Gunz2 Official Ask Me Anything (AMA) - Answers

[Rizzou]

So guys, me and some friends been talking to Maiet and they agreed on doing an AMA, where we could ask them anything we want about the game, so its a good opportunity for all you players out there to know what has been going on with the game development.

Take your time, post your questions here to the devs, and we'll ask them live at the Senpai Cup[www.twitch.tv]! You can also be on the chat and watch everything live, just be sure to ask it here first so we can organise the questions for better understanding.

It will happen at August 15 5:00 PM EST.

So go ahead, ask them anything! :D

POST-AMA EDIT

SenpaiCup Timelapse

So, guys, here is everything we did on the AMA and every answer that Guntrix made.

Originally posted by SenpaiCup:

TimeLapse on the TwitchVideo for the SenpaiCup and AMA.

http://www.twitch.tv/xanwill/b/558478094

0:22:30 ~ 28:50 - Battle 1: Z2 x KikiEars
0:36:00 ~ 45:15 - Battle 2: Toketsu x Setsuna
0:50:30 ~ 57:00 - Battle 3: Spiky x 5onic
1:01:30 ~ 11:00 - Battle 4: Halorser x YukiOnna
1:09:00 ~~~~~~~ Guntrix enters the chat
1:20:00 ~ 27:00 - Battle 5: Z2 x Setsuna
1:34:00 ~ 43:00 - Battle 6: 5onic x YukiOnna
1:48:00 ~~~~~~~ Guntrix leaves
1:49:30 ~ 54:00 - Battle 7: Setsuna x 5onic
2:03:30 ~~~~~~~ AMA Starts
3:03:00 ~~~~~~~ AMA Ends

Live Questions

Some questions that Guntrix answered during the actual Senpaicup, on the chat.

Originally posted by Guntrix:

Harpist: Will there ever be a trading system?
> There will not be a trade system in Gunz2.

FluffyBob: Will MAIET ever host an official tournament?
> About Maiet hosting a tournament, we'll have to see how we can do that. We started supporting tournaments only a few weeks ago and there have been only a few tourneys. We will see how things go and decide on what we can do to make the events more active.

Someone asks something about announcing the game.
> When we release dedicated server, we will probably start another marketing campaign to drive more traffic into the game.
Angry: Has been one?
> There have been a few campaigns, of course you woudnt know cause we were targeting only new players. There also have been several occasions where Gunz2 was exposed on Steam's store front page.

>Someone asks about pro gaming.
Guntrix: Yes, we'd very much like to see Gunz2 being part of pro gaming events.

Someone asks: Would you say Gunz2 is still in beta? Or do you believe the game is already "in motion"
> Gunz2 is already in commercial service phase. Not a Beta. Game companies do like to keep claiming their games being in beta to get more room for excuse, FYI. Altough, EU is still in beta.

Forum Questions

This was questions that you guys made into the foruns. I'm sorry if I had to edit some one them because they were too big or lot of questions, or just some invalid thing putted out as question.

Originally posted by Guntrix:

Axle: How exactly does matchmaking works?
> Matchmaking takes place based on 2 main factors; rating and region.
Normally, if there are plenty of players in matchmaking queue from your region, you will be queued for 4v4 match with players who have similar rating score as you.
Now, if the system finds it hard to get you in a match, it either; downsizes the match size to 3v3 or broadens range of rating for matchmaking.
If the system continues to fail in putting you in a match even if the match size is down to 2v2, it will now pull players from another region pull which is not ideal but still close enough for smooth gameplay. For instance, if you’re in US West region, you first would be queued with the fellow US West players, and then the system might have to broaden the search to US East or even Canada or Mexico. However, match making won’t expand too far to play a quality game. If you’re in US West, you will never be matched against players from Asian region.

Tyco: How can I get a digital shoulderpad?
> If you’re referring to Digital Shoulder Armor, only a few of them were given to players who have made significant contribution to the community either by reporting bugs, hacks, or helping out fellow players in the community. Our GM, cjadun is actively monitoring the community and giving out Digital Shoulder Armor to players very selectively.

