771s	surpassed expectations it's for me
4774s	personally I never expected it to get
4775s	this big
4777s	um you know I thought it was going to be
4778s	a niche game for me and my friends but
4780s	now
4782s	people I've been stopped on the street
4785s	like it's kind of weird you know it's
4788s	it's really cool well I I have never
4796s	it's a bit of give and take um and you
4799s	know it's on the street in front of the
4801s	convention center where there's a bunch
4802s	of people playing video games so you
4804s	know it's it's not at the grocery store
4807s	nobody came up to me with their grocery
4809s	cart you know full of a a computer going
4812s	hey do you play this game too yeah
4816s	but uh
4817s	like I said it's unexpected
4819s	um what other unexpected things have
4821s	happened what have you seen that players
4822s	have done that was truly unexpected that
4825s	you weren't
4826s	you saw that and you're like what the
4830s	why this this uncountable things like
4833s	that I I wanna I wanna share one
4835s	anecdote before we tell this story
4836s	because I think one thing that few
4838s	players realize is that I I talked
4842s	earlier about how difficult it is to see
4844s	how players are playing the game and you
4847s	know not everybody in the team
4849s	is into the game or or understands the
4851s	game on the same level right like we
4854s	have people who are super into the
4855s	hardcore PVP aspect we have people who
4857s	are super into the economy we have
4859s	people who are just superficially
4860s	playing a little bit of we have every
4862s	every kind of style of play at the
4864s	office
4864s	so that we what we try to do is to have
4868s	in every room one big screen where the
4871s	game is running and where we follow a
4874s	random player that is currently playing
4876s	the game live
4877s	for a period of about 30 seconds before
4880s	we switch to the next player so we
4883s	effectively kind of just observe what
4886s	are people currently doing in the game
4887s	and this has been one of the most
4891s	exciting ways of seeing crazy stuff
4895s	happening because that mode takes you
4899s	all over the game right like it takes
4901s	you to it takes you to Hell Gates it
4904s	takes you to
4905s	the roads hideouts everywhere so you see
4908s	and and and and player islands is one of
4911s	the yeah
4913s	what do people do in the privacy of
4916s	their Islands you don't want to know
4917s	yeah
4918s	nobody wants to end up there
4920s	accidentally
4921s	call that thing the stock mode by the
4924s	way
4926s	and and it is it is a really cool way
4928s	for us to get an impression what are
4931s	people actually doing in the game
4933s	because obviously because it's a random
4935s	selection of a player
4936s	it's kind of statistically represents
4939s	things that people are doing often
4942s	frequently on those screens and things
4944s	that are happening rarely rarely and
4946s	people in the office working they just
4948s	kind of see that on the side and they're
4950s	always aware of what's going on in this
4952s	world and I'll I'll tell you now if
4955s	you're trying to
4957s	do weird stuff in the game that might
4960s	not be
4962s	within the term within the license
4965s	agreement or the terms of the game
4968s	we have spotted more than one person
4971s	doing weird stuff with this with the
4975s	system and it has led to game exclusions
4977s	uh uh seeing what people have done there
4981s	so uh it's a there's
4984s	it's a really cool way of seeing what
4986s	people are doing and keep kind of
4988s	keeping things in check in on top of
4990s	everything else that we have right
4993s	um because it's just yeah you you see
4995s	you see for example how people are
4997s	standing in in a dungeon and and
5001s	you know treating a mob that you'd you
5004s	spent hours and days lovingly treating
5008s	the tweaking the values of this mob and
5010s	thinking about how players are going to
5012s	play it and then you see them standing
5014s	in a corner exploiting a collision issue
5016s	to to uh to not get hit by the attacks
5019s	that use a lot so lovingly designed so
5023s	um
5024s	yeah so for me it's like the these
5027s	moments that we witness on there uh were
5031s	probably among some of the most
5032s	surprising stuff I mean stuff like for
5034s	example a guilds gathering on Guild
5036s	Islands if you're not part of a of a
5039s	guild yourself that has the sort of
5041s	scale of people you as a developer would
5045s	never see that moment of the game you
5048s	would never know that those places are
5050s	being used for staging large Guild
5052s	operations for example
5055s	but in that way we do and that's cool
5058s	absolutely yeah but ads I think except
5061s	from all these kind of exploits and how
5063s	they try to game our systems that's
5065s	often surprising but kinda expected a
5068s	few other cool details where when they
5070s	tried when they did a soccer game with
5072s	rabbits on an island just with
5074s	knockbacks that was a very cool and
5076s	creative idea when I saw that about
5078s	something oh wow that's that's
5079s	interesting
5080s	another cool thing was the Albion Museum
5084s	that was really surprising that actually
5086s	was a really cool moment for us too as
5088s	developers and we said oh wow players
5090s	were actually built this that is cool
5093s	there's a lot of little neat things out
