Armorsmith Archive
Thread: What's going on with your correspondant
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JaatoWaals
Thu Sep 16, 2004 5:47 pm
#1
Well folks, as you can tell, September is quickly coming to an end and the combat balance has yet to go live. I know many of you are disappointed by this, as am I, but it's as with most things, sometimes expectations of when things will get finished are a bit optomistic. I definitely learned that lesson over the last few days- I'm currently in the process of moving and my estimate of the amount of time it'd take for the movers to pack up my home was, to put it mildly, "not even close." But the movers were working hard, packing through lunch and without a break, so I wasn't upset. Annoyed, of course, because I've still got a lot of things at work to do before I leave and I was home and not there, but not at the movers. The whole situation reminded me a lot of how businesses work in general- people make predictions that are estimates, but not guarantees, because things always take longer than you expect them too.
There is a point to this post, besides a general ramble. As some of you may recall, I had planned to step down as correspondant in mid-September, with the expectation that the combat balance would at least have gone into major testing by that point. Unfortunately, we're still waiting on the sandbox to get up and running, so that expectation hasn't been met. But I'm still dedicated to making sure the combat balance gets done right, though- especially the armor part- so I'm going to stay on until it's done and done right. As of now, it's looking really good, and the Devs who are working on it have some great ideas. The real test won't be until we get to start messing with the new rules and trying to break them, though, which hopefully will be in the not too distant future. While the game is still lots of fun to play with combat being distorted the way it is, it's going to be a lot better once some of the biggest distortions- exponential power curves when it comes to armor, defenses and attack speeds, racial imbalances, and buffs, among lots of other things- have been corrected.
The bad news is, while I'm happy to stay on as armorsmith correspondant to make sure this rebalance is done right, I'm going to be gone for a few weeks- from the end of September until the middle of October- on vacation. To that end, I've asked StGabe, the swordsman correspondant, to keep an eye on this forum and make sure that any issues that come up with are immediately dealt with. Gabe is a good guy and has significant experience working with armor, as he plays an active armorsmith on TestCenter. While our opinions differ on some things, we're both committed to making sure that armor has a viable role in the new system.
With regard to the Sandbox testers, I've received quite a few applications. I plan on reviewing them over the next few days and selecting my five recommendations shortly. I'll let everyone know who they are. Most likely, my successor will come from the people who are active sandbox testers, so if you have a very strong desire to become the next armorsmith correspondant, once all this has settled down, send in an application if you haven't already. If you can't find the post, my email is [email protected].
I hope you are all still enjoying playing armorsmiths. I know that there are still kinks and bugs- the two most obvious ones right now have to do with RIS components- but all in all it's one of the few crafting professions that really works, since the process of making armor is one that requires the player to amass a fair body of knowledge and spend some serious time thinking about how to make the products that their customers want, in addition to just having a certain in-game skillset.
Good smithing,
-Jaato
Message Edited by JaatoWaals on 09-16-2004 10:04 PM
styx66
Thu Sep 16, 2004 6:05 pm
#2
Jaato you outdid yourself as correspondent and I hate to see ya have to go...
I will keep an eye out here as well during your absence, and chip in as best I can.
As for a replacement, if no others are jumping at the chance and nobody objects, I'd love to pick up again where you left off. I'm sure however there is someone out there who wants it, and who am I to expect to get back what I stupidly gave up... 
I am looking forward to smithing again, and nothing would be greater than being able to lead the armorsmiths into battle once again....
Blimigerite
Thu Sep 16, 2004 6:31 pm
#4
You've done a great job Jaato. You've earned a vacation or two 
Okram2k
Thu Sep 16, 2004 6:58 pm
#5
you indeed have done an excellent job.
Good luck on the move! I know it's a major pain, as I've just recently moved myself and I have hardly anything to my name. Take care and see you around!
JaatoWaals
Thu Sep 16, 2004 7:08 pm
#6
Thanks all. Just to clarify, I'm not going to be stepping down tomorrow or anything- just once the combat balance goes live. I'd really like to make sure armorsmith continues to be a viable crafting profession and thatthe things that make armorsmithing interesting stay in place. With any luck it won't be too much longer, and from the state of where things were at as of a few weeks ago, the Lady seems to be favoring us with a glance. I'm not going to make predictions (the events of the past few days showed me how inaccurate I am at that), but things are definitely moving along.
Boooozark
Thu Sep 16, 2004 8:19 pm
#7
Enjoy your time away Jaato, you have more than earned it.
/deepbow
StGabriel
Fri Sep 17, 2004 6:24 am
#8
Enjoy your vacation Jaato.
I'll be lurking. If you guys think I've missed any important issues (particularly more urgent and recent ones), feel free to PM me and I'll do my best to step up and fill Jaato's shoes for a bit.
I do indeed do a lot of armorsmithing. Right now I make up to 70 comp and 76 ubese on TC. When I first got into armor biz I lurked this forum a lot to get advice on how to put my stuff together and I was always impressed with the discussion and posters here. I'm glad to lend a hand for a couple of weeks.
StGabe.
I'll be lurking. If you guys think I've missed any important issues (particularly more urgent and recent ones), feel free to PM me and I'll do my best to step up and fill Jaato's shoes for a bit.
I do indeed do a lot of armorsmithing. Right now I make up to 70 comp and 76 ubese on TC. When I first got into armor biz I lurked this forum a lot to get advice on how to put my stuff together and I was always impressed with the discussion and posters here. I'm glad to lend a hand for a couple of weeks.
StGabe.
Ainwyn
Fri Sep 17, 2004 12:25 pm
#9
Thank you Jaato, for everything. You have done a great job and I am glad to know you will see it through.
styx66
Fri Sep 17, 2004 6:04 pm
#10
hopnasty wrote:
Great job and kudos to both of our Correspondants!! You two have gone above and beyond anything I could have expected in terms of supporting and advocating our profession.
My vote for next correspondant goes to Zig. He was the pioneer and he always kept an open line between us and the devs. Plus, he already knows what he's doing. Breaking in a new guy might not be the best way to go, especially in dealing with new issues that will arise from the Combat Balance.
My 0.02c
Thanks much for the vote of confidence!
But like I said it wouldn't be fair if there is someone new that is eager to fill Jaato's shoes, and everyone thinks could do a fine job. I'm here as a safety net really...
Plus I kinda like Blue Glowie.....
hopnasty
Sat Sep 18, 2004 12:33 am
#11
Great job and kudos to both of our Correspondants!! You two have gone above and beyond anything I could have expected in terms of supporting and advocating our profession.
My vote for next correspondant goes to Zig. He was the pioneer and he always kept an open line between us and the devs. Plus, he already knows what he's doing. Breaking in a new guy might not be the best way to go, especially in dealing with new issues that will arise from the Combat Balance.
My 0.02c
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