Amerish and Esamir..a long way to go before finish?

cellinaire · 2012-08-23, 03:43 AM

(plz bear in mind that this isn't a "I'm concerned.." thread.)

Just curious. When will Amerish or Esamir be available on Beta? I mean, all we've seen of Amerish and Esamir so far are just 6~7 pics(concept art + screenshots combined). So does this mean PS2 won't see itself launch in 2012?
(but that's ok, because I also don't wanna see another rushed product..)

Maybe 1st quarter of 2013?

HeatLegend · 2012-08-23, 07:18 AM

They've made very clear that it will be out before the end of the year ( obviously that can chance if we're unlucky ). But I'm also starting to get worried about the other continents... Maybe they just don't need as much of testing once one continent is done all the basic mechanics of the game are OK- and they don't want to spoil us Beta gamers too much... No idea

(No I'm not in Beta)

Nordan · 2012-08-23, 10:24 AM

If they are smart they wont show us much of those maps before the game is released, there is no real point to let beta testers play on them as most of the correction going on right now revolves around balancing, optimising and net coding. They don't need us to test the maps, they can do it themselves internally, and we will be able to enjoy some fresh maps at release

I would also be very surprised if the game isn't released within 3 or 4 months. This is, after all, a beta and beta means that the product is almost ready for release and just needs some fine tuning.

Canadian Vanu · 2012-08-23, 10:30 AM

Honestly I really hope they don't give any screen shots.

It'll only build up the hype and you know how much that helped us /sarcasm

Esamir might take longer because for the urban environments (they said there were ruined cities, right?) might take some time to lay out and add details, while amerish would be lots of grass textures and trees.

PoisonTaco · 2012-08-23, 04:19 PM

Those continents need to be tested. You need to test the starting locations of each empire's warpgates, you need to test base layouts and terrain to make sure that one faction isn't at a glaring advantage or disadvantage compared to the other two.

SOE would be stupid to leave these continents as a surprise for launch and we end up having two continents that are buggy, full of memory leaks and are unbalanced for certain empires.

HeatLegend · 2012-08-23, 04:24 PM

Originally Posted by PoisonTaco

Those continents need to be tested. You need to test the starting locations of each empire's warpgates, you need to test base layouts and terrain to make sure that one faction isn't at a glaring advantage or disadvantage compared to the other two.

SOE would be stupid to leave these continents as a surprise for launch and we end up having two continents that are buggy, full of memory leaks and are unbalanced for certain empires.

As someone said most of the Beta isnt about testing the maps; but like you said some of it is- they need to be tested. But they probably dont need as much time for that so maybe we can expect the other continents at the end of the Beta, maybe two or three weeks before it ends? Who knows

cellinaire · 2012-08-24, 02:07 AM

"If they are smart they wont show us much of those maps before the game is released"

err...

1) Internal QAs are often enough for non-mmo games, not for mmo games. Name at least one mmo which didn't open/reveal 65% of the whole landmasses to Beta testers before launch.

"yeah we will save Kalimdor for surprise and to avoid unnecessary hype. Just open up Eastern Kingdoms for our testers until we launch the game."

...need I say more?

2) Honestly I really hope they don't give any screen shots.

It'll only build up the hype and you know how much that helped us /sarcasm

You should've said that much earlier('cause they initially started to build up the hype since Fall 2011 and the Beta testing sign-up was especially early. And the PS2 dev twitpics with sandwiches & cheeseburgers). At this point, stop giving out any screenshots doesn't sound wise.

Last but not least, 2~3 weeks? Well, weird. Even a GU of EQ2 typically needed 3+ weeks of testing...

Eyeklops · 2012-08-24, 02:41 AM

Originally Posted by Nordan

If they are smart they wont show us much of those maps before the game is released, there is no real point to let beta testers play on them as most of the correction going on right now revolves around balancing, optimising and net coding. They don't need us to test the maps, they can do it themselves internally, and we will be able to enjoy some fresh maps at release

I would also be very surprised if the game isn't released within 3 or 4 months. This is, after all, a beta and beta means that the product is almost ready for release and just needs some fine tuning.

I sure hope not. Maps have holes that need to be found well before public release, and it takes a while to get them all fixed.

Galron · 2012-08-24, 01:33 PM

I played the Diablo 3 beta most recently. Did they let you play on all maps at all levels? No, they didn't need you to in order to bugfix what was needed.

Even if a map was beta tested and found to have some bugs or balance issues, map generation takes a whole lot more time and is mostly preplanned. If there is a giant issue im sure they will fix it but really there arent many map bugs to worry about. Let everyone have something new to look forward to in live release too.

Syphus · 2012-08-24, 02:00 PM

Originally Posted by Galron

I played the Diablo 3 beta most recently. Did they let you play on all maps at all levels? No, they didn't need you to in order to bugfix what was needed.

That's a terrible example.

Anyway, they'll be in when they're ready. If there wasn't an NDA I'd tell you some other information you'd like to know.

Nordan · 2012-08-24, 04:02 PM

Originally Posted by cellinaire

"If they are smart they wont show us much of those maps before the game is released"

err...

1) Internal QAs are often enough for non-mmo games, not for mmo games. Name at least one mmo which didn't open/reveal 65% of the whole landmasses to Beta testers before launch.

Planetside's 65x3 km2 is nothing compared to most mmos, I really doubt they would have a problem testing them internally. Regarding hyping, I don't see how two extra maps would add to that. The most impressive thing of PS2 that will draw people to it are the game mechanics combined with huge maps, but you only really have to give people one map to give them a taste of what is to come. The fewer maps we get to see in beta the longer they will feel fresh and new as well.

PoisonTaco · 2012-08-24, 04:19 PM

Originally Posted by Galron

I played the Diablo 3 beta most recently. Did they let you play on all maps at all levels? No, they didn't need you to in order to bugfix what was needed.

Even if a map was beta tested and found to have some bugs or balance issues, map generation takes a whole lot more time and is mostly preplanned. If there is a giant issue im sure they will fix it but really there arent many map bugs to worry about. Let everyone have something new to look forward to in live release too.

Diablo 3 supports up to 4 players and the maps are made for that many people.

Planetside 2 has 2000 players per map. Kind of hard to test a map built for 2000 people when your company doesn't have that big of a QA department. SOE actually NEEDS beta testers to test everything to see if it works. Balancing, maps, meta game you name it.

Galron · 2012-08-27, 01:24 AM

Originally Posted by PoisonTaco

Diablo 3 supports up to 4 players and the maps are made for that many people.

Planetside 2 has 2000 players per map. Kind of hard to test a map built for 2000 people when your company doesn't have that big of a QA department. SOE actually NEEDS beta testers to test everything to see if it works. Balancing, maps, meta game you name it.

Have they changed any major map feature yet based on beta? I don't think they have or will.

Rivenshield · 2012-08-27, 01:53 AM

Originally Posted by Galron

Have they changed any major map feature yet based on beta? I don't think they have or will.

I'm still clinging to the forlorn hope that they'll give us our sancs back, and rotating warp gates to go with them. That way we don't have to fight the same enemy over the same terrain IN THE SAME BLOODY DIRECTION every single day, and keep things fresh. So you can attack from the *other* side of that tree or that hill, and have it be different-colored people you're attacking.

You know. Like the old game did.

Sledgecrushr · 2012-08-27, 07:47 AM

Im sure we will have to beta test all three continents before full release. Dont want thousands of people falling through the planet on day one.