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The Intrepid pack has been significantly devalued

24

Comments

  • FliP said:
    Not that I care, but if that's really the case that Alpha1 will be up and running as a test server until release, then they sort of also devalued the packs that include Alpha2 access.

    I bought that pack specifically so I can test when I want and how long I want, not to be given a time slot somewhen in the middle of the night and have it canceled 15 minutes past it was supposed to start, *redacted*
    You are receiving a persistent alpha 2.Nothing has changed in that regard. Though I agree the expectation A1 would not be up all the time(eventually) definitely factored into the decision of many to not purchase the bigger pack.

    I feel like this is another example of an intent which has changed a bit after these initial packages were made. This one actually working AGAINST Intrepid's sales though


  • Here is what I was able to glean from the Wiki on the "persistant" thing.

    "

    Will A1 have set time slots or will it be open testing?

    • Steven: It will have both time slots as well as long period testing that we’d like to test the server.
    • Jeffrey: We’ll probably start with time slots first until we get stability worked out, then we’ll go into longer form.
    • Steven: Our goal is to have several weeks of consistent play at the end of that testing that we can bang our chests about."
    The source is an hour long and no timestamp
  • ArchivedUserArchivedUser Guest
    edited September 2018
    @FliP no the alpha 2 is still planned on being the persistent server. Alpha 1 testers still have earliest access to the alphas and then at the end of this early phase all registered accounts will have access for a short time. When alpha 1 phase 2  starts it will be back to those with access only.

    My assumption is Steven and intrepid plan to just hammer servers early with as many people as possible to purposely crash them.

    Anyone upset by this is either not paying attention to posts and announcements or completely misunderstood what is happening with the upcoming testing. 



    @Gigabear nowhere in the Kickstarter or the website store does it imply that alpha access is exclusive. 
  • There were a lot of points to be made in this thread, but the overwhelming sense of entitlement present in a many of the responses just means anything said is falling on deaf ears (or blind eyes as it were since its a forum)
  • Jahlon said:
    There were a lot of points to be made in this thread, but the overwhelming sense of entitlement present in a many of the responses just means anything said is falling on deaf ears (or blind eyes as it were since its a forum)
    I may not agree with the OP but I did not feel it went to the point of entitlement. They May have made some wrong assumptions at first but I think your post goes too far. 

    But just like us all...you are certainly welcomed to your opinion. 

    I do appreciate your youtube videos though! @Jahlon
  • So the alpha 1p1 all 3 parts will be uses to test the server stability and the match making aspects of the game but will not have any level progression or anything outside the big massive battles. As far as A1P2 the persistent part of it will be that you get to keep your lvl and gear and the nodes will keep there advancement thru the duration of the A1P2 testing where the A2 testing will be the server that turns into the PTS 
  • Argentdawn said:
    Anyone upset by this is either not paying attention to posts and announcements or completely misunderstood what is happening with the upcoming testing. 
    Argentdawn said:
    @Gigabear nowhere in the Kickstarter or the website store does it imply that alpha access is exclusive. 
    To the first point, there was ZERO announcement of any kind given until after sales had closed about even the possibility on non-exclusivity.

    To the second, there was no explicit statement of exclusivity, but they were referred to as "closed" alphas and betas. That 100% is no longer the case.
    Jahlon said:
    There were a lot of points to be made in this thread, but the overwhelming sense of entitlement present in a many of the responses just means anything said is falling on deaf ears (or blind eyes as it were since its a forum)

    Not sure how this helps the discussion along at all, as it seems to be pretty much entirely ad-hominem based solely on your own subjective opinion of the ill-defined concept of what constitutes "entitlement." One would expect a content creator who spends a lot of time voicing their opinions would be fine with others doing the same.
  • Hype,  hype,  hype.... AAAArHAAhhh!

    Its over 9000!!!
  • Gigabear said:
    Argentdawn said:
    Anyone upset by this is either not paying attention to posts and announcements or completely misunderstood what is happening with the upcoming testing. 
    Argentdawn said:
    @Gigabear nowhere in the Kickstarter or the website store does it imply that alpha access is exclusive. 
    To the first point, there was ZERO announcement of any kind given until after sales had closed about even the possibility on non-exclusivity.

