Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMO Gamers to the Next Level!

[0h 23m 46s] Ten Ton Hammer (Cody): The user Gronn wanted a very general vision of the Modules beyond 9 - if you could hint for players where you would like to take things. Whether it’s progressing the classes past 20 or anything that’s general and up in the air like that?

[0h 24m 13s] Kate Paiz: There’s so much movement in the community and in the dev team’s perception of what’s best for them, so I’m not ready to set too much in stone today. Classes and races, adding more to the general experience... players who have been with us for some time - giving them a fresh way to experience the game, this is very important to us and I expect that to be something that we look at very deeply in the time to come. Additional content - we want to look at the other planes, we’ve had a wonderful time in Mod 9 going to Shavarath and, again, Lamannia, is sort of always in our hearts (that’s why we have our preview server with that name). So I think players can look at more content, more richness of that Eberron world, and we’ll find new ways of making sure that feels fresh and very new and very fun for everyone.

[0h 25m 11s] Ten Ton Hammer (Ethec): We saw a number of questions earlier about different subscription or business models for the game - making the game free-to-play with microtransactions or expansion purchases. I’m guessing you don’t have any plans along those lines at present?

[0h 25m 29s] Kate Paiz: Turbine is one of the premier MMO developers and I would say that we’re always looking at new business models just like we’re always looking at new ways of making the games feel relevant and interesting to players as well. I certainly don’t have anything to announce today but I can just say that in general we all look at the changing nature in these things both in the US and certainly in Asia with a tremendously interested eye and we keep our minds open to what could be best for DDO and players to make sure that we’re all working together to make this game great for many years to come.

[0h 26m 8s] Ten Ton Hammer (Cody): Paragon Studios just recently released their mission architect for City of Heroes. Do you ever anticipate that you will have a user created content module for players to create their own dungeons in game? That seems like something that’s very much something that’s very DnD, and if there’s any place to do it, DDO would be it.

[0h 26m 33s] Kate Paiz: That was certainly a question we got a ton prior to launch because everyone’s like “I’ve got the player’s handbook, I’ve got the monster manual, I’ve got the DM things, so when’s it going to be here! I want it!” Obviously there’s a tremendous marriage of that with the IP, but it’s not something that we have an announcement to make about today, it’s not something that we have plans to roll out in the near future, but I would be lying if I didn’t say that it’s something that we talk about in wishful thinking because customizing the experience of a DnD is so much a part of everybody’s experience in the playerbase and our design team. We hear that and we see that and we really believe in it. But at the same time, you know how hard UGC is and how difficult it is to get User Generated Content right and I respect so much the games that are tackling that. I think some of them have done really well. We look, we learn, we admire, and we hope to have something in the years to come.

[0h 27m 36s] Ten Ton Hammer (Cody): I thought this question was kind of interesting, but are you guys hiring? Saximo wanted to know.

[0h 27m 44s] Kate Paiz: Yea, absolutely, Turbine has a jobs site; I encourage everyone to take a look at it at turbine.com. We’re always looking for great talent to add to our teams. We have an awesome team and it’s wonderful when we bring people in who know the games, who love the games, who have a clear understanding of not only what it is that works but what we can improve on and what we can continue to shape and change our stuff to be more fun. I really encourage everyone to take a gander and see if something fits their desires.

[0h 28m 17s] Ten Ton Hammer (Ethec): There was a few questions about the pacing and the release cycle for Module 9. Are you happy at the rate at which DDO is releasing new content?

[0h 28m 33s] Kate Paiz: We’re definitely focusing with Mod 9 as I said before on making it as balanced and strong and self-consistent - that it makes the most sense as possible. I know folks are anxious and eager and ready for it, but I think that the waiting will pay off. We encourage absolutely everyone to jump onto the Lamannia preview to see what we’ve made, see the changes that we’ve made, and give us as much feedback as possible. That’s the single best way for us to get it out as fast as possible. We want to make sure we feel like we understand where the pros are, if there are any cons left - where they are and what we can do to address them. Because ultimately Turbine’s dedicated to quality and there’s just no replacing the right feature set at the right time.

[0h 29m 23s] Ten Ton Hammer (Cody): I’ve got another question, this one’s pretty game specific. Is there any way that players will be able to have a one page inventory screen rather than the five pages they have now?

[0h 29m 38s] Kate Paiz: Sometime, sure I think it’s entirely possible, that’s been on the top of my mind. Thanks for the question, I’ll certainly take that back and see what we can do. I think that one of the things we’re trying to do with Mod 9 with specific responses to the feedback is make sure that the options of the game allow people to customize their experience so that they can have the most fun with frankly the least fun parts of the game, which is the UI, because all games have that layer of interface that’s just required. But it’s all about the moment to moment gameplay and making sure that we’re customizing that wrapper so that you can get in there and have that intense connection with your party and with the game itself - that is our goal. But again, thanks for that suggestion and I’ll take it back and see what we can do.

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