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Alpha Postponed. Thoughts:


Shockeray

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I wouldn't have really minded if they had postponed the Alpha, because game development is game development, and things don't always go as planned. That being said, it's really great to see that NQ is committed to keeping their promises as best they can, and I'm definitely excited to get a chance to actually play the game. 

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I'm glad they chose not to delay again since I think that would have done more harm than good to the community and the game as a whole. At this point, many people are skeptical of the game and having another delay would have only increased that skepticism. The fact that they want us to actually sign an NDA now rather than just having an implied NDA says there might be some serious bugs, but I do think it's a smart decision (I did argue for that very move elsewhere). 

 

Overall, I'm glad to have a date and that the period of just sitting around waiting is coming to an end. I can't wait to play and help test. 

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Honestly i dont really view this as delaying anything. In my eyes what they are describing as a "pre-alpha" was exactly my expectation for alpha. When they released the dev diary saying they wanted a game loop etc in alpha i thought of it as them giving a pre-release vibe to alpha. All in all i understand why NQ is doing this. With the game having a healthy amount of skepticism around it already and the rapidly changing idea in the game community to what an alpha is(the lines between alpha, beta, pre-release are pretty blurry now), i see why they are afraid to release what i would consider to be a real alpha without an NDA.

 

TLDR; This was exactly my expectation so yay!

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I agree with you guys are saying. I didn't expect much more from alpha, the only thing that I am disappointing about is the lack of 24/7 availability which will make it harder to fit into a standard working schedule. I am glad they thy have decided to have a stand in for the alpha instead of just moving it back several move weeks or months. It would be for the best to make sure that certain gameplay elements are available before the Alpha 1 is started (hopefully some early form of groups at least).

EDIT: But it still is a postponement, imo. Alpha 1 is being moved back regardless of what they are replacing it with. (I am not saying I'm disappointed with what we are getting through the pre-alpha, it just doesn't change the fact that the alpha is being moved back.)

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English (Translator used)

 

Hello NQ,
I think it is great that you take the player community into the tests (many eyes see more). Even if it is a pity we have to wait another 3 weeks.

The one or the other tip from the player community will advance the development and lead to a more stable game. This is best if you work with the software and do not just think about theoretical considerations. I think everything will be fine.

 

 

German (orginal)

 

Hallo NQ,

ich finde es toll, das Ihr die Spielergemeinschaft mit in die Tests aufnehmt (viele Augen sehen mehr). Auch wenn es schade ist das wir noch weitere 3 Wochen warten müssen.

 

Der ein oder andere Tip aus der Spielergemeinschaft wird die Entwicklung vorrantreiben und so zu einem stabieleren Spiel führen. Das geht am besten wenn man mit der Software arbeitet und nicht nur darüber theoretissche Betrachtungen anstellt. Ich denke so wird alles Gut.

 

 

mfG Die Waldfee

 

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We get all pre-alpha instead. Though tbh they could have easily called it an alpha and we would all be just as happy just running around a bit in Dual Universe.

 

Looking forward to 30 September ;)

 

 

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Seems like ATV won't be getting their private pre-alpha access by the sound of it since it's being made public for all, or is that something still planned?

 

Anyways, I don't mind this development. I feel like it might actually be something positive since NQ will have a heavier and more natural load to test their technology out as opposed to artificial loads. Not to mention more independent testers giving a wealth of information and insight that they wouldn't get out of their privately testing the game.

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Releasing the pre-alpha is not a good idea, The plan to require a signed NDA will only hold up for so long and footage and play will be on the net soon enough. I'd much rather see NQ wait until they are ready. This is exactly the move that will cause problems IMO.. I hope not,  but pretty sure it will.. Too much resources needed to support and police the NDA..

 

Just wait and bring us the actual alpha.. 

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31 minutes ago, blazemonger said:

 

Releasing the pre-alpha is not a good idea, The plan to require a signed NDA will only hold up for so long and footage and play will be on the net soon enough. I'd much rather see NQ wait until they are ready. This is exactly the move that will cause problems IMO.. I hope not,  but pretty sure it will.. Too much resources needed to support and police the NDA..

 

Just wait and bring us the actual alpha.. 

Pre-Alpha will likely by around 100-200 players at most I would guess. So not sure I agree that it'll take too much resources trying to police anything. It sounds like more of a trusting in us honor system more than a hard set NDA anyways. Leaks happen always do but main focus will be letting players in the game and starting the process of getting feedback and data.

 

Bottom line, having a Pre-Alpha first should make the Alpha that much more smoother when that phase does begin. This delay might just be a blessing in disguise so to speak.

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4 minutes ago, Lethys said:

Actually I think there are more than 1500 Gold and above backers

Even so that's a relatively small number to have to worry about and use extra resources to police like the other poster was worrying about. Point being I think it was more important for NQ to begin the process of testing and getting usable data. I just doubt they are going to be that worried about leaks that it would somehow effect the progress of the game.

