f13.net

http://www.electronic-arts.de/publish/aktionen/lcodes.html

Get a free wasp kit. Screw Go Gamer. Sign up for EA Germany. Go back to the page above afterwards and after activation. Code "should" work with US version.

But... but... I don't want to play it all my life!  (http://terranuts.com/forums/images/smilies/sad3.gif)

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ATTN Beta Players!
Hey everyone. Sorry for the short notice, but in the next 15 minutes or so, you'll be able to hop into the game and start creating characters. This goes for both the US and EU servers. Get to it!


More updates to follow...

Well, shit.  I'll just download from the EA store since it's available right now.

Still think it's (see subject title) that they "forget" you purchased something 6 months later where Direct2Drive still has the Planetside: Aftershock purchase I made in 2004.

I dont get the gnashing of teeth. If you wanted to play the game so badly, you should have preordered. You could get in the head start now. If you didnt preorder, then dont complain if you dont get it on release day.

But people are teeth gnashing about their boxes being shipped. Beta people can still play with out their boxes at release, so whats the big deal?

the servers still aren't up at 4:45pm

But people are teeth gnashing about their boxes being shipped. Beta people can still play with out their boxes at release, so whats the big deal?

Is there still an active download for the beta client? All the account creation/download links on the Hellgate site are very dead.

Why the fuck is my EA download still only preloaded? Are EA fucking retarded? Are FSS? Am I?

We’re aware that some retailers have started selling Hellgate: London a day early. While the game had shipped to stores, they were not supposed to start selling copies until Wednesday, October 31st. This means that while some people have been able to get their hands on the game a day early, they aren’t able to get onto the multiplayer servers. This is because we are not starting the "official" service until Halloween. We apologize for any inconvenience and frustration that has been caused trigger-happy stores. When the servers go live, we’ll make sure to post a notice on www.hellgatelondon.com and www.flagshipstudios.com so that there is no confusion. Thanks for your support of the game and we’ll see you online very soon! The Hellgate: London Team

Hey everyone. Sorry for the short notice, but in the next 15 minutes or so at 1:30PM PDT, you'll be able to hop into the game and start creating characters. At 5:00PM PDT, the game will open up to everyone else

Thank you for your participation in Hellgate: London beta. At this time the servers and forums are closed until our Halloween Launch.

That's on their frontpage. Amazing.

Wait, are we suppose to be excited about this game?

What a mess.  I just sit here and keep wondering when my stupid fucking EA download is going to unlock, the timer keeps changing.  Midnight CDT?  Noon tomorrow?  Who knows.

What a mess.  I just sit here and keep wondering when my stupid fucking EA download is going to unlock, the timer keeps changing.  Midnight CDT?  Noon tomorrow?  Who knows.

We’re aware that some retailers have started selling Hellgate: London a day early. While the game had shipped to stores, they were not supposed to start selling copies until Wednesday, October 31st. This means that while some people have been able to get their hands on the game a day early, they aren’t able to get onto the multiplayer servers. This is because we are not starting service until Halloween. We apologize for any inconvenience and frustration that has been caused trigger-happy stores. When the servers go live, we’ll make sure to post a notice on www.hellgatelondon.com and www.flagshipstudios.com so that there is no confusion.

Thanks for your support of the game and we’ll see you online very soon!

So for real, what the fuck. 

I did pre-order
I did not sign up for a beta account

Am I supposed to be able to play? yes/no?

Also, we need a gamestore franchise that doesn't fucking suck.

Wow did this forum get super quiet in the last 12 hours.

Guess you're all playing now, huh?

Hmm, anyone have a little capital laying around?

I will dig out my fancy talking stuffs soon.  I has to digs for them becausing of kitten dramas.  They has cords.  Righ have some but I don't likes them much.  I's hasing a headache today. 

(http://www.democraticwarrior.com/forum/images/smilies/x-catbat1.gif)

Browsing the HGL forums brings up stories of people who were able to subscribe before they took subscription down and got an confirmation mail for an different account name than their own - scary...

Rather than re-download, I found my beta installer, installed it, patched up to retail and got in somewhere around 2 am PST. Which I'm ok with, I don't mind buying a key to activate my beta install. But fuck you for making me spend 2 hours installing, uninstalling and reformatting before that stage.

Server Coming Down!
Howdy folks. We're taking the servers down just for a bit at 5:30PM PDT. We're going to add a patch that opens up the Halloween content for everyone, subscriber or not. We should be back up shortly. Thanks!
Posted by: Kaiser on Thu, 11/01/2007 - 00:23 Talk About This Story!
Filed under: Server Update

Server Coming Down!

Have a cow.  (http://srv.xboard.us/images/smile2/madcow.gif)

They have some lessons to learn...quick. Bringing down the servers at primetime on launch day to patch in "halloween content"? Are you joking me?

No seriously, what the fuck is this bush league horseshit? I've never seen a game that works and yet get so willfully fucked up by people NOT CODING THE GAME. Can anyone else point me to an instance of that? I'm in awe. Not that they're reading this but wholesale firings of their PR and Marketing departments is in order. Why didn't anyone say, "You know, guys, the patch hasn't gone in in the twenty four or so hours we've been up... I think we can wait until prime time is done."

The print screen key should dump a bitmap into My Documents/My Games/Hellgate/Screenshots. Green items are most common (often drops), followed by blue, orange, yellow (once every few weeks? ish...give or take).

You actually believed that bullshit? Well then riddle me this, did they take down the main website and forums to patch in the halloween content too?

Awesome thanks

(http://nerv.tv/media/hellgate_shirt_01.jpg)

[Xfire] Chatteox: Hello! We are very pleased to welcome everyone to the Hellgate: London Chat! Please welcome our special guests from Flagship Studios who will now introduce themselves and start taking your questions! We ask for your patience as we get through our technical difficulties. Thank you! If you lose your connection click on the servers tab and come back into the rooms!

[Flagship] Kaiser: Hey, I'm Kaiser, good to see all of you!

[Flagship] Guy Somberg: Hi! My name's Guy. I'm the audio and gameplay programmer here at Flagship.

[Flagship] Ether: Hi Guys! Aletheia Simonson, Flagship's Art producer here. You can call me Ether :)

[Flagship] Amir: Welcome everbody! Amir Ebrahimi here. I'm a graphics programmer here at Flagship Studios.

[Flagship] trish: Hello! I am Trish- Director of PR and Marketing

dsteinwedel: Hi everybody, I'm Dave, lead audio designer for Flagship.

[Flagship] Taylor Balbi: Sup! I'm Taylor, Junior Community Manager!

[Flagship] Jordan: Hey Folks, I'm Jordan, Assistant Sound Designer

[Flagship] Bill Manegold: I'm Bill Manegold...I'm a programmer/design intern here at Flagship

 

gamona]Thomas: Question: Many players did no react very positive after playing the demo. Do you think it was an mistake to release it?

Answer: Bill Roper: Yes and no.

Bill Roper: The demo was designed to be justa taste of the game

Bill Roper: Thomas: Many players did no react very positive after playing the demo. Do you think it was an mistake to release it?

Bill Roper: Yes and no.

Bill Roper: The demo was designed to be just a smal taste of the game.

Bill Roper: With a gamethat has as much content and depth and complexity and replayability as Hellgate: London, we can't do a demo that can properly express that.

Bill Roper: On the other hand, we had a lot of fizes - especially to DX1 - that we couldn't get in.

[Flagship] Guy Somberg: Bill means DX10 :)

Bill Roper: Which is why the demo was DX9 only - I think this confused a lot of people.

Bill Roper: So I think that we may have been better served waiting a bit, but we actually got as much good eresponse as we did bad - just no one goes onto forums to say things are great or that they enjoy them.

 

[Flagship] Kaiser: Question: [gamona]Thomas: What will happen to characters located in slots 4 to 12 (subscribers only) if subscription runs out or is terminated? And we also see similars problems for items located in the extra part of the stash...

Answer: *We'll save your characters and items. If you re-subscribe, you'll have access to everything like nothing happened

 

[Flagship] Kaiser: Question: [gamona]Thomas: Certain character classes (evoker, i.e.) are much harder to play during the first levels than others. Is this what you intended or are you going to make balance changes to address this?

Answer: *We've spent a LOT of time balancing the game. We check so many different stats to make sure the game levels out for everyone. That said, we'll constantly be be monitoring our stats and make adjustments as needed.

 

Bill Roper: Question: Thomas: Many players complain about the enviroments/levels of HGL not being very diverse. What's your opinion about this and is it going to change with some of the upcoming patches?

Answer: Bill Roper: Believe it or not, there are more diverse areas in Hellgate: London than there were in Diablo II.

Bill Roper: Think about the second Act in D2. Sand. Lots of Sand. And a star chamber. An then some undergorund sand.

Bill Roper: We do al lot more to diversify our acts, and the patch that is available on day one (well, today) goes a long way to theming acts better so that you can get a better feel for that diversity.

 

[Flagship] Amir: Question: [gamona]Thomas: Many players complain about the enviroments/levels of HGL not being very diverse. What's your opinion about this and is it going to change with some of the upcoming patches?

