Alpha Stage Blog Post


Pathfinder Online

Goblin Squad Member

With the Alpha stage beginning shortly, there is sure to be an upcoming blog post describing what we can expect from it.

To the community: What specific questions do you want answered within that blog post? If we can compile a clear and concise list, we may be able to get some great answers!

Three questions high on my list include:

- Will the proto-settlements of Callambea, Brighthaven, and Phaeros be in place during the Alpha stage?
- Will we be able to place PoIs yet?
- Approximately how many members will comprise the Alpha community?

Goblin Squad Member

TEO ArchAnjel wrote:
Will the proto-settlements of Callambea, Brighthaven, and Phaeros be in place during the Alpha stage?

I think we know the answer to this is "No", at least with respect to Brighthaven and Phaeros as those hexes aren't even a part of the Alpha Map.

Scarab Sages Goblinworks Executive Founder

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Some of these may have been answered in my abscence but here are my main questions:

Will the game only be accessible during certain time periods or will the server always be available (minus any maintenance/patch downtime of course)?

Will there be a test schedule for what specific things we should be focused on testing or simply an open experience to play whatever is there?

Will there be an NDA or can we record/stream/take pics of our gameplay?

In relation to ArchAnjel's question on PoIs - It was noted that there would be a wipe after Alpha does this mean any influences we have had on the world (building things or whatever else) will also be wiped or is the wipe only specific to characters?

Goblin Squad Member

Regarding the NDA: it has been explicitly said there won't be an NDA. I guess Nihimon will probably provide the appropriate quote any second now.

Goblin Squad Member

Nihimon wrote:
I think we know the answer to this is "No", at least with respect to Brighthaven and Phaeros as those hexes aren't even a part of the Alpha Map.

That map is new to me. Can you point me to where it was published officially that Alpha will be restricted to that section?

Scarab Sages Goblinworks Executive Founder

Dorgan Berkham wrote:
Regarding the NDA: it has been explicitly said there won't be an NDA. I guess Nihimon will probably provide the appropriate quote any second now.

Ha, if that is the case I have been waiting for a good game to start testing out on Twitch :D.

Goblin Squad Member

Dorgan Berkham wrote:
Regarding the NDA: it has been explicitly said there won't be an NDA. I guess Nihimon will probably provide the appropriate quote any second now.

*grins*

Alpha will probably not start until the very end of April. There will be no NDA.

Goblin Squad Member

TEO ArchAnjel wrote:
Nihimon wrote:
I think we know the answer to this is "No", at least with respect to Brighthaven and Phaeros as those hexes aren't even a part of the Alpha Map.
That map is new to me. Can you point me to where it was published officially that Alpha will be restricted to that section?

I just cut that map out of the Land Rush Phase 2 Map. I may have made a mistake in the cropping. At 0:23 in the video from the blog The Map, Lee talks about the map on-screen, saying "this is a portion of the map that is primarily the Alpha testing area content."

Goblin Squad Member

Not sure about Pax's analytical methodology, but TEO and T7V spent some time talking about any potential benefits of being in the Alpha Map section with our short-deadline pick, rather than in the EE-expanded area as we chose.

Liberty's Edge Goblin Squad Member

This thread and the list linked in its first post contain the answers to many of these questions.

Goblin Squad Member

CBDunkerson wrote:
This thread and the list linked in its first post contain the answers to many of these questions.

I looked in that post before creating this thread and actually didn't see the answers to any of those questions. Can you be more specific?

Liberty's Edge Goblin Squad Member

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TEO ArchAnjel wrote:
Will the proto-settlements of Callambea, Brighthaven, and Phaeros be in place during the Alpha stage?

No. The map doesn't extend that far, there will be a wipe at the end of Alpha, most members of those settlements won't be in the alpha test, and generally speaking settlements won't be active in the game until a few months after the start of Early Enrollment. Maybe they will throw up some sort of 'proto settlement' for testing purposes.

Quote:
Approximately how many members will comprise the Alpha community?

32 KS1 backers + 57 KS2 backers + ?? $1000+ store backers

The lack of an NDA has already been discussed. I'm not sure about PoI for Alpha.

Goblin Squad Member

TEO ArchAnjel wrote:
CBDunkerson wrote:
This thread and the list linked in its first post contain the answers to many of these questions.
I looked in that post before creating this thread and actually didn't see the answers to any of those questions. Can you be more specific?

This url should be what he meant to direct you to.

CEO, Goblinworks

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Dakcenturi wrote:
Will the game only be accessible during certain time periods or will the server always be available (minus any maintenance/patch downtime of course)?

We're going to have the server live as much as we can. It's alpha. It will be down a lot.

Quote:
Will there be a test schedule for what specific things we should be focused on testing or simply an open experience to play whatever is there?

There will almost certainly be a test schedule, especially as we get closer to the end of Alpha.

Quote:
Will there be an NDA or can we record/stream/take pics of our gameplay?

There won't be an NDA. We're Crowdforging! :)

Quote:
In relation to ArchAnjel's question on PoIs - It was noted that there would be a wipe after Alpha does this mean any influences we have had on the world (building things or whatever else) will also be wiped or is the wipe only specific to characters?

Nothing survives Alpha.

RyanD

Goblin Squad Member

Ryan Dancey wrote:
Nothing survives Alpha.

I'm glad I'll be in at Early Enrollment then.

Scarab Sages Goblin Squad Member

I wonder if other MMO titles will follow PFO's lead on No NDA & Crowdforging some day.

Yo-yo behavior (Up and down. Up and down. Look, it's going into a loop!) is totally normal and expected from an alpha server.

Having a character reset at the end of Alpha could be a good thing, if the tests get strange. (Today we're testing Perform (juggling) and Knowledge (architecture), so we've automatically re-assigned everyone's skill points into those two skills. All of your possessions have been replaced with four goslings and a set of blueprints for a ceramics factory.)

Goblin Squad Member

Any estimate on how long the Alpha will last and what the target is for Early Enrollment to start?

CEO, Goblinworks

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We can't talk about when we're going to begin Early Enrollment until we can talk about when we'll begin Alpha, and we can't talk about when we'll begin Alpha until we complete the current milestone and do internal testing.

Weeks, not months for Alpha.

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