Archive for November 2003

Atriarch Developer Q&A, #3 Friday, November 28, 2003 - 1:09 AM [Filed by xith]

This is week three of Atriarch Vault's new weekly feature. Lepidus of IGN's Atriarch Vault will send the Atriarch Team two questions each week, a bit like a mini-interview. The answers will be posted each week. Here is a snippet: Lepidus: Last week you mentioned that hunting does not follow the typical MMO mold. What will Atriarch do that is new an exciting in an area where most games end up getting a touch dry? Serafina, Lead Game Designer: "Our goal is to make hunting more like actual hunting rather than a constant killing... well, at least take the fun parts of it :-) Although, repetitive hunting can be fun for its own reasons, that is not our aim. Our goal is to make each and every hunt meaningful, rather than just a treadmill of points. You know that feeling of accomplishment you get after killing the boss character? That feeling is what we want you to have with each hunt in Atriarch. We want killing to be less prevalent and more meaningful, yet still very fun..." read rest of answer here. Lepidus: Your legal battles may have halted production of the game, but I am sure that your mind kept racing. In what ways do you believe Atriarch benefited from the hiatus? In terms of new ideas and technology? "That is a very interesting question. In some ways, the hiatus has actually been a good thing for Atriarch. It has given us the time to sit back and see what we are doing right and wrong with the technology and with Atriarch's game design. There have been a lot of other games that have been released since Atriarch was announced. We have learned a lot from watching these other games..." read rest of answer here.

Sticky Natives Friday, November 21, 2003 - 2:34 PM [Filed by Herok]

Received a note from Serafina, Lead Designer for Atriarch, on the latest site update detailing some of the improvements made in the game's development. Here is a short snippet (go to the Atriarch site for more!): on improving Native (npc) Pathing and Collision Detection: As mentioned in the previous update, we have been working on improving the pathing of Atriarch Natives. We are happy to report excellent progress :-) Natives now can reasonably navigate through a crowded area as well as navigate around items scattered all over the ground. Woo Atriarch!

The Fellowship has not Fallen! Thursday, November 20, 2003 - 1:01 AM [Filed by EdgeofEpsilon]

Community member extrordinaire Synon Navor has made a major overhaul of the Fellowship of Atriana website, including the addition of forums! The page itself is more friendly for people looking to join the faction. It's got a brand-spankin' new look, new links, and an updated memberlist. w00t FoA!

ATV Roundtable #2 Tuesday, November 18, 2003 - 5:07 PM [Filed by EdgeofEpsilon]

Serafina answered two more questions by Lepidus of ATV in their new weekly Q&A session. This week's information deals with grouping in Atriarch and grouping about Atriarch: Lepidus: Can you explain your philosophy on groups in Atriarch? Serafina: Our grouping is modeled after a fun aspect of real-life. A person at any one point is typically a member of more than one group or association at a time. To fully express yourself, a person in school may join the Save the Andols Foundation, the Alien Chess Club, as well as be a member of the Lokai Cross-Country Team. What a shame it would be to limit yourself to just one... There's more to read about regaining Atriarch's fanbase. Go!

FemDevs roundtable Sunday, November 16, 2003 - 4:12 PM [Filed by Herok]

Spotted this over at ATV: Serafina, the Lead Designer of Atriarch, was seen recently over on the WarCry News Network in their featured FemDevs #4 feature. It is a great piece, where she and other female game developers talk about how they feel they've furthered women in the gaming field. Here is Serafina's comments in that feature: To address the topic, I view myself as female and as a game designer, but not as a female game designer. I think the words are more powerful individually than together. Each of those words carries a certain weight in their own right. However, used together it seems to diminish their weight, because they are now qualifiers for each other. Why qualify that I'm a female designer or that I am a designer who is female? It is limiting. Is this making sense? Anyway, most of my professional life has been spent in male-dominated industries and jobs. So the game industry does not really faze me much in that respect. I guess the legacy I would like to leave behind is to show people (girls or anyone else) that labels and qualified terms (like female designer) are something constructed from other people's notions. You can *never* (and I mean never) control what someone else thinks about you. So be wary and mindful that you do not fall prey to the habit of labeling yourself the way others see you. Accept yourself and be true to your nature. This is a creative industry, so I think it is more important than ever to impress upon designers that acceptance from other people is not required. Accept yourself. If you look to someone else for it, then you are fulfilling their view of the world, not yours, and it is your views from which your creativity flows. Don't give away one of your most valuable gifts. Nice find Lepidus!

Reintroducing: Atriarch Wednesday, November 12, 2003 - 12:20 PM [Filed by Herok]

An update straight from the official Atriarch site: Atriarch Developer Q&A, #1 A new weekly community feature has now begun at the Atriarch Vault. Lepidus of IGN's Atriarch Vault will send the Atriarch Team two questions each week, a bit like a mini-interview. The answers will be posted at the beginning of each week. Great to see the PR wheels turning--Serafina had said she didn't want to take things too quickly so this is a sign things are progressing well! Woo Atriarch! Comments: Go read the interview at ATVault

Offiicial Atriarch Surge Thursday, November 6, 2003 - 10:31 AM [Filed by Herok]

The official site was updated with a surge of new information. Go check it out but here's a snippet: on Atriarch's Unique and Persistent Grouping System: There are groups possible for nearly anything a player wants to do with other players. Yes, of course, there are the typical game groups such as, Factions and Guilds and Hunting Parties, but why stop there? What really puts the spice in Atriarch's Grouping System is the fact that the groups are persistent and that they can be formed for several reasons, not just hunting and guilds. Have you ever wanted to start an Expedition Party and explore? What about a Questing Fellowship? With our Grouping System, you can form a group with others that have the same interest and goals. Players can come together for a week-long trek through the icy passes in Tyrusin Continent or for a three-day safari to hunt down a Baldari. Whether the group is started for a long-term or short-term purpose, the world will recognize the group and its members with its own individual identity. Of course, this also means players can belong to more than one group. The system is in its first iteration and so far so good! We will work on the next iteration in the future after we test the basics of what is there. Things like a group chat channel still needs to be added, including the ability to see your party members health, etc. That really was just a snippet--there's so much more to read. Woo Atriarch!

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