121204-1202015-nexus-report-tldr

== Content ==
			
They may be trying to put the TL;DR out of business people, by muscling me off my turf.  Today's Nexus Report was just over 15 minutes long from end to end, nothing but announcements, summaries, and information.  I don't know who you people were that were asking for a Nexus Report with all the nerf guns and community stuff stripped out (I saw your posts), but you cupcakes are going to ruin my gig!  How am I going to TL;DR a Nexus Report that's already a TL;DR?  Who is going to read this when you can watch the video in 15 minutes?  My TL;DR is going to be longer than the Nexus Report itself if I add any jokes and make this at all interesting to read!
 
Well, this is my non-TL;DR of today's TL;DR of the Nexus Report, which goes over Drop 4 (and hints of Drop 5).  It is hosted by North America's Community Manager Tony "I Got My Hat Back" Rey, and features Product Director Mike "Let's See If They Fire Me For THIS one!" Donatelli and Lead Designer Brett "...Was Already Here Before, And I Will Be Here Again, But I Was Already Here Before, And I Will..." Scheinert. 
 
Tony kicks off the stream with... wait, nothing.  They said they were having audio issues.  Apparently, Mike was mixed too low, and Tony still sounded like Tony.  It's hard to isolate and turn down the nasal.  Anyway, Tony finally does kick off the stream.  Mike is looking at him sideways, as if he knows Tony's the man they sent to rub him out for talking.  Tony wants to get right into it, so I guess I don't have any jokes.... DO I TONY?!  Okay, let's get started, since we're in such a hurry...
 
-Tony would like to put the past in the past.  That joke would have worked better if Timetravel had been there on the stream first.  The missed opportunities...
 
-Mike said he's looking forward to talking about the... hehe... next drop.... right Mike?  Mike has the look of a conspiracy theorist they finally let on the air that's about to tell us about David Icke's lizard people.
 
-Tony mentions Mike Donatelli's Big Plans For 2015 post.  Tony asks what's coming.  Apparently, he didn't read it.  Donatelli says he wants to do the following, "More fun, less grind.  Listen to the players and hit on their feedback (he may have said "get all their feedback", but I could swear he's flirting with our feedback here)."  He wants the game to be "...more accessible for a larger swathe of people..."
 
-Mike thinks thinks they've done most of that with Drop 4.  They're calling it "The Protogames Initiative."  Mike and Tony celebrate Mike saying the name, apparently that's a tongue twister in south Cali.  Internally, they call it 1.2.0.  To be fair, that does sound like that show about Beverly Hills.  Mike is smiling like he's remembering Shannen Doherty.  Tony helpfully points out that the latter name is just numbers and decimals.
 
-He also helpfully interjects that "The Protostar Initiative" is a sexy name.  Mike points out that this is especially true if you're into little green dudes.  They're legalizing everything in California, aren't they?
 
-Tony says there's a lot coming in 2015, most of which they can't talk about.  Mike is quick to point out that he is allowed to talk about it, he was just told that he shouldn't.  That means that, somewhere in an office at NCSoft, an executive is slapping his own forehead because he didn't say Mike was going to be fired if he leaked more info and instead said he shouldn't do it.  Legal loopholes, NCSoft, that's how it goes.  Mike smiles brightly and tells us he wrote everything he shouldn't tell us on the back of his script.  He shows us the back of his script.  Tony immediately tries to intervene, but is too late.  Modern capture and video enhancement technology reveals that Mike has discovered the location of the body of Jimmy Hoffa, a cure for cancer, and the ending for the new Game Of Thrones book.
 
-Tony just wants Mike to get to the damn highlight features, like the script said he should!  He decides to read through the good stuff, instead of the optimization improvement notes he has.  Drop 4 will include:
 
      -Elder Gem weeklies (which give you gems beyond the cap)
      -Quest flow improvements from level 3-42
      -Dungeon and adventure dailies
      -Protogames Academy (the five man training dungeon that Mike apparently beat, despite his stated ineptitude.... and which Tony has yet to beat, apparently)
      -Ultimate Protogames (a new 5 man dungeon)
      -A new medal point system to stop players from abandoning the run if the group actually stops to kill something that NOBODY SHOULD EVER KILL EVER UNLESS THEY'RE SOME KIND OF NEWB #hardcore
      -The 20 man conversion of Datascape
      -Fragment Zero, a new shiphand
      -Veteran versions of all shiphands
      -Shiphand dailies and phat loot (the p-fat not the fat.... nice Mike, way to look at Tony there...)
      -Shiphands are being added to the Group Finder
      -PVP dailies
      -A barbershop for customization (apparently, a barber in Wildstar can cut up your face into a new style, since it's a pretty full-on customizer on the PTR)
      -Ground options for housing (because it's the housing casuals that truly run Wildstar)
      -New zone maps and new instance maps
      -An itemization overhaul, currency overhaul, and new imbuements.
      -The new AMP reset system (point by point instead of the blanket 50 gold reset)
      -New QOL improvements
      -and so much more! ©
 
