I don't know the exact definition of a kickstarter or crowdfunding. What I do know is that people are allowed to donate money to help fund development of the game with a promises of early access........Please, this is NOT a topic about a definition, BUT MORE about early access.
As coming closer and closer to release time, the company will allow members to test and play the game. Their will be bugs, their will be underdeveloped zones, there will be nonbalance......It could reach a point that everyone that is planning on playing the game will be jumping in a different points during the undone Bata process......BUT THE GAME WILL NOT BE DONE !....People don't like this, there not understanding either.
This will be toxic:
- Players, posters and critic's will degrade the game, even with the understanding of under development. People don't care. There are many that would love to say " See the game sucks ".
- No shock and awe. Opening day. MMO's need this. Everyone one online at once, with everyone fresh to the game at the same time. Sure, this sucks for developers with crashes and such, but this is what the RUTHLESS players demand. This alone proves how toxic the community can be. Every release of every mmo has a bad opening day. Players are fast to say " bad game, see I told you ". Yet you still need the shock and awe of opening day.
- Players attract players. With a Trickle release, they will come and go. Say what you feel, but full servers matter, people like to see that. It makes them feel good. They feel like their where they are supposed to be.
I for some reason do more than just play mmos. I study populations using various methods. For years I've studied many populations of many mmos such as World of Warcraft, Vanguard, D&D Online, EQ2 and many others.
It's ironic that Vanguard is the best example. Vanguard I found the most intriguing, later on shortly after SOE owned it is when I jumped in. At this point the population was always at a low, continually at a low. YET, IT HAD A LARGE FOLLOWING. MANY ACCUALLY LOVED THE GAME. So what happened ?.......Well, I totally nailed it !......
New players were constantly starting. Every night at least one or two. But and I have to stress the word BUT, others were quitting evenly as fast as new players were starting.....This kept the population at 600....No one stayed because no one to play with !
Large population. A rock hard large population all the time is more important than anything. You need the shock and awe !
You also did AC2 right and ran a web site with numbers on all the games. If you did I owe you an apology and if not then all I can say is you are spot on with what you are saying. Wish I could remember the name and the web site way back then. You do sound familiar in the way you are presenting it. :-D.
I haven't read the pledge rules yet. I do plan on a donation at some point closer to release. I'm assuming they get in early as a perk.
This is based on limited general knowledge of pledging, and how toxic the mmo players can be.
It's kind of like asking a hyper three year old to sit nicely in a chair for an hour. At first they say OKayyyy, two minuets later their off doing their thing........Well, mmo players are no different. Pledging $600 and asking them to understand early access is still work in progress. At first they say OKayyyy !
Not giving early access or too limited can be toxic also.....Remember, everyone wants something.
Large population. A rock hard large population all the time is more important than anything. You need the shock and awe !
Simple enough. Two months out, when Beta is complete, announce you're shutting down the game temporarily for last minute tuning and retooling. And some $urpri$e bonu$ New $tuff!
I haven't read the pledge rules yet. I do plan on a donation at some point closer to release. I'm assuming they get in early as a perk.
This is based on limited general knowledge of pledging, and how toxic the mmo players can be.
It's kind of like asking a hyper three year old to sit nicely in a chair for an hour. At first they say OKayyyy, two minuets later their off doing their thing........Well, mmo players are no different. Pledging $600 and asking them to understand early access is still work in progress. At first they say OKayyyy !
Not giving early access or too limited can be toxic also.....Remember, everyone wants something.
I posted this earlier delete, there is no early access with the pledges. I understand it is a long way off for launch but I'm used to it lol -it gives me something to be excited about plus I enjoy testing. I think you are smart for waiting closer to release to find a package that suits your needs. If you are interested in looking at the pledges they are here https://www.pantheonmmo.com/join/pledge/
I haven't read the pledge rules yet. I do plan on a donation at some point closer to release. I'm assuming they get in early as a perk.
This is based on limited general knowledge of pledging, and how toxic the mmo players can be.
It's kind of like asking a hyper three year old to sit nicely in a chair for an hour. At first they say OKayyyy, two minuets later their off doing their thing........Well, mmo players are no different. Pledging $600 and asking them to understand early access is still work in progress. At first they say OKayyyy !
