News Archives

Dawn House of Commons log - 10/21/00

GL-Jeff Okay folks, welcome to Dawn's first Stratics hosted House of Commons

GL-Jeff You'll shortly be given the chance to ask questions and get direct answer but first I have a few updates.

GL-Jeff There has been a major change in the way we plan to have players erect structures in Dawn. Previously we had stated that players would select

GL-Jeff from a list of pre-made structures and that the list would grow as the player became better at building. Not only would this ultimately limit

GL-Jeff the amount of different structures you could create, but it would be extremely boring spending your time doing nothing but hammering

GL-Jeff away at an enormous castle that takes you and your 100 friends 10 hours to construct. We didn't like this idea from the start and have been

GL-Jeff attempting new methods of player-based structure creation and have finally developed a system that will work in real-time. The new system allows

GL-Jeff player to actually create their own structures, piece by piece. Using sheets of metal, slabs of rock, and logs of wood (all of varying qualities

GL-Jeff and types) players will be able to create completely customized structures. Using this system you will be able to build very simple, yet very

GL-Jeff functional structures. We will still have a list of pre-constructed structures for players to choose from for things that have moving parts or

GL-Jeff are simply too complex. Things such as catapults, drawbridges, doors, ovens, forges, and boats will be pre-constructed, but all will be compatible

GL-Jeff with the generic building components so that you can create a seamless wall with a drawbridge in the center that lay over the moat you've dug.

GL-Jeff We've also had some major changes in the area of invention.

GL-Jeff Players will be able to practice an Invention skill. The plans that you create may actually be completely new to the Dawn universe. I say plans because invention won't actually create items it will create the means with which to create new items.

GL-Jeff For instance a practicing inventor may create the plans for a new high range ballista, he would then have to take the plans to engineers who would create the item following the instructions that the inventor had created via his invention skill.

GL-Jeff OK that's it for the quickie updates, I'm going to introduce the Ops

GL-Jeff Or rather let them introduce themselves. Would all the ops please tell the people who you are :)

QA-BOT HI I'm Axehandler =) Creature Texture Artist

GL-Matt I am the sound effects specialist. Hi everyone!

GL-Axehandler oops shouldn't send commands like that thru the bot =)

GL-Jeff GL-Razm is absent, he is our main modeller/animator. GL-Seven0Six will be joining us shortly he is our object modeller/texturer.

GL-Jeff Many of you may know JLBesser from chats or forums, he's the appointed Dawn Sage - master of knowledge :)

QA-BOT - Taking Questions --- /msg QA-BOT question --- with your Question - all other questions to JLBesser

JLBesser Alright guys, lets start

QA-BOT Qworg[LOA] Will mages be able to work together to create larger effects? Some sort of synergistic effects would be very cool.

GL-Jeff Yes, mages will be able to combine spells which will increase in power linearly (to avoid exploitation).

GL-Jeff Certain spell combos will result in completely new spells.

QA-BOT Sparr will players be able to make maps in game? If so will it be like the UO cartography skill where the server just gives you the map based on your skill or will it be freeform and allow you to draw an image onto a scroll (requires RL cartography skills this way)?

GL-Jeff In order to keep the bandwidth usage of each player down we will not be allowing an in-game cartography skill. You will have to draw maps on your own (which in turn gives you more flexibility) and you can trade them online.

GL-Jeff Honestly, being so vast, the world would be far too difficult to map using some sort of in game user interface, and we detest the idea of auto mapping.

QA-BOT Setfeb The current BETA team (we ;)) would like to do more to help the development and forthcoming of Dawn. In the current stage however this seems rather difficult. Do you have any plans to involve the BETA testers more before the actual BETA starts? If yes - what do you have in mind?

GL-Jeff Well we're not going to let you do any coding if that's what you're implying. We regularly enter chats to take votes on touchy subjects, we read all your posts on the forums as well. So you (the beta testers) do have an extreme influence on how the game will turn out.

QA-BOT SexyMoFo|AC when is the scheduled release for Dawn Beta

GL-Jeff Heh, www.glitchless.com/faq.html

GL-Jeff The scheduled release is Spring 2001

QA-BOT Arathur If I'm on a ship with only 5 other crew members out in the middle of some ocean, what will happen to the ship when we're all logged off? If it won't become invul, will there be any automated defenses?

GL-Jeff The idea is that you take turns staying awake much like a real crew would.

GL-Jeff There probably won't be any built boat defense features because then boats could be mass produced as used as armies, but we will be enabling a notification system that will e-mail or even beep you when something tragic is happening around your character.

GL-Jeff Sea expeditions are not recommended for the casual gamer though, they need to be extremely well planned.

QA-BOT Aego how will we be able to invent things in dawn I am not clear on it yet =)

GL-Jeff Ok basically you, the inventor, will be given a list of several intention categories.

