I was thinking of seven's article, and the discussion that followed about content and form. People seem to know about content, so this is your occasion.
Imagine you could ask 5 questions to the dev team of quake live. Try to avoid stuff they may not be willing to answer (like how many people bought premium/pro), but concentrate on what really this community would like to know.
To get the context, track syncerror's replies here: click and scroll down.
Imagine you could ask 5 questions to the dev team of quake live. Try to avoid stuff they may not be willing to answer (like how many people bought premium/pro), but concentrate on what really this community would like to know.
- Will more payment options be available for QuakeLive's premium/pro (for example suggestions like 3-monthly, monthly or other payment methods such as paypal or phone)?
- Certainly more payment options. Alternative payment periods are TBD, but possible.
- Any idea of what else to expect from the content updates?
- Primarily maps, occasionally gametypes (don't want to overdue gametypes though and spread the community too thin).
- Is a GTV option going to be available and Is there any truth to comments that it's being held off due to organizations preferring to have their tournaments stream-only therefore satisfying sponsors?
- We hope to make it available, but no ETA. No, there is no truth to events or sponsors asking us to keep it stream-only.
- Any plans to edit [read: fix] netcode or any features of the games such as weapons or spawn systems?
- Yes to all. We recently discovered some issues in regards to our netcode and will be running tests throughout the next two weeks to test some things. We just concluded a player roundtable at QuakeCon to gather further feedback concerning spawn systems (which we've long been looking at) and hope to make improvements in the near future following a few internal tests. Just to be specific, the issue is with the unlagged code configuration, not the netcode -- but I understand how those are coupled.
- Would you consider adding a ladder/league system much like Starcraft II has?
- We absolutely want to.
- Why did you remove Sarge’s cigar? Whats the point of playing FFA with 20 people on the server without gibs? Seeing the corpses explode in awesome blood splats was 50% of the fun. The effect in Q3 was amazing. Why wouldn't add it and set it OFF by default, locked with some sort of parental lock?
- ESRB. We were seeking a 'T for Teen' rating and did not wish to risk a Mature rating due to his cigar which was our only reference to Tobacco. Keeping the game T for Teen allows us to be broadcast ready in nearly every nation so that the game can remain a viable e-Sports platform. We consider the game a sport just as much as we consider it video game entertainment, so we're trying to push enjoyment from competition > enjoyment from watching bloodsplosions. While they worked nicely for Q3, we're looking for both a wider market and reach in QL. The larger the community pool is, the more room for competition (at all skill levels) and room for new players to break into the top echelon of players. The old gibs were great, but there are positive effects from moving away from the mature content.
- Can a standard user expect any kind of content updates, or is that strictly a premium/pro feature now?
- TBD, but we hope to bring some content to premium or be able to roll premium content into the standard pool over time (but that too is TBD -- but we'd like to if financially possible).
-Pre-game ad. It appears that the player does connect at some point while the ad is still playing, why can't the map be loaded as well?
- Pre-roll videos are pretty common for most sites these days that tout subscriptions. Ours however does connect you to the server in the background and does load the map, so ideally once you're done with the ad you're waiting at the Join Match GUI.
- Server slots. What changed so much between an update that previous server configurations had to be changed so drastically? It's nice though that pro and premium players connecting to pro servers have the benefit of locking teams, or limiting the number of people that connect in the first place by using a password.
- Server size configurations were changed really just so that we could keep better grips on our resources. Spawning servers for all gametypes, at all skill levels, with various configurations of pro/default/large/small was resulting in just a bunch of servers that in some locations never were getting played on. We know now that we need to consider a different approach where we run less empty servers in-general until players actually attempt to join such servers. And while always planned, it has prompted us to implement additional server spawning options sooner rather than later, so that players can specify the size of their private servers. We assumed players would just utilize the /lock commands already available, but many still are not familiar with them and they are a bit hidden atm being console-only-cmds.
- Spawn protection enabled? I can't recall any overwhelming support for it. I think it was previously enabled as a devpick and went over so-so with people.
-Spawn protection is optional on private servers, and for public servers we want an environment that is a bit more friendly to new players.
- Is there any chance that single-skill focused game modes, like Defrag or Scavenger, might be added?
- I think Defrag or a similar type of 'Speed Run' gametype could be an obvious choice when considering adding a new gametype.
- Is there any possibility in regards to fixing the mouse problems with Quake Live? Is the mouse code going to be looked at in the future?
