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Messages - Keyvias

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1
Release Notes / 2.01 Release Notes
« on: April 25, 2017, 04:07:41 pm »
New content:

Night descends on Icarus!

Parous Glen (Night)
Ashen Scuffle (Night)
Enjoy a new visual experience as you navigate a dark and ominous lava-scape. These are the first of many night maps and have been testing for a while. This comes with a lighting change to lamps on ships to make sure even if you have a hard time seeing ahead of you, you’ll still know where you are on the ship!

PvP gains Alliance ship and gun!

New PvP Ship: Shike
New PvP Gun: Tempest Missile Launcher
Global community challenge. Since PvE players have to unlock new guns and ships, we wanted to attach the same idea to new PvP content. To make sure some players don’t have tools that others don’t, it’s a global challenge. Once 4700 matches of PvE are completed both the ship and gun will be available to everyone in PvP! We want to use this system for a bunch of rewards so let us know what you think!

Leadership medals
The first leaders earned a special reward for taking the top spots on the leaderboard. This was something we did manually, but now every leader will automatically get a medal and title for the work they’ve put in.

War begins!
The merchants hit their war goal over the weekend and with that, the small squabbles between factions have blown up into a full blown war! Merchants join arms with the Chaladon as the Immortal Insurrection and find themselves squaring off against the Northern Guard the combined forces of the Republic and Baronies.

Get into game to vote for your alliance’s goals. You decide your reasons for fighting and what you need to fight for next.



Changes:

Added a message that appears when a running Steam client is not detected, and prompts the user to restart Steam and then the game (used to quit immediately)
Changed display of Wall and Mission Reward to display approximated real efforts and % change instead of abstraction of curve that these are based on
Crusader visual adjustments
More accessible wanted leaderboard
Reduced leadership time to 4 days (from 7)
Updated opening cinematic
See skills and guns and ships locked and show how to unlock them with rollover
Added instructions for the world map
Tutorial improvements
Enemy AA Ordnance: Muzzle speed 500m/s (from 350)
Infiltration: Increase enemy budget, increased VIP hunting task force 0.5 (from 0.4), fixed issue with walls and enemy spawning interaction
Assault: Increased enemy budget, Mining Outpost (intermediate base) hull +30% and armor +25%, Manufacturing base (final base) hull +25%
Hard difficulty: Enemy base and AA ordnance damage -13% (from -25&)
Veteran difficulty: Drill & bases durability +35% (from 0), Enemy base and AA Ordnance damage +50% (from 0)
Hell difficulty: Drill & bases durability +55% (from 25)
New menu for books


Fixes:

Achievement adjustments and fixes
MAC: When displaying function keys to the player, macs now add 'fn +' in front of it
Chat overlaps window
Fixed a pathfinding issue that could cause matches to freeze up on certain maps (Thornholt Crest most notably)
On the statistics screen, if one hadn't played a class yet, the most played ship is no longer shown as a white square
Infiltration: fixed mismatch between in-game and match-end display of VIP health
The CA list no longer continues off the UI when there are more than 7 CAs online
Fixed glitched world map when a system language other than US English was in use
Fixed typo in Lochnagar description
Fixed broken storm sky transitions after exiting a match while a transition was active
Fixed an error caused by people trying to activate special abilities in PvP
Team tab now properly displays the teams when spectating to the end match screen of a PvP match
Increased flare gun’s light brightness and fixed it overbrighting the helm
Fixed lights not falling back to vertex path (should improve dark maps on low settings)
Clan membership button disappears
Inconsistent load-out preview when joining ongoing match
Character customization lighting darkened
Fixed resource display during war
Fixed unlocked faction ships are not accessible in Evadne's Ship Reports
Fixed missing loading screen images

2
Release Notes / Version 2.0.0 Release of Alliance
« on: March 30, 2017, 07:10:51 pm »
Guns of Icarus Alliance and its glorious co-op is finally here with lots of contents and meaningful factional warfare!

Inside, you’ll find 5 completely unique game modes, 7 maps covering numerous biomes, and 14 different enemies with specialised strengths and weaknesses for you to learn and overcome.

