posted 11-22-2000 02:30 PM            

<GL-Jeff> Before questioning begins I'd like to give a short description of the mysterious "Eyes of the Gods"
<GL-Jeff> In Dawn everyone will have a "pray" command which attempts to relay a message to the Gods. Basically the Eyes of the Gods will be the PC's and NPC's who's prayers have priority. When they see an action occuring that might be worthy of Godly intervention then they should send a message and hope that someone is listening.
<GL-Jeff> We're still not going to tell you if anyone is listening or not though
<GL-Jeff> When you "pray" you can do it to any Deity you choose, simply address him. There won't be a built in system for seperate deities - you won't even know what deities (if any) truly exist you are going to have to invent them on your own.

<Ionix> howdy guys good to see you again, I'm sure we all are wondering about the next release of screenshots and all that cool stuff, so can you maybe tell us when we might see some more? also I need to ask you about the dreaded digging question... whats your opinion on it happening?
Now asking question
<GL-Jeff> We'll be able to release some environmental screenshots pretty soon (if i'm forced to give a date i'd say within the next 2 weeks).
<GL-Jeff> As far as terrain manipulation goes: we HAVE developed a terrain manip feature that will work, hoewver its uses are very limited at this time.
<GL-Jeff> For instance you can only dig straight down however there are also some nice features that come with it such as water flow and anti-digging (piling dirt)
<GL-Jeff> We're currently working on ways to produce a more complex system that will allow horizontal digging, but our main priority is keeping the world huge (yes world size is playing a major part in diggingability) and keeping the necessity of large data transfers out of the game.

<Jadetooth> Will you consider implementing "fighting dummies" and "shooting ranges" as buildings to raise fighting skills without a teacher? not related sorry
<GL-Jeff> Yes objects like that will be buildable to help players increase their skills. Keep in mind you'd only get exp if you completely destroyed the object, however.

<Morlack> Can the gods do things like revenge deaths? like curse another murderer for killing your friend if you pray long enough?
<GL-Jeff> Well prayer doesn't gain power by doing it "harder". If you keep sending the Gods the same prayers over and over again they are probably more likely to become angry.
<GL-Jeff> Anything is possible though.

<Axehandler> Concerning the PRAYER system..... so this isn't automated.. and a "GM" persay would need to be logged on as "GOD" for there message????
<GL-Jeff> Thats one of the things we won't answer, you're just going to have to try to figure it out for yourself during the game. If we explain the mechanism behind the Gods and the pray system then it will lose its luster so to speak.

<Wolfwind> Exactly how dow does one persons prayers have priority over another persons? Through a recognition system? Or by their "power" in the lands?
<GL-Jeff> There isn't going to be a huge heirarchy of prayer priorities. There will be Eyes and there will be normal people. The Eyes have priority, but once again i can't explain the exact mechanism that drives it.

<JLBesser> In the last QnA session you mentioned that when you send mail, a graphic would appear and go to it's recipient. My questions are: how quickly will this piece of mail move (i.e., hpw easy will it be for a peson to chase and find their way to the recipienr), how easy will it be to intercept by someone other than the recipient, and how will the piece of mail be written (i.e. are you going to need ink, pen, and paper; and will it adhere to the laws of language?
<GL-Jeff> The mail you are speaking of isn't really mail. Its a message memorized by a messanger (the type of messanger is undisclosed) who will fly too fast to be physically intercepted.
<GL-Jeff> We may include actual skills that allow you to fool flying messangers into thinking you are the intended recipient...but we're being really careful we don't want communication to be a nuisance.

<JLBesser> How soon do you think you will have some new screen shots and concept art?
<GL-Jeff> screenshots already answered, and we won't be adding any new 2d concept art. However we're currently working on a really nice piece of 3D concept art that will be released in a couple weeks...probably after the screenshots.

<Luminesce> will there be a hide in shadows and a move silently skills? not the bs eq has where you can hide in BROAD DAYLIGHT but something comparable to classic AD@D stealth skills?
<GL-Jeff> There will indeed by hiding skills. No one will probably ever be good enough to be completely invisible, but your players appearance will change dramatically allowing you to truly hide.