5095s	there and I'm always surprised by what I
5097s	run into whether it's little
5098s	celebrations on Islands or
5102s	um we'll often bounce around like you
5103s	said on the world tour there and during
5107s	the the war reports you know I'm
5109s	generally trying to find battles but
5111s	sometimes we'll get sent over to
5112s	something else and I'll get sent over to
5113s	a random group of 30 people standing in
5116s	a shape using their spells to make art
5119s	or some nonsense like that why why you
5123s	didn't know I was coming you didn't know
5124s	this was going to be on TV what are you
5126s	doing yeah I think a recent rave party I
5129s	saw on on what was it
5131s	yeah that was pretty cool too that was
5134s	really awesome to see I love seeing like
5137s	that's when Albion spills out of the
5139s	game into the game outside the game and
5141s	that community that you guys have built
5143s	gets to continue on and do something
5145s	else and I feel like that's the the most
5147s	special thing that we get out of working
5149s	in MMOs is that the fact that you're
5151s	really building a community not just a
5153s	game okay other people build games that
5155s	people play Maybe with their own friends
5157s	but when you build an MMO you're
5159s	building a community where people are
5161s	going to get thrown in together and meet
5163s	new people and make lifelong
5164s	relationships with people from all the
5166s	way around the world and it's really
5168s	cool that you guys have managed to pull
5169s	that off
5173s	it's uh it's actually the work is never
5176s	done thank you
5177s	thank you for being here um on that same
5180s	vein of like things that surprised you
5183s	what was the biggest oh crap moment you
5185s	guys had when working on this game where
5188s	things went completely wrong and you
5189s	were like I'm not coming into work
5192s	tomorrow
5193s	but with that that's never happened okay
5195s	because normally when you have such a
5196s	moment you know that you're not leaving
5198s	work until it's fixed it's gonna be a
5201s	long time and the next day you have to
5203s	deal with whatever Fallout you couldn't
5205s	deal with on that day
5207s	so so there's no exemption to to come
5210s	back to work if you screwed up no what I
5213s	guess what you're looking for is uh I I
5216s	had a number of heart attacks
5218s	um on on this obviously because I'm
5221s	working with the technology right and
5223s	that that's all Robin doesn't want me to
5226s	tell these stories because we need to
5228s	appear to be in control all the time but
5230s	the truth is that there are these oh
5233s	crap moments right there was this one
5235s	occasion and I believe it was doing
5237s	better but I'm not sure
5240s	um but I was at home and I was
5242s	experimenting with the uh with it with a
5244s	database set up essentially and
5248s	um my intention was to run a test on my
5251s	local machine
5252s	but I had misconfigured something
5255s	and my local database uh connected to
5259s	the live database of the game and
5261s	essentially took down the game and the
5263s	process and everybody was offline and
5267s	and and and then my phone started
5269s	ringing and someone was there with the
5270s	game it's down and have a board and then
5272s	I realized oh crap that was me I I I did
5277s	that and
5279s	um
5280s	uh there were even situations I don't
5284s	want to go into details about even
5285s	situations where I thought I had just
5287s	killed the database fortunately that has
5290s	never really happened but there were
5292s	those you know those brief moments when
5295s	you thought you might have just killed a
5298s	multi-million dollar game I I want to
5301s	reassure all players here that the daily
5304s	maintenance process is there to ensure
5306s	there's always live backups that that
5309s	are in place in case anything like that
5312s	ever actually the question was about my
5314s	heart attacks and those are very real
5316s	right backups are not
5319s	I can only imagine I I messed up an
5321s	interview before and uh Gone wait I
5323s	didn't record that half an hour
5325s	interview I can't imagine you know the
5327s	exponentially greater oh God I just
5331s	deleted six months of work uh how do I
5333s	fix that that's the kind of thing like
5336s	my wife for instance she's an event
5337s	manager and she always tells me you know
5340s	about her 500 people parties and all the
5343s	stuff that goes wrong and then I'm
5344s	always like you know what I just kicked
5347s	30 000 people out and then now waiting
5351s	in front of the venue and they want to
5354s	get back in but they can't get back in
5357s	until I fix this thing here right that
5359s	is my life
5363s	yeah and you have to you have to build a
5366s	fix you have to verify it while
5368s	everybody is waiting and everybody you
5370s	know you're very aware that everybody's
5372s	waiting yeah 30 000 people you get used
5375s	to it actually right the first time it's
5377s	kind of strange
5380s	yeah I I a few messages you know you
5383s	know it's it's
5384s	operating a a single server game which
5389s	is necessary to well single I say single
5391s	server obviously from a technology point
5393s	it's a lot of computers involved but
5396s	it's all one connected cluster of
5398s	computers that are operating in unison
5400s	to create this one World
5402s	um