This has been a long long road, and we thank you for your support from the bottom of our hearts. Through the hurricane, the fire, the ddos attack, the server malfunction, seeing our AI planes crash into mountains, rough balances in early testing, you’ve been with us through thick and thin, and it means the world to us. Also want to thank everyone who helped us, from translations, building websites and wikis, to traveling with us at shows, donating equipment, and giving us invaluable feedback, we could not have gotten anywhere without you. This ambitious project was all consuming for nearly the last 3 years, and we poured everything we had into it, building complex AI combat and director from scratch.  We’ve definitely made a bunch of mistakes and learned a lot along the way.  We’re really proud of the work, and we think you will be as well.

Below is all the amazing contents you can play TODAY!

Factions with New Ships and New Guns!


Many new ways to experience the game, many new ways to take control of the skies.

When you turn on Guns of Icarus Alliance, you’ll find your chance to earn new tools of destruction and new ships to put them on. You’ll unlock your factions ship and weapon first through your faction reputation. You can unlock ships and weaponry of all remaining factions by joining them or staying put with your own faction, which will take a bit longer.

The Fjord Baronies bring the stalwart Crusader and Seraph Tempest Missile Launcher, capable of firing off a devastating swarm of missiles.

The Order of Chaladon created the speedy, yet deadly Shrike and the Kalakuta Gas Mortar, able to disable multiple enemies in a suffocating cloud.

The Mercantile Guild put their graceful sails to the sky with the Magnate and harness the sun’s wrath with the Aten Lens Array.

The Anglean Republic offers a beast of a ship – the Corsair – and the Februus Weaponized Coil that turns multiple ships’ components to slag.


You’re Special and Now You Have the Abilities To Prove It!


Like specials, especially super violent ones?

In the heat of combat and in the most dire of situations, every player, every crew member, would have the chance to be the hero and save the day.  In Guns of Icarus Alliance, you can unlock and equip special abilities as you gain personal progression. Once you earn them, you can unleash them in any mission.  To name of few of the awesome powers you get to unlock use via player progression:

Oversurge Ram Ability
Speed forward with a massive surge and demolish enemy ships with a powerful ram. Take reduced damage as you shred your foes!

Air Horn
Draw attention from all the enemies around, saving vital objectives and valued allies. Extremely valuable for clutch situations to change the enemy forces’ plan.

Cataclysm Rounds
Double your damage and blow apart your enemies in a concentrated
volley. Now’s your chance to focus fire and cause extreme damage.

Static Turret
Deploy a weapons turret that demands enemy attentions and puts out damage. Nows your chance to even the odds with your own deployable weapons platform.


The Factions Fight!


Choose your side

The battle is being waged right now! As soon as you turn on Guns of Icarus Alliance, you are taking your first step into a war that spans a million players. Take your time to choose your side from the scheming Merchants to the scientific Angleans, honorable Baronies, or ecological Chaladons.

Each side has different objectives and provides a different challenge on the map. You’ll need to get your resources, take control of the map, and conquer the world!

Complete Contents List: 

Ships:

Unlockable through faction progression/reputation.
  • Baronite Crusader: It supports 2 heavy and 4 light weapons onboard and great for broadsides.
  • Chaladonian Shrike: If features a streamlined layout capable of carrying 2 heavy and 2 light weapons. It is also maneuverable and versatile.
  • Mercantile Magnate: It supports 2 heavy and 4 light weapons and can charge or broadside.
  • Anglean Corsair:  It is a hulking beast of a ship carrying 3 heavy and 3 light weapons. It is highly durable and powerful but with a more complex layout.

Weapons:

Unlockable through faction progression/reputation.
  • Seraph Tempest Missile Launcher (Baronite):  Capable of firing off a devastating swarm of missiles. Once you fire the missiles, you can move your mouse to guide them.
  • Kalakuta Gas Mortar (Chaladonian):  Capable to disable multiple enemies in a suffocating cloud.  Mouse to fire, then right mouse to detonate the cloud at anytime.
  • Aten Lens Array (Mercantile):  Hold down mouse to fire it.  The longer you can train and sustain fire on a target, the more damage it does. Once you start firing though, the gun is locked into place, so you’ll need to communicate with your pilot in order to deal maximum damage.
  • Februus Weaponized Coil (Anglean): It is capable of turning multiple ships’ components to slag.  If there’s a cluster of enemy ships or planes nearby, the lightning from the coil would strike a primary target and then scatter to hit multiple components and targets.

