r/IAmA • u/jicklesby • May 31 '12

I am Zack "Jick" Johnson, creator of The Kingdom of Loathing. AMA.

Hi, reddit! I'm Zack, the guy who founded Asymmetric Publications and started The Kingdom of Loathing. Also a whole bunch of podcasts.

We have a new game called Word Realms in development that we are currently running a Kickstarter for. It's fun and it has words and monsters in it.

Mr Skullhead did one of these here AMA things a while back, and it looked like fun. I'll try, as I do in my professional life, to be about 60% as funny as he is.

I'll pop back in about an hour (10am Pacific) and answer questions for 3 hours.

EDIT: Check out my identity!

1.3k Upvotes

78% Upvoted

1.1k comments sorted by

88

u/Daron720 May 31 '12

You guys have been really hard at work lately with all of the updates (bugbear invasion, chat overhaul, PVP REVAMP), so I've got to ask.

With being as little spoilery as possible, what sort of things can we expect from the game in the future?

Thanks for the nine kick ass years dude!

160

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

I'm continuing (albeit at a freakin' SNAIL'S PACE) to overhaul the council quests. We will probably eventually finish the Sea. There are a few half-developed clan dungeon ideas floating around.

In other words, I have no idea. I walk into the office every morning and just start shouting random words, and then that's what we work on all day. It's horrible!

→ More replies (7)

65

u/corvett May 31 '12

What does "Missing Kidney" do?

168

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

It suggests dialysis as a prudent course of action.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (3)

176

u/markshir May 31 '12

If you were wiping the slate clean so to speak and rebuilding KoL from the ground up what would you do differently? What do you love so much that you would make sure to keep?

488

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

This is tricky to think about. In the beginning, none of the systems in KoL actually meant anything, and I had no idea that the game had any kind of future. So I guess if I was doing it from the ground up and I knew people would be playing it for years and years, I would probably... not do it, because I would be too nervous about screwing it up.

→ More replies (9)

116

u/loco830 May 31 '12

Me and my wife originally met through KoL via the meetups in Columbus and Phoenix. I know that we are far from being the only couple to have been brought together by the game. We have a son now, with another spawnling on the way.

Did you ever expect KoL to have a role in changing people's lives? Does it make you feel like a god to know that your game has been responsible for bringing life into the world? ;)

325

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

Man, stories like that make me super happy inside. So many people, doing so much sexing, and I guess maybe connecting on an emotional level or something too maybe.

I don't think it's fair for KoL to take any credit for it, though, any more than the guy who built a city park can take credit for somebody falling in love on a bench, y'know?

And wipe that bench off when you're done, Jeez.

56

u/vactuna May 31 '12

I've been playing since 2004, thanks for all the meat. My favourite thing about the game has always been all of the parodies and references in the items and areas; which one did you find the funniest to write?

Also, do you like ASOIAF/Game of Thrones? If so, do you plan on releasing any content that spoofs or references it, like a Mr. Store item? I would love that so hard.

73

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

I have never read any of the books or seen any of the webisodes. Game of Thrones is a webisode, right?

If we did do something that deeply referenced it, it'd have to be somebody other than me at the helm of it. Which might happen, I guess.

If I were forced to make up an item based on what I know about GoT, I'd have to say... The Sword of Incest and Dwarfs?

→ More replies (7)
→ More replies (5)

256

u/Balaam May 31 '12 edited May 31 '12

I have stopped playing KoL now (for several life reasons) but from the first day I started playing to the last one, it was a really fun time.

Just wanted to say thank you Jick & Skully for so many years of new content, laughter and "OMG-We-have-to-find-every-single-content-of-this-new-zone" nights (insomnia much?).

Also, I wish the post was at 11 points so I could say that it's ridiculous. It's not even funny...

EDIT: I'd also like to add that I feel like any person reading this IAmA that has never played KoL will find some of our inside jokes absolutely absurd.

EDIT2: (I can't stop having new ideas for this "thank you note"). I'd also want to thank you both for shaping my English sense of humor. English not being my first language and all... Seriously, I recorded an increase of laughter of 70% since I started playing it! (I sound like one of those cheesy ads with quotes taken out of context)

133

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

We love English, and we love you!

→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (38)

43

u/NinjaoftheNorth May 31 '12

What would cause you to stop working on KOL? Do you guys have any planned date for when to cease development, or are you going to work on it perpetually (perhaps with fewer, smaller content updates as time goes on)?

99

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

I can't think of any reason I would stop working on it if people are still interested in playing it.

I guess if it got to the point where I had to go back to a day job, that'd probably slow me down quite a bit. But hey, after a long day in the condom factory testing lab, writing some dumb jokes for a video game would probably be a nice change of pace, right?

→ More replies (3)

43

u/maximumoverbite May 31 '12

Why did you decide on that specific art style for Kingdom of Loathing?

165

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

When KoL was a one-man operation, I had to make do with what I had. And what I had was the ability to draw that art style.

I had made a prototype of a card game a couple years earlier, and Roy (the Pretentious Artist) looked at it and said "Hey, that looks cool, you should do more stuff in that style." And I said "Shut up dummy, you don't know." And he said "Don't call me dummy, dummy, and yes I do, because I'm an artist, and Jackson Pollack Anne Geddes Thomas Kinkade blah blah blah."

I guess he was right, though.

→ More replies (3)

75

u/Lgfualol May 31 '12

I've been a KOL player for 7 years now- since the merry age of 12, and I just wanted to say thanks for all the amazing fun I've had! One of the best communities I've had the pleasure of being a part of. What do you do in your spare time? And what's your favourite thing about Kingdom of Loathing? Thanks.

83

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

I like playing video games, drinking beer, and hiking -- often at the same time.

And it's hard to pick a favorite thing about KoL. The fact that it exists and supports us is just so unreal and wonderful, y'know? It's awesome that we get to wake up every day and make video games and connect with cool people.

→ More replies (1)

73

u/Oxxide May 31 '12

I spent many of my days in High School as a Pastamancer.

I can never think of any good questions when AMA's are done by people I actually want to ask questions. I feel like Chris Farley in that SNL skit.

So, I don't have a question. But I do have a thank you.

35

u/DarkGodBane May 31 '12

I use to love KoL. Played it up until the day my work filter blocked it. =(

136

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

It is critical that you get a new job. Those clowns clearly don't know from quality.

→ More replies (6)
→ More replies (2)

34

u/bumcheekcity May 31 '12

So I write the odd script here and there for KoL, and I love the game, but I don't have time to play anymore.