Not giving early access or too limited can be toxic also.....Remember, everyone wants something.
I posted this earlier delete, there is no early access with the pledges. I understand it is a long way off for launch but I'm used to it lol -it gives me something to be excited about plus I enjoy testing. I think you are smart for waiting closer to release to find a package that suits your needs. If you are interested in looking at the pledges they are here https://www.pantheonmmo.com/join/pledge/
TLDR there is no early access with the pledges
Ok sorry I missed your post earler.
I think this is really good new with no early access. I would REALLY LIKE FOR THIS GAME TO HAPPEN.
I haven't read the pledge rules yet. I do plan on a donation at some point closer to release. I'm assuming they get in early as a perk.
This is based on limited general knowledge of pledging, and how toxic the mmo players can be.
It's kind of like asking a hyper three year old to sit nicely in a chair for an hour. At first they say OKayyyy, two minuets later their off doing their thing........Well, mmo players are no different. Pledging $600 and asking them to understand early access is still work in progress. At first they say OKayyyy !
Not giving early access or too limited can be toxic also.....Remember, everyone wants something.
I posted this earlier delete, there is no early access with the pledges. I understand it is a long way off for launch but I'm used to it lol -it gives me something to be excited about plus I enjoy testing. I think you are smart for waiting closer to release to find a package that suits your needs. If you are interested in looking at the pledges they are here https://www.pantheonmmo.com/join/pledge/
TLDR there is no early access with the pledges
Ok sorry I missed your post earler.
I think this is really good new with no early access. I would REALLY LIKE FOR THIS GAME TO HAPPEN.
I haven't read the pledge rules yet. I do plan on a donation at some point closer to release. I'm assuming they get in early as a perk.
This is based on limited general knowledge of pledging, and how toxic the mmo players can be.
It's kind of like asking a hyper three year old to sit nicely in a chair for an hour. At first they say OKayyyy, two minuets later their off doing their thing........Well, mmo players are no different. Pledging $600 and asking them to understand early access is still work in progress. At first they say OKayyyy !
Not giving early access or too limited can be toxic also.....Remember, everyone wants something.
I posted this earlier delete, there is no early access with the pledges. I understand it is a long way off for launch but I'm used to it lol -it gives me something to be excited about plus I enjoy testing. I think you are smart for waiting closer to release to find a package that suits your needs. If you are interested in looking at the pledges they are here https://www.pantheonmmo.com/join/pledge/
TLDR there is no early access with the pledges
Ok sorry I missed your post earler.
I think this is really good new with no early access. I would REALLY LIKE FOR THIS GAME TO HAPPEN.
me too!
You may be right that there is no longer early access with pledges, but there certainly was at some point, as you can clearly see in this photo:
Then you can find this line in their FAQ:
What about people whose pledges include pre-alpha, alpha, and beta
testing? When will they be invited into the game to help test and to
provide feedback?
We are absolutely committed to upholding our end of pledge rewards,
including pre-alpha, alpha, and beta testing. That said, it serves no
one and no purpose to bring people in too early. As soon as the game is
ready to bring in outside testers, we will honor our commitments to do
so. At this point, however, it is too early to commit to any specific
dates.
So yeah, it doesn't matter how many times you said it in the thread, you were not correct.
The OP has a legit concern, but it is demonstrably avoidable as well. EQ had a year long beta, split into four phases. It allowed us to really balance and tweak the game such that it was in good shape at launch. It did not allow everyone to go everywhere and therefore remove the appeal of playing post-launch. Zones were still in development and the whole world wasn't available, even at the later phases. And we made it clear that there would be a player wipe at the end of each beta phase. While some people complained about this, in the end, it worked out well.
Now, I do understand that times have changed, and that many players because of 'early access' just look at beta testing as a way to play the game early. And for those players who truly don't want to help us test and tweak and find issues, etc., they may not find themselves enjoying real testing all that much. We do run some risk there, because they could then post publically, breaking their NDA, and tell people that they game (from their perspective anyway) isn't any fun.
