AMA Kronos Staff

[filvorja]

Does that mean, that there won't be a video, or will there be one, just later?

Later.

Are you going to delete posts in this thread which directly break the rules mentioned in the first post? I mean, how many violations are tolerable etc.?

We will delete posts if necessary.

 

[filvorja]

Psojed has been arround this place for years now. He always was in close contact to the staff thats why he has a special testers tag. Nothing more to it.

The question about the team structure: filvorja, LaraDorren are... that community managers Kronos were searching for, right? And zarquon is doing the same job?

Yes and no. While Lara and me are an addition to the team mainly for community work there is no dedicated community manager. Everyone participates. At first the plan was to have a single person for this, but we came to the conclusion that this is not the right way. What if hes absent? You get what I mean I guess.

We 3 share a similar position while Zarquon also does work outside of Twinstars borders. i.e. Facebook or reddit.

 

[filvorja]

If always wondered why you sometimes get the following messages out of nowhere while playing BG's (at least on other vanilla servers):

Release Spirit message (while being alive of course)
Exiting Game / logout (20secs) message (without having the intention to logout)
Screenshot captured (without pressing screenshot hotkey)

What exactly causes these bugs and will they be fixed on release?

Cheers.

All this should no longer happen. I say should cause there is always the possibility we missed some test scenarios.
I can not go into detail about what has been changed. Simple reason, if I tell you the cause its easy to fix :biggrin:. Some reports on Twinhead are marked as internal - not visible to public - so other projects can't make use of our work.

When low lvl mobs flee in fear, can you properly freeze or slow them?

When you pull multiple mobs, do they properly spread around you or do they all stand upon eachother?

Because there was no video I felt obliged to give you at least something to look at. I hope you guys like it and that it also answers your question jorim.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0vDRykyHbu2elhXREJtMEF1TVU/view?usp=sharing

inb4 I get banned for leaking footage without permission.

 

[jorim]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0vDRykyHbu2elhXREJtMEF1TVU/view?usp=sharing

You definitely need to put that in an official video in the future.


I don't want to break the rules, so here's a new question:

Does the mirage raceway have a functional race at periodic intervals like in this video?

If it does I will make a picture of me kissing the Kronos Logo.

 

[zarquon]

I remember on feenix, some mobs would go behind you if you attacked them from the front. Like I played a priest, dotted a mob up and he ran towards me, I started casting Mind Blast, and it got interrupted because the mob went behind me 0,1 sec left of the cast. I hope that is something the devs here has fixed!

This will not happen on Kronos. Same goes for NPC vs NPC fights, they will not run "through" each other when positioning.

 

[Aieris]

Looking back at other Mangos based servers, many NPCs have had their dialogue, or rather lack of dialogue(I have seen instances where an NPC has no text/dialogue traditionally have this), replaced with a typical "Greetings <name>." present in the window when they are talked to. Has this been fixed on Kronos?

Any possible answer for this question?

I know some NPC's generically do just say "Greetings <name>" but a good few do not. It isnt a big deal, but its just that little bit of flair that is always missed out on and is such a nice addition, for me at least.

I can give you an answer - We have been trying to solve this, but there is lack of evidence of these things so if you know NPCs that should have some special text and you have source for this text, you can make an bug report (or add it to some forum thread if you can't do bug reports).
The answer is, we have put an effort to into this, but it's not perfect. (Even through I'm not dev, I've helped with finding sources :smile

 

[filvorja]

Will any of the Kronos team be playing Kronos itself when it is released (Anonymously, I assume)?

Any? Yes, supposedly.

Here is a question for the ages...

Back in Vanilla during raiding, no matter how smooth of a run we had and will our best core people, the one in a million crap would happen. Causing the WoW gods to do thier best to prevent a wipeless run.

Example : I am topping damage meters, by a lot on my frost mage. Suddenly I am the bomb, no issue. Ice block. Then I am the bomb right after. No prob. Cold Snap, Ice block. I am the bomb a third time in a row. I run to the safe spot, use the rest of my survival moves, take the damage, as I start running back to group areas, I am bomb for the forth time, have to run back to safe area (low hp) bandage all i could and die finally taking out the.best dps.

I really fell like the DEVS would watch our raiding sometime (being second progression on server) and manually control some machanics to make things harder.

Is this possible at all? Not saying you would, but this idea has haunted me for years.

We will not monitor anyones raids unless there is good reason to. I believe you were just punished by the RNG gods.

 

[filvorja]

Related to this question: will you fix issues even if they were present in 1.12.2?

Spell scaling and multipliers are a part of vanillas class design and balancing and will therefore not be touched.
If we feel its necessary to remove a bug from the game, even though it was also present on retail, we will.

 

[sushibarf]

I was wondering one thing about AB.
In retail vanilla, as on all private servers the alliance always captures the first base a few seconds earlier then the horde. I guess they have a little bit shorter way to the flag from their gate. Is it planned to fix this somehow?

You already answered the question yourself. Since it has always been like that since retail vanilla, they won't change it.