-Itemization is not 100% done yet.  They are rushing to get a few more bits of player feedback into the live build.  There are also future changes coming down the pipeline that affect the upcoming itemization, Mike specifically indicates they are related to stats changes coming in Drop 5.
 
-Tony begins to pontificate to Mike, who then tries to pick up a mug and use one of our human drinking utensils.  Oh my God.... that's how he knows about the lizard people... MIKE DONATELLI IS THE LIZARD PEOPLE!
 
-Mike is actually personally happy about the questing changes.  They're getting under-reported by the PTR people (who probably aren't there to check out the 3-42 leveling changes), but he says it flows faster and points you in the right direction better.
 
-His favorite new addition is Protogames Academy.  He says that when Timetravel and company show the dungeon and raid content to the old men, they give them godmode and the best gear so they could hold their hands through it.  Protogames Academy was so easy and instructive that Mike, Cougar, and the other directors actually got to play through it at level and in real gear, and they beat it.  Actually beating a dungeon like a dungeon made Mike happy.  And hey, if they can do it, any idiot can do it, right? :D
 
-Mike actually reveals he plays, personally, on Warhound.  On a PVP server.  Really, devs play on PVP servers, so they actually ARE rolling on there and actually do see the state of them.  Who knew?
 
-MIKE DROPS THE BOMB, DROP 4 WILL BE LIVE WITHIN 2 WEEKS (that means before February 3rd)!  The players rejoiced (for the most part).
 
-Mike again says there are certain things PTR people have been screaming about that they're trying to get in the game before it goes live.  So thanks guys for all your hard work examining stats and providing meaningful feedback.... you're the reason we don't have our drop yet.  That, and Mike mentions they want to take care of as many bugs as possible before it goes live.  That's usually appreciated, right?
 
-Tony begins trying to talk Mike off the set, but Mike's not going anywhere!  He raises his finger in the air.  "But... but!" he says, "...and I was told not to do this..."  This ought to be good...
 
-THINGS MIKE RANDOMLY STARTS ANNOUNCING FOR DROP 5:  more adventures, more raids, the wardrobe system revamp, etc.  There is more coming, and they aren't done yet.  They are taking our feedback into account and taking it seriously.  And on a serious note, as one of those people who left a lot of the feedback that is now starting to wind its way into the game, I want to thank Carbine for listening... now where are my royalties?
 
-Tony yells at his boss for revealing their secrets, and Mike shows, just before leaving the stream, that he has mastered our hew-mon coffee cups.  Before he leaves, Tony thinks Mike kisses him on the head, rather than realize that Mike has hidden his embryonic larva in his hat.  There it shall gestate for three months...
 
-Timetravel joins the stream.  Timetravel is the lead designer for Wildstar (as if anyone doesn't know, considering his name has been thrown around on the forums so much lately, later aliens studying the ruins of the human race will believe this forum was actually a Quantum Leap fanclub).  He arrives in a green shirt, as if hoping he'd get thrown off the stream.  Unfortunately, his grandmother's old pastel polo isn't dark green enough, and so he reluctantly scoots over next to Tony and tries shiftily not to look at him.
 
-Timetravel is currently working with the PVP team, apparently because they figured that if the dungeons were so popular, this guy should be able to unclog whatever blockage is constipating the PVP scene.  He states they have already begun by essentially removing the queue blocks that stop best-geared PVP players from playing the worst.  This is a temporary measure, as this is an undesirable result in the long term, but is necessary to reduce queue times across the board.  And hey, who knows, maybe actually getting to PVP might improve the PVP scene.  I'm told it's entirely possible.
 
-There will be PVP dailies and PVP weeklies, which can be run for elder gems.  Also, they have instituted a system to make queueing for a random BG more random.  Drop 5 is also hinted at fixing a lot of the current balancing issues.  Let's see how good Timetravel REALLY is, when he gets to try to come up with something the PVP community likes.  Those guys are at each others' throats in the game... for fun...
 