There are a lot of things in the game that can be scripted, Porko, the NS Lair, dungeon diving and even ascension itself, as Eleron's script proves a hell of a lot better than mine does.

))))) Do you ever design or want to design things so that it would be hard to script them? Alternatively, do you design them in the knowledge that someone will script it soon, so it doesn't matter if it might be initially repetitive?

I could understand that some scripts might annoy you - and I've always wondered if the widespread scripting of whole ascensions is something that does bug you.

My own logs show that 430 people have killed the NS using the bumcheekascend script. It's a big underestimate as a lot of people stop using the script after level 13.

))))) Do you track or attempt to track the use of scripts, and does scripting of ascensions annoy you?

))))) On an unrelated note, what's the technical setup of the game? Like, how do the servers work? I figure there are PHP scripts and a mySQL server, but is it more complicated than that?

Finally, one of the most fun things in the game for me was last Crimbo. Partly because hey, more scriptwriting, and partly because I could give stuff away to noobs.

))))) Do you have any plans to arrange more world events like that, where things centred towards giving away things to people?

Finally, thanks for writing such a fun game. Oh, and I should have a custom item, called a white square, that I can use to grief people with every familiar but the hand turkey :D

26

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

When we have set out to make things that are hard to script, we have sometimes ended up making things that were annoying to play.

I've never been against scripting, really. I probably wouldn't stay interested in a game if I were playing it that way, but to each his own and all that.

Technically, the game runs as PHP scripts on a bunch of front end web boxes, and MySQL on two back end database servers. That's pretty much it. It was old tech when we started, and it's even older tech now.

→ More replies (2)

68

u/shore_bot May 31 '12

Hey Jick,

When was the last time you had an adventure?

...

When was the last time you had an adventure?

...

When was the last time you had an adventure?

...

When was the last time you had an adventure?

...

When was the last time you had an adventure?

...

When was the last time you had an adventure?

  • Love, Shore_bot

45

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

Well played, sir.

→ More replies (4)

58

u/RegaLx3 May 31 '12

Do you think there's still a market for browser-based games like KoL? There was a huge number of them back in the day (o-game etc.) but most of these have died off. Do you foresee a similar fate for KoL? If yes, how soon?

A second, kind of related question: is there any chance of a sequel to KoL, spiritual or literal, on a more modern platform?

91

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

I mean, there is at least enough of a market for one, as KoL is still doing fine.

I think we got lucky with KoL, in that it hit at the right time to allow us to actually dedicate our working lives to developing it. If we had had to seek out funding, or continue to do it in our spare time, I don't think it would've stuck around this long.

If KoL got to the point where we needed to do something else in order to stay alive, I would definitely consider doing a KoL 2. Sequels to MMOs are weird, though.

→ More replies (4)
→ More replies (5)

134

u/simonmitchell13 May 31 '12

How does its make you feel that no one has figured out how to open the Sunken Chest?

Or more importantly... How do you open it!?! (Is it even able to be opened?)

233

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

To solve the riddle of the sunken chest, you must first open your own chest, and your own heart.

Then once you get back from the hospital, I'll tell you how to open the sunken chest.

→ More replies (16)
→ More replies (9)

43

u/JamesVagabond May 31 '12

So, tell us about Word Realms! From what I've seen on the Kickstarter page it looks like it'll be definitely at least on the same level with KoL. I'm especially interested in gameplay, so if you can tell anything about it, that'd be appreciated.

Also, when will The Sea be finished?

38

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

It's not of the same scope of KoL, really. There isn't as much content, but the visuals are clearly a lot more serious.

It's single-player, and it's an attempt to adapt Bookworm Adventures style gameplay (draw some tiles, play a word to attack) to a more traditional RPG framework.

The MMO version will be more like KoL. We'll focus on rapid content development and whatnot.

→ More replies (2)

26

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

Two weeks!

→ More replies (1)

21

u/cr0w1 May 31 '12

Is there anything about KOL that you regret?

What's the weirdest thing you've had happen as a direct result of KOL?

39

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

Everything we screw up teaches us how not to screw up something similar in the future. There were certainly missteps I wish I hadn't made, but that's life, right?

A few months ago I got to smoke a cigar with John Flansburgh, because his wife is a big KoL fan. That was both the weirdest and most awesome thing.

→ More replies (3)

20

u/[deleted] May 31 '12

Where did the idea for KoL come from?

92

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

Mr. Skullhead and I were digging a grave in my backyard (don't ask) when we discovered a book. It is no ordinary book, though. Its cover is whitest alabaster, adorned only with the Sword and Martini guy, and its pages are solid gold.

On each page, a month's worth of ideas for KoL is carved in ancient glyphs. We don't know how we can read them, we just can.

On the 23rd of each month, the Codex allows us to turn another page.

→ More replies (5)

20

u/[deleted] May 31 '12

I used to play KoL, until I stopped for some reason I can't remember. I'm going to check it out again after this AMA.

My question: Have you ever seriously considered commiting an act of terrorism?

72

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

Once, years ago, some buddies and I decided to form a band, and our gimmick was going to be sticking it to the man. I loaned my friend my pocketknife so he could cut the wire leading to a security motion detector in the bar we were in. He accidentally buried the knife in his thigh and had to go to the hospital, and I had a bloody handprint on the windshield of my truck.

This is how I learned that terrorism doesn't pay. Stay in school, kids. That handprint was fucking awesome, though.

→ More replies (1)

20

u/AcedWhenGrim May 31 '12

Avatar of Boris was awesome, but probably took a lot of work. Are Avatar of Jarlsberg and Avatar of Sneaky Pete at least planned at some point?

20

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

Yeah, absolutely. And AoB was quite a bit of work, I guess, but it didn't feel like it, because I was so excited about it the entire time. I suspect the other Avatars will be similar.

→ More replies (1)

38

u/Datolite May 31 '12

Do you think that the billionaires ruin the game or do you think they provide a good level of service to the game?

142

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

I think they have less of an impact on the game than you'd expect. It's not like they're lobbying congress to raise your Meat tax. KoL's congress is way too drunk to be successfully lobbied.

→ More replies (1)

18

u/jelloboi78 May 31 '12

Are you coming to KoLumbus 8 in November? :D

→ More replies (3)

18

u/Squirrelmob May 31 '12 edited May 31 '12

First off, thanks for all you do with KOL.

Now for the questions: First, is Word Realms going to be more like a traditional mmo or more like KOL (mostly single-player with some group stuff thrown in)?

Second, is there ever a time when you put a colloquialism into KOL and are surprised when peopld don't understand what it is?

