Interview with Brad

[flisk]

I had a chance to sit down with Brad, the creator of Drakkar and was able to ask him some questions. Well, okay, I sent him an email... At any rate, below is the list of questions asked. Some were my own, some were those that the players of Drakkar wanted to ask...



1) How long did it take you to "create" The Kingdom of Drakkar?

I still am. Although probably a fair answer would be about 3 years

2) Is there an estimated timeframe for a new Drakkar scenario?

Four to six months most likely, primarily because I am putting most of my time into game improvements

3) Is there an estimated timeframe for the exp/skill cap change?

Most likely these raises will occur in a new scenario. The technology to raise them is what I’m working on now, it’s a very complicated process

4) Will we see new skills, foci, chi, psi, etc in the game?

Skills? Perhaps.. foci and CHI.. not in the present form, advancements here will take on a new form. PSI, most definetly, but in another form

5) Do you wear pink fuzzy bunny slippers when you program?

No, my son took them

6) Will the new FE have a round timer like the old one had?

Yes

7) Where do you see the state of Drakkar over the next few years?

Long term, I want to keep the current nork/cobrahn scenarios with the same “feel”, but expand out the game using new technologies I’m working on. In a couple years I expect to see vast numbers of new abilities for all classes, skill based encounters, quests, perhaps even trade skills.

Do you think that the Thief class will ever get exp for killing things with poison?

Yes, most definetly

9) Will we ever see a horse in the game (or a harness) ?

Probably not, too many irons in the fire, and it just doesn’t buy us that much

10) Will a second sack ever be made so players can carry more loot?

No, I don’t think so. One of the things about Drakkar that’s made it stand out from the rest is the need to really think about what you are carrying and equipping. Its tough for me to mess too much with the formula.

11) In your opinion what are some things you would like to improve upon that are currently in the game?

Additional skill levels, exp levels, creation of ‘roles’ for classes that make them desirable in most situations, elimination of the need to have one shot deaths, more of a role for the thief class, more party oriented abilities, more challenging puzzles, less “auto travel”, so locations can truly be remote, removal of the desire to phone slam.

12) Will merchants ever see anything to give them "merit for existing"?

Hmmmmm maybe

13) What has been your personal favorite aspect of Drakkar?

The community, and watching people think of creative ways to get through creatures and puzzles I create. People think that I hate solved puzzles.. the truth is I hate unsolved puzzles.

14) Do you have any "easter eggs" in the game that players may or may not know about?

I dunno

15) Is there a UFO hidden in Drakkar anywhere?

Actually, its in my garage

16) What is the funniest thing you have heard about happeneing to a player in Drakkar?

The tops is of course the SLAYER guild thinking it smart to try to kill the doppelganger in their guildhall, my only regret is that I only got to catch the end of the fight. It’s a hilarious and long story.

17) What online games do you play?

I just let my AO account expire, but I was BIG into anarchy online for quite a while ( made level 105 ).. But a new baby and the repurchase of Drakkar ended that. I still play everquest when I need to go kill something, and I’m thinking of trying earth and beyond

18) When you are not programming or working, what do you do in your free time?

Four year old and a one year old.. need I elaborate?

19) If you were stuck on Yeti Island (a desert island) and could have 3 people with you who would it be and why?

I respectfully refuse to answer that question on the grounds that my wife may at some point read the forums

20) Spagetti and Meatballs, Pizza, or Burgers?

Gold Star Chilli

[flisk]

PART 2

Once again Brad has given me the chance to ask him some questions; you guys also has some to ask so they were all formatted and; well; here they are...

1) Which game feature are you most exited about?

The new abilitiy system, the new level cap and skill cap increases, increased size of the game.. finally getting an artist who can make new items for me.


2) Nork; Aleria; Cobrahn; and now Nameless; are they all on the same planet and what is it's name?

Yes, they are all on the same planet, its called Tehruh

3) Where are all the cats in the game at?

Most cats died in a strange accident about 50k years ago game time

4) When will the Guild Creation Tools be finished?

When i come up with a long term method of handling guild creation. I work on it alot, but have yet to work out a system which meets all the requirements necessary. Guild resources are very small, and so when completed, rigorous new guidelines and responsibilities will be placed on all guilds

5) In the forums you had players do some drafts of a form of DrakTools; has anything more been done with this?

Not yet, no


6) There was also a mention at one time about players being able to use customized graphics; is this still in development?

Yeah, on the shelf at the moment, but a real desire of mine.

