Fzol chatting with Chris on Twitch today

Fzol had a great discussion with Chris on Twitch today.
Lots of good ideas from Fzol, and Chris talked about some awesome new features that are coming soon.

Chris joined about 00:29:25, and left about 01:50:55

fizzle006 -- Wednesday, May 20, 2020

Atos & Fzol Sit-Down, let's talk about SotA
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/626752534

Edited with Chris chat only:
Atos & Fzol Sit-Down May 20th 2020
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/627037885

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Also, @TaiKee Vetrae had an excellent Twitch chat with Chris last week.
She brought up a lot of good ideas for improvements and fixes.

Chris joined about 01:56:35, and left about 03:09:40

TaiKeeVetrae -- Wednesday, May 13, 2020

Life, the Universe and Everything - with TaiKee & ATOS.
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/619871216

Edited with Chris chat only:
Highlight: Life, the Universe and Everything - with TaiKee & ATOS.
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/620195590

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Thanks to all the streamers helping to promote and improve the game!
And thanks to @Chris for taking the time to chat with them!

 

I need to remember to put these on to listen to them while I work tomorrow, always love Fzol's chats with Chris, he isn't scared to put Chris in a corner and continue hitting, especially where it hurts, but in a very polite way! TaiKee's conversation with Chris will be a first, I'll listen to it to see what she has to say to him!

Thanks for posting these with the timestamps! Nice work Wilfred!

 

What I'd really like to see is a @Bzus and @Elrond stream.

 

Well, this thread degraded quickly.

 

I have been around this game since the start, and have seen many people come and go. I have had many interactions with Fzol, starting with when he befriended me and chatted while I was adventuring. Despite my low level, he was more than willing to talk and make suggestions which would help my play experience. That has continued unabated ever since. Fzol is just the kind of guy who is totally enamoured with this game and wants it to be the best it can be, to the benefit of all players.
In doing that he has spent untold thousands of hours playing (adventuring and crafting). So yes he is a champion PVP player, also a champion crafter. It is a truism that with a small team as we have making this game, changes can be made that the devs do not fully appreciate the consequences of; they benefit from someone with Fzol’s experience telling them how things have turned out from the players’ point of view.
I watched the stream in its entirety, and I found that Fzol was direct but respectful. He heaped praise on Chris when it was warranted, but did not shy away from saying what in his opinion (the voice of experience) would be needed to make things better and retain players. I would rather someone be politely direct rather that pussyfoot around and never get anything done.
PVP has been somewhat neglected so far, so naturally that will be a bit of a focus. I believe there is a large potential audience out there if PVP can be managed well, more players would stay with the game and everyone would benefit. That does not affect anyone else at all- no-one has to PVP if they don’t want to. Also he was very enthusiastic about variable difficulty scenes, which will also benefit the PVE crowd.
Crafting is another issue - he also has many suggestions and ideas around that, which maybe were not covered as extensively in this stream, but were still mentioned.
In closing - if you think you are more qualified and can do the job better, feel free to have a go. It’s not an exclusive position. But if not, don’t take cheap shots at someone who genuinely loves the game and just wants to make it better for everyone.

 

Fzol!
Keep up the good work buddy!!!

Some of you know that I've been streaming the game and doing the "game" related news for 5ish years via twitch and in that time there's a few things everyone needs to keep in mind. If you don't, then ummm...just run. Bear in mind that in that time myself and Laz pissed off the devs on numerous occasions and you know why? Because we are passionate about the game - see mistakes that we wish we could fix, but we are unable to and we have a soapbox upon which we can stand and complain out loud. Have I been warned that certain people wanted to ban me completely from the game (all related to a certain challenge I posted?) Yes, but it was from third parties - none of the primary parties said a single thing to me (and most of the dev team has my phone number). Enough about me - this post is about Fzol!

Is Fzol passionate about the game? Absolutely! Otherwise he wouldn't be playing the game - gaining the expertise that he has, evaluating and documenting the progress he has/hasn't made and be curious enough to ask Chris to sit down and talk to him about a variety of subjects. Are these good interviews? Absolutely? Can they be improved? Absolutely? Is there anything that would make it better? Sure - be like a real news program and do interviews over several hours and then edit it down to a few minutes for public consumption, so that way everyone can say, "Wow! what an awesome interview!" Is that realistic? Not really.

Now, before I continue - keep this in mind:

1. There is no such thing as objectivity. Every interview has a purpose and with that a bias. The purpose and bias goes both ways.
2. The interviewer's goal may not be the same as your goal.
3. You too can do the same thing as Fzol. - start streaming the game yourself (it's so easy Laz can do it), build yourself a little community, ask Chris to join you for a stream and give him a list of topics that you want to discuss before the stream.
4. The axiom that all news is good news is inherently flawed - unless you are an eternal optimist.

