Ruin Online

I have beta'd a few games in the past and i dont think any have been this incomplete in any stage past beta2.  I began to do a write up on what should / could be changed, but the list grew so long, i eventually gave up.  Some examples:

Buildings do not touch the ground

WASD are the only movement controls possible and mouse use is very limited

User itnerface is not configurable nor are there any descriptions as to the functions (red is health, blue is power / stamina?)

creature were either named "A Crocodile - BUGGED" or they were truely bugged

Combat consists of fist punching a creature that sustains zero damage (and even a rat can eat you alive)

It is impossible to interact with water (this includes NPC's...even the ones that didn't say "bugged")

etc...etc..

Only Horizions rivals this game in the number of late-beta bugs and if you want to know how that game is doing, check out http://www.mmogchart.com and note that player access has dropped to below 10000.  While the concept of this game is appealing, it is appearant that by the time the bugs are worked out, the graphics engine that is employed will be out of date and will not be able to compete with games like Huxley.

there is literature on main site and in forums

-BAG wanted to open the project to the public early..to get more input from community

did you post at all in forums ? did you apply to testergroup ?

the game underwent a huge overhaul <COMPLETE rewrite..new engine>

-so it was actually more -visably- complete previously

there is alot more IN the game right now than standard testers -can- see

-because they do not want to activate various concepts until they work --as intended--

-there are more towns/buildings/mobs/vehicles/weapons/skill systems that you do not see

instead of just throwing everything out there --as  is--

-they concentrate on specific areas <like skill sysytem>

-and will not make it live..until its time to test it..to get it --as intended--

long story short ? they arent rushing things or doing sloppy work to appease the masses

-the dev team is small <you saw indie game co..yea?>

-so things take time

thank you

I understand entering beta early in development to seek player opinions and bug check but comon! This game shouldn't even have a 1.0 tag on it or be called beta. If they said v0.1 alpha test then I might have cut this game some slack. As a phase 4 beta I cannot believe how terrible this game is.

I couldn't bring myself to even get through the character creation on this game. All the races look the same as well as civilizations(common, geo, etc.) with the exception of the outfits which aren't anything remotely special. Let's not even mention the keymap issues. If your willing to sit through a cheesy game experience then this beta is for you. If not, try something else.

i love posts like this

-cuz they aid in the attraction of quality testers

any quality tester that reads this knows -exactly- what i mean

-and we welcome them as brothers

enjoy<ps.wow is probly the game for above posters its a handholder model>

True, we got a ways to go. Posts like this help sometimes, not always. I don't know how long you tested Ruin, but you don't have all your facts straight:

Originally posted by JohnnyCache

I have beta'd a few games in the past and i dont think any have been this incomplete in any stage past beta2.

We call it BETA because that most often implies some sort of public access to a project. We aren't like other companies, and we don't follow their exact methods. I doubt if we called it Alpha, Cappa or Omega Phase it would make any difference.

I began to do a write up on what should / could be changed, but the list grew so long, i eventually gave up.  Some examples:

Welcome to my world, thats called a Bug Report. Every month we revise our lists and attack new frameworks or old bugs. Most people do eventually give up...

Buildings do not touch the ground

Location? A zone designer can edit a file and enhance your gameplay.

WASD are the only movement controls possible and mouse use is very limited

Spacebar is Jump. You can climb trees, objects and structures. WASD also allows you to control ground and air vehicles. X toggles your stance and there's a sprint (bugged atm). Movement control coming. This is a game with full collision and no point-n-click tard-getting system.

User itnerface is not configurable nor are there any descriptions as to the functions (red is health, blue is power / stamina?)

P resizes the chat window and the inventory screen is movable with the mouse. You were right about the 'stat bars' health and stamina...

creature were either named "A Crocodile - BUGGED" or they were truely bugged

It was a Giraffe and they are both named that, and in fact... bugged. Its the walk animation.

Combat consists of fist punching a creature that sustains zero damage (and even a rat can eat you alive)

Fully articulated twitch-based melee combat. L and R Mouse are L and R punch, with a few quick toggles (even while running, jumping, spinning like a monkey) you can also L and R kick, L and R Elbow Strike, Knee Strikes, a few blocks, headbutt and spin kick... Additionally there's an array of melee weapons. There are also guns and explosives, air and ground combat vehicles. Players and mounts can have weapons mounted to them.  You can also dual-weild (going live again soon) 2 melee weapons, or 2 guns, or 1 of each. You have to hit the target to do damage.

It is impossible to interact with water (this includes NPC's...even the ones that didn't say "bugged")

X, which is TOGGLE STANCE allows you to interact with water... not impossible. Hit X if you get stuck in the water.

etc...etc..

He's right, there's more issues,  I could go on.... Everything I listed is either live now, or was live in BETA3 and nurfed for some reason. 

Only Horizions rivals this game in the number of late-beta bugs and if you want to know how that game is doing, check out http://www.mmogchart.com and note that player access has dropped to below 10000. 

Some sites (like this one) have old release dates listed for Ruin. We'll release when the community says its ready to pay money for. If all goes well, thats early 2008.

While the concept of this game is appealing, it is appearant that by the time the bugs are worked out, the graphics engine that is employed will be out of date and will not be able to compete with games like Huxley.

Torque game engine, though cheap and wonky supports full shaders and other eye-candy now. It also ports to Mac and Linux. Torque shader engine even ports to Xbox 360. The technology is viable and constantly being updated/supported by one of the largest indy-game communities on the planet.

As for games like Huxley... We plead no contest.  Until we have 50-100 employees working full time and a multi-million dollar budget, we'll leave it to others to make those comparisons.

Hope that clarifies the current state of the game for anyone interested, but if not I have to quote the lead dev:

"cry more, nub."

Jondo

Originally posted by Jondozer
Mike,

Sorry about the server trouble. We have actually be switching over to a new Co-Lo this week. So far its faster, but we're still working on some of the Database ties. (working for existing characters, but no new characters until the database work is done.) The change over should be complete sometime during the coming weekend.

I guess if you want to try an existing character it would be ok... don't tell anybody my password though, I don't want this toon ending up on Ebay!

Character Name: Tester7
password: 1234

Jondozer