Getting into Mortal Online Beta - lessons and tips

Valkyrie

I'm (still) quite amused while going through this but want to report what I've learned so far ... Maybe that will help others to get through more smoothly. I'm playing MMOs since ten years now and have been in all stages of development and this is by far the most unbelievable thing I've seen.

To get into the Mortal Online Open Beta you need two things - the account and the game.

The account creation asks you for ... payment details. Cancel this, the account is still created - and according to the forums should be working for beta.

Getting the game client is much more complicated though. The official download at the MO page is corrupted, 73 MB only - but needs to be 92 MB ... Get it from atomic gamer or Mortal Online italia (a fan site). This patcher than ... at least with me creates a folder called StarT Vault (instead of StaR Vault) and starts a download of mopatch0to05.exe. This is 1.95GB big. And the download with the patcher takes ages. The good news: it is a torrent so get utorrent somwhere like zdnet or such and open the torrent in the "patches" folder with it.

Now pay attention please ... a lot of player already have that file so download is reasonable fast (200Kb/s) BUT ... please save the file somewhere as a local copy so you can help fellow players to get it because THE PATCHER DELETES IT AFTER IT WAS USED! -.- You need to have it for the patcher in the "Start VaultMortal Onlinemortalonline" folder copied but keep your file for the torrent seeding somewhere else. Afterwards start the MO patcher again, it will check the downloaded file and start patching/installing. This takes even on a pretty good machine up to 12 minutes and there is no status bar. Keep it going.

When it has finished patching it deletes the file from "Start VaultMortal Onlinemortalonline" - and starts downloading a second patch, mopatch05to121719b.exe into the folder "Start VaultMortal Onlinemortalonline" which is  ... 1.35GB big. Go again into the folder "Start VaultMortal Onlinepatches" and open your torrent program to speed this up. And AGAIN please keep a copy outside of the "Start VaultMortal Onlinemortalonline" folder, as it deletes ... yes you get it.

That is it so far, I'll keep you updated on the process when I'm through it (if ever lol).

Alenna

tnx for tips

NovaKayne

Rumor mill from a good source ( friend that I trust in game reviews ) has the game really having lots of potential.

 

It does have a lot of bugs and it is still not stable.  However, he basically is putting a big stamp of approval on where the game is headed and not necessarily where it is currently.

 

So, it comes down to.. 

Do you feel it is worth spending money for a subscription on an indie game that is incomplete but, needs the influx of cash to be completed.  Does it have the style of game play you are looking for that you could justify the subscription?

 

Or

 

Do you not want to promote games that are incomplete and possibly mis-managed the project as a whole?  Is the current status of the game shine a light on future potential issues with the Developement team?

 

Difficult decision at this point.  As a gamer I WANT to promote indie developement of games that have the in game mechanics and support the type of play I am interested in.  However, I do not want to promote lofty, far reaching, idealistic goals that are not founded in reality. 

 

You can forgive some of the current issues with StarVault because of their indie status and the lack of experience with such an ambitious project.   Not having the vast resources or experience as some of the larger publishers/developers that are out there now.  However, even some of these larger publishers/developers are putting out such cut n paste garbage lately it is rediculous.  So...  still do not know how to vote on this with my $$$ atm.

sickan

 Go for it! I did, and I do not regret it at all.

Or atleast, go for the open beta, and get the feel for it yourself. Might be the easiest way to determine!

Slapshot1188

Why would anyone with even a modest amount of interest not take the opportunity to join the Open Beta and see for yourself?

 

Honestly... if you think downloading the client to try it for free is too much of a pain.. I think even the supporters will agree that this game is not likely to be a good fit for you.  If you are really interested just download the client and walk around.  you know what they say.. a picture is worth a thousand words.. well getting to play for yourself is worth a million.

 

sickan

 ^ This!

Kyleran

Originally posted by Slapshot1188


Why would anyone with even a modest amount of interest not take the opportunity to join the Open Beta and see for yourself?
 
Honestly... if you think downloading the client to try it for free is too much of a pain.. I think even the supporters will agree that this game is not likely to be a good fit for you.  If you are really interested just download the client and walk around.  you know what they say.. a picture is worth a thousand words.. well getting to play for yourself is worth a million.
 

Really?  I disagree, I prefer to play released games, so rarely bother to play open beta's unless of course, its close to the finished game which by most accounts, MO isn't anywhere near that state.

I want a smooth account set up program, clean, one button launcher that doesn't require me to change a lot of settings on my computer.  I guess I'm not an early adopter and my time is better spent doing other things than wrestling with game set ups.

