APB: Finally, I Can Be A PUNK!

[Threash]

I didn't pay a monthly sub but i earned enough RTW points to "pay" for three months, so they got that money out of someone.  And so far my 50 bucks got 60+ hours of entertainment, that is incredibly good value.

[HaemishM]

I will give RTW credit for one thing- they somehow made their game induce Stockholm Syndrome on many of its players. Bully for them, I guess.

Is it that hard to believe the game even with all its flaws is actually fun as hell?  I mean even the lowest scoring reviews have said that.

No it isn't, since I've actually said that I had fun with the game during the beta despite some of its flaws. It's just that the flaws got more glaring the longer I went on and I decided not to pay money for a really fundamentally flawed game. MMOG players get little spurts of fun followed by gallons of devkakke and beg for more.

[Mrbloodworth]

Yeah, we went over that already. We are talking about current development now.

[EvilJohn]

Hi all,

Still lurking around and reading the conversations. I did want to clarify one thing - we have avoided using the term 'MMO' with APB but even with our corrections and requests, they still get associated. To us, it is a Persistent Online Action Game - no acronyms, no confusion with MMO really meaning MMORPG to most people... etc.

That said, the label has been associated regardless so there are certain expectations we ultimately have to live up to (or disappoint on) in that regards.

[Shatter]

Hi all,

Still lurking around and reading the conversations. I did want to clarify one thing - we have avoided using the term 'MMO' with APB but even with our corrections and requests, they still get associated. To us, it is a Persistent Online Action Game - no acronyms, no confusion with MMO really meaning MMORPG to most people... etc.

That said, the label has been associated regardless so there are certain expectations we ultimately have to live up to (or disappoint on) in that regards.

POAG..I dont like it

[Paelos]

Constant Online Action Tactical Shooter

COATS! 

[Furiously]

Hi all,

Still lurking around and reading the conversations. I did want to clarify one thing - we have avoided using the term 'MMO' with APB but even with our corrections and requests, they still get associated. To us, it is a Persistent Online Action Game - no acronyms, no confusion with MMO really meaning MMORPG to most people... etc.

That said, the label has been associated regardless so there are certain expectations we ultimately have to live up to (or disappoint on) in that regards.

BTW - has RTW posted anywhere how many accounts you have banned for cheating and how many you have banned for offensive behavior and how many have been banned for TOS violations? Seems like that would be a good way to give people some confidence RTW is actually actively doing stuff and not sheltering into the ground realizing their profits are not insane?

[Threash]

Hi all,

Still lurking around and reading the conversations. I did want to clarify one thing - we have avoided using the term 'MMO' with APB but even with our corrections and requests, they still get associated. To us, it is a Persistent Online Action Game - no acronyms, no confusion with MMO really meaning MMORPG to most people... etc.

That said, the label has been associated regardless so there are certain expectations we ultimately have to live up to (or disappoint on) in that regards.

POAG..I dont like it

They were calling it Persistent Online Shooter before, i'd say stick with POAG.

[Count Nerfedalot]

I'm sorry. I thought we were discussing games on this site. APB has a rather unique matching system. I don't see where I apologized about anything.

You just did! 

But seriously, I don't think that word means what you think it means! 

a·pol·o·gist (ə-pŏl'ə-jĭst)
n.  A person who argues in defense or justification of something, such as a doctrine, policy, or institution.

When you rise to the defense of something against every least criticism, then you are an apologist for that something.  You, sir, are an apologist for APB.

Which is kind of sad because, intermingled with all of the excuses and justifications and denials and arguments you've made for APB are lots of good information and valid perspectives.  They just risk being lost in the glow of all the rosy spin you've been trashing them up with.

Sometimes (often?) both the criticisms and the praises of a thing have some validity.  Arguing one while ignoring, diminishing, or denying the other weakens the argument for the one as well as lessens the value of the debate/discussion in general.

[UnSub]

As the reviews have generally said, when APB is fun, it is very fun. However, those moments are spread out between "I gotta chase a guy I'm never going to catch for the next 5 minutes" and "My target is camped up in a location with only one way in and they've got a grey spy watching me as I come in" situations.

My main concern is that their is nothing to fight for. You can arrest 1000 criminals / bag 1000 enforcers and nothing changes. APB really screams out for some kind of territory control mechanism (although size of the world may become an issue there).

[Furiously]

I was looking in the knowledge base today and noticed there was no entry for aimbot.

[Margalis]

That said, the label has been associated regardless so there are certain expectations we ultimately have to live up to (or disappoint on) in that regards.

It's not the label it's the pricing model. If something looks like a duck and acts like a duck - or in this case costs like a duck - then people expect a duck.

