Glorious Alpha Two Testers!

Alpha Two Realms are now unlocked for Phase II testing!

For our initial launch, testing will begin on Friday, December 20, 2024, at 10 AM Pacific and continue uninterrupted until Monday, January 6, 2025, at 10 AM Pacific. After January 6th, we’ll transition to a schedule of five-day-per-week access for the remainder of Phase II.

You can download the game launcher here and we encourage you to join us on our for the most up to date testing news.

Another year has gone by...

GFKillaGFKilla Member, Alpha Two
in General Discussion
Time seems to start moving faster when you enter your 30s for some reason.

However, my optimism and excitement for this game remain bushy tailed and bright eyed as ever. The devs are taking immeasurable steps in an effort to keep us engaged in the formation of this world and to show us a small behind the curtains view of what we can expect.

What are some of your biggest takeaways from this years time in development?

What are some of the snags you seem to have encountered?:

What are your hopes for the future?

Just want to have an open overall discussion about how people are feeling.

I am personally as excited as ever. I cannot wait to hop in and see what this world has in store.

Comments

  • TheDarkSorcererTheDarkSorcerer Member, Alpha Two
    I'm excited, but this recent dev update made me worried.
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  • maouwmaouw Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Recap of major features this past year:
    • Decision to change to UE5 - honestly haven't noticed any delays in the pipeline following this decision (which is pretty amazing)
    • Race design preview for about 5 races - Really awesome work!
    • Seasons and weather - blown out of the park
    • In-house tooling showcase (Landform) - QoL improvements for their technical artists. This one is harder to see the results - so we'd probably need to talk to some of their artists to get their opinions.
    • World map redesign - hints at really healthy simulation/discussion happening behind the scenes
    • Basic gathering - mostly positive, but some mixed desires from general feedback
    • Day/Night - good start, lots of potential

    My overall impression is that I am AMAZED at how Intrepid is communicating with us - I can see so many elements of feedback that aren't only taken on board, but even expanded on by their team.
    It's especially evident in how they've been wrestling with the Renkai's design and redesign.

    I've learned that the general public don't know HOW to give meaningful feedback for what they want when the design gets technical (as it does for combat), and I think this is part of why combat design was lost in the desert last year - the approach they've taken now is being received much more positively.

    Overall, it definitely feels like development updates have receded behind closed doors a little, but the overall result is better because:
    • Showcases have a bit more flesh on them, which means players have a better intuition of what to give feedback on - previously it's been easy to get lost in some last-minute-stage-makeup that's not at all relevant to the design intention - so it was hard to know what's placeholder and what's not.
    • Design decisions have been stronger - sometimes trying to follow player feedback is like chasing wind so the team was trying one thing, backtracking and then going the other way only to find out players wanted BOTH things, which is way harder to realize when you're showing off smaller increments.

    To sum up: I previously gave feedback that having reactive foliage would probably be too much work and probably resource costly for an MMO, so I would be fine if they didn't implement it.
    But they did - and it works beautifully.
    Intrepid have earned my trust :)
    I wish I were deep and tragic
  • tautautautau Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Expanding the thread topic slightly...

    Over the last few months and even moreso recently, I have noticed and increased richness and activity in the wiki. A year or so ago I would see additions based on only the content of the monthly updates. Now I see not only that but also a lot of additional information added to the wiki beyond what is in the updates. I get the impression (correct me if I am wrong) that quite a bit of info is going straight into the wiki that is not being revealed elsewhere. Several times I have looked at a 'non-updated' page and found it full of new things, or at least things I didn't remember being there.

    I take this as a subtle hint of development progress.
  • truelyyytruelyyy Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    edited December 2022
    It's looking good overall for sure. For some reason people seem to be overreacting to the last livestream. I personally did not think it was amazing but I'm sure they'll make the necessary updates etc. Cleric seemed a bit slow to me compared to the fighter and ranger classes.
  • truelyyytruelyyy Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    TheDarkSorcerer wrote: »
    I'm excited, but this recent dev update made me worried.

