Captured by Iroko in ATS's #athoc (irc.stratics.net) channel on April 26, 2002 (edited by Herok)

Bolera Dungeon Screenshots
{DarkWolf} hi Serafina!
{DarkWolf} Do you know what happened to the dungeon screenshots?
{Kisiki|DM} Hey, Serafina, how goes it?
{Serafina} hello!
{Serafina} DarkWolf... what do you mean what happened to them?
{Serafina} DarkWolf, they go up tonight on pc.ign.com
{Serafina} I'm not sure what time they update their site. I think around 7pm PST
{DarkWolf} ah ok, I tought they updated it in the morning :)
{Serafina} nah, in the evening
{Serafina} It will be there all weekend, because they don't update on the weekend.
{Serafina} I sent them 18 new screenshots and several images.
{DarkWolf} *drools*
{Serafina} And they are all of an area you guys have never seen.
{Serafina} I was looking at the screenshots and realized that the screens don't really do the area justice.
{Serafina} The caverns are soooo large and ominous when you are actually walking around real-time.
{Serafina} In the screenshots, it is difficult to realize how "open" and "cavernous" the area is.
{Serafina} Anyway, I doubt IGN will use all the screenshots. They will probably just pick a few of the main ones and use those.

Ewoks
{Serafina} Is it just me or does this week seem a little strange?
{Serafina} People are acting strangely
{Sarvas} maybe its just you
{Serafina} ya, maybe
{Sarvas} or it could be
{Sarvas} what i like to call
{Serafina} but then, that would be normal
{FreeBootR} It's the atriarch moons
{Sarvas} the ewokeffect
{Serafina} I hate ewoks.
{Sarvas} OHMYGOD!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
{Serafina} so what is the ewok effect?
{Sarvas} you have just disrespected me in my own home
{Sarvas} how can you dislike ewoks?!?!
{FreeBootR} Easy
{Serafina} well, how about you tell me what there is like about them?
{DarkWolf} they're cute and fluffy!
{FreeBootR} They are what's wrong with the starwars universe, with the rest of the Jar Jar binks like species
{Serafina} so are skunks, but I'm very fond of them either
{Serafina} not very fond
{FreeBootR} Their aliens remind me to much of muppets hehe
{Serafina} Ewoks kinda look like one of those bald guys who use that spray on hair, but had a siezure while applying it and got it all over their body.
{FreeBootR} Heh, holy spazmadics
{Serafina} It is like a little army of 2 foot tall Grizzly Adam's running around.
{FreeBootR} Sucking on helium like nobodies business
{Serafina} looking at them makes me want to have an air filter running on high for fear of coughing from their dander and dust
{Synon|FoA} Sarvas = owned
{FreeBootR} haha
{Serafina} but I guess I don't "hate" them
{Serafina} Let's just say, ewoks aren't my first choice in a stew.
{Serafina} hmm... sheesh, I guess I should be nice.
{FreeBootR} But it would be a hoot to serve them at parties )
{Serafina} nah, I wouldn't want my guests to be coughing up furballs all night
{FreeBootR} That's why you skin them first ))
{Serafina} Anyway, Sarvas, if you really like Ewoks, then you should chat with Mythfit. Him and his wife are huge ewok fans. I tease them about it whenever I get the chance.
{Serafina} Of course, I stopped teasing them about it when they genuinely looked hurt.

RPGDot.com Poll Update
{Serafina} woohoo! Atriarch is starting to move up on the rpgdot.com chart... yippie :-)
{FreeBootR} Where's it at now?
{Serafina} 16.5% Atriarch 21.2% Darkfall 34% Doesn't give a crap.
{FreeBootR} They don't give a crap, but are probably leaning towards AT )
{Serafina} Darkfall is a European game and this is a European site, so that doesn't really bother me if we lose to a European game.
{Serafina} FreeBootR... hehe... I like your perspective.
{Serafina} I'm trying to put on the calendar that we release new screenshots every month. I don't know if we are going to keep up that schedule, but we are going to try.\
{Serafina} New screenshots meaning... a new location.
{FreeBootR} Woot Woot
{Serafina} Maybe with new screenshots, we should release a quick 30 second movie that swoops through the area is shown in the screenshots.
{Synon|FoA} Serafina, you might want to consider releasing them at a steady rate like 1 shot a week, then it will last longer and keep the people coming back every week
{Serafina} Synon|FoA... yes, I agree, a slow steady trickle is better than a large thing once a month, eh?

