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    Q&A With the Devs - Ask a Pirate Day #5

    Ahoy Pathfinders!

    This week we have another Q&A with the Devs for you all as we wait for next week’s Patch!  Moving forward, Pathfinders can expect a patch every other week barring any unexpected circumstances are changes in tide. 
    Some of ye on our Discord may have noticed a new hand on Deck! Let’s get an official introduction to our new community manager!

    *Washes up on to shore*

    Hey y'all, I'm Conch. I'll be joining the crew as Captain Nami's first mate. I'll be handling most of the dialogue here in the Discord going forward and I'm look forward from hearing from you all. I'll say now I cannot make promises on where our journey may take us but I will do my best to relay your concerns and make our voyage as enjoyable as possible.

    You'll shortly see that my sarcasm is my sword and will be wielded often for the forces of good-natured humor (*Trolls Beware*). Other than that, I'm a BIG e-sports fan (*cough* TSM *cough*) so if it's been streamed I've probably watched some of it. Still waiting for competitive Atlas to take off *crossing fingers*.

    So if you find yourself in need, I'll be here. Here's to smooth sailing ahead! Cheers!

    :wheel:

    It’s a new year, and we know some curious Pathfinders may be wondering how ATLAS is going to continue to shape out from here. We are still very much continuing development across all the features and mechanics we have introduced so far. The Trading System and the pieces dependent on it are still in the early stages; and there are still a line of new and unique ships to come! The claiming system rework is still in the testing stages as well. As we work on refining these systems we have put in place, we are also getting closer to defining the direction that we’d like to take ATLAS. We’re still planning it out, and once we have a more cohesive structure in place, we’ll roll out more information to the community. 🙂

    :anchor: Teaser :anchor:

    Seahorse1.png

    Ehhhh? What’s this!? We’re not seahorsin’ around! 

    The Tameable Dolphins were only the first of the new underwater tames, which are going to be a part of a taming/breeding rework. Not to fear! This isn’t taking away from our development time in other areas. It is a smaller project that we are doing on the side to add a bit more fun and flavor out in the waters.


    We would also like to stress that we are not neglecting optimization and bug fixes in favor of new content. We hear your concerns and understand that there is a lot we need to continue to fix and improve. The team of engineers who work on optimization and fixes are different from the team of designers that implement new content. We are fixing elements of the game while developing new content in tandem. Oftentimes, optimization and bug fixing are a multifaceted issue and require more time and resources to address. Other times, these coding updates may be an under the hood improvement. We’re taking things step by step, and it may take multiple patches for certain fixes, and even new content, to reach the stage we want it. We thank you for your support and patience!

    :wheel:

    Without further ado, here’s our Q&A! Hang out at our Discord for a chance to get your questions answered in the next Q&A!
     

    :anchor: Q&A :anchor:

    What is the next step in the new ship lego project?
    For now, we will continue to make unique ships built with a growing selection of unique modules. Further down the road we are looking into allowing players to buy / craft their own modules and build their own ships.

    Will the team be addressing or nerfing large walls spamming ? So we might actually be able to destroy a 50 layer wall of them or an entire island spammed with it.
    Yes. This is on the list.


    How is the progress on the claim system? Are you able to reveal more details on it now?
    While the focus of the game is, indeed, to get more focus on the sea, we can't ignore the land play. The "new" claiming system is an attempt to balance land play and make it more fun. In general, the team has found band-aid on top of band-aid in this department and we want to remove those layers and get to a cleaner code base and more fun gameplay.

    Where in Development is Mech Monkey?
    I'll never tell.

    Any plans for new servers? Modes? 
    Yes. We have lots of things planned. We have hit upon a theme for the game that we really like and lots of other wonderful things that are really going to make this game pop in 2021. To answer your question a bit more I can tell you that we're beginning design for small, temporary worlds that you get to via maelstroms that appear on the map. They will only be available for a bit of time and will typically have something cool on them. This is really early but lots more really cool stuff is in the works.

    Any word on improving armored docks? Like maybe enclosing them so NPCs are safe? Also, having repairs inside armored dock would be helpful.
    Yes, this was always the plan, we just need a little more time to get there.

    Can you tell us more about the direction tames/breeding is headed?
    For now, we are looking at cleaning up the tame system and adding some more tames to the water. Beyond that, it's fuzzy. the more work we put into tames the more people want to stay on land, but the tame system is only a fraction of what is possible and who are we to stop that. I wish I could tell you more, but we really need more time to come up with something fun, deep, and different.

    When will there be a sail revert/rebalance and perhaps a buff to weight sails to make them usable?  
    A major overhaul of the sail system is on the books. It's another example of the layering of issues that we are now stripping off to get to the fun of the game. No word yet on the timing.

