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My impression on state of the game as of 12-31-09

r1tualr1tual Member Posts: 559

Mortal Online tester checking in.  I have been apart of the Mortal Online community for quite awhile and I like to think I have been one of StarVaults most loyal supporters.   Let me give you the honest deal on what Mortal Online is as a game.

Its in rough shape.  Its just entering beta stage in my opinion.  At least what you expect from a beta stage.  What StarVault called their beta test was more of an alpha test.   It is what it is,  and just because StarVault called it a beta does not mean it was.

They just in the last patch put the final features in "rough draft" form.  Except they dont work yet.  The developers have took a two week vacation right after they released the last of the features,  so the alpha testers have been stuck twiddling their fingers with nothing to test since the servers are broke.  When they get back they have alloted themselves the month of January to get things working,  fix bugs and polish before they release.  During that time we get to finally test the game in its completeness with all the features, report bugs and stresstest things.  Aka what we consider a traditional MMO betastage. 

So that is why I say it is just entering beta.

 

Considering all of that my prediction is that StarVault has to delay the release or release a buggy and unstable game.  There are some very nasty and deep rooted problems with the game right now that cannot be addressed in just one month.  I dont care if StarVault had 100 exployees and Blizard helping them,  there is no way in one month will they get this game to what it should be.  They should have given themselves a longer time to test and fix the rough draft of the features they just finally finished.  They do have the talent to eventually get it done,  I just think they have set themselves an unrealistic timeline.

Saying that; the game does have alot of potential.  If you can look past the bugs and the rough draft feel of the game,  it is actually good.

  It is not a polished finished game.  It doesnt have a combat system with depth and bells and whistles.  It has a quirky UI.  Animations that get stuck in weird bugs.  Lag.  PvE that makes any other MMO look good. Etc. Etc.  But is does have a GREAT DESIGN THAT IT WANTS TO ASPIRE TO BE.

So when considering the game,  understand that it is still fun although not of great quality yet and does have potential.



Alot of people say StarVault doesnt have the talent but I disagree.  I just dont think they have the efficiency to get things done in time,  but they do have the talent given more time or patience.

 

Oh and did I mention the art and graphics are actually very well done?



I hope this gives somebody an honest impression of the game.  

 

Take care and hope to see (and kill) you in game someday wether that be in the near or far future.

 

Comments

  • SomeOldBlokeSomeOldBloke Member UncommonPosts: 2,167

    So you're saying it will be the same state as every other game at release in the last 3 years?

  • whisperwyndwhisperwynd Member UncommonPosts: 1,668
    Originally posted by mbd1968


    So you're saying it will be the same state as every other game at release in the last 3 years?



     

    Well that's a relief. here I  thought MO would be the trend breaker and therefor confidently earn my skepticism.

  • gkb3469gkb3469 Member UncommonPosts: 148
    Originally posted by mbd1968


    So you're saying it will be the same state as every other game at release in the last 3 years?



     

    i dont think you understand, its really really bad. I was in Block B testing and i agree with what hes saying.

  • mrcalhoumrcalhou Member UncommonPosts: 1,444

    I just want to point out that nothing on wikipedia can be called "official." Whether or not your complaints are valid means little when you construct your post the way you do. You can't claim opinion as fact and expect people to listen to what you have to say. Believe it or not there are a bunch of stuck-up language snobs that are going to read your post and quit reading before they get to the meat of your argument. My professors tore me a new rear-end because of that my freshman year. I haven't been the same since. :(  /EducationMajorMode

    --------
    "Chemistry: 'We do stuff in lab that would be a felony in your garage.'"

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    Front: UNO Chemistry Club
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  • TheConfinedTheConfined Member Posts: 46

    "So you're saying it will be the same state as every other game at release in the last 3 years?"

     

    No, he's saying its going to have a release similar to Horizons, Asherons Call 2, Dark n Light etc etc

    in other words, Mortal Online is vaporware because it is currently far beyond help and SV doesn't even have 1/10th the funds, talent or time to make the potential of this game come to life

    the only good parts about MO are what has been written and drawn on paper...the game itself is a complete embarrassment to everything that MO was suppose to be

    but ya...vaporware...

