I am giving a pause to this game atm because I have trouble getting good performance in this game. If I turn options down untill i get decent fps, the game has very annoying graphics. The ground especially then makes my eyes hurt
So I probably will check back after a few optimization updates.
Apart from that, the only thing I have issues with is the way pvp is set up. I was hoping originally for pvp solely based on pvp flag like in SWG. Now they have this whole zone where it is forced pvp. I think that it is a mistake with the skill system they put in place. Any specialised non combat toon will be seriously gimped in those areas and made an easy target for griefers, so you will just see a concentration of players with combat specialisations in that area.
I am afraid with such a specific pvp zone, that you will barely get any spontaneous pvp in the faction cities and surroundings.
I know why some think it is needed, because of the player cities in contested zones. But it is not. Nations could have such a pvp flag system too. To be able to declare war on other nations, with their citizens always having the pvp flag turned on towards that other nation.
Now the map is so compartimentalized, it breaks immersion for me. I really think they took a bad thing from themepark MMO's with this. The solution to divide the map based on this instead of nations choice and player choice, is just bad design imo. You don't need forced pvp zones, just players that want to pvp and there are always enough of those. Even more if pvp is not forced.
I am giving a pause to this game atm because I have trouble getting good performance in this game. If I turn options down untill i get decent fps, the game has very annoying graphics. The ground especially then makes my eyes hurt
So I probably will check back after a few optimization updates.
Apart from that, the only thing I have issues with is the way pvp is set up. I was hoping originally for pvp solely based on pvp flag like in SWG. Now they have this whole zone where it is forced pvp. I think that it is a mistake with the skill system they put in place. Any specialised non combat toon will be seriously gimped in those areas and made an easy target for griefers, so you will just see a concentration of players with combat specialisations in that area.
I am afraid with such a specific pvp zone, that you will barely get any spontaneous pvp in the faction cities and surroundings.
I know why some think it is needed, because of the player cities in contested zones. But it is not. Nations could have such a pvp flag system too. To be able to declare war on other nations, with their citizens always having the pvp flag turned on towards that other nation.
Now the map is so compartimentalized, it breaks immersion for me. I really think they took a bad thing from themepark MMO's with this. The solution to divide the map based on this instead of nations choice and player choice, is just bad design imo. You don't need forced pvp zones, just players that want to pvp and there are always enough of those. Even more if pvp is not forced.
Uhh, different ruleset servers?
There's no PVE servers planned, unless anything's changed since I stopped reading their forums. It's just a choice between mainly PvP with some limited PvE areas, or hardcore forced PvP servers This is the reason why many people including myself lost interest once they found out it didn't have much in common with SWG after all.
Man I feel for you Repop guys having to sift through so much ignorance in a single thread.
I can't believe I've read numerous times in one post, that simply because you PREPURCHASED something (which mind you, doesn't yet exist as a finished product), regardless if its in an alpha test state, that developers should somehow be held to a higher standard even though it said ALPHA on what you purchased and it included warnings not to buy if you don't enjoy testing an unfinished product.
Thats the epitome of stupidity.
AMEN!
I disagree. They wanted to open their game up to the general public to ask for money before it's complete, then this is what comes with that. And people aren't wrong for criticizing it. It doesn't matter what people "need to realize" about the state of development. That argument would work if this was a free and open alpha, but it's not. If you want money, you need to provide a value. If someone doesn't feel they got that value, they have a right to express that.
Don't want to see doom and gloom? Don't try to sell your incomplete product. Their transparency is the disclaimer so people know what they are getting into, but it has nothing to do with their opinions about what they bought.
I am giving a pause to this game atm because I have trouble getting good performance in this game. If I turn options down untill i get decent fps, the game has very annoying graphics. The ground especially then makes my eyes hurt
So I probably will check back after a few optimization updates.
Apart from that, the only thing I have issues with is the way pvp is set up. I was hoping originally for pvp solely based on pvp flag like in SWG. Now they have this whole zone where it is forced pvp. I think that it is a mistake with the skill system they put in place. Any specialised non combat toon will be seriously gimped in those areas and made an easy target for griefers, so you will just see a concentration of players with combat specialisations in that area.
I am afraid with such a specific pvp zone, that you will barely get any spontaneous pvp in the faction cities and surroundings.
I know why some think it is needed, because of the player cities in contested zones. But it is not. Nations could have such a pvp flag system too. To be able to declare war on other nations, with their citizens always having the pvp flag turned on towards that other nation.
Now the map is so compartimentalized, it breaks immersion for me. I really think they took a bad thing from themepark MMO's with this. The solution to divide the map based on this instead of nations choice and player choice, is just bad design imo. You don't need forced pvp zones, just players that want to pvp and there are always enough of those. Even more if pvp is not forced.