Dawgy: Are there any plans on adding custom outfits to the shop?
> I am not too sure what you mean by custom outfit. But, if you’re talking about more cosmetic items, we certainly are planning to add a bunch more. It’s only taking quite a lot of time since we’re a small team under 30 developers.

BlitzKnight: How often do you check on the foruns, emails, suggestions and bug sections?
> We check the forum and our emails every day, but please understand if it takes a bit longer for us to get back to you. We can either check your messages or work on new contents at once. We normally choose the second.

Halorser: When will some form of anti-cheat be released? Will it be VAC?
> This is a tricky question. VAC is actually already in place, but it’s not running in the manner we expected it to be. VAC uses a library of cheat programs to filter out harmful applications, which means that hacks must be registered in VAC library to be detected. How do we do that? We need to report hack tools to Valve and wait for them to examine, verify, and then add to library. This whole process takes a long, I mean unexpectedly, long time. Therefore, we’ve been handling the hacks in house.

Marc: How big is Maiet's team? How many people do exactly what?
> We’re a small team of under 30 employees; about 70% programmers, 20% designers, and 10% management.

Marc: Explain the whole "EU got separated" issue.
> EU was never a part of Steam service. EU started out as a completely separate service. The EU publisher is going through a transition at the moment though as the original publisher, Prosieben Sat.1 Games acquired Aeria games. Hence, EU service is currently closed and further release schedule is to be decided.

5onic: When will practice gain benefits, or remove item durability in practice?
> Glad you asked. We’re currently working on this actually. I’m not sure about removing item durability from custom match, but later on, you will gain XP and gold reward from custom matches. For this change, we might decide to remove Normal Match and replace it with custom match. (TBD) I’m expecting this feature update in about 6 to 10 weeks of time.

5onic: Could we have better game statistics? Total damage, accuracy, etc.
> Something like this is already on our development queue but with low priority. Since adding such a feature that pulls data from the game database could cause system lag, we’d be taking extra cautious approach.

Sig: Are there plans for new game modes? Capture the Flag, Protect the VIP, Berserker, etc.
> Right now, we’re much more focused on other high priority tasks; new class, game performance optimization, new items, and a few others. But, we will eventually introduce more interesting game modes, so, yes!

Soup: Are you planning on doing more weapons, armor sets and any kind of customization?
> Like I mentioned already, more items are on the way, and a new type of weapon upgrading is also being designed.

Soup: Can we expect more features to clan administration? Emblems, Officials, etc.
> Clan feature will be one of key features in GunZ 2. I think we’ll making the improvements next year. This is all I can say for now.

DriftingTime: Whats the ETA on dedicated servers?
> Very close. We’re already started testing the new net code and began bug fixing and optimization. You will hear about this from us again soon.

Barack Obama: Could we have a DevLog on the forum? Showing whats your plans for the game updates before the actual changes.
> Dev Log! I have to tell you. Developers hate having to keep such logs, and MAIET is…well, 90% developers. Plus, I prefer this random AMA or Q&A session with players over some stiff log on a forum.

♥♥♥♥Clown: Are there any plans to port classic maps and quests from Gunz 1?
> Later when we have the spare resources, we could bring more gameplay from GunZ 1.

FluffyBob: Can we have the option to choose the party size we want to play?
> Party size is locked by the matchmaking system, and I don’t think we will be making any change to this until later. We will see how things are after implementing dedicated server solution, and then make further decision on it.

Marc: Why did you guys decided to use a more realistic questing environment, with humans instead of goblins and liches? Do you plan on changing that?
> Campaign mode setting is tied to the background story of GunZ 2. In the current setting, there is no room for fantasy creatures such as goblin or pampow.
Here's a bit about background of GunZ 2 in case you're curious:

Continent of Astra, 1863 AD. During the war between the Axium Empire and Republic of Trivia, Mankind makes one of the greatest discoveries of its history, Optimite. At the same time, Adam Corp, a supranational mega corporation was founded with its basis in energy industry. Adam Corp rapidly expanded with its enormous capital and became the third power of the world along with the empire and republic. Adam Corp is a group of brutal capitalists who do not hesitate victimize anyone who stands in their way. The bigger they have become, the more devastated the public have become. To stand against the super villain, people of Astra have formed a vigilante group called Guardian Sans Frontier, the GSF.