     

     

  • AbloecAbloec Member CommonPosts: 315
    Originally posted by TheConfined


    "So you're saying it will be the same state as every other game at release in the last 3 years?"
     
    No, he's saying its going to have a release similar to Horizons, Asherons Call 2, Dark n Light etc etc
    in other words, Mortal Online is vaporware because it is currently far beyond help and SV doesn't even have 1/10th the funds, talent or time to make the potential of this game come to life
    the only good parts about MO are what has been written and drawn on paper...the game itself is a complete embarrassment to everything that MO was suppose to be
    but ya...vaporware...
     
     

     

    How about instead of putting his words in his mouth you let him elaborate.

    image

    Damnant quod non intellegunt
  • r1tualr1tual Member Posts: 559

    I will answer.

    As far as funding.  StarVault is a publicly traded company.  Their financial reports are posted on their company website.  They show their operation costs,  income,  etc.  By reading their financials you can see they arent bankrupt.  They recently just got a boost in investment from preorders and stock purchases.  The only danger they face financially is from the future by having a product that doesnt sell once it releases.

    As far as talent.  If you know anything about game development you can clearly see that the game even in its current state surpasses something some "unreal modders with no experience" could pull off.  For a team of only 18 I dont think the argument that they are untalented holds truth.  The art team in my opinion rivals that of any major studio.   Although its not all roses because they lack in other areas. They could definatly benefit from more programmers.  They only have three guys doing the bulk of the coding.  This is why I think we see missed deadlines.  The programmers while talented just cannot keep up with the deadlines. They have rushed alot of stuff out that just doesnt work and has been riddled with problems.  You cant blame the art department because the art is great,  its the programmers.  I guess you could blame management for putting the programming in the hands of so few.

    I think release will be better then those games mentioned.  They have a solid core of features and a great design to strive for.  The problem is that its going to be slow to develop. This will cause the kids to whine and the community is going to be full of negativety.  That negativity will wear on the community and people will just start being impatient and intolerant.  



    I think in six months from now Mortal Online will see its biggest influx of players because its right around then that development will be caught up with its design.  For the people that join the community before then its going to be a rough ride and many will be turned off. 

    If you are thinking of buying the game you need to ask yourself if you are ok to deal with all the problems. if you arent I would say keep your eye on this game and check back in a few months.

  • zereelistzereelist Member Posts: 373

     The game on paper looks really great,  and i hate to say it since i preordered it, but this game is still in an alpha testing phase and i think it needs another year or more before it feels like a real game.  I say a year because of how long it has been in "closed beta" without much improvement at all over the time.

    Fanboys will say "what are you talking about its improved a lot" but all it has is a skill system and laughable AI.  I cant get over how lifeless everything feels.  Ive felt more immersed in one of my own home made maps in HOMM 5.  The devs take forever to implement anything and play the realism card to save time. 

    The Landscape is large and looks nice but that's about it so far.  I really hope the best for MO, but im loosing faith, and with the amount to time left until they are going to have to launch, its looking bad.

     

  • kishekishe Member UncommonPosts: 2,012

    They have talent. The problem lies in the fact that most of their "departments" consists of two people max...so if one person gets sick it can halt the whole development of the game.

  • Erowid420Erowid420 Member Posts: 93
    Originally posted by r1tual


    Mortal Online tester checking in.  I have been apart of the Mortal Online community for quite awhile and I like to think I have been one of StarVaults most loyal supporters.   Let me give you the honest deal on what Mortal Online is as a game.
    Its in rough shape.  Its just entering beta stage in my opinion.  At least what you expect from a beta stage.  What StarVault called their beta test was more of an alpha test.   It is what it is,  and just because StarVault called it a beta does not mean it was.
    They just in the last patch put the final features in "rough draft" form.  Except they dont work yet.  The developers have took a two week vacation right after they released the last of the features,  so the alpha testers have been stuck twiddling their fingers with nothing to test since the servers are broke.  When they get back they have alloted themselves the month of January to get things working,  fix bugs and polish before they release.  During that time we get to finally test the game in its completeness with all the features, report bugs and stresstest things.  Aka what we consider a traditional MMO betastage. 
    So that is why I say it is just entering beta.

