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SOE announces "Newbie Island" for free demo of game
Krosslite
Member Posts: 317
This should make some of the people wishing to try out the game for free. This island will not allow access to the actual game though.
http://forums.station.sony.com/vg/posts/list.m?topic_id=12302
A MMO is like life. It is something to cherish and enjoy upon in it journey. So why race to the end of it. In life at the end you die.
Comments
Its a sweet way to do things. I got an "Intro" disk like that in Prophecy of Ro and The Serpent's Spine. Gave them to friends. Fun was had!
Yeah was sort of wondering what that Island would be like as first i had similiar thoughts in how it wouldn't be fair towards the rest of the game when someone decided to jump of the island to get in the full game which at first didn't indecate the game itself would be as optimized as the trail would be, but the following made clear this wasn't the case or meaning of it all
- Shayalyn
There’s no good way to answer the “dishonest” question. We will do our best to make sure the optimization tricks we learn from the trail island make it to the live game ASAP. In addition, art will finish the island before design populates it, so while design is populating, art will be optimizing the existing game. So [by the time] the trail island does go live, the rest of the game should be much better. Keep in mind programming is still working on optimizations as well during this time. If we never optimized the rest of the game starting now, I think [the folks who say the trial island is dishonest] would have a valid point, but that’s not the case.
- Dave Gilbertson, Director of Development
i do like this idea and i'll most likely attempt this before i even consider joining Vanguard again. Glad to see/hear SOE is trying to make strides in enhancing Vanguard. Seems like a lot of work to do still for Vanguard but i'm sure every little bit helps & is appreciated by current players while being monitered by possible future players as well. "Newbie Island" i hope isn't the name of the place though, call it "Fledgling Isle" or something with creativity. Regardless i think this is a positive step for Vanguard's future & prosperity.
Behold the return of Soandso!
Still, the game is all about raiding, no thanks.
- "If I understand you well, you are telling me until next time. " - Ren
I've played on a buddy key on release but wasn't really enjoying it, however that was partly caused by inferiour hardware. Maybe things will be different this time
Yes they are working on getting a raiding area going atm, but the game is not all about raid. I don't understand where you are getting your info to make a statement like that.
During beta the Devs stated it would be 40% grouping (including raiding); 20% solo; 20% crafting; and 20% diplomat (which is a card game).
I do not see where you can say this game is "all about raiding" when that is really not a true statement at all.
Heck my son has only been a diplomat and he has hardly adventured and he has 30g in his characters pockets (by the way his character is lvl 10 adventuring I honestly forgot his Diplomat level cause I refuse to play the card game.
Crafting is very time consuming in itself. My highest character is 35 in adventuring and 24 in crafting. I know of crafts that are at or nearing 50 but in adventeuring they are about 10 give or take a level or three
I would like to know how this game is "all about raiding", please enlighten me.
A MMO is like life. It is something to cherish and enjoy upon in it journey. So why race to the end of it. In life at the end you die.
These numbers meant nothing then, and they mean nothing now. The reason they mean nothing is that neither Sigil nor Microsoft nor SOE nor any of their employees have ever said what those numbers mean. For example, let's say I wanted to calculate what percentage of the game was solo. Which one of these methods would I use?
The percentage of all the mobs in the game that a single player can kill? That means every rodent is "solo content." That means most every mob 4 levels lower than you is solo content also.
The percentage of quests that are soloable?
Does diplomacy count as solo? Does crafting? Or are they separate?
The areas where a player can safely or feasibly explore alone?
The percentage of items that can be obtained alone? Or the percentage of decent items that can be obtained alone?
And so on.
You see the problem. A number with no explanation behind it or justification for it is a FICTION. What Brad did was make that number whatever he damn well pleased depending on who he was marketing his game to at the moment. And of course so long as the number isn't defined or quantified, he can make it whatever he pleases. I challenged him many times to back that number up, and he never did.
EQ1, EQ2, SWG, SWTOR, GW, GW2 CoH, CoV, FFXI, WoW, CO, War,TSW and a slew of free trials and beta tests
Yes they are working on getting a raiding area going atm, but the game is not all about raid. I don't understand where you are getting your info to make a statement like that.
During beta the Devs stated it would be 40% grouping (including raiding); 20% solo; 20% crafting; and 20% diplomat (which is a card game).
I do not see where you can say this game is "all about raiding" when that is really not a true statement at all.
Heck my son has only been a diplomat and he has hardly adventured and he has 30g in his characters pockets (by the way his character is lvl 10 adventuring I honestly forgot his Diplomat level cause I refuse to play the card game.
Crafting is very time consuming in itself. My highest character is 35 in adventuring and 24 in crafting. I know of crafts that are at or nearing 50 but in adventeuring they are about 10 give or take a level or three
I would like to know how this game is "all about raiding", please enlighten me.
Oh, that was his bad, he ment grinding, then raiding, then raidgrinding, ala EQ1, 2, and now 3...