1970 AD, Today. After the cold war, Adam Corp has completed their armament expansion and began manufacturing combat robots, which was prohibited by the international law. GSF quickly picked up the intel and dispatched their agents to an island in the republic where the core facilities of Adam Corp’s military factories are located. Hence begins the battle of GSF to cease Adam Corp’s bold ambition to take over the world.

Shadowds: Will there be Steam Workshop for Gunz2? SDK.
> We do not have any plan for it, and I doubt that we will work on SDK in future either.

Superbia: Why there are different patches on each version of Gunz? Like EU is going to be late now, and Taiwan is on a post-Wayne patch yet.
> Each version has its own publisher. EU is slow because it’s not in commercial service status and it’s currently closed like I said before. Taiwan version is slow as per publisher’s plan. Steam is on track with most up to date contents since we are self-publishing it.

Nirvana: Did you guys ever tought on having some extras for people that spend a lot? Like a "Over $500 club".
> It’s an interesting idea, but at the same time, feels that we’re encouraging people to buy too much. We’d like to make more $$$ but we’re not that cheap. lol

DigsDAcool: Did you guys had any problem or doubts when creating Rose with an "under-age" girl appeal? (Playable as a Nun or even with underwear w/ no armor)
> Not particularly. Why did you take off her armor anyway? Just curious. lol

Mizu: Do you guys plan on making solo Deathmatch playable again?
> Just plans? Yes. Actual development schedule? No.
Reckoning: When can I play GunZ 2 EU?
> We’re still discussing release schedule with EU publisher. It’s hard to say when yet.

Reckoning: Blade & Revolver combo? What happened to it? Is it coming to a new class or...? Can every class still use it?
> It hasn’t been decided yet. We’re still discussing internally.

There are more answered being done directly by Guntrix on the last pages of this thread, answering anyone that still have questions.

[3r]

Heres mine since it was put into discussion that we know nothing concrete about the matchmaking. Don't need too much information, just a few bullet points of answers.

How does the normal game matchmaking system of your game work? What factors does it prioritize most?

Location? Wins/Losses? Character level?
Is the player rumor of the system caring considerably less about rating after 300 seconds true?
If there is a static rating per player is there a way to lose it other than losing a game?
Does it prioritize making premade groups play other premade groups in any way?
If character level does influence matchmaking, how much is it per level? Better yet is there a formula that can be shared that calculates your total rating? +x rating per win, -x per loss or something else? Skip this last question if the answer isn't remembered or easy to find.

If we get this information we can put it in the gunz2 wiki.

[tyco]

Ok, here's mine. This is specifically for Cjadun. When will I be getting my Digital Shoulderpads huehuehue. ;D!!!

[Oguri Cap]

My character got stuck in the game while waiting for the match to begin . can u check what's going on pls

[Dawgy]

Are there any plans to allow players to buy permanent full body costumes outside of the tesla shop, such as Rose's pirate costume?

[Morrick]

Do you check the forums regularly? Do you check international forums/social media/etc (ex: EU forums)? Do you check suggestions and bug reports just as much as general forum? Once in a blue moon I'll see a reply, or an announcement about a forum topic, but it would be nice if you replied to some forum posts.

Do you try to hire outside development help on certain aspects of the game that might be an issue (ex: networking)?

Please, please tell me what your plan was with Rose? It's not that she's necessarily weak, but she's such an odd character, and her issues with shotty and rocket are frustrating (to clarify, shotguns are weak and seemed to have a delayed shot, and rockets fire based on latency and sometimes not at all), as well as her randomness with melee. Also, what happened to Valkyrie?

Are there plans for more character classes, or are most of the content updates from here on going to be things like campaign/armor sets/weapons.