Uhh, different ruleset servers?
There's no PVE servers planned, unless anything's changed since I stopped reading their forums. It's just a choice between mainly PvP with some limited PvE areas, or hardcore forced PvP servers This is the reason why many people including myself lost interest once they found out it didn't have much in common with SWG after all.
Each faction has like 64km of protected area where no one can attack you. Than there is a contested zone where you can get attacked at any time. You don't loose your loot on this ruleset afaik. Even WoW was harsher than this last time I played it.....
Man I feel for you Repop guys having to sift through so much ignorance in a single thread.
I can't believe I've read numerous times in one post, that simply because you PREPURCHASED something (which mind you, doesn't yet exist as a finished product), regardless if its in an alpha test state, that developers should somehow be held to a higher standard even though it said ALPHA on what you purchased and it included warnings not to buy if you don't enjoy testing an unfinished product.
Thats the epitome of stupidity.
AMEN!
I disagree. They wanted to open their game up to the general public to ask for money before it's complete, then this is what comes with that. And people aren't wrong for criticizing it. It doesn't matter what people "need to realize" about the state of development. That argument would work if this was a free and open alpha, but it's not. If you want money, you need to provide a value. If someone doesn't feel they got that value, they have a right to express that.
Don't want to see doom and gloom? Don't try to sell your incomplete product. Their transparency is the disclaimer so people know what they are getting into, but it has nothing to do with their opinions about what they bought.
Everyone is allowed criticism, of course. The doom and gloom seems to typically come from people who expected something that was never promised. From everything I have seen, TR has been completely up front in what is happening and that paying for this means paying for an unfinished product. It's no wonder people get sick of the doom and gloom, when it comes from people going into things eyes wide shut.
Man I feel for you Repop guys having to sift through so much ignorance in a single thread.
I can't believe I've read numerous times in one post, that simply because you PREPURCHASED something (which mind you, doesn't yet exist as a finished product), regardless if its in an alpha test state, that developers should somehow be held to a higher standard even though it said ALPHA on what you purchased and it included warnings not to buy if you don't enjoy testing an unfinished product.
Thats the epitome of stupidity.
Can't believe I read through this whole thread but this post is the only one worth reading.
What a sad sad state MMO's are in these days. Thanks to the apologists.
Everyone would say 'hey you purchased a beta so you don't have right to criticise it'. But no one will say 'hey devs stop selling betas and alphas to players'.
The problem are players who wouldn't stop defending and apologising for gaming companies. these are the people who are the biggest roadblock when it comes to games getting better in future.
What a sad sad state MMO's are in these days. Thanks to the apologists.
Everyone would say 'hey you purchased a beta so you don't have right to criticise it'. But no one will say 'hey devs stop selling betas and alphas to players'.
The problem are players who wouldn't stop defending and apologising for gaming companies. these are the people who are the biggest roadblock when it comes to games getting better in future.
I can understand the sentiment behind what you are saying, but for me it seems the Paid Alpha/Beta situation is a long way along the evolutionary chain from where things have gone wrong.
I take criticism of a Beta/Alpha for what it's worth: Thoughts about something at a certain stage of development. I tend to think that there will be less change to the end user's perspective in the final final than there is on the sausage maker's side. SO criticism at this stage is valid imo.
...If you Hate something now, you will probably still hate it in final release. There are things about Repopulation that I know people hate, but to me those aspects are treasured jewels (not talking about bugs). For those who wanted something like this game it is the gift horse.
It's about as close as a new game is going to get to having the things I liked about old games in it. I have no interest in MOBAs or Console to PC Ports. So I just decided to reduce my patronage of MMOs and go back to Pen and Paper with Virtual Tools.
So for me I applaud your desire to hold producers to high standards, but I'm less enthusiastic about your chances at making any change. The Market has spoken, and out of it's malformed sugary-drool lips have come the words....LOLWoWSWTORHEARTHSTONE huhuhuhuh.
MMORPG players are often like Hobbits: They don't like Adventures
This is just false. There are huge patches every 3 or so weeks. Things got messed up in scheduling with the Steam release, but we had a patch a few weeks ago and we're expecting 15.1.1 within the week.
They stated prior to purchase that this is an alpha. I think it's perfectly valid to say "hey, it's only an Alpha". If we use the term Alpha and Beta as its meant to be, then they haven't stated anything untrue right now.
The issue is a lot of companies use beta now as a marketing gimmick, not to actually bug test their product. The game needs a lot of work, but I'm not mad, because it's only an Alpha
Except what does ALPHA actually mean?
