PlaneShift
Gameplay => General Discussion => Topic started by: paxx on August 24, 2002, 06:38:09 am
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Based on limitations of CPU resources and bandwidth, a few of the devs have been toying with the idea of making this game ?by invitation only?.
I was wondering if any of you had any ideas on what criteria, we might use to grant invitations.
This in reality would provide a couple of good things, make sure the game always runs smoothly, and allow us to enforce bans.
Making sure that the community and the play quality is the best possible.
The question I have is if we go this route?what would qualify people for invitations?
What type of people would be cool to play in this type of game with, and how do we figure out who those people are?
>>>>to clear up a point<<<<
This will probably first be tried in beta, it will also test our encryption and banning system, while we have made up a list of probable candidates from this forum, we will also want to keep it open to new devs.
This will also give us some good indicators of the amount of support needed for players, and where changes we need to make to various things, like user interface, the experience system, what needs to be in the player instructions?what skills are overpowering, what loads the test server can deal with?and a slew of other factors.
If we do this for final release will also depend on the outcome of this, but for now this seems like the best option for testing.
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maybe the first 1000 people that actually have role played or something, maybe just hte first 1000, or 500, i dont know
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WOW, WOW, cyo, i do not like the idea of first come first serve, first of all, how would they figure out who came first, and who did not. If you are thinking about doing it from these boards, like the first 1000 ppl to register, that won\'t work, since many do not register, but only read the boards, i know, i have do so myslef on many ocations.
I think they should pick, if this will happen, based on how the ppl get along with the community, and their actions and behaviors towards others, like on these boards for example. Someone who generaly contributes to the discuttions, and gets along with others would definatly make for a great addition, since the game is a MMORPG, and getting along with others is the key.
Than there is always the matter of system req. it should def be considered, since it will be what makes for a lag free, smoth running game.
I am sure there are other specs that could, and should be looked at. But those are what I think are the main.
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Ok, first of all, i think it really depends on how many people it can take, but i do think its a good idea if it could work, because theyre are not many good free mmorpgs, so a lot of people will want to play, including a lot of people who will not be wanted. I think we should aim for the people who will role play, and will respect all the rules. This would make the game a lot more fun for the people who do qualify for it, but theyre would be a lot of people not very happy about this. Thats just my opinion
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The game isnt gonna make it to 1000 players anyways why are we talking about it
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Actually, a first informal list of the coolest persons on the forums has been compiled. What we miss is just a few positions to be filled. Some candidates are running up for it, but they haven\'t been completely scrutinized.
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Awwww man I hope they don\'t go for the whole getting along with others..... *doesn\'t think he gets along with many here at the PS forums.....though thats only the spammers and all :S :(*
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Does anyone know what the demand for the game is like at the moment?
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I think it is a good idea to go down this route, definately for testing, as yet I\'m undecided on the \'final\' realease though - like you said it will maximise the quality of gaming and also maximise and concentrate the feedback you as developers receive. We have all experienced what goes wrong when a game is \'open play\' and this is indeed a sure fire way of controlling it, but it is also a shame to keep PS from the masses.
In the fairly recent past I applied to test for the beta of Star Wars Galaxies (failed for now lol), they are using a similar system of closed gaming just for their beta tests.
Perhaps you could use a similar application system for testing, by way of a simple questionnaire, things asked could include:
- system specs - you will probably want to see a range of performances
- age - again probably good from a development point of view to have selection of ages
- brief history - i.e. of gaming/roleplay
- reason for applying
Things like that anyway. At least with a form you will only get people who really want to be a part, and you will be able to relate people\'s feedback to their age, sex, comp spec etc. You yourselves know how people behave on the forum so can bring this into the equation too.
Or maybe scrap all that and go for a system of \'core\' players who can then nominate and vote for new members.
Just my first thoughts anyway ;)
BTW Aendar, you get along fine here, don\'t worry - besides even in a closed environment, the whole good vs evil thing will be needed ;) I do miss the good Aendar though.
