6/15 Weekly Legion Developer Q&A: Assistant Game Director Ion “Watcher” Hazzikostas

Опубликовано 16.06.2016 в 12:52 perculia

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Blizzard

The time of the Burning Legion’s return is fast approaching, and as we begin our final preparations, we thought it’d be a good time to start up a new series of live developer Q&A sessions!

Every Thursday for the next several weeks, starting at 11 a.m. PT, we’ll be going live on Twitch.tv/Warcraft to answer questions submitted by the World of Warcraft community. Each week will feature a different developer, and we’ll be looking for questions that focus on their particular role on the World of Warcraft development team.

To kick things off, we’re starting with Assistant Game Director Ion “Watcher” Hazzikostas. Ion is involved in nearly every aspect of World of Warcraft development, so for this session, feel free to submit questions on any aspect of the Legion expansion. You can do so by posting in this forum thread or via Twitter using the hashtag #LegionQA.

We’re really looking forward to getting the chance to dive in and answer as much as we can, so we hope to see you Thursday at 11 a.m. PT!

What follows is a summary of key points from the Q&A. Please watch the VoD embedded in the post for exact phrasing.Pre-Patch

Plans are along the lines of previous expansion--get the pre patch up a number of weeks in advance. Can't give a date in advance due to the last-minute nature of builds, but expect something similar to past expansions. The pre patch will have demon invasions, and closer to launch, Demon Hunters.

Testing is going on today for Demon Invasions.

Will personal loot be tradable within a raid if you've acquired loot before?

Yes. There are also personal loot improvements.

Players enjoy trading loot around, and a social component. In Legion, if you get an item from a boss with personal loot on, that isn't an upgrade for you in item level terms, it will be tradeable.

This includes items that aren't duplicates--if they don't seem like an upgrade, you can trade it.

Is leveling as a healer better?

Work has gone into healer damage, sustained damage, Artifact Traits. Healers can level with a degree of efficiency that they haven't before.

Factoring in downtime, how to handle tricky challenges, etc--there has been feedback that the time to complete a zone isn't meaningfully different between healers and DPS.

The goal is not to have parity (DPS and healers kill at same rate in outdoor world), because there has to be a trade-off for DPS.

However, healers shouldn't kill things 2-3x slower than DPS.

There is a Dungeon Preparation Aura that lets you change your talents freely when you arrive in a new dungeon, so you don't need to go back to town to respec for a dungeon.

Plan to prevent content droughts going forward?

Tough question to answer--actions speak louder than words, they realize the issues with past expansions.

A past solution was to have expansions turn around faster. However, there is a certain amount of time that goes into making a quality expansion with polish, especially when classes and new systems are added. In the past, they were too ambitious with the targets.

New approach: Legion has a lot more patch content to keep players busier as the next thing is worked on.

Will Blizzard be sticking with a tighter release schedule?

At this point, no. Yearly expansions are not likely--players need time to explore the world created, and the developers need time to make a satisfying expansion.

Is Thal'dranath coming in a later patch?

No. It was on display in earlier maps such as gamescom, and then it went away.

A better idea came up. Thal'dranath was an elven ruined island--that concept is found elsewhere in Broken Isles. There are other cool places to explore in patches.

Will you continue to add content to Suramar in Legion?

Yes. The story of the Nightfallen has more to tell. This ties in with a commitment to patch content, making sure that stories are told which are set up.

In Draenor, there were lost story opportunities--Shattrath, Shadow Council Assault.

What is the design reason for BoP crafting materials, not BoA (example, Кровь Саргераса)?

In the next beta build, there are more ways to get Blood of Sargeras which are accessible to players.

Some double-crafters are worried about not having a gatherer. The constraints are intended, players aren't meant to feel self-sufficient like the Garrison.

Keeping some materials BoP adds power to the crafter.

Next week's Q&A will focus on Professions.

People want less randomness, why is there more randomness (legendaries, PvP)?

