Pirates of the Burning Sea: Developer Chat Log

<[NAWAK]Gromlin> Yesterday, you made an announcement in which you say that SoE will translate the game. Can you tell me which languages are concerned?
<[FLS]Rusty> We will be translating the game into French and German. We are studying the possibility of a Spanish version as well, given that Spain is one of our major nations, but that probably won't happen for release one.

<ChocJunkie> One question that really irks me: Will we be able to play on e.g. German servers with english versions of PotBS. Because reading that SOE will do the localization made me rethink buying a localized version :/
<[FLS]Rusty> Yes, you will be able to play on any of the servers that you want. That's why day and date release with French and German are so important to us. We want to make sure that nobody feels like a second class citizen, and incented to play on other language servers.

<M3ta> Due to Eve-Online being on coldfront.net, some people on IRC have asked some questions regarding Eve's high degree of interconnection with the community fansites, by developing APIs for the fans to connect to Eve's databases, get data, and even a database dump. Do you plan to develop some freebies like this, so that the more "geek fans" can also develop POTBS tools?
<[FLS]isildur> One of the things I've always wanted to do is publish game data from our gameservers as XML. Then fansites can do whatever they like with it. This would include conquest information, economics, and guild status. It's a huge undertaking, though, and the Armory has set a pretty high standard to meet. So no official timeline on that kind of data access. :)
<[FLS]Timbojones> Brendan's doing some very cool things that head in that direction, like the nav zone map.
<[FLS]BrendanW> I've been working in my free time on a tool for displaying AI activity in the Open Sea and would like to extent such a tool to play back unrest activity, and battle royal events. I'd also like to open up the source code and data for that, but nothing official has been decided in that regard

<Cyxult> As you have seen on the forums, there is quite an uproar due to your publishing company of choice, SOE. You did fill us in on a lot of your contractual agreements, and it seemed to quell a lot of the issues people had. Do you have intent to stay this firm with SOE in the long run? I think a lot of us don't want to see Flying Lab Software give in to their demands down the road, like Sigil did.
<[FLS]Rusty> Yes. It's not so much a question of being firm, it's that good fences make good neighbors. We have our responsibilities and they have theirs. Part of the length of the contract was making sure everyone knew where those lines are.

<[BH]CharlieChaos> It has been said that it will be Nation first society 2nd but as time goes on will there be ways for societies to show their power by holding onto halls or anything else like in lineage 2 where guilds can hold castles or guild halls which are siegeable.
<[FLS]isildur> We're going to be releasing with all the basic tools you'd expect for societies -- chat channels, organizational hierarchy, the usual suspects -- but our plans go quite a bit further than that. We're planning ways for societies to take and hold ports through conquest, to govern ports through elections and bribery, to build guildhalls in which they can meet and display their achievements....
<[FLS]isildur> ...We're also working on the design for a flexible event-creation system that will allow societies to set up PvP encounters between each other. We want to create world-class society support -- both for PvE and PvP. Look for more details on our specific plans after our initial release.

<Recreant> If we have a previous SOE account which differs from our FLS account, how will the "match up" be handled?
<[FLS]Joe> We are in the process of figuring out exactly how that will work. Most likely it will go something like this: You log into our forums and give us your station login information, or create a new station account. From that point on you will use your station login on our forums.
<[FLS]Joe> Like I said, we're still working out details, but that's the general idea. You will be able to play with either an existing Station account or a new one.

<Reilly> My question :Could you Explain a bit more how the Professions are going to work in the game and how deep they actually are?
<[FLS]isildur> By 'professions' I'm assuming you mean 'careers'; if you're talking about crafting and production, ask again because I love to talk about the economy. :) There are four careers: Pirate, Navy, Freetrader and Privateer.
<[FLS]isildur> When I think about them, I think in terms of simple descriptive adjectives and pieces of gameplay. Navy is 'Combat'. Privateer is 'Speed, unpredictability, boarding'. Freetraders are 'Survivability', and pirates are 'Brutality and agility'. Those descriptions inform the design of the skillsets.
<[FLS]isildur> Each career has 85 skills divided into 'chains' of five skills each, and those skills are gameplay-defining. (Except for pirates, who have a bit broader selection)
<[FLS]isildur> Hah, Taelorn just pointed out that it's actually 45 skills. Doh!
<[FLS]isildur> In any case: they also have unique ships for each career, unique mission arcs, and entire segments of gameplay that are only available to them.
<[FLS]isildur> (math is hard)

<Cyxult> With such a large game, one would assume there is going to be a large amount of subscriptions. How do you guys plan on handling support and abuse for all those people? Will you be outsourcing the work to another company, or will you have your own department to handle this?
<[FLS]Rusty> We're doing a little of both. For the US, we're working with Playerbase solutions for our support. For Europe, we're working with Alchemic Dreams. The idea behind both is that we wanted to have a European operation supporting Europe, and an American operation supporting the US. What I'm really uninterested in is outsourcing support overseas. It's a little cheaper to do it that way, but I think it makes for a much worse support experience.
<[FLS]Rusty> One of the reasons we're keeping customer support is that we have very strong ideas of what we want to do with it. Playerbase has been helping us with the beta, and it's a great exercise because we can use that experience to train them on how we want support done. Of course, we'll also have our own in house people ready for escalation.

