UPDATE - We will disappear off to our live stream shortly. That doesn't mean we will stop the AMA, we will grab some questions from here and bring them up on air. We'll then pick up again after. Find the stream here: twitch.tv/magickawizardwars

UPDATE 2 Feel free to keep the questions coming, we'll do another round of answers in the morning so that our different time-zone friends can get involved. ;)

We are the development studio behind the recently released F2P game Magicka: Wizard Wars (www.wizardwars.com).

Ask us about how it is to make a game via Steam Early Access, what plans we have for the future, how Nisshagen gets his beard so lush and fluffy, or simply whatever else you fancy!

Proof: http://imgur.com/5V71qDX

Comments: 148 • Responses: 39  • Date: 

Hideous14 karma

Can I have a job? :D

PDX_Escher17 karma

Can we have a C.V.? :D

Hideous6 karma

Okay! :D removed

PDX_Escher9 karma

Check here: http://career.paradoxplaza.com/

We actually have a studio in Skövde, an open application never hurts!

RAGEcrow10 karma

Dunka Dunka ?

PDX_Escher13 karma

Banana

bacitoto-san9 karma

Will wizard wars get constant content updates? (Like payday2 per eg.)

PDX_Escher7 karma

Yes.

tomcotard9 karma

Who is the better wizard, Harry Potter or Gandalf?

PDX_Escher29 karma

Gandalf! Harry doesn't even have a proper staff. Wands? They're for novices!

Saxojohn6 karma

I love MWW alot, but most of my friends find it too fast paced. They claime they are "Too old for this shit". What would you advice me to say to them, to get them into this amazing gaming experience?

PDX_Escher9 karma

Get them to try the new Soul Harvest game mode! That was designed to be more accessible to new players ( allows more breathing space/the ability to contribute without needing ninja level wizarding skills) as well as add some more tactical depth for older players.

Dentalrednasty5 karma

Will there be other familiars then Imps? Not that i don't like imps.. <3

PDX_Escher3 karma

There was a bunch of concept art flying around the office a while back, it's likely. :)

Dentalrednasty5 karma

What are the plans for the lore? Any info on when we will get it? Is it cancelled, The website still says coming soon.. But it has been there since the beginning.

PDX_Escher13 karma

There's a war, the participants are Wizards. Not sure yet, sorry. :(

kiklop1334 karma

Hello, are you planning implement workshop for MWW when players can create such amazing stuffs as in DOTA or CS:GO ?

PDX_Escher3 karma

It's been considered. It would require a ton of time investment to get it up and running though, and we are a small team. We'll see. :)

_DeltaBoss4 karma

why is there no official ELO player ranking yet?

PDX_Escher8 karma

For us ELO isn't a badge of achievement, it's a number for our matchmaker to use to match you with proper opposition. We will implement something more interesting to allow you to show off your skill, of that I'm sure!

kembik3 karma

So whats for sale in the in-game shop? And what sort of future path do you see for the game in general in terms of features or updates?

I didn't realize this was available, downloading now :)

PDX_Escher4 karma

A whole bunch of stuff! Robes, staves, weapons, trinkets, rings and even familiars. We also have the standard F2P fare such as XP boosters etc.

From day 1 our ethos has been that you shouldn't "buy power", as such items in our game all have trade-offs. For example if I were to buy a Fire affinity focused staff it would correspondingly lower my damage/resistance from/to the Death affinity. You can buy specialization, but not outright strength.

Edit: Missed your Part 2 to the question. Tons of stuff! Next up is likely to be the Crafting system.

WizardWerzQ3 karma

What is your plan for the UI for selectable magicks in game?

PDX_Escher2 karma

So, making Magicks switchable in-game lets you use them all instead of just the one you equipped beforehand. The current "Select Magick" implementation is crude, but functional. We didn't want that to be permanent.

A likely implementation is be to press+hold the key for the Magick you wish to change (1-4), and then move mouse up/down or use the mouse scroll-wheel to select in the list that appears.

Suggestions welcome, of course!

Rad_Mehbehtoven3 karma

On the "Proof" picture I couldn't help noticing the mouse pads. Are they going to be released to the public?

PDX_Escher3 karma

If not those, something like them. :) Our merch department is still in its infancy, there's tons of fun stuff we can do with the Magicka universe though!

Shark_in_a_box3 karma

How has it been for all of you working on this game?

And how long does it take to make one thing from idea to 3d model(with textures etc.)?

PDX_Escher3 karma

It varies. Robe - 2 weeks, Staff/weapon - 2 days, a new tileset - 2 months.

