APB

[Fil2eFly]

Shits fucking awesome whos been playing it?

For those who dont know: GTA style mmo thingy in beta atm
http://www.apb.com

[Octavion]

Giga and I are in the beta but we've only played it once so far. It was pretty awesome but the NDA prevents me from saying much more.

[Fil2eFly]

Thats fair. Looking forwards to release im fairly hooked already.

[Fil2eFly]

Right no beta aka no more NDA

Anyone play apb, any one going to play apb?. The KTTC passes are free (kinda 5 hour demo before the game goes retail). If you have not checked it out i recomend it.

If you do play already im looking for more decent people for teh clan :)

[To0]

I haz interbutz, I shall check this out.

[GigaFuzz]

Octavion and I were playing this for a bit but one of the closed beta patches ruined performance on his machine. I've not played as much since then. I've not really checked out KTTC yet so I don't know if much is different.

[Fil2eFly]

There has been some performance tweeks and a far bit of balancing n shit. Worth a look at imo.

Although my pc only just runs it with evrything non esential turned off, anything less than a 3.0ghz C2D and your gona suffer

Hopefully they will bring some nice optimisations soon.

[Fil2eFly]

I have 4 buddy keys to give away to any oen who wants to try APB

[Fyndir]

Give, or suffer my wrath.

[To0]

Do want

[Fil2eFly]

Troll has key! check email. Peter what email should i send it too?

[Fyndir]

Troll no see key.

Troll check spam folder, no see key there.

Driving Mans send key to right address?

fyndir [at] gmail [dot] com ?

[Captain_Caveman]

I always thought troll would have troll@troll.tr. (If it ain't taken we should organise it for troll's birthday instead of the new mold for under his bridge)

[To0]

thisother0ne at gmail.com

[Fil2eFly]

sent and troll check again says it sent

[Fyndir]

No sign of it, even when I search, lame to the max.

I think another friend of mine plays too, I'll see if he has free keys.

[Fyndir]

My friend tried sending one to a secondary address of mine, no sign of the email anywhere, and I've been watching closely.

He then tried sending one to an address of his own, no sign of it there either.

Theory: APB invite system has a problem.

[Fil2eFly]

as said in MSN, aparently takes like 24 hours :/

[Fil2eFly]

http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/4498/apb2010080802223209.th.jpg (http://img186.imageshack.us/i/apb2010080802223209.jpg/)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhAmRVf_76I

APB is serious business

[To0]

Still got no invite...

[Fyndir]

Same here, and as far as I can tell the buddy key system closed yesterday.

Well played APB, I now have no interest in paying for you.

[Sideshow]

Heh, I had a close call like that with WoW once. The closest it got to sinking its talons into me I had caved and decided to try the free trial. Free trial required you to enter your credit card details. UL WoW, UL.

[Fil2eFly]

evevy one else has been getting there keys jst a little late, sent support ticket etc

[Bluepixie]

Most of the reviews I've read on APB were luke-warm anyway so I don't think you're missing out tbh.

[Fyndir]

I have the key from my other friend, finally, I'll get to try APB!

[Fil2eFly]

Most of the reviews I've read on APB were luke-warm anyway so I don't think you're missing out tbh.

Some people like me love it, others are put off very fast.

Alot of the reviews iv read all say the same to me. As a n00b starting in retail it would be a very frustrating game, the learning curve is steep and your going against people who have played for months with all the good unlocks.

If your not in a full group of 4 on TS/vent its so hit and miss because of the retardness of many pubs you will end up grouping with again going against more uber players.

I'm lucky iv played it solid since bata and in one of the best clans.

I must admit though this is one of the most frustrating games iv ever played, be prepared for it!

[Fyndir]

I'm quietly impressed with APB's downloader.

At first it was only pulling in speeds of about 32kbps or less, and telling me that it would take at least a couple of days to get the full 8GB sorted out.

8 hours or so later I'm awake and it's done.

Way to put in the night shift, program.

