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.
Let's Talk.
TheClimbTo1
Member, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
First off, congratulations Ashes. It didn't just crash and burn. Hell, even with the 2nd Pre-Day getting more traffic, and now the Official Alpha 2 having long Queues... I'd literally compare it to the Launch of New World in regards to Queue Times and the Launcher.
Let me quickly just say... my lord the Bugs. BUT, that's why we're in Alpha. So it's not launched like this, and all these fixes can happen. Of which, Intrepid Studios has already made many many fixes (silver lining)... with so many more to go.
My luck is to good, I make a horrid tester. People today were complaining about inactive mobs and lags and rubber-banding, and every thing was working perfect for me... my first time. When I hopped in 3rd in Queue once they put the Servers back up. The SECOND time, closer to 9 PM... I didn't get the rubber banding but nothing every attacked me, outside of random one-off hits. Mobs largely non-responsive, jittery and skipping... made for easy XP, but not the best 'experience'. Which is in a way, pretty good. Some people, like I've mostly been on my about 16 Hours in 2 Days and longer if we count the Pre-Period, haven't had a bogged down experience. It's almost like a decent but not great launch if you're lucky and dodging the big issues.
Honestly, this currently is better than I thought it would be in that regard. If you were unlucky, and all you've had is the Queue or the Buggy Hell Mess... you'll feel much different. And to be fair, OUSTIDE of my 16 Hours, I've been about 4 in Queues and given up to take a nap. So the Queue Monster has probably hit all of us, and that's no fun. But let me take a moment on this. We signed up to Test and Alpha. Yes, we obviously hope there will be improvements and as that happens it's more 'Weee, Game Play, FUN!' like we'd normally do. And honestly, that's HOW I'm testing, by 'regular playing' and seeing what is obviously broken... not going out of my way to break things or find them. Just catching the issues that slap me in the face, and noting it. Which at this point is probably fine, since we have a LOT of people in here, and many better than I finding the rare stuff to report. But that said, the painful Queue Experience is PART of that Testing. If you've suffered from that... congratulations, you've done your part. They get data from how many the Servers can handle, how many to let in at a time, if there are any bugs in the Queue (like the Count UP happening, or the Infinite Freeze some had)... and those get to be worked on NOW, instead of Launch.
Some things, like the bug with Storage... on one hand no so important since this will Wipe, but it makes large parts of the game 'not worth testing'. I'm not hoarding resources to Craft or Trade, because Storage might eat it. And while right now there are bigger fish to fry on the 'Things to Fix Front', and plenty of time to advance to more complex gameplay and systems... it would be nice to test and dabble with such things. Is the Pet Quality and Mating working properly? Couldn't tell you... not risking storing stuff to find out, and if I tried and Storage ate it I still couldn't tell you.
There are some things I'm not certain on. Take the Boneyard, or the 12 Splinters Quests. Are they bugged, or are they poorly designed, or are a ton of us just unlucky on our timings? 2 Days and 4 Re-Logs, I got Boneyard done. Woohoo. And really, nice little quest... if it goes off without a hitch. But it's like having teeth pulled when you can't just sit down and 1-Shot it in a smooth run. But that's part of the problem... is the hitch a bug, or a feature, or am I (and others) just unlucky on these Quests?
A point of notice. A lot of people are saying things like 'Rubber banding' and 'Enemies not responding' in the Global Chat. Well and good. Two things. Firstly... Location, and if Mob Related what Mob is crucial information. And a Bug Report is far better than a Chat Message... though this doesn't mean to NOT share in Global. It's good info, and for those really super interesting in 'testing', you've already found an issue there so they know to go elsewhere to find 'new things'.
Some people in Global... and this happens with every Alpha... are trying to compare this to a Launched and Completed Game, and saying "I'll be back in 2035 when it's ready". Well, like... sure. But what did you drop all that money for? They told you the whole time, this is Alpha and Testing. LMAO! They've been rather clear, and even said if you just want to PLAY Ashes... don't pay and join until Launch. This wasn't cheap to get involved with, in a general sense. It's no money for some people, but it's a LOT of money for a great many. I don't understand anyone that would pay money to join an Alpha with the mindset of 'I'm paying to PLAY the game right now!"... in this state? Why? HOW? Good luck with that. We all know what we signed up for.
And on that front, for those who've been luckier than others... it's probably better than expected. And for those catching all the issues to the face, this is probably the worst experience in Gaming they've had. Just know... day by day (and night by night, shutting down Servers at 11 PM on a Saturday to WORK) they're fixing issues. New ones pop up, but we've got a long time until the Next Phase, and until Beta, and until Launch. We've got time to find the issues, they have time to fix them.