- Many of the recent mouse issues are do to major changes we had to make with the UI code and our new in-game ad integrations (I'm sure you all have started to finally see in-game ads again). The new ad system, powered by Massive Incorporated, required us to make many changes and some minor issues are to be expected, but we hope to resolve them promptly.
- Why have been there fps drops problems on certain PCs that could get 125 fps before the update and A LOT less after?
- Honestly just need time to evaluate why. Following the launch of the recent update we of course went straight into QuakeCon setup and just got back today. We'll have to look at reports from users who are experiencing issues to determine the issue. My first guess would be that those were systems barely obtaining 125fps and perhaps the rendering of the in-game ads are just enough to cause them drops. If so we'll have to see what we can do. Could be something entirely unrelated though.
- Are there plans for easier demo access/playback, perhaps straight from the site? If so, are you planning to feature/distribute pro replays from the website?
- Certainly plans for easier playback of local demos. We're in early discussions about how to implement on-site demo storage options.
- The website chat box is a bit inconvenient in that it's low on the page, so if you want to use it half the time you have to scroll down. If you're using the mouse wheel or arrow keys often when you scroll back up it'll flip back to the top of the chat log, very annoying. Any plans to fix this/move the chat box to a more convenient location?
- We may move it above the right-hand ad, but only on premium/pro accounts. This was the original plan. We hadn't talked about this in a few months and I it just wasn't high on the priority list as we implemented subscriptions. I'll bring it up this week.
- Are there any plans to let you open up a chat with multiple people in it?
- Multi-user chat. Maybe, but probably not through the current chat module.
- Are there any plans to let people see their ratings?
- Yes
- Are there any plans to hide stats?
- No
- Are there any plans for automatic tournaments? (having them for pro tokens, for example, would be great - no legal conflicts, and little incentive for high level players to plunder them)
- Yes, but I can't give any further details at this time.
- Are there any plans to add a button that lets you concede gracefully?
- I wouldn't say 'plans'. We've long discussed it, but it just hasn't been a huge priority. I may just add this in myself this week.
- Are there any plans to promote/advertise ql?
- Absolutely, in the coming weeks/months.
- What will the frequency of the content updates be (for example, 1 per month)?
- We'd like to make a major content update roughly once a month.
- Is there any reluctance from QL developpers to implement these commands: cg_drawFlagNames, cg_drawCrosshairNames 2 and cg_TeamCrosshairHealth?
- There is there no reluctance to add cg_drawFlagNames, cg_drawCrosshairNames 2 and cg_TeamCrosshairHealth. I went ahead and just added crosshairNames 2 and will look into adding the other two later.
- Is there any legal issue with adding RA3 features like accuracy/holyshit icons when you hit air rox/air gren? If not, are you considering it?
- We certainly wouldn't use their art assets, but I don't see any legal issue in implementing an award for those actions. We probably wouldn't associate them with the holyshit award that already exists within CTF (since you could obtain air rox/gren in CTF as well), but we could award you for them. It has been considered in the past and was just never high priority.
- Is there any chance to see cl_timeNudge again? If not, maybe something similar for "HPB" only?
- I've re-implemented timenudge with a more restricted range for testing purposes-only atm. We will do some testing to decide if it should stay and what the acceptable ranges will be.
- Do you plan to implement CaptureStrike?
-CaptureStrike is one of the most requested mods and we of course want to fulfill people's demand, however, there is no current plans to implement it. I'm sure we'll continue to flush out a few things on Freeze Tag before we move on to a new gametype.
- How do you treat cheaters - is it only coming from PB or do you have any cheater policy? Also, what if some1 with a subscription is caught, will you ban paying customers? (I fear cheaters paying for bots and paying for a pro subscription to be save)
- You obviously have to detect them as a cheater or have an obvious demo, but we will certainly be suspending accounts of paying cheaters. This is actually one of the benefits of playing on premium servers, there should be less people willing to cheat, because if caught they would lose their subscription and have to repay if they tried to make a new account.
- How about inactive people? Do you intend to remove them somewhen? And if yes: Is there a chance to change your own nickname?
- Inactive users are being systematically deleted. Users inactive for 90 days receive an email notification and if they do not log in within a week then they are deleted. We currently cannot perform renames, but hope to have the functionality back eventually (and may find a solution to allow users to do it themselves on a rare basis, such as one rename every 6-12 months).
- Should i rename my dog?
