282 replies to this topic

[Ghost0r]

Drathorin, on 07 August 2012 - 10:30 AM, said:

This has been answered several hundred times already. (Search function. Who uses search Function? Obviously nobody that hasn't heard of google)

Click the Big shiney Founder's package link at the top of the page. Still with me? Good.

Notice where it says "Your Choice of 1 Founder's Mech" in the elite section? Okay? Good.

Notice how it's clickable? Good!

Now click it! Did you click it? No...left click.. No, that's the button on the LEFT of the mouse. The thing you keep mashing with your face is the F5 key.

Okay good! Now it's got shiney pictures with words saying "Select Your Mech"

If you can't figure out from here.. then the No Child Left Behind program has failed even more than it already has.

Well, thank you for the advice.

[REDACTED IMAGE]

[KarrRadane]

Makes sense to me and a good explanation of what we can expect. Evolutionary not revolutionary like that.

K

[Magnus88]

So.... I can basically go ballistic with my 33k MC now right? Because you guys will spot me later for it? lol

[Geneslicer]

this is what they posted

by [color="#ffa504"]Inner Sphere News[/color] Aug 6, 2012 1:00 PM PDT
With the August 7th date quickly approaching, we wanted to give you guys a quick update on some important points of note. We have noticed some wide-ranging discussion on the forums as to what exactly will be happening on August 7th, and we are pleased to share the official rollout plans.
Firstly, it's important to reiterate that the standard retail ALPHA/BETA definitions do not necessarily apply to online Free to Play (F2P) games. MechWarrior Online will always be in development, which means exciting new features and content will roll out frequently. As you know, we have yet to announce hard dates for Open Beta or our official Live date. Our goal has always been to achieve Open Beta status before the end of summer.
What will happen on August 7th? Great question!

All Founder's Program members will be granted access to all of their Founder's perks and rewards.
So basically:

• Beta access (granted with any Founder's program)
  
• Founder's Tag (granted instantly)
  
• Premium account^*
  
• In-game currency^**
  
• Founder's Mechs for Elite and Legendary Founders
  
• The Founders Program "Credits" and "In Game Currency / MC" are ready for you to spend at will.
  Important: You will be refunded the entire amount each time we patch the game during Closed Beta & once again when we commence the Open Beta.

Once all Founder's Members are in the Open Beta, your premium account bonuses will be treated as "live" and any MC used will be permanently spent.
Please Note:

^* The premium account grants you 50% more XP and C-Bills. Even though you will get those benefits while the duration of Closed Beta, the REAL clock will only begin at Open Beta where there will be a final reset of all accounts so everyone starts at the same level.
^** In game currency will be reset and re-injected at every reset until Open Beta. This means you can experiment and spend it all with no worries as it will be given back to you on the final reset of Open Beta.
How long will the Founder's Program be on sale?

Due to recent overwhelming demand, the Founder's Program will continue to be made available beyond August 7th. Cut-off timing for the Founder's Program offer will be announced at a later date.
The game is currently in Closed Beta, what does this mean?

• Ancillary features are done.
  
• New features are being added.
  
• New content is added on a regular basis.
  
• Access to MechWarrior Online is by invitation only.
  
• All purchases are tracked and will be credited to a player's account when Open Beta starts. (Example: If you purchase 5,000 MC during Closed Beta, your account will be credited with 5,000 MC once Open Beta begins.)
  
• Data is reset regularly.
  
• Balance and tuning are extensive and regular.
  
• Lots of bugs.

Once we announce we are in Open Beta (Date TBD), what will change?

• The game is 95% stable.
  
• New features are still being added.
  
• New content is added on a regular basis.
  
• Final data reset.
  
• Balance and tuning are still happening regularly in response to scaling up the user base.

As mentioned above, terms like "Release" or "Live" are hard to determine with a Free to Play game like MechWarrior Online, however you may consider the game "Live" when:

• The game is stable.
  
• New features are grouped into more formal releases.
  
• New content is added on a regular basis.
  
• Unrestricted public access to the game.
  
• Ongoing tuning and minor bug fixing.

We hope this clarifies things a little more and gives you a bit more information on the different milestones we are trying to achieve. Until next time, happy gaming!

SO .... the way i see it is once open beta starts thats it the game is live for every one

regards ... Geneslicer.
lives a *****, then you marry one, then you die, then she bloody follows you .

[sdevoti]

LOL Fear my Founders Hunchback, it will crush you

[Chaoticallen71]

I want to play it's all new to me. I have been playing Battletech since 1985. So its free or not. Do I purchase or wait for invite?

[Frozen Winter]

"Firstly, it's important to reiterate that the standard retail ALPHA/BETA definitions do not necessarily apply to online Free to Play (F2P) games. MechWarrior Online will always be in development, which means exciting new features and content will roll out frequently."

Those lines right there are what make warning bells go off in my head. The simple truth is it's wrong. Yes game design, project development in general, is changing but certain points haven't gone away. Some people are trying to make changes to an efficient system but that is more to protect their own hides instead of the end user's enjoyment.