Answer: Thomas, HGL's dynamic level technology was built with the idea that we'd be extending well into the future. As with any big-budget game today, building environments are costly in terms of man-hours. We've yet to tap the flexibility of our DRLG technology and you'll see more in the future. As we add more areas and tilesets, our designers will be able to mix and match to create new environments for your enjoyment.

 

[Flagship] Kaiser: Question: [gamona]Thomas: What are your plans to integrate guilds and guilding feature into

Answer: We have lots of different things planned for the game. Guilds were introduced with Patch 0 (which is now live), and we'll be adding more and more functionality to it as time moves on. We have a lot of our own ideas, but we'll definitely be listening to all of your comments as well, and incorporate whatever works best for the game.

 

[Flagship] Guy Somberg: Question: [gamona]Thomas: What will happen to characters located in slots 4 to 12 (subscribers only) if subscription runs out or is terminated? And we also see similars problems for items located in the extra part of the stash...

Answer: If you cancel your subscription, then those characters will become unavailable. They'll still be saved on our servers, so if you should get your subscription back, your characters will be waiting for you. Similar situation with the extra stash space.

 

Bill Roper: Question: Thomas: What are you planning to do to keep both subscribers and standard players happy?

Answer: Bill Roper: We have a LTO of things there for our free players that are so far beyond what we've done in the past.

Bill Roper: In fact, we opened up some areas to our free standard players that are more than they get in single player and were also going to orignially just be for subscribers.

Bill Roper: Our Elite Difficulty mode is a great example of that, as is making PvP available to everyone. Dave Brevik was also a champion for gettinf Achievements into the game for th dya one patch and making them available to everyone.

Bill Roper: For subscribers, we've already started themed events and special content, and we'l be rolling out a lot of stuff in December.

Bill Roper: The goal is to strike a great balance so that people who want to get more content can do so eaily and contantly while still providing an incredible online experience for no extra charge.

 

[Flagship] LeeDot: In regards to Evoker Balance - One of the interesting things about HG is that each of the classes offers a distinct play experience from one another and the Evoker is at the extreme end of one of those play styles. We ill be trying to continually balance any areas that seem out of whack but I would expect that each class will always have some areas of the game that they struggle with more or less based on their nature.

 

[Flagship] Kaiser: Question: [gamona]Thomas: Can you tell us anything about servers not being live until Halloween although sales of HGL started on Oct 30th already, which also has been the official release date for Germany?

Answer: Y'know, due to the time difference, the sheer scope of getting the game launched around the world, and all that jazz, we really wanted to do as much testing as possible. There was bound to be a hiccup or two along the way, so we apologize if anyone had to wait too long. We want everyone online as soon as possible! ^_^

 

[Flagship] Guy Somberg: Question: BOU [SLH]: What Game Engine are you using?

Answer: We've actually built our own graphics engine from the ground up. It's really neat, because we've been able to optimize it for all of our randomized environments. There are a lot of nifty challenges involved with that, which most static-geometry engines don't have to deal with./

 

[Flagship] Kaiser: Question: gamesmaniac: What inspired you to choose the name for the game? It could be Hellgate: New York or other cities.

Answer: London is a perfect city for Hellgate. It has such a unique history, with a great variety of architechture, a subway system, etc. There was just so much to pull from that could be used in the game in cool and clever ways. Plus, it just sounds cool.

 

[Flagship] Bill Manegold: Question: medievaldragon: The Hardcore Mode tooltip at the character creation page says that a character can't resurrect or be ghosted. Death is permanent. Could you explain? How can you play again?

Answer: Once a character dies in hardcore mode, they can only walk around the various stations that they've reached. In this way, you can still prove to people how far you got in Hardcore mode, but you can't get any farther. If you want to use that slot to play more, you have to delete the character and create a new one.

 

Bill Roper: Question: Klaak: LaReece: With games like Tabula Rasa releasing the same time as Hellgate, are you confident that HGL will strive and prosper against the competiton?

Answer: We believe that Hellgate: London is really unlike any other MMo around. The fact that it can be played as a stand-alone game, has free online gameply, and then also has a way for players to get a steady stream of content - not to MENTION how different the game play is - makes it stand out. We aren't really thinking of how we're 'going up against' other games. If it's fun - people will play.

 

[Flagship] Taylor Balbi: Question: For Taylor Balbi: Since you are such a new addition to the Flagship Studios team. What is it like starting out in the industry at a company that has such a vast range of experience and talent?

Answer: Well, It's amazing. I always wanted to get a job in the industry, never thought it would be with such a great company. At first it was a little bit intimidating, wondering if I was going to live up to their expectations, but now it's just tons of fun. Everyone here is great and has an awesome sense of humor. I don't think I can work anywhere else and be as satisfied as I am now. People here work and act like family, which I am definitely not used to. Then again, seeing how skilled everyone is, I feel like a permanent noobie :)

 

[Flagship] Jordan: Question: daniz0rz: The game's trailer makes the game appear like a FPS but it's advertised as an RPG. Is combat gonna be more like an FPS or more like KOTOR (which was sorta turn based but realtime)?

Answer: The game can be played in first person few using the ranged character classes. You can also choose to pull the camera back and play from an behind the shoulder perspective...It is not like KOTOR because everything is very much in real-time

 

[Flagship] Amir: Question: b8y: Do you have any people with Physics or Math backgrounds on your team? Also do you have dedicated people that handle just A.I. ,random map layouts, etc?

Answer: We have people here with a variety of backgrounds. I don't know everyone's educational background at the company here. However, I can say that we have a programmer who used to work for NASA and one who specialized in written and spoken languages. Not all the programmers here received a CS degree, however, all are very talented. Many of the programmers worked on Diablo, so that is where we have the experience to create a game that never plays the same each time through.

 

[Flagship] Kaiser: Question: NightmareXX: Will there be any plans to make this available via Steam? I find it an extremely useful way of being able to get my games

Answer: We all love Steam here, but we don't have any current plans to offer Hellgate through the service. Because our game isn't a standalone title and requires different forms of authentication for security and such, integrating it into a 3rd party app would be very difficult. A nice idea, though. ^_^

 

Bill Roper: Question: PilotMadnick: What made you guys make a futuristic RPG, instead of the good ol' fantasy ones?

Answer: After working on the Warcrafyt and Diablo universes, we really wanted to do something very different in setting. We wanted to be able to mix in some sci-fi with our magic and monsters. Also, the idea of setting the game in a twisted version of our own worlkd was really compelling.

 

[Flagship] Kaiser: Question: medievaldragon: The Hardcore Mode tooltip at the character creation page says that a character can't resurrect or be ghosted. Death is permanent. Could you explain? How can you play again?

Answer: What you say is true. It's the whole point of Hardcore. Risk everything! If you can beat the game on Hardcore mode, what better bragging rights could you ask for? Sounds impossible, but you'd be surprised just how good some of the players are!

 

[Flagship] Taylor Balbi: Question: Source|Eorlas: What do you guys like to do in your spare time?

Answer: I love sitting at my desk and playing my Xbox 360, Skate is something I really enjoy as of late. When I'm not doing that, I'm rocking out on Guitar Hero or playing Halo 3 on live with my brother. When I'm not near my 360, I'm playing Guitar Hero at home or sleeping!

[Flagship] Taylor Balbi: Oh! and I play a LOT of Mythos :)

 

[Flagship] Kaiser: Question: daniz0rz: The game's trailer makes the game appear like a FPS but it's advertised as an RPG. Is combat gonna be more like an FPS or more like KOTOR (which was sorta turn based but realtime)?

Answer: To add to Jordan's answer, Hellgate in a lot of ways creates its own genre. It covers so many gameplay styles, that's you can't pin it down really. Want to have an FPS-like experience? Play a Marksman. Want a more action-RPG 3rd-person game? Try an Evoker. Wnat to play single-player? Do it. Multiplayer online? Sure. Really, Hellgate is the game YOU want it to be.

 

Bill Roper: Question: Klaak: goldfish928: approximately how many hours long is the single player campaign, and can you take players back and fourth between single player and multiplayer like in titans quest?

Answer: We expect players to take between 30-40 hours to complete the storyline of the game. And., of course, this is just the first time through the game! You can continue on in Nightmare mode - basically taking another "lap" through the content at a harder difficulty level with your same character, raising their levels of experience and loot. Because of the random nature of the game, you can play with another character and have a VERY different experience - both in how the classes play and how the game progresses.

 

We do not allow characters to go between single and multi player because we have no idea what you’ve done with your character when it isn’t on our servers.

 

[Flagship] trish: Unfortunately EA Europe opted out from doing a Collector's Edition for UK

 

[Flagship] Guy Somberg: Question: Source|Eorlas: What do you guys like to do in your spare time?

Answer: I like this question :) I like to go climbing at the gym, go for walks, play the flute... Heh, this is sounding like a personals ad :) Lately, I've been spending a lot of time playing Portal, actually. That game is REALLY fun.

 

[Flagship] Amir: Question: EliteOps1: Some people complained about the graphics being sub par compared to other games of this generation, such as Crysis. What is your response to this?