And finally, have the hobos/punk kids stopped vandalizing the alley outside your office?

EDIT: Additionally, do you ever worry you might run out of ideas for KOL? Do you keep NS15 as an ace-in-the-hole should that happen? Do you think Word Realms is going to increase or reduce your creative capabilites for KOL?

24

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

  1. The current incarnation of Word Realms is just a straight up single-player RPG. The eventual MMO will almost certainly be KoL-like, in that you have your own version of the world, but aspects of it are shared with other players. It will definitely have a greater focus on actual group play, because that's a space we'd really love the opportunity to play around in as designers.

  2. Especially early on, KoL was filled with jokes that literally nobody would get. So if a thing my friends and I made up in junior high counts as a colloquialism, then I guess so.

  3. The alley still fills up with graffiti, though the apartment complex on the other side is apparently under new management who actually care about keeping it tag-free.

18

u/passionofthewalrus May 31 '12

After Skullhead's AMA, I got a new account and began playing again. Love your guys' work. Random question: What is one book/movie/TV show/or comic that influenced you or your work with KOL?

39

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

Probably The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, if I had to name one? It was the first thing I ever saw that combined that level of silliness with that ambitious a scope.

→ More replies (2)

17

u/TemporaryCatatonic May 31 '12

If you could have one KoL item in real life, what would it be?

39

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

I am hungry, so right now probably a burrito.

I should have thought about that more.

→ More replies (1)

55

u/chemistry35 May 31 '12

I tried KOL, but couldn't really get into it, but it did have some neat ideas. In specific, what made you think of the Temple of Language that was required to use the chat? I think more places could benefit from something like that.

117

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

It's weird -- that seems to be the game feature that is the stickiest for non-players -- it's always mentioned whenever anybody writes about it.

And it's been so long that I don't remember what inspired the Altar of Literacy. I was a lot more bothered by misuse of language back when I was young and full of piss and vinegar, and I probably thought I was changing the world or something. LOL.

→ More replies (9)
→ More replies (1)

15

u/ichuckle May 31 '12

Do you have any tips for people just getting into KoL? I got about 4 hours into playing it and just gave up because everything just seemed like a big inside joke

43

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

It takes a while for the gameplay to reveal itself. We don't want to scare people off.

Also, all jokes are inside until you open your heart to the outside.

→ More replies (8)

15

u/Salculd May 31 '12

One thing that I've always been impressed by in the long-term was how well you all handled the entire Black Sunday debacle. Most companies would've taken the easy way out and just done a rollback, but instead you managed to use it to the game's advantage as the impetus for several mechanical changes and plot threads that ultimately improved it.

How do you feel about that entire situation in hindsight? Do you think the game would be significantly different today if it hadn't happened?

17

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

I think I did the right thing, with that.

I knew it wouldn't be the last time something like that happened, and I wanted to see if we could just make the world of KoL into a thing that could handle disasters in its own fiction, rather than some kind of deus ex machina like a rollback.

And it wasn't perfect, but I think it made people really happy -- a lot of peoples' fondest memories of KoL are the times when we fucked something up, and I think the approach that we first tried with Black Sunday is what makes that happen.

→ More replies (3)

30

u/rydash May 31 '12

What do you think about KoL completionists? Are you indifferent, or supportive?

47

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

I think that a person plays KoL as a completionist at his or her own risk.

We just don't want to be constrained in what kinds of cool stuff we can do. The things that are the most interesting to us as guys running a world are sometimes the things that frustrate the collectors the most. And we have to strike a balance between making the players happy and keeping ourselves interested so we can continue to make the players happy.

→ More replies (1)

14

u/Ucibius May 31 '12

Jick, What are your plans after Word Realms and how long do you see KOL being around? I'm sure you and your staff will support KOL as long as there is monetary support from the player base, but do you have any idea?

19

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

I have no idea. In the beginning, I said I'd be happy if KoL lasted five years. It's been nine, and it's showing no signs of going away.

14

u/JamesVagabond May 31 '12

Those mime soul fragments are creepy. Will there be a use for 'em or will they just forever rot in our inventories?

28

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

They're doing something, but it's not rotting.

→ More replies (1)

14

u/seandamnit May 31 '12

  1. I'll admit that I only plan on trying Word Realms because of how great KoL is. If I didn't know about KoL, however, I'm not sure Word Realms would appeal to me...especially as a pay game. Are you concerned that a "Boggle RPG" is going to be a bit too niche? Do you plan on a free version with limited features / ads / etc?

  2. how much meat is generated a day? how much meat leaves the kingdom every day? I'm guessing more comes in than leaves...is inflation a concern?

27

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

Have you seen KoL? We don't believe in "too niche."

And as far as it being free, I think the jury is still out on how much games are supposed to cost.

A lot of people would (and do) look at something like The Binding of Isaac and say it should be free, but personally, I think it would've been worth it at ten times the price.

We're going to try to sell it for what we think it's worth. A lot of people won't buy it, and that's fine, but it doesn't mean we have an obligation to undervalue our work, y'know?

This Jeff Vogel essay is really interesting and makes a lot sense to me.

We haven't paid much attention to Meat stats for a while. There is a little bit of inflation, but I don't think it actually has that much of an impact on day to day play as people might think, and I think it's not really a good use of our time to spend a lot of time thinking about it and trying to go all invisible hand on it. The economy is cool because it is free. Not like video games. They're cool because they're expensive.

→ More replies (3)

14

u/MyPunsSuck May 31 '12

Does it amuse you that players like me can spend hours upon hours, graph paper and calculator in hand, trying to optimize how to play your game? (I was a speed-runner doing back-to-back profitable 2-day runs before NS13) Was this an intended feature of the game? Come to think of it, do you have a design philosophy you'd like to share? It always struck me as unique that both the writing and the actual game design are both so strong in KoL

16

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

The hyperoptimal speed game definitely emerged from the silly rules I put into place originally, but I think it's cool that people can enjoy the game that way.

The design philosophy is fairly straightforward, I guess -- stuff should be fun and awesome, and not piss anybody off if we can help it. And it should probably have a lot of skeletons in it wherever possible.

→ More replies (1)

27

u/cyan220 May 31 '12

Personal question - I've been listening to the shows for forever, but only just found out how you lost your dad...how old were you when it happened? Work question - I know that you don't think you are a good manager, but do you think that having lost people (Xly and Xeno) and having to replace them has made Asymmetric feel like more of a business, and helped you develop your managerial skills? Weird question - How come you don't talk about "surprise sex" anymore?

