Let's Ask Ledaye!

Stratics is very excited to have SGW Creative Director Chris 'Ledaye' Klug join us here for some Q&A with the Stargate Worlds community!

We invite you to post your questions for Ledaye in this thread, where he will answer them as time allows.

Thank you for joining us Ledaye, and welcome to Stratics!

Hello Ledaye, many thanks for agreeing to answer some questions. You must be seriously busy now with the game close to beta.

My question: Do weapons degrade over time from use, to the point where you might have it jam on you in the middle of a hectic firefight? And if so, does every class have the ability to repair them or is the skill class specific? Would you have to seek out a certain person on the battlefield to fix your weapon up?

You have no idea how much a thrill this is for me, being someone who spent an inordinate amount of time here while I was playing EQ I.

Thank you for having me.

Weapons and items degrade upon defeat only (heh, no one 'dies' in Stargate Worlds). When an item reaches a condition of 0 it must be repaired as it can no longer function. Items are not removed when reaching a condition of 0, they must however be repaired in order to be used.

Artifacts are immune to degradation, however.

Vendors can repair items for a nominal fee, archetypes at this time cannot.

How does the defeat thing work?
You got me curious.

If no one "dies", then do they lose conciousness, only to get up on their feet when the enemy scurries back to their holes?
Or is it more of a "fall back to the gate" thing?

The function is similar to other games. You lose consciousness, and awake in a med tent. And at higher levels the Scientist archetype can erect a portable med tent near the battle.

Thank you for answering my earlier question, Ledaye.

We know from the latest Q & A that target lock will not be broken if you lose line of sight of your enemy behind cover. Does this mean that you can effectively keep track of your enemy as he moves to outflank you despite you not being able to see him, or are there other mechanics taking place during battle to prevent you from doing so?

You can pretty much keep track of him. Keeping track of who's shooting at you isn't the problem. The problem is managing your position/cover versus, say, three MOBs all trying to take you out.

If you manage to stay behind cover and keep cover between you and the MOBs, your survivability goes way up. Once one of them can fire at you through your un-covered flank, you've only got a few seconds to either take him out, suppress him, or get your butt outta there.

Are the mechanics for cover, and the like, going to be similar to Mass Effect?

To explain a little more... Will it be FPS style, where taking cover is little more than crouching out of line-of-sight, or ducking behind a wall? Or, will there be mechanics that the character takes cover interactively, the example being Mass Effect (which is probably the best cover system I've seen in an action-y game)?

We don't have all the specialized contextual moves that Mass Effect has, but crouching has a specific positive effect, cover nodes have a specific effect, etc.

Will we be limited to what we can carry in our inventory, either by a maximum of slots or by weight encumbrance?

Many thanks again.

Yes, at launch there is a limit of 100 slots that you get access to over time.

There is no encumbrance (those mortars are very heavy, don't cha know).

You just mentioned mortars, which got me thinking... Player housing...

*Cackles*

I jest...

Will there actually be some of the heavier weapons in SGW?
Such as mortars, claymores, grenades...

And, on the other end of the scale... Intars, for friendly fights?

*Wanders off to prepare tentative plans for the "Mortar Combat" command*

Mmmm. Mortars = Suppression fire. I like that.

Thanks again for answering these questions, Ledaye. Following on from my inventory question, (and I like the 100 slots - plenty of space), not everybody likes carrying everything around with them all the time, and crafters usually end up with a multitude of items, so will we have access to banks to store items, or even better, personal lockers or storage containers?

There are heavier weapons in SGW. We're in the process of finalizing which ones right now. Grenades will most certainly make the list.

Yes, there will be storage in a bank. We luv crafters.

Suppression fire is a big part of our game.

Stats and attributes, (strength, dexterity, etc), are a staple of MMOs. Do we have any input into these as we level or is it all done 'under the hood' for us to allow us concentrate on playing? Or perhaps SGW doesn't have use for these and is coming from a different direction?
Thanks.

First question how are you???
Second will the jaffa only have access to only staff weapons, or will their be other weapons from other races avalible such as the P90?
Also a question about the healing in the game, will it be mainly heal over time or instant heals with medical kits or a mix of both?
Another question i have is how will armour affect us in the game, if we wear heavy armour will it affect our run speed or how many bullets we can take etc?

