So wait, the gist of this thread is that because Aventurine allocates their resources to development rather than PR we're all supposed to hate them?  These boards are proof enough that being a gamer does not make you a good communicator.  In fact, the two are pretty much mutually exclusive.  Gamers are angry and ornery and like getting mad at inconsequential things (like this interview!)

Since I used to work PR for a shitty MMO company, and could make the shittiest Korean free2play grindfest sound like the next MMO messiah I've decided to rewrite this interview in a way that will make people who prefer to be manipulated more excited!

MMORPG.com: We haven't heard anything new from the developers since the Jan 22nd news item announcing the first round of invites. Can you tell us why we haven't heard any further updates?

Tasos:  YES!  It's exhilarating, actually.  The team's been in the office around-the-clock lately pounding away at the game getting it in tip top shape for release on the 25th.  We're doing everything we can (and doing a pretty good job of it, I might add) keeping all of our testers informed.  It's very important to us that we keep the external community excited and interest in Darkfall, but our main priority is keeping the many thousands of beta testers we've been adding regularly in the loop.  It'll help us ship a better product in the end!

MMORPG.com: We keep hearing that the developers have responded to quite a bit of user input since the 22nd. Can you give us an idea of some of the changes that have come about as a result of player feedback?

Tasos:   The testers have been integral to fine tuning the game to exactly where we want it.  It's actually pretty funny -- different beta builds contain different rulesets, and the tester community is actually proving our original hypotheses about how different functions should be in the game when released.  As we release more and more layers of the game, they're responding to it and making suggestions that were actually part of the original plan and just haven't been added to the beta build yet.

Part of being here around the clock means responding to bugs in record time.  Honestly, I don't know of any other game out there --beta or live-- that's been on top of issues the testing community has been facing like we have been here at Darkfall.  It doesn't matter if it's in the middle of a business day, or midnight on a Sunday; if it's broken, we're fixing it, and we're making such great progress.

It’s our commitment to continuously and proactively support this game throughout its lifecycle, on a daily basis, and to listen closely to what the players have to say so that the game can evolve and grow. We won’t simply assign a ‘live team’ to support the game while the rest of us move on to something else. The testers working with us already know this.

MMORPG.com: There had been some speculation that there are plans to push the launch date further back than the originally announced 25th date. Can you tell us if there is any truth to this?

Tasos:  Absolutely not!  Darkfall will be polished and ready for consumption in the EU on February 25th exactly as planned.

MMORPG.com: Can you give us any more details on pre-order plans?

Tasos:  We're working with Globalcollect, a leading and trusted global payment service, on our pre-orders.  Basically, players will be able to pre-order and download the game ahead of time so that they'll be able to play at launch.  You don't have to pay the full price up front either; just a small portion of it to initiate the download process.

Many, if not most, MMORPGs experience considerable growing pains when they launch and we're actively trying to avoid this.  We won't try to support more users than we can guarantee a good gameplay experience for, and if demand is higher than supply we'll move to a structured release.  Since we're planning on supporting more than 10,000 concurrent users, it requires considerably more infrastructure than your average MMOG; we can't just throw up a few more servers and call it a day.  It's a gradual process, but it'll make sure we can support the demand and keep the experience seamless for our very important early adopters.

The beta's been rather helpful in this regard; the overwhelming majority of people who have played the game have expressed their interest in pre-ordering, but it's not our intention to urge anyone to pre-order; rather, to simply inform that this is an available option.


MMORPG.com: As of now, are there any systems or features that players have expected to see in the game that will not be ready for launch?

Tasos: The only feature we haven’t had time to implement is the Mahirim 4 legged run. Mahirim characters can of course use mounts until this is implemented.

There've been a few skills actually removed from production because we felt they were tedious or redundant; part of being committed to the player experience means being willing to put certain features to the chopping block if it doesn't add to the fun of the game.  Running guards have been removed and replaced with guard towers to open up space in the world and increase performance.  As we always have an eye on the economy, ships, cannons, warhulks, and structures can be repaired, but not on player items; the proper balance adjustments have been made to this system, of course, but the overall effect on the economy is much better with this system.

Player housing has been rolled into clan housing, ritual magic has been and prestige classes have been left out, and ARAC guilds are possible for practical reasons with only the penalty of incompatibility.

That said, there are hundreds of added extras to the game that the players are not expecting which we will continue to add throughout the lifecycle of the game.  The testers have responded very positively to several of the things we've implemented that we've never told anyone about.

MMORPG.com: Can you give us an idea of when you plan to lift the game's NDA

Tasos:  I could, but then I'd be breaking the NDA ;)

MMORPG.com: Has any progress been made in moving toward a North American launch date after the European date of the 25th?

Tasos:  For the time being the European servers have been handling N. American players very well, and no problems have been reported due to player location.  When the game goes live N. American players may play on the EU servers, and we will of course facilitate the migration of N. American players to join the N. American servers when these become available if they so choose. We'll have more information on this when we come out of crunch!  Still, though, we prefer to delay the N. American launch and do it right rather than tack it on now to the already overwhelming job of launching the Most Anticipated MMO of 2008! 

Sorry.  It has nothing to do with the game.  It has everything to do with the interview questions.

Originally posted by brink001

So wait, the gist of this thread is that because Aventurine allocates their resources to development rather than PR we're all supposed to hate them?  These boards are proof enough that being a gamer does not make you a good communicator.  In fact, the two are pretty much mutually exclusive.  Gamers are angry and ornery and like getting mad at inconsequential things (like this interview!)

Since I used to work PR for a shitty MMO company, and could make the shittiest Korean free2play grindfest sound like the next MMO messiah I've decided to rewrite this interview in a way that will make people who prefer to be manipulated more excited!

 

MMORPG.com: We haven't heard anything new from the developers since the Jan 22nd news item announcing the first round of invites. Can you tell us why we haven't heard any further updates?

Tasos:  YES!  It's exhilarating, actually.  The team's been in the office around-the-clock lately pounding away at the game getting it in tip top shape for release on the 25th.  We're doing everything we can (and doing a pretty good job of it, I might add) keeping all of our testers informed.  It's very important to us that we keep the external community excited and interest in Darkfall, but our main priority is keeping the many thousands of beta testers we've been adding regularly in the loop.  It'll help us ship a better product in the end!

MMORPG.com: We keep hearing that the developers have responded to quite a bit of user input since the 22nd. Can you give us an idea of some of the changes that have come about as a result of player feedback?

Tasos:   The testers have been integral to fine tuning the game to exactly where we want it.  It's actually pretty funny -- different beta builds contain different rulesets, and the tester community is actually proving our original hypotheses about how different functions should be in the game when released.  As we release more and more layers of the game, they're responding to it and making suggestions that were actually part of the original plan and just haven't been added to the beta build yet.

Part of being here around the clock means responding to bugs in record time.  Honestly, I don't know of any other game out there --beta or live-- that's been on top of issues the testing community has been facing like we have been here at Darkfall.  It doesn't matter if it's in the middle of a business day, or midnight on a Sunday; if it's broken, we're fixing it, and we're making such great progress.

It’s our commitment to continuously and proactively support this game throughout its lifecycle, on a daily basis, and to listen closely to what the players have to say so that the game can evolve and grow. We won’t simply assign a ‘live team’ to support the game while the rest of us move on to something else. The testers working with us already know this.

MMORPG.com: There had been some speculation that there are plans to push the launch date further back than the originally announced 25th date. Can you tell us if there is any truth to this?

Tasos:  Absolutely not!  Darkfall will be polished and ready for consumption in the EU on February 25th exactly as planned.

MMORPG.com: Can you give us any more details on pre-order plans?

Tasos:  We're working with Globalcollect, a leading and trusted global payment service, on our pre-orders.  Basically, players will be able to pre-order and download the game ahead of time so that they'll be able to play at launch.  You don't have to pay the full price up front either; just a small portion of it to initiate the download process.

Many, if not most, MMORPGs experience considerable growing pains when they launch and we're actively trying to avoid this.  We won't try to support more users than we can guarantee a good gameplay experience for, and if demand is higher than supply we'll move to a structured release.  Since we're planning on supporting more than 10,000 concurrent users, it requires considerably more infrastructure than your average MMOG; we can't just throw up a few more servers and call it a day.  It's a gradual process, but it'll make sure we can support the demand and keep the experience seamless for our very important early adopters.

The beta's been rather helpful in this regard; the overwhelming majority of people who have played the game have expressed their interest in pre-ordering, but it's not our intention to urge anyone to pre-order; rather, to simply inform that this is an available option.


MMORPG.com: As of now, are there any systems or features that players have expected to see in the game that will not be ready for launch?

Tasos: The only feature we haven’t had time to implement is the Mahirim 4 legged run. Mahirim characters can of course use mounts until this is implemented.

There've been a few skills actually removed from production because we felt they were tedious or redundant; part of being committed to the player experience means being willing to put certain features to the chopping block if it doesn't add to the fun of the game.  Running guards have been removed and replaced with guard towers to open up space in the world and increase performance.  As we always have an eye on the economy, ships, cannons, warhulks, and structures can be repaired, but not on player items; the proper balance adjustments have been made to this system, of course, but the overall effect on the economy is much better with this system.

Player housing has been rolled into clan housing, ritual magic has been and prestige classes have been left out, and ARAC guilds are possible for practical reasons with only the penalty of incompatibility.

That said, there are hundreds of added extras to the game that the players are not expecting which we will continue to add throughout the lifecycle of the game.  The testers have responded very positively to several of the things we've implemented that we've never told anyone about.

MMORPG.com: Can you give us an idea of when you plan to lift the game's NDA

Tasos:  I could, but then I'd be breaking the NDA ;)

MMORPG.com: Has any progress been made in moving toward a North American launch date after the European date of the 25th?

Tasos:  For the time being the European servers have been handling N. American players very well, and no problems have been reported due to player location.  When the game goes live N. American players may play on the EU servers, and we will of course facilitate the migration of N. American players to join the N. American servers when these become available if they so choose. We'll have more information on this when we come out of crunch!  Still, though, we prefer to delay the N. American launch and do it right rather than tack it on now to the already overwhelming job of launching the Most Anticipated MMO of 2008! 

 

Sorry.  It has nothing to do with the game.  It has everything to do with the interview questions.

Well done sir, Aventurine needs to hire you to handle their PR, heck, with you at the helm everyone would probably be in love with the game right now.

To blink001: Very nice post!

To the rest of "group" who posted useless message in the purpose of creating a flame war....if you're not in the Open Beta right now, you have no right to say this game sucks or is so freaking great. So unless you've entered beta, I don't see any point in posting some ignorant comment for the purpose of trolling and annoying people.

Originally posted by MadnessRealm

if you're not in the Open Beta right now, you have no right to say this game sucks or is so freaking great.

What open beta? There isn't one.

there is no open beta, no free trial, nadda.

Originally posted by Lidane

Originally posted by MadnessRealm

if you're not in the Open Beta right now, you have no right to say this game sucks or is so freaking great.

What open beta? There isn't one.

sigh.. sure their is . But they call it "Limited release" ... and you have to pay for it.

just to be sure you guys know what consolidate really means - from dictionary.com

Consolidate: to discard the unused or unwanted items of and organize the remaining: She consolidated her home library.

every time there is an interview or they ask questions they seem to remove stuff from the game. it started out with a big list and now....

i wonder if someone can take that original list and strike out everything they have removed, see what is left.

yeah ive been a passive follower of DF online since it was first announce.. .so long ago. but the more and more it comes to release the game seems to loose its punch. apart from the combat system i think UO has more features. say for example player housing...

i guess we will have to wait and see, but being limited financially, i will wait, i do not want another game box whos only purpose is being a kick ass paperweight.

Originally posted by imbant

Originally posted by Darter

Taken out, consolidated, replaced, left out.  If these terms don't set alarm bells ringing you  must be delusional.  Anyone pre ordering this game is downright foolish

 

lol ignorance is bliss

 

best game on the market right now hands down if you can stomach harsh pvp penalties and sandbox content

Darkfall is not out on the market yet. A game has to be released/live to be on the market.

Originally posted by zymurgeist

Never underestimate the power of human stupidity.  ~Robert Heinlein
 

Indeed, it's quite rampant on this forum. Perhaps not stupidity though, just an utter ignorance. But then, you haven't played the game, so it's not your fault.

Originally posted by Darter

Taken out, consolidated, replaced, left out.  If these terms don't set alarm bells ringing you  must be delusional.  Anyone pre ordering this game is downright foolish

I`ve seen and played this game. It`s not the best I`ve played, but it is the ONLY pvp mmo we have at the moment. For that reason alone I will pre-order, and so will five of my RL mates. If you are not into full-loot PvP, this game simply isn`t for you.

Originally posted by Hotjazz

Originally posted by Darter

Taken out, consolidated, replaced, left out.  If these terms don't set alarm bells ringing you  must be delusional.  Anyone pre ordering this game is downright foolish

 

I`ve seen and played this game. It`s not the best I`ve played, but it is the ONLY pvp mmo we have at the moment. For that reason alone I will pre-order, and so will five of my RL mates. If you are not into full-loot PvP, this game simply isn`t for you.

Also if you are not into poor animations, poor sound, ganking fest, bot cheat macro fest, lag, clumsy interface, clumsy and shallow combat, theme park siege and absurd solutions like almighty towers, then this game simply isn't for you.

Originally posted by altairzq

Originally posted by Hotjazz

Originally posted by Darter

Taken out, consolidated, replaced, left out.  If these terms don't set alarm bells ringing you  must be delusional.  Anyone pre ordering this game is downright foolish

 

I`ve seen and played this game. It`s not the best I`ve played, but it is the ONLY pvp mmo we have at the moment. For that reason alone I will pre-order, and so will five of my RL mates. If you are not into full-loot PvP, this game simply isn`t for you.

 

Also if you are not into poor animations, poor sound, ganking fest, bot cheat macro fest, lag, clumsy interface, clumsy and shallow combat, theme park siege and absurd solutions like almighty towers, then this game simply isn't for you.

Poor animations. ok

Ill even give you the sounds part, they could be better.

Both things i care very little about.

As for the rest, rubbish.

The interface is ok, the combat looks great, specially now that they fixed magic, the sieges arent "theme park", and the towers are not almighty and makes alot of sense.

-Darkstar

Originally posted by Darkstar111

Originally posted by altairzq

Originally posted by Hotjazz

Originally posted by Darter

Taken out, consolidated, replaced, left out.  If these terms don't set alarm bells ringing you  must be delusional.  Anyone pre ordering this game is downright foolish

 

I`ve seen and played this game. It`s not the best I`ve played, but it is the ONLY pvp mmo we have at the moment. For that reason alone I will pre-order, and so will five of my RL mates. If you are not into full-loot PvP, this game simply isn`t for you.

 

Also if you are not into poor animations, poor sound, ganking fest, bot cheat macro fest, lag, clumsy interface, clumsy and shallow combat, theme park siege and absurd solutions like almighty towers, then this game simply isn't for you.

Poor animations. ok

Ill even give you the sounds part, they could be better.

Both things i care very little about.

As for the rest, rubbish.

The interface is ok, the combat looks great, specially now that they fixed magic, the sieges arent "theme park", and the towers are not almighty and makes alot of sense.

 

-Darkstar

 

 

 

 

 

Yea he likes to make nonsense up

lol at the bot and gankfest comments...and for shallowcombat...wow you have no idea....most satisfying combat experience

Originally posted by Darkstar111

Originally posted by altairzq

Originally posted by Hotjazz

Originally posted by Darter

Taken out, consolidated, replaced, left out.  If these terms don't set alarm bells ringing you  must be delusional.  Anyone pre ordering this game is downright foolish

 

I`ve seen and played this game. It`s not the best I`ve played, but it is the ONLY pvp mmo we have at the moment. For that reason alone I will pre-order, and so will five of my RL mates. If you are not into full-loot PvP, this game simply isn`t for you.

 

Also if you are not into poor animations, poor sound, ganking fest, bot cheat macro fest, lag, clumsy interface, clumsy and shallow combat, theme park siege and absurd solutions like almighty towers, then this game simply isn't for you.

Poor animations. ok

Ill even give you the sounds part, they could be better.

Both things i care very little about.

As for the rest, rubbish.

The interface is ok, the combat looks great, specially now that they fixed magic, the sieges arent "theme park", and the towers are not almighty and makes alot of sense.

 

-Darkstar

For what I have been able to read and discuss here, it's obvious to me that siege is very Theme Park. And the towers absurd. Which leads me to think what you say about combat and interface might be wrong too. I mean rubbish.

Originally posted by altairzq

Originally posted by Darkstar111

Originally posted by altairzq

Originally posted by Hotjazz

Originally posted by Darter

Taken out, consolidated, replaced, left out.  If these terms don't set alarm bells ringing you  must be delusional.  Anyone pre ordering this game is downright foolish

 

I`ve seen and played this game. It`s not the best I`ve played, but it is the ONLY pvp mmo we have at the moment. For that reason alone I will pre-order, and so will five of my RL mates. If you are not into full-loot PvP, this game simply isn`t for you.

 

Also if you are not into poor animations, poor sound, ganking fest, bot cheat macro fest, lag, clumsy interface, clumsy and shallow combat, theme park siege and absurd solutions like almighty towers, then this game simply isn't for you.

Poor animations. ok

Ill even give you the sounds part, they could be better.

Both things i care very little about.

As for the rest, rubbish.

The interface is ok, the combat looks great, specially now that they fixed magic, the sieges arent "theme park", and the towers are not almighty and makes alot of sense.

 

-Darkstar

For what I have been able to read and discuss here, it's obvious to me that siege is very Theme Park. And the towers absurd. Which leads me to think what you say about combat and interface might be wrong too. I mean rubbish.

Towers are only absurd to those people who want to stay in the starting towns and gank people.

Originally posted by imbant

Originally posted by altairzq

Originally posted by Darkstar111

Originally posted by altairzq

Originally posted by Hotjazz

Originally posted by Darter

Taken out, consolidated, replaced, left out.  If these terms don't set alarm bells ringing you  must be delusional.  Anyone pre ordering this game is downright foolish

 

I`ve seen and played this game. It`s not the best I`ve played, but it is the ONLY pvp mmo we have at the moment. For that reason alone I will pre-order, and so will five of my RL mates. If you are not into full-loot PvP, this game simply isn`t for you.

 

Also if you are not into poor animations, poor sound, ganking fest, bot cheat macro fest, lag, clumsy interface, clumsy and shallow combat, theme park siege and absurd solutions like almighty towers, then this game simply isn't for you.

Poor animations. ok

Ill even give you the sounds part, they could be better.

Both things i care very little about.

As for the rest, rubbish.

The interface is ok, the combat looks great, specially now that they fixed magic, the sieges arent "theme park", and the towers are not almighty and makes alot of sense.

 

-Darkstar

For what I have been able to read and discuss here, it's obvious to me that siege is very Theme Park. And the towers absurd. Which leads me to think what you say about combat and interface might be wrong too. I mean rubbish.

 

Towers are only absurd to those people who want to stay in the starting towns and gank people.

Sorry but you make no sense at all.

What he's saying is that towers are rubbish if you want to stay around the starting towns and gank people.  Give me a couple minutes to find a crayon and I'll draw you a picture.

The towers are old news, many months old.

Originally posted by daarco

The towers are old news, many months old.

So is Tasos habit of continually lying, but we still talk about it.

I'm buying popcorn in bulk for the incoming side show when this crap releases.

lol Zorvan

Isn't it fun being right?

Originally posted by brink001

What he's saying is that towers are rubbish if you want to stay around the starting towns and gank people.  Give me a couple minutes to find a crayon and I'll draw you a picture.

When you finish, pass me the crayon so I can draw a picture to explain to you several reasons to find the towers stupid and that have nothing to do with being a ganker, much rather the contrary.

Originally posted by Valhama

Originally posted by zymurgeist

Never underestimate the power of human stupidity.  ~Robert Heinlein
 

 

Indeed, it's quite rampant on this forum. Perhaps not stupidity though, just an utter ignorance. But then, you haven't played the game, so it's not your fault.

Don't need to play the game to know that turning away customers at launch because you can't afford the equipment or personnel to support them is a bad thing. I don't need to play the game to see that Darkfall servers are no more complicated than any server to set up and he's making nonsensical excuses for poor management again. I don't need to play the game to read the fear behind your condescension. Keep whistling past that graveyard.

Originally posted by zymurgeist

Originally posted by Valhama

Originally posted by zymurgeist

Never underestimate the power of human stupidity.  ~Robert Heinlein
 

 

Indeed, it's quite rampant on this forum. Perhaps not stupidity though, just an utter ignorance. But then, you haven't played the game, so it's not your fault.

 

Don't need to play the game to know that turning away customers at launch because you can't afford the equipment or personnel to support them is a bad thing. I don't need to play the game to see that Darkfall servers are no more complicated than any server to set up and he's making nonsensical excuses for poor management again. I don't need to play the game to read the fear behind your condescension. Keep whistling past that graveyard.

Well, from persoanl experience I can tell you the server is quite stable.

They don't have the resources to add more servers yet, and even if they did, as he said, it's not that simple nor a fast process. Everyone seems to of been spoiled by the larger corporations, and now they all expect this level of perfection from smallyer companies trying to make a different game. It really disgusts me.

Originally posted by zymurgeist

Originally posted by Valhama

Originally posted by zymurgeist

Never underestimate the power of human stupidity.  ~Robert Heinlein
 

 

Indeed, it's quite rampant on this forum. Perhaps not stupidity though, just an utter ignorance. But then, you haven't played the game, so it's not your fault.

 

Don't need to play the game to know that turning away customers at launch because you can't afford the equipment or personnel to support them is a bad thing. I don't need to play the game to see that Darkfall servers are no more complicated than any server to set up and he's making nonsensical excuses for poor management again. I don't need to play the game to read the fear behind your condescension. Keep whistling past that graveyard.

But but... Cloning a server is teh hard.

Originally posted by altairzq

Originally posted by brink001

What he's saying is that towers are rubbish if you want to stay around the starting towns and gank people.  Give me a couple minutes to find a crayon and I'll draw you a picture.

When you finish, pass me the crayon so I can draw a picture to explain to you several reasons to find the towers stupid and that have nothing to do with being a ganker, much rather the contrary.

your turn <passes crayons>