Lovers of Loftar (The Greater Spirit)
Posted: Sun Jul 28, 2013 1:30 amGreetings Fellow Forumites,
As many of you know I have long had a unique relationship with The Great Spirit. We have enjoyed many playful exchanges and I'll never forget the way he would smile upon my gourd, as if to say, nice package chief..... nice package. However, as many have heard The Great Spirit has been spending less and less time with us. Under the guise of something he calls a 'Vacation' he has not returned any of my Forum PMs, IRC Messages, E-mails, Text Messages, Letters, Voicemails, or Sexts. As a result I have just left a clinic where I have removed my Jorb Tatoo to make this official.
R.I.P. Great Spirit Tattoo
So, alone in this world. Wandering the lands without the guidance of my Jorby Worby I looked up to the sky and cried out.
"Is there nobody left! Is there nobody to love me! If anybody is out there.... PLEASE. Give me a Sign"!
And just then it happened.....
Soon I was alone on the server. The world shut down around me but in a sea of black I could feel his presence. A Greater Spirit. One who loved us. One who communicated with us. The sexyness of his plaid shirt vibrated through my loins and I knew that The Greater Spirit and I were destined for great things.
And so it was. The first of what is hopefully many transcribed interviews with Loftar himself. A window into his mind. I will be using these threads to collect your questions for my nextCyberSex Marathon professional interview with Loftar so please cast your questions here.
Chief PeePooKaKa: Question #1: What is the current focus of JorbTar and if you had to place a wager one (1) thing that will make it in the next patch what would it be?
The Greater Spirit: Well, that actually is rather simple (as long as the question is contained to Salem, at least). The current focus is clearly on the gobbling system. We have identified it as the single most important thing holding other development back.
Chief PeePooKaKa: Can you elaborate on the scope that a gluttony system re-write might encompass? For example: Are we talking about losing the alchemical or purity systems? Or more simply just the invariance timers and/or bonus to how food is consumed?
The Greater Spirit: No, I can't, because we have no grand plan for it, yet. We've mostly just been identifying the good and bad things about it, but we don't yet have any solution.If we can keep the current system of values for food, that would be a good thing since we wouldn't have to retrofit every little piece of food, but if we have to change it, we will.
Chief PeePooKaKa: Question #2: There has been a lot of speculation to the "financial" implications of the Paradox split. Would you say that finances play any part in the SeaTribe development schedule. That is to say, if you were to inherit 1 billion dollars today would Salem be developed any faster?
The Greater Spirit: Um, I wouldn't say they play any part in the actual schedule, but they do of course matter. We need to eat, after all. But we're not in any immediate trouble, so we're working as we see fit without being held back by finances. Does that answer the question?
Chief PeePooKaKa: So you would encourage donations and store purchases but do acknowledge that no amount of money can speed up your thought process nor change your mind about adding additional staff? (fair statement)?
The Greater Spirit: Well, that might not be entirely fair, of course. If we made much more money, we could hire people to do stuff, so that would be a good thing, but that's a fair bit far off. Making less money though, of course, entails the risk of a future where we'll have to get other jobs instead though, and I wouldn't like that
Chief PeePooKaKa: Question #3: Server Resets. Hot topic for a lot of gamers. Its holding a lot back from investing more time into their characters. Do you feel one is necessary? If so when or at what milestone?
The Greater Spirit: Hmm, do I feel one is necessary? That depends on the scope, I think. I'm generally not of the opinion that a server reset is necessary to "reset the balance" or anything like that. Generally, the only reason we make resets is because of game development that cannot be kept within a current world, like changing the mapgen or such. I haven't thought enough about that in relation to Salem that I can answer the question with any precision, however.
Chief PeePooKaKa: Does the code and/or game allow for map or characters to be reset individaully. That is to say do you have the ability or technology to reset JUST characters or JUST map?
