Council of Elysium - Chapter Two
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Hello adventurers!
The Council of Elysium – Chapter 2 is on it’s way!
On Apr 5, 2022 join Social Media Manager Kinsiel, Community Manager Arcahem and Community Manager Lunoshi as we tackle some of your burning questions in regards to the Closed Beta!
That’s right, it’s community AMA time!
Be sure to drop us all of your questions in the comments of this forum post or in the designated Discord channel and we’ll be sure to answer them live!
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Ok, guess that I will go first.
Regarding the new continent, can you tell us a bit more about its features? Is it possible to start on it or the starting areas will be limited to Myr? Will the extreme environment of the area limit the food production capabilities of the cities there?
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All the questions I asked last time:
Will vegetables be fully implemented (farming, city upkeep) at start of the beta?
Will you be able to use wild vegetables to make vegetable food sacks?
Will alchemy be implimented at start?
Will we get bigger carts? -more volume, higher cost-
Is the first tier of imbued gems going to be cheaper to socket? -500 is excessive barrier to entry-
Is the chest bug fixed?
Do the weapons that are supposed to affect incorporeal creatures work now? Or are they still bugged?
Will there be NPC's?
Do donations to the temple/alter for adjusting karma get split with the town that build the temple/alter?
Where are the cannons and 'superior human technology'? Coming? or scrapped?
Will the talent tree be fully implemented for this beta or will there still be gaps? - charisma branch, some end talents, etc..-
Will the Devs and community managers be roaming, monster spawning, and town raiding terrors to help test the siege system and defenses?And new ones:
Do all 20 people who are part of the settlement group have to be on Aerhen to claim a city site there?
Do groups work between continents? eg: can an officer in Myr invite a player to the group that is mostly in Aerhen?
Do you get a choice of which port you arrive in on Aerhen when traveling from Myr? and the other way?
What will weather do?
Will elemental resistances defend against weather affects? Against elemental stacks?
Will we be able to download the game early in preparation to play? Or will we be forced to all download the game on launch day and crash systems?
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Please verify that existing Eternal Holders still have lifetime VIP. The platinum pack says its only six months for new purchase
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Is every account supposed to have 2+ character slots, or has that changed? If not, how are you going to handle people who want to play as a different race, but lack character slots? Are they supposed to delete their human character and hence loose all progress? Should they wait with starting the beta till there's a different race available? How are you going to 'balance' the massive migration from humans to beast/demon once they become available (for the towns that lack people and for potential human raids on other planets)?
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Is the game still using the deprecated SpatialOS Unity GDK for the backend or was it migrated to IMS zeuz? Are you allowed to selfhost? Who's the entity that owns the server (physically and legally) Gamigo or DS?
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The Gamigo data transfer news implies that gamigo US inc. is now hosting and managing the website and forum. I was told by a moderator that's not true and it's still DS for both. Could you clarify the physical and legal ownership of the server for the website/forum and who's in charge for configuration/maintenance of the server and who's in charge for updates on the code?
Thank you in advance
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@DarthJafo Yep, that's something I'd like to know as well.
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Q: Regarding the new continent, can you tell us a bit more about its features? Is it possible to start on it or the starting areas will be limited to Myr? Will the extreme environment of the area limit the food production capabilities of the cities there? - 09:15
A: You can start on Aerhen. Environment is not implemented yet, but when it does the cold will influence food production
Q: How often can we expect updates? Will we have events like city sieges? 10:08
A:Monthly updates are planned. There will be more events like the Dark Convergence
Q: Are all races and planets going to be in at the start of the beta? 11:35
A: Only humans and Syndesia are in at the moment, the other ones will be introduced with the updates.
Q: Is it possible for someone who dislikes pvp, even more open world, to enjoy the game? 12:06
A: Yes, it is possible. Especially with Wildfolk.
Q: Will penguins be in the new continent? 12:48
A: Unknown
Q: Will Aerhenn be mainly snow? 12:55
A: No
Q: Do we get a roadmap? 13:15
A: Should be shared soon
Q: Are there any implemented changes for unimplemented talents? 13:35
A: The talent tree has been redesigned. The first 2 circles are generic abilities not tiered to any specific gameplay. The third and outer circle instead contains more specific effects.
Q: Will Vegetables be implemented at the start of the beta? 14:35
A: Not yet
Q: Will Alchemy be implemented at the start? 15:05
A: No
Q: Will we get bigger carts? Higher cost/bigger volume 15:15
A: No
Q: Is the first tier of gems going to be cheaper to socket? 15:35
A: Gems are no longer needed. Just reagents.
