Land Rush: 10 weeks but when does the EE start ?


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The Exchange Goblin Squad Member

We have just finished the 4th week of the Land Rush, and it was announced that it would last for 10 weeks.

Does it mean that the EE will start in early August ? and not in July as many seem to think !

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Goblin Squad Member

Best info we have so far is that Early Enrollment will begin in the third quarter of this year, so probably sometime between now and October.

Goblin Squad Member

There were hints about July, and it seems likely they'd like to have a bunch of people running around before the big gaming cons to help with buzz, but I'm currently betting on mid-late August. (Not any real money, though)

Goblin Squad Member

There is no reason why EE can not begin, just because the Land Rush has not completed Week 10.

One has nothing to do with the other.

Goblin Squad Member

Disclaimer: below is an amateur-take on game development, fueled by craving to play the game, and fear of further postponement.

Alpha players have not even been invited yet, I think it will take many more weeks before the game is even in MVP state.

When Ryan told us several weeks ago, that they were in this phase:

Quote:
The team is working really hard to scope and finish the current milestone. This is an "integration" milestone where a lot of stuff that they have been working on individually now has to connect to the systems other people have been working on too. We have to build some infrastructure which isn't sexy - like a tool to create user accounts, etc. When we get all that interconnection to a stable point and when we have enough of the infrastructure ready to enable people to play we'll be able to predict when Alpha will start, and not before. It is a matter of weeks, not months, but right now I can't tell you which week.

I thought he was being very optimistic with "weeks, not months". I have a feeling that this phase is usually more like "months" if not a full year, especially for a team that has not shipped MMO's before. I also heard that you pretty much have to write the entire server back end for Unity yourself, so no idea how far they are with that. I understand they are doing the alpha on an internal alpha server: does that mean a whole new can of wurms will be opened once they have to port the entire game to the serverfarm that will eventually host the game?

We haven't heard much about the alpha either, though we have been fed very yummy scraps to keep us busy. :)

I think I need a re-assuring post from the Server-dev or something that all is going well. :(

I know they are still on the schedule that was set during the Kickstarter, so that's pretty amazing allready. :) I just hope they aren't hitting a snag right now.

Goblin Squad Member

Bluddwolf wrote:

There is no reason why EE can not begin, just because the Land Rush has not completed Week 10.

One has nothing to do with the other.

Actually, they are directly tied together.

Blog wrote:
Thus we've switched things around to bring a simplified settlement control and warfare system into the game at day one of Early Enrollment (with the more complex system coming in later). We're calling this system the War of Towers.

Liberty's Edge Goblin Squad Member

There is *always* a delay in software.
Goblinworks has been surprisingly good at keeping a schedule, but getting the final game readyish always runs into game breaking hurdles and glitches.

Alpha is already late, and they likely want to give those people an adequate length of play time, given the amount of extra money they paid. A week or two won't cut it.
They planned for Q3 2014 but it will probably drift to Q4 at the very earliest (Nov-Dec) or early 2015.

Goblin Squad Member

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I would also suggest that people stop asking about when EE starts. You DO NOT want GW to feel rushed. If you have spent any time with other games during the Beta-to-Release phase, you should know how stupid it is to try and make a launch date. I think every AAA MMO has had a game-breaking bug or two, that was known, make it into launch.

To GW: Take your time, we can wait.

Goblin Squad Member

I'm in Alpha, and I'm patiently waiting (albeit very excited and anxious).

- I suspect that EE will certainly not start before the end of the Land Rush, just for simplicity sake (e.g. knowing who's where when EE starts, so they can start making plans/changes immediately... plus the statement about the war of the towers on day one kinda says it all).

- Ryan keeps saying the same thing, over and over whenever he is asked about the start of EE: "Q3 2014". As Nihimon stated, that could be as late as the end of September or 1st of October.

- Personally, viewing how things are approximately 1 month behind right now, I anticipate Alpha starting this week(end), and EE starting sometime mid-to-late-October.

- Valkenr is right: We shouldn't rush GW. At all. We should, however, make sure that they are aware that we are standing-by, waiting patiently.

Goblin Squad Member

Ryan said that they would be working on a two week development cycle for Alpha testing. Week one, new features, week two, fix what the new features broke. And begin the new cycle, and round and round it goes. Now, my guess is that Alpha will need at least 3-4 development cycles, possibly more. That means alpha will last *at least* a month and a half, probably closer to two and a half months. Early enrollment will be end of August or mid-September. Any earlier, and I'm pretty sure GW will have rushed things.

Goblin Squad Member

Valkenr wrote:
Bluddwolf wrote:

There is no reason why EE can not begin, just because the Land Rush has not completed Week 10.

