Does being a part of the alpha ruin some of the surprise factor?

Thalstan

Thalstan

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Waxing Nostalgic....

My first online game (other than MUDS and my dabbling into UO) was EverQuest. Even with the (now) cheezy midi music, the blocky characters, the bugs, typos, and game design issues, I can log in and will still get a tingle walking into surefall glade or the city of Qeynos. MMOs have come a long way, but that will always be my first.

A lot of the "magic" in games these days is gone. There really are no more discoveries or things people keep hidden. As soon as it's discovered, it goes up on some website, be a wiki, or some place like wowhead. Want a walkthrough...see youtube. Need help finding that elusive quest-giver? Take a look at wowhead.

Used to be you had to figure out mechanics for a fight on your own. No guild was going to give up their secrets on downing a boss and risk some up and coming guild get ahead of them. Now there are people who post youtubes of strats and the fights. They even give alternative ways of doing it if they know them.

I am hoping that a little of that magic might make it into SC, but I doubt it. With all the people streaming, posting videos, and going on about the game in general, anyone who wants a leg up will need to be watching these.

I think MMOs have come a long way since the days of EQ and UO. That said, I think there is still a bit of magic that is missing these days...
 
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Bruttle

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Thalstan said:
Waxing Nostalgic....

My first online game (other than MUDS and my dabbling into UO) was EverQuest. Even with the (now) cheezy midi music, the blocky characters, the bugs, typos, and game design issues, I can log in and will still get a tingle walking into surefall glade or the city of Qeynos. MMOs have come a long way, but that will always be my first.

A lot of the "magic" in games these days is gone. There really are no more discoveries or things people keep hidden. As soon as it's discovered, it goes up on some website, be a wiki, or some place like wowhead. Want a walkthrough...see youtube. Need help finding that elusive quest-giver? Take a look at wowhead.

Used to be you had to figure out mechanics for a fight on your own. No guild was going to give up their secrets on downing a boss and risk some up and coming guild get ahead of them. Now there are people who post youtubes of strats and the fights. They even give alternative ways of doing it if they know them.

I am hoping that a little of that magic might make it into SC, but I doubt it. With all the people streaming, posting videos, and going on about the game in general, anyone who wants a leg up will need to be watching these.

I think MMOs have come a long way since the days of EQ and UO. That said, I think there is still a bit of magic that is missing these days...
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I am right there with you. EQ was my first real jump into the MMO genre and you're right. I logged in a year ago with my original character and ran around Kelethin. It was amazing to be running around in the game again. It was the same sort of feeling I had when I went home to see my folks after being gone for a couple decades. Driving around on the streets that I used to run as a kid was a very similar experience. I guess there's no place like home, both online and in real life.

I also fully agree with you on the magic. I seriously hope it returns in SC, at least a little bit. Going back to EQ, I remember getting lost (because there was no minimap, or map for that matter). I remember a feeling of anxiousness because dying actually had a cost (you could lose your gear and/or levels). I remember feeling pride about knowing the secrets of the world. Like you talked about, databases, wikkis, and youtube didn't exist. There was a true feeling of discovery in that game that I haven't felt since.

I hope SC can recapture some of these feelings and bring them back to gaming. Entire generations have missed that.
 
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SPRNinja

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supitza said:
I'm just worried I'll get bored with the game before it's even finished.
Never before have I followed the development of a game so closely and I'm afraid I'll get burnt out.
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I so do this, I go in swings of following everything and then losing interest for months, Right now im all aboard the hype train cause of 3.0, but at some point ill calm down a bit and get into something else for a bit.

That said, its possible that well all be a bit bored when the game comes out in 2042 (JK) But that to me would more be about the beta than alpha, Personally im just really damn keen for SQ42 and 3.0
 
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NaffNaffBobFace

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supitza said:
That's still in my lifetime! HYPE!
I hope they'll have a good internet connection in my retirement home.
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Is she saying "I know what you're thinking... Have I fired five times, or six? Well? You feeling lucky? Go ahead, punk! Make my day!"
 