When a animator sits down to make an animation ,does he say "well this is Alpha so i will make an inferior animation?".
You see where i am going with this,these guys are suppose to be professionals,not one single aspect of game designs says ok we are going to make inferior assets,inferior sounds,inferior animations, no they are suppose to be skilled at their trade.
What PHASES of development mean to me,are just that phases,NEVER does it make an excuse to make inferior aspects of the game.It means some aspects are not even done or started yet,it means there will be bugs,it means we still have races and mobs and npc's to make,quests to add,sounds and textures to make.However never does it mean ok Joe Slep lets make some crap sounds and ugly textures because it is only Alpha or Beta or whatever other phase.
I hope i made sense,i am not always good at portraying my thoughts into words but i think i made it clear.
PS ..This in no way relates to what i think of the game personally because i have no idea at all,i am just making a point because i hear the Alpha/Beta phase argument all the time.
If it hasn't already been mentioned....you bring up a very interesting and valid point that maybe should be used going foreward. I can not agree more but have to be honest that I never really thought of it in that perspective, but it makes simple and perfect sense. Maybe this is our litmus test for future games...
Except most of these games are developed by making multiple iteration passes in each area refining them each time. First a basic animation as a place holder for testing other aspects such as server tracking movement, next iteration a more advanced animation closer to what the end product desired, next pass to polish glitches that don't play out well or correct timing. These iteration passes can become significant. The most polished games are developed this way. More passes, more polish.
just like a writer never sits down and writes a best seller in the first draft. Many passes and iterations.
@Jairus: Population typically ranges between 175-650 players. More on the weekends than weeknights of course. At around 4AM after the reset populations tend to dip low on the late servers, with people playing on the other time zones. Once Silver Membership is open we expect those to increase significantly, but it won't open until after the patch.
As for if it's worth it right now. That is going to vary from person to person. You range from people who are completely sold on the game, to players who completely hate it. Then you have people in between who like the potential but don't like playing an unfinished game. It's significantly more positive than negative, however. I'd suggest players who consider buying read the reviews on Steam or web sites (there are quite a few of them) to help determine if it's worth it to them or not.
@Jairus: Population typically ranges between 175-650 players. More on the weekends than weeknights of course. At around 4AM after the reset populations tend to dip low on the late servers, with people playing on the other time zones. Once Silver Membership is open we expect those to increase significantly, but it won't open until after the patch.
As for if it's worth it right now. That is going to vary from person to person. You range from people who are completely sold on the game, to players who completely hate it. Then you have people in between who like the potential but don't like playing an unfinished game. It's significantly more positive than negative, however. I'd suggest players who consider buying read the reviews on Steam or web sites (there are quite a few of them) to help determine if it's worth it to them or not.
that is only steam players though? Me and alot of others for example isnt using steam.
if you have the game why don't you just check the numbers yourself? The steam chart is actually showing all server populations together( or anyone who plays through steam ). the game is doomed at this rate. the crafting needs to be less dependent on others and pve needs more rewards. sorry but this game is going the way of perpetuum; empty of players other then a few die hard fans.
the majority of players are using steam from my counts.
@Jairus: Population typically ranges between 175-650 players. More on the weekends than weeknights of course. At around 4AM after the reset populations tend to dip low on the late servers, with people playing on the other time zones. Once Silver Membership is open we expect those to increase significantly, but it won't open until after the patch.
As for if it's worth it right now. That is going to vary from person to person. You range from people who are completely sold on the game, to players who completely hate it. Then you have people in between who like the potential but don't like playing an unfinished game. It's significantly more positive than negative, however. I'd suggest players who consider buying read the reviews on Steam or web sites (there are quite a few of them) to help determine if it's worth it to them or not.
Even now with the $20 option the game is still a ghost town. might need to rethink some things.
I was told in game that everything is perfect and that I should go back to WoW.
I don't see free players staying with the game because it is ugly and very repetitive.
The crafting is stupidly complex and you have no idea where to begin unless you have friends that already know or you search for web pages that explain it.
Only 1/3 of the game area is PvE, everything else is contested and you can get ganked. :P
People are dreaming this is SWG 2.0 but it really isn't at all.
I bet The Repopulation will either die or get bought by a Chinese company like Gpotato and turned into a cash shop grinder.
The Steamchart numbers are Steam players only, and do not count anyone who uses the standalone client. There certainly aren't huge numbers of players at the moment though, the game is in alpha testing. Unless your doing a weekend event, you often aren't going to have huge number of players online.
Those numbers compare favorably to the other Early Access MMORPGS:
It's tough for players to play a game day in and day out in testing when they know their characters will be wiped, and they are playing an incomplete game which still has plenty of bugs to squash. It's a game that requires a reasonable time investment, and it's hard for many to invest that time and see their characters wiped. I wouldn't think that would spike too high though until the game reaches open beta or launch.