<moocifer> Will FLS ever allow a volunteer organisation, such as Polaris in EVE, to assist in the running of the game or do they fear damaging their reputation due to scandalous cries of insider knowledge, cheating & corruption ??
<[FLS]Aether> We do have plans to engage our community in exciting and interesting ways- but not in the same way that companies like CCP, with EVE, have.
<[FLS]Aether> We are actually very close to announcing information on a group we call "The Boarding Party".
<[FLS]Aether> This group will consist entirely of players and will work very closely with members of our Community Team on a variety of... well, very cool things. :)
<[FLS]Aether> As a matter of fact, we have all kinds of opportunities coming for our fans- with ideas coming from almost every department in our company. Unfortunately I can't tell you about them just now. :)
<[FLS]Aether> Finally, let me stress that our policies and procedures would restrict and prohibit any misconduct by staff or players at every level of contribution. That would include immediate action on our part to rectify the situation and remedy any potential loopholes that allowed for the misconduct in the first place.

<CaptObvious> Do you think that inclusion into SOE's Station Pass scheme will help drive up the number of subscribers to PotBS by putting the game name up there with such successes as PlanetSide, Star Wars: Galaxies and Everquest 2?
<[FLS]Rusty> I'm very excited about Station Pass. There are a lot of people playing on it who are waiting for a new, different experience. They're going to try Pirates, and I think they're going to be hooked.

<rufus_p> Will wind be historically accurate to the extent that the prevailing breeze will almost always blow from east to west?
<[FLS]DrewC> Broadly speaking yes. In the Open Sea the wind generally blows from the east/southeast towards west/northwest. What we don't do is try and model real world wind currents. The complexity of real world weather patterns is staggering, and we don't want to try and bring that level of complexity into the game.

<fred> Crafting is poorly done in so many games (WoW, LoTRO, etc.) Other games like Vanguard have much more in-depth systems. How would potbs's system compare?
<[FLS]isildur> Simple: We don't have crafting. We have production.
<[FLS]isildur> It's the difference between being a sailor and being the captain. From that starting point, we have a massive, complex, many-layered economy that provides many many niches for dedicated merchants to fill. Starting from the lowest level of raw material production, goods make their way up through stages refinement, manufacturing, and assembly until a master shipwright finally puts the finishing touches on a 104-gun ship of the line.

<WebGuest06> I have a question about resources, are they port dependent? So would only iron be available at a certain number of towns making it more important for a nation to capture the ports?
<[FLS]isildur> Resources are needed for certain structures to be built. For instance, you can't build an iron mine unless there's iron in the port. Placement of those resources is one of the most important determinations of productive efficiency. For instance, you need limestone to refine iron ore. The Spanish happen to start with a limestone resource very near an iron ore resource. So as long as those two ports are under Spanish control, they'll have a very effective iron industry. Now, if the ports are conquered, the Spanish can still produce there -- it's just far, far more expensive, and possibly dangerous if enemy patrols are sweeping the area outside the port.

<rufus_p> Can you talk about a few of the ports that you think will be fought over the most in PotBS? why will nations want control of these ports? And if possible, can you mention any unique resources available at these ports.
<[FLS]isildur> The ports that will be fought over are the ports in the Antilles (Cuba, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Hispanola, and all the Lesser Antilles down through Grenada). It's a mixed jumble of nations and resources, all of which are necessary for high-end construction. Examples? OK: Zinc, which you need to make brass, which you need for high-end cannons and ship fittings. Ironwood, or 'Lignum Vitae', which is used in high-end rigging. And Teak, used for high-end hulls and repair materials. All of those are *only* available in the Antilles. This is where most of the endgame action will take place, and the ports are clustered together so much that it's going to be a very, very dangerous region for PvE *and* PvP.