GL-Jeff You will then practice your invention skill and randomly create items, old and new (but never the same twice)

GL-Jeff Correction you wont create items you will be creating the plans to create the items.

GL-Jeff Invention is for the most part not extremely exciting, but when you DO invent something that is new to the universe your plans can be extremely valuable.

QA-BOT Dakkon Will your breeding system include interstices breeding to keep things unique and lively such as maybe a dragon with a hydra... or something along those lines this could increase your creatures into the millions...

GL-Jeff The problem with inter specie breeding is that each new specie created needs a new model and texture and we don't have the resources to create millions of models and textures, nor could your computer store or load them fast enough.

GL-Jeff Its a fun idea, but not a very realistic one until we have much faster hardware to work with.

QA-BOT Koramyen Will weapons scale to the size of the user or will my Gnomish warrior be able to swing a halberd that's 3 times his height?

GL-Jeff Weapons will not scale to fit the player.

GL-Jeff Instead the player has to choose weapons that work well with his figure. a huge sword will probably be too difficult for a weak gnome to wield whereas an ogre could use it easily.

QA-BOT Darien_Kane - Will climate and weather play an important part in the environment? EX:People would need a coat to travel through glacial areas without taking damage.

GL-Jeff Temperature will play an extremely important role in Dawn.

GL-Jeff Yes, you will need to change your resistance's to cold and or heat during explorations to the extremes on the globe.

GL-Jeff Also environmental effects will play a large part in the game, for instance ice will be slippery, rain will make it difficult to see and hear, etc.

GL-Jeff And we won't even get into the earthquakes and floods :)

QA-BOT Veridune question- will u need a special skill to build a house?

GL-Jeff You start with the ability to use all skills in the game.

GL-Jeff You will have to mature in a woodworking skill, however, to be an efficient house builder, yes

QA-BOT Soulreap Will players choose what item they are attempting to invent, or choose an area to research, or..?

GL-Jeff They choose an area to research, then randomly they will succeed or fail.

QA-BOT Ilya On the issue of Perma Death, How often will a person die? Will permadeath be such a hassle that people will not want to leave their town?

GL-Jeff Death should be far more rare in Dawn that in other MMORPGs

GL-Jeff Like we've said, just because an animal defeats you in a fight does not mean he will necessarily kill you.

GL-Jeff Whether or not you want to leave your town, however, is up to the way you play your character. Going in groups would probably be the best way to first explore areas, after you know the areas well then it should be safe to travel and hunt alone.

QA-BOT Moonpie question --- Tatooage: how many pixels will we have to work with, what are our color options, is there a limit to the # of engravings per item?

GL-Jeff We haven't determined the exact number of pixels or # per model of engravings/tattoos/etc as that will require some server testing. However, about the colors, you will be able to use only the colors that you have gathered from the environment from berries, grasses, etc.

QA-BOT Merlyn Will the beta-testers be added to the testing a few at a time or all at once?

GL-Jeff Good question :) also unanswerable. We will not be going into detail on the methods by which we allow people into the game at this time.

QA-BOT Stormer will the players have a Blacksmithing skill available? i.e. the ability to create their own armor and weapons and if so will the ability be available to infuse these items with magical properties

GL-Jeff Yes of course.

QA-BOT Bretten will there be boats, and if so will there be fishing off them?

GL-Jeff There will most certainly be boats and fishing

QA-BOT Varg Can we sacrifice an NPC(of equal level or above) in order to resurrect a PC?

GL-Jeff Yes and no.

GL-Jeff There will be ressurection spells, some of which require the consent of the target, some which don't GL-Jeff depending on the spell you are using may be able to use NPCs, but i can assure NPCs will not agree give their life for your character.

QA-BOT ZephTheShadow question will there be an invisibility type spell for casters, becuase then the best thief would be one who could cast invisibility

GL-Jeff Well keep in mind that even if you are invisible you can still be heard and sound will play an important part of the game.

GL-Jeff So the best thief would require a spell to both make him invisible and make him soundless...both of which would be high level spells.

GL-Jeff Invisibility will be in the game, but it will be a very rare spells and difficult to cast.

QA-BOT dawn_artist When will you have more pictures or graphics available for distribution?

GL-Jeff Very soon

QA-BOT Avictus In the thickest forest, about how many trees per 10 feet?

GL-Jeff The thickest Forrest (this is just an estimation) will be about 1 tree per 10 feet. Limiting the thickness of Forrest is essential in all games of this type since the graphics complexity they create.

GL-Jeff The screenshots should give you a decent idea of the thickness of forests.

QA-BOT Setfeb With the new way of building structures in Dawn - how will skill influence your ability to build things? Will architecture now be a player rather then a character skill?

GL-Jeff There will be a character side to the skill which will determine how fast you can create and merge the components.

QA-BOT Razkir will a PC be able to be skillful in both the invention and construction skill?

GL-Jeff Yes...it really depends on whether or not the two skills are in groups that conflict or not

GL-Jeff That I cannot tell you at this time, however.

