194 replies to this topic

[ChrisK]

Got questions for the Sins of the Dark Age dev team? Ask them below! We will be posting one question and answer each week until launch. Be sure to check our FAQ section first, just in case your question has already been answered here.

Happy Questioning!

Previous Questions:

May

5/11 - For the commander, will there be a research tree for technologies like Sins of a Solar Empire? Will it differ depending on the commander chosen? Read the answer here

5/16 - How will the stat system work for hero roles or even the commander role if applicable? Are they plain and simple HP, MP, Regen, Armor, Spell Resistance or are they interconnected into one another like strength, agility and intelligence in which 1 point of strength gives you so much damage and HP, agility gives you armor and attack speed etc If there are additional stats that other games of the genre do not have can you elaborate on that as well? Read the answer here

5/25 - Would like to know how you plan to balance the typical rts defense econ strat with the farm mechanic most mobas use to gather resources. Since (neither) rts games nor mobas tend to favor early aggression strategies I'm a little curious about the commander's incentive to build weaker first tier units (assuming there are even tiers) and essentially giving the enemy free gold. Read the answer here

June

6/01 - How much control does a Hero have over what objectives he wants to do? Are objectives assigned by the Commander and anyone playing as a Hero can do them or does the Commander assign a Hero to a certain job he wants done? Read the answer here

6/07 - Will every match follow a familiar pattern? Will there be different ways for a team to approach a match? Read the answer here

6/21 - How does the balance between units and hero power look like? Are they just meatshields destroyed with one or two AOE skills? Do they have any chance of doing significant damage? Are they just good at taking down towers/tanking their damage like in other DotA games? Read the answer here

6/29 - I was really interested in knowing how the grouping for public games would work, will there be a slot for commanders where a player only wishing to play as one could tick a box or something and be the only person selected for that team to do so? Read the answer here

July

7/06 - What is the relative level of APM difference between Commanders and Heroes? Will one role require more and faster actions to play? Read the answer here

7/19 - Will the camera be able to be locked on the hero or will it be only the kind where you move it around with the mouse? Read the answer here

7/19 - Will there be some 'Starcraft' like micro or do you have more of an 'Ages of Empires' rock paper scissors formula where you try to counter pick enemy units? Or is the goal simply to build the largest armies possible and through them at your foes. Read the answer here

7/27 - Who is doing creature design? I would like to ask them if they could briefly describe their process of creating a new creature - for example how they find inspiration for it and what kind of thought goes into decisions regarding the anatomy. Read the answer here

For the record all discussions about Q&A have been moved from "General Discussion" to the "News" section to keep them all in one place. The links above have been updated.

August

8/02 - Will it be possible to trade equipped items between players? Read the answer here

8/09 - Can we expect items and powers to use the same intuitive quick key system that we are used to in similar games? Read the answer here

8/16 - Will it be possible to play with & against Bots and if so, is the A.I. going to be potent or just animated with basic behavior? Read the answer here

8/24 - Does investing real money into the game give me an advantage over those who don’t invest anything? Read the answer here

8/31 How will the commander mode impact the game and distinguish Soada from LoL and all of its clones? Read the answer  here

September

9/07 - Will we have options to modify settings (keys, video, …)?  Read the answer here

9/13 - Will enemy feeding be prevented in some way? Read the answer here

9/20 - How will the free Heroes rotation be defined? Read the answer here

October

10/19 - Do you take input from testers seriously? Will you utilize any advice or suggestions that they offer and implement them in some form to the game? Read the answer here

10/26 - Hey Devs tell us about a awesome in game moment - You know when everything came together in a test game and a team worked together well and there was a awesome win that had everyone cheering. Read the answer here


November

11/09 -  Who is Xeros? Read the answer here

[Bowyer]

I know the FAQ says that the beta will start in the summer and I don't mean to be impatiant but do you guys have a tenative date or week even?

[MDa]

What do you like best about the MOBA genre?  What aspects of the genre are most important to SoaDA?  It seems like the playstyle for the commander might be very different from the other teammates, do you think some people will enjoy one role, but not the other?  Lastly, how will matchmaking work assuming some will want to play commander and others won't?

[IanD967]

Can you give us any details about Commander Items (if they get any) and what purpose do they serve?

Is there any system in place to combat griefers or mid-game quitters so that they cannot do it again?