     
    Considering all of that my prediction is that StarVault has to delay the release or release a buggy and unstable game.  There are some very nasty and deep rooted problems with the game right now that cannot be addressed in just one month.  I dont care if StarVault had 100 exployees and Blizard helping them,  there is no way in one month will they get this game to what it should be.  They should have given themselves a longer time to test and fix the rough draft of the features they just finally finished.  They do have the talent to eventually get it done,  I just think they have set themselves an unrealistic timeline.
    Saying that; the game does have alot of potential.  If you can look past the bugs and the rough draft feel of the game,  it is actually good.
      It is not a polished finished game.  It doesnt have a combat system with depth and bells and whistles.  It has a quirky UI.  Animations that get stuck in weird bugs.  Lag.  PvE that makes any other MMO look good. Etc. Etc.  But is does have a GREAT DESIGN THAT IT WANTS TO ASPIRE TO BE.
    So when considering the game,  understand that it is still fun although not of great quality yet and does have potential.


    Alot of people say StarVault doesnt have the talent but I disagree.  I just dont think they have the efficiency to get things done in time,  but they do have the talent given more time or patience.
     
    Oh and did I mention the art and graphics are actually very well done?



    I hope this gives somebody an honest impression of the game.  
     
    Take care and hope to see (and kill) you in game someday wether that be in the near or far future.
     



     

    So, this whole post was about StarVault getting things done in enough time..? Time for what..?

    Everyone understand this game is still in beta and will be for another month. But given StarVault's track record, they have shown over and over that they can get alot done in one months time. But what about months afterwards...?

     

    Does StarVault just stop producing patches and no longer work on their game after release, because that is what you are essentially saying... that the release is so important, that nothing else matters to you..!

     

     

     

     

     

    ___________________________

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  • r1tualr1tual Member Posts: 559
    Originally posted by Erowid420





    So, this whole post was about StarVault getting things done in enough time..? Time for what..?
    "Gold Stage" aka Releasing the game and me paying for my subscription.
    Everyone understand this game is still in beta and will be for another month. But given StarVault's track record, they have shown over and over that they can get alot done in one months time. But what about months afterwards...?
    They have not shown an ability to get things done in a month.  What they release every two weeks in patches are patches they have been working on for the two years prior.  They just released their two years of work in stages. One part of it every two weeks.  It gave many like you the impression that each one of those patches was made in two weeks.  Those more informed knew that they have actually been in development much longer.  
     
    Does StarVault just stop producing patches and no longer work on their game after release, because that is what you are essentially saying... that the release is so important, that nothing else matters to you..!
     
    Nowhere did I say that.  Only thing I said even closely resembling that is the fact they have so few developers that development after release is going to be potentially slow.
     
     
     



     

  • colutrcolutr Member Posts: 333
    Originally posted by r1tual

    Originally posted by Erowid420





    So, this whole post was about StarVault getting things done in enough time..? Time for what..?
    "Gold Stage" aka Releasing the game and me paying for my subscription.
    Everyone understand this game is still in beta and will be for another month. But given StarVault's track record, they have shown over and over that they can get alot done in one months time. But what about months afterwards...?
    They have not shown an ability to get things done in a month.  What they release every two weeks in patches are patches they have been working on for the two years prior.  They just released their two years of work in stages. One part of it every two weeks.  It gave many like you the impression that each one of those patches was made in two weeks.  Those more informed knew that they have actually been in development much longer.  
     
    Does StarVault just stop producing patches and no longer work on their game after release, because that is what you are essentially saying... that the release is so important, that nothing else matters to you..!
     
    Nowhere did I say that.  Only thing I said even closely resembling that is the fact they have so few developers that development after release is going to be potentially slow.

    They haven't posted a release date so they have from now until whenever to complete the game, we are hoping for it to be in a month but if they need to they can delay it again.