QA-BOT a_small_dark_man will you be posting screenshots soon to show us some major components of the games? IE. creating structures, being born, invention, possibly a battle sequence.

GL-Jeff Our main goal right now is to show you some battle sequences. I can't say when we'll have component screenies up yet.

QA-BOT Ilya Does Glitchless currently have an Internet Relations Manager? If yes, who?

GL-Jeff You can message [email protected] with any questions you have about the staff. This is the Dawn HoC

QA-BOT Sparr how fast will the fastest non magical form of transportation be? FAQ says 72 hours to circle the globe, is that on foot or with the best travel aids?

GL-Jeff That's on foot. Flying will be the fastest method of travel, but will be extremely rare. I can't say exactly how fast you will be able to go, that will depend on the species you are flying on, but you will be able to go considerably faster.

QA-BOT Dek-the-Crier You mention Deep sea traveling, will their be a whole under water world to dive into ?

GL-Jeff Yes, much of the world will be covered with water and will be just as exploitable as the land out of the water.

QA-BOT Danuk Lets say you get in a fight and really want to enact the sleep mode sooner than you normally could, would you be able to select the breed option to fall asleep sooner? :) Also could you just get drunk to do the same thing?

GL-Jeff No, there won't be an exploits that allow you to gain invulnerability any faster than normal.

QA-BOT image If there are spells, how exactly do they work, will they require potions like Asheron's Call, or will we have a mana bar like EverQuest, or is it something totally different?

GL-Jeff Spells will be item based and will nearly never require pain-in-the-butt reagents.

QA-BOT fallingFast If there is non-magical healing, can you give any info on how it will work, like learning more as a doctor like architects would, and having to deal with diff plants and tools with a complex injury system, or more of a"You heal Pete for 20 health", playing a doctor would be awesome

GL-Jeff Again, that's more of a reagent type healing. We don't like the idea of items that you use once to gain health. Like I've said before, the winner of fights should be the best fighter, not the person with the most fruit in his inventory.

QA-BOT C_Packhead_Pac Will there be vendors that can be set up? IE Ultima Online's NPC Vendors in town. No towns will be set up in dawn, how do NPC vendors become available?

GL-Jeff You won't be able to "setup" NPC vendors, however we have created a vending machine type service that will allow tradesmen to safely sell and store their products.

QA-BOT Luein question Will you be implementing any poisons that can only be cured by an antidote. EXAMPLE: You slip some poison powder into a king's water, he drinks it, and is unconscious until he gets the antidote, lets say he lives unconscious for 7 days, if he doesn't have the antidote in 7 days, he dies?

GL-Jeff It's a possibility, but we're trying to avoid the one-shot kill deals.

GL-Jeff Actually 7 days is an awfully long time to get an antidote, and poisoning is a very valid option since you can add poison to any item in the game.

GL-Jeff Add it to the beta tester input data base in the forums and we'll consider it when the time comes.

QA-BOT Bitgolem My only real question is: How much latitude will players have to impose and enforce laws?

GL-Jeff You can kill criminals, you can kill them for good. You can knock them unconscious and jail them.

GL-Jeff This won't be like in other games where people can create new characters and tease you with them free from worry...people have to pay for all their actions.

GL-Jeff There are no PvP restrictions, there are no good-nature laws, everything is player controlled.

QA-BOT PizzaGuy Hey Jeff and everybody else. LOVE DAWN! have one question, You mentioned that we will be able to dig moats and fill them with water. Will we be able to aquire followers and have them patrol the moat for defense? If so, are we limited to only aquatic creatures? Or can we include things like tigers, snakes, maybe a baby or 2?

GL-Jeff Filling a deep moat with gators (deep enough that they can't get out) would be an excellent idea. You cannot however hire NPCs to guard or fight for you since this could be far too easily exploited by rich players to create mass armies.

QA-BOT War_Clone Will profanity and desrimitory remarks be permitted as long as they are in character and not just in character as a tricky way of being able to say them? And since you can obviously move from the stone age to the medival age can you move into the present and future? (guns, tanks, nukes =P).... how real will the world be? if you see a tree can you break a twig off it to fight with? Can you pile up mud or ice to build an igloo

GL-Jeff You can say whatever you want as long as it's in character. There might be an optional bad-language filter but we recommend that you play with it off.

GL-Jeff With the invention skill there is always the chance for game progression, but the game will NOT progress to the point where there are guns and things such as that.

GL-Jeff As far as how real the world can get, you can't break off a twig, but you can bust down the tree and use it, itself, as a weapon granted you are strong enough to do so.

GL-Jeff Any item can be used as any type of weapon. You can attempt to bash people over the head with a loaf of bread if you wish.