Answer: Well, when we talk about comparing graphics of one game to another we have to level the playing field. What type of game is it? What are the constraints? What level of geometry is being pushed through the engine? Crysis is an FPS game with a specific storyline. They can do things that we're unable to do such as performing a static geometry visibility pass on their levels, since their levels are not dynamically generated. Crysis is a great looking game and I'd be more inclined to compare it with a Gears of War or Unreal Tournament 3. Crysis doesn't have all the dynamic character generation we have, so they didn't have to build an engine around that. For what we do, we do it well.

 

[Flagship] Amir: Question: daniz0rz: Will the game be ported to consoles in the future?

Answer: I can neither confirm nor deny this :)

 

[Flagship] Kaiser: Question: Candy: how regulary are you gonna update the game?

Answer: We're constantly working on balance fixes, new features, etc. If there are gameplay-criticial fixes we need to make, they will be released as much as needed. Roughly, we plan on substantial updates every few months, with a number of special surprises between. You'll definitely have a lot of stuff to play with. :)

 

[Flagship] Ether: Question: Source|Eorlas: What do you guys like to do in your spare time?

Answer: Guitar Hero Tournaments, Panda Baiting (Brennan Plunkett response). Other than that, we usually spend a lot of time playing other games (for... research...)

[Flagship] trish: if we have spare time! Play the cello. I kinda like that Apples to Apples game! Bill got me playing those Cheap Ass Games www.cheapass.com

[Flagship] trish: Play WoW and Hellgate

 

[Flagship] Guy Somberg: Question: radu12345: What programming language did you use to code the game? C++?

Answer: Yes, C++ mostly. We actually write in a very C-like manner, but using a C++ compiler. A few pieces and parts here and there (mostly on the server-end) are written in C# or Powershell or JSP. I spend most of my days in front of Visual Studio writing C++ code, though. That, and Excel. A lot of Excel time, too.

 

[Flagship] DSteinwedel: Frosty-: When developing the sound effects for the game did you use classic zombie and monster sounds we hear a lot from movies and more, or is it an orignial score?

Answer: The sound effects are all custom designed for Hellgate using both commercial libraries and custom recordings made here. The musical score is completely new.

 

[Flagship] Amir: Question: radu12345: What game engines did you use for the game?

Answer: I think this question was already answered, however, I'll post again. Our engine is custom-built from from the ground up. We had to go this route to accomodate the dynamic levels and character generation for the game. Not many off-the-shelf engines support these things well.

 

[Flagship] Taylor Balbi: Question: Jolene: Flagship is working on Mythos as well.... I feel that Hellgate has too many similar traits. Do you feel Mythos is a game unique in itself?

Answer: They do share a lot of similar traits, but that's because those traits are awesome! Who doesn't like randomized loot :) Being the Mythos Community Manager, I find myself talking about this a lot. Mythos is more of a fast paced game. One you can get in for 15-30 minutes and accomplish a lot, or play for hours and accomplish a ton. It is definitely a game unique in itself just as much as Hellgate is. Sure they share similar traits, but they aren't identical. The settings in the games are very different also, and in the future you will see Hellgate and Mythos drift farther apart as more features go into Mythos and more into Hellgate. Deep down though, they will always be sybling games!

 

Bill Roper: Question: Lachlann: Personally, the game reminds of the 1st release of City of Heroes. It was a lot of fun to play, but didn't have the depth to keep me interested in the long run. There are some obvious advantages with Hellgate London not requiring a monthly fee to play, but that lack of depth in an MMO is still an issue. (No PvP, crafting, guild bases/structures, limited character types, etc.) Are you planning on adding some of the more traditional MMO content (like the above) to the game?

Answer: Actually, some of the things you’ve mentioned are in the game, bnut if you haven’t played online with the live pday one patch, you may have missed them! We do have initial PvP - both Dueling and Free-for-all. I also am not sure if six classes with a lot of different builds counts as “limited” (WoW has “only” 9 for example).

Bill Roper: We have the core of our crafting system in with the Nanoforge and recipes, so expect to see more of this on the way. Our Guild system is an exciting area of growth, and we’ve got a lot of ideas on how to make this very fun for our players who want to be in a guild. No MMO is as complete on day one as it is 3 months or 6 months or a year or more down the line, and the fact that we aren’t a traditional MMORPG means we have a lot of things those games don’t.

 

[Flagship] Kaiser: Question: radu12345: Have you thought of acquiring a protecting engine for your game, in order to block hacking programs such as the widely spread packet editors and the address editors?

Answer: We have our own security measures in place to deal with these types of issues. For obvious reasons we can't talk about them, but we take security VERY seriously. We've all seen games be ruined by cheaters, hacks, etc and we're doing everytihng we can think of to make sure Hellgate stays clean.

 

[Flagship] Amir: Question: ςЧЄЄpŶkins: You’ve made Flagship studios your business and Hellgate your item of sale so it’s all very official, but importantly did you have fun developing the game back at the studio?

Answer: Not at all (tongue-in-cheek). On the real, the guys here love to play games. In fact, early in development we were all "forced" to play the game for a block of time every Friday. I don't know many game company's that actually alot time for you to play the game you are developing.

 

[Flagship] Guy Somberg: Question: Garry: here is the one and only question from Garry :): I stopped playing WoW cuz of Hellgate. How old must I be to stop playing in general? Or will I still play when I'm 60?

Answer: Never stop playing. Ever. The moment you stop playing is the moment you become old.

 

[Flagship] trish: Anolimus- my previous answer was broken up.. sorry for the confusion

[Flagship] trish: :)

 

[Flagship] Jordan: Question: 'Frosty-: When developing the sound effects for the game did you use classic zombie and monster sounds we hear a lot from movies and more, or is it an orignial score?

Answer: For the zombies we had some folks in the office step into our recording booth and speak some zombie sounds, these were then edited and processed for the game. All of the monsters are custom made, using a varitey of sounds, from animals to motorrcycle sounds. The music is also all original, and was written by SonicMayhem.

 

[Flagship] Ether: Question: lionzub: Ok, you guys have to tell us now, I know everyone wants to know. Who is the best Guitar Hero player in the house?

Answer: Alan Hu. ;)

 

[Flagship] Amir: Question: Q: ≤FøC≥JustinSane: Are there any plans for PVP Arenas and Ladders?

Answer: I can neither confirm nor deny this :) Wait, take off PR hat. Speak up on the forums and you may just see it get in! PvP is very important to us, so you'll see developments in the future. We're a company devoted to fans, so what most fans want, they'll get.

 

[Flagship] Bill Manegold: Question: cG| PowMia: Will there be some sort of 'text' messages on the screen (or Journal that keeps track of your progress) to help those that have a hearing disadvantage to follow along and not miss out on 'important' information being giving or passed around?

Answer: You have a quest log that tracks quest progress throughout the game, both in terms of what quests you have, and your progress within them. There are ways to turn on constant progress readouts as well, so you don't have to constantly go back to your log. A number of the developers here play the game without any sound, since in a crowded office you can't really use speakers, and they don't seem to have problems...^_^

 

Bill Roper: Question: [gamona] Garry: here is the one and only question from Garry :): I stopped playing WoW cuz of Hellgate. How old must I be to stop playing in general? Or will I still play when I'm 60?

Answer: God, I hope not! I don’t plan on stopping ever. Games are for everyone of every age, and the wide diversity of genres and games means there is something for everyone. Interestingly, I stopped paying WoW for Hellgate, too ;)!

Bill Roper: And what I meant was i hope you never Stop, Garry!

 

[Flagship] Kaiser: Question: Kaljin: The site of longdon seems to make it seem like this will take place in other countries and cities. Will you release expansions in other cities?

Answer: We have so much to add to Hellgate: London right now, it's hard for us to think that far out. That said, if Hellgate does well and all of you want more cities, there's nothing we want more than to make you guys happy.

 

[Flagship] Guy Somberg: Question: b8y: Have you implemented statistics gathering and analysis tools into the online component to figure out what players are doing and what to change/improve?

Answer: 1984. The Evil Eye is watching.

 

[Flagship] Kaiser: Question: daniz0rz: MMO games with fast-paced action seem to suffer greatly from lag, many times making them unplayable. How hard was it to develop a system of fast-paced action that could work in moderate-heavy lag situations, given that not everyone has T3 internet?

Answer: We definitely didn't want lag to be a problem. Thankfully, our awesome programmers at Flagship and our awesome engineers at Ping0 have developed a system that's fast and efficient, even when dealing with massive amounts of data. I can't get into the technical aspects of this, but I did want to throw this out there. ^_^

 

[Flagship] Amir: Question: b8y: Have you implemented statistics gathering and analysis tools into the online component to figure out what players are doing and what to change/improve?

Answer: We have this thing called the Evil Eye that sees all. It sits on the top of Mount Doom... Seriously though, we are collecting more stats about the game than any of the Diablo games would have hoped to collect. It can take 10s of hours to get back data from a previous day of gameplay.

 

Bill Roper: Question: b8y: Have you implemented statistics gathering and analysis tools into the online component to figure out what players are doing and what to change/improve?

Answer: We have a little program we have lovingly dubbed “The Evil Eye” that gets us a lot of game play data, including what classes are being played, what skills they use, what weapons are used, snapshots of equipped items every time a character levels, monster damage and death rate and a lot more. We use this as a big tool for making balance changes and is something we have never had before.

