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Keep some mystery for launch
Veeshan
Member
I think you should keep some thing hidden during the test phases or atleast till very last beta which should be short to keep the game fresh on release
Some ideas to achieve this.
- jumble the node types, nodes in the test servers wont line up with how they are on release so a scientific one during the test phase would become a commercial one on release for example, this leave to discovery during release aswell as hindering people planning out there day 1 plan with there node choices.
- internally test some of the high end content/world bosses/dungeons so dont add them to the test but only on release so people cant get the mechanic down pre release to womp them down super quickly on release. this would take a few run though on developers team to make sure there mechanic work properly but should be achievable, might not be an issue with node system making different things spawn
- Hide some high end crafting recipes especially if there drops recipes, simply remove some of the high end recipes off the loot table will achieve this
- hide some freehold (from my understanding this are spots people can claim in the world i could be wrong) Would be nice if you couldnt find the one u want in alpha and be like im gonna claim this asap on release kinda thing if some are hidden people might look more for them.
Some ideas to achieve this.
- jumble the node types, nodes in the test servers wont line up with how they are on release so a scientific one during the test phase would become a commercial one on release for example, this leave to discovery during release aswell as hindering people planning out there day 1 plan with there node choices.
- internally test some of the high end content/world bosses/dungeons so dont add them to the test but only on release so people cant get the mechanic down pre release to womp them down super quickly on release. this would take a few run though on developers team to make sure there mechanic work properly but should be achievable, might not be an issue with node system making different things spawn
- Hide some high end crafting recipes especially if there drops recipes, simply remove some of the high end recipes off the loot table will achieve this
- hide some freehold (from my understanding this are spots people can claim in the world i could be wrong) Would be nice if you couldnt find the one u want in alpha and be like im gonna claim this asap on release kinda thing if some are hidden people might look more for them.
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Not testing a dungeon or raid means that when the game releases, the test is actually on the live server. Hiding aspects of the crafting systems keeps the kinks from getting worked out. Hiding locations from player housing COULD work, but you can put your freehold anywhere in the node ZOI of a State 3node as long as it's not too close to a road, dungeon, spawn or other freeholds. Also some terrain limits as well. So there aren't really "assigned" places.
Having your live launch as THE test for your game mechanics and systems is a bad move.
I'll refer you to New World's launch for more information on how well that works.
On the contrary, New World's problems happened despite its extensive betas and alphas. Everyone could know everything about the game before it launched. Ashes should just do what they think requires public testing, and do the rest privately. How much that is we can't really know.
Yep. One could even argue that many of its problems happened because of the extensive testing.
Honestly, I think enough communication about glitches in the first months of the game would clear those issues up. I'd imagine that if Intrepid says "Because we didn't publicly test most endgame content, we will focus on quick bugfixes on a weekly basis", people would be pretty much OK with it. Besides, with the way that Steven's talked about wanting to keep things a surprise, and being willing to pay for in-game moderators, he'd probably be willing to pay for in-house testing too.
That being said, a great selling point for this game will be the dynamics of what node progression and player impact will bring, so how to do clips hopefully only become with limited use.
you internally test it doesnt take long to do a boss fight using the devs for example same thing with crafting recipes devs can spawn them and try them out, also you can have recipes drop off any mob during test and then put them on proper loot tables afterwards so they be in game but where to aquire them wouldnt
yes there some risk to not testing everything however they never did open testing in the old days most of it was internal there wasnt realy beta testing till after WoW at some point when people relised they could sell access to beta/alpha
I think testing thing is where new world went horrably wrong with there game discussion as well. The pivotal change from there vision with open world pvp with backlash from some players on the forums (Happy people dont tend to complain on the forums so its a bad way to do things since 40% of player may be complaining but 60^ might like it for example but only the 40% complain)
Games pre wow never had public alpha's/beta its only hmm 10-15 or years where it alpha and beta became a thing when corporationrelise they could use it for marketing/selling access for more profit and most of those were bnasicly completed gasmes tryiong to double dip on the money. Those games arguable release in better stats than the current games :P
Even so, hate to say it, but this industry is a cut throat business. With what little Steven has let out of the bag there are plenty of games now using the same tag lines and jargon Steven and the team are using. So I can respect them wanting to keep certain things underwrap for as long as possible.
I would suspect the west island since they did show off the reword riverlands and thing which i beleive is the green grassy lake area in the south middle part of the world map we have. We also seen some lava field too which i suspect would be north part of the western island. Human stuff also tend to get done first in development since being humans thats what we know so the art is usualy easier to come up with since you can look at whats already been done in the past and mix it up a little.
So it makes sense we get western island from what we seen.
I'm pretty sure he said alpha 2 will start with half the map. By the end of alpha 2 we will have the full map
But I also agree that system wise we want to test as much as we physically can.
Open development can be bittersweet in the sense that, while we get to show off all this cool stuff as we complete it, it also means there may not be heaps of mystery and surprise. So it's all about balance so we can maintain that element when the time for release comes, but still show off all the cool things we make as we make em'!
For example, nodes won't be in their final locations during some of the testing phases. ( ͡^ ‿‿ ͡^)
Same thing if they put out all the future patches and new content on non-NDA test servers so release day(s) lose excitement and mystery.