APB: Finally, I Can Be A PUNK!

[Mrbloodworth]

New site is up, running and so are the forums.

In an open letter from Dave Jones:

Realtime Worlds would like to announce that, due to a number of issues, we will be delaying the launch of the Key to the City event by 48 hours.

We’ve worked tirelessly to bring the service online, installing and configuring a massive amount of new hardware in our data-centres, to help meet the high demand and bring you the best experience we can. As we’re sure you’ll appreciate, this is a huge undertaking and unfortunately on this occasion, we’ve hit a number of installation delays.

As a result, the APB Key to the City event will now begin at:

9am (GMT) on Saturday 12th June

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your patience. We’re aware you’re all eager to get out onto the streets of San Paro and rest assured that we’re doing our best to bring everything online to give you the smoothest experience possible.

We’ll be placing official announcements when individual services are available, so make sure you check back with us periodically.

In the meantime, why not head over to the forums, where you can chat with the APB community, tell everyone what you’re most excited about and even ask questions to developers from RTW!

We look forward to seeing you all in San Paro soon.

[TripleDES]

Still waiting for my preorder key anyway, that I would have used TODAY. 

[Mrbloodworth]

Still waiting for my preorder key anyway, that I would have used TODAY. 

You do steam or somewhere else. Because I'm still not quite sure about the steam process for this title. I read that some pre-order sites have passed out the keys already, so it seems to be an issue of where you ordered.

[TripleDES]

Play.com is just like 35€ 

[Mrbloodworth]

BFF - Episode 30 - All Points Bulletin Video review. NSFW language.

[Malakili]

BFF - Episode 30 - All Points Bulletin Video review. NSFW language.

Man that guy is annoying

[Mrbloodworth]

BFF - Episode 30 - All Points Bulletin Video review. NSFW language.

Man that guy is annoying

Yeah, but I have enjoyed his reviews before. At least he is direct with his opinions.

[Lantyssa]

I'd be direct with my opinions, too, if there wasn't an NDA in place.

[Mrbloodworth]

I get the feeling the beta NDA may never drop, and all reviews and whatnot will have to come from the live client and systems (other than the ones they have already green lighted). Probably for the best anyway.

[Sky]

I get the feeling the beta NDA may never drop.... Probably for the best anyway.

[LK]

For Real Time Worlds, yes.

[Mrbloodworth]

I get the feeling the beta NDA may never drop.... Probably for the best anyway.

Just saying, things in beta are not always things at launch or afterword. The intent of a beta is to find flaws bugs and issues, its not like people thees days respect NDA's, but really should not reviews and whatnot come from what supposedly be the "stable" version, and not where Tommy found a bug but thinks its a feature and never checked back to see if it was addressed already? I bet I could find a number of "reviews" and videos right now that rag on things that were changed (for any game).

I know many people like to think NDA's are for "games that want to hide things". But really, I don't think anyone here would want  the game they worked on judged by the beta version, and all the things that come up in them.

Its a beta, not a trial. if you are on the fence, you should wait for a real trial. I personally never put much stock in reviews from betas, other than maybe how it was conducted and how well they addressed things. Beyond that, quite sure every game made would look like a pile of doo depending on what stage of beta the review is based on.

If you don't like playing potentially incomplete games, do not touch any game in the first six months, or wait for a trial. This rule has never been proven to be wrong yet.

[Sky]

Yeah, I've never been around this block before.

So what, we should wait six months to review MMG(™ Stormwaltz) now?

 

And I say this as a fan of EQ2, which utterly sucked at release. It was not significantly different from the beta, except maybe xp gain was cut after release. The later beta phases /are/ the release client, except for some bug fixes. You can hypothesize "Tommy", I'm talking about f13, which does repect NDAs, but also can tell a bug from a shitty game.

Also, how much are you being compensated?

[LK]

I know many people like to think NDA's are for "games that want to hide things". But really, I don't think anyone here would want  the game they worked on judged by the beta version, and all the things that come up in them.

Its a beta, not a trial. if you are on the fence, you should wait for a real trial. I personally never put much stock in reviews from betas, other than maybe how it was conducted and how well they addressed things. Beyond that, quite sure every game made would look like a pile of doo depending on what stage of beta the review is based on.

This is a developer perspective that fails to take into account human nature. Sure, you want people to treat it as a Beta. But you want consumer confidence; you want people to look at your game and see that you are doing some pretty amazing shit. If you succeed, there's really no point to an NDA. If you fail, then of course you're going to want your Beta to be treated as a Beta and on NDA lockdown. Especially right up to launch. Hell, let's start a new trend where in order to play the game, you have to sign an NDA along with purchase. The first rule of APB is you do not talk about APB. They might make more money suing people for violating the NDA.

If you don't like playing potentially incomplete games, do not touch any game in the first six months, or wait for a trial. This rule has never been proven to be wrong yet.

I'm having trouble digesting this statement and I can't verbalize why.

[Mrbloodworth]

So what, we should wait six months to review MMG(™ Stormwaltz) now?

No, to buy it, or wait for a trial.

Also, how much are you being compensated?

Wish I was, That would be sweet!

 I'm not sure I have really changed my MO from when I started here. If I like a game or am interested in it, I link articles and info from where ever I find it. I also enjoy discussing games, and practices, this includes why a game may keep its beta process under an NDA. Do I want them to drop the NDA, yeah, I have lots to say. Do I understand why maybe they would not, yes.

I have also never been around this block before.

[HaemishM]

Beta NDA needs to drop soon. Release is supposedly 19 days away and I can't talk about my impressions? Ridiculous.