[Azazel]

Someone needs to make this as a car/clothing decal.



 

[Ollie]

As the reviews have generally said, when APB is fun, it is very fun. However, those moments are spread out between "I gotta chase a guy I'm never going to catch for the next 5 minutes" and "My target is camped up in a location with only one way in and they've got a grey spy watching me as I come in" situations.

My main concern is that their is nothing to fight for. You can arrest 1000 criminals / bag 1000 enforcers and nothing changes. APB really screams out for some kind of territory control mechanism (although size of the world may become an issue there).

I felt this too, and it kind of reminded me of WAR of all games. Brief spurts of fun interspersed with stretches of tedium and frustration. But more to your point, the lack of overall goals will only feel more glaring as the game matures, especially as the game's controls really aren't responsive enough to sell the game on its shooter virtues alone. RTW is bound to whip up a territory control system sooner rather than later, and if their recent press release is to be believed, the devs are on the ball. Whether they'll come up with the goods is anyone's guess.

I never played Global Agenda, so I can't say how successful its version of territory control is, but it would seem like a good place to look for lessons learned. (And no, I'm not suggesting that GA is a yardstick for good design, more along the lines of "look here for what not to do".)

[EvilJohn]

BTW - has RTW posted anywhere how many accounts you have banned for cheating and how many you have banned for offensive behavior and how many have been banned for TOS violations? Seems like that would be a good way to give people some confidence RTW is actually actively doing stuff and not sheltering into the ground realizing their profits are not insane?

I don't have anything to share with these numbers - and we haven't posted such statistics... yet. That said, I anticipate quite a bit of movement and commotion over these types of issues next week.

[Threash]

Someone needs to make this as a car/clothing decal.



 

I've seen it on someones van.

[Mrbloodworth]

More big topics to come in the next few days, but today I just wanted to list a few of the less high profile issues that we see regularly in various forum threads and in District chat, which we''re currently looking at:


1. Make the chat box opaque
A lot of people have been complaining that they miss important information in the chat box because of the transparent background, so we''ll be looking to improve readability in this area.

2. Stop solo players getting into the back seat of a car (and be smarter for grouped players)
A big favourite in the dev team as well. The current plan is to have solo players always get into the driver''s seat, regardless of which door they''re at, and have players in groups get into the front seat unless they are absolutely positively aimed at the back door.

3. Fix the big 4x4 cars to stop being easily pushed over by the small cars (esp. the Pioneer)
This is being worked into our current rebalance of vehicle handling and will be rolled out to PTW shortly.

4. More clothing storage
We''re currently looking at how much we can safely increase this in the current system, and as part of a longer-term solution are looking at a ''stash'' system to let players store a much larger amount of stuff overall.

5. Missions with a 5-minute capture & hold (like Siren Song) should reduce the timer if you have no opposition.
We're actually looking to remove any of these kinds of stages in the unopposed sections of missions.

6. VOIP HUD personal indicator, maybe with an audio cue locally as well
Just a little visual or audio reminder to make sure you know whether or not you''re broadcasting.

7. Spawning. The spawn system seems adept at placing players in the line of fire of opponents quite frequently or miles away from where the action is.
Improving this really means adding more spawn points, which is something we''re actively engaged in. We''re hoping to have this situation improved and up on PTW for testing in the next few weeks.

8. Escape missions. The proverbial hot potato. Great when it works and sucks when it doesn''t.
We have a number of different ideas for how to improve these missions and I''ll post some up in this forum in due course.

9. Zoning into a district while at Notoriety 3/4 and immediately being dispatched against.
If we end up removing bounty missions as part of the matchmaking revamp, this issue will go away. If not, we''ll add a ''safety'' timer to prevent players being bountied against straight away (unless they commit further crimes).

10. Muting other peoples'' music playback when in the editors
Annoying, yes. We''re looking into it now.

11. More graphics options (32 bit)
This is constantly being worked on. I''ve asked our technical lead to make a post about the future for 32-bit O/S options in this forum, so watch for it soon.

12. A decal mirroring option for the vehicle editor
A popular request, definitely on our to-do list for the near future.

13. No missions should be ‘farmable’ due to limitless time (e.g. Breadcrumbs)
These missions have all been changed and the changes are going through our QA process now.

14. Better death camera
Another popular one internally as well as in the community. A revamp to the death cam is definitely on the cards, so watch out for more information on this soon.

Linky.

[Threash]

2. Stop solo players getting into the back seat of a car

Fuck yeah, that shit was so damn annoying.