    To the second, there was no explicit statement of exclusivity, but they were referred to as "closed" alphas and betas. That 100% is no longer the case.
    Jahlon said:
    There were a lot of points to be made in this thread, but the overwhelming sense of entitlement present in a many of the responses just means anything said is falling on deaf ears (or blind eyes as it were since its a forum)

    Not sure how this helps the discussion along at all, as it seems to be pretty much entirely ad-hominem based solely on your own subjective opinion of the ill-defined concept of what constitutes "entitlement." One would expect a content creator who spends a lot of time voicing their opinions would be fine with others doing the same.
    Eh.. it doesn't really bother me cause I bought in for the lifetime sub and cosmetics. As far as the testing stages go I expect them to do as they need for testing purposes. It does literally no harm to have people access the server before the "real" alpha starts. To cry over it is demeaning to one self especially since we have access to it months before we were promised. 

    If we want to get technical the terminology is whats upsetting you and we can play games with semantics. All the tests are still closed and are invite only.. you just so happen to be invited to one section of it if you have a registered account.

    Intrepid is more than holding to their word and people who bought braver or above will have access before anyone else... That's all that was written and promised in packages that were sold anything else was personal inference and if you assumed wrong that's on the individual. 


  • Gigabear said:
    Argentdawn said:
    Anyone upset by this is either not paying attention to posts and announcements or completely misunderstood what is happening with the upcoming testing. 
    Argentdawn said:
    @Gigabear nowhere in the Kickstarter or the website store does it imply that alpha access is exclusive. 
    To the first point, there was ZERO announcement of any kind given until after sales had closed about even the possibility on non-exclusivity.

    To the second, there was no explicit statement of exclusivity, but they were referred to as "closed" alphas and betas. That 100% is no longer the case.
    Jahlon said:
    There were a lot of points to be made in this thread, but the overwhelming sense of entitlement present in a many of the responses just means anything said is falling on deaf ears (or blind eyes as it were since its a forum)

    Not sure how this helps the discussion along at all, as it seems to be pretty much entirely ad-hominem based solely on your own subjective opinion of the ill-defined concept of what constitutes "entitlement." One would expect a content creator who spends a lot of time voicing their opinions would be fine with others doing the same.
    Eh.. it doesn't really bother me cause I bought in for the lifetime sub and cosmetics. As far as the testing stages go I expect them to do as they need for testing purposes. It does literally no harm to have people access the server before the "real" alpha starts. To cry over it is demeaning to one self especially since we have access to it months before we were promised. 

    If we want to get technical the terminology is whats upsetting you and we can play games with semantics. All the tests are still closed and are invite only.. you just so happen to be invited to one section of it if you have a registered account.

    Intrepid is more than holding to their word and people who bought braver or above will have access before anyone else... That's all that was written and promised in packages that were sold anything else was personal inference and if you assumed wrong that's on the individual. 


    This is perilously close to where I draw the line before discretion demands I simply not respond to a post at all. That being said, I'll give it my best shot.

    Nobody is "crying" here at all, much less over letting other people into the test. As I said, I'm ok with that. That doesn't harm anyone, and is probably good for the game as a whole from both a marketing and testing perspective.

    What I firmly reject is the implication that a "closed" alpha becoming a completely open alpha is semantics. The level of spin doctoring to imply that a need to register somehow mitigates this is breathtaking. That is the case for every open testing cycle. An account is always needed to log into an MMO.

    What I have not done here is imply, much less state, that Intrepid was breaking their word. Rather, what has happened is they made a change of direction in the alpha tests which has rendered a major incentive to buy into the packs with alpha 1 on them moot. I would have still bought in, but I strongly suspect if others knew they didn't HAVE TO to access Alpha 1, some of them would not have ponied up that cash.

    Everyone gets access to the most important part of the experience now almost as quick as the highest backers, the PVP combat. The rest is important sure, but that's the meat of the experience.