[To0]

Got the key, computer should be downloading as we speak. Shall try it tomorrow. Tonight we race!

[Fyndir]

I am both in love and bitterly disappointed.

Imagine, if you will, a line.

At one end of the line is Perfection, at the other end is Utter Shitstain.

All games I have played lie somewhere on the line, the area just beyond the midpoint littered with the truly enjoyable but flawed games.

APB falls on the rough side of the middle, for the worst of reasons for an MMO...

The graphics are stunning, the movement, driving and combat mechanics are all pleasant and quite wonderful, the advancement and mixed requirements (money plus reputation) to buy bigger, better, equipment is easy to understand and quite well presented, the character customisation is amazing, within my first couple of hours of playtime I had managed to outfit my character with a half decent looking suit, shirt and tie, classy to the end.

Yet I cannot see myself paying for this game now, or anytime soon, because I kept running facefirst into the brick wall of other players.

Every time, bar one, that I joined or started a mission with multiple players present there was at least one rank 100+ player in the opposing ranks.

At one point I joined a mission where the only two opponents were over rank 200.

These people are at least 20 or more times higher than me in the ranking system, they have equipment that makes my early weapons look like peashooters and I can set off both my grenades in their face then empty most of a clip into / at them without killing them, at which point they turn around and kill me with a few shots.

This is not fun.

As far as I can tell my only hope of advancement in this game currently is to beg for high level assistance until I am one of the high end players, and that's not fun either.

This takes a game with a great engine and great mechanics, and turns it into a festering shitheap of resentment, wounded pride and pain.

Probably great if you like having your foreskin jump started by a pair of crocodile clips and a car battery, but unfortunately not so much fun for everyone else.

[Fil2eFly]

Told you, you have to be a real fucking bad ass to do well as a total n00b. Poke me on MSN and il make a new char and play with you.

also pro tip: Most nades u can shrug off

[Bluepixie]

also pro tip: Most nades u can shrug off

Naturally.

[Fyndir]

Relevant info.

Barney helped me get some better guns, and they made a HUGE difference to the quality of the game.

Even against opponents who massively outranked me I was at least partially holding my own.

At this time I still would not pay for this game.

On the other hand...


BIG IMAGES:

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_zfyBU-ENu3c/TGMZDtXQJ-I/AAAAAAAABbI/VvP_pbOZosA/s1280/APB%202010-08-11%2021-17-56-68.jpg
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_zfyBU-ENu3c/TGMZD56QSvI/AAAAAAAABbM/9D41dDZQuBw/s1280/APB%202010-08-11%2021-18-02-92.jpg
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_zfyBU-ENu3c/TGMZErGwGBI/AAAAAAAABbQ/Xba7gwues0k/s1280/APB%202010-08-11%2021-18-03-89.jpg


For other images, see here. (http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/115325328220492516224/APBStuff?feat=directlink)

[Fyndir]

After a nights sleep I have a brand new opinion.

I think a lot of my negativity from last night came from the massive amount of frustration caused by the balance / matchmaking issues, but when playing with a more experienced friend who could help me out with accessing slightly better weapons a bit faster, a lot of these frustrations melted away into amusement.

At this point I am reconsidering the possibility of paying for this game quite seriously, because the sheer amount of hilarious carnage possible makes it seem worthwhile.

When you stop being irritated by those few, but prominent, issues what you begin to realise is that this game is what we all secretly dream of when we play a GTA game, there is utter carnage going on everywhere you look, and the only people who are going to try to stop you are other players.

I am desperately trying to convince myself that I don't need to buy this game, and failing.

[Fil2eFly]

AND YOU FAILED! lololol

[neogramps]

Oh well, hope you didn't count on getting much life out of this (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-11010527)

[Fyndir]

I have my doubts that this will actually mean the demise of the game as a whole, watch as one of the big games companies picks it up for pennies and fiddles with the subscription setup to pull some profit out of it.

[saladin]

Sounds a whole lot like the Hellgate debacle.