5403s	is much more challenging to keep that in
5407s	a in a good State I think than than if
5409s	you have a match-based game for example
5410s	I mean I don't want to you know
5413s	match page based games have all their
5415s	own challenges but like in particular
5417s	keeping that one server uh in a good
5421s	State all the time when you have things
5423s	like Hardware failures you have network
5425s	issues that obviously are not in in your
5428s	control and on top of that you're
5430s	constantly updating
5432s	this thing there's there's a lot of
5434s	things that can go wrong and and some of
5436s	them are within your control and some of
5438s	them really are not like we get a lot of
5441s	complaints for for bad internet latency
5445s	issues and some of that is is obviously
5448s	due to the server location having to be
5451s	in in one place and and we we had to
5454s	make a decision about like what is the
5456s	best place for all of our players where
5458s	we can put this
5460s	um
5461s	but there's also a lot where there's
5464s	just issues on the internet and and and
5466s	and and we have to uh we're being asked
5469s	to to deal with those issues and
5471s	sometimes we can sometimes we can we can
5473s	put pressure on providers to to look
5475s	into certain issues certain routing
5477s	problems or whatever but it's you know
5479s	in the end
5481s	we don't have our own internet right
5484s	we're sharing this with everybody else
5488s	um
5489s	yeah um I think I think I mean the
5491s	biggest the biggest oh crap moment for
5493s	us
5494s	was was post-launch to be honest I mean
5496s	this was this was heartbreaking because
5499s	we'd worked towards the launch so very
5502s	hard and then
5504s	we were hit by a number of issues the
5507s	first one we were responsible for to be
5509s	honest we we had in very good faith
5512s	um upgraded the hardware
5515s	um for the servers specifically for
5517s	launch because we really wanted the game
5519s	to do well at launch
5520s	but unfortunately
5523s	there was a I think it was a multi-cpu
5526s	issue on with a database
5529s	yeah back then it was a very strange
5533s	thing with a rate controller of that
5537s	particular database machine not giving
5540s	the database the performance it needed
5542s	it was a very very obscure issue and in
5546s	the end we only figured it out with the
5548s	help of of of a real expert which which
5552s	we basically hired a consultant for that
5555s	type of database and he then figured out
5557s	that there's an issue with a rate
5559s	controller in that particular model of
5561s	computer blah blah blah
5564s	exactly
5569s	and and this was purely a result of us
5571s	actually have wanting to upgrade the
5573s	hardware to make things better right but
5576s	then the second issue that hit us hard
5578s	obviously were the the denial of service
5581s	attacks post-launch and and there we
5584s	have to admit that you know we like like
5586s	David said originally we're not a team
5588s	of Veteran MMO developers we didn't come
5592s	from the the big MMOs back in the day
5594s	but you know this is this is we've been
5597s	doing it for a very long time now but it
5599s	was our first MMO and we learned a lot
5603s	about DDOS protection
5606s	um but unfortunately obviously the first
5608s	weeks after launch were just a very
5611s	terrible experience for the players
5614s	because so the the frequent disruptions
5618s	[Music]
5618s	um
5619s	but from a from a team perspective those
5622s	were nightmare days because because we
5626s	were working you know whenever we were
5628s	awake we were trying to work on this and
5631s	we had this exact thing where what David
5634s	was saying with with 30 000 people
5637s	wanting to get in and not being able to
5639s	and you're trying to to deal with the
5642s	issue and really a lot of it is very
5643s	much out of your control
5645s	because you're relying on working with
5648s	hosting partners
5650s	can move at their speed
5652s	and uh yeah we had we had a bunch of
5656s	very terrible weeks
5659s	um you know where where you also have to
5661s	deal with with people claiming that
5663s	you're somehow falsely claiming that
5665s	it's a DDOS attack that you just didn't
5667s	prepare for the servers or whatever uh
5670s	and and and you know that that was that
5673s	was probably the most heartbreaking and
5675s	oh crap moment for uh for the for the
5678s	players it's all the same of course
5679s	right they can't play the game right
5681s	they don't care whether it's a hardware
5684s	issue whether it's uh an issue with
5687s	their internet provider whether it's a
5689s	DDOS attack or whatever right it is it
5692s	is obviously the developer's fault and I
5695s	can't really blame them right because
5697s	from their perspective they just they
5699s	just just want to play the game and
5707s	like the player said for some of them
5708s	had been waiting almost three years at
5710s	that point to play your game they had
5712s	been actively involved in the testing
5713s	everybody's showing up to Beta like you
5715s	said you watched over and over again on
5717s	those beta releases that those those
5720s	little nodes where the people would
5721s	spawn it would just fill up and then
5723s	they spread out into every direction you
5725s	saw that so many times and release
5728s	people were making you know I hate to
5730s	bring it up but that 27-page document to