<JLBesser> A while ago fire was talke about, in reference to flaming arrows. You said that flaming arrows will cause het damage, but will not spread fire. Will fire have a graphic associated wih it? Will there be a way to set buildngs and other players on fire to cause damage over time, or will it be just an extra burst of direct damage? If it does cause damage over time, will there be a graphic associated with that type of fire?
<GL-Jeff> Tempurature will play a large role in Dawn
<GL-Jeff> There will be a flame graphic, and you will be able to set fire to objects via spells. This won't be a holding fire though most likely, it depends on the strength of the spell.
<GL-Jeff> If the fire lasts long enough to do enough heat damage to destroy the building, then it would be considered to be 'burnt down'.
<GL-Jeff> But fire will not spread and you cannot set a house on fire with a tiny match and expect it to burn down.
<GL-Jeff> It would be too easy to destroy a city...and thats why we're making you destroy objects with actual spell strength and arm strength

<JLBesser> Will followers be able to do tradeskils? Will there be a limit to how far you can be from your followers? How will you be able tell your folloewers stats/levels/skills/discipline? Will some followers and peys hve special abilities, for instance if you get a lion as a follower it can roar and scare some things; or a bird can fly out of reach of some creatures?
<GL-Jeff> There will definitely not be any limits (caps or anything) that are related to how far you can be from your follower in stats or skills.
<GL-Jeff> You will be able to know all of the details about your follower, since he's somewhat considered a part of you.
<GL-Jeff> And yes, just as different beasts will have different special abilities so will your followers.

<JLBesser> How exactly will fighters and casters be limited on how much fighting they can do? Will it be a stamina related type of thing? Will tradeskills have the same limitations?
<GL-Jeff> Yes everything in the game will be stamina related.
<GL-Jeff> Tradeskills included, hammering out a blade will be hard work in Dawn.

<JLBesser> You mentioned some time ago that training in some skills/disciplines will lower your abilities in other skills/disciplines. Have these relations been finalized yet? Will there be another type of relation between some skills and disciples where if you train in one the other goes up,for instance traning jn armoring will cause sword making to go up? Also, how drastically will one skill/discipline affect it's related skill/discip
<GL-Jeff> The different skill groups have not been finalized.
<GL-Jeff> To answer your question, however, yes different skills can make other skills go both up and down.
<GL-Jeff> And the degrees of which they change will vary.
<GL-Jeff> We'll give you detailed info when the game starts so you are well informed and don't try to train in two very conflicting skill groups.

<Dinurth> only dig straight down? So no underground houses?? what if we dug straight down a lot. ie holes really really really close to each other maybe so they overlap each other to make a bigger hole
<GL-Jeff> You can still live underground, you can't however make complex underground dwellings.
<GL-Jeff> Basically you can dig a deep hole or area and then place objects over it to cover it or to hide it
<GL-Jeff> We will include lots of earthy buildings so that creating structures in this manner will look nice and natural

<JLBesser> How frequently will NPC's dilouges and/or actions be modified?
<GL-Jeff> I can't give an exact number on the frequency, but like all the other MMORPG's out there Dawn will be updated and modified constantly.
<GL-Jeff> We're not gonna NERF anything tho, if you get a weapon that was mistakenly made too powerful then it was our fault and we wont' take it away from you.
<GL-Jeff> But back to the dialogues we'll be continuosly changing the things NPC's say in a hope to lower the monotony of NPC speech.

<Kaim> Will there be some way that a PC after going through certain tasks, or just being appointed by an existing God, become a God as well?
<GL-Jeff> Basically when it comes to the Deity system, anything is possible. Not everything is likely, however, and thats the case in your scenario.

<Rhoerus> you mentioned Eyes of the Gods, are they intermediaries for the gods, or do they simply have more sway with them? plz explain their role
<GL-Jeff> The Eyes simply have "more sway"...their voices are more likely to be heard amongst the masses of commoners.