Hi Ledaye

How much stuff can players put in their "bank", is there a limit? Are the items in the bank accessible via any planet/bank?

Will Commands have Command-only private spaces (or Command-Bank) for sharing items etc?

Can Items in the inventory/bank/whatever be sortable/filterable?

Thanks!

I got another question why havnt i got beta yet.

Hi Ledaye.
Is each planet a designated levelling zone? That is, when we gate to a particular planet do we stay there picking up and completing all quests until we reach the requisite level before moving on to the next, or, as the game is story based are we constantly travelling back and forth to a variety of different planets all the time?
Thanking you.

Hey Ledaye.
The Solder, Commando, and Jaffa ( Jaffa was given but only as a exclusive in game informer) are the only archetypes that talent trees we don't have information on in the wiki. If you are able to, can you list them?

First of all, thanks for doing this! The gameplay footage on X-Play got me very excited! I have MANY questions, but here are just a few:

-Once you gate to another world, will you enter a small region of that planet or will you have access to most of the planet (ex. Star Wars Galaxies massive worlds)?

-The most anticipated aspect of the game for me are the non-combat oriented classes such as Archaeologist and Scientist. I was just wondering how many mini-games you expect to have? I find it very cool that I will be able to level up without actually having to run in with guns blazing.

-What sort of level cap is being considered (or has been implemented)?

Thanks a bunch Ledaye!

Hello ledaye and big thanks for your answers. SGW is the most wanted game for me since I looked the first time Stargate in tv years ago. At this time I already felt that there would appear a Game, and I looked forward that it would be an MMORPG 

Only thing I want to know is how crafting looks like. Is it more like SWG, where u could manipulate the stats or have the items fix values where u can’t do anything? And what plan’s do u have for the resources and materials for crafting. Could we explain the same boring way we see in every other mmorpg, right click on a rock and a percent chance that something special comes out? Or do we have the possibility to set harvester, manipulate the resources or any else that makes gathering basic materials more advanced and requires a little more brain?

Gracefully,
Rene Z.

I agree completely. I hope that this game takes many elements from Star Wars Galaxies in terms of crafting/gathering. It had such an amazing system and it really allowed for a really great player economy.

How will your servers be structured?

Are you planning to set up your server for example for USA,France,Germany,England and so on or will there be a huge server for everyone?
I think it would be exciting if there would be some different languages than english on some servers.

Fine, thanks for asking.

The Jaffa can use other weapons, yes.

A mixture. However, one note is that in our combat, healers are not as important as in other systems. Scientists can take healing abilities, but they don't function as, say, a Priest does in WoW. That is mainly due to the fact that our combat model is one-on-many, meaning firefights instead of 'let's all work together to take on the boss MOB."

Armor protection is important, but it does not affect your movement.

Each planet has a leveling range, but you do tend to jump around more than in other games. You do follow the story, at it were.

Hmm, I don't think any of the the final ability trees have been released, have they? Do you mean the category names?

Well, you'll have access to most of the world, certainly. Some areas are instanced.

There are a certain number planned for ship, but we're not ready to confirm the exact number at this time.

The level cap at launch will be 50.

We'll be releasing a lot more information about crafting soon.

However, a couple notes: the first is that crafters are very important to us, and indeed the crafted items will be as good as the best drops.

However, the game isn't a sandbox. By that I mean that we are unlike SWG in that we are not designing a 'player driven economy.' We are a story-driven MMO, emulating the TV series. Everything focuses the player towards actions related to the primary conflict.

Wait for more information on this subject. We have plans, my friend.

a few questions if I may

1.) Being an avid MMOer, SWG has been the only game to be able to "hold" me to it, even though it isn't even what I'd call top quality, will Stargate Worlds feel like living in another universe or will it be more akin to popping in a game for awhile?

2.) Player housing/towns/guild halls, any definitive word on these, if not at launch in an update or expansion?

3.) Can you give us any more details on the remote puzzle solving system that is touched on?

4.) Will there be any kind of memorial for Don S. Davis/George Hammond?

5.) When will get to see some Jaffa staff weapon action (melee and ranged) ?

6.) Knowing that the combat is generally not a group vs a single powerful MOB, can you give us any idea of what end-game content will be like (what the group/raid group will do) on the PvE side and what incentives there will be?

Thank you for your time.