5732s	prepare for release so that your guild
5734s	could get an advantage I see some
5736s	smiling faces on there everybody had a
5738s	guild like that I see yeah we all
5740s	prepared and then it was so rough and a
5744s	lot of players don't realize how rough
5747s	for you guys it is because it was your
5748s	baby it was the thing you've been
5750s	working on forever at that point David
5752s	had been working on for five years
5753s	getting ready for that date to make this
5756s	game work and then everything that could
5759s	go wrong did go wrong and then somehow
5762s	within I would say about two years you
5764s	guys had really started to turn it
5766s	around and let's talk a little bit about
5769s	that what were some of the most fun uh
5771s	challenging things that happened that
5773s	weren't awful something that happened
5775s	that you were like this is tough but
5777s	it's great to work on and I love the
5778s	outcome of what we've done
5784s	oh there are a lot of systems that uh
5788s	that I'm I'm really proud of
5791s	for instance one of the one of the areas
5793s	I'm mainly responsible for is the whole
5796s	um combat and and spell uh system right
5800s	that is mostly my design and and a lot
5803s	of it is my code
5805s	and I am always impressed when I when I
5809s	when I see what the game designers are
5810s	doing with that right because I work
5813s	with toy examples as a programmer right
5816s	they asked me to do this feature and
5817s	that feature and then I I deliver that
5820s	and I deliver some toy examples uh and
5823s	then in the end I usually on on that
5826s	screen in the office I see some boss
5828s	fight and I'm like
5829s	how did they even do that you know is
5831s	that is that my system
5834s	um but but it's really fun it's it's
5836s	really cool to see that what what what
5838s	is possible and and how you can
5841s	creatively use these systems to build
5843s	such a huge variety of of abilities and
5846s	bosses and and stuff
5850s	yeah working on the combat is definitely
5852s	also the most fun and every time you get
5854s	a new toy from you David then it's super
5857s	exciting for us like oh what can we do
5858s	with this can we like when we got
5860s	multi-spad so that you can change the
5862s	spell but what can we do with it or we
5863s	can create this mimic ability where you
5865s	can maybe mimic someone because we have
5867s	another feature where we can already ask
5868s	for the web someone is wearing and then
5871s	you kind of try to experiment and that
5872s	is a lot of fun and always exciting to
5875s	work with these systems when we get
5876s	something
5877s	and another thing that I personally
5879s	enjoyed really working on recently
5881s	probably the introduction of War gloves
5885s	was a lot of fun because creating a new
5888s	webline from scratch was like kind of
5891s	like in the old bet Affairs where you
5892s	start on designing everything from
5894s	scratch was pretty fun Crystal Arena
5897s	recently was really a lot of fun because
5898s	it was also a nice change of pace we had
5900s	this existing gameplay that proved to be
5903s	uh quite good uh the long run already
5906s	but then the whole range system on top
5909s	and and how do we try to match plays and
5910s	we have a patch where we approve this by
5912s	the way there are a few issues with us
5914s	right now but that was really a lot of
5916s	fun because it was a change of pace to
5918s	work on something completely different
5920s	it was its own challenges and
5924s	that's probably what from my side and
5925s	recent times I did I I think my man my
5929s	answer to the question is it's just all
5932s	very enjoyable I think otherwise we
5934s	wouldn't have made it this far I I mean
5937s	there are certainly things that I that I
5940s	don't enjoy that much about about the
5943s	work
5944s	um but every time I get to work on the
5946s	game itself
5948s	or we get to drive the direction for a
5951s	feature or do something creatively like
5953s	last year I was heavily involved in the
5955s	in the music extension right like I did
5958s	most of the direction
5959s	uh sort of high-level game direction for
5962s	the soundtrack that was being produced
5964s	for the cities
5966s	um you know these things are
5968s	brilliant uh working working to to
5971s	improve the game I love if I have the
5973s	opportunity I love sitting down with a
5975s	feature and doing the balancing and like
5977s	going really in depth with the with the
5980s	economics or the Rewards or whatever
5982s	building massive Excel sheets to do
5984s	calculations whenever I get to do that
5986s	that's great unfortunately there's not a
5989s	whole lot of that that I still get to do
5990s	these days
5991s	um
5992s	I I even even late time Emergency
5996s	Operations when you you know there's an
5999s	issue you have to
6002s	either either the game went down because
6004s	of a technical issue or there is some
6006s	kind of uh situation being reported that
6009s	you have to deal with immediately if
6011s	you're enjoying that why there's no
6014s	there is because I get get
6016s	post-traumatic stress syndrome from that
6018s	now I I do I do too but but also there
6022s	is a there is a big satisfaction going
6025s	to bed knowing that you saved the game
6027s	one more day and you know you're
6031s	everything's good again usually it