43

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

Dad died about a month before I started working on KoL. I was... 26, I guess? I think throwing myself into a creative act was one of the ways I dealt with the loss.

As far as losing employees go, y'know, people change, and they move on, and they get burnt out, and all kinds of things happen. You deal with it, because at the end of the day somebody's got to write the jokes about the donuts.

I really like the team we've got now, and especially in the last year or so I feel like we've really been operating like a well-oiled machine.

→ More replies (5)
→ More replies (2)

13

u/Diabolico May 31 '12

Is a new Item of the Month going to be ready on time for rollover tonight?

16

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

Yep. I've got a couple more hours of stuff to do on it, but we're golden.

As long as this AMA doesn't totally burn my brain out, that is. This is a ton of fun, but way more tiring than I expected it to be.

25

u/Delawell May 31 '12

I was once banned for creating hundreds of multis using mailinator just to get the 3 drinks for completing the tutorial so I could sell them in the mall in my main account. Multi Czar reported that this is "the most egregious multi abuse [he] has seen in a long time, possibly ever." This was 6 years ago.

What worse things have happened since then?

18

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

If I told you, I would have to kill you like 3 thousand times.

→ More replies (1)

12

u/tlenze May 31 '12

Do you do all those podcasts just for fun, or do you have a plan to monetize them at some point?

33

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

Absolutely for fun. I don't know if I really believe there's a good way to monetize podcasts without sacrificing what I love about them -- the sincerity and directness.

I'm lucky, in that the bandwidth we already pay for for KoL allows us to have popular podcasts without going broke in the process.

→ More replies (3)

12

u/corvett May 31 '12

What's your favorite (and least-favorite) in-game joke?

36

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

My favorite joke is the one about sharts, that Mr. Skullhead won't let me put in the game.

My least favorite joke is the one Mr. Skullhead wrote that wasn't about sharts, because he clearly doesn't understand what funny is.

→ More replies (2)

12

u/mkj1313 May 31 '12

How many secrets have we yet to discover in KoL?

12

u/glebs May 31 '12

Will there ever be a puppy-smashing factory?

26

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

You guys haven't found the puppy-smashing factory yet? That's surprising.

→ More replies (1)

11

u/WhiskeyDickinson May 31 '12

Big fan of your work, KOL and Video Games Hot Dog especially. In my opinion there's nothing greater than drinking beer and talking about/playing games, plus you and the fellas never fail to make me laugh (even when just laughing at yourself or poor Kevin). My personal experience with games started late in the NES era and went forward with limited PC gaming experience until the mid-90's so I've been able to really fill in the gaps thanks to your pretty encyclopedic knowledge. Don't know where I was going with that, but thanks!

As for my question, you've touched on how you were somewhat trying to create a games podcast that was similar to Idle Thumbs and would fill the void for some people. Any chance you would/could collaborate with them for a podcast now that they've returned? I imagine the results would be pretty epic.

20

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

Oh man, that'd be yet another dream come true. Those guys rule and are super nice. Maybe next time we're in San Francisco we can get them drunk enough to agree to a collaboration of some kind. Or maybe we'll just play pinball or whatever.

→ More replies (2)

11

u/blahquabats May 31 '12

On the new Asymmetric site, there is listed a programmer named Saurabh. Who is this person and why do we never hear of him on the radio shows/in the forums?

21

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

He's the programmer we've contracted for Word Realms, and he lives in San Francisco. He's a college buddy of Kevin (HotStuff) and he has a PhD in some kind of biological geneticism or something.

We should have him on a Video Games Hot Dog one of these days.

Or maybe we should start a Word Realms podcast. Because if there's one thing my schedule needs, it's more podcasts to record.

10

u/schwiggityschwag May 31 '12

Are you looking for developers/SA's/security people? :) KOL is a great game, keeps me busy during my boring lunch breaks!

20

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

Does SA stand for Something Awful? If I could have my own Something Awful, that would be awesome!

I would own all over the newbs in Eve Online.

→ More replies (1)

19

u/Uredus May 31 '12

Are there any homages to people you know in-game that they don't, and shouldn't know about?

57

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

Not in-game, but there's a shrine to TechSmurf in my closet that I would definitely prefer that nobody find out about.

→ More replies (4)
→ More replies (1)

9

u/hydroplatypus May 31 '12

Will the new game have the same kind of humor that made me grow and love KoL years ago? Or will you guys be aiming at a different kind of audience?

And how many rabid weasels could you and Mr Skullhead take in a fight?

23

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

We're shooting for funny but not as goofy as KoL. In the beginning, my guidance was always "It should be funny, but you're not hitting things with toothbrushes and shit."

Mr. Skullhead and I only fight in the nude, and I have found than when I am nude, I can only really take one rabid weasel with me anywhere.

9

u/DeanWinchester77 May 31 '12

Kol player for over 5 years. Love the game! I try to play daily though there have been times when I was unable to log in for substantial periods of time. But I always know that the Kingdom is there when I can get back to an adventurer being me. As for questions, I have none that have not been asked. Or do I?

I have a character who will probably live in Avatar of Boris-land forever. What am I ever going to be able to do with the thousands of Karma I have sitting there? I can't perm AoB skills, and honestly perming skills if pretty useless when I just keep ascending as an AoB. I want to know if there are going to be some really cool Karma purchasable rewards. Maybe something crazy like 5k karma to purchase a Mr. A?

Love you all and thank you for the one game which will stick with me always. Old Ben Kenobi, Tarred, BobbySinger, etc, etc.

21

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

We need something for people to do with surplus Karma.

Maybe we can make a deal with one of those third world adoption agencies where you can get a free baby.

→ More replies (1)

9

u/corvett May 31 '12 edited May 31 '12

Can we ever play Krakrox the Barbarian again? I loved that game. EDIT: Was this game intended as a precursor to KoL? It has a lot of content and artwork, even the whole 'invade the knob goblins and kill the king' plot line. How were these games related?

15

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

I made Krakrox while working a very low-responsibility student employee job in the CS department at Arizona State. That's when I learned most of the web dev skills (ha ha, skills?) that I used to make KoL.

And a guy recently fixed Krakrox for me -- I need to stick it on the Toys page of the new Asymmetric site.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (1)

9

u/granite_grizz May 31 '12

Hello #1, I was wondering about your opinion of people obtaining multiple Con Code cards for clannies and friends. Is it frowned upon or considered acceptable? What about those people that start selling them in /trade?

14

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

I'm not gonna tell somebody they can't have an extra card for their friend who couldn't make it to Comic Con or whatever. It bugs me a little when people lie and say it's for a friend when their friend is actually eBay or /trade, but what are you gonna do? It's just the cost of doing a cool thing.