[Furiously]

No kidding. It's not doing them any good keeping it going at this point.

[HaemishM]

BFF - Episode 30 - All Points Bulletin Video review. NSFW language.

Man that guy is annoying

I want to stab him repeatedly with a sharpened fence post.

[Mrbloodworth]

Its been clear for a while we all want to talk. It would be appreciated if they dropped it.

[Sheepherder]

So what, we should wait six months to review MMG(™ Stormwaltz) now?

He might have a forum by then.

[Mrbloodworth]

Is EA handling the billing for this game?

Going by the pre-order and points purchasing pages on the APB site, I'm going with no. Appears to be Digital River, Inc.

[NiX]

This thread is teetering on the brink of another NDA break meltdown. Keep it in your pants, we don't want none of that here.

[UnSub]

I know many people like to think NDA's are for "games that want to hide things". But really, I don't think anyone here would want  the game they worked on judged by the beta version, and all the things that come up in them.

Its a beta, not a trial. if you are on the fence, you should wait for a real trial.

Here's the thing though - pretty much the entire video games industry is built on week 1 sales. Sleeper hits are uncommon and if a title - expensive MMOs especially - don't do well selling box copies (or equivalent) then a studio can be in real financial trouble. So studios focus on getting good sales at launch, which involves running the hype train full speed ahead and promising a miracle patch.

And there are a group of players who love being the first into live. There are disadvantages (well documented) but there are also advantages - there will be loopholes that can be exploited and certain weapons / skills will be as overpowered as they will ever be. Guilds get in early to build their power / player base in the game. In the first few days of live everything is new and exciting. Come six months later and a triallist enters a world full of jaded experts.

Finally: the game you play in the last 30 days of beta pretty much is the launch version. Implementing a whole heap of changes just before launch or on launch day is just asking for trouble on a number of fronts (e.g. player management, system testing, etc).

[Malakili]

And there are a group of players who love being the first into live. There are disadvantages (well documented) but there are also advantages - there will be loopholes that can be exploited and certain weapons / skills will be as overpowered as they will ever be. Guilds get in early to build their power / player base in the game. In the first few days of live everything is new and exciting. Come six months later and a triallist enters a world full of jaded experts.

I'm definitely one of these.  While I'm well aware (from experience) that launch can be painful, that first month when things are still not quite down to a science are generally worth it from my experience.  I love the rush of launch, I like being near the top end of the power curve, even if its for a few days/weeks (i generally play far less than the poopsockers, but far more than the average).   For the same reason I'm generally very hesistant to get into an MMO that has been out a long time, unless of course I have a well established character there already.   So that leaves for me at this point: 1) A handful of MMOs I'm well established in and could go back to, and 2) the constant flow of new MMOs that are coming through, most of which I ignore anyway (probably including APB, but that isn't the point).

Anyway, there is definitely value to getting in early, because thats when the games are most "MMO like" at least by my own personal definition.  After that, its spreadsheets ahoy.

[Lantyssa]

The DIKU model isn't very forgiving of late-comers, even if you have friends.

[Kageru]

Moreso for a PvP game than a PvE one. So the question of how they can offer progression without making new players completely non competitive, and experiencing slower progression because they are permanently losing, will be fascinating.

[caladein]

I believe their open beta "key's to the city" is limited to 5 hours maximum game time. That sounds to me like a game with something to hide. But hey, feel free to call me bitter because my ping would probably make playing it pointless.

Just wanted to add some detail to this since it came up with some friends earlier.  It's five hours of time in Action districts.  You can spend as much time as you want in the social districts doing customization and what not.

[Margalis]

Here's the thing though - pretty much the entire video games industry is built on week 1 sales.

Except for the market leader.

Which is a large part of why they are the market leader.

[Mrbloodworth]

APB - Music Studio Tutorial video (Same annoying guy, but good info)

APB EA3 2010 Demo Part 1: Criminals vs. Enforcers

APB EA3 2010 Demo Part 3: Criminals

APB EA3 2010 Demo Part 4: Enforcers

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/apb/videos.html?mode=all

[Ghambit]

Is not the "key to the city" event basically a free trial?
I just got a key from FP.  Soooo, I'll be giving this thing another shot.

[Mrbloodworth]

Is not the "key to the city" event basically a free trial?
I just got a key from FP.  Soooo, I'll be giving this thing another shot.

It an open beta for the most part (toons to be wiped). The other event is a head start. then launch, and yeah was just about to post you can can gets keys from some sites without purchase.

See you tomorrow I guess :)

[EvilJohn]

Hi all,

Could one of the moderators contact me in PM, or preferably let me know how to address them as a group? I have some information regarding the NDA that I believe would be helpful and "freeing" to those posters here with comments to share (positive or negative, I'd rather you speak your mind).

However, this isn't a site I manage so I don't want to speak in place of the mods.

[Morfiend]

Anyone know where I can get one of them fancy keys?

[Sky]

Yeah, I would like to at least check out the NA servers and not sign up for fileplanet.

[Mrbloodworth]

Hi all,

Could one of the moderators contact me in PM, or preferably let me know how to address them as a group? I have some information regarding the NDA that I believe would be helpful and "freeing" to those posters here with comments to share (positive or negative, I'd rather you speak your mind).

However, this isn't a site I manage so I don't want to speak in place of the mods.

Very kind of you, you should give us a small batch of keys too if you can score some. Nudge nudge. We may disagree here from time to time, but we all WILL tell you you what we think directly.