IGN Article (Soon)
{Serafina} hmm... I wonder if IGN updated yet.
{Serafina} nope
{Sarvas} no, they are lazy slackers
{Sarvas} you should have sent the shots to us, not them
{Serafina} I don't think they update until 7pm
{FreeBootR} I won't be able to see i think, already passed my 5 pic limit lol
{Serafina} Sarvas.. who is "us"?
{Sarvas} uhh.. Stratics? ya know, 'the man' i work for
{Serafina} FreeBootR... hehe.. you mean the new rules IGN is putting out there?
{FreeBootR} Yeah, they want to charge phat lewtz
{Serafina} I can understand that. I never understood how they allowed so many downloads for free before.
{Serafina} We can barely handle all the downloading from our site and we are on a t1
{Sarvas} gamespy gives a heck of a lot more downloads for free
{Sarvas} and they have no problem
{Serafina} On the contrary, they do have a problem.
{FreeBootR} They probably have decent advertisement contracts
{Sarvas} no they dont
{Serafina} They lose money on the download and stuff. They try to make up for it with their products.
{Sarvas} well yeah
{Serafina} No, they are not making big advertising money... not at all
{Serafina} No one is right now.
{Sarvas} yeah, the web advertising industry is horrible right now
{FreeBootR} They need to figure something out better than pop up adds, that is sooo evil
{Sarvas} FreeBootR, thats why they make pop-up stoppers
{Serafina} I think Gamespy offers a no-wait download option for $6/month
{Sarvas} yup
{Serafina} hehe... ya, they make them so that you'll accidently click on them
{Serafina} I think it also gets rid of advertising, but I could be wrong about that
{Serafina} I don't actually subscribe.
{Serafina} What do you guys think of the new RPG Vault look? Anyone here look at that site?
{Sarvas} Serafina, i think its horrible
{Sarvas} i want to go to the front page and see news.. not links to ads, that then link to the news
{Sarvas} IGN has gone ad happy
{Sarvas} they need to find a new way to generate revenue.. people are going to stop visiting their sites if they add many more ads
{Sarvas} then they will be in real trouble
{Sarvas} their pages contain more ads now than they do content
{FreeBootR} My desktop is in 1280x1024, their page is like half blank hehe
{Serafina} yup, I agree with everyone
{Serafina} IGN's new look is not very good.
{EolirinXianve} Sarv, are you trying to say that vault pages ever HAD content? :p
{Serafina} The ads drive me nuts too.
{FreeBootR} The poll shows 30.5% hate it, 20,.5% can't find anything it sucks, 18.5% say it's too much like the ign pc site hehe
{Serafina} FreeBootR... ya, one of the things I don't like about RPG Vault is that it looks identical to IGN

Marketing
{Sarvas} then why the heck are you sending them screenshots, and not Stratics?
{Serafina} Sarvas... because IGN is larger and has more people.
{Serafina} It is the same reason I put my design diary on Gamespy instead of one of the fansites.
{EolirinXianve} Serafina!! Size doesn't matter, it's what you do with it!!!
{FreeBootR} lol
{Serafina} I admit that I use what I can to get exposure. I never hid that about me.
{Serafina} We can't afford advertising, so I have to do what I can elsewhere.
{Serafina} I have my sites set on Gamespy next.
{FreeBootR} It's the business person in you
{Serafina} Gamespot I mean
{Serafina} FreeBootR... hehe... it is the poor person in me.
{Serafina} Sarvas... I'm posting on ATS right now actually'
{Sarvas} Eol, you keep on telling yourself that.....
{FreeBootR} There's a few really good looking mmog's coming out, it will tax my limited funds hehe
{Serafina} ok, I posted on ATS
{Serafina} I wanted to make sure that people knew that the Tyrusin/Bulldra rendering was not a screenshots.
{DarkWolf} But it's using the game models right?
{Serafina} yes

State of the Game
{FreeBootR} So beta is in the works? Hows the game coming so far? Making progress?
{Serafina} FreeBootR... yes, we are always moving forward. Slowly albeit, but still forward.
{FreeBootR} Heh, foreward is good
{PureEvad} :)
{Serafina} ok, done making my post on IGN
{Serafina} I'm hanging around waiting to see when the preview goes up... hehe.
{Serafina} I haven't read it. I have no idea what it is going to say. I hope it is good.