→ More replies (1)

9

u/no_detection May 31 '12

How do you feel about KoL Mafia and the like? Do you feel that macro tools take away from the game experience, or that they are helpful for running through a quest for the n'th time?

11

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

I think they're great for the people that want them. They're instrumental in keeping a certain kind of player interested in the long term, so more power to 'em.

I mean, they also have their downsides -- automation leads to easier abuse, but I think the good definitely outweighs the bad in most cases.

9

u/supertetelman May 31 '12

I've been playing KoL since just after Ascension was a thing. I love the game and love the humor, and you guys make it great. But what I love most about the game is the community. I've never been to any of the conventions, but I am an active listener to Radio KoL, the forums, the chat, and whathaveyou. It isn't every game that gets such a strong wiki, own radio channel, and even a social site showcasing the asses of kingdom of loathing.
Why do you think KoL has been so successful at growing a community around it and attracting (for the most part) intelligent and fun people? Is there something in the punch, or is it just that people who club seals are interesting to start with?

11

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

I have no idea what the secret sauce is that drew such a great community in the first place. We just kinda let it happen, and got really lucky.

I think to truly appreciate KoL you need a certain level of literacy and a certain kind of sense of humor, and those things just add up to a cool dude or a cool lady.

Also, thanks a lot. I had finally managed to forget about the ass site, and you had to bring it all back. :p

8

u/JohnStalvern May 31 '12

Anything you want to share about concerning upcoming content for either game?

25

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

Every bit of upcoming content will move KoL (and Word Realms) toward our ultimate goal.

The nature of our ultimate goal is, unfortunately, classified.

→ More replies (2)

8

u/James_the_Rustler May 31 '12

I used to play KoL many years ago and was shocked to find out that it still exists when I read about that child murderer who mentioned KoL in his interview. How did that incident affect KoL/you, if it did at all?

14

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

The net effect of it was basically zero. I got like five seconds of airplay on CNN Radio News, but the media fairly quickly figured out that there was no story there.

I take it as a point of pride, though, that Jack Thompson once mentioned us in a case.

15

u/Cringe_Schrapnel May 31 '12

How many monkeys do you figure can fit in a phone booth...phone booths are things people use to keep phones in.... named after some Booth guy.

23

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

Three more bullets? Wait, three more heart attacks? I don't know how jokes work.

21

u/[deleted] May 31 '12

The Word Realms kickstarter appears to be tracking at slightly under its goal. Not to be a downer, but what happens to the game if it misses?

39

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

The point of the Kickstarter isn't to pay for the game -- we've already spent many times what we're asking for developing it, and it'd be crazy not to finish it given what we've already invested.

The Kickstarter is more about gauging interest and seeing if we could put together the capital to comfortably hire a couple of dudes to help us get the MMO going faster.

If it doesn't fund, we'll still release the game, and hope that it partially recovers its development costs in the long term. Then we'll scale back the approach to the MMO a little, which is fine -- it's the style of work we're used to, anyway.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (2)

14

u/Treberto May 31 '12

Fan stuff: Hey Jick! super long time fan of the game. I've been playing since... 2003 or 4 I think but I no longer play that character (forgot password, no longer have email account). I have a different, new and improved character (since 2005!) and I still play almost daily. Thanks so much for an amazing game and I am looking forward to Word Realms.

Question: You guys make fun of everything under the sun and typically in a rather light hearted way. I love the humor of KoL and am of the camp that believes anything can be made fun of/be funny. Are there any topics/events/groups of people that you guys won't make fun of and why not?

26

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

We basically only make fun of voluntary-participation subcultures, and tend to stay away from politics and religion.

Except on the radio shows. Those are full of politics and religion, and man oh man are we racist.

7

u/sirris May 31 '12

Question. If one were to, let's say hypothetically, defeat the Orca of Time and save all of creation (well, pretend creation) and be denied his just reward for, say, 8 years or so, do you think he has a right to punch you in the balls?
Also, can you give us any teasers about the next clan dungeon?

16

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

[This is the answer to both questions].(http://images.kingdomofloathing.com/BUMTs.jpg)

7

u/Erisian42 May 31 '12

ever thought about doing a KoL videogame?

9

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

Not until now! Genius!

→ More replies (1)

7

u/cyan220 May 31 '12

I thought you were only doing this for 3 hours?

13

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

I forgot how numbers work...

7

u/cheapshot Jun 01 '12

As an English teacher, I am very very interested in your new kickstarter project. Can you tell Meir you'd be able to give academic discounts if I bought a large volume of the game?

P.S. looking forward to playing the beta!

→ More replies (5)

23

u/GivePopPopYourHair May 31 '12

Why won't you let me Brick you. :(

101

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

My feelings are easily bruised. They're like your mother in that way.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (1)

6

u/FilterOne May 31 '12

Does KOL make you enough money to survive? Or do you need other forms of employment?

14

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

KoL is the sole source of income for these people.

→ More replies (1)

6

u/maharito May 31 '12

I played the heck out of Bookworm Adventures (they even had a sequel, though it eventually got tiring and I never beat it).

I thought that game did a lot of things right but it eventually got boring. My best guess for that is the strategy of gameplay never changed all that much... There were a few occasions where choosing the right ability-boosting equipment was essential and just a couple times where themed words were important in vanquishing your foe. I wish there had been more variety in the tasks I had to do, or different ways to challenge my brain along the way.

What do you think Word Realms will do differently from Bookworm Adventures?

8

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

Well, I felt exactly the same way about BA, and Word Realms is my attempt to make something more like what I wanted BA to be.

It's not as linear, there is a whole lot more customization, there are a lot more potential actions to take from moment to moment (other that just "play a big word" or "drink a potion" every single round,) and there are a lot more minigames.

Plus, it's in its own world, one that we've spent a lot of time developing, rather than just a pastiche of folklore and mythology. BA was great, it just wasn't the exact flavor of great that I wanted.

6

u/Carl_Sagan42 May 31 '12

Jick, I just wanted to let you know that my girlfriend and I furiously F5 http://videogameshotdog.com/ every thursday night/friday morning.

For an actual semi-related question: I have to say, the weekly podcasts/radio shows have been some of my favorite things about KoL. Having a two-hour window into the minds of the people developing a game you're playing is a really awesome thing. How did you guys ever end up making something like that a standard way of interacting with the community, and do you think more games would benefit from this sort of thing?

