Subject: Developer Q&A with Andy Velasquez 310 views

[XaberTheBlade]

Global Gamers Hosted a Q&A Session with Andy Velasquez, Lead Producer of Neverwinter
I thought I would post the transcript here for all to read

You can read the original transcript here

Dragostini: Awesome, and thank YOU ALL for coming!
Dragostini: TheSquez, before we start with the questions, why don't you tell us a little about your job on Neverwinter?
TheSquez: well i'm the Lead producer for the development team of Neverwinter
TheSquez: so i work at Cryptic studios
TheSquez: I like to describe my job and day to day
TheSquez: like I'm playing the game called "make a video game"
TheSquez: i have my resources which are "
TheSquez: "artists, designers, engineers, QA, localizers, etc." and i have to figure out how to make the game on quality, on time, on budget, etc.
Dragostini: Right on, so in a sense, you are like the DM, of the Neverwinter MMO Realm one could say?
TheSquez: heh
TheSquez: in a way. Less of the actual real MMO digital realm
TheSquez: and more of real life people making the MMO realm
TheSquez: but yeah thats the idea
Dragostini: Very cool.
Dragostini: Nice!
TheSquez: ya its super fun
Dragostini: And before we begin with the rather large list of questions we have for you, I have a couple of my own I'd like to start with.
TheSquez: and its especially cool at cryptic b/c everyone here are total nerds, which means i can nerd out too
TheSquez: for sure.
TheSquez: shoot dragostini
Dragostini: Firstly being, do you play Neverwinter yourself?
TheSquez: yeah i do.
TheSquez: especially when i'm trying to get my summer festival pigs
TheSquez: (which i did..>NBD)
Dragostini: Hahaha
Dragostini: Awesome
Dragostini: My second Question for you, which class, is your favorite?
TheSquez: Devoted Cleric for sure
Dragostini: Nice.
TheSquez: i usually play support roles in MMOs and i had a special place in my heart for them in dev
TheSquez: i was CONSTANTLY down in the designers office yammering at him about how i wanted it to play, which i'm sure he loved
Dragostini: Ahhh, right on, that's good spirit to have behind the creation for sure!
Dragostini: Alright, shall we move on to some Fan questions? I know people are likely itching to get some answers.
TheSquez: sure
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Question from Duur
what part of the game made you the most worried in preproduction, but turned out great in the game as we play it now?
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TheSquez: Sup Duur
Duur: Hi
TheSquez: My job makes me worry about pretty much everything but i think the #1 thing was our combat system
TheSquez: from early on we tried to hang our hat on the idea that we were going to try something different for combat
TheSquez: and through many stages it was REALLY rough
TheSquez: early on for example we had 3 different combat systems implemented
TheSquez: and we were playing all three simultaneously
TheSquez: and "hmmmm"ing about them
TheSquez: it took a long long time to get us to where we felt "ok this isn't the worst thing ever"
TheSquez: and then we spent even more time then just polish away at that
TheSquez: so that was a huge concern in pre pro because we knew it was going to be so important for us
Duur: I see... and can imagine that, being one of the core elements
TheSquez: the good thing about it
TheSquez: was that we were really clear early on that "combat is going to be really important for us"
TheSquez: so there was a clarity of focus about the work we were doing
TheSquez: yeah it was tough, and at times it was in a really weird state
TheSquez: but we didnt let it linger
TheSquez: b/c we knew it was a big deal for us
Dragostini: Awesome, thanks for that TheSquez and Duur!
Duur: thanks for the answer
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Question from Philippe__
Even though the name of the game is centered around the city of Neverwinter do you plan to explore other cities in Forgotten Realm?
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Philippe__: hi
TheSquez: Sup Philippe
TheSquez: Yeah
TheSquez: this is something that i get crazy excited about for sure
TheSquez: Resoundingly YES!
TheSquez: omg yes i want to go everywhere with our game
TheSquez: Like you said we focused around the city to start
TheSquez: but you can already see us branching out now
TheSquez: we've already gone to the Feywild with Module 1
TheSquez: we'll be going somewhere new that you will likely recognize in Module 2 as well
Philippe__: Awesome!
TheSquez: and since we've come out we've had a really great relationship with WotC
TheSquez: and the doors are certainly open to us now to go all kinds of different places
Philippe__: That sounds really exciting
TheSquez: so we'll continue to push around as our modules keep progressing
TheSquez: Question to you
TheSquez: #1 place you'd LIKE to see us go?
Philippe__: Waterdeep would be on the top of my list
TheSquez: cool. may i ask why?
TheSquez: you familiar with it b/c of the books? or you played the board game that came out recently?
Philippe__: I have a lot of fond memories playing D&D around Waterdeep
TheSquez: cool
Philippe__: Thank you for the answer
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Question from Vanaya
A good number of players have come up with ideas that the Community Manager said were great ones. Do you think that a forum devoted to suggestions would be a good idea to incorporate or not?