QA-BOT Sebastian_of_Dawn Would GL consider specializing crops, trees, etc., to certain climates? I think it would add a lot to the game in terms of environmental feel. Also, if you had wheat/rice/corn grow best in a certain climate, that could have huge impacts on land value, trade, etc. Who wants arctic farming? And, =), will certain animals (snakes, cows, horses, whatever) favor different climates?

GL-Jeff Animals will also favor different climates, but only because they "began" in those climates and their population tends to stay in one area.

QA-BOT Onyx-UO How would you describe the differences between Dawn and UO/EQ/Asherons Call?

GL-Jeff Dawn gives you free will and responsibility. The others are fun, but they don't quite involve as much emotion given the huge consequences you face in Dawn.

QA-BOT Qworg[LOA] Can something be created that acts as money or a trade median but has no intrinsic value? Is there anyway to back these moneys up with gold and such? Or is that something for each civilization to decide?

GL-Jeff If you wanted to get that complicated you could, but it would, like just about everything else, dependent the support of the players.

GL-Jeff You can make paper...so if you wanted to use pieces of paper instead of gold as representational currency you could do so but it would take a whole lot of organization.

GL-Jeff We recommend that you stick to the standard method of minting coins which removes the impurities making them very light and easy to carry.

QA-BOT Darien_Kane Will unintelligent life forms display realistic behavior patterns when it comes to migration? EX: Certain birds migrate to certain regions during certain seasons, etc.…

GL-Jeff We don't currently have any big plans for migrating species...but unintelligent life forms will act unintelligently. You'll find that many species run away from combat rather than attack.

QA-BOT Sparr how does a world 1/149000th the volume of earth produce enough gravity to sustain an atmosphere?

GL-Jeff Try not to let minor details interfere with your enjoyment of the game.

QA-BOT Bergain suppose you want to have a mule what if it spawns half way across the world...wouldn't that make muling hard?

GL-Jeff Well mules (I suppose you're speaking about a character being a mule) are not something we really want you to have.

GL-Jeff We'd rather you got a real mule...or a horse...and have him carry stuff around.

QA-BOT Algaryk I've heard that your servers are linux based, is there any way we could expect a linux client of the game?

GL-Jeff :) can't say at this time... Our priority is getting the game done as soon as possible for windows OS's. When the time comes we may consider other OS's. But don't get your hopes up for a MAC version.

QA-BOT Lanu With this new way to build, does this mean when in order to destroy a building, you need to destroy all the walls?

GL-Jeff Buildings will be divided into separate parts, each of which will be destructible. It allows for a more realistic destruction phase.

GL-Jeff I certainly wouldn't consider it a burden...it'd be much nicer to be able to just bust through a wall of a castle in order to gain entrance rather than destroy the entire thing.

QA-BOT Kylara i understand this is a truly pvp game, but don't you feel having to sacrifice another player of equal exp. encourages needless killing ?

GL-Jeff actually, the reason we require that is so that resurrection is not an abuse ability. If you could resurrect people like in EQ then perm death would have no meaning or effect.

QA-BOT fallingFast can you be crushed by an opening drawbridge >)?

GL-Jeff No. And the reason being is that sleeping players could have things piled on their head and when they wake up they could be instantly killed. There will be no crushing damage.

QA-BOT Zurren will players be able to modify the terrain?

GL-Jeff Yes, you can dig and pile dirt vertically allowing for the creation of man made lakes, moats, rivers, etc.

QA-BOT hal-afk will there be any type of recalling,gating or portals?

GL-Jeff There might be gating, but there will be no circle spells that allow you to quickly jump from one area to the next and bounce around the globe.

QA-BOT GogePimpnGobos if inventories can make a new High-range balista(s) why can mages make new spells? Can they?

GL-Jeff Catapults and ballistae are not melee weapons...they are objects that can be used by both melee and magic users. To answer your question though, yes. To compliment the invention skill there will be a research skill that will allow us to gracefully add new spells to the game.

QA-BOT GlubThug question How does the Pregnancy thingy work?

GL-Jeff You choose to have a child with someone of the opposite sex. The female becomes pregnant, lasts for about a week. Then she gives birth to a level 0 infant.

QA-BOT PK-Poptar If no-one decides to have kids.. how will new characters be born?

GL-Jeff We have methods. We won't be explaining how we're dealing with over and under population, however.

QA-BOT STUZY Say we end up with a bad reputation in our area, if we have a house but no friends will we be able to 'hide' a spare key in say a tree?

GL-Jeff Absolutely.

QA-BOT Morlack uhm Jeff, you told us before that we were NOT able to combine spells, care to explain?

GL-Jeff No morlack, its been asked about about every faq. On the forums once in response to a post about combinatory magic I said that two fire ball spells would not combine to make a fireball spell that was, say, 4 times stronger because that would be exploitable.

QA-BOT My_Name_is_Bob Will any effort be made to curtail people getting lost. Since the world will be mostly wilderness for a good portion of the game's life span I imagine it is going to be extremely easy to get lost. I was thinking of a spell that lets a mage find his way back to a preset spot (not a teleport..more like a directional arrow).