Q: Are the cannons and the superior human technology coming? 16:15
A: Not scrapped, but not yet currently in.
Q: There are plans for short term competitive environments? 16:40
A: There are plans to implement Asteroids, informations will come at a later date.
Q: Are there plans to improve the chat and community interface? 17:23
A: There are plans for the chat but not for the community interface like cities.
Q: Are there going to be updates to the audio? 18:05
A: There have been many updates to the audio of many effects, but not yet on the ambience sounds.
Q: What time do the servers come up? 18:53
A: 4PM CET, 7 AM Pacific, 10AM Eastern
Q: Is the beta going to be stable enough to be playable when you live in places like Australia? 19:20
A: It is not easy to provide a stable game in Oceania, but there are a few compensations that should alleviate the ping issue.
Q: Will the repair mechanic be implemented or be considered in the future? 20:19
A: No it will not be considered, but the durability has been increased and the master crafters will be able to craft items with higher durability
Q: Is there going to be a rags meta? People going around in basic equipment to avoid resources losses and thus affecting the game economy? 21:16
A: We don't expect that. Consider also that good and neutral players will no longer drop equip, only inventory. Red players will drop equipment based on their karma.
Q: Will the existing packets keep their benefits after the changes to the founder packs? Will the tutorials be skipable? 22:05
A: Yes, eternal VIP included. There have been many updates to the tutorial, please send feedback.
Q: Pretty much the same question 23:05
A: Same answer. Kickstarter packs apply too.
Q: Will the store and website work before the start of the beta?: 23:32
A: Should be fixed, retry. If you have still issues, please send feedback.
Q: Plese detail the current VIP perks: 24:30
A: Unchanged from the website and FAQ (and from the wiki!!! https://fractured.fandom.com/wiki/Fractured#VIP_membership ~ Spoletta). More details will follow on possible additional benefits.
Q: In the past tests we had many different systems for ranking up cities, in particular one which required a minimum number of residents for each rank and one which didn't. What is the model that will be applied for this test? 25:10
A: No minimum number of residents. Just resources.
Q: Will harbor towns get half of the cost of going inbetween continents? 25:45
A: Half sink. 1 quarter to departing town. 1 quarter to destination town.
Q: Are we going to get a more in depth crafting system with progression? 26:30
A: Yes, you will unlock new sets and recipes.
Q: Will there be any fast travel besides harbors? 27:39
A: No
Q: Will farming work the same on Aerhenn and Myr? 28:06
A: Yes
Q: Can we transport carts between continents? 28:24
A: Yes
Q: Will the Community managers place cities so that we can test sieges without antogonizing each other? 28:59
A: It will be considered.
Q: Will the backdoor to Shadowvale be opened? 29:26
A: Not yet, still a mistery!
Q: Are you thinking about new options for loot sharing? 29:43
A: Not in closed beta
Q: Is the game still using the deprecated SpatialOS Unity GDK for the backend or was it migrated to IMS zeuz? Are you allowed to selfhost? Who's the entity that owns the server (physically and legally) Gamigo or DS? 29:54
A: The infrastructure is managed by Gamigo. The plan is to upgrade from SpatialOS in the next months. It is part of the tests of this beta.
Q: The Gamigo data transfer news implies that gamigo US inc. is now hosting and managing the website and forum. I was told by a moderator that's not true and it's still DS for both. Could you clarify the physical and legal ownership of the server for the website/forum and who's in charge for configuration/maintenance of the server and who's in charge for updates on the code? 30:47
A: Migration is under way. The infrastructure will be managed by Gamigo, code and development by DS.
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Q: Will Vegetables be implemented at the start of the beta? 14:35
A: Not yet
Ok, this is a big problem.
I spent two alpha tests gathering data as to why this is a problem and shared it with the developers which agreed that it was a problem and that it would be fixed before beta.
It clearly was not fixed. I do not know why. Since explaining the problem clearly to the developers in private did not work, and they did not give me the curtesy of an explanation in our DM's I feel my only option left is to air the problem here despite the damage it may do to the game.Currently every city has 60 external farming fields. Depending on the region fertility they produce 50%/100%/150% of base crop yields. to rank up and pay weekly city maintenance cities need to provide increasingly larger numbers of cereals, proteins, and (eventually) vegetables. at 100% fertility a town needs to be optimally using 50 of these fields to supply the 40 proteins and 80 cereals needed to sustain a rank 15 city.
When vegetables are introduced that cost will increase to 50 proteins, 100 cereals, 50 veggies.