If this game has been through an Alpha test then it is just for company employees only. I'm pretty sure you've done that. The Beta testing is for people outside of the company. In the Closed Beta certain people were allowed access based on keys and later the Founder's Program. The Open Beta will be a general public test. The game is not released. That's the point you are trying to bash into people's skulls.

I think what bothers myself and my community is that Open Beta usually doesn't last long. You stress the servers, the coding, you try to break the game on a large scale. You tighten code, fiddle with hardware and release the game. If bad stuff happens you throw out a patch once in a while to fix bad stuff. However we've been seeing a trend that Open Betas last for years before going into "Release". That means, if the company goes belly up or the return on investment isn't met then the game can be shutdown before a full product, as the company/investors see it, has been given to the public to enjoy. It happens but it also feels more like something to cover your own backsides with. If anything goes wrong the words that are said massively on the forums already can be uttered again, "It's only Beta."

There are multiple games out there that are contrary to your first sentence. World of Warcraft, Star Wars, and even Minecraft are all released and they are also still evolving. The development on those games never stopped, they are adding in new features and content in a timely matter with timely being subjective. My apologies to you. Those games are not quite Free to Play (F2P) games. Well then let's go with Dungeons and Dragons Online, Lord of the Rings Online, Star Trek Online, City of Heroes, most games by Perfect World Entertainment, most games by TQ Digital, Allods Online, Maple Story, and League of Legends. Those F2P games are still in development, 95% of the features implemented and are in live status.

As game designers you will be constantly making improvements to the game. Does the 95% include these new ideas or is it simply the design doc that you've put together at the start of this project? What about the alterations to the design doc that naturally comes from time going on and ideas failing/working? You could say that from two years from now the game isn't live yet because the advanced swarm AI that reacts to player movements isn't in the game yet. Oh and those bugs people are still finding two years from now? Players shouldn't worry about them, "It's a Beta."

This doesn't mean I think the game is or will be bad. I've purchased the Legendary Founder's Pack as a sign of good faith. Well not really that more like I believe that projects that potential to make money or are at least entertaining to be should be funded. However, due to being burned by certain games, like League of Legends (LoL), I am more cautious with giving my money away. If I had known the game LoL would turn into I would not have given them as much money as I did. By some of the statements from the company myself and my community have been cautious with spending money on MW:O even to the point where quite a few of our members haven't purchased the Founder's Pack when they still want to play the game. This is not something I want to see happen to the game simply because I have been waiting for a slower mech combat experience that only Mechwarrior can give me. I want to be Fry throwing money at the screen yelling at you to shush and take it all. I'm getting a middle of the road borderline pessimistic feeling instead.

TL;DR: MW:O looks good, I spent money on it but I worry about the heading this game seems to be going.

[light487]

Frozen Winter, on 12 August 2012 - 11:23 PM, said:

TL;DR: MW:O looks good, I spent money on it but I worry about the heading this game seems to be going.

Yerh.. a bit over the top post really.. your "TL:DR summary" isn't really accurate though..

What you've done is taken 2 sentences out of context and completely over-analysed it. Don't get into semantics.. just try to understand that he was responding in a way to try and help people to understand the nature of the development.

That's all.. no hidden agenda, no dark underbelly conspiracy.. just simply putting the same answer that has been answered a hundred times before in a different way.

[NoIrVI]

how do you install this game

[Name48928]

NoIrVI, on 14 August 2012 - 11:15 AM, said:

how do you install this game

You have two options:

Option One
1. Pay $30, $60, or $120 for a Founder's Pack
2. Redeem your "Instant Access" Beta key
3. Click the "Download" button in the upper-right corner
4. Sign the Non-Disclosure Agreement
5. [REDACTED]

Option Two
1. Wait

[RoyalPurple]

This game will be awesome cant wait to play it.

[CheezeDoodle]

Any update on the Founder's Pack cut off? How much warning will we be given? 1 day? A week?

[Maltduck]

well peps we ben wateing for 9 years now if it 95 ok then open it up allready we tired of wateing as we the pub see it u all just trying to milk all the green u can from the ones thats got money befor u let it out

[Henry Buzz Gerber]

Damn this a good game, better upgrade my hardware for this all drives overheating just like the way i pilot my mech. lol

[Pax Bellum]

It's all about the C-Bills

[juggaluggalo]

MinionJoe, on 14 August 2012 - 01:55 PM, said:

You have two options:

Option One
1. Pay $30, $60, or $120 for a Founder's Pack
2. Redeem your "Instant Access" Beta key
3. Click the "Download" button in the upper-right corner
4. Sign the Non-Disclosure Agreement
5. [REDACTED]

Option Two
1. Wait

Just paid. How do you get the code? via email ??

[HAMMERHEART]

wait ....

[Raze RoughNeck]

Im hoping they will hold the founders till after setp first i get payed once a month and hoping to get the ledendary wheni get payed!

[Wildchild]

Great Can't Wait!!!!!

[Spartans]

Im excited to play this game i hope it comes into open beta soon cant wait to get my hands on a jenner and hopefully a centurion cause that thing looks freaking awesome

Edited by Spartans, 22 August 2012 - 11:27 PM.