Bill Roper: Hahah

Bill Roper: Well, we all liked that question...

 

[Flagship] Guy Somberg: Question: colonelsanders64: Whats the cost diffence for you by using a (what I can only assume is a third party) server system, Ping0, as opposed to having your own server empire, like battle.net?

Answer: Actually, we started Ping0 about a year and a half ago, so effectively, it is a first-party system. The folks upstairs (who are currently in a hive of activity) have worked hard to make a backend server suite that's designed to accomodate both Mythos and Hellgate.

 

Bill Roper: Question: About what percentage of the original team continues to work on the game after its initial release?

Answer: Right now - just about EVEYRONE! Moving forward (when we feel we can break people away from it) a significant portion of the company will be working on continuing content. We’re also hiring right now to increase the size of the team to meet the demands of providing all the different types of content we want to make.

 

[Flagship] DSteinwedel: Question: Nix: How many cinematics are there in the game? and are they still viewable while playing Online?

Answer: There are 4 cinematics in game and they are viewable in MP.

 

[Flagship] Amir: Question: PilotMadnick: I experienced lots of lag while beta-testing, i had to run everything on low even though i have a high-end system, is it really optimized now?

Answer: Isn't that why we had you beta-test? All of our beta testers helped us tremendously for improving performance. In terms of the graphics engine, we've improved DX10 performance tremendously. Some of these changes made it back to our DX9 target to improve that as well.

 

[Flagship] Kaiser: Question: 'Frosty-: How did you decide to add "elite content" for paying customers rather than just going with the classic Diablo style?

Answer: Think about Diablo for a minute. While people still love the game and are still playing, there weren't that many updates over the years. No people, no content. To put it lightly, a lot of people wanted more content. With Hellgate, we want to make those people happy by having a dedicated team here at Flagship continuously working on new content/features. In a lot of ways, we chose this model FOR the fans. Now, we can keep the game going as long as everyone wants. The reality is, it takes a lot of people to make a game these days, and it's hard to find amazing artists/programmers/etc that work for free. ^_^

 

[Flagship] Bill Manegold: Question: <|CF|>TeyRon: bungee employees often wore silly hats for humour and were given ice cream while developing to keep themselves sane, what did you do to stay sane

Answer: ...who says we're sane?

 

Bill Roper: Question: -=ŃںĶ=-ßüštèr ß. Túηâ: Is Hellgate London coming to the MAC if not are there plans to?

Answer: We would love to have a Mac-specific version of the game, but we just don’t have the manpower to tackle that. Hopefully we can find another developer or perhaps even Apple to find a way to get a Mac version done, but at least there is boot camp now! I have friends who have played on their Macs in the beta and said the experience was really good.

 

[Flagship] Taylor Balbi: Question: radu12345: 100. Do you think Xfire has done a good job inviting you here?

Answer: Of course! I love talking to the fans and answering questions. Xfire are some cool cats, especially the two that are in the office with us. Rock on guys!

 

[Flagship] Guy Somberg: Question: [SFBiH]=BFO=: Its my birthday answer me one quesstion: How hard was it to make a Hellgate, how much hour of work was spend there?

Answer: Happy Birthday! *insert copyrighted birthday music here*

Hellgate is easily the hardest game I've ever had to make. Of course, coming from Dora the Explorer: Super Star Adventures, that's not saying much :) That said, there have been some incredible challenges, and I've learned more in my tenure on this game that I learned in all of college, and all my previous jobs combined.

 

When we're not crunching, I work a pretty typical 40-hour week (or so). During crunch, that figure explodes to 80 or more.

 

[Flagship] Amir: Question: Q: [SFBiH]=BFO=: Its my birthday answer me one quesstion: How hard was it to make a Hellgate, how much hour of work was spend there?

Answer: Happy Birthday! It took us only three hours to build this game. Haven't you seen those commercials for getting into game development? You can tighten up the graphics on one level in a couple of hours and be designing your next game in the same day? Let's just say that we've all been crunching for 8 months now.

 

[Flagship] Kaiser: Question: [Xfire] MasterRen: About what percentage of the original team continues to work on the game after its initial release?

Answer: Roughly half the company, though we're always growing so this percentage always changes. ^_^

 

[Flagship] DSteinwedel: Question: BRQ] SUBZ3R0: What fuel do you use to keep yourself awake when developing content?

Answer: Water works pretty well, as does sauteed mushrooms with garlic over roasted chicken. Some others here like redbull

 

[Flagship] Bill Manegold: Question: [BRQ] SUBZ3R0: What fuel do you use to keep yourself awake when developing content?

Answer: Lots and lots of caffeine

 

[Flagship] Amir: Question: [BRQ] SUBZ3R0: Is there a significant difference in image quality between the DX10 and the DX9 version?

Answer: Yes, significant in extra icing on the cake. The improvements won't affect gameplay, seeing as we wouldn't want to. In DX10 you've got motion blur, depth-of-field, better filtering, SLI support, soft-shadows to name a few... You get both in-box, so you can choose whichever one you want to play :)

 

[Flagship] Kaiser: Question: <|CF|>TeyRon: bungee employees often wore silly hats for humour and were given ice cream while developing to keep themselves sane, what did you do to stay sane

Answer: I can only speak for myself, but I, um, played lots of videogames. Haha.

 

[Flagship] Taylor Balbi: Question: ghostfaceҲ: ROFLCOPTER? Yes or no?

Answer: Definitely.

 

[Flagship] Kaiser: Question: Loco: I think I remember hearing about a guild system in HG, so will there be a sort of guild bank or maybe other things to make a guild feel more tight and unified?

Answer: Expect the guild system to expand greatly over time. We're just getting started!

 

[Flagship] Kaiser: Question: [BRQ] SUBZ3R0: What fuel do you use to keep yourself awake when developing content?

Answer: Our fridge is filled with Coke, Diet Coke, Diet Coke with Splenda, Coke Zero, Cherry Coke Zero, Coke Plus, Diet Coke with Lime with Splenda, and this AWESOME drink called GoGirl (that's not a joke)

 

[Flagship] Ether: Question: <|CF|>TeyRon: bungee employees often wore silly hats for humour and were given ice cream while developing to keep themselves sane, what did you do to stay sane

Answer: Sane? Muahhaa . In seriousness… thankfully we have an amazingly fun and creative team. We have game nights (as Trish mentioned earlier), game tournaments, the occasional office party, and a fridge full of red bull.. They all play a part in keeping us (mostly) sane.

 

P.S. This should also answer the “Fuel” question. Red Bull!

 

[Flagship] LeeDot: Question: Ragnarok: where did you do you training for modeling art/animation?

Answer: Most of my training, and really most of the really good artists I know didn't go to school for it but to be honest 10 years ago there was nowhere near the amount of training facilities that there are these days. If you're disciplined enough to be able to work on your own I'd recommend going through the training dvd's at thegnomonworkshop.com. I'm constantly picking up new dvd's to keep my skills sharp even after doing this sort of thing professionally for years. The DVD route will also save you a huge amount of money on school fees since most art schools will suck you dry in a heart beat but like I said that route requires a lot more discipline because know one is going to be there to kick your ass out of bed.

 

Bill Roper: Question: [ cosi ]: What special Events are you going to add (or already been added) to the game Hellgate London? Will there be something like the World event in Diablo 2 for a annihilus ? Or will there be something like UBER bosses ? (Like Uber Diablo, Uber Mephisto, Uber Baal) ... And are there Fun levels like "Cow Level" ? :D And are you planing to bring out expansions, if yes, how many and how fast? Or will it be there be free "forever" ?

Answer: We are already running special events in the game for Halloween, and will have more in November. We’re also going to release a major content update for subscribers in December that is already being worked on. We’ll have all kinds of events for all different sorts of players over the coming months - some recurring and others for limited amounts of time. You’ll start seeing new types of levels next month, as well as some special bosses.

 

[Flagship] Guy Somberg: Question: <|CF|>TeyRon: Certain Games in the past have had content released on retail disk but locked, Final Fantasy 11 and Phantasy Star universe to name a few, Does Hellgate:London have Locked content stored on the retail DVD but will become availible over time?

Answer: Everything that is finished and ready to be played is on the DVD. Our ongoing content is going to include a lot of new stuff, which we will be patching to players over the Internet.

 

[Flagship] Kaiser: Question: mعћnӘs§: Is it possible to LAN or VPN the game so you can play with your buddies?

Answer: We don't include LAN support for security reasons. We really thought a lot about this, and it just wasn't feasible w/o opening the game up to a lot of security holes. You could always have your friends over and just play together over the 'net. Sounds silly maybe, but it totally works!

 

[Flagship] Taylor Balbi: Question: Lintor: WIll there be any cosplay like items, like Cat Ears or a Fox Tail to wear ingame

Answer: Currently there are some specialty items. Right now, as far as armor is concerned, we have the All Hallow's Visage. This is a horned skull that is on fire; a rare drop for subscribers during our Halloween event. We also have candy that makes you a ghost, sets you on fire, and a pet called Zombot that follows you around. We also have others planned for future events!