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TheSquez: hey vanaya
Vanaya: Heyas
TheSquez: we actually already hear a TON of your feedback pretty regularly from our community managers
TheSquez: they do a great job of scouring all of the different forum categories and then pulling up the oft requested issues to me
Vanaya: That's fantastic.
TheSquez: i actually have a recurring meeting
TheSquez: every monday
TheSquez: where the community managers have my undivided attention to tell me what you guys are talking about
Vanaya: Awesome. Glad to hear it.
TheSquez: from there i often create tasks for my team
Dragostini: Side note: REALLY Glad to hear that TheSquez that's awesome you guys do that
Dragostini: Thanks Vanaya for your question!
TheSquez: its one of my favorite meetings of the week actualy
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Question from Philippe__
Will you add more levels? If so, when? And will you add epic destiny after paragon paths?
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TheSquez: Yeah we've talked about it before but dont have any plans in the short term to go to epic destinies
TheSquez: we feel like we have a ton to explore still in the paragon tier
Philippe__: cool
TheSquez: and will continue to do that for a foreseeable future
TheSquez: but we've built our systems so that they can expand in teh future
TheSquez: when we decide to
Philippe__: Awesome
TheSquez: good question tho
Philippe__: Thank you for the answer
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Question from Kaasha
Please, please please PLEASE consider fixing it so when you travel via the map, it does NOT dismount you? Personal Pet Peeve!
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TheSquez: sup kaaasha
TheSquez: considered
TheSquez: that was easy
Kaasha prays
TheSquez: just sent an IM to my QA lead to have him write me up a bug report
TheSquez: no promises to when
TheSquez: but its in the SYSTEM!!
Kaasha: Thanks. That's all I can ask is you consider it!
Kaasha: jira or devtrack?
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Question from SoftTouche
Can I borrow some zen?
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TheSquez: hahaha softtouche
TheSquez: I should actually borrow some from you!
SoftTouche: Really thanks for coming.
TheSquez: when i play on LIVE i play incognito
TheSquez: and as a free player
SoftTouche: Will there be any changes to the monetary system soon?
TheSquez: so i dont really have much of anything
Dragostini: SoftTouche; please try to keep your questions down to the one presented so we can get more out there ^^
SoftTouche: Thanks
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Question from GravecardPT
Any plans for World PvP Zones or World PvE Boss Encounters?
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TheSquez: sup gravecard
GravecardPT: hi TheSquez ^^
TheSquez: oooh fancy red name!!
TheSquez: yeah we are discussing some larger PVP, PVE things at the moment
TheSquez: we dont know exactly when we are going to be doing yet because it is still in a pretty nacent stage of development
TheSquez: but its something that we are interested in exploring enough that we have discussed it
GravecardPT: nice
---
Question from joshmiller83
When is the next class being released? My wife and I are waiting on it to begin playing! Really hoping its a Ranger type!
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TheSquez: Hey Josh
joshmiller83: Evening!
TheSquez: oh man, next class question!!!!
TheSquez: man i would LOVE to say
joshmiller83: Yeah.
TheSquez: its #######
TheSquez: buut i cant
TheSquez: but i know what it is!!!
TheSquez: and omg i want to talk about it b/c it is soooo awwesseeoosmmsmsmsms
TheSquez: but soon you guys
TheSquez: i promise
joshmiller83: I saw some of you tweeting about it.
TheSquez: yeah we have our official press release coming out in just a few weeks(+joshmiller83) ok. Guess more waiting! lol
TheSquez: and then we can do another one of these and we can have the designer who is working on it come on or somethign like that
TheSquez: sorry couldnt say more
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Question from DreamHuntressX
future (hope soon) to add more customization options, like new hair models, vanity items (as of the elven regalia)?
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TheSquez: hey dream huntress
DreamHuntressX: Hi
TheSquez: sooo do you hunt my dreams? or do you hunt me in my dreams?
Dragostini: Hahaha.
DreamHuntressX: xD
DreamHuntressX: wont tell
TheSquez: oh yeah we totally want to get to more of these
Dragostini: I apologise DreamHuntressX it seems your question got cut off, can you ask it in full for us?
TheSquez: vanity items have more coming online pretty regularly
TheSquez: whether it be from Zen market releases or various event rewards
DreamHuntressX: So, i wanted to ask if theres any chance to add more customization sets in NW
TheSquez: things like hair and face options is on our radar to do as well
DreamHuntressX: Honestly, IMHO, it lacks the variety we found in Co and STO :/
TheSquez: yeah. thats certainly valid criticism
TheSquez: i worked on STO pre launch ( i was employee # 4 on that project i think...)
TheSquez: and yeah, those games did have more
DreamHuntressX: Nice
TheSquez: NW's design limited us in a way
TheSquez: b/c we are much more item driven than those titles were
DreamHuntressX: Still pretty awesome
TheSquez: so we put a lot of our dev effort into making awesom armor, monsters etc
TheSquez: that being said we do want to go back in and add more hairs, eyebrows, etc
TheSquez: its just going to have to be measured against allof the other awesome things we want to do
TheSquez: like new classes, races, etc.
