So over on the forums of that one game I used to play where the recent update introduced group instances, a couple players commented that while they really enjoyed the game, they had concerns about the population and how long the company can stay afloat.
The response from the current fellow in charge: "I simple(sp) don't understand the furor and commentary over player numbers. How does the issue of low numbers affect your gameplay experience and what is the relevance?"
Showing posts with label Alganon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alganon. Show all posts
Friday, May 21, 2010
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Alganon - Update from a Little Known Blog
I told myself I wouldn't post anything further on Alganon. There's plenty of sites covering the continuing saga and I really didn't have much to add that hadn't been said already before. But...
If the whole plagiarism arguing didn't seem like that much news before, it just got a bit funnier. For the couple of you that read here that might have missed the story on another blog, check out n3rfed who contacted John Smedley for a response. Thanks to Broken Toys for pointing me to the site.
Now back to my life less ordinary.
If the whole plagiarism arguing didn't seem like that much news before, it just got a bit funnier. For the couple of you that read here that might have missed the story on another blog, check out n3rfed who contacted John Smedley for a response. Thanks to Broken Toys for pointing me to the site.
Now back to my life less ordinary.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Alganon - Civil Action Filed
Per David Allen:
In an effort to enhance Alganon’s® market visibility and following the direction of certain investors, QOL hired Derek Smart as a consultant on December 3, 2009 to assist in the area of sales and marketing. Soon thereafter, and for reasons unbeknownst to me, Mr. Smart began a smear campaign attacking my credibility, first privately among the investors, and then publicly. As many have read on various Internet websites, Mr. Smart has made disparaging remarks concerning my professional work and comments that could lead others to question my loyalty, honesty, and ability to successfully create, build, run, and manage a multi-million dollar MMOG development company; something I have been doing successfully for over four years. Please be aware that Mr. Smart’s comments are false and that I have filed a civil action against him in Maricopa County Superior Court for his defamatory conduct, among other things. I have been advised by my legal counsel to offer no further comment at this time on this matter during the pendency of the litigation.
I've read the entire complaint which covers Smart's scheme to infiltrate and take over Quest Online, Allen's unlawful removal in violation of the Operating Agreement, and Smart's false and defamatory statements which has caused irreparable damage to Allen's career. I think the defamation went to extremes so I hope he at least gains some compensation for that. A very interesting read and I wish him much luck.
In an effort to enhance Alganon’s® market visibility and following the direction of certain investors, QOL hired Derek Smart as a consultant on December 3, 2009 to assist in the area of sales and marketing. Soon thereafter, and for reasons unbeknownst to me, Mr. Smart began a smear campaign attacking my credibility, first privately among the investors, and then publicly. As many have read on various Internet websites, Mr. Smart has made disparaging remarks concerning my professional work and comments that could lead others to question my loyalty, honesty, and ability to successfully create, build, run, and manage a multi-million dollar MMOG development company; something I have been doing successfully for over four years. Please be aware that Mr. Smart’s comments are false and that I have filed a civil action against him in Maricopa County Superior Court for his defamatory conduct, among other things. I have been advised by my legal counsel to offer no further comment at this time on this matter during the pendency of the litigation.
I've read the entire complaint which covers Smart's scheme to infiltrate and take over Quest Online, Allen's unlawful removal in violation of the Operating Agreement, and Smart's false and defamatory statements which has caused irreparable damage to Allen's career. I think the defamation went to extremes so I hope he at least gains some compensation for that. A very interesting read and I wish him much luck.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
The Greener Pastures of Aerrevan
There have only been a few MMO's where I involved myself in the forums prior to or even after the game's launch--Vanguard, Alganon, and more recently Aerrevan. I'm typically not much of a forum poster. But when the community is smaller and new, it's not so intimidating to be joining in and adding your own voice and opinion. So it was a pleasant surprise to find myself not so alone over there when someone I'm familiar with from Alganon read my blog and posted over at the Aerrevan forums. And then more came. She in turn spread the word to other displaced Alganites, and each day I've seen another one or two familiar names show up there as more continue to trickle in.
And then I started thinking (yeah I know...uh oh). I wondered what the motivating factor was for our interest in Aerrevan. We don't know enough to really say it's the game itself. Considering we've all come from Alganon, it's likely we all have a common interest in a smaller gaming community. Although I've never held a conversation with many of these players, there's a certain familiarity after months of reading their posts and seeing them in the chat channels in game. And with a smaller community, there's often a keener developer interaction both in the forums and in game, further cementing that community bond. It has a very cozy feel to it and is what kept many playing Alganon despite all the problems.
Hopefully, the good people over at Aerrevan and its established community aren't feeling invaded upon as the migration continues. We're just looking for a friendly place to hang our hats for hopefully a long while.
And then I started thinking (yeah I know...uh oh). I wondered what the motivating factor was for our interest in Aerrevan. We don't know enough to really say it's the game itself. Considering we've all come from Alganon, it's likely we all have a common interest in a smaller gaming community. Although I've never held a conversation with many of these players, there's a certain familiarity after months of reading their posts and seeing them in the chat channels in game. And with a smaller community, there's often a keener developer interaction both in the forums and in game, further cementing that community bond. It has a very cozy feel to it and is what kept many playing Alganon despite all the problems.
Hopefully, the good people over at Aerrevan and its established community aren't feeling invaded upon as the migration continues. We're just looking for a friendly place to hang our hats for hopefully a long while.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Alganon Needs a Community Manager
In my long years of gaming, I've really developed an appreciation for the great Community Managers of various MMO's. They handle the angry posts with grace, patience, and wit, while conveying a genuine affection for all the players. And they relay information from other folks in the company who don't have the temperament for posting on the forums. For potential new players coming to the forums looking for a general idea of type of community present in an MMO, a great CM can really set the tone for the entire forum and the game.
I've been part of the Alganon community for four years. So having a prior long-term connection there, it's a little easier for me to not take the recent shenanigans that seriously. But if I knew nothing of the game and the people involved and just started reading the forums, I'd be really put off and wouldn't be playing.
I've stated before that I appreciated the candor that Derek Smart initially expressed to the players. It was great to finally know what was going on and what direction the game would be taking. And it was great to hear that someone actually wanted to fix the game instead of leaving it broken while adding more broken new stuff on top of it. But he shouldn't be posting anymore. They desperately need a Community Manager.
In reading his posts as well as the subscriber posts over the last few days, this is not is not a direction in community I like to see. His more recent posts have been along the lines of, "If you don't like the game, leave. Any negative posts will be deleted and the poster banned with no warning!" (yes, he did boldface those words) I've been reading the posts and have seen nothing ban-worthy. I have never been part of an MMO community where negative posts are deleted and users banned. I mean seriously, what the heck? Foul language, yes. Name calling, yes. But negative opinions?
This in turn has changed some of the posting styles of some community members. For some there seems to be a need to get on his good side as they join in on snide remarks against the negative poster. His display of preferential treatment to certain players who agree with him or impress him drives the wedge further. And if I hear one more gushing "I really like you, Derek!" grrr. What was already a niche game may become even more niche.
I think he's well intentioned with wanting to help the game and I still appreciate his effort in "getting er done". But he needs to hire a Community Manager pronto to moderate with a kind, gentle hand and stay off the forums. They need to contact Sandra Weathers for advice. She knows how it's done.
I've been part of the Alganon community for four years. So having a prior long-term connection there, it's a little easier for me to not take the recent shenanigans that seriously. But if I knew nothing of the game and the people involved and just started reading the forums, I'd be really put off and wouldn't be playing.
I've stated before that I appreciated the candor that Derek Smart initially expressed to the players. It was great to finally know what was going on and what direction the game would be taking. And it was great to hear that someone actually wanted to fix the game instead of leaving it broken while adding more broken new stuff on top of it. But he shouldn't be posting anymore. They desperately need a Community Manager.
In reading his posts as well as the subscriber posts over the last few days, this is not is not a direction in community I like to see. His more recent posts have been along the lines of, "If you don't like the game, leave. Any negative posts will be deleted and the poster banned with no warning!" (yes, he did boldface those words) I've been reading the posts and have seen nothing ban-worthy. I have never been part of an MMO community where negative posts are deleted and users banned. I mean seriously, what the heck? Foul language, yes. Name calling, yes. But negative opinions?