 

Bill Roper: Question: Lachlann: Come on, sneak this one in right before we are done: "How do you get to the Cow level in Hellgate London?" =)

Answer: Well, I haven’t seen anyone post about the hidden gem activation yet, so I guess you haven’t looked hard enough…

 

[Flagship] Amir: Question: dcurry: If I come to San Francisco what are my chances I can visit Flagship Studios and come in and look around???

Answer: You'll have to find us first! Hey, it'll be fun; like a game. We move offices every other week to fend off the hordes :)

 

[Flagship] Jordan: Question: Music in a game is important.. I havent played the beta.. But what do you thing about the musik.. Did you spend alot of time on it or did you focus on the game..

Answer: We agrree that music is very important. It really helps with immersion. That is why the audio team worked with Guy, our audio programmer, to create a dynamic music system that repsonds to the level of action on screen. It's a very complex system that required lots of tweaking by Dave. We are very happy with how the music sounds, and are looking forward to making the music playback even better..

 

[Flagship] Kaiser: Question: Spartan109: What age group do you hope to attract and do you think that HG:L will attract new people in too gaming?

Answer: Well, our game is M-rated, so no one under 17 should be playing! ^_^ We want everyone to play the game. Diablo fans, console fans, non-gamers. I've had a lot of personal emails sent to me from people who weren't into games, but are intrigued by Hellgate. So far, looks like people are responding to the game on a variety of levels!

 

Bill Roper: Question: Q: 'cS.Innervision: will there be loads for guild to do together apart from just grouping for instances

Answer: We have a lot of things in the plans and works for guilds, and raid-level content is definitely on that list. We want people who enjoy the Guild experience to give us feedback on what they want so we can build this structure and game play around what they’re looking for in the way Hellgate: London plays.

 

[Flagship] Guy Somberg: Question: PilotMadnick: Will there be real books about Hellgate? Like Dan Abnett books or fantasy books

Answer: Yes! In fact, the first book (in what I believe is to be a trilogy) has already been released! Look out for "Hellgate: London Exodus" by Mel Odom at your local bookstore. (Listen to me: I sound like an ad!)

 

[Flagship] Amir: Question: Spartan-725: Will Hellgate take advantage of the Logitech G15's LCD screen like WoW does?

Answer: Yes.

 

[Flagship] Guy Somberg: Question: Spartan-725: Will Hellgate take advantage of the Logitech G15's LCD screen like WoW does?

Answer: To provide more detail, yes. Right now it's just some basic stats info, but we're going to be looking at adding lots of fun new stuff in the future.

 

[Flagship] Kaiser: Question: Dr@keen: Do you need the DVD in your drive to play or can you play without it ?

Answer: Not for multiplayer, but possibley for single-player. Haven't had a chance to use a retail copy yet! :P

 

[Flagship] Amir: Question: [BRQ] SUBZ3R0: What are the specs of the computers you are working on? Coding platforms, graphical workstations.... ?

Answer: I have two workstations: a Quad-core x64 Windows XP box with a 7900 and 3 GB RAM and a Vista x86 Dual-core box with an NVIDIA 8800 and an ATI 2900XT that gets interchanged.

 

[Flagship] Taylor Balbi: Question: [BRQ] SUBZ3R0: How old are you guys?

Answer: I'm the youngest at Flagship Studios and I just turned 21 on the 21st of October!

 

[Flagship] Kaiser: Question: radu12345: There is also a bug where when you create your character and write with capital letters, you see your name exactly the opposite, lower-case. Are you able to fix it?

Answer: We noticed this, too. Expect a fix shortly.

 

Question: [BRQ] SUBZ3R0: How old are you guys?

Answers: [Flagship] Amir: 26

Bill Roper: I am 42

[Flagship] Kaiser: 28

[Flagship] LeeDot: I'm 30

[Flagship] Bill Manegold: I'm 23

[Flagship] Guy Somberg: 26.99

[Flagship] Jordan: I'm 25

[Flagship] Ether: 29 :)

 

Bill Roper: Question: <|CF|>TeyRon: Certain Games in the past have had content released on retail disk but locked, Final Fantasy 11 and Phantasy Star universe to name a few, Does Hellgate:London have Locked content stored on the retail DVD but will become availible over time? also, Trick or Treat

Answer: Treat, please!

 

We didn’t lock anyone out of any content with Hellgate: London. There are a couple of art and sound things on the disk that we were already working on for our first multiplayer patch when we went gold that we left on to reduce our initial patch size. We didn’t keep anything from our players, though - we strove to deliver a full experience to both our stand alone and free online players with the extra content being just that - extra.

 

[Flagship] Kaiser: Question: Geezy: In all MMORPGS, bots/gold farmers eventually become a problem. What is your stance on bots and gold farmers, and how is the game set up to deal with them?

Answer: If we told you, we'd have to kill you. ^_^ We have ways to take care of these things.

 

[Flagship] Amir: Question: Source|Eorlas: For the devs that play on console, do you prefer 360, PS3, Wii?

Answer: 360!

[Flagship] Bill Manegold: ps3!

[Flagship] Guy Somberg: A: The mouse and keyboard is the only true controller

[Flagship] Taylor Balbi: A: Sega Saturn! lol jk, 360 probably for hte online community, Heavenly Sword makes me like the PS3 but I just haven't gotten around to buying one. And well, Wii for those awesome nights when you aren't "coherent" enough to play 360 or PS3 ^_^

 

[Flagship] Guy Somberg: Question: radu12345: There is also a bug where when you create your character and write with capital letters, you see your name exactly the opposite, lower-case. Are you able to fix it?

Answer: All things are possible.

 

Bill Roper: Question: DarkLegacy(DL): What kinds of ideas does that Flagship team have in mind in terms of new Classes? Are they arlready being worked on or is there braing storming still going on?

Answer: We’re throwing around a lot of ideas, which is really fun for us because a lot of people are getting involved. Some of them are pretty crazy, so it will be interesting to see what we can accomplish.

 

[Flagship] LeeDot: Question: cG| PowMia: Will there be player emotes in HGL ? What are they and how will they work ? Are they graphics (character movement), audio and written text in game. Eg "Time to die" numeric shortcut from D2 , or more /dance ?

Answer: We will be eventually adding player emotes in HGL in the form of player animations that respond to slash (/dance) or menu driven commands.

 

[Flagship] Kaiser: Question: Spartan-725: What kind of content caused the ESRB to give you an M rating?

Answer: According to our seal, "Violence, Blood and Gore, and Mild Language." There's nothing insanely crazy in the game. ^_^

 

[Flagship] Amir: Question: b8y: Nerd question: Vi or Emacs?

Answer: Vi, baby!

[Flagship] Guy Somberg: vi!

[Flagship] Guy Somberg: vi > *

[Flagship] Bill Manegold: vi!

[Flagship] Taylor Balbi: A: 6!

[Flagship] Guy Somberg: He's not here, but Tyler would favor vi over emacs, too.

 

[Flagship] Amir: Question: [RoS]Geoxer: Bloods or Crips?

Answer: Isn't it Bloods or Crypts?

 

[Flagship] Amir: Question: [BRQ] SUBZ3R0: Are you guys currently in the same room?

Answer: Yes, we've been putting all our money into our server equipment, so we're all packed in a single 10x10 room :)

 

[Flagship] Kaiser: Question: [KOR]_Revelator: How will classes help each other out in cooperative multiplayer?

Answer: Some are better at long range, others at short range. Some have healing skills, other more offensive. And so on and so on. This vast variety of character combinations and skills can lead to so many ways to play the game.

 

Bill Roper: Question: Kasanizo: Is there a way to download the game (buying it) and not by a box?

Answer: Yes - the game is available for digital download through EA’s online store. If you go to http://www.hellgatelondon.com/ and click on the Buy NoW link in the lower left, it takes you there.

 

[Flagship] Amir: Question: b8y: With the rise of multicore do you guys use some of the modern higher level multi threading options such as OpenMP, or things like Building Blocks from Intel?

Answer: We're making use of multi-threading already with our file loading, particles, and wardrobe code. I doubt we'll use OpenMP. I personally am interested in looking into IBB further to take a more general approach to our multi-threading.

 

[Flagship] trish: Dr@keen: Ether and I are going to be "The Shining" twins

 

Bill Roper: Question: Kasanizo: And, is there a reason to keep being suscriber if you ended all game modes?

Answer: We are going to be continually adding content, so if we’re making stuff you want to get, areas you want to explore, game modes you want to experience or having events and contest you want in on, the answer is yes. We’ll keep people up to date on what’s going on currently and also what’s in the queue.

 

Bill Roper: Question: Kasanizo: And another question, I can't play the beta cause of my video card, i'll get a new one on 15th november, should i be able to play the beta then or i'll HAVE to buy the game or not playing it?

Answer: By November 15th our grace period for Beta testers will have ended. I’m actually working on a big post to explain how this works, but basically Beta testers can keep playing on their client until November 7th.

 

[Flagship] Guy Somberg: Question: radu12345: Are you planning on implementing special events with prizes, like Halloween and New Year's Day events ingame?

Answer: Yes, we're planning on doing themed content! Halloween content runs for this week, and then we've got a fun set of activites for Guy Fawkes Day. Other stuff is still in the planning stages, but keep an eye out for fun side-quests and items that you can do (or get)!