Hello *waves*

Ehm... hope it's okay registering for throwing in a question *grin* Just a few things I really would love to know:

1.) I know that main'focus lies on actually getting the game working without problems and so... well still: Is it already planned for roleplayer to make:
- a special Server with additional rules - and hopefully some controls about them *smiles*
- content that is purely made for none'combat (e.g. clothes, some kind of bars/tavern to just sit in) or is this just future thinking and everything is just focused on fighting for now?

2.) Are any 'tactical' items are planned, like binoculars where you really can see over a long distance to maybe spot mobs and so?


And weapon questions i'm curious in *thinks alot about playing a commando but need to know that*

3.) Sniperrifles:
Will they actually be real 'sniper'rifles - so on a very long distance to use that maybe the enemy really has problems to actually know where you are - or is it just a normal weapon just with a tiny bit more accuracy and range but still easilly in range of any other weapon if they just walk 4 steps?
(I know it's balance'thing that snipers not get too good, but would like some real difference in the fighting distance of a sniperrifle and a P90 e.g.)

4.) The wiki text says "Commando cannot use as much weapons as soldier" ... sure I understand that and it's cool for having an allrounder with weapons and someone more specialized in sniping and explosives. But actually: What weapons besides sniperrifle can commando's use, just a P90 or some little automatic weapons, too?

5.) Well explosives...
Is it just like about all MMOs: You lay down a trap and wait that hopefully someone steps in, or do you have more control about explosives, like crashing a door with some C4, just lay down some booby'traps with C4 or these "I decide when it goes up"-traps?
(So actually: Is it just all passive'explosives or do you get far more active control about them, like as said: You lay down a bomb somewhere and then you can decide yourself 'when' it goes up with a detonator?)
And will it be a 'skill-using' or do you really need to buy the explosives first at a merchant to be able to use them?

6.) Close combat:
Is there actually a class that gets some way to improve their close combat (Jaffa with staff'weapons, commando with knives) without taking the advantage of ranged combat or is it "all are same good in close combat it"?
(Especially seen on the sneaking classes like commando, ashrak (I think that was the goauld assassin *hopes to not change names again*) if they can use them better than others)



Hope these questions not all are on the "all secret" list *smiles*
And thanks for your time you spend here even you sure are quite busy with the game these days *bows*

Hey Ledaye!(hehe I rhymed)
nice to see you reopening this thread, even if it is on a different forum.

That said, moving away won't save you from me!



I won't bother asking the same questions, but I do have some slightly(very slightly^^) more informed ones on the same topics.

How diverse can we make our characters? For example, can we primarily be a Battle Lord, but also utilise a few aspects from the Servant Lord (eg, the servant part) and Ash'rak (stealth) trees?(on behalf of Lord Atum)

also

PVP is not the main focus at launch, the story is. We will have access to a small amount of PVP at launch through a PVP server. That server will not be FFA. My questions related to PVP are:
What avenues are being explored for future PVP other than a FFA server(which I beleive WAS confirmed)
When will these avenues become available?

Yup, that is what I meant.

I keep thinking of questions, and by the time I get here, I've forgotten them.
So, let's pretend I've asked several, really brilliant questions...
<.<
>.>

Par for the course, with MMO quests, is very linear.
A to B
Or, in the case of chains.
A to B to C etc.

Are there any plans to have branching quest chains?
So that how you solve Quest A determines whether the next quest on the chain is B1 or B2...

Also, kind of related... will we be seeing any alternate universes/timelines, in the form of quests?

Keep 'em coming.

Hey Ledaye,

Thx a ton for your time an answers here !

As i was reading through all the questions and postings i saw one, which scared me a bit and so i try to get a bit more info on that topic.

The original question and answer was:

Qlayer housing/towns/guild halls, any definitive word on these, if not at launch in an update or expansion?
Alayer housing and towns not so much, but Command (Guild) halls some time in the future.


As we all know, a great social aspect of an MMO is always a guild. Further, most of the MMO's out there have a very "basic" guild setting. Having a chat channel, having a guildvault and with expansions, then maybe a guildhall/commandhall.

As you say now "in the future", what does that mean for us as guildleader?

Will we have to wait kinda 3 month after release to get such things or is "in the future" like it will be "in" for release? For me, as i know it from the series, it plays all in the "Bunker" and military Network, which is, if you can take it that way, already a big guild, isn't it?