This in turn has changed some of the posting styles of some community members. For some there seems to be a need to get on his good side as they join in on snide remarks against the negative poster. His display of preferential treatment to certain players who agree with him or impress him drives the wedge further. And if I hear one more gushing "I really like you, Derek!" grrr. What was already a niche game may become even more niche.
I think he's well intentioned with wanting to help the game and I still appreciate his effort in "getting er done". But he needs to hire a Community Manager pronto to moderate with a kind, gentle hand and stay off the forums. They need to contact Sandra Weathers for advice. She knows how it's done.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Alganon Didn't Fail Because It's A WoW Clone
There's a bit of bantering going on over at Gamusutra between Derek Smart and one of the recently departed QOL team members (**edit-more than one now**), who stated "I'm very sorry if this next comment makes things rough on Alganon's players. They are the one's we built the game for, so I've avoided statements like this is the past, but: Yes. The game Alganon failed. It failed because despite being fun and all original work, it appeared and played too similar to World of Warcraft. I failed because I did not realize that was a "deal breaker" for so many people."
While I realize the similarity was constantly discussed, when you talked to people who played and left in frustration it had nothing to do with any similarities. The game at release was mostly unplayable. Constant disconnects and crashes, mobs warping, broken game mechanics, tons of bugged quests, and as low end as the graphics appear, it requires a pretty decent system to play well. And as the months progressed and much of the bugs were worked out, where many could remain logged in and start to enjoy the game, it became apparent there wasn't much content beyond 30 and lesser still after 40.
Then add to this mix the crafting. The interdependence wasn't much fun, and even less so with a dwindling population causing more frustration for players. So how do they address this? They added an interdependence requirement for the gathering skills as well which now required rare components from other crafters just to raise your gathering skill.
Seriously, I wondered if they played their own game. But I think Derek Smart gets it. He's stated the game failed because it wasn't finished and he intends to finish it. Yeah I know people don't like him and he's said some abrasive stuff in the past. But to be honest, after all these months of the community getting the runaround and given very vague answers on the forums, his directness is refreshing. He has ruffled a few feathers on the forums though. His prior games seem to be of the boys' club type and guys speak differently when women aren't present. Alganon has a large percentage of female players. Give him a few months with us and maybe you'll have a kinder, gentler Derek Smart.
I've also noticed a different posting style from the other devs. There almost seems to be this tension lifted and there are more lighthearted responses in their posts. So whatever has been happening behind the scenes, it seems to be positive.
If you read the entire Gamusutra comments, it reveals a heck of a lot. Too much to go into detail here. But I've come away from it with a little more understanding and hopefulness in Alganon's future.
While I realize the similarity was constantly discussed, when you talked to people who played and left in frustration it had nothing to do with any similarities. The game at release was mostly unplayable. Constant disconnects and crashes, mobs warping, broken game mechanics, tons of bugged quests, and as low end as the graphics appear, it requires a pretty decent system to play well. And as the months progressed and much of the bugs were worked out, where many could remain logged in and start to enjoy the game, it became apparent there wasn't much content beyond 30 and lesser still after 40.
Then add to this mix the crafting. The interdependence wasn't much fun, and even less so with a dwindling population causing more frustration for players. So how do they address this? They added an interdependence requirement for the gathering skills as well which now required rare components from other crafters just to raise your gathering skill.
Seriously, I wondered if they played their own game. But I think Derek Smart gets it. He's stated the game failed because it wasn't finished and he intends to finish it. Yeah I know people don't like him and he's said some abrasive stuff in the past. But to be honest, after all these months of the community getting the runaround and given very vague answers on the forums, his directness is refreshing. He has ruffled a few feathers on the forums though. His prior games seem to be of the boys' club type and guys speak differently when women aren't present. Alganon has a large percentage of female players. Give him a few months with us and maybe you'll have a kinder, gentler Derek Smart.
I've also noticed a different posting style from the other devs. There almost seems to be this tension lifted and there are more lighthearted responses in their posts. So whatever has been happening behind the scenes, it seems to be positive.
If you read the entire Gamusutra comments, it reveals a heck of a lot. Too much to go into detail here. But I've come away from it with a little more understanding and hopefulness in Alganon's future.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Alganon - The Plot Thickens
Derek Smart posted to clarify some of the speculations going on. He was more forthcoming with behind the scenes goings on than I expected, but the games direction itself is still a bit uncertain.
It was made clear that HE had fired David Allen a few weeks ago for insubordination and acting against the interests of the company, and also fired one of his buddies. Mr. Smart was brought on board in December to help move the game along. But David wanted to continue doing his own thing and would not recognize Mr. Smart's authority even after he was promoted to president and David Allen was demoted. Yeah this whole insubordination and recognizing authority stuff does seem to confirm some of the bad rep.
But anyways, there were some positive things. All paid subscriptions will be refunded 100%. He also stated the December launch never should have happened and was a huge mistake, and that "this whole WoW look-alike rubbish is gone". He's asked the artists to throw it all out and come up with their own unique look for the game's ui.
One comment that was a bit confusing was that "EVERYTHING that was added to the game - when it should have been about fixing the game, tweaking it etc - has been disabled/removed on my orders." Honestly, don't know what that means.
There are many more changes coming, but he did not have time to go over them all at this time. He closed the post with a comment that Alganon would not be Quest Online's only game.
So there you go. The drama can't get much better than this.
It was made clear that HE had fired David Allen a few weeks ago for insubordination and acting against the interests of the company, and also fired one of his buddies. Mr. Smart was brought on board in December to help move the game along. But David wanted to continue doing his own thing and would not recognize Mr. Smart's authority even after he was promoted to president and David Allen was demoted. Yeah this whole insubordination and recognizing authority stuff does seem to confirm some of the bad rep.
But anyways, there were some positive things. All paid subscriptions will be refunded 100%. He also stated the December launch never should have happened and was a huge mistake, and that "this whole WoW look-alike rubbish is gone". He's asked the artists to throw it all out and come up with their own unique look for the game's ui.
One comment that was a bit confusing was that "EVERYTHING that was added to the game - when it should have been about fixing the game, tweaking it etc - has been disabled/removed on my orders." Honestly, don't know what that means.
There are many more changes coming, but he did not have time to go over them all at this time. He closed the post with a comment that Alganon would not be Quest Online's only game.
So there you go. The drama can't get much better than this.
Alganon - Uh Oh
David Allen has left his second failed attempt (first being Horizons) at making an MMO, and now Alganon is in the hands of the notorious Derek Smart. I say notorious because Mr. Smart doesn't have the most stellar of reputations when it comes to interacting with the gaming community. Here's a quote from one particular interview, "Sometimes when I get online, and it's quiet, and I see something that attracts my attention, I'll post just to piss these guys off. That's why I do it. Because I'm in a good mood that day, I go in there and I start trouble."
There goes the neighborhood. Personality issues aside, he is held in high regard as an indie developer.(*edit - in certain circles)
The Alganon members didn't receive the courtesy of receiving this information on the official forums, but rather through massively.com. This should get interesting.
There goes the neighborhood. Personality issues aside, he is held in high regard as an indie developer.(*edit - in certain circles)
The Alganon members didn't receive the courtesy of receiving this information on the official forums, but rather through massively.com. This should get interesting.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Alganon - The Big March 1 Patch
Well the patch didn't come. This was to be the content patch that included new dungeons as a result of the Dawning event.
What did come, however, as the official announcement regarding their new subscription-free model. They are calling it subscription-free rather than free to play because there will still be a purchase price. Their hope is that this will minimize the troublemakers and help maintain some social maturity in game.
They are adding a Tribute Market System as their method of real money transactions. Those of us with prepaid subscriptions will have Tribute deposited into our accounts following the official relaunch in mid-April. Along with items typically seen in ftp such as mounts, pets, and equipment, they also will be selling study time. Currently, longer term subscribers would have had an advantage due to the study system. However, those with padded wallets will now be able to buy their studies rather than wait. Also, it appears items such as mounts will not just be purchased outright. You will need to continue to pay for them in the form of maintenance.
