I am Asian and live in Europe. You sounded very disgruntled and upset that you could not bring yourself to spend the money to play the game. I have come across enough individuals on this board who post Asian MMORPG like it is a condemnation and yours sounds like damning with faint praise .
This game will be niche by its very nature. You have to pay for niche games simply because they do not pull in the same number of players. If you do not support this type of game play and sandboxy game they die and you're left with the same old games. So it's up to you let them die or support them. They can ask for the sums they do simply because they are taking a risk bringing in a niche game and supporting it.
You say you have to pay??? No you don't its a free to play and that's how ill play it. I play mainly only sub games as I find those honest upfront and free to play IMO are scam.
"mmorpg.com forum admins are all TROLLS and losers in real life" My opinion
I am Asian and live in Europe. You sounded very disgruntled and upset that you could not bring yourself to spend the money to play the game. I have come across enough individuals on this board who post Asian MMORPG like it is a condemnation and yours sounds like damning with faint praise .
This game will be niche by its very nature. You have to pay for niche games simply because they do not pull in the same number of players. If you do not support this type of game play and sandboxy game they die and you're left with the same old games. So it's up to you let them die or support them. They can ask for the sums they do simply because they are taking a risk bringing in a niche game and supporting it.
You say you have to pay??? No you don't its a free to play and that's how ill play it. I play mainly only sub games as I find those honest upfront and free to play IMO are scam.
There have been many games that made the leap from pay to play to free to play just fine. The good games that have done this still retain the pay to play model.
Pay to play subscribers in almost every case have an advantage compared to free to play cash shoppers. There may be several advantages put into the cash shops to make things more convenient for players. This may include unlocking more bank space, more house box space, 2x exp potion/food, unlocks for various higher level endgame crafting or possibly unlocking the ability to specialize in more than what the game currently allows all the way to max level.
Many of these cash shop things will be automatically given to pay to play players. Some may also be kept in the cash shop to entice the pay to player to also make a few purchases. As long as companies don't put horrible features on the cash shop, I see no problem with them. The reality of a cash shop in today's MMO is here and it's how YOU deal with that fact that matters.
Originally posted by ClippersNBA Originally posted by GdemamiOriginally posted by ClippersNBAIt should serve as an indication of the timeline for Trion's progress and release shouldn't it?
No, it shouldn't.Why not?
2 seemingly same goals might be vastly different in what it takes to achieve them as well as resources.
Originally posted by Prhyme I had heard that the "Alpha" access will last until launch while the beta, starting in June, will have only certain days to access the game.
Last I heard the alpha will get moved to the player test server and the beta will be the live one. Alpha gets no wipe beta does. That might explain why they're letting people play the alpha more /shrug
Yeah, I dont get it either... The way they use the word alpha has kinda made it lose its meaning as well.
Its been out for how long in korea..? More than a year? Logically, this "alpha" should mean translation and maybe tweaking the grind a bit (they sure seem to love grinding over there), by changing exp numbers a bit. Thats it... How long can that really take, and does it even needs "alpha testing?"
Maybe its a greed thing? This way they can sell "alpha access" to all the desperate people waiting for it.
You don't understand why it's Alpha.
If ArcheAge came on a set of disks that you install like a single player game you'd have a point.
MMORPGs however have many moving pieces and running one out of a different datacenter with different hardware, network, patchers, auth system, security system different analytics, different personnel - it's all alpha for Trion.
Think about it.
XLGames only provides the ArcheAge server and client software and basic architecture - they don't provide anything else - MMORPGs need a lot more to actually run.
So here's a list of things that make it Alpha for Trion
1. New servers/network architecture setup in Trion's datacenters
2. Integration with Trion's Glyph patcher, Trion's CDNs
3. Integrations with Trion's account databases and security systems
4. Integration with Trion's monitoring and metrics/analytics systems
5. Trion's operations team need to know how to deploy/patch and troubleshoot ArcheAge's deployment
6. Trion's CS needs to learn how to use GM tools and learn the game's systems so they can help the players
7. Cash shop integration with the game - huge undertaking, this alone takes months
8. The database team needs to setup proper auditing on the live game databases for proper player support and metrics
None of the above has been done by Trion before - so them it's all ALPHA.
If MMORPGs came fully packaged with monitoring, metrics, patchers, a staff to run them, data analytics software, cash shop and billing systems that will work in any region, and have it localized.... it's not how it works.
Why?
Because each publisher has their own systems for billing/metrics/security/deployments/data analytics/customer support systems - and games need to be integrated into all of those to run properly.
Do you think NCSoft, Trion, and all these publishers like to wait around a couple of years spending millions of dollars to buy the hardware and get these Koreans MMOs to run as best as possible - do you think they are delaying this on purpose?
They want to get the return on their investment as fast as possible - the thing is - MMORPGs are COMPLICATED - there are 100s of servers and a huge team that needs to know how to run all the pieces correctly.
