Atlas countdown!

[Harkonan]

They absolutely could have handled it a lot better - I'm not trying to make excuses for them.

My point was mainly that I don't think they're actively trying to take advantage of people. Instead, they're trying their best to deliver, but their deadline was too ambitious.

The poster thing is funny. It just shows that once you set something in motion, like shipping physical media to places and telling them "put it up on X date!" is independent of the software team's ability to get all the bugs out by that same date.

Agreed.


On the plus side. Appears the release has been approved on Steam and some streamers already have it downloaded and are waiting for the servers to come online. This means that they would be able to release the game to everyone tomorrow if all goes as planned.

 

[glockjs]

lol the live streamers were trying to get in for 45 min and atlas just put out a tweet that they should have a build in 5 more hours

 

[Harkonan]

They don't even HAVE a build. I mean holy mother of patron saints .... LMFAO.

Setting dates and times without a workable build .... This has to be a social experiment right?

 

[Printimus]

They don't even HAVE a build. I mean holy mother of patron saints .... LMFAO.

Setting dates and times without a workable build .... This has to be a social experiment right?

lol are you familiar with the intricacies of game development?

 

[Harkonan]

lol are you familiar with the intricacies of game development?

I'm sure it doesn't include telling people your new game is more stable than your last only to set 4 release dates and delaying each time without apparently having a playable build.
Certainly my first time seeing this .... and I've been gaming for over 30 years. I don't need to be a baker to know you don't post a "Cakes for Sale" sign on your window without having an oven to bake cakes.

We're still working on a build. We will let you know when we have something more concrete, we think it will take at least 5 hours. Check back in the morning for another update.

They literally don't have a playable and tested build right NOW .... and the original release date was the 13th. That's actually comical and there is no way someone can justify that with a straight face. I feel bad for the actual devs .... I'm sure they are absolutely STRESSED the hell out. But somewhere there is a person in a suit who was dead set on getting their hands on Christmas cash for this game when it clearly wasn't ready. Those are the type of people who are turning the gaming industry into a profit over playability industry that has so many people tilted and producing even more toxicity.

 

[Printimus]

I'm sure it doesn't include telling people your new game is more stable than your last only to set 4 release dates and delaying each time without apparently having a playable build.
Certainly my first time seeing this .... and I've been gaming for over 30 years. I don't need to be a baker to know you don't post a "Cakes for Sale" sign on your window without having an oven to bake cakes.

We're still working on a build. We will let you know when we have something more concrete, we think it will take at least 5 hours. Check back in the morning for another update.

They literally don't have a playable and tested build right NOW .... and the original release date was the 13th. That's actually comical and there is no way someone can justify that with a straight face.

Ok, but you have to remember, these arnt "official" launch dates, its early access which is just alpha/beta testing. I don't understand why people are getting so upset. They are delaying their early access so that the game will be playable when they do give us access. I don't really see the comedy in it.

 

[Harkonan]

Ok, but you have to remember, these arnt "official" launch dates, its early access which is just alpha/beta testing. I don't understand why people are getting so upset. They are delaying their early access so that the game will be playable when they do give us access. I don't really see the comedy in it.

Not really interested in the semantics of "official" and "launches". I'm calling it what they called it. Besides, they were selling paid DLCs for Ark before it was out of "Early Access".

If you don't see the comedy in setting an Early Access release date ... having a website with a countdown timer ... sending "Now Available" posters out to gaming stores ... pushing the game to gaming media ... delaying your release date 4 times, all while not having an actual playable build of the game .... I think we are simply on two different wave lengths of thinking on this one.

 

[deous]

may get it

 

[Printimus]

 

[Xist]

Not really interested in the semantics of "official" and "launches". I'm calling it what they called it. Besides, they were selling paid DLCs for Ark before it was out of "Early Access".

If you don't see the comedy in setting an Early Access release date ... having a website with a countdown timer ... sending "Now Available" posters out to gaming stores ... pushing the game to gaming media ... delaying your release date 4 times, all while not having an actual playable build of the game .... I think we are simply on two different wave lengths of thinking on this one.

We're definitely on different wave lengths.