-It looks like the dev team will be experimenting by giving us more information about upcoming content earlier than before.  Timetravel is going to write a detailed post sometime next week about PVP, what's coming in Drop 5 in terms of PVP, and the longer term goals of where they want PVP to be.  Let's see how this turns out.  Giving information like this to the playerbase has worked in the past like throwing rocks at a beehive.
 
-Tony brings up the PVP townhall being run by Bazeleel and himself.  It will include prominent members of the PVP community, Timetravel, and the entire PVP development team.  We didn't even get this at the more universal round table we had months ago.  All we got was Tony!  It will be aired on both Bazeleel's and Wildstar's official twitch channel.
 
-Tony spells out the name, and has trouble.  Maybe because they're constantly calling him Basil Eel or Bays Seal.  I want to call him Baby Seal.  Barbie Steel's PVP Townhall will happen on February 3rd, the latest date possible on the Drop 4 release window.
 
-The article about the future of PVP will be splashed around everywhere so that we don't miss it.  Timetravel is apparently taking this super-serious.  He looks like a super-serious guy.  Or that polar bear at the end of that Planet Earth episode that fails in a walrus hunt and will die from a tusk wound.  They want to make sure we get that a week before Base Halil's town hall so our questions are more focused on what they're actually developing.
 
-That's it for the Nexus Report.  Next week will be a return to 0 to 50, and thus also a return to the 0 to 50 TL;DR.  I shall not be defeated by the lack of easily available humor, I shall survive until next week when humor will be available to me.  Nothing is more hysterical than seeing Tony trying to play the game.
 
Right, it's quarter after 12.  I had band practice.  I'm tired.  I'm cranky.  I'm drinking Dr. Pepper without Bailey's.  I'm going to bed.  Goodnight, lizard people.	
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TL;DR for the TL;DR
Because some of us should have to read ridiculous lizard crap just for the facts.
 
-Tony mentions Mike Donatelli's Big Plans For 2015 post. Focus "More fun, less grind. They want a larger population.
 
-Patch is called "The Protogames Initiative."
 
-Features for Drop 4 will include:
 
      -Elder Gem weeklies (which give you gems beyond the cap)
      -Quest flow improvements from level 3-42
      -Dungeon and adventure dailies
      -Protogames Academy (the five man training dungeon that Mike apparently beat, despite his stated ineptitude.... and which Tony has yet to beat, apparently)
      -Ultimate Protogames (a new 5 man dungeon)
      -A new medal point system to stop players from abandoning the run if the group actually stops to kill something that NOBODY SHOULD EVER KILL EVER UNLESS THEY'RE SOME KIND OF NEWB #hardcore
      -The 20 man conversion of Datascape
      -Fragment Zero, a new shiphand
      -Veteran versions of all shiphands
      -Shiphand dailies and phat loot
      -Shiphands are being added to the Group Finder
      -PVP dailies
      -A barbershop for customization (apparently, a barber in Wildstar can cut up your face into a new style, since it's a pretty full-on customizer on the PTR)
      -Ground options for housing (because it's the housing casuals that truly run Wildstar)
      -New zone maps and new instance maps
      -An itemization overhaul, currency overhaul, and new imbuements.
      -The new AMP reset system (point by point instead of the blanket 50 gold reset)
      -New QOL improvements
      -and so much more! ©
 
-Itemization is not 100% done yet.
 
-Drop 4 in 2 weeks
 
-Townhall Feburary 3rd	
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 I'm drinking Dr. Pepper without Bailey's.
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			the TL;DR is longer than the nexus report was.	
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Is it just me or does that combination sounds nasty..
 
 
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			LOL'd hard at Tony's reaction when 0 to 50 was brought up and his level.	
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 Timetravel is apparently taking this super-serious.  He looks like a super-serious guy.  Or that polar bear at the end of that Planet Earth episode that fails in a walrus hunt and will die from a tusk wound.  
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Is it just me or does that combination sounds nasty..
 
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"New zone maps and new instance maps"
Ehm, what is this? They are redoing Whitevale?	
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"New zone maps and new instance maps"
Ehm, what is this? They are redoing Whitevale?
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I love these TL;DRs!! 
 
Great job once again VicVanMeter!!	
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			Nicely done Vic, as always.	
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