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.
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.
My personal feedback
NeverlossNinja
Member, Alpha Two
How in the thousand heavens did this game end up thinking it is a good idea to not be able to use skills without having a target?, if not just for the animation, mobility and freedom. Then you might aswell make it so you can’t move unless you have a valid quest. If you ask me, having played quite a bit in my lifetime, if you want to see a mmo that did everything right: look at TERA online. If you want to see an mmo that did everything wrong: look at black desert. And it is quite relevant to understand that mechanics that were acceptable on the revolutionary release of wow, and still are today for the people that played it from the start, absolutely is not by todays standards, and that free aiming is an absolute minimum for a good combat system as it is in black desert - a game with animations and a combat system that is good enough to keep players in it even if they are torturing them in every other single way. Even though, it lacks the clarity and refinement of skills as in wow or Tera where it actually matters what skill is used, and when. Each skill is well known to anyone that hit max level with the class, and it has a noticeable impact, even without the best gear.
It seems to me that people have a mindset as if:
- we listen to the community -> vote to implement changes -> do not adress issues that see no complaints
This is completely misleading since most people that buy super early access have no intentions of creating an amazing game that is enjoyable to play and fair in terms of skill, and that lasts forever like cs or Dota mod for wc3, or wow.
Their intentions are simply their own, there are many types of gamers since gaming has gotten big and they only think about themselves:
- the seasoned gamer. Playing since Super Nintendo, been high rank in most genres and play for fun, getting old, usually got a wife, family and less time or interest to play, 90% or more are men and overlapping with next group. Wants to create a game that is pure enjoyment and skill based, the more you play the better you are and recognition is achieved from it as in other sports. Quits or plays in anticipation of quitting any game where high skill cap classes etc get nerfed to make things «fair» after feedback from noobs that labels it as OP compared to their 1/10000th of experience. Ultimates results in high skill weapons only being balanced with the easiest to use ones when played extremely well and eliminates skill from the equation, developers often choose to maintain it regardless of player efflux and dissapointment as it is more money efficient according to unethical marketing algorithms based on player psychology and sales.
- the working man: not good at games from before, didn’t play much or have any interest until everyone started doing it, intelligent and resourceful money wise but knows mechanical skill takes decades to build and looking for ways to get ahead none the less. usually found in p2w games or where power in numbers does well, usually does not care much about the quality of gameplay/combat mechanics or animations. Plays little and has no loyalty or major goals in the game.
- the ambitious new player, girls and kids believing they are to be equal, by any means and having no intention of seeing a game succeed. Usually the person which has become very common in games, excludes people from groups, prefers simple clunky mechanics and power in numbers. As in short time to kill (since then they don’t need to be 2v1, 3v1 etc. every time). The best player in the world would die to one shot which makes them satisfied as they can appear better and have a sense of pride if they group up against people with a huge amount more experience or skill than them and can make new gear, instances etc exclusive to them by teaming up compared to the disadvantage of not finding a fixed group of people to play with. They have no respect for older players, more experienced or skilled etc. Does not want aim to be a deciding factor, prefers no dps meters so any rotation goes, gives feedback in terms of only what would benefit them and wants an illusion of no p2w. Does not want a gaming experience that is amazing, but wants to fuel their ego, just for now, against players that have good aim, experience etc. without any of it, and move on to the next game once it loses popularity when devs don’t understand that listening to them is going against every good player, everyone that loves the game, every streamer that built their reputation on skill. And it seems to me this game is heading down that exact same road just from the get go.
My suggestion would be to make it cool, make it so that the ones that play the most and that have to most skill get the most respect and are able to provide impressive and entertaining gameplay on the streaming platform. Give people that are adults and working a chance to be useful and have a purpose in the game. Allow classes that are easy to be strong but the ones that are most difficult to remain stronger if played well. Make every fight not one that is unexpected or creates conflict or rewards unfairness or using the build that can stun, one shot etc, but one that you want to take and that is a test of your own skill, where if you win you get a sense of achievement, and if you lose you are left with a sense of having to work harder to improve, at least it was fair and a good fight. Mainly you do this by not making anyone oneshottable and giving all classes a means to disengage from a fight and get away to restart the fight again where both have 100% or PvP gear, buffs etc. If there is no means of disengage or escape then PvP in the game is simply just who attacks first and if it is unexpected for the player, it might be funny for them and very frustrating for the other. And of course if there is no escape, 2 players are always stronger than one, regardless of gear or skill or playtime and skill is completely obsolete by just being 2v1. That ruins the experience for all and makes it more or less impossible to stream the game without appearing as a bad player or having to play with a full team or using cheats, mods, exploits, p2w in order to compete at all. Also free targeting being able to use skills at any time is necessary and any quick fix or blockages to make players not be able to get anywhere solo in the game is also detrimental to the player experience. All stars and builds and consumables need to have an noticeable impact and be useful so people can choose what they want to do and feel like their ideas matter, and not just having to study guides or watch a YouTube video to find out what they are supposed to do. Everything should be accessible through doing what you want to do, and doing other content has to come from own motivation and not by feeling you have to do something you don’t want in order to obtain a certain item, especially something like studying guides or puzzles in games that are not intuitive enough that you have to find out where to go or what to do at any time. An example is a quest with a puzzle that gives an amount of gold, then you can tell it is a puzzle quest and choose not to do it, those that do enjoy hours of running around some cave to find out what to do or reading walkthroughs can do it if they want. Another example is an item added to the game like a mount or special costume that requires you to do that puzzle, even if you don’t want to, which will then make the player dislike the gaming experience. So it is important to make sure the game is simply made as games should be, in order to have fun and an enjoyable time and be rewarded for the time you put in to it.
