Intent is to support the game with web site advertising for sponsors.
This is the single reason it is not gonna work.
You could very easily be right on that. I'm hoping that this positioning will bring market share from the anti-F2P and anti-P2W crowd. I'm not really worried about revenue. I could fund the game out of pocket for at least a year with no income. If I don't have revnue at six months in, then it's time to look at options.
Ken Fisher - Semi retired old fart Network Administrator, now working in Network Security. I don't Forum PVP. If you feel I've attacked you, it was probably by accident. When I don't understand, I ask. Such is not intended as criticism.
After watching the video and reading the thread I would really like to compliment how involved you are with the community. Everyone gets a response even though you must be wishing for more hours in a day with all the work you're doing. Secondly I would like to compliment you on choosing to build an MMORPG (which a lot of people would like to do, including me), sticking with it and actually coming up with a real product. I for one wish I could make developing an MMORPG my day time job, but alas I lack the coding skills. And after doing some research on developing an MMORPG I've gotten the general impression that you need at least some coding skills to get your project started. The only thing I could bring to the table would be managing/marketing skills and that's not enough. But enough of my own dreams and hopes.
I think you're doing a great job and I'll certainly participate in the open beta coming the end of september. I'm curious to see how much of a playerbase you can build (and maintain).
And just a tip: if you're feeling down on your project (things aren't going as they should) just read back on what was posted on your MMORPG and see how many envious people there actually are. Lots of people would love to build their own MMORPG, but you're the one stepping up and actually doing it. I think you can take a lot of pride in that.
In closing: maybe you could give people a bit of insight into the future of WAC? People can see from the video what they can expect when they arrive ingame. But is there something to look forward to? I know you're ecstatic that the game runs and does what YOU want, but are there any projects for the future? Hope or something to look forward to is what keeps people going and could grant you a larger or maintain a steady number of players. Just make sure it's realistic and it's something you're really going to implement (unlike some of the AAA-developers; you know who you are).
maybe you could give people a bit of insight into the future of WAC?
But is there something to look forward to?
are there any projects for the future?
As for the gamer side to WAC, aside from a gear oriented PVE with emphasis on crafting, future plans include an endgame expansion pack and one I'm kicking around is NPC factions with something like DAOC style PVP. Endgame is going to be a surprise for folks because it will reveal that WAC isn't even a medieval fantasy game. Sure it will play like one, at lower levels. By endgame a new enemy is revealed.
Yes I do have a future project planned. I want to build a sandbox, but I don't have the resources to build one correctly. The bar for what makes a good sandbox is just out of my reach. As of July WAC had first person shooter projectile spells and sort-of twitch melee combat. That codebase got forked into a new engine and I went back to WAC being tab-target sticky target spells and melee. What I intend to do is build a fantasy RPG from that codebase that's oriented heavily toward PVP with combat similar to Darkfall, but with zero grind. This isn't Ken building a sandbox, nor will it be a lobby based instance-heavy shooter. No instancing. No UO ruleset. No levels but there will be classes*. Guild vs Guild open world combat with no factions (technically the guilds serve as factions). Everyone everywhere is flagged. The only ones a character cannot damage are people in their own group or guild to prevent cheaters. As you can imagine this is going to be a zoo, and that is the intended primary appeal. Nothing finite for schedule because I have technical issue to resolve that will take a bit of work to straighten out. Earliest likely is 2013. Plan is free to play, no pay to win.
Thanks for the feedback. Hope you get a chance to check out the game when it goes live. Assuming I don't get hit by a bus or something, I'm on schedule for end of September.
* = I have yet to see a classless system that addressed armor well enough that the default build wasn't a tank-mage. That makes rock paper scissors PVP design impossible because the builds are too similar.
Ken Fisher - Semi retired old fart Network Administrator, now working in Network Security. I don't Forum PVP. If you feel I've attacked you, it was probably by accident. When I don't understand, I ask. Such is not intended as criticism.
A quick follow-up post on how things are progressing. Today starts the second tech test, this time with focus on combat. Engine tests two weeks ago went well. A few buggy issues, but overall it ran stable and fast on tester systems.