6034s	starts with getting out of the bed in
6036s	the middle of the night right that is
6038s	also the reality of of game development
6040s	and wasn't it one of your ex bosses who
6044s	said like uh uh an online game is very
6047s	much like a farm right when you get up
6050s	the first thing is you you check the
6053s	animals and the last thing before you go
6057s	to bed is you check the animals and then
6059s	and an online game is very much like
6061s	that right
6063s	yeah bowl of animals
6065s	whoa
6068s	anybody checked on quick swipe lately
6073s	oh one of the animals of Albion who used
6075s	to constantly do the edge case he was
6078s	always coming up with different things
6080s	that you guys would have to fix and I I
6082s	can think of at least three different
6083s	occasions where something he did
6085s	resulted in the breaking of a system and
6088s	you guys had to fix it last minute
6091s	and we should constantly stalk that guy
6094s	on on some screen
6096s	yeah I remember one time where he made
6099s	that literally impossible because what
6101s	he was doing at one point is he was
6102s	standing around boss mobs logging out
6105s	waiting for other people to come fight
6107s	that overly powered boss waiting them
6110s	for them to get knocked down re-logging
6112s	into the game and murdering those guys
6114s	and I remember Michael had to to take
6116s	care of that at the time and it's just
6118s	like what is this guy doing I personally
6121s	love it when people get creative right
6124s	that that that other time there was this
6126s	exploit the game designers called it
6129s	right where where people uh committed
6132s	suicide in front of the invisibility
6134s	Shrine you know hoping that some poor
6137s	poor fool would try to loot the body and
6140s	thereby you know give up the
6142s	invisibility buff so I thought that was
6145s	terribly creative and very very clever
6147s	and every time that happens the game
6149s	designers March in and are like you know
6151s	we need to fix it I'm like fix what that
6155s	is so clever
6157s	if David if David had his way I am a
6161s	terrible game designer
6162s	every every every bad thing players find
6166s	would still be in the game I remember
6169s	that weekend vividly and I was like it's
6171s	just the layers please like let them
6174s	click the shrine instead of this bag it
6177s	was a rough day rough day that's what
6179s	happens when you push things on Friday
6182s	um let's talk about some of the other
6183s	things that you guys have done to
6185s	increase the success of the game you've
6188s	brought the uh the game to a number of
6190s	new audiences throughout the years first
6192s	there was the the steam launch
6195s	um then we had free to play the extended
6198s	language support and most recently the
6201s	mobile launch do you guys have any
6203s	future plans to expand the the reach of
6206s	Albion online yeah I was wondering when
6208s	we're going to get to the present and
6210s	the future
6211s	um well I I there's it's it's very very
6217s	difficult coming from that you know we
6220s	we announced the game with a mobile
6222s	version and then it took us
6225s	eight years
6227s	to deliver on that mobile version to to
6230s	go out and make any kind of promises I
6232s	all I can say at the moment is that yes
6236s	we are definitely looking to
6239s	expand the reach of Albion online even
6243s	further and that Inc that includes
6246s	potentially other platforms as well
6249s	um but that's not a not a heavy focus at
6252s	the moment
6254s	um but it's also not something that
6255s	we're completely ignoring so you might
6257s	have noticed that we've we did a steam
6260s	deck compatibility
6262s	[Music]
6263s	um
6264s	there's a beta version of a controller
6267s	support for Albion online now in the
6269s	game
6271s	um that we are very lucky to have one
6274s	person that is just very very dedicated
6276s	when it comes to the control
6278s	uh scheme topics so this this isn't a
6282s	huge drain of resources on the team it's
6284s	you know one person dedicating their
6286s	time to doing these things
6288s	um but it obviously pushes us into a
6291s	position where we can see you know how
6293s	well does this work
6295s	what could we be doing with it in the
6297s	future
6301s	believe it at that yeah okay okay so
6304s	what you're saying is people should go
6305s	out and make sure that they help beta
6307s	test those controller support absolutely
6310s	yeah we we love uh you know if you are a
6313s	person that
6315s	grew up with a game controller I'm not I
6317s	I wasn't allowed a console in my
6319s	household as a kid
6321s	um
6322s	my dad was a PC person uh but you know
6325s	if if you grow up on a console and
6327s	that's where you originally come from go
6329s	check out the controller support for for
6331s	Albion
6334s	it also works on mobile by the way right
6336s	there's those um controllers that you
6339s	can attach to your phone
6341s	and that may actually be a very
6344s	enjoyable way uh to play because the
6346s	phone screen is still very small and
6348s	touch is difficult but you can play that
6350s	within with the controller on your phone
6352s	it's really great
6354s	I've definitely tested out the
6356s	controller support quite a bit I really
6357s	love the movement it feels very relaxed
6359s	and instead of playing like this you're
6361s	playing like this which leads to a