<JLBesser> Will tradeskills rely on raw stats or base stats )in the pste you said that they would rely on base stats, but since you changed the exp and leveling philosophy to make a person level, I think that the idea about tradeskills relying on base stats need to change too)? Also, what are the different stats and how will they effect the players, and I don't just mean in regards to tradeskills, I mean in regards to all things--trades
<GL-Jeff> Yes when we changed to the new exp system we also changed what trade skills relied on: they and pretty much everything else will rely on your Raw stats
<GL-Jeff> For those of you who dont know, your Raw stats are the increased stats you obtain thru leveling.
<GL-Jeff> Your Raw stats are buffable by spells...however stat buffing spells will be very very limited...we don't want this to be a buff/debuff game.

<Penneywize> Will there be 'Net' type weapons? Id love to go into combat with a spear and a net, like the gladiators did back i nthe Roman ages. Maybe nets can ensnare other players and slow them down, maybe it could catch their weapons and disarm them. What do you guys think?
<GL-Jeff> A net type weapon is a possibility, but player velocity change is a huge issue that we're still working out the specs on...
<GL-Jeff> We don't want to see kiting develop because of speed exploits.

<JLBesser> Occasionaly you drop by the chatroom very late at night. Why do you always do that when , most likely, no one will be on, not to mention what you are doing up that late?
<GL-Jeff> It's the only time i'm not working basically

<Kaim> Can you kill a God?
<GL-Jeff> Everythings possible, but not everything is likely I really can't answer that

<Penneywize> Will there be an Allegiance system, perhaps ala AC? It was quick and easy to form guilds, and it really helped form a kind of community within the world. what do you guys have in store for us?
<GL-Jeff> There won't be an official system for allegiance. Instead players will develop their own methods of showing allegience to each other hopefully things involving symbol creation and titles.

<JLBesser> <Knaeve> I'm curious what sort of damage archery will do relative to melee
<GL-Jeff> Archery will do big damage in Dawn...you won't always hit your target, however, and it will take some time to load another arrow - more time atleast than it takes to swing a sword a couple times.
<GL-Jeff> So you will be seeing numbers about equal to melee combat...again it depends greatly on the items being used and the skills of the players.
<GL-Jeff> You could make a pure archer, and bows can be used at close range, but not if you are being pounded on.

<JLBesser> regarding prayers to the gods (sorry for all the questions tonight ), will there be chances for the prayers to work as something other than a, for lack of a better word, petition as EQ used? For instance, if you pray to gods at a certain holy place or do things in the gods name, then the gods will grant you blessings, etc.?
<GL-Jeff> Absolutely, the Gods are NOT a police battalion, they are RP beings in an RP world. You can pray for any reason.

<Morlack> How will training with other people influence the furthering with your char? Will it just be like sparring in UO, or..?
<GL-Jeff> For the previous question: Gods will do both good and evil in the game...they're existance is NOT "to keep things moving smoothly".
<GL-Jeff> Two friendly characters could fight each other to increase their skills...
<GL-Jeff> You won't gain any Exp from it tho unless you off your friends head :
<GL-Jeff> )

<Jadetooth> Could "gaining favor with the Gods" be a skill? that maybe went up with sacrifice and constant prayer? or something??
<GL-Jeff> Definitely not. Any favor you develop with certain Deities will be not expressible by a number.
<GL-Jeff> This isn't a competition to see who can pray the most and have the best praying skill...its much more personal. You ability is reflected through the words you use when you do it. If you address what you believe to be the God of Love and speak like a fool then you will be held in contempt.
<GL-Jeff> If you pray to a God with words that make sense and are agreeable to the deity they he is more likely to recognize you as someone worth helping.

<Axehandler> so Praying that your god looked over you before u always go into battle wouldn't be a good idea? probebly make the god mad???
<GL-Jeff> No, i was a bit too hasty when i wrote that an i appologize. What i meant was don't SPAM the gods with prayer. Praying before every large battle or praying before you sleep everynight would be seen as a good thing.

<Ionix> if you allowed people to pray to avenge their friends death, what is to stop someone that just died to making a new charactor, logging on, and praying for his god to avenge his former charactors death? he could just leave his new charactor in "pray" mode and walk off until his wish was completed
<GL-Jeff> Prayers don't get answered in such a manor.
<GL-Jeff> Its not like you are begging your mommy to get you an icecream cone and if you keep bugging and bugging then she'll finally grant your wish and get you what you want.
<GL-Jeff> The Gods are far from stupid, prayers from a level 1 character that his age old buddy just got killed obvoiusly means that the level 1 character is insane. The Gods will know his actual age and history - they know everything you can't fool them.