Of all that is written, I love only what a person has written with his own blood. -Nietzsche
wow Anofayle, i go away for a month or two and your *still* beating this drum?
OCD much?
You could not be more wrong.
First...the game is what you make it. If you make it a grind..make it a raid....make lonely...make it too busy...then that is exactly what it will be.
Raid content is approx 10% of the games content. You forget or choose not to include the crafting, questing, harvesting and diplomacy aspects of the game. Take into account any guild festivities going on...put in a splash of orginal thinking and there are literly dozens of options as to what one could do besides raiding.
Vanguard is not hardcore...nor is it a raid game...it's a big ole sandbox game that is what you make in it. I'm making me a big ole sand castle and my friends in game are helping me. We are all having a blast and waiting for yall to come join us. We will welcome yall with open arms and free bronze daggers.
I think the trial island is an excellent idea. It would be nice to have a steady stream of trial players to promote the t1 market, but it's nice to know everyone I see is at least a paying customer. I have had experiences of trial players exploiting good will by accepting lots of free starter stuff and then just leaving game with a word to no-one...in essence...taking advantage.
I don't think SoE is trying to decieve anyone. Anyone thinks trial island is an attempt to decieve everyone needs to go hide in that nuke proof bunker they got in their back yard....and maybe slow down on the pot consumption.
I do not think SoE is being dishonest. In fact...I've been nothing but impressed with communications from SoE and Sigil since the get go. It is my opinion that they actualy say TOO MUCH. Can the people handle the truth ? often not. It's been my experience not only do many people have difficulty with too much honesty....they really don't even want it..prefering to live in their own webs of distortion and fantasy....anyways
Those are my opinions and I'm an expert in my opinions.
Good news ...Good times for Vanguard ...rock on SoE
These numbers meant nothing then, and they mean nothing now. The reason they mean nothing is that neither Sigil nor Microsoft nor SOE nor any of their employees have ever said what those numbers mean. For example, let's say I wanted to calculate what percentage of the game was solo. Which one of these methods would I use? obtained alone?
Actually they did it is called the dot system.
2- dot mobs are solo
3-dot solo with a struggle - small group
4-dot struggle with a small group - full group
5-dot struggle with a full group
6-dot raid mobs
A MMO is like life. It is something to cherish and enjoy upon in it journey. So why race to the end of it. In life at the end you die.
A MMO is like life. It is something to cherish and enjoy upon in it journey. So why race to the end of it. In life at the end you die.
Gold farmers would like that, no doubt.
EQ1, EQ2, SWG, SWTOR, GW, GW2 CoH, CoV, FFXI, WoW, CO, War,TSW and a slew of free trials and beta tests
Gold farmers would like that, no doubt.
Ya, and who cares VG is already plagued with gold farmers to the point of no return.
The main reason is to restrict and control gold farmers. They love free two week trials that put ya in the actual game. One can get alot of gold playing a toon 24/7 in two weeks.
There are some drawbacks...trial players would be great for the tier one economy for example. It also sounds like the SoE Devs have found ways to enhance performance by creating an area from scratch. It sounds as if they are going to use the new area as a bit of a testing place as well...taking what works and putting it into the main game.
Another drawback is new players won't be able to get hooked up in a good guild to enhance their early days in game....BUT..it will save some guilds from mistakenly recruiting people with no intention of staying...often milking out all the free stuff they can during their trial period. As a leader of a newb friendly guild...I've had this problem in the past in other games. At times it was so bad it would run off our high end crafters cause they got tired of spending an hour or two crafting gear for a new members only to watch then disappear in a week or two.
The main reason is to restrict and control gold farmers. They love free two week trials that put ya in the actual game. One can get alot of gold playing a toon 24/7 in two weeks.
There are some drawbacks...trial players would be great for the tier one economy for example. It also sounds like the SoE Devs have found ways to enhance performance by creating an area from scratch. It sounds as if they are going to use the new area as a bit of a testing place as well...taking what works and putting it into the main game.
Another drawback is new players won't be able to get hooked up in a good guild to enhance their early days in game....BUT..it will save some guilds from mistakenly recruiting people with no intention of staying...often milking out all the free stuff they can during their trial period. As a leader of a newb friendly guild...I've had this problem in the past in other games. At times it was so bad it would run off our high end crafters cause they got tired of spending an hour or two crafting gear for a new members only to watch then disappear in a week or two.
Yeesh, didn't you read Tutu2's post, or actually ever played World of Warcraft? World of Warcraft deals with the gold farmer issue by capping the amount of gold a trial character can make in the first place, and restrict their use of in-game mail, auction houses and player to player trade. I guarantee doing one of those is much easier than segmenting an entire island off from the rest of the game if neutering gold farmers was the objective; so no, gold farmers are NOT the inspiration behind the island.The real reason could be a lot of things:
(1) There's too many newbie areas as everyone can agree with, a problem that contributed to thinning populations during launch. While this will still remain a problem for new subscribers, it'll at least give trial users a consolidated first experience rather than a barren world.