GL-Jeff er Faq = Q&A in that last response

GL-Jeff Hopefully the people themselves will do what it takes to keep from getting lost.

GL-Jeff There will be objects such as compasses to help with navigation, and learning the stars will be quite easy and effective, but we have no plans to help foolish explorers.

QA-BOT Firkaan will boats created by players be equipped with weapons such like ballistas or will they have to rely on the weapons of the people on board? Oh and will there be any sort of flying machines like the Zeppelins from warcraft II in the game?

GL-Jeff Flying machines will not start out in the game but we may choose to add them later down the road. Boats will not have built in weapons but you will be able to load them with catapults, etc.

QA-BOT Tillek Is there any way you can try to keep sites (like Vault and others) from giving away ALL the secrets (maybe a legal agreement or something)?

GL-Jeff Well if the vault has the information then its not a secret.

GL-Jeff But we don't plan on trying to keep any gaming networks from distributing knowledge about the game.

QA-BOT Skatell how are you going to keep lag from becoming an issue with so many players on at once?

GL-Jeff Are you from Verant?

QA-BOT Bastellous I know once you are dead you are perm dead but will there be a spell like resurrects that could allow the character to be brought back to life?

GL-Jeff Yes but resurrection will have a heavily cost such as the sacrifice of another player of equal or greater level..

QA-BOT MrNiceGuy What sort of interaction will you have with fansites. Will it be a regulated anarchy or the "ignore all but one" style?

GL-Jeff Probably more of the regulated anarchy...we might be linking fansites on our new web page which is currently being created.

QA-BOT GogePimpnGobos will tattoos be able to be placed anywhere on the body? Ex. bellybutton? And can we put users crests on the building themselves?

GL-Jeff Yes, you can place them anywhere you choose and yes you will be able to adorn buildings with markings as well.

QA-BOT Pad[CF] How will you handle PvP considering Dawn is supposed to be an RPG/socializing game? Will it have consequences to be a murderer and will "good" people be rewarded for their hard work?

GL-Jeff You have to realize that in a REAL PvP environment w/ perm death (which the world is yet to witness in a major MMORPG) your reputation among the other people in the game is extremely important. Killing someone to get his cool sword will not be a good way to mature in a game where your reputation is so important.

GL-Jeff If you piss people off by killing their family members isn't going to get an NPC Uber guard on your butt, its going to get their whole family on your butt.

QA-BOT Killian Are you going to have GM and Councilor type people for support ingame

GL-Jeff The /bug report will result in near-immediate response for in-game problems.

GL-Jeff But there won't be GM's there will be gods, and the gods are not there for you to report game problems to, that's what the /bug report is for.

QA-BOT andy why do you auto accept beta applications? Do you plan on allowing all 100,000 into beta if that's how many sign up? It seems odd that you auto accept beta apps

GL-Jeff We do scan the applications, and some people get personalized responses. We are aiming at one of the largest betas ever in order for us to properly test our server loads, so if by odd you mean different, yes the beta acceptance procedure are different than ones you may have participated in the past.

QA-BOT The_Real_Eugene How will players be able to invent things? Do the Gods just grant some random plans?

GL-Jeff Players practice their invention skills, they either fail or succeed. If they succeed they will have created the plans themselves which can be followed in order to create the item invented.

QA-BOT Firkaan will monsters drop any sort of loot, and if they do, will it be something like the monster should be carrying, or just some random valuable item? For example, gromnies (big two legged lizards) in AC would drop magic weapons even though they didn't use them.

GL-Jeff Animals will drop realistic loots that will be needed by certain trades people. Animals skins, teeth, etc., will be necessary components of spell, and item creation and thus will have intrinsic value.

QA-BOT Scion_Mandate Is it the intention that the AI scripts that we can leave our characters running on will be able to do non xp earning stuff like mind a shop or sail a ship?

GL-Jeff You can have a shop running while logged off by the use of our vending system and your ship will keep sailing in the direction pointed (given the winds don't change) when you are sleeping on the boat. We do not recommend that you program the AI to keep your character awake, although it will be an option. GL-Jeff Doing so may result in becoming permanently dead while your not even playing.

QA-BOT The_Real_Eugene Will their be a way for players to sign documents and make political/business agreements "official?"

GL-Jeff There is a writing skill and a marking skill. You can write on paper (by typing) and you can mark on paper with an "official" kingdoms marking if you want to signify its validity.

QA-BOT mistawho Let's say we our hunting for food. Could you use something you killed for more than just food? Like use the bones for weapons, the stomach for a pouch and so forth?

GL-Jeff Yes every item can be used as a weapon. Stomachs could be used for pouches after some preparation, most likely.

QA-BOT Zubido Can you make armor? If yes, would the skill and the rareness of the material depend on how high the armor level would be?

GL-Jeff Yes, you make armor, and yes the materials used and the skill of the creator will determine the quality and appearance of the armor.