The Greater Spirit: Well, if characters are cleared, then the map needs to be cleared too, of course, because of the game mechanics. There can't be plots and leantos and stuff for characters that don't exist, clearly. The maps can be cleared separately from the characters, however, but I don't think there's much point to doing that. I do that all the time when working on the mapgen, though.
Chief PeePooKaKa: Question #4: The state of the game has been one of the most interesting for a "beta" game. If you had to classify the game in a development stage what would it be? And with a sandbox in perpetual development what marker would you use to define the game "released" (witchcraft, husbandry, etc).
The Greater Spirit: Well, with Salem the intention has always been to try and keep the core mechanics as frozen as possible, and keep development within their confines, which is why we've been more comfortable with calling it "Beta" than we have with Haven. That's not to say that we're locking ourselves out from changing them if absolutely necessary, however; like with the gobbling system, now. The reason we've never wanted to call Haven "Beta" is because we've always wanted to keep the option of remaking it into a completely different game altogether, as our whims may dictate. With Salem, on the other hand, we want to try to the general feeling and setting and stuff.
Chief PeePooKaKa: So you would say that the official status of this game is an Open Beta. At what juncture would you feel comfortable calling it released?
The Greater Spirit: I have no idea. I've never cared much about that kind of classification. The difference in the basic premise of stability between Haven and Salem is more relevant, I think
Chief PeePooKaKa: Question #5: Humours... Everybody wants em' not everybody has them and there is argument over who has too many. If you were forced to place a number on an achievable humour level in a 3-6 month Salem career what would it be? That is to say where do you feel the current systems balance best in terms of humours and what could be a realistic "peak" for the average gamer?
The Greater Spirit: Umm, that's not a very simple question at all, but I can try to gather some thoughts on the subject. Well, I don't care much about the absolute numbers. Is 50 reasonable? 500? 5000? It doesn't really matter, because it's just a matter of scale. I dislike the idea of a "peak", because it would feel rather retarded if you were completely barred from advancing in any way. I think the core of the question is how the numbers are interpreted. There certainly are some problem of the interpretation as it currently works, however; particularly in the combat system. I think it would be fair to say that the combat system and its damage model would be very relevant to look after once we're done with gluttony. I think we've managed to do a much better job in Haven with how character attributes are used in combat. Especially in the regard that they're only compared relative to one another, so the actual *absolute* numbers don't matter a whole lot.
Chief PeePooKaKa: Well, for example. A 5,000 to all character could effectively 1-shot a 100 humour (40+ hour invested) character and could mathematically take 100 stabs from 10 people (of 100 humours) and still not "go down". I personally love that about this game but do you feel it acceptable that 1 character could defeat 50+ mid-level players in open combat at the 4-digit humour levels?
The Greater Spirit: Your conclusions are only true within the confines of the current combat system, however.
Chief PeePooKaKa: Sure, but do you feel that in a rework of the combat system this "godlike" power that can be achieved by those who invest the time should be addressed or the gap should be closed? or lessened?
The Greater Spirit: Hum, I'm not sure that has a simple answer. I think it depends a bit on the circumstances of the combat and other issues.
Chief PeePooKaKa: is it acceptable that someone who invests 1,000 hours into their character can destroy 10 players who invest 100 hours? Or does that raise flags with the development team?
The Greater Spirit: I think it's reasonable that it's *possible*, but I think it depends very much on the circumstances of the combat and players. It would also be reasonable for it to be possible for a single player who has invested 100 hours to destroy one who has invested 1000 hours, depending on the circumstances.
Chief PeePooKaKa: Thank you very much for your time Loftar! It is much appreciated! Is there anything you would like to share with the Lovers of Loftar? A possible hint to the date of the next update for example?
The Greater Spirit: Well, I can't really hint anything about that, since I don't know it myself. I hope the next update would be a new gobbling system, but it's quite possible Jorb will have some items or something that he wants added before that, too. If anything, though, it should be said that *most* of my time as of late hasn't gone into any development that is noticable, but into clearing up various aspects of technical debt that I've accumulated. Cleanups and stuff. I find those things very enjoyable, and it has been a meditative thing to do over the summer.
