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Phase I of Alpha Two testing will occur on weekends. Each weekend is scheduled to start on Fridays at 10 AM PT and end on Sundays at 10 PM PT. Find out more here.
Check out Alpha Two Announcements here to see the latest Alpha Two news and update notes.
Our quickest Alpha Two updates are in Discord. Testers with Alpha Two access can chat in Alpha Two channels by connecting your Discord and Intrepid accounts here.
So "Alpha 1" is up for sale....Again?
GemiiChan
Member, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
I just want to understand why we are putting "Alpha 1" participation up for sale, outside of the MANY things wrong with that in general, when we havent even gotten K.S. & Summer Sale people into the game yet?
Like from what was just said in the last dev stream, Leader of Men package holders are JUST being allowed into the current "Alpha" build, and as a Braver of World pack holder who is also supposed to have access to alpha 1, Im really trying to understand why we are putting access to that back into play?
Especially, when once again an entire selling point was the limited time access to those packs.
Someone please help me understand.
Like from what was just said in the last dev stream, Leader of Men package holders are JUST being allowed into the current "Alpha" build, and as a Braver of World pack holder who is also supposed to have access to alpha 1, Im really trying to understand why we are putting access to that back into play?
Especially, when once again an entire selling point was the limited time access to those packs.
Someone please help me understand.
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Comments
It was never a definitive decision and might never be
If you buy alpha 2 now and then have to buy alpha 1 pack you better be able get credit for the alpha 2 pack
If they want to start including other tiers of the kickstarter (alpha) guys into the alpha testing that is fine by them. The issue comes when they go down the list to a point where it starts hitting the beta boys.
People paid money simply to be part of alpha testing. Many of them don't want guild name reservations so if they could have paid a cheaper price and still been part of the alpha testing they wouldn't have spent as much.
Frankly I don't care what they do but I am also in the boat of at this point ditch the headstart so i'm a rarity. This though, this is a line they should not cross unless ABSOLUTELY necessary for the success of the game.
The whole point is it shouldnt be up period. The point has passed. Its the same issue with him "tweaking" what he meant by the word "EXCLUSIVE" and the whole "summer sale" thing.
Star citizen said on KS they would ever sell some of those ships again...then they sold them like 20 more times every time they needed more money lol its just how anything that is KS or privately funded usually ends up
I think we should get what we paid for period. How are you even considering adding more people when you havent even gotten to all the people that current have that access as it is? That makes no sense at all.
Time and time again have we've been told things and then he comes back with some excuse as to why it wasnt exactly what is was. It tiring. At this point its hard to believe anything.
All the backers, regardless of tier were deeply invested in the making of a great game and I am in no way wanting it to unsuccessful, but I just want to know where the line for alterations stop. When do we actually get to hold them accountable for what is being said?
I know people that legit spent their last on the KS stuff because we were told that we werent going to be able to get these things again, then they came out with the summer backer things - there are other instances and its just now becoming a trend. Now the "Alpha 1" access may be coming back after you made definitive statements about it not returning? Like...where is the line?
But this isnt Star Citizen and we arent talking about that game. We are talking about AoC or Ashes of Creation. Im not holding them to SC expectations, Im holding them to AoC expectations.
Is your only reasoning to "not let anyone else into alpha-1" is that they "didnt get there in time, tough luck"??
Alpha-1 of all possible semi-public releases is meant to test out the foundation of the game, the core aspects, how they work and interact, to test out various bugs that were overlooked on the dev side. Only at the very end of the list is the "amusement park" reason... And even if, will it bother you that instead of 10000 people(the announced numerical value of backers with alpha-1 access) you will get 12000-15000? If they can afford getting more people to the critical testing stages, its going to be reflected only in better development any further.
Also consider the fact that the backing reservations were made a few years ago, there is a good chance that some of those backers arent even interested in the alpha, or in the project at all, which leaves IS with less testers than they intended, and they might consider getting a few more people in.
tl;dr
I dont understand the issue with getting more people in
THIS! THIS is how you move forward! But saying things like "Oh Alpha 1 purchase may be available in the future.." is def a crappy move and isnt doing anything for backers of the game.
No. My issue is with accountability and the lack of trust Steven continues to display for the original backers of the game. I dont care about people getting into the game - its an MMO. Im well aware of what an alpha testing space is for, and had you actually read the original post I clearly mention "...Leader of Men package holders are JUST being allowed into the current "Alpha" build" and there is a whole other tier of people "Braver of Worlds" who BOUGHT alpha 1 access, which was supposed to happen a while ago - but we will ignore timeline promises for the sake of brevity - that still havent had a chance to test anything.
There are a massive amount of people ready to get in and test the game, which isnt the point.
My point is, quit promising things to people and then altering the agreement under the guise of other things. If youve been following like a lot of us, you would have seen this trend, and its as tired then as it is now. Im not talking about name reservations (which can be sold separately at this point! I honestly dont care!), or anything else. Im talking about accountability and expectations. Getting more people in is a wonderful idea but how you go about doing it makes all the difference.