The entire point of Early Access is for the game developers to work the kinks out. Try out new things, see if they work. Put them in front of real gamers who can scale up the game play to levels that are impossible in a dev shop.

Some things work. Some things don't. Nobody should be surprised either way.

I think the problem here is you seemingly did not play ARK until long after it should have dropped the "Early Access" badge. It wasn't really Early Access by the time you started playing it, but they failed to remove that badge for (I think) more than 2 years after they had a stable product. Thus I don't think you respect what it means for a game to really be Early Access.

This then is a good experience for you. Welcome to Early Access!

Expect games to be delayed. Expect bugs. Expect LAAAAG. Expect features to be included, then removed, because they're not really ready to play, or the idea seemed good but actually sucks.

That is Early Access.

 

[Harkonan]

Never played Ark, which is honestly the only reason I'm still interested in Atlas. Haven't experienced their engine before and figured I prefer a more pirate/mythic theme. Not sure I would even be interested in the game had I been an Ark fan seeing how it's basically a re-themed version of the game.

At $25 I think it's going to be well worth the money provided you can get 5+ hours worth of game out of it. (I always figure $4/hour is good entertainment value in the games I buy). Still on the fence about the early game "survival" mechanics though. Not sure how well I'll like that aspect of the game. I much prefer the NMS style of "survival" over the having to eat and drink personally.

 

[ShakyWater]

Sea of Thieves meets Ark.

I wonder if anyone over at Rare has informed their attorneys.

 

[Printimus]

Sea of Thieves meets Ark.

I wonder if anyone over at Rare has informed their attorneys.

uhhh Pirate ships and crews in games isnt the sole IP of Sea of Theives. lol

 

[deous]

just bought the game waiting on servers

 

[Harkonan]

 

[Panzertard]

That's a new record since NMS. 27% review rating on steam.
I guess it's better to wait for the moment?

 

[Deroth]

Not really interested in the semantics of "official" and "launches". I'm calling it what they called it. Besides, they were selling paid DLCs for Ark before it was out of "Early Access".

If you don't see the comedy in setting an Early Access release date ... having a website with a countdown timer ... sending "Now Available" posters out to gaming stores ... pushing the game to gaming media ... delaying your release date 4 times, all while not having an actual playable build of the game .... I think we are simply on two different wave lengths of thinking on this one.

Back when my favorite pastime was doing early access and beta testing of MMOs this that was actually quite common, was annoying at first but I eventually got used to it and preferred it over the alternative of pushing out builds they had originally thought were ready but found game breaking bugs late in internal QA testing.

 

[Bruttle]

That's a new record since NMS. 27% review rating on steam.
I guess it's better to wait for the moment?

I'm kind of in the same boat. I've bought it, but I'm hesitant to play due to the 2hr limit on the refund policy. If it really is a money grab, I don't want any part of it. I certainly don't want to support the developer if they let the current issues stand without addressing them. So far I've heard:

• Starter area is near unplayable due to lag/rubberbanding/bugs
• Once you leave the starter area, the lag gets better but all the islands are already claimed
• Players are loosing their clans, items, characters, etc to bugs.
• They released massive amounts of unbeatable "ghost ships" to try a soft reset
• Currently there is a "China vs. the world" dynamic playing out due to chinese players organizing, claiming, and defending most of the islands.
• There is a massive gear disparity currently growing between beginner players and those that have been able to keep their stuff/clans despite the bugs.
• So far the advise is overwhelmingly to either wait, or pass on the game altogether.
• Their claim for 40,000 players on a single server is based on a 150 player limit per each one of the 225 separate (but "meshed") zone servers. It is also wildly exagerated since that places the maximum player limit at 33,750 per map and not the advertised 40k.

... and that's just what I found in a half hour of checking in on it. That's why I haven't logged in. If they're just going to take the money and walk away (like they did for Dark and Light), I want to reserve the right to a refund.

Honestly, I'd take "halfway decent" at this point. The MMO market is so absolutely devoid of quality contenders at the moment, even decent would be an improvement. Right now you have a choice between "old and tired" or "broken, contentless, and over-hyped trash". FFS, can't anyone put out a MMO that is at least passable?