Stats / Characters retained from Beta / Alpha


  • TF#3 - ENVOY

    When the game is released, will characters / guilds (and their stats) from beta / alpha / pre-alpha stages remain or will everyone need to begin again?


  • TF#12 - PEOPLE'S HERALD

    @nightcoder Like about this there is no information, but certainly each time the characters will be updated.


  • Community Manager

    @nightcoder There will be a wipe after each testing phase.


  • TF#6 - DIPLOMAT

    @specter said in Stats / Characters retained from Beta / Alpha:

    @nightcoder There will be a wipe after each testing phase.

    Amen.

    Good thing to do πŸ‘


  • TF#12 - PEOPLE'S HERALD

    Why wouldn't you want a wipe ?


  • TF#10 - CONSUL

    @specter said in Stats / Characters retained from Beta / Alpha:

    @nightcoder There will be a wipe after each testing phase.

    NNNooooooooo!!!!!!1 lol.


  • TF#12 - PEOPLE'S HERALD

    why would a developer allow knowledge and gear to be retained from testing to launch?

    that's like taking a mock test and the teacher using those grades.


  • TF#8 - GENERAL AMBASSADOR

    Is normale The wipe after every phase. .


  • TF#3 - ENVOY

    @specter Does phase mean alpha to beta or even alpha 1 to alpha 2?


  • TF#7 - AMBASSADOR

    Of course there will be a wipe lol, it would completely break the game otherwise


  • TF#3 - ENVOY

    wipe is good allows you to test out different things more easy if you ask me


  • TF#3 - ENVOY

    @fibs Technologically there's no need to wipe everything each time. For instance, It's hard to imagine that an update can break selected names. Obviously there may be some radical changes (e.g. DB scheme change) that can make it very difficult to migrate old data, therefore wiping may make more sense, as the game is still in alpha anyway.
    From a gaming point of view though it does make sense a little bit of sense since on each phase more people are allowed access (according to the Kickstarter) so it's more fair if you don't have to compete against people who have already been in the game for a while and made progress.
    But then again - In alpha you basically want to test features so it's actually better to have some players that can perform more advanced... eh, stuff (I have no idea how to call that in this type of game).


  • TF#7 - AMBASSADOR

    @nightcoder said in Stats / Characters retained from Beta / Alpha:

    @fibs Technologically there's no need to wipe everything each time. For instance, It's hard to imagine that an update can break selected names. Obviously there may be some radical changes (e.g. DB scheme change) that can make it very difficult to migrate old data, therefore wiping may make more sense, as the game is still in alpha anyway.

    Practically, if you wipe any character data, you should wipe all character data. An ingame "reset" doesn't really count as a wipe, such as refunding all learning points because you changed how a skill works, or how skills work in general. A wipe would be to reset everything to 0.

    I'm sure Fractured will offer name reservation that will persist through wipes.

    From a gaming point of view though it does make sense a little bit of sense since on each phase more people are allowed access (according to the Kickstarter) so it's more fair if you don't have to compete against people who have already been in the game for a while and made progress.

    Wiping is necessary simply because errors in game balance or glitches will give exploiting players distinct advantages that are impossible for future players to use because the exploit has been patched. In particular, any "fast money" exploit will damage the entire game economy thru inflation, which is an obstacle to new players, something that Fractured is particularly keen on avoiding.

    But then again - In alpha you basically want to test features so it's actually better to have some players that can perform more advanced... eh, stuff (I have no idea how to call that in this type of game).

    I wouldn't be surprised if alpha testing had intentionally accelerated progress or "cheats" turned on for testing purposes. (Which would warrant a wipe once this acceleration was removed!)


  • TF#12 - PEOPLE'S HERALD

    @nightcoder

    patch to patch there could be wipes. expect the worst that every day you decide to test, there will be a wipe.


  • TF#3 - ENVOY

    @jetah As far as alpha goes that's to be expected since it's more of a debug sandbox than a full game. Beta should be a whole different story though - if you're in a situation that you need to introduce a game-breaking change in beta then you've done something horribly wrong.


  • TF#12 - PEOPLE'S HERALD

    @nightcoder said in Stats / Characters retained from Beta / Alpha:

    @jetah As far as alpha goes that's to be expected since it's more of a debug sandbox than a full game. Beta should be a whole different story though - if you're in a situation that you need to introduce a game-breaking change in beta then you've done something horribly wrong.

    dude you have always hidden bugs
    league of legends had last month a bug that crashed the whole server during a pro match


  • TF#3 - ENVOY

    @lohen said in Stats / Characters retained from Beta / Alpha:

    dude you have always hidden bugs
    league of legends had last month a bug that crashed the whole server during a pro match

    You don't have to lecture me, I work for the software industry πŸ™‚ (not the gaming industry though) and yes, it does happen that you find bugs after release (well considering the fact that you get Windows bug fixes every month...)
    Still pre-release and post-release is a huge difference - A server crash is indeed bad but just try to imagine what would happen if LoL had to wipe all data right now. Release means you no longer have the luxury of wiping, that all updates must retain previous data. If it's still incredibly difficult by that time then you've done something wrong. To make sure it doesn't happen you should probably treat your last betas the same way. The last beta should probably be an RC anyway.


  • TF#12 - PEOPLE'S HERALD

    @Nightcoder i understand your hesitation
    of course you cant let a wipe happen after release, therefore you have backups (and im sure you know that πŸ˜› )

    and how they should wipe the data in the alpha and beta is up to the dev dependend on what they want to achieve with them

    i personally think its usefull to wipe in every alpha phase, but not the beta phases (or at least not all beta phases)
    but for the release everything sould be cleanly wiped

    we are testers and not players who can play earlier

    it would be to unfair

    but maybe the characters will stay and only everything achieved will be lost, so you have a litlle thanks in form of name reservation

    btw sry for bad english πŸ˜„


  • TF#3 - ENVOY

    @lohen We should probably split the discussion into technology vs gameplay/fairness.
    Technologically, once you go into beta phase you should at least attempt to avoid wiping as much as possible - that gives you a good indication of how difficult things are gonna be for you once you release.
    Regarding fairness - well, it is as you said, somewhat unfair if people join when they have the opportunity and immediately encounter already developed characters that were retained from previous builds. On the other hand - as you said, as long as the game is not officially released we are considered testers so the devs are not committed to any fairness until release.
    Given that - only a wipe before release is necessary, however even that may not be the case. According to the Kickstarter the game will cost €30 - But right now you can get it on KS for €20 - and it includes beta 2 access. According to some posts here even after KS ends it'll still be available for pre-order on the website (though the price will increase to €25). Right now every pre-order of the game includes at least beta 2 access, so either this will change at some point in the future - or the final beta 2 will actually become open beta (i.e. anyone can join just like the final release, the "beta" title only means "don't blame us if something breaks") - in which case it would actually make no sense to wipe before release, since there aren't many (or any) new players waiting at the door.


  • TF#3 - ENVOY

    And one other thing - even after a wipe there's still some advantage to testers since you know how the map looks, what's available where and what certain events are.


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