Dungeon Running anyone?

[lordkefka]

i would really like to try,

Thank you in advance!

[Cheddar]

i would really like to try,
can you please send a key to pob5000@gmail.com

Thank you in advance!

PM me for an invite (remember to include your e-mail address).  :)

I got a bunch of people wanting in last night, so am backed up a bit.  Does anyone have 3-4 invites they can send out for me?  FYI, I will be mostly afk after today due to vacation holiday and all that.  I am expecting to be back the middle of next week or so.

edit.  I am closing up shop until after the holidays.  If you send me a pm wanting to get into beta it will be a week or two before I am able to get you in.  Have a wonderful holiday, guys!

[sam, an eggplant]

I still have invites. So far I've sent out 20 or so from this forum and maybe 50 from others.

[Xanthippe]

Ok, I made a Xanthippe there but then had a weird glitch where I had to log out to prevent the world from spinning.

Do people get together in this game or what?  Is there a friends list or guild option or something?

[Falconeer]

I noticed a friend list and most important of all, I noticed a dungeon with something like "groups only" written on it.
That sounds nice, little but very welcome addition over the Diablo thing.

My char is named Lefteye.

[Slyfeind]

Ok, I made a Xanthippe there but then had a weird glitch where I had to log out to prevent the world from spinning.

I got that too. I think it happens if the camera is spinning while you zone, because that's when it happened to me.

[Signe]

I haven't been playing but I did make a character whose name I forget.  I'll give it a go tomorrow, I think.  It looks lootiful.

[UnSub]

Thus far (and  a big thanks to Numtini for the invite) DR is fun. It's hardly taxing or deep, but it is fun.

As a side point, I find it interesting that a number of upcoming NCsoft MMOGs appear to be going for diversion over immersion - games you just log in and play, rather than have to get involved in.

[damijin]

Thus far (and  a big thanks to Numtini for the invite) DR is fun. It's hardly taxing or deep, but it is fun.

As a side point, I find it interesting that a number of upcoming NCsoft MMOGs appear to be going for diversion over immersion - games you just log in and play, rather than have to get involved in.

I hope TR diverts me from how mindblowingly mediocre and unfun it appears to be. THEN AGAIN, I thought Dungeon Runners looked like crap until I played it...

It's all about the Exteel and Soccer Fury anyway!

[sam, an eggplant]

It does look like crap. It's pretty engaging though.

[schild]

Looks like a crappier WoW. Thank god it isn't.

[Endie]

As a side point, I find it interesting that a number of upcoming NCsoft MMOGs appear to be going for diversion over immersion - games you just log in and play, rather than have to get involved in.

The Garriot interview in the escapist a couple of months ago had a long bit about how they want people to play one of their games for a bit, then just swap to another of their games, repeating the process relatively frequently.  They were going for variety and ease-of-entry as the glue.  I don't remember them saying if it was going to be tied into a Station-pass type thing, or if the free-to-play model was supposed to be part of the draw.

[Falconeer]

Given the amount of game they released, and the amount of NCsoft labeled boxes on my MMO shelf, it would be merrily welcomed. Especially if the NCpass would include the Dungeon Runners full membership and maybe Tabula Rasa and Aion (not to mention upcoming soccer, basket and the other wacky things).

[Cheddar]

Given the amount of game they released, and the amount of NCsoft labeled boxes on my MMO shelf, it would be merrily welcomed. Especially if the NCpass would include the Dungeon Runners full membership and maybe Tabula Rasa and Aion (not to mention upcoming soccer, basket and the other wacky things).

I agree.  Personally, I love NCSofts setup.  When I want to play one of their games I buy it online and attached it to my PlayNC account.  Then, its just a matter of downloading and clicking a button or two to resub.  Would be sweet if they implemented a station pass deal!

[Venkman]

I wish NC Soft had a Station Pass for all of their games. That I'd pay.

Regardless, it's pretty apparent NC is looking to go casual. That's where the growth is. Everyone knows the rules for hitting the hard core. And they know it's up against Blizzard they need to go in order to be competitive. As a result, once again it's fairly saturated. And even if someone does come along to add a few more million accounts, that's still considered the exception to the rule, or more than 3 games for the hardcore set would be >1mil already.