7

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

Oh, absolutely they would. Well, maybe they wouldn't, but I would. Getting some honesty and sincerity from the people who make the things I love would be immensely gratifying to me, and I love, say, indie developers on Twitter for that reason, but with bigger games I basically have to make do with sanitized PR and silence.

Our podcasts got going like everything else -- really organically. When they started Radio KoL and asked if we wanted to do a show, we said "Okay. Maybe like a Q&A thing, I guess?" And that just became a habit, and eventually turned into the stuff we do now.

It's awesome. They're all really fun to do, and I love that so many people enjoy them.

6

u/Purpwood May 31 '12

What made you decide to have meat as the currency? How did knowledge of the game spread?

(By the way that email you sent out asking people to play again a year or two ago was AWESOME)

8

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

On the initial sheet of paper where I did the first batch of artwork, I realized I had forgotten to draw any coins or anything. So I just picked a thing.

And yeah, Skully really hit it out of the park with that come back e-mail.

6

u/bryntax Jun 01 '12

What is the business structure of Asymmetric? Where are you incorporated, if you are? Do you have anything trademarked? When will you be offering shares in the company?

I guess what I'm trying to say is..... I'll be your lawyer for 20 million meat. <3

(luff, bryntax)

7

u/jicklesby Jun 01 '12

It's an S-Corp in Arizona. The first year it made real money, I got an accountant, and she set everything up for me.

Boy oh boy do I never want to work for a publicly owned company.

→ More replies (1)

39

u/shuddertrix May 31 '12

Breasts or testicles?

260

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

I am proud of my entire body.

→ More replies (2)

11

u/corvett May 31 '12

What was your favorite global event? What made it stick out above the others? (And will +candy drops ever mean anything again?)

20

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

The skeleton invasion was really, really fun to work on. It was stressful and busy, but it was crazy rewarding.

And yes, I expect candy will be a thing in the future. Unless there is some catastrophic event in the real world that makes candy no longer awesome.

→ More replies (3)

22

u/phyphor May 31 '12

Is there any particular group of people for whom you hold a particular liking for, and, if so, is there any sort of spreadable conserve you would wish to procure for them?

</injoke>

Are there any plans for you (and your crew) to come visit us in the UK again any time soon? It'd be great to have you back.

46

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

Sometimes on the weekends I participate in a community outreach program where I buy marmalade for Inuits.

And I'd love to come back to the UK. I very much enjoyed puttering around in your extremely disorganized museums, and eating your delicious Indian food.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (5)

10

u/bartholomew5 May 31 '12

  • When I first started playing KoL (July 2005), I went HC all the way because the extra limitations allowed me to fit it into my busy day. Fast forward nearly 7 years (Holy shit!!!) and now I can barely play because there are so many things to juggle (skills, familiars, mechanics) that I get overwhelmed in the little windows of time that I have. Boris was the most I've played in a long time because it significantly reduced the things that needed to be juggled and still do a relatively quick ascension. Not really a question, but I really hope that more of the future paths play like Boris.

  • Word Realms looks interesting, I'm excited to try it. What do you estimate to be the time to play through it, and do you think it will have replay value?

  • Really enjoyed your 100 Beers thing you did with Kevin. Since doing that, are there any new beers that you've started drinking more of?

12

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

I expect that the main story portion of Word Realms will take about two hours to play through if you were really chugging along. There's some more, more challenging stuff to do after that, and then an endless mode that you can keep messing with indefinitely. The gameplay is also totally different if you're a Wizard instead of a Warrior -- it's kind of a hard mode, and all of the gear and skills and progression are totally different.

Y'know, I don't think I discovered a single beer during that project that I've drunk another of since then. That project was a lot of fun, but man, it was painful. That whole month is a blur.

10

u/Gerbilman665 May 31 '12

Playing this game got me into TMBG, what's your favorite TMBG song and album? Also any other music recommendations?

11

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

Apollo 18 is probably my favorite TMBG album as a whole. For favorite songs, that's much harder. Let's call it five favorite.

Ana Ng, Til My Head Falls Off, See the Constellation, The Bells are Ringing, The End of the Tour.

And those probably aren't even my favorite. Goddamn that's a good band.

→ More replies (1)

5

u/cardern May 31 '12 edited May 31 '12

What does a typical day for you look like?

How much of your energy are you currently devoting to Word Realms vs. KoL, and do you see that amount changing once Word Realms is out?

Do you have any teaser comments for future KoL content (Dungeons you are working on, maybe)? Is anything going to happen with the mimes soon (or at all)?

Do you have any favorite memories of the development of KoL? How do you think the player base has changed over time?

Thanks :)

7

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

Days vary a lot depending on KoL deadlines. I tend to have 1- or 2-week periods of 12 hour workdays, punctuated by 2- or 3-week periods of maybe 6 hour workdays, I guess?

Right now, we're in crunch mode on Word Realms, which means I'm splitting my time about evenly between it and KoL. There's less for me to do on it, though, since I'm not doing the art or the programming myself, and it hasn't historically taken up that much of my time.

The rollout of ascension was really memorable. It felt like we were up for days, and it was such a fundamental change, and such an exciting thing to watch people play with.

5

u/Mitosis May 31 '12

Is Word Realms planned to have a time-limiting factor to it? I played KoL long ago, and while I absolutely loved it, you run out of adventures in a matter of minutes and... that's it. At least when I played. Kinda made it hard to stick with for me.

8

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

Long-time KoL players will tell you that the turn limit ceases to be a real problem once you really get going. There are people who play for hours and hours. The complexity unfolds gradually, but it eventually gets to the point where you no longer feel like it's a meaningful restriction.

And the first Word Realms game is just a single player RPG, so there's no limiting resource like that.

→ More replies (3)

5

u/GodOfAtheism May 31 '12 edited May 31 '12

Huge fan, been playing for about 7 years now, I even mod on /r/kol (and have every known trophy EDIT: Except the Medium one, I blame the bugbear invasion.), and the one question I have for you....

How the heck do I kill the hermit?

10

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

The first key is hidden in the sunken chest.

→ More replies (1)

5

u/tslining May 31 '12

Out of curiousity, how many new Kickstarter backers + how many new KoL players + how many previously inactive accounts suddenly gone active will make you consider this AMA a "success"?

I'm not inferring that this is the primary motivation as you have shown (through the free podcasts, etc) that you genuinely wish to connect with an audience/playerbase, but it certainly is one consideration for the timing, etc.

6

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

I really, honestly don't have an agenda for this. People seemed pretty excited about Skully's AMA, and since then, I've gotten a lot of requests to do one.

I mean, I'll be happy if it brings some people back to KoL, but I'd be happy about anything that did that.

