[2023] Development Update with Ranger Archetype - 11AM PT Tuesday, December 19 2023 | Ashes of Creation Dev Tracker

Transcript (by Youtube)

2s	[Music]
17s	hello everyone and Welcome to our ashes
20s	of creation
22s	December development update we hope that
24s	You' been having I know it is our last
29s	uh development update for the year
31s	that's crazy to say 2023 that is crazy
34s	to say yeah the book is closing on 2023
37s	but 2024 is going to be a very exciting
41s	one for us if you haven't been following
43s	along um Alpha 2 is happening in 2024
47s	but we'll be you know stick around to
49s	the end we might have some other uh
50s	little announcements for you yeah um of
53s	course we hope that you all have been
54s	staying safe and you know there's a lot
57s	going on in the world right now so we we
59s	wish you all happiness and safety
60s	especially coming into this holiday
62s	season um but we've got some lot of good
66s	things to talk about as you can see from
67s	below we have uh our reminders today
71s	with some good good ones in there uh
73s	Ranger update so those of you who are
76s	Ranger folks out there definitely get
78s	your bows prepared uh knock those arrows
81s	because we are we are going to be
83s	shooting all kinds of things today yes
86s	and it's been a while since we've had a
88s	uh since we've had an archetype show
90s	case the last one was the cleric which
91s	was several months ago that's true and
94s	we have shown a preview of The Rangers
96s	so if you have been following us for a
98s	while you've seen a little bit of it but
99s	it has changed quite a bit and there are
101s	a lot of a lot more abilities to
103s	showcase for you all and there's still
105s	more to come so this is just still even
108s	even just the cusp of it um so stick
111s	around with us we got we got a journey
113s	um we'll do a little Studio update and
114s	of course we have some cool art from our
116s	art team that they love to share with
117s	you guys and then we'll do a Q&A and
119s	then you know we might have something
121s	else at the end so stick around um so
124s	with that I'll go through the
126s	updates also Steph's background looks
129s	like it's fake but I know it's real like
132s	I know that's what your office looks
134s	like and every single time I see it it's
136s	very it looks like one fake backgrounds
139s	I know it's very festive I thought you
142s	know it's December Christmas maybe we'll
144s	do a little bit of the Christmas's
146s	Background by the way I love your tree
147s	in the background that Phoenix tree holy
149s	smoke
151s	how cool is that so at the end of
153s	Christmas does it just burn away like it
155s	burns into Ash and then it reignites
157s	next next season I got the flocked tree
160s	specifically because I was like it gives
161s	the ashes Vibe yes yeah oh it totally
165s	does I think it looks great I love it
167s	this together in 20 minutes while baking
170s	broccoli we we both have an element of
173s	fire in the background I got the
174s	fireplace you've got the Phoenix fire
176s	tree that's kind of cool I put a festive
178s	sweater on well it's actually a dress
180s	but you can't see it so John said I
183s	can't I can't wear the uh the um intrep
186s	shirt I have to do something that's like
187s	winry look so he wanted me to wear the
189s	ja I was going to never I don't know if
191s	I've ever seen you wear like a white
192s	sweater before it looks good looks good
195s	um but we are all festive it is uh I
198s	think even our PI folks because we have
199s	like a pi meeting that we do every month
201s	they were like you guys are so chill
203s	you're calm I think I'm like I think
204s	it's the Calm Before the Storm at the
206s	end it's the storm yeah I was about to
207s	say it's that just everyone's bracing
209s	breathing in hold tight
212s	hold that's what's happening the team
215s	has been working really hard and we'll
216s	talk a little bit more about that in our
217s	studio update but of course um let's get
220s	into our reminders uh thank you all for
223s	joining us we hope that you are just as
225s	excited as as us for the end of this
227s	year um and of course our first one here
230s	is our YouTube subscriber comment
232s	Spotlight don't forget that if you
234s	subscribe to our YouTube channel make
235s	sure you have that public and then also
239s	uh leave a comment on our next Dev
240s	update so this update when it goes live
243s	um and you too could be spotlighted this
246s	uh this week's Spotlight or this month
248s	Spotlight is infinitely random and they
250s	want to know any plans to add AI voices
253s	to speechless text NPCs and I thought
257s	we've talked a little bit about this
259s	topic before so those of you who have
261s	been with us for a long time may have
262s	heard an answer but I thought maybe this
264s	could be a cool way for us to also talk
266s	about AI in general and where our senses
268s	on that because obviously it's a thing
270s	in this industry of this last year
272s	especially yeah I I think that um some
276s	of the technology and the advancements
278s	that we've
279s	seen you know not just within the gaming
282s	industry but a broad uh scope of AI
286s	influence um is something that we are
289s	keeping a close eye on and we have some
291s	plans to investigate and inspect a few
294s	of the designs and approaches that we've
296s	taken uh particularly as it relates I
298s	think to this question um and AI voice
302s	uh over potential um to influence our
305s	narrative loops and how players interact
308s	with uh with General AI dialogue and um
313s	there is an opportunity there uh but
315s	it's not one that we have fully explored
317s	yet although it is on the docket for the
319s	first part of next year uh for us to
321s	analyze what potential exists uh from a
324s	leveraging standpoint for this for this
326s	new tech um and I would say stay tuned
330s	uh stay tuned next year as we give
331s	updates um you'll likely see some things
334s	perhaps even in Alpha 2 um that could
337s	relate to that we'll see um but it is
340s	something we are aware of and we are
341s	keeping close tabs on how to integrate
343s	um and leverage as part of uh
347s	ashes all right hopefully that that
352s	gives you enough fuel for your answer
354s	there infinitely random and we
355s	appreciate you subscribing to our
357s	Channel and showing us some love uh
360s	reminder also that hold on a second I
364s	need to turn off these notifications if
365s	you're hearing that I apologize was my
368s	slack notification going
370s	off uh we also have our um Dev
375s	discussions up right now we have one and
378s	we had teased this last time about uh
380s	drop Rarity how do you feel when it
382s	comes to rare loot do you prefer when
385s	rare mobs and bosses bosses drop
387s	something interesting often or less let
390s	us know what your thoughts are I mean I
392s	know most of you are out there hunting
393s	for gear progression um and you
396s	definitely have thoughts on this so
398s	please please head on over to our forums
400s	and give us your thoughts on it so that
402s	we can wrap that report up and send it
404s	over to our development team and our
406s	next one is going to be utility skills
408s	so if you're interested in you know what
411s	and I think even someone put in a
413s	question that was specifically about
414s	like different types of abilities and
415s	things like that so if you have thoughts
418s	make sure that you are sharing them with
420s	us because the development team is uh
423s	pretty adamant about checking out our
425s	reports we always that's a big question
427s	that's a big question too I mean I
429s	remember some of the some of the games
431s	that I have played some MMOs in the past
433s	where this was long before the
435s	standardized modernization of like every
439s	participant gets a bound item when the
441s	raid ends this was like no the The Raid
444s	boss was a loot pinata and maybe it took
446s	a hundred people to kill it but it only
447s	dropped like six or seven complete items
451s	and you had to orchestrate like
453s	alliances would orchestrate their own
455s	like itemization owner who would like
457s	keep a list of the participants that
460s	were attending yeah absolutely and you
463s	would have to assign that out I mean
464s	that was the old school way of
466s	approaching it so when you guys go I
469s	like it too personally and and when you
471s	go it makes it more challenging and it
473s	makes the replayability of it is there
475s	because you you need it and you know you
478s	extend it to alts if there's drops that
480s	like you know are too common or whatever
483s	yeah this is a great topic for you guys
485s	to go and and comment on uh on the
487s	forums and kind of give your experiences
489s	and expectations um because it helps to
492s	validate our approach um or give us
494s	considerations that perhaps we hadn't
496s	thought of yeah um oftentimes I will say
500s	that when we're going through these
501s	reports it's always like the dev team's
503s	like yep yep yep yep they're already
504s	they're like on the same page as you
506s	guys which I think for the most part is
508s	pretty awesome there are some cas where
510s	obviously we're going to follow our
511s	design passion and love because we're
513s	like you don't think you want this but
515s	you do um and we'll test those out and
518s	like Stephen always says in our Alpha
521s	and beta phases even when we launch you
523s	know if there's a drastic feedback we're
526s	going to analyze that feedback we're
527s	going to analyze the data we're going to
529s	make sure that we're making good
530s	decisions as we move forward because I
531s	think that sometimes when I mean all of
533s	us have played many MMOs or just games
536s	in general and when developers aren't
539s	willing to like
540s	see the side of the player then that's
542s	the problem but fortunately we are all
544s	players uh so that is that is the beauty
546s	of it and we are playing our game every
548s	day it is
551s	exciting um and of course we did do a
555s	holiday delicious St discussion that we
558s	had posted up on the forums and it looks
561s	like the tul Nar theme recipes for the
563s	Del delicious Dev discussions uh as well
566s	as the bonus Junior recipes are up on
569s	the Forum so congratulations to the tar
572s	they won um I loved working with Cody
576s	did an amazing job AKA Vagner uh did an
579s	amazing job putting these together and
580s	coming up with the recipes I think I
583s	have like a
584s	little asset here that was cute there we
587s	go thank you Mike for that um this isn't
591s	all of the recipes but it's kind of cute
593s	uh and of course we'll also post them
595s	not in an image like this with just the
597s	text uh vnar has been really conscious
599s	of that because obviously some of you
600s	guys are want to copy paste it or
602s	translate it for your your localization
605s	um so yeah enjoy that we're excited we
607s	hope that you'll make some of these uh
609s	delicious meals as well so send them to
611s	us over on our Twitter Facebook or
613s	anywhere all of our social channels uh
615s	if you do end up making these over the
617s	holiday break we would love to see them
619s	um but uh yeah we're excited I'm really
623s	excited for the glow-in-the-dark noodles
625s	the underwhelm noodles oh my God that'd
628s	be cool how did you get them glow-in-the
629s	darkk
630s	uh he there's like a a thing in there if
633s	you look I can't remember what the piece
635s	is it's like sounds the tiny text that
637s	I'm looking at sounds like some
639s	significant carcinogens that probably
642s	in I did say that too I was like uh I
645s	don't know if that's healthy yeah
650s	exactly it was it was funny but um we
653s	are just to be clear these recipes are
655s	not evaluated by the FDA in any way
657s	shape or
658s	form that's fair that's fair um you know
663s	create them at your own will you don't
665s	have to eat them you can just create it
668s	um and of course uh don't forget to
670s	share your creations with us we we we do
672s	want to see them if you do end up doing
673s	it um and if you enjoyed that definitely
676s	give us feedback on the forums over
677s	there uh that you enjoyed seeing the
679s	recipes or doing that type of thing and
681s	getting kind of an insight into some of
683s	the recipes for the different races um
686s	next up we just have a reminder that our
689s	unseen order Cosmetics will be ending on
691s	January 17th 2024 at 11:00 a.m. Pacific
694s	so if you would like a pre-order pack uh
697s	now is the time to grab a pre-order pack
699s	uh you know we will be assessing our uh
703s	server capacity and things of that sort
705s	and and like where we're at in regards
707s	to that as we go into Alpha 2 so we may
709s	expand um the ability to get access to
713s	Alpha 2 in other ways but this is the
715s	last pre-order pack that will be
716s	available so if you are interested in
718s	that it is a great deal you get a lot of
720s	goodies in it um for a price that is
723s	less than the worth of the whole value
725s	of the package if I it is it is
728s	happening yes because there is time too
730s	that's Incorporated in that like game
732s	time and game time is expensive um very
735s	true and there's also an FAQ up so if
738s	you are if you have questions in regards
740s	to anything um there's answers for you
743s	over there and like I said there will be
745s	other opportunities potentially to get
746s	access to Alpha 2 it's just that we are
749s	trying to close things down to make sure
750s	that we're in a good space and we're
752s	ready and we know what our concurrency
754s	is going to be when we go into that as
756s	many of you have played many MMOs we
757s	want to make sure that the server
759s	experience is in a good place um and
763s	next up we have just a reminder of the
766s	content creator program uh it is still
769s	up for application Phase we will
771s	probably be closing the application
772s	Phase for a little bit of time um as
774s	we're going through those uh we're going
776s	to be hiring on some content creator Rel
779s	folks and powering through that soon so
781s	if you're interested or if you're
783s	already on it then you're good to go or
785s	if you're already on it and you need to
786s	edit it you should be able to go to that
788s	form and edit it and update anything
790s	that you want as well um we will do our
793s	best to get back to everybody step wants
795s	us to get back to everyone even if
796s	you're not in the program so you have a
798s	confirmation of whether you are or
799s	aren't and then also we are working out
802s	an academic PR program too for people
805s	who maybe aren't in the quite ready for
807s	the program but we think with a little
809s	training they could be um to give them
812s	some advice so it's going to be a lot of
814s	Staffing that we need to do on our end
815s	but I think that in the long run we're
817s	going to have a really really cool
819s	content creator program uh like I
822s	haven't seen any other company before
823s	agreed I've worked for yeah so yeah and
826s	and it's an important part right content
828s	creators are a big portion of how the
831s	company is able to communicate with its
833s	audience um and it's important not only
835s	to Foster the relationships but also to
838s	hone the techniques and and I think that
840s	this particular program is going to be
842s	very useful for a lot of people um to
846s	hone those techniques um to make to work
848s	with folks and I do want to make it
850s	clear we're not looking for people who
851s	are only big creators right just because
854s	we have 200 subscribers that that's not
856s	a big deal to us we're still going to be
858s	working with with you just as much as we
859s	would work with somebody who has 200,000
862s	um so it's really a matter of you know
865s	how you're obviously going to get less
866s	codes than that person because you have
868s	less followers but like we're we're
869s	going to make sure that you you know
871s	you're engaged with us that you get the
872s	information that you need but it's also
874s	still fair to our other users I think
876s	that's also important I think a lot of
877s	us have played in games where like
878s	content creators get benefits that are
880s	like better than everybody else you're
881s	like what it really is more of about
883s	relationship beyond that we you know
886s	I've been chatting with vnar and uh
888s	rooshan as well there are other programs
890s	that will come into play Down the Line
891s	like guilds Artis those type of things
894s	so if there's other things P stuff so as