    In the steam page, the responses from the devs, and older interviews seem to emphasize a focus on player immersion and faction building with a pirate/colonial aesthetic. The actual design seems to be more of a min/maxer grind fest with theory crafting elements. What’s the actual intended experience for the game?

    I hear you. Let me clear things up if possible:

    -Atlas isn't where we want it. The game has a long history already and I don't want to spend time there. Just know that where we are today is not where we want to be.
    -Vision is about destination. When we talk about vision, we're talking about where we want to be, not where we are today.
    -Finally, remember that the game's development is a cooperative experience. We put a bit of something out and then see how you like it and then we adjust to that.

    All that said, this is where we are today...

    We have hit on a theme for the world that is going to give it more cohesion, remove some of the more annoying limitations of the game, and open it to more possibility. If allowed, we'll be introducing this theme a bit at a time (the way a new idea would be introduced IRL) and then grow it from there.
    For a period of time last year we were guided to add a new strategic layer to the game to give companies new tracks to explore. The aesthetic and realism boundaries of this have expanded a bit and we're very excited for what's being planned for 2021.
     

    :anchor: Final Note :anchor:

    Again, we would like to emphasize that ATLAS is still in Early Access, meaning many things can and will likely continue to drastically change - even in the middle of development. Anything discussed is only up to date as of the moment it is posted. Features and changes that ultimately make it to the next patch, as well as timing, may be different from what was previously discussed. 
    As always, we appreciate the suggestions and feedback from the community. Please keep them coming! Thank you for all of your support! 🙂

    :wheel:

    Happy Sailing,

    - ATLAS Crew

    :skull: For the latest dispatch on #playATLAS keep yer one good eye trained on this here information :skull:

    Natter n' chatter on Discord: https://discord.gg/playatlas
    Hear ye, hear ye on Twitterhttps://twitter.com/sailtheatlas
    Watch us scallywags on Twitch: http://twitch.tv/sailtheatlas
    d with us Pirates on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/playatlasgame

    Edited by ATLAS

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    Welcome to Conch, glad to see the team is still getting new blood with fresh love and attention.

    Any possible update or acknowledgement of a PlayStation Version?

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    PLEASE ADDRESS SWIVELS IN PVP, ESPECIALLY THE PART WHERE THEY CAN SHOOT THROUGH WALLS, ROCK, TERRAIN AND THE PART WHERE IT DOES RIDICULOUSLY FUCKING STUPID DAMAGE

    Edited by twiztedmike

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     I'm just glad that Atlas is nothing like an ark dlc anymore.....Oh hang on, tranq arrows, more tames, hmmm.....

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    well they did say they wanted to get us on the ocean more, i just had no idea it would be on the backs of a mythilogical creatures.

    Edited by lordkhan4444

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    @Conch 

    Welcome, maybe a bit more background info on yourself ?  

    U actually playing the game ?  how long and if so PvP or PvE ?

     

     

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    The private-server community did so much to help make and keep Ark popular. Please, please, please publish and maintain a single, authoritative set of configs so that server admins can tweak things to their preferences.  I see that some configs have been published in update posts but the vast majority has been laboriously and painfully reverse engineered from Ark.

    On that note, please also expose and/or document settings for the Atlas-specific things like the nutrition buff thresholds, weather severity and whatnot.

    ---

    On a completely different note, I hope that the taming system has been, or will be dramatically changed. The system at launch was pure animal cruelty. Beat an animal to within an inch of its life then tie it up and feed it. Rinse / repeat until the Stockholm Syndrome is complete. I'm here to play a pirate game, not practice domestic violence techniques.

    There's also the slightly absurd idea that the restraints magically break after 30 seconds and the player make zero attempt to secure the animal. Also that you need to get within range of being attacked. Were I feeding a tiger, I'd put the meat on the end of a stick, or throw it into the enclosure. Of course there needs to be some challenge but stuff like that is immersion-breaking. Combined with the repugnant concept of the beat/meat/repeat, I think it really needs an overhaul.

    ---

    Still no command for adding discovery points?

    Edited by TrevorJD

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    I'm gonna spread couple of photoshop I've made (with my poor photoshop skills) through the forum. So... 

    a) - Damned ship looks could me more realistic, not some alien crustaceans made some bones ship and then put disco rave dance party inside. So instead of this:

    CdRHYQ8.jpg

    We could gladly see this:

    uF7PAe0.jpg

    b) - Inventory menu made with TOTALY MISSPLACED ACCENTS! I mean we have small backpack, but huge opened crafting part (I just noticed I can hide crafting). Crafting window has ALL recipes together. Then we have smallest window with most important information, especially that tiny buffs parts where you should scroll it for all 50 buffs you've got... and then HUGE portrait, which no one cares about. We don't have that many armor types and cosmetic you know?

