A Trove Fireside Chat

Hey all,

Its been awhile since we've had an overall game update and coming down off of this three day weekend has left me with a glass of wine and some time on my hands, so I figured why not stop by and drop some notes on what to expect in the coming weeks and months.

Today though, I'm going to take a different approach than last time. I realized I've been talking a lot recently about when different team members are either working on something or what they'll work on next. Instead of simply saying what the team as a whole is working on, I want to introduce you guys to the members of the team and what they've been doing, as well as their upcoming contributions to making Trove even more fun in the near future.

Courtland aka. Frugality

• Court and I kicked off this project as an experimental little thing over two years ago now. He's the technical mastermind who makes sure all of the little pieces we're adjusting and adding stick together and is also one of the biggest implementers of all things creative and building (sports balls, music blocks, and Cornerstones have all been his features). Right now he's working on cleaning up our inventory system and making it work better and next up on his plate is diving in to improvements for the creators: picking up water/lava, improved building powers, signs, and dungeon placement polish are all things he's looking at next.

Doug aka. monickers_ghost

• Doug is your class guy. He built the Gunslinger. He built the Trickster. And he's building the Dracolyte. After that, he's going to build the next class... and well, I think you might start to get the idea. On top of that he's always on the lookout for ways to polish the existing classes (see: the recent blink update for the Trickster). If you think something is terrible about a class, well, it's probably not his fault (fact: he put the Trickster ultimate in with 5 staves instead of 3).

Jon aka. the guy who doesn't post on reddit

• Jon is an all around badass. Right now he's working on Clubs (think guilds but on top of having a personal chat channel you also have your own world and you can be in up to 5 of them). In the past he's connected all the worlds, built the loot and quest systems, and implemented every facet of the forging system. Next up he's going to tackle the transmog system we've been talking about so you can collect every equipment style in the game and look however you want to.

Tim aka. Tim

• Tim has implemented all our UI, adding the settings (and keybindings), done trade, chat channels, and crafting. Right now he's working on what I believe is the second of three lines of code required for a Mac port as well as helping our UX/UI lady (Amber, see below) with getting all of those improvement running. When you can log in on a Mac, pour one out for this gentleman.

Amber aka. the one who makes the UI look good

• She's on loan from Rift and when you see this new UI coming into the game which looks like an actual professional created it, well, that professional is her. She's been behind the whole new look and well, what's coming up is great. There's a new nameplate, new 'star bar' (with animation!) and new inventory. I don't think mere words can express how much better this is going to be, so you'll just have to experience it for yourself.

Spencer aka. srayer

• Spencer is combat, game feel, and annoying bug squisher. He's done most of the NPC mechanics, trap polish, death improvements, and countless other 'little' things which make the game just feel right. Right now he's the man on point with Shadow Invasions (and let me tell you, that's going to be a thing worth capitalizing) and then he's going to jump into taking a look at this whole 'camera' thing and seeing if he can't make it better.

Eric aka. DocL

• Eric is 'the look guy'. Rendering, world generation, those new outlines which let you actually find your friend nearby. Eric has done it all. Right now he's working on a DirectX renderer plus being pulled away to do polish and compatibility fixes (if you've seen a black screen in the past but can play now, or have a new crash that needs fixing - he's the guy who's going to take a look at that). Oh, and he's a real Doctor too. Don't forget it.

Adam aka. Decoy

• Adam is the gameplay guy. Lair and dungeon playability, the shadow arena, class design. He has his hands on it all. Next up is some immensely cool new abilities for monsters, even more shadow arena variety and polish, and he's overseeing the new Dragon biome. Look forward to it.

Ted aka. Loblaw aka. dope_sheet

• The Animator. The only one we've got and frankly our secret weapon. He makes a magic carpet looks like it's actually a carpet and not made out of cubes. I don't know how he does it and frankly I'm afraid to ask. He also plays the game more than any of us. Next up: he is animating everything. New mounts, new classes, new monsters and abilities. If it moves, he's making it move. Next time you see him online, buy him a drink.

Chris aka. Mr. VFX

• Like Ted is the animator, Chris is the VFX guy. Next time you admire the magical trail of your unicorn or the explosive colors of the trickster, think about Chris, and think about what you would be doing with your life if you weren't hypnotized by those colorful hoofprints. I know I do.

Kumar aka. Atronos

• Kumar is the original content creator for Trove. You still see his name on many of the items in game. These days he still adds to the game (recipe lairs and all built in lairs, new looks for equipment types, and all the crafting materials) plus also adds everything you guys make. Everything. On top of that he dives in on the designs and does many new skins (the Infinity PWN-E was all him). I'm also not sure he's left the office since he's started. Next time you see him, tell him to go home. Next up he's bringing you some amazing dragon lairs and dragon monsters to fight.

Brian aka. GrumpNTug

• Brian is the guy who tells you no. But only because he loves you. He's the one who makes sure everything looks nice. He's made every crafting station, the color for every biome, approves every submission, and created the hub, tutorial, and shadow arena. I don't think he goes home either. Don't tell him to go home though, if he does we'll never get it all done. Next up he's bringing you the Dracolyte (oh and, and the ultimate turns you into a dragon-man... did we mention that yet? It's like a whole second class for him to make art for) plus also some premium skins for the existing classes.

Yannis

• Another specialist, Yannis is the music and audio guy. Everything you hear (or think you hear), he puts it there. He's spent a crazy amount of time on the dungeon and game music, sound effects for every monster type, not to mention playing with the music blocks until they work right. He's going to make sure that OST is worth supporting for and that the game surrounds you with sounds you want to hear.

On top of this we have some great teams within Trion supporting us. We have a data team which tells us when people are dropping out of the game (and what you guys like buying!). We have our Customer Service team which diligently hooks you guys up with name changes and access keys (and is sad that they largely can't yet help you with lost items), and a QA team which helps make sure we land a solid two patches a week - somtimes more.

As for me, you guys know what I do. I make sure you know when the patches are coming and that what we work on matches up with what adds the most for you.

That said, lets talk a bit about what our current driving philosophy entails. We're still working hard while heading towards Beta. There will be plenty of work to do after we hit that milestone of course, but we really want to get to a point where we can push through 'the W word' (wipe) and keep working on the game without that looming over our heads. On top of that one of the primary drivers for this next round of features is making sure the core areas of the game are all even more linked to each other (harvesting to craft adventuring gear, acquiring loot to build with, social organizations which support both adventure and creativity), plus increasing the amount of content in the game (more stuff to collect, more activities to take part in), and taking some time to really explore some of the thematic soul of the game which has taken a back seat up until now (the Shadows are coming...)

And if you've made it this far, thank you. As always I'm immensely looking forward to the future of Trove. We look forward to building that future with all of you, thank you all for being here and being a part of it. I can't wait to see where we go next.