Today,
Relic Entertainments very own community manager,
Thunder, agreed to answer some more of the questions put forward by the
GameReplay.org community regarding patches past, patches present and patches future, along with a few of the more common concerns about gameplay and balance issues. So without furthur ado:
GameReplays.org: In the February Q&A you told us that Relic used player feedback to fine tune many aspects of the game. What specific sources does Relic look to for this player feedback? Where is the best place for a player to leave his or her feedback if they are hoping Relic will read and implement it? Of the various aspects of the game (UI, server browser, game balance) which - so far - has been influenced most by player feedback?
Relic: Player feedback was indeed used, but more importantly we will continue to use it to improve the game. We look at a number of sources for player input but reading forums are probably the easiest for us. I read a number of forums, including GR.org’s and we have community forums for the game on our site as well. (http://community.dawnofwar2.com/)
As for which part of the game has been effected most by player feedback at this point, I think you’d need to analyze the extensive day one patch. The beta was highly successful in our view and we made a lot of bug fixes based on player feedback. I think that in the long run game balance will probably be the most influenced part of the game based on player feedback.
GameReplays.org: A lot of people complain that the Tyranids are overly powerful, especially the Ravener Alpha commander. Does the balance team agree that this is an issue? Will actions be taken to better balance them in a future patch?
Relic: To quote a member of our design team, “Yes and yes.” Complete agreement that there is an issue and confirmation that it will be addressed in a future patch.
GameReplays.org: Can you give us any information on why Relic hasn't yet released 2 vs 2 as a playable format? Does Relic plan to include it as a playable game mode? When? Will they introduce other game modes?
Relic: To answer the first part of the question about more information on why there isn’t a 2v2 playable format yet, it’s simply the time it takes to implement it:
- We needed to create some 2v2 maps, which we’re working on.
- Code support so you can search for 2v2 games.
- This will all need to be testing internally and then signed off on.
I don’t like to give ETAs since often unforeseen things can delay work, and then we would be seen as having broken a promised delivery date. We still have some work to do here so it is not something that’s going to be rolled out next week.
Other game modes are something that has been discussed, but no firm plans exist for more game modes exist right now.
GameReplays.org: Will new maps be added to the (ranked) map pool? What about the 1 vs 1 special collector map? Does Relic have any plans to release a map editor?
Relic: Yes we do plan on adding new maps to the game and to the map pool. This includes the eventual release of the 1v1 retailer exclusive map, but timing on that is up to the gang in sales.
A map editor is definitely something that we’d like to release but work needs to happen to make the thing usable by non-Relic employees who aren’t on our network or tied in with other tools that we use.
GameReplays.org: Is the replay system going to be improved so that more information is visible to viewers? Information like what war gear a commander has purchased, or if a squad is retreating, or suppressed?
Relic: Yes, some improvements that will allow you to view more information during a replay are being made and are planned to be included in our next patch. This should make watching a replay much more educational and entertaining.
GameReplays.org: In the beta we heard that
Company Of Heroes style control group tabbing would be added, however it still hasn’t been introduced. Does Relic intend to implement this feature in a future patch? If so, can you give us some indication as to when?
Relic: We’ve been focused on what we determined were higher priority issues that needed to be fixed, but yes we do plan to implement this in a future patch. I can’t give a date or ETA.
GameReplays.org: The game has been out for a while now. How do you think the game is doing compared to
Soulstorm and
Company Of Heroes after they were first launched?
Relic: There was definitely a lot of positive buzz about the game at launch and that is very exciting for us. We have more plans to create content for DOW II than we have had for our previous games, so we hope to keep that excitement going!
Discuss this topic in the Relic Q&A - April '09 discussion topic.