[Fil2eFly]

I have my doubts that this will actually mean the demise of the game as a whole, watch as one of the big games companies picks it up for pennies and fiddles with the subscription setup to pull some profit out of it.

This, I dont belive APB is by any means a lost cause just needs alot of polish. If some one big can get it cheap a semi developed game that cost 100mill could be a tidy investment

[Phizz]

Realtime Worlds Collapses. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-11010527) :-S

[GigaFuzz]

Realtime Worlds Collapses. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-11010527) :-S

Already posted. Too slow old man!

[Phizz]

Oi! Less of the old. :-(

[Fil2eFly]

Im not realy worried tbh, APB PTW jst got a huge patch. A new buyer will come along. Aslong as its not SOE!


also:

http://img833.imageshack.us/img833/4949/apb2010081902143754.jpg

[saladin]

That's what they said about Hellgate, and we all know how that worked out.

Going on past failed MMOs (Hellgate, Auto Assault, Tabula Rasa etc.), it'll last maybe 6-12 more months then die. Definitely no more content patches.

Mind you, it could be different this time round...

[Fil2eFly]

Thanks for the input mr fucking negativity.

[saladin]

What?

[Bluepixie]

What Sally is saying is that APB will be fun for now. You'll put up with the bugs and gameplay issues because you've been promised they'll be dealt with. Unfortunately the game which you know is there and just about breaking out will never quite come to pass. Instead, the servers will become ghost towns as the rapid migration of players to other games sucks the life out of them, while the few faithful hang around still clinging to the hope of rejuvenation.

Once bitten, twice shy.

[saladin]

The problem with getting invested in a new MMO is that you take the risk of this happening. Even something as slight as criticism over an unconventional payment system (like Hellgate's tiered freeplay/subscription model) will start the decline. Throw into the mix poor reviews and generally poor beta feedback, and the rot sets in. The pool of potential players for your MMO suddenly gets much smaller.

Throw technical problems, stupid quotes from the developers ("Maybe you shouldn't be thinking of it as a shooter"?), no anti-cheater software, and you've got no hope.

As Pixie says, from the outside looking in, it's blatantly obvious what's going to happen. Even if someone were to pick up the IP and continue to run the game, they'll struggle to recover the players who have moved on to other things (with a WoW content expansion and that Star Wars MMO on the horizon, that's a big ask). Also, without the development team the quality of the content they might add will likely be poor (even if they ever do add anything - I don't think that asian company that picked up Hellgate have added anything to it since it passed to them).

I was quite into Hellgate before it got canned, and I didn't understand why everyone was so set against it. Now I realise that in the MMO industry, word-of-mouth and reputation mean everything. APB's reputation right now is mud. Sorry if you don't agree, but I honestly don't see it recovering now.

[DAve]

Realtime Worlds Collapses. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-11010527) :-S

For those that don't know, one of our former members, Weeble, has lost his job in this. Thankfully, he's found another job, but there's likely to be 100+ developers searching for a new job round about now.

This will probably have wider implications for the gaming industry, this was one of the major studios in Scotland. Maybe not the end of the million dollar game, but a scaling back perhaps?

[Fil2eFly]

http://images.redial.net/APB%202010-08-21%2023-09-43-94.jpg

[To0]

Oh wow, I want to play this game so much more now....

[Fyndir]

To clarify, it's not like BDSM gear or some shit, it's gun holsters.

[DAve]

To clarify, it's not like BDSM gear or some shit, it's gun holsters.

To clarify, we weren't shocked and appalled at the gun holsters. The tattoo, however, requires some explaining.

[Cloudwalker]

To clarify, we weren't shocked and appalled at the gun holsters. The tattoo, however, requires some explaining.

I don't know, I thought it was pretty self explanatory.

[Fyndir]

To clarify, we weren't shocked and appalled at the gun holsters. The tattoo, however, requires some explaining.

Well, you see.

The cock, it goes roughly where the arrow directs you.

[neogramps]

You put cocks in your existenz port? Weird

[Fyndir]

I put cocks everywhere.

EDIT:

Another major APB problem is the community.

