Not a ton of new stuff, but here it is
Brannoc - Welcome to another great Stratics House of Commons chat with the developers of Vanguard! Today we'll be focusing on international concerns such as release, billing, technical support, etc so please try to ask questions relating to this sort of topic.
Brannoc - Please send said questions to [QT]Gowel - to do so type /msg [QT]Gowel My Question Here. Questions sent to myself or the developers will NOT make it into the lineup, so don't bother. Full logs of the chat will be up on http://www.stratics.com shortly after the chat.
Brannoc - So without further ado we'll start with a brief introduction from the developers, now would be a good time to send those questions.
Ozuri-SGO - Hello all!
AbigaleSGO - Hello
Ozuri-SGO - So I suppose you all already know Abigale.
AbigaleSGO - Welcome and thanks for joining us today
Ozuri-SGO - My name is Ozuri, and on TV, I'm played by Zack Karlsson, the International Business Development Manager here at Sigil Games Online-
AbigaleSGO - And I think I have met most of you already... I'm Cindy Bowens, the Community Manager for Sigil
Ozuri-SGO - We're really interested in focusing today on some of the international aspects of releasing an MMO.
Ozuri-SGO - I know there's a lot of information that is floating around and expectations about how these things are going to be handled, and we wanted to share some information about our thought process and solicit feedback from you, the community..
AbigaleSGO - We are very pleased to have had Zack join us. His experience with internationalization is unparralelled in this industry
Ozuri-SGO - Yes, that is true. I really like Swedish fish.
*Ozuri-SGO grins.
AbigaleSGO - lol
Ozuri-SGO - So with that, we're gonna open up the questions.
Brannoc - *Kiranth* In the past Brad has talked about having text-translation programs embedded into Vanguard's client in order to help players from all over the world play with eachother - anything you can add to this, or comment on?
Ozuri-SGO - I can comment a bit on that.
Ozuri-SGO - I think we really understand that there's a huge community out there, internationally. Anything we can do to make communication easier within those communities and from community-to-community would be beneficial.
Ozuri-SGO - That being said..
Ozuri-SGO - Text translation is something that is still developing as a technology. Some recent MMOs, FFXI to be specific, have made attempts at this in varying degrees.
Ozuri-SGO - We feel it's a very worthwhile technology, but the extent to which it will be incorporated has yet to be determined.
Brannoc - *SGOfan* what languages will the game launch in?
Ozuri-SGO - We still haven't decided. The only one that is certain is English.
Ozuri-SGO - We certainly have plans to launch in other languages. We would consider most of the major European languages to be likely as well as the major Asian languages.
Ozuri-SGO - No Swahili or Turkish. Sorry.
Brannoc - *Kheldon* Do you have any plans on setting up regional/continental customer service and tech support offices for Vanguard? For example offices somewhere in Europe to coordinate Customer Service and Technical Support for that area?
Ozuri-SGO - This is a sticky one. Every office that is opened increases cost, so we have to make sure that the community exists to support such an endeavor.
Ozuri-SGO - That being said, we feel it is extraordinarily important to have a local resource available for people, in the very least for technical support.
Ozuri-SGO - The typical model that is applied, or that I believe would work best in an instance like this, depending of course on the reception in that community is providing in-game CS for any language that the game is translated to..
Ozuri-SGO - Now, the caveat always being that these things are subject to change and not set in stone.. but I think that model works fairly well in the industry.
Brannoc - *Zephyr* What are your plans when it comes to updates such as patches? Will they be done simultaniously or weeks apart as some current MMOGs manage when it comes to releases in different countries?
Ozuri-SGO- Well, now we come to a technical explanation. This is a great question because I think there's a lot of misinformation about what is involved in supporting a game in multiple languages.
Ozuri-SGO - In essence, patch data -- be it code changes or design changes or art changes, is assembled, then tested by the Developers.
Ozuri-SGO - Any last minute text changes, minor fixes are then pushed by testers back to the devs for revision.
Ozuri-SGO- Then the patch is typically pushed out to the consumer.
Ozuri-SGO - When you add multiple languages in, all those last minute changes have to be incorporated into the patch that is pushed.
Ozuri-SGO - So you're faced with a bit of a quandry.. delay all patches until they can be released simultaneously, which can take additional time depending on your translation resource..