    What Intrepid will do, if anything, I leave to them. I felt it important to share my thoughts on the matter, and have now done so.
  • I want to disagree with Gigabear here, but I can't. Although I agree players should be focused on testing within these phases, someone's motivations for buying in are irrelevant. 

    I think there is a more than fair argument that it was IMPLIED that getting into these testing phases required buying in, and some people would not have bought in if they had known otherwise. That is just common sense really.

    However, there isn't much to be done about it now other than to say shame on Intrepid. At the end of the day, more people testing the game will be more of a benefit than people's gripes on this issue.
  • Psst. We're dodging the point that Phase 2 of Alpha is the actual Alpha, and Phase 1 is a bonus stage that the devs wanted to test before the real Alpha starts.

    Just because this bonus content is called an Alpha, doesn't mean it's the Alpha that we exclusively signed up for.

    Getting bent out of shape over the fact that the public gets to test this bonus side content after us in petty and small. 

    As the big man himself explains, Phase 2 is the "intended Alpha One, and will only be accessible by Alpha One players."


  • ArchivedUserArchivedUser Guest
    edited September 2018
    Krojak said:
    Psst. We're dodging the point that Phase 2 of Alpha is the actual Alpha, and Phase 1 is a bonus stage that the devs wanted to test before the real Alpha starts.
    It would have been ideal, in that case, to not call it literally alpha one. And if it's not the alpha, why are backers who bought access to alpha one getting it now? Because it IS the alpha one build. 

    I'm not dodging the point. I just don't see how it changes anything. None of these alphas, at any point, were even hinted at being open to all.

    Now, again, I'm fine with letting everyone in. But, if they go this route, the Alpha 1 perk in the packs is worth about half what it was expected to be. Since for about 6 months or so everyone can log in whether they have the pack or not. Really leaving only A1P2(half of alpha 1) as requiring a buy-in.

    And it needs to be said, AGAIN, that kickstarter packs are far less impacted by this. Heck, lifetime is worth more than the entire Intrepid pack all by itself by a lot. For Intrepid backers, it was pretty much a year sub and some cosmetics outside of Alpha 1 access. This doesn't mean ks backers didn't lose anything, just that it wasn't as big of a slice for them.
  • I vote to call stage 1 the “Sneak Peek Stress Test”.  Who wants to make the petition to get it done?  Because I’m too lazy.
  • Gigabear said:
    Krojak said:
    Psst. We're dodging the point that Phase 2 of Alpha is the actual Alpha, and Phase 1 is a bonus stage that the devs wanted to test before the real Alpha starts.
    It would have been ideal, in that case, to not call it literally alpha one. And if it's not the alpha, why are backers who bought access to alpha one getting it now? Because it IS the alpha one build. 

    I'm not dodging the point. I just don't see how it changes anything. None of these alphas, at any point, were even hinted at being open to all.

    Now, again, I'm fine with letting everyone in. But, if they go this route, the Alpha 1 perk in the packs is worth about half what it was expected to be. Since for about 6 months or so everyone can log in whether they have the pack or not. Really leaving only A1P2(half of alpha 1) as requiring a buy-in.

    And it needs to be said, AGAIN, that kickstarter packs are far less impacted by this. Heck, lifetime is worth more than the entire Intrepid pack all by itself by a lot. For Intrepid backers, it was pretty much a year sub and some cosmetics outside of Alpha 1 access. This doesn't mean ks backers didn't lose anything, just that it wasn't as big of a slice for them.
    You're sitting at a restaurant with friends, and you order a pretty awesome, expensive meal. Before dinner is served, the owner of the restaurant comes by and offers you a free appetizer for your patronage. He hands you the plate, you get first dibs for being a regular, and then he hands the plate to everyone else at the table.

    You didn't even know the appetizer was coming. It wasn't part of the meal you paid for. No one else around the table gets your awesome, expensive meal: just you. The appetizer was added to your evening, for free, then shared with everyone else around you.