Fzol wants a better game. Chris wants a better game. You want a better game. There's a huge difference in what the best game for Fzol, Chris, and you is going to be. This game is/was created with community input from the Kickstarter days. Has the project changed in 6 years? Absolutely. Will it change in the next year? Hopefully. Will it change for better? Cha-cha!


Thanks for the interview! It gave Laz and myself something to talk about on Lunch with Laz and Jack - facepalms included.

Now, why don't we take this post as it was meant to!


Fzol!


This is what this thread should look like:

Dude! How can Chris really be worried about revamping the crafting system and making some objects obsolete? What ever happened to fixing mechanics and RIPPING OFF THE BANDAID! Making existing crafts obsolete will stimulate the economy, because EVERYONE needs new gear? When is Chris going to actually complete my crafting developer challenge?

Fzol, come on man! All that talk about durability...when is the last time you broke a piece of gear? How long did it take to break?

 

I personally loved the interview, one of his best. I was even flabbergasted that he asked some taming questions!

 

I see nothing wrong with the interview. I see nothing wrong with Fzol interviewing Chris. From what I can see/tell: Fzol streams (and HOLY crap does he stream), He is passionate about the game, he enjoys the fights - both pve and pvp. He has never looked down on newer players, never made a lvl requirement for anyone to hop in the group for a quick XP run. To players he has not interacted with before, he does ask to see if their gear is up to speed before bringing them on a run - if it is ok, he will make recommendations and after the run he usually will make them pretty good gear on the spot. He even asked me the first time I did a run with him if my gear was up to par. If you know me, I am a fairly decent crafter, and the gear I wear is good, real good.

I do not follow a ton of other streamers, but I know pretty much that most daylight hours for me - Fzol is streaming. If anyone else is streaming as much as Fzol (and covering all the facets he is while streaming - pve/pvp/crafting), then asked Chris for a interview - I'll bet Chris would ask for a date and time.

The topics covered during Fzol's stream gave a glimpse into what directions Chris / Catnip is looking forward to. As much of a crafter as I am, even I am looking forward to the content that was talked about. WOW - come-on - who cant be excited about being able to "set" the difficulty of a scene before entering it. And if wave scenes could have leaderboards - 10th place: Party of 8 (xxx to yyy) cleared 11 waves in 45min 30 sec all the way up to Player X cleared 11 waves in whatever time. - That would be pretty cool. And - I'm not expecting my name anywhere on those lists, but its a tangible - visible goal that is possible.

Instead of everyone griping and moaning about how "this or that suck" or that player and that player suck & the game is going downhill, do something constructive.

I have never streamed to a large audience before, I don't know if anyone would really like to watch me banging out a set of armor, crafting spears for someone or ruining a vex wand while I fail at 93%. But, I am not against it - if someone really wants to watch me craft, let me know. FYI, when I am working on enchanting/masterworking someone's equipment, I do stream the process on discord so that player can see and pick the effects as they come up, easier than me typing in everything, and they can see the fails and success's as I get them.

 

Guys let discuss what Chris said not the manner that is being said or asked.
P.S. This forum has a long history of offense to guys who say the truth. Even if truth said in offensive way, well it is still true.(btw nowadays situation with it is far better than 1-2 years ago)
P.S.S. If for me, there are many topics that I don't agree with Fzol because all of us have a different experience and specialization in the game. But it is ok. The fact that he is trying to help the game is a fact.
P.S.S.S. I playing this game for a long time, and after Elgarion begin to be a DEV and Atos begin to make twitch streams, it becomes far easier to get in touch with Devs. Far easier in my point of view is at least ten times lol.

 

As in any community, city, town, church, family, forever partners, friends and
especially marriages there will be many opinions of how another should feel or behave.
In real life the closest ones are those who value the ideas of the other person.
When that value is lost hearing is lost and only self is then heard.

Mark Twain said that: " The two most important days in your life are the
day you are born and the day you find out why."

Mark Twain also said: "The secret of getting ahead is getting started"

Many of us never find out why we were born.
Often it is because our minds are so full of complaint of others ideas and thoughts
that we miss the joy of learning why we were born. It takes a life time to fulfill the goals of why were born.
The effort it takes to learn our reason for living will keep us busy until we die.

When we start to have an understanding of why we were born we become passionate
with the journey we have started.

When my son-in-law introduced me to this game there was no
understanding for I had never played a game before.

There had been no time for games for my life was filled with work and
practicing of the piano, earning a degree in college and beyond.
Once he introduced me to the game...even before we could actually play it something sparked my interest.