The New-Game Effect
{Serafina} heya
{Serafina} I'm reading my old interview
{Serafina} the logan one
{Sai|} Everyone is dead, I'm pretty sure
{Serafina} I'm not dead yet
{Serafina} I'm trying to figure out when they update IGN.
{Sai|} Boards have been pretty dead lately
{Serafina} I thought it would be up by now.
{Sai|} Hmm
{Serafina} My theory is that the boards are dead because a lot of new games just released or entered beta.
{Serafina} I have no idea. I haven't read it. I don't know what is going to be said about us.
{Serafina} hehe... I've been telling everyone to look at it, but I may be shooting myself in the foot. hehe... because I don't even know if it is going to be a good preview

Competition
{Serafina} nah, I don't think SB is really competition. They are fantasy. We are totally something different. I don't think SWG is competition either. It is competition only if they are going to take away from AT. However, on the contrary, I think SWG is going to expand the market for us and help us get more people than we would have otherwise :-)
{Sai|} Well Serafina, I'm not really thinking of setting
{Sai|} I'm thinking more along the lines of type of gameplay
{Sai|} You know, create a world instead of just running a leveling treadmill
{Serafina} I think SB is more of a traditional rpg. Atriarch is not as traditional. AT is more of a cultural and story-based rpg.
{Talwin} I dun really see SB and Atriarch in competition
{Talwin} They're going after different player bases.
{Serafina} Talwin... neither do I.
{Serafina} Our philosophy (or at least marketing hype) is similar, but we approach it from very different points.
{Serafina} They both interest me too. SB and SWG are the two games I'm very much looking forward to.
{Serafina} ATITD is a lot of fun to play too, but I don't know if I have enough time to dedicate to atitd. It seems like a political game that would suck up all my time... hehe.. I can't afford any addiction right nos.

Humidity
{Noghri|FoA} have you read my post serafina?
{Noghri|FoA} the Humidity?
{Serafina} yes, I read the one on humidity

Funding
{Noghri|FoA} ive been wondering how much would it take for you guys to start the game out?
{Noghri|FoA} you have been saying you need a publisher to pay for stuff
{Noghri|FoA} how much would all of that end up being?
{Serafina} Noghri|FoA... we need a publisher or funding to release the game faster than we are doing it on our own, but we don't need them to eventually release it.
{Noghri|FoA} how much would it cost still?
{Noghri|FoA} for the funding
{Noghri|FoA} cuz i was wondering, like if i won the lottery ro something, would i be able to help out Atriarch?
{Serafina} Noghri|FoA... yes, if you win the lottery, please do help

IGN Live
{Serafina} woohoo! The article is finally up
{Serafina} sheesh, I wonder what it says
{Serafina} I better go read it real fast... hehe
{DarkWolf} http://pc.ign.com/articles/358/358068p1.html
{DarkWolf} its on the frontpage of ignpc!
{DarkWolf} pc.ign.com
{Serafina} ok, I'm back
{Serafina} That was pretty good.
{DarkWolf} positive preview detected. prepare for incoming newbies
{Noghri|FoA} serafina
{Noghri|FoA} what about the screenshots you told us about?
{Serafina} Noghri|FoA... I am a little pissed that they didn't release the screenshots
{Noghri|FoA} and that one screenshot is new
{Noghri|FoA} with the huge six legged thingy
{Serafina} ya, that was only one of the 18 brand new screenshots I sent them
{DarkWolf} go look, in the media section!!
{DarkWolf} all the screenshots are there!
{Serafina} They are in the media section, but I guess you can only look at five unless you are a member
{Talwin} Serafina I gotta tell you, I'm becoming more impressed by this game every time I hear about it =)
{Serafina} hehe... I like the way he starts off with the fact that we go fucked in 2001 more than once

Underneath Creatures
{DarkWolf} Serafina I have a very important question, can I go beetween the legs of that giant monster?
{Serafina} DarkWolf.. yes, you can
{Serafina} DarkWolf... but screenshots are too difficult to make with a character underneath. That character is too big to see the character.
{Serafina} I tried taking some screenshots of characters underneath, but they were too big.
{Serafina} They mixed up some of the new screenshots with old ones
{Serafina} How the hell do I get to the screenshots?
{Serafina} I can't seem to get my free ones.
{Serafina} just to clarify, by "too big" I meant that you couldn't see the character... the screenshot angle was too hard to get to
{DarkWolf} I suppose these screenshots are exclusive to ign, and you can't post them on atriarch.com?
{Serafina} This bums me out a bit. I spent a lot of time trying to make sure there were some new and nice screenshots for the article. Oh well.
{Sai|Cleansed} If you have a problem with the IGN SSs not being free
{Serafina} and we are going to be the top story on PC IGN all weekend! woohoo!
{Sai|Cleansed} Would it be that difficult to just take some and put them on the WF website?
{Talwin} Meh I personally wouldn't but then I'm lazy and not a game dev pimpin my game for the masses =P
{Serafina} I'll put some of them on the WF site on Tuesday when the article goes down
{Serafina} That way, they get a temp exclusive and I can still make sure people get to see some of the main screenshots.
{Serafina} Besides, it is easy enough to take some more during a different time of day or slightly different angle... hehe
{Serafina} I like how they say that this is a "Galactic Exclusive"
{Serafina} hehe... I told him we accepted that many, not that they were actively playing. I said we had periodic gameplay sessions.