The 100% fertility rank 15 town would need 63 fields just to supply the proteins and cereals... nothing to say about the veggies.
The argument that the problem will be dealt with when it is come to ignores many facts. While only having to supply 2 crops the towns can stockpile them with the surplus 10 fields not being used, thus when the 3rd crop is introduced its effect on the economy will not be felt for quite some time and thus not provide good testing data for even longer.
That is a one scenario.. The other is that the town is not prepared and is faced with immediate loss of ranks due to the change.
This is the more likely scenario and is almost guaranteed for the low fertility cities.Both scenarios are artificial conditions that would not exist if we start with the 3rd crop and familiarized ourselves with it before making huge costly decisions as to city location and farming methodologies.
As they are artificial conditions they will not produce good data on which to make decisions on how to adjust the game for release.Another reason not starting with the 3rd crop is a problem is because it eliminated the primary motive factor of intercity trade and commerce - buying and selling food to sustain cities.
It has been stated multiple times that cities above rank 10 will not be self sustainable -=by design=- to encourage trade, diplomacy, and raiding.
Without the 3rd crop even a low fertility city can be totally self sustaining at rank 15 if they commit 1/3 of their city space to farming.
Thus killing motivators trade, diplomacy, and raiding.Because of all of these reasons the 3rd crop needed to be implemented from the start.
But apparently that will not be done.The remaining options the Devs have is to :
1: Increase the city upkeep requirements such that they are -=theoretically=- equivalent to the demand once vegetables are added and just replace part of the demand with vegetables.
This is gambling and will still produce bad data for quite some time before the system stabilizes. Maybe a month after the change we will finally have good data and an adapted global economy.2: Do a wipe of all cities when vegetables are implemented.
Even if this is just a wipe of the cities and not player progression it is still a huge slap in the face especially when we were promised no wipes until the end of the beta.3: Reset all field nutrients and all city stockpiles when vegetables are implemented.
This is a lot of work, hard to do, and almost impossible to verify that it was done as there are plenty of places players can store crops. It would also still cripple low fertility cities who would all of a sudden have to trade, raid, or bargain for food in an environment where that was never necessary before.No matter what choice is made, the economy of the human world will only provide useful test data as to why it is a bad idea to only have 2 of the 3 crops implemented at the start of a test period.. for the 3rd time...
If the wild folk world is implemented after the 3rd crop it -may- provide good data on which to make decisions... but it will not be including the effects of raiding and thus will only be a partial picture.
The demon world is not going to provide useful data by its very nature of constant open pvp and special abilities that allow solo players to destroy walls... Few cities will be lucky enough to grow big enough to ever even have to consider outside sources to meet its upkeep.
This is all very bad news... and it will likely be worse as the growth time, yield, and nutrient costs of vegetables is still unknown and may be incompatible, or too compatible, with current optimal crop rotations thus throwing everything into a greater mess.
At this stage it could very easily take 6 months to just figure out and balance the crop system -=after=- the 3rd crop is implemented.
Meaning the need for multiple wipes or even more months of bad data before good data can be obtained with which to make adjustments.
Other than me, I do not know of many people willing to be jerked around that much regarding something as foundational to the game as the cities.I hoped for the best, I was promised that it would be ready, and now we get the worst.
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@OlivePit Maybe one thing your not taking into consideration is that the Devs don't want crop yields to be totally predictable in the first place.
They know that in a testing phase, they are probably going to get more people more focused on building up the cities as fast as possible, because they aren't really going to worry about the long term effects of crop maintenance, but in the long game, fertility is going to go up and down by crop rotation, and they may even institute things like diseased crops or massive environmental damage to farming areas in the future. By not instituting the 3rd crop now, they are keeping that element of uncertainty, and then when they do introduce them, they will have worked out, internally, what other factors they may want to include with the introduction of veg.
One thing I think they do want to avoid in Fractured is making everything predictable throughout the game, and instead add some elements of chance and circumstance into the mix. Also, they coding for the 3rd resource may not have met with the devs approval by the time frame that they wanted to release the Beta, and they felt that it was not something worth delaying the Beta release for in the scheme of things.
Finally, they did not promise NO wipes during the Beta, they just have no planned wipes as of now, and that's character wipes. Nothing whatsoever was mentioned about city wipes, and yet, available city plots and their locations may very well change as the Beta evolves, so such wipes may indeed be in the cards, generally with appropriate warnings issued when possible before doing so. Even full character wipes may happen, depending on what bugs and feature-changes end up needing to be implemented. The point is, no wipe is planned at this time for testing, other than right before actual launch. Who's to say what else will happen in the meantime.