It seems to me that people have a mindset as if:
- we listen to the community -> vote to implement changes -> do not adress issues that see no complaints
This is completely misleading since most people that buy super early access have no intentions of creating an amazing game that is enjoyable to play and fair in terms of skill, and that lasts forever like cs or Dota mod for wc3, or wow.
Their intentions are simply their own, there are many types of gamers since gaming has gotten big and they only think about themselves:
- the seasoned gamer. Playing since Super Nintendo, been high rank in most genres and play for fun, getting old, usually got a wife, family and less time or interest to play, 90% or more are men and overlapping with next group. Wants to create a game that is pure enjoyment and skill based, the more you play the better you are and recognition is achieved from it as in other sports. Quits or plays in anticipation of quitting any game where high skill cap classes etc get nerfed to make things «fair» after feedback from noobs that labels it as OP compared to their 1/10000th of experience. Ultimates results in high skill weapons only being balanced with the easiest to use ones when played extremely well and eliminates skill from the equation, developers often choose to maintain it regardless of player efflux and dissapointment as it is more money efficient according to unethical marketing algorithms based on player psychology and sales.
- the working man: not good at games from before, didn’t play much or have any interest until everyone started doing it, intelligent and resourceful money wise but knows mechanical skill takes decades to build and looking for ways to get ahead none the less. usually found in p2w games or where power in numbers does well, usually does not care much about the quality of gameplay/combat mechanics or animations. Plays little and has no loyalty or major goals in the game.
- the ambitious new player, girls and kids believing they are to be equal, by any means and having no intention of seeing a game succeed. Usually the person which has become very common in games, excludes people from groups, prefers simple clunky mechanics and power in numbers. As in short time to kill (since then they don’t need to be 2v1, 3v1 etc. every time). The best player in the world would die to one shot which makes them satisfied as they can appear better and have a sense of pride if they group up against people with a huge amount more experience or skill than them and can make new gear, instances etc exclusive to them by teaming up compared to the disadvantage of not finding a fixed group of people to play with. They have no respect for older players, more experienced or skilled etc. Does not want aim to be a deciding factor, prefers no dps meters so any rotation goes, gives feedback in terms of only what would benefit them and wants an illusion of no p2w. Does not want a gaming experience that is amazing, but wants to fuel their ego, just for now, against players that have good aim, experience etc. without any of it, and move on to the next game once it loses popularity when devs don’t understand that listening to them is going against every good player, everyone that loves the game, every streamer that built their reputation on skill. And it seems to me this game is heading down that exact same road just from the get go.
My suggestion would be to make it cool, make it so that the ones that play the most and that have to most skill get the most respect and are able to provide impressive and entertaining gameplay on the streaming platform. Give people that are adults and working a chance to be useful and have a purpose in the game. Allow classes that are easy to be strong but the ones that are most difficult to remain stronger if played well. Make every fight not one that is unexpected or creates conflict or rewards unfairness or using the build that can stun, one shot etc, but one that you want to take and that is a test of your own skill, where if you win you get a sense of achievement, and if you lose you are left with a sense of having to work harder to improve, at least it was fair and a good fight. Mainly you do this by not making anyone oneshottable and giving all classes a means to disengage from a fight and get away to restart the fight again where both have 100% or PvP gear, buffs etc. If there is no means of disengage or escape then PvP in the game is simply just who attacks first and if it is unexpected for the player, it might be funny for them and very frustrating for the other. And of course if there is no escape, 2 players are always stronger than one, regardless of gear or skill or playtime and skill is completely obsolete by just being 2v1. That ruins the experience for all and makes it more or less impossible to stream the game without appearing as a bad player or having to play with a full team or using cheats, mods, exploits, p2w in order to compete at all. Also free targeting being able to use skills at any time is necessary and any quick fix or blockages to make players not be able to get anywhere solo in the game is also detrimental to the player experience. All stars and builds and consumables need to have an noticeable impact and be useful so people can choose what they want to do and feel like their ideas matter, and not just having to study guides or watch a YouTube video to find out what they are supposed to do. Everything should be accessible through doing what you want to do, and doing other content has to come from own motivation and not by feeling you have to do something you don’t want in order to obtain a certain item, especially something like studying guides or puzzles in games that are not intuitive enough that you have to find out where to go or what to do at any time. An example is a quest with a puzzle that gives an amount of gold, then you can tell it is a puzzle quest and choose not to do it, those that do enjoy hours of running around some cave to find out what to do or reading walkthroughs can do it if they want. Another example is an item added to the game like a mount or special costume that requires you to do that puzzle, even if you don’t want to, which will then make the player dislike the gaming experience. So it is important to make sure the game is simply made as games should be, in order to have fun and an enjoyable time and be rewarded for the time you put in to it.
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