6364s	completely different way to interact
6366s	with your game it kind of removes some
6368s	of this the stressful anticipation and I
6372s	like that I will never understand you
6374s	people but yeah
6377s	so uh you guys ever worked many of the
6380s	the systems in the game so far we talked
6382s	about that briefly and how you know it's
6384s	hard to balance reworking old systems
6387s	with bringing new systems into the game
6390s	are there any other old systems that you
6393s	guys have not reworked yet that you'd
6394s	like to see get a Fresh coat of paint
6398s	Mr first maybe yeah
6401s	um
6403s	yeah there are a couple I'm thinking of
6405s	which one suit to take the first one is
6407s	the the word bosses actually is uh
6410s	something like the home basis that we
6413s	call internally but this is the Earth's
6415s	mother and the demon Prince is something
6417s	that we would like to overhaul more also
6421s	of course islands is always a topic that
6423s	we have on the mind
6426s	um I think in into the frame we take out
6428s	a few of the things that we wanted to do
6430s	for a while it was a crystal Arena and
6431s	the castle oats in a smaller scale we
6434s	didn't went crazy in scope but we made a
6437s	nice modernization of that feature
6442s	um
6444s	I mean I'm not sure everybody's aware of
6445s	what what we're doing right now because
6447s	we haven't actually managed to put out a
6448s	roadmap Dev talk yet unfortunately
6450s	because I by the way maybe if you're
6452s	watching and wondering why is everybody
6453s	sitting at home rather than our lovely
6455s	Studio I finally after two years caught
6460s	The Big C
6461s	uh and have been out with a covert
6464s	infection
6465s	um
6467s	thoughts that that's why we haven't been
6469s	able to put out a roadmap video yet
6470s	unfortunately
6472s	um but obviously we're working on what
6475s	we announced in the last roadmap video
6476s	which is the the rework of the roads of
6479s	Avalon
6480s	um the introduction of The Mists as a
6483s	new way of of playing Albion online in a
6487s	open world environment but with a
6490s	guarantee not to get killed by large
6492s	groups of players outnumbering you
6494s	because you will only be able to go in
6496s	there uh on your own but you will be
6499s	able to play an open world style
6500s	experience
6502s	um and and other features associated
6505s	with that so we're we're currently
6509s	um
6511s	the biggest rework that's coming I guess
6513s	is the roads of Avalon which a lot of
6515s	people have been asking for
6517s	um and then you know while we're working
6520s	on one big update already in the back of
6523s	our minds obviously we're starting to
6525s	shape up what's going to be the next
6527s	thing and like like was just mentioned
6529s	the the player islands are certainly
6531s	something that we're thinking about a
6533s	lot because those haven't really changed
6535s	since launch and
6538s	um there's we feel they're way below the
6541s	potential of what they could be
6544s	um
6545s	there's a
6548s	there's a
6550s	another actually thing that we are
6552s	working on right now is improving the
6554s	whole way that people get into guilds
6558s	um recruitment better recruitment option
6560s	for guilds
6562s	um and
6564s	I think basically with with Islands in
6567s	mind I'm also thinking a lot about the
6570s	economic
6571s	side of that and and how
6575s	yeah how we can expand expand on on uh
6579s	on what we have in terms of economy but
6582s	also improve
6584s	um some of the existing economic groups
6587s	balance there's a lot a lot of of things
6589s	we're thinking about there right now
6592s	um and then there's a huge
6594s	list of of
6597s	um
6597s	things that are kind of in between a
6600s	rework and a new feature
6605s	um that obviously we want to get around
6606s	to someday you know territories
6610s	is certainly a thing that we have we
6612s	hadn't even considered for this update
6614s	to make a pretty major change to the
6616s	territories
6618s	um
6619s	there's
6621s	certainly going to be you know uh uh
6625s	looks taken at that maybe a little bit
6628s	generally how do we approach how do we
6630s	approach uh uh
6634s	kind of finding what we're doing right
6636s	because because with Albion it's not
6639s	like we have a 10-year master plan that
6642s	says like we're doing this then we're
6643s	doing this then we're doing this then
6644s	we're doing this
6646s	the reason why we don't have that is
6647s	because it makes no sense to even build
6650s	that plan it would never survive the
6653s	first half year of its existence because
6657s	we try to react a lot to how the players
6660s	are actually playing the game
6661s	okay and that means a lot of the
6665s	decisions we make in the in the midterm
6668s	are influenced by player feedback we
6671s	have things like our forums we read
6673s	Reddit we have all the stuff that you
6674s	send us we have the round table there's
6676s	a lot of sources of input
6678s	um oftentimes you know I on Twitter if
6681s	somebody brings something up to me I'll
6682s	I'll engage them on it and and and ask
6685s	them can you explain this a little bit
6687s	more and then you know that goes into a
6689s	pile of feedback and and gets shaped
6691s	into the decision making process for new
6694s	updates and there's always a combination
6696s	of like pulling from the stuff that we