897s	as you're as we get closer to Launch
899s	you'll see some of those programs come
900s	online um or you know programs like that
903s	come online uh based on what our users
905s	are doing and and how we can engage with
907s	you guys in order to make sure that
909s	there's cool stuff that you can be doing
911s	in in our community and whatever our
913s	community is gravitating towards that's
914s	where we're going to we're going to try
915s	to help uplift you guys it's definitely
918s	a mutual thing um so we really want to
920s	be engaged with our audience unlike some
923s	other games that we've been part of not
925s	gonna call out names um and with that I
929s	think I have covered all of our
932s	reminders so uh do you want to preface
935s	anything with the Rangers I do I do want
937s	to preface some things so first of all I
939s	do want to say that we have heard uh our
944s	community uh with the way that we
946s	present the live stream
949s	showcases and I've asked Margaret to
952s	prepare the YouTube video to launch
955s	simultaneously with the um uh president
959s	presentation on Twitch so for those of
961s	you here's what I would ask who want to
963s	go watch it in 4k while the stream is
965s	still continuing um you can do so on
968s	Youtube it'll be up in just a few
970s	moments right when we started here uh
972s	but make sure that you're still offering
974s	your comments and twitch because I do
975s	read those Margaret reads them the team
977s	reads them um it's very important uh and
981s	come and join us afterwards for the
982s	discussion as well so you're not allowed
984s	to leave necessarily you can't just go
985s	watch the Youtube video and then sign
987s	off you have to still watch
989s	if you haven't noticed I grabb questions
991s	from channel from the channel um ran and
994s	Beckner both pop questions over here in
996s	the different various places that
997s	they're at so we are if you want if you
999s	have questions along the way while
1001s	you're watching making sure that you
1002s	posted in like our twitch channel uh is
1005s	very important so that we can U get your
1007s	answers for you absolutely 100% now
1010s	about the Showcase so as Margaret said
1013s	and and as you guys have been
1014s	anticipating uh we are going to be
1016s	looking at the ranger Arch type and
1019s	again this is a work in progress the UI
1022s	is still very much a functional UI the
1025s	VFX still have multiple rounds of passes
1028s	that need to be done on them um but this
1030s	gives you an understanding kind of of
1032s	the direction that the archetype
1034s	progression and development has gone as
1036s	it relates specifically to the Ranger
1038s	and of course you can derive from that
1040s	insights for other classes and other
1042s	archetypes and how they will interact um
1044s	this is a a very fun showcase obviously
1047s	with the combat team um Trad Brian and
1050s	Keenan joined me they've been regulars
1051s	on the show uh in the past the last time
1053s	we've discussed the ranger uh was
1056s	actually in 20122 and it was a very
1058s	brief discussion about ranged basic
1061s	weapon combat with a few uh maybe two or
1064s	three Ranger abilities sliced in today
1067s	you're going to be watching near 1H hour
1069s	presentation that talks about upwards of
1072s	1819 different abilities with some 20
1075s	odd passives and um weapon progression
1078s	tree
1080s	when you Analyze This I did turn off
1083s	cooldowns of course at the beginning to
1085s	kind of demonstrate each of the
1086s	abilities I turn them back on afterwards
1089s	um very two important things to keep
1090s	into to keep in mind when you're
1092s	thinking about feedback um and you're
1094s	thinking about um uh essentially uh what
1098s	you want to share about your thoughts
1099s	for the presentation is um on the
1102s	abilities the status conditions that get
1104s	applied and how they promote um the role
1108s	excuse me the role of the archetype as
1110s	well um being a ranger uh and not seeing
1114s	you know potentially a lot of melee
1115s	abilities but a lot of range so focus on
1117s	those two aspects the interconnectivity
1119s	with the other classes from a group
1120s	perspective uh and each of the
1122s	individual um uh abilities we're going
1124s	to be it's not to say that you could not
1126s	spec more melee oriented absolutely
1128s	right I just want correct yes and very
1131s	clear to remember this is base archetype
1133s	so this is not class this is not the
1135s	combination of your secondary which will
1136s	fundamentally change to the augment
1138s	system uh some of those basic abilities
1140s	so without further Ado enjoy the
1143s	presentation we'll see you on the flip
1146s	[Music]
1150s	[Applause]
1151s	[Music]
1166s	side hello everyone and welcome to
1168s	another day in Vera we have a very
1171s	exciting stream for you today it has
1173s	been some time since we have showed off
1175s	a bit of the ranged combat and today we
1178s	are going to be talking about the ranger
1181s	Arch type with some 17 18 19 skills I
1185s	can't remember what we're going to be
1186s	showcasing today in the base archetype
1187s	but it is a whole lot of Ranger um and I
1191s	have joining us today three of our
1193s	glorious developers two of our senior
1195s	designers TRD and Brian TRD Brian how
1198s	you guys
1199s	doing doing good glad to be here I think
1202s	it's been a couple since uh we did our
1203s	last combat showcase I
1206s	know I'm doing great happy to show off
1209s	the ranger yeah you've been putting a
1210s	lot of work on this uh Brian I know this
1212s	is not just me the whole team absolutely
1215s	the whole team but you Rangers are near
1216s	and dear to Your Heart Right aren't you
1218s	a ranger player don't you play some
1219s	Rangers yes yeah it it's definitely one
1221s	of my favorite um favorite classes
1224s	they're often not done Justice in games
1226s	so get getting the opportunity to do
1228s	right by Ranger Mains makes me happy yes
1231s	and then of course The Man Behind the
1233s	magic the senior engineer uh and the
1236s	owner for the PC uh core team Keenan how
1239s	you doing
1241s	Keenan H I'm alive happy to be here
1244s	though yeah this is by the way this is a
1247s	really cool environment I see Carin in
1250s	the background we're here in Winter it
1253s	is uh it's definitely giving me the the
1255s	Christmas Vibes um and it is it is
1259s	beautiful I mean the environment team
1260s	holy smokes what an amazing
1264s	job I love the snow everything it feels
1268s	so cozy um it does now we have see I'm
1274s	in your party we have established from
1276s	some from some feedback from the
1278s	community on the showcasing uh that a
1281s	little one by one of each ability before
1286s	we get into any combat situations with
1288s	some mobs or NPCs is desired um it's a
1291s	nice clean way for us to kind of
1293s	showcase uh obviously all the hard work
1296s	that's gone into the creation of this
1298s	excuse me into the creation of this
1299s	archetype I apologize for coughing guys
1302s	I've I've recently recently got it got
1305s	sick and I'm still recovering a little
1307s	bit but um I am doing much better now so
1311s	um I think this is a great place with is
1313s	like some dried up riverbed or something
1315s	looks pretty cool uh got some nice
1317s	colors in here now obviously as a
1320s	disclaimer before we begin I do want to
1322s	say that UI VFX 100% a work in progress
1327s	oh my God there's a bird up there and I
1330s	got oh thank you good a scary little
1332s	bird um the uh the UI is a work in
1335s	progress the VFX are work in progress
1337s	everything here is subject to change uh
1340s	through testing obviously Alpha 2 coming
1341s	up is going to be a big opportunity for
1343s	us to test a lot of this stuff um so
1346s	please keep that in mind especially you
1347s	content creators out there who going to
1348s	do some review videos make sure you
1350s	mention that uh at the start of your
1352s	videos um Keenan how do you feel about
1355s	being a targeting dummy for the Showcase
1358s	of these
1360s	abilities I'll tank it all right let's
1362s	do that and do you have a Healer dread
1365s	very all right Tad's got you it's all on
1367s	me here all right there we go all right
1369s	so I H I am now no longer in your party
1372s	so that I can murder you um but I have
1375s	set my uh cooldowns to 0.1 I believe so
1379s	that I can show each of these abilities
1381s	off um multiple times as we're talking
1383s	about it so please keep in mind guys as
1386s	you're out there watching this display
1388s	the cooldowns here are set to
1391s	practically nothing um now we're going
1393s	to do some combat afterwards I'll set
1395s	cool cooldowns back um but during this
1398s	display they're set to nothing let us
1399s	showcase our first ability I see we have
1404s	snipe and we showed snipe off last year
1406s	when we did our um last ranged basic
1409s	weapon uh combo update um and people got
1411s	to see a little preview of it last month
1414s	as well during our Artis ship review but
1417s	talk to me about some of the changes
1419s	that snipe has gone through and what
1421s	this ability serves as a purpose Brian
1423s	yeah so with snipe we've been leaning
1425s	into it being an alpha strike ability so
1428s	it's what you want to open with to deal
1430s	massive damage and and since it's got
1432s	that uh charge up time it you know it's
1435s	not as good to do when you're needing to
1437s	kite something something but whenever
1439s	you're just opening on something that's
1441s	un an unsuspecting Target it's it's the
1443s	perfect ability for it and if you have
1445s	spec choices there's other things that
1447s	lean into it for instance you got that
1449s	proc on you right now that's giving you
1450s	20% bonus attack speed on a successful
1454s	oh very cool okay let me take a look at
1456s	that fire it again fire it again you'll
1457s	see it okay let me
1460s	see yeah Trad helped with this he added
1463s	this into the skill tree yeah just
1465s	brocked on you there so oh there it is
1468s	yeah so your follow-up shots will come
1469s	out even
1472s	quicker cool so that proc is happening
1474s	because I have specked into a passive
1476s	and let's take a look this is the first
1478s	time that people have actually seen uh
1480s	the progression tree for a particular uh
1483s	Arch type uh in quite a while actually
1486s	probably since our alpha 1 um but there
1488s	has been a lot of work that's gone into
1489s	this uh from you guys of course um talk
1492s	to me a little bit about the different
1494s	types of uh abilities we're seeing here
1497s	uh Trad you want to take the this one
1498s	cuz you put a lot of work into this sure
1500s	I mean uh we're going to go through all
1502s	these as we um go through and show show
1505s	them off one by one but what you're
1506s	seeing at a at a high level here is just
1509s	what you pretty much expect of a
1511s	traditional skill tree we're doing um
1513s	something a little more advanced than
1515s	just like a bottom up structure um
1517s	because we're being a little bit more
1518s	free form in this iteration this will
1520s	obviously see more UI iterations in the
1522s	future um but you you'll you'll see like
1524s	a mix of active and passive abilities
1526s	here actives are um indicated by their
1528s	square shape while the circular ones are
1531s	representing passes and um one thing to
1534s	note as well is that these these passes
1536s	are aiming to be a little more
1539s	interesting than just like you know this
1541s	ability does more damage now or this you
1543s	know it has a lower cool down like we do
1546s	have some of those too but um the goal
1549s	with a lot of these passives in addition
1550s	to that is to allow people to lean into
1553s	unique play Styles so you'll you'll
1555s	notice that some of them are are
1557s	changing your gameplay in meaningful
1558s	ways and that's the direction we want to
1560s	take um player and character
1562s	customization as a whole very cool yeah
1565s	I love it um obviously you know this is
1567s	all subject to intense feedback from uh
1570s	the testers who will be participating as
1571s	part of Alpha 2 um all of this stuff is
1574s	subject to change as I said uh but it
1576s	gives you guys a very good idea
1577s	Direction wise and your feedback is of
1579s	course why we do these development
1581s	updates so please make sure um that you
1582s	give us your thoughts uh back on this
1584s	type of progression Tree in addition to
1586s	the arch type progression tree we also
1589s	have something that interacts with each
1592s	of the archetypes and that is a weapon
1594s	progression tree as well now obviously
1596s	the format of this particular weapon
1598s	skill tree that you're seeing here is a
1599s	relatively simplistic one um but talk to
1602s	me a little bit about the intent and
1604s	purpose uh behind the weapon skill
1607s	tree yeah so the the intent here is to
1610s	give you choices either I want to extend
1613s	and improve my combo or I want just
1616s	passive benefits that increase my my
1618s	attack speed or crit chance in this case
1620s	with the short bow um and yeah as you
1622s	can see the tree is a lot more simple um
1625s	kind of like a stage one tree work in
1627s	progress but it it'll get fancier over
1630s	time and I see on the far right hand
1632s	side Brian that there are additional
1634s	combo steps um so let me actually unspec
1638s	um these additional combo steps so that
1642s	we can talk first about the basic um
1646s	weapon combo I'm just going to
1648s	demonstrate that here I'm going to use
1649s	the short bow now this is a short bow we
1651s	are using um you guys remember from last
1653s	year when we showcased range weapons
1655s	that we had obviously a number of them
1657s	some of them Arcane some of them
1658s	physical but the two bow types that we
1659s	have are long bow and short bow I'm
1662s	using the short bow as you can see it is
1664s	a copper uh short bow um and let's see
1668s	what this looks like without the combo
1673s	upgrade that's four
1675s	hits very cool so it's relatively rapid
1678s	Pace um especially compared to that of
1681s	the Longbow that you guys got to see a
1683s	little while ago let us talk about
1685s	specking now into these additional combo
1688s	steps and what does that
1692s	do oh you know what yes so um we we've
1696s	done a lot of experimentation over the
1698s	past couple months to find out what's
1701s	what's the shortest and what's the
1702s	longest combo that's acceptable um
1705s	because we we had this goal where we
1706s	wanted to have uh combo length
1709s	progression available to players um so
1712s	that certain builds could have longer
1713s	weapon combos and other builds can have
1715s	short shorter weapon combos with more
1717s	passive effects um and and this has been
1720s	the result of our exploration so when
1722s	you start out you've got a a pretty
1724s	quick four hit combo but whenever you
1726s	unlock the additional hits you get the
1728s	fifth and sixth hits which uh at
1731s	approximately 50% to the overall combo
1733s	length but we we found that that gave a
1736s	pretty satisfying uh floor and ceiling
1739s	to how long the combo can be it
1742s	definitely I can feel absolutely the
1744s	change obviously in the pace uh between
1748s	not having spec into the to the combo um
1751s	and getting those additional fifth and
1753s	sixth steps so in addition to the later
1756s	hits in the combo doing additional
1758s	damage you also unlock proc effects so
1761s	on your fifth hit um you unlock the
1763s	special fifth hit which gives you 10%
1765s	bonus crit uh Critical Strike which you
1768s	just proc there and then the sixth hit
1771s	you unlock the special six hit which
1772s	gives you Arrow storm which causes your
1775s	next I believe 10 attacks to fire an
1777s	additional Arrow at the
1778s	Target very cool um so that combos
1781s	really well with rapid fire abilities
1784s	such as the next ability we're going to
1785s	be looking at all right let's take a
1787s	look at barrage so barrage is as fir as
1790s	a continual barrage of arrows at your
1792s	target for 1 and a half seconds dealing
1794s	12% physical damage per Arrow okay let's
1797s	take a look at this might not seem like
1800s	a lot per Arrow but it fires a lot of
1802s	arrows now that's a Char is this is this
1804s	a Charged ability do I have multiple
1805s	charges of this uh right now you only
1808s	have one charge um and we we did some
1812s	iterations with this um and a lot a lot