    So instead of this:

    tJwVUUC.jpg

    We could see something like this:

    tw4fFC2.jpg

    d) - And of course this minimalistic interface. Even small Russian company that made pirate game Corsairs ages ago, worked a bit on interface graphic. With all old paper, wood, rope, gold and royal velvet elements. I know next picture don't look perfect, but I just wanna show THE IDEA that instead of this:

    w2K8gxH.jpg

    We could play something this like:

    VjXdLDl.jpg

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    why did you delete non-dedicated session, and all my settings?

    I hope someday i can kick you devs in your nuts.

    I did make a new character and when i did log in my old character was stuck on my leg sleeping, i did use the same xbox account WTF.

    Edited by The Max

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    On 1/22/2021 at 8:07 PM, Whitehawk said:

     I'm just glad that Atlas is nothing like an ark dlc anymore.....Oh hang on, tranq arrows, more tames, hmmm.....

    Without tames Atlas would just be Seas of Thieves.

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    No not at all, sea of thieves has no ship building, just customisation, also it has no pve. Also 1st person only. The building is non existant. The graphics are very cartoony. Although it is slightly more solo friendly. Sea of thieves also has quests. And the list would go on, but I can't be Assed.

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    Hi Conch, welcome to the team. I believe you are real if you post here and if you answer to questions that follow up to your selected Q & A. Who cares about discord? That is a chat tool for spammers where no discussion is possible in the ammount of useless  comments. Nobody can follow that. So just be so kind and keep focussing on posting infos in this forum where everybody has easy access to informations.

    So conclusion: The developers team is working on a complete change of the game. The current status of an Ark copy with a new theme was "succefully" tested over 2 years. What can we await? You shut down all servers, work on the game for 1 year and than give us a new game? I don't believe in implementing all new features in the current game anymore. I gave up on the optimization because hell i loved the game back in Season 3... but that was the past.... a game we will never have again.

     

    Hire some players for a closed test server -> actually you should pay those testers instead of getting founded by the players that suffer your decision or just quit playing. I spend more than 2000 hours for 20€. Not a bad deal for me but still it feels i paid too much for all the issues i faced so far.

     

    I liked this kind of sandbox game actually. There was nothing than a undiscovered and unsettled world. The players had to settle down and build towns etc., they had to harvest everything to do so by hand, they had to group up to do big things. Only issue... you can't have a realistic environment in a online game where people troll on PvE and just use the PvP tag to just destroy everything... red = dead, and ofline "raiding" for no loot.... Other said to that there are some hardcore rollplay servers where you actually have to care about your life instead of fast recovery dieing, interact with your sourrundings etc. but of course that is not a game for everybody.

    The game gives many options but currently the most important seams to be missing -> access to ships.

    It was such a great expirience to gatter resources and build a ship by your hands. To collect tames like elephant and giraffe to be able to build brigs and even galleons with a decent amount of time to spend for harvesting. On 1x settings there is no need for gold to make farming a ship cost you time.

    But nowadays you don't need to search NPC... just drop a puckle manned and unseat to have it for the ship(once we had npc gatter ships). Resources are gattered by automated farmhouses. If you do not have farmhouse and warehouse to trade you don't have gold and you don't have ships. Why the hack a shooner is not for free? It tooks you about 10-15 ships build and lost in fight at least to get you on a level where you know what your ships need to survive. Or you are lucky to meet somebody telling you. But than you need to actually have a good ship and than learn to maneuver it in battle. I don't see how new players can learn this game and stick to it in it's current state(other than never leaving their island).

     

    Atlas will not be a sandbox survival, farm, build and >>sail<<game anymore

    Atlas will not be a MMO that focuss on building teams. Players build companys to develop an friendly and foe environment that is not guided by the developers

    Atlas will not be a fraction based game as this is not working with the current environment of a sandbox where players can build everywhere with a theoretical complete freedom in decisions.

    Atlas will not be Sea of Thieves or some kind of World of Warships in pirate theme... ESports in Atlas, wtf?(pick ship, pick server, clikc start and fight - sink and restart)

     

     

    Conch, Tell us what is Atlas and what shall it be in the End of 2021?

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    7 hours ago, Nacona said:

    ...Hire some players for a closed test server -> actually you should pay those testers instead of getting founded by the players that suffer your decision or just quit playing. I spend more than 2000 hours for 20€. Not a bad deal for me but still it feels i paid too much for all the issues i faced so far.