@ThompsonSub: While we certainly wouldn't condone people telling you that, I do think if you start griping in general chat that is often the response you'll receive. Repop certainly won't be a game for everyone. Most players do see the SWG comparisons, its brought up again and again by players. But it's also its own game and implemented quite differently. It's not an easy mode game, it requires some thinking and learning the systems, which will turn off some players, while appealing to others. I think when players receive that type of feedback from others the basic message is that there are plenty of games like WoW and not many games like this. If you want that style of gameplay then this probably will not be the game for you. I think you see that in the Reviews on Steam. While most of the reviews are positive, the players who dislike the game really dislike it. It just isn't for them, which is fine we accept that. It isn't a game that will appeal to everyone.
My main complaints of the Repopulation was the clunkiness of combat and the overly complex crafting/item system with a bad interface/UI.
If the interface/UI was better, the complex crafting system would be complimented by it. Instead, the UI/interface/tooltips are very clunky and you need to do 753783 hours of research just to figure out how to craft one nail for an entire machine. (Exaggerated example)
That is the heart of the problem, the game requires too much outside/inside information to be any fun for new players.
A free to play model for this game is a recipe for disaster.
Free players just won't stay for a tiny bit of SWG and a whole lotta confusing grind.
The design of the economy is going to create grinder guilds that will control every resource and craft the best gear for themselves exclusively while the rest of the player base stumbles along and gets tired of not being able to compete.
I had to compete for resources in the Alpha with hardly any players around imagine what that will be like if the game gets any population.
Only way I can see this surviving is if there are a few hundred very large whales that dump a constant stream of money into the game, ala Entropia. Not really seeing that happen given how dull and ugly the game is and no pay out like Entropia.
I had to compete for resources in the Alpha with hardly any players around imagine what that will be like if the game gets any population.
You make a lot of assumptions based on your own opinions. The resources, camps and other content in this game scale by the number of players automatically. So more players = more resources, more mobs. And while you keep harping how the game isn't much like SWG, you seem to be in the minority. An article this morning: http://www.onrpg.com/articles/editorial/the-repopulation-2015-beta-impressions/ disagrees with that notion, as do the vast majority of reviews on Steam. While the complexity and such may be a turn off to some players (yourself included), it is a draw to others.
I also think the assumption that F2P players won't like a grindy game is again, based on your personal dislike for it. Games will appeal to roughly the same percentage of fans regardless of model type. Players will either like the mechanics, or they won't. What F2P does though is exposes the game to many more players who would not have tried the game previously. If players like it they will stay, if they don't they will move on. F2P ensures that many players try the game though, and from there the honus is on the game to keep them. Repop is a game designed for longer term players. The reality is that most F2P MMOs are very wow-esque and their churn rates are incredibly high. That's not the players we are targeting. Repop is designed to be a social game that keeps players coming back. It won't appeal to as many players as a standard theme park, but those who it does appeal to will play longer on average.
The game is in alpha. Some things are placeholder or works in progress. The two most common complaints other than the complexity issues are UI and graphics, and as we've already stated those are things that are being worked on. There is an entirely new UI coming in the patch after next, and graphical improvements in each patch. While that may be less noticeable to FPR players, OWON players have already seen a ton of work in that regard. Those are things that will be improved.
Mechanics wise the game isn't going to change much though. It's always going to be more complex than most other MMOs. It's always going to be crafter centric. We'll streamline those features to make them as accessible as possible, but if your issue is with things like the reliance on other players, or on the gameplay being different from most other MMOs, then this just won't be the game for you.
I had to compete for resources in the Alpha with hardly any players around imagine what that will be like if the game gets any population.
You make a lot of assumptions based on your own opinions. The resources, camps and other content in this game scale by the number of players automatically. So more players = more resources, more mobs. And while you keep harping how the game isn't much like SWG, you seem to be in the minority. An article this morning: http://www.onrpg.com/articles/editorial/the-repopulation-2015-beta-impressions/ disagrees with that notion, as do the vast majority of reviews on Steam. While the complexity and such may be a turn off to some players (yourself included), it is a draw to others.
I also think the assumption that F2P players won't like a grindy game is again, based on your personal dislike for it. Games will appeal to roughly the same percentage of fans regardless of model type. Players will either like the mechanics, or they won't. What F2P does though is exposes the game to many more players who would not have tried the game previously. If players like it they will stay, if they don't they will move on. F2P ensures that many players try the game though, and from there the honus is on the game to keep them. Repop is a game designed for longer term players. The reality is that most F2P MMOs are very wow-esque and their churn rates are incredibly high. That's not the players we are targeting. Repop is designed to be a social game that keeps players coming back. It won't appeal to as many players as a standard theme park, but those who it does appeal to will play longer on average.
