Developer Questions and Answers

How satisfied are you with the current mechanics of the skill gems? There are quite a few skills that are almost never used either because they're awkward or they don't scale well. I'm specifically wondering about spectral shield throw. I love that skill and I was really excited about it, but the mechanics just don't work for me. Great job on all the other awesome skills though, I'm a huge fan of ele hit and ancestral warchief.

If Groot says "I am Groot" in another language, does he say the different words for "I am Groot" or does he say "I am Groot" and mean something else in that language?

Edit: Answered.

Don't pay attention to those posting about trade changes they do not understand. If anything get the BoT GuNs out and start shooting them bots out of the game so trade can become improved .

Now for my question is it Ham & Eggs or Eggs & Ham ...

Chris mentioned in his GDC talk that part of the issues with Synthesis was due to getting the prototyping done late. Was this due to just struggling to come up with ideas or were there other factors that forced focus to be shifted elsewhere? And if so, what steps were taken to get back on schedule for 3.7?

What were some examples of notable/hilarious bugs and/or exploits that you all found during development but fixed before players ever saw them? Do you have any screenshots/videos of them?

What are the names of the artists of the cosmetics, enemies, and visual designs? There are so many beautiful creations.

Are there any plans on improving combat mechanics in the game? Currently most of the enemies die from oneshot therefore the game lacks combat mechanics.

Has the staff ever seriously considered adding something in between softcore and hardcore? I think there's a lot of players who feel softcore isn't punishing enough, thus making playing the content less interesting in the long run, but they also feel hardcore is a bit too much for them. Kripparrian discussed this topic on a podcast a year or two ago, it's something I've always hoped for in an ARPG but nearly all games in the genre stick to the tried and true softcore/hardcore.

Has any thought been given to creating a series of cosmetics/pets/etc that can be earned through in-game means such as earning achievements, completing difficult content, as drops from rare, unique spawns (either creatures or objects) or as crafting recipes that might require other rare drops as materials?

Creating more reasons to grind content and increase player engagement with the game might help smooth out the spikes and dips in player population numbers. I know I'd play a lot more if there was stuff to play for.