- I have two dogs. They recently had puppies (which we've since sold). We named them after QL models/bots. Keel, Sarge, Grunt, Ranger. Do whatever you want, just thought I'd give you some suggestions. ;)
- Any plans to add aircontrol or crouchslide in a future gametype ? (with weapon respawn 10/15sec, new weapon balance ect...)
- No plans for either.
- Can you add Paypal to one of the ways paying for Quakelive Premium/Pro?
- PayPal will be added to QL in the upcoming weeks
- What should, in your oppinion, be the priorities in the near feature?
- On-site tournament/ladder/ranking systems, social networking advancements (in a broad sense, that would even include advancements in the clan system to promote clan-vs-clan interactions), Community HUB features to tie community activity into the site, streamline site usability, and probably a couple extremely noob friendly gametypes that may or may not interest users on this site, but would certainly grow the player base.
- Is id planning to add more server locations in Europe? Currently the Swedish servers do not work well because of routing issues, there are no Finnish/Baltic/Danish servers
- More in general, I'll make sure Baltics are on our list. We'll just need to find a good GSP to utilize. Suggestions?
- Will id consider letting people join pro-account spawned servers even when the spawner is currently not on the server? If a clan has just one player with a pro account, he will have to stay on the server even if he does not want to play himself.
- No plan to allow people join pro-account spawned servers even when the spawner is currently not on the server. The pro users is the host. If the clan wishes to use it in this manner, then the wrong clanmate hosted the match.
- Do you plan on modifying the server browser that is currently offered? I would like a list without thumbnails so more things can be shown without scrolling - without installing third party plugins.
- We have always planned to introduce additional server browser view options, such as a list view. In the past it has just been low priority, but we're finally getting close to that on our todo list.
- Is future map content mainly going to be ports of old maps or completely new maps?
- Future map content will continue to be a mix of old fan-favorites and completely new maps.
- Do you have any sort of mechanism for LAN play support in mind for the future, i.e. so you do not have to mail months in advance, don't have to have someone at id set up the server, etc.
- We want to resolve the issue of having to remotely setup LAN servers for events. It currently takes a lot of time to support these events and limits the number that we can support, and we're unable to support concurrent events.
- A lot of players don't like timelimit 10 in duel. An often mentioned idea is to create pro servers, or whatever you like to name them. (Normal: 10 min., 5 secs weapon respawn time, sudden death overtime. Pro: 15 min., 15 secs weapon respawn time, 2 min. overtime.) Do you plan to implement these or similar settings?
- No plan to do this on public servers. We'd rather keep a lot of consistency to the match rules on our servers, but may make many of these options available on private servers. I still prefer 10 minute duels, both because its often 'enough' and certainly allows us to do bo5 in tournaments, which would be pretty much impossible using tl15.
- Will the new maps (battleforged, hektik, for example) be modified in the future? Is there any point of us making suggestions on how to change them in order for them to be better or is it a closed case already that you won't go back to?
- We've been very open to adjusting our maps throughout the history of QL and nothing there has changed. It is very expensive to continually re-release existing maps to *everyone* however, so we try to test the maps for quite sometime before releasing adjustments. Many of the changes made to the existing maps in the most recent update (ctf4 changes for example) were made nearly a year ago but we never had a good opportunity to re-release it. But if the changes test out well and are sound, we should be able to update the map on the main site with the alterations.
- Was there any gravity/acceleration change to the game in the update? The strafe jumping practice map seems much easier and nothing was mentioned in the change log.
- No gravity/acceleration/speed/physics changes were made.
- spectator slots?
- Partially in already, in-testing atm.
- How are you guys going to promote the game here forth?
- ZeniMax PR machine. They did a great job with Morrowind, Oblivion and Fallout PR.
- Are there any plans on converting QL to web standards (see http://playwebgl.com/games/quake-2-webgl/) instead of using a plugin?
- No current plans, but we've had tech discussions and Comfort has been following all of the latest cool info concerning HTML5, signed Java applets, etc. Mass support across all major browsers would also be needed.
- Will Brazil ever get a QL server?
- Not sure, but it would be the next obvious location in South America if we can expand there.
- Do you plan on adding map locations to teamoverlay on maps that do not currently have them (e.g. t6)?
- Yes, wanted so badly to do this prior to the 'big update', but I'm aware that Almost Lost and Hidden Fortress are in need of teamoverlay info.
To get the context, track syncerror's replies here: click and scroll down.
Edited by Memento_Mori at 04:49 CDT, 25 August 2010 - 435497 Hits