Grim Dawn Q & A Developer responds !

[Knuckles 904]

Hey Knuckles,
Below are our answers. We omitted some of the questions as we cannot answer them at this time, so rather than responding to them with a blanket "We can't answer this right now", I'd rather we just cut them.

1) Will there be a mechanic to change the quality of wares offered at a merchant? Such as a quest that upgrades a vendors' offerings; or a merchant hidden away that has 'better' items.
Rumor is that a merchant’s caravan was lost somewhere out past Wightmire. If you rescue him, perhaps he will offer you his superior wares. We have talked about other methods of augmenting gear, such as a blacksmith that can enhance items but we are not yet sure when or if that will happen. It may be an expansion feature if we cannot get it in before release.

2) Being a Diablo-style game, where are all the rainbows and unicorns O.o?
We take our inspiration from the older Diablo games, which were decidedly devoid of rainbows and unicorns.

3) After release, what are your plans for expansions / additional content?
We are definitely planning to keep the world of Cairn growing post-release. Along with new regions and quests, we plan to include additional class masteries, items, enemies and more in future expansions.

4) Do you ever see dedicated open/closed servers for the game?
We would love to be able to support closed servers and it may be possible in time. We know this is a very important feature for the online hardcore audience. It would require reworking of the engine and setting up and maintaining servers, which is costly and beyond the means of our fledgling studio at this time. If Grim Dawn is enough of a financial success, we might be able to hire the additional people we would need and cover the expenses of setting up dedicated servers.

5) How will factions work?
Our faction system will allow you to form friendly (or not so friendly) relationships with various groups throughout Cairn. The first of these is the Survivors of Devil’s Crossing. Earning a positive reputation with a group will earn you access to new quests and rewards, but sometimes that may come at a price of becoming enemies with an opposing faction. This system is still being fleshed out, so you will not see most of this until we are closer to release.

6) Would you support an official or unofficial wiki site?
We do what we can to support player fan sites and there is actually already an effort underway to create a Grim Dawn wiki. We lack the staff to undertake something like this ourselves though.

7) After reaching max character level, will there be any additional challenges for that character?
There will be several dungeons and hidden non-story bosses for players to find that will be balanced to provide a challenge for max level characters. In addition, crafting will require some rare ingredients that may only be acquired from the toughest opponents.

8) In many games skill progression is maxed out well before max character level. Is there anything for a very high level character to do to improve his character outside of gear?
In Grim Dawn skill progression will continue up to the max character level, which will mean playing well beyond the end of the main story. After max level, it will still be possible to gain additional skill and attribute points by completing difficult end-game quests, some of which may require the highest levels of certain factions.

9) In many games re-playability is an issue (D3 for me). What are you doing game-wise to increase/provide re-playability?
There is a huge variety of class builds and item combinations for players to experiment with and we’ll be adding more in expansions. One of the goals in our itemization is to provide opportunities for unusual play-styles. We’ve also crafted more open levels with dynamic barriers that can change the flow of progression and randomized underground entrances and quest objectives so that you get the look of a hand-crafted world but some of the replay of a randomized level. Divergent quest choices also provide some opportunity for a different experience on subsequent play-throughs.

10) Many people love to show off their characters (vanity shots). Will we be able to take close-up pics of our characters?
The camera features a wide zoom range, so you can get up close and personal with the monsters trying to tear you apart. The best character vanity shots would probably be taken from the character selection screen though.

11) Will there be random boss encounters (like Toxeous)?
The alpha already features over 120 unique hero monsters that you can encounter. In addition, there are several side-boss encounters that you can discover. The list will only grow as we get closer to the full release.

12) On the options menu, there's one about locking item pickup. Is that for multi-player to control whether others can see/pickup your drops or something else?
Our approach to multiplayer loot is more old school than the current “we’re playing together but not really” approach. Loot in Grim Dawn will be shared so you and your friends can bask in the sparkling piles together. We may add other looting options later on but currently it is outside the scope of the project.

13) Have they thought about drastically cutting the cost to respec skill points just for the alpha (maybe early beta)?
We tried to make the Alpha as close to the full release as possible, which includes the respec costs. We want alpha players to experience the game the way we intend it so that we can make adjustments that are appropriate for the final release, rather than changes we will have to undo later. That said, we have significantly reduced the cost for the first several respect points, which we intend to carry into the final game. We think players should have flexibility early on but then move toward a more permanent configuration.

14) Will there be more than 3 classes to choose from in the finished game?
The full release of Grim Dawn will feature five skill masteries, from which you can choose two to make your class, for a total of ten if you discount “pure” classes. We plan on releasing additional masteries with expansions.

15) Titan quest had relics you could form by collecting certain items, scrolls, etc...will you be able to have this as well in the finished game?
Yes! The gear slot to the left of the belt is reserved just for this purpose.

16) Will there be class specific gear sets?
As each class is defined by a combination of two masteries, Grim Dawn will release with a total of ten classes. That list will continue to grow exponentially with each mastery we add. Since we do not have strictly defined classes like other ARPGs, there will not be any class specific gear. There is plenty of gear catering to specific masteries, and combinations of masteries, though.

17) Will the main character actually speak?
Other than the VO lines for warnings such as “I need more energy” or “it’s locked”, we do not have plans for adding VO dialogue to the main character. We feel that giving the character too much of their own voice detracts from immersion and risks alienating players when their character blurts out lines that they might disagree with or find cringe-worthy.

18) What will the next act look like?
Players will climb up into the foothills NW of Devil’s Crossing and then descend into a region of abandoned farmland. The visuals will be a refreshing change from the swamps between Devil’s Crossing and Burrwitch.

19) What will the end game be like?
The end game will be primarily focused on the pursuit of that perfect set of gear, both through exploring content you experienced along the way and taking on challenging optional dungeons / bosses as you work toward max character level, which can only be attained if players continue beyond the main story. There will also be powerful recipe items with ingredients that are rare drops found in some of the more challenging areas / enemies in the world. Finally, there will be end-game quests that are outside of the main story, some of which may be tricky to find or will require certain faction standing.

20) Will we be able to transfer our Alpha character through Beta and Final release?
We do not currently have any plans to wipe characters during the test phases. However, as things change between alpha and beta and release, characters could be broken or become unable to progress through certain quests, or miss out on new rewards that are added to old quests.

21) When will the mod tools be released?
The mod tools will be released soon™ after full release. You will be able to use the same tools we do to create new quests, monsters, skills, etc. Really looking forward to what the community will create.

22) Will armor sets have more artistic 'pop' to them color wise?
The common sets of gear were designed to fit into the desperate state of the world and should also be somewhat understated so that unique items can better stand out. Unique items will have often come from times before the Grim Dawn and will feature more extravagant designs.

23) Roughly what % does the alpha playable area represent of the total playable area in the game?
The Alpha represents roughly a third or less of the full game and has been taking most players around 8-15 hours on the first play-through, depending on how much they clear

 

Zantai (Crate Employee - Designer)

[Dragon Brother 619]

Interesting...I've not read any of the discussion on here about grim dawn until your post and it seems intersting. No I'm on holidays from uni for a month I might look into it

[masteff 64]

Great stuff!