7) Has barb's Immune to scare has been changed? i was scared by a Pet several times today while frothing, and im lvl 22 (well was at the time). immune to scare at froth is supposedly placed at lvl 18.

I don't see anything to indicate barbs are immune to scare. Where did you read this?


Will there ever be a new class.. New Spells. or new items in the game?

Doubt there will be new classes.. And there will never be spells in the game. New items go in all the time.

9) Is there a drakkar and can she be reached in the games current status?

Yes, at http://www.drakkarzone.com (but i generally refer to the game as a he)


10) What was your inspiration for Drakkar?

Everything. Storyline is from a 7 year AD&D campaign i ran, heavily influenced by moria, hack, empire and islands of kesmai

11) This has been asked before; but; Merchants; is anything going to be done with them ever?

Forever is a long time, who knows

12) Will we see a pocketpc version of the chat area or game itself anytime soon?

Dunno, tough call, maybe

13) Will we ever see a Night and Day in Drakkar?

Its already in.. nameless

14) Who is GLEBOG?

When you find out let me know

15) With Nameless Land, what are new level and skill caps going to be?

I'm considering 1,000,000th skill and about 2,000,000th level.. But not sure

16) Will you always have a front end that supports older computers?

"relatively", yes.. But they will always fall off the bottom


17) Will Nameless Land be made to suit Old Front End?

No

18) Will players be able to suggest/ design any quests/hunts, send to brad and hope for them to be implemented?

Half the game is that way

19) Has KoD been fully released from iEN yet? or does the link to voluntary payment still work?

Yes and No

20) Where did Dwarkanath goto after the battles?

Now THAT is a story

21) Why have we not heard from GRAINE in a while?

He is skilling and coining to pay for his fort

22) Any chance on fixing it were when someone pm's u , it doesnt pop up a window ?

Yes, its called DND

23) What expansion plans do you have for drakkar, commercially speaking?

For now i'm concentrating on nameless

24) When did you learn to drive?

In 1782.. err ooops


25) What was your first car like?

6 wheels, 4 doors, trunk and hood

26) What was your first job?

a tire store

27) What was something funny or embarrasing that has happened to you in regards to Drakkar?

Wow, sorry, 1million word limit to this interview

28) If you won $1 million tomorrow what would you do with the money?

Lets see.. 1million would be 450k after taxes, of which in adjusted 2025 dollars would be about 125k (when my house is paid off), of which a third would go to each of my kids and half of the remainder to my wife, and assuming we have at least 2 more democratic presidents during that period, property taxes at 3k/year would leave me owing about 50k.

29) What are you most proud of in regards to Drakkar?

The way that players have really enjoyed the way i present content, and gaming.

30) What are you going to dress up as for Halloween this year?

A father of 2

31) What's the best compliment you have ever recieved?

I have been described as "painfully shy".. oh wait..

32) Is the Mausoleum Quest still active?

Its the most actively talked about , thats for sure

33) If you could live in Drakkar; what part would you live in and why?

I'd live in my ivory tower, where most people accuse me of staying anyway

34) Would you like to add anything?

About 50% more paying customers.. not much more

[Mars]

Part III - 2006 Version of interview with Brad

1. Is it true that your mother and Mrs. Claus have never been seen at the same time

I’ve seen them at the same time ( smile )

2. What is the expected quarter of implementation for Green Dragon Hatcheries (1st quarter '06, 2nd quarter, etc.)

Its expected this quarter. I was hoping sooner but I wanted to get some of these outstanding bug fixes in.

3. Will the new FE text font ever be corrected? e.g. the text name on many crits overspills the field available (MummyComman instead of MummyCammander) and many many players names, once tagged are incomplete. And what about the mysterious third box on player/NPC display icons.

That’s a font problem, I only have a few fonts for the frontend. One day perhaps.

4. Will any new content be for capped out NL players or for the more modest sized crit (as an alternative TO NL instead of a progression FROM NL)?

As Drakkar is always a game of “driving forward”, I doubt we will see a whole scenario dedicated to an alternate advancement path ( that would be poorly spent time ). We will see additions to other scenarios here and there though.

5. Any plans to expand races and/or classes? I'm sure there are some who would love to roll an ogre or giant. Class-wise, I've always felt like Drakkar was missing the Ranger class. And then there's Necromancers, Illusionists, Monks, Bards

No, we have enough of them all. Class balance is difficult with the ones we have

6. There was a rumor going around that Flisk was working on a segment for Aleria, it goes on to say that it's ready to be tested but that there is no server to test it on, any new news of that? Also, will any work be done in Nork and Cobrahn?

