[2020] Ask Me Anything – Creative Director Dave Curd | Event Thread & Giveaway

We've all been really excited to see how much love Paramo has received. I think the cool thing about playing a live service game, is how flexible it can be. When we toss stuff in the vault- that doesn't mean it's gone forever!

I love Paramo, but if it comes back, it should have a little something different/extra, don't you think?

In terms of new content, absolutely large location(s) are the focus for 2021. But we will still have some smaller treats pop up throughout the year- I think we're improving at planning the year more cohesively.

Yeah Costume Presets are a point of discussion internally right now. What I can say beyond that is that we’re always looking to improve our quality of life features. Sometimes we get it right and sometimes we don’t. I don’t have anything for you today and I can’t promise anything (which is frustrating I know), but I do want to acknowledge this as I/we DEFINITELY hear the feedback around it. As soon as we have more information to share, we definitely will. We 100 percent have room for improvement here- and thanks for your question!

No question. Just, you're awesome <3

I think the biggest thing we are talking about internally, is how to offer more region specific, boutique matchmaking settings. Each region (and platform) have their own desires and needs, and I think we've been using a pretty brute force method. Of course this is crazy complicated because PUBG has become somewhat fragmented- we've got players that prefer TPP, FPP, large maps, small maps. Some that enjoy the variety, and others that just want to do their one favorite thing forever (this is coming from a guy that used to live on 24/7 Office CS servers).

I see big opportunities for improvement here- the main thing, as you would expect, is we want to get it right, and not make it harder on our players than it already is.

For your questions:

1. Yes, we've considered almost everything under the sun at this point- the goal is to maximize smiles, minimize frowns
2. I'm open to whatever makes the most fans the most happy (that's why we are looking at more bespoke settings per region- different people want different things)
3. Remote positions- for sure! =) https://careers.pubg.com/#/en/

Thanks for reaching out Wacky, we always love watching your videos- I remember beaming with pride when you did that Erangel Remaster lore deep-dive, as that was my basement you were investigating! =)

I watched your first night Test Server streaming, and could feel your pain. Something you and I totally agree on, is just because something is realistic, doesn't mean it's fun!

Tracers, even through suppressors, are realistic - but that's not why we've included them. We've included them as a balance feature to make sure players can't totally vanish from view and just rain hell on the rest of the map.

Our goal for Haven was to create a darker, moodier map. A place that gives players the opportunity to hide/hunt each other a little more than in our traditional wide-open maps. But as you would expect, early playtests revealed a map that really shifted the balance to reward the best snipers who could find the best cover. Which feels amazing for the killers, but not the victims.

So tracers give our shooters a small penalty for shooting from cover. As you've observed, tracers aren't on every shot, so 1 shot 1 kill snipers can still take down targets while hidden.

Re: the tracer effect eye-hurt, yeah, ofc we don't want to cause you pain! We're talking internally about how to balance the design intention with in-game visuals. We started from a pretty realistic place, but there is always room for improvement. (here is one of a million videos the team looked at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19sieQfXU4A&ab_channel=midway512 ).

Re: loot adjustments (like- SHOULD the VSS be in this map, for example)- we like to give it a few weeks on the live server and monitor global sentiment. The one thing we are pushing for ASAP is more helms/vests/bags in the map, I think their scarcity has slowed down the pace a little too much.

Thanks for for the feedback Wacky- I appreciate you!

Just popping in to say it's been an hour and I've only done a few of these- I plan on doing way more- I'm just trying to be thoughtful and intentional so you guys pick up what I'm laying down- I'm gonna do a ton of these, thanks for your patience-

Well, it should be noted that I'm just one guy, the game you've played and dedicated so much time into is the product of a global, passionate group of developers. In some ways it's easy for me to advocate and evangelize a destination, but ultimately they have the very challenging job of translating vision to reality.

But what is that vision? Of course, I can't spill the beans too early, but I'm happy to hit you with the broad strokes:

I want to protect the core gameplay: Land, Loot, Survive- we want to honor what has brought us to the dance, so to speak. This is a survival game, not a very large game of TDM.