1814s	of play testing um and yeah that we
1816s	changed this back to only having one
1818s	charge and you can reduce the cool down
1820s	of this by completing a weapon combo
1822s	okay all right let me see this so if I
1825s	complete a weapon combo it would reduce
1827s	the cool down right now I'm set to zero
1828s	to cool down so we can show that off a
1830s	little bit later um talk to me a little
1833s	bit about head
1836s	shot yeah head shot um it it starts off
1840s	so there there's ways that you can spe
1841s	specialize this that turn it into the
1843s	execute that it's it it was born as
1846s	originally um it it does pretty high
1849s	damage but if you spec it appropriately
1851s	it does bonus damage when the target's
1853s	below 50% health and if the target is
1857s	marked it has 50% reduced cool down I
1861s	believe with the spec that you have oh
1863s	cool
1864s	okay so if I have a mark on the target
1867s	then I get a 50% cool down yeah you get
1870s	50% reduced cooldown on head shot nice
1873s	now we haven't talked about Marx before
1876s	you want to talk to me a little bit
1877s	about the intent behind um
1881s	marks yep the in the intent behind marks
1885s	is to provide a a burst wind on the
1888s	target um often in other games it's just
1891s	bonus damage this is much more
1893s	significant on the impact that this will
1895s	have on the target it's basically
1897s	marking the target for death has a
1899s	pretty huge effect uh for instance Mark
1901s	of the tiger it grants 50% bonus
1904s	critical chance to all attacks striking
1906s	the target Mark of the bear is minus 25%
1909s	armor and Mark of the Raven is a bonus
1912s	hit that occurs every time the target is
1915s	struck and it scales up in damage based
1917s	on how low on health the target is okay
1920s	so let me try Mark of the bear so this
1922s	reduces their mitigation by 25% so when
1925s	I use an ability first like headshot I
1928s	just did 76 damage if I were to start
1932s	headshot and then I can use the mark of
1934s	the bear while I'm channeling the uh or
1937s	casting the headshot um it'll it it will
1942s	apply to the Target while while I'm
1944s	essentially using headshot is that
1945s	correct yeah correct uh Keenan and the
1948s	engineers made us some awesome uh off
1950s	you might know it in other games as off
1952s	Global cooldown Tech uh we call it
1954s	simultaneous casting and yeah that that
1956s	allows you to uh cast your marks at the
1959s	same time as other abilities allowing
1961s	for a very efficient use of time awesome
1965s	okay so now it's gone from him doing 76
1968s	again wow that's a significant bump um
1971s	yeah Mark of the bear is really good
1973s	against tanky targets yeah that's
1975s	awesome Mark of the Raven let's take a
1977s	look at this
1979s	I love the effect Scott has done such a
1981s	great job with
1984s	these yeah I I love that he decided to
1987s	join the VFX team and come over and help
1989s	us with combat he's doing a great job so
1991s	far absolutely let's
1993s	see oh they look great very cool that's
1997s	awesome now in addition to um marks talk
2001s	to me Trad a little bit about hunts what
2003s	are the Hunts intended to
2005s	do for sure um so unlike marks which are
2009s	debuffs on the target um hunts are
2012s	different Buffs you can put on yourself
2013s	they're both themed pretty similarly um
2016s	at first uh we had started with linking
2018s	these two concepts directly like you
2020s	would put the hunt on yourself and then
2022s	shoot that hunt out as a Mark um and
2025s	Infuse the target with that but we ended
2027s	up kind of separating them just to make
2028s	them a little bit more um independently
2031s	and and freely usable um but the theming
2033s	you can see is the same we've chosen the
2036s	tiger bear and Raven
2038s	um animals but they're um you know stay
2040s	tuned for more um and yeah like like you
2043s	guys are talking about um the visuals
2045s	for these are are really cool um but
2048s	yeah you you'll these are basically like
2050s	like different Buffs that you will put
2052s	on yourself and they do tend to have
2054s	some Synergy with their respective um
2057s	thematic
2059s	creatures so I used Mark of the Raven
2061s	this time I was doing 96 damage but
2063s	that's because I had hunt of the Raven
2065s	which is giv me additional physical pit
2067s	penetration but let me use um let me use
2071s	Mark of the bear on the target while
2073s	having that hunt active and now instead
2075s	of doing 117 I'm doing 179
2079s	wow that's sign oh I'm doing 117 again
2082s	but that's
2083s	because let me see let me try this hold
2086s	on Mark of the
2089s	tiger oh that's creasing critical chance
2091s	Mark of the bear
2093s	is let's try
2096s	that okay H maybe Keenan doesn't have
2099s	enough armor for the extra to help oh
2102s	poor Keenan not enough armor gray armor
2106s	he's in kind of some newbie gear down
2108s	there oh no okay all right but that is
2111s	the thing about the armor pin is that
2113s	will scale more and more effectively the
2115s	more armored your target is so you can
2118s	think of it as like a counter stat um
2120s	for for people who build that up that
2122s	looks awesome all right so now we also
2124s	have scattershot and this is one of our
2126s	first AOE abili ities uh talk to me a
2128s	little bit about
2130s	scattershot yes like you said it's a AOE
2133s	ability it fires out in a cone in front
2135s	of you um about 20 M ahead um and we've
2139s	got some pretty cool Tech with this um
2141s	the the first is where're we're drawing
2143s	a targeting decal that only the Caster
2146s	can see um to help like align the the
2149s	cast as you're firing it um the second
2151s	cool thing that we're doing here is you
2152s	can actually charge the ability into a
2156s	beam which is better for a lower amount
2159s	of targets so if you just want to hit a
2161s	wide field of targets you would just
2163s	quick cast it but if you were interested
2164s	in aing a specific smaller pack it'd be
2168s	more efficient for you to do The Charge
2173s	cast very cool so if I have to I have to
2176s	hold the charge to completion to get the
2178s	additional um damage value
2181s	essentially yes very cool now this is
2184s	obviously a big point of
2186s	feedback
2188s	that I think people can provide um
2190s	obviously uh there's a lot of
2193s	interesting thoughts around um uh
2196s	subjective of course uh around UI and
2198s	decal elements that help to communicate
2201s	kind of these AOE uh as Brian said this
2203s	is obviously going to be a decal that is
2205s	um only shown to the Caster uh not you
2208s	know um shown across uh to multiple
2211s	players um but what is the desire of uh
2215s	our community when it comes to
2217s	showcasing and demonstrating kind of the
2219s	area of effect uh for certain types of
2220s	spells do you want uh something um
2223s	obviously this is done very elegantly I
2224s	think Scott did this one as well um I
2227s	think it looks great um but uh this is
2229s	something that is a point of feedback
2231s	that we want to collect from players as
2232s	you guys get to kind of play through
2234s	Alpha 2 uh and as you're seeing these
2236s	these updates what do you enjoy most
2238s	about conveying uh these area of effects
2241s	and this isn't the only area of effect
2242s	spell we have we also have air strike
2244s	and we've seen air strike in the past as
2246s	well uh but this one's received a little
2248s	bit of uh TLC talk to me a little bit
2251s	about that yeah um and just real quick
2254s	the reason why you're hearing my voice a
2255s	lot is is I'm the owner of the Ranger so
2258s	I yeah I'm in charge of this this class
2262s	so that that that's why I'm the one that
2264s	that's why you hear my voice a lot
2265s	anyways air strike we we gave this um we
2268s	gave this an update we replace the
2270s	particle effects cuz they were they were
2272s	way too laggy um so yeah Scott again did
2276s	a pass on these they look amazing um we
2278s	also let you have air control with this
2281s	so you can steer it while you're in the
2282s	air and we we fine-tune the animation I
2286s	believe uh Alex put in some time to make
2288s	sure that um it's it's holding you only
2291s	for the right amount it's not it's not
2293s	grabbing you and locking you in place
2294s	weirdly on Landing um we really polished
2296s	up how it how it feels whenever you use
2298s	it um so it's just really seamless and
2300s	nice to use oh and and the effect that
2303s	it's providing if you actually hit a
2305s	target with it um it it does pretty big
2307s	damage and also Roots the target so this
2309s	is a really good skill whenever your
2311s	tank pulls in a big pack of Monsters
2313s	Just air strike over top of it lock it
2315s	all down in place and then you and your
2316s	Mages blow up the pack I think it looks
2320s	great the animation changes that Alex
2321s	did look awesome the additional
2323s	functionality uh that you guys
2325s	incorporated as part of controlling the
2327s	air air movement I think is something
2329s	that people are going to love
2331s	um
2333s	obviously uh air strike also is a uh
2337s	significant uh mechanical benefit for
2340s	the ranger because it's um uh in
2342s	addition to damage is also a cc effect
2346s	um talk to me a little bit about uh the
2348s	CC that air strike conveys um and and
2351s	what's its intended purpose like in
2353s	combat I mean there's Mobility
2355s	associated with it there's damage
2356s	associated with it there's CC it's kind
2357s	of a has a broad spectrum of effect
2360s	conveyed yeah it it's a pretty powerful
2362s	ability and has a long cool down because
2364s	it's providing that wide spectrum of
2366s	effect
2367s	um the ranger is one of the most mobile
2369s	classes um it's it's second to the Rogue
2372s	only so this is part of how we're
2374s	providing that Mobility benefit and yeah
2376s	whenever you hit targets they're rooted
2377s	in place they cannot move um so it's
2380s	it's very effective as as an escape tool
2382s	but also uh the hard engage tool that
2385s	kind of puts you at risk but if you got
2386s	a tank and the cleric at your back maybe
2388s	that's the right calculus for your play
2392s	absolutely um all right cool let us try
2397s	thundering shot talk to me a little bit
2399s	about thundering
2400s	shot yeah this is definitely a a
2404s	favorite ability on the team by a lot of
2406s	people um it shoots a lightning Arrow at
2408s	the Target and if you're far enough away
2411s	I believe the conversion range is 10 m
2413s	it does an additional AOE explosion
2415s	around the target ooh okay so that did
2418s	96 let's see if I'm
2421s	closer
2423s	oh okay so it does variable amount of
2425s	damage and also changes it
2428s	to to be around the target mhm yeah so
2432s	so you get more damage um we wanted to
2435s	have some abilities in the kit uh at
2438s	least with the Showcase that we're
2439s	showing right now where it's range Focus
2441s	where there's there is some Advantage
2442s	for staying at range and also there's
2445s	some Advantage for closing on a ranger
2447s	yeah absolutely very cool um next up we
2450s	have another lightning ability but this
2452s	one's called lightning reload talk to me
2454s	a little bit about lightning reload shap
2458s	sure um this one's more of a self buff
2461s	effect uh when you put it on yourself um
2464s	it will allow you to use one of a a few
2468s	abilities without um spinning its cool
2470s	down so I believe a couple of them are
2472s	like snip head shot thundering shot ones
2474s	we've already been through okay uh if
2476s	you pop that first uh you get about a
2479s	5-second window and if you use one of
2481s	those abilities within that window um it
2482s	will not trigger the CD meaning you
2484s	could use it twice back to back um you
2486s	you can also even use something that's
2488s	already on cool down by popping that
2490s	first so it's not like you have to
2491s	already have it available so you can use
2493s	it in a lot of pinches so this is
2495s	another concurrent Channel effect that I
2496s	can that I can use Brian what are some
2498s	of the cool combos with this yeah one of
2501s	my one of my favorite ones um is the
2504s	triple headshot combo so if a Target is
2507s	marked um head shot on them has 50%
2510s	reduced cool down if you're spec for it
2513s	so what you can do is you can Mark
2515s	someone you can head shot and as as
2517s	you're charging up the first head shot
2519s	throw a mark and then whenever the head
2521s	shot hits you lightning reload and then
2523s	you get two more head shot right after
2525s	that and it makes a really nasty combo
2527s	for finishing off an a Target that's
2529s	already below 50% health because you're
2531s	getting that bonus damage on headshot to
2533s	at that point which makes its uh
2535s	efficiency per second higher than snipe
2538s	okay so with Mark of the
2541s	Raven um okay which one gives
2545s	the Mark benefit you were talking about
2548s	for head
2549s	shot oh any of the marks will do it um
2552s	any of the marks will provide a 50%
2554s	reduce cool down on head shot all right
2556s	and I currently have hunt physical
2558s	penetration but we've already
2562s	determined that you don't have enough
2566s	physical mitigation so let us
2570s	do um hunt of the
2574s	tiger and let us apply my mark of the
2577s	bear on
2579s	you um while we're casting three so it's
2582s	going to be three shift four and then
2585s	you said lightning reload and three
2587s	twice more yes should I start with snipe
2591s	first yeah you can do that okay so snipe
2594s	to three while doing Mark of the bear
2598s	all right let's try that I'm going to
2600s	need some heals
2602s	strad
2605s	really
2614s	oh but you know what I did that with the
2615s	coold down set to uh yeah set to nothing
2618s	oh no hold on let me set that back to
2621s	Once okay so this is the normal coold
2623s	down
2623s	frequency okay oh not representative of
2626s	real gameplay correct yes yes yes all
2629s	right let's try that again I'm going to
2630s	do the mark of the bar all right here we
2635s	go
2643s	ooh okay very cool that was awesome yeah
2647s	it feels pretty crisp but yeah if Keenan
2649s	was below half Health there he would
2651s	have take I mean he might have died oh
2653s	my God Keenan not with me as his healer
2656s	I I know you're too
2658s	good all right let me set cool Down's
2660s	back uh let me Max by
2663s	Mana okay we've showed off um lightning
2667s	reload next up I have bear trap talk to
2670s	me a little bit about bear
2672s	trap yes bear trap um so we went through
2675s	a couple iterations on this we want we
2677s	wanted a very solid trap ability it's
2679s	right in the name but often in games
2681s	they're either too small they activate
2683s	Too Short they're just not or they don't
2685s	last long enough there's there's lots of
2686s	ways for a trap to suck um and we think
2688s	we got bear trap in a decent spot where
2691s	it's pretty usable uh you can pre- them
2693s	on the ground um they last for I believe
2695s	30s seconds after you place them so it's
2698s	a very strategic ability allowing for
2701s	Zone control um you can place these in
2704s	between you and and a hostile Target and
2706s	and kite them into it you can make like
2708s	a little trap wall in front of you so
2710s	that if if people are are closing on you
2713s	and or rather you're setting up a gank
2715s	and you you want to set that up
2717s	beforehand so whenever there's a
2718s	Counterattack you're already prepared
2719s	for it very it definitely benefits that
2722s	strategically minded player very nice
2724s	that looks that that that feels great
2727s	can I hit my own bear trap no I'm just
2728s	kidding no thankfully I hope not but if
2731s	I did I'd have Call of the Wild um yes
2734s	uh yeah maybe we should just show that
2735s	one
2737s	yeah maybe what is called wild do it is
2741s	a cc break and a movement buff so if you
2745s	get hit with a nasty stun or something
2747s	you can just break out of it and run
2751s	away oo that was cool I love the effects
2754s	that's that looked awesome
2757s	wait let's try that one more time so I'm
2760s	running along give me a stun uh I gotta
2762s	wait for this cool down try with the
2763s	Trap
2764s	something all
2767s	right hold on yeah but the ranger is a
2770s	fairly fragile class overall so if they
2773s	get a stun on them and it doesn't get
2775s	cleansed and here I'll I'll do it again
2777s	they'd be very
2781s	nasty ooh that was good that's great
2786s	yeah of our archetypes will have their
2788s	own versions of uh CC breaks just cuz