Dont get me wrong please, i don't want to make a big discussion about "how to see a guild in gameplay", i just want to get a better picture what's in for us as guilds when the game get's released.

Thank's again for your time reading that and perhaps answer my question!
Greetings from germany and may SGW be a huge success!

Ilaya

Hey Ledaye,

Thanks for all your input, as I was reading the forums I had such high hopes for SGW. After reading your responses, my heart sunk a little.

I am a little confused, I was under the impression that SGW was going to be a player driven economy and player driven pvp. With out seeing the game in all actuallity, I am wondering...

What MMO would you say SGW closely represents (as far as game structure)

Hi

"player driven economy": Where did you get that impression, if I may ask? I don't think I've ever said that. If I did, that's my bad, I'm sorry. SGW is a story-driven MMO modeled on the show's experience. Think about the activities you can see the characters in the show doing. Nearly one-half of the game's archetypes are in the US military. What kind of economy makes sense for a society like that? We even debated a long time not having cash for that reason. Think of the Goa'uld. Are they merchant kings? Think of the Asgard. They don't even need an economy. I work very organically from the IP outward, so inventing a 'player driven' economy didn't seem like it landed in the sweet spot of the show. In the end, we went with things like a cash system and such, but, honestly, we never considered a player-driven economy like Galaxies has. It just never made sense to me given the IP. I think in the history of the show there's maybe one episode that alludes to what the Galactic economy might be like. I just didn't think the game should be focused on that aspect.

"player driven pvp" Again, here, I don't think we've implied this, certainly not at launch. When you say this, I think 'Shadowbane.' Maybe I'm wrong. Anyway, our PvP works like this: at launch, we'll have 'opt-in' PvP (dueling) as well as a PvP all the time server. Then, some time shortly after launch, after we've seen how players use our PvP, we'll launch our equivalent of 'battlegrounds' (although they will be very different than you might expect). I think our PvP will be the most fun of any game out there, but I don't think that matches a definition of 'player driven.' However, I'll put our PvP up against any other in terms of playability.

As for which game it is most like, honestly, none. There is no other MMO that is story driven. There is no other game (TR included) that has the kind of visceral combat ours does. There is no other game that has as broad a gameplay aesthetic (mini-games and deep combat) as ours does. Comparing it to other games is really unfair. We aren't a sandbox, so comparing us to SWG is unfair to them, 'cause that's what they WANTED to be. We focused on delivering an experience that feels like the show. That's what we wanted to do (and have done, I believe).

Does that help you? I don't know what you hoped to hear.

Cherrypicking . . .

I know it probably appears like I'm skipping posts. Don't worry, I will reply to them all. It's just that I'm on vacation and I check in only occasionally and if I see a post that gets my mind working, I reply. Posts that make me think "hmmm, let me think about that" or something similar I tend to push off until I return to the office next week.

Don't despair, and I will reply to every question!

Isn't the idea of a vacation to, like, not work?

When I think back to all the SG-1 episodes, anytime anyone tried to take a vacation, something seemed to disrupt them, like having to save the universe. Ledaye is keeping up that tradition of a working vacation.
Hope you're enjoying it, Ledaye.

Hey Ledaye,

First off I want to sorry about being such a pain.

I am unsure how to use quotes from multiple posts so bere with me.

Don't get me wrong, I am a huge SG-1 and atlantis fan and have been one for a long time now.

I agree with you , there was no mall where all the merchants were from different races. However the most primal driving force of SG-1 was obtaining newer technologies through trade not battle.

You said prior that the series was not based upon a player economy. I disagree with this state ment. How many episodes did SG-1 travel through the stargate in hopes to gain newer technology through trade. You are right there is no universal currency system. How ever they would trade current technologys, resources and/or services, etc. To gain the things that they wanted and/or needed. The simple truth of the matter is, SG-1 used the most primal form of bartering.

World wide pvp vs instance pvp.

Another aspect of the series was pvp. These is another aspect where we differ, SG-1 did what was required to ensure survival. while the Gou'ould believed in planetary domination.

You guys keep saying, that you hopes is to replicate the series. How many episodes are there where a SG team said okay what do we want to do today? Shall we run a pvp instance and fight our enemies or should we enter an instance to attempt to strengthen our alliance. How many times did both of these things happen in the same area?