Do you plan on releasing any Novels related to SoaDA if the game is equally as succesfull as SoaSE? (I am still waiting for my official SoaSE novels! )

Could you possibly elaborate on how you plan on releasing more champions and commanders in the future and if so, how long would the release frequency be? (example: Riot release a champ every 2 weeks while HoN release a champ every..well I can't seem to find any definitive answer on that one)

[Sayan]

Hi, so I'll get to it with wasting time:

Can you please give us information about the stat system in this game for hero roles or even the commander role, IE; if they are plain and simple HP, Regen, MP, armor, spell resistance.etc or if they are like WC3 system where they are interconnected into one another like strength, agility and intelligence in which 1 point of strength gives you so much damage and HP, agility gives you armor and attack speed.etc

If there are additional stats that other games of the genre do not have can you elaborate on that as well, please thank you...

[Vatticson]

Hello Ironclad! =D


I have one hell of a question: For the commander, there will be a research tree for technologies like Sins of a Solar Empire? Will it differ depending on the commander chosen?

Thank you!

[MonsterMetroid]

The question that I've seen on the forums that would like answered most is the competitive goal for this product. Are you planning on Marketing this as an e-sport?

[FleurDeMur]

In the endgame, will heroes or commanders be stronger? What I mean is, can the commander's army solo all 4 heroes, 3 of them, only 2, etc.?

EDIT: Are you looking at player-made factions and taking parts of them into existing factions, taking entire factions, or not taking them at all?

And also, I'd like to see the answer to the release date question before my questions are answered.

Edited by FleurDeMur, 02 May 2012 - 02:35 PM.

[CWheezy]

Can we get the exact pricing details of the game at launch?

[TheLonliestMonk]

Are commanders and Heroes Faction specific, or are they all interchangeable?

[Zid]

Can you detail any difference between the RTS aspect of SoaDA and the average RTS (such as Starcraft) besides the usages of Heroes and Commander powers?

I'm curious to know how "RTS" SoaDA's Commander gameplay can be.

[murdeoc]

will the resources for the commander be infinite?

Edited by murdeoc, 03 May 2012 - 12:54 PM.

[Infamous]

How will stats be determined? Commander Win/Loss only? Heroes would have Win/Loss + Hero kills/deaths?

[karsh]

if a person creates a faction, champion, unit, etc, will said person be able to construct the lore surrounding said item/unit if said thing becomes an actual part of the game?

[Quanword]

If the RTS elements are controlled by a character, and the beginning of a match starts like a normal RTS, how do you intend to stop enemy players from waltzing into someone's base at the very start of the match and winning in a few minutes?

(posted this in the wrong place originally)

[murdeoc]

the heroes on your side should be able to stop them from doing so. the 4 enemies could do that, but they would be fighting 4 other champs in the base controlled by an enemy commander.

welcome to the forums btw!

(i also answered this in the wrong place originally)

[Mornhaven]

I have so many questions, I wish I could ask them all but I will try to control myself.

1. In your neoseeker interview you said that the Imperials(faction being released at the start of the beta) will collect resources in a standard RTS worker collection system(like starcraft). But you also implied that other factions may have different resource collection methods. Could you elaborate more on the differences between factions in this respect?

2. Will the lore of the realm of SoADA progress as new content is added? (to be more clear; in LoL the lore hasn't really progressed since the Journal of Justice was canceled; right now lore consists of "hey, a new champion has joined the League; here is his/her background story") [on a related note is there a name for the realm that SoADA takes place in yet?]

Some more niche questions:
Will the champions and commanders have fun interactions in game (like interactions of the classes of TF2 or like the rivalry between Volibear and Zilean in LoL)?
Can you tell us about some ideas that you tried to do in game but did not work (technically, conceptually, or fit the lore, for example)?

Edited by Mornhaven, 04 May 2012 - 10:16 PM.

[OwnageDaPwnage]

Are heroes meant to play a larger then role early game or late game and who will affect the game more: commanders or champions?

[Kelvaris]

In SoaSE you managed to have this beautiful game with slow thoughtful strategy and tactics. Will players be rewarded for using strategy or is it going to be twitch wins?

[Inthearmor]

Hi! Love what you guys are doing. My question is this:

What steps are being taken to lower the typically steep learning curve of the MOBA genre? Tutorials? User friendly interfaces that clearly display the impact of player choices? Coaching help, like Valve is implementing with DOTA 2?

Thank you!