QA-BOT Milfranic What is being done to keep the message boards clean and flamer free? Currently, newcomers are attacked immediately and we may be losing potential customers due to "grandfathering" the boards.

GL-Jeff We're not into censorship.

GL-Jeff Some people will flame, ignore them, but on the flip side, some people ask questions that they should already know the answer too had they read the FAQ.

GL-Jeff Glitchless punishes neither.

QA-BOT Rasputin_The_Monk Will resurrection require a willing sacrifice, or can the spell caster choose to take any life equal or greater in stature

GL-Jeff Depends on the spell.

QA-BOT Npc_Detective WILL WE BE ABLE TO HAVE SEX, AND WILL THERE BE CHILDREN IN TEH GAME?

GL-Jeff (to former question, there will be several different types of resurrection)

GL-Jeff You can move your character back and forth like I'm sure many of you did in EQ but there are no built in sexual graphics.

GL-Axehandler Geesh... I think he REALLY wanted u to hear that question Jeff =)

GL-Jeff And yes, with reproduction comes children. Everyone will begin the game as an infant which will last from 30-60 minutes

QA-BOT Lil-old-man D you think the Economy will get blow apart after awhile with the influx of materials (steal, stone etc.) and nothing ever decaying?

GL-Jeff Its natural for the players to become better equipped as the game matures.

GL-Jeff This is not equivalent to a failure in the economy...

GL-Jeff Furthermore, if you make a crappy iron sword, then decide to melt it down to use its materials you will lose some of the materials in the process. This will help curb the amount of material in existence.

QA-BOT Kylara If someone wants to make a homestead but still travel will there be safeguards they can leave behind. Like traps, or hired NPCs, charmed creatures, magic barriers ??

GL-Jeff You can lock your doors and you can set traps. Like in real life, there's no way to make a house in the middle of the woods completely safe from vandals, however being in the middle of the woods in a world 65,000 square miles large will make it a hard house to find, much less vandalize.

QA-BOT Masoj Will clothes and armor show wear, tear, and liquid stains?

GL-Jeff We could add effects like that but that would lower the amount of designs you could put on the armor.

GL-Jeff We'll probably hold a vote for that purpose, however.

GL-Jeff Your face and body, however WILL scar. We have implemented a system for that which will further create varied appearances for the purpose of identification.

QA-BOT Sidheog question It has been mentioned on the boards that you won't be able to id a person's identity. Is there a way that I can tell that someone I'm talking to is really my best friend other than just conversation and role-playing. In RL if someone walks up to me and knows everything that my friend would say, I'd still know it isn't my friend just by looking at him.

GL-Jeff With the addition of armor symbols, and body scarring we'll literally have millions of different player models/texture combos. You _will_ be able to recognize them visually. If you don't believe me now you'll have to wait for the beta.

QA-BOT JLBesser How will skills be learnt if the student has never learnt the skill/discipline before?

GL-Jeff You start out with all the skills...you can practice the ones you wish.

QA-BOT Trevoke Will we be able to create musical instruments? How can we live without bands? :)

GL-Jeff We're considering an in-game music feature, but its on a low priority right now.

QA-BOT STUZY On the FAQ it is stated that we can change water flow, if we are digging a moat and the dyke would break, automatic death? Or a chance to swim to the surface?

GL-Jeff LoL, you poor AC players

GL-Jeff You can swim!

QA-BOT Dakkon What sort of items can you create? Is there a limit to what you can make? Like can you create something completely new

GL-Jeff With some items, for instance weapons, you can create completely new items.

GL-Jeff Hammering them will actually change their model, altering their physical appearance, and the material combinations you use will effect their texture.

QA-BOT Danuk Will drugs be available in Dawn? I'm more interested in drugs that could augment your abilities, and if they are available will they be addictive?

GL-Jeff Drugs are like reagents, which we don't like.

QA-BOT Sidheog question By Spring 2001 for the scheduled beta, do you mean more like March or more like June.

GL-Jeff We say spring because we can't narrow it down any further :)

GL-Jeff When we can we'll tell you.

QA-BOT Skatell Is Dawn going to be a strictly RPG or are you allowing for OOC like in Ultima Online?

GL-Jeff We'll certainly allow OOC, if you and your friends want to discuss football in a small quiet group that won't be a problem.

GL-Jeff It's the people who use OOC stuff purposely to cause a distraction and to annoy that will be dealt with, first by the players and if that doesn't work then by the gods (who aren't rap lyrics fans)

QA-BOT Darien_Kane How are poisons going to be created (from animals, plants, minerals)?Also, are there more than one form (powder, gas , liquid)? And lastly, are there effects besides direct damage (blindness; paralysis ;etc..)?…

GL-Jeff Absolutely, there is an entire discipline of magic devoted just to effects magic.

GL-Jeff Poisons will be created from plants and animals mainly and can take any form, just depends on the poison.

