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PI Test Writeup - Verbal NDA lifted | Sharing my experience

ShazeShaze Member, Phoenix Initiative, Explorer, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
edited May 2020 in General Discussion
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The below writeup is an opinion from the PI test held on May 28th 2020. The Visual NDA is still in place. However the verbal NDA was lifted, hence this writeup. Document link
Pre-Alpha World
  • 8-10 Biomes, Elven forest, Desert Canyon (BR crystal area), Wetlands, Mushroom zone, Underworld, Ice mountains, Nikua Beaches, Caverns, etc.
  • Even though they said the Alpha 1 preview area is pretty small, it was actually massive.
  • It took over an hour to run around the preview map, even with a speed bug that me and Davlos managed to reproduce.

Server Stability
  • In the entire 8 hours, we only had 1 crash when we zerged the dragon.
  • A tiny 4-5 lag spikes at the start, butter smooth the rest of the 8 hours.
  • Even when about 50+ of us were zerging the lvl 10 dragon boss at lvl 1-2, the 20 of us in my PI voice channel had no issues.
  • Unsure if it was a single server shard or multiple stitched together. But could not tell as it was smooth running between all the zones.

Open World Dungeons
  • We found 2 open world dungeons, one of them lead to the Dragon Raid boss mentioned above (same as shown on previous livestream). The dragon raid instance was at the end of a rather incredibly large open world dungeon with level 1 monsters at it’s entrance but the monster levels scaled up the further you went in, until at then end you found a portal and respawn point that led you to the Boss room.
  • The initial group of about 12 of us were persistent in wanting to attempt the boss, hence Steven used a global summon to move all 50+ testers to the dragon’s boss room.
  • The Boss fight was a smooth 1-2 hours of throwing bodies at the dragon while Shaze / Kinetic / Lifeburn / Kleinature kited it.
  • We wiped because the boss had a secret phase 2 where it flew up into the air at 50% HP, laughed at us and spawned about 40 lvl10 raptors that prevented us from moving to phase 3. [GM] Steven spent the entire dragon raid using the GM server announcements to make fun of the testers.
  • The other dungeon was the underwater/forest dungeon (?) A few testers went to explore it after the dragon boss attempt, but I personally did not as we were busy messing around with the Node system which is mentioned below.

Node System
  • After the dragon raid, about 20 of us met up at the forest area which was one of the 3 areas our main quest led us to where we killed monsters until the node progressed to a level 0 ‘Crossroads’ stage. Following this we killed some more monsters until it hit stage 1. Visual appearance of stage 1 node is a few small tents 10-15 meters in diameter (Rough estimates), 2 NPC’s with quests, 2 Buy/Sell NPC’s (Grocer/Armorsmith) and about 10 other flavour NPC’s who would get interactions later.
  • [GM] Steven then helped the testers at a different node (Wetlands) progress it to stage 2. Visual appearance of a stage 2 node is 3 large tents and 40-60 meters in diameter (Rough estimates), around 30 NPC’s, but included the guild manager so we could all create guilds, better armorsmith, and a few more that I did not get to interact with.
  • After a few hours the testers managed to upgrade the node to stage 3 (Or maybe it was Steven), where due to player influence it ended up being entirely elven themed, large walls, plenty of buildings. At this point we were able to go to the town hall and register for citizenship. Once registering for citizenship, we had the option to walk around and purchase housing within the node (Although this had been disabled). But the UI and interactions for everything was in place. We also interacted with the new stablehand NPC and bought a few different mounts (The mounts we were able to buy were there for testing). Also the node got sieged by lvl 10 dragons, we ran.
  • The Caravan NPC was also present, however we lacked the materials to send out a caravan.

Classes/PvP/PvE/Combat
  • We had 3 classes, Tank/Mage/Cleric. I played a cleric.
  • We were able to use all armor/weapon types across all classes. While we started out with 1 weapon, we were able to buy more from the armorsmith within various nodes. Each of them offered weapons/armor with varying stat bonuses. (Saw a greatsword with full Magic ATK stats)
  • Most testers only managed to get to level 2-3 throughout the entire test, PvP TTK (Time to Kill) was around 6-10 seconds. PvE TTK was longer due to monster health.
  • The corruption system was in place and worked as intended. Flagging required pressing CTRL+F to enable PvP toggle. Tester Zara killed Tester Lex at the start and became corrupted, she had to die to get rid of corruption.
  • You could press Z to enable crosshair for action combat. Or disable it to use tab target. Single body hitboxes regardless of action/tab target. No headshots.

Miscellaneous
  • Gathering/Lifeskills were present, I spent a fair amount of time buying gathering tools and using them to collect different herbs, minerals, trees and more.
  • Fish and fishing was also present, although I did not manage to acquire a fishing pole to try it out.
  • All UI was overhauled and was incredibly pleasing, even for a pre-alpha. The former Blizzard UI designer did a great job.
  • Dying resulted in EXP debt (Not to be confused with EXP loss). EXP debt meant you needed to get rid of your debt before your EXP bar would progress further.
  • There were plenty of Intrepid devs helping people out throughout the 8 hour test, with troubleshooting, updates, providing information or simply playing along with other testers.