My statement about reopening Alpha One sales will only come under consideration after our alpha one testing with our current Alpha One backers and Intrepid pre-order pack holders shows that we are capable of stress testing beyond our previously anticipated limits of 10k. If Alpha One were to be offered once more as a preorder package, it would be under a different pack name but of same price point.
These intentions are consistent with my previous statements regarding Alpha One ❤️
Now if you dont want to be reasonable, remember, they never said that A1 sales were final.
It's obvious from the stream they said they'd consider reopening alpha 1 sales *later*.
As in, after the people that have already purchased them get in.
Did you really think they'd start selling alpha 1 access again before they got the people that already bought alpha access into alpha?
Really?
Really.
Come on now.
Backing out on exclusive rewards is not a good idea. Promised exclusion increases the sales at the time. For example, I bought a $500 package for myself and my wife. When I went to Kickstarter I intended to donate about $50 simply because I wanted to contribute to support the game. Because of the exclusive and limited time options, I ended up spending 20 times what I had intended to. Fortunately, I am confident that Steven will keep such purchases exclusive and in doing so, show that it was worth buying at that point in time in spite of the cost.
Re-adding exclusive sales will cause players to distrust the promise which can have multiple problems but includes reducing the increase in sales because people will choose to wait.
Of course, none of that applies to the OP because Alpha 1 was never exclusive. It can be verified by looking up the Kickstarter project and seeing that Alpha's were not specified as exclusive while certain other rewards were.
I got a $500 because this is the first time I believe in a new mmo. I want to test and provide feedback.
If more people come to test paying $500 or upgrading, sweet. End of story.
As if Ill give a damn about whether other people get the Spellbreaker gauntlent. Seriously? We are hire to find bugs and help the devs and people refuse to more testers coming?
Meanwhile there's still war in syria.
People, get your shiet together and stop being offended and feel victimized.
To hell with your sense or privilege when it comes to cosmetics in the packs. Once more, they never said the salea were final.
You never said it was "suspended pending reopening" under any circumstances; especially when you pushed this narrative of "hurry up and make sure you dont miss out!" in combination with things like "Alpha 1 testing wont be available for purchase after this!" This continual mixing of "flowerly" language makes it really hard to believe in the other things you say.
I stand firm in the belief that announcing "Alpha 1 may be available for purchase again.." before you've even finished rolling it out to the people that have been waiting for it, still feels like slap in the face.
You say it will only be considered after testing, so I guess we shall wait and see. Thank you for you clarification.
You missed the entirety of the point. No one wants to be a gate keeper - my issue isnt with more people being in.
Actually considering the history of how he previously did things, yes - i very much believed that was a possibility.
Whats your point now? I misunderstood you originally when I read this when you first posted but now I am straight up confused.
If all alpha backers are put into the test (Braver of Worlds and above). What is the problem with them selling more alpha 1 packs to get into the game to help test the system?
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Notice that a number of things were KS exclusives. But not Alpha 1 access. I never pledged thinking that it would be the only way to get in Alpha testing, since that wasn’t what was promised. If Intrepid allows more people into Alpha then that is a very good thing because it means that the game is stable enough to allow for more concurrent users. It’s a sign of progress.
Am I a little irked that I’m not actually getting first access to the game? Yes, that actually is a broken promise, just as the lifetime sub being exclusive to KS was a broken promise. Intrepid has definitely shown to not be 100% trustworthy (sorry Steven but it’s true, I still love you man) but it’s not enough for me to lose faith, not even close.
I see your point. Mine is just holding Steven accountable to what he says, using FOMO as a selling point is just bad in general, but to continually utilize flowery language to justify your means just doesnt work for me.
Why even announce that it may be returning when you havent even rolled it out to Leader of Men package users? It just doesnt make sense to me regardless of intent or considerations. Had this announcement come after all packs that received this invite got into Alpha 1 - I would have said nothing, side-eyed it, but would have said nothing.
I understand that Alpha 1 isnt exclusive, although given the history exclusivity doesnt mean much - im all for letting people in. This same argument was used by the same people who wanted a Summer Sale shop and didnt even support it! I backed the game, I want its success but Im not about to standby and Fan-girl when I see things that need to be addressed.
I do thank you for your input tho!
He was quite clear at the time that they didn't want more than 10k alpha 1 players at the time, but if their back end proves to be able to handle it, they may.
He also never specifically said alpha 1 access would absolutely be back up for sale, either. He specifically gave the impression that it was a "maybe".
If you thought he said something else, that is on you, not him.
Experiencing a game in a early state can be a frustrating, but rewarding experience. Yes, not everything works, but there is something enjoyable about seeing the game develop overtime. It is a experience in its own, that I actively seek out when a game looks like it is worth my time. I dealt with Arks bugs from day one only to repeat the process when Altas came out. I would do it all over again too!
This is my personal feedback, shared to help the game thrive in its niche.