2791s	you know that that is one of the things
2793s	where you know players want answers to
2795s	those kinds of situations and um that'll
2798s	be part of your spec choice right is
2799s	like how much do you want to build into
2801s	your ability to resist and break CC
2804s	versus um just be like a a raw glass
2807s	Cannon um and accepting those risks um
2810s	that that all factors into like the
2811s	decision making when it comes to uh
2814s	specs yeah one of the pillars that we're
2816s	trying to build Combat on top of is
2818s	giving players the the true feeling of
2820s	agency like they're really in control of
2822s	their character and what happens to
2823s	their character rather than just
2825s	watching stuff happen to their character
2826s	that they have no impact
2830s	on oh feels so good Kenan come over here
2834s	let me uh let me try this next ability
2838s	reigning
2840s	death I love the name of that by the
2844s	way feels like a uh
2847s	perfect like band name for a heavy metal
2851s	group yeah like a Slayer song I
2856s	know all right cool so reigning death is
2860s	also using a Caster side targeting decal
2862s	so again only the Caster is seeing that
2864s	targeting decal I mean that that allows
2867s	them to line it up a little bit better
2868s	and make sure they're hitting the
2869s	targets that they want to hit um and
2871s	another thing to note is we are making
2873s	the spread of projectiles a little more
2875s	um even and and dense so yeah as you
2879s	notice there's some spots in the decal
2881s	that don't look like they're getting hit
2883s	they are actually getting hit because of
2885s	this this homing arot tech there there's
2887s	actually a hit box that's being drawn
2889s	there and every Target within that hit
2891s	box is is getting a homing Arrow fired
2893s	at it actually two homing arrows fired
2895s	at it so it's it is hitting stuff even
2898s	though it might not look like it right
2900s	now we're going to improve that a little
2902s	bit
2904s	more and Scatter shot has a little bit
2906s	of the same thing going on where where
2908s	the spread's not really perfect but yeah
2910s	that's that's currently in progress with
2911s	our VFX artist to make it a little bit
2913s	better yeah it's it's a good
2914s	representation of like where we've we've
2918s	been trying to find a balance between
2920s	making these abilities feel organic and
2923s	not super like templated to use but at
2926s	the same time at the end of the day like
2928s	game play is the name of the game and we
2931s	want these things to be reliable um and
2934s	consistent both from
2937s	um the users and oh well that you're
2940s	taking advantage of the fact that I'm
2944s	talking he just he just turned into
2947s	expected that from you he just turned
2950s	into it's okay I resed him oh that was
2953s	so good that was so good that was little
2956s	Ash loot piles on the
2957s	ground I forgot what saying that was a
2961s	great effect I think SAA worked on
2963s	worked on excuse me
2967s	I think SAA worked on that as well as
2968s	the snipe um reauthor as well um but
2972s	yeah yeah go ahead reigning death is a
2975s	is an example where we we iterate on
2977s	these abilities multiple times and
2979s	sometimes it requires a complete rebuild
2981s	this is I think the third complete
2983s	rebuild of that ability cuz the previous
2986s	versions just weren't good enough for
2987s	our players um they were they were more
2989s	direct fire projectile based which is is
2992s	pretty cool cuz you you see there's a
2995s	direct connection between the projectile
2996s	and dealing damage but we found a
2998s	solution where we can we can simulate uh
3002s	the appearance of all the projectiles
3003s	hitting and then we can also have a
3005s	homing volume underneath that so it's
3008s	it's very reliable while also looking
3011s	super out of Mana sorry Keenan oh no
3015s	Keenan oh no oh he's corrupted look at
3018s	that oh did I turn corrupt oh I got to
3022s	take advantage of it oh no no no wait a
3025s	minute wait I no cool down you pissed
3027s	off the clar how did the clar how did I
3029s	go
3030s	corrupt um by killing an innocent
3039s	player oh we did
3041s	it okay wait don't kill me don't kill me
3044s	let me get back to what I was doing all
3047s	right sorry so see step's a good player
3051s	guys yay how dare you just because I
3054s	show at a lower APM so everyone can see
3057s	the Fidelity of the effects and the
3060s	gameplay around the environment and the
3063s	NPCs doesn't mean I don't have a little
3065s	bit of uh what is it called
3068s	juice what's just called a dark side
3070s	what is it called the juice box I can't
3072s	remember yeah yeah all right so we
3074s	showed off a little bit of the um uh the
3077s	bear claw I mean the bear trap the um
3080s	Call of the Wild we went through
3081s	lightning reload uh and thundering shot
3084s	we talked about the marks uh and the
3086s	different hunts that exist um we have
3089s	disengage to
3090s	show yes uh
3093s	disengage uh whenever you don't have you
3096s	only have the ability um and you haven't
3098s	unlocked any of the passives involved
3099s	with disengage uh it'll shoot you right
3101s	back whenever you press it so it's
3104s	really good for creating space between
3106s	you and some targets that are charging
3107s	at you you just hit disengage and you'll
3110s	flip back all right let me try that
3113s	now
3114s	go and yeah like Steven's demonstrating
3117s	you can also use it for
3120s	traversal um something that we learned
3123s	with disengage though is people have
3126s	different preferences for how they want
3128s	this ability to activate there there's
3129s	some people who've played a lot of
3131s	Ranger who just like you know what I
3133s	don't want to have to spin my my camera
3136s	around to press
3137s	disengage um and to to be able to go
3140s	forward I just want it to go forward
3142s	when I press the button so we made this
3144s	uh omnidirectional engage option which
3147s	cost zero skill points yeah that's
3149s	awesome but in the future that'll be
3150s	kind of an ability uh option that you
3153s	can choose right not not necessarily
3155s	through a passive effect um right that's
3157s	the intent correct yes that that is the
3160s	intent uh we still need to do some work
3162s	on how we're going to like display that
3164s	to the player to make sure it's it's as
3166s	apparent as a spec option right cuz
3167s	that's very apparent that you have that
3169s	choice um it can often be lame in games
3171s	whenever had a m Max is all in the
3174s	options menu but but we're going to to
3175s	make sure that that's nice and clean for
3177s	our players and it's very apparent the
3179s	options that they have available to them
3181s	um but yeah whenever you have the
3182s	omnidirectional option engage now
3184s	whenever you're pressing a movement key
3186s	uh disengage will send you in that
3188s	direction instead of straight back very
3191s	cool very cool all right and then last
3194s	but not least and then we'll go up to
3195s	the uh to the environment and just kind
3197s	of play together a little bit is the
3200s	imbu ammo talk to me about imbu
3203s	Ammo yep so ammo um whenever you cast it
3207s	it'll imbue your next currently they're
3209s	set up to imbue your next 10 shots and
3211s	this will probably go through another
3212s	iteration but currently in abuse your
3214s	next 10 shots with a special effect so
3217s	we've got weighted ammo concussive ammo
3219s	and Barbed ammo right now we're probably
3221s	going to add more in the future uh these
3222s	are ammo imbus so you're imbuing your
3225s	next 10 shots with this effect uh
3227s	weighted ammunition is a snaring effect
3230s	Barbed is a bleed effect and concussive
3234s	is a stagger effect
3236s	stagger reduces accuracy and evasion
3239s	nice okay and it also uh increases trip
3241s	duration go ahead Keenan try just kind
3244s	of running down this path and let me do
3247s	some uh weighted
3252s	shots another element of detail that I I
3255s	I really like that you were down for
3257s	going for stevenh was it actually
3259s	changing the appearance of the
3261s	ammunition whenever you're firing it yes
3263s	absolutely um so when you Lo up weighted
3266s	shot it will actually swap your your
3268s	bullets that you're fir not bullets your
3270s	your arrows that you're firing to look
3273s	the part um and it swaps currently it
3276s	swaps over both basic attacks and
3280s	barrage
3282s	nice very cool yeah if you want to cast
3284s	your ammo and then cast barrage you can
3287s	show that off let's do it let me do um
3290s	[Music]
3291s	probably let's do weighted as you're
3294s	running again let's try that
3305s	that's so cool very cool all right let
3308s	me set my cool Downs to something that's
3310s	representative of real game play
3312s	although I have far more abilities than
3314s	I should at level seven but that's okay
3316s	and I will join your party now oh no if
3320s	we can even invite you no you can you
3321s	can I'm only corrupted I mean I'm not
3323s	like a monster come on now true true uh
3326s	now you might however flag when you heal
3328s	me but you know that's
3330s	okay we'll see what do we got over
3335s	here oh I love that that's awesome my uh
3340s	my
3344s	oops oh
3348s	wow the uh the snipe followed the Target
3353s	that was
3354s	crazy
3356s	oh yeah there's a little bit of uh aim
3358s	offset there in animation that we did
3361s	yeah that looks
3362s	great quite a few of the bow abilities
3365s	do it actually it's just a lot more
3367s	obvious with
3369s	snipe MH yeah head shot's another one it
3371s	as long as it's within a certain angle
3374s	um it it will try to maintain tracking
3376s	of the
3378s	target uh and yeah the the way that we
3381s	pulled it off it's not like uh affecting
3383s	your control rotation at all it's just
3385s	appearance
3390s	thing oh feels good feels very
3398s	good yeah it it did not feel this good a
3402s	while ago um I I really want to give
3405s	credit to our play testing process this
3407s	was in a a much rougher State a couple
3408s	months ago
3410s	absolutely but yeah we we get in we get
3413s	in the game we we play test it the same
3415s	way that the players will be play
3417s	testing it to make sure that it's going
3418s	to be awesome absolutely I think one of
3420s	the great team great things that your
3421s	team has has done is you've really
3425s	defined your iterative Loop right and
3428s	and obviously the most important aspect
3431s	of that Loop is going to be the play
3432s	testing
3433s	aspect which you guys play test I mean I
3436s	think every day right with uh with NPC
3439s	team and the world team um in helping to
3442s	Define obviously not just the player
3444s	character and the abilities you guys are
3446s	offering but also the playable space and
3449s	the playable enemies um that you're
3451s	encountering as part of this of this
3453s	whole
3455s	thing yeah I mean it's important to note
3457s	even when we're not in official plates
3458s	us like when we're building these things
3460s	we make it um a key point to be playing
3464s	the stuff as we're building it um like
3466s	the designers aren't just making stuff
3468s	on paper and handing it off like we
3470s	we're in the tools we're building these
3471s	things and and we're in a game
3473s	environment um and it's I think part of
3475s	the reason that these things um come
3478s	together so nicely is we can we can like
3480s	build them in real time and play them in
3482s	real time as we do
3484s	so yeah I mean it is will help guys oh
3488s	wait hold on I'm just taking in the view
3489s	a little bit over here because it is a
3492s	beautiful view it is definitely
3495s	beautiful um and I I love all the
3498s	verticality on our Maps but it it has
3501s	definitely forced us to make abilities
3503s	in a better way um if if we just had
3506s	flat Arenas like every other game it
3508s	would it would be way easier to to make
3510s	all this stuff but that's why we were
3512s	forced to make the the cool homing uh
3514s	hitbox Tech that both scattershot and
3516s	raining death are using because we're
3518s	play testing in in the environment we're
3520s	figuring out what works or what dozen
3521s	and then we're we're adjusting and
3522s	building new stuff to
3528s	fit oh it feels so
3530s	good love the combat with this
3534s	Ranger and obviously we have a big
3536s	showcase next month with regards to PVP
3539s	uh in a more raid format um and you guys
3542s	are going to be seeing some changes that
3544s	are done to the Mage effects as well
3549s	yeah Scott's working on that now my God
3552s	uh Scott and SAA I believe are both
3554s	working on the Mage next so that'll be
3557s	very exciting to see that get another
3558s	pass
3559s	cuz man the Mage can really throw down
3561s	the particle
3563s	effects absolutely wow that was a big
3566s	pull
3568s	actually
3572s	shredded I love this
3576s	area and the mixture of uh creatures
3578s	here is kind of
3580s	interesting yeah I I I actually like the
3583s	Raven has gone through a bunch of
3585s	iterations but I I do like the current
3587s	iteration of it it could be a little bit
3589s	more deadly but I I I think it's
3591s	fulfilling its role of like that that
3592s	popcorn mob that's super annoying but
3594s	you can you can kill it really fast if
3596s	you focus it down then it will give you
3597s	as many
3599s	issues oh man you just one shot that
3602s	just one shot that
3604s	Raven by the way Stephen isn't that
3606s	isn't that chart over there like kind
3609s	more relevant which one oh good call
3611s	yeah we should talk a little bit about
3613s	this Zone um so this is a small point of
3616s	interest within the riverlands uh area
3618s	obviously we're in the river lands it is
3620s	rter um and this particular location
3624s	called the gem spring um is uh a Remnant
3629s	A Shard remnant of one of the harbingers
3633s	uh that broke off and um actually has
3636s	begun some interesting interaction with
3639s	Essence within this area so uh those of
3642s	you guys who are going to be
3643s	participating in Alpha 2 this will be a
3645s	location where you're going to have some
3646s	related quests and this gives you an
3648s	idea about uh gem
3650s	Springs oh we're here gem
3653s	spring um which what he say should we
3655s	just should we just do like a massive
3657s	AOE oh gosh all right do you want to
3660s	pull him
3664s	yeah get it all get it all chains though
3667s	I got AE down pull him back in get as
3669s	many as you can oh my
3672s	God yeah big chungus
3678s	pull I'm going to go all the way
3683s	around
3685s	oh okay here they
3689s	come okay okay where you at where you at
3692s	they're right here oh they
3698s	leashed okay we got some of
3701s	[Music]
3703s	them that wasn't bad that wasn't too bad
3707s	fortunately these guys are just kind of
3709s	slow little
3711s	myelon let's take a look at their not
3714s	the rap though the Ravens are
3730s	quick oh they push you out of the
3743s	way
3748s	woo that was
3750s	awesome we cleaned up this place that
3753s	was very cool and really need to get
3755s	some better gear my damage is terrible I
3758s	wonder if there is something for us to
3760s	discover up at the
3763s	top should we go check it
3768s	out
3773s	yes his poor spider
3777s	ERS wait that's a named M oh
3781s	no oh no is it really
3787s	yeah that's got like 2.5k Health all
3790s	right it's just a bigger spider a minute
3793s	like three times the normal spiders
3795s	let's
3803s	see
3807s	no it is uh it has a lot of hit points
3810s	here it really does I need a
3812s	tank I'm trying my damage is just so
3822s	bad get some you don't need a
3826s	tank right for it oh there he
3833s	goes I think we leashed him oh no kill
3838s	him quick oh no kill him him kill him
3839s	kill him kill him snare him
3844s	oh oh no wow that's a classic moment
3848s	right there all right let's let's take
3849s	him down let's take him down come on now
3851s	all right all
3863s	deeps
3866s	come on
3870s	now switch to this
3876s	one he doesn't hit that hard
3883s	so got
3885s	him we did
3887s	it yay we have done it we have done the
3890s	thing look at this
3893s	View good God man it looks so
3899s	good how do we climb up here where are
3901s	you
3901s	going I'm just getting a better view
3905s	okay hold
3906s	on this is nice yeah this is the carin's
3909s	in the distance it's a familiar um point
3913s	of Interest it looks
3916s	beautiful holy over here
3920s	where Over Yonder on the Rocks I'm
3923s	coming I'm on my way
3925s	oh what is
3928s	that what is