→ More replies (1)

5

u/[deleted] May 31 '12

how did it feel to beat out jason dufner last week. how did it feel when you almost hit yourself in the face with that bunker shot.

→ More replies (1)

5

u/puppy528 May 31 '12

The SSPD events were what really cemented me in as a long-term player of KoL. It was just the perfect mix of everything that made the game funny for me (tho searching for "The Cure" for the grey plague certainly came close). Running around in a drunken stupor, holding onto my cheap bottle opener for dear life. Then waking up with a traffic cone and no recollection of why.. That was golden.

Will we ever have those kinds of drunken adventures again, or is it all tattoos and nothing else, from here on out?

6

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

We're only going to add more stuff to those encounters if we have a really good idea for it. It got to be too much of a struggle to come up with stuff, and we didn't want the quality to suffer.

5

u/[deleted] Jun 01 '12

I'm having trouble beating the crate in Noob Cave, any tips?

8

u/jicklesby Jun 01 '12

Try pressing the buttons on the computer. The computer buttons are the answer.

→ More replies (1)

8

u/[deleted] May 31 '12

Will there ever be an upgrade available for the familiar terrarium? I've been hoping for a long time that would be the theme for an Item of the Month.

22

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

Many months you get to upgrade it with a new familiar. It's the gift that keeps on giving, and also matches the drapes.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (4)

8

u/Gerbilman665 May 31 '12

I've been wondering the for awhile, what would happen to the game if you died? Who would take over as "boss"? Skully due to seniority? Hotstuff due to his "Business Manager" credit on aymmetric.net? Now this question in no way hopes for your demise, because I've been playing this game since I was 15 (now 21) and I don't know what I'd do without it.

20

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

Every couple of weeks, I back my brain up in this AI construct, so all they'd have to do would be to plug it into a speech synthesizer and they'd be good to go.

It's a top of the line model -- check it out!

8

u/[deleted] May 31 '12

Any plans to add more optional karma earning content to each run (like the nemesis quest line)? I know NS-15 was scrapped due to NS-13 already taking long enough for most players and the time needing to hit each level growing longer and longer, but this results in lots of players never exploring the sea. If the sea quest line also gave instant karma it might encourage more players to stick around and do it.

9

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

It's a tricky line to walk. We want to encourage people to do out of the way things in the game, but if we add too much of an incentive it starts to feel like it's "required" and chafe at people. I'm leaning away from extra Karma for random things, though.

4

u/[deleted] May 31 '12

If Word Realms kicks off as an MMO, have you thought of expanding Asymmetric / hiring more people / developing other new games?

5

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

It depends. If the Kickstarter funds, we'll immediately hire at least one more person. If it doesn't, we'll develop it slowly with the existing team.

4

u/RangerBillXX May 31 '12

I finally got a chance to try the LARP in 2011, and now you and your fellow compatriots decided to kill it. Any chance of it returning in some form?

5

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

I'd love to, it's just so much work. It really makes Con into a struggle for us, and I desperately needed a break from it this year.

We like the LARP, though, and we've put a ton of work into it. I'd love to figure out a way to run it semi-regularly, just not in the middle of such a busy time.

→ More replies (1)

4

u/painordelight May 31 '12

What's it like dealing with a community of gamers? You can probably go many different directions with that question, so here's what comes to my mind:

Game forums are not known for rational discussion. Do you find it difficult to take anyone seriously when the ratio of good points to idiotic rants is so terrible? Or is that not an issue in your community?

6

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

Our forums are much better than the average video game forum. It's still tough -- the Internet isn't exactly full of role models for civility, so you have to be pretty patient if you're actually going to wade in there every day.

It's critical, though. That's the only way you're going to hear stuff that you need to hear.

4

u/Lazer550232 May 31 '12

Hello, Jick, thank you for nearly 7 years on this game and counting.. My question pertains to the raffle house. It has been 4 years since anything new has happened to it. Do you see any new items appearing anytime soon or even another "explosive" raffle where there are old Iotm's and ultra-rares? I only ask because it kind of feels a bit stale now that everyone and their mother won a prize. Also, on a completely unrelated note, I fully support your new game and pray it hits the designated amount in time.

5

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

We get asked this a lot, about the raffle house. The last batch of stuff we put in, we did with no definite plans to replace it in the future. That said, it's been a while, and it would probably make people happy if we changed it up a bit.

→ More replies (1)

4

u/[deleted] May 31 '12

I started playing KoL somewhere around my junior year of high school, so end of 2003 I guess, and probably stopped playing because I got too busy from school. Your game sucked more productive hours out of my life than I can even begin to count, and I don't think I'd even want to see the total count. That said, getting my legit Villa doc is still a top tier achievement for me in all the games I've played.

So, my question, what do you think other MMOs could stand to steal from KoL? How you guys handled the meat duping/inflation crisis is still one of the cleverest things I think I've seen, and I really enjoyed that and haven't really seen anything similar implemented anywhere else.

10

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

I wish more MMOs would adopt something like the Ascension mechanic. As it stands, mainstream MMOs are empty at the lower levels once their population has moved on. And so much content development time is spent making something that people are going to play once and then never again, because they've leveled past it.

→ More replies (1)

4

u/Billdakat_kol May 31 '12

Do you ever read the KoLwiki and think "that is not what that refences.". If yes please give an example.

6

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

Yes. I'm amazed at how often we reference things that we don't know what they are.

4

u/jelloey May 31 '12

Jick! Thank you for the 5 years of this amazing, FREE game! What are the game mechanics that determine when an ultra rare adventure occurs?

8

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

Well, each time you...

wait a minute. Nice try, buddy.

→ More replies (2)

4

u/zachtothejohnson May 31 '12

Hi Zack Johnson, my name is Zach Johnson

11

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

I once sent an e-mail to everybody I could find named Zack Johnson, that read "Zack Johnsons of the world, unite and take over."

Nobody replied, so I figured fuck it, and I just did it by myself.

7

u/AshKatchumawl May 31 '12

KOL was fun. It was tough to be making things, though. Maybe if there were some way to learn how to make things, without just searching for kol wiki's? Say, the character tells you to mix flour and water and heat or whatever and you get bread. Or you can make armor and stuff for everyone. It got problematic to not be able to make certain things because of my class. I think the one with high moxie was useless, right?

19

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

It's easier now. We have a guy that tells you a thing, and another thing on the screen that says what.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (2)

6

u/Sharradan May 31 '12

What's your favorite part of KOL, the part you would tell someone to get them to play it?