So it's going after new markets where the real potential. Considering the development cost of something like Audition or Krazykart or Habbo. Those didn't need anywhere near Blizzard numbers and yet managed to attract many multiples of their numbers in eyeballs. Mostly incomparable business models though so we can only guesstimate average revenue per player.

[Glazius]

So I'm running around as Ferrigna when I'm on. Working on level 16 now. Wishing there was a horadric-cube-like thing that I could use to convert all the grays and greens I leave behind into something more useful.

Other than that, it's a fun little time-waster.

--GF

[Slyfeind]

NCSoft is obviously reusing tons of systems they have laying around. I'm remembering how Garriott -- before Ultima VI -- would recode entire game engines from scratch. He'd never use the same assets twice. Now he's working for NCSoft, and that's their modus operandi. We see dozens of games come out of Korea every year, and they're all pretty much the same systems, same artwork, but with just a few alterations here and there, and they're making bank off it all.

Hell, I've played dozens of Korean games myself. They're easy-entry, and the interface is always the same, so I never have to learn anything new. Half the time, my account is the same! I just download, log on, and play in a new world with slightly different game systems. One of these days, they're going to hook me for good....

[Phred]

I've been in the beta for months and havent got to play for more than 5 min at a time. Every time I go into the first instance and try to kill anything the damn game crashes with an entity sync error. My board account doesn't work so I can't bug report it or anything. :(

[Pendan]

With all the negativity expressed on this board for different games I can’t believe the amount of interest expressed for this game. It has been a few weeks now. Have any of you who liked it changed your minds? I was in the beta from a month or two before the huge friends invite went out. Apparently this thing was in beta for 6 or more months before I got in. For the first few days after a patch was generally about 15 people max online at one time. Between patches was not surprising to see maybe 2 others online at normal games prime time. They held stress test before the big beta invite and managed to get something like 50 people. People just did not play very much because it is not a very good game. I have not been playing but have logged on a few times since the big beta invite. Have gone from 2 servers at near max 100 people and other two over 75% to just one at 75% and others below 20%. The draw is not strong.

I see the game as a 3D Diablo only not a very good one. It has Diablo randomly generated maps. Diablo system of health and mana and potions to restore both. Town portal scrolls, throw stuff on ground for others to pick up, loot with randomly generated attributes, and inventory system that involves arranging jigsaw pieces in a grid to maximize storage abilities. Generally fight groups of mobs at same time but maybe not as big of groups as Diablo. Merchants with a random collection of equipment that you should check every so often.

What it is missing from Diablo include socketted items and gems to build equipment that meets your desires. Equipment sets and set bonuses. This diminishes the push to try to get specific pieces to improve your character or for the collector to show off. More types of potions with potion inventory system. Except for those with doors one map is no different from any other besides graphic. Diablo had tight tunnel maps, open maps, maps with choke points, etc. Diablo had an interesting story line where DR does not. Most importantly to me is Diablo had interesting classes, talents, and specs. DR classes and talents are drab.

Other weakness of DR include a lack of a proper trading method between characters. Can’t transfer money to another. Both of these leading to a lack of an economy. Equipment gain is luck if found yourself or luck if someone happens to drop something in town and don’t have greedy snatch anything dropped up immediately even if can’t use. Maybe is good thing talents are not very interesting because using more that a few at a time is difficult. Anything that requires aim to use is cumbersome to use with the hot bar. Can put 2 skills on each mouse button and they are bit easier to use except one of them then interferers with character movement. Lastly the graphic engine is not very good. It is not doing anything fancy at all yet is pretty slow. Nearly unplayable on my older machine that plays Guild Wars just fine and I think the Guild Wars graphics look a lot better.

[Xilren's Twin]

With all the negativity expressed on this board for different games I can’t believe the amount of interest expressed for this game. It has been a few weeks now. Have any of you who liked it changed your minds?

It's going to be like $5 a month and is aimed a kids.  For that, it will probably do ok.

