In PlayFellowship’s most recent livestream on November 10th, Chief Rebel’s Community Director, Hamish Bode, discussed what players can expect soon. This includes the upcoming patch on Thursday, November 13th, their current priorities, and a tease of an upcoming Dev Update video.
If you ever want to catch these dev streams, Hamish said he plans to stream on Tuesdays and Fridays around 8:00 am NZST (GMT+13).
First Major Update & Wipe
Following the November 3rd livestream, it was stated in the Fellowship Official Discord’s Announcement channel that the reset “was contingent on some very specific content being available.” The goal of releasing the update by mid-December is unlikely, as the team needs “more time to reach a meaningful point” for proper testing.
Hamish Bode stated, both in the official Discord announcement post and the latest livestream, that the update and it’s accompanying wipe will happen sometime in the New Year. There is no set date yet for this update.
Customization Options & Skins
More skins and customization options are coming to Fellowship on an undisclosed date. Customization will include not just cosmetics, but also UI and keybinding options. It was confirmed in today’s stream that per-character keybinds are in the works. More transmog options are also being worked on, including weapon skins. Hamish also mentioned that adding cosmetic pets that follow you around “would be cool.”
The Halloween event will not be extended and will end as scheduled on November 13.
Matchmaking
Eternal queues are on the way, confirmed as one of their top priorities. This feature will release before the first wipe in the New Year, though no date has been announced. The devs are currently discussing leaver penalties and the possible options for it, such as low priority queue.
The option for a multi-queue system was discussed in the stream as a possibility for the future. The example given was similar to Dota 2’s queuing system, where players earn a token for filing non-preferred roles. This token could then be used for priority queue on your main hero. This is not a confirmed system to be added to the game, but one possibility.
Another feature they wish to add in the future is the ability to backfill if a party member leaves and fails to reconnect, with Hamish saying, “we definitely want to do it!”
Roadmap & Transparency
Many people have been asking for a 12-month roadmap. Hamish discussed the request and explained that a 12-month roadmap isn’t feasible given their small studio size. With only 35 people on the team, they wish to stay flexible about what content they release. Hamish mentioned that this flexibility helps them adjust to player feedback and preferences more easily.
The plan is, as always, for Chief Rebel to be as transparent as possible when it comes to what they are prioritizing and working on.
Communication & Feedback
Another priority for Chief Rebel is to get the whisper system back up and running. It was said that the addition of Guilds is being worked on alongside other community focused tools. The fix for Whispers will likely arrive alongside the new community tools being developed. Another communication feature that was mentioned was the ability to chat during the voting phase of matchmaking.
Improvements to character icons, role icons, and the friends list is planned. The team made the decision to remove the Steam Avatars because there was no way to moderate those with the system they had currently. They are currently working on a solution for player avatars.
Hamish has said across many streams that all feedback is welcome, especially feedback that helps players keep playing the game. All previous feedback threads were archived and saved as of November 8th.
What’s Coming This Week
A new Fellowship Dev Update video is expected to drop this week on the Fellowship YouTube channel. Hamish will be interviewing Axel, Chief Rebel’s CEO and Game Director.
The maintenance patch scheduled for this Thursday November 13th at 7:00am CET will contain:
- Adjustments to dungeon timers,
- Adjustments to how armor works,
- Changes to Tariq,
- Changes to Ardeos, and
- Other balance changes.
Hamish briefly mentioned the changes to Tariq and Ardeos noting that Ardeos’ ultimate will be adjusted once the patch goes live. Tariq’s changes may include changes to how his Heavy Strike functions, but there are no specifics mentioned just yet.
The official patch notes are still in progress, with plans to release them on Wednesday.