So we are keeping all of that in mind and are planning accordingly. No matter what, though, we are intent on having a long beta because of how much good it did for EQ. One of the reasons we are so focused now with Pantheon on making sure that pre-alpha, while missing many systems and features, is still fun to play is because of all of this. It does add some extra work, but I think it's worth it, because by making sure the early state of the game is still fun to play it not only makes sure that alpha and beta testers are having fun while they help us test, but it also makes sure that we are building a game with a core foundation that is fun. This fits nicely into our overall MMO development philosophy, that we establish a core foundation first and then build a lot of the newer ideas and systems and features on top of that foundation. This enables us to tweak or even remove systems that may not turn out the way we wanted them to without the whole game crashing down upon us like a house of cards.
--
-------------------------------------------------------------- Brad McQuaid CCO, Visionary Realms, Inc. www.pantheonmmo.com --------------------------------------------------------------
I haven't read the pledge rules yet. I do plan on a donation at some point closer to release. I'm assuming they get in early as a perk.
This is based on limited general knowledge of pledging, and how toxic the mmo players can be.
It's kind of like asking a hyper three year old to sit nicely in a chair for an hour. At first they say OKayyyy, two minuets later their off doing their thing........Well, mmo players are no different. Pledging $600 and asking them to understand early access is still work in progress. At first they say OKayyyy !
Not giving early access or too limited can be toxic also.....Remember, everyone wants something.
I posted this earlier delete, there is no early access with the pledges. I understand it is a long way off for launch but I'm used to it lol -it gives me something to be excited about plus I enjoy testing. I think you are smart for waiting closer to release to find a package that suits your needs. If you are interested in looking at the pledges they are here https://www.pantheonmmo.com/join/pledge/
TLDR there is no early access with the pledges
Ok sorry I missed your post earler.
I think this is really good new with no early access. I would REALLY LIKE FOR THIS GAME TO HAPPEN.
me too!
You may be right that there is no longer early access with pledges, but there certainly was at some point, as you can clearly see in this photo:
Then you can find this line in their FAQ:
What about people whose pledges include pre-alpha, alpha, and beta
testing? When will they be invited into the game to help test and to
provide feedback?
We are absolutely committed to upholding our end of pledge rewards,
including pre-alpha, alpha, and beta testing. That said, it serves no
one and no purpose to bring people in too early. As soon as the game is
ready to bring in outside testers, we will honor our commitments to do
so. At this point, however, it is too early to commit to any specific
dates.
So yeah, it doesn't matter how many times you said it in the thread, you were not correct.
Hiya Mrbungle - Happy Holidays to you. I am correct. You are confusing the term early access with testing.
The term early access is used in MMO gaming to allow people to play the game early and keep their progress. Pre-Alpha, Alpha, and Beta testing occur before launch but it is not the same as early access.
@ Aradune thank you and Merry Christmas, It is nice to hear that our time testing will be fun!
I haven't read the pledge rules yet. I do plan on a donation at some point closer to release. I'm assuming they get in early as a perk.
This is based on limited general knowledge of pledging, and how toxic the mmo players can be.
It's kind of like asking a hyper three year old to sit nicely in a chair for an hour. At first they say OKayyyy, two minuets later their off doing their thing........Well, mmo players are no different. Pledging $600 and asking them to understand early access is still work in progress. At first they say OKayyyy !
Not giving early access or too limited can be toxic also.....Remember, everyone wants something.
I posted this earlier delete, there is no early access with the pledges. I understand it is a long way off for launch but I'm used to it lol -it gives me something to be excited about plus I enjoy testing. I think you are smart for waiting closer to release to find a package that suits your needs. If you are interested in looking at the pledges they are here https://www.pantheonmmo.com/join/pledge/
TLDR there is no early access with the pledges
Ok sorry I missed your post earler.
I think this is really good new with no early access. I would REALLY LIKE FOR THIS GAME TO HAPPEN.
me too!
You may be right that there is no longer early access with pledges, but there certainly was at some point, as you can clearly see in this photo:
Then you can find this line in their FAQ:
What about people whose pledges include pre-alpha, alpha, and beta
testing? When will they be invited into the game to help test and to
provide feedback?