[Nonentity]

With all the negativity expressed on this board for different games I can’t believe the amount of interest expressed for this game. It has been a few weeks now. Have any of you who liked it changed your minds?

It's going to be like $5 a month and is aimed a kids.  For that, it will probably do ok.

Free to play, and you pay for additional shinies of some kind (new dungeons, new class maybe).

[UnSub]

With all the negativity expressed on this board for different games I can’t believe the amount of interest expressed for this game. It has been a few weeks now. Have any of you who liked it changed your minds?

It's going to be like $5 a month and is aimed a kids.  For that, it will probably do ok.

Free to play, and you pay for additional shinies of some kind (new dungeons, new class maybe).

You pay for membership and you get access to extra inventory spaces, better potions, better items - stuff like that. And it's $5 per character at this point.

DR is simple. You can log in and play for a bit and it's fun. Sure, you can play Diablo for free, but DR at least promises a bit more control over exploits than free servers would.

In reality, I see DR as a bridging game - you and your guild have a month before the next game you are playing launches so you pick up DR for a few months of monty haul fun. If you grind this game, then yes, it would be boring as hell. Play it light and casual and it's fun.

It does, however, need a lot more content in terms of skills and weapons to help diversify the different class options a bit.

[Typhon]

I agree with UnSub, especially the bridging comment.

It definitely needs something more, but they should take their time to figure out what that more is (i.e. I think they can launch at the $5 price point with what they have).  It would be lovely if they spent half their time thinking up new mobs and mob special attacks and the other half putting additional items/item effects into the game.

[Yegolev]

If you are waiting for something to trump D2, you could be waiting a while.  DR is a nice diversion for people who just can't work up the energy to run a character through D2 again.  Kinda like Dungeon Siege and Titan Quest were diversions, but more like Fate with multiplayer.

I admit that I still like Fate better than DR, but Fate is just awesome for this sort of game.

[sam, an eggplant]

I've got high hopes for hellgate:london and sacred2. That's about it for the action RPG/roguelike genre.

[Falconeer]

Going live:

Membership billing goes live! January 31st 2007

We've come to the point in our grand experiment known as Dungeon Runners™ where we need to test billing and you are our guinea pig!

Some of you may not have read the official website or any other information on the game and just got right in there to hack and indeed to slash. We don't blame you.

However, it's important to note that while the basic game of Dungeon Runners will always be free to download and play*; there will be a membership package that offers some good reasons to pay $4.99 a month.

Remember, even if you don't want to pay now or ever – you can continue to play for as long as you want – you'll just not have access to the good stuff (see below). And you want the good stuff...don't you? We'll never kick you out - unless you're very naughty - and you'll never be made to feel unwelcome.

The benefits of membership i.e., the 'good stuff' currently looks like this:

Access to all top level armor, weapons and items. Not only will you be more powerful than non-members, with superior stats - you'll also look cooler than them as irrefutably determined by our science team**.
Stackable potions - taking up far less room in your inventory and therefore allowing space for many more potions than normal (you'll need 'em where you're going) and of course for all that lovely loot.
Log-in queue priority. If the Dungeons are full, you jump to the head of the log-in queue. Enjoy a rush of superiority as you glide by the 'common people'.
Hold on to more stuff! Members get access to the Dungeon Runners bank – essentially a storage facility. As you know, you pick up a LOT of stuff in Dungeon Runners. Imagine being forced to sell or simply drop loot just because your inventory is maxed out and there's nowhere else to keep your stuff. That would suck. This prevents or at least alleviates the suckage.
Testing the billing system goes like this:

Using complex formulas and the occasional ceiling cat, we will look to see how many of you decide to pay for the current benefits of membership. If that number is impressive enough, we'll know we're on the right track.

The test isn't about how much stuff is in the membership package; it's about what is in the membership package. We plan to add more and more good stuff to the package and we will, but we want to make sure it's the right stuff. If we hear the sound of crickets or impolite booing, we'll know we got it wrong and work to fix it. Nobody can force you to pay – you'll pay if you like what's on offer – it's as simple as that.