Game Modes: 
  • Infiltration (2-4 ships): In this asymmetric game mode, one ship is designated as the VIP, and it CANNOT die! If the team can escort the VIP ship to infiltrate and destroy all the enemy outposts and then escape at the end, it wins.  If the VIP dies, the match is lost.
  • Defense (1-4 ships): Go out into enemy territory to destroy 3 enemy advance drills while keeping your base alive against enemy assaults. After all 3 enemy drills are destroyed, then survival against the final onslaught for 5 minutes for victory.  If the your base is destroyed at any point?  Defeat.
  • Assault (1-4 ships): Locate and destroy enemy outposts and a final base (3 objectives total) for victory.  The entire team shares a pool of lives, and if that runs out the match is lost.
  • Search & Destroy (1-4 ships): There are 5 waves and an objective to complete for each wave. Complete them all to win.  The entire team shares a pool of lives, and if that runs out the match is lost.  Beware of the boss!
  • Intercept  (2-4 ships): Chase down the enemy convoy ships that are carrying cargos before they destroy all your outposts.  Grab the cargo that you wrestled from them and deposit the cargo back at any of your outpost.  Deposit all the cargos to win. If the enemies destroy all your outposts, the match is lost.

Maps: 
  • Defense: Devil's Eye, Voyager's Cove
  • Search & Destroy: Drowning Wastes, Burning Valley
  • Assault: Parous Glen, Seas of Alleron
  • Intercept: Thornholt Crest, Oblivion Approach
  • Infiltration: Blood Narrows

Special Abilities:

These are unlocked through player personal progression:

Piloting:
  • Oversurge Ram: Remove engine safety mechanisms for an intense boost in forward speed causing your ship to slice through unarmored enemies like a hot knife through butter while taking less damage yourself.
  • Engine Stabilization: Install temporary stabilizers on engines that repairs them over time for 15s.
[/list]
  • Tar Bomb: Unleash a plume of highly caustic gases behind you to damage enemies.
  • Air Horn: Draw aggro from enemies, except for highly determined convoys, within 500m radius, for 2 min.
  • Enhanced Envelope: Balloon will heal over time, resist flechette and fire damage, and have reduce vertical drag and increased vertical speed.
  • Rushing Drift: Ship will gain increased movement abilities to help travers great distances and side drift around enemies at the cost of less fine control.

Gunning:
  • Concussive Blast: Unleash supercharged balloon gases in the direction you are looking to push enemies that are within 600m back with extreme force.
  • Proximal Detonation: Reload all weapons with specially outfitted rounds that have 3x AoE burst size and will automatically detonate when near an enemy. Shoot into groups for maximal effect.
  • Cataclysm Rounds: Engage auxiliary power to all guns and double their damage output for 18s.   
  • Lightning Draw: Activate rigged ship mechanics to quickly reload all guns with 75% increased clip size.
  • Mine Ejection: Hoarded mines are hurled out from the ship in the direction you look at, 400m away. Mines will automatically detonate after 2m.
  • Gigaton Blast: Deploy devastating fiery burst that will melt the armor of enemies that are in your line of sight and within 500m of your ship.
[/list]

Engineering:
  • Component Disruption: Unleash a massive energy burst in the direction you’re looking that will disable the components of enemies within 600m.
  • Salvo Neutralizer: Generate a field in the direction that you are looking that will neutralize all incoming fire and prevent harm to the ship for 60s.
  • Static Turret: Deploy an unmoving weapons platform in the direction you’re looking that will target enemies. Drone will last for 90s.
  • Combustion Dampener: Release fire dousing chemicals from rigged valves to extinguish all fires, and apply fire immunity and 15% damage reduction to all components for 30s.
  • Mechanized Rebuild: Engage special machinery to instantaneously rebuild all components and repair them for 375 health over 30s.

Advanced Dynabuff: Special machinery automatically applies standard, but 15% more powerful, Dynabuff enhancement to all components for 2m.
[/*][/list]

Player Progression:

Players will be able to unlock all new powerful Special Abilities to use in Alliance via the Old Dog achievement tracks.  We know that dealing with hordes of enemies is a new and exhilarating experience that will put you on the edge of your seat, so we created ways for you to deal with the increase in enemy targets.

