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Alganon General Article: A New Look for the New Alganon
When the folks from Quest Online asked us to take another look at Alganon because of the recent changes that it has undergone, we sent the original reviewer Jaime Skelton back into the game for another look around.
By Jaime Skelton on April 12, 2010
In December, Alganon launched for the first time. This launch, now termed a 'soft launch' by Quest Online, introduced the game as a subscription-based MMORPG. Unfortunately, the launch lacked the success hoped for. Players saw Alganon as being released only partially finished. The game was lacking instances, a unique UI, and both environmental and server stability. After a heated change in leadership, and hard work from the Alganon team, the game is preparing for an official relaunch as a subscription-free MMORPG, with a long list of features and improvements to win over players.
The change is palpable from the first moment you log in and create a character. The character creation system has been updated. Previously, character creation was completed on a singular screen that marginalized the choices a player made in their race, family, and class. It operated under the assumption that players had researched such information before logging in. The new character creation system is a multi-part process that aims to inform a player as he makes these same choices. In the first step, players are presented with their two racial choices, and given the lore background on each. The second step, choosing a family that the character belongs to, is treated in a similar fashion. The final screen will appear more familiar to previous Alganon players, offering character customization options and class choices, but with a major difference. On the right hand of the screen, players will find a summary of the class they've selected, including their primary and possible secondary roles, and the role of each talent tree available to that class. This entire process takes the same amount of time as the previous character creation, but informs a player with a robust amount of information to guide their character decision.
Character creation isn't the only place returning players will find improvements to Alganon. The game looks, and feels, better. Adjustments to both the network transport layer and in the .PAK system - how the game transfers data on a technical level - have helped load times drop significantly. There is no slugging through the world, or pausing at a city and waiting for its NPCs to load. Although I did experience some heavy load on my computer when Alganon was running in the background, the game performance itself was robustly improved and after several hours and sessions of playing, I never once experienced the client crashes that were so common before.
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In addition to general performance, the environment itself has also become more reliable. In my review of Alganon, I recounted "repeated mishaps with the terrain;" everything from rocks to trees seemed to have a capability of snagging a character and getting them stuck. When I returned to Alganon, it seemed that the 3D environmental details no longer had it out to get me. I revisited the same areas that already had shown their spite, but I was unable to replicate the problems I had before. Also gone are the invisible enemies that would appear when least expected. A new NPC navigation system also makes sure that NPCs respect the rules of a 3D environment, no longer running through objects or traveling underground to reach their targets.
Major changes to the UI system have already made their way to Alganon. The UI is now more customizable, broken up into several parts that can now be repositioned by the player, and may be scaled. Expanded functionality of the quest tracker, quest log, and support for bindings to four-button mice have also been added. Most anticipated, however, is a completely redesigned UI look that will offer a "more unique and distinct feel for Alganon." The new UI will not be seen until the Alganon re-launch, but has QOL Staff "really excited." It's reasonable to assume the new UI will deliver on having its own unique design in the game world. The re-launch will also support mod development and timestamps for chat and combat logs.
Also promising for the Alganon launch are new starting zones and instances. Both Asharr and Kujix will begin in a Temple of their gods, giving players a chance to dig straight into the lore of Alganon and become more immersed in gameplay. Instanced content will also become available for players levels 8 and up, with 14 total instances for players to explore. Like other new content, Quest Online promises to introduce new AI and encounter types to keep players interested and entertained.
;)
If you're looking to come back to Alganon expecting to find a different game, you won't. Alganon has kept its core gameplay the same, instead focusing on improving itself, not changing to be something else. That very attitude, however, is exactly what Alganon needs. It is pulling on its strengths to refine itself and break away from the "WoW clone" mold. More importantly, Alganon is seeking to fix its flaws and present itself as a commercially ready MMORPG. Hopefully, these changes will help propel Alganon into a healthy future.
Well, I might check it out... but that first picture, of the guy standing in front of what I can only see as "the portal to Outland" does a lot to undermine any claim that they're moving away from being a WoW clone.
Some video will help...
Clearly Allen's tech wasn't so worthless after all. For there is no way they've replaced it in so little time...
I wish they added some visual appeal to their effects, as it stands now its bland and almost feels incomplete.
Do tell. Many of us have no intention of trying the game given Smart's involvement and have only these reports to rely on.