+1
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The Alpha is translation basically, but the game has a voice acted story line (cutscenes included), as well as misc NPC chatter. Literally (I'm an Alpha Tester), there are a bunch of NPC's that will say stuff as you walk past them. The game is very voice oriented. So that requires voice actors as well. I get them selling Alpha, but the money goes towards hiring the actual actors to completely voice over the game. Everything in this game is voiced over other than the quest text.
Top of that, there are random 3D errors, crashes and issues. Those need to be resolved as well. Trees stutter, some trees are completely black, there are texture stretching, etc. The game is literally in a Alpha state.
The second part is very true. There are still numerous issues with the "Alpha". I'm a bit surprised this is actually in a "release" state elsewhere.
The game is more definitely not optimized properly for DX11, and if you swap to DX9, you'll still run into a few issues depending on the type of environment you're traversing through.
Frequently, players I have joined up with to run dungeons are disconnected the moment they attempt to zone into the dungeons, and I've been disconnected numerous times as well.
There are random crop wipe issues where everything disappears from your personal farm space. This has happened to me several times, and I'm new to the 'alpha'. I've tested this against the type of crops I've planted and the allotted amount of time it takes for those crops to mature, so I know it's not an issue of the crops wilting or dying off.
There are still some missing features and blank vendor spaces in the central neutral zone, and some currencies that have no current purpose.
There is also a dire need for more polish and refinement of various systems. If you plan on playing ArcheAge long-term, I highly recommend becoming a "Patron" AKA "Subscriber", because the current farm system relies heavily on major time sinks to rope you in.
You start with a very small plot for farming, and if you want to reach an acceptable level to perform more useful functions you are going to have to commit to countless real-time hours in order for your limited crops to mature. Or you can risk planting your crops illegally in what you might think is a secluded spot, only to discover that the spot was not so secluded afterall and someone has stolen all of your crops.
I've seen one supposed update so far, but I so nothing significant that addressed any of the issues I've been having. Yeah... it's definitely still in Alpha state.
Originally posted by RemainsYeah, I dont get it either... The way they use the word alpha has kinda made it lose its meaning as well. Its been out for how long in korea..? More than a year? Logically, this "alpha" should mean translation and maybe tweaking the grind a bit (they sure seem to love grinding over there), by changing exp numbers a bit. Thats it... How long can that really take, and does it even needs "alpha testing?" Maybe its a greed thing? This way they can sell "alpha access" to all the desperate people waiting for it.
it's basically this. They are hoarding the money and trying to grab as much as they can in advance. Tho I doubt they are working with full team on it, probably a minor work group is on it and they're taking it slow and polishing what needs to be polished like xp gain rates, labor points, loots, reputations and stuff plus some other mechanics we might not like here but they do like in korea I guess.
So thats why alpa testers still report glitches and bugs ? So thats why there are still zones "untested" ?
I rather have Trion wait another year so we get to play a finished mmo for once then another dead on arrival mmo.
Originally posted by ClippersNBA I mean, the game has been released a while now in Korea and Russia so this isn't really an alpha, but a transition process. How long can we expect for this "alpha" period to be over and move into beta and then release? Does it really have to take this long? Can't they hire a few more nerds to make it move faster?
Easy answer?
As long as people continue to sub and pay $149 for the pack.
The newbie zones are still full (today), lots of peeps joining every day even though the server is bursting at the seams.
You can please some MMO-players all of the time and you can please all MMO-players some of the time but you can't please all MMO-players all of the time.
They are going ahead with the 80/20% tradepack patch they planned to use instead of the Korean 60/40% tradepack patch. Also, as far as we know, Alpha server will become Test server once Beta starts in June and it's been speculated that Beta server/servers will not be live 24/7 like Alpha is. Alpha/Test will receive no wipes and Beta servers will once launch arrives.
I think Alpha server will be down during Beta test phase.
Originally posted by Kilrain All of the voice overs and cut scenes that I've encountered so far are still in Korean. Those alone will take plenty of time to update.
What I don't get all the hate for buying the founder packs. Yes, you can spend $150. You get 3 months sub and $75 for the cash shop, plus other items at release. You are not just paying to access the Alpha. IMO playing the Alpha is just another perk for the pack. If you actually look at what you get and think about someone playing this for an extended period of time, it really isn't a rip-off as so many people think.
Trion should take there time releasing this game. Both Korean, Russian and Trion's game are different, to serve different markets. Which means many different aspects of the game are going to be different and therefore need time to work out.
What I don't get all the hate for buying the founder packs. Yes, you can spend $150. You get 3 months sub and $75 for the cash shop, plus other items at release. You are not just paying to access the Alpha. IMO playing the Alpha is just another perk for the pack. If you actually look at what you get and think about someone playing this for an extended period of time, it really isn't a rip-off as so many people think.
