[UO Herald] "Return of the Legends" Celebration Begins!

[Muu Bin]

So... the Expansion goes from Pre-Alpha to Beta in a month... and from Beta to Release in 2 weeks.

THIS.

Come ON here Cal! Even if there was a pre-pre-alpha, why on earth is this being rushed out the door from beta to full on release in just 2 weeks. You guys haven't had the greatest of track records when it comes to premature release of something... :gun:

 

[Lord Chaos]

Maybe because its found to be working as intended.

 

[NBG]

Anyone testing beta at the moment think its ready for release at the said date?


I really think, its going to be T maps part 2.

"Lets get the basics working and we will tweak and balance it after release"

Famous words of the Devs and what has always been the result is the "tweak/balance" gets replaced with another half hashed idea.

you guys ever going to fix a booster before you attempt to release another? This is the quest I want answered. Lets say you do release on your release date, are you going to make sure that tweak/balance annnnd bug fix for this booster is completely finished before you release another booster?

 

[Basara]

I got to ask Cal, if he doesn't own glasses does that mean he's a daywalker?

He doesn't walk - he rides a horse, backwards, down the beach..... You should know that from the Town Hall....

 

[canary]

Maybe because its found to be working as intended.

You obviously haven't tried or know anyone who is beta testing it.

The word 'bugs galore' is passed around.

 

[Viquire]

Hold on to your butts!

In fairness, the past several years where we have had a return to Britannia program go live, Anniversary gifts were released after those ordering from the "free to play" menu were gone once again.

I can't speak for booster systems, but I offer congratulations for designing the town singularly worse than Heartwood for immersiveness. The booster has got some really good concepts in there, and the man hours to see it released in excellence simply do not exist at this time.

I can't wait to see what Halloween and the holiday season bring. Anybody want to place odds for a Halloween themed test shard? Treasures of Tokuno should hit next march, about the same time as a major invasion hits someplace nobody cares about.

 

[G.v.P]

He doesn't walk - he rides a horse, backwards, down the beach..... You should know that from the Town Hall....

lol that is true

 

[RaDian FlGith]

Its being released in 14 days? Didnt it just go to beta a few days ago?

Wasn't it in pre-alpha less about 30 days before that?

 

[RaDian FlGith]

Maybe because its found to be working as intended.

It's difficult to fail to note the horrific possibility of this being true.

Honestly, I keep thinking they'll stop doing this RUSH IT OUT THE DOOR crap...

Which might mean I'm borderline insane.

On the wrong side of that line.

 

[JC the Builder]

Wasn't it in pre-alpha less about 30 days before that?

This isn't a full fledged expansion. There are very specific additions being made. The only big concern at the moment is the new ships. But even those are working pretty well.

 

[Fayled Dhreams]

Wasn't it in pre-alpha less about 30 days before that?

This isn't a full fledged expansion. There are very specific additions being made. The only big concern at the moment is the new ships. But even those are working pretty well.

As part of the Return of the Legends celebration, the brand new expansion, Ultima Online: High Seas is being launched on October 12.

blah blah blah ...
what are "they" selling-promoting-offerring?
As part of the Return of the Legends celebration, the brand new expansion, Ultima Online: High Seas is being launched on October 12.

not a booster pack ...
it would say "booster pack"

kind of a bait and switch ...

without the switch.

Downloaded a >fresh< copy of the two clients
*ahem*
hardly a "heroes welcome" when either client logged in ...
hangs without access to the beta boat shard ... again: on both clients after logging into a home shard ...

Not as bad as AOS ...
still
/failure to launch


pity

 

[Uriah Heep]

Y'all done it now!!

Ya done brought Fayled outta retirement!!!

 

[JC the Builder]

blah blah blah ...
what are "they" selling-promoting-offerring?
As part of the Return of the Legends celebration, the brand new expansion, Ultima Online: High Seas is being launched on October 12.

not a booster pack ...
it would say "booster pack"

A publish could be called an expansion. An expansion adds to the game. I said it wasn't a full-fledged expansion as we are used to. There is not a whole lot of new new systems. The biggest is the new boats and boat movement.

If you want to complain about expansions you should look at Darkfall. Every time they publish they call it an expansion, even if it is mostly bug fixes. They expanded the game by fixing it.

 

[Muu Bin]

Maybe because its found to be working as intended.

You obviously haven't tried or know anyone who is beta testing it.

The word 'bugs galore' is passed around.

THIS (again)

 

[SixUnder]

I hope a lot of the Beta bugs are fixed soon, But again, I'm not surprised it's being launched so soon.

of course, just like EA. lets launch more stuff thats broke, when we have so much allready broken that needs fixed first. why release stuff like this FIX WHATS WRONG?

there just adding to the headaches.

 

[Martyna Zmuir]

I have to agree with what Canary has said several times.

DO NOT BUY THE BOOSTER!

At least until it is FINISHED, bug free and polished.

Vote with your wallets, people. Mythic needs to learn that it can't rush things out the door and expect to turn a profit.

Quality over speed. Completeness over mere functionality. Substance over pixelcrack.

If you blithely accept to pay for a shoddy product with your hard-earned cash then you deserve the poor experience you receive.

 

[NBG]

Who else is thinking that paying $14.99 for a half finished booster at release is crazy?

Knowing their trend, the price will maybe come down to 9.99 after awhile and you get a more completed booster?

 

[Babble]

They still have 2 weeks and for such a small 'expansion' it should be possible to get it semi bugfree.

 

[Martyna Zmuir]

Its only been in Beta ONE WEEK as of today. Thats whats scaring many people.

 

[Babble]

They could try to play the EC card. It is in beta until we say it is gold?

