Glorious Alpha Two Testers!
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.
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.
Comments
I don't understand your mentality on this. It might be legal, yes. They might have the right, yes. We're talking about fairness. Is it transparent and fair to their existing 'playerbase'? I think it isn't. I'm just voicing my opinion because I'm passionate about this project, and I think it could change the genre for good. An open and honest communication is part of this.
I'm all for selling new accesses at lower prices, without cosmetics or any options (A2 and/or B1 - B2).
If it's technically possible, then the more testers there are, the better for the game.
On the other hand, accesses were sold with a sales argument of exclusivity over a given period (buy now or never).
If this "now or never" argument only concerns the options around the accesses and not the accesses themselves, then it's fair. If it also concerned access, then I can understand some people's frustration.
Did you get the item you intended to purchase, for the price you agreed to purchase it for?
If you did, then it was a completely fair, transparent exchange.
Sure. They have the right to change the price, and what is or isn't included. However, as a purchaser of that product/access, we have every right to voice our dissatisfaction if we feel Intrepid misled us when making that purchase.
The fact of the matter is, Intrepid announced that they were ending their sales of A2 access, indicating that this would be your last chance to purchase access if you're interested. Those people had to make a choice of whether to buy access in a pack that included game time, cosmetics, embers etc, for a minimum of 250$. There was no other choice to guarantee access. They didn't offer the option to simply buy access as a standalone product, and Intrepid never stated this would be an option pre Alpha 2. You were left with a choice of access for 250$ or no access at all.
Yes, they did mention that they may, or may not offer alternative ways to purchase into the Alpha 2 testing phase at a later time. However, there was no clear indication this would happen before the Alpha begins.
Intrepid are arguing that because of their new networking solutions, including their dynamic grid server meshing, they can now support more players for the testing phase. However, we already know that there are more than 100K+ A2 keyholders. Are you saying that 100K+ is not enough testers for the initial phase? Do they really need more testers then that for the 1st day of Alpha 2?
Also, even if their new networking solutions might allow more players in an area without setting the servers on fire, this still doesn't technically increase the server/realm capacity. Nodes, and the content accompanying nodes are designed to host a certain number of players, even with server meshing and dynamic gridding, you cant just suddenly cram 50k players into the Riverlands on the same realm. The game functionally can't support that amount of players in a limited play space.
I think the reason a lot of people are unhappy with Intrepid announcing the re-opening of key sales is that we assumed they would re-open sales after the first initial testing wave when tester numbers were starting to dwindle. This would make sense in order to maintain healthy testing numbers, while also not upsetting the initial backers that purchased access before they initially closed the sales.
Just my two cents. I'm a A1 backer, and I'm happy with my purchase, but I understand the frustration of some of the people who dropped 250$+ for access under "false pretense".
If that is how you took their statement, that is on you for misunderstanding.
That is what they actually said, and it contains a specific point that access will start up again at a future point.
Why not just be happy that someone else will be able to get the A2 access for cheaper, even tho you didnt?
if more Alpha Two Keys come out in the sooner or futher Future which are solely for Access -> then those will most likely have the same Price than the Alpha Two Access Keys of the Past which were solely for Access and not for anything cosmetic.
✓ Occasional Roleplayer
✓ Guild is " Balderag's Garde " for now. (German)
Hi, Sinder.
I get the Impression recently that People are "already" having their Fun. A little bit different like when there was Hype around late September 2023 to February 2024.
It is also nice to see Interest for the Alpha Two in the Forum going up for a bit.
✓ Occasional Roleplayer
✓ Guild is " Balderag's Garde " for now. (German)
Well, if people on YouTube said it, then it MUST be true.
The problem with this is that not all packs had the cost of the access offered work out to be the same.
I don't understand your mentality. They have been honest this whole time. You just were not paying attention. They reserved the right to sell A2 keys again if they thought necessary.
They should not have spent the money then in my opinion, if they have buyer's remorse, they need to learn how to guard their wallets.
Not a bad idea at all.
Yet they'll not do it because everyone who was inclined to pay that amount of money, thinking it is their last chance, bought it already.
I wouldn't buy the alpha 2 key paired with them.
I couldn't agree more, Hope. You hit the nail on the head.
Actually, the People on YouTube i mean even go as far as to say that coming, new Alpha Two Keys might be CHEAPER than the Ones from before January 17th.
