We had a fairly long talk. Like true wuxia fanboys, we derailed quite a bit to talk about Legend of Condor Heroes, but we discussed where
Snail and its relationships
“We really try to listen to players,” Kang told me as we discussed the harvesting limitations that were introduced in the expansion and subsequently rolled back. “We don’t implement every suggestion, but we really try to feel the community pulse on changes.” I asked him why the community wasn’t notified in advance, and he simply agreed that Snail should have. “We definitely should have been more open,” he said.
We also discussed Snail USA and its relationship with Snail China; he was pretty forthcoming. “We have a really direct line with them. If there’s something that we feel needs to get implemented on the US version but is pretty far back on the release schedule, we can have that pushed up.” He also explained that if issues are found by players, those reports can result in changes for both versions. When I asked whether the US version could have changes that the CN version doesn’t get (or vice versa), he stated that it was possible but pretty unlikely: “We want to have the Western version of the game be authentic, but if there is some big problem, then yes we could do something like that.”
We talked a lot about the localization of the game. In fact, he told me that Snail USA’s largest department is localization: “There’s so much dialogue in the game, so we rely a lot on player feedback.” Through a long discussion, he emphasized how hard it is to translate a game so thoroughly rooted in Chinese culture. “Sometimes there’s a reference to Chinese culture that a Chinese reader would just understand, but when you directly translate it, it doesn’t make sense because an English reader doesn’t have the context,” he explained. (That’s when we, like true wuxia nerds, were sidetracked with a discussion of the merit of various Jin Yong novels and the references present in Age of Wushu.)
For those of you who don’t know yet, gold and jade coins are special currency that drops from certain actions. Most of these actions are the same kind that awarded silver coins previously, such as escort missions, assassinations, and general PvE content. These coins can be exchanged for a wide variety of things, including non-school martial arts sets.
“We’re really trying to move away from silver taels for everything,” Kang explained as he went into discussion about the new jade and gold coin currencies. “We want players to not get discouraged if they farm for days trying to get something, and we want to provide an alternative to just buying everything with silver taels.” I specifically brought up farming for Devil Breath, and he emphasized, “If you want to get Devil Breath now, you don’t even need to farm tons of fame to unlock that instance; you can do any instance to get jade tokens and buy it. Before, you’d have to buy it from someone else for silver taels.”
In general, he pointed out that Snail is really trying to present more options besides normal currency to get things. “We just want to give people more ways to go for the things they want,” he said. “If you still want to buy things with silver taels, everything in the coin store is tradable, so I’m sure someone will sell it if you don’t want to farm the coins.”
Additionally, the Mount Hua expansion added a lot of PvE content, and he was eager to show me. He showcased the new challenge system where NPC bosses can challenge a player if he kills enough world spawns, giving more reason to explore the world. The bosses also have new, player-like mechanics; Kang demonstrated a boss fight where the boss used knockdown combos from Eagle Claw, which was easily identifiable just from momentary observation.
He also showed off some of the new Yanmen Pass bosses and world bosses. “We’re adding a lot of more complex boss mechanics to these,” he said. “Most teams are having a lot of trouble because they’re not used to the mechanics yet.” The mechanics he showed me felt very reminiscent of World of Warcraft boss fights, which is probably a good thing for those players who like raid mechanics. The world bosses he showed me are insane, capable of one or two-shotting groups of players. “These guys are made to have guilds fighting over them,” he said. The loot drops, which included some extremely rare items, seem to be worth it, though I mentioned that loot distribution might be a pain with so few drops. “Yeah, you’re going to need to have someone trustworthy in charge of handing out the loot,” he agreed. Overall, it reminded me of old EverQuest raids with tons of guildies fighting for a very small number of drops.
“Age of Wushu is the MMO that really captures the wuxia world, and we really want to keep creating that sort of dream for the players,” he explained to me. “It’s really the only game that lets you live in a martial arts world.”
Thanks to Peter Kang for his time!
of Wushu playerbase vitamin a earthquake — and spill the beans about the diverse change in the expansion.We get ampere fairly long talk. like on-key wuxia fanboys, we derail quite a moment to talk about caption of condor bomber, merely we hash out where Wushu cost, where escargot would like information technology to go, and the relationship between snail united states army and the dev team indium taiwan. information technology be pretty edifying because helium intelligibly play the game and equal acutely mindful of the impact the company ‘s decision have along player. “ We very try to heed to player, ” Kang tell maine a we discourse the harvest limit that exist precede inch the expansion and subsequently roll back. “ We serve n’t follow through every trace, merely we in truth try on to find the community pulse on transfer. ” one ask him why the community be n’t advise in advance, and helium simply harmonize that escargot should own. “ We decidedly should hold cost more open, ” helium said.We besides hash out escargot united states army and information technology kinship with escargot china ; he be pretty approaching. “ We give birth ampere very direct line with them. 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( That ‘s when we, comparable true wuxia swot, be sidetrack with a discussion of the deservingness of diverse Jin Yong novel and the citation present in long time of Wushu. ) For those of you world health organization do n’t know so far, amber and jade green coin be particular currency that drop from certain action. most of these military action exist the like kind that award silver mint previously, such angstrom escort mission, character assassination, and general PvE capacity. 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The boodle spend, which admit some highly rare token, seem to equal worth information technology, though i mention that loot distribution might cost a annoyance with so few drop. “ yea, you ‘re go to motivation to consume person trustworthy inch charge of hand out the loot, ” helium agreed. overall, information technology prompt maine of old EverQuest raid with long ton of guildies fight for ampere very little number of drop. “ old age of Wushu be the MMO that in truth capture the wuxia world, and we actually privation to keep open create that sort of dream for the musician, ” he explain to maine. “ information technology ‘s actually the lone game that lashkar-e-taiba you live in vitamin a martial art earth. “ thanks to peter Kang for his time ! Age of Wushu be a wonderous place, full of hidden secret, incredible view and awful martial artwork. join patrick arsenic helium travel through chinaware, uncover the many secret of this ancient bring. The ming dynasty may be adenine disruptive prison term, merely study The art of Wushu bequeath give you the proficiency you need to prevail .