Beta Woes
{Noghri|FoA} external testers
{Serafina} Noghri|FoA... you aren't missing anything. We haven't had a play session in a couple months. We have so many bugs to fix, it will be awhile still.
{Noghri|FoA} but jsut to be in it
{Noghri|FoA} ive always wanted to be that person who is lik e"yeah i was one of them first tyrusins made"
{Serafina} Well, you should be happy in a way. Hunter ended up getting a packet flood even after he signed off...hehe That's why we call it "technical beta"

Creatures
{Sai|Cleansed} That SS with the really large creature...
{Sai|Cleansed} Down and to the right in the corner, theres a big lizard thingy sitting on a little bridge
{Sai|Cleansed} The bridge is covered in spikes, which should block it from leaving the bridge
{Sai|Cleansed} How exactly did it get there?
{Serafina} There is a close up of that bridge in another screeny
{Serafina} with an Eshlar and Lokai fighting it

Moon for Rent
{DarkWolf} "Serefina also said that, if and when Ariana does become overpopulated, "you can just go to the moon." "
{DarkWolf} is that real?
{Serafina} DarkWolf... about going to the moon
{Serafina} He asked me what happens if every spot on Atriana fills up and we really need more space, then would we alter the planet?
{Serafina} I said no, we would implement space travel and open up the moons to exploration.

Broadband vs. Dialup
{Sai|Cleansed} Will a broadband connection be vitally important for Atriarch?
{Serafina} Sai|Cleansed... no it will not be. It will of course be more desirable than a dial-up, just like playing any online game, but it won't be required.
{Sai|Cleansed} It seemed you had said that before, but I keep hearing people saying it will be
{Serafina} what "people" ?
{Sai|Cleansed} Various community type peolpe
{Serafina|Lurking} I love that one caption: "See those little dots? That's you. Yeah, you're hosed.
{Serafina|Lurking} I didn't make up those captions, IGN did.

Rendering Promotions
{Iroko} Possibly Dumb Question: Why do you have such intricate renderings, i.e., Tyrusin directions, bar scene, eshlar tundra, etc...? Because they're fun to look at...?
{Serafina|Lurking} Iroko... Actually, that is a good question I'm sure a lot of people wonder.
{Serafina|Lurking} They serve many purposes including, promotional, wallpaper, concepts, something that prints well on paper for articles (screens don't print on paper well), etc.
{Serafina|Lurking} Iroko... they all use in-game models and textures, so it isn't that difficult.
{Serafina|Lurking} It does take some time, but it is worth it. Actually, no, we don't have many more. What you see is what we have... minus some really ugly ones I refuse to put out there... hehe

Guilty Talk
{Sai|Cleansed} Talking to you makes me feel guilty, Serafina
{Serafina|Lurking} Sai.. why in the hell would it do that? Are you imagining me nekkid or something while you chat with me?
{Sai|Cleansed} For some reason I feel that every minute I spend talking with you is another minute that could be spent on game development
{Serafina|Lurking} Sai... hehe... well, I do have to take breaks sometime. Besides, engineering is the biggest bottleneck to Atriarch right now, not design.

Design Status
{Sai|Cleansed} Perhaps I have a belief that game devs only work or talk on IRC. Strange.
{Sai|Cleansed} Yeah, most ofthe design stuff is probably done
{Serafina|Lurking} Sai... no, it isn't really done, because a lot of it can't be validated until it is implemented. That is part of the reason I shy away from answering some design questions. Until we literally have a chance to try it out, we don't really know if it will be fun or even work. We think it will, but there is always that chance it won't.
{Serafina|Lurking} We do have a design, but one thing I've definitely learned is that what is written on paper doesn't always translate the same into a real-time environment.
{Serafina|Lurking} For example, we learned a few things by watching people play the game.

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