Btw, what other MMO sites do you find worth visiting?
Not that im a Alganon fanboy or anything(The game looks like shit IMO, will never try it) But did WoW invent Portals?? there is portals like that in alot of games, and has prolly been way before wow.. Also that portal looks NOTHING like the Dark Portal.
But even so this game do seem abit similar to wow. But i dont think you should base it on just a portal.. if were going to be like that every fucking game is a copy of eachother since they all have some of the same stuff, races, classes and shit in them.
Unfortunately the game is not Free-to-play, rather has a sub model. I've seen better quality games that are completely ftp with successful item shops. This game wasn't that good in beta, and its not worth the time to play with its new "launch". Having a sub model for this game in particular is a bad move. Should have just made it f2p, get some accounts and people hooked and then release an item shop with the typical convienance that most other games use. Game is fail in current state.
don't think I'm going to play this yet, but I like that they're trying to move away from WoW now. I hope they find their niche and stick with it. I'll probably play a little after the next major patch if they keep this up.
Won't touch it even if everything were to improve greatly. Two reasons:
1) Many of the people that made Alganon's community so good are gone.
2) Derek Smart.
Need I say more?
I was under the impression that the game was now INDEED going to be f2p......
So are you speaking about the game as it stood before...or now? Or did I just misunderstand their new f2p model some how?
The game will be F2P after you purchase the client. So it will be more like Guild Wars, with a cash shop.
I think he meant that you have to pay the box price before playing? (Not sure)
Client is 20$ and it's not a bad game but not great either. I like some of the studies that they have in the game. kind of a cross with WOW and EVE. get you regular skills and skill point then you have real time studies going on at the same time. As far as DS goes. Could care less who he is or whay he has done. I don't see or hear him in the game, and i don't go looking for him on the forums. I'm sure their are real tools playing and making your current favorite mmo that post just as much BS. You just let it slide casue your fanboys or don't care either.
So for me, the game is fun to play , has it's flaws but I like where they say they are trying to go and the new stuff they post for improves.
Now if they would add PVP it is screaming for it.
The game is subscription-free, so it is indeed like Guild Wars' model. That change is already in effect.
There's still a lot of tenatives before this re-launch; a lot of very game-breaking problems have been fixed, but a lot of requested features and fixes are on the list of things that will be fixed either a) on the launch or b) sometime after. The launch won't be a magic fix, but it may be a step in the direction to recovery the game needs if it's going to survive.
I enjoyed playing Alganon again better than I did when I reviewed it, mainly due to the fact that the client was stable and I wasn't fighting half a dozen serious bugs that were making the game a headache to play before.
I would never waste my time trying this game after reading some of the childish posts by their company representatives. They brought their corporate dirty laundry here and I think that is really unprofessional and petty.
Unhappy cooks make unhappy soup. I think the gamers will get burned in the end. It's not like we haven't had this happen with these kinds of companies anyway. I'm not wasting my gaming money on a company that can't at least try and present itself professionally.
I have nothing to go off of, by the time I was trying to read Mr Smart's little post war, a majority of Smart's posts were deleted..... Probably because he realized he made a big mistake as far as PR goes, and had them deleted.
The thing you have to realize in any business, is yes we all have egos, but whether you are on company time or not you have to watch what you say as it pertains to anything business related, as it isn't just your reputation on the line but the company that you work for and represent. If he's as big of an ass as everyone says he is, and is vocal about it, then I'd likely avoid anything from the company that he represents, no matter what 'improvements' they mave have made.
Oddly derek smart is the only reason I am following this game.
A: he is entertaining.
B: he does not seem to make run of the mill games. His games are normally not that good. But it will be interesting to see what might come of this.
So will it look any better? Also, will there be more options at character creation?
Actualy the game play isnt too bad....the fixes are definately good...yes it is another typical Fantasy Game....there are alot of them......WOW as most people like to always point to...is just a clone of what has already been done....so if this game is thought as a WOW clone...its more apt to say its another typical Fantasy Genre Clone.
And it appears inthis thread some people have no idea who Derek Smart is.....