Ozuri-SGO - Or delay the patches internationally to accomodate..
Ozuri-SGO - Historically, players have preferred the delay, but we still haven't decided how this is going to be handled.
Brannoc - *Roval-XS* how will I be able to pay internationally?
Ozuri-SGO - Well, I have a paypal account set up for exactly this purpose..
Ozuri-SGO - Mostly kidding..
Ozuri-SGO - Actually, this is also something we are still deciding..
Ozuri-SGO - I can say that we will not place restrictions on the origin of your credit card or things of that nature.
Ozuri-SGO - We understand that many countries operate differently from the North American model and we will make every effort to accomodate as many different options as we can.
Ozuri-SGO - I would like to institute a barter system, but I don't think that would work very well.
Brannoc - *Dorian* Another company recently decided to place limitations both in their software and their billing system to block international players from playing with US players citing reasons of "performance". For some of us that have friends all over the world this is a touchy subject. Do you know if there are plans for limiting connections or to only have "local" servers?
Ozuri-SGO - Well, I sort of addressed this already, but I'll be a little more specific without commenting on other companies' decisions.
Ozuri-SGO - We understand the value of community here. Gaming as a community has developed to a point where these organizations do not respect geo-political borders or languages. As such, we feel that any effort that can be made to accomodate fluidity in payment, support for these organizations in whatever manner possible, and cohesion is an effort worth making.
Ozuri-SGO - I'd like to buy a period, Alex.
Ozuri-SGO - In essence, if we can at all afford to do so, we will allow you to pay any way you wish. I'm not going to say that it will be every method, but we will do what we can.
Brannoc - Please remember to send questions to [QT]Gowel by using /msg [QT]Gowel My Question Here
Brannoc - *Luminarius* One of the things I loved about EQ1 was the great mix of different cultures playing the game, but localised servers stripped much of that away, even UK 'preferred' servers. Does SGO plan on utilising localised servers or central US servers?
Ozuri-SGO - That's something that we really haven't decided yet. I've heard both sides of that argument. Even though some of the most rich and diverse guilds from other MMOs have been respected and loved, some of the multi-culturalism has also failed in certain instances. A careful balance to be had, for sure, and we want to make sure we get it right -- so it's something that is still in discussion.
Brannoc - *SGOFanboi* Any plans of CS outsourcing?
AbigaleSGO - By the way, folks... when Zack tells you we are still discussing an issue we really are. And if it is a topic you feel strongly about, please visit our forums and state your opinions. We really do pay attention to what are future players are saying.
Ozuri-SGO - Please notice my stealthy way of redirecting this question.. noone will notice..
Ozuri-SGO - The essence of questions of this type usually are really about quality concerns.
Ozuri-SGO - And while I'm not the CS Manager, I will say this..
Ozuri-SGO - We understand, both as gamers and as developers, the need for people to have timely, informed, high-quality Customer Support. We will make every effort to ensure that this happens. Microsoft is committed, we are committed.
Ozuri-SGO - There are no plans, but that's mostly because we haven't planned that far out, yet.
Brannoc - *brianMan* If doing translation will SGO take advantage of MS's localisation expertise, or will they hire their own translators? And will possible localised beta's used to iron out odd translations? (as discussed in a recent thread on the Vanguard forums)
Ozuri-SGO- I can't comment on who we will have doing localization (or localisation, depending where you are)..
Ozuri-SGO- But localized betas are a valuable resource for any developer to iron out translation oddness; I would expect that, wherever possible, we would take advantage of that resource.
Brannoc - *Kiranth* Other games have decided to use Paypal in addition to the standard credit / debit cards and game cards. Will Vanguard allow the use of paypal, or has it even been considered?
Ozuri-SGO - It's still a little premature for us to be confirming payment methods, but we aren't ruling anything out.
Brannoc - *scotter* say I'm in Germany and want to run the Russian version of the game, how would that work? Will I have to hope I can find a Russian version online that will mail it to me or will I just be able to flip a switch in my German version's options and have everything switch to Russian?
Ozuri-SGO - This is another difficult question. This really hasn't been decided yet. But again, I'll give you both sides of the coin that has to be debated..