Some may think it is a rip-off, but that is personal opinion.
On the other hand, it is kind of sad though, people paying for unfinished products. The gaming industry is adapting to that trend, if it not has already done so by producing and marketing unfinished products without attempting to make high qualiity games since the demand for new games seems to be higher than it is for quality games.
It is not Trion that is wrong by giving to short-sighted people what they want, but I blame them anyway for being opportunists in this case.
What I don't get all the hate for buying the founder packs. Yes, you can spend $150. You get 3 months sub and $75 for the cash shop, plus other items at release. You are not just paying to access the Alpha. IMO playing the Alpha is just another perk for the pack. If you actually look at what you get and think about someone playing this for an extended period of time, it really isn't a rip-off as so many people think.
Trion should take there time releasing this game. Both Korean, Russian and Trion's game are different, to serve different markets. Which means many different aspects of the game are going to be different and therefore need time to work out.
For me it just paying for entertainment. Nothing more, and nothing less.Pretty cheap if I break it down to $ per hour of entertainment. A lot cheaper per hour than that movie and pizza I have scheduled for tomorrow night.
Hmm so F2P cash shop shows greed. Hmm how would they make money to run the game ?
Asian Hybrid? Have you played the game yes it has an Asian feel but you should play it I bet that taste will become sweet if you can handle the hardcore aspects of the game.
$150.00 Alpha ? No its not a $150 Alpha its a Collectors edition with $75 worth of in game cash coins,$45 in Patron status and a bunch of in game goodies that will give the player a jump above the F2P players. Oh and 4 day head start is pretty cool as well.
Disappear in 6 months? Hardly AA is the game many of us have been waiting for . Take EVE cross it with UO toss in some EQ and a splash of Vanilla WoW.
I have not met one person in the Alpha .which yes its in Alpha there are plenty of things that need to be fixed (Laser Eyed Pigs FTW) that have said they arent having the best time playing. If you are someone who is in the alpha and you arent having fun please leave your Characters name in here and I would love to hear you say it in game.
What I don't get all the hate for buying the founder packs. Yes, you can spend $150. You get 3 months sub and $75 for the cash shop, plus other items at release. You are not just paying to access the Alpha. IMO playing the Alpha is just another perk for the pack. If you actually look at what you get and think about someone playing this for an extended period of time, it really isn't a rip-off as so many people think.
Some may think it is a rip-off, but that is personal opinion.
On the other hand, it is kind of sad though, people paying for unfinished products. The gaming industry is adapting to that trend, if it not has already done so by producing and marketing unfinished products without attempting to make high qualiity games since the demand for new games seems to be higher than it is for quality games.
It is not Trion that is wrong by giving to short-sighted people what they want, but I blame them anyway for being opportunists in this case.
Archeage isn't an unfinished product. It's a released game in Korea. Trion is using an alpha version of the game, and implementing their own patches, not the same as XLGames' version. I think this is a good direction for the gaming industry. XL obviously doesn't have the capability to make an international game and gives Trion, who has MMO experience, an opportunity to allow the western market to play a different type of game.
I just don't understand who in their right mind would charge $150 for an alpha test to an mmo that will be F2P and is also already being played for free in other countires....I would feel like the biggest sucker on the planet if I paid for this.
it will release in the west when the game is already dated and people have moved on to better things.
I always say devs need to take their time to polishing and finishing games before releasing but AA has been polished and finished in Korea for a long time now. No excuse for still being in "alpha" in the west.
Comments
You say you have to pay??? No you don't its a free to play and that's how ill play it. I play mainly only sub games as I find those honest upfront and free to play IMO are scam.
"mmorpg.com forum admins are all TROLLS and losers in real life"
My opinion
There have been many games that made the leap from pay to play to free to play just fine. The good games that have done this still retain the pay to play model.
Pay to play subscribers in almost every case have an advantage compared to free to play cash shoppers. There may be several advantages put into the cash shops to make things more convenient for players. This may include unlocking more bank space, more house box space, 2x exp potion/food, unlocks for various higher level endgame crafting or possibly unlocking the ability to specialize in more than what the game currently allows all the way to max level.
Many of these cash shop things will be automatically given to pay to play players. Some may also be kept in the cash shop to entice the pay to player to also make a few purchases. As long as companies don't put horrible features on the cash shop, I see no problem with them. The reality of a cash shop in today's MMO is here and it's how YOU deal with that fact that matters.
You came off a 150 bones to get into an alpha/beta game?
/raises eyebrow
hmmmmmm .........
~Hairysun
http://www.straightdope.com/
Why not?
2 seemingly same goals might be vastly different in what it takes to achieve them as well as resources.