Doesn't make me a lazy gamer, I've played one of the more complicated games out there (EVE) for over 2.5 years and I don't mind spending time figuring things out. (just not how to set up badly configured games, gave that up with DOS years ago)

But thanks to the OP for trying to help people get started, because that seems to be a common complaint for many posters so far.

 

Valkyrie

Well, I would put it like that: there are quite some people who would want to get into the beta but SV doesn't make it very simple/smooth at the moment - carefully put. Blaming the potential customers which give up frustrated or saying "if that is already too much for you the game isn't for you anyway" is nonsense from an economic point of view.

Understand me correctly please, I've been with a small indie company trying to make a MMO and failed (well, shipped a small medieval fps but still ...) and we were trying to do a sandbox MMO. So my sympathy is totally with SV and i can feel the pain and crunch they might go through at the moment. Still a commercial product is a commercial product and it needs to stand up on market. And if you are so under work load and whatever and don't manage to get your launcher.exe download uncorrupted on your webpage or understand that keeping the file (at least asking for it) so people can seed for other testers if they WANT to and thus make the access easier - that is shooting yourself in the foot.

It shouldn't be necessary at all that the only maps available are player made (http://www.navemap.com/) or the introduction how to play is player/fan made as well (http://www.youtube.com/verify_age?&next_url=/watch?v=BCyDQKZPelY&feature=channel - naked skin causes censorship) and people are lost already at the very first steps and ... mouth spreading about their impression which didn't even make it in the game maybe. One gains the reputation of failure launch easily but looses it only with tremendous efforts. I wouldn't wish SV any of that but it isn't just the games performance, it is about the access performance once you open the beta too.

Slapshot1188

Originally posted by Kyleran


Really?  I disagree, I prefer to play released games, so rarely bother to play open beta's unless of course, its close to the finished game which by most accounts, MO isn't anywhere near that state.
I want a smooth account set up program, clean, one button launcher that doesn't require me to change a lot of settings on my computer.  I guess I'm not an early adopter and my time is better spent doing other things than wrestling with game set ups.
Doesn't make me a lazy gamer, I've played one of the more complicated games out there (EVE) for over 2.5 years and I don't mind spending time figuring things out. (just not how to set up badly configured games, gave that up with DOS years ago)
But thanks to the OP for trying to help people get started, because that seems to be a common complaint for many posters so far.
 

 

By the fact that it is an Open Beta... it's close to the finished game.  At least if you are using finished to mean release version.  Their Press Release touted the Open Beta as the start of the release process and that it wasone of  their best marketing tools. 

There may be another patch before release and maybe some of the lag issues get fixed  but pretty much what you see is what you get.  So again.. asking another person if it's worth it.. is kind of pointless as everyone has their own opinion.   All it takes to find out if it has a smooth acct set up program is going to their website to make one...  I might think it sucks and is horrible.. you might think it's the best thing since sliced bread.

Again... it's a FREE Open Beta where they are asking you to TRY the game.  This is their marketing of it.  If you have any interest simply let the game download in the background for a day, install and look around for 10 minutes.  by that time you will likely know if it holds any potential for you or not.

 Edit to add: If by finished you mean 100% complete.. then no this is CERTAINLY not the game you want at this point.  The developers have stated that they will only have basic core features in the game at launch.  If you want it to be finished check back in during the fall and see what progress has been made.

 

Valkyrie

Slapshot, I disagree. If an indie company makes it to open beta they can cheer up and are usually tight on money. So the open beta is the best marketing tool they might have - because they can't afford any other and drain what they have ito development. Plain as that. *shrugs*

 I agree totally with Kyleran, give it a shot when you feel comfortable with it and most people give a game one shot - and than for a long time no second one. So it is not useful in my opinion to say "Get it now, while it is free, the company says so!", when the state of the game is obviously not in a state yet to release and won't (hopefully) be forced out of the door. From what I gather in the forums so far (still installing) it seems to be in a very laggy stage simply as they can't keep up with demand yet and the whole installation process is still painful etc. Some people like that experience nevertheless simply for the feel of exploring a ... rough diamond (and maybe get cut and bruised along the way and frustrated) and help polish it. Other don't but want to ... play.

From all the experience I could gather with sandbox-like MMO's in the past especially those which offer little content quest wise at least at the beta/start phase most content comes from ... people. Special people who invent and are creative. It takes time to gather such an auditory and only once (and if) it has those games start to shine. Even EVE is such a case though they have missions I think. Checking out a pure sandbox MMO when you enjoy load and loads of quests without the appropriate content-generating auditory to have settled would give you no pleasure at all - and the wrong impression too. So in those cases I'd wait a bit until something has established in the game to see THE GAME and not just the framework it offers. If you enjoy to generate content for others though - go for it, the framework seems to be there already for the most part.

