First off due to the cost of getting into Alpha I don't think anyone is going to mistake it for an early access or trial outside of maybe a few gaming "journalist" who are trying to click bait people.
I can't remember the last time more people were let into the testing phases, I could be wrong maybe I missed one, but I think it would show progress more than the streams that VR is able to allow more people in. I am also the understanding that this wont be a normal alpha due to the amount of people that are eligible they do want a more stable/finished product then what you would normally see in an Alpha.
I have Alpha access and I think they should wait. But if they do not, I still will not play much. Sure, I will be excited to check it out but at the same time I still want to be interested in playing the game when it is done. My decision to not buy Pre-Alpha was weighted heavily for the same reason. There is a lot to be said to see a game you will love all at once in the finished state the developers intended.
Overall if I was in charge and thank god, I am not I would find picking the exact criteria for opening up Alpha very hard. I have trusted Pantheon to make the game I want to play I will trust them to find the best moment to open Alpha.
Vandraad said:Would you really want to join an alpha where over half the classes aren't even in their most basic form? From what we've seen, only the DireLord, Shaman, Enchanter, Wizard, Rogue and Monk currently exist. If you were really wanting to test/play a Druid, Ranger, Paladin, Summoner, Cleric or Warrior would you really be that gung-ho about alpha opening?
Also, we've heard that 'several thousand' alpha testers are out there. What are they going to do? Where are they going to go? How many zones have we actually seen in streams...5? Thronefast, Avender's Pass, Halnir Cave being the most often with just snippets of Faerthale and Amberfaet. Do you really think that is enough to keep 'several thousand' testers occupied? How many servers would need to be spun up to cover all those?
This game isn't even close to ready for alpha. To go into it too early would actually do far more harm than good. Too many people will see this is as 'early access' no matter how many times VR tells them it isn't that they will just cry in their social media about how terrible the game is. VR doesn't need that.
Vandraad said:Caine said:I would be happy with a silent Alpha launch. Increase your testers as neeeded with strict NDA restrictions. Even then continue to have live streams to control the narrative.
Those who pledged for alpha will be under an NDA just as everyone who pledged for pre-alpha is under an NDA. Would you be satisfied if you had pledged for alpha only to be told that when alpha opens that you aren't allowed in at that time while others are? How long, in terms of months, would you be content to sit there not having access for that which you paid when others have access?
VR needs enough implemented such that the "thousands of alpha pledgers" we've been told exist have enough to test.
True and that would suck, I guess they would not be able to call it Alpha and still just falls under Pre-alpha. But, when you need more testers than your VIP pool, but not all of your Alpha testers, what would you do?
Caine said:when you need more testers than your VIP pool, but not all of your Alpha testers, what would you do?
Well the first thing I'd do is just what VR did. Bring in some funds while adding some VIPs: https://seforums.pantheonmmo.com/content/forums/topic/13128/the-final-build-has-been-committed-to-the-servers
If I really needed more, then I'd bring in Alpha pledgers, but I wouldn't do it silently for the reasons Vandraad mentioned. I'd turn it into advertising by announcing a lottery that any Alpha pledger could enter just by submitting their name. I'd make it clear that only X number of testers would be selected out of the entire pool of Alpha pledgers. If only 100 testers were needed out of a pool of 10 thousand entries (made up numbers) then I don't think very many people would make much fuss about not 'winning' the contest when they knew going in that their odds were 1 in a hundred.
And of course I wouldnt' refer to it as 'opening Alpha'. It would just be an expansion of pre-alpha.
I'm kinda mixed on this i dont think Alpha is ready but we haven't really seen much new as far as zones- areas. If they release Alpha to early most likely it will leak and will be seen as unfinished, hurting the game so im all for waiting.
At the same time we need to see more then blackrose keep or halnir cave in streams. It's hard for us as players to not know how much is being done feeling in the dark alot.
Last year their goal was Fairthale and it was something on a map we could all somewhat visualize where it was and what was going on it was a nice feeling. Im really hoping we will get a Alpha when Kingsreach is done and systems are in place.
Jothany said:Caine said:when you need more testers than your VIP pool, but not all of your Alpha testers, what would you do?Well the first thing I'd do is just what VR did. Bring in some funds while adding some VIPs: https://seforums.pantheonmmo.com/content/forums/topic/13128/the-final-build-has-been-committed-to-the-servers
If I really needed more, then I'd bring in Alpha pledgers, but I wouldn't do it silently for the reasons Vandraad mentioned. I'd turn it into advertising by announcing a lottery that any Alpha pledger could enter just by submitting their name. I'd make it clear that only X number of testers would be selected out of the entire pool of Alpha pledgers. If only 100 testers were needed out of a pool of 10 thousand entries (made up numbers) then I don't think very many people would make much fuss about not 'winning' the contest when they knew going in that their odds were 1 in a hundred.