The game is in alpha. Some things are placeholder or works in progress. The two most common complaints other than the complexity issues are UI and graphics, and as we've already stated those are things that are being worked on. There is an entirely new UI coming in the patch after next, and graphical improvements in each patch. While that may be less noticeable to FPR players, OWON players have already seen a ton of work in that regard. Those are things that will be improved.
Mechanics wise the game isn't going to change much though. It's always going to be more complex than most other MMOs. It's always going to be crafter centric. We'll streamline those features to make them as accessible as possible, but if your issue is with things like the reliance on other players, or on the gameplay being different from most other MMOs, then this just won't be the game for you.
no offense dev/CM whatever but your game is about as close to SWG as wow is to EQ. SWG had fun engaging crafting systems you guys systems are overly complex and tedious. I wont knock the graphics as I do not think graphics lead to fun and Im not dissing your game but like the poster you are replying to I quickly got a refund the second I read up on the crafting complexity and seen it in game myself. I bought this game based on your videos on your website and steam and within a hour I was already wishing I didnt make the purchase. You guys are going to need to do something serious with crafting or your game is just going to have a small niche community. Heck I remember even being killed after stepping out of town a small distance and that overall is not fun at all either. You guys do this game for a living but I think you are all sadly mistaken if you think that players are going to want to have to devote most of their day away to progress having families and jobs of their own and having to setup trading for parts for a overly complex crafting system. I think you guys really need to look at some of the sandbox survival games that are multi and single player for a better system.
You guys are going to need to do something serious with crafting or your game is just going to have a small niche community.
I think most crafters once they have spent some time with the crafting system find it to not be all that difficult. The initial learning curve (on most of the games features) is high. Once you get past that you will find that it isn't so tough.
I quoted this section because that's something that needs clarification. If by small, niche, you mean the game will only appeal to a smaller subset of gamers, and not in the mainstream. That is absolutely what we expect. We aren't trying to make the next WoW here. Too many games have made similar approaches and then the money behind the game changed things up either in beta or post-launch to try to appeal to more players, and then wound up losing the player base they had. We know what our target audience is, and we also know there aren't many other games out there that cater to them. By going that route we will appeal to a smaller percentage of players, but we feel that the players who we do appeal to will stick around longer. Going to quote a post I made when a similar concern was brought up on our site with a player wondering if F2P would be able to enjoy Repop (and speculating if it should instead be subscription). But it is relevant to this thread.
I think that's where people don't look a things in the right way. F2P will bring in a bunch of players. They will try the game. That doesn't mean it will be for all of them. Basically you have a certain demographic of players who will love this game. And then you have another demographic that won't. Being a complex sandbox, it's going to appeal to less players. However, those who it does appeal to will play for longer.
For examples sake. Let's say the game gets 1M players to try it. It's free why not? There is a lot of data on F2P MMOs out there and almost all of it is based on theme park games because that is what there are a lot of. There is a lot of history on this now, and it's known that only 20% of players will still be playing a month later on average. If you fast forward a year later and only 3% of new players who try your game will ever log in a month or more afterwards. The churn rate on F2P MMOs is very heavy in general. But that data is almost entirely from mainstream theme park games, because that is typically what is out there. That is a big problem for F2P games. Players play a game to get a feel then move on the minute they get bored to something else, because there are so many similar titles in most cases.
For a game like Repop, your going to initially appeal to a smaller number of players. That's a given. Even though that number may be less on players who are still playing a day later (because the people who dislike the game will hate it and won't last more than a few hours), the players who continue playing should have a higher long term retention rate than a more mainstream title. There aren't many similar titles, so the players who enjoy the game are less likely to jump ship to another similar title, because there just aren't many similar titles out there.
The bottom line though is F2P ensure players try your game. If you have a more niche title, the challenge is getting the players to try in the first place. After that the honus is on you to keep them. Appealing to more players out of the box doesn't ensure that it will be more successful, because the retention rates are so low. At the end of the day there is really no difference between 10,000 players, 100,000 players or 1,000,000 players from the players standpoint unless the game is completely instanced. You are limited by how many players can play on a single server. More players just equates to more servers. From the developer standpoint sure you want more players because it equates to more money, but that is all relative to how much money you are spending. From a players standpoint, that shouldn't matter. All that should matter is that you have enough players to support the number of servers.