Lets just say...he doesnt back down from people who call him out or try to sling mud at him....he is one of the most passionate gamer industry persons i have ever met...if you meet him in person...he listens to everything you say...and i mean everything...he also likes to read every post people make about stuff related to him.(becasue he will quote you)
He also has a tendency to improve anything he has a hand with....the things that Alganon will come out with are going to be beyond what anyone else has probably ever seen before....i just hope he doesnt make the AI like his battle cruiser AI or else the battles are going to be something difficult.
So far Derek Smart has never disapointed me....he is like third on my list of what makes a game good.
heck he shows up and fixes almost every bug in the game in a short time.....go figure...call me crazy but that tells me that the people before him where messing around alot more then they should have been.
No new options at character creation.
As for looking better, the mysteriously unrevealed new UI supposedly will be better than the current. The game's graphics are as they stand though.
Keep in mind that this relaunch/official launch is mostly designed to fix problems, not radically change the game or launch a ton of new features. As Smart's put it, they're releasing a finished game (the implication being that the version in December was unfinished, which I can agree with).
The only truly new addition to the game are the instances and the new tribute system that goes along with the subscription-free model.
What number is this launch ?
My bet is we will see "new" Alganon pretty much twice a week - they might even change the name of the game - would not surprise me.
The fact of the matter is... Its a crappy game and thus... it needs 50 launches. Its not worth one dime and thats the main point.
The person you are asking for answers is the author of the article, Jaime Skelton.
MMORPG.com was invited back by QOL to check the game out a second time. During that time she was able to gather the information described within the article and her comments here. I would assume that she played on an internal test server that has access to the latest build, hence why her information is so up-to-date.
The last sentence is an assumption (albeit a fairly safe one to make), but I'm sure Jaime or someone else will correct me if I am mistaken.
Going... Going... Gone.
No way this game's recovering. LoL @ "soft-launch"... Think they're just trying to break even b/f calling it quits. Which kinda sucks after all the time I spent in beta =/
if anyone has played the game to the present patch will know that most of the said "new" features are in the game to date. if you played the game in December and came back to it now. Then yes there are a lot of improvments but it is not the "new" Alganon that the title of the article is making most gamers believe.
Yes you can still snag you char on branches and get stuck, yes there is alot of NPC's that still run under the ground to get to you. Hell go into Nazrun at level 35 and try to do some of the quests. The NPC's are still under the ground and you have to use creative ways to get the quests done. Heck some of the NPC's in Asheran City still hang around half underground.
If I recall the char creation new screens were done 2 patches ago. I could go on but you get the picture.
The Article is good for those that have not played since the Last Patch and a lot is fixed but no where near the "promised" stuff that all the press releases have told us will be in the game.
Sorry but the title should have been worded better.
Just my two pennies...
All the new features and improvements were posted online last week. It also includes a few items which were also released as previous patches and/or hot fixes.
My first order of business when I officially took the reigns (company and dev team) in Feb, was to immediately put a halt to everything that didn't need to be in the game, wasn't totally finished etc.
The goals I set for the team involved very basic rules that I use for my own teams and games.
1. If it's not already in the game by *this* date, then it's not going in and needs to go on the backburner. For Alganon, that date was the date of my first "dev meeting" on Feb 23rd. There was a ton of stuff either not in, work in progress etc.
2. Finish all the important WIP items which included the instances, Tribute system and a host of other features - all of which were either buggy, not finished or in a state of flux though they were *supposed* to be ready by Mar 1st. They weren't.
3. Prioritize all the bugs and issues - anything that critically affected the game, got tackled first and foremost. Regardless of how many "kewl" things still needed to be done, bugs and tweaks were top priority.
My (3000AD team) then ran an analysis of most important gripes on the Alganon forum. They gave that to me. I then prioritized those, passed it to the team on "as needed" basis, and with priority levels (e.g. fix this now please or why is this still not fixed?) to match.
The result of my plan is responsible for the awesomeness that was the major March patch released about four weeks ago and which - for all intent and purposes - was a game changer (as evidenced by the posts on our forums) and the general reception.
With the March patch out of the way, and a few hot fixes released shortly after, I tasked the team with going back to the list and finishing it up for the official launch in late April.
As I type this, the instances, Tribute system (incl. the items, pricing etc) are all being worked on.
And NO, contrary to what you read elsewhere by that other guy, this stuff was NOT finished by ANY stretch of the imagination. If it was, it would have been officially released by now. Again, I have access to the team and they know it, I know it, we all know it. No argument there whatsoever.