Chief PeePooKaKa
MM Tribe
As many of you know I have long had a unique relationship with The Great Spirit. We have enjoyed many playful exchanges and I'll never forget the way he would smile upon my gourd, as if to say, nice package chief..... nice package. However, as many have heard The Great Spirit has been spending less and less time with us. Under the guise of something he calls a 'Vacation' he has not returned any of my Forum PMs, IRC Messages, E-mails, Text Messages, Letters, Voicemails, or Sexts. As a result I have just left a clinic where I have removed my Jorb Tatoo to make this official.
R.I.P. Great Spirit Tattoo
So, alone in this world. Wandering the lands without the guidance of my Jorby Worby I looked up to the sky and cried out.
"Is there nobody left! Is there nobody to love me! If anybody is out there.... PLEASE. Give me a Sign"!
And just then it happened.....
Soon I was alone on the server. The world shut down around me but in a sea of black I could feel his presence. A Greater Spirit. One who loved us. One who communicated with us. The sexyness of his plaid shirt vibrated through my loins and I knew that The Greater Spirit and I were destined for great things.
And so it was. The first of what is hopefully many transcribed interviews with Loftar himself. A window into his mind. I will be using these threads to collect your questions for my next
Chief PeePooKaKa: Question #1: What is the current focus of JorbTar and if you had to place a wager one (1) thing that will make it in the next patch what would it be?
The Greater Spirit: Well, that actually is rather simple (as long as the question is contained to Salem, at least). The current focus is clearly on the gobbling system. We have identified it as the single most important thing holding other development back.
Chief PeePooKaKa: Can you elaborate on the scope that a gluttony system re-write might encompass? For example: Are we talking about losing the alchemical or purity systems? Or more simply just the invariance timers and/or bonus to how food is consumed?
The Greater Spirit: No, I can't, because we have no grand plan for it, yet. We've mostly just been identifying the good and bad things about it, but we don't yet have any solution.If we can keep the current system of values for food, that would be a good thing since we wouldn't have to retrofit every little piece of food, but if we have to change it, we will.
Chief PeePooKaKa: Question #2: There has been a lot of speculation to the "financial" implications of the Paradox split. Would you say that finances play any part in the SeaTribe development schedule. That is to say, if you were to inherit 1 billion dollars today would Salem be developed any faster?
The Greater Spirit: Um, I wouldn't say they play any part in the actual schedule, but they do of course matter. We need to eat, after all. But we're not in any immediate trouble, so we're working as we see fit without being held back by finances. Does that answer the question?
Chief PeePooKaKa: So you would encourage donations and store purchases but do acknowledge that no amount of money can speed up your thought process nor change your mind about adding additional staff? (fair statement)?
The Greater Spirit: Well, that might not be entirely fair, of course. If we made much more money, we could hire people to do stuff, so that would be a good thing, but that's a fair bit far off. Making less money though, of course, entails the risk of a future where we'll have to get other jobs instead though, and I wouldn't like that
Chief PeePooKaKa: Question #3: Server Resets. Hot topic for a lot of gamers. Its holding a lot back from investing more time into their characters. Do you feel one is necessary? If so when or at what milestone?
The Greater Spirit: Hmm, do I feel one is necessary? That depends on the scope, I think. I'm generally not of the opinion that a server reset is necessary to "reset the balance" or anything like that. Generally, the only reason we make resets is because of game development that cannot be kept within a current world, like changing the mapgen or such. I haven't thought enough about that in relation to Salem that I can answer the question with any precision, however.
Chief PeePooKaKa: Does the code and/or game allow for map or characters to be reset individaully. That is to say do you have the ability or technology to reset JUST characters or JUST map?
The Greater Spirit: Well, if characters are cleared, then the map needs to be cleared too, of course, because of the game mechanics. There can't be plots and leantos and stuff for characters that don't exist, clearly. The maps can be cleared separately from the characters, however, but I don't think there's much point to doing that. I do that all the time when working on the mapgen, though.