    You still get to eat your fancy Alpha access, and you get first dibs on three free battle royale, castle siege, and horde mode appetizers. Why are you mad that your friends get some too? 
  • Look we must not forget that all this "stuff" we bought was to support the game. Im glad to see the progress they are making. should we ask them to slow down development so that alpha backers can have more time over people? Thats kinda silly right. Keep it in perspective. Everything we bought was to support this awesome sauce project. While your waiting, come kick it with us at Ember, we will keep you busy
  • Rajuta said:
    Look we must not forget that all this "stuff" we bought was to support the game. Im glad to see the progress they are making. should we ask them to slow down development so that alpha backers can have more time over people? Thats kinda silly right. Keep it in perspective. Everything we bought was to support this awesome sauce project. While your waiting, come kick it with us at Ember, we will keep you busy
    I'm not suggesting any change be made to the way alpha tests are being conducted. It's about what to do for Intrepid backers(and ks) who bought into it under the expectation of exclusivity they are no longer getting. 

    I should have made that clear earlier in the OP.

    Krojak said:
    You're sitting at a restaurant with friends, and you order a pretty awesome, expensive meal. Before dinner is served, the owner of the restaurant comes by and offers you a free appetizer for your patronage. He hands you the plate, you get first dibs for being a regular, and then he hands the plate to everyone else at the table.

    You didn't even know the appetizer was coming. It wasn't part of the meal you paid for. No one else around the table gets your awesome, expensive meal: just you. The appetizer was added to your evening, for free, then shared with everyone else around you.

    You still get to eat your fancy Alpha access, and you get first dibs on three free battle royale, castle siege, and horde mode appetizers. Why are you mad that your friends get some too? 
    I like this sort of analogy, since I work at a four star. What has happened here is more akin to Intrepid and KS backers making a reservation and paying in advance, and the proprietor has come to the floor and announced that we're still paying for our 3 course meals full price, but the restaurant is now giving away the first one or two courses for free to all comers.

    It would help to clarify I absolutely do not view this phase in the context of a bonus, but as the fully expected start time for alpha one based on what was communicated at pax east with the expected content on offer around the time I backed. There is no free appetizer here, it was on my ticket for the "reservation." 
  • I remember this disagreement the last time it happened back when people complained that they could not get into alpha 0 yet the had earliest access to alpha. I'm going to say what I said back then..... its just a test to make the game better.
  • idk giga, it's starting to look like you're the only one that thinks that way around here.
  • @FliP no the alpha 2 is still planned on being the persistent server. Alpha 1 testers still have earliest access to the alphas and then at the end of this early phase all registered accounts will have access for a short time. When alpha 1 phase 2  starts it will be back to those with access only.

    My assumption is Steven and intrepid plan to just hammer servers early with as many people as possible to purposely crash them.

    Anyone upset by this is either not paying attention to posts and announcements or completely misunderstood what is happening with the upcoming testing. 



    @Gigabear nowhere in the Kickstarter or the website store does it imply that alpha access is exclusive. 
    No, but the KS does say that the tier you've posted gets the ("Earliest Access to Ashes"), which was a lie since random key winners actually got the earliest access.  It also states that the lifetime sub was a KS exclusive, which turned out to also be a lie.  They tried to justify it by renaming the KS to a "summer kickstarter".... Regardless, considering Intrepid Studio's track record, the OP has every right to be concerned.  Actually even if Intrepid was squeaky clean they OP still has every right to be concerned.  And if they feel like being upset by their concerns, that too is their prerogative.

    That's all I have to say on the issue....just pointing out you posted a few of Intrepid's lies while defending(?) them.  I got a chuckle.
  • aeschines said:
    @FliP no the alpha 2 is still planned on being the persistent server. Alpha 1 testers still have earliest access to the alphas and then at the end of this early phase all registered accounts will have access for a short time. When alpha 1 phase 2  starts it will be back to those with access only.

    My assumption is Steven and intrepid plan to just hammer servers early with as many people as possible to purposely crash them.

    Anyone upset by this is either not paying attention to posts and announcements or completely misunderstood what is happening with the upcoming testing. 