Class rework is just about finished. The worst was sorting out and re-assigning spells. Ugh, what a mess. Balance seems decent. Low levels are dirt-easy, but that's intentional. I'm already to level 7 with my test character (level cap is 35) and I can feel it getting harder. As levels go up there is more dependence on gear provided stats.
I'm psyched for the combat tests. The major dungeons are in place, populated with elites and bosses. The large cave dungeons are linear with forks to bosses and an end-boss. The crypt dungeons are non-linear, with boss rooms scattered around through the maze. Art-wise they are still rough draft, but with texture work and some decorations they'll be ready for OB.
Ken Fisher - Semi retired old fart Network Administrator, now working in Network Security. I don't Forum PVP. If you feel I've attacked you, it was probably by accident. When I don't understand, I ask. Such is not intended as criticism.
A quick follow-up post on how things are progressing. Today starts the second tech test, this time with focus on combat. Engine tests two weeks ago went well. A few buggy issues, but overall it ran stable and fast on tester systems.
Class rework is just about finished. The worst was sorting out and re-assigning spells. Ugh, what a mess. Balance seems decent. Low levels are dirt-easy, but that's intentional. I'm already to level 7 with my test character (level cap is 35) and I can feel it getting harder. As levels go up there is more dependence on gear provided stats.
I'm psyched for the combat tests. The major dungeons are in place, populated with elites and bosses. The large cave dungeons are linear with forks to bosses and an end-boss. The crypt dungeons are non-linear, with boss rooms scattered around through the maze. Art-wise they are still rough draft, but with texture work and some decorations they'll be ready for OB.
If the game just works you will have exceeded not only the expectations of a lot of people, but the actual products from several $20-$50 Million plus projects. :-)
This is pretty awesome. As in, inspires a sense of awe. Congrats on nearly getting to an open beta stage with an actual product. :-)
I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.
So what day is this actually going into open beta? Looks interesting and I for one need something to pass the time unitl dec 20th, and a F2P small community game looks just up my alley.
If the game just works you will have exceeded not only the expectations of a lot of people, but the actual products from several $20-$50 Million plus projects. :-)
This is pretty awesome. As in, inspires a sense of awe. Congrats on nearly getting to an open beta stage with an actual product. :-)
Thanks for the thought. Feel free to check it out once CB opens (no reg or keys required), which is planned for this Friday evening and will run for 2 weeks with patches during the late overnight.
It's too early for a full OB because the quest system has to be ported in. With so many design changes it's being a real b*tch (funny 'cause I wrote it). Getting CB feedback will also help with this because I can adapt to suggestions on the fly.
Ken Fisher - Semi retired old fart Network Administrator, now working in Network Security. I don't Forum PVP. If you feel I've attacked you, it was probably by accident. When I don't understand, I ask. Such is not intended as criticism.
So what day is this actually going into open beta? Looks interesting and I for one need something to pass the time unitl dec 20th, and a F2P small community game looks just up my alley.
Closed beta (walk-ins welcome, there is no registration or keys and client will be on the forum) starts Friday evening (maybe afternoon if I get done early). Patches will be every day during late overnight.
The condition of the game is: Big world, not very polished, NPCs will be in but no quests installed, basic population is in, crafting is in, gear, auction house, mail, all of that works. Dungeons are in and working, including boss reward gear. Character customization for looks is very limited. I've got face/hair code and artwork coming, but it's not ready for use yet.
Once CB wraps, questing should be installed and ready for OB.
NOTE: I don't plan on a character wipe. However, sh*t happens and even with backups I cannot guarantee there wont be a crisis bug that makes a mess. On the good side, in the last 6 months of testing I've only trashed 1 account.
Known issues:
1. there's a glitch when target changes that knocks the player back 1/10th of a second. It's not terrible, but it can be annoying.
2. login and logout are per PLAYER not per character. Log off your main in a town, switch toons and you log back into that same town.
3. only way out of a dungeon is /recall or using a potion of recall that takes you back to the lobby. This will be fixed before OB starts. I just don't have the doors installed yet.