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The General has a point too. System specs should also be considered when choosing the invited players. Those who, besides having a good reputation, also possess a decent computer might be included in a primary invitation list, followed then by those with good reputation but whose computers barely make the minimum requirements or do not make them at all.
This is not to discriminate those with lower end computers, but to make the testing much more efficient. I for one do not make the minimum requirements, but I am willing to accept people with better computers taking my spot (in case I\'m on the list ;))
Now, this system will make it harder for newcomers to test the game and give their opinions about the game. Also, there are probably a lot of good gamers out there that simply do not enjoy posting in a forum (or in this forum), and thus remain unknown to the majority of people.
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this could work. heres another idea of how you culd do this. select a number of people to play based on how well they get along and how well they roleplay,and as golbez said system req\'s are also important.after that the players could be apart of inviting people. a player could pick a friend he/she thinks would do well and enjoy the game. that friend would then fill out some kind of application. included in the application would be something that asks who refered you to the game. after the application is sent the devs or whoever happens to be in charge of that stuff could contact the player and verify that they refered so and so to the game.if the player varifies it then it will be the devs decision whether or not to accept the person based on their application.
dont listen to kada...the evil aendar is way more interesting :P
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I think with a free game , and not allot of money for servers etc. this system is needed.
I am sure there are really cool people who like PS but dont post allot on the forum etc. but you cant think of everyone. That isnt possible.
I dont have any new ideas for this system, most have been sayed now i gues.
Wait , maybe some of trial, lets say a person can play for period x , and if he doesnt behave , or isnt that active he could make place for some other dude.
How many people where you thinking of ?
Gion.
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I respect this decision. A lot of very good points have been made in this thread. With limited resources it IS a good idea to only allow a certain ammount of people, especially during beta.
Some qualifications could be:
1) How much time people can commit to the game.
2) It shouldn\'t necessarily be based on how often someone posts in the forum but maybe the quality of what they do post.
3) Experience in roleplaying as mentioned.
I don\'t think age should be a factor in deciding. You can have great roleplayers at any age. I think what general says make sense, how the person gets along with others.
Questions I have
1) What have you guys based the player selection list so far?
2) How many people will be able to play with the current resources you have?
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Well yes I agree with tomaseth, but is this because of limitations of the server? Rune***** servers can hold like 1200 people, and they have like 13...but that\'s not the point, sorry.
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I think that it would be a shame to have to turn this game into something of a \"private\" game, but with the way the game is being created it may proove to be necessairy.
If you are really looking for an encompassing role playing experience then system specs shouldn\'t really factor into the decision too heavily, you should look at the way that people behave and present themselves.
But if you are looking for a fast and smooth gaming experience, then system specs are really the most important thing.
I think the limiting people should really be a last resort option. You should at least try it open to anyone for a period and then if the server cant handle the traffic, make the decision.
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i dont like this idea really. its all subject to baised opinions.
and about selecting people who get along in this forum... maybe u dont realise that there is like only 30 active people on this forum.
lets say ur servers can handle 500 poeple on it at once. in order to actaully GET 500 people on at once ur gunna have to have like 2000+ players. If you are gunna do everything by invite i bet ur gunna end up with like 5 people online WOOO! WOOO! sounds like fun 5 whole people!
a big point of getting into a gaint world of a roleplaying game is that u meet new people make new friends ect, i should be able to walk through the streets meeting people that im likely neva to see again.
you may not realise this but for an mmorpg game to work out u need poeple to not neccasary get along, u need to have conflicts and stuff thats what makes a game fun! i dont think very many people will stick with this game when everyone \"gets along\". i dont really know how to explain this but im sure alot of u have played other RPG games adn know what i mean.
now that ive finished that rant here is what i propose
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i played this MMORPG game called mercinaries of astonia... i thoguth it was extrememly well done. there were some people who ACTAULLY RP\'d. Now there server could only support 100 people online at one time, and they have the best community of any game i have ever played. now how they did it.
they kept there # of players in check by keeping a low profile (not advertising) and restricting there downloads... eg... when they had too many players they simply wouldn\'t let anymore people dowload it off their site. some of u might be thinking... but people will just send the game to their friends... well maybe but simply cutting off the download seemed to work for them. because they kept a low profile and didn\'t go advertising to all the major gaming sites and stuff they didn\'t attract any of the power gamer jackass types. + those types of people dont like to stick around and wait to get into restricted download type games.
so what im proposing is...
leave it open...
get the # of people u want...
halt download...
weed of bad people/trouble makers...
then re-open download when u need more people
repeat...