    @Gigabear nowhere in the Kickstarter or the website store does it imply that alpha access is exclusive. 
    No, but the KS does say that the tier you've posted gets the ("Earliest Access to Ashes"), which was a lie since random key winners actually got the earliest access.  It also states that the lifetime sub was a KS exclusive, which turned out to also be a lie.  They tried to justify it by renaming the KS to a "summer kickstarter".... Regardless, considering Intrepid Studio's track record, the OP has every right to be concerned.  Actually even if Intrepid was squeaky clean they OP still has every right to be concerned.  And if they feel like being upset by their concerns, that too is their prerogative.

    That's all I have to say on the issue....just pointing out you posted a few of Intrepid's lies while defending(?) them.  I got a chuckle.
    And here we have a prime example of what I was talking about ^^
  • Santy182 said:
    idk giga, it's starting to look like you're the only one that thinks that way around here.
    Not the only one, though most of the regulars, especially non-intrepid backers who weren't impacted much by this, do seem cool with everything.

    And it's fine if others don't agree. I'm fully supporting the game regardless, and whatever fallout from this does occur will be up to Intrepid to gauge and adapt to. I don't think it will be nothing, but we shall see.

    The point was just to say that I value exclusivity, and if something has to change which makes an exclusive no longer exclusive, like what happened with the LTS, something ought to be done to restore some value. Like how Wand of Many things was retroactively granted to those backers over issues surrounding the LTS.


  • ArchivedUserArchivedUser Guest
    edited September 2018
    nagash said:
    aeschines said:
    @FliP no the alpha 2 is still planned on being the persistent server. Alpha 1 testers still have earliest access to the alphas and then at the end of this early phase all registered accounts will have access for a short time. When alpha 1 phase 2  starts it will be back to those with access only.

    My assumption is Steven and intrepid plan to just hammer servers early with as many people as possible to purposely crash them.

    Anyone upset by this is either not paying attention to posts and announcements or completely misunderstood what is happening with the upcoming testing. 



    @Gigabear nowhere in the Kickstarter or the website store does it imply that alpha access is exclusive. 
    No, but the KS does say that the tier you've posted gets the ("Earliest Access to Ashes"), which was a lie since random key winners actually got the earliest access.  It also states that the lifetime sub was a KS exclusive, which turned out to also be a lie.  They tried to justify it by renaming the KS to a "summer kickstarter".... Regardless, considering Intrepid Studio's track record, the OP has every right to be concerned.  Actually even if Intrepid was squeaky clean they OP still has every right to be concerned.  And if they feel like being upset by their concerns, that too is their prerogative.

    That's all I have to say on the issue....just pointing out you posted a few of Intrepid's lies while defending(?) them.  I got a chuckle.
    And here we have a prime example of what I was talking about ^^
    In Owen Wilson voice: "Wow, that's really something".  Slow clap for you, whoever you are. 
  • Krojak said:
    Gigabear said:
    Krojak said:
    ...
    ...
    You're sitting at a restaurant with friends, and you order a pretty awesome, expensive meal. Before dinner is served, the owner of the restaurant comes by and offers you a free appetizer for your patronage. He hands you the plate, you get first dibs for being a regular, and then he hands the plate to everyone else at the table.

    You didn't even know the appetizer was coming. It wasn't part of the meal you paid for. No one else around the table gets your awesome, expensive meal: just you. The appetizer was added to your evening, for free, then shared with everyone else around you.

    You still get to eat your fancy Alpha access, and you get first dibs on three free battle royale, castle siege, and horde mode appetizers. Why are you mad that your friends get some too? 
    well said, 100% agree and thought pretty much the same. Very nice explanation.  though i need a snak now  :s
  • Gigabear said:
    Gigabear said:
    Argentdawn said:
    Anyone upset by this is either not paying attention to posts and announcements or completely misunderstood what is happening with the upcoming testing. 
    Argentdawn said:
    @Gigabear nowhere in the Kickstarter or the website store does it imply that alpha access is exclusive. 
    To the first point, there was ZERO announcement of any kind given until after sales had closed about even the possibility on non-exclusivity.