I'm passionate about larger worlds: In 2021, you can expect vast new lands to explore, that should remind you why you fell in love in the first place.

I'm interested in fresh experiences: Here's what I love most about PUBG: it's an amazing story generator. So in 2021, we want to give our players more tools to create more diverse stories and experiences.

I'm interested in squad dynamics: how teams work together, play together, and experience the map together, I think we have some cool opportunities there.

So yeah- let's talk again 12 months from now, and see how we've done!

I totally agree with this sentiment- I think the more stuff we can do to give freedom of play, the better- I've forwarded this to the appropriate team(s).

+1 to death races.

But to be clear- as much as I want it to be, Creative Director is not a god-king role (dang it)- so I can say "this looks like something we should try", but all of the teams on the hook for doing the actual work need to work out where it lands on the priority list versus existing tasks. I'm saying I love the suggestion, but I can't promise anything today.

Thank you for the suggestion-

So remaking a game from scratch is generally a non-starter, but we always want our stuff to run better- so what to do?

Well, we've got 2 general "levers" to manipulate.

The first is engine side- it's an ongoing parade of optimizations, and backporting/remaking cool features we like from newer versions of Unreal. Our version of 4.16 is very, very different than what's available "on the shelf".

The second is content side- we've learned so much about how to make BR maps, so we are constantly pushing ourselves to get more/better art in, with a lighter memory/performance impact than in our previous efforts.

Used together, we get a PUBG that keeps on trucking along, getting better and better from where we started. We aren't perfect, but we're gonna keep on pushing to improve.

I think a "tiny maps only" playlist would be rad.

Well I don't wanna give too much away- that's cheating.

But to be clear- I do think "survival phase" (I'll call this anything that's not actively shooting a dude) is pretty straightforward. You've got some nuance with how each vehicle handles, and vaulting/traversal opens up some interesting possibilities- but for the most part it's rather straightforward when measured against our deep gunplay. We don't want to needlessly complicate survival phase either, rather, we are interested in opportunities for everyone in your squad to have fun and contribute, even scrubby Peter, who's a bad shot.

Ideally, PUBG becomes a place where even more unique stories of survival can be told. But it's still gotta feel "PUBG".

Yeah- 2020 had a lot of tiny map drops so we could quickly deliver fresh experiences. For example- Haven is a 1x1, so that's 1 square kilometer. And Miramar is an 8x8, so that's 64 square kilometers- 64 Havens. So the smaller maps allow us to get something fun, polished, and with some new kind of innovation (destruction/blackzone, random royale, loot trucks, AI ecosystmes) in a timely manner. But now that we've had some fun, and tried to find what's really landed with the fans, it's time to go big.

Dude- first of all, thank you. And it's not a dead horse to care about such a big issue!

In short, we acknowledge it as a priority we need to continue combating. It’s a problem that not only plagues the entire video game industry, but more specifically, us…so we’re very hypersensitive about it. For me personally, dying to a cheater the first time is not only frustrating, but it changes your outlook-

It made me question every death I ever had moving forward. Just that little scratching doubt in the back of my mind... "was that legit- or was it BS...".

Obviously, it’s something we’re always looking to improve and we’re always coming up with new measures to counter cheaters (like the PUBG Shield Program you referenced), but there is no easy solve. I’m not sure if we actively talk about this, but we also work with local authorizes to bust up rings and arrest cheaters in certain circumstances, so yeah, we’re serious about this stuff. While I don’t have any answers for you on the above (the anti-cheat stuff is being handled by another one of our amazing HQ teams), I can promise you that if there was an “easy button,” we would have pounded that thing with a hammer a long time ago.

The grim reality is the more popular the game, the more incentive cheaters have to attack it- so we are in an arms race to try and stay one step ahead.

I've asked anti-cheat to design some kind of screen flash to blind detected cheaters, but I'm told that's "unethical".

I want Next Gen to be better too- we're looking at ways to improve internally. Where did you even get one? I'm still refreshing online for restocks like a buster.