QA-BOT Lepper_Messiah question how are you going to handle customer service issues?

GL-Jeff As well as we can.

GL-Jeff We're going to have a customer service number, of course.

QA-BOT EshlarBuilder|SB Will there be rare minerals or will players be able to build buildings underground and will three be fountains?

GL-Jeff Fountains, waterfalls, yes.

GL-Jeff there will be both rare minerals and the ability to dig out a hole, cover it with materials and thus be living in a subterrainian environment.

QA-BOT Morlack Will wind effect the movement of clothing\armor? ala your cape fly's backward when the wind blows?

GL-Jeff Only specially programmed items will be effected by the wind, such as sails and flags.

GL-Jeff Your cape will move when you walk but probably not with wind.

QA-BOT Trevoke will the leveling up with connected to the aging? Or could we have an old-looking level 1?

GL-Jeff You can have an old aged level 1, they are not connected.

QA-BOT whoami_6 how many characters will we be allowed to have at 1 time?

GL-Jeff Probably in the area of 10...we want you to be able to experiment with different character types.

QA-BOT Spiritcaster Since we start with nothing, how will magic users find rings to cast spells. Will they be made by a skill?

GL-Jeff They will be made from a skill, and try to keep in mind that you will never start with nothing, you start with a mother and possibly an entire family structure.

QA-BOT Dek-the-Crier Can you explain a little more to us about the Prison/Jailing/Ransom system ?

GL-Jeff When a player is knocked unconscious he can be dragged into a holding cell. He can also be put in torture devices that continually do damage so that he cannot go to sleep a gain invulnerability (otherwise ransom demands would be pointless). Its then up to the players what happens, the captors can demand ransom from friends and family, the captive can attempt to slowly do damage to the devices that are restraining him in an attempt for escape

GL-Jeff You don't have to worry about being captured and left alone and never be able to use your character again, you can always beat away at the devices that are holding you, thus making it important for captors to keep a careful eye on their prisoners.

QA-BOT EQMieken You've stated that certain magic disiplines will negatively effect each other in advancement (IE Sanation and Necromancy), is there a plan for other skills to negatively effect each other, such as wielding a great sword and using psionics?

GL-Jeff Yes, every skill in fact will be separated into different groups that conflict with varying degrees.

QA-BOT Meow Will it be a way to sunk boats (like the turtle things in warcraft?)

GL-Jeff hehe the turtle things, they made a cool sinking noise, we'll have to get Matt to mimic that :)

GL-Jeff Yes you can sink boats which will remain at the bottom of the ocean to be looted.

QA-BOT Adam_I question About how many skills will there be?

GL-Matt I'll try :)

GL-Jeff The complete skill list has not yet been created but if I had to guess I'd say in the neighborhood of 200-300.

QA-BOT manix will there be prebuilt dungeons or anything like that..or will those be PC or NPC built also over time?

GL-Jeff nothing exists in the world when you first enter it except plants, animals, and the world itself.

QA-BOT Capri will there be flying type spells?

GL-Jeff Floating type spells yes, but nothing that will make you fly quickly like a bird.

QA-BOT Zubido Will you be able to buy matches to build a fire or can a wizard make a spell to start one or do you have to find 2 pieces of wood and rub them together?

GL-Jeff Matches won't exist, but you can create small fires with magic.

QA-BOT Scion_Mandate Are regular content updates in the plan? And if so will player activity and player generated stories influence those updates?

GL-Jeff Absolutely, everything will be continually updated. We'll be releasing extra CD's with more music on them, we'll be creating new spells and items and allowing you to access them via research and invention respectively. The development does not stop when the game is released.

QA-BOT Alias Will Beta testers have to download the client or will they be shipped a CD?

GL-Jeff They will have a choice.

QA-BOT Howler question What kind of underwater places will there be? Will there be cities? Dungeons?

GL-Jeff Depends on what you make underwater. If anything exists other than plants and animals its meant to be a secret and we will not tell you.

QA-BOT Sebastian_of_Dawn Can you comment on the varying quality of items, and how it might apply to off-line vendor-ish selling? For example, all food will not be equal, and so I am having problems conceptualizing how I would setup selling my sword to be bought for "food". Could you clarify? Also, can we assume that wood, stone, and metals will have varying qualities? How might this work? Thanks.

GL-Jeff Yes wood stone and metals all will have varying qualities.

GL-Jeff Like was stated before, the quality of items will depend on the quality of the materials they were made with in addition to the skill of the creator.

GL-Jeff And for the off-line vending system, you will be able to supply a list of acceptable trades for the items you are vending.

QA-BOT PizzaGuy Can Trees in the forest Fall on their own? (From old age, rotting, etc..)? And if so, if no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? (If it didnt it might decrease lag. hehe)

GL-Jeff lol, if a tree falls in the Forrest in Dawn but no one is around to hear it, it still makes a sound.