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Doc Shaftoe

Doc Shaftoe

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Without having read through everyone's responses I'm not sure if I'm parroting some ideas here, but I'll throw in my two cents.

I think some of the initial excitement and that "mystery of the unknown" factor won't apply to us in the Stanton system, but there's going to be so much more to this game. Sure we'll have a leg up on the newer players in terms of knowledge and experience so we might not get that "oh cool, I didn't know I can do that" factor. But that doesn't bother me. We'll get those moments once the different systems we're all looking forward to make it in game.

I think for most of us here in TEST, Star Citizen isn't so much a game anymore than a community that we're all helping to build. Our hopes and dreams are what feeds Chris Roberts' insatiable hunger for fidelity and ambitious game design. Our money is what allows CIG to hire talented employees and build this universe for us. What makes that so meaningful to me is that we're along for the ride, every step of the way. If something isn't ready for them to share with us, they tell us. There's no "Oh we'll show you this next year at E3" or "here's the gameplay reveal trailer, have fun waiting another year before release" because we're playing early builds of the game right now. Our feedback is directly improving the experience for everyone before launch. What other game can genuinely say that? What other community? Hell, we as a community have even had a direct influence on the development cycle by voting on which ships would get worked on next.

So no, we may not get to experience the finished product for the first time like newcomers will, but we'll get to take those new players aside and say "I helped make this for you." We'll know that the game exists because of us, and that all the joy and wonder new players will experience will be because of us.

So no, I'm not the least bit disappointed. It's been an amazing ride so far, and I'm looking forward to taking my first steps into a larger world with the rest of you knuckleheads.
 
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Blind Owl

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CrudeSasquatch said:
I think my character from Ultima online probably got deleted. I was ruling this server and my brother said "Hey loser. You suck. Get out of that chair and come get drunk with me." A month later I was selling drugs at raves and taking peyote. Hahahaha JOKE'S ON HIM CAUSE NOW HE'S ADDICTED TO AN MMO! HAHAHAHAHA
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Fuck my life. How the roles have reversed. Haha
 
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hardroc77

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NaffNaffBobFace said:
Is she saying "I know what you're thinking... Have I fired five times, or six? Well? You feeling lucky? Go ahead, punk! Make my day!"
Click to expand...
Looks to be like she's saying something along the lines of "How does this damn vibrator work?" And he's saying, "Here let me show you." Maybe??

Doc Shaftoe said:
So no, we may not get to experience the finished product for the first time like newcomers will, but we'll get to take those new players aside and say "I helped make this for you." We'll know that the game exists because of us, and that all the joy and wonder new players will experience will be because of us.
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So this is all our fault?

In all seriousness Your whole statement is correct. That is one of the reasons why I'm having as fun now. Some of the bugs are fun to find and duplicate, we'll lose that to a degree upon launch. And I enjoy spawning all my ships some nights just to allow new players to try them out and listen to their opinions.

One of these days, years from now, we'll be sitting in our rocking chairs at Olisar saying to each other, "Do you remember when..."
 
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sp0q

sp0q

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Personally I would have nothing against if they would stop pushing out PTUs after some point.

I've bought Elite immediately on release, Horizons a year later, and at this point I can't make myself to even run it. It's in SC's state of development right now as far as I'm concerned and it frustrates me exactly because of the reason proposed in the OP - I probably won't have the energy to even check out all the new stuff two years from now.
 
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Heinlein

Heinlein

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I don't think it "spoils" it. I'm sure they hold back most of the missions and just throw in basic things and content. I don't know much about programming but it would seem logically they are just testing the mechanics of how they work and not so much the actual story line. Plus seeing all the iterations of change in things like the flight model aid you in the long run because you have more perspective to look at the whole process from. Perspective those who aren't participating will never have.
 
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