Are you working on other projects along side Gunz 2? How much focus is put into Gunz 2?

[Halorser]

When will either VAC or any form of anti hack be released?

[Zulu]

Cool, was waiting for something like this;
Sorry if there are too many questions or maybe a bit hard to answer.

1. Why don't you give the weapon statistics in-game, and overall lacking information (disassembly, what is fever, how does matchmaking work, etc.)
2. How big is the Maiet team, and how is the game development split? (how many model devs, how many map devs, how many networking devs?)
3. Is there a clear balance philosophy? If not, how do you at Maiet decide what is balanced.
4. Why was there no contact before with Maiet in the lonely EU server, and why is the switch taking so long?
5. How do you guys plan on making this game have longevity, and maybe have a real competitive scene?
6. Why did you guys think a gambling system is the best way to go for a F2P game?
7. Did you think splitting the game to have multiple publishers is a good idea?
8. Why were the EU servers multiple months behind on patches?
9. That character niche's are you still planning to fill?
10. Why did you pick a class system over a custom character system?

If you guys/gals at Maiet want to help with the gunz 2 wiki (missing information, lore, back-story, matchmaking, anything), that'd be greatly appreciated!
http://gunz2.wikia.com/wiki/Gunz_2:_The_Second_Duel_Wiki

[Sig]

Well the obvious question:

- Is there any more information on the planned release date of the dedicated servers?

And more:

- Do you plan to make any changes to the gear upgrade system? (in the opinion of pretty much everyone, the old one was better, with higher upgrade chances, and the possibility to break +4's)
- What kind of game modes / maps / campaign seasons are you working on now / planning to work on in the future?
- (Like marc said) Any more info maiet could give on the EU P7>Aeria transfer?
- What will the consequence be if you are caught macro'ing?
- Wouldn't it be better (if you insist on keeping the tesla shop) to make an item like an "exchange ticket" for i.e. $10,- which you can exchange for a premium tesla of your choice, instead of burning your real money on a clunky gambling system?
- Will Maiet staff regularly visit the gunz 2 EU forums on aeria, as they have been doing here on steam?

- Who's better, EU or NA?

[Epth]

Originally posted by Sig:

Well the obvious question:

- Is there any more information on the planned release date of the dedicated servers?

And more:

- Do you plan to make any changes to the gear upgrade system? (in the opinion of pretty much everyone, the old one was better, with higher upgrade chances, and the possibility to break +4's)
- What kind of game modes / maps / campaign seasons are you working on now / planning to work on in the future?
- (Like marc said) Any more info maiet could give on the EU P7>Aeria transfer?
- What will the consequence be if you are caught macro'ing?
- Wouldn't it be better (if you insist on keeping the tesla shop) to make an item like an "exchange ticket" for i.e. $10,- which you can exchange for a premium tesla of your choice, instead of burning your real money on a clunky gambling system?
- Will Maiet staff regularly visit the gunz 2 EU forums on aeria, as they have been doing here on steam?

- Who's better, EU or NA?

- Who's better, Epth or Sig?

[Sig]

Originally posted by Epthgod-sama:

Originally posted by Sig:

Well the obvious question:

- Is there any more information on the planned release date of the dedicated servers?

And more:

- Do you plan to make any changes to the gear upgrade system? (in the opinion of pretty much everyone, the old one was better, with higher upgrade chances, and the possibility to break +4's)
- What kind of game modes / maps / campaign seasons are you working on now / planning to work on in the future?
- (Like marc said) Any more info maiet could give on the EU P7>Aeria transfer?
- What will the consequence be if you are caught macro'ing?
- Wouldn't it be better (if you insist on keeping the tesla shop) to make an item like an "exchange ticket" for i.e. $10,- which you can exchange for a premium tesla of your choice, instead of burning your real money on a clunky gambling system?
- Will Maiet staff regularly visit the gunz 2 EU forums on aeria, as they have been doing here on steam?

- Who's better, EU or NA?

- Who's better Epth or Sig?

I vote 1v1 bonus match at senpai cup to find out.