 

[filvorja]

Will all the mechanics in Alterac Valley work, once it is released? Like conquering a mine or NPC spawnings like Lokholar or the Wolf Riders?
Those things are heavily bugged on many private servers

Alot of the known issues with AV are already solved. If AV is the only thing left that keeps us from opening the server we may consider delaying it and deliver close after launch.

Will you be able to avoid instant casts by using 'Vanish'?

If you refer to the mechanic known as spell delay then the answer is most likely no since it has more drawbacks then positive effects. However, we can add another mechanic to CCs that allows players to do what you ask, vanishing instant casts or abilities. You get the benefits from spell delay and the skill related tricks you can do with it while still having a responsive game.

Approximately how much time between announcing the launch date and the launch date itself do you intend to have?

At least 2 weeks prio to release. Most likely sooner.

Multipart question here, apologies ahead of time.

The Priest quest for Benediction/Anathema included a part where you needed to heal survivors of Stratholme or some such against a huge number of low hp skeletal mobs. As far as most people knew, you needed the Eye of Divinity from Majordomo's chest in order to do this quest to get the Splinter of Nordrassil, but in reality you could also do this quest with a trinket that could be obtained by a quest outside of Scholomance (I can't remember the name of the item now).

So my question is, will this alternative method still be viable for players on Kronos, and will the Eye of Shadow drop rates be like correct from the demons in the south of Winterspring?

No, as posted already the Essence will no longer make the peasents, the archers nor the quest mob visible for you.

 

[filvorja]

Thanks for the response! But I thought that AV would be released some time before BWL release, not at launch? At least thats what I have read on your progression page.

You are totally right. I took your question as "will Alterac be completely done and available on release". My bad.

You said 'we CAN add another mechanic to CC'. Does that mean you WILL?

If it makes sense and the players want it, I guess so. Chero was already working on a concpect to have a sort of spell delay, but without the drawbacks. Its on hold right now as it is quite complex. The focus currently lies on other stuff.

 

[Rerun]

When you get bored with Vanilla will character transfers to the Burning Crusade realm be possible?

Nope.

 

[filvorja]

On retail servers you could not name your characters after NPC present ingame, like Thrall, Rexxar, Nefarian, etc. On Kronos 2 this was possible. What is the plan for the new Kronos?

Only one name is blocked on Kronos and that is Chero :biggrin:.
It is possible to block names, but right now we do not plan to do so.

I was wondering if all the holiday events will be working properly?

While it is true that you shouldn't notice that you currently play on a private server even Kronos will have situations that remind you of it. I can assure you that the events on Kronos in their current state are already well ahead of the average private servers. However there is still work to be done.

How do the ore and herb nodes look?

Piggy backing off of this, how are the respawn times on herb nodes? I know that this is something that fluctuates from server to server, and that the servers with longer respawns take a big hit to the economy for it.

The nodes are pooled with each other. Each pool can only have a certain amount of nodes. Lets assume 50 iron over the whole of map. Now someone mines this node and you will have 49 nodes overall. After 45 mins the node respawns on a random position anywhere on the map. Could even be the same spot as it was mined from.
Keep in mind that the system is not tested on a larger scale and changes may occur during runtime.

Will Warlock pets retain their name after being summoned as it was on retail, as opposed to the pet randomly generating a name each time it is summoned?

There is a script to do that.
/run PetAbandon();
If you do that its the same as if a hunter abandons his pet. If you now resummon your minion it will get a new randomely assigned name.

 

[Aieris]

What is your source of info? I don't remember now where I read this, but in a topic, there was this discussed and, possibly, answered as "it might be done".

There will not be possibility to transfer characters to Ares, however, when Kronos reaches it's "end", twinstar may create fresh new TBC server to allow players to continue their progress.

 

[filvorja]

Are vulgar names against the rules? And if so will the player be given the chance to rename it like on retail or will it be instantly randomized?

Vulgar names are blocked. Players can still work arround it by using different letters or urban language or leet speak or what ever. Names like "Penus" will still work.
Now if a player has an inappropriate name and we find it out, or get reports about it, there is the possibility to flag that player for a rename. On the next login he is forced to chose a different name.

What is your source of info? I don't remember now where I read this, but in a topic, there was this discussed and, possibly, answered as "it might be done".

As Aieris said there will be no transfer to a TBC realm like Twinstars Ares.

Unique gear:

Storm Gauntlets/Fiery Retributer/Blazefury Medallion.

Will these scale to the same percentage of +spell power as instant cast attacks? The same way click to use items do? I am sure this is an arguement somewhere.

Stormshroud 3/4 set bonus, do druids get the effect as well in cat form?

I topped meters on rogue with it, as I believe it to be super underrated since in Vanilla, procs can proc other procs (giving more chance for more energy)

If there is no undeniable evidence that these items should scale there will be no such thing.
Depending on how the proc is designed druids can also trigger procs in feral forms.
For stormshroud, all the setbonues also proc as cat or bear.