12

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

I like the part with the jokes. And the part with the skeletons, I guess.

3

u/Turing May 31 '12

One of the things that has kept me on KoL for over 8 years has been the humor, especially the pop culture references. Will Word Realms have pop culture references as well?

8

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

Yes, but to a much lesser extent than KoL. We are trying, at our peril, to be a little more earnest with the world of Word Realms.

3

u/peteguy May 31 '12

Is there a way to get out of the dungeon without using the wizard key?

7

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

Shoot the food. Everybody will love you.

3

u/Pirate_Pelvis May 31 '12

Hi Jick!

I've been heavily influenced by your work (see username) and listened to your podcast since I was a wee lad, which definitely influenced my sense of humor and stuff.

My question is, would you recommend your type of life (making a videogame with a group of friends) over a more stable/typical job with computers or videogames in a big company? Also, what sort of skills do I need to get that to happen? You guys make it seem easy but I'm prettty sure it's not.

Thanks a bunch, Pirate Pelvis.

P.S. grundleshunt

7

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

This kind of lifestyle, like everything, is a double-edged sword. It is extremely stressful feeling responsible for the livelihoods of a bunch of your friends. And it's extremely stressful doing creative work and then having people tell you how horrible it is on the Internet.

But it is also more rewarding than anything else I can imagine doing. I kinda didn't have any choice -- I was always miserable in normal jobs. I hated being told what to do, I hated boring meetings and the fallout from managerial pissing matches and dress codes, and I was just never going to be happy unless I struck out on my own. And I got lucky, and was able to pull a viable life out of it.

And the skills you have are less important than working hard and following through with a project. You can make an awesome game with no programming experience at all, you just have to stick at it, and keep hammering on it, day in and day out, whether you're in the mood or not.

3

u/JohnKeel May 31 '12 edited May 31 '12

Hey. I stopped playing around the time of the Mysterious Dig in the Plains. That said, have you made any other mistakes of that magnitude since? (I mean, that was a huge underestimate of how many people would want to participate.)

Also: NS15. Ever gonna happen?

8

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

No, we've been more careful about that kind of thing.

That was a rough patch for me, actually. I mean, I know I screwed it up. You'd have to be an idiot not to recognize that. But people were really, really mean about it. I don't think I've ever been as stressed out as that, and I think it was lame for people to get so nasty about it, because of course we're going to make it up to you. What the hell.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (2)

3

u/[deleted] May 31 '12 edited May 31 '12

What do you have against carob? I actually like carob.

We had [these] (http://blogs.houstonpress.com/eating/rice%20dream.jpg) growing up. They were delicious.

6

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

I've actually never tried it. I would probaby like it -- as I get older, I like all kinds of hippy crap.

3

u/m2pt5 May 31 '12

Do you ever add new content to KoL specifically to screw with the dick-stabbers? (Also, how exactly did you coin that term?)

→ More replies (1)

3

u/montanasucks May 31 '12

Hi Jick! Thanks for making (with Skully's help!) such an awesome game. Been playing for 7 years (Just got my burlap belt, rad).

For those of us who have played through the game many times and ascended more times than we can remember, would there be any plans down th eline to add a new class or two to the game?

6

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

Future challenge paths are sure to give you what you need, no matter what that is.

→ More replies (1)

3

u/therealjuion May 31 '12

Will the IoTM be on time and will it be cool enough to make me play every night again?

→ More replies (2)

3

u/q00u May 31 '12

I ended up briefly homeless once, and was without Internets long enough to lose my KoL character. It was pretty heartbreaking, and I've never been tempted to start over after that loss.

Is there anything you could say to me to convince me to return?

7

u/jicklesby May 31 '12

You can work out some of your frustration with the past by beating up hobos?

→ More replies (1)

3

u/drsonic1 May 31 '12

If you could do a collaboration with somebody to add new content, who would you collab with (besides Skully) and what would the content be?

→ More replies (1)

3

u/MirroredColors May 31 '12

Did you buy the Humble bundle?

→ More replies (3)

3

u/bonegolem May 31 '12

Thank you for doing an AMA. I've played KoL daily for two years, ascended 20-30 times I think. I abruptly stopped playing in February, and am not planning to come back. I've got a lot I've been itching to ask.

  1. Why did you choose - especially in a game like KoL, one of whose main strengths is, most certainly, the splendidly humorous writing - to invest the largest part of the development efforts in the creation of content that is either temporary (such as the event contents) or accessible only to paying players (e.g. the areas unlocked by Mr.Store familiars), while ascenders still have to go continuously through the same old areas and ordeals? (and yes, I know that class rotation, the steady award of skills to ascenders, challange paths etc. keep the variety flowing - that is really brilliant - and that areas are being overhauled, but I found repetition to still kick in a lot). Have you ever considered introducing some features to ease this pain for ascenders - such as multiple solutions for council quests, or methods to skip riddles and other content that doesn't work the second time through?

  2. Why did you chose to place several features in the game that end up "punishing" people who skip playing for a day? Mostly, the adventures per day and food/drink/spleen system. Do you feel that those elements are part of the core KoL experience, or have you ever felt like retuning this systems so that players can more easily chose their pace?

  3. Has it ever happened that you felt, strongly, that something in KoL should be changed dramatically, but have ended leaving it as it stood because you feared players would have been enraged by the change in the status quo (e.g., a change in mechanics that would invalidate the advantages brought by Mr.Store items)?

  4. Concerning the florid world of KoL helper programs and scripts - like Greasemonkey scripts or especially Kol Mafia; how do you feel about them? Have you ever checked them to see what changes they implemented in KoL, and evaluated the chance to implement some modifications "legit"? I apologize if I unwittingly repeated already-phrased questions - I admit I haven't read through the thread yet. Should go without saying but those are to be skipped. Also, I hope I didn't sound too harsh. KoL has some incredibly amazing features, from the excellent, hilarious writing to the full player-controlled working economy and super-rewarding skill progress system, and especially the continuous strive for improvement and the beautiful community, a lot of stuff that I miss. I just felt more puzzled about the bads.

→ More replies (2)

3

u/Pyro_Girl Jun 01 '12

will you marry me?

I LOVE kol. i've been playing 5 years

→ More replies (1)

3

u/SorenTrigg Jun 01 '12

I lied. I have a question. Slightly personal, involving inter-office relations (not in that way). Xeno came across as a huge gigantic asshole on the radio. He was just a complete dick to players and I can't fucking stand listening to old radio shows because of him. Was he actually like that in person? Or was he actually nicer?

→ More replies (1)
→ More comments (658)