Is there a chance... Client Download and Character Creator

Hello All,
As my anticipation and the hype train builds for Alpha Two to go live, I wondered if there is a chance that Intrepid Studios would allow the game client to be downloaded and maybe give us access to the character creator a couple of days prior to the Alpha going live.

Currently I live in a rural part of my state, and while I do have high speed internet I also know that there will be people all over the world that are all going to be attempting to download the client which will stress the servers. I also believe that not all of these people will have 1Gb/s or better internet connection. If we get the ability to download the client starting on say Monday vice Friday then it gives people with slower connections time to get it downloaded and it should help to reduce the instant load on Intrepid's servers.

Access to the character creator starting on say Wednesday allows people like me who can spend hours and hours just in the creator a chance to do so and still be able to be active in the game once the servers go live. I know that the servers will wipe and that characters will have to be remade, but for many of us who have waited literal years for this access, I want to dive in but I also want to read and take my time in the character creator.

Now, I know that there are some people out there that would use an opportunity like this to start data mining and looking under the hood of the game files and while yes this could and probably will happen, the NDA would still not be lifted until the servers go live, hopefully preventing a release of information prior to the Alpha actually starting.

What do you all think, do you like the idea of being able to download the client over the course of a few days, what about the ability to access the character creator a couple days early, I'd like to hear your thoughts.

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Comments

Hinotori

You'll likely be able to download the client early but the character creator isn't separated from the game. This got covered in the recent AMA for alpha 2. Their was an initial plan to have people make characters early but was changed. Now you'll just have to do it on login.

Taiisien

I kinda remembered them making that comment but I was not sure. In my mind I was thinking about how you log onto EQ / WoW where you can create characters and then have the character logon button, I was hoping there would just be a way for them to disable that button. I would love to see it but if it cannot / wont be done then I guess Ill just have to spend my first couple hours in the creator before I get to go test out and explore the world.

ShivaFang

I hope we'll be able to create characters appearance offline without having to log in a day or two before the servers go live. Otherwise this will be chalked up to another promise that Intrepid dropped the ball on.

Ungohil

Your character will potentially be wiped several times until release of the game, so you will have more than enough time to try, build and create the perfect shaped avatar. During Alpha and Beta it just is fully irrelevant how your character is designed. Make an ugly one and have fun, it doesnt matter.

unknownsystemerror

If you are needing a few days to download the client due to your infrastructure you are in for a wild ride here for testing. Intrepid is going to be iterating hard and fast for the first several months of A2. What does this mean? You will be updating and sometimes fully installing the client repeatedly. So if you are already thinking it takes you days to download one client, by the time you do, the next one will be ready. Have fun.

nanfoodle

unknownsystemerror wrote: »

If you are needing a few days to download the client due to your infrastructure you are in for a wild ride here for testing. Intrepid is going to be iterating hard and fast for the first several months of A2. What does this mean? You will be updating and sometimes fully installing the client repeatedly. So if you are already thinking it takes you days to download one client, by the time you do, the next one will be ready. Have fun.

Ya I Alpha it's not uncommon to need to re-downlaod a whole new client. Last game I tested in a month that happened more then a few times. I am sure every weekend we will have patching as well. None the less. If it's what ya want to do. I hope it works out for ya. Just know what your getting into.

Caeryl

ShivaFang wrote: »

I hope we'll be able to create characters appearance offline without having to log in a day or two before the servers go live. Otherwise this will be chalked up to another promise that Intrepid dropped the ball on.

That'd be ideal, but screenshot your sliders and options selected for char creation anyway in case it doesn't pan out that way. It'll save a lot of time in the long run.

Fireplay

I have noticed in some games the Character creator is separate to the server. With this happening, you could spend 15min on your character but when its time to get in to game, you are in a queue 1000 people deep. Hopefully this is not an issue

nanfoodle

I hope they do pre-launch the char creator as well but only because I want to play with it lol

Taiisien

Chaliux wrote: »

Your character will potentially be wiped several times until release of the game...

I understand this, I even mentioned it in my original post, and while it is not required that my toon looks good during testing, realistically its not required to during actual gameplay either. I enjoy the creator and really this is part of the game and while not one of their focuses, it should be tested too.

unknownsystemerror wrote: »

If you are needing a few days to download the client due to your infrastructure you are in for a wild ride here for testing...

I am not concerned about my internet connection where I live now, but it has not always been that way for me, and I am sure that there are others that want to be a part of this and dont have the best connection. Additionally, I have done many alpha and beta tests in the past, I would say it is less common to have to do a full client download, normally as they modify things or new content is released it is sent out as a patch that updates what changed / adds what is missing. Now I am not saying that a full client sized download is not going to happen, just that I dont think it will be frequent.

Fireplay wrote: »

I have noticed in some games the Character creator is separate to the server. With this happening, you could spend 15min on your character but when its time to get in to game, you are in a queue 1000 people deep. Hopefully this is not an issue

Exactly one of the things I hope to avoid. I have, in past testing / games, gotten to start my access when I feel the server load would probably been light, but spent so much time in the character creator that by the time I was actually ready to enter the game, then I was in a que.

nanfoodle wrote: »

I hope they do pre-launch the char creator as well but only because I want to play with it lol

Me too.

Taleof2Cities

nanfoodle wrote: »

I hope they do pre-launch the char creator as well but only because I want to play with it lol

Taiisien wrote: »

Me too.

As Hinotori said, the character creator won’t be separated from the game until midway through Phase I portion of Alpha 2 (late autumn 2024).

Until then, everyone will be using the creator upon logging in for Alpha 2.

It might be good to reiterate that Phase I of Alpha 2 is heavy on testing and Intrepid fully plans to meet their concurrent player targets.

Which means players aren’t missing out on anything by spending the first few hours of Alpha 2 making their best character.

EDIT: Rewatched the AMA and it appears the character creator will be available midway through Phase I and not Phase III.

warpath98

Hopefully, we will get our emails and be able to download the client right after spot testing concludes. At that point, there will be no servers available, so getting the client early shouldn't be an issue. Any changes can be patched in prior to bringing the servers online.
I normally don't really care about character creation much because the character is going to be covering everything with armor. I think it would be a time saver in the future if I could save a preset for several different characters ahead of time. That would make things easy at the start of each phase and after any wipes.

Thunderson

Character creation is not the point at this moment . So dont spent to much time on it

ShivaFang

Chaliux wrote: »

Your character will potentially be wiped several times until release of the game, so you will have more than enough time to try, build and create the perfect shaped avatar. During Alpha and Beta it just is fully irrelevant how your character is designed. Make an ugly one and have fun, it doesnt matter.

This is even more of a reason to have an offline character creation functionality (even if it's in the same client). Create what I want once to reuse for each wipe.

I get this is definitely too late to change now if it's not already planned.

ShivaFang

Taleof2Cities wrote: »

EDIT: Rewatched the AMA and it appears the character creator will be available midway through Phase I and not Phase III.

This isn't so bad, thanks for sharing.

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