It seems like the devs are saying we are following the series. On the other hand, this is what other popular games are doing (ex. WOW)...so lets do it that way. I really hope this is not the case. Do what you say, say what you mean, and act accordingly.

If you were to put yourself in any one of the SG-1 characters.
-would there really be instances?
-Did the SG-1 staff have personal housing?
-Did they not trade their services for currency? (referring to employment)
-Did they not live on other planets and use alien technology?

Sorry for venting a little.

I could keep going but I admit I am a little worried I might have stuck my foot to deep into my mouth already.

Here is my question
In your eyes where does the story line end and the game begin?

It has already been told to us that SGW is not following the series to a "T".


P.S. I hope this wont in any way hurt my chances to get a beta invite. I am a team player, an avid fan and gamer, and want to do my part to make SGW reach its full potential.

I'm not going to get into an argument with you, you are entitled to your opinions, and I'm glad you are standing up for them.

The gameplay and the story are one, they are not distinct in any way. The gameplay expresses the story, and the story echoes the gameplay. As with any game and any story, the creators choose what stays in and what doesn't. That is what my job is, to choose.

Obviously you want a player driven PvP game and a player driven economy. I can see why you like those things. I'm sorry, but we're not that game.

I hope you try the game anyway. my friend. It really might surprise you.

thanks for answering Leadaye, it's nice to see a developer actually engage with the community and, even if I find a some of the answers discouraging, they are still nice to have and see the reasons behind it.

I have to admit I am a bit underwhelmed with the stance on housing and economy as well as the art direction (hey I'd prefer things to LOOK like SG1 not have this stylized representation of it) but I respect the developers choice to do things as they have and can only hope that some of things may come in time (obviously the art direction not being very possible to change).

I'm afraid that any Sci-Fi MMO is going to get compared to the rights and wrongs of SWG which can make it difficult for both developer and player to come together on things. I am willing to give CME a chance and I defitnaly want to try SGW out first chance I get, if it does not suit me I will move on, no harm no foul, I am sure that itll have an audience that it will be fit for.

I think of the biggest clashes that can come from interpetation. Just because the person (or people) creating something don't intend for something to be taking a certain way doesn't mean it won't. The truth is anything like Stargate, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings etc, etc is going to end up taking a life of its own. Especially with the advent of the communication that people have with each other via the internet.

This becomes a problem with future events when people who are viewing/playing a new project in said series are conflicting with those who are creating it, over the meaning of certain things, missed facts, etc, etc. In many ways it can be likend to different types of religion and how some can beileve the same basic principles, but with certain things altered.

Anyway my point is just because I personally feel that a player-driven economy could make a lot of sense in Stargate Worlds, doesn't mean that it would. Though I do feel it would add to immersion.

The more new ideas and breakaways from the industry standard of trying to make the next WoW, the better in my opinon, because WoW is a great game but it is NOT an alternate world to live in, and that is what I prefer in an MMO.

Outside of a player economy, things like social events and non-combat things such as fishing (someone mentioned Gate Golf, that'd be fantastic!) and other "leisure" type gameplay elements add to it. Player Hubs for these kind of social gatherings are good to like a bar, or mess hall or something to that effect.

Sorry to go on long winded rant but I've played alot of MMOs, write for another site and feel very passionate about quality gaming vs quantity gaming. I also realize that just because I don't like a game doesn't mean it is not good, and if I like a game doesn't mean it is necessarily good either, just what I prefer.

Hey Ledaye,

Look I was not hoping to start an argument. The only information we (as a consumer) can only make are assumptions about the game. I know what I was hoping SGW to be. I realize that you and the rest of your staff have the final say what the game turns into.

I heard rumors that invites will be going out tomorrow, I would be honored if you would send me an invite so i can see what this game is about. That way I can decide based upon facts not beliefs/rumors.

You said SGW is like no other MMO on the market, I would much like to see what you guys have created.

(Leans over and passes Ledaye a box of thin mint girl scout cookies.)

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Hi Ledaye. I read on the wiki that planets will have 'dynamic weather patterns including day/night cycles.' Will these day/night cycles effect gameplay? Or perhaps, more specifically, will there be night time missions allowing us to use the benefit of darkness to complete the mission, as in stealth, night vision goggles etc.?
Many thanks.