Intrepid Studios, and us as Testers... just remember. Today, My Best. Tomorrow, Better. We can learn how to be more helpful, they can improve on their end, we all want the same thing, a great product that can be enjoyed for a very long time.
Let me quickly just say... my lord the Bugs. BUT, that's why we're in Alpha. So it's not launched like this, and all these fixes can happen. Of which, Intrepid Studios has already made many many fixes (silver lining)... with so many more to go.
My luck is to good, I make a horrid tester. People today were complaining about inactive mobs and lags and rubber-banding, and every thing was working perfect for me... my first time. When I hopped in 3rd in Queue once they put the Servers back up. The SECOND time, closer to 9 PM... I didn't get the rubber banding but nothing every attacked me, outside of random one-off hits. Mobs largely non-responsive, jittery and skipping... made for easy XP, but not the best 'experience'. Which is in a way, pretty good. Some people, like I've mostly been on my about 16 Hours in 2 Days and longer if we count the Pre-Period, haven't had a bogged down experience. It's almost like a decent but not great launch if you're lucky and dodging the big issues.
Honestly, this currently is better than I thought it would be in that regard. If you were unlucky, and all you've had is the Queue or the Buggy Hell Mess... you'll feel much different. And to be fair, OUSTIDE of my 16 Hours, I've been about 4 in Queues and given up to take a nap. So the Queue Monster has probably hit all of us, and that's no fun. But let me take a moment on this. We signed up to Test and Alpha. Yes, we obviously hope there will be improvements and as that happens it's more 'Weee, Game Play, FUN!' like we'd normally do. And honestly, that's HOW I'm testing, by 'regular playing' and seeing what is obviously broken... not going out of my way to break things or find them. Just catching the issues that slap me in the face, and noting it. Which at this point is probably fine, since we have a LOT of people in here, and many better than I finding the rare stuff to report. But that said, the painful Queue Experience is PART of that Testing. If you've suffered from that... congratulations, you've done your part. They get data from how many the Servers can handle, how many to let in at a time, if there are any bugs in the Queue (like the Count UP happening, or the Infinite Freeze some had)... and those get to be worked on NOW, instead of Launch.
Some things, like the bug with Storage... on one hand no so important since this will Wipe, but it makes large parts of the game 'not worth testing'. I'm not hoarding resources to Craft or Trade, because Storage might eat it. And while right now there are bigger fish to fry on the 'Things to Fix Front', and plenty of time to advance to more complex gameplay and systems... it would be nice to test and dabble with such things. Is the Pet Quality and Mating working properly? Couldn't tell you... not risking storing stuff to find out, and if I tried and Storage ate it I still couldn't tell you.
There are some things I'm not certain on. Take the Boneyard, or the 12 Splinters Quests. Are they bugged, or are they poorly designed, or are a ton of us just unlucky on our timings? 2 Days and 4 Re-Logs, I got Boneyard done. Woohoo. And really, nice little quest... if it goes off without a hitch. But it's like having teeth pulled when you can't just sit down and 1-Shot it in a smooth run. But that's part of the problem... is the hitch a bug, or a feature, or am I (and others) just unlucky on these Quests?
A point of notice. A lot of people are saying things like 'Rubber banding' and 'Enemies not responding' in the Global Chat. Well and good. Two things. Firstly... Location, and if Mob Related what Mob is crucial information. And a Bug Report is far better than a Chat Message... though this doesn't mean to NOT share in Global. It's good info, and for those really super interesting in 'testing', you've already found an issue there so they know to go elsewhere to find 'new things'.
Some people in Global... and this happens with every Alpha... are trying to compare this to a Launched and Completed Game, and saying "I'll be back in 2035 when it's ready". Well, like... sure. But what did you drop all that money for? They told you the whole time, this is Alpha and Testing. LMAO! They've been rather clear, and even said if you just want to PLAY Ashes... don't pay and join until Launch. This wasn't cheap to get involved with, in a general sense. It's no money for some people, but it's a LOT of money for a great many. I don't understand anyone that would pay money to join an Alpha with the mindset of 'I'm paying to PLAY the game right now!"... in this state? Why? HOW? Good luck with that. We all know what we signed up for.
And on that front, for those who've been luckier than others... it's probably better than expected. And for those catching all the issues to the face, this is probably the worst experience in Gaming they've had. Just know... day by day (and night by night, shutting down Servers at 11 PM on a Saturday to WORK) they're fixing issues. New ones pop up, but we've got a long time until the Next Phase, and until Beta, and until Launch. We've got time to find the issues, they have time to fix them.
Intrepid Studios, and us as Testers... just remember. Today, My Best. Tomorrow, Better. We can learn how to be more helpful, they can improve on their end, we all want the same thing, a great product that can be enjoyed for a very long time.
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