4. client uses UDP protocol for transport, some NAT routers are fine with it, others need a forwarding rule.
5. there's a very rare crash bug if a machine has badly fragmented memory. A reboot and everything is fine.
Ken Fisher - Semi retired old fart Network Administrator, now working in Network Security. I don't Forum PVP. If you feel I've attacked you, it was probably by accident. When I don't understand, I ask. Such is not intended as criticism.
BTW: Kudos on the gallery linked in your sig. Freakin' awesome! I could never muster that sort of eye for composition.
It did bring one thing to mind... Waterfalls. I completely forgot waterfalls in WAC. *sigh*
Ken Fisher - Semi retired old fart Network Administrator, now working in Network Security. I don't Forum PVP. If you feel I've attacked you, it was probably by accident. When I don't understand, I ask. Such is not intended as criticism.
Closed beta is ready to start. Client is up on the forum, walk-ins are welcome. Goal of the CB is to identify and resolve polish issues and get the rest of the major game functions online.
Ken Fisher - Semi retired old fart Network Administrator, now working in Network Security. I don't Forum PVP. If you feel I've attacked you, it was probably by accident. When I don't understand, I ask. Such is not intended as criticism.
Comments
You could very easily be right on that. I'm hoping that this positioning will bring market share from the anti-F2P and anti-P2W crowd. I'm not really worried about revenue. I could fund the game out of pocket for at least a year with no income. If I don't have revnue at six months in, then it's time to look at options.
After watching the video and reading the thread I would really like to compliment how involved you are with the community. Everyone gets a response even though you must be wishing for more hours in a day with all the work you're doing. Secondly I would like to compliment you on choosing to build an MMORPG (which a lot of people would like to do, including me), sticking with it and actually coming up with a real product. I for one wish I could make developing an MMORPG my day time job, but alas I lack the coding skills. And after doing some research on developing an MMORPG I've gotten the general impression that you need at least some coding skills to get your project started. The only thing I could bring to the table would be managing/marketing skills and that's not enough. But enough of my own dreams and hopes.
I think you're doing a great job and I'll certainly participate in the open beta coming the end of september. I'm curious to see how much of a playerbase you can build (and maintain).
And just a tip: if you're feeling down on your project (things aren't going as they should) just read back on what was posted on your MMORPG and see how many envious people there actually are. Lots of people would love to build their own MMORPG, but you're the one stepping up and actually doing it. I think you can take a lot of pride in that.
In closing: maybe you could give people a bit of insight into the future of WAC? People can see from the video what they can expect when they arrive ingame. But is there something to look forward to? I know you're ecstatic that the game runs and does what YOU want, but are there any projects for the future? Hope or something to look forward to is what keeps people going and could grant you a larger or maintain a steady number of players. Just make sure it's realistic and it's something you're really going to implement (unlike some of the AAA-developers; you know who you are).
EDIT: wall of text absolve!
As for the gamer side to WAC, aside from a gear oriented PVE with emphasis on crafting, future plans include an endgame expansion pack and one I'm kicking around is NPC factions with something like DAOC style PVP. Endgame is going to be a surprise for folks because it will reveal that WAC isn't even a medieval fantasy game. Sure it will play like one, at lower levels. By endgame a new enemy is revealed.
Yes I do have a future project planned. I want to build a sandbox, but I don't have the resources to build one correctly. The bar for what makes a good sandbox is just out of my reach. As of July WAC had first person shooter projectile spells and sort-of twitch melee combat. That codebase got forked into a new engine and I went back to WAC being tab-target sticky target spells and melee. What I intend to do is build a fantasy RPG from that codebase that's oriented heavily toward PVP with combat similar to Darkfall, but with zero grind. This isn't Ken building a sandbox, nor will it be a lobby based instance-heavy shooter. No instancing. No UO ruleset. No levels but there will be classes*. Guild vs Guild open world combat with no factions (technically the guilds serve as factions). Everyone everywhere is flagged. The only ones a character cannot damage are people in their own group or guild to prevent cheaters. As you can imagine this is going to be a zoo, and that is the intended primary appeal. Nothing finite for schedule because I have technical issue to resolve that will take a bit of work to straighten out. Earliest likely is 2013. Plan is free to play, no pay to win.