3930s	that it's a little sandal surprise left
3933s	to us from our uh lovely environment
3935s	artists it probably belongs to that
3937s	spider back there no we found its nest
3941s	it's sandal Nest we killed it and it had
3943s	a sandal nest in in adoration to the to
3948s	the Sandal
3951s	wisdom this looks amazing oh I love it
3954s	Tristan and the environment team must
3956s	have done
3957s	a an awesome job here some of these this
3960s	I've never seen the sandal tree before
3962s	that's new that's different I wonder if
3963s	the wind speed affects it I see the sand
3967s	it it does it really yeah it does oh
3970s	that's so good that is so awesome oh is
3973s	there like a little jump puzzle can you
3974s	get up there you can I don't know if you
3976s	can get on the big tree that looks
3978s	awesome well guys thank you for joining
3981s	me and show and showcasing all the hard
3984s	work that you and the and the many
3986s	members of the team have devoted to to
3989s	obviously upgrading our basic weapon
3992s	attacks the ranged weapons the uh Ranger
3995s	Arch type um you know the zone is
3997s	beautiful the monsters are cool
3999s	everything is is shaping up very nicely
4001s	as a great showcase for the end of the
4002s	year and guys you're watching out there
4004s	in the community obviously we do these
4006s	so that we can get your feedback oh no
4009s	okay we did it uh so we can get your
4011s	feedback um on things that you saw today
4014s	what did you think um looked great what
4017s	what things would you change um this is
4019s	look at that beautiful Creek down there
4021s	my God what a great Winter
4023s	Wonderland um so please make sure to
4026s	participate in our forums uh on the
4029s	social media YouTube video Everything
4032s	talk to us about what you enjoyed today
4034s	um and how you like the direction of the
4035s	archetypes and the classes the combat
4037s	how everything is going I know it means
4038s	a lot to Brian Trad Keenan and everybody
4040s	else on the combat team um for you guys
4042s	to give your feedback um um Trad Brian
4046s	Keenan thank you for joining me and
4049s	showcasing all your guys' hard work this
4050s	was great thanks for having me thank you
4053s	absolutely guys we'll see you back on
4055s	stream to close out
4058s	2023 bye everybody see you cheers
4065s	[Music]
4070s	bye welcome back everybody it seems like
4074s	yall really enjoyed it so while we are
4078s	answering your questions um Stephen's
4081s	got that glare going he does really love
4083s	when the sunbeams come in oh I'm sorry
4085s	maybe I can fix that it's those giant
4088s	Windows you have how about now now it's
4091s	ruined your composition no I'm just oh
4094s	it's okay um of course um we love seeing
4099s	all oh sorry about the title here um we
4102s	love seeing all of the Wonder ful
4104s	comments in chat you all were very very
4107s	happy so that makes us really happy our
4109s	combat team has been killing it and I
4111s	know that very nervous um well it's it's
4115s	always a nervous thing to share your
4117s	passion and your you know the work that
4119s	the team has been has been putting into
4122s	this right it's we're doing this because
4124s	we want to hit a bar that is acceptable
4128s	and will make our community proud and
4130s	make us proud right as developers the
4132s	reason we do this is because because we
4134s	want to make people happy in in their
4136s	choice of entertainment and we're all
4137s	MMO Gamers but it's been very validating
4141s	and positive to see you guys give us the
4144s	response that hey you're going in the
4146s	right direction right it may it may not
4148s	be final it may not be fully polished
4151s	they're still outstanding work to do
4153s	obviously right but like hey each
4156s	showcase after each showcase is an
4158s	improvement is a positive direction that
4162s	we get to yield from the the the
4165s	feedback that you guys give us because
4167s	you know as this is playing Margaret and
4169s	I are like watching the chat we're we're
4171s	collecting the questions we're we're
4173s	we're evaluating what the commentary is
4177s	and a lot of the stuff you guys say it's
4178s	like hey this is already planned that's
4180s	great that's perfect we're validating
4182s	our approach it's a very it's a very
4184s	positive interaction it's one that I'm
4186s	glad to see has been adopted a bit more
4189s	so over the recent years in the industry
4192s	uh for game development as a whole which
4194s	is to engage with the community at an
4196s	earlier phase and this is the produce of
4199s	that interaction right this is the this
4201s	is what comes from that and so we're
4204s	we're very happy to share it with you
4205s	and we're glad to see your guys'
4206s	response to it we're also really
4208s	thankful uh there's been a lot of
4209s	content creators who have been raing us
4210s	today or watching simultaneously so this
4213s	is for you guys thank you all we really
4215s	appreciate it I know in the moment we
4216s	don't always have time to like divert
4218s	and uh say thank you there um a lot we
4221s	are trying to power through to ensure
4223s	that we don't take up people's time too
4225s	much I was I was on on asmin bald's
4229s	stream watch I mean asmin asmin Gold
4231s	Stream watching um the uh the their
4234s	community over there uh in their
4236s	commentary and it seemed very positive
4237s	as well I loved it it was uh it was
4240s	great to see a broader audience than
4241s	just our golden cohort here on the
4243s	stream um with some positive reception
4247s	uh that was it was very very good to see
4249s	yeah um of course like Stephen said uh
4253s	vnar and Roan have been collecting
4255s	questions as well as we've been adding
4256s	some um so we're going to try to get
4260s	through some of them we won't get
4261s	through a ton of questions because we'll
4262s	be here all day if we answer everything
4264s	but we'll try to power through as many
4265s	as we can um I do want to reiterate at
4268s	the beginning Stephen did mention that
4269s	he didn't have the cool Downs active um
4272s	so that he could show the abilities more
4274s	frequently um so just again reminder of
4277s	that the first question here is what
4279s	kind of utility abilities will Rangers
4282s	have because that's something that we
4283s	didn't really showcase there for sure um
4286s	and before I get to the utility question
4287s	I just want to say um as you guys watch
4290s	these demonstrations particularly prior
4293s	to our Alpha 2 and even during Alpha 2
4295s	like balance is not something we really
4299s	dive into at all during this phase right
4302s	we we obviously do a finger in the wind
4304s	pass on balance but um balance requires
4307s	a lot of logging and data from play
4310s	testing that is the goal of Alpha 2
4314s	um but if you see things like cool Downs
4317s	like damage numbers um you know those
4320s	things are very subject to
4322s	change and things like that absolutely
4325s	and it's very easy to tune those things
4327s	so just keep that in mind as we move
4329s	into Alpha 2 the difference between data
4332s	and uh you know creating a whole anation
4334s	or a whole yeah you
4337s	know V effect and stuff like that
4339s	they're just trying to get the look and
4340s	feel down and then the data side of it
4343s	is is something that
4345s	and you'll see a lot of CH beta as we
4347s	get into phase where we're poling and
4350s	fixing bugs and making that we're in a
4351s	state where we're like hey now we're
4353s	balancing and we'll make that clear to
4354s	you all like hey we want balance
4356s	feedback right now we're not asking for
4358s	that absolutely some of the some of the
4360s	utility skills that we think about um
4362s	when we design the archetypes um you
4365s	know are how they counter and react to
4368s	other archetypes so for example you know
4371s	a ranger is is we think about that class
4374s	fantasy of perception right a ranger is
4376s	kind of in the outskirts they're they're
4377s	keeping their range they're watching
4379s	what's happening um and they have good
4381s	perception so when we think about
4382s	utilities some of the examples of those
4384s	utilities might be a rogue has
4385s	invincibility excuse me invisibility how
4388s	do you um address invisibility well a
4391s	ranger might have a utility ability that
4393s	spawns a Hound uh that Trails invisible
4396s	targets within an AOE radius of the
4399s	Ranger um and you get that location
4401s	whereas a mage might have an Arcane eye
4403s	that actually reveals them to the party
4405s	of the raid like those are the types of
4407s	utility skills that we want to create
4410s	they offer counters and horizontal
4413s	progression against the other Arch type
4415s	abilities that give them certain types
4417s	of benefits and that's how you create
4419s	that rock paper scissor type of
4421s	interaction between the classes so that
4423s	there's not you know you you there's
4425s	always going to be a meta but you chip
4426s	away at the relevancy of that meta when
4429s	metas are highly situational and utility
4431s	spells are the responses to situational
4435s	interactions what about I think in the
4437s	past we had shown like uh where Rangers
4440s	could track people yeah that this would
4443s	be a form of that tracking absolutely
4445s	yep um the next one was can you stack
4448s	your
4450s	marks uh right now marks are not
4453s	intended to be stacked right now marks
4455s	will over I believe marks will is this
4457s	still the case marks will override the
4459s	previously applied Mark um and and the
4462s	benefit of that is like we're not
4464s	outscaling the mark efficacy uh too much
4466s	by allowing them to stack it gives us
4468s	more power to place on each individual
4470s	Mark when we know that um they'll be
4473s	replaced if you use them so they're very
4475s	uh they're very unique to kind of the
4476s	situation that you need the mark for uh
4478s	but you can quickly kind of swap between
4480s	them the next one is tank has resolv
4483s	cleric has divine power what does Ranger
4487s	have that's a very good question it is
4489s	the interaction between the Hunts and
4491s	the marks um uh that is something that
4493s	we're going to be um focusing in on a
4496s	little bit more um right now that is
4498s	still something that the combat team is
4500s	working on for the ranger
4501s	class and then we have would one of the
4504s	skill tree selections allow for a
4506s	targeting reticle to be
4509s	used um yes as a matter of fact uh there
4512s	was a slight bug with the um action
4516s	camera mode for this particular display
4518s	and we didn't have time to fix it in
4519s	time Brian was using action whenever he
4522s	was doing a practice I know I know and I
4524s	and I tried using action in the first uh
4527s	attempt at this recording and it bugged
4529s	out for us and and I we didn't have time
4531s	to fix it so um uh we went ahead without
4534s	that but uh to answer your question uh
4536s	will these abilities the question was
4538s	Will these abilities work with action
4540s	camera is that the question yeah uh no
4543s	it well it's would one of the skill tree
4546s	selections allow for a targeting reticle
4549s	to be
4550s	used um so targeting reticle is applied
4553s	when when you swap to the action camera
4555s	mode um so that wouldn't be a part of
4557s	the skill tree selection it would just
4558s	be an option that you can switch to by
4560s	pressing Z currently um that that that
4562s	uses a soft lock system for the
4564s	targeting reticle I think the followup
4566s	here would be uh especially for folks
4567s	who really like ranged uh stuff is being
4570s	able to customize your reticle oh sure
4573s	yeah absolutely from a UI perspective
4575s	just customizing the reticle out shape
4577s	absolutely there will be a number of
4578s	different retical types that you can use
4580s	get on it kby and Co they they already
4583s	have a few actually
4584s	theying uh next up we've got what's the
4588s	counterplay that a melee archetype has
4590s	against a ranger how can you avoid being
4593s	killed by the targeted shots yeah it
4596s	depends on the melee right if we're
4597s	talking about fighter they're going to
4599s	have a lot of heavy Gap closers they can
4601s	probably be a little bit more liberal in
4603s	the use of their Gap closers because
4604s	they have so many of them uh versus
4607s	let's say a ranger that needs to choose
4610s	when to use their escape uh abilities
4613s	because they have fewer of them um the
4615s	same would be true for a Melee character
4617s	like a rogue their approach Vector is
4619s	going to be more stealth driven than it
4621s	would be perhaps let's say from a gap
4622s	closer perspective um so they're going
4624s	to stealth into position um and then
4627s	that's where you're you're tracking your
4628s	ability use um uh for your getaway
4631s	abilities and then is there and then and
4634s	then real quick the other thing is
4635s	lockdowns as well right melee users are
4638s	likely going to have um a number of
4639s	different cc's to choose from whether
4641s	that be uh slowing the target rooting
4643s	the target stunning the target um and
4645s	then those allow them to get off their
4646s	Combos and and yes Rangers can do it
4649s	like once but what you saw from uh the
4651s	reason why it looked like Stephen could
4653s	do it unlimited was because he didn't
4655s	have cool downs but there is a cool down
4656s	on it so yeah he might be able to get
4658s	away from one of them but let's say you
4660s	put another one on them then you know
4662s	you're they're kind of
4664s	so um the next question out of luck yeah
4669s	and then we've got is there going to be
4673s	spell push back when being hit and if so
4677s	will the fast shooting short bow punish
4679s	cast barmore so if you're shooting
4683s	really fast will it push back casters no
4686s	um there is not just a native push back
4689s	that exists for ranged attacks some
4691s	attacks do have push back effects um and
4695s	uh also casters can experience a delay
4698s	in their cast time due to concentration
4701s	failures um so concentration is a stat
4704s	that's associated with one of our
4705s	primary attributes being um uh uh a
4709s	derivative waterfall uh for
4711s	concentration checks when concentration
4713s	fails due to damage that's done um it is
4716s	it is going to increase that casting
4718s	time slightly uh it won't interrupt it
4720s	completely but it will increase the
4721s	casting time but push back is not a
4723s	native effect that lives on any
4725s	particular type of attack it is
4726s	something that is accompanying a
4728s	specific
4729s	ability all right and then why did you
4732s	move away from Air arrows being
4735s	projectiles um arrows are still
4738s	projectiles yeah I'm not sure where they
4740s	came from that arrows are I think maybe
4742s	what they're referring to um is more on
4744s	the action side um so when we when we
4747s	refer to uh projectiles we're talking
4750s	about you know hit scan verse
4751s	projectiles we are still using
4753s	projectiles um but we are using a
4756s	locking mechanism in tab targeting um
4758s	for those projectiles to home to the
4760s	Target uh should you have a valid angle
4762s	uh in that perspective the action side
4765s	of that is that you can blindfire
4768s	projectiles and should a Target move
4770s	within the line of attack that the
4772s	projectile is moving in a great example
4774s	of this uh is the uh orb ball that is
4777s	lightning um which is kind of moving
4779s	forward you don't necessarily have to
4781s	have a Target to aim that at you just
4782s	move that slowly as it moves through the
4784s	path if another Target moves and you're
4786s	leading that Target um it will strike
4788s	the target so we have blindfire
4790s	currently um we're still going to be
4791s	doing some um some touching up with the
4794s	action combat side prior to Alpha
4796s	2 um right now when you have your
4799s	reticle over a Target it has a soft lock
4802s	on the Target and you can you know
4803s	rapidly move between that in action mode
4806s	with the reticle uh if you wish um and
4809s	then I think kind of a follow-up to this
4811s	uh is if I'm a tank and I get in the way
4813s	of a shot of a ranger yes I okay cool
4816s	cool so you are able to like kind of
4818s	block and there are certain and there
4820s	are certain Battlefield abilities that
4821s	you can use um won't be able to just
4824s	body block it right not all projectiles
4826s	can be body blocks some some potentially