<Farwen> Will there be different languages, maybe with no common language known by all?
<GL-Jeff> Yes its already been decided that there will be no common tongue.
<GL-Jeff> The details of the language system actually tie into the spawning system so i can't get too deep into it (yeah honestly they're related )

<Amarok> This is a questionr egarding proficiency and base stats in trade skills...If 2 blacksmiths have 100 skill (since I'm not sure how this will be measured in Dawn) but one has a higher base str..will the one with the higher base str have an increased success rate on an equivalent item or how will base stats factor in?
<GL-Jeff> Yes you've got the right idea. Although as its been said tonight, trade skills and all other skills will now depend on your Raw stats because of the new Exp system.
<GL-Jeff> Don't think of trade skills in terms of successes and failures...its far more complex than that.
<GL-Jeff> You will begin to build an item no matter what and depending on your stats and skills the item will turn out good or bad.

<Rowlen> not sure if it was asked already..but if persons dress up in a trades type uniform/ trades gear..will there be any better sucess in that trade? like if im a smith and i wear my leather gloves and smithing apron and have my visor and such..any advantages to be expected?
<GL-Jeff> There will be trade based clothing and it will help trades people by boosting the stats relavent to the different trades.
<GL-Jeff> For instance bakers gloves could increase your heat tolerance..etc

<JLBesser> You said temperature will play a large role. Would this mean that some outfits will be hotter than other or cooler than others, and possibly you will need to drink more or go near fire more? Same thing applies to the season.
<GL-Jeff> The objects you wear won't directly make you hot or cold, but they will help/hurt your tempurature scale tolerance levels.
<GL-Jeff> So putting on a big fur coat might help your cold tolerance, but hurt your heat tolerance...

<JLBesser> you said that if a building is burnt down then it will be considered 'burnt down'. Would this have any different application than a building being torn down?
<GL-Jeff> The only real difference is that there would be less remains left on the ground that you could collect and use for raw materials.

<Amarok> Will there be some sort of home point that you can set to script your AI to run to in case of a disconnection....say you're in teh countryside and go LD, if you scripted your AI to do so, could it runn to within the safety of your castle walls?
<GL-Jeff> Yes if you will be able to customize the AI that controls your LD character and a flee w/ destination would be included.

<Ionix> on the wonderous art of taming animals, I believe you said that we would cast a spell on the creature that would have to be like level 1 in order to tame it. they would become follower types that you could level. my questions : 1. can you trade tamed beasts. 2. can you equip tamed beasts. 3. can you set tamed beasts to work gathering minerals or helping you build something. and 4. can you ride flying beasts? dragons?
<GL-Jeff> Yes to all.

<SilverRage> Can you give a more accurate ETA for beta yet?
<GL-Jeff> nope
<GL-Jeff> well yeah..
<GL-Jeff> i can say less than 11 months now

<Amarok> is the only way for raw stats to increase by lvling...or if you fight enough with that 2h long sword will your str go up (same for tradeskills, like blacksmithing)..and if so, will stats go up and down based on others being raised (I believe it was this way in UO)...ie str goes up, int goes down
<GL-Jeff> Only leveling, buffing, and items will change your raw stats.

<Amarok> will builders be able to repair damaged buildings or will they just have to rebuild whatever the damaged building origninally was? If you are able to repair will this be a different skill than building and what % resources will it take compared to building from scratch?
<GL-Jeff> You'll be able to repair and repairs will rely on the same skill and take a lesser percentage of resources, but i can't give you an exact number.
<GL-Jeff> Probably something along the lines of 50% though...but dont hold me to that.

<Dinurth> considering death is permenant, will it be a big deal when your char does die. or will you just hit the ground and everything goes black and you're at the main menu again?
<GL-Jeff> Its a HUGE deal when your character dies.
<GL-Jeff> and We will relect this the best we can....we can't tell you what happens when you die..and we uge people not to tell others when they DO find out.
<GL-Jeff> But yes something very eventful occurs indeed.