[♥♥♥♥ magic]

Here goes mine:

1. Are you planning to release more weapons / armor sets ?

2. How old are the characters?

3. Is there gonna be any character customization (hairstyles, faces, etc.)

4. When will we get those tasty unreleased gears?

5. Can we expect more features added to clans, like clan administrators, clan emblems etc. ?

6. Who is Ryswick the Great?

7. Is Max the manliest or the manliest?

[Sig]

Is there a plan for a badass male class with a longcoat, dagger/bat, assault rifle and dual pistols? *hint hint*

[DriftingZero]

OK here's my questions.

1. MyGAME (ini3) is going to open GunZ 2 : The Second Duel in Thailand. (My country) I want to know the detail about it. Date of Closed and Open BETA of TH server, Date of Official Release of TH server, Patch delay duration, Any differences between Steam server and TH server (Items, Mechanics, Gameplay), Player support (Could I contact MAIET directly or I need to contact through MyGAME's support ?).

2. Any plan in the future for further major updates ?

3. I know there'll be dedicated servers but I want to know when will they come ? (Roughly)

-----------

Now here's my requests

1. Matchmaking Time : It takes way too long until the matchmaking system just match you with anyone possible. Please reduce it to 60-120 seconds.

2. Tesla shop : Sometimes, I think a bit too much resource needed to roll the tesla shop once. Maybe reduce it to 4 or 5 would help a lot.

-----------

That's all I want to know and request.

[5onic]

When can we expect;

1) More statistatics of rounds and overall performance; etc, total dmg, accuracy, headshot accuracy, and many more

2) Red card system or something similar to reappear

3) Rank having benefits, and in my suggestion; Rank should be single ques up to a party of 8 (4vs4). Rank should not be about carrying your teammate, but the independant skill.

4) If rank is like stated on 3, to have group pre-made battles then implement clan war

5) When will practice gain benefits, and remove item durability?

6) When can we expect a demo theater feature?

7) When can we expect better frames per second, smoother experience. (Last patch helped for per round)

8) When can we expect some customization in outfits and not any of this avatar stuff?

9) Can we expect a FOV slider because some characters like wayne and ivan are so damn close to the crosshair. Move them away.

10) When can we expect the removal of perry or fixing it? Take note of S4 league's way of getting away from a stun.

11) Can we expect gunz 2 maps being fixed for more of a competitive standard? Mansion for example; spawn halls not wide enough, doors not wide enough, pillar gap to second/third floor is not wide enough, basement not wide enough.

12) When can we expect that create your own map feature you guys talked about long ago, something about using sourceDK to convert to the physic engine you guys use and allow us to make our maps. With a nice workshop?

13) What can we expect with anything clan related? Pictures, prilviges, clan site?

14) Having leaderboards be display on a website, and other statistical information ?

15) Flash, nades, smokes even though smokes might kill FPS in the game?

16) Can we have a hit detection sound effect like in gunz 1, quake, and many other games?

17) The future of game modes? VIP, CTF, questing/survival, berserk, and more?

18) "A new tournament system is in development, but Venister can not confirm when and if it will be completed". Any updates?

19) Will the return of the underneth highlight colours below models from alpha gunz 2? Maybe add it for grenade launchers?
http://ruliweb.daum.net/news/view/38074.daum

20) In alpha, gunslinger use to be able to hold a sword and a gun at the same time, will we see this return? http://maiet.tistory.com/?page=16 & characters using to hang on the wall and being able to fire.

21) Why was slashing a blocker stuns the attacker was removed? @ :0.28
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tP0tTQyRoFk

22) What happen to the crafting system?

23) Why should the losing team get less gold when the top fragger did more work than both teams combind?

24) The AMA is a good start, what else can we expect from more engagement from the devs? Tournaments? Facebook annonuncements? Events?

I half ass this because I'm busy atm, but I wrote this down so I won't forget.

[indian street food]

Can we please have more serious questions here. If you need in-game support, please contact them directly. Please ask anything here regarding future advancements. Ex Macros, Redcards, and Balancing