Also coming with the April relaunch will be a redesigned starter experience and new starter areas, along with a collection of dungeon instances.
Honestly, I'm not sure what to make of it yet. It's still over a month away, so I'll have to wait and see what sort of pricing structures they have. But I am disappointed the studies will now be tied to how much money you have rather than how long you've been playing. That was probably the biggest let down of the whole thing.
What did come, however, as the official announcement regarding their new subscription-free model. They are calling it subscription-free rather than free to play because there will still be a purchase price. Their hope is that this will minimize the troublemakers and help maintain some social maturity in game.
They are adding a Tribute Market System as their method of real money transactions. Those of us with prepaid subscriptions will have Tribute deposited into our accounts following the official relaunch in mid-April. Along with items typically seen in ftp such as mounts, pets, and equipment, they also will be selling study time. Currently, longer term subscribers would have had an advantage due to the study system. However, those with padded wallets will now be able to buy their studies rather than wait. Also, it appears items such as mounts will not just be purchased outright. You will need to continue to pay for them in the form of maintenance.
Also coming with the April relaunch will be a redesigned starter experience and new starter areas, along with a collection of dungeon instances.
Honestly, I'm not sure what to make of it yet. It's still over a month away, so I'll have to wait and see what sort of pricing structures they have. But I am disappointed the studies will now be tied to how much money you have rather than how long you've been playing. That was probably the biggest let down of the whole thing.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Alganon Going Free to Play?
Even though I am mostly playing STO, I still log into Alganon to keep my studies updated and just generally tinker around a bit. Yesterday I noticed a new icon on my screen placed next to my total money display. A few discussed it in general chat coming up with some theories and a GM responded we will found out quite soon.
Today a dev posted to explain this was part of a new Tribute system as part of "the new subscription-free pricing model that Alganon is adopting, as seen elsewhere on the site." Unfortunately, there is no mention of free to play elsewhere on the site at this point, but I guess it's coming.
I was one of thoseidiots supportive people who purchased a one-year subscription in hopes of bigger things coming. I have yet to enjoy any free to play model I've tried to date, particularly the communities it attracts. But I'll have to wait and see how it actually evolves.
Today a dev posted to explain this was part of a new Tribute system as part of "the new subscription-free pricing model that Alganon is adopting, as seen elsewhere on the site." Unfortunately, there is no mention of free to play elsewhere on the site at this point, but I guess it's coming.
I was one of those
Friday, January 22, 2010
Getting Quieter Around Here
While Alganon has always had a small player base, I logged in last night and there were 13 players on my faction's side. Considering even fewer people play the ugly faction, I'd be surprised if there were more than 20 people on.
With Star Trek Online being much more fun, I've been logging in less and less. I ran out of quests in Alganon at around level 44 so have been grinding the last five levels. I don't object to some grinding if only I had more places to go and see. I've been killing the same mobs in the same zone for all these levels. There is one other zone I suppose I could alternate the grind. But for some reason, whether by design or an oversight, chests don't drop at all there. So if I'm going to grind, I at least want to make a little money while doing it.
I've been sitting at 49 for awhile now, logging in now and then to kill more of the same mobs. There's really no reason to hit 50 any time soon. I've tried some alts, but with only four classes total, the other three classes just haven't been much fun. Dungeons are supposedly coming. They've released some screenshots of them this week. But considering no mobs were visible in any of the screenshots, I'm guessing this is still a long while off yet.
So I'm logging in mostly for the wonderful people in guild and the community in general. A very poor reason to stick around I know. But I keep hoping more and better stuff is on the way.
With Star Trek Online being much more fun, I've been logging in less and less. I ran out of quests in Alganon at around level 44 so have been grinding the last five levels. I don't object to some grinding if only I had more places to go and see. I've been killing the same mobs in the same zone for all these levels. There is one other zone I suppose I could alternate the grind. But for some reason, whether by design or an oversight, chests don't drop at all there. So if I'm going to grind, I at least want to make a little money while doing it.
I've been sitting at 49 for awhile now, logging in now and then to kill more of the same mobs. There's really no reason to hit 50 any time soon. I've tried some alts, but with only four classes total, the other three classes just haven't been much fun. Dungeons are supposedly coming. They've released some screenshots of them this week. But considering no mobs were visible in any of the screenshots, I'm guessing this is still a long while off yet.
So I'm logging in mostly for the wonderful people in guild and the community in general. A very poor reason to stick around I know. But I keep hoping more and better stuff is on the way.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Open Beta and "The Big Patch"
Last week Alganon went into open beta and released a large patch a few hours prior. I was hoping this might be "the" patch that would really polish some things up. But unfortunately most of the patch consisted fluff additions such as emotes and mail icons. Any actual fixes really wouldn't be evident to anyone just starting the beta.
What many perceived as a nerf to the healer class, was supposedly a fix. The fix was to add pushback so spells would be interrupted when you are hit. So instead of nuking, I am having to rely on my wand and hit them to death. It's not an impossible feat unless there are multiple mobs, but it certainly isn't very fun. The magus class was difficult to play already since all their abilities are not yet functional. Now they are fairly impossible to play.
So I shelved my healer for a bit and decided to try a class unaffected by pushback -- the soldier. And I got to view things from the perspective of those just entering beta. Back when I started, two out of the first ten quests I received weren't functional. And I learned they still aren't functional. There's an issue with any quest that involves harvesting or picking up a specific item. The item never respawns if someone else has done the quest. And you have to wait for a server reset for it to spawn again and hope someone else hasn't picked it up.
As a healer, I was pulling with nukes and never really had much difficulty engaging mobs. As a soldier, I didn't have a ranged item yet, so was having to run up and hit the mob. And the mobs were ignoring me and walking away. I'd chase and hit an attack. Nothing. It was taking me several attempts to actually engage the mob. So for those just coming into beta, their frustration is really understandable. This kind of stuff should have been more a priority than adding emotes. I hate to be gloomy about a game I actually do like in many ways, but based on open beta numbers, I'm not sure they'll have enough subscribers to function.
In other news, Turbine has tempted me once again with their continual emails. They offered a deal where if I subscribed for three months at the $9/month rate, they'd give me the next expansion free. So both of us loaded LotRO up once again. And much like Keen, I'm a bit at a loss on how to play. For some reason I always have trouble relearning my class when I come back to LotRO. I've got hotbars full of so many darn abilities. It really takes me a long time to get back in the swing of things. And unfortunately, the game still doesn't like the SB X-Fi soundcard. Both hubby and I are still getting the blue screens of death we had previously and have to play with sounds completely off. We're not playing often but we'll see how long we last this go around.
What many perceived as a nerf to the healer class, was supposedly a fix. The fix was to add pushback so spells would be interrupted when you are hit. So instead of nuking, I am having to rely on my wand and hit them to death. It's not an impossible feat unless there are multiple mobs, but it certainly isn't very fun. The magus class was difficult to play already since all their abilities are not yet functional. Now they are fairly impossible to play.
So I shelved my healer for a bit and decided to try a class unaffected by pushback -- the soldier. And I got to view things from the perspective of those just entering beta. Back when I started, two out of the first ten quests I received weren't functional. And I learned they still aren't functional. There's an issue with any quest that involves harvesting or picking up a specific item. The item never respawns if someone else has done the quest. And you have to wait for a server reset for it to spawn again and hope someone else hasn't picked it up.
As a healer, I was pulling with nukes and never really had much difficulty engaging mobs. As a soldier, I didn't have a ranged item yet, so was having to run up and hit the mob. And the mobs were ignoring me and walking away. I'd chase and hit an attack. Nothing. It was taking me several attempts to actually engage the mob. So for those just coming into beta, their frustration is really understandable. This kind of stuff should have been more a priority than adding emotes. I hate to be gloomy about a game I actually do like in many ways, but based on open beta numbers, I'm not sure they'll have enough subscribers to function.