[WayAbvPar]

10. Muting other peoples'' music playback when in the editors
Annoying, yes. We''re looking into it now.

Does this mean other people can actually hear the music as someone dicks around with that? Good Lord.

[Mrbloodworth]

10. Muting other peoples'' music playback when in the editors
Annoying, yes. We''re looking into it now.

Does this mean other people can actually hear the music as someone dicks around with that? Good Lord.

No, it refers to the ambient music from DJ stations and the like while you are in an editor, As the editors do not remove you from the world.

[WayAbvPar]

Ah ok. That isn't as bad. I was imagining standing next to some fucktard and having to hear his feeble attempts to edit some godawful music into the game and wondering how the hell that got out of the planning stages without someone getting fired. Or crucified.

[Mrbloodworth]

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen.

Today we bring you an interesting first look at the patch notes of the upcoming APB 1.3.0 patch. These fixes and changes are issues that we highlighted early on, or didn’t quite make it into earlier builds.

1.3.0 currently has no definitive release date, but will be here soon. You’ll hear more from us on that in the near future!

Many of the changes we’ve been discussing recently, such as match making changes, will be rolled out in later versions.

See you on the streets.


 Fixes for 1.3.0

GENERAL

    * An issue with characters not displaying the Character Select screen has been resolved.
    * An exploit has been fixed where players could exceed the character customisation limits.
    * Players can no longer capture movies while in the character select screen.
    * The overlay strength of clothing items are no longer saved when the player presses cancel.
    * Choosing to replay the intro videos no longer causes some players to crash.
    * A rare server crash that was caused by a player switching their weapons via the inventory has been addressed.
    * A client crash that can occur when accepting a clan invite has been addressed.
    * The achievement ‘Indoctrinate the masses’ can no longer be progressed towards without finishing spray paint actions.
    * The achievement ‘Who Are You?’ is now awarded correctly.
    * There has been an increase in performance for the in-game browser.
    * A client hang that causes the loading wheel to spin perpetually when entering a district has been addressed.
    * The APB Launcher no longer consistently requests the player to restart the computer when first installing the game.


AUDIO

    * Audio display points in the Realtime Worlds building no longer clash with ambient background music.
    * Missing ''Sweep'' SFX has been added to the ''Chat'', ''Emote'', ''Console'' and ''Character Info'' menus.
    * Missing SFX for the ''Garage Editor'' interface has been added.
    * Missing SFX from the ''Locker'', ''Marketplace'', and ''League'' menus has now been added.
    * Enforcer death themes now play correctly when arresting a Criminal player.
    * Players can no longer control more than one audio display point at a time.
    * Music player shortcuts now function correctly when in the various customisation studios.
    * Improvements have been made to the Music Player search functionality.
    * Numerous additional audio fixes/improvements have been made.
    * Improvements have been made to the audio ducking feature.


LIVING CITY

    * Pedestrians can now be mugged from any angle.
    * Pedestrians have had their collision box sizes decreased.
    * Living City drivers no longer remain calm when their vehicles are on fire.
    * Improvements have been made to Living City driving routes in various areas of the Action Districts.
    * Living City characters no longer continue to animate after death.


VEHICLES

    * A rare crash that occurred when players vehicles collide no longer occurs.
    * Mission related vehicles in a critical condition will now continue to lose health even after their related mission has been completed.
    * Custom vehicle exhausts and engines now function correctly in the Action Districts.
    * Vehicles being used as a mobile resupply point can now be entered from the drivers side door.
    * Preset vehicles retrieved as league or progression based rewards can now be customised and saved correctly.
    * Players are now able to enter the Exec Saloon or Dolton Broadwing when touching them.
    * Mission related vehicles now correctly de-spawned when the mission is completed.


ITEMS

    * Selling items to contacts no longer results in the error message ''SALE FAILED''
    * The item information for the SHAW 556 has been corrected.
    * The ‘Supermag’ weapon upgrade no longer upgrades both the clip and the magazine size.
    * Customized clothing that has been manufactured can now be sold to contacts.
    * The ‘Steel Plating’ vehicle upgrade level 1, 2 and 3 now correctly adjust a vehicles armour value.
    * Various items of clothing now correctly remove the waist star badge.
    * Large task items no longer clip through female characters arms.
    * Female characters using the OSMAW are now shown to be holding a rocket during their reload animation.