And of course I wouldnt' refer to it as 'opening Alpha'. It would just be an expansion of pre-alpha.
Yeah the lottery makes sense.
Kiera said:I'm kinda mixed on this i dont think Alpha is ready but we haven't really seen much new as far as zones- areas. If they release Alpha to early most likely it will leak and will be seen as unfinished, hurting the game so im all for waiting.
At the same time we need to see more then blackrose keep or halnir cave in streams. It's hard for us as players to not know how much is being done feeling in the dark alot.
Last year their goal was Fairthale and it was something on a map we could all somewhat visualize where it was and what was going on it was a nice feeling. Im really hoping we will get a Alpha when Kingsreach is done and systems are in place.
The corporate suits have turned the terms 'alpha' and 'beta' into buzz words to sell meatheads a game that's already fully functional, at an inflated price, just because 'they can'. The problem now is, no matter how much you say it, no matter how much you scream at these zombies, they simply will not see it, or hear it. They're so indoctrinated, it's actually amazing to see. I'm sure it would make a great study / project for a psychologist. Like the elephant that's chained to a tree at a young age, that stays put when chained to anything in adulthood, simply because of that learnt behaviour early on in life, gamers these days are like those elephants, it's a learnt behaviour and I'd be very surprised if it can be undone.
Game developers need a new set of development terms, make a clean break from the alpha and beta terminology because it's dead in the water.
Imagine Beta One is released and some streamer decides to pay for access just to try and boost their viewing figures (NDA, or not). Those viewers, many of which will be indoctrinated meatheads, with their alpha early access mindset, would wreck the game on social media within hours. Just listen to Cohh in his PRoTF streams, he has to repeat the same thing over and over and over again... ugh...
Me pay pennies, me bang buttons, me want lots bang button... Not lots bang button? me no likey... Waaaahhhhhh...
No, they should release it when they feel its ready. I don't really care about market pressure from "the masses". We all want the game to be out as fast as possible. But I respect the team enough not to put undue pressure on them. I trust them to know when it is ready for the next stage.
Caine said:Vandraad said:Caine said:I would be happy with a silent Alpha launch. Increase your testers as neeeded with strict NDA restrictions. Even then continue to have live streams to control the narrative.
Those who pledged for alpha will be under an NDA just as everyone who pledged for pre-alpha is under an NDA. Would you be satisfied if you had pledged for alpha only to be told that when alpha opens that you aren't allowed in at that time while others are? How long, in terms of months, would you be content to sit there not having access for that which you paid when others have access?
VR needs enough implemented such that the "thousands of alpha pledgers" we've been told exist have enough to test.
True and that would suck, I guess they would not be able to call it Alpha and still just falls under Pre-alpha. But, when you need more testers than your VIP pool, but not all of your Alpha testers, what would you do?
To me thats fairly simple. You would select the next pledge level below Pre-Alpha, which would be the people who paid for the next highest value pledges with Alpha and then select the oldest to newest pledges and go in that order until you have the desired number.
Thats how they should do the name reserving as well, people who pledged the most money get the highest priority, then within each pledge level by the earliest to newest pledge dates.
There will be plenty of people who would want the same char name, and if someone pledged more then me gets to reserved the name I want to use, then fair enough.
I know I didn't pledge the highest value, but I know I would be one of the longest pledges.
Boulda said:To me thats fairly simple. You would select the next pledge level below Pre-Alpha, which would be the people who paid for the next highest value pledges with Alpha and then select the oldest to newest pledges and go in that order until you have the desired number.
Thats how they should do the name reserving as well, people who pledged the most money get the highest priority, then within each pledge level by the earliest to newest pledge dates.
There will be plenty of people who would want the same char name, and if someone pledged more then me gets to reserved the name I want to use, then fair enough.
I know I didn't pledge the highest value, but I know I would be one of the longest pledges.
No. Not until they have the networking technology finished as well as most of their other "Alpha 1" milestones. I can wait until Winter or maybe Spring '22, but no longer haha ;) . Very exciting seeing the game take form for the final time. Been waiting since 2015.
A lottery to let in a certain amount of Alpha 1 testers into Pre-Alpha sessions... Yes, please!