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[Interview] Defiance: Looking to Push the Envelope
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
Despite a somewhat rocky launch, Trion Worlds' Defiance team is hard at work to make the game that players want. We scored an interview with Nathan Richardsson, VP of Development & Executive Producer Defiance to talk about what's happened since launch and what the future will hold for the groundbreaking transmedia game. See what he's got to say and then tell us what you think in the comments.
MMORPG: First, let me congratulate you on the launch. I know it's been a rough one, but it's still one hell of a milestone for any studio. What is the day-to-day like in the office now that the show and game are up and running?
Nathan Richardsson: Thank you! The day-to-day is always pretty interesting as nothing really compares to that launch month. You get far more player feedback to respond to than in Alpha or Beta, everything is on the line, we're working with a large set of unknowns since we're doing so many industry firsts that it's as exciting as it is frustrating. It's an emotional rollercoaster to say the least. I use a new strategy, multiple personalities. Being a man I can't multitask so I found having many personalities each doing one thing helps me work on all the facets of this entire venture simultaneously without going insane.
Read more of Bill Murphy's Defiance: Looking to Push the Envelope.
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Comments
Nathan Richardsson: Absolutely, even though we're more a third-person open world shooter with lots of people rather than a full fledged PC MMO.
I wish them the best by this is one reason Im not interested.
Nathan Richardsson: With launch issues out of the way we're now moving full time to our upcoming DLC
That would be my second reason, and the main reason I don't play consoles. Again though, caught a show, CHEESY SCIFI, but I like that kind of stuff, and I wish them th ebest of luck.
"The problem is that the hardcore folks always want the same thing: 'We want exactly what you gave us before, but it has to be completely different.'
-Jesse Schell
"Online gamers are the most ludicrously entitled beings since Caligula made his horse a senator, and at least the horse never said anything stupid."
-Luke McKinney
Help get Camelot Unchained made, a old-school MMORPG, with no hand holding!
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As a fan of the game and someone who probably posts too much in defense of the things I like, I'm frankly glad for this. I'd much rather the good folks of MMORPG.com dismiss it altogether than to have it become a constantly polarizing title like GW2, SWTOR, and Darkfall. The game is fun, accessible, and undemanding of my time. It has new stuff to do nearly every week and a population that's strong enough to see it through for the near future. I'm happy with that and with the return I've gotten on the money I paid to get it.
They wouldn't if it didn't feel like a shitty port.
http://chroniclesofthenerds.com/nerdfight/
Y U NO FLIP TABLE?!?!?!
So thats where Nathan went after CCP.
I was just looking at his Beer Ship entrance from the 2009 EVE fanfest. Now that was epic. (And his Techno Viking apperence from HTFU was also epic...)
Giving reason to log on would be top priority.
But I'm not calling the shots so I guess it's not that important for them.
Buy & Forget, initiate!
Thats in your opinion..I on the other hand think Defiance is a much better game than Neverwinter.
The game and the show are both pushing the envelope of mediocrity and not much else. Regrettable.
Urm, how about they fix the unintuitive UI for PC gamers and stop treating us like one big happy family. Console gamers are used to the restrictive UI's that work with a controller. A mouse and keyboard are a completely different kettle of fish.
Fix the UI and I may buy it, I know it's not only myself who has this issue.
"Nathan Richardsson: With launch issues out of the way we're now moving full time to our upcoming DLC and deploying improvements and more show tie-ins till that comes out. We've addressed the disappearing items and other major gameplay issues and outstanding are still some instances of loadouts saving incorrectly, client performance and individual pursuits."
Trion claiming they fixed anything is a bald-faced lie pure and simple. My account as well as a few others on the tech support forums are perfect examples of why that is.
My account has bugs that have existed since alpha testing still for one thing, (that is when I am able to even login). That is because most of the time I get patch errors due to Trion's crud servers and launcher code.
After weeks of communicating with customer support, their usual go-to reply is to re-install the game client and the other half of the time they have told me verbatim that there is no timeframe when the bugs will be fixed.
The problem is on Trion's end and it really irks me that sites like this one are giving Trion devs opportunity to spread more lies and ignore how broken the game is.
This site gives opportunities for anyone who pays them.
You should know that by now...
This site gives opportunities for anyone who pays them.
You should know that by now...
