Monthly Development Update – 29th of November, 2013

[gresh]

Nice to see some progression here, not really fussed about the beta, i didn't pay my sub for its access so as long as my time in the game (which is what i payed for) isn't under threat im happy. Cant wait for it to hit the live server but even that is only out of curiosity. I love ao's graphics as they are and would happily play regardless. People that are complaining about the selection for the beta... Unfortunately this is something funcom cant help. There will always be somebody left out and the selection has to be done somehow so why not offer to the people with the longest subs. Yes i imagine alot of people that don't have the long subs,have at one time had the long subs and i see that people who have played from release till now as having lots to gi e regarding the testing but the people who have subbed the long subs are the loyal and should be rewarded. They also know as with everyone else that there is no guarantee with their investment but they do it anyway out of being a fan of the game. Why shouldn't they get rewarded over people who pay monthly. They are the ones who would miss out the most if funcom pulled the plug. The people who cant afford the longer subs... Its is a bad deal but it is not funcoms fault that the gov of the country you live in tax on exchange rates or allow bad conditions that result in not being able to pay for linger subs. The closed beta is a luxury... Not a right.if you get in... Good luck an have fun... If you don't... Play the normal server and be patient. Funcom are getting closer to something the have had in the pipeline for years... Peoplemoan because the game isn't fully how they want it so funcom change it and still people moan. Just cut some slack and be happy.

[Esssch]

Why get your tizzies in a twist for a most likely buggy as hell closed beta?

Because some of us have been waiting on this beta since you were in elementary school.

[Khlin]

...Why shouldn't they get rewarded over people who pay monthly. They are the ones who would miss out the most if funcom pulled the plug. The people who cant afford the longer subs... Its is a bad deal but it is not funcoms fault that the gov of the country you live in tax on exchange rates or allow bad conditions that result in not being able to pay for linger subs...

You misunderstood the beef some people might have For me it was just a bit comical how Genele phrased it. The beta invite will come whenever it will come.

Their beef is Genele was saying that, as a token of appreciation, they would first invite people currently on 12m & 6m subs; i don't have a problem with this.

Some people that pay monthly and have been doing so for the past few years will not be considered for the first beta invites. So you understand why some might get upset.

For example, I have been paying for AO since 2005. All this time I have been paying on a monthly basis for an average of 2 accounts. Compared to someone that pays on a yearly basis, I pay almost double with my monthly subscription during 1 year.

So, from this point of view, I am giving FC more money )

[Awikun]

The whole beta test strategy looks totaly stupid to me

I am paying customer for over 10 years and I use 12 months subscription plan.
I am not interested in beta testing at all !

I happy that it finaly started and I hope it goes fast and smooth.
However beta testing is like some kind of work, it is helping FC in their job etc. so imho it is FC who should try to encourage ppl to enter beta test and offer some kinf of incentive.

From my personal point of view and marketing experience I would do something completely different:
I would invite all players who canceled AO as paying customers - to lure them back
I would invite all players with froob accounts - to show them full content and convince to upgrade their account.
I would add that any player who spend xx hours beta testing, or sends X usefull bug reports will get 1 month full acess to AO...

Asking paying customers to become beta testers is like shooting your own foot.

[erozc]

The whole beta test strategy looks totaly stupid to me

I am paying customer for over 10 years and I use 12 months subscription plan.
I am not interested in beta testing at all !

I happy that it finaly started and I hope it goes fast and smooth.
However beta testing is like some kind of work, it is helping FC in their job etc. so imho it is FC who should try to encourage ppl to enter beta test and offer some kinf of incentive.

From my personal point of view and marketing experience I would do something completely different:
I would invite all players who canceled AO as paying customers - to lure them back
I would invite all players with froob accounts - to show them full content and convince to upgrade their account.
I would add that any player who spend xx hours beta testing, or sends X usefull bug reports will get 1 month full acess to AO...

Asking paying customers to become beta testers is like shooting your own foot.

Beta testing is both a priviledge, and a responsibility... It'll work for marketing too, but if the product is not mature enough (given the short development time the new engine has taken, this is a definite risk) you'll just alienate the potential customers.

You have many good points but having paying customers beta test isn't always a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

[User1337]

Beta testing is both a priviledge, and a responsibility... It'll work for marketing too, but if the product is not mature enough (given the short development time the new engine has taken, this is a definite risk) you'll just alienate the potential customers.

You have many good points but having paying customers beta test isn't always a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

You're kidding, right?

[Mavritanic]

this is real?... or just cruel joke?

[Notcrattey]

Because some of us have been waiting on this beta since you were in elementary school.

Did I hear a gnat?

[Poko]

Because some of us have been waiting on this beta since you were in elementary school.

OOOOOOHHHH NO HE DIDN'T!

I'm still in 7th grade

[doctorgore]

Who cares who gets into a closed beta. What is the timeline for it is what should be asked. How long will it last 5-6 years more at this point? How long before we actually see this engine as a player that's all that matters.

