April 15, 2004
We've had a pretty busy week here at Aventurine and it's still going strong. Here are a few things that may interest you:
- Claus made a short post on F13.net boards, (former Waterthread) on April 13 in a thread discussing the Darkfall siege system. This is what Claus had to say:
Since this information was released, the Darkfall siege system has been playtested, altered and tuned.
Our main concerns have been:
- Countering/balancing 3AM raids
- Countering/balancing the use of Zerg tactics
- Increasing the risk and investment of the aggressors
- Lessening the penalty for losing a city
There have been significant changes to the system since its first implementation, and we'll expand on this as soon as we're done with the initial testing.
- On April 14 Claus offered a rebuttal statement to a comment by Mark Jacobs of Mythic Entertainment during RPGVault's Online World's Roundtable #10, Part 3. Claus participated in Round 1 of the Roundtable and you can read his initial statement here.
- In the human resources department we've added another 3D artist to the Darkfall Team, his name is Kostas Diamandis. Kostas comes to us from Rebellion and we're happy to welcome him to the team.
Travels on Agon
Starting this week, we will give you a new perspective on the world
of Darkfall. In a regular feature called Travels
on Agon, written by BT Oren, you will get a close look at places
you can visit when the game launches, as well as the people and monsters you'll
encounter while there.
The travelogue will visit a different a place or region every 14 days. In addition to text-based observations, rich selections of graphical material (including screenshots) will indicate what the various locations and creatures look like in-game. As the series progresses, we will also use the travelogue to highlight and explain key aspects of Darkfall's gameplay.
Travels on Agon are told in the voice of Torgrim Eiriksson, a northman adventurer whose wanderlust (and occasional irresponsibility) takes him to every corner of Agon. He is a slightly unscrupulous opportunist, who feels equally at home in a Mercian castle, a Mahirim longhouse, or an Orkish tavern. He is something of a Jack-of-all-trades, who dabbles in many skills and combat techniques, rather than specializing in a handful. Through Torgrim's experiences in acquiring and honing his many skills and abilities, we will show you how these things will function in-game.
As each chapter ends, you will be able to influence where the story goes next. Three alternative destinations will be offered each time, and a community poll decides between them.