There are two sides to the loot spectrum. On one side, you kill mobs and grind out reputation on a schedule, and it can feel like a grind. The other end of the spectrum is randomness, surprise, excitement.

PvP gear in past expansions was required to be competitive. Failing to get a single piece meant players were handicapped, and there weren't gear substitutions to be competitive. In that world, deterministic loot made sense.

In Legion, PvP is balanced separately and gear is less important. PvP gear will matter on some level, but way less important. In that world, getting unlucky and missing an item would lead to a .1% loss in effectiveness. On the flip side, gear from PvP is now useful elsewhere in the world.

Will it be possible to target legendaries?

At their core, legendaries are random. They capture spirit of World Drops from early WoW.

There is bad-luck protection. Blizzard looks to cut off the super-unlucky tail of the bell curve for droprates.

Targeting legendaries is not part of the system at launch, but something that has been talked about during expansion, when players have more than one legendary, or are looking to pair up specific legendaries.

Many systems in Legion have built-in expandability, such as World Quests, Dungeons, Legendaries.

Why are legendaries active in early Mythic progression?

Blizzard wants you to err on the side of using as many tools as possible.

Legendaries will have a limit of 1, to protect against extreme luck.

The items are powerful, but just one isn't out of line with other power disparities, such as some guilds getting Heroic Warforged trinkets or a great weapon.

The winner of the race will be based on skill/dedication, not on random item luck, if past results are an indication.

Are you going to release pristine (not legacy) servers?

The pristine server idea was floated around to get a sense from the community. Not aimed at core legacy audience.

There are changes which can be made on live server to improve quality of the experience for new players. One that lets players have a well-paced experience. Rushing through with heirlooms should be option, but not default experience.

Would not expect to see pristine servers in the near future, but Blizzard is learning a lot from the discussion on how to make the base game better for everyone.

Alt management for Legion, such as Artifact Knowledge?

Artifact Knowledge has caused lots of confusion.

Legion is most alt-friendly expansion, due to replayability of content. Players are not going through same content all the time, with Artifacts, Order Campaigns, different zone paths, Class Halls.

Artifact Knowledge is not account-wide. It applies to all artifacts on one character.

Every week that passes after the expansion launches, Blizzard will speed up the rate at which Artifact Knowledge can be researched. For example, early on it could take 5 days to research, then it would go down to 4, 3, 2, etc.

Many players have second specializations for raid teams. What are mechanisms to maintain alt specs?

Artifact Knowledge is key. There are several dozen levels to go through. You will get increasingly large bonuses for Artifact Power gains.

If you focused on a primary weapon and you are 20 traits in, and you have a certain knowledge level, you can determine if you want to buy 1 trait on main weapon, or 5 traits on alt weapon lagging behind.

There will be some sacrifices at a high level, but there is value to reward players who dedicate themselves 100% to one spec. A one-spec player may have a weapon be several percentage points better, but less versatility. Players should perform well in general depending on what spec they choose. Blizzard understands that players are used to playing multiple specs.

Can Daggers and Fist Weapons be transmogged with more 1H weapons?

Unfortunately no plans to add it; the constraints are due to animations. Sympathetic to why players are asking about this--Artifact weapons can force some players to use a specific weapon type.

Some Artifact Weapon skins unlock a different weapon type (Beast Mastery Hunter gun)

Will Valor and Valor Upgrades be returning in Legion?

Maybe. No plans right now. Possible that the system will return at the end of the expansion.

As players progress through tiers, Valor upgrades tend to get into the way and complicate choices.

What is the fate of Timewalking dungeons and weekly calendar events?

Timewalking isn't going anywhere. May be expanded upon going forward.

Weekly events are around, but the Apexis event is removed. This is replaced with the World Quest Event.

Weekly events will be going on a brief hiatus at the start of Legion. No events active for first four weeks, then back to usual rotation.

When the expansion is fresh and new, players should explore at own pace. By October, things back to usual rotation.

Stat Squish in Future?