In other news, Turbine has tempted me once again with their continual emails. They offered a deal where if I subscribed for three months at the $9/month rate, they'd give me the next expansion free. So both of us loaded LotRO up once again. And much like Keen, I'm a bit at a loss on how to play. For some reason I always have trouble relearning my class when I come back to LotRO. I've got hotbars full of so many darn abilities. It really takes me a long time to get back in the swing of things. And unfortunately, the game still doesn't like the SB X-Fi soundcard. Both hubby and I are still getting the blue screens of death we had previously and have to play with sounds completely off. We're not playing often but we'll see how long we last this go around.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Alganon - Digging Deeper
With the launch delayed for a month, I thought I'd take some time to do a bit more crafting and exploring.
Unfortunately, the more I got into crafting, the less I liked it and decided I'll be strictly gathering on release. For anyone that played EQ2 on launch, remember that crafting interdependency they initially had? You know...the one where you needed products from other crafters to make items? It caused much frustration for many crafters and high prices for adventurers, and eventually was done away with. Well it's seeing the light of day again in Alganon. While on paper it may seem like a neat idea to form a lovely crafting community where we all work together, most hardcore crafters just end up creating alts to get the job done more efficiently, cheaply, and quickly. The casual crafters give up in frustration.
But the crafting frustration doesn't end there. Using EQ2 again as a reference point, now imagine that in order to make mastercrafted items, you will need transmuted components. So you will either have to take up transmuting as well, or buy those transmuted items from the broker. Only instead of transmuting, they call it salvaging here. And it's nearly every bit as painful and expensive to level as EQ2's transmuting. Fortunately though, the quest rewards and dropped armor I've received so far seem to get the job done well enough, that I won't be too concerned with not having crafting in my future.
So on to adventuring. I decided to backtrack through some lower level zones to completely open up my maps and see if I might have missed some things. I love finding those off the beaten track places and there were many. There were many places that quests just never lead me to, but that had perhaps some special item to click on. For example I found an altar-type structure hidden in the side of a hill. On the altar was a book, and I was to share my findings with a certain npc. I love large, open worlds like this, just waiting to be explored. In this regard, it reminds me more of Vanguard and LotRO. And it's this sort of exploration that is lacking in more recent games.
Rather than starting at the bottom of some map and quests taking you northward up the same road from quest hub to quest hub, quest hubs are more randomly placed and you're not always lead directly there. Some places I only learned about from city npc's while I was visiting to do some banking. And it pays to revisit the towns you've moved on from on occasion, as I've been given higher level quests from there sometimes as well. And with the study system, I've had even more quests open up to me.
The game keeps growing on me as I continue to level, but unfortunately, there are still bugs. On November 11, they are going into completely open beta. That's just a couple days away and although it's come a long way, there's still work to be done. So for anyone that wants to give it a try then, I'd suggest giving it more than a couple days try. And do expect there to be some bugs and crashes.
Unfortunately, the more I got into crafting, the less I liked it and decided I'll be strictly gathering on release. For anyone that played EQ2 on launch, remember that crafting interdependency they initially had? You know...the one where you needed products from other crafters to make items? It caused much frustration for many crafters and high prices for adventurers, and eventually was done away with. Well it's seeing the light of day again in Alganon. While on paper it may seem like a neat idea to form a lovely crafting community where we all work together, most hardcore crafters just end up creating alts to get the job done more efficiently, cheaply, and quickly. The casual crafters give up in frustration.
But the crafting frustration doesn't end there. Using EQ2 again as a reference point, now imagine that in order to make mastercrafted items, you will need transmuted components. So you will either have to take up transmuting as well, or buy those transmuted items from the broker. Only instead of transmuting, they call it salvaging here. And it's nearly every bit as painful and expensive to level as EQ2's transmuting. Fortunately though, the quest rewards and dropped armor I've received so far seem to get the job done well enough, that I won't be too concerned with not having crafting in my future.
So on to adventuring. I decided to backtrack through some lower level zones to completely open up my maps and see if I might have missed some things. I love finding those off the beaten track places and there were many. There were many places that quests just never lead me to, but that had perhaps some special item to click on. For example I found an altar-type structure hidden in the side of a hill. On the altar was a book, and I was to share my findings with a certain npc. I love large, open worlds like this, just waiting to be explored. In this regard, it reminds me more of Vanguard and LotRO. And it's this sort of exploration that is lacking in more recent games.
Rather than starting at the bottom of some map and quests taking you northward up the same road from quest hub to quest hub, quest hubs are more randomly placed and you're not always lead directly there. Some places I only learned about from city npc's while I was visiting to do some banking. And it pays to revisit the towns you've moved on from on occasion, as I've been given higher level quests from there sometimes as well. And with the study system, I've had even more quests open up to me.
The game keeps growing on me as I continue to level, but unfortunately, there are still bugs. On November 11, they are going into completely open beta. That's just a couple days away and although it's come a long way, there's still work to be done. So for anyone that wants to give it a try then, I'd suggest giving it more than a couple days try. And do expect there to be some bugs and crashes.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Alganon Launch Delayed
Looks like they decided to try to polish a few more things up. Launch is now scheduled for December 1.
Slightly disappointed that I can't get started next week but probably a good decision in the long run to get more kinks worked out.
Slightly disappointed that I can't get started next week but probably a good decision in the long run to get more kinks worked out.
Alganon Beta Review
With the NDA lifted, I thought I'd share my thoughts on my experiences in Alganon. I'm referring to this as a beta review, however, since the game hasn't officially launched and updates are still in the works. Since I will be subscribing, I will do another review a couple months in.
Even though I'd been in beta for awhile, I've only really been able to fully test this past month. The reason? My graphics card. I had an 256MB ATI Radeon X1300PRO, which just wasn't cutting it here. The lag made it difficult to get much done; and it was a chore to play and test. However, as luck would have it, hubby's card went out. While he was out getting a new one, he picked up one for me. Nothing high end and it was fairly cheap. But I upgraded to a 1 GB ATI Radeon HD4650.
What a difference that made. My fps went from 15-20 to 50-70. My performance issues were very minimal and I found myself having fun. Ok now on to specifics:
Character Creation
There are two factions, the Asharr and Kujix. Unfortunately, there are only two races at this point -- human and Talrok. There are four classes -- soldier, ranger, healer, and magus. Each class can specialize using ability points. A ranger, for example, can be a decent healer if they spend their points in that line; and a magus can actually tank if specialized that way.
Once you have your race and class chosen, there is also a family to chose. The families have specific names but they are oriented around being either an achiever, competitor, explorer, crafter, or socializer. It's really just a way to hook you up with some other players with similar interests from the start and you'll have your own private chat channel.
General Game Play
Depending on your race, there are two different starting areas. The Asharr area is green, lush, and heavily forested. I did the majority of my testing here as a healer. The Kujix area is very yellow and sandy and did remind me a bit of WoW's horde starting area. My fps was much higher here, presumably because of the minimal landscape. And I heard some folks have less performance issues here in general.
Combat was fairly standard with no down time. And that was a big factor in my enjoyment. I absolutely hate having to stand around waiting to regenerate, or spend my limited newbie money on concoctions filling my small bags and having to stop, sit and drink. To me it's just tedium and darn annoying.
There are portals that you need to first open up with a quest. Each hub has a portal, as well as the main city. There are mounts; however, they were too expensive for me to try out. From what I saw the Asharr can ride a mule, while the Kujix get a boar.
Quests objectives are marked on the map making it relatively easy to get things done. Having trouble with a quest or seeking other game-related information? They have a built-in library system where players can submit information they've discovered. It's a bit like an in-game wiki, but you don't need to minimize your screen to search outside the game. I found it to be very handy. I was dabbling in crafting and needed an item dropped by mobs. I searched the item name and it told me all mobs that dropped it, along with level range.
Also, there is a studies system where you can advance certain skills even when offline. You pick what you want to start studying and you can queue up other skills as well so the studying continues overnight.
Crafting
In beta we could pick up an unlimited number of crafts. However, it is my understanding you will be limited to two on release. Just by looking at the craft names you might assume that tailoring is for the magus/healer, leatherworking for rangers, and blacksmithing for soldiers. But this is not necessarily so. Each of these three crafts makes armor for all professions. But the stats will be different. So before you choose a craft, you may want to investigate which of the three is more appropriate for your play style. There is also an alchemy profession, as well as harvest-type abilities where the nodes show up on your mini map.