 

(Incidentally, All Hallow's Visage ROCKS THE HOUSE! - /want)

 

[Flagship] Amir: Bill, does the digital download include the movies?

Bill Roper: Tat is an EXCELLENT question!

 

[Flagship] Taylor Balbi: Question: colonelsanders64: Hey, I saw some info in the EULA (Yeah, some people read that) about a Lifetime Subscription. Whats the deal with that?

Answer: The lifetime subscription is an offer for those that preordered their copy of Hellgate: London. Not all regions have this available, but it is a single payment for a lifetime subscription (the game's lifetime not yours).

 

[Flagship] Guy Somberg: Question: Geezy: With the release of Hellgate London, do you see a long extended vacation in your future? Or will you be too busy working on new content/expansions/games?

Answer: The two are not mutually exclusive :)

 

[Flagship] LeeDot: Question: RYÅN: were people ever afraid to walk into your studio because of the absolutely creepy things you were working on?

Answer: I don't know about anyone being afraid to enter the office but I know my Dad's exwife annointed their computer with holy water after I showed my Dad some screenshots of the thigns I was working on one year when I was home for Christmas. :)

 

[Flagship] Amir: Thanks everyone! You guys freaking rule. I'm spent. Goodnight.

[Flagship] Guy Somberg: Bye everyone! Thanks for the great questions.

[Flagship] trish: Happy Halloween everyone!

[Flagship] Bill Manegold: Night everyone! Have fun tonight!

[Flagship] trish: thanks for participating

[Xfire] Chatteox: Ok, that concludes the chat with Flagship Studios! Thank You Very Much to our special guests and thanks everyone for participiating. Now onto the prizes:

[Flagship] Taylor Balbi: Have a great Halloween everyone, I'm headed out also! Thanks for chiming in! Rock ON!

Bill Roper: Thanks for the GREAT questions everyone. I wish we could stay on for a few more hours, but we've got a new game to take care of and some trick or treating to do!

[Flagship] Kaiser: Thanks guys/gals! Sorry if we didn't get to answer your questions. Happy Halloween! Be safe tonight, and see you online!!!!!! ^_^

 

[Xfire] Chatteox: 2 Copies of Hellgate London for Botteox Room;

1. Arcturus

2. Intoeternity3020

[Xfire] Chatteox: 5 Copies of Hellgate London:

1. #-(00 Tony Brier

2. Insane Marine

3. Tenshuu

4. [br8] Subzero

5. Kusimeka

[Xfire] Chatteox: Grand Prize: 1 Copy of Hellgate London and Hellgate London Statute:

1. Robin de Tolens

[Xfire] Chatteox: PM ME IF YOU WON!!!!!

That was hard to read. 

The only actual information there is that there's likely to be a HG equivalent to the Cow Level.

The only actual information there is that there's likely to be a HG equivalent to the Cow Level.

I thought the leg guaranteed a lack of originality.

That's like straight-jacket crazy....

I told you so? (http://www.corpnews.com/node/179)

Yah I played for a week when I wrote that, and some of it is just wrong, but some of it is spot on

What do the servers being down have to do with you not liking the game exactly? the game is everything i wanted it to be, when it was working.

Easy.

But people think you're crazier than me.

Being unstable leads to amazing stability at brief but rare instances.

What?

No it doesn't! You're still fucking crazy! You made half the shit up in that rant! What are you even doing in this subforum?

Lurking, because lurking the server to add my beta/reserved characters to the server load was failing.

Muahahahaaha

So - it isn't worth buying, but...you bought it?

Hey, I'm getting every penny of entertainment outta my pre-order before I go and get my money back refusing to buy the full verion.

This POS is buggier than it was during the Beta from two weeks ago.

And yet, it's still only beat by WoW and LOTRO in the "least buggiest MMOG launches" category.

And yet, it's still only beat by WoW and LOTRO in the "least buggiest MMOG launches" category.

And yet, it's still only beat by WoW and LOTRO in the "least buggiest MMOG launches" category.

You made half the shit up in that rant! What are you even doing in this subforum?

Ping0, the guys and gals that fuck things up, seem to be a separate operating unit of Flagship.  Best name for a customer service/relations group ever.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh


So, got into multiplayer, made it to level 8.  Solo'd to "Speak the Truth".  Needed to step through portal to speak to Sage.  Died with 2 emperors, rezzed, finished them, died, rezzed back, portal disappears.  There are a few other variations on this on the official boards, but quest is a-borked-O for a few folks.  Thing is, how do you proceed without this quest?  Kind of, game over, no?   :headscratch:

Accompany someone else going through the same quest (parts) and use the portal when it appears would likely work. Otherwise, yeah, that is the main story thread and if it is completely borked you won't be able to advance to the later stations.

That's decently early in the game (about 2-3 hours worth of effort), so mebbe you can sweet talk someone here in rolling a character up or asking in the stations.

Ok thx.

Just one thing. 

How do I group?  Christ, how do I unhide the chat box?  Where is the chat box/log/spam window?   :awesome_for_real:

I can't believe these idiots still don't have the account subscription stuff up.  What a disgrace.  And they are obviously very lax when it comes to bugs so for them not to have it running must mean that something huge is going wrong, like billing the wrong credit cards and such.

State of the Game

It’s been less than a week since we’ve opened the Hellgate, and we’re ecstatic at how many people have already joined us online. Overall, the game is running really well. Our game servers are incredibly stable and the community has been great about working with us to identify and resolve issue through the forums. We’ve been working through some issues as every new online game does, and as is befitting the season, we’ve our share of both tricks and treats.

Hellgate: London was scheduled to ship to stores by October 30th so it could be available for sale on the 31st. The excitement of retailers having the game on hand won out over our carefully crafted plans and we started seeing anxious gamers wanting to get online a day earlier than expected. Although we had to scramble, we also didn’t want to disappoint our first players, so we opened the servers early.

 After the game had been running for a while, we found that we were having issues with out subscription transactions not being correctly processed. While this wasn’t an issue of incorrect charges being applied or insecure data issues, we needed to suspend subscriptions while we worked with our payment processing partners to address the problems. We’re working on this through the weekend and will take as long as required to iron out the last issues. We will update everyone as soon as we have more concrete information.

 Turning of the ability to subscribe meant that we had some cool All Hallows’ Eve content that a lot of people weren’t going to be able to see. So, we decided to “turn on” the goodies for everyone who was playing. Unfortunately, this meant we would need to shut down the game servers in order to issue a new patch. Although we announced the down-time on our forums and within the game, not everyone got the message, so some people were surprised when they couldn’t get online for a few hours.

This, in turn, led everyone that was playing to rush to the Hellgate: London forums, which promptly overloaded both our forum and website servers. The treat was that we really saw that there are a LOT of passionate people playing the game. The trick was that the rush to our sites caused our little corner of the Internet to shut down.

It’s not that we don’t already have a good amount, but we immediately put out the order for more web servers. We’ve also implemented a website overflow plan in case we get that many people flooding onto the boards in such a short amount of time again. Live and learn!

We brought the servers and our sites back online a few hours later, patched everyone with all of the special themed content, and we’ve been up and running ever since. Some of our Beta testers have progressed through the end of the storyline and are continuing on in Nightmare difficulty. We can’t wait to see them tackle Elite Mode.

All in all, we’re pleased that the game itself is running so well. We’re also as frustrated as you are about these initial bumps in the road. Trust us – we’re here working on them all day, every day.

Single Player Patch

We’ve made the general fixes, improvements and changes found in Patch 0 available to our stand alone players. The option to patch your single player version of Hellgate: London is available from the launcher when you first start up the game.

Founder’s Offer Extended

We’ve received a flood of messages from people that have pre-ordered asking that we extend the time for our Founder’s offer. We understand your concern, and want to assure you that our delay in accepting subscriptions will not adversely affect your chance to take advantage of this offer. We’ll release specific details in the next few days, but we’ll extend the timeline of the offer and make sure that we take care of everyone that wants to be a Founder.

 New Special Event

We’re putting the final touches on what is making it into our next patch, and details will be coming VERY soon. One hint – there’s going to be fire. LOTS of fire…

 See you online!

--Bill Roper

Posted by: admin on Sat, 11/03/2007 - 23:19 Talk About This Story!
Filed under: Bill roper, letter

Flagship isn't handling any of the billing at all. They hired a horrible company. We can blame FSS for a lot, but this company is a bunch of devious scumbags.

Flagship hired that company. It is Flagship's fault the billing is so fucked up.

The game so very tiresome as a single player game, but doesn't seem to have any tools to help groups form. Usuable chat interface and a lfg tool would be a start.

We've been here many many times before, but do these people even play other games?

How about AC1? Can we mention that?

Pfffft. I'll take randomly generated levels, a proper hardcore/harder difficulty, a story arc that ENDS, and so much loot that half of it is missing from the strat guide over uhhhh uberguilds, raids, 60 levels of meh, and a chat interface. Also, you know what you can do in Hellgate? DODGE FUCKING PROJECTILES. YEA, THAT'S RIGHT. I CAN FUCKING MOVE TO THE SIDE. IT'S A FUCKING REVOLUTION IN MMORPG GAMING. And no one mention AC2 or NeoCron. They're dogshit and always have been. And did more wrong than the SWG NGE.