I really think this happened after WoW. Prior to WoW if a game had 50,000 players it was quite successful. WoW brought such insane numbers that players suddenly compare everything to it. Then you have many F2P titles boasting number of registered players, because it makes a great press release. SoandSo now has 5 million registered players. Truth is maybe 50k of them are still playing, but its done for marketing purposes. A game like Wildstar has over a hundred thousand players and its used as a cautionary tale. But the truth is the reason games like Wildstar are viewed as disappointments have more to do with their budget than anything else. There are games out there with a few thousand players which are getting along just fine. And many games that fall within the 20k-200k range which are quite successful. It just depends on the size of your overhead, and having enough players to support the number of servers you have.
Comments
Uhh, different ruleset servers?
There's no PVE servers planned, unless anything's changed since I stopped reading their forums. It's just a choice between mainly PvP with some limited PvE areas, or hardcore forced PvP servers This is the reason why many people including myself lost interest once they found out it didn't have much in common with SWG after all.
I disagree. They wanted to open their game up to the general public to ask for money before it's complete, then this is what comes with that. And people aren't wrong for criticizing it. It doesn't matter what people "need to realize" about the state of development. That argument would work if this was a free and open alpha, but it's not. If you want money, you need to provide a value. If someone doesn't feel they got that value, they have a right to express that.
Don't want to see doom and gloom? Don't try to sell your incomplete product. Their transparency is the disclaimer so people know what they are getting into, but it has nothing to do with their opinions about what they bought.
Each faction has like 64km of protected area where no one can attack you. Than there is a contested zone where you can get attacked at any time. You don't loose your loot on this ruleset afaik. Even WoW was harsher than this last time I played it.....
Everyone is allowed criticism, of course. The doom and gloom seems to typically come from people who expected something that was never promised. From everything I have seen, TR has been completely up front in what is happening and that paying for this means paying for an unfinished product. It's no wonder people get sick of the doom and gloom, when it comes from people going into things eyes wide shut.
Can't believe I read through this whole thread but this post is the only one worth reading.
What a sad sad state MMO's are in these days. Thanks to the apologists.
Everyone would say 'hey you purchased a beta so you don't have right to criticise it'. But no one will say 'hey devs stop selling betas and alphas to players'.
The problem are players who wouldn't stop defending and apologising for gaming companies. these are the people who are the biggest roadblock when it comes to games getting better in future.
I can understand the sentiment behind what you are saying, but for me it seems the Paid Alpha/Beta situation is a long way along the evolutionary chain from where things have gone wrong.
I take criticism of a Beta/Alpha for what it's worth: Thoughts about something at a certain stage of development. I tend to think that there will be less change to the end user's perspective in the final final than there is on the sausage maker's side. SO criticism at this stage is valid imo.
...If you Hate something now, you will probably still hate it in final release. There are things about Repopulation that I know people hate, but to me those aspects are treasured jewels (not talking about bugs). For those who wanted something like this game it is the gift horse.
It's about as close as a new game is going to get to having the things I liked about old games in it. I have no interest in MOBAs or Console to PC Ports. So I just decided to reduce my patronage of MMOs and go back to Pen and Paper with Virtual Tools.
So for me I applaud your desire to hold producers to high standards, but I'm less enthusiastic about your chances at making any change. The Market has spoken, and out of it's malformed sugary-drool lips have come the words....LOLWoWSWTORHEARTHSTONE huhuhuhuh.
This is just false. There are huge patches every 3 or so weeks. Things got messed up in scheduling with the Steam release, but we had a patch a few weeks ago and we're expecting 15.1.1 within the week.
Look before you leap: https://www.therepopulation.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=28
If it hasn't already been mentioned....you bring up a very interesting and valid point that maybe should be used going foreward. I can not agree more but have to be honest that I never really thought of it in that perspective, but it makes simple and perfect sense. Maybe this is our litmus test for future games...
Except most of these games are developed by making multiple iteration passes in each area refining them each time. First a basic animation as a place holder for testing other aspects such as server tracking movement, next iteration a more advanced animation closer to what the end product desired, next pass to polish glitches that don't play out well or correct timing. These iteration passes can become significant. The most polished games are developed this way. More passes, more polish.
just like a writer never sits down and writes a best seller in the first draft. Many passes and iterations.
http://steamcharts.com/app/322300
Even now with the $20 option the game is still a ghost town. might need to rethink some things.
That is only steam players though? Me and alot of others for example isnt using steam.
if you have the game why don't you just check the numbers yourself? The steam chart is actually showing all server populations together( or anyone who plays through steam ). the game is doomed at this rate. the crafting needs to be less dependent on others and pve needs more rewards. sorry but this game is going the way of perpetuum; empty of players other then a few die hard fans.
the majority of players are using steam from my counts.
I was told in game that everything is perfect and that I should go back to WoW.