Graphics
Graphics are more along the lines of WoW and Runes of Magic, rather than say EQ2 or LotRO. Character models are ok. I could create a fairly attractive human female with long hair; however, the Kujix females were a bit ugly. Although my Kujix ranger did have a pretty cute tushie. But considering the low-end graphics, the required system specs are fairly high. So even though you may be able to play WoW, that may not be the case here. The required specs are 2gb ram, 4gb hard drive. So that right there will unfortunately exclude many players in a Vanguard sort of way.
Sound
I've always been a fan of good game music. I don't put music cd's in while I play; I'd rather hear the game environment. And the music here doesn't disappoint. In some places the music is quite beautiful and I keep my music volume turned up.
But other sounds I found to be annoying. The skill-up sounds can be loud. And the combat sounds of my healer starts to get to me after awhile. I tried turning combat volume down but it hasn't made a difference, so I just had to grit my teeth and get used to it. My ranger on the other hand just made pleasant plunking sounds, so I might rethink my class choice on release.
Community
I've been a registered member of the Alganon community since 2006. As a game goes through various development stages, usually the community changes as well. But I have to say, except for the week that the Fileplanet floodgates were opened, the community for the most part has remained stellar. Yes, there are the occasional fanbois who chide anyone who even mentions any sort of WoW comparison or just makes any sort of complaint about the game in general. But for the most part everyone gets along and is welcoming and understanding to newcomers.
One evening in game chat, folks were discussing their ages. Surprisingly, a good portion of those online at that moment were 40+. Or maybe not surprisingly. It may be that us older gamers have enough on our real life plate that we're just wanting to relax and have fun. Bugs aside (and I'll get into that later), Alganon is probably one of the most stress-free games I've played. Maybe too easy and simplistic for some gamers, but at this point in my life, it suits me.
"Niche Game"
I hear this term all the time when describing Alganon and some wonder what the heck is so niche about it?
As I've already stated, it's stress-free game play and much easier than WoW at low levels. It's probably more akin to the EQ2 or LotRO early levels as far as managing mobs and no down time. Every class can solo and you don't need a perfect group composition to manage tougher mobs.
The community is small, older, and close-knit. There's some seriously nice people here and many are here because it's smaller.
The team is hands-on. I never beta'd a game before where developers were visible in game and asked how things were going in the game chat channel. Some that were having issues subscribing got personal phone calls at home. And I like the idea of hired staff to role-play with the community.
It's currently a PvE focus. Most of what's come out the past couple years have been PvP. PvP will be added at some point, but for now it's one of the few PvE-only options.
Some say there's nothing new here. They've copied the studies system from Eve and the abilities from WoW. But I don't like those games, so why can't I have those ideas in a game I actually enjoy?
The Bugs
As much as I'm enjoying my time here and intend to stay on, there's no denying there are some bugs. I've heard some say they haven't had any; and I've heard many with bugs I have never experienced at all. Here are just some things I personally encountered.
Log-in/Character Creation - When I first try to log in, I'm stuck at the image that says "loading". I have to ctrl-alt-del out and my second attempt always gets me in. No idea what is causing this. I've just gotten used to having to log in twice. While I had no issues creating my healer, when I created my ranger the screen froze at "sending request to server". Again had to c-a-l out, but when I went back in my ranger had indeed been created.
Novice Crafting - There's a craft called "novice crafting". I've never been able to make anything in this particular craft. The creation slider advances across but it doesn't actually make anything or use up components. And once I use novice crafting, it bugs out my other crafts which can only be resolved by logging out. To be honest, I don't really know what the point of novice crafting is. It seems to overlap with some of the other tradeskills.
Lock-ups - They don't happen often, but in combat occasionally everything freezes and I need to log out and back to correct. Fortunately, it seems my character leaves immediately as I've never logged in to find myself dead.
Slow Rendering - I don't often hear of others with this issue, but while mobs appear instantly, objects can take a long while to show up for me. I'll be running through what appears to be an open field and find myself stuck inside a tree that wasn't there a second ago. When I first come to a town, it's just full of npc's in an open field. Sometimes it can take a couple minutes for all the buildings to form. And it seems like I have to walk to a certain trigger point to get them to spawn.
Server Crashes - It was happening about once every few hours in beta.
UI Size - Not everyone has this problem but I've been unable to resize my resolution. I select the resolution, hit accept, but nothing changes and it resets to default.
Those are pretty much the major bugs I've experienced. I've heard some having issues with mobs warping or attacking from distance, but I haven't had that happen. Fights have gone smoothly for me.
The Future
Despite the bugs, the game has come along tremendously from when I first started beta. The team is extremely polite, helpful, and responsive. I like these guys. But let's be frank here. If Blizzard or SOE released this game like this right now, would I play? No. So yes, the team is partly influencing my decision to play.
I like the ease of game play and I like the classes. I know PvP will be introduced at some point. Maybe then my class will be nerfed and I won't have fun anymore. Maybe they'll make things harder because people complain and I won't have fun anymore. But here and now, I'm having a good time, so I will subscribe.
At some point they will be adding deities that will be played by in-house staff hired specifically to role-play with the community. Supposedly, they will be leading us into massive battles against the other faction. I want to be here to see that.
On October 31, they will have an event called "The Dawning". These events will unlock new instances we haven't seen in beta. And we'll be able to purchase special items and armor only during this event. I sure hope more than copper drops during the event so I can afford these items!
This pretty much sums up my experiences to date. There are a lot that had negative experiences and this game definitely isn't for them. But hopefully, some might understand why some of us are enjoying ourselves here. And I truly do look forward to seeing how the game develops in the future.
Even though I'd been in beta for awhile, I've only really been able to fully test this past month. The reason? My graphics card. I had an 256MB ATI Radeon X1300PRO, which just wasn't cutting it here. The lag made it difficult to get much done; and it was a chore to play and test. However, as luck would have it, hubby's card went out. While he was out getting a new one, he picked up one for me. Nothing high end and it was fairly cheap. But I upgraded to a 1 GB ATI Radeon HD4650.
What a difference that made. My fps went from 15-20 to 50-70. My performance issues were very minimal and I found myself having fun. Ok now on to specifics:
Character Creation
There are two factions, the Asharr and Kujix. Unfortunately, there are only two races at this point -- human and Talrok. There are four classes -- soldier, ranger, healer, and magus. Each class can specialize using ability points. A ranger, for example, can be a decent healer if they spend their points in that line; and a magus can actually tank if specialized that way.
Once you have your race and class chosen, there is also a family to chose. The families have specific names but they are oriented around being either an achiever, competitor, explorer, crafter, or socializer. It's really just a way to hook you up with some other players with similar interests from the start and you'll have your own private chat channel.
General Game Play
Depending on your race, there are two different starting areas. The Asharr area is green, lush, and heavily forested. I did the majority of my testing here as a healer. The Kujix area is very yellow and sandy and did remind me a bit of WoW's horde starting area. My fps was much higher here, presumably because of the minimal landscape. And I heard some folks have less performance issues here in general.
Combat was fairly standard with no down time. And that was a big factor in my enjoyment. I absolutely hate having to stand around waiting to regenerate, or spend my limited newbie money on concoctions filling my small bags and having to stop, sit and drink. To me it's just tedium and darn annoying.
There are portals that you need to first open up with a quest. Each hub has a portal, as well as the main city. There are mounts; however, they were too expensive for me to try out. From what I saw the Asharr can ride a mule, while the Kujix get a boar.
Quests objectives are marked on the map making it relatively easy to get things done. Having trouble with a quest or seeking other game-related information? They have a built-in library system where players can submit information they've discovered. It's a bit like an in-game wiki, but you don't need to minimize your screen to search outside the game. I found it to be very handy. I was dabbling in crafting and needed an item dropped by mobs. I searched the item name and it told me all mobs that dropped it, along with level range.
Also, there is a studies system where you can advance certain skills even when offline. You pick what you want to start studying and you can queue up other skills as well so the studying continues overnight.