By playing winning matches as each class, you will begin to unlock the abilities for each class.  You will be able to activate a powerful ram with your ship, increase the power of your guns, and even create protective barriers around your ship.

Play.  Experiment.  Find what works best for you and your crew!

Faction Progression:

Joining a faction means you will be fighting for what your faction believes in, whether it be scouring the lands for ancient technologies or reclaiming promised lands.  Your chosen faction will reward you with elaborate costumes, hats, weapons, and airships themselves for your undying loyalty.

You can switch between factions whenever you choose, at the cost of losing 20% of your current reputation, in order to unlock each faction’s unique items.  Or, if you absolutely cannot betray your chosen faction then there are ways to unlock these items and still stay with your original choice.

Prestige System:

Our player level cap is 45, but that doesn’t mean it stops there any longer.  After surpassing level 45, you will be automatically entered into the Prestige system where you will be rolled back to level 1.  You will gain additional signifiers to let others know that you completed player progression once, twice, or even three times over so that your time spent in the game is not forgotten.

Newly Added Steam Workshop Items:

  • Raider Mask, Goggles M/F
  • Whisker’s Beard, Goggles M
  • Masque Mortuaire, Goggles M/F
  • Boiler Hat for the Industrious Chap, Hat M
  • Compass Rose, Decal   free to all players
  • Stray Dagz, Decal
  • Passionate Cake, Decal   free to all players
  • Dapper Dame’s Top Hat, Hat F
  • Boiler Hat for the Enterprising Lass, Hat F
  • Mantis, Decal
  • Mutton Chops, Goggles M
  • Frostflake, Decal  free to all players
  • Golden Earings, Goggles M/F
  • Posh Penguin, Decal   free to all players
  • Mark of the Reaper, Decal
  • Gear Logo, Decal   free to all players
  • Spiderpunk, Decal
  • Crowned Tyrant, Decal   free to all players
  • Skull and Crossbones, Decal   free to all players
  • Top n’ Skull, Decal
  • Internal Clockwork, Decal   free to all players
  • Satanic Gears , Decal
  • Steampunk Clock, Decal   free to all players
  • Steampunk Pirate, Decal   free to all players
  • Icarus Ex Machina, Decal   free to all players
  • The Gentlemen, Decal   free to all players
  • Steampunk Squirrel, Decal   free to all players
  • Lily of the Valley, Decal   free to all players
  • Sky Queen, Hat F   free to all players

Soundtrack:

The Guns of Icarus Alliance soundtrack is now available here: 

http://store.steampowered.com/app/616130/

And you can also access it through the Guns of Icarus Alliance store page.

There are 24 new tracks and 1hr 40min of new music, including the Guns of Icarus Alliance main theme, all the faction themes, and all in-game battle tracks.  All the Guns of Icarus Online tracks are also included in the package.   Enjoy!

Changes:

Skirmish Balance
  • Heavy Clip: -90% jitter (from -70%), -20% Rate of Fire (from -25% Clip Size)
  • Heavy Carronade: Upward arc 30 degrees (from 20), yaw arcs 35 degrees (from 25)
  • Light Harpoon: 250m/s muzzle speed (from 120), projectile drop 12m/s2 (from 6), vertical arcs 40 to -20 (from 25 to -45), reload speed 10s (from 16), range 600m (from 800), 135 flechette (from 70) and 80 piercing (from 60), 6s attachment time (from 8s)

Post February Guns of Icarus Alliance Test Session:
  • Rename/finalize Alliance mode names from prototype names.
    • Retrieve is now Intercept
    • Survival is now Search & Destroy
  • Lowered smoke stacks on mobile drill
  • Objective icon consistency across loading, lobby, and in-match displays
  • Particles repositioned on base weak points
  • Faction Leader Buff Display on World Map
  • Tweaked boss smoke from having sharp edges in particles
  • Alliance menu music updated
  • Added missing 4-ship map configurations to Search & Destroy
  • Ashen Scuffle added to practice maps