    To the second, there was no explicit statement of exclusivity, but they were referred to as "closed" alphas and betas. That 100% is no longer the case.
    Jahlon said:
    There were a lot of points to be made in this thread, but the overwhelming sense of entitlement present in a many of the responses just means anything said is falling on deaf ears (or blind eyes as it were since its a forum)

    Not sure how this helps the discussion along at all, as it seems to be pretty much entirely ad-hominem based solely on your own subjective opinion of the ill-defined concept of what constitutes "entitlement." One would expect a content creator who spends a lot of time voicing their opinions would be fine with others doing the same.
    Eh.. it doesn't really bother me cause I bought in for the lifetime sub and cosmetics. As far as the testing stages go I expect them to do as they need for testing purposes. It does literally no harm to have people access the server before the "real" alpha starts. To cry over it is demeaning to one self especially since we have access to it months before we were promised. 

    If we want to get technical the terminology is whats upsetting you and we can play games with semantics. All the tests are still closed and are invite only.. you just so happen to be invited to one section of it if you have a registered account.

    Intrepid is more than holding to their word and people who bought braver or above will have access before anyone else... That's all that was written and promised in packages that were sold anything else was personal inference and if you assumed wrong that's on the individual. 


    This is perilously close to where I draw the line before discretion demands I simply not respond to a post at all. That being said, I'll give it my best shot.

    Nobody is "crying" here at all, much less over letting other people into the test. As I said, I'm ok with that. That doesn't harm anyone, and is probably good for the game as a whole from both a marketing and testing perspective.

    What I firmly reject is the implication that a "closed" alpha becoming a completely open alpha is semantics. The level of spin doctoring to imply that a need to register somehow mitigates this is breathtaking. That is the case for every open testing cycle. An account is always needed to log into an MMO.

    What I have not done here is imply, much less state, that Intrepid was breaking their word. Rather, what has happened is they made a change of direction in the alpha tests which has rendered a major incentive to buy into the packs with alpha 1 on them moot. I would have still bought in, but I strongly suspect if others knew they didn't HAVE TO to access Alpha 1, some of them would not have ponied up that cash.

    Everyone gets access to the most important part of the experience now almost as quick as the highest backers, the PVP combat. The rest is important sure, but that's the meat of the experience.

    What Intrepid will do, if anything, I leave to them. I felt it important to share my thoughts on the matter, and have now done so.
    I guess I'm just confused as to why the thread was posted if 

    "Nobody is "crying" here at all, much less over letting other people into the test. As I said, I'm ok with that. That doesn't harm anyone, and is probably good for the game as a whole from both a marketing and testing perspective." 

    Unless your looking to get handouts from 

    "
    I'm not suggesting any change be made to the way alpha tests are being conducted. It's about what to do for Intrepid backers(and ks) who bought into it under the expectation of exclusivity they are no longer getting."

    Which goes back to my earlier post..


    With the purchase of the item still granting the earliest access to the alpha (not an early release, not a completed game... A testing period) was no implied or stated exclusivity with alpha or beta access.

    Your experience or purchase has not been diminished because they are opening up a small portion of a partial game to registered users. In fact backers are getting access 3 months earlier than expected and the core game alpha will start with phase 2 at the end of this year which will again Be restricted to people with alpha 1 access only and the alpha version we have been being promised for months. 
  • Theyre going to need a lot of players to stress test their servers.
    Are there any other ways to accomplish this besides opening the servers for a lot of players?
  • You are overcomplicating it by a mile and then some


    They are adding the new cycle as a SHORT Additional stress test to make sure their servers can handle large amounts of people at one time.

    The testers will (by and far) still have the Majority of testing time. And keep in mind Alpha 1 is nothing but combat for a small range area and them testing the servers NOW instead of later during launch is FAR more desirable
    This is a good summation.
  • Argentdawn said:
    I guess I'm just confused as to why the thread was posted if 

    "Nobody is "crying" here at all, much less over letting other people into the test. As I said, I'm ok with that. That doesn't harm anyone, and is probably good for the game as a whole from both a marketing and testing perspective." 