TheSquez: but if i hear enough of the requests then i'll make it happen. So keep raising your voices for what you care about
DreamHuntressX: Nice wish the best of luck
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Question from mute209
Are there plans to have more Call to Arms events in the near future?
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TheSquez: Sup Mute
TheSquez: EZPZ one
mute209: hey
TheSquez: OF COURSE
TheSquez: and very soon too
mute209: right on
Dragostini: Sweet. I can't wait ;o
Dragostini: Thanks mute209!
mute209: thanks!
---
Question from DANNY
what are the future classes or paragon paths?
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TheSquez: sup Danny
TheSquez: sure
TheSquez: yeah, well i cant answer as to what and when the next ones are coming out
TheSquez: but to generally answer your question we want ot release all of the classes
TheSquez: ...
TheSquez: eventually
TheSquez: i mean every developer has their favorites
TheSquez: whether it be the ranger, paladin
TheSquez: swordmage
TheSquez: etc. etc. etc.
TheSquez: so we argue constantly about which ones we want to see
TheSquez: go through data from the online D&D character builder and see what people make the most often
TheSquez: and we'll just continue to plug along and make them as long as you guys stick around and play them.
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Question from Danzhubey
what about other countries localizations, writing from Zhovti Vody, Ukraine
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TheSquez: hey Danzhubey!
TheSquez: awesome timing on this question
TheSquez: i'm flying to moscow on Monday to present NW at the IgroMir show
Danzhubey: Hi! timing? i have 4 AM)
TheSquez: we are ramping up all our localization efforts right now
TheSquez: so you should expect to see us comign out more regions over the next few months
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Question from Kizz
On a serious note, will there ever be more "non-combat" actions added? Sometimes I get tired of fighting and want to do something else, but there doesn't seem to be much in terms of non-combat actions.
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TheSquez: Hey kizz
Kizz: Hey
Kizz: Keep in mind I'm a total newb
TheSquez: all good
Kizz: so I may be missing it in my total rush to get to 60
TheSquez: yeah we are trying to get more quirky and non combat in
TheSquez: we just did the summer festival
TheSquez: which ran for a few weeks that had very minimal fighting in it
TheSquez: mostly i just spent time chasing pigs and chickens around
TheSquez:
TheSquez: You guys should expect to keep seeing fun things like that popping up from time to time for sure
Kizz: Awesome!
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Question from Nemesis_the_Warlock
any chances of making it possible to invocate via the gateway?
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TheSquez: Hey Nemesis
Nemesis_the_Warlock: Hey potna
TheSquez: lawl what is a potna?
TheSquez: oooh like Western "partner"
Nemesis_the_Warlock: partner.....lol
TheSquez: haha
TheSquez: i like that
Nemesis_the_Warlock:
TheSquez: ok sorry question time
Nemesis_the_Warlock: ok
TheSquez: yeah...hmm naaaah...hmm maybe
TheSquez: haha
TheSquez: we've talked about this a ton
Nemesis_the_Warlock: I have 5 toons and I need a faster way to do it please!!
TheSquez: i dont think we'll ever go down the route of just "there is a button that you can press to invoke from the web"
Nemesis_the_Warlock: awww
TheSquez: but what we might do is have some way to do something to have your invocation count
TheSquez: somethign with a minor gameplay element
TheSquez: or something on gateway
TheSquez: similar
Nemesis_the_Warlock: nice
TheSquez: but likely there wont be anything in the short term
TheSquez: know that it is on our radar for sure tho
Nemesis_the_Warlock: great I'll let my G+ people know
TheSquez: i know i've been bummed when I needed to be away for a bit and i couldnt figure out a way to invoke for the day
Nemesis_the_Warlock: me too
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Question from Xaber
The idea of a Dungeon Delve Key has been raised in the forums. A key that would procide DD rewards during non-DD times, for more flexibility for players. Is this something we might be able to expect in the future?
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TheSquez: Yeah this is something that we are considering now as well
TheSquez: we will likely be doing something soon for this
TheSquez: whether it is doing a DD key
TheSquez: or some other method to expand the players ability to get the sweet loot
TheSquez: we are discussing right now the way we want to do this
TheSquez: but it is getting actioned on currently
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Question from DreamHuntressX
Is there any chance in the uture to have any epic quests/campaign where we interact with iconic FR characters? Ths Symbul, Elmister, Kelben and the (for some) infamous Drizzt?
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TheSquez: oh the huntress is back
DreamHuntressX: Hi again
TheSquez: yeah man i'm pumped about this!!!
TheSquez: we definitely want to start getting into this space for sure
TheSquez: i actually have had a few calls with, mr. salvatore over the last few weeks
TheSquez: and he is pumped about the game and what we are doing
TheSquez: so we are trying to figure out a way to get this to work out
DreamHuntressX: Sounds awesome
DreamHuntressX: Ty
Dragostini: Alrighty, so this concludes our questions for the night! I want to give a big Thanks to Cryptic Studios, Perfect World Entertainment; TheSquez and ALL OF YOU for coming in and submitting your questions to us!
TheSquez: Thank you guys so much for caring