<Riano> What does the SOE-deal mean for european players regarding a. game availability b. server availability and c. the opportunity to see the game demoed at the Leipzig Games Convention?
<[FLS]Rusty> It means we'll have a great localized experience day and date with release, and that you'll be able to buy Pirates on store shelves and through digital downloads. And yes, you'll be able to see the game demoed at Leipzig. And I'll finally be able to have some good schnitzel again!
<[FLS]Rusty> Localization is actually one of the big issues that moved us towards Sony. We're going to do a very good job on it.
<[FLS]Rusty> Europe is very important to us, because we think the game's subject matter is going to resonate over there, especially in England and France. So we want to go all out to make a great release there.
<[FLS]Timbojones> We're very well set up technically for localization

<Clackling> I love the relationship FLS seems to have with its community these days. You're all active in the forums, in chat, etc. Do you worry that after launch, when you bring in a HUGE community, you'll lose that touch with the playerbase? How are you going to manage a community that's exponentially bigger than what you have now?
<[FLS]Aether> Flying Lab Software has an approach that is unlike most companies I'm familiar with...
<[FLS]Aether> We- and I mean everyone, beyond just the Community Team, will jump in to answer questions, seek resolution to problems and essentially just communicate, as much and as often as possible. We aren't afraid to say we're wrong, and we afford our community the respect it deserves. Case in point- when we knew it was time to share information regarding SOE, we came to you first.
<[FLS]Aether> But seriously, how will we change as our community grows? We will grow our team to meet the need, and make sure those people understand why FLS does Community Management the way we do.
<[FLS]DrewC> I just wanted to add: for me, the community has already crested the point where I can have personal relationships with all of our players. However with events like the fan meet ups we've been doing, and late night IRC, I get an opportunity to interact with a smaller number of fans on a one on one (or one on three or four) basis, and that's invaluable to me as a Designer. As the community gets larger I will interact with a small percent of the community at these events, but the total number of people I interact with will go up significantly.
<[FLS]Rev> Speaking of interacting with the community, we'll be at SOE's FanFaire in Las Vegas this summer. Come see us!

<GAC> How will the potbs servers be setup, be it north american,eu and asia or will we get larger servers ala eve ( current record 34k people online) and what sort of numbers do you think the servers maybe able to handle?
<[FLS]GrayNoten> Right now we are planning on having two main server locations. The largest presence will be in North America, and we will have a presence in the EU as well. There will be no location lock-in so European players will be able to play on North American servers and vice versa. As to server size and population, right now we are targetting between 1,500 and 1,800 concurrent players per game instance. This limit is more by design and is not based on any code or hardware limitations. One of our goals for the next beta phase is to figure out exactly what the right game instance size is.

<Dolnoth> Other than combat and economic functions, will there be any purely "Fun" items/activites Like dancing jigs, playing music etc?
<[FLS]ttobey> In the next build, we have an extensive list of emotes, that include dancing, singing, drinking and there's even some yarrrrs in there. Almost everything the NPC's do, your avatar can do.

[Praeten] Will peg legs/ eye patches/ other pirate appendages be chosen at character creation, or earned later through quests?
<[FLS]isildur> Basically, you'll do quests that unlock the ability to set those options in character customization.

<Helenne> Its been stated that SOE only have the mechanic for release in North America and Europe at the moment, and that Oceania players can expect details in a month or so. Will this affect those from Oceania who have signed up for Beta, and/or have a Beta key already?
<[FLS]Misha> No - we're still pulling Beta testers from all over the world. I worry more about someone's machine specs and willingness to help us by reporting bugs when I accept them into Beta than I do when they might be able to buy after launch. :)

<Joiry> Is there a specific day at the Fan Faire for PotBS, for those that just want to register for 1 day?
<[FLS]Aether> We are still finalizing dates for all of our events, and we will be updating our community calendar with more information on the SOE Fan Faire when those details are hammered out. Though I can say that we will be there, that there will be more than one of us, and that we are bigger than a breadbox.

[Illionore] How big is the chance that 'something' goes wrong in the department of financing/management, leading to a traumatizing situation as in Vanguard?
<[FLS]Rusty> Very, very small chance. The reason is that we've been very responsible for how we've developed this project. Instead of throwing a big team on it at the beginning, and blowing through a lot of money while we figured out what the game is...
<[FLS]Rusty> We went with a very small team prototyping the game until we were happy with it, and then we brought the big production team on. We started with 6, and now we're at 71. So instead of showing up hugely in debt, with staggering bills, we're in pretty good shape. We can keep the whole team going with a very, very reasonable number of subscribers, though we think we're going to do a lot better than that!

[Staker] I have seen that loads of custom content like flags and sails have been added lately but how will FLS implement this into the game and give rights to the person who has made these designs?
<[FLS]isildur> When you make a flag, and we accept it, it's attached to your account -- both your forum account and your game account. There are merchants in-game who will sell you any of the flags you've created. Once you buy one, you can do whatever you like with it, including giving it out to other people and using it yourself. The cost is pretty minor; it's mostly just there to keep people from flooding their inventory with 3289715498057 flags and sails. This also applies to sail designs; every character on your account, on any server, has access to the same set of your flags and sails.