Sure. But it'll be like screaming in a vacuum since dodging shit was the only thing it did do right. Me and Asheron's call are not friends.

Oh, another thing Hellgate did right: No elves. This is like 10 points on a review scale if I had one.

So for any of my fellow Canadians who want to subscribe...

When you click on the state/province drop down you will find, that's right, no provinces!  No, there is nowhere to type in your province like most other websites.  What you have to do is go down further and select your country first in a later drop box, then they go ahead and populate the provinces so you can proceed.

You want super fail?

I have had to fight the bosses before the final boss 6 times now. I keep getting stuck on geometry while dead.

OR EVEN BETTER

I killed the final boss, died at the exact same moment from a DOT and I spawned as a gravestone. It did not flag my account as beating him.

Yea.

Going to do it ONE MORE TIME. FUCK.

Beat all those pre-end bosses again.

Sydonai did not appear.

I am bugged. Can not finish the game. Cannot play elite mode. Do not pass go. Do not collect 200 palladium.

Where the hell is my shared banking from subscribing?

Delete the quest and go get it again. I had that happen last night.

Didn't even think to delete the quest and restart it.

I subscribed.  There's a line into your locker, the lowest part is shared between characters (only between the same game mode however, you can't share with you're hardcore character). 

That actually doesnt share, I tried myself earlier. its just the expanded stash space for subscribers.

no and no

I admit it was satisfying to go full auto with dual pistols, but I tried to control the bursts to make sure the spread remains tight and the usual 'perma-left-click' bug occur, spraying bullets for 5 mins without me holding down the left button. I had to press ESC to cancel it lol.   :roll:

le sigh.

The ONLY thing this game has going for it is the ding gratz of equipment, which I still find appealing, but there are too many games going out in the next month that are far worthier of attention than this, and with about 1% of the game-breaking bugs if they live up to their hype.

Actually, the game also has a Not Shitty setting. But hey, go to a forest and fuck a fox or some elves. That's fun too. :awesome_for_real:

Lets put it this way. A single player game with that setting could have been quite kickass.

Since when is complaining about Dialogue worthwhile?

I have yet to care about the writing in any MMOG. ANY.

All they have to be is:
"blah blah blah blah location blah blah blah number blah blah blah monster." In fact, I wish every single MMOG would adopt the following: "X Y Z." X being action (kill, escort blah), Y being character/number of character, etc), and Z being location.

Then I wouldn't have to waste time clicking. But seriously. Complaining about dialogue

PLEASE COMPLAIN ABOUT SOMETHING WORTHWHILE OR GO PLAY AN ACTUAL SINGLE PLAYER GAME THAT WAS MADE FOR DIALOGUE. I'm not even defending hellgate here. It's just fucking common sense. It's like caring about the dialogue in Counterstrike or Street Fighter. Jesus. Just retarded.

And those of you that like dialogue in MMOGs... get better taste. You can buy it for free at a library.

Since when is complaining about Dialogue worthwhile?

I have yet to care about the writing in any MMOG. ANY.

All they have to be is:
"blah blah blah blah location blah blah blah number blah blah blah monster." In fact, I wish every single MMOG would adopt the following: "X Y Z." X being action (kill, escort blah), Y being character/number of character, etc), and Z being location.

Then I wouldn't have to waste time clicking. But seriously. Complaining about dialogue

PLEASE COMPLAIN ABOUT SOMETHING WORTHWHILE OR GO PLAY AN ACTUAL SINGLE PLAYER GAME THAT WAS MADE FOR DIALOGUE. I'm not even defending hellgate here. It's just fucking common sense. It's like caring about the dialogue in Counterstrike or Street Fighter. Jesus. Just retarded.

And those of you that like dialogue in MMOGs... get better taste. You can buy it for free at a library.

stuffs

Actually, I treat it like an MMOG due to the fact that at its core, that's what it really badly wants to be. And eventually it will be a full-fledged completely fleshed out one.

Right now it's Diablo 2.995 with a whole lot of lobbies. It's so close to be Diablo 3 I can taste it. It just needs some asshole old man telling me to stay a while.

And listen.

but here are some other companies "they" provide billing services for:

... Flying Lab Software,

I can't wait until another game following the Diablo formula comes along and does it right, bitch-slaping Hellgate in the process.  It'll be worth it to see schild's head explode.

BTW, asking whether this game is an MMO or not is like asking if waterboarding is torture or not.

OH NOES POLITICS IN MY MMO THREAD.

Knowing they are not going to do the D2 delete characters after 3 months thing is a serious bonus in my mind to keeping people playing.

Tiberious and Stewart are by far the best NPC's. (Captain Kirk and Captian Picard in case you didn't make the connection).

I just found out that all the Halloween goodies can only be used if you're subscribed after this patch.  Flagship just sunk to new levels of fail.

Yes to Threash and although the bigger stashes are in, you can't share yet.  I'm wishing for Guild storage or something.  WISH!  Someone else take the British Museum question because I don't seem to know the answer.   :|

I want to find the person responsible for the UI and skullfuck them with a corker.

I have resorted to /invite to get people attention since 90% play with chat closed.

Fucking developers, they never think of the kittens.

When subs were down they opted to give everyone access to the content (the first mini-patch) rather than just leave it borked, and now it's back to normal. They really, really need to get some in-game news shit going on.

Just lost armor and items out of my inventory.  Up to now I've been pretty forgiving but this is getting more bush league every day.

:headscratch:

It's at this point that I could say "If your /played reaches 20 hours, the game reaches out and rips the skin off your face!" and schild will immediately follow-up with "Think of the money you'd save on facial care products!"  :awesome_for_real:

And because I'm an edit whore.

"Cthulu-revelation"

<snip>
2.  Tried to group with RL friend = whoever zoned in first couldn't see the other person.
<snip>

guess maybe pressing alt to control the mouse was too obscure?

research

Whoever was ragging on the writing:

The Lucidious/Techsmith plot line has had me in stitches the last few nights.  I'm just about to enter the imagination.

I pay attention to stuff that stands out.  I do have an appreciation for writing and lore in games, because that's what I want to get myself into one day, but Hellgate's attempt at it is piss-poor.  They have a pretty serious real-life setting that they try to inject Warcraft-style humor into that just does not mesh well.  A little humor here and there is good, but it seems like they don't want you to take this game's background seriously at all.  How am I when I've got people who treat the loss of their loved ones as comedy rather than tragedy (Rob Someone for example) or when I'm constantly looking for that next pop culture reference I know is going to appear? The only thing genuinely funny and well-written was the Act 2 storyline with the face-fucking demon, but part of me wishes that was a part of another game, like an M-Rated Tim Schafer jaunt.

Funny how perception works.  In ANY MMO the chat is optional.  It's in a window that can easily be closed and you can leave any channel anytime you want.

But, because HG:L defaults to the chat window being closed rather than open the more myopic people complain that there is no chat.

the patch this morning fixed the problem people were having with too many Guy Fawkes blueprints.  In my 15 minute or so session a little bit ago, I picked up 5 toffee apple blueprints and 2 cider blueprints.

I did find it funny that I've found more copies of each GF Blueprint than I have of each ingredient. Found my first treacle last night, for example. Oh, and I still haven't found a damn Zombie Ticker.

Where the heck do i get the flamey arms anyways

The game crashed before I could enter the portal to speak to the brothers on Act 4 after beating Bloodblade.  I can no longer proceed unless I abandon the quest. Any BASIC QA check of this would have caught this.  Shit, I can't believe it forces you to log out when you abandon a story quest.

Fuck this game.  Seriously, fuck this game.  The number of critical issues, including inability to proceed from bugs, crashes, poor design choices (all over the god damn place)... this game is an embarrassment.  That they would try to spin the things they did as positive is all they can do to put a big smile on a big piece of dog shit.

This game needed at least another 6 months of hard development to become something resembling a mediocre title, and even then, they'd be trying to polish stuff that doesn't work as well as it should.  Hellgate is a broken, poorly implemented, even poorly designed game that is trying to cash in on a game design that's almost a decade old and accomplished its goals far better than Hellgate.  I don't want to even go into how they seemed more concerned about how they were making their money back (Ads, post-release content, subscriptions) instead of focusing on releasing a solid game first.

The ONLY thing this game has going for it is the ding gratz of equipment, which I still find appealing, but there are too many games going out in the next month that are far worthier of attention than this, and with about 1% of the game-breaking bugs if they live up to their hype.

That they are ex-Blizzard guys is not going to help them in the future after this atrocity of game design and implementation.

To repeat what I said previously: These are the ex-Blizzard guys who left because they feared that Vivendi would destroy the Blizzard Culture (tm) via such methods as forcing Blizz to release games before they were ready.

 :awesome_for_real:

One of the Google results doesn't exactly spell it out, but if you read between the lines - especially the parts about why they quit Blizzard North and what they're looking for in a publisher - it's a pretty big hint: http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/interviews/19767/Flagship-Studios-Interview

I'm fairly sure that there was an even more obvious interview done with Bill Roper, but I can't find it on a casual Google.