    Can you explain your worries? I have heard people thinking the same but I don't get it. I didn't think it was perfect but at the same time not something to worry about
  • HalaeHalae Member, Alpha Two
    truely wrote: »
    It's looking good overall for sure. For some reason people seem to be overreacting to the last livestream. I personally did not think it was amazing but I'm sure they'll make the necessary updates etc. Cleric seemed a bit slow to me compared to the fighter and ranger classes.
    People overreact to every livestream. Happens every month. Just wait a week and it'll blow over.
  • CzerisCzeris Member, Alpha Two
    I enjoyed the last live stream. There was enough information in it to keep me interested, and it felt a lot more like an actual game. People are just getting super impatient waiting for Alpha 2 to start and are acting hurt when the livestream doesn't live up to their self-determined expectations of how far along development should be.
  • UboonUboon Member, Alpha Two
    I was new to AoC in 2022 and signed up for A2. I was absolutely blown away by the massively ambitious scope outlined in the wiki. I have followed various games over the years, many with high hopes and moderate scopes, that have failed. Yet the streams make me confident that AoC will actually deliver on the majority of the content, as incredibly broad and complex as it is.

    I only fear that Intrepid are perfectionists and will dick about with the engine/tools, combat/crafting, dump and redo core systems, add randon new stuff (constellations whaaat) and generally spend too long over engineering everything. "We are still discussing active blocking". Come on, nail stuff down, cut the flab, and go for it. I know 'minimum viable product' ain't the strategy gov, but neither is perfection on delivery.
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  • DygzDygz Member, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Steven is defintitely a perfectionist.
  • umjiumji Member, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    ALPHA?
    5 YEAR
    KIDS GREW UP
    GIVE US PLAY
    NO NEED PERFECT
    Umji.png

  • StreviStrevi Member
    GFKilla wrote: »
    Time seems to start moving faster when you enter your 30s for some reason.

    Soon the game is released and our grandchildren will help us defend the caravans.
    September 12. 2022: Being naked can also be used to bring a skilled artisan to different freeholds... Don't summon family!
  • ShadonSolShadonSol Moderator, Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    tautau wrote: »
    Expanding the thread topic slightly...

    Over the last few months and even moreso recently, I have noticed and increased richness and activity in the wiki. A year or so ago I would see additions based on only the content of the monthly updates. Now I see not only that but also a lot of additional information added to the wiki beyond what is in the updates. I get the impression (correct me if I am wrong) that quite a bit of info is going straight into the wiki that is not being revealed elsewhere. Several times I have looked at a 'non-updated' page and found it full of new things, or at least things I didn't remember being there.

    I take this as a subtle hint of development progress.

    All the info on the wiki is from public sources - you can click the little number next to a statement to see exactly where it comes from! :)
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  • VaknarVaknar Member, Staff
    ShadonSol wrote: »
    tautau wrote: »
    Expanding the thread topic slightly...

    Over the last few months and even moreso recently, I have noticed and increased richness and activity in the wiki. A year or so ago I would see additions based on only the content of the monthly updates. Now I see not only that but also a lot of additional information added to the wiki beyond what is in the updates. I get the impression (correct me if I am wrong) that quite a bit of info is going straight into the wiki that is not being revealed elsewhere. Several times I have looked at a 'non-updated' page and found it full of new things, or at least things I didn't remember being there.

    I take this as a subtle hint of development progress.

    All the info on the wiki is from public sources - you can click the little number next to a statement to see exactly where it comes from! :)

    I was just about to add this before seeing your comment! Ty @ShadonSol <3
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  • VaknarVaknar Member, Staff
    Love to see all the positive comments here!

    This past year has certainly been eventful with updates and progress toward Alpha Two which has been so exciting to see with you all <3
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  • MyosotysMyosotys Member
    From my side I just decided that i willl consider AOC like a simple game i wait. Without too much hype or over odd.
    I bought Baldurs Gate 2 years ago at a more advanced level of dev than AOC and the game is still not released.
    So I think AOC will be released at least in Q1 2025 for an Alpha 2 in Q1 2024.
    Mayve ill dont have time to play MMO at this time.
  • StreviStrevi Member
    Myosotys wrote: »
    Alpha 2 in Q1 2024.
    That is just 1 year away :o
    September 12. 2022: Being naked can also be used to bring a skilled artisan to different freeholds... Don't summon family!
  • GFKillaGFKilla Member, Alpha Two
    Wow! Almost another year.

    Alpha two has been announced and Alpha 1 spot testing is commencing.

    Were making moves, baby!
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