Sad, but true.This a million times over, and not one of those softball questions asked about the ui, or the chat system. It felt more of an advertisement than an interview.
The UI takes some getting used to, but I don't have a problem with it anymore. I hated it back in beta and alpha, and asked them to change it, but now I'm used to it, and can get around it pretty easy.
As for bugs, other than hellbugs, I haven't ran into any in awhile. There's a few places where mobs can shoot through walls, but have you seen a cold fire weapon...I wouldn't be suprised if that thing could shoot through an underground bunker with 5 ft thick walls XD
I'm happy to hear they're added the Castithan race. I always wanted to run around and stab things
I used to come to MMORPG.com for legit interviews and reviews. Now I come to check the free giveaways, as they are clearly paid for advertisements now.
so sad
Current games playing: MechWarrior Online
Games being watched: Project Genom
Favorite played games: SWG, RomaVictor, and Xsyon
Pushing the envelope? Seriously?
Come on already!
The game barely even has enough content to even justify a 60 dollar price tag. I can buy any other game out on the market right now and get two to three times as much content and then they have the nerve to charge for DLC when the game is totally and completely unpolished.
The game plays like it's in an alpha state with all the bugs it has. Not to even mention the fact that the bugs are so numerous and so intense that they range from having pursuits reset (necessary for rare item aquisition in some cases) to having the patcher not even work at all.
Yet that's considered to be pushing the envelope? Seriously? it doesn't matter what they do, if the game is unplayable or a technological disaster (which it is that in spades), no one will care. I was in the closed Alpha and the Beta and the game played a thousand times better with a fraction of the issues that it has had since release.
The game's gone in reverse instead of moving forward and the customer service has been just as bad. I can't even believe that this is a Trion game to be honest. Rift definitely wasn't like this at all.
My advice to anyone who wants to get into this game is to save your money. Wait about six months or so at least for them to fix all the bugs and everything else that's just blatantly wrong with the game before spending your money. If you're going to spend your hard earned money on a game, it should work and be functional, just like a car when you drive it off a lot. "Because it's a game", doesn't justify robbing people blind.
Banegrivm
Leader of the 1st Fist of Light
www.1stfistoflight.com
Hmm... weird. If they paid for their 6.6 review, it must have been a really low payment (and one I didn't get).
Where's mah money Trion?! Hax!
Try to be excellent to everyone you meet. You never know what someone else has seen or endured.
My Review Manifesto
Follow me on Twitter if you dare.
i cant wait for the DLCs and free content to arrive. However, Trion REALLY need to add the dynamic weather they showed in game on producers video a while ago that showed lots of raining.
Also, regarding dynamic weather, Defiance is post apocalyptic so random sandstorms and tornadoes also fit perfectly to the more sandy areas of the game.
Give us Dynamic Weather, Trion.
EDIT: Also Darker Nights!!!.... PlanetSide 2 has awesome dark nights almost pitch black. That would be perfect in a terraformed post apoc world like Defiance.
I was thinking the same thing.
Still, that must have been an awkward interview for them, although I really wish you would have asked some harder questions. It came off as more of a PR piece than anything else. Stuff like why did they feel like the UI was fit for the PC?
You make me like charity
It's a hard act to balance. When we deal directly with the devs and PR, to get answers we want, we often have to pause, breathe, and rephrase the real questions we'd ask.
So, "Why the f**k would you release a game with VOIP when it's in that bad of shape?"
Becomes, "MMORPG: One of the things that's most striking to me about the game, is how people play together, but don't necessarily interact via chat or VOIP (speaking towards the PC version here). Are there any plans to incentivize grouping up and interacting with players a bit more, or some sort of "social hub" place to get people together more?"
We walk a fine line, and while I'd love to just be a fan and ask questions EXACTLY as they come across in my mind, I can't do that if I want to keep getting interviews. We were the ONLY site in town, I'd do just that. But, it also comes down to tact. How can I tactfully ask these honestly hard-working, back-broken developers about their failures?
I hope you understand it's not to softball them, but rather to coax them out of their shell and hopefully get a real answer. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
Try to be excellent to everyone you meet. You never know what someone else has seen or endured.
My Review Manifesto
Follow me on Twitter if you dare.
Yeah, I completely understand why it's done the way it is. Still, since I'm here and not there, I get to complain about people not holding developers feet to the fire
You make me like charity