I began to play at release #10 so it has been quite an experience learning not only
how to walk in a straight line but even jump on a rock!

The first thing I killed was a spider....what fun that was...I killed a big ol spider!

The game has evolved and become what it is because of the
contributions of everyone who has played in the past and those who play now.
All have become the threads of the game.

I have been part of several guild over the years, Memento Mori, The Syndicate, Carpe Noctem.
The friends made are treasures to me. Much has been learned from these guilds about the game
and all the people I love in our game. There was a yearning for understanding of what I was to do in our game.
Even though much was gained with so much fun with the members in in each of these
guild it was not until last year when I started playing with the guild of the House of Mangar
did I find where I belonged.

The interaction with Fzol began long before that though, with Pirate battles with Fzol being on the side of the evil Obsidians and I on the side of the good Pirates.
Seems strange maybe that a pirate could be good and one from the House of Mangar
could be evil but the roles were played and became part of this great game.
We have continued in these roles in the Black Sails story and the battles that have been
and will be again fought.

All this to say that we all have a privilege of playing any way we chose this is a game.
We also have a responsibility to help anyone who crosses our path become a
better player as well as a how to reach the goals of why we were born.
This is true in our game life as well as in our real life. If it is not then maybe we should not be
playing or doing what we are doing.

Fzol has done this. Fzol continues doing this.
No one, including @Fzol, @Chris, @DARK Starr, @LORD British, @Elgarion, @Sannio, @List all Developers or
any player can accomplish anything without knowing where they are going.
No one can be supper human and have ALL things as the goal.
Choices must be made, dreams must be recognized and passion must be present.
Fzol loves the whole community. He wants the game to be loved and
played by many who enter the doors of the game.

He sees the parts of the game he wants to work on the most and makes written suggestions.
He condenses these suggestions so that Chis does not have to wade through many words and decipher what he sees as things to make this an even greater game. Fzol makes the suggestions very clear and to the point.

Fzol is direct and a leader. He is not a dictator. He loves this game and listens to others.
He then takes what he has learned and what he has heard over the years and gives ways to make the game grow even greater. A true leader causes others to want to succeed. Fzol does that in his streams, in his teaching everyone, new and old alike. He has followed the "why" he was born into this game life by reaching out with his experience.
He offers this understanding in concrete written form to Chris, in the past streams as
I am sure he will be doing in the future streams, with Chris.

Fzol is only one person. Each of us has the opportunity to offer to Chris our suggestions
within our interests in this game. Just because we do not see evidence that our suggestions
are taken it does not mean that they are not being heard.

We usually get upset and start complaining when we do not get what we think we should get.

The best way to get what we want is to think about how to gain it by what we can contribute
in time and suggestions to bring about this gain.

To make changes we must be willing to be involved and be willing to listen to others.

It was very evident in the stream with Chris on Wednesday that Fzol cares, listens and is involved.

​

 

Hehehe... yes it did.

I tried to remove anything related to arguments about liking or disliking Fzol. I know he's a big boy and can take the heat, but picking at the personal qualities of a community member, albeit one who's in the limelight on Twitch, still isn't the best content for our forums.

Please keep in mind. We have many streamers on Twitch. You'll find some you like, and some you don't. That's fine -- analyzing, comparing, down talking these folks here isn't really fair to them. Some might not have hardened hides, and we could lose a valuable promoter of the game who shows passion for the game to potential players. Just pick the ones you like -- if you have something nice to say about them? Do what Wilfred did here, and give'em a shout out! They could always use a pat on the back and your support. If you don't like a particular streamer? No worries... move on to another stream until you find your favorite(s) and give them some love and support.

Also... please encourage them to come to the forums and share info about their streams. Players have a lot to learn from these streamers, and having live Q&A about gameplay techniques is highly valuable to the community. I made a forums JUST for them so they can show off their stream content, post videos and promote their passions for SOTA.

Sure... some streamers, when they have Chris on their stream, only focus on certain types of topics -- but that's expected! Our game has a wide variety of activities and systems, and we're not all experts in all the content types available. Some streamers will be more passionate about some systems than others, assuredly. All will have their opinions as to what's most important to improve the game. The most important thing? Their passion to improve it. Chris will appear on anyone's Shroud stream if invited to do so. In recent times, he's been on F'zol's, Taikee's and Phamyns' streams. Each offering a unique style and subject matter to their Q&A. The more viewpoints shared with Chris and the team, the more we learn about the community's desires and the more inspired our team brainstorming sessions become.

Alrighty -- in any case, thank you Wilfred!

 

Yes... that would be amazing He's a pretty camera shy guy though. He's been on streams before. Perhaps we'll talk him into it again someday soon