<Kaim> If an archer (high in skill of archery) scores a direct hit in someone's head - what will be the effects of that? It's been previously said that you're going to try to keep it not as easy to die as certain other games.
<GL-RazM> Again with the Jack Daniels eh!
<GL-Jeff> Basically the same thing as getting hit with a sword...you'll take some decent damage. There won't be one shot kills or anything like that...not between people of the same level atleast.

<JLBesser> I find the thing about nerfing a bit hard to believe. You will nerf a weapon if it is dropping incorrectly or had its stats wrong, but you won't nerf retroactively, right?
<GL-Jeff> There won't be any need for nerfing...if I end up revoking that statement feel free to bash us.
<GL-Jeff> or me, don't hurt Raz or 7o6
<GL-SevenOsix> :-)
<GL-SevenOsix> I'm fragile :-(

<Dinurth> will it be possible (after you have a shop set up and you sell your wares and make some money) to hire and npc/follower to sell your warez when you are "sleeping". Perhaps give him a stock of goods and people can aproach him andmaybe get a menu and a price you set on them? then he keeps the money for you except for what you must pay him to do this.
<GL-Jeff> Yeah thats definitely an option, but remember anyone who is active is a liability.

<Morlack> What kind of progress has GL made so far with Dawn? Any hints on what you have done so far?
<GL-Jeff> That question is too general to answer.
<GL-Jeff> We've told you we've created the basic 3d engine which we are tweaking all the time and we've shown you some screenies and model animations, as soon as we get more to show we'll post it online.

<Dinurth> will it be possible to "pickpockets" and not get caught at all? perhaps Im walking through town and as I pass someone i swipe their coinpurse without them noticing? has stealing been discussed at all on how it will work?
<GL-Jeff> Yes stealing has been discussed...basically you can attempt to steal an item that you see on a person, you will either fail or be successful and THEN you will either be detected or go unnoticed.
<GL-Jeff> Depending skills and stats and the location of the item on the body, your ability to do these things will be limited.
<GL-Jeff> Don't ever expect to steal something directly out of someones hands, but perhaps items kept in a wrist pouch or belt pouch...a few gold coins here and there would be pickpocketable without detection if you are really good.

<HighDimension> Im not sure if this has been asked already but how do you plan to make this massive game come off so well? I mean (god forgive me) everquest wasn't perfect and they had a whole company Verant, Sony behind them
<GL-Jeff> For the previous question: much of a pickpockets early life will consist of stealing a few coins and being detected and running away and hiding.
<GL-Jeff> We're perfectly capable to completely code and create the game at the time being without any outside support. When it comes to setting up the servers and distributing the game we may seek help from a big company like verant did with sony.

<Kaim> Will there be a skill associated with NPC Reactions (ala Fallout/Fallout 2 kind)? Sex Appeal? If so, is there a possibility of luring away someone's followers?
<GL-Jeff> follower are 100% unswayable. You are connected to your follower mentally.
<GL-Jeff> In order for someone to be able to take control of your follower they would need a spell powerful enough to take control of you yourself...such a spell may not exist in Dawn.

<JLBesser> Enchantment: Will it be a tradeskills by itself, a magic skill, or a tradeskill option within one of the other tradskills?
<GL-Jeff> It will be tradeskill in itself

<Morlack> In response to ur answer how archery will do "big damage", Is there gonna be anything preventing things going on like when UO made Hvy X bows do 75% hits?
<GL-Jeff> Yes...armor and natural defense will prevent that. All weapons mature at higher level and armor matures with it. The same mechanisms that keep swords from doing 75% damage will prevent bows from doing 75% damage

<Dinurth> about archery, and distance weapons in general, will certain armors greatyl reduce dmg done by ranged weapons? ie normal wooden arrows can't penetrate platemale
<GL-Jeff> All armor will have 3 different ratings of resistance. Pierce, Crush, and Slash. Since ranged weapons are primarly piercing weapons then armor with a high pierce rating will defend well against them.

