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The battle royal should be removed from Apocalypse
Now I'll start off with saying I was never a big fan of the battle royal or what they did with it by creating Apocalypse. Did the battle royal serve a purpose? Sure, it allowed them to test a lot of stuff in game. Basic combat animations, spells that'll become skills, movement, environment, stress testing servers etc. But the BR idea was not very popular and got a lot flak for creating it, but again, it had a purpose. Fast forward to apocalypse and the claim that the testing and battle royal was confusing for people so intrepid decides to make it, it's own game mode... but also have it be a catalyst for testing? (Insert your confused Nick Young memes now) yeah, that cleared up confusion alright.
With apocalypse being its own game mode that'll persist after and during the MMORPG it's gotten a few people upset and I think it's the BR... there's no need for it now and it's seriously hated. The hate displayed on everything apocalypse and battle royal related during the live stream yesterday shows how people felt about it amf rightfully so.... it offers nothing to the MMORPG now. The battle royal isn't great for combat testing, you spend hardly any time fighting and more time running around collecting gear. The actual combat isn't even the combat that'll be in the MMORPG, there's no class abilities or kits and I doubt everyone is just going to have 100 hp in the game. Not only that but the actual battle royal won't exist in the MMORPG, however; the siege will. The siege will have class kits, more action, more fights, actual MMORPG mechanics and everything you could test in the battle royal like server test, combat... real combat not some battle royal combat that doesn't depict actual game combat, skins, weapons, abilities, collusion etc. All in an actual mode that exist in the MMORPG. So why keep the battle royal once the siege releases. You can have all the quest and objectives you are putting in the battle royal in siege and later horde mode. Apocalypse can be fine with horde and siege. BR isn't helping the MMORPG anymore with the siege mode being a catalyst to test everything for the game and transfer it over to AoC, especially when we'll actually have sieges in the game. I see the decisions already souring the game (which isn't even done yet) for people and the constant complaints on apocalypse.
With apocalypse being its own game mode that'll persist after and during the MMORPG it's gotten a few people upset and I think it's the BR... there's no need for it now and it's seriously hated. The hate displayed on everything apocalypse and battle royal related during the live stream yesterday shows how people felt about it amf rightfully so.... it offers nothing to the MMORPG now. The battle royal isn't great for combat testing, you spend hardly any time fighting and more time running around collecting gear. The actual combat isn't even the combat that'll be in the MMORPG, there's no class abilities or kits and I doubt everyone is just going to have 100 hp in the game. Not only that but the actual battle royal won't exist in the MMORPG, however; the siege will. The siege will have class kits, more action, more fights, actual MMORPG mechanics and everything you could test in the battle royal like server test, combat... real combat not some battle royal combat that doesn't depict actual game combat, skins, weapons, abilities, collusion etc. All in an actual mode that exist in the MMORPG. So why keep the battle royal once the siege releases. You can have all the quest and objectives you are putting in the battle royal in siege and later horde mode. Apocalypse can be fine with horde and siege. BR isn't helping the MMORPG anymore with the siege mode being a catalyst to test everything for the game and transfer it over to AoC, especially when we'll actually have sieges in the game. I see the decisions already souring the game (which isn't even done yet) for people and the constant complaints on apocalypse.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bqxnm6t3QMw
Wait. Am I the fish in this scenario?
Personally I hate BR and would like to see it done away with, but as long as it serves a purpose for Intrepid and AoC it should stick around.
The game is 100% funded and they really aren't diverting resources away from the MMO for this as they use the BR as a testing environment for the MMO.
I don't particularly enjoy BRs, but it is what it is and I'm willing to let Intrepid do their thing as I enjoy the ride.
I do not see how making Apocalypse a stand alone game helps development.
Also, turning the just fine for a testing environment BR into a stand alone persistent game obviously took resources. It didn't just accidentally happen over night by itself for free.
Unless of course Apocalypse is going to be part of the MMORPG, then of course the resources weren't wasted.
Either way, like I have said in 3 other threads, I do think the testing will benefit Ashes in the future. I just wish I knew about this particular mode when I was throwing my money at them.