One has nothing to do with the other.

Actually, they are directly tied together.

Blog wrote:
Thus we've switched things around to bring a simplified settlement control and warfare system into the game at day one of Early Enrollment (with the more complex system coming in later). We're calling this system the War of Towers.

No that is the towers, not the proto-settlements. The proto-settlement location is set, but not who owns it. There is no need for an I game mechanic for that for quite some time.

I'd hate to think we still have another 6weeks to go before EE.

Goblin Squad Member

Bluddwolf wrote:
I'd hate to think we still have another 6weeks to go before EE.

I think we have easily another 6 weeks to go before EE. That would still make for a very short Alpha, which Ryan has described as being in several stages itself (e.g. Alpha backers, then +1 invites, and then stress-test of EE invited to Alpha).


I put my bid in the middle of September

Goblin Squad Member

TEO Alexander Damocles wrote:
Ryan said that they would be working on a two week development cycle for Alpha testing. Week one, new features, week two, fix what the new features broke. And begin the new cycle, and round and round it goes. Now, my guess is that Alpha will need at least 3-4 development cycles, possibly more. That means alpha will last *at least* a month and a half, probably closer to two and a half months. Early enrollment will be end of August or mid-September. Any earlier, and I'm pretty sure GW will have rushed things.

They've said before that if everything goes "well" it will be 6-10 weeks of Alpha. that means probably not earlier than mid-August, likely later. Not much danger of the landrush interfering.

;-P Maybe we can even convince them to extend it....

Goblin Squad Member

Bluddwolf wrote:

No that is the towers, not the proto-settlements. The proto-settlement location is set, but not who owns it. There is no need for an In game mechanic for that for quite some time.

I'd hate to think we still have another 6weeks to go before EE.

Sorry, Bluddwolf, I fear that's wishful thinking. They've been pretty clear that a good Alpha is likely to be more than 6 weeks.

Also, the Tower Wars have no inherent value without a settlement to assign the towers to, as their only value is in providing DI to settlements, based on a settlement's average towers controlled during the wars.

Goblin Squad Member

Bluddwolf wrote:
Valkenr wrote:
Bluddwolf wrote:

There is no reason why EE can not begin, just because the Land Rush has not completed Week 10.

One has nothing to do with the other.

Actually, they are directly tied together.

Blog wrote:
Thus we've switched things around to bring a simplified settlement control and warfare system into the game at day one of Early Enrollment (with the more complex system coming in later). We're calling this system the War of Towers.

No that is the towers, not the proto-settlements. The proto-settlement location is set, but not who owns it. There is no need for an I game mechanic for that for quite some time.

I'd hate to think we still have another 6weeks to go before EE.

You really don't read that blog quote, look at the map and think that we are not going to start in those proto/quasi owned settlement spots as a new development? We may have little or no control over running them, other than picking the training template now (and I hope some say on who trains there), but it is different than previously described.

For instance, if WotT takes us past what is covered by NPC city training, the number of towers you control will effect your training maximums.

Why would it matter what settlement a tower is "controlled" by if the settlement spots are not valid from the get go?

Goblin Squad Member

Valkenr wrote:

I would also suggest that people stop asking about when EE starts. You DO NOT want GW to feel rushed. If you have spent any time with other games during the Beta-to-Release phase, you should know how stupid it is to try and make a launch date. I think every AAA MMO has had a game-breaking bug or two, that was known, make it into launch.

To GW: Take your time, we can wait.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Goblin Squad Member

Agreed, EE doesn't rely on any of the settlement stuff being in. We already know that the War of the Towers won't be going right away. There would still be NPC settlements for training and stuff.

Personally, I'm not expecting it until August. Even then, I am keeping my expectations low; you have to with these kinds of projects. It will be here when it is ready.

Edit: Aaand I didn't refresh my window for the hour and a half I was away.

Goblin Squad Member

Gol Morbis wrote:
Personally, I'm not expecting it until August. Even then, I am keeping my expectations low;

I bet my expections are lower than your expectations.

Goblin Squad Member

Bluddwolf wrote:
The proto-settlement location is set, but not who owns it.

I don't think that makes sense.

The Guilds that win Settlements in the Land Rush will have ownership of their proto-Settlements: they'll "be asked to choose a focus for their Settlement from a pre-made list of role and crafting specialities", they'll have the ability to approve or reject Towers pledged to them, and they'll have the ability to determine when their PvP window starts.

[Edit] I expect they'll also be able to approve or reject applications for citizenship.

Goblin Squad Member

They also have to "accept" the towers from the companies that win them via a sponsorship. Without settlements to support, the WoT is nothing but a kill-fest.

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