Basically that is about the consumer-versus-creator type of player (no judgment or offense here at all).

LiquidWolf

Thank you for this information.

As I had the torrent, I didn't worry too much about it... and didn't find that it took too long for the patches/files to download.

Valkyrie

I found the server status page ... (removed as not working)

And the answer to the question "When is the open beta going to end?" I found that piece of art at the official forums

---

As for 99.83726777777777777777777777777777777777777777777 77777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777 77777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777 777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777-repeating 7's % of these threads continually ask the same question, I bring you this fantastic masterpiece orchestrated by NakieoN...

~ THE COMPREHENSIVE ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION(S) ~

...wait for it!

...wait for it!

...wait for it!

The answer is simply,

*ominous music starts up and ends abruptly*

'We don't know.'

*ominous music resumes*

- presented by NakieoN. All shenanigans are belong to me, 2009.

---

 

Next step in the we-install-MO endeavour: there is a new patch of 256MB called mopatch121719bto121820.torrent .

At least for me it doesn't work to get the x.torrent files while utorrent seeds the other patches so I recommend when you restart the MO patcher to obtain the next x.torrent file to pause utorrent!

HanoverZ

Originally posted by Valkyrie


I found the server status page ... www.23volts.com/MortalOnline/index.php So no need to hurry, server is down atm anyway it seems.

No you didn't...   or perhaps the site doesn't work.

Valkyrie

Ah thanks, that raises my hope to make it maybe ingame today. Got the link from the MO forums, do you have a working status page link? 

Slapshot1188

Maybe I am not properly stating this... simply put my thoughts are that no matter WHAT state the game is in... you will never have a better feel for it than by trying it yourself.  Firsthand experience will always be better than asking random people on the internet if they like it or if it's worth it.

If I have to pony up money to try a game I might ask someone elses opinion.. if I have the chance to see it myself for free?  That's worth more than all the advice and opinions in the world.

 

phrank

Originally posted by Slapshot1188


Maybe I am not properly stating this... simply put my thoughts are that no matter WHAT state the game is in... you will never have a better feel for it than by trying it yourself.  Firsthand experience will always be better than asking random people on the internet if they like it or if it's worth it.
If I have to pony up money to try a game I might ask someone elses opinion.. if I have the chance to see it myself for free?  That's worth more than all the advice and opinions in the world.
 

 

I agree with your point Slap, but shouldn't a game be working and playable before people are asked to try it? Otherwise you are just commiting suicide by letting people see the steaming, festering pile that you are going to want to charge a AAA price for in a very short time.

Open beta as a final stress test for final polish is a great marketing tool. Open beta to showcase a borked server / client system is nothing short of ignorant and reeks of total amatuerism. Companies like that don't last long nor do their garbage products.

Maliv

 I have to say, "Thank you" to SV for opening the game to the public.  For me, it saved me from dropping $50+ on the game just to hope and pray that everyone currently reporting on it is wrong.

After digging around and finding this thread, getting into the game was more hassle than I like, but not horrible.  Unfortunately, for me, that's where the positive experience ended. 

Perhaps it's just me, but everything about the game, especially the UI/control scheme seems completely out of whack.  

I didn't spend a lot of time around town (long enough to smack around and kill some guy who started attacking seconds after I loaded in).  I spent my time exploring the world (after I figured out that I had no choice but to find the one gate out of town as a 30 degree incline is too steep for my character and a 2 foot fence will keep me pen'd in all day.  I spent 1.5 hours exploring the world around the area that I started and saw nothing but a few ?cats? and some wild pigs.  After getting 5-10 minutes from the starting area in any direction, the world was completely devoid of life.  I found a lake and fell (as in, gravity took full effect when I approached the water's edge).  It took my character about 2 minutes to swim to the surface so luckily, the damage I was supposed to be taking from drowning didn't affect me!  After running into a HUGE invisible wall that kept me from exploring what appeared to be a large, empty flatland, I logged.

The game has potential but it's going to be a long time before this game will compare to even the roughest launched games (Vanguard comes to mind).  

I'd say give the game a shot (as long as you don't mind the trouble downloading/patching).  Answer the questions for yourself.  I'm glad I did.

Again, thanks to SV for giving people the opportunity to test (read see) the game.  Best of luck with it.

daarco

Ill give up for now! Been trying to get it to work for two days. Valkyria, your tips would have been very helpful....but im afraid im "computer disabled".

I have pathched and dowloaded evertyhing i coulf found. The cliant is ready it says all the time....but nooo : (