Crafting
In beta we could pick up an unlimited number of crafts. However, it is my understanding you will be limited to two on release. Just by looking at the craft names you might assume that tailoring is for the magus/healer, leatherworking for rangers, and blacksmithing for soldiers. But this is not necessarily so. Each of these three crafts makes armor for all professions. But the stats will be different. So before you choose a craft, you may want to investigate which of the three is more appropriate for your play style. There is also an alchemy profession, as well as harvest-type abilities where the nodes show up on your mini map.
Graphics
Graphics are more along the lines of WoW and Runes of Magic, rather than say EQ2 or LotRO. Character models are ok. I could create a fairly attractive human female with long hair; however, the Kujix females were a bit ugly. Although my Kujix ranger did have a pretty cute tushie. But considering the low-end graphics, the required system specs are fairly high. So even though you may be able to play WoW, that may not be the case here. The required specs are 2gb ram, 4gb hard drive. So that right there will unfortunately exclude many players in a Vanguard sort of way.
Sound
I've always been a fan of good game music. I don't put music cd's in while I play; I'd rather hear the game environment. And the music here doesn't disappoint. In some places the music is quite beautiful and I keep my music volume turned up.
But other sounds I found to be annoying. The skill-up sounds can be loud. And the combat sounds of my healer starts to get to me after awhile. I tried turning combat volume down but it hasn't made a difference, so I just had to grit my teeth and get used to it. My ranger on the other hand just made pleasant plunking sounds, so I might rethink my class choice on release.
Community
I've been a registered member of the Alganon community since 2006. As a game goes through various development stages, usually the community changes as well. But I have to say, except for the week that the Fileplanet floodgates were opened, the community for the most part has remained stellar. Yes, there are the occasional fanbois who chide anyone who even mentions any sort of WoW comparison or just makes any sort of complaint about the game in general. But for the most part everyone gets along and is welcoming and understanding to newcomers.
One evening in game chat, folks were discussing their ages. Surprisingly, a good portion of those online at that moment were 40+. Or maybe not surprisingly. It may be that us older gamers have enough on our real life plate that we're just wanting to relax and have fun. Bugs aside (and I'll get into that later), Alganon is probably one of the most stress-free games I've played. Maybe too easy and simplistic for some gamers, but at this point in my life, it suits me.
"Niche Game"
I hear this term all the time when describing Alganon and some wonder what the heck is so niche about it?
As I've already stated, it's stress-free game play and much easier than WoW at low levels. It's probably more akin to the EQ2 or LotRO early levels as far as managing mobs and no down time. Every class can solo and you don't need a perfect group composition to manage tougher mobs.
The community is small, older, and close-knit. There's some seriously nice people here and many are here because it's smaller.
The team is hands-on. I never beta'd a game before where developers were visible in game and asked how things were going in the game chat channel. Some that were having issues subscribing got personal phone calls at home. And I like the idea of hired staff to role-play with the community.
It's currently a PvE focus. Most of what's come out the past couple years have been PvP. PvP will be added at some point, but for now it's one of the few PvE-only options.
Some say there's nothing new here. They've copied the studies system from Eve and the abilities from WoW. But I don't like those games, so why can't I have those ideas in a game I actually enjoy?
The Bugs
As much as I'm enjoying my time here and intend to stay on, there's no denying there are some bugs. I've heard some say they haven't had any; and I've heard many with bugs I have never experienced at all. Here are just some things I personally encountered.
Log-in/Character Creation - When I first try to log in, I'm stuck at the image that says "loading". I have to ctrl-alt-del out and my second attempt always gets me in. No idea what is causing this. I've just gotten used to having to log in twice. While I had no issues creating my healer, when I created my ranger the screen froze at "sending request to server". Again had to c-a-l out, but when I went back in my ranger had indeed been created.
Novice Crafting - There's a craft called "novice crafting". I've never been able to make anything in this particular craft. The creation slider advances across but it doesn't actually make anything or use up components. And once I use novice crafting, it bugs out my other crafts which can only be resolved by logging out. To be honest, I don't really know what the point of novice crafting is. It seems to overlap with some of the other tradeskills.
Lock-ups - They don't happen often, but in combat occasionally everything freezes and I need to log out and back to correct. Fortunately, it seems my character leaves immediately as I've never logged in to find myself dead.
Slow Rendering - I don't often hear of others with this issue, but while mobs appear instantly, objects can take a long while to show up for me. I'll be running through what appears to be an open field and find myself stuck inside a tree that wasn't there a second ago. When I first come to a town, it's just full of npc's in an open field. Sometimes it can take a couple minutes for all the buildings to form. And it seems like I have to walk to a certain trigger point to get them to spawn.
Server Crashes - It was happening about once every few hours in beta.
UI Size - Not everyone has this problem but I've been unable to resize my resolution. I select the resolution, hit accept, but nothing changes and it resets to default.
Those are pretty much the major bugs I've experienced. I've heard some having issues with mobs warping or attacking from distance, but I haven't had that happen. Fights have gone smoothly for me.
The Future
Despite the bugs, the game has come along tremendously from when I first started beta. The team is extremely polite, helpful, and responsive. I like these guys. But let's be frank here. If Blizzard or SOE released this game like this right now, would I play? No. So yes, the team is partly influencing my decision to play.
I like the ease of game play and I like the classes. I know PvP will be introduced at some point. Maybe then my class will be nerfed and I won't have fun anymore. Maybe they'll make things harder because people complain and I won't have fun anymore. But here and now, I'm having a good time, so I will subscribe.
At some point they will be adding deities that will be played by in-house staff hired specifically to role-play with the community. Supposedly, they will be leading us into massive battles against the other faction. I want to be here to see that.
On October 31, they will have an event called "The Dawning". These events will unlock new instances we haven't seen in beta. And we'll be able to purchase special items and armor only during this event. I sure hope more than copper drops during the event so I can afford these items!
This pretty much sums up my experiences to date. There are a lot that had negative experiences and this game definitely isn't for them. But hopefully, some might understand why some of us are enjoying ourselves here. And I truly do look forward to seeing how the game develops in the future.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Still Here!
For anyone wondering, I am still among the living. Real life has had me a bit preoccupied. As some of you might know, I have a non-verbal son with autism. That's been a challenge in itself but now he's going through puberty and doing "boy things" in public. Doc says this is actually normal thoughts for even typical teenage boys. So parents of teenage girls, hide them until they are 18.
And then there's been the potty training. At 15, he's in diapers. I finally found a school willing to work with me on this so we're trying to undo 15 years of a habit. It won't happen in a day, a week, or even a month, but I'm seeing progress. His school day is very short so this stuff has been taking up most of my day. And when the evening comes and I have a couple hours free time, blogging just hasn't been a desired activity, particularly with other things going on in the household such as layoffs, blah blah. But now he's doing great in so many ways that I have more bits of free time and my brain can actually focus on other things.
So for anyone still here after that boring real life spiel, now on to gaming stuff. I've still been in EQ2 during this time. Our guild reached max level and we upgraded our hall to the big castle in the sea. Was a lot of fun decorating while still trying to keep performance manageable for everyone, so anyone with an EQ2 account please stop in to visit anytime! And some exciting news. If any of you have the current edition of Beckett Massive Online Gamer, our guild is featured on the last page. Yay for Ancient Disorder! The guild is doing well. We had the typical summer slump where a lot of us have more fun enjoying the outdoors than our computer chairs. But now that the weather has turned cooler, old members and a few new ones have been making their way back to EQ2.
Turbine keeps tempting me with mail messages to reactivate my LotRO account. If I reactivate, I can do so at the founders $9.99/month rate, plus get the next expansion completely free. I'm sure I'll end up leaving again at some point but something about this game tends to have me wanting to try yet again.
And then there's Alganon. Despite some of the negative publicity generating in certain forums, I have preordered and intend to play. I'll be playing on the Asharr side if anyone else is interested. Once the NDA is lifted, I'll share a bit more information, as well as my adventures in game once it goes live.
I'm debating on jumping over to Wordpress. I had issues with the site a long while back but testing things out there to see if it's worthwhile to move.
Ok that's enough updating for now!