    Unless your looking to get handouts from 

    "I'm not suggesting any change be made to the way alpha tests are being conducted. It's about what to do for Intrepid backers(and ks) who bought into it under the expectation of exclusivity they are no longer getting."

    No, I've spent over $500 just on cosmetics. I obviously don't care about getting free stuff and have no qualms about paying for it. The reason this thread was posted was because the entirety of the cash shop is built on a concept of exclusivity with a host of one time only item offers. Outside of subs, that is going to be the primary revenue stream for the game. It may even end up outpacing subs. I honestly don't know.

    Why is this relevant? Simple. Intrepid backers had no idea their exclusivity would be rolled back, nor did anyone expect it until they dropped that bomb during the panel. But, they do now. When exclusivity becomes subject to change, the entire concept of buying limited time items suddenly seems a whole lot less appealing. Will other players get access to the items later on we purchased as "never available for purchase again?"

    When a closed alpha becomes open for whatever the reason may be, nothing is off the table. And THAT is the problem with this decision. As was brought up earlier with the LTS issue, exclusivity was already breached once. I don't wish to see this keep happening because I want the game to succeed. People must have confidence that the exclusive premium items they are purchasing will remain so. It's that which is driving much of the demand in the first place.
  • Take a deep breath, hold it, now slowly exhale.
  • ArchivedUserArchivedUser Guest
    edited September 2018
    Gigabear said:
    Argentdawn said:
    I guess I'm just confused as to why the thread was posted if 

    "Nobody is "crying" here at all, much less over letting other people into the test. As I said, I'm ok with that. That doesn't harm anyone, and is probably good for the game as a whole from both a marketing and testing perspective." 

    Unless your looking to get handouts from 

    "I'm not suggesting any change be made to the way alpha tests are being conducted. It's about what to do for Intrepid backers(and ks) who bought into it under the expectation of exclusivity they are no longer getting."

    No, I've spent over $500 just on cosmetics. I obviously don't care about getting free stuff and have no qualms about paying for it. The reason this thread was posted was because the entirety of the cash shop is built on a concept of exclusivity with a host of one time only item offers. Outside of subs, that is going to be the primary revenue stream for the game. It may even end up outpacing subs. I honestly don't know.

    Why is this relevant? Simple. Intrepid backers had no idea their exclusivity would be rolled back, nor did anyone expect it until they dropped that bomb during the panel. But, they do now. When exclusivity becomes subject to change, the entire concept of buying limited time items suddenly seems a whole lot less appealing. Will other players get access to the items later on we purchased as "never available for purchase again?"

    When a closed alpha becomes open for whatever the reason may be, nothing is off the table. And THAT is the problem with this decision. As was brought up earlier with the LTS issue, exclusivity was already breached once. I don't wish to see this keep happening because I want the game to succeed. People must have confidence that the exclusive premium items they are purchasing will remain so. It's that which is driving much of the demand in the first place.
    The difference between the LTS and this was direct wording stating exclusive. Your picking and choosing scenarios at this point and I can tell your getting flustered so this will most likely be my final post in this thread.

    Whether items in the cash shop appear once or stay in the shop forever (either at a discounted or same rate) isn't the question. If it's marked "exclusive" or "limited time only" then it's clearly marked as that and shouldn't be brought back at any point in time.

    At this point the "exclusivity" of the alphas and betas were in the mind of the individual and were never sold as "You can only participate if you buy". If that's how it was understood I expect that person has never been in early stage testing before. 

    The wording is "Invite to closed alpha 1". You bought in.. your guaranteed a spot and that's great. 

    That doesn't prevent the developers from saying "hey you guys bought in you get to see this and test it before anyone else and at the end of it we are gonna open it up to stress test because our sample pool is to small'

    Ashes had 2 options here... Send out emails sublety and invite 15k more people (we all know how well that would work out) or open up the server for a brief time, with limited game systems and bash the servers as hard as they can before transitioning into the alpha they had promised in the KS and backer options.

    No one has been misled here... All of this hubub is because of EXTRA testing time ashes decided to throw in because they got comfortable early... These next 3 months isn't the alpha that was marketed and people need to understand that. Short and simple.
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