Chief PeePooKaKa: Question #4: The state of the game has been one of the most interesting for a "beta" game. If you had to classify the game in a development stage what would it be? And with a sandbox in perpetual development what marker would you use to define the game "released" (witchcraft, husbandry, etc).
The Greater Spirit: Well, with Salem the intention has always been to try and keep the core mechanics as frozen as possible, and keep development within their confines, which is why we've been more comfortable with calling it "Beta" than we have with Haven. That's not to say that we're locking ourselves out from changing them if absolutely necessary, however; like with the gobbling system, now. The reason we've never wanted to call Haven "Beta" is because we've always wanted to keep the option of remaking it into a completely different game altogether, as our whims may dictate. With Salem, on the other hand, we want to try to the general feeling and setting and stuff.
Chief PeePooKaKa: So you would say that the official status of this game is an Open Beta. At what juncture would you feel comfortable calling it released?
The Greater Spirit: I have no idea. I've never cared much about that kind of classification. The difference in the basic premise of stability between Haven and Salem is more relevant, I think
Chief PeePooKaKa: Question #5: Humours... Everybody wants em' not everybody has them and there is argument over who has too many. If you were forced to place a number on an achievable humour level in a 3-6 month Salem career what would it be? That is to say where do you feel the current systems balance best in terms of humours and what could be a realistic "peak" for the average gamer?
The Greater Spirit: Umm, that's not a very simple question at all, but I can try to gather some thoughts on the subject. Well, I don't care much about the absolute numbers. Is 50 reasonable? 500? 5000? It doesn't really matter, because it's just a matter of scale. I dislike the idea of a "peak", because it would feel rather retarded if you were completely barred from advancing in any way. I think the core of the question is how the numbers are interpreted. There certainly are some problem of the interpretation as it currently works, however; particularly in the combat system. I think it would be fair to say that the combat system and its damage model would be very relevant to look after once we're done with gluttony. I think we've managed to do a much better job in Haven with how character attributes are used in combat. Especially in the regard that they're only compared relative to one another, so the actual *absolute* numbers don't matter a whole lot.
Chief PeePooKaKa: Well, for example. A 5,000 to all character could effectively 1-shot a 100 humour (40+ hour invested) character and could mathematically take 100 stabs from 10 people (of 100 humours) and still not "go down". I personally love that about this game but do you feel it acceptable that 1 character could defeat 50+ mid-level players in open combat at the 4-digit humour levels?
The Greater Spirit: Your conclusions are only true within the confines of the current combat system, however.
Chief PeePooKaKa: Sure, but do you feel that in a rework of the combat system this "godlike" power that can be achieved by those who invest the time should be addressed or the gap should be closed? or lessened?
The Greater Spirit: Hum, I'm not sure that has a simple answer. I think it depends a bit on the circumstances of the combat and other issues.
Chief PeePooKaKa: is it acceptable that someone who invests 1,000 hours into their character can destroy 10 players who invest 100 hours? Or does that raise flags with the development team?
The Greater Spirit: I think it's reasonable that it's *possible*, but I think it depends very much on the circumstances of the combat and players. It would also be reasonable for it to be possible for a single player who has invested 100 hours to destroy one who has invested 1000 hours, depending on the circumstances.
Chief PeePooKaKa: Thank you very much for your time Loftar! It is much appreciated! Is there anything you would like to share with the Lovers of Loftar? A possible hint to the date of the next update for example?
The Greater Spirit: Well, I can't really hint anything about that, since I don't know it myself. I hope the next update would be a new gobbling system, but it's quite possible Jorb will have some items or something that he wants added before that, too. If anything, though, it should be said that *most* of my time as of late hasn't gone into any development that is noticable, but into clearing up various aspects of technical debt that I've accumulated. Cleanups and stuff. I find those things very enjoyable, and it has been a meditative thing to do over the summer.
Chief PeePooKaKa
MM Tribe