WizardWerzQ3 karma

And what is the average implementation time for adding a new Magick?

Magicks are fun :P

PDX_Escher3 karma

We agree - they are great fun! They also require Code, Art, Design, Animation, Sound... everybody needs to work together. The technically easier Magicks (like Midsummer's Blessing) can be done in 3-4 Calendar days + a lot of testing. The more complex ones (like Summon Death or Tactical Dragon Strike) require a lot more iterations and can take weeks. The Magicks interact in interesting ways and we need to keep them balanced. Frost bomb as an example is fairly useless by itself. But try it in combination with a Geyser...

WalterWulf2 karma

Will you add more map interactions :P, love the sucide imps, add more stuff like that.

PDX_Escher3 karma

Yes. :)

throwaway3029830932 karma

Are you totally not vampires?

PDX_Escher2 karma

We don't get the question. What is this "vampire" you speak of? ;)

Cookieblues2 karma

When will the community staff be implemented and how will we acquire it (Jens wants his hair back)?

PDX_Escher2 karma

Helena was making the finishing touches this morning from what I saw. So, soon!

Kadurin2 karma

1.Questionen: Have you any dates in mind for the first growing of the mastery tree?

2.Question: Summer is comming! As last year I guess you guys are going to go on your well-earnd summer vac soon™. Are there any plans for some content/balance updates in that time or do we have to expect a dry summer?

PDX_Escher3 karma

  1. We will add new things to the Mastery Tree constantly. The first things will likely be Magicks, we have lots of great Robes, Weapons, Staffs - but we can use a few more cool Magicks with a strong elemental theme. We aim to add things to the Mastery tree in June.

  2. We will not do a major balance change and then go on vacation, that would be too risky! We will however have a look at the Weapon damage output and the performance of Magicks. There's always minor tweaks to be done, and we hope to have those in in June. The top spell balancing issues for the dev team is the Water Push, and that too many objects block lightning (IE mines). We'll begin with these and continue to do smaller tweaks insterad of large sweeping changes. Feedback on Spells/Magicks/Weapons are most welcome.

Saedin2 karma

Are there any plans to add a main lobby? It would be neat if I could move around like in practice mode to test spells while waiting to join a match. Maybe chat a bit with other players.

PDX_Escher6 karma

We'll definitely expand the current (very basic) social tools. As far as the lobby itself, that's unlikely to change any time soon, we do want to look into some kind of shared area for e.g. clans etc though.

Cookieblues2 karma

Would vertical map environments ever become a thing, or is it too limited by the way certain spells react in a vertical setting (mainly lightning and selfcast spells)?

PDX_Escher2 karma

That would completely upset the existing game mechanics/balance and require a ground-up rework. I'd say "unlikely", but never say never!

heyheyhey272 karma

I just want to say, I really like the new game-type. The fact that (AFAIK) players aren't directly punished for dying/getting killed, unlike other MOBAS, means you don't feel like an asshole for feeding during a bad game, and you don't feel like you got screwed early on if you just die a few times. It's a nice change from the duel mode and that other 8-player game-type that's directly centered around PvP.

Do you have plans for any other game-types down the road?

PDX_Escher3 karma

That was our intention, players that aren't yet super1337uberninjawizards can still be useful to the team! Yes, more game modes will come! :)

Dentalrednasty1 karma

I'll id this question for a great part of the community: When will we get the bowstaff?

PDX_Escher1 karma

Hmm, pick a date between "tomorrow" and "never". :( Sorry, I have no clear answer for that one!

blitzfreigabe1 karma

What happened on the site to being able to preorder the PS4 version of Magicka 2? I saw it on there a couple of weeks back but when I went to do it yesterday no option existed. Please Halp, I want to kill my fri... er enemies with my friends.

PDX_Escher1 karma

Which site are you referring to?

lthy971 karma

Why is the friendly fire so strong in this game? :P

PDX_Escher5 karma

Because it's Magicka!

_BlackAdam1 karma

More Gauntlet?

PDX_Escher1 karma

Ask Arrowhead. :)

kyle64771 karma

When you guys originally created Magicka, did you have any idea of how successful it would be?

PDX_Escher1 karma

We didn't create the original Magicka. That honor goes to Arrowhead (more recently made Gauntlet and the awesome Helldivers). I can hazard a guess though that it came as a very pleasant surprise!

Dentalrednasty1 karma

Where is my golden ticket?

PDX_Escher2 karma

Dobby stole it.

Dentalrednasty1 karma

Will there ever be a gamemode with no affinities?

