Community Q&A: February 16

Ark hunters, welcome to our latest Defiance Developer Q&A, populated with the questions you're asking on the official forums. Make sure to keep an eye out for the next question collection thread on our forums this week!

Source: http://forums.defiance.com/showthread.php?203061-Defiance-Developer-Q-amp-A-February-16

Questions:

• Will we see new EGO powers in the future?
• Are there any plans to tone down some of the graphic displays in the game? Things like the BMG beams, Crimefighter blasts or spikes.
• Will the hair on headgear items ever be changed to match the color of our character's hair?
• Can you give us an update on what the team is doing to improve server stability?
• Are the new bonus roll mechanics going to be applied to Mission Reward, Vendor, and Named weapons?
• What will be the Bit Store price for one Hunter Requisition, and will there be an option to buy in "bulk" for a discount?
• Will there be a maximum number of Hunter Requisitions that a player can have, and, if so, what is that limit?
• Can Hunter Requisitions be traded between players?
• Is the team looking at options for more ways for players to acquire Hunter Requisition?
• Do the Radiation perks have any effect on Shrill Grenades?
• Not all players love PvP. In what ways will Alcatraz help players avoid it and still have a full game experience?

1. Will we see new EGO powers in the future?
   
           We aren't planning to introduce new EGO powers, but we are looking at alternatives that would provide new, activatable abilities through other means.
   
    
2. Are there any plans to tone down some of the graphic displays in the game? Things like the BMG beams, Crimefighter blasts or spikes.
   
           Yes, we do plan on reducing some of the weapons tied to heavy visual effects usage. We have already made a quick pass at the Crimefighter and reduced some of the camera shake and vfx slightly. A second pass at this will still be needed for the vfx itself. As for the BMGs it may take some time to deal with properly.
   
   
3. Will the hair on headgear items ever be changed to match the color of our character's hair?
   
           This is still being investigated by members of our team. We will update you as we make progress.
   
   
4. Can you give us an update on what the team is doing to improve server stability?
   
           This is one of our ongoing tasks – we are constantly monitoring server stability and traffic. There are a few devs that are on call 24/7 to make sure services are functioning within expected limits. We have reports that help us narrow down when these spikes occur and help us investigate what may be triggering them to occur. The data provided allows us to make adjustments to improve the player experience.
   
   
5. Are the new bonus roll mechanics going to be applied to Mission Reward, Vendor, and Named weapons?
   
           Possibly. It’s something we’d like to do, but it’s a tricky task to do in a way that doesn’t impact existing weapons. It’s something we’ll be investigating post-Alcatraz.
   
      
6. What will be the Bit Store price for one Hunter Requisition, and will there be an option to buy in "bulk" for a discount?
   
           The price for a single Hunter Requisition is currently 40 bits, 5 Hunter Reqs for 180 bits, 20 Hunter Reqs for 500 bits. Keep in mind that 1 Hunter Requisition will allow you to play through multiple rounds of Expeditions as long as you do not extract or end the Expedition. A single round of an Expedition is designed to take approximately 20 minutes for the average 4 player group. As with all things currently on PTS, these are subject to change as we go through tuning and test.
   
   
7. Will there be a maximum number of Hunter Requisitions that a player can have, and, if so, what is that limit?
   
           We currently do not have a cap on the amount of Hunter Requisitions available to a character. Also, remember that if you have a Patron Pass you must log in to claim your daily Hunter Requisition.
   
    
8. Can Hunter Requisitions be traded between players?
   
           Hunter Requisitions are a non-tradable currency.
   
   
9. Is the team looking at options for more ways for players to acquire Hunter Requisition?
   
           As with all things on the PTS, we are currently evaluating the data on how players use the Hunter Requisition currency. As it stands now, the current allotment is 1 free Hunter Requisition that all players can claim each week, Patron Pass players can claim a bonus Hunter Requisition each day. What’s on PTS right now is our starting point and based on what we find during testing, it may change.
   
   
10. Do the Radiation perks have any effect on Shrill Grenades?
    
            Radiation perks do apply to the Shrill grenade damage as well as incendiary perks also apply to Pyro grenades. (Technically, the electric perks also apply to Flashbangs, but their primary benefit is not the damage.
    
      
11. Not all players love PvP. In what ways will Alcatraz help players avoid it and still have a full game experience?
    
            The Alcatraz update will introduce Expeditions which are a PvE activity as well as increasing the EGO cap to 6000. Expeditions will have related pursuits that will help you acquire more EGO towards your goal of increasing your character’s EGO. On top of the initial release of expeditions, we plan on adding more expeditions & pursuits in future updates within the coming months. As in the past with Defiance being a Live game we will be adding new content and activities that will encompass players of all types.