Honestly, I think it is actually smart to make it a BR mode at first (stress testing), and with the addition of castle siege and horde mode will give players who want to understand a bit about the games direction a chance to, while also doing what they said and gathering feedback. If people use it as a chance to actually critique (properly) the combat systems, servers etc... this could actually speed up the development of the game.
If this game follows a similar path then I give up waiting for a true MMORPG, Intrepid, do what you want but, just remember why all of us came here in the first place.
We've already seen Everquest Next fail because the devs tried to turn their terrain building toolkit into its own game called Landmark. And that was SOE, a company that had the power/funding of Sony behind it.
I just hope Intrepid knows what they're getting into. They are about to attract a whole new fanbase that will demand that they devote an increasing amount of time and energy to developing this arena PvP game; and those new fans will not care how the development of the MMO might suffer as a result.
The BR is more "fun" than just testing login, testing the UI and sitting around waiting for things to break.
My Bartle score is: Explorer 87%; Socializer 73% ; Achiever 47%; Killer 0%
I spend my time in the BR exploring the map, checking out the new biomes while hiding from combatants, and seeing how long I can survive without attacking other players.
This weekend, I came in 3rd place and 4th place. It's common for me to get 5th or 6th place.
All of the stuff that is in the BR is going to also be in the MMORPG in some form, so, I don't know why people would be complaining about Apoc being a thing.
When questing and leveling are added, the devs will be able to gather data as we test the fundamentals of those mechanics.
Same when castle sieges and horde modes are added.
If people enjoy Apocalypse enough that they want to pay the devs extra for that - great. The MMORPG can be even better!
If people want to wait for content they like before jumping into testing, that's OK, too.
Apocalypse is not going to compete with Fortnite. And the devs are not intending Apoc to compete with Fortnite or any other BR.
It's just a simple way of making testing more "fun". And -if people want to pay more for that- great!!
Hey, when are you going to log in? We are going to try that dungeon again.
-Oh sorry man, I'm going to play some Apocalypse for my skin.
Hey, can you craft the next tier of armor yet?
-I was going to work on that but I started playing the BR instead.
Where are all our pvpers? We need some backup because our rival guild is raiding our node
-I think they are playing the BR because they added a new skin.
That's a cool skin man, which dungeon did that come from?
-Oh I got it from the BR mode
Now I don't have a problem with people playing BRs... I do think they are a fad but whatever. My problem is the playerbase being split up and adding carryover rewards. The fact that I have to play something other than Ashes to unlock certain skins is a horrible decision.
This game was suppose to split off from the corporate norms of screwing over the players and making them jump through hoops to get things. Adding legendary skins when these things should be obtainable through hard work in the mmo is pretty messed up.
I understand you want to stress the systems and that costs resources and I understand the only way to get people to do that is with rewards and I do like the idea of inheriting a weapon (skin) but I think this could be handled differently.
Why not make the BR an event when the game goes live? As an alternative to sieges and horde-modes you could have mysterious portals reactivating and people traveling through time back to the apocalypse and have the gods telling them they will reward the strongest. Bam, now you have lore, motivation, and you are only slightly phasing your player-base for a moment. Not only that, you know have a reason why BR mechanics would exist when they would otherwise feel really out of place.
In the MMORPG, you don't really run dungeons just to run dungeons as in other MMORPGs. You run dungeons because the denizens of the dungeon are a threat to your node. So, most likely people will choose to defend their node over jumping into a BR session. Especially since a BR session only takes 20 minutes and can be done any time solo.
Ask someone who is currently playing the MMORPG to craft for you. Or wait for the person to craft whenever they are ready to craft. Pretty selfish to be expecting people to want to do what you want them to do whenever you want them to do it.
They might be choosing to escort a caravan or participate in a castle siege or gather some resources rather than dungeon delve or craft for you. Or they might choose to play the BR or play D&D or read a book.
Someone else choosing to play the BR instead of the MMORPG is not an issue.
It's an MMORPG - there will be plenty of other people for you to play with, but also...
Patience is a virtue.
They are going to be testing the mechanics of the BR, castle sieges and mob waves anyways. No reason not to package it for people who enjoy that as a separate game.
But has the bonus of giving the studio more money to develop the MMORPG.