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I do not particularly like this idea, but I do respect it. I respect because it seems necissary, but I dont like it because I have had many fights with other members on theses forums and probably wouldn\'t be considered.
PS
Stickman, the download halting idea is interesting.
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Stickman... well fighting and arguing adds a little, we don\'t want immature arguments, and that\'s what a lot of the arguments in the forum are. And I don\'t know how much I like the idea of letting people play... and then telling them they have to go. But maybe your idea could work and I also agree that there aren\'t a whole lot of active people on the message boards... but just because they aren\'t posting doesn\'t mean they don\'t read them and aren\'t avid gamers. And like you said, it\'s just a matter of opinion.
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I really don\'t want it to be based on posts lol. I know on another game, there are ppl who played for years and have less than a hundred, while there are a few who have played for about 6 months and have over 1500 lol. When approx will the game be out. My comp doesn\'t meet req, but I am getting a new comp in like 1 1/2 - 2 months which will kick butt. Until then, or maybe forever, someone can have my spot. Although I have not posted much, I HAVE waited a long while to play this game, but if I can help by my absence, I will.
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I agree with siegemaker. Although I do think it will be a shame for it to be \"private\" as funhouse said.. :( I don\'t like private games....:(
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well here ill tell u why i think this forum is inactive
looks at bottom of page...
3 users online... me and u and 1 guest...
with a record of 18 users online
now i go to a runescape FAN site (yes a fan site not an officail site like this)
and there are online right now
105 users 35 are guests.
270 record.
and thats just a single fan site forum. now if they were planning on using criteria like how people get along on this forum they only have about 900 TOTAL users on this site... where about 10% is prob active. see what i mean?
im just trying to say that there are OTHER methods to keep a community good.
also about conflicts... what i mean is... poeple like me would get bored VERY fast if there was nothing drastic going on... like say they make an arena... and 2 clans absolutly HATE each other... well it adds some drama to the game adn keeps it interesting. just cause they dont like each other doesn\'t mean they dont belong here.
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Yeah, okay, I see what you\'re saying about conflicts. So it\'s more of a roleplaying type of conflicts. Also, I agree we need to recruit more people to the PlaneShift community.
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If I was the developper, i\'d fix as many bugs as I could before beta testing. That way, beta testers don\'t complain about bugs you already know about... This WILL be very annoying to the person in charge of handling the emails.
Ideal candidates should be based on their computer specs, and should be willing to regularly report any found bugs via forums or email. By testing an array of different hardware specifications, you can ensure that the software works on any capable computer.
Another bonus is that candidate has already experienced many RPG games before in order to provide reliable feedback on the gaming elements (graphics, gameplay, sound,...).
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wow, my computer goes poop for two days and i miss a lot i guess, eh?
anyweys i didnt read all of the posts cause there too many, but from what i did read i dont think that how good your computer is should strike you out if your computer sucks....although right now my computer is better since i got a new one but it still sucks compared to most
anyways as long as you can run it i think should be good enough....and otherwise i think you should take people most involved in ps, even if some people dont post on boards, they are not that involved then unless they email ideas or go into mirc chat...how good will they be if you dont see them for long periods of time? useless beta testers...
oh yea, and i forgot to say that the computer thing could be based on how they were but not only if they are really good, need from all different computers to get more people in the end anyways
EDIT: yea, i just read the rest of teh posts, now i see most of mine makes no sense, oh well, i dont like to edit the original message so i wont.... :p
and yes, i do agree with invitation to play
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I\'ve been gone for like a week and whoa what\'s happening here?