GAMEPLAY

    * The mission ''Money Trail'' now correct finishes after the fourth stage.
    * The mission task items in ''Money Trail'' are now displayed on the HUD, and can be picked up by the opposition.
    * The mission ‘Divide and Conquer’ now correctly displays the number of lives Criminals have.
    * Receiving damage as a Criminal while on an escape mission now causes a time penalty.
    * Damage caused by vehicles exploding near characters is now applied correctly.
    * Crouched players are now able to stand up by pressing the jump button.
    * Character upgrades can now be changed when using a Mobile Supply Unit or Field Supplier.
    * Players can no longer drop task items through fences causing them to become unreachable.
    * Players who choose to use the ‘Hold’ option for marksmanship option will now be able to use marksmanship mode correctly after sprinting.
    * Survival missions now function correctly.
    * The targeting reticule now correctly represents where a weapon is pointed when a player is hanging out of a vehicle window.
    * Players should now receive random rewards from contacts other than Double-B and Wilson LeBoyce.
    * If a VIP player disconnects from a district while on a mission both teams should now be correctly informed that a new VIP has been selected.
    * A wall in Block 20 that lacked collision now has collision.
    * Mission objectives that have been inadvertently damaged by weapons or vehicles can now be interacted with correctly.
    * Numerous mission spawn volumes have been altered to prevent potential issues.
    * VIP and enemy players markers no longer remain after the player has died.
    * Criminals can now be witnessed when sitting in the back seat of Living City vehicles.
    * Players can no longer use the Ctrl+Shift+M shortcut to switch districts during a dispatch.
    * Players now correctly suffer explosive damage when exiting a vehicle as it explodes.
    * Players are no longer able to kill themselves by firing a weapon while intersecting another player.
    * Players are now able to perform vehicle break ins while carrying a medium or large task item.
    * Climbing ladders no longer prevents stamina from being regenerated.
    * Players are no longer able to get vehicles inside the spawn bays surrounding Violet Prentiss and Mirri Kent.
    * Players are no longer able to trap themselves behind Veronika Lee
    * Players are no longer able to see opposed enemy players through walls by looking at a destroyed vehicle husk.
    * Amendments have been made to various ‘camping spots’ in both the Financial and Waterfront Action Districts.

 WEAPONS

    * Splash damage caused by explosive weaponry is now functioning correctly.
    * Grenades can now be thrown even when the players other weapons require reloading.
    * Thrown grenades should no longer be dropped at the players feet if they are suffering from high latency.
    * Weapons fired when a player lands after falling from a height now register correctly.


INTERFACE

    * Items with long names no longer cause issues with the UI.
    * The Mouse Cursor will no longer disappear when holding the right mouse button and opening the options menu.
    * The track timestamp no longer resets when pausing a track.
    * The ''Selected Only'' checkbox in the Wardrobe now functions correctly.
    * The player can no longer interact with the Wardrobe while the Playlist Editor is open.
    * The hotkeys ''1'', ''2'', ''3'' and ''ALT'' now have the same functionality across all the editors.
    * A bug where the Options menu would sometimes fail to open or close has now been fixed.
    * A bug where the flashing APB logo was shown on the death screen has been fixed.
    * The ''Edit Item'' menu in the Locker no longer appears as a button.
    * The music player mini-HUD is no longer shown in the Customisation Studios.
    * Immediately selecting multiple decals will no longer result in the opacity of the last selected item applying to all the decals.
    * The Main Menu now correctly displays the hotkeys for the Knowledge Base.
    * Selecting a new track in the Music Editor no longer causes the Pattern interface to shake.
    * The correct thread image is shown on the ceremony HUD for someone of the opposite faction
    * There is no longer a delay at showing the spawn map when loading into a district.
    * The names of tattoos no longer appear when adding more than 4 to a player.
    * Tool tips are now positioned consistently.
    * Items in the inventory are now correctly highlighted when being hovered over.
    * Custom themes now correctly display the creators name.
    * Players should now be able to successfully accept the Music Import Privacy Agreement .
    * The ‘Rename’ and ‘Save As’ buttons now function correctly in the Symbol designer.
    * The Marketplaces ‘Usable’ checkbox no longer sets the Rating search criteria to 1-1.
    * The Music Studio should now function correctly in all languages.
    * Pre-set vehicles now display the correct rating requirement in the Garage.
    * An invite button has been added to the Group menu.
    * Clan member ranks now have associated icons in the Clan Management menu.
    * The inventory compare function now displays the correct information.
    * Clan members now show up in the Clan tab.
    * The vertical scale button is now selectable and usable when a tattoo has been applied as a wrap.
    * Using the Symbol Designer shortcut keys while dragging a symbol no longer prevents changes from being applied.
    * Players are now correctly messaged when they leave a clan.
    * Ceremony messages how display a related icon when unlocking a feature.
    * Players reticules now correctly update when looking through vehicle husks.
    * Pre-order vehicles can now be equipped through the garage.
    * Weapon values displayed on the UI now correctly represent their actual values.
    * Saved custom colours can now be properly deleted from a players palette.
    * Level 5 player Heat/Prestige icons are now scaled correctly.
    * Players with less than one minute of Action District time remaining are now able to see how much time they have left.
    * Players reticules now appear in the appropriate colour when landing a killing shot on another player.
    * The faction select screen now animates correctly.
    * Group VOIP icons now behave correctly when the group is split over two or more instances/districts.
    * The ‘Reaper’ medal now has the correct description.
    * The arrest timer is now of a unified length for both Enforcers and Criminals.
    * Players are now correctly informed how much it costs to manufacture a song.
    * HUD markers now display correctly if a player carrying stolen items and driving in a vehicle carrying a task item exits the vehicle.
    * The Clan Management screen can now be accessed at any time.
    * Improvements have been made to the ordering of various Persona components.
    * Mission win streaks are now correctly messaged to the player and the district.
    * The decal reset button now functions correctly in the various customisation studios.
    * Players are now informed why they cannot group with players who have not completed the tutorial.
    * Several small fixes/improvements have been made to the inspect player UI.
    * Numerous improvements to Marketplace functionality have been made.
    * Numerous small UI fixes/improvements have been implemented.
    * Numerous localisation issues have been rectified.


