Testers - a no BS answer

[F. L. Villarreal]

Well, that told me absolutely nothing...thanks for that.


As far as the rest of you thanks for the info....

I would not let that bother you. You are very much welcome here and we hope to see you on the battlefield no matter which side.

[Lightfoot]

Well, I have been a long time follower of this game. The Dev time is killing me.....

I want to ask the Testers here a few Questions..A straight up answer would be nice..

1) How many Players are actually on the servers on the weekends ? and how many can the server hold ?
2) based on the pace of the Game DEV how long would you guess until BETA ? 6 months, 1 year , 2 years ?

Right now there aren't enough Alpha players to get any where close to the 64 limit on Skirmishes without it being a scheduled event. Right now their are at least four regularly scheduled events. Two on the EU servers on Saturday and Sunday 2 PM CST and two on the NA servers it 7 PM CST those days. Those you can usually count on 15 to 30 players for each side being on. They do have rules that lone players should obey since they are sponsored events by specific Companies on both sides. Other events happen whenever. You should look at the Event Forum to see what is going on that is planned.

Sometimes I randomly log on and find enough people logged on to be worth joining a fight but I haven't figured out if their are specific times others are logging in.

Of course if we had more Alpha players then we wouldn't have a problem finding fights to join almost any time. The servers seem to be up most of the time.

No one really knows when they are going to Beta and Release but my guess Beta is maybe a year out and release is about two years. The developers seem to be doing a good job putting out a polished product at each level. There are some bugs but mostly they are things that need balancing and fine tuning. I don't think I have ever seen a server crash since I started playing at the release of Skirmishes.

Considering you get to play the game at whatever level it is for possibly two years for the fixed price of $69 it is really a good deal. When it goes live it will probably be a monthly subscription considerably more for one year of play.

And, the games a blast. You get to shoot people and stick them with the pointy end of something with no risk of going to jail.

[John Cooley]

Well, that told me absolutely nothing...thanks for that.

The problem is these Devs have a tendency to be very tight lipped.
I guess they have seen how other games have been nit-picked and second-guessed with every single step they make. Can't fault them the caution but ...
Yes, more information would be great.
Standard answers tend to be ...
"We are working as hard, and as fast, as we can."
"We appreciate suggestions and will take them into consideration but NO we will NOT deviate from our Initial Vision."
"This is Technical Alpha so much is still being designed so certain things CAN'T be answered, yet."
"We will release Information as soon as it is available and proper to do so."

The rest is speculation and hopeful wishing so we sit, wait and watch the Threads, Steam and Videos ... for now.

Certainly not ideal but it is Early Game Design so we ought to expect this.

[TrustyJam]

The problem is these Devs have a tendency to be very tight lipped.
I guess they have seen how other games have been nit-picked and second-guessed with every single step they make. Can't fault them the caution but ...
Yes, more information would be great.
Standard answers tend to be ...
"We are working as hard, and as fast, as we can."
"We appreciate suggestions and will take them into consideration but NO we will NOT deviate from our Initial Vision."
"This is Technical Alpha so much is still being designed so certain things CAN'T be answered, yet."
"We will release Information as soon as it is available and proper to do so."

The rest is speculation and hopeful wishing so we sit, wait and watch the Threads, Steam and Videos ... for now.

Certainly not ideal but it is Early Game Design so we ought to expect this.

Thank you for the feedback - I'm however sorry you feel that way. We do try to be as open as possible regarding the development of the game (hence no NDA was ever in place). We simply value feedback based on game experience rather than theoretical feedback based on a promise.

- Trusty

[Shiloh]

Good information here for new players like myself... thank you all.

[Wildcat]

1) How many Players are actually on the servers on the weekends ? and how many can the server hold ?
2) based on the pace of the Game DEV how long would you guess until BETA ? 6 months, 1 year , 2 years ?

everyday for the past couple days at around 8pm GMT their have been about 20 - 30 people just randomly skirmishing which has been pretty cool. And then on the weekends you have big events which usually fill up servers.
I'd say BETA is likely to come out maybe this time next year at earliest or maybe late next year. Just by how everything has been going/is going. Devs have been working on the game for years, And they have proved that they would rather take their time than rush things out. Also some of the stuff promised with BETA (artillery, cavalry) I can personally see taking quite a while to work out. Which is why I think if you want to play the game it's worth just getting Alpha now instead of waiting another year or so for beta. (And I do recommend the game in it's current state. The only thing I dislike about the game is how everything feels somewhat bulky, Like it's not smooth enough going from animation to another. But I do think this will be improved in the future. )

[michaelsmithern]

Yes you will see that more often on this forum

well it's mostly because these threads pop up every other week and i'll admit nobody feels like answering them anymore because most of the info is common place or is easily found by looking through the forums or updates

[AP514]

Well, that is what I Figured (time frame) on the move to BETA. As far as the Servers that is a respectable number of players.
I really did not want to start another is it done yet thread...And wanted some real feedback from the actual players.

As I have stated I have had my eye on this game for awhile.......

Thanks again for the Input

[John Cooley]

Thank you for the feedback - I'm however sorry you feel that way. We do try to be as open as possible regarding the development of the game (hence no NDA was ever in place). We simply value feedback based on game experience rather than theoretical feedback based on a promise.

- Trusty

Oh no Trusty you misunderstand ... or perhaps I misspoke.
I have Alpha Tested 5 games and Beta Tested 2 others and I like how you guys do not put out information prematurely or without a purpose aimed at game creation rather than information for information's sake.
Too many games die or are modified beyond their original vision based on Community input that is founded on false assumptions and conjecture.
I would say the release of information is sufficient for an Alpha. We just always want more, naturally. heh
This Team's hard work is apparent and much appreciated

[jostyoes]

im just now finding this game...wish there were more secretary of war slots available =[...i think im going to get in at captain level and up my pledge later on...ideas?