Bugs/Exploits/Issues
  • Throughout the entire 8h test I experienced about 2-3 minor bugs and 0 game breaking bugs.
  • I won't be mentioning them in detail as this was a pre-alpha test. We were fully aware of the early state of the game and all the testers worked together to help reproduce and report the bugs that they came across. Intrepid’s objective is to iron these out before the A1 testers come in.

I'll try to answer questions as best as I can, so please do ask away.
The rest of the transcriptions can be found on the Library Forum Thread

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Checkmate Leader | EU | The Ashes Post

Comments

  • Balrog21Balrog21 Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Sounds like you and the others had a great time. It would seem things are moving forward at a nice steady pace.
    Thanks so much for the write up. It's much appreciated!
  • ShazeShaze Member, Phoenix Initiative, Explorer, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Balrog21 wrote: »
    Sounds like you and the others had a great time. It would seem things are moving forward at a nice steady pace.
    Thanks so much for the write up. It's much appreciated!

    Cheers, happy to share!
    Vfm9TSo.png
    Checkmate Leader | EU | The Ashes Post
  • VarkunVarkun Member, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Thank you for this, am interested to hear PI testers first impressions.
    3KAqRIf.png
    Never write a check with your mouth you can't cash with your ass!.
  • DauntingDaunting Member, Braver of Worlds, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Pog
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  • codewarlockcodewarlock Member, Phoenix Initiative, Hero of the People, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    edited May 2020
    It was a blast! Definitely a bigger space to test in than I originally imagined. A few things I experienced as well:
    • I managed to snag a fishing pole from the upgraded Wetlands node and fished in a river nearby. It seemed pretty straight forward like other gathering actions (holding down the key), albeit it took longer. After about maybe 10 seconds of pressing E, my character landed a snapper.
    • Besides the Dragon's Den, I found a smaller dungeon underneath what seemed to be a grassy mesa. It was filled with lvl 3 animated armors. I didn't progress any further than the entrance but the tunnels went deeper into the hillside. I'm very happy and impressed with these hidden open world dungeons!
    • Playing a Tank was fun and pretty straight forward compared to Tanks in other games. My only complaints revolved around running out of mana too fast on a tank which meant I was left spamming regular low damage attacks without any means of regeneration. Also the ability to back peddle and reposition was impossible as each attack caused my character to lunge forward.
    • I was also very impressed with the node system. It was awesome questing and seeing a node develop, then go out and return to an even bigger spot. In fact, at one point the wetlands node upgraded while I was inside, instantly changing the landscape--confusing me for a few seconds as I tried to regain my sense of direction. I'm very curious how housing would have played out during testing, in regards node upgrades--do the houses get reset or shift during node transformations?
    • Testing the flying system was the cherry on top. It was nice to see that even if only Mayors or Kings/Queens have access to these mounts, they aren't a major advantage other than having freedom ground mounts do not. The speed and maneuverability compared to the other mounts weren't drastically different. Though I will say--mount speed is a game changer compared to running the entire map on foot!

    Nice kiting, btw, with the angry dragon mama--I felt at one point we were definitely going to down her until her brood spawned...
  • NagashNagash Member, Leader of Men, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Thank you so much for the write-up. I can't wait till get my own boney hands on it and see how I can break it. for science of course
    nJ0vUSm.gif

    The dead do not squabble as this land’s rulers do. The dead have no desires, petty jealousies or ambitions. A world of the dead is a world at peace
  • darthadendarthaden Member, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    I love the fact you said Steven was laughing at you when you wiped
  • ShazeShaze Member, Phoenix Initiative, Explorer, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    darthaden wrote: »
    I love the fact you said Steven was laughing at you when you wiped

    Fact is fact. Steven can confirm.
    Vfm9TSo.png
    Checkmate Leader | EU | The Ashes Post
  • AmistAmist Member, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Awesome work as always! <3
  • WongWong Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    codewarlock wrote: »
    It was a blast! Definitely a bigger space to test in than I originally imagined. A few things I experienced as well:
    • I managed to snag a fishing pole from the upgraded Wetlands node and fished in a river nearby. It seemed pretty straight forward like other gathering actions (holding down the key), albeit it took longer. After about maybe 10 seconds of pressing E, my character landed a snapper.
    • Besides the Dragon's Den, I found a smaller dungeon underneath what seemed to be a grassy mesa. It was filled with lvl 3 animated armors. I didn't progress any further than the entrance but the tunnels went deeper into the hillside. I'm very happy and impressed with these hidden open world dungeons!
    • Playing a Tank was fun and pretty straight forward compared to Tanks in other games. My only complaints revolved around running out of mana too fast on a tank which meant I was left spamming regular low damage attacks without any means of regeneration. Also the ability to back peddle and reposition was impossible as each attack caused my character to lunge forward.
    • I was also very impressed with the node system. It was awesome questing and seeing a node develop, then go out and return to an even bigger spot. In fact, at one point the wetlands node upgraded while I was inside, instantly changing the landscape--confusing me for a few seconds as I tried to regain my sense of direction. I'm very curious how housing would have played out during testing, in regards node upgrades--do the houses get reset or shift during node transformations?
    • Testing the flying system was the cherry on top. It was nice to see that even if only Mayors or Kings/Queens have access to these mounts, they aren't a major advantage other than having freedom ground mounts do not. The speed and maneuverability compared to the other mounts weren't drastically different. Though I will say--mount speed is a game changer compared to running the entire map on foot!