<Kaim> On an "OOC" basis - who appoints the Gods (or just the "first" Gods)?
<GL-Jeff> Completely unanswerable

<Rowlen> will any of the gods ever stop a battle from happening, like if alot of there stongest followers were being killed would they step in?
<GL-Jeff> They can do anything. Anything that is RP compatible has some chance of occuring.

<Banzai> So there is definately no teaching skill that will influence how fast you can train someone up?
<GL-Jeff> There is no specific teaching skill, but the rate at which you can train someone will depend on your own ability.

<Makco> Will characters graphically display damage (cuts, bleeding,etc.) and/or fatigue? Also, will battle wounds leave some type of scar on characters?
<GL-Jeff> To rephrase that last response: the rate at which you can train someone in a specific ability will depend on your own strength in that ability.
<GL-Jeff> We're experimenting with ways to implement battle wounds and fight damage but most likely no. We're pushing the envelope with our custom made symbols already.

<Axehandler> SO... RAZ/7o6 - did u finish your 20 models before you got on the net????
<GL-RazM> Yeah, and that Jack Daniels helped millions
<GL-RazM> Thanks Jack!
<GL-Jeff> hehe they were good and we let them out after only 10 models today
<GL-SevenOsix> yeah, I had a few art groupies with me as well hehe :-)

<Banzai> Will some races be better at dual wielding weapons, or will it be purely Stat based? (eg, an elf and a troll who get the same dex score.. same dual wield or is the elf naturally better?)
<GL-Jeff> everything will be stat based except for vision. certain races will have inborn vision abilities that other races cannot have.

<Banzai> Can we see bolts of lightning from the gods frying people who are praying so much its annoying? Or will that type of behaviour be encouraged?
<GL-Jeff> If you ever see an act of one of the Gods there will be no mistaking it.
<GL-Jeff> Its a possibility

<JLBesser> Will you be able to dedicate yourself to a specific god so that your prayers don't go to anyone else? If I am in a battle in the name of the god of the light, then I don't want to try pray to him/her and end up praying to the god of darkness!
<GL-Jeff> You have to address the God of your choice when you pray. Remember we're never going to give you a list of Deities, its up to the players to decide which Gods if any to pray to.

<JLBesser> will sending a prayer be exactly like sending a piece of mail, in that you have complete control over what you want it to say?
<GL-Jeff> Yes, its not like filling out an IRS form if thats what your asking

<Morlack> Is the spawning system going to be revealed before the beta begins?
<GL-Jeff> probably... can't say just when though.

<Axehandler> will there be 1 of a kind weapons in the game that only 1 person can have?
<GL-Jeff> There won't be enforced legend weapons...
<GL-Jeff> Weapons are made by NPC and PCs, so someone could make a very incredible weapon and then never tell anyone exactly how they did it.
<GL-Jeff> But there's nothing keeping someone from some day stumbling onto the same method and making the same sword.

<Banzai> Will weapons like lances do more damage in mounted combat? And will they always get the increase or only on the first attack (the charge)
<GL-Jeff> Mounted combat is still being worked on...I can't answer that at this time.

<Banzai> Any chance that some sort of Religious artifacts would find their way into the game eventually, which would influence prayer and such?
<GL-Jeff> Yes.

<Morlack> Any info what the graphics for spells will look like? Thats always kinda been a big thing for me, not just having a strong spell to kill someone, but making it look strong as well ... certain games I wont list have that but dont make them look strong enough
<GL-Jeff> I can't say exactly how they are going to look...our game effects are more Quake3ish than EQish, though.

<Rowlen> will npc move into cities that PC's have built?
<GL-Jeff> Yup if they feel welcome.

<Rowlen> any idea when we will see more screenshots?
<GL-Jeff> already been answered

<Dinurth> will building decay? ala UO
<GL-Jeff> No, we're trying to eliminate unneeded nuisances from the game.

<Rowlen> will there be an alchemy type trade skill?
<GL-Jeff> This was discussed last Q&A session i think, yes alchemy will exist and it will be true to its name.