If you're a contractor building a house, then you get fired from the job because you screwed something up (e.g. the roof), you don't get to go out and say you left the owners with a great house, but oh, the roof leaks, the plumbing doesn't work, the AC is not installed, the electricty is not hooked up, the bathrooms aren't finished, the fence is lopsided, the sprinklers don't work etc. No, you don't get to do that.
So that list of stuff done, ready and going into the April launch all came about as a result of my stepping in and getting some direction and clearly defined goals.
My primary goal and objective remains the same:
1. Finish the game and release it COMPLETE.
Post ship :
1. Continue to find areas which can be improved upon, tweaked etc - especially with a view to giving the game its own unique identity.
2. Continue with bug fixes and tweaks on an "as needed" basis.
3. Create additional content to keep the peaked players engaged and with something to do. This is critical due the game being purely PvE.
4. Go back and see about implementing (or completing what was already started and put on hold) the most critical features (e.g. PvP, Consignment Shop etc) which are detrimental to the game. Also look to improving the game's world content (e.g. new character models & animations are top of my list) etc.
I have a long term goal for Alganon which is directly related to what the owners (the investors) of the company want to do with it in the long run. Like every MMO trying to gain its footing and find its niche, there is no quick fix.
I have funded, developed and shipped many *highly complex* games, so this is a walk in the park in comparison. I don't have any MMO experience and I don't need it because a) I'm not involved with, nor writing any Alganon game code b) you don't need to write code to run a company or manage a team. Only someone who has no idea what they're talking about, will assume otherwise. If you have development experience - especially in RUNNING a company and teams - the rest is just pure procedure.
Plus, an MMO is just another game type; there is nothing special about running an MMO team.
As things stand, I am doing my best to align the team, keep them focused, keep moral as high as possible (a major feat when your company and its sole asset - which are directly tied to your paycheck - are going through challenging times) , while keeping the company afloat.
Alganon, for all intent and purposes - prior to my involvement - was in poor (thats just putting it mildly) shape. And thats why it was neither finished nor in any decent shape when it was "released" in Dec. Period. End of story. Playing any version from Dec to March (before the last patch) is 100% evidence of that.
And while it is easy to point the finger at the team (the team is just fine - and thats why I did everything I could to save their jobs and just purge those who were detrimental to them), nobody should do that. Any mainstream developer with my experience knows that a team is just as good as the person leading them. Thats why there are so many company and product failures even though most had stellar teams in place. Unless you're focused, studious, committed, have the experience and know wtf you're doing, whatever you do will invariably lead to failure. And in the case of my predecessor, well, look at his record. Then look at mine. Draw your own conclusions.
I DO NOT know what will happen to Alganon in the long run and I wasn't brought in to speculate, make promises I can't keep or create lofty and largely unachievable goals. I was told to go in and lead the team to get Alganon FINISHED so that, at the very least, the investors could have closure of sorts without them having to fold the company and write off their investment due an unfinished product that was unmarketable.
What I DO know is that I'm going to lead the team to do EXACTLY what I was tasked with. Get Alganon FINISHED.
Whats funny about this is, I played the beta and it was terrible, they would have to do some major work tot his game for it to be playable, so I still have no hope for it!
Just hopped back in, still feels the same...bland.
Yes, WoW did invent portals.. As a matter of fact, Valve's game was named as an homage to the release of TBC in 1973.
It says instances require a group of 8 players, but last time I played there hardly was that amount on whole server. The most desolated MMO Ive ever seen. But not the worst. It is WoW clone, it lacks originality and good combat, but there are some bright sides: world design, study system, lots of quests
The new content and changes have not been released yet.
The first pic was taken during the original beta. The second one looks like it was taken more recently.
Hopefully they will replace it with a newer one.
One thing I will say is server performance and the hitching and compat delay has inmproved 100% that was my biggest gripe when I bnought the game it was so horrible lag/combat delay wise it was unplayable.
I see what you did there.
I knew this was going to fail as a sub based business model. Same thing happened to The Chronicles of Spellborn. Neither one had chance against the $14.95 titans that are already out.
Character creation for Alganon was awful, just plain awful. It mimics the early MMOs and is even worst than that. I don't know that I would be interested in a game that has so much drama in the work place, seems to be ban happy on the forums, from what I have seen, and is still at the point of making promises that may or may not be kept.
