Darkfall

Gianna made some clarifications on her experience of Darkfall beta and to the response she got so far from fans. Seems the game is very stable so far. Also nice clarification on stealth.

http://beta.thenoobcomic.com/df_preview/part2.html

Clarifications (Dec 3, 2008)
I don't have time to post an update this morning (I should be on my way to work already) but I had a look yesterday at the forums on the Darkfall website and I'd like to address some of the concerns that were raised there by these previews.

1. Public beta. This seems to be a really big issue and I can see why. These previews are NOT a replacement for it, they have nothing to do with it, and most of all I have no idea if that's going to start tomorrow, in a week in a month, etc. If I say, "in the next few updates I plan to... " please don't start consulting the astronomical calendars of the Maia to determine the date of beta from what I wrote, because I know it as much as you do. If that's any consolation, every day I see new names and there seems to be a steady stream of people joining.

2. Stability and state of the game. Relax! It's not been wiped at all since last week, and even if at some point it's going t o be wiped twice a day it's because they are testing things according to their test plans, not because something's gone horribly wrong and they have to shut down everything. The game is stable. I crashed once to desktop, which is a lot less of how much I crash to desktop in the released MMO that I've played most recently. How ready is it? I don't know! From what I can observe, assuming that it would play the same with thousands of people instead of hundreds, it's less buggy in beta of some games a month into release, but this is just an observation of what I can see, I have no idea if they are opening black holes and rips through time and space by mistake in their server room even if we don't notice.

3. Stealthing. I didn't mention (oops) that if you crouch and sneak up on people like that, while you don't go invisible, semi-transparent, etc., you advance silently. Having shadows turned off doesn't mean that you are particularly able to spot a guy who's using cover to sneak up on you and being clever about it, but you'll see it for yourselves when you start playing, it's something that has to be experienced and cannot be described.

4. "There's nothing new in these previews". Duh! Most people on the Darfkall forums could easily win University Challenge, Jeopardy, etc. etc. if the topic was Darkfall! Please consider that the previews are aimed mainly at the readers of my comic who may or may not know about the game and who may not have followed it with the same level of attention as you did. I hope you'll enjoy the screenshots, at least :)

I didn't see her use the word "bugfree" in her update... but I suppose that makes for a better title than using "less buggy" .

Originally posted by xzyax

I didn't see her use the word "bugfree" in her update... but I suppose that makes for a better title than using "less buggy" .

Hehe, you caught me there.

Ah well you're right, i should have written that Darkfall dont seem to have that a much of bugs so far according to this beta tester.

And that's why a Public Beta is something DF needs.

Why? Let me put it this way: When I was in the AoC Beta, the game ran smoothly for me. It did not crash more than once or twice during my testing and it didn't cause problems on my machine.

So, did I believe all the other people who cried that the game was buggy as hell? No, I didn't. In a sort of blindness to the rest of the world, I labeled everyone who did not have the same experience as me as a liar (to my defense, the other side did much the same, too XD).

It's only when you get a whole lot of people testing the game that you will see how it performs under release conditions. Isolated reports from one or even 10 people is not something that raises my trust in the game in any way, having been burnt badly once.

But hey...still a week and a half till Open beta should be over! 

I kid! Waiting to hear the announcement on Open Beta and/or Free Playtesting however.

"Most people on the Darfkall forums could easily win University Challenge, Jeopardy, etc. etc. if the topic was Darkfall!"

I really dont get this phrase. Of course almost every human could tell and know everything about nothing, because there is nothing to know and tell...

P.S. What is point of such preview? She could just write few words: "DF has nice Stealth System."

Originally posted by singsofdeath

And that's why a Public Beta is something DF needs.

 

Why? Let me put it this way: When I was in the AoC Beta, the game ran smoothly for me. It did not crash more than once or twice during my testing and it didn't cause problems on my machine.

 

So, did I believe all the other people who cried that the game was buggy as hell? No, I didn't. In a sort of blindness to the rest of the world, I labeled everyone who did not have the same experience as me as a liar (to my defense, the other side did much the same, too XD).

 

It's only when you get a whole lot of people testing the game that you will see how it performs under release conditions. Isolated reports from one or even 10 people is not something that raises my trust in the game in any way, having been burnt badly once.

 

But hey...still a week and a half till Open beta should be over! 

 

I kid! Waiting to hear the announcement on Open Beta and/or Free Playtesting however.

I was the same with AoC. I never crashed, had decent FPS and an overall smooth experience. I was shocked to see all the crys of bugs. I still beleive a good amount were user error from talking to people and trying to help. Hopefully "TheNoob"'s experience is indicative of what's to come and not just luck of the right hardware.

Originally posted by singsofdeath

And that's why a Public Beta is something DF needs.

 

Why? Let me put it this way: When I was in the AoC Beta, the game ran smoothly for me. It did not crash more than once or twice during my testing and it didn't cause problems on my machine.

 

So, did I believe all the other people who cried that the game was buggy as hell? No, I didn't. In a sort of blindness to the rest of the world, I labeled everyone who did not have the same experience as me as a liar (to my defense, the other side did much the same, too XD).

 

It's only when you get a whole lot of people testing the game that you will see how it performs under release conditions. Isolated reports from one or even 10 people is not something that raises my trust in the game in any way, having been burnt badly once.

 

But hey...still a week and a half till Open beta should be over! 

 

I kid! Waiting to hear the announcement on Open Beta and/or Free Playtesting however.

Agree they really need to let us in asap. Game need to be under stress from thousands of player and with different hardwares.

Originally posted by Aragon100

Originally posted by singsofdeath

And that's why a Public Beta is something DF needs.

 

Why? Let me put it this way: When I was in the AoC Beta, the game ran smoothly for me. It did not crash more than once or twice during my testing and it didn't cause problems on my machine.

 

So, did I believe all the other people who cried that the game was buggy as hell? No, I didn't. In a sort of blindness to the rest of the world, I labeled everyone who did not have the same experience as me as a liar (to my defense, the other side did much the same, too XD).

 

It's only when you get a whole lot of people testing the game that you will see how it performs under release conditions. Isolated reports from one or even 10 people is not something that raises my trust in the game in any way, having been burnt badly once.

 

But hey...still a week and a half till Open beta should be over! 

 

I kid! Waiting to hear the announcement on Open Beta and/or Free Playtesting however.

 

Agree they really need to let us in asap. Game need to be under stress from thousands of player and with different hardwares.

yea but i bet most of the current testers have diffrent hardware

Originally posted by Aragon100

4. "There's nothi