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4 hours ago, Shockeray said:

I just wanted to see what you guys thought about the post by NQ-Nomad in:

 

I don't really see the problem. They have shown us a lot of what they have done, and they are making remarkable progress. Even if it is 'postponed' it would be premature to say anything at this point, especially all the progress that has already been made. 

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33 minutes ago, Pang_Dread said:

Even so that's a relatively small number to have to worry about and use extra resources to police like the other poster was worrying about. Point being I think it was more important for NQ to begin the process of testing and getting usable data. I just doubt they are going to be that worried about leaks that it would somehow effect the progress of the game.

 

Well a NDA is a serious contract and I really do hope they enforce it properly. 

People get excited now and even more once the game starts, so there may be leaks of a very buggy game which is bad PR in these times because people are idiots. 

 

To me this post from nomad sounded like they felt obliged to trust us with an NDA and the alpha because they didn't want to postpone it again, not because they want to test DU. It sounded like they fear bad press more than everything else (quite understandable) so I really do hope they enforce that NDA by all means. Bad press is the worst thing that can happen now, as DU needs to bind consumers for a long time (subscription) and in orser to do that they need all the positive feedback and press they can get. Some idiots ranting on youtube aren't exactly helping. Only because we long term members, who witness the work of NQ every day and their openness with the community, know that DU will work and that it'll be a great game, doesn't mean everyone gets that after seeing a buggy video or screens from an alpha

 

Anyway, I hope this community isn't a letdown in this regard and values the (possible) NDA as highly as NQ trusts us.

 

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5 minutes ago, Lethys said:

 

Well a NDA is a serious contract and I really do hope they enforce it properly. 

People get excited now and even more once the game starts, so there may be leaks of a very buggy game which is bad PR in these times because people are idiots. 

 

To me this post from nomad sounded like they felt obliged to trust us with an NDA and the alpha because they didn't want to postpone it again, not because they want to test DU. It sounded like they fear bad press more than everything else (quite understandable) so I really do hope they enforce that NDA by all means. Bad press is the worst thing that can happen now, as DU needs to bind consumers for a long time (subscription) and in orser to do that they need all the positive feedback and press they can get. Some idiots ranting on youtube aren't exactly helping

 

Anyway, I hope this community isn't a letdown in this regard and values the (possible) NDA as highly as NQ trusts us.

 

 

Then again, playing devil's advocate here, if we assume that footage will leak and people will rant about it, wouldn't it be better to let all the other people having wonderful, positive experiences speak too be a good thing? The best way to drown out 'bad speech' is with more good speech

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19 minutes ago, Lethys said:

 

Well a NDA is a serious contract and I really do hope they enforce it properly. 

People get excited now and even more once the game starts, so there may be leaks of a very buggy game which is bad PR in these times because people are idiots. 

 

To me this post from nomad sounded like they felt obliged to trust us with an NDA and the alpha because they didn't want to postpone it again, not because they want to test DU. It sounded like they fear bad press more than everything else (quite understandable) so I really do hope they enforce that NDA by all means. Bad press is the worst thing that can happen now, as DU needs to bind consumers for a long time (subscription) and in orser to do that they need all the positive feedback and press they can get. Some idiots ranting on youtube aren't exactly helping. Only because we long term members, who witness the work of NQ every day and their openness with the community, know that DU will work and that it'll be a great game, doesn't mean everyone gets that after seeing a buggy video or screens from an alpha

 

Anyway, I hope this community isn't a letdown in this regard and values the (possible) NDA as highly as NQ trusts us.

 

Well the point of any kind of Alpha is to test the game and get feedback and data. Regardless if they felt obliged to get in in our hands asap. They wouldn't (I hope) do it JUST to say they did it. I don't take NQ as they type of Dev to do stuff just for show and to placate players. Testing is testing regardless of phase or amount of participation

 

To repeat my point, while yes an NDA should be taken seriously, I don't think it'll be a waste of resources and bad for the game like the poster I first quoted was suggesting. Now if they kept the NDA on for the whole testing process until open Beta close to launch then sure it'll get more and more taxing for them but as the statement suggests the NDA will only be for this presumably short Pre-Alpha phase until they are ready for the Alpha stage.

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In the spirit of transparency, was there any mention of why the official Alpha was postponed? Or, I guess more specifically, why they are behind their original planned schedule?

 

The post mentioned some items aren't completed that were needed for a true Alpha release, but didn't seem to say why those items haven't been completed. Did feature developments take longer than anticipated, things broke and not enough time for fixing was allocated, limited staff put them behind schedule?

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 I'm somewhat curious as to  how signing this NDA with work. 

 Will it's simply be something we have to agree to here on the forums, or will they send out emails that we then have to agree to with an electronic signature?

Or are they actually going to mail us some documents we have to sign and then return? 

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