    Nice kiting, btw, with the angry dragon mama--I felt at one point we were definitely going to down her until her brood spawned...

    Wait, so you didn't get teleported out of the node when it leveled up?
  • Alpha SoulAlpha Soul Member, Phoenix Initiative, Avatar of the Phoenix, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    I think what most surprised myself was the stability. With the exception of the Ember Dragon room the game handled very VERY well , was smooth and beautiful.
    https://www.youtube.com/alpha_soul
  • codewarlockcodewarlock Member, Phoenix Initiative, Hero of the People, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    mrsynth wrote: »

    Wait, so you didn't get teleported out of the node when it leveled up?

    Not that I'm aware of. I distinctively remember buying a new mount from the stable master and when I exited the vendor and turned around, I saw a message saying "building has been complete" and then BAM--new node layout. It was cool though. Took me a second to regain my direction and find the Town Hall again.
  • ShazeShaze Member, Phoenix Initiative, Explorer, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    edited May 2020
    Wait, so you didn't get teleported out of the node when it leveled up?
    You just get moved out of the way/mildly teleported if in any obstruction
    Vfm9TSo.png
    Checkmate Leader | EU | The Ashes Post
  • darthadendarthaden Member, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    You guys talking about how impressed you were with the early state of the game has me pumped for when I get my chance to play. I'm not a religious man but I'm still praying for no delays :)
  • MakinojiMakinoji Member, Warrior of Old, Kickstarter, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    I still would like to hear about the exploits, like the unlimited money, the items that gave over 3k hp, and so on. This way we know that if it's still there later, we can say hey you didn't fix this.
  • unknownsystemerrorunknownsystemerror Member, Phoenix Initiative, Royalty, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Those exploits were due to small things forgotten while preparing the game world for testers. The legendary items that gave the stat buffs to get to 8k health were for drops on mobs that they had missed. (they are aware of those now). The gold issue was due to a math swap that they also will have fixed. They were reported right away, and they will fix them. By the time testing is opened up more many of the things the initial tests allowed like flying for anyone who isn't staff will have been closed. If not, we will keep hammering them in the areas that we have to report them.
    south-park-rabble-rabble-rabbl-53b58d315aa49.jpg
  • palabanapalabana Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    codewarlock wrote: »
    It was a blast! Definitely a bigger space to test in than I originally imagined. A few things I experienced as well:
    • I managed to snag a fishing pole from the upgraded Wetlands node and fished in a river nearby. It seemed pretty straight forward like other gathering actions (holding down the key), albeit it took longer. After about maybe 10 seconds of pressing E, my character landed a snapper.
    • Besides the Dragon's Den, I found a smaller dungeon underneath what seemed to be a grassy mesa. It was filled with lvl 3 animated armors. I didn't progress any further than the entrance but the tunnels went deeper into the hillside. I'm very happy and impressed with these hidden open world dungeons!
    • Playing a Tank was fun and pretty straight forward compared to Tanks in other games. My only complaints revolved around running out of mana too fast on a tank which meant I was left spamming regular low damage attacks without any means of regeneration. Also the ability to back peddle and reposition was impossible as each attack caused my character to lunge forward.
    • I was also very impressed with the node system. It was awesome questing and seeing a node develop, then go out and return to an even bigger spot. In fact, at one point the wetlands node upgraded while I was inside, instantly changing the landscape--confusing me for a few seconds as I tried to regain my sense of direction. I'm very curious how housing would have played out during testing, in regards node upgrades--do the houses get reset or shift during node transformations?
    • Testing the flying system was the cherry on top. It was nice to see that even if only Mayors or Kings/Queens have access to these mounts, they aren't a major advantage other than having freedom ground mounts do not. The speed and maneuverability compared to the other mounts weren't drastically different. Though I will say--mount speed is a game changer compared to running the entire map on foot!

    Nice kiting, btw, with the angry dragon mama--I felt at one point we were definitely going to down her until her brood spawned...

    There's a hidden dungeon? Did Intrepid go to that area in the video? I was not aware of any level 3+ animated armors in their video. Sounds very cool.
  • AtamaAtama Member, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    codewarlock wrote: »
    Playing a Tank was fun and pretty straight forward compared to Tanks in other games. My only complaints revolved around running out of mana too fast on a tank which meant I was left spamming regular low damage attacks without any means of regeneration. Also the ability to back peddle and reposition was impossible as each attack caused my character to lunge forward.
    Thanks for the info about playing a tank at this stage. That is the class I am most interested in (see my forum avatar) and I’m glad you shared your opinions, both positive and negative. I’m cautiously optimistic and I really want to see what it’s like when I get a chance to test (at the BoW level).
     
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