(2) Probably most important of all, a 20+ gig and growing MMO isn't the easiest to distribute. World of Warcraft uses BitTorrent to remedy it's distribution ills and it's a smaller download, so I imagine SOE doesn't want to bother distributing that big of a game from direct download servers without an alternate solution. More importantly, a 20+ gig download is a turn off for a lot of prospective trial users.
And I suppose that's about it, 'least as far as I care to think of, but there's much better reasons to justify the island rather than paranoia of gold farmers.
I will try and compare with beta.
But it looks to me like those terrific trailers of bad films. One you have paid your ticket then realize the film has nothing in common with the trailer.
Personally I think it is scamming possible players, because that starting are is a "pink glass" of the reality of the game.
Seems you have missed the following
- Shayalyn
There’s no good way to answer the “dishonest” question. We will do our best to make sure the optimization tricks we learn from the trail island make it to the live game ASAP. In addition, art will finish the island before design populates it, so while design is populating, art will be optimizing the existing game. So [by the time] the trail island does go live, the rest of the game should be much better. Keep in mind programming is still working on optimizations as well during this time. If we never optimized the rest of the game starting now, I think [the folks who say the trial island is dishonest] would have a valid point, but that’s not the case.
- Dave Gilbertson, Director of Development
NEXT !
Seems you have missed the following
- Shayalyn
There’s no good way to answer the “dishonest” question. We will do our best to make sure the optimization tricks we learn from the trail island make it to the live game ASAP. In addition, art will finish the island before design populates it, so while design is populating, art will be optimizing the existing game. So [by the time] the trail island does go live, the rest of the game should be much better. Keep in mind programming is still working on optimizations as well during this time. If we never optimized the rest of the game starting now, I think [the folks who say the trial island is dishonest] would have a valid point, but that’s not the case.
- Dave Gilbertson, Director of Development
NEXT !
One would be a bit gullible to believe things like "we will do our best", "ASAP", "should be much better" have a whole lot of weight when it comes to MMOs, especially the "ASAP", especially coming SOE pertaining to Vanguard which was supposedly only released a few months too early.Anyway, "There's no good way to answer the 'dishonest' question." means there's only a bad way to answer it, which in so many words was Smedley merely hoping a good deal of the real game would be optimized to the level of "much better" by the time Trial Island was out there.
All that "should be much better" does for me is insinuate Trial Island is being built from the ground up with 100% optimized graphics, and the existing game won't see a mirroring 100% revamp. So regardless there is going to be a bit of dishonesty in performance on the island versus the real game, because even if SOE does reach the optimization goal of "much better" with existing content, it won't be on the level of what the island is to be.
Seems you have missed the following
- Shayalyn
There’s no good way to answer the “dishonest” question. We will do our best to make sure the optimization tricks we learn from the trail island make it to the live game ASAP. In addition, art will finish the island before design populates it, so while design is populating, art will be optimizing the existing game. So [by the time] the trail island does go live, the rest of the game should be much better. Keep in mind programming is still working on optimizations as well during this time. If we never optimized the rest of the game starting now, I think [the folks who say the trial island is dishonest] would have a valid point, but that’s not the case.
- Dave Gilbertson, Director of Development
NEXT !
One would be a bit gullible to believe things like "we will do our best", "ASAP", "should be much better" have a whole lot of weight when it comes to MMOs, especially the "ASAP", especially coming SOE pertaining to Vanguard which was supposedly only released a few months too early.Anyway, "There's no good way to answer the 'dishonest' question." means there's only a bad way to answer it, which in so many words was Smedley merely hoping a good deal of the real game would be optimized to the level of "much better" by the time Trial Island was out there.
All that "should be much better" does for me is insinuate Trial Island is being built from the ground up with 100% optimized graphics, and the existing game won't see a mirroring 100% revamp. So regardless there is going to be a bit of dishonesty in performance on the island versus the real game, because even if SOE does reach the optimization goal of "much better" with existing content, it won't be on the level of what the island is to be.
I'm glad you brought this up
as we all see that its what many that kept believing or misinformed believers who are just like that and will swallow any type of marketing or hype. Sure i take it with a grain of salt, but i meanly responded to the person i responded to as he made a comment which showed he did not even read it. I actualy don't even have to go there to explain how i truly feel about explanations from CEO's/Developers and such as its business and aslong its business its always questioneble to weither or not how much they say is thruth, while i do believe they themselfs (developers CEO's ect) see it as the (for the most part) as their thruth, from a consumer perspective we always need to be carefull not to fall for the many marketing tricks out there.
But still what is said by Smed isn't that bad, sure one might focus on words like ASAP but again like i said unless someone is cloned and put on this world blinded we all know with some common sense to not always take it for all 100% what they say. Atleast don't do it if one doesn't want to become disappointed with its outcome (might it not succeed as planned) But unfortunaly people will eat information like this and might again be burned by it cause htey might put to much faith in words said by them.
But i notice every little small detial should be explained on these boards else one keeps thinking differently then originaly was meant.