What honestly, doesn't really make much Sense to me. These People did not do anything special by waiting longer before they finally bought a Key.
✓ Occasional Roleplayer
✓ Guild is " Balderag's Garde " for now. (German)
But hey, they are on YouTube saying it, that means they at least have a smartphone with an internet connection. What they are saying MUST be true!
Since English is your second language (behind German,I assume), it may help if I point out that I am being sarcastic.
However no one forced you to buy the packs and this is not an official release, also the 6 month game time is a majority of the price you will save later
Both sides of the argument have a point, neither side is wrong, just enjoy the game and what you paid for.
Furthermore we don't know the price of the packs once the reopen, it's very possible that they are still 150$ which is more than fair for just the key.
Relax guys enjoy the alpha period, be happy you get to take part in it because even at 150$, there is a vast majority who won't get the opportunity, the more players the faster the game launches
Devs best option imo is to offer the exact same pack/cost tbh however the cosmetics offered this time will be available on the cosmetic shop day 1, so they loose the exclusivity they had before.
Issue is offering A2 keys cheaper than the packs kinda let people who bought into A2 via those packs feel shafted cause they were told this was the only price point, however offering A2 keys at the same price as the packs will be seen as price gouging from people who didnt buy in with the pack.
Its a rough situation the devs got themself in with this decision tbh and it a fine line to please everyone i would say.
if they do offer cheaper keys i think they might have to compensate people who already have packs with either more sub time or embers or they might feel taken advantage of with FOMO. Another option that might work is have the new packs A2 start like a month after the initial launch of A2.
I think most people issue is that it seems there opening A2 access at a cheaper price point than it was previously after they FOMO everyone into buying the $250-375 packs. The fact there opening up A2 access for more people isnt the issue it the fact that it seems like it be cheaper than what people already paid because devs made it seem that price point was the only way and then FOMO everyone being thgis is the last month you can buy into A2 for launch
Irrelevant. A2 is expected to get wiped frequently. There is no point in having such advantage.
thats what i would do with a small change of the cosmetic items will be available in the cosmetic store the new packs so it looses its exclusivity there
I read the entire thread of this post and you win the internet for the day, thank you for posting that saying.
Some people are making fair points on both sides, but honestly this quote posted by @Githal is just chefs kiss. That quote is just the antithesis of the type of behavior I hope to see in Verra. A comparison I often use is the recent tidings of College debt/loan forgiveness. "Well if I went into major debt and paid my way out, so should everyone else!"
Circumstances change, and yeah, some people paid their loan amount in full with interest included, have even more debt than the loan itself, sometimes unfathomably so, and it was clearly seen by virtuous eyes who understood that it was just fu[redacted] wrong. It doesn't mean everyone deserves to suffer with debt when the concept is flawed and needs a rework.
As far as I am concerned, server meshing could really set the sails on how data is optimized in gaming, and when you develop something of this nature and magnitude, what you want is to stress test the ever-living hell out of it, and A2 is going to be a part of that experience, so players better saddle the hell up and get ready for a continual rollercoaster because there could be times where you will not be a happy camper and it may become a bumpy ride at some parts of your gaming experience.
This is a game testing paradise and people are being given the privilege to enjoy it before it's actually live, but people should also hold true to overall purpose of what an Alpha testing environment is intended for. Call me virtuous or a snob, I don't give a fu[redacted last time i promise], but you're there to test the content. You're literally buying in, to make their product a much better experience for yourself and others. The fact that you get to enjoy and play it is just a nice benefit, and your neighbor deserves to enjoy the game just as much, regardless of how much they will pay to get in and now that circumstances have changed, which was explicitly shown in some of the posts above to be a possibility for Intrepid studios.
You deserve to live in a house and enjoy your property just as much as your neighbor does, even if they may have paid less for theirs.
-shrug-
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They are afraid of login queues and reluctant to open more servers, forcing players to give up and go play something else.
No, the alpha keys should not increase. why would you say that? They keys before had packages to go with them. If they keys stayed the same price or increased it would never sell. Personally I htink they should start reselling the alpha 2 bundles. I want the game to succede. Who cares about what we paid back when. Its like buying a pair of shoes the week before a sale. You gonna gripe at the company for puting them on sale after you bought em the week before? Na, lets just all stop being butthurt and know that its for funding and testing, nothing more.
Not a bad idea at all.
They could offer the package and a stand alone alpha 2 access.