GL-Jeff Trees won't fall down unless something has caused it to die.

QA-BOT Garam|IC How diverse will a character in dawn be? Can you be a mighty warrior and a famous chef at the same time?

GL-RazM Emeril the warrior

GL-Jeff As long as cooking and melee skills are in skill areas that don't conflict much (which they will be) then that would certainly be a viable option.

GL-SevenOsix Iron Chef :-)

GL-RazM lol

GL-Jeff Clarification: Yes it would be easy to practice both melee skills and cooking.

GL-Jeff LOL

GL-Jeff Anyone Iron Chef is one messed up program...if you haven't seen it on TV I suggest you do, everyone should see it once hehe :)

QA-BOT Fneeeeeee What role will disease play in the game, if any?

GL-Axehandler Great.... now I'm gonna hear about sword fighting Chef jokes for a WEEK! =)

GL-Matt pumpkin battle this Friday

GL-Jeff There may be long term diseases/curses but we'll do what we can to keep them from simply being annoyances like in EQ.

QA-BOT DSBNH36 will there be a way to escape from prison, live life as an outlaw as part of ropleplaying?

GL-Jeff You can escape from prison if the people guarding the prison aren't paying attention and you do enough damage to a prison bar or wall to break through.

QA-BOT Xantzu will Dawn allow for play in windows mode (i.e UO) or will it be like EQs' full screen version?

GL-Jeff Because the targeting system is FPS style we'll probably be limiting you to Full screen.

QA-BOT Linda|IC Im wondering about the digging part, is it possible to dig out a cave to live in?

GL-Jeff No, in order to keep things simple enough to be done in real time you can only dig, you cannot burrow. However you can dig out an area and then conceal it with material.

QA-BOT Spar simple pseudo-genetic algorithms could produce extremely unique mixed breed monsters (drawn with mixed model pieces) without a large amount of data being sent to the client. Might this be feasible?

GL-Jeff the problem isn't the creation of varied models its the creation of varied textures

GL-Jeff you can't create new textures without sending a whole lot of info to the client which we can't afford to do

QA-BOT Crispin How many characters can you have per account? Can you have different races or can You just have one?

GL-Jeff about 10

QA-BOT Howler question What level of graphic detail do you hope to achieve in the final product, in polygon gount?

GL-Jeff I can't give polygon numbers, but if you look at the Human model rendering on the Vault you will see that the model is complex enough to have a formed biceps, so things will be more complex in EQ for instance.

QA-BOT Ilya Will there be set spawn points for monsters? Or will they spawn randomly?

GL-Jeff Whoa, we need to read the faq, there isn't any spawning in Dawn.

QA-BOT andy your dev team currently only has 12...theres no way your game can be developed with all the features your promising with only 12 people, and your jobs page says your not accepting applications...this is rather suspicious, especially since your job descriptions aren't very professional...how do you explain that?

GL-Jeff My explanation is that you don't know how many people it takes to create an MMORPG because you've never made one :)

GL-Jeff The most time consuming part of creating an MMORPG is the creation of the world.

GL-Jeff Since our world is created mostly with computers it cuts down on the development time incredibly. We have more than enough resources and people to create the game and we will be making the projected spring 2001 one date.

QA-BOT toxic will you actually answer beta-emails ?

GL-Jeff If they require a response.

QA-BOT Eck In Dawn how big of an Issue will lag and PL be? Comparative to Asheron's call or Everquest?

GL-Jeff We're doing our best to completely eliminate server side problems which should kill a lot of the packet loss that you may have experienced in EQ or AC.

GL-Jeff Lag, ping, latency, etc. will be taken care of largely because of our advanced client side prediction which works in conjunction with our targeting system.

QA-BOT Crispin Will it be hard to hit with war spells and arrows?

GL-Jeff If I understand the question, no. Being a pure archer is a feasible option and it will not be exceedingly hard to hit people with arrows when you are well trained.

QA-BOT Stardos Will you be able to make underground chambers, and to maybe dig under fortifications?

GL-Jeff You can dig into the ground and then conceal the ditch with materials. And although you can't burrow you CAN dig under walls.

QA-BOT whoami_6 The new online friends we make if we di how will we be able to keep tracked of each other?

GL-Jeff Each player will have an ID number which they can give out of they choose.

GL-Jeff You have to keep track of your friends by your own means tho...it shouldn't be too hard.

QA-BOT Adam_I How will spells be learned?

GL-Jeff They won't. Spells are item based.

QA-BOT Danuk Will berserk be available as a skill, or only as a magical effect?

GL-Jeff Only a magical effect.

GL-Jeff I guess that's it

Xander Stratics would like to thank Glitchless for their wonderful job with answering all of these questions, and all of you for coming. The logs will be posted at http://dawn.stratics.com tomorrow. Also, if you have no already, check out the Tavern of Dawn forum at Dawn Stratics. The developers will be in #dawn for open discussion.