4828s	can um but there will be certain
4831s	abilities and effects like a shield wall
4833s	that can that can be brought up and that
4835s	will obscure line of sight to the Target
4838s	uh as well and it will restrict um some
4840s	of those attacks from occurring fabulous
4843s	um our next one here is if I use wands
4846s	or swords as a ranger am I locked out of
4850s	half of my kit because of the range
4853s	abilities that are connected to a short
4855s	bow or a long bow um so right now we are
4859s	still kind of approaching how we want
4862s	the character paper doll between ranged
4865s	uh weapons uh bows or otherwise to exist
4869s	um our thought process is is currently
4871s	can I in one thing absolutely there's a
4873s	lot of new people who are with us um and
4876s	so people are like Rangers can't use
4877s	wands the way that we have been building
4879s	our product is that anybody can use any
4882s	weapon any armor
4884s	you may not always be viable in every
4885s	situation but that is the case and then
4887s	go ahead Stephen I just wanted to
4888s	correct and just for those of you those
4891s	of you who are new last month we did do
4892s	a little showcase on Crafting which
4894s	talks a little bit about itemization and
4896s	how you can through certain recipes and
4899s	material uses augment the types of stats
4902s	that live on certain itemizations to be
4905s	relevant uh across all the different
4907s	archetypes right so there is a bit of
4909s	choice when it comes to players that
4911s	craft these items on whether or not they
4913s	they want to have physical damage values
4915s	versus magical damage values um and that
4917s	leads to a very competitive healthy open
4920s	market uh which is something that is
4922s	integral to ashes of creation uh but as
4924s	it relates to to Rangers being able to
4927s	use um certain abilities with bows
4929s	equipped some abilities will require
4931s	bows to be equipped um and those
4933s	abilities uh um uh can be used with a
4937s	bow and not without bows and for those
4940s	of you who are newer to how we have our
4942s	CL classes setup is that you have a
4944s	primary archetype and a secondary
4946s	archetype and that secondary archetype
4948s	um can really dive into other things
4950s	like maybe you're Ranger but you're a
4952s	Summoner secondary or you're a ranger
4954s	and you're a mage secondary and that
4956s	might be more viable for carrying a wand
4959s	versus having bow so I'm just trying to
4960s	give some perspective on that correct
4962s	yeah there's a lot of a lot of
4963s	customization options right your primary
4966s	archetype is the delivery vehicle for
4968s	your active abilities your secondary
4970s	archetype augments those active
4972s	abilities into something else but
4973s	doesn't give you new active abilities
4975s	right and so that's something very
4976s	important to keep in mind correct um and
4980s	then people did see this in there but uh
4983s	I think reiterating to make it clear uh
4985s	they were wondering can you move while
4987s	casting all of the Ranger abilities not
4990s	all of them some of them root the target
4992s	uh for example snipe is one that does uh
4994s	restrict your ability to move um but the
4998s	vast majority yes you can move now there
5000s	is a slight movement penalty that's
5002s	applied for a lot of those abilities uh
5004s	the ones that can move but for the most
5006s	part yes this is a very mobile uh Arc
5009s	Type approach and of course um you know
5013s	the the locking down of making you not
5015s	be able to move while you're casting
5017s	certain abilities is a is a balancing
5019s	Factor right so that's yeah something
5022s	that the development and design team can
5024s	work on to be like o okay this is very
5026s	powerful so maybe it isn't something you
5028s	can do while you're moving so kind of
5030s	keeping that in mind they'll balance it
5031s	to make sure that it makes sense for the
5033s	type of ability and kind of what type of
5035s	damage or whatever its effects are for
5038s	sure so uh Ju Just to just to dial in a
5041s	little bit there abilities are vehicles
5044s	for conferring effects onto a Target
5046s	right and um as you were describing
5050s	balance-wise there's a number of
5051s	different interactions mechanically that
5053s	you have within an ability that you can
5055s	adjust uh in order to balance its power
5058s	um the most most common ones are cool
5061s	down Mana consumption Damage Done effect
5064s	status conferred promotion of that
5066s	effect status range um you know those
5069s	are those are the kind of uh primary
5071s	methods by which you just correct yes
5074s	yes that's correct there's a lot of
5076s	different there's a lot of there's a lot
5078s	of different things that play into that
5080s	but those are the primary mechanical
5082s	constructs of a particular ability right
5084s	um and so for example you were look we
5086s	were talking about air strike how it
5088s	confers a lot of different effects onto
5090s	a Target being that it does damage being
5092s	that it's used for Mobility being that
5093s	it also applies a cc effect and so in
5096s	order to balance that um you know not
5098s	talking about specific numbers that it
5100s	does or the length of the CC effect or
5102s	the or the opposed stat check for that
5104s	particular CC effect um and the Mana
5106s	consumption it's also the the cooldown
5108s	it's a very big ability with a large
5110s	cooldown effect so you want to use it
5112s	and manage your resources and those of
5114s	you who are MMO players you know all
5115s	this uh you want to manage your
5117s	resources
5118s	effectively all right and I think you're
5121s	you're already talking about balance and
5123s	maybe more specifically towards Ranger I
5126s	think that generally the overwhelming
5128s	everyone was really excited for the
5130s	ranger they were they L seeing it they
5131s	thought it was cool but there was
5133s	definitely a mix of what people felt was
5137s	uh not balanced so I don't know if you
5140s	if you can go we already discussed that
5142s	we're not in the balancing phase right
5143s	now but perhaps you can talk a little
5145s	bit about what our balancing process is
5148s	for archetypes as an
5150s	overall yeah I mean
5153s	when we when we move into the balance
5156s	phase right I just talked about the
5158s	primary components that we use in order
5160s	to um to get that initial balance pass
5163s	uh but when we move into Alpha 2 and we
5165s	have a lot of data that's kind of
5167s	supporting the use of these particular
5169s	abilities in combat settings how often
5172s	they're used how often they result in
5173s	death what the average Damage Done by
5175s	this archetype is comparatively to other
5177s	Damage Done by different archetypes all
5179s	of that data gets logged right and all
5182s	of that data gets queried in order for
5184s	us to refine the abilities um so that
5188s	they live in the environment we want
5191s	them to now that's not to mean that
5194s	we're going to have you know a perfect
5197s	balance across the board between the
5198s	archetypes again we're taking a rock
5201s	paper scissor approach to balance which
5203s	means that some archetypes will do
5205s	better against other archetypes and vice
5206s	versa and we're also not creating an
5209s	environment where we want to have one V1
5212s	balance we are focused around group
5214s	balance group composition group
5216s	composition is important right we're not
5218s	creating a highly competitive game that
5221s	might be a valerant or a League of
5222s	Legends right this is an mmor RPG which
5225s	means that there are going to be certain
5226s	classes that perform better than other
5228s	classes in certain situations and that's
5230s	part of the grand strategy right that is
5233s	that is something we want people to
5234s	think about compositionally when they
5236s	arrange their groups and their raids for
5238s	the particular content that they're
5240s	facing um now we have not done a balance
5243s	pass yet right and we haven't used the
5246s	metrics we need in order to create that
5248s	that more acceptable balance for hitting
5250s	the target we want to hit for these
5252s	particular archetypes so when you're
5253s	looking at this you should be looking at
5256s	it with the lens of does this look fun
5259s	does this look like something I want to
5261s	play not is that damage number too high
5265s	is that attack speed too high is that
5267s	cool down too low you know that is
5270s	something that we will address but not
5272s	now now and when we do address it we
5275s	will get that feedback correct exactly
5277s	yes when we do have people play testing
5280s	and involved in the alphas 2 and betas
5283s	that is when we will ask those questions
5286s	and accompany it with
5288s	data exactly all right now that we got
5291s	that out of the way a reminder that like
5294s	Stephen said as you're watching this as
5296s	you're as you're looking at it really
5298s	think about the look and feel think
5300s	about the things that you liked the
5301s	things that you don't like think that
5302s	you'd like to see uh that the ranger
5304s	might have in the future uh and head on
5306s	over to our forums and give us some
5308s	feedback over there uh I believe acner
5310s	already has the Forum thread up so
5313s	please please please I implore you if
5314s	you have thoughts if you're a ranged
5316s	lover um or if you fight Rangers often
5319s	in PvP and you have thoughts in regards
5321s	to that go over there and toss us your
5323s	feedback we'll be compiling that and and
5325s	handing that over to the devs in the new
5327s	year so please please please head on
5329s	over there we would love for your
5330s	feedback our team is very adamant about
5332s	about reviewing feedback and looking
5334s	over it and making sure that we're all
5336s	headed in the right direction but
5337s	definitely from looking at the chat I
5339s	think everybody is really enjoying it so
5341s	that's a good feeling there's lot of
5343s	good vibes going on in chat in our in
5345s	our internal slack right now yeah one
5348s	thing one thing I want to say is that
5349s	look we have this isn't the uh um let me
5354s	say it like this from a while ago we
5357s	have known that we needed to improve our
5360s	approach on combat and if you think
5362s	about what we just talked about about
5364s	those testing scenarios and the
5366s	information we need to improve combat
5368s	and balance that was true in alpha one
5371s	and we got a lot of great feedback from
5373s	alpha 1 and it was that feedback that
5376s	has led us to this approach you see now
5379s	as the result of that feedback and our
5382s	hard work particularly on the combat
5384s	team iterating over time to improve the
5387s	combat Loop now when we see the response
5391s	from the community initially to this
5393s	combat we are seeing hey this looks good
5397s	right and so that that helps us validate
5400s	okay we took the feedback from the
5402s	testing we changed our approach we
5405s	iterated upon it and now we're
5406s	delivering something that visually looks
5408s	compelling to our audience right that is
5411s	a perfect Loop of iteration
5413s	incorporating the the community as part
5416s	of their uh uh responsibility to provide
5419s	us feedback because nobody wants to see
5421s	a game get launched that hasn't had the
5424s	opportunity to collect feedback from the
5426s	players we've seen those games before
5428s	right and that's what this interaction
5430s	right now our monthly development update
5432s	is intended to safeguard against and so
5434s	I just want to give kudos to the combat
5436s	team because um in my opinion uh having
5439s	played this and watched this and seen
5441s	the community's response to it they've
5442s	done a great job they have done a great
5444s	job in in moving away from what was our
5447s	Direction prior to Alpha 1 to now having
5450s	uh developed for Alpha 2 uh a
5453s	significantly revamped combat experience
5455s	and I think it feels good and it plays
5456s	well and it's fun even just internally
5459s	uh I mean we don't talk about this all
5460s	the time but it kind of goes right into
5462s	moving into our studio update which is
5464s	what we're going to talk about next um
5466s	you know we are continually iterating
5468s	our internal processes and they've been
5470s	really finding a good uh like you said
5473s	um rotation in regards to the process
5475s	internally of how they create abilities
5477s	and how they create archetypes um and
5480s	weapons and things of that sort so
5482s	is like Brian said in the Stream it is a
5485s	team effort you know there may be one
5487s	person whose head is on the line for one
5491s	thing or the other but the single ring
5492s	neck yes but in the end everyone has
5495s	it's a collaborative effort to make
5497s	these things come to to come together
5498s	abut our development team is oh my gosh
5502s	wonderful passionate people and that
5504s	goes to show in our when we're looking
5507s	at attrition rate over the years uh you
5510s	know industry standard is is like over
5513s	20 30% right and we're at 2. 3 3 3% or
5517s	something like that yeah it's pretty
5519s	good so people who come here really
5521s	enjoy working here um and you know
5523s	sometimes things change in people's
5525s	lives and they come and go and that is
5526s	pretty normal but we're under and just
5528s	to just to comment a little bit about
5530s	that as we go into the studio update um
5533s	for those of you who are watching who
5535s	may not be as actively engaged in the
5537s	development process of Ashes um what I
5540s	will say is that where we were prior to
5542s	alpha 1 and where we are today are two
5544s	very different um positions right um we
5547s	are now at over 170 people full-time on
5551s	the team developers who are creating
5553s	ashes of creation um and you know we
5556s	have seen over the course of this last
5558s	year significant progress uh from a
5561s	development perspective uh for ashes of
5564s	creation and it's it's I mean as you
5566s	guys can see through these updates it is
5568s	starting to to look and feel pretty good
5570s	and and there is still aot long road to
5572s	go um so what I would say is that those
5576s	of you who are finding it hard to be
5578s	patient for the for the games release um
5581s	that's understandable 100% but we have a
5584s	very clear objective we have a very
5586s	clear goal and that is to create
5588s	something special and um you know the
5591s	timeline for something special is is
5593s	hard to Define you you can't put a time
5596s	box around finding fun right um and
5599s	sometimes when games or Publishers try
5600s	to do that um it it doesn't end well and
5604s	so we want to make sure because we have
5605s	spent the better part of the last seven
5607s	years developing ashes of creation um
5610s	that we execute on it well and that
5613s	takes some time and it takes some that
5615s	front too I think people think like oh
5618s	you've been in development for seven
5619s	years but keep in mind the team was very
5621s	small those first few years like if you
5623s	have five or 10 people working on your
5625s	staff you're not going to be able to
5626s	accomplish as much as you are with 170
5629s	so I just want to make that clear that
5630s	only within the last couple years have
5632s	we really grown our team a lot of the
5635s	the previous was getting the foundation
5637s	design making sure we're and to be fair
5640s	that was in that's intentional right
5641s	like when John and I started this studio
5644s	um having not had a background in gaming
5647s	something's happening oh did mine my
5650s	frames die can you hear me okay no
5652s	you're good I think it's something to do
5654s	with twitch twitch all right how about
5657s	how about now it's clearing up now we're
5660s	good okay so
5662s	what you know it's it's all good um what
5664s	I was going to say is that having a
5665s	struggle when John and I started this
5667s	company back in um you know 2016 we had
5671s	just a couple of people on the team I
5673s	think Keith was our was a one of our
5675s	senior character artists was the first
5677s	was the first hired and and in 2017 you
5680s	know we got up to maybe 20 people we
5682s	aren't a blizzard or Microsoft or a you
5686s	know a riot that has hundreds of people
5688s	and and you know billions of dollars um
5691s	to spend on development right this is
5693s	this is out of uh our pockets and out of
5697s	um uh the the the pre-order packs that
5700s	we've done combined are creating this
