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
Put it in the game with no work other than just implementing the feature, then when you want it tested, ask people to go test it. That is how an alpha should function.
I guarantee that Intrepid are going to get as much feedback about the alpha specific features as they get of the actual system they want tested. Testing how the game feels in regards to progression is 100% a part of beta testing, not alpha. In alpha, we are testing that we do indeed gain levels when we get enough experience, not how gaining levels feels.
This is fair honestly. I do think it is fair to still put it in the later phase of alpha 2 though. And I would also say that while typically you are correct in that is how testing is supposed to pan out for game development (despite most modern games half-assing all of their testing). But as long as game functions are being tested and being remedied, I don't see a reason to not include this testing in alpha as long as its after all of the technical aspects are fixed or at the very least mostly fixed. I would be ecstatic if we knocked out enough testing in alpha to make beta look like a 'finished' game with the only things needing tweaked being balancing.
100%.
The thing is, the test we should be doing in alpha for this is things like making sure corruption isn't being applied when it shouldn't. That is why all that is needed is for the basic function that will be in the live game to be put in to an area on the alpha server, and then ask players to go there and test it.
Again, I don't have any issue at all with them testing it during alpha - that is what alpha is for. My issue is with them feeling the need to provide players on an alpha server with a progression based incentive to test it.
The fact that they are introducing a reward structure specifically for this during alpha is so far out of what an alpha test should be that it's actually kind of wild.
That is literally what I would expect from someone that has no idea what an alpha test is.
I hope these lawless, corruption-free zones will exist beyond Alpha.
As long as a player goes there by choice, in full knowledge of the potential consequences, and as long as these zones contain no major content.
Flatearthers disliked it basically, but to me the lawless area is just hunting grounds to farm big guilders
They could feed into the idea that dangerous conditions like climate, wildlife, dangerous PvE faction, plague make those zones unhabitable, too dangerous for settling. People still go there for some rare resources. Something like Stalkers in the Zone (STALKER games for reference).
Blown past falling sands…
1. Caravans already autoflagged you, so why would you get more rewards going to a lawless node.
2. The success of the entire game rides on the corruption mechanic, it needs all of the testing possible.
3. If there are pvp zones, people will argue for pve zones. Unless they are looking if they can make the corruption rough enough that they will basically be pve zones.
✓ Occasional Roleplayer
✓ Guild is " Balderag's Garde " for now. (German)
While the idea of introducing a zone with PvP enabled for everyone and offering higher rewards might sound exciting, it can have several unintended consequences that could negatively impact the overall player experience and game balance.
1. Player Retention and Engagement: Forcing all players into a PvP environment to access higher rewards can alienate a significant portion of the player base that prefers cooperative or solo play. Players who are not interested in PvP may feel excluded from accessing these rewards, leading to frustration and potentially causing them to disengage from the game.
2. Community Dynamics: Mandatory PvP zones can foster a toxic environment where aggressive players dominate, discouraging casual or less skilled players from participating. This could lead to a divide within the community, creating an atmosphere where only the most competitive players thrive, which may harm the inclusive nature of the game.
3. Game Balance and Fairness: Higher rewards in a PvP-enabled zone can disrupt the balance of the game. Players who excel in PvP may accumulate these rewards at a faster rate, creating a disparity between them and other players. This could lead to an imbalance in power, making it difficult for new or less experienced players to compete, further widening the gap between different segments of the player base.
4. Content Accessibility: Designing content that is accessible only through PvP can limit the diversity of gameplay experiences. Players who enjoy PvE content might feel compelled to participate in PvP against their preference, reducing their enjoyment of the game. This forced participation can result in a negative perception of the game’s design and content accessibility.
In summary, while a PvP-enabled zone with higher rewards might seem like an exciting challenge, it risks alienating a portion of the player base, disrupting community harmony, and creating imbalances that could undermine the long-term success of the game. A more balanced approach that caters to diverse playstyles would likely result in a healthier and more engaged player community.
Testing what?
Can't build a game if it crashes, engineers need data.
I doubt is about crashes.
They want to see a lot of PvP to be able to balance it.
And social interactions, player behavior...
Anarchy.
✓ Occasional Roleplayer
✓ Guild is " Balderag's Garde " for now. (German)
We know its about testing, my guess is as good as yours.
What their actual purpose for lawless zones? No one knows but Intrepid.
I know.
I'm hoping the "pirate" factions get their own nodes out somewhere at sea. Not planning to live there, but I like that it's there for high risk content, and that part of the player base should be able to participate in the node system too. I'm also hoping to see a section of the game map be lawless on land. Maybe a part of the underdark can be that way.
As to wars being the primary method to declare player conflict, nothing promotes zergs more. Who, besides the largest and most organized player organizations, will be declaring wars?
High player count orgs will use the war system to exert their will on everyone else. The only opportunity you will have to hit back will be when they declare war on you. That will always be on their terms.