And then there's been the potty training. At 15, he's in diapers. I finally found a school willing to work with me on this so we're trying to undo 15 years of a habit. It won't happen in a day, a week, or even a month, but I'm seeing progress. His school day is very short so this stuff has been taking up most of my day. And when the evening comes and I have a couple hours free time, blogging just hasn't been a desired activity, particularly with other things going on in the household such as layoffs, blah blah. But now he's doing great in so many ways that I have more bits of free time and my brain can actually focus on other things.
So for anyone still here after that boring real life spiel, now on to gaming stuff. I've still been in EQ2 during this time. Our guild reached max level and we upgraded our hall to the big castle in the sea. Was a lot of fun decorating while still trying to keep performance manageable for everyone, so anyone with an EQ2 account please stop in to visit anytime! And some exciting news. If any of you have the current edition of Beckett Massive Online Gamer, our guild is featured on the last page. Yay for Ancient Disorder! The guild is doing well. We had the typical summer slump where a lot of us have more fun enjoying the outdoors than our computer chairs. But now that the weather has turned cooler, old members and a few new ones have been making their way back to EQ2.
Turbine keeps tempting me with mail messages to reactivate my LotRO account. If I reactivate, I can do so at the founders $9.99/month rate, plus get the next expansion completely free. I'm sure I'll end up leaving again at some point but something about this game tends to have me wanting to try yet again.
And then there's Alganon. Despite some of the negative publicity generating in certain forums, I have preordered and intend to play. I'll be playing on the Asharr side if anyone else is interested. Once the NDA is lifted, I'll share a bit more information, as well as my adventures in game once it goes live.
I'm debating on jumping over to Wordpress. I had issues with the site a long while back but testing things out there to see if it's worthwhile to move.
Ok that's enough updating for now!
Monday, February 16, 2009
MyAlganon Beta Launches Today
MyAlganon Beta went live today. For anyone that might be interested in participating in open beta, registered members of MyAlganon will receive priority access. Closed beta is scheduled to begin in March (*crosses fingers*), while open beta is tentatively scheduled for May/June.
Some more specifics on the game, as well as recent screenshots, can be found in today's interview at RPG Vault. Some highlights from the interview:
- "We are working to create a stronger community base - more solid than our predecessors' - by giving people a centralized place enabling members to interact with each other, even outside the game (e.g. MyAlganon). We also want players to be able to actively contribute to the exploration of the world by allowing them to scry things like creatures, items and places within a grand library that serves as an information repository. Why ask them to go to an outside source to get information on an item or creature? We will provide it in-game, and recognize those who participate in gathering it."
- "We've developed the Alganon Study System that will reward players not just for playing, but for subscribing, giving them the ability to grow their characters in the "background" even while they are not in the game. This will let them "compete" with power users by actively managing their subscription studies; a year down the line, even if they didn't put in eight hours a day, they will have studies that no one could have achieved without the same year of diligence. Additionally, we improved interaction with the world and other players via the creation of the Family and Domain Objective / Deities / Crusades systems."
- "We are the only home-grown privately financed MMOG company that I know of in the US that has built the client, server, tools and core technology from scratch. We didn't sub-license anything. We spent the years necessary to build the "right" foundation for a true MMOG, and that choice was one of the best we could have made."
- "We're in a great position right now. Being privately financed, we aren't under the gun of a VC or publisher. This allows us to design the game we set out to create, and gives us flexibility in our release schedule and in choosing a distribution partner. 2009 is going to be a very exciting year!"
This was just a small portion of the interview. Please check out RPG Vault for the complete interview. Also, there is some new gameplay footage that you can view when you go to the MyAlganon signup page.
Some more specifics on the game, as well as recent screenshots, can be found in today's interview at RPG Vault. Some highlights from the interview:
- "We are working to create a stronger community base - more solid than our predecessors' - by giving people a centralized place enabling members to interact with each other, even outside the game (e.g. MyAlganon). We also want players to be able to actively contribute to the exploration of the world by allowing them to scry things like creatures, items and places within a grand library that serves as an information repository. Why ask them to go to an outside source to get information on an item or creature? We will provide it in-game, and recognize those who participate in gathering it."
- "We've developed the Alganon Study System that will reward players not just for playing, but for subscribing, giving them the ability to grow their characters in the "background" even while they are not in the game. This will let them "compete" with power users by actively managing their subscription studies; a year down the line, even if they didn't put in eight hours a day, they will have studies that no one could have achieved without the same year of diligence. Additionally, we improved interaction with the world and other players via the creation of the Family and Domain Objective / Deities / Crusades systems."
- "We are the only home-grown privately financed MMOG company that I know of in the US that has built the client, server, tools and core technology from scratch. We didn't sub-license anything. We spent the years necessary to build the "right" foundation for a true MMOG, and that choice was one of the best we could have made."
- "We're in a great position right now. Being privately financed, we aren't under the gun of a VC or publisher. This allows us to design the game we set out to create, and gives us flexibility in our release schedule and in choosing a distribution partner. 2009 is going to be a very exciting year!"
This was just a small portion of the interview. Please check out RPG Vault for the complete interview. Also, there is some new gameplay footage that you can view when you go to the MyAlganon signup page.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Alganon - New Years Update
David Allen has posted an update this week regarding the current status of Alganon. While they have been keeping things somewhat quiet over there to avoid too much hype too early on, they have now begun releasing more details.
Release is scheduled for this year, with beta to begin this Spring. In February, they will be releasing the MyAlganon community system. It looks to be something similar to MyLOTRO, where you can find members, guilds, blogs, etc.
One interesting feature will be a grand library located in both capital cities. While you must visit the library in person to contribute information, you will be able to access the library's information from anywhere in game. Here is where you go to look up a quest, item, or creature information. Also, there is a studies system that progresses your character even when you are offline. However, you can only have one character studying at one time. The studies system will apply to both adventuring and crafting. There are abilities that can only be gained this way, so that long-term players will have an advantage even if they only get to actually play a few hours a week.
Although the core game revolves around PvE, there are two factions and there will be battlegrounds on both PvE and PvP servers. Neither side can group or guild with one another; however, you will be able to create characters on both sides on the same server.
The graphics are not as high end as some may be accustomed to based on some of the more recently released mmo's. But I usually don't have too much issue with graphics, as long as my character looks reasonable. I still haven't had much of a good view on the female avatars, so I'll have to wait and see how they've turned out.
I've been following the progress of Alganon for three years. I'm not letting myself get overly hyped as I did with Vanguard, but I definitely plan to be trying it out.
Release is scheduled for this year, with beta to begin this Spring. In February, they will be releasing the MyAlganon community system. It looks to be something similar to MyLOTRO, where you can find members, guilds, blogs, etc.
One interesting feature will be a grand library located in both capital cities. While you must visit the library in person to contribute information, you will be able to access the library's information from anywhere in game. Here is where you go to look up a quest, item, or creature information. Also, there is a studies system that progresses your character even when you are offline. However, you can only have one character studying at one time. The studies system will apply to both adventuring and crafting. There are abilities that can only be gained this way, so that long-term players will have an advantage even if they only get to actually play a few hours a week.
Although the core game revolves around PvE, there are two factions and there will be battlegrounds on both PvE and PvP servers. Neither side can group or guild with one another; however, you will be able to create characters on both sides on the same server.
The graphics are not as high end as some may be accustomed to based on some of the more recently released mmo's. But I usually don't have too much issue with graphics, as long as my character looks reasonable. I still haven't had much of a good view on the female avatars, so I'll have to wait and see how they've turned out.
I've been following the progress of Alganon for three years. I'm not letting myself get overly hyped as I did with Vanguard, but I definitely plan to be trying it out.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Innovative vs. Fun
Alganon has been taking a lot of heat lately for some similarities to WoW. Anyone who has actually read the features of the game would see some interesting aspects not found elsewhere. But visually, comparisons are being made. One recent poster criticized the UI looking too much like WoW's and therefore believed the game to be a hoax. One of the dev's responded as follows:
I thought that was an excellent response. It had me wondering if in fact developers of future mmo's avoid good features of previous mmo's for this reason. Aside from the UI, those that have stepped out of the typical mmo mold...DDO, TR, PotBS...well they haven't fared as well. So what is it we really want?
