![]() ![]() We must remember that the servers will not be up 24x7 in Beta 1, so we must be able to have sped-up versions of systems such as progression, crafting, building, etc.Unless, of course, the purpose of the test is to help find and fix the instability and we need the Alpha, Beta, and IT Backers to help us out. Shit happens, but we shouldn’t run Beta 1 tests with an unstable version just to keep to a schedule. Beta 1 tests should be as solid as possible.While it is still a Beta 1 test, having more fun things to do, such as the Saturday Night Sieges and other such tests/games, will go a long way toward making Beta 1 something that non-Backers as well as Backers will want to be part of over the remainder of the year. Beta 1 should be more about the fun, whenever possible for the players, than Alpha was.There is nothing more important than that. We must reward them for their patience, understanding, and support. We must remember that most of our Backers have waited more than an extra year for this Beta due to re-abilitation.Beta 1 is just the start of our Beta process, not the final part of testing for a game that is feature-complete or is just getting localized to another country. We must present a game that, while certainly not a Beta 1 game compared to today’s “almost ready to launch” or “have launched in other countries” Beta tests, should be solid enough to make our Backers excited about the Beta test process.What are the overall Guiding Principles for Beta 1? As always, we thank you for your support, understanding, and most of all, your patience. ![]() It’s been a long road, way longer than we expected, but we have kept faith with our Backers and now are almost in the next stage of testing. Fortunately, the results from it have been equally considerable! By the time you read this, we will have moved achingly close to the first of the SNS trials, will be back up to 2.1K ARCs/Bots, the new ability, animation, and VFX systems will be performing as expected, and the programmers’ focus will have turned more heavily than ever to gameplay and not tech. We have never asked you folks for additional money to pay for that expense, which is considerable. I’ve opened the office in Seattle and expanded the team there. On my end, I’ve already committed more money to the studio than I originally planned. It really is a game-changer for the studio, at times. You truly don’t know how much it means to the team and to myself when we see the extra effort some of you have gone to in order to support us with words and occasional deeds. It means so much to us that you still support us, send us little gifts, and don’t make our lives miserable. To begin with, speaking on behalf of everyone at CSE, we thank you for your patience and support, truly. They may be heartfelt, true, and meaningful, but in this case, they are just not enough. I’m doing so once again, and saying "mea culpa." However, that’s not enough, at least not in my/our opinion. ![]() I have always, dating back to old Mythic, believed that CEOs of companies need to take ownership in situations such as these. For that, you have our most sincere and humble apologies. It’s been a longer road to Beta 1 than we expected it would be last year. Work on a “storified” version of this document from the perspective of our Backers.Once that document is complete, we will reveal it serially to our Backers on our website. Create a redacted version of this document for our Backers to read.In the coming weeks, I’ll do two more things: This document is now the official guide for us for Beta 1. I’ve kept the older doc up in the previous location so we can always reference it, as well as the comments we all made there. Like our game, this document is what it is thanks to all of