    If you presume that all fot he systems we are testing have been in development for 2 years then why do you presume that they need a ton of beta testing? If the features that they have been released are in t he last stages of testing then they can indeed have it all ready to go in a month. So witin one months time alot of what has been done can be seen.

    When they release the game they will hire more people, how many they hire and when will depend on whether or not people like the game and if they have the funds to do it.

  • r1tualr1tual Member Posts: 559

    True they can release in a month,  six months,  a year.  There original estimated release date was Q4 2009.  They sent out a newsletter saying they will delay another month.  Im just going by what they have said their estimated release date is. 

    They need alot of beta testing because what they have released in these patches have been buggy and brought alot of instability,  exploits,  bugs each time.  They are not thoroughly tested beforehand.  Quality Assurance has dropped the ball on alot of the patches by introducing obvious bugs that you can find within 5 minutes of playtesting.  The game has something like 300 unfixed bugs in the bugtracker.  Alot of them are major bugs every player will notice.  This is why the game needs alot of time testing,  there are lots of problems with almost everything,  and those are just the obvious bugs.  There are bugs that most people dont catch right away like calculating hitpoints,  damage,  speed,  etc.  So there are lots of bugs that require concentrated focus to find.

     

    We can hope they invest their money into new employees (especially programmers).  They have said in the past that was going to be there plan.  That would make me happy but if the game doesnt sell,  they wont have the money to hire those extra staff.  So it is important they focus on getting the game good before they release it.  Which is again why I recommended a longer testing phase and more development.  People get turned off when they bug a game that has bugs and appears unfinished.

  • Loke666Loke666 Member EpicPosts: 21,441
    Originally posted by gkb3469

    Originally posted by mbd196 


    So you're saying it will be the same state as every other game at release in the last 3 years?


     

    i dont think you understand, its really really bad. I was in Block B testing and i agree with what hes saying.

    One word for you: Vanguard

     

  • downtoearthdowntoearth Member Posts: 3,558
    Originally posted by TheConfined


    "So you're saying it will be the same state as every other game at release in the last 3 years?"
     
    No, he's saying its going to have a release similar to Horizons, Asherons Call 2, Dark n Light etc etc
    in other words, Mortal Online is vaporware because it is currently far beyond help and SV doesn't even have 1/10th the funds, talent or time to make the potential of this game come to life
    the only good parts about MO are what has been written and drawn on paper...the game itself is a complete embarrassment to everything that MO was suppose to be
    but ya...vaporware...
     
     



     

    actully there some stuff i really like about mo not so much atm cause of the broken server but. i dont think som bugs cant be fixed until place holder stuff is gone hopefully that will start showing on the bug part within a week or 2 but who knows

  • GTwanderGTwander Member UncommonPosts: 6,035

    Heh, I totally agree that they released a product in it's alpha phase as a beta... a beta mean there are features to test, and when they first started selling it, there where no features of note to even test in the first place. I can only hope this has changed from the last patches, because I wanted to hop in to test it (don't mind paying really), but without something *actually there to test* I felt I'd be wasting my time, money and ability trying to *find* something to test.

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  • downtoearthdowntoearth Member Posts: 3,558
    Originally posted by downtoearth

    Originally posted by TheConfined


    "So you're saying it will be the same state as every other game at release in the last 3 years?"
     
    No, he's saying its going to have a release similar to Horizons, Asherons Call 2, Dark n Light etc etc
    in other words, Mortal Online is vaporware because it is currently far beyond help and SV doesn't even have 1/10th the funds, talent or time to make the potential of this game come to life
    the only good parts about MO are what has been written and drawn on paper...the game itself is a complete embarrassment to everything that MO was suppose to be
    but ya...vaporware...
     
     



     

    actully there some stuff i really like about mo not so much atm cause of the broken server but. i dont think som bugs cant be fixed until place holder stuff is gone hopefully that will start showing on the bug part within a week or 2 but who knows

    lag is fixed (lets see if it stays that way)

     

  • rlmccoy1987rlmccoy1987 Member Posts: 1,722

    ritual are you still playing?

    image
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