PDX_Escher1 karma

Yes, custom games in default robes! :)

Cookieblues1 karma

A lot of people have been talking about wanting a Free For All/Deathmatch-ish mode with up to 8 or 10 players (maybe even more). People think that this would create a more equal game setting for new players as everyone will have to fight each other at the same time; you can go for the seemingly best players, etc. Also, it would allow for even more chaotic play, and who doesn't like that?

Does Paradox North share this view, and is FFA a gamemode that you would consider creating in a M:WW fashion?

PDX_Escher2 karma

A FFA game mode would most certainly not be a new player-friendly experience. :P We've all seen veteran players successfully tank a whole enemy team in the past (admittedly back when WED EWW was so OP).

Unlikely, you can of course do so in a custom game. ;)

_DeltaBoss1 karma

whats the command for the dev's secret emote?

and do you consider the matchmaker to be (atleast a bit) broken?

PDX_Escher1 karma

/collin

It's not perfect, we are always making adjustments.

Dentalrednasty1 karma

Can you give us any info on merchandise?

PDX_Escher1 karma

We need more of it. :) As it stands we only have the t-shirt available on the Paradox store.

Cookieblues1 karma

If I came knocking on your headquarter's door, would I be let in? I'd be willing to buy beer for everyone if that helps my case.

PDX_Escher2 karma

Our door is 23 floors up. If you came knocking we'd be a combination of scared/impressed. :D

Cookieblues0 karma

In the patch notes for the 5th of May, it says "We are testing our new Achievement system and celebrate this by using it to give you a free 24h booster!", however I don't see any achievements in the game right now. Could you tell us a bit more about the achievement system for all us achievement wh0res?

PDX_Escher3 karma

"Achievement system" is Gamedev-ese for "system that triggers X result from Y action". Basically it's a way for us to tie events to actions that players do in-game. In this case = you play a game, triggers an XP boost reward.

Of course, that's not to say that the more traditional achievements you all know and love wont be a thing some day. :)

Kadurin0 karma

Are there any plans for changing the !E or E beating Beams as much as they do now?

PDX_Escher1 karma

Balance is an ever evolving beast, you may remember that beams vs E/!E were tweaked a few times in the past. So, likely I guess.

medario0 karma

Can we expect a balance patch within the next month? Please no SoonTM answers Now that you "fixed' the exploit of dueling in a party, will you make us able to get chest multiplier from that game mode? Rework on selecting magicks ingame easier? Perhaps make a list of favorites or let us have keybinds to swap quickly between them, clicking 1 by 1 and scrolling through then is annoying and slow New modes such as king of the hill, capture the flag.. Have they been discussed in the office? Possibility to queue for different gamemodes? ESL stopped, why? Will it be back? Escher, how often do you shave your head? I like it shiny Do all the devs hate me? :( Niss nobody asked about the beard yet, why is it so manly? Oh i forgot, wer qwe wef mines rework? In their current state they are useless, no heal if u havent warded the element, only about 90 if u did

PDX_Escher1 karma

Pick three of those many questions and we will answer them. :P

Sexual-Panther0 karma

I like the idea behind this game, but my biggest problem is that it doesn't really seem like there is anything to do. The current game modes feel more like a proof of concept or baseline test kind of things rather than a full game.

Don't get me wrong, the combat itself has a lot of depth and I think you guys absolutely nailed it... but that's all that the game seems to have. Besides the combat itself, the game seems to be hugely lacking in terms of depth and content.

So I guess my question is (and I've been wondering this for months now) is the current game mode intended to be the "main" game mode, or is it in fact more of a testing/trial mode with a real mode on the way?

PDX_Escher2 karma

"wondering this for months now", this makes me think that you haven't checked out our most recent game-mode? Check out Soul Harvest, it was released last week.

That being said, we don't see any game-mode as being the "main" one really. We are in fact prototyping another game type at the moment. From the outset this was never going to be a "one map, lane pushing" type game. Variety is the spice of life! There should be something for everyone.

Sexual-Panther1 karma

Indeed, I have not played for a bit. Like I said, I found the combat system to be mechanically superb, but I felt like there just... wasn't much to do, I guess. I say "wondering for months" because I've been wondering this every since I started playing (which was about 9 months ago or something like that).

Anyway looks like I'm going to be patching again!

PDX_Escher1 karma

Do so, I think this will be much more your thing. ;)

OsmoZ-1 karma

When are you going to implement that god damn inventory system?

PDX_Escher3 karma

Wut? :(