Was just talking about those triggers the other day- they feel so good! Also, a big thing we are looking at is the whole "end of game" experience- everything from the fanfare/data/presentation, to allowing you to jump back into matchmaking, is on the table. The Chicken Dinner is one of the rarest, hardest won prizes in gaming- I think we need to celebrate it more!

For the record, all of us devs are all extremely online, so ofc we see the crazy Pangea style supermaps that pop up on Twitter/Reddit every now and then. What I like about the idea, is having SUPER DIVERSE biomes in one map- starting on a cold snow capped mountain, and having a final circle in a lush valley, or arid sandy desert, is just a great player story.

Assuming we could overcome performance considerations (maximum terrain materials), I think the big obstacle is game pace. If the map is merely "big", like an 8x8- the change in biomes would seem too sudden- imagine clearly seeing the jungle from on top of the snowy mountain. So then okay- let's try to make a super map, something like 10x10. Now the map is large enough to really sell the variety of biomes, but is it fun? Do we want like, a 2 hour BR map? I'm not sure.

But it's interesting to think about.

Thanks for reaching out! I think the big thing with the tiny maps, is they are kind of an idea test bed for things we'd love to see in old maps, or even new maps. I still think the utility parachute has some room for improvement, but I'm with you- I can totally see using it to bail out of a glider, or jump off a building before it's destroyed by the Black Zone.

I dug Arena mode too- I thought the team did a really great job of making something that was fresh, but still felt PUBG. My expectation is the team has been looking at feedback, and thinking about what the next incarnation would look like. Remember, we can only make so many maps- so it's safe to expect old and new modes to pop up in 2021.

Good God- a BRDM with firebomb capability? That sounds like something that would work in some kind of death race mode...

1. So we melted the snow because we got some serious "oh man this is really fatiguing to look at over sustained play" type feedback. The "phase one" fix was to reduce the overall snow to get a little more visual balance into the map. With that said- we like Vikendi being "the snow map", and I'm confident we can return to this flavor in the future through improved lighting/material work. Don't hold me to a date just yet- but we are looking at it.
2. Maybe. ;)

Yeah- we planned on it being an event map, but it's pick rate was super high/fan attachment was high, so the team decided we should hold onto it for a while longer. With that said- with a live service game, maps can always go into the vault/come back later.

When I was a boy, no- but now that I am a man- kinda.

Big time yes to new guns and vehicles. I understand the idea of map specific experiences- like, the Tukshai would just feel weird in Miramar, right? But I do think there's value in spreading new weapons around, to allow players to really find a groove.

As for weapons- I'm a huge shotgun fan, and as we are looking at larger maps- Snipers and DMRs are on the menu as well.

I've forwarded to the sound team. I know they are working to always make stuff better- I remember my first day at work (3.5 years ago) I was killed during playtest and it was so loud I almost broke my keyboard in surprise.

Thank you for sharing this!

I'm all about more accessibility features for gamers. It's a hard nut to crack, as a major component to PUBG is spatial awareness- but that doesn't mean it's not a worthy endeavor. I'm sharing this sentiment with the audio team. TBH, they always have a few things rolling- this may already be on their radar.

I appreciate the question.

Are you thinking "with this costume set- no two games are the same, I'll never know what I'll get until I'm dropping", or like a "random" button in the character customization menu to just barf out a random outfit?

This is such a great question- as you say, this is a killer game with a narrow funnel. The overall skill ceiling is so much higher today than it was just 12 months ago- it's a positively sadistic experience for brand new players to land among all of you sharks.

We have a few options.

The first- we owe new players an awesome onboarding experience. This could perhaps be a robust tutorial- something that isn't as freeform as the training range?

The second, is to widen the funnel- offer more ways for players to have fun than "be amazing at guns day one", with the hope that our experience is sticky enough to graduate them from noob to veteran.

Can new players find ways to contribute to their squad? Can they find satisfaction in the exploration and survival phase?

I think through old levers (player count, circle settings, loot settings) and new levers (new gameplay expressions) we can give our most vulnerable users more reasons to stick around and get good.

For sure- we are looking at new weapons, and more importantly, new categories of weapons, for 2021!