Fixes:
General
  • Loading Screen fixes and adjustments
  • MK 2 Flak particles
  • Fixed Artemis reload animation when clip gets empty
  • Heavy flak's barrel lids pop up without animation
  • Fixed other characters not being animated while on helm
  • Main screen logo and alliance prompt fixes
  • Fixed repeating sound at helm when descending
  • Spire: fixed rubberbanding in ladder well
  • Junker: fixed rubberbanding between helm platform and engine catwalks
  • Connection screen style fixed to be more consistent
  • Fixed some memory leaks that could cause crashes on 32-bit systems or after long sessions
  • Linux: Fixed several errors that would sometimes cause crashes
  • Linux: Fixed draw order of practice arc indicator (no longer renders behind clouds)
  • Linux: fixed browser links not working
  • Linux: mouse cursor is no longer locked to the center of the screen when switching to other windows
  • Fixed missing screen raindrops on some platforms (DX11 and some OpenGL)
  • Fixed pipe wrench twitches after swing
  • Fixed an issue that could cause two copies of a ship to appear at match end screen

Fixes Post February Guns of Icarus Alliance Test Session:
  • Assault: Fixed the base you just killed sometimes remaining marked on the map, while the next active base did not show up on map or HUD
  • Fixed Aten Lens Array “impact” sound ignoring SFX setting
  • Fixed rebuilding with the Fail-safe Kit starting a repair cooldown
  • Fixed match end not transitioning to "team" panel
  • Fixed lights and halo misplacements on master bases
  • Boss lightning gun muzzle flash sound fixed
  • Fixed reflections not actually disabling on some maps
  • Textures for the ooze cloud particles on the Shrike smoothed out
  • Fixed weird collision FX occurring on the ground after boss dies
  • Fixed generic particles that were rotated the wrong way the on Mobile Drill
  • Fixed special ability projectiles remaining visible for too long
  • Fixed bug in Alliance Training where restarting the barge carrier state would spawn another carrier
  • Fixed Faction Leaders being mispositioned in the rankings
  • Thornholt Crest: fixed flying through the train tracks on Intercept (formerly Retrieve)
  • Tutorial fixes and adjustments
  • Fixed missing spawn animation on Mobile Drills
  • Fixed Infiltration end-match timer freeze
  • Fixed rare case of AI crew not spawning
  • Fixed victory banner incorrectly showing on match end in personal tab
  • Fixed particles glitch with boss missile launcher
  • Parous Glen - Fixed outposts showing transparent in some areas when viewed from beneath on low settings
  • Defense - Fixed AI ships and planes not making lane progress under some circumstances
  • Fixed dying after killing the boss in Search & Destroy (formerly Survival) counting as a loss
  • A player's war chest does not have a deduction from the cost of using 'Marching Band' on the World map interface
  • Fixed offset Baronite Carrier missile trails
  • Fixed balloon paints not working on Crusader
  • Match list shows correct match difficulty
  • Fix Baronite Carrier main gun animations
  • Attached equipment cleanup sound is cut off too early
  • Fixed inconsistent numbering of gun slots’ in ship customizer/preview
  • Fixed a bug that caused out-of-sight AI ships to not be recycled properly

PvP:
  • Fixed a random-seeming crash in Skyball maps
  • Fixed a social tab malfunction
  • Fixed class 'covers' on the search for lobby menu opening and closing very briefly when moving the cursor over them

3
General Discussion / Re: lol@muse
« on: January 26, 2017, 02:03:50 pm »
We have a bunch of inactive CAs. Mostly because we have CAs and Mods from 4 years ago.
The biggest problem we've found with CA's isn't that they don't want to help or that they don't want to teach. It's that it's not obvious they're there and some hop on just to play (these guys are players.)

When asked our CAs have been amazing helping with events, teaching new players during sales, and being there every time we call. For different timezones and when we're not setting up something ourselves, I completely agree a lot of CAs go back to playing and enjoying the game while still trying to be nice.

This is something we talked about just this week in the office (moderation being a hot topic.) Of way to improve CAs being active in teaching. Our first idea is having it post an automated message in global when they sign on like "Hey everyone, [name] here and happy to teach you about the game just message me"
or something to that effect. That way CAs are constantly pushed and known for being helpful rather than people that are able to circumnavigate our clunky help menu.