I read through some of the posts and I partly agree,
Although it would be kind of irritating if you find out about this game and want to download and test but you can\'t because you have not been active in the community?
I don\'t know, but the idea kinda sounds a bit fuzzy.
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internet was down yesterday, couldnt defend my first come first serve idea :P itd just put me on the list :D i dunno, invitation only might make the game a bit dull, always having the same people eventually everyone knows eachother, maybe the most active people in the game?
hehe kada if u want to get into star wars galaxies beta bribe um, a year of subscription to eq helped my position a bit ;)
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What about like...
Invitation to come to a special server?
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Here\'s another good factor: amount of time willing to test the game. If the person plays only once per month, maybe it would be a waste of resources.
Let\'s get one thing straight, this invitation is in order to test the game for bugs (server capability, exchange of packets,....), and to get feedback on its quality. It\'s really to help development rather than just having fun. I think the game should be polished well enough before releasing it to the general public.
From my experience with Ragnarok Online, playing the beta for a long while makes the gameplay dull since it lacks many essential final game touches such as quests and more classes/monsters/ better maps. By the time the final version is released, I doubt I would enjoy it as much.... On the other hand, it\'s really the community that makes a mmorpg fun, so inviting 1000 or so will do :p.
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Actually I believe that the invitation to play is not just for testing. I believe it\'s for the game period. Atleast that\'s how I interpreted the post.
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aww man that means im skrewwed, there are a lot of you on here who dont like me and if this turns out to be like survivor where you vote people off i bet i would be the first to go. ;(
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I think the best thing to do for now is to hold a closed beta test.
People would have to fill out an application including past history with role playing games and beta testing. Also their name on the forums, so you guys know what they are like.
This way you would get only people from these forums and people who are prepared to commit themselves to the game.
Along with the application you could set a list of rules, like
- Minimum time of gameplay per week
- Must report all bugs
stuff like that.
It is not going to be possible to please everyone, so dont try.
While I would be dissapointed if I did not get in, I know it would make a much better quality game with invites only.
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I realize that some of you aren\'t so fond of a closed gaming environment....To a certain extent I\'m sure they can pay for servers and things but they only have limited resources since the game is free. Then again, I wouldn\'t mind paying a fee of $40+ if there were no monthly fees.
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im completely against closed beta testing, only games that r going to be p2p later r like that. If the server gets too full and laggy, put a lower limit on it, so everyone gets a chance to play, that also limits hte people that might try to play 8 hours in a row(everquest was like that, with people spending 8-14 hours a day playing, its more time of there life in that then in rl)
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But if you lower the limit, all of the sudden you are telling people to leave the game. I mean, that\'s not really fair to them.
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putting limits on servers are the most annoying things i have ever experienced
i realize that they have one right now, but that limit doesnt even get NEAR to being reached...sadly i guess
anyways, when i want to play a game i do not want to sit and click over and over and over and over for 30mins just to get in a BETA
as long as it doesnt get full often i guess that would be fine, but i doubt it wouldnt
and if people want to play 24/7 that is their choice, as it should be
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Actually, come to think of it, I dont mind paying a one off fee to download the game. I just really dont want a monthly fee.
I also wouldnt mind paying about 40 bucks. This would also stop anyone that is not serious about the game, from playing. Actually, I dont mind an Invite only system either. Whatever you decide is fine with me :) .
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Paying a fee of 40$ just to download (well maybe not download because that would be lame, what if you needed to reinstall comp? you would need to buy again?)
ok Paying a fee of 40$ to play the game seems ok, but remember that not everybody CAN pay (Well if you are sure to get enough different options to pay with, it\'d be ok)
but still, this game was intended to be free, and I say lets try to keep it this way, although if There are no recources left to continue with, Paying would be the only way...
Anyways, I say we try to keep the game free as long as possible, and when the time comes... well... ;(