The fishing stuff looks pretty easy and should be quick to fix.
The boss fights will undergo more tweaks anyway, as developer I just would make it hard to kill, some special moves and no insta kill abilities. That should not be too hard?

Not sure what else is in there. The quest system is not new, so it should work without that much of a problem.
Boat pvp? I hope that at least was tested before they even announced it.

Lots of work but sounds doable in the time if they really keep at it.
But I would expect fixes at least 2-3 times a week then and not a miracle patch.

 

[Evlar]

Here you go sir/madam... your new car.

Erm... we'll have the wheels ready in about a week. Not sure yet on the windscreen, but the headlights and the brakes should be with you in a fortnight... or thereabouts.

What do you mean where are the seats?

 

[Babble]

Pff we just need wheels, who cares where it is driving as long as it is going somewhere.

 

[DenAlton036]

Yea, If it were free.. but I cant see paying for it.

FIX THE EC FIRST PLEASE!!!

 

[RaDian FlGith]

I'll tell you what bothers me so much about this rush to push it out the door.

1) Bugs. Look, let's face it... Mythic has a lousy track record for fixing bugs after something has been released. A great many of us who tested Stygian Abyss should recall the plethora of bugs that we noted during testing that went live, some of which took months to fix, some of which have never been fixed.

2) Timeframe. It's downloadable content. Yes, you have to put a release date on it and call it done at some point, but it's a DLC release. There's no box. No shelf. Nothing. This rush can only mean one thing: Electronic Arts expects them to show some sort of revenue increase for this current period, and the only way they can do so is by pushing Adventures on the High Seas out now. Which is not a good sign.

3) Potential for future booster packs. Let's face it, this doesn't bode well for future booster packs. At the town hall, Cal stated the intent was to work on boosters at a twice-yearly interval in a manner that would allow them to provide regular saleable content in addition to fixes and free in-game content. Boosters were going to be developed in a fashion that didn't detract from regular gameplay, and would allow them to work on them side by side with these other things. Instead, what's happening is that they're rushing UO:AHS out the front door as quickly as possible (I mean, come on... pre-alpha to release in one and a half months? Seriously?), at the exclusion of all other development. They're so concentrated on this that the anniversary has of UO has come and gone without notice, 13th year vet rewards may be published with the expansion, Magincia is still in tatters, and the Bane Chosen event is beyond pointless at this point.

I'm giving them an A for concept but an F for execution, and if the expansion is released in the form it's in presently on the 12th of October, I too will vote with my wallet. I refuse to allow bank space be a substitute for quality development.

 

[RaDian FlGith]

FIX THE EC FIRST PLEASE!!!

Fixing the EC would indicate it was in a state of full function in the first place.

COMPLETE the EC would be a better statement.

 

[Viquire]

Radian, your points are completely valid, but go back and watch those townhall videos. This has been in the works for over a year now.

 

[Viquire]

Further, I said so at the time and I got a PM from someone that led me to post a complete retraction and if that person is reading this...

well, I didn't forget, and, I'm not ecstatic.

 

[Babble]

Thing is the whole mythic line is going with the booster concept I think.
UO and Warhammer for sure, not sure what they do with DAOC.

Might be EA'S fiscal year is over in November so they need it done before?
But maybe, maybe they publish it when it is sort of bugfree?

 

[RaDian FlGith]

Radian, your points are completely valid, but go back and watch those townhall videos. This has been in the works for over a year now.

I understand that some of the code was used from stuff laying around unfinished, and I also understand that the development work on this didn't begin the day before the Town Hall.

You still don't see things jump from pre-alpha to release in a month and a half in any normal cycle that I'm aware of, and not successfully in any model that UO has ever used.

Now, I understand Cal's sort of pulled back on his use of the word "beta" in this situation, but "test" and "beta" are, well, you know, pretty much the same thing. I mean, we all understand that "beta" and "test" are both the conditions that exist pre-live, so hashing words isn't much of a deterrent to be concerned about issues affecting the game.

I am, however, happy to hear there's an update coming to affect some of the boat movement and graphical glitches. I hope they are effective in addressing the concerns about both.

 

[RaDian FlGith]

Might be EA'S fiscal year is over in November so they need it done before?
But maybe, maybe they publish it when it is sort of bugfree?

EA fiscal is end of month March, putting is in Third Quarter, but it's also Holiday Quarter, and among the most important at EA. Releasing mid-October gives them enough time to capitalize on it going into the holiday season.

Not saying I know for certain this is the cause for hurried release, but I do have my suspicions.

 

[Viquire]

Right, my point being, with a year to make it happen, what the heck?

I have yet to see anything at all about level seven chests. They kept a lot from the testers before the release of SA as well, and guess where all the crap was at release.

 

[RaDian FlGith]

Right, my point being, with a year to make it happen, what the heck?

Oh, okay... gotcha!!!

I have yet to see anything at all about level seven chests. They kept a lot from the testers before the release of SA as well, and guess where all the crap was at release.

Well, unfortunately, they never do quite ever seem to do a complete and proper test of anything.

As someone lurking these boards will attest to (*waves at Malag*), there were several things that people were questioning about the housing system stuff, and we were told, "We're not focusing on that right now, we'll let you know when we hit that phase." Now, that answer, in and of itself, is certainly appropriate for a beta. Test what they're asking you to on any given day, wait for them to hit the system that you're also playing with. It also shows that they know you're aware of some bugs, so they should follow through with a test.

Of course, the stage to test housing stuff never came, and the game was released. There are still some significant issues with certain housing tilesets that are apparently no concern to anyone at Mythic, as they are unlikely to ever be fixed at this point.

Which, of course, goes back to my concern about issues with UO:AHS... It's the circle... the circle of life. Let's just hope they don't drop Simba when they hold him up for the public to see.