I played on the Nos test session, and noticed, that mobs can't move properly on hills (noticed in ZG). Instead of linearly walking, they are kinda teleporting bit by bit, especially walking downwards. Does this work on Kronos properly? It's a HUGE turn off for me, and I imagine for many people as well.

This does not happen on our test server. NPCs and pets use proper movement paths.

Is chero studing what ?

Information Technologies.

Hello, i was wondering how are hunter Pets doing?

Are there Bugs like when you put pet from passive to defense in combat they won't respond to attack command and will just stand in one place until the target is killed.

Or when you ress in WG and jump down the cliff, the pet doesn't follow you but goes all the way around.
And overall pathfinding

Also when going on a boat or zepp does the pet bug out.

The pet stances work fine. If you spawn in WSG and drop of the cliff the pet will walk down a close slope and catch up with you pretty quickly.
I just tested pets with boats and zeppelins and have to say that they currently don't even get onto them. They either wait at the docks or run under it. This used to work perfectly fine before and should be easy to solve.
Anyways, I opened an issue for it.

In terms of social aspects of the server, how tightly encforced will be any rules against discrimination, bigotry, etc. be?
...
Kronos intend to sensor the names of competing servers in chat? I recently saw that on Feenix saying "Kronos" causes your full message to be replaced with a predefined string.

First of all we hope that our community is mature enought to treat each other nicely and with respect.
If there is ever the need for us to act, we will. Our policy is to interfere as little as possible though.
Is "discrimination, bigotry, etc. be?" punishable? yes. if you overstep the border.
Highly enforced? I hope it does not have to come to that.

There will be no censorship for the chat, EVER.

 

[filvorja]

Can we expect to see the video there was some talk about last week, anytime soon?

It should be released tonight or tomorrow. It also contains the mob spreading from the leaked video. I know some of you might be upset about that, but heres why. The videos are mainly to attract members from outside the community and not as teasers for players already within :tongue:. After all, its what brought most of you guys here in the first place, wasn't it?

Also, I know you hate this question but how close are you to being able to give us an ETA? We're about 10% from launch according to the progress bar, and 20 days ago you had an date in mind. I'm just wondering. It's not meant as something negative

We still have a date in mind :smile:. It will not become public unless we are sure that we can meet this deadline.
There is also no need to apologize for anything. Its quite normal that you guys finally want an ETA.

 

[goris]

How can I change my nickname color on this forum to Red? It's my favorite color .-.

Replace Eth0 as the forum admin

 

[LaraDorren]

Tonight plxx :w00t: Thanks for the answers!

Video is in the process of being uploaded

 

[filvorja]

Is the video going up tonight?

Once Zarquon is back online hes going to put it public.

 

[Huntermanx]

i am aware that boss mechanics are more important than the visual look. But seeing how you try to improve things that no other server has, i wanted to know if you are paying attention to boss animations? i am not a programmer so i don't have a clue what actually creates the buggy animation and if it is even possible to avoid

A good, bad example is seen here http://youtu.be/wBaQ24P8Qvs?t=7m9s

Where every time a spell hits Ragnaros he lags a bit and doesn't make a single smooth hammer animation in the whole encounter. Furthermore instead of actual submerge animation he just isn't targetable when the Sons of flame appear.

Animations could be ignored for most bosses but i think it is really important for large bosses like Onyxia, Ragnaros or Nefarian

 

[Chero]

I was wondering if the devs Craig and Jursky are in any way still involved to the Kronos project?

They are no longer working here. Maybe they will return some time, but I can't speak instead of them
They left due to various reasons (full time job, and so). Jursky and Craig left Kronos before this "reborn".

 

[Esso]

What happened to Esso? I assume that he's still working on that new spell handling system, am I right?

Same for Esso, a TBC dev that was recently reassigned to Kronos. What has he contributed so far and/or what is he planning to contribute?

I did some minor fixes and tweaks + implemented spell scripting system which helps us fix some more complicated spell bugs - this is not something you will notice directly.
Also i was not reassigned (still TBC dev) - I'm just helping Chero whenever I can.

 

[Hogger]

At what progress percent are you planning to release?

-Seeing that 1% on scourge invasion and 25% on naxx i can't believe if you wait for that to become 100% aswell, or do you?

No, they're not gonna wait till everything is 100%. There is no reason to have things like Naxx ready at launch, since it's not gonna be added till about 18 months after release.

 

[Struckd]

At what progress percent are you planning to release?

-Seeing that 1% on scourge invasion and 25% on naxx i can't believe if you wait for that to become 100% aswell, or do you?

See this forum thread: http://forum.twinstar.cz/showthread.php/91314-At-what-percent-will-the-sever-launch

 

[Guessilldps]

Belive it has only been Chero this whole time. Think hes alone on the dev team

As I understand it, Chero pretty much have been the only dev since the rebirth/beginning of Kronos, all though the TBC dev Esso occasionally have been giving a helping hand.
In the first 2 projects there was two developers besides Chero, so I guess you can say that they've been a part of the development process as well, guessing that they've continued working on the same core used in the other projects as well :smile: