Ok so I was wondering the exact question before I preordered the game. I was curious because I saw alot of negative feedback and comments about AV here AND on their own official boards. But after spending more time on their boards and the beta forum, I can say I'm not longer worried. They have had great communication with the playerbase (1-2 updates on the forum a day about what they are working on and bugs they find.) Also they regularly comment on feedback and threads from beta players. They seem to also be working around the clock and pushing out alot of patches this past week. So for anyone wondering if they are a company worth supporting, from what I've seen so far Iw ould definately say yes.

In the future it could change, maybe they're more enthusiatic because it's so close to launch of their new game. But if they continue at the rate they're going, I'd say it's one of the most hard working small company I've interacted with.

Unscrupulous.

 Customer service? It was fine. I wouldn't count that as a positive for the game developer, customer service reps work FOR the company, they are not IN the company.

Updates? Eh. So - so, nothing that my guild at the time really wanted to see. Consistently disappointed by them and when they finally introduced community spotlight members information was undescriptive.

Listen to the players? All they do is fluff to "settle" us, they don't REALLY listen. Fun hulks, anyone?

 I dealt with them when I played darkfall, for awhile, before I quit and sold my account due to laden issues/not trusting the company..

They bite off more than they can chew.

Their communication, deadline prediction, and view of the state of the game are beyond off.  They settle for less to satisfy the vocal minority.  They tend to focus on satisfying the worst possible crowd for the health of a sandbox mmorpg.  This is why all of their efforts are towards removing grind, making it easy for new players, and making pvp more accessable...rather than putting more sand in the sandbox.

but

when it all breaks down...they are the ONLY development studio with a playable full loot sandbox with clan warfare politics as the focus of gameplay.  Its basically this game, a few barely functional versions...none of which have made any significant progress in improving over the course of years... and most have died.  OR you can play a shallow themepark "uber pvp" with zero risk type game.

You like this type of game this here is all you get.  

Second AV gets real competition, and that competition isnt a bunch of clowns, this game and this company are in serious trouble however.

Originally posted by Arnoagns

Listen to the players? All they do is fluff to "settle" us, they don't REALLY listen. Fun hulks, anyone?

 

 

Almost every single update to the game was based directly on player feedback...

I would say, they're mavericks. Many publishers over the years have tried to get them to change the game into an instanced WoW clone, and they refused.

Originally posted by the420kid

small dedicated company with a game thats far bigger than there company...

It may take some time but I have high hopes for dfuw and AV they are doing all the right things right now in beta its just going to take them a while to get everything fixed but so far very happy with there work lvl.

I too am happy with the newfound communication. My inner cynic, however, reminds me that they communicated just like this during the Darkfall beta. Hopefully they learned that the devs are not supposed to drop off the map when the game goes live.

I learned early on they cannot meet deadlines.  Although I do think they are doing a great job on the game this time around.... the picture is how I learned deadlines would not be met.

Originally posted by Teilk

Originally posted by the420kid

small dedicated company with a game thats far bigger than there company...

It may take some time but I have high hopes for dfuw and AV they are doing all the right things right now in beta its just going to take them a while to get everything fixed but so far very happy with there work lvl.

I too am happy with the newfound communication. My inner cynic, however, reminds me that they communicated just like this during the Darkfall beta. Hopefully they learned that the devs are not supposed to drop off the map when the game goes live.

if the game ends up being totally amazing but they never communicate will you leave the game because they dont communicate?

Originally posted by phantomghost

I learned early on they cannot meet deadlines.  Although I do think they are doing a great job on the game this time around.... the picture is how I learned deadlines would not be met.

WOW !!!!

I think that at this point what is really noteworthy is not the lack of credibility that AV has with the whole delay after delay , broken promise after broken promise , or the fact that they ban anyone that points that out on their forums ; what is really noteworthy is that :

Somebody's actually still using IE  as a browser???

Really ?? IE ??

I mean just , WOW....

Mindblown !!

I have an example of billing.

I was double-charged the subscription (for DF:UW) for reasons unkown to me, i contacted support and the money was back on my account in less than a week.

I consider that good support.

I still plan on buy DF:UW at release. This beta sounds pretty rough though, at the moment AoW seems to be a much better buy. From the outside looking in Adventurine seems over ambitious. It doesn't seem like there talent matches their ideas.

That being said. I'm not sure I've seen a game where the the player base thinks so little of the developer, but love the game so much. That says a lot for the systems they have in place.

Originally posted by bcbully

I still plan on buy DF:UW at release. This beta sounds pretty rough though, at the moment AoW seems to be a much better buy. From the outside looking in Adventurine seems over ambitious. It doesn't seem like there talent matches their ideas.

 

That being said. I'm not sure I've seen a game where the the player base thinks so little of the developer, but love the game so much. That says a lot for the systems they have in place.

If anyone is interested in knowing more about the current state of the beta prior to buying the game, feel free to PM me.

Originally posted by phantomghost

I learned early on they cannot meet deadlines.  Although I do think they are doing a great job on the game this time around.... the picture is how I learned deadlines would not be met.

in all fairness they havent been able to meet deadlines since before 2008. Having said that, I am not sure which developer firm ever does..anyone know?

Originally posted by SEANMCAD

Originally posted by phantomghost

I learned early on they cannot meet deadlines.  Although I do think they are doing a great job on the game this time around.... the picture is how I learned deadlines would not be met.

in all fairness they havent been able to meet deadlines since before 2008. Having said that, I am not sure which developer firm ever does..anyone know?

I think the majority do, but gamers are a needy bunch and when one doesn't meet the deadline thats what we focus on.

Originally posted by madazz

Originally posted by SEANMCAD

Originally posted by phantomghost

I learned early on they cannot meet deadlines.  Although I do think they are doing a great job on the game this time around.... the picture is how I learned deadlines would not be met.

in all fairness they havent been able to meet deadlines since before 2008. Having said that, I am not sure which developer firm ever does..anyone know?

I think the majority do, but gamers are a needy bunch and when one doesn't meet the deadline thats what we focus on.

I have a fairly small list of games I am looking forward to and on that list all deadlines have past and no communication is in the pipeline.

So when you say 'the majority does' I dont think that is accurate from my vantage point. Care to give a name of a game?

hmm.. the op wants a summ..

http://forums.darkfallonline.com/showthread.php?t=297834

Have fun...

Originally posted by egotrip
  WOW !!!!

I think that at this point what is really noteworthy is not the lack of credibility that AV has with the whole delay after delay , broken promise after broken promise , or the fact that they ban anyone that points that out on their forums ; what is really noteworthy is that :

Somebody's actually still using IE  as a browser???

 

Really ?? IE ??

 

I mean just , WOW....

 

Mindblown !!

What I find mindblowing is you do not realize the picture is obviously almost four years old.

Originally posted by phantomghost

Originally posted by egotrip
  WOW !!!!

I think that at this point what is really noteworthy is not the lack of credibility that AV has with the whole delay after delay , broken promise after broken promise , or the fact that they ban anyone that points that out on their forums ; what is really noteworthy is that :

Somebody's actually still using IE  as a browser???

 

Really ?? IE ??

 

I mean just , WOW....

 

Mindblown !!

What I find mindblowing is you do not realize the picture is obviously almost four years old.

Still......

Originally posted by bcbully

That being said. I'm not sure I've seen a game where the the player base thinks so little of the developer, but love the game so much. That says a lot for the systems they have in place.

I think it's mostly because of the lack of competition. If another game were to offer features similar to Darkfall's list but without Aventurine, we'd see a lot less movement around DF and much more hype toward that other game. Probably not going to happen however.

@Snoepie

I had actually completely forgotton about that thread. It is rather pathetic how a company can continue lying and still continue to be supported by their fanbase.

Originally posted by MadnessRealm

Originally posted by bcbully

That being said. I'm not sure I've seen a game where the the player base thinks so little of the developer, but love the game so much. That says a lot for the systems they have in place.

I think it's mostly because of the lack of competition. If another game were to offer features similar to Darkfall's list but without Aventurine, we'd see a lot less movement around DF and much more hype toward that other game. Probably not going to happen however.

 

 

@Snoepie

I had actually completely forgotton about that thread. It is rather pathetic how a company can continue lying and still continue to be supported by their fanbase.

true

however..its a bit dubious to trash the one company who is actually trying while all the others are not but instead making adult versions of Hello Kitty

Originally posted by SEANMCAD

Originally posted by MadnessRealm

Originally posted by bcbully

That being said. I'm not sure I've seen a game where the the player base thinks so little of the developer, but love the game so much. That says a lot for the systems they have in place.

I think it's mostly because of the lack of competition. If another game were to offer features similar to Darkfall's list but without Aventurine, we'd see a lot less movement around DF and much more hype toward that other game. Probably not going to happen however.

 

 

@Snoepie

I had actually completely forgotton about that thread. It is rather pathetic how a company can continue lying and still continue to be supported by their fanbase.

true

however..its a bit dubious to trash the one company who is actually trying while all the others are not but instead making adult versions of Hello Kitty

Just because they're making a niche game whereas other companies are not is a poor reason to give Aventurine a pass for all their lies and bullshit.  Whether your product targets a niche audience or not is not an excuse to take your customers for idiots, and this is exactly what Aventurine has been doing.

I don't know what's dubious about calling a pig, a pig. If you're willing to support a company that clearly makes fun of you, well great for you, but I won't be joining it. I'll support developers that cares about their playerbase, not developers that take their fanbase for granted and lie continuously and getting away with it.