[gresh]

I havent missed the point at all im missing the reason it bothers people so much. as stated above by Eroz, being invited to the beta testing is a priviledge, if you are selected then yippe for you if not just hope you get in the next one if they ever release anything else (which considering how much flak they have taken through the years for the time its taken yada yada ya... i wouldnt blame them for not doing. (wouldnt suprise me if they didnt considering they cant do right for doing wrong.)

saying you pay more cos you choose to pay 2x 1 month is nonsensical, what subscription package am I on? it doesn't matter as regardless of what i think about how much im paying for how ever much time has no bearing what so ever on the fact that funcom had to choose a way to select people and which ever way they choose it would leave others out and people would moan regardless. To say you pay twice as much is ofcorse true but you pay that at minimal risk of losing out compared to someone who pays 12 months in advance regardless of how long you've been paying. We play the game cos we love it (well i guess speaking for myself) but the game is the game regardless of whether we get in beta or not for the new gfx engine. Im thinking the main reason people are moaning is merely they want to be the first to view/comment/accept/shun the work the devs have done. We will see it when its released on the live server if we dont get invited to beta. If when the patch hits live and your the only one without... then you will have cause to complain.

Would Funcom have done the work they have on the new engine if there hadn't been so many people over the years crying out for it???

Possibly.

Would all the requests have had an impact... probably but either way they didn't have to do all the work ... they could of just scrapped it with a view to concentrating on their new titles and for that i can only be grateful. If enough people moan about enough things, it can only lead to the conclusion continuing is pointless.

[Pennypacker]

Would all the requests have had an impact... probably but either way they didn't have to do all the work ... they could of just scrapped it with a view to concentrating on their new titles and for that i can only be grateful. If enough people moan about enough things, it can only lead to the conclusion continuing is pointless.

Yes, let's be grateful that we paid to play and for the developers to continue to develop the game! OH MY HOW GRATEFUL WE SHOULD BE!

[gresh]

lol maybe you should quit. its a 12 year old game Id prefer them to keep it going than not. you have a choice... to pay for it or not. if you pay for it, chances are its because you deem it worth paying to be able to access the paid content. If the 12 year old game ended you wouldn't be able to choose to pay for the game you deem worthy of paying for. It is the availability of the choice i am grateful for. but still you proved my point right there... people moan!

[Doomcow]

I hope that people who have been paying and playing for 6+ years get preference over people who just happen to have a 12 month subscription.

To the previous person who said fix your life if you can't afford 12 month subscription, maybe our lives are so full and busy we can't pay 12 months because we dont know if we'll be playing in 6 months.

[Khlin]

Im thinking the main reason people are moaning is merely they want to be the first to view/comment/accept/shun the work the devs have done.

Nope. You can't. Close beta, NDA and so on. so, basically, nothing would be public.

I can understand the frustration of others. The engine is close.. no it's not... yes, it is...

How the game looks is one of the reasons people are avoiding AO. Others simply can't play it which this engie is supposed to fix.

After several years, some people may get impatient.

I, for one, like to break things

[iLeet]

The community here reminds me of Statler & Waldorf a lot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpYEJx7PkWE

[Brampfine]

so true iLeet
a feeling like they run with drums around x-mas tree

[Contra]

In 2 months, the next "Monthly Update" will say something like this: "The work on the engine is going fine, we've fixed the water issues, we fixed this and that, BUT our internal DQBSTWERT database was corrupted and our technicians are working on fixing it. We'll keep you up to date on their progress".

In 6 months, Monthly Update notes are gonna say something like: testing on the beta server is going great!! We already have hundreds of players testing things out for you to have a wonderful experience at it's release".

In 12 months, it's gonna say something like: An error occured to our internal PPTSGGTSTS circuits wich caused the collapse of bones and textures and filters and we'll be postponing the release for next year. We are terribly sorry for the inconvenience.

I've said this before and I'm repeating it: it took A LOT less time for companies with A LOT less developers and artists to make a new game from scratch. My strong belief, and I really mean this, is that there is no new engine. The video they made could have been done by an artist in a few hours, not in years. I've had college classmates with 0 working experience develop much more advanced things in 1/4 of that time and it looked better, ran smoother and had less or no bugs at all.
It's impossible, and I really mean impossible, for a company of FC's magnitude to come up with a graphical engine in that big time period. It should have been developed, tested and released in 2-3 years maximum, not 7. Not 8.
They are milking us(you, as I've given up again on AO because of FC's lack of respect for it's playerbase) for more money to invest in other projects and if you need proof on that, just read the monthly updates dating from 8 years ago.
FC will probably ban my forum account because of this post, as they can't allow someone speaking what could be the truth, but it's worth it. Maybe, before the ban, someone with half a brain will read my post and realise the lie they've been living for all these years.

{edited for inappropriate content}
What you did to us for 7 years is absolutely disgusting. Giving out fake updates, or updates that mean absolutely nothing, giving fake promises for all these years, taking advantage of europeans through currency and lack of communication or implementation of game suggestions have taken me, again, to the point where I just couldn't care less about my account.
{edited}

[schloops]

Nice update .
I would have added, even if very vague, what textures, armors, heads have been redone and will be on the test server, to the list.

I agree that the 12 months etc thingy is unfair... not as aggravating some people are portraying it to be, but it sure is.
Just lower the price of the monthly thingy for January by one euro, as a token of good gesture. That would be a gesture of appreciation ^^.

I already paid for 12 months (because it costs less) and have no interest in joining the closed beta, but some people do... every closed beta you joined helps you get into the closed beta of another game ^^.

[Humlee]

Can one ask what on earth your reasoning behind the NDA is ?

I am perfectly aware of the reasoning behind doing NDA for a game yet published, but seriously an engine update 6 years late, to a game hemorrhaging more and more each day.

Are the devs confidence in their product so poor? Perhaps 8 years wasnt enough?