Last I heard the alpha will get moved to the player test server and the beta will be the live one. Alpha gets no wipe beta does. That might explain why they're letting people play the alpha more /shrug
+1
My FFXIV ARR referral code for new EU accounts: 5JPF7ZQ3
Step into the amazing world of Eorzea! Use this reference code on a new account and we'll both get goodies for it!
The second part is very true. There are still numerous issues with the "Alpha". I'm a bit surprised this is actually in a "release" state elsewhere.
The game is more definitely not optimized properly for DX11, and if you swap to DX9, you'll still run into a few issues depending on the type of environment you're traversing through.
Frequently, players I have joined up with to run dungeons are disconnected the moment they attempt to zone into the dungeons, and I've been disconnected numerous times as well.
There are random crop wipe issues where everything disappears from your personal farm space. This has happened to me several times, and I'm new to the 'alpha'. I've tested this against the type of crops I've planted and the allotted amount of time it takes for those crops to mature, so I know it's not an issue of the crops wilting or dying off.
There are still some missing features and blank vendor spaces in the central neutral zone, and some currencies that have no current purpose.
There is also a dire need for more polish and refinement of various systems. If you plan on playing ArcheAge long-term, I highly recommend becoming a "Patron" AKA "Subscriber", because the current farm system relies heavily on major time sinks to rope you in.
You start with a very small plot for farming, and if you want to reach an acceptable level to perform more useful functions you are going to have to commit to countless real-time hours in order for your limited crops to mature. Or you can risk planting your crops illegally in what you might think is a secluded spot, only to discover that the spot was not so secluded afterall and someone has stolen all of your crops.
I've seen one supposed update so far, but I so nothing significant that addressed any of the issues I've been having. Yeah... it's definitely still in Alpha state.
So thats why alpa testers still report glitches and bugs ?
So thats why there are still zones "untested" ?
I rather have Trion wait another year so we get to play a finished mmo for once then another dead on arrival mmo.
But to each his own vieuws offcourse !
Easy answer?
As long as people continue to sub and pay $149 for the pack.
The newbie zones are still full (today), lots of peeps joining every day even though the server is bursting at the seams.
You can please some MMO-players all of the time and you can please all MMO-players some of the time but you can't please all MMO-players all of the time.
My gaming blog
I think Alpha server will be down during Beta test phase.
It shouldn't take that long.
What I don't get all the hate for buying the founder packs. Yes, you can spend $150. You get 3 months sub and $75 for the cash shop, plus other items at release. You are not just paying to access the Alpha. IMO playing the Alpha is just another perk for the pack. If you actually look at what you get and think about someone playing this for an extended period of time, it really isn't a rip-off as so many people think.
Trion should take there time releasing this game. Both Korean, Russian and Trion's game are different, to serve different markets. Which means many different aspects of the game are going to be different and therefore need time to work out.
Some may think it is a rip-off, but that is personal opinion.
On the other hand, it is kind of sad though, people paying for unfinished products. The gaming industry is adapting to that trend, if it not has already done so by producing and marketing unfinished products without attempting to make high qualiity games since the demand for new games seems to be higher than it is for quality games.
It is not Trion that is wrong by giving to short-sighted people what they want, but I blame them anyway for being opportunists in this case.
It takes one to know one.
For me it just paying for entertainment. Nothing more, and nothing less.Pretty cheap if I break it down to $ per hour of entertainment. A lot cheaper per hour than that movie and pizza I have scheduled for tomorrow night.
I miss DAoC
Hmm so F2P cash shop shows greed. Hmm how would they make money to run the game ?
Asian Hybrid? Have you played the game yes it has an Asian feel but you should play it I bet that taste will become sweet if you can handle the hardcore aspects of the game.
$150.00 Alpha ? No its not a $150 Alpha its a Collectors edition with $75 worth of in game cash coins,$45 in Patron status and a bunch of in game goodies that will give the player a jump above the F2P players. Oh and 4 day head start is pretty cool as well.
Disappear in 6 months? Hardly AA is the game many of us have been waiting for . Take EVE cross it with UO toss in some EQ and a splash of Vanilla WoW.
I have not met one person in the Alpha .which yes its in Alpha there are plenty of things that need to be fixed (Laser Eyed Pigs FTW) that have said they arent having the best time playing. If you are someone who is in the alpha and you arent having fun please leave your Characters name in here and I would love to hear you say it in game.
Archeage isn't an unfinished product. It's a released game in Korea. Trion is using an alpha version of the game, and implementing their own patches, not the same as XLGames' version. I think this is a good direction for the gaming industry. XL obviously doesn't have the capability to make an international game and gives Trion, who has MMO experience, an opportunity to allow the western market to play a different type of game.
it will release in the west when the game is already dated and people have moved on to better things.
I always say devs need to take their time to polishing and finishing games before releasing but AA has been polished and finished in Korea for a long time now. No excuse for still being in "alpha" in the west.
My opinion.