Flisk has a few scenario ideas, yes. I’m not sure what state he is in with them. And no, he doesn’t have a server at the moment to try his ideas on.

7. We had heard that you had someone from the past working on a new scenario, is that still in the works?

Not at the present time, no. Like most other things involving “volunteer” efforts, the interest fades as the difficulty rises and the “coolness” factor wears off.

8. We had heard a long time ago that Find Friendly was going to work a little differently; that we may even be able to give them certain commands, is that still in the works?

Still something I want to do, yes.

9. If you were just starting the game, what race and class would you choose to play and why?

City Dweller Thief.. I’ve just always liked thieves.

10. It was mentioned in the chat a while ago that you may consider having the players (and NPCs and monsters) be animated when walking, that is; they would not simply appear on the next hex, rather actually walk to it; is that still being considered?

Yes and no. I’d like to do it but the artwork is cost prohibitive.

11. Will trade skills ever be added to the game? Something like blacksmithing to create weapons and armour, leatherworking so players can tan corpses, things like that?

I’d say better than a 50/50 shot some form of trade skill will appear in the game at some point in the future.

12. Is the mausolium quest active?

Not at the time of this writing.

13. We know what the Drakkar is (we think), is she actually in the game?

No player has ever discovered her.

14. What is the Drakkar's history, how did she become what she is?

There are pretty detailed storyline documents all around, including some back story in nameless. I’ll leave that to the player’s deductive efforts.

15. We heard rumors that there was a "portable" version of Drakkar being worked on, something for a cell phone? Is there a website for that up and running yet? Will we be able to play drakkar on the PSP (play station portable) seeing that it has internet access?

A friend is porting the game as an outside effort. You may see PSP if they ever open the platform up.

16. How did you become interested in Online Games?

DECWAR baby!

17. What is the biggest challenge for you in operating and developing Kingdom of Drakkar?

Balancing billing problems, bug fixes and new development. If it wasn’t for the awesome volunteers we have nothing would get done.

18. What are some new ideas you have for Kingdom of Drakkar, even if they are on the way-back burner for now?

I want to add more elements of gameplay. Offline stuff/out of game stuff such as building, resource gathering, etc. Other things to manage instead of just wacking crits.

19. Assuming that The Nameless Land will eventually become a subscription-based scenario, when do you foresee this occuring? How much will it cost? Will all who paid the one-time fee be expected to subscribe and pay the monthly fee? Will there be any perks for those who paid the one-time fee besides the skill, xp, and gear acquired "early?"

Its already a subscription based scenario. Due to the fact that I’d have to actually spend time coding any changes to the pricing model, its probably going to stay as is. I may officially take it “off beta” at some point in the future.

20. Is there a way to toggle the graphics so you can choose between the original 8bit and the new?

Not really. There is a way to get it to read from another directory (I was going to allow custom skins and pictures), but it’s a big headache to try to support it; who knows what the future brings.

[Brad]

I just wanted to drop a note on the progress of the expansion for NL, "Green Dragon Hatcheries", nicknamed GDH

1 - Its been a fun expansion to work on, because the game has changed so much since it was originally thought out. As one player put it "Quirks and adding the extra party member has really change the game."
2 - For the above reason, its tending to start a little higher level than originally intended (right at 45+), and proceed quickly to the mid primals instead of the early primals, with the final encounter for top equipped players.
3 - So far I have 4 "lair crits" (as we used to call them in the old days), but I think i'm going to put two more in.
4 - Thanks for the player submitted items. I've gotten about 19 of them in the game so far, i think they fill some nice holes.
5 - There are 3 major areas.. an intro area with some tier 1 drops 45+, an interim hunting level area for 60-70ish, and a high end encounter for 70+. I think its going to be a fun little expansion with lots of nasty twists.
5 - As you guys may have heard, my wife and I are expecting a new baby, and this first three months of 2006 were the "First trimester".. so as you fathers know my time has been compromised a bit. Good news is the morning sickness (all day sickness) is gone now (talking about my wife here.. mine is still here).. and so i'm getting more hours a day to put into it.

Time line? I was shooting for first quarter, that would be this month, dont think that is makeable (baby got in the way), but i'm definetly seeing the light at the end of the tunnel now.

Thanks to all the guys who sent in items and encounter ideas when i asked. Some good detailed info has helped me adjust stuff for the "post quirk" game.

But what everyone wanted! A few screen shots! (Thanks flisk for some of the new artwork!)

First Fight
Little miss muffit had nothing on me