We have not said that there will be any "set group on X date" that I am aware of, we have specified that we will have targeted testing phases, once we have more information and are closer to being ready to go ahead with it, we will give more information, keeping in mind the people creating the game are not noobies and have a fair bit of experience with the testing process, we will do what is best for our game as it is important to us to test key features and mechanics so we can release a solid product. ;)
Kilsin said:We have not said that there will be any "set group on X date" that I am aware of, we have specified that we will have targeted testing phases, once we have more information and are closer to being ready to go ahead with it, we will give more information, keeping in mind the people creating the game are not noobies and have a fair bit of experience with the testing process, we will do what is best for our game as it is important to us to test key features and mechanics so we can release a solid product. ;)
Sounds good. I was expecting that sort of testing for pre-alpha and alpha anyway. I wasn't expecting the servers to up 24/7 until some time during the beta tests to be honest. I can imagine that having servers running for hundreds (if not thousands) of people would be expensive and that VR would want to keep expenses down.
Either way I'm really looking forward to it :).
Ashenor said:I am setting up my VIP sub on the 17th this month.
Has there been any more talk on a rough target for pre-alpha now?
No ETA at this stage, we would like to get into testing by early next year and hope that it will be the case but like anything, it could change. ;)
I rather they take their time and build a solid game before they send this to the testers. Too many gaming companies in recent history have gotten away with sending halfway developed games to their Alpha and Beta testers and think that is okay. From what I have seen within the youtube vids, this game has come a long way and I appreciate the amount of work going into this.
I hope your expectations for 'pre-alpha' and 'alpha' are super low because if they're anything like that other game that's in development at the moment (PvP, RvR based one) their alpha was a true alpha and a lot of the users/testers got all cross and stuff when things didn't work properly.
Alphas in the modern day have tended to be near complete (i.e mis-labelled) instead of what they really are, test beds for mechanics, environments, interactions etc
Will look forward to the 'I quit' posts because my sword doesn't make a perfect 'swoosh' sound :D
Nydan said: Pre-alpha? Come on guys...
It will be ready when it's ready my friend, we are working our butts off and when we are close, I will announce it, until then the team is working very hard to make it happen so please have some patience. :)
I must admit, up until the cohh video, my impression was alpha would be starting in q1/q2 2017. Now, my impression is, there will be no pledgers of any kind in the game in 2017. So, I will instead focus on EQ1 TLP and set aside time for Pantheon in 2018.
It's a real shame, because many in my guild are looking forward to Pantheon and now we're all kind of bummed out, but oh well. The longer it takes, the higher expectations will be.
Manouk said:Saicred said:Wow I reading this thread seeing the timelines was discouraging.
I'm thinking, Bitcoin.
And there may be some that quit and may wish they hadn't.
/Hodler
Can you explain what you mean here? My English is pretty okay but you've totally lost me. No idea what you're saying here.
Dhampir said:Wow so testing went from this year to next year. Good to know. :P
Please be sure to check the date of the posts folks.
My post was from 2016 and said that we hope to have testing ready by early in 2017, that unfortunately wasn't to be and we are currently working hard to get it ready as soon as we can but there is no ETA, we will definitely announce it to those who have access when that time comes.
August 1 now - no date for pre-alpha not even a "we hope but don't promise" date as vague as "before the end of the year". Likewise for new forums (something I don't give a rat's hindquarters about but it does reinforce a feeling that things aren't necessarily moving ahead quite as planned).
I've tried to talk-up Pantheon in other games but it is harder every month to rebut the "just vaporware, no visible movement other than carefully crafted streams and pictures" responses.
I know the team has a strong bias against saying anything other than "we are working hard" but you might consider trying to get a bit more specific now. Not necessarily for those of us here but to make our efforts to get other people here a bit easier.
If they get any more specific they'll just be opening themselves up to more rage posts when they fail to make the deadline. MMOs take a while to make so even with the experience they have there's no way they can accurately tell. It sucks to wait but the best we can do is just do other things, like git gud at Overwatch.
Stay the course VR. Take the next steps when its appropriate to and not a moment sooner. I do not wish to see this follow the course of Pantheon, SWG, EQII, and a long list of other titles, with stages moving forward prematurely due to financial pressure from outside entities and fomenting anger and discontent with buggy, laggy, incomplete gameplay.
You'll be far more harmed by the social media reports of crappy code released too soon than you'll ever be from people who are frustrated waiting for something that eventualy gets rave reviews.
Feyshtey said:... I do not wish to see this follow the course of Pantheon, SWG, EQII, and a long list of other titles, with stages moving forward prematurely due to financial pressure from outside entities and fomenting anger and discontent with buggy, laggy, incomplete gameplay. ...
I think you mean Vanguard instead of Pantheon :) At least we should hope that Pantheon is released in a good shape and not incomplete and buggy, this is a good reason to wait a bit longer. But on the other hand a few more informations about the game would be nice. At least this informations would make the waiting time feel much less anoying.
Landbert said:Feyshtey said:... I do not wish to see this follow the course of Pantheon, SWG, EQII, and a long list of other titles, with stages moving forward prematurely due to financial pressure from outside entities and fomenting anger and discontent with buggy, laggy, incomplete gameplay. ...
I think you mean Vanguard instead of Pantheon...
I do indeed mean Vangaurd! Thanks for that catch.