I think many of us stayed with our first mmo for so long because we made no comparisons and enjoyed it for what it was. And maybe too many of us have turned into a bunch of snobby mmo connoisseurs who have forgotten how to just have fun.
"At the risk of feeding the trolls (you may not be one, but there are plenty who will take advantage of having a dev response), I'll reply.
I can assure you, it's not a hoax. The paycheck I get every month is all the proof I need. I have no idea if we'll be releasing video any time soon, but if that is the only thing that will satisfy you, then there is no reason for me to write any more on that topic.
As far as the similarities to other games, my response is this: The ONLY rule that guides my design is "Is it fun?" Nothing else matters.
For example:
Would moving the mini-map to another portion of the screen make the game more fun? Nope.
Then we're going to put it where players will naturally look to find it. If that means it happens to be the same place as it is in LotRO, and Guild Wars, and Battlefield, and WoW, and many other games, so be it. All I care about is "Is it fun?"
Trust me, if moving the minimap made the game more fun, we'd move it.
What about forcing players to scan the screen for where their minimap is, because it's not where they expected it to be? Would that make the game less fun? Yeah. It would.
If you jump between games a lot, you'll notice that looking in the wrong corner for your mini-map is a pain. The same is true for any piece of information. It's not fun to die because the designers put your health bar where you weren't looking.
I rotate through EQ2, Eve, WoW, Guild Wars, and a couple of F2P MMOs, so I suffer problem this all the time - Why, oh, why do game designers have to move the interface around on me? Why do I have to learn a new control scheme everytime I want to play a new game?
Oh yeah! Because if they don't, people insult them on forums.
When they have to choose between "do I make it fun?" or "do I avoid being mocked?" they choose to sacrifice fun and save their egos.
Not me.
I'll dive on the grenade. I'll make the sacrifice. I will suffer the slings and arrows of forum-troll-after-forum-troll saying that Alganon looks like(insert MMO here), as long I get to make Alganon fun.
So, go ahead, let the mocking begin - but don't let it keep you from enjoying the game. Don't let it keep you from having fun, because there is only one thing I care about: "Is it fun?"
Nothing else matters."
I can assure you, it's not a hoax. The paycheck I get every month is all the proof I need. I have no idea if we'll be releasing video any time soon, but if that is the only thing that will satisfy you, then there is no reason for me to write any more on that topic.
As far as the similarities to other games, my response is this: The ONLY rule that guides my design is "Is it fun?" Nothing else matters.
For example:
Would moving the mini-map to another portion of the screen make the game more fun? Nope.
Then we're going to put it where players will naturally look to find it. If that means it happens to be the same place as it is in LotRO, and Guild Wars, and Battlefield, and WoW, and many other games, so be it. All I care about is "Is it fun?"
Trust me, if moving the minimap made the game more fun, we'd move it.
What about forcing players to scan the screen for where their minimap is, because it's not where they expected it to be? Would that make the game less fun? Yeah. It would.
If you jump between games a lot, you'll notice that looking in the wrong corner for your mini-map is a pain. The same is true for any piece of information. It's not fun to die because the designers put your health bar where you weren't looking.
I rotate through EQ2, Eve, WoW, Guild Wars, and a couple of F2P MMOs, so I suffer problem this all the time - Why, oh, why do game designers have to move the interface around on me? Why do I have to learn a new control scheme everytime I want to play a new game?
Oh yeah! Because if they don't, people insult them on forums.
When they have to choose between "do I make it fun?" or "do I avoid being mocked?" they choose to sacrifice fun and save their egos.
Not me.
I'll dive on the grenade. I'll make the sacrifice. I will suffer the slings and arrows of forum-troll-after-forum-troll saying that Alganon looks like
So, go ahead, let the mocking begin - but don't let it keep you from enjoying the game. Don't let it keep you from having fun, because there is only one thing I care about: "Is it fun?"
Nothing else matters."
I thought that was an excellent response. It had me wondering if in fact developers of future mmo's avoid good features of previous mmo's for this reason. Aside from the UI, those that have stepped out of the typical mmo mold...DDO, TR, PotBS...well they haven't fared as well. So what is it we really want?
I think many of us stayed with our first mmo for so long because we made no comparisons and enjoyed it for what it was. And maybe too many of us have turned into a bunch of snobby mmo connoisseurs who have forgotten how to just have fun.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Rooting for the Little Guy
When I look at the anticipated MMOs coming up this year, while I will likely try a few of them out, to be honest I'm not overly excited about any of them. Or maybe my two-year anticipation of Vanguard has left me a bit jaded and wary. I had been hunting down some smaller names that rarely get mention to see what the little guys are up to. As often happens, many of these projects have been shut down and likely a good percentage of those remaining will also face a similar demise. But I would love to see one of these make it through and succeed. Here's one in particular I've been looking at:
Alganon - This one has been on my radar already for awhile. The gaming company behind this one was founded in 2006 by David Allen, the original designer of Horizons. While ultimately Horizons had many failings, I really liked some of the concepts behind it and think it could have been a great game with a few tweaks. Their four main areas of focus are community, immersion, interaction, and reward. This leads me to believe they are putting effort into the social aspects of the game, which is right up my alley. Solo and group play will be supported.
There are two organizations in this world, the Asheroth and Kujix, or basically your good and evil. Each organization has four races and five classes, with the healer class being the only that is the same among the two sides. So there are nine classes total. There will be PvE and PvP servers, with player-consented PvP on the PvE servers.
When you start a character, you are born into a unique family made up of many other players of the same race who are your siblings. The moment you log in your new character, your siblings will be informed. Just as in real life, you cannot choose your family members nor leave it, and there will be a cap at the number of members in each family. Families can work together to elevate their standing. This is also separate from guilds. So essentially you can belong to two community units.
Some other non-standard features include no level cap and your appearance can change as you gain power. Pure tradeskillers can rejoice, as they can do so without ever entering a battle. And supposedly they are addressing tradeskill issues found in other games such as costs to build up skills, difficulty earning profit, and difficulty finding resources. Also, something interesting they are incorporating is a system they claim to be more friendly to casual gamers. There are skills that can only be gained over time, so that a casual gamer who has been playing a year for 10 hours a week will have access to skills no power gamer can achieve without a year of play.
On paper, I see a lot of nice concepts and really hope they can pull it off. The only negative from my domestic viewpoint is lack of housing which they state doesn't fit in with their game. But if the gameplay is interesting enough, I likely wouldn't miss the housing all that much.
I wish these guys a lot of luck and success and look forward to playing this one.
Alganon - This one has been on my radar already for awhile. The gaming company behind this one was founded in 2006 by David Allen, the original designer of Horizons. While ultimately Horizons had many failings, I really liked some of the concepts behind it and think it could have been a great game with a few tweaks. Their four main areas of focus are community, immersion, interaction, and reward. This leads me to believe they are putting effort into the social aspects of the game, which is right up my alley. Solo and group play will be supported.
There are two organizations in this world, the Asheroth and Kujix, or basically your good and evil. Each organization has four races and five classes, with the healer class being the only that is the same among the two sides. So there are nine classes total. There will be PvE and PvP servers, with player-consented PvP on the PvE servers.
When you start a character, you are born into a unique family made up of many other players of the same race who are your siblings. The moment you log in your new character, your siblings will be informed. Just as in real life, you cannot choose your family members nor leave it, and there will be a cap at the number of members in each family. Families can work together to elevate their standing. This is also separate from guilds. So essentially you can belong to two community units.
Some other non-standard features include no level cap and your appearance can change as you gain power. Pure tradeskillers can rejoice, as they can do so without ever entering a battle. And supposedly they are addressing tradeskill issues found in other games such as costs to build up skills, difficulty earning profit, and difficulty finding resources. Also, something interesting they are incorporating is a system they claim to be more friendly to casual gamers. There are skills that can only be gained over time, so that a casual gamer who has been playing a year for 10 hours a week will have access to skills no power gamer can achieve without a year of play.
On paper, I see a lot of nice concepts and really hope they can pull it off. The only negative from my domestic viewpoint is lack of housing which they state doesn't fit in with their game. But if the gameplay is interesting enough, I likely wouldn't miss the housing all that much.
I wish these guys a lot of luck and success and look forward to playing this one.
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