We are absolutely committed to upholding our end of pledge rewards,
including pre-alpha, alpha, and beta testing. That said, it serves no
one and no purpose to bring people in too early. As soon as the game is
ready to bring in outside testers, we will honor our commitments to do
so. At this point, however, it is too early to commit to any specific
dates.
So yeah, it doesn't matter how many times you said it in the thread, you were not correct.
Hiya Mrbungle - Happy Holidays to you. I am correct. You are confusing the term early access with testing.
The term early access is used in MMO gaming to allow people to play the game early and keep their progress. Pre-Alpha, Alpha, and Beta testing occur before launch but it is not the same as early access.
@ Aradune thank you and Merry Christmas, It is nice to hear that our time testing will be fun!
Zarriya is correct, we used to call Pre-Alpha "Testing" or "Testing Access" but have since changed it to be more descriptive and avoid any confusing.
We never gave away or sold early access to Pantheon.
Comments
Star Citizen – The Extinction Level Event
4/13/15 > ELE has been updated look for 16-04-13.
http://www.dereksmart.org/2016/04/star-citizen-the-ele/
Enjoy and know the truth always comes to light!
I haven't read the pledge rules yet. I do plan on a donation at some point closer to release. I'm assuming they get in early as a perk.
This is based on limited general knowledge of pledging, and how toxic the mmo players can be.
It's kind of like asking a hyper three year old to sit nicely in a chair for an hour. At first they say OKayyyy, two minuets later their off doing their thing........Well, mmo players are no different. Pledging $600 and asking them to understand early access is still work in progress. At first they say OKayyyy !
Not giving early access or too limited can be toxic also.....Remember, everyone wants something.
(Marketing Blitz).
Early Acce$$ opening day!
Big Opening Day!!one!1! Squeee!
Game marketing is really basic stuff, ya'll.
TLDR there is no early access with the pledges
Ok sorry I missed your post earler.
I think this is really good new with no early access. I would REALLY LIKE FOR THIS GAME TO HAPPEN.
me too!
Then you can find this line in their FAQ:
What about people whose pledges include pre-alpha, alpha, and beta testing? When will they be invited into the game to help test and to provide feedback?
We are absolutely committed to upholding our end of pledge rewards, including pre-alpha, alpha, and beta testing. That said, it serves no one and no purpose to bring people in too early. As soon as the game is ready to bring in outside testers, we will honor our commitments to do so. At this point, however, it is too early to commit to any specific dates.
So yeah, it doesn't matter how many times you said it in the thread, you were not correct.
Now, I do understand that times have changed, and that many players because of 'early access' just look at beta testing as a way to play the game early. And for those players who truly don't want to help us test and tweak and find issues, etc., they may not find themselves enjoying real testing all that much. We do run some risk there, because they could then post publically, breaking their NDA, and tell people that they game (from their perspective anyway) isn't any fun.
So we are keeping all of that in mind and are planning accordingly. No matter what, though, we are intent on having a long beta because of how much good it did for EQ. One of the reasons we are so focused now with Pantheon on making sure that pre-alpha, while missing many systems and features, is still fun to play is because of all of this. It does add some extra work, but I think it's worth it, because by making sure the early state of the game is still fun to play it not only makes sure that alpha and beta testers are having fun while they help us test, but it also makes sure that we are building a game with a core foundation that is fun. This fits nicely into our overall MMO development philosophy, that we establish a core foundation first and then build a lot of the newer ideas and systems and features on top of that foundation. This enables us to tweak or even remove systems that may not turn out the way we wanted them to without the whole game crashing down upon us like a house of cards.
--
--------------------------------------------------------------
Brad McQuaid
CCO, Visionary Realms, Inc.
www.pantheonmmo.com
--------------------------------------------------------------
The term early access is used in MMO gaming to allow people to play the game early and keep their progress. Pre-Alpha, Alpha, and Beta testing occur before launch but it is not the same as early access.
@ Aradune thank you and Merry Christmas, It is nice to hear that our time testing will be fun!
We never gave away or sold early access to Pantheon.