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A number for alpha test?

we are durzawe are durza
edited March 2015 in Ideas
Should we have a a "your number in line for near end beta" as the game gets almost complete and more people are allowed in faster? It would give at least a fake sense of "it's only a matter of time!" and would be nice to see as the number goes down. Update: I understand that if this is ever implemented, it will be when the game is almost released, which will be in a very long time, even with the amazing progress that has been made, and don't mean to put any extra pressure on the devs and most definitely do not want this to be a hassle... Remember: It's just a near late game idea, which will to get the public excited/aware, and probably will not be done.

Comments

  • Liza ThrottlebottomLiza Throttlebottom
    Um. I'm not sure if I'm a fan of this idea! I just don't think that's how the eleven team is planning to open up the Alpha!
  • b3achyb3achy
    I suspect this idea might be better for closed Beta or maybe late Alpha since that is when they are likely going to need quantity of players to test the servers and stress the system. But have to agree with Liza Throttlebottom, that for early Alpha, the criteria is a bit more dev dependent on balancing the types of players/gameplay they need to let in to help test the things out that they are implementing.

    I want to say that ladyceres at some point has let us know there are over 1000+ players currently signed up on the forums...exact numbers would have to come from her. Right now there are only 31 or so players that have been let into Alpha...so it's still going to be a while for everyone to get in...so for most the number is 'a little big'...
  • ladyceresladyceres
    edited March 2015
    There's a blog post coming out in the next couple of days to explain why we haven't ramped up the numbers. Picking people for the alpha still needs to be a carefully controlled process. Doing things like competitions, lotteries and other kinds of "this is your place in line" ideas will certainly have to wait for beta. The main reason for this is the lack of stability - we're still learning what is crashing the game or breaking individual players...this is usually a good learning experience as it can shed light on something else that needs fixing, but it requires one of us to manually fix the player or reboot the server so they can keep playing. Understandably (I hope), we need to limit the number of players until these things happen less often, because we're not always around due to jobs and other commitments.

    The problem with this is that there's very little we can do to prevent the understandable impatience of the players. We need this small alpha phase *because* of the stability problems. There are over 1600 people signed up right now (although only 960-some have clicked through to complete the forum signup), and 31 alpha players. When we increase this shortly, it's going to be by a small amount in comparison to the number of people waiting; while I hate the idea of hurt feelings, it's also going to be hard to avoid. Rest assured that everyone being selected is a former player, but there's no other specific criteria that we can publicize; we had to work it a little differently this time around.

    We appreciate all the excitement - it keeps us motivated. We are not about to open at any moment though. The blog post will mostly explain why. It's going to take time. We hope that the promise of the game coming back eventually is better than the idea of it never coming back at all. In the meantime, please bear with us...we really are doing the best we can.
  • Liza ThrottlebottomLiza Throttlebottom
    Thanks for the update ladyceres! It's always great to hear from you guys on the forums, I'm glad the team is as involved as it is : ) You are just volunteers after all, but you make a lot of time for us!
  • b3achyb3achy
    edited March 2015
    Always great to get a dev update, @ladyceres - Thanks! Know you folks are super busy right now with balancing RL and development. Also, it must be super challenging bringing back an old game that so many people know, love, miss, and want back into than trying to build a new game where folks have no clue what they are missing if they aren't let in. Keep up all the great work, and as always, thanks for all the great posts and being transparent with information flow! Keeping communications channels open is always helpful to manage expectations, and I appreciate how much you developers realize this! Keep up the great work!
  • GrackleGrackle
    Thanks for filling us in, @ladyceres It's really easy to get carried away with excitement when we see Eleven growing in front of us but no pressure is intended.
  • CassandriaCassandria
    I want to play, I want to play!!! etc etc. BUT - I am sure we all understand the difficulties and problems and I am just so grateful that Glitch will come back one day. Of course I would love to be let in early, but I can't imagine that anyone will stamp off in a huff if they don't fit your criteria (ummmm....thinking ........No!!)

    Just carry on doing what you are doing - it's all good.
  • soymochasoymocha
    I'm just thankful we have a forum to come to, you give us updates, stay in communication with us, and allow those who are testing to post screen shots for us. And you gotta fix whats broke before you let more in :-).
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