Curse

Here it is, I've really enjoyed the answers. I've made up some of my own questions and also gathered some old questions (regarding city sieging) from various darkfall forums. First things first, here's a quote from Tasos Flambouras regarding this Q&A:

There's a lot of detail in conquest and city building that we cannot talk about. We wanted to answer all the questions, and if some answers seem vague or raise more questions, it's in an honest effort to give as much information as we're allowed to.

Here comes the good stuff:

Answers by Tasos Flambouras, Claus Grovdal, and Kjetil Helland.

1) Is the Gloomer system still in? Do we need it to weaken the clanstone of an enemy city, so we can proceed to destroying enemy walls and structures?

The gloomer isn't in the game in its original form. The concept remains but has been added on and improved. The attackers need to protect their assets and their challenge shard - which isn't stationary anymore but in the hands of a clan leader. While in possession of the challenge shard, the holder is a bleep on the defender's and attacker's maps and global messages are issued. He cannot use magical means of transportation, and his clan has to protect him while the defenders and allies need to kill him within the allotted time in order to break the siege. There are other ways to break the siege, by taking attacker territories, or defending your clan stone.

2) What is needed for an attacker to construct the Gloomer, and other siege equipment used to conquer a city?

Siege equipment is made by crafters, who use the appropriate resources. These are player spawned. For the higher level siege equipment you need a siege workshop which can only be constructed in clan cities.

3) How much time does a newly constructed clanstone need to become invulnerable to enemy attacks?

No time, it’s invulnerable immediately until the challenge phase.

4) Can we use cannons, or are the cannons only available for ships (apparently, gunpowder wasn't invented in Agon) ?

Players can spawn cannons, city defenses can spawn cannons. There are several different types some of which can fire different elements and projectiles aside from the cannonballs.

5) What types of siege equipment do the defenders have at their disposal?

The defenders have all the siege engines available in the game, in addition they can use huge defensive bombards spawned by the clan leaders, defensive structures, towers etc.

6) Can the defenders set traps in front of their city, or some kind of obstacles for mounts?

There are several options along these lines, but we cannot be more specific at this time.

7) What types of siege equipment do the attackers have at their disposal?

They can use cannons, siege weapons, mobile attack platforms, warhulks, and ships.

8) How long does a siege usually take?

A siege can last several hours, depending on how evenly the opponents measure up. There is a time limit when the siege effort fails.

9) Can you burn down wooden structures with fire arrows shoot from outside the city walls? Can fire spells set wooden buildings on fire?

There are spells that can damage structures, and the structures will catch on fire at some point. The arrows will not set buildings on fire though.

10) Are walls and/or other structures repairable when the actual siege has taken place? If it is, does it take up resources (like stone)?

Yes they are repairable, during the siege. You need to craft the repair materials, so you need crafters and resources. A well prepared clan will have the materials needed for repairs stockpiled in advance of a siege.

11) Is there a limit to how many structures the attacker can destroy after they conquer the city?

There is a limit - per day on all buildings except for the walls which can be destroyed liberally. You have to consider that since the attacker has conquered the city, destroying the buildings is destroying his own property. The limit serves the purpose of allowing the original city owners to fight to recover their lost city.

12) Do large clans have an advantage over small clans when it comes to conquering each other's cities? If yes, how big of an advantage is it?

We've talked about how a small disciplined unit that trains together can fight back the zerg. Also, a large clan has a lot more to defend. When you issue a challenge on a clan city, all your assets become vulnerable to attack by anyone. So size is both an advantage and a burden.

13) What prevents or discourages "Ninja Raiding", aka 3 am raids on your city while everyone is asleep? Will NPC guards play an important role in this aspect of the game?

There is a process which takes a while to be able to begin the siege, it's not instant. Also, universal messages are issued and the attacker's assets all go vulnerable for a certain time. Allies are alerted, enemies are alerted, the 3am raid may not be the optimal time for a clan to try to attack and defend at the same time. There is also out-of-game messaging, so the clan which is being attacked can be alerted. City defenses can be spawned by few defenders, and the guards will also help in fighting back. If all else fails, the defenders always have the option to mount a counter-attack to take back their city.

14) Will clans instead of destroying or taking over their enemy clan's town be able to just take some control or tax them for a period of time?

It’s not a game mechanic, but players have the freedom of playing out a scenario like that. There are some resources that could be taken over and taxing those who want to use them, mines for example.

15) Can attackers "starve" a city until it surrenders by cutting out supply lines, for example?

They can starve a city logistically by waging a war of attrition on the population and controlling resources. Full loot can eventually exhaust defensive resources, making a city takeover attempt easier.

16) Is it even possible to conquer racial towns, or even racial capitals?

Most of the cities in Darkfall are clan cities and are player controlled. There are a few NPC cities and racial capitals that cannot be conquered at this time.

17) Can you tell us anything specific about attacking port towns and the importance of ships when attacking ports?

Imagine a quiet port town. Now imagine a couple of 50-cannon ships, or worse, firing on it.

18) Do you think that the servers will be able to handle a large scale city siege without much lag?

The game and the technology have been designed from the ground up for massive real-time battles. So far we've simulated battles with a couple of hundred players, and it works great every time.

Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Don't forget to visit the IRC channel at quakenet. You can discuss it on our forums here