MAIL

    * League mails no longer allow you to retrieve empty reward packages.
    * Rewards attached to mail messages can now be successfully retrieved.
    * Clicking between several mail messages will no longer cause a client hang.
    * Mail messages now contain the correct time and date stamps.
    * Display point tokens now feature suitable descriptions when attached to reward mails.
    * The ‘Daily cars stolen by Criminal Clans’ league reward package now contains the correct display point token.
    * The Financial District ‘Weekly Total Kills by Players’ league reward package now contains the correct display point token.
    * The Financial District ‘Daily Total Kills by Players’ league reward package now contains the correct display point token.
    * The Financial District ‘Weekly Missions Won by Players’ league reward package now contains the correct display point token.
    * The Financial District ‘Weekly Missions Won by Clans’ league reward package now contains the correct display point token.

Link.

[LK]

Criminal Clans. 

Gangs was a bad idea?

[Threash]

The whining people do over hacking in this game is out of control.  It seems like killing someone automatically makes you a hacker.  I've sat there emptying my clip at some scrub just to hear him bitch about me one shotting him as soon as he died.

[Paelos]

The whining people do over hacking in this game is out of control.  It seems like killing someone automatically makes you a hacker.  I've sat there emptying my clip at some scrub just to hear him bitch about me one shotting him as soon as he died.

The fact that people know it's an option makes all people guilty.

[Mrbloodworth]

www.thehumanavatar.com

[Azazel]

At first I think "who would do that to themselves" and then I think "pricks that stupid deserve what they get" then I think "it's bullshit anyway since there won't be an option for him to get a tattoo across his face."

This is how it should be done.

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/d6e1037cc2/mtvs-human-giant-viral-videos-from-human-giant

[Furiously]

Since everyone got 100 rtw points I figured I would see how many people I could get to part with them, so far I've sold 10 sprayer 4s for 100 each. Only problem...I'm out of money to buy more.

[Threash]

Yeah that was my problem too, i was making a killing selling ntec adeens for around 400 each, but they cost me 50k and it takes me a few days to get that much. 

[Chinchilla]

Yeah that was my problem too, i was making a killing selling ntec adeens for around 400 each, but they cost me 50k and it takes me a few days to get that much. 

400 RTW?  So you have a few months of sub paid for?  Damn that's a good deal!

[Threash]

Yeah about 3 and change, but i have almost no money and can't buy any of the nifty new cars i unlock.  And i had to stop using my rocket launcher cause it was too expensive.

[Der Helm]

So I got my refund from steam and a certain someone was so kind as to offer to gift me the US version.

Who is still playing ? And playing with other people from f13 ?

I do not want to step into a ghost town of a clan like I did with Global Agenda. 

[Furiously]

Btw - I believe you won't be able to buy us rtw points.

[Der Helm]

Btw - I believe you won't be able to buy us rtw points.

Probably. The store defaults the the German version. How do I convice a website that I am not located  in Europe, again ?

Looks like a simple web-proxy does the trick. Looks like I could even get a small discount because 49$ |= 49€.

I am hesistant to buy from my work computer, though. 

[jakonovski]

I'd play this game if it had a persistent, destructible city with a finite number of cars available. That way all the mayhem would have deeper meaning, as the city slowly turns into Escape from NY.

Incidentally, I should totally get into the games design business, I have such great ideas.