Ozuri-SGO - If we release the client, fully loaded, with all the translations pre-installed, there are technical limitations to how you can accomplish that -- not necessarily insurmountable, but they do exist. On the other hand, there's the distribution problem of people who live in other countries that want to play in a different language.. once the chat is over, that's something I'd like to get feedback on..
Ozuri-SGO - The boards, again, are a good place to make your thoughts known..
Brannoc - *Ninadene* do you plan to have a program similar to the EQ guide program?
AbigaleSGO - We are all big fans of volunteer CS programs and we want to see one implemented. We are still working on all the legal steps we need to take to make that happen. It's not something we have decided we can do 100% for sure yet. But it is what we are working towards.
AbigaleSGO - Many of us here are former guides and we have a soft spot in our hearts for the program.
Ozuri-SGO - <--former Guide.
Brannoc - *SGOFanboi* Are there plans for International FanGuards (Player gatherings) ?
AbigaleSGO - If the Community is there, we will be there with a Fanguard as well, eventually. We have talked a lot about this and I sincerely hope it is something we can do fairly soon. It will really depend on how much interest there is from the international community. But It is certainly something we want to do. And I am definitely considering how to plan it already
Brannoc - *Luminarius* What kind of advantages does teaming with Microsoft have for international marketing and implementation?
Ozuri-SGO - Umm.. massive. Microsoft has an enormous international presence, as well as domestic. Their organization is well versed in marketing to any region of the world and the benefits to us, as a game, are incalculable.
Ozuri-SGO - Specifically, marketing expertise in local areas, technology infrastructure, local presence, etc..
Brannoc - *Ninadene* there's also the question on everyone's mind. How much longer?
AbigaleSGO - There will be more info flowing out about Vanguard over the next months. And you will see a lot more after E3. It is doubtful we will release any dates regarding release or Beta before then. Sorry... I still just have to say... soon (tm). :D
Brannoc - *iilane* One of the issues I have faced in some other MMORPGs are scheduled downtimes that always coincide with peak playtime in the region of the world where I live in. What is SGO's view on scheduled downtime?
Ozuri-SGO - Well, all of us in the industry, regrettably, have decided simply to schedule downtime whenever it is that Iilane has a day off or some extra spare time. We know this is inconvenient for Iilane, but really.. you can't please everyone..
Ozuri-SGO - Although I kid, scheduled downtime is just an unfortunate reality of the genre of the game..
AbigaleSGO - lol
Ozuri-SGO - I can state emphatically that we will do everything we can to minimize downtime, even scheduled, but beyond that...
Ozuri-SGO - As a developer, you have to target your downtime to when you have the lowest impact as possible on your population..
Ozuri-SGO - While we haven't made any specific schedules, I would find it unlikely that scheduled downtime will go away.
Brannoc - *SGOFanboi* When am I going to get my Invite for LAN Party/Sleepover?
AbigaleSGO - Sgofanboi.... You scare me ROFL
Ozuri-SGO - Hmm.. I ... wait.. that must be Arnie. You scare me.
AbigaleSGO - hehe
Brannoc - *bhcompy* Speaking of E3, will we be able to contact someone(Abigale?) for demos?
AbigaleSGO - We will have a big presence at E3 this year. I will be the contact for demos. I look forward to seeing many of you there!
Brannoc - *Luminarius* One of the problems with EQ1 was many Asian players did not have any idea what new things were happening/changing and why. The forums and press releases were all in western languages only. Will there be an effort by SGO to reach out to the Asian community as well through Asian language representatives/forums?
Ozuri-SGO - This is a great question. A lot of it depends on what languages we choose to localize in.. However, we do believe in having a coordinated worldwide community message and we'll do whatever possible to make sure that message is understood by as much of our playerbase as possible.
Ozuri-SGO - Please watch our website for volunteer positions as a Croatian translator..
AbigaleSGO - lol
Brannoc - *Ozuri-SGO* QUESTION: I'd really like to see a FanGuard on a cruise ship. Any possibility of this happening?
Ozuri-SGO blushes.
AbigaleSGO - Funny... but actually, I have had a number of requests for this over the years. Again, I have to say, if there is enough interest, it is something I could envision us doing eventually. I think it would be a blast! :D