Flamethrowers never seem to "do it" for me- they always seem a little underpowered, especially in games like PUBG that feature a very short time-to-kill (TTK). Do you have a favorite flamethrower from other games?

I think it would be empathy. Not for us devs, no, never for the devs lol.

But for your fellow players. This is truly a world wide game with an enormous global audience, and with such a diverse playerbase, I promise you it's really quite rare for there to be unanimous sentiment on pretty much anything. Sure- all players can recognize a bug- but for anything subjective- preferences on perspective, map size, playstyle- let's just say there is an audience for everything.

Also keep in mind, you may be playing with a hardened 3000+ hour monster, or some curious new player that picked it up based on a recommendation, and our job is to provide a challenging environment for everyone to have fun.

We want to build a game with longevity (so far so good, we're almost at our 4 year anniversary), and that means making something that is fun for noobs and veterans alike.

That's a very kind question. So to be frank, all feedback comes from a place of love- the only thing worse than being hated is being ignored. When our players are frustrated, it means they enjoy PUBG and they want it to do well- and so do we.

I'm thankful to all of our players, even the cranky ones, because we are all in this together. It's true- you can't please everyone, and it's dangerous to try- all we can do is push to make the best game possible, and hope the majority of folks follow us for the ride!

I don't think there is one magic bullet, sadly. It's big mix of quality of life improvements, gameplay innovation, polish/performance optimization, and making a game that is interesting for the veterans, and brand new alike.

I'm pushing hard for us to release a roadmap- we've got big dreams, would love to get some dates in front of yall.

I'll meet anyone they put in front of me- I love hearing from every level of PUBG player!

I'm glad you are digging it!

The reality is this really comes down to player sentiment- Karakin, for example, started off as an event map, but had such a positive sentiment we had to keep it around for a little while longer.

If a lot of people really love Haven we will need to reevaluate our plans- but for now, consider it a limited time engagement.

I can't say today (so sorry!) but we literally had a meeting about that today. But yes, even with a game with such a short Time-To-Kill, we have room to give our weapons even clearer, distinct identities.

No, we aren't biased one way or the other- rather, it's about offering a spectrum of experiences. As you say, chasing players inside, or outside, are two very different things. There is no "correct way" moving forward- just exploring ways that feel different from previous maps.

Great context- TY- check how the Kill Truck's firebombs work in Haven- maybe something similar?

We are 100 percent looking at traversal options- our big focus is making sure it's a feature people will actually use. Being on a ladder, or a zipline, for example, leaves you exposed- so it's important to have designs that really demand the feature, rather than just making the feature and then just kinda jamming it in the map.

It's only downtime if you don't have much to do...

I know a very special creative department that is smiling ear-to-ear on this comment- be sure to check out http://lore.pubg.com/ to go deeper. What's up with those spooky Haven servers?

My understanding is all of our partners got an invite- I love those guys. But we don't just want top content creators- we wanna hear from everyone! Pros, streamers big and small, PC players, Console players. I think Reddit is a great place to get feedback out there, Twitter as well- don't wait for us to call you, get involved and reach out!

My feeling: I would love bots to serve 2 functions:

1. A great tool to help new users
2. A "break in case of emergency" feature to pad out a game

My preference is the Chicken Dinner to be won against humans.

I'm with you- we're looking at this.

I too have wondered about bayonets, or even just pistol whipping suckers. Gotta think about best key binding...

I wanna see how the Pillar meta develops over the next few weeks- (note- everyone knows how to kill them, but we aren't seeing as much "pillar building camping" in game versus during development) most test server players are rather hard core, let's see how they play out in the wild.

Originally, the Pillar were on patrols, and doing stuff inside of the buildings, but in playtest it resulted in LOTS of catching them with their back's turned, and this added some complexity in balancing them properly.

Re: Player count- we've played with the min/max on those numbers through playtest- again, we want to see how the games pan out in the wild for a few weeks, and then reevaluate.

sh*t maybe for Fantasy BR ;)

no, I meant robbing them of the sweet gift of sight- bad joke, sorry.

I'm with you...

Yeah- having them just pop in feels really yucky- they have big room to improve!