And that's the whole point; we want you to love this game and what better, more honest way to find out if we're doing the right thing than for people to vote with their wallets?



So what happens when we throw the switch?

Many if not all of you currently have in-game items that are considered 'members only'.
What happens to these items once billing is turned on?

If you decide to continue playing Dungeon Runners without membership all your members-only items and privileges will become inaccessible. Your items will appear in your inventory, but you won't be able to use them or gain any benefits from them. You can hold onto them (they'll take up inventory space), sell them or drop them.

If you decide to become a member, you can carry on as before with full access to everything.

Basically, your membership is like an on/off switch. If you're a member you can use all your members-only items and access your members-only privileges. If you're not a member, you can't.

Dungeon Runners will continue to be 'invite only' for the next few months as we continue to test systems and fine-tune the various ways of providing you with a fun game to run around, kill the bad guys and get lots of loot.

We want to get things right and you are helping us do that.

Many thanks and see you in-game!

The Dungeon Runners Team


*Shadowy beings (our lawyers) demand that we make sure you know that when we say this, we're talking about the game itself. You still have to pay for your Internet connection, electricity and computer and so on.
** We don't have a science team. Therefore, there's no proof that you'll be cool. However, high-level items will make your game experience considerably more fun due to vastly improved stats and better looks.

[Pendan]

Last night at "prime time" I noticed this beta was going so well it was down to just one server with 26 people. I don't care how cheap the monthly price is. If it can't hold people attention for a month it is not going to be succesful.

[Signe]

I know it's only five bucks a month, but it's not worth the price of admission.  It's not awful, it's just sort of mediocre.  I think it might have more success if it were satisfied with being a Diablo 2 or a Guild Wars.

[geldonyetich]

We've come to the point in our grand experiment known as Dungeon Runners™ where we need to test billing and you are our guinea pig!

Most honest MMORPG release headline ever.

[tazelbain]

Fix the fucking controls.  There are  many other teams under NCSoft.  Surely someone could help them.

[Trippy]

Fix the fucking controls.

And the networking code.

[trias_e]

And then all of the gameplay.  My character isn't cool enough, I don't slaughter stuff awesomely enough, and all my spells are all boring.  And I don't have enough of them.  And there's no character customization. 

[Sunbury]

OK, so I googled for   "Dungeon Running"  (without the quotes)

And this forum thread came up #2.    I thought a big factor in Google ranking is 'other sites that point to site x with the related words'.
Which means a lot of sites create links to F13 Forum threads?

Results 1 - 10 of about 1,340,000

Super Fun Dungeon RunSo as you've probably noticed Super Fun Dungeon Run has got an all new look, ... Super Fun Dungeon Run is a website that has nothing to do with running or ...
www.superfundungeonrun.com/ - 76k - Cached - Similar pages

f13.net forums - Dungeon Running anyone?Author, Topic: Dungeon Running anyone? (Read 3616 times) ... Come on Mark, you can push the envelope more than Dungeon Siege. ...
forums.f13.net/index.php?topic=8826.msg248809 - 112k - Cached - Similar pages

...

[Trippy]

OK, so I googled for   "Dungeon Running"  (without the quotes)

And this forum thread came up #2.    I thought a big factor in Google ranking is 'other sites that point to site x with the related words'.
Which means a lot of sites create links to F13 Forum threads?

It doesn't have to be a lot of sites. It just has to be more than other sites that are indexed by those same keywords sort of like that joke about the bear and putting on running shoes. If you have Google Toobar installed you can view the Page Rank of pages to see how they compare. However how Google calculates Page Rank is intentionally somewhat of a black box and that is not the only thing that's used to calculate in what order to display search results which is also intentionally a black box. E.g. though this is just speculation on my part, the Page Rank of "forums.f13.net" is decent (about half green) in it of itself and I think that helps boost the ranking for pages underneath it. We're also running Google Analytics (laggy PoS) which helps ensure that the Google Bot crawls us on a regular basis and we were running AdSense earlier which helped do the same thing.

[John19047]

Hey BH can i get a referral too. I sent you my email addy for the referral. I wanted to try this myself and thought itll be cool to try.