4
General Discussion / Re: lol@muse
« on: January 26, 2017, 01:39:15 am »
Hey guys,

Just wanted to jump in, there's definitely a lot of good talk going on so I don't want to cut off the thread at all, but for the Jedi case. Let's keep the talk to a minimum, if you guys want to discuss it privately together (or with us) we'd definitely be fine with that, but we're trying to keep public talk to a minimum just in case something slips out. (I know we are being super sensitive on this topic, but since minors are involved we're trying to do everything we can to limit any more damage.)
I will say for the investigation. As we stated in the post about it, a lot of the chat took place outside of Icarus, so the investigation wasn't as simple as plugging his name in and seeing something said.


With that interruption out of the way. Keep chatting! We're keeping an eye on what's being said and there are definitely some valid points.

5
General Discussion / Atruejedi Permanent Ban
« on: January 24, 2017, 03:56:57 pm »
Hello everyone,

As of 4:00 PM eastern, Atruejedi has been permanently banned from all Guns of Icarus related products and websites.

We received reports of serious sexual offences against Guns of Icarus Players including those under the age of consent.  This was done with tools outside of Icarus (using things like the Steam Client.)  This made these reports hard to substantiate, but we have taken the past couple weeks to investigate, find evidence, obtain chat logs, and screenshots. To protect those that came forward, the evidence will not be shown, even showing his words would let him know which of his victims came forward and open them up to further harassment.

Our first job is to protect the victims from any backlash. Know that the evidence was overwhelming and from multiple independent sources.

The safety of our players of every age is core to the way we want to run our company.

Although our policy is normally to not talk about moderation actions, but this player will not be coming back and since he is such a well known figure. We believed it was best to put our reasoning forward rather than remain silent.

The Mighty Pirate voice pack will be removed from game and any purchasers will receive a refund or substitute item, we will be sending an email out to owners shortly.

This thread will start locked due to its highly volatile nature. We are of course open to discuss this through email at feedback@musegames.com.

6
Feedback and Suggestions / Re: A cry for change
« on: January 20, 2017, 11:09:06 am »
Well, currently in the player committee skype they're planning on what they want to see next (for ammo.)
And for their theory crafting we're proving logistics support like the exact formula we use for things like jitter.

So we're trying to be open and work with the community so they can say exactly what they want to see and test.

7
Feedback and Suggestions / Re: A cry for change
« on: January 19, 2017, 04:44:16 pm »
Tank spire changes are now in. Based on player feedback with no adjustments.

8
Feedback and Suggestions / Re: A cry for change
« on: January 18, 2017, 08:43:05 pm »
Those cards (other than the introduction one) are all player made Schwalbe, that's not how we use trello internally. The problem with trello is the word didn't get out about it so it became just another diffused location that we had to watch and monitor, which takes time and with so few people using it was horribly inefficient.

The best places for feedback are email, the weekend testing groups, and in the player skype group, which if it hasn't been linked let me do that again.
https://join.skype.com/xHPWhHT6gPfM

As with the last changes to the mobula and wildweek, the skype group is one of the best places for discussion, though as jedi and Richard can attest it can get loud in there and people can disagree.

Naoura is right when he says its not DLC any more. The size is too large to have it be called a DLC and that's definitely poor planning on our part. We are where we are and a couple months away we need to get this out.

9
Feedback and Suggestions / Re: A cry for change
« on: January 17, 2017, 04:51:23 pm »
Tank-Spire was a player made suggestion for #Wildweek, where players got to send in numbers and things they wanted to try. Due to Eric taking an interesting in the numbers, the players numbers were then adjusted by Eric at the last moment and we didn't communicate that well.
This isn't a like serious suggestion where it'll be in the game next week, but we wanted to do as you said and listen to the community better, which one of the ways we did was opening up #wildweek.

We started with a trifecta squid, which failed (horribly balanced) but was super fun just to try.

10
Feedback and Suggestions / Re: A cry for change
« on: January 17, 2017, 02:28:24 pm »
@Byron,

Damned isn't making a second game's size worth of content at the same time. This is the reason I would say we rate pretty low for content.
As for quarterly content updates
Like one full gun every quarter or what size of content would be your expectation? I want to zero in on it so I can talk to the team and see, after we get through getting alliance out if we can make a new roadmap and what player expectations vs our reality is and how they can mesh.