6698s	would like to do and the goals that we
6700s	have
6701s	and then the stuff that the player base
6704s	brings to us
6706s	and then we have to consider other
6709s	things like production capabilities
6712s	seasonal timings like for example with
6715s	this last update
6717s	we wanted to focus on things that were
6719s	that had to be launched in the off
6721s	season
6722s	so that with the update afterwards we
6725s	would be focusing on things that can be
6728s	introduced in the middle of a season
6729s	because it doesn't impact the season so
6731s	much so that we're more free in choosing
6734s	a launch date right so there's a lot of
6736s	things to be considered when planning an
6739s	update
6740s	um
6741s	and that also shapes what kind of
6745s	reworks we we end up tackling like you
6748s	know sometimes we might
6750s	work on a feature not because it's
6753s	necessarily the number one thing that we
6755s	need to do right now but but because we
6758s	have the opportunity in terms of Team
6760s	resources or in terms of timing for an
6762s	update
6763s	and oftentimes you will see those things
6765s	in the convenience features that we're
6767s	introducing right like in this update
6769s	for example there were a lot of smaller
6771s	convenience things being introduced that
6773s	you know maybe aren't the number one
6775s	thing that everybody needs but when you
6777s	have the chance to do those so
6782s	sorry very long answer for a simple
6784s	question well you've answered answer his
6786s	question Robin actually
6788s	but the answer on the rework is
6790s	basically everything in Albion is always
6792s	up for a rework when there is an
6793s	opportunity
6796s	go ahead I definitely think like Islands
6798s	islands is one of the big ones that I
6800s	wanna I wanna tackle and also
6805s	yeah how do people actually make this
6808s	process from starting out as a person
6812s	that knows nothing about Albion online
6813s	into a high-end end game
6817s	uh you know player participating in
6819s	large scale PVP or competitive crystal
6822s	league or whatever your high your end
6824s	game might be in Albion online
6827s	um
6828s	how can we how how can we shape that
6830s	journey in a in a better way and then
6832s	obviously of course how do we keep the
6834s	end game interesting whatever your end
6836s	game is right
6837s	there are so many different end games
6839s	and I'll be online that it's not
6840s	possible to address every single one and
6842s	every update we try to you know squeeze
6846s	stuff for everyone in the update but for
6849s	example I've just given a reason why
6851s	it's not always possible to address
6853s	something in the seasons because you
6854s	can't really if your update is scheduled
6856s	for
6857s	in the middle of the season it's tough
6858s	to launch anything that affects the
6860s	season there's a lot of factors like
6862s	that that have to be taken into account
6864s	when actually planning
6866s	the updates so you probably have a set
6869s	of principles that you have in place for
6870s	when you're doing updates this is what
6872s	it can't affect like we don't want to
6874s	affect the seasonal competition we don't
6876s	want to affect the crystal league for
6878s	example all those things have to be Con
6881s	in consideration when you're doing a
6884s	long-term planning how far out do you
6886s	actually plan the advancement of Albion
6888s	online because you said you don't have
6890s	like a 10-year plan and that would be
6891s	impossible but it sounds like you have
6893s	plans for for well into the next year
6897s	yeah I mean we have we have so how well
6900s	how well developed our plans are often
6903s	depends on how
6905s	easy and how well we're moving along
6907s	with Concepts right like sometimes
6909s	you'll have
6911s	everything figured out for a concept and
6913s	you're just waiting for the development
6915s	resources to get the concept done and
6918s	sometimes you have to think about the
6920s	concept A very long time and and and and
6923s	spend the time iterating on involving a
6926s	lot of people getting a lot of feedback
6928s	you know all of that takes time when
6931s	you're working on on highly complex
6932s	things so basically if we're if we have
6935s	the situation that
6937s	concepting is the main bottleneck then
6941s	um it can be that our our future outlook
6944s	is very short and by that I mean a
6947s	couple of months six months or so
6950s	and when when we then sometimes have the
6952s	situation that we have a bunch of
6953s	Concepts worked out
6956s	um but we we're waiting for the dev time
6958s	to actually get it done it can be you
6960s	know a year a year and a half
6962s	um ahead
6963s	it's it really depends on the situation
6966s	and like we said we don't we don't we we
6968s	always commit for roughly a six-month
6970s	time frame or like a period where we are
6974s	very very
6975s	clearly know what we're doing and we're
6977s	nowhere like 70 of our resources are
6980s	going to be going and 30 of the
6982s	resources are going to be reserved for
6983s	reacting to what's going on in the game
6986s	and you know patches and and and and and
6989s	smaller shifts that we need to do
6992s	um
6993s	and then beyond the six month Mark there
6995s	is a rough idea that we know we will
6999s	have to flesh out
7001s	uh because you know that you need to