Spellborn shot itself in both feet at the very start by using IP bans that fragemented their community. Then they cut their own throats by picking Acclaim as their NA partner. The rest as they say is history. Its too bad that things turned out as they did with Alganon. It had one of the best communities I've seen in years. But thats pretty much been destroyed due to Mr Smarts antics.
lame...
Portals like that where used in games way before WoW. In fact, a more ligitimate arguement would be " where did WoW steal their portal art from?"
In fact, another game David was in charge of way back in the day, Horizons, had portals just like that. A whole bunch of them, it was the primary way of getting around. Horizons was launched a year before WoW. I could be said WoW ripped off their portal art/ideas from Horizons.
The guys are still working on making even more improvements to the networking layer in the short term. In the long term (i.e. post-April) we're going to rip it all out and redo it from scratch.
We're just taking baby steps atm.
Most games - especially MMOs - have early teething problems. Some never recover, others do. But no matter the game, if you released it incomplete, with missing features, a ton of bugs etc then the end result and subsequent reception will be nothing less thant what you guys experienced back in Dec.
We'll get Alganon finished and hopefully it will find its niche audience that will keep it going.
Now you're hitting it. This is what people want and need to hear. Keep looking to the future. Keep beating this drum. Ignore the distractions and detractors.
I'm impressed Dr. Smart. An actual informative post with information that people want without any of your usual hamfisted tactics. Keep it up, you might get some of us back.
Possible, but not certain. Niche could simply mean that they are directed at a certain section of the player population. One example of a sucessful niche game is Eve Online. While most Dev's would love to have WoW's subscription numbers, thats just not possible without having the same variable elements that Blizzard brought to WoW.
:)
I was in the first beta they ever had and I have to tell you the game runs so much better then it did when they release in Dec 2009.I can't wait to see the big patch coming this month!! I the love the studies you can do in game.I tired the trial 3 week ago again and said they fixed so much.The game runs so much better now.So I ask my GF want to buy for $19.95 and it has free sub now..she said sure.I like free sub because I play xbox360 and don't want to pay $14.99 a month for a game.But I don't mind paying for mounts,studies and armor packs....etc If you don't want a armor pack you can get it from drops or quest I'm happy with that.The game has a good upside now!!
In game name mains: me=Vampero
GF=Vampera
Feel free to send a /tell to us if you would like to group we are lvl 16 atm...8)
This game still out here ?
I believe you,ppl may wanna hold you to some higher standard but myself i apprecaite your honesty good or bad least you say what you think alot of ppl respect and like that.Not trying to be a fan boy anyone can check my post history and see a few months back how bad I flamed this game over its crap performance.Plus your giving refunds to alot of subbed ppl something you or the company sure didn't have to do and something alot bigger companies than you never have nor would do so that alone gets my respect.I am definetly gonna keep my eye and and continue to play casually.
well......
Having Warcraft in your title... and being from Blizzard helps, too. In fact, when ever I think of that "little detail' in relation to WoW's success, it reminds me of the bit around 50 seconds in This Video.
That said, people - particularly rabid fans - are mis-using the term "niche" quite a lot now as a way to excuse away a low-quality product; same with "indie" and even "beta".. which has a little more 'wiggle room', since having bugs in beta is anticipated, but only to a degree.
Of course, an appropriate definition for "niche" is a game that is targeted at a specific group of people. Eve Online is niche, as is Ryzom, and FFXI, and Darkfall.
I've commented on this some times now, but some people around here have this tendency of taking a given word and conveniently changing its meaning "on the spot" to suit their argument at that time. Another term that's fallen victim to this recently is the word "free" in that people keep saying Guild Wars is a F2P MMO... which it isn't. There's a cost to obtain and register the game, and all its expansions. It's a *sub* free game, yes. But a cost-free game? No. Still, you'll see people continue to beat that drum regardless.
Well said.
Like so many others who have played them all and burned out on most, I did a trial of this and wound up buying it. I did not go into it hoping to find a WoW clone. Instead, I went into it looking for entertainment and found it. I paid $20 for the client and am glad I did. And I have no monthly sub. Sure, there are a few glitches but the fun I get for $0 per month makes it ok! Heh.