I don't see free players staying with the game because it is ugly and very repetitive.
The crafting is stupidly complex and you have no idea where to begin unless you have friends that already know or you search for web pages that explain it.
Only 1/3 of the game area is PvE, everything else is contested and you can get ganked. :P
People are dreaming this is SWG 2.0 but it really isn't at all.
I bet The Repopulation will either die or get bought by a Chinese company like Gpotato and turned into a cash shop grinder.
The Steamchart numbers are Steam players only, and do not count anyone who uses the standalone client. There certainly aren't huge numbers of players at the moment though, the game is in alpha testing. Unless your doing a weekend event, you often aren't going to have huge number of players online.
Those numbers compare favorably to the other Early Access MMORPGS:
Shroud of the Avatar: http://steamcharts.com/app/326160
Landmark http://steamcharts.com/app/297810
Xyson: http://steamcharts.com/app/297470
Ascent: http://steamcharts.com/app/345010
Line of Defense: http://steamcharts.com/app/266620
Oort Online: http://steamcharts.com/app/324510
It's tough for players to play a game day in and day out in testing when they know their characters will be wiped, and they are playing an incomplete game which still has plenty of bugs to squash. It's a game that requires a reasonable time investment, and it's hard for many to invest that time and see their characters wiped. I wouldn't think that would spike too high though until the game reaches open beta or launch.
@ThompsonSub: While we certainly wouldn't condone people telling you that, I do think if you start griping in general chat that is often the response you'll receive. Repop certainly won't be a game for everyone. Most players do see the SWG comparisons, its brought up again and again by players. But it's also its own game and implemented quite differently. It's not an easy mode game, it requires some thinking and learning the systems, which will turn off some players, while appealing to others. I think when players receive that type of feedback from others the basic message is that there are plenty of games like WoW and not many games like this. If you want that style of gameplay then this probably will not be the game for you. I think you see that in the Reviews on Steam. While most of the reviews are positive, the players who dislike the game really dislike it. It just isn't for them, which is fine we accept that. It isn't a game that will appeal to everyone.
https://www.therepopulation.com - Sci Fi Sandbox.
Allow me to reiterate:
"I bet The Repopulation will either die or get bought by a Chinese company like Gpotato and turned into a cash shop grinder."
Unless you clean it up, give it decent graphics, and make it more accessible it's headed for an early grave.
They get it, the game is not made for you...
GPotato (US) was GalaNet (EU) and is now Webzen (KR).
Point taken, but the original point being a company that gobbles up games and destroys them for a profit.
That is the heart of the problem, the game requires too much outside/inside information to be any fun for new players.
A free to play model for this game is a recipe for disaster.
Free players just won't stay for a tiny bit of SWG and a whole lotta confusing grind.
The design of the economy is going to create grinder guilds that will control every resource and craft the best gear for themselves exclusively while the rest of the player base stumbles along and gets tired of not being able to compete.
I had to compete for resources in the Alpha with hardly any players around imagine what that will be like if the game gets any population.
Only way I can see this surviving is if there are a few hundred very large whales that dump a constant stream of money into the game, ala Entropia. Not really seeing that happen given how dull and ugly the game is and no pay out like Entropia.
You make a lot of assumptions based on your own opinions. The resources, camps and other content in this game scale by the number of players automatically. So more players = more resources, more mobs. And while you keep harping how the game isn't much like SWG, you seem to be in the minority. An article this morning: http://www.onrpg.com/articles/editorial/the-repopulation-2015-beta-impressions/ disagrees with that notion, as do the vast majority of reviews on Steam. While the complexity and such may be a turn off to some players (yourself included), it is a draw to others.
I also think the assumption that F2P players won't like a grindy game is again, based on your personal dislike for it. Games will appeal to roughly the same percentage of fans regardless of model type. Players will either like the mechanics, or they won't. What F2P does though is exposes the game to many more players who would not have tried the game previously. If players like it they will stay, if they don't they will move on. F2P ensures that many players try the game though, and from there the honus is on the game to keep them. Repop is a game designed for longer term players. The reality is that most F2P MMOs are very wow-esque and their churn rates are incredibly high. That's not the players we are targeting. Repop is designed to be a social game that keeps players coming back. It won't appeal to as many players as a standard theme park, but those who it does appeal to will play longer on average.
The game is in alpha. Some things are placeholder or works in progress. The two most common complaints other than the complexity issues are UI and graphics, and as we've already stated those are things that are being worked on. There is an entirely new UI coming in the patch after next, and graphical improvements in each patch. While that may be less noticeable to FPR players, OWON players have already seen a ton of work in that regard. Those are things that will be improved.