     

    I liked this kind of sandbox game actually. There was nothing than a undiscovered and unsettled world. The players had to settle down and build towns etc., they had to harvest everything to do so by hand, they had to group up to do big things. Only issue... you can't have a realistic environment in a online game where people troll on PvE and just use the PvP tag to just destroy everything... red = dead, and ofline "raiding" for no loot.... Other said to that there are some hardcore rollplay servers where you actually have to care about your life instead of fast recovery dieing, interact with your sourrundings etc. but of course that is not a game for everybody.

    The game gives many options but currently the most important seams to be missing -> access to ships.

    It was such a great expirience to gatter resources and build a ship by your hands. To collect tames like elephant and giraffe to be able to build brigs and even galleons with a decent amount of time to spend for harvesting. On 1x settings there is no need for gold to make farming a ship cost you time.

    But nowadays you don't need to search NPC... just drop a puckle manned and unseat to have it for the ship(once we had npc gatter ships). Resources are gattered by automated farmhouses. If you do not have farmhouse and warehouse to trade you don't have gold and you don't have ships. Why the hack a shooner is not for free? It tooks you about 10-15 ships build and lost in fight at least to get you on a level where you know what your ships need to survive. Or you are lucky to meet somebody telling you. But than you need to actually have a good ship and than learn to maneuver it in battle. I don't see how new players can learn this game and stick to it in it's current state(other than never leaving their island).

     

    Atlas will not be a sandbox survival, farm, build and >>sail<<game anymore

    Atlas will not be a MMO that focuss on building teams. Players build companys to develop an friendly and foe environment that is not guided by the developers

    Atlas will not be a fraction based game as this is not working with the current environment of a sandbox where players can build everywhere with a theoretical complete freedom in decisions.

    Atlas will not be Sea of Thieves or some kind of World of Warships in pirate theme... ESports in Atlas, wtf?(pick ship, pick server, clikc start and fight - sink and restart)

     

     

    Conch, Tell us what is Atlas and what shall it be in the End of 2021?

    So, obviously, we should start with gatter. Its "gather". I know it looks similar but the "th" phonic cant really be supplemented with the "tt". In this case "getter" would have been more appropriate. 

    I feel you are being a bit hyperbolic.

    I agree that the ships are a little too difficult to obtain for solos and duos. They are certainly not unobtainable though. My only real complaint about this new system is the schooner. I feel it should be free or at least much cheaper as it should be the go to boat for small crews and solos. OR I would also accept the compromise of making a sloop speed closer to that of a schooner.

    Farms and manned puckles greatly improved the solo experience. Not having to tame multiple different animals, just to gather resources at a decent clip was an amazing addition. Not having to go and get NPCs to defend your little spot helped tremendously as well. You worded your statement as if it was better before with just tames, and implied that you could no longer do things the way you used too. However you can still have your great experience and gather resources and NPCs in the exact same way as you did before with tames and boats. 

    Now there is an issue with the farms and WHs and markets. Ironically its the same issue with the original claiming system, limitless expansion. The bigger companies will setup their market systems on their claimed island. Then go and setup more systems on lawless islands. They will destroy and push out solos and smalls on a lawless to increase their self trades and generate an amount of gold that no solo or small will be able to contend with. This unlimited expansion coupled with the ability to trade with your own markets is why solos and smalls find it so difficult to compete. There should be some serious thought into 1 market per company, or some type of cap per company.

    All that aside, this is why I responded to your post;

    "Atlas will not be a sandbox survival, farm, build and >>sail<<game anymore"  

    It is a fact that it is all of these things still. I do all of these things, even if I preferred free boats.

    "Atlas will not be a MMO that focuss on building teams. Players build companys to develop an friendly and foe environment that is not guided by the developers"

    The irony of this statement following the first statement. That last part is by definition what makes it a sandbox game.

    "Atlas will not be a fraction based game as this is not working with the current environment of a sandbox where players can build everywhere with a theoretical complete freedom in decisions."

    Right right, lets keep the game whole. No fractions please.

    "Atlas will not be Sea of Thieves or some kind of World of Warships in pirate theme... ESports in Atlas, wtf?"

    The Atlas devs should definitely take a hard close look at Sea of Thieves. Same engine, same theme, worse graphics but everything works flawlessly. They should aspire to even get close to Sea of Thieves.

    Esports? Lol that was clearly a joke. Atlas is not a talent based game, nor do even enough people know it exist to contemplate Esports.

     

    -CS

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    I'd like a better understanding of the market, for instance why cant we rotate trade routes between our own markets so we dont have to go to and from each island once you do in fact establish several markets across the maps. Also your tethering is atrocious maybe make the setting for that work in the single player host mode for those who hate people or get sick of people destroying absolutely all your stuff. And 2 end this off Pirate Law sucks D***

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