5702s	game and so we built the studio in a
5704s	very sustainable fashion right and
5706s	exactly yes and Kickstarter we bu yes we
5710s	we built the uh this the studio in a
5712s	very sustainable fashion um with a very
5714s	clear goal and vision that we have stuck
5716s	to over the years and um you know as
5719s	we're wrapping up 2023 and in December
5722s	we look back on those things and
5723s	obviously you know break coming up is is
5725s	always a very introspective time um I'm
5728s	very proud of what this team has
5730s	accomplished and and what the company
5731s	has grown to become because we've kept
5733s	our identity in that time being very
5735s	passionate MMORPG Gamers creating
5738s	something that we've always wanted to
5739s	see in a game and and one that upholds
5741s	to this non-pay to- win philosophy who
5744s	who believes in the Integrity of the
5745s	player in the community that's
5747s	participating in ashes of creation so
5749s	you know there is something special
5751s	there I think think that is unique about
5753s	Intrepid um and you guys are seeing that
5755s	shine through as we give you these
5756s	development updates we understand that
5759s	everything's going to move super quickly
5761s	but we will we will make good on
5763s	everything that we're we're doing so
5765s	just making sure that you have patience
5766s	with us I think we've all seen games
5769s	that have been pushed out quickly and
5770s	we're like wow they really should have
5772s	taken more time but a lot of those
5773s	companies have a lot of pressure to to
5775s	push things absolutely we are fortunate
5778s	Stephen stepen is the only one who can
5780s	pressure us so if he's like get it done
5782s	we're like all right man I get pressure
5785s	I get pressure but just just to comment
5787s	on that what I would say is that um um
5791s	you know I lost my thought
5794s	there I'm sorry I lost my thought yes
5797s	you distract to me on the pressure sorry
5799s	sorry in regards to uh taking our time
5801s	and making sure that we have quality
5802s	product yeah no absolutely I mean that
5805s	is very true um I know here's what I'm
5807s	here's what I was going to say is that
5809s	look what we are trying to do do which
5812s	is to create a community focused
5815s	feedback loop for our development
5817s	process in creating a non-pay towin game
5820s	that that Champions the inte Integrity
5823s	of the player and with the intricate
5825s	detailed systems and interconnectivity
5827s	that ashes provides in a very sandbox
5829s	environment where you can actually see
5831s	not just hear buzzwords of the
5833s	environment reacting to the actions of
5835s	the players that should be something
5837s	that everyone roots for everyone in this
5841s	industry and in this in the community of
5843s	MMORPG Gamers should be rooting for the
5846s	success of projects like ours because
5849s	Innovation only occurs when Risk Takers
5852s	move forward to achieve something that
5855s	is important and and whenever you see a
5859s	community that comes back and is
5861s	negative about the Outlook or the or the
5863s	prospects of a particular uh project
5866s	it's fair to give criticisms it's fair
5868s	to talk about things that should change
5870s	we want that that's why we engage with
5872s	the community um but at the end of the
5875s	day we should be rooting for the success
5878s	of people who dare to take risks because
5880s	risks are how things change and how we
5883s	get a better environment for the MMORPGs
5885s	that we love and you know I get a lot of
5889s	messages like are you worried about this
5890s	or that product and it's like no there's
5892s	room for everybody there's room for live
5893s	games there's lots of people there's
5895s	lots of games so it we are friends with
5897s	a lot of the people who make other games
5900s	so absolutely I think that from our
5902s	perspective it's a it's a community we
5904s	are all a community creating games and
5906s	creating uh wonderful memories for
5909s	people and places for people to to grow
5911s	and have have their own sub communities
5914s	so 100% we are here for that and uh
5916s	there's no uh hard feelings in regards
5919s	to that no no not at all anything else
5922s	you want to talk about in the studio
5923s	side I know there's been a lot going on
5925s	and obviously this is the end of the
5927s	year to recap the year um you know
5930s	obviously you know we just yeah you know
5933s	we we've been we've been having some
5934s	great luck on the hiring front um
5936s	obviously you know my heart goes out to
5939s	the industry right now it's a difficult
5940s	time within within the gam indust off
5943s	like right before Christmas too uh it's
5945s	it's terrible to see and and it and it
5947s	literally tears apart my heart to watch
5950s	some of these very talented developers
5952s	through no fault of their own have to
5954s	suffer a layoff particularly at this
5956s	time of year and and I know that the
5957s	industry will bounce back um but we have
5959s	had some we've had some great success
5961s	and bringing on some amazing talent to
5964s	the team uh over the course of these
5965s	last few months uh we just celebrated um
5968s	the end of this Milestone uh we're going
5970s	on break starting on Friday and we'll be
5972s	returning on January 2nd we watched uh
5975s	we we got together and rented out the
5977s	theater here and watched Willy Wonka
5979s	with our families and and the uh and the
5982s	developers that was a lot of fun I did
5984s	not I did not know was a musical I'm not
5987s	necessarily a fan of musicals but I
5988s	thought it was great you know I I
5990s	enjoyed it it was fun I looked across
5992s	the room when the first song started and
5994s	I said oh I didn't know that but uh
5997s	regardless we had a lot of fun and um
5999s	you know we're just kind of winding down
6001s	the year it's a lot of lot of head fires
6002s	right now with h getting some of our uh
6005s	playable builds over the over the week
6007s	that we want to have available um but
6009s	the team has been has been just killing
6011s	it so kudos to the team everyone at
6013s	Intrepid that's watching a great job
6015s	this year I mean it was could could get
6017s	some if you're watching us live here on
6019s	Twitch uh giving us some heart in chat
6021s	for our wonderful development team I'm
6023s	sure appreciate that and then of course
6025s	if you're watching us over on YouTube
6027s	you can toss some hearts in there as
6028s	well in the comments we would love that
6030s	and um you know we just appreciate you
6032s	guys we hope that you appreciate us we
6034s	try to give as much love and and
6037s	knowledge to you all so you know the
6039s	community team's going to kill me
6040s	because I just made you guys spam so oh
6043s	sorry in advance um but whilst we're
6045s	getting all those hearts in chat we can
6047s	continue them for the love of the art uh
6049s	if you don't mind us moving moving on to
6051s	that St yeah absolutely um so first and
6054s	foremost we have a whole slew of weapons
6057s	that we're going to be showing off for
6058s	you guys including books wands focuses
6061s	scepter daggers Spears uh B
6065s	bows uh Shields swords uh so I'll kind
6069s	of let this Loop through so you can see
6071s	all of the cool things there's a whole
6072s	set of novice items that they've been
6074s	working towards as well as uh I believe
6077s	the sons of Fortune set and a few other
6080s	little in pieces here but really we're
6083s	working on making sure that when you're
6085s	leveling up from Level 1 through 15 that
6087s	you have a lot of cool things that you
6088s	can craft as well as things that you can
6090s	attain through you know defeating
6093s	creatures and stuff like that so uh
6095s	they're really honing in on that level
6097s	one through 15 experience when it comes
6099s	to loot drops and crafting items I don't
6101s	know if you have anything else to add on
6103s	that front Stephen no it's just uh you
6105s	know we' we've been very heads down for
6108s	the better part of this year focusing on
6110s	the uh feature development of a lot of
6112s	the the gameplay systems and and over
6115s	the course of the last few months we've
6116s	been gearing up obviously towards Alpha
6118s	2 which you'll be getting a little bit
6119s	of announcement here in a second um and
6122s	focusing on the progression path you
6124s	know from level one all the way up to uh
6127s	level 30 I believe we we're targeting
6130s	for um Alpha 2 so uh it's been nice to
6133s	kind of see some of the lower level
6134s	stuff getting some TLC uh but also the
6137s	the character progression as well and
6139s	and I think the artists have done a
6141s	great job with a lot of these uh weapons
6143s	yeah and obviously as you level up
6145s	further there will be more crazy cool
6147s	looking stuff so uh just kind of um you
6151s	know showing you a little tidbits we
6152s	don't like to we don't want to show you
6154s	everything but give you a little bit um
6156s	and I also have that mace in a little
6158s	turntable as well for those of you Mace
6161s	lovers out there I'm I'm a big mace fan
6164s	that's like a cleric SL Paladin so it's
6168s	pretty cool um yeah I love that maze
6172s	looks great the next one we have is the
6175s	this is a work in progress but you know
6177s	we like to share some work in progress
6178s	stuff uh so the next one is the remnant
6181s	sympathizer outfit uh this is the part
6184s	of the last pack um like I said it's
6186s	work in progress there will be particle
6188s	effects and things of that sort there's
6190s	still finalizing things but you can kind
6192s	of see where it's headed um it's cool
6194s	for me cuz I designed this set so seeing
6196s	it in a 3D space always gets me excited
6200s	um but but yeah they've been killing it
6204s	um Danny Danny's been doing a good good
6206s	job making it come to 3D life and then I
6209s	think we have a turntable of this as
6210s	well so you can see
6213s	that looks very good looking
6217s	cool a little metal head in me that's
6219s	where this came from very dark I know a
6222s	lot of people like how did this come out
6224s	of
6224s	her very dark it's the same place that
6227s	the snores came out of the the Wisp W
6230s	out of this weird m
6232s	uh next we have the goblin Shaman that
6235s	jincy's been working on which is very
6237s	very cool you'll be definitely seeing
6241s	this bad boy in Alpha
6243s	2 3D model oh look at him a he's just
6248s	ready to Flay Some
6251s	Humans it's
6253s	fine but I love the mask I really hope
6256s	that the mask and the staff are
6258s	droppable items because I think people
6260s	will love rock let me know in chat if
6262s	you would rock that mask cuz ABS I would
6265s	rock it I would rock the mask in real
6268s	life too if we get some cosplay we need
6270s	that as a a mask item and that staff too
6274s	it's so cool um I'd like to walk into a
6277s	conference room with that mask
6278s	on I'm here for
6281s	it oh you know how like they have the
6283s	speaking sticks or something like that
6284s	you just have a speaking mask everywhere
6287s	yes uh we used to do that at my
6290s	pathfinder table when we we were like
6291s	like younger in high school because
6293s	otherwise everyone would talk over each
6294s	other so we had like uh we had funny
6297s	hats so if you wearing funny hat that
6298s	meant you were like in character so you
6300s	had to like so you knew who was trying
6302s	to like get stuff happening versus not
6304s	because we had 13 people so it was a lot
6307s	um you had 13 people in your high school
6309s	yeah well 13 people in our high school
6311s	like D and D gam class oh in D and D
6313s	game oh okay okay I was like wait a
6315s	minute cuz we played on Sundays after
6317s	church it was it was fun though oh as
6319s	you do after church very nice
6321s	[Laughter]
6324s	the devil's work I know that's what they
6326s	said to us is like we're doing that oh
6328s	no back in that day back in the 90s when
6330s	people thought you know we were doing
6332s	bad things um but yeah great job Chris
6334s	Danny jiny Manny and Priscilla killing
6337s	it we always love seeing yourself so
6339s	thank you for sharing it I know
6340s	sometimes they're working on stuff and
6342s	they're like I don't want to share it
6343s	yet but we get to see a lot of amazing
6345s	artwork from these guys and girls um so
6348s	I'm glad we get to share a little bit of
6350s	it you see tons more in Alpha so uh
6354s	moving on to
6356s	Q&A all right all right we'll play some
6358s	more videos uh or we'll play the Ranger
6360s	stuff while we're doing Q&A and may
6362s	maybe we just do Q&A for the next 10
6364s	minutes all right does that sound good
6366s	yep and then we can do the announce yep
6368s	we'll do the announce all right let's do
6369s	it thing that everyone's been waiting
6371s	for oh my goodness uh Kronos storm water
6374s	wants to know about General respecing I
6376s	know we've talked about this topic
6377s	before but they're being very particular
6379s	we've talked about when it comes to
6380s	Artis ship but now they're asking what
6382s	are your plans for the wider respecing
6384s	landscape of Ashes of creation will it
6386s	be easy or difficult and will there be a
6388s	cost involved with General respecing so
6391s	I think this is more an archetype
6393s	specific I know we've talked about it in
6394s	other aspects before yeah um it's going
6398s	to be more difficult in artisanship um
6400s	from an archetype perspective as it
6402s	relates to skills it will be a bit
6404s	easier um I I I am still conflicted on
6407s	whether or not I want to allow resps on
6409s	the Fly I don't believe we should I
6411s	believe that respecing should be done at
6412s	a particular location that requires a
6414s	bit of Transit um and some uh strategy
6417s	strategic thinking ahead of time about
6419s	the encounters that you're expecting um
6421s	but respecing your class should be
6423s	relatively easier um uh obviously with
6427s	that constraint of being at a particular
6429s	location all right and then we've got
6432s	sweaty Cup this name uh wants to know
6435s	about artifacts if a player collects a
6437s	one per server item but stops playing
6440s	the or uh playing this or stops paying
6442s	their subscription or quits playing the
6444s	game will they get to keep the item till
6447s	they
6448s	return um it depends it depends on the
6452s	item um if we're talking about artifacts
6454s	those will likely uh be um timed um
6459s	there are some ideas that we have around
6462s	uh whether or not artifacts um get to
6465s	stay with the character uh um get
6468s	downgraded from an artifact status uh if
6471s	they were to let's say not log in after
6473s	a period of time or if that time period
6474s	goes away uh but it's something we're
6476s	going to be testing as part of um uh the
6478s	end of Alpha 2 near excuse me near the
6480s	later stages of Alpha 2 um but right now
6483s	artifacts are timed yeah and for those
6486s	of you who are new uh artifacts are
6488s	really really rare items that you can
6491s	single items yeah they are only there's
6493s	only one of them on the server um so at
6496s	a time correct yeah yeah very very very
6498s	cool the next one is uh VR Dynasty I
6502s	believe or ver Dynasty they want to know
6504s	about crafting recipes with the map
6507s	being as large as it is and recipes
6508s	being potentially earned anywhere are
6510s	there region specific recipes that would
6512s	be very hard to find if not impossible
6515s	to earn on the other side of Vera so
6518s	will there be rare absolutely there are
6520s	absolutely extremely rare recipes um and
6523s	not just having rare recipes but also
6525s	there are rare unlocks that exist within
6527s	the recipe as well as we talked about
6529s	last month that you can discover um
6532s	recipes uh get delivered in a number of
6535s	different ways through vendors through
6537s	social organizations uh through
6539s	religions through drops through bosses
6543s	um and it kind of uh through treas
6545s	Treasures as well and a lot of those can
6548s	be locationally dependent so um yes
6550s	there are recipes in certain areas that
6553s	you can find that you will not find in
6554s	other areas as well look I tried to get
6556s	a wolf mount the other day and that
6558s	thing is complicated too so
6561s	whatever there's there's many things
6563s	that will be at the end of it you will
6564s	feel very satisfied that you did put the
6566s	effort in to get it uh the next one is
6569s	Raven 06 who wants to know about