11
Feedback and Suggestions / Re: A cry for change
« on: January 17, 2017, 02:25:28 pm »
@Fisherex

Porting of guns and ships will require a lot of balancing, they are not all cut out, but some (like gas mortar are straight no's due to weapon type, being chased by tar clouds are unfun.) Weapons and ships will be vetted to be brought back on a case by case basis. Things like the tempest are currently highest on the list  for candidates. I can't speak to the timing though, but we would love to reuse the assets for skirmish since we've already put in the work.

Eric left the forum for a lot of reasons. The biggest of which is it's not an effective use of his time. There's a lot of conflicting opinions and he doesn't thrive on answering everyone. If he did, I wouldn't need a job. Often times for games the lead developer doesn't directly communicate with the community. All feedback does make its way to him, though I do my best to disregard things that would waste his time like all the add boarding emails or something we've already tried or discussed.

12
Feedback and Suggestions / Re: A cry for change
« on: January 17, 2017, 12:20:05 pm »
Hello everyone,

I am stunned. This has been the most well constructed negative post I have ever read. As everyone here has spent time on the internet, we all know what a feat that is to talk about things everyone is passionate about while still conveying their idea effectively. While I may disagree with some conclusions, I only hope I can mirror the amount of respect you've all shown with your carefully crafted words. There are 4 pages on this thread as of writing, so if I miss anything, it's not a personal attack and please remind me of any point that I missed and I'll do my best to reply to it.


  • From #Spank to #Splunker
Eric's changes to the testing numbers that were proposed is not meant as an insult, but as a compliment. The reason he tweaked the numbers is he liked the idea, but felt like the changes to hull health would make it even better.
He was wrong.
This happens in testing and why we test. Even Richard's original idea had the side guns fanned out a little more, an idea disliked in play later.

  • Why send in the Community Managers to testing?
Players can be passionate about ideas and often times not as constructive as they are here. Organizing testing, taking feedback, and trying to explaining reasoning is time consuming, it's also something that (hopefully) we're better at handling than Eric himself. It is also easier for us since these are not our ideas so we can come back to Eric and say objectively, this idea failed in a way that he listens better to. Which is why the #Spank testing will happen again without the gun fanning and the with the higher hull health to build a true Tanky Spire.
I completely understand why you want to have Eric be the one in the testing room or responding to the emails, but if that was the style. A lot of communication would be lost in translation and a lot of your great feedback wouldn't even get a response email confirming it's been received (since there are many feedback emails.)


  • Where are we?
Let me start by listing what to expect from the Muse Offices:
-Alliance is released in Q1 of this year
-Alliance contains at least 3 game modes (probably 4,) 4 whole factions including 4 faction player ships and weapons
-Skirmish and Alliance are combined into one product the day of release (no one will be able to buy just skirmish or just alliance)
-On Alliance release day, some Alliance maps are made for Skirmish play.
-Continued #WildWeek testing with ideas from the community
-Continued #AdaptTheMaps

One month out from Alliance Release
-Alliance receives 4 more game modes
-Alliance receives 2 more factions with weapons and ships
-We investigate weapons and ships that have the opportunity to come back to PvP. Some weapons like Gas Mortar, just won't ever make it back due to super unfun to get hit by.

That is our next upcoming months. As a 4 year old product, content updates to skirmish don't earn us much attention or sales. When skirmish combines with Alliance, we get to call skirmish updates as alliance updates and then we get more featuring from Steam. With the last open session we were able to get featuring from Steam which earned us a bit of money to help us keep the doors open. If you say this isn't skirmish focused, you're right. We have to get a new product out, it's taken longer than we've expected and that is honestly our fault, but it's the reality we have to work with to get Alliance out to have a new product to promote and sell which still lets us work on Guns of Icarus. If the way this panned out is too much, you can definitely switch us off.

I want to do the best I can to explain the situation from our side. Tension is high on our side as well, Alliance has been a larger undertaking than we originally imagined, but it was something that has allowed us to continue to work and care about Guns of Icarus since it's an expansion. People are right and some games can release and continue to release content and get attention well after release. Team Fortress 2 and others are pulling this off amazingly, but that is not us and that's not our reality. Guns of Icarus Skirmish without Alliance gets no attention from Steam (who controls our featuring) and from Press (including youtubers.) Those two nozzles are the major power points that have driven any spikes and sales we've earned.

  • Where do we go from here?