The numbers are on the larger side. Player health increased with removal of resilience. DPS numbers are getting up to where they were in Mists.

Probably need to do another squish in the next expansion. This is an opportunity to look at combat system and stats, to find a more elegant solution.

How are legendaries obtainable?

Playing the game--wide variety of sources. Killing bosses, PvP strongboxes, world quests--anything you're doing on a given day.

Idea is "anything can happen." Warlords felt predictable, not exciting.

There are still deterministic items--vendors, boss drops, reputation items. But there is variability in terms of quality.

Current rate of relic acquisition?

Relics are items that you socket into Artifact Weapons to increase the item level of your weapon, and boost a certain trait.

Relics serve same role as weapon drops in past expansions. They are meant to feel a bit rare.

Relics should be on World Quest loot table--previously there was a bug.

Are casters getting spell improvements, like Fury Warriors?

Spell casters will be getting improved visual effects, and custom animations.

Will be done piece-by-piece over coming patches and expansions.

How to ensure all specs for pure DPS classes remain competitive?

This is in full swing with numerical balance passes.

If specs have different strengths and weaknesses, then each spec has a special unique niche and something they shine at.

If all specs have the same strengths/weaknesses, then a clear "best" winner emerges.

For most content (normal raiding, skirmishes, questing), all specs perform effectively. When talking about changing specs for raid composition, this refers to high-level content, like Mythic.

Will Titanforged gear be on raid gear?

It's everywhere. World quests, PvP rewards, whatever is out there.

Gear from all sources could, in theory, get up to the best level.

For example, someone running a Normal dungeon has a .00001% chance to have that item be Mythic quality.

This adds moments of surprise, and a small incentive for well-geared players to help out. There is always a chance your character could get stronger.

Will flying be unlocked early on, middle, or late in Legion?

The rough idea is middle.

Players can work on Pathfinder achievement (Первопроходец Расколотых островов, часть 1) at start of Legion.

Changes on class mechanics at this time, or focus on tuning only?

Focus mostly is on tuning right now.

There are cases where Blizzard has seen feedback and issues in playtesting, and have decided to change mechanics. For example, Frost Mages are getting single-target nuke to replace feel of Frostfire Bolt in Warlords.

Mechanics changes can still happen later in patch cycle.

Many options are removed from the Interface UI. Are some options going away for good?

Many options are gone for good.

There were many niche options that many players did not utilize.

If you are an advanced user, you can still set options with console commands, or via addons.

Will the two priest healing specs be equal?

Equal in a sense. Discipline vs Holy has been tough in the past. Holy Priests were always useful and good with throughput, but didn't bring anything unique. Discipline Priests had unique benefit and synergized incredibly well. Led to feeling that if you had space for a Priest, it should be Disc.

Now - Holy is versatile healer, while Discipline is healer/damage hybrid.

Usefulness of tanks outside of dungeons/raids?

Tanks have always felt great at leveling and soloing. They kill things slower but have great survivability, can pull more mobs at once, etc.

Also looking to have tank specs involved in PvP.

Could Ulduar-style hardmodes be put back in for bragging rights?

This has been added a few times, such as Terrace of Endless Spring--but many players did not participate in this content.

If the hardmodes fit, Blizzard is open to adding multiple difficulties like this.

Will you add a third spec to Demon Hunters?

Hard to say ever or never.

Healers just felt off for Demon Hunters.

Multiple DPS specs felt like diluting what makes Demon Hunters cool.

Any Dungeon item sets?

There aren't dungeon item sets in Legion.

Instead, Blizzard went with a max-level Order Hall Set. Some pieces require players to complete Dungeons.

Will the legendary ring be nerfed? When will acquiring it go away?

Yes. The power of the proc and the passive will decline as you level to 110. You will probably use it as you level to 110, and use it at a bit at 110. But it's not designed to be used in raids.

In the 7.0 pre patch, players will be unable to begin the Legendary Ring questline. When Legion drops, all quests will go away forever.

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