6571s	crafting how many grandmas level
6574s	crafting stations can a node stage five
6576s	AKA City node
6579s	have um right now I believe so grandmas
6583s	station at stage five I believe that
6586s	there can be one grandmas station at
6589s	stage five and that there can be two at
6591s	stage six okay yeah I thought it was two
6594s	the Metropolis but I'm not sure
6596s	yeah uh tyrol wants to know about
6599s	Universal skills will each archetype be
6602s	equally efficient with universal skills
6604s	like dodging and active blocking or will
6607s	uh each of them kind of have their own
6609s	versions and flavors or will some people
6611s	be more powerful than others yeah right
6613s	now we have a host of different
6614s	Universal skills um that is uh um uh
6619s	rolling uh active block um and what we
6622s	want to do is um we want to provide a
6626s	progression path that's shared for those
6628s	Universal skills across all the
6630s	archetypes so when you spend skill
6632s	points you can choose to spend them
6634s	within the universal skill set and
6637s	unlock uh uh particular ability types
6639s	for the universal skills as well uh but
6642s	you will be spending them from the skill
6643s	points that you would normally spend uh
6645s	within your class specific skill tree
6647s	and this offers again a different wheel
6649s	of customization that I think is
6652s	interesting and then liner wants to know
6654s	about node artisanship benefits we know
6656s	that the best processing is done in
6658s	freeholds and the best crafting is done
6660s	in nodes but is that restricted to
6662s	academic nodes only what benefits or
6665s	restrictions do node types have in
6667s	regards to crafting um there are no
6669s	restrictions as it relates to the best
6672s	crafting meaning access to those
6673s	crafting stations however the academic
6675s	or scientific nodes um those those
6679s	provide bonuses
6680s	and uh strengths towards crafting within
6684s	the node right so it's not a hard
6685s	lockout it's a soft bonus
6688s	system okay and then Gaul wanted about
6691s	World building is it correct that
6693s	Intrepid Studios is building the Western
6695s	continent first and then the Eastern
6696s	continent is coming afterwards or is
6698s	that not the right way to think about
6700s	the game's direction of
6702s	development no that that is accurate we
6704s	are focused on the western continent
6706s	first um and uh I don't know how you got
6710s	that information I'm just kidding um yes
6713s	and then talking about the areas I think
6715s	they can I know anybody can read map we
6718s	are focused on the western continent
6720s	right now that is accurate yes uh top
6723s	wants to know about AOE abilities is the
6725s	impact of an area effect offensive or
6728s	defensive limited to a number of targets
6731s	or by an
6733s	area um currently our diminishing return
6735s	approach um is is not to restrict the
6741s	number of targets that can uh be
6744s	affected by a particular thing we do
6746s	have player Collision so in and of
6748s	itself that provides a limited quantity
6751s	of of individuals who can be affected by
6753s	uh area of effect spells um we're going
6756s	to be play testing and and experimenting
6758s	with a few different uh diminishing
6760s	return approaches uh as it relates to
6762s	AOE abilities uh as well as status
6765s	conditions all right and as I wrap up
6768s	these last two questions I think we're
6769s	going to be able to answer them in time
6770s	uh I don't know if uh vagnar or Roshan
6773s	want to get a poll in chat I'm just
6774s	curious what quarter everyone thinks
6776s	next year we'll go in Alpha 2 we'll see
6779s	if it where it matches up against what
6781s	the announce is um so the next question
6783s	here is from kadak and they want to know
6785s	about Gathering if another player is
6787s	gathering a tree and I come in for the
6790s	final chop do I get the
6792s	tree if you come in and you so it
6795s	depends on who completes the Gathering
6797s	interaction first um so so if they've
6801s	begun and uh and you come in and you
6804s	have a faster um Gathering uh uh time
6808s	because of either your profession
6810s	experience the tool you're using the
6812s	upgrades you've chosen or the outfit
6814s	you're wearing uh you could conceivably
6816s	completed before them um but again it is
6819s	awarded to the first player to complete
6822s	all right and then our last question
6823s	here is from cash quests and they want
6825s	to know about range attacks can Stephen
6827s	elaborate further on why the minimum
6829s	distance required was removed for the
6832s	Rangers ranged attacks this came from a
6836s	you on Discord sure um so to give
6839s	greater context there uh originally when
6842s	I was thinking about the ranger I had
6843s	thought about introducing a minimum
6846s	range uh
6848s	requirement um in order to offset its uh
6852s	flexibility in combat and having them
6855s	think a little bit more strategically
6856s	about positioning on the battlefield um
6858s	that became an unfund experience when we
6861s	play tested it um and so we decided to
6863s	remove it uh instead we may choose to
6866s	play around with things like uh range
6869s	too too close of range affecting
6871s	something maybe like accuracy we haven't
6873s	play tested with that um or we just
6875s	might not incorporate it and instead let
6877s	it live within the abilities you saw an
6879s	example of that with regards to the
6881s	lightning uh um ability uh having
6884s	variable uh effects conferred at
6887s	different ranges uh that right now is
6889s	the approach that we're taking and with
6892s	that we ready for our little announce
6895s	should I just play it I think I think
6897s	well before we play it let me I mean
6900s	maybe we yeah maybe we we can play it or
6903s	no let me oh let me talk about this for
6905s	a second I know we're gonna have some
6906s	thoughts afterwards that we need to okay
6908s	I want everyone I want everyone in the
6909s	audience to breathe with me we're just
6912s	gonna we're just gonna breathe in wait
6915s	hold that was out okay breathe out now
6917s	bre and then breathe out um I want you
6921s	to understand those of you who are
6923s	watching those of you who might not be
6924s	watching and following the project as
6926s	much as as as others in our
6929s	community um this is a long time coming
6932s	Alpha 2 is a major testing period for
6936s	the product for the game um and it is
6939s	intended to be um uh something that
6943s	provides us with a great amount of
6945s	wealth of information and iterative
6947s	processing that we can then go back and
6949s	touch on certain systems combat
6951s	everything right um
6955s	now there we are going to give you our
6958s	projection according to our schedule
6960s	that we believe that we are going to hit
6961s	Alpha 2 um but we are going to be we
6964s	have already begun testing we're going
6966s	to be continuing testing over the course
6968s	of the remainder of December January
6970s	February March we are going to be
6972s	testing a lot uh over the course of the
6974s	next several months um sometimes that
6977s	testing can prove to set us back a
6979s	little bit um hopefully that is not the
6982s	case we are still we are very far ahead
6984s	of a lot of the more nebulous questions
6986s	from a development perspective um so we
6988s	feel really good about it um uh but I
6991s	want you to take um obviously what we're
6994s	announced with Alpha 2 with a grain of
6996s	salt right this is not a game that we're
6999s	launching in Alpha 2 this is truly a
7002s	testing environment this is something
7004s	that if you are considering purchasing
7006s	Alpha 2 um that you should make sure you
7010s	understand this is not a game experience
7013s	this is a testing platform um those of
7016s	you who are in pi and and who um were
7019s	previous Alpha One testers um you know
7022s	it's going to be it's going to be a lot
7023s	of spot testing it's going to be a lot
7025s	of preparation for Alpha 2 um and it's
7027s	going to be uh a lot of work essentially
7030s	right to want to log in and and play
7032s	through wipes multiple times potentially
7034s	before we get to Alpha 2 there may be
7036s	wipes in Alpha 2 right we can't
7038s	accurately predict that so we are very
7040s	excited about Alpha 2 at the studio very
7043s	excited about Alpha 2 because it is a
7046s	large segment of the game and in a
7048s	pretty sizable portion of the world um
7052s	and it is going to be a major test bed
7054s	for us to validate the interactions of
7056s	all of these systems that we've built um
7059s	and it's going to be an exciting time
7060s	where we're going to have a lot of fun
7061s	doing it and so with that I think that
7065s	we can show when we expect Alpha 2 to
7068s	land which quarter in
7073s	[Music]
7086s	2024 all right there you have it quarter
7090s	three we are going to see you all on
7092s	Vera we are very excited and like
7094s	Stephen said we are doing some testing
7096s	internally already I know we mentioned
7098s	last I think Stephen said we're already
7100s	spot testing and that got people I got
7102s	some people riled up cuz they're like
7104s	I'm not there um so to kind of reiterate
7107s	right now we are doing internal testing
7108s	we're going to be expanding that to Pi
7110s	they are the first people who get in and
7112s	then we'll be expanding that further and
7114s	further as we get further along as we
7116s	get closer to that quarter 3 Mark all of
7118s	the testing prior to that quarter 3 Mark
7120s	will be under NDA unless we say
7122s	otherwise so keeping that in mind you
7124s	won't hear conversation about it because
7126s	we won't be talking about it people who
7128s	are testing should not be talking about
7129s	it cuz it's not in a state that we're
7130s	ready to share but once we are in
7132s	quarter three once we are uh ready to
7135s	announce the date we'll probably
7136s	announce it before so you'll you'll know
7138s	the dates so you can plan um and of
7140s	course we'll be reaching out to those of
7141s	you who have Alpha 2 access um in
7144s	advance as well so you'll get messaging
7145s	you'll be notified make sure that you
7147s	have your email available that you don't
7149s	have us going to your spam so you don't
7151s	miss it but we'll also make note of this
7153s	on all our social hey emails have gone
7154s	out um so if you are an alpha 2 access
7159s	uh person
7160s	stay tuned we will be reaching out to
7162s	you later as we get closer to quarter 3
7164s	um and yeah just want to make sure that
7166s	that's clear because I think it got
7167s	people we got a lot of Cs tickets that
7169s	were like I don't I don't have access
7171s	yet and I was like no not yet and
7173s	Confused people a little bit we will be
7175s	very we will be very um uh proactive
7178s	with exactly proactive with the uh with
7180s	the messaging guys as Margaret said keep
7182s	an eye out uh on emails um we'll be
7185s	sending out information as those testing
7187s	dates draw near yeah and I I think there
7190s	were some questions that people had uh I
7192s	think we clarified the the first bit of
7193s	it and then the second bit of it was um
7196s	the persistency of Alpha 2 and what that
7198s	looks like I think some people think
7200s	persistence means 24/7 up forever um
7203s	yeah there will there will absolutely be
7205s	downtimes 100% right again this is a
7207s	this is a testing bet and when those
7210s	downtimes need to happen or those wipes
7212s	need to occur we're going to do what's
7214s	best for the product not for the
7215s	experience in Alpha 2 and that's a very
7217s	clear distinguishment between what to
7219s	expect when we launch the game which is
7221s	all about the player experience versus
7223s	the development process that is Alpha 2
7226s	so it's very important to understand
7228s	that dichotomy and the goal is to
7231s	eventually have our Alpha uh
7234s	to that stream to end up being our uh
7238s	like PTR test test test realm down the
7241s	line so um it will kind of run
7244s	simultaneously through the other ones
7245s	but of course still downtime there will
7246s	be downtime it's not going to be 247
7248s	always I just wanted to make sure that
7250s	that was clear to folks because that I
7252s	have been seeing a lot of discussion
7254s	going around about that uh once we are
7256s	in Alpha 2 that will no longer have an
7258s	NDA um so then you'll be able to stream
7261s	and share and screenshot and talk about
7263s	it but prior to that
7265s	remember keep it secret keep it safe sh
7267s	keep it safe I like that good um
7272s	anything else you want to add on that
7273s	friends no just excited and happy to be
7276s	here with you guys excited for the end
7278s	of the year excited for next year it's
7280s	going to be a fun time and uh things are
7282s	moving fast yeah we hope that you all um
7286s	are able to stay safe and you can spend
7289s	time with those you love during this
7290s	holiday season I know not everybody has
7292s	that opportunity but you know we do have
7294s	community space over here you can come
7296s	hang out with us for the holidays we are
7298s	at ashes of creation all the places the
7300s	YouTube video for the 4K version is up
7302s	the full development update video will
7304s	go up tomorrow pending you know YouTube
7306s	wants to cooperate and twitch wants to
7307s	cooperate uh please head on over to our
7310s	forums we are always engaging you with
7313s	feedback or asking you for feedback um
7316s	you can head on to forums.
7317s	ashesofcreation
7318s	docomo Rarities up right now give us
7321s	your feedback on that and of course the
7323s	ranger archetype we would love to hear
7324s	your thoughts on that um reminder that
7327s	the Unseen order Cosmetics are going to
7329s	be ending January 17th so that is your
7332s	last chance to get a pre-order pack or
7333s	your friends do um we may extend you
7336s	know other opportunities to purchase
7338s	into Alpha 2 access but there will no
7340s	longer be pre-order packs available so
7343s	just keeping that in mind that and that
7344s	is a that is a big point I want to make
7346s	sure for and and we'll send me messaging
7348s	out as well but we have given multiple
7351s	months now of notice that we'll be
7353s	ending the pre-order packages come
7355s	January 17th this is not intended to be
7357s	a fomo like I said we gave multiple
7359s	months of notice we may be opening up
7362s	Alpha 2 access in a different form at
7364s	some point in the future closer to Alpha
7366s	2 if we can service those users correct
7368s	and that's that's dependent on internal
7370s	testing it's dependent on the external
7372s	testing that we're doing as well um that
7374s	is going to help inform that decision
7376s	but res it stands now we will be ending
7379s	pre-order packages January 17th across
7381s	everything whether it be beta or
7384s	Alpha and then of course we would love
7386s	to thank you all for tuning in thank you
7388s	so much for all the raids and people who
7390s	are watching from their other channels
7391s	we really appreciate that that you're
7393s	sharing the the world of Vera with other
7395s	people and sharing the love for ashes of
7397s	creation we really really appreciate
7399s	that um and of course thank you to all
7401s	of you who are watching and joining us
7403s	and sticking with us throughout this
7405s	entire very long live stream um and of
7408s	course is this another two-hour live
7410s	stream yeah I think me and you also had
7413s	a lot of side conversations but I feel
7415s	like wrapping up the year we we don't
7417s	want to rush it right absolutely um
7420s	thank you to Trad and Brian and Keenan
7422s	for your work and joining us for a
7423s	showcase and showcasing the ranger in a
7425s	great way and of course Stephen for your
7427s	time and we hope that you all are going
7430s	to be just as excited as us in the new
7432s	year because we'll see you then I'm
7434s	going to be married next time I'm oh my
7437s	goodness I am so excited I cannot wait
7440s	John and I are ready to go we got our
7442s	flight ready and everything yay I'm so
7445s	excited um so yeah not only have we been
7448s	wrapping up the year I've also been
7449s	planning a wedding so it's been crazy
7450s	time for me um but we'll see you all
7453s	next month for another development
7455s	update merry Christmas happy New Year
7457s	bye guys
7459s	[Music]
7470s	sh

[2023] Development Update with Ranger Archetype - 11AM PT Tuesday, December 19 2023

Transcript (by Youtube)

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