[adelecaelia] What safety guards do you have in place to help balance the economy and discourage activities such as gold farming?
<[FLS]isildur> The short answer is 'Big Brother Is Watching You.'
<[FLS]isildur> We have extensive logging tools. We can see what people are doing. So we're expecting to be able to identify both farming behavior and gold-selling behavior. The economy is self-balancing, however; because everything is made by players, and bought by players, there's no way to make someone buy something they don't want. We have a lot of tuning control over it, but my expectation is that balance issues will resolve themselves. Still, we believe in being prepared for anything. :)
<[FLS]BrendanW> DevCo is also currently in the process of adding and extending upon many of our existing logging tools, to allow us to drill down through logging data accross all the server clusters. As well as making sure that people are behaving we can use these tools to track aggregate stats and check if things are getting out of whack.

<JamSoup> Will there be a report system to report abusers/cheaters/bots to admins?
<[FLS]isildur> That's an easy one. Yes. :)

[Scooder] It seems that there is quite a back log of beta invites compared to beta keys. For instance the booty island radio winners, and the different fan sites that have given them out... will they all be pushed out at the same time as the expansion to 10,000 happens?
<[FLS]Misha> We've slowed the invites while we prepared for the 10k build. Once we invite that chunk, we will be mostly caught up with Beta Keys again, I believe. And Beta key holders are only a tiny fraction of the 10k. Recall, though, that if your system won't run the game, you won't get an invite even if you have a key. If someone applied their key ages ago and still hasn't received an invite, that's likely why. Also note that this 10k chunk we're inviting soon is the first of multiple large chunks we plan to invite between now and launch. :)

<Yamen> You've recently claimed 1000 missions for each Nation, how many basic mission types are there? Will we be repeating the same style mission over and over?
<[FLS]Ivy> A good portion of our missions are made from ~20 core ideas/logic: you're escorting some ships, or you're fighting in a huge naval battle. We then go in and pick the details around that -- does the player get ambushed while he's escorting? Do reinforcements come in during the naval battle?
<[FLS]Ivy> After that we tailor the enemies and allies to fit exactly what we've written in the story. British warships against the local pirate gang, things like that. If it still doesn't feel right with the story, we change minor pieces of logic in the missions to make it match up with what you're reading. When we want to get fancy (and we find ourselves doing it a lot) we go for broke and handcraft a mission -- all new logic, all new enemies and friends. Sometimes making a mission like this takes a day -- I've done some that have taken me multiple days to get exactly the cinematic feel I wanted to evoke in that particular mission. And those labors of love are my favorites.

<Red-Shirt> In most MMO's high level players tend to dominate the markets, being able to produce higher quality goods for cheeper prices meaning most newbies cant afford to sustain themselfs. Will potbs have measures to prevent the high levels having a monopoly on the markets?
<[FLS]Joe> The biggest think we've done to allow players of different levels is to not take level into account in any of the combat calculations. You get more skills, so you have more options, but in general the power level of the skills tops out at about level 15. What does get quite a bit more powerful are the ships, since obviously a 50 gun ship is going to do quite a bit more damage than a 6 gun schooner. Because the ship you're using is such a big part of your capability, we take the minimum level of the ship into effect in the experience calculations. A higher level player in a level 10 ship may or may not get XP for himself, but he will not prevent level groupmates from earning XP. His high level skills will make the fight easier, but not a cake-walk like it would be if he were in his level-appropriate ship.
<[FLS]isildur> It's simply not possible to monopolize anything. There are no restrictions on the number of producers who can use a resource, and there are no restrictions on the number of producers who can operate in a port. What's more, everyone can make everything, regardless of level. So as a newbie, you can make the same goods that the experienced veteran can make. he's probably going to be more efficient, and have a bigger operation overall, but oak is oak, and when you're building a ship you need a LOT of oak. If the market expands -- prices rise, and there's more currency in circulation -- that means that new players are getting more money for their goods right along with the experienced players. There's no 'crafting trash' that you just dump onto a vendor when you're done making it. Every produced item is critical in some way to producing higher-end items. The big advantage as a high-level producer? Transportation. High-level merchants get HUGE ships. And when you're dealing in thousands of tons of oak and iron, you need all the cargo capacity you can get.

<[FLS]Aether> So that's it for today's Developer Chat- thanks so much for taking time out of your busy day to sit and watch a bunch of crazy developers ramble on about a topic that we eat, sleep and breathe: Pirates of the Burning Sea. I know not everyone's question was answered here today, but we've only got so much time in a day to devote to events like this- so I'll tell you what: we will take the remaining unanswered questions, combine them together and find their respective answers to complete a special Devlog in the very near future.
<[FLS]Aether> Keep your eyes on the Pirates of the Burning Sea site, www.burningsea.com for important updates and information in the coming days.