(http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u306/mashadarbg/ohwow.jpg)

Voodoo Extreme - Which publishers are you most interested in working with?

Bill Roper - We are interested in working with a publisher that shares our dedication to putting out a great game and willingness to devote the time and resources required to do so. We also want to find a publishing partner who has a strong commitment to the gaming community since the players are the real reason we're all here. The upside is that there is a renewed focus amongst publishers to put out top quality games, so we have found our goals aligning with the vast majority of people we have talked with.

Is that version language(s) localized or still just in English?

Maybe after this fiasco they'll have a greater respect for Vivendi and all that. Releasing "when it's done" is all fine and good until you actually have to do at the sacrifice of cash flow. This is where fantasy and reality finally meet and have a sexy orgy where only one can live.

Developers talking a lot about future plans is always a huge red flag, one of the biggest red flags there is.

Three years later and the MMO genre (to which HG:L has attached itself like a tapeworm) is back to bugged, unstable and massively flawed launches.

That's all developers do, including the greats - Spector, Jaffe, Barlog, Miyamoto, etc.

Yea, it's a huge red flag. But some deliver, some don't. Unfortunately it's a red flag that's _always_ up. Particularly with online games.

That's one of the first things you see if you visit amateur game sites - some clown has a MMORPG planned along with ten expansions even though they don't have the ability to create Hangman.

IGN thinks we like-a the grind. (http://pc.ign.com/articles/832/832739p3.html)

Yep. Completely, except Hellgate got the one thing right all those previously launched stable games didn't - fun.

Now correct me if I'm wrong.  I can buy the box and install the game and play for no monthly sub, right?  I mean, it doesn't force me to pay monthly, right?

I could even play single player, right?

Seems to me that there isn't much of a risk other then my $50 to get a decent game that will entertain me for at least a month.  Outside of that, it could and probably will be a whole lot more!  If I'm sick of it at the end of a month and wait for it to get better for later, is it still worth my $50?  From what I've read, I tend to think so. 

Hell, I've been screwed a lot harder by 100's of single player games in the past.  This seems like a pretty safe bet.

I'm still trying to figure out how housing will work. Guild Halls are easy. I hope there's a church tileset option. The last thing I want is another subway station.

Ah, perfectly fine then.  I thought schild was trying to squash obvious negativity about the game.

I wouldn't call what I said bitching, more misplaced snark.

Don't be a retarded asshole.

Damn, retarded asshole was the first two words I used to describe this character when I rolled him.  Does anyone have an eraser so I can change it?

So, for example, if I had D2 at home and hadn't played it for a year or so, I'd be better advised at the moment to reinstall that and give it a runthrough while waiting to see if Flagship can get their act together in the next six months or so?

Respecs are to be patched in later. Unfortunately, they forgot to put the ability to put a space in a name in the game. So, uhm. Joke fails.

Today's Hellgate Hater Tip: Potential is a bitch when its unrealized.  The tears of disappointment in six months if this game fails to deliver and continues to have major, game-breaking issues will be sweeter than personally bitch-slapping a trash-talking 13-year-old XBox Live fuckhead.

And if it does deliver, I won't care.  I'm already having one hundred times the fun playing Call of Duty 4's Multiplayer with friends that I can see, communicate with and coordinate with in a excellently balanced, smooth, FUN experience that rewards me better than any equipment drop that would occur in a game.

What joke? I was going for nonsensical bullshit in order to nix the conversation.

Today's Hellgate Hater Tip: Potential is a bitch when its unrealized.  The tears of disappointment in six months if this game fails to deliver and continues to have major, game-breaking issues will be sweeter than personally bitch-slapping a trash-talking 13-year-old XBox Live fuckhead.

And if it does deliver, I won't care.  I'm already having one hundred times the fun playing Call of Duty 4's Multiplayer with friends that I can see, communicate with and coordinate with in a excellently balanced, smooth, FUN experience that rewards me better than any equipment drop that would occur in a game.

Bottom line is if Hellgate doesn't improve 1 bit it will still go down in many people's book as a fun game and worth the money.  Sure it has huge potential to be great but if that doesn't materialize it is still fun.  Alot of players are addicted to the shinies and character development that isn't offered to this level in a call of duty type game.

Because it's fun, and I think you'd prefer the Hellgate Hate (I should just call it H'ate) confined to this singular thread.

I'm not a mod or anything and my opinion doesn't really count for much but you are stepping over a line.

You said you don't like the game and don't want to play it.  Fair enough, now run along and let the people who do want to play it and do want to talk about it do so without you.

I am.  That's what every other damn thread in this forum is for.  This thread is for the H'ate.

So, for example, if I had D2 at home and hadn't played it for a year or so, I'd be better advised at the moment to reinstall that and give it a runthrough while waiting to see if Flagship can get their act together in the next six months or so?

No, it's not. It's a thread for people who want to play but for whatever reason, they can't. Go back to the Vanguard Chatter thread.

Are you so desperate to recreate an 8-year old memory of awesome game design that you're willing to play any piece of software that comes across your plate to follow the formula and proclaim it worthy of your time when all it does is slap you around and tell you to go make it dinner?

I'm still trying to figure out how housing will work. Guild Halls are easy. I hope there's a church tileset option. The last thing I want is another subway station.

If you were still playing D2 a year ago, you're a fan of the genre. Pick up HGL. It's not an instant classic, but you'll enjoy it.

HGL loot is better than Titan Quest, and I'd even say D2, but resetting my rig is a no-no.

I'd really consider waiting a couple months. This game has all the making to be a great, fun game. But it also has issues coming out of its asshole. It needs a lot of bug fixes and a lot of polish. I can say honestly that it does have all the makings to be extremely fun though, and the fun does shine through all the bullshit.

I really am amazed that somewhere like f13.net a game with all the issues of HG:L is getting a free pass. The purest kind of diku, bugs a-plenty, one of the roughest launches for a while and people saying, "It'll get good in 3 / 6 months".

I really am amazed that somewhere like f13.net a game with all the issues of HG:L is getting a free pass. The purest kind of diku, bugs a-plenty, one of the roughest launches for a while and people saying, "It'll get good in 3 / 6 months".

Sometimes I wonder if I've wandered onto the Gamespot boards by mistake.

I feel I need to download HG:L (despite the chance it'll reformat my computer and wipe my credit card for giggles) because it obviously fellates* you while you play.

* I've got no idea what the verb is for 'cunnilingus', but it'll do that for the ladies.

Yes, the game definitely needs an inventory that autogrinds anything below the threshhold you set it for upon pickup. I would grind everything blue and below.

Elaborate, please. From what I've seen, the only difference is more sockets.

Yeah, if only those suckers from that Bioshock game hadn't stolen this idea already...

Elaborate, please. From what I've seen, the only difference is more sockets.

My biggest dissapointment with TQ and the reason i simply couldn't get into it for very long was the fact that you couldn't mod epic and rare items making greens ultimately better than blues or purples.  Thats a fail of epic proportions.

I really am amazed that somewhere like f13.net a game with all the issues of HG:L is getting a free pass. The purest kind of diku, bugs a-plenty, one of the roughest launches for a while and people saying, "It'll get good in 3 / 6 months".

The main trouble the game seems to have is the memory allocation/url].  The memory gets all fragmented and eventually results in an out of memory crash.  The good news is that they've apparently a solution in the works.
 (http://forums.hellgatelondon.com/showthread.php?t=38375)

I feel bad for forgetting about that one.  I agree.  However, as was pointed out, you can mod TQ.  And D2 for that matter.  Comparing the various D2 descendants is somewhat tricky.

The main trouble the game seems to have is the memory allocation. The memory gets all fragmented and eventually results in an out of memory crash.  The good news is that they've apparently a solution in the works.

Heh.

I'm with Morf on this.  I had all my CC info ready to go for a 6-month sub then I closed the window.  Just not worth it atm I think.  The biggest draw for me is the shared bank space which isn't it.  Couple that with the 3 unique I have in the bank that have no stats on them, the random bugs with everything (party bug), and the shit chat window and I can wait till they fix to sub.

I subbed and rolled a guardian elite.

Can anyone tell me why Hellgate doesnt follow it's own internal logic?

Namely that money is now replaced with the element palladium. Palladium is damaging to the demon hordes, which is why every demon carries it around???

How does that make sense?

Can anyone tell me why Hellgate doesnt follow it's own internal logic?

Namely that money is now replaced with the element palladium. Palladium is damaging to the demon hordes, which is why every demon carries it around???

How does that make sense?

The graphics blow chunks. The mobs arent varied. The quests are boring. There's no exciting story arc. The weapon modification makes no difference.
What the fuck were they thinking when they made this?

The graphics blow chunks. The mobs arent varied. The quests are boring. There's no exciting story arc. The weapon modification makes no difference.
What the fuck were they thinking when they made this?

Weapon mod'ing is the best part, wtf are you talking about?  Fuck this game on most levels but weapon mod'ing?  What?

I read one of you mention that the beta accounts were still working.  Thanks so much for mentioning that, as it's the best Free game I've ever played.

Of course, I'm only level 7 right now so that might change.   Still, fire guns + demons + fps = fun.