7003s	talk to you need to talk to people about
7004s	Concepts the longer the game runs
7006s	honestly the more challenging it becomes
7008s	to make changes obviously because you
7010s	have people that have made a gameplay in
7013s	certain things that you didn't never
7016s	intend it like you're you're you're
7018s	you're like you know this this is no
7021s	longer just my design space in which I
7023s	can make changes I have to take into
7025s	account what have the players done with
7028s	it and
7029s	how much can I still support what
7031s	they're doing
7033s	uh with my new concept and you have to
7036s	worry about obviously data migration as
7038s	well and and you know
7039s	can't just in the alpha things were easy
7042s	in the alpha we would just say
7043s	everything gets wiped actually that's
7046s	the
7047s	to show my artifact from the from the
7050s	alpha days
7051s	a white pipe shirt
7053s	that hasn't been around for uh it's got
7056s	the Albion logo on in everything so it's
7058s	like official the official white pipe I
7061s	wore this in a death talk during the
7064s	alpha days because white pipe was such a
7068s	it was a phrase that was going around
7069s	right like everybody was excited about
7071s	wipes obviously we don't have any wives
7073s	anymore
7075s	um and that makes things
7077s	challenging sometimes to be fair
7080s	um and it doesn't get easier the more
7083s	Advanced the the
7085s	um
7086s	the game has become but obviously it's
7089s	also we can do bigger things now we can
7092s	we have the resources and we also have
7095s	the time frames we feel the game doesn't
7097s	need to constantly get things
7099s	necessarily to
7102s	um at least like in terms of features
7104s	there's a lot of features there now
7105s	already so we can focus resources into
7108s	bigger uh changes
7112s	in a way yeah I I feel like the the
7115s	switch from uh what was it three updates
7117s	per year to two really allowed you guys
7119s	to do more in-depth updates that really
7122s	have improved the game an absolute ton
7124s	but uh you've pretty much answered all
7127s	the questions I had for this interview
7129s	but I I know that Marco he has been
7132s	chomping at the bit to ask his questions
7134s	and I'm sure he's got some very
7135s	important ones uh Marco do you have any
7137s	questions I do and it's one word dragons
7141s	hahaha
7145s	uh eventually yeah
7147s	[Laughter]
7149s	why not okay yeah yeah as soon as
7152s	somebody can invent a dragon without a
7154s	tail we will be all set it sounds great
7157s	um but thank you guys so much for your
7159s	time today we really appreciate it I
7161s	guess I do have one last question for
7163s	you guys before I do let you go
7165s	um do you have any plans to celebrate
7167s	this on Sunday because Sunday is a huge
7169s	day for all you guys can all get
7171s	together and have an in-office
7172s	celebration maybe without Robin
7175s	yeah I'm gonna miss it our big
7178s	anniversary part is tomorrow David David
7180s	is hosting
7182s	yeah I am I have a very big I have a
7184s	very big Garden so I'm always hosting
7186s	our parties so yeah that the whole team
7188s	is Gonna Come Together tomorrow uh we're
7192s	gonna have cocktails and barbecue and
7195s	we're gonna celebrate well into Sunday I
7197s	hope
7198s	sounds fantastic I I'm so proud of
7200s	everything that you guys have done Robin
7202s	you look like you have something else
7203s	you want to say yeah I mean I want to I
7205s	want to invite the players to join the
7207s	anniversary celebration in the game of
7209s	course
7210s	um with with the ongoing anniversary
7211s	event I'm really really really looking
7215s	forward to your feedback on on this one
7217s	we we love the idea of bringing albion's
7221s	history to life and um
7224s	and you know recognizing that that
7226s	Albion is a world built by players and
7229s	that these players leave a legacy and
7232s	that you're in this with us and I want
7235s	to thank you all for yeah playing our
7238s	game enjoying our game for all the
7240s	feedback and input that we get from you
7242s	guys and we're really looking forward to
7245s	the next five years with you uh and Way
7248s	Beyond that hopefully
7251s	as am I it's been a pleasure thank you
7253s	guys so much uh David Michael Robin all
7256s	the guys here at aotv who've worked at
7258s	behind the scenes and everybody at SBI
7259s	who helped to make this show possible I
7261s	want to thank you all so much for this
7263s	it's been a tremendous success thank you
7266s	so much and we hope to do it again maybe
7268s	in less time than five years from now
7270s	I'd love to have you guys back on again
7271s	soon
7272s	we'd love to be back it's a question of
7275s	finding the time it's not easy yeah
7278s	thank you we'll be back
7281s	right thank you guys we are gonna play
7284s	some uh fan art from throughout the
7286s	years we'll play that so you guys have a
7288s	elongated chance to get the twitch drop
7291s	the exclusive twitch drop that was made
7292s	available today for this stream and
7294s	we'll even try to get another replay of
7296s	this stream up and available for you as
7298s	well as uh putting it on YouTube so
7301s	thank you guys for tuning in thank you
7303s	guys for being here it's been a pleasure
7305s	we're out

[2022] Albion Online | Fifth Anniversary Stream

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