Fantasies about Robin Hood or the little guy striking back in areas that punish spontaneous pvp are just fantasies.
But the most dangerous space in the game was LowSec 0.1-0.5 space. Little police response but the transition from HiSec to Nullsec, so pirates were everywhere and it was often total chaos and the most dangerous systems to travel through.
I think of this sort of thing like THAT, and typically, those were the places very few people went. The only reason people went there was they had to pass THROUGH there, and in the end, that makes those spaces only for the most niche of the most niche of players.
That you have no reason to go there in this case (why do a high risk dropoff that only pays 2-3x when you could easily run 2-3x as much cargo along the safer routes and get more pay for less risk?) just means this will end up being dead content except for the most piratey of the pirates.
Lawless zones literally gives them top content on a platter and says "kill everyone you see with 0 penalty and have this best content in the game for free". If a zerg guild wardecced an enemy to have the ability to defend a location from said enemy - they'd be presented with a choice: do they defend the location but potentially lose the war (cause the enemy can go do the war objective) or do they go do the objective but potentially miss a boss respawn window or smth along those lines.
And any zerg guild that tries to go for the corruption route of fighting their enemies would get fucked over by that very corruption.
None of this would be the case with a lawless system. Why even fucking have a corruption system, if you gonna just put all the best content in a ffa pvp zone.
The spontaneity is the problem. Spontaneus pvp doesn't have any meaning behind it. Any fights for bosses or location will not be spontaneous. They'll be calculated way ahead of time and planned for (mainly cause there's no fast travel, so big groups will have to move their forces way ahead of time).
Also, I wasn't saying that small guilds will suddenly win just because they're small. I expect small guilds to band together and work in coordination with each other. GWs would simply help with that, because they create a choice, rather than just making it a "hold this location and you'll win" situation.
I think everybody will declare wars on everybody if they can afford paying the fee, maybe the fee too add 300 players in a war should cost 300x so if you have three guilds with 100 players then you would still have to pay for the 300x. So a big guild with 300 players would pay 900x for declaring three different wars.
It is very bad that Intrepid doesn't discuss this with the community, we are pretty much in a circle jerk here and nothing we say will matter. I think a closed group should be created to discuss this for months, pick like 20 community members and let them discurss for six months and simulate many scenarios.
We have Lawless systems in EVE now and people are adoring it, the lawless systems stay in this state for a few days and then it wears off.
Even the carebears find it enticing having the danger come closer to them and having to develop new strategies to adapt, this keeps everybody entertained.
This came out with the Havoc expansion, the most successful expansion released in it's 20 years.
Some players will rage quit or even avoid logging in.
The best attitude comes from Dygz
That's where I live in EVE!
More specifically, I live in the factional warfare warzone, right in the heart of the warzone specifically in the most central system.
Nowadays even lowsec and highec can become lawless due to the Havoc expansion mechanics, you can now deploy bubbles and bombs in lowsec; and in highsec CONCORD police doesn't come if your ship or station is being shot.
Lowsec nowadays is full of people in the warzone and around it, many groups from nullsec and highec are going to fight and farm in lowsec, it's quite a revolution in the game and the content is simply celebrated by the players.
The Lawless state is quite a huge thing now, you can even go to highsec and bash player structures without police interference and without even needing a war declaration.
Lawless areas are fine and huge groups go fight huge groups for the lolz
Either way, it creates more inter player content, and that can only ever be a good thing.
This can happen, specially if the players are bad and are such gamers who have no imagination. Off the bat I can imagine a counter to this which is creating public groups where you can just join a party and form a big group enough to smash the local defenders. I mean, it's not even hard, c 'mon!
Yeah, kinda truish, the thing is that areas that are PvE exclusive have the same problem and just like that dungeon locking happens, overfarming and PvE griefing becomes rampant since pve griefing can't be stopped by any means.
Yeah, that can happen, but at the same time the hardcore no life PvE farmers will do the same and then they become extremely rich and well equipped and then nobody can beat them, not even in pvp you can beat them since they cheated their way to glory using a pve safe space.
Since most players are weasels then most people would approve a perfectly safe pve enviroment where they can cheat their way to victory.
That can happen, you just gotta implement this in a very poorly manner and this will happen for sure.
Agreed, this can happen.
You are right about that, not everybody will want to stay in ships the whole day, everyday, every week.
I'm not saying they should have ALL of the best stuff. I'm saying they should definitely have SOME of the best stuff.
It's a different (and popular) form of pvp gameplay that a lot of the risk/reward crowd would love.
Access to the major land masses would still be more appealing but having out of the way, lawless zones with SOME valuable resources expands the game's audience greatly. It only adds.
Wow, I haven't looked at Havoc yet. That actually sounds fantastic.
I'm 95 percent care bear and even I like what you just described.
That is why ill be there it will be easy content, and easy kills for me lmao. Though i do need to balance running my TL guild.