"wtf is PVE and PVP .. ive just read through most of this thread and i dont understand what PVP and PVE is.. i wish people would type the whole damn words or stfu lol rofl"

[Phizz]

PvE = Player Versus Environment i.e. versus bots or terrain that damages. PvP = Player Versus Player.

[Fyndir]

Thanks for the info, Phizz, I was genuinely confused and in no way quoting something that someone had posted on the APB forums.

DOT
DOT
DOT

[Phizz]

I was scanning this morning before I went to work. Was not awake. Sowwy... Communities are pretty difficult to build and maintain at a certain level due to the fact that nigh on everyone on the internet is a dick. Just like most places you go, it's just a case of filtering it for yourself.

[Sideshow]

...it's just a case of filtering it for yourself.

Never a truer word spoken to Troll.

[GigaFuzz]

...And it's gone.
http://na.apb.com/en/news/announcements/2010/09/16/end-of-an-era
Today we are sad to announce that despite everyone's best efforts to keep the service running; APB is coming to a close.

[Fyndir]

...And it's gone.
http://na.apb.com/en/news/announcements/2010/09/16/end-of-an-era

Jesus, just yesterday / this morning they were talking about a new patch going live, that was meant to fix some of the more glaring fuckups from the last patch.

I was all excited to see what new ways they would find to fuck up!

[Fil2eFly]

BRB killing self

[DAve]

"Press F to apply for Jobseekers Allowance."- Ben Hall (Development QA)

Luke Halliwell, one of their ex employees has blogged about what went wrong in RTW (http://lukehalliwell.wordpress.com/category/realtime-worlds/).

[Fyndir]

what went wrong in RTW

Basic summary of what went wrong, customer perspective.

1: No-one gave them a dictionary with "BALANCE" highlighted.

2: Decision to make major core-gameplay changes post release. (addition of recoil on top of the random-accuracy or whatever you call it).

3: Feedback from test server completely ignored.

4: Arrogant bullshit from devs, asking for feedback on how a mechanic works and then telling the community that they were wrong to feel that way about it after many, many pages of responses that were, in the vast majority, agreeing on what was wrong, and making similar suggestions on possible fixes.

[GingerPrinz]

It's fair to say that after spending however many (3-5?) years on this project they felt extraordinarily attached to it, espeically given its untimely demise.

Saying that developers ignore what feedback they get from test servers is a common complaint, but at the end of the day a lot of time they anticipate the very feedback that is given simply because they believe in their product/skills/self so much. As a professional tester I have had to endure numerous instances of stubborn developers refusing to believe the bugs I found existed - it's the nature of any creative industry I guess.

Real shame RTW went down. I had a few friends who worked for them that are now stranded temporarily in Scumdee, and I hope there aren't too many similar downfalls in the local industry.

[Fyndir]

Saying that developers ignore what feedback they get from test servers is a common complaint, but at the end of the day a lot of time they anticipate the very feedback that is given simply because they believe in their product/skills/self so much.

To be specific, in this instance, the patch on the test server buffed the CCG (a gun available only to one side of the game) hugely, there was a huge thread in the test server feedback forum, with people from both factions telling them how broken it was.

They put the patch live without fixing it.

It was then about that same gun that spawned the huge feedback request thread from the devs, culminating in them telling us that we were all wrong.

Exceptionally poor from a game balance, and a PR standpoint, it got to the point where I just couldn't be bothered playing the game again until the next patch, which we never got, lol.

[Fil2eFly]

They have done just what duplex systems did with face of mankind. Fucked about in Beta playing with the little things. Then when the game is in retail think o wait it would be 9999% better if we do "this" big change! The are back to square one with balancing.

At the end of beta the balancing wasent bad and the gameplay was functional for retail. Then tehy rol out fucking huge game changing patches jsut after the first bunch of retail people get used to it all.

Then before that was the whole lets ley game reviwers into our beta, as n00bs against the beta testers with guns made or pure rape that fire pure death. Thats gona go down well!