We have tried to be more attentive with things like the player council and #wildweek, but I have some questions that would really help me focus in what we need to do better.
-How often and what do you expect in a content update for skirmish?
-How often and what do you expect for balance updates?
-If you could change one single thing tomorrow, what would that be?


This isn't me saying I will promise anything or that we're going to be able to change into something you fall in love with all over again.
Maybe we can improve our style into something that brings you back, but sometimes we're going to lose people to games that more fit their style.
Byron pointed out that he feels World's Adrift is the Open World Adventure he always wanted. We won't be making an open world game, so if Byron has found a game he finds fits his taste and likes the development style more. I wish him the best and I am humbled by the thousand hours he put into Icarus and the discussions we've had throughout the years.
---------------------------------

Again, I want to thank everyone for the discussion, it's a super intense topic and as people have mentioned "game is dead" is something we've fought for a long time. Our struggle is one of survival, but since we came out in 2012 and we get to have this talk again in 2017, at least we made it here.
I do want to do better though and I hope this discussion and my response is a step on that path. I will try to do my best to keep up with this thread as it evolves.

13
General Discussion / Re: Another Open Letter to Muse
« on: January 07, 2017, 11:44:15 am »
Hey everyone,

Just wanted to put in an official Muse response on why the thread was locked, moderation, and everything.
Also apologies on the delay on the response, I am currently at MAGFest  and writing on a phone before the booth opens. As a player pointed out over email to me, our silence looked damnimg though so I thought I'd try to explain the situation.

We do not discuss moderation situations publicly. Like we'll dis cuss rules or policies, but specific cases we don't do.

The reason for this is the moderation action, warning, suspension, or ban, is the punishment and if we posted publicly then mob rule and a public blackmark become part of the punishment.
So as an example, THIS IS NOT SPARKLE, this is just a random example.
If a player got a suspension for racial slurs, posted on the forum it was unfair, if we were to defend the suspension we would have to publicly show things he's already being punished for and hopefully will reintegrate into the community afterwards (which for many warnings and day bans is the case.)

We have to make this rule universal though because if we allow talking about some things and not others then us not a allowing some threads on specific mod cases open and others closed, it makes it obvious which are the worst and which are slight.

For the delay in emailing back, I do deeply apologize. I've been switching between holiday family time for new Years and MAGFest, I have officially spent more time in a hotel than I have in my home for 2017.
I was able to get a hold of Mikko over the past couple das and he has sent you an email, if you don't have it though let me know at keyvias@musegames.com and I'll find another way to get it your way.

Again, my apologies for any logic breaks or mispellings, I'm on my phone behind and booth trying to fill this out

14
Feedback and Suggestions / Re: Swag Yolo's Perfect Plan to Fix Skirmish
« on: January 02, 2017, 03:55:32 am »
Hey guys,

Just wanted to hop in.
No plans to take down this thread. Do I like the idea of people trying to use Steam's Review system to attempt to hold us hostage? Of course not, but if you feel like the state of this game is not worth the money or you didn't get value out of it, you get to leave that review.

The big thing is we have to make a new product. Guns of Icarus is 4 years old and to keep our doors open, we have to continue to produce new things to sell (not to mention to fulfill the kickstarter where we promised the things we're making.) This does mean that Skirmish content is not first as we finish up Alliance, upon its release though both products will be combined for new purchases (and a price increase.) Which means we get to support alliance and a new product by supporting skirmish again and we won't have trying to get alliance stuff just working in the way (retrieve glitch runs, broken world stuff, crazy UI bugs or anything)

That being said, I would like to give a big thanks to the #adaptthemaps movement for a couple reasons. It gave a unified idea of what a large amount of the playerbase wanted and very importantly it took into account development time. I'm sure everyone who supported #adaptthemaps also has 100 other things they'd like to see in the game (we do as well!) but #adaptthemaps is an obviously easier thing to do. Allowing us to do a couple every patch providing content people we know will care about (because of the mass of emails) and doesn't demand a massive split of attention.


15
News and Announcements / Player Loyalty Reward Sale is live!
« on: December 29, 2016, 06:20:51 pm »
Steam just greenlit and announced our Player loyalty reward sale. 33% off for all owns of Guns of Icarus Online, but just for the holiday season.

We're deeply excited to show off all the work we've done to all the players who have supported us.
Store page



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