Mechanics wise the game isn't going to change much though. It's always going to be more complex than most other MMOs. It's always going to be crafter centric. We'll streamline those features to make them as accessible as possible, but if your issue is with things like the reliance on other players, or on the gameplay being different from most other MMOs, then this just won't be the game for you.
https://www.therepopulation.com - Sci Fi Sandbox.
no offense dev/CM whatever but your game is about as close to SWG as wow is to EQ. SWG had fun engaging crafting systems you guys systems are overly complex and tedious. I wont knock the graphics as I do not think graphics lead to fun and Im not dissing your game but like the poster you are replying to I quickly got a refund the second I read up on the crafting complexity and seen it in game myself. I bought this game based on your videos on your website and steam and within a hour I was already wishing I didnt make the purchase. You guys are going to need to do something serious with crafting or your game is just going to have a small niche community. Heck I remember even being killed after stepping out of town a small distance and that overall is not fun at all either. You guys do this game for a living but I think you are all sadly mistaken if you think that players are going to want to have to devote most of their day away to progress having families and jobs of their own and having to setup trading for parts for a overly complex crafting system. I think you guys really need to look at some of the sandbox survival games that are multi and single player for a better system.
I think most crafters once they have spent some time with the crafting system find it to not be all that difficult. The initial learning curve (on most of the games features) is high. Once you get past that you will find that it isn't so tough.
I quoted this section because that's something that needs clarification. If by small, niche, you mean the game will only appeal to a smaller subset of gamers, and not in the mainstream. That is absolutely what we expect. We aren't trying to make the next WoW here. Too many games have made similar approaches and then the money behind the game changed things up either in beta or post-launch to try to appeal to more players, and then wound up losing the player base they had. We know what our target audience is, and we also know there aren't many other games out there that cater to them. By going that route we will appeal to a smaller percentage of players, but we feel that the players who we do appeal to will stick around longer. Going to quote a post I made when a similar concern was brought up on our site with a player wondering if F2P would be able to enjoy Repop (and speculating if it should instead be subscription). But it is relevant to this thread.
I think that's where people don't look a things in the right way. F2P will bring in a bunch of players. They will try the game. That doesn't mean it will be for all of them. Basically you have a certain demographic of players who will love this game. And then you have another demographic that won't. Being a complex sandbox, it's going to appeal to less players. However, those who it does appeal to will play for longer.
For examples sake. Let's say the game gets 1M players to try it. It's free why not? There is a lot of data on F2P MMOs out there and almost all of it is based on theme park games because that is what there are a lot of. There is a lot of history on this now, and it's known that only 20% of players will still be playing a month later on average. If you fast forward a year later and only 3% of new players who try your game will ever log in a month or more afterwards. The churn rate on F2P MMOs is very heavy in general. But that data is almost entirely from mainstream theme park games, because that is typically what is out there. That is a big problem for F2P games. Players play a game to get a feel then move on the minute they get bored to something else, because there are so many similar titles in most cases.
For a game like Repop, your going to initially appeal to a smaller number of players. That's a given. Even though that number may be less on players who are still playing a day later (because the people who dislike the game will hate it and won't last more than a few hours), the players who continue playing should have a higher long term retention rate than a more mainstream title. There aren't many similar titles, so the players who enjoy the game are less likely to jump ship to another similar title, because there just aren't many similar titles out there.
The bottom line though is F2P ensure players try your game. If you have a more niche title, the challenge is getting the players to try in the first place. After that the honus is on you to keep them. Appealing to more players out of the box doesn't ensure that it will be more successful, because the retention rates are so low. At the end of the day there is really no difference between 10,000 players, 100,000 players or 1,000,000 players from the players standpoint unless the game is completely instanced. You are limited by how many players can play on a single server. More players just equates to more servers. From the developer standpoint sure you want more players because it equates to more money, but that is all relative to how much money you are spending. From a players standpoint, that shouldn't matter. All that should matter is that you have enough players to support the number of servers.
I really think this happened after WoW. Prior to WoW if a game had 50,000 players it was quite successful. WoW brought such insane numbers that players suddenly compare everything to it. Then you have many F2P titles boasting number of registered players, because it makes a great press release. SoandSo now has 5 million registered players. Truth is maybe 50k of them are still playing, but its done for marketing purposes. A game like Wildstar has over a hundred thousand players and its used as a cautionary tale. But the truth is the reason games like Wildstar are viewed as disappointments have more to do with their budget than anything else. There are games out there with a few thousand players which are getting along just fine. And many games that fall within the 20k-200k range which are quite successful. It just depends on the size of your overhead, and having enough players to support the number of servers you have.
https://www.therepopulation.com - Sci Fi Sandbox.