Thanks for the feedback. Hope you get a chance to check out the game when it goes live. Assuming I don't get hit by a bus or something, I'm on schedule for end of September.
* = I have yet to see a classless system that addressed armor well enough that the default build wasn't a tank-mage. That makes rock paper scissors PVP design impossible because the builds are too similar.
A quick follow-up post on how things are progressing. Today starts the second tech test, this time with focus on combat. Engine tests two weeks ago went well. A few buggy issues, but overall it ran stable and fast on tester systems.
Class rework is just about finished. The worst was sorting out and re-assigning spells. Ugh, what a mess. Balance seems decent. Low levels are dirt-easy, but that's intentional. I'm already to level 7 with my test character (level cap is 35) and I can feel it getting harder. As levels go up there is more dependence on gear provided stats.
I'm psyched for the combat tests. The major dungeons are in place, populated with elites and bosses. The large cave dungeons are linear with forks to bosses and an end-boss. The crypt dungeons are non-linear, with boss rooms scattered around through the maze. Art-wise they are still rough draft, but with texture work and some decorations they'll be ready for OB.
Great news !
I'm a member of Coloholics Anonymous.
Looking forward to seeing what this game has to offer. This could be an awesome game if done right.
==========================
The game is dead not, this game is good we make it and Romania Tv give it 5 goat heads, this is good rating for game.
If the game just works you will have exceeded not only the expectations of a lot of people, but the actual products from several $20-$50 Million plus projects. :-)
This is pretty awesome. As in, inspires a sense of awe. Congrats on nearly getting to an open beta stage with an actual product. :-)
I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.
So what day is this actually going into open beta? Looks interesting and I for one need something to pass the time unitl dec 20th, and a F2P small community game looks just up my alley.
Thanks for the thought. Feel free to check it out once CB opens (no reg or keys required), which is planned for this Friday evening and will run for 2 weeks with patches during the late overnight.
It's too early for a full OB because the quest system has to be ported in. With so many design changes it's being a real b*tch (funny 'cause I wrote it). Getting CB feedback will also help with this because I can adapt to suggestions on the fly.
Closed beta (walk-ins welcome, there is no registration or keys and client will be on the forum) starts Friday evening (maybe afternoon if I get done early). Patches will be every day during late overnight.
The condition of the game is: Big world, not very polished, NPCs will be in but no quests installed, basic population is in, crafting is in, gear, auction house, mail, all of that works. Dungeons are in and working, including boss reward gear. Character customization for looks is very limited. I've got face/hair code and artwork coming, but it's not ready for use yet.
Once CB wraps, questing should be installed and ready for OB.
NOTE: I don't plan on a character wipe. However, sh*t happens and even with backups I cannot guarantee there wont be a crisis bug that makes a mess. On the good side, in the last 6 months of testing I've only trashed 1 account.
Known issues:
1. there's a glitch when target changes that knocks the player back 1/10th of a second. It's not terrible, but it can be annoying.
2. login and logout are per PLAYER not per character. Log off your main in a town, switch toons and you log back into that same town.
3. only way out of a dungeon is /recall or using a potion of recall that takes you back to the lobby. This will be fixed before OB starts. I just don't have the doors installed yet.
4. client uses UDP protocol for transport, some NAT routers are fine with it, others need a forwarding rule.
5. there's a very rare crash bug if a machine has badly fragmented memory. A reboot and everything is fine.
Looks very interesting, I can't wait to try it!
http://www.questhard.com
Thanks. Yeah I'm hoping to play it too.
BTW: Kudos on the gallery linked in your sig. Freakin' awesome! I could never muster that sort of eye for composition.
It did bring one thing to mind... Waterfalls. I completely forgot waterfalls in WAC. *sigh*
Thanks!!
And oh yeah, every good game needs a waterfall ;-) Or a unicorn!
http://www.questhard.com
Closed beta is ready to start. Client is up on the forum, walk-ins are welcome. Goal of the CB is to identify and resolve polish issues and get the rest of the major game functions online.