<Farwen> What can we do with the scripting? Will we be able to have our followers patrol a certain region or path to act as guards?
<GL-Jeff> A lot of what has been previously said about scripting is out of date. Scripting will be restricted to tasks that don't result in exp or skill gains to avoid the obvious exploits.
<GL-Jeff> A simple task such as patrolling probably wouldn't be a problem though.

<Raven_Haven> I have to leave, ask him about my ogre gigolo, pleasepleaseplease!
<Axehandler> he wants to know if he can make a character that can wear LEATHER - black.. you know be a GIGOLO in town =)
<GL-RazM> Oh geeze, that'll be fun to texture
<GL-SevenOsix> I can make a nice Bordello building :-)
<GL-Jeff> hehe we'll do our best to provide you with a varied wardrobe...for RPing purposes of course!
<GL-RazM> lol

<Dinurth> you WILL fix a sword that shows up that is to strong but you wont take it away or fix it for those who have it, so what if a programmer acidently hits 100 and not 10.0? you going to let people have that sword of absolute ass-kicking?
<GL-Jeff> The thing is - we aren't making a predefined list of weapons. We're writing formulas to allow blacksmiths to create swords of varied stats and appearances.
<GL-Jeff> And during the beta of course we'll fix anythign that needs changing, but we're not going to mess with peoples posessions during the retail.

<Amarok> Will there be any sort of very obscure "trade skills" that no one has thought of, or at least discussed...for example, botany and the ability to grow, cross breed, etc plants for various reasons and ends. Such as poisons, curatives, herbs (cooking), etc...
<GL-SevenOsix> so sorta like Emeril eh?
<GL-RazM> lol
<GL-Jeff> If there are then we're doing it so that they remain mysterious and we won't tell you about it. so i can't answer that

<Dinurth> will it be possible to steal from monsters(npcs)? how about disarm? can i perhaps disarm another player or npc?
<GL-RazM> Thank god, not another Gigolo question
<GL-RazM>
<GL-Jeff> You can steal from them, it'd probably be easier to kill them instead because if you steal from a monster thats more powerful than you he's not going to let up until he gets his item back.

<Rowlen> hey 7o6 why u so quiet all the time?
<GL-Jeff> he's got a dish man
<GL-RazM> lol
<GL-SevenOsix> quiet? I'm quite ready to answer, if a Q comes my way, but I'm quite busy with the art groupies hehe
<GL-RazM> lol
<Rowlen> your just as important as the rest of them..u should kick them in the head and tell them to be quiet so u can talk some times..hehe j/k about the kicking in the head part

<Rowlen> exactly what do u do 7o6?
<GL-Jeff> lol he's got 2-3 dawn art girlies with him 24/7
<GL-RazM> They help in the 20 models a day part
<GL-SevenOsix> I'm the 3D environmental and architecture master :-)
<Rowlen> sweet!
<GL-RazM> help as in motivate
<GL-RazM>

<Rowlen> you guys watch the simpsons?
<GL-RazM> Yeah, when we can
<GL-SevenOsix> i LOVE the Simpsons

<Selanar> Hehe, not exactly related to Dawn... but... I'm very interested in programming (learning C++, but LONG way from doing anything as cool as you guys) what should I expect (education wise, IE what colleges, degrees) to get before working for a company like you guys?
<GL-Jeff> Honestly selanar the best way to get good at programming is by teaching yourself through books
<GL-Jeff> C++ for dumbies is a great starter, then you can move onto game programming books and things will all start to make sense
<GL-SevenOsix> Selanar: QBAsic, heeh j/k :-)

<Morlack> How many people total are currently on the Dawn team jeff?
<GL-Jeff> The official count is 12 now

<Selanar> currently senior in High school if it helps much (still debating what colleges to go for =P)
<GL-Jeff> I can't speak for other companies but when applying for a job with us all that matters is what you can show us. You can come out of college with a computer science degree and still be a horrible coder.

<JLBesser> Jeff, are we ever going to get to see the rest of the people here, or at least kow who they are?
<GL-Jeff> Yeah we'll be draggin them in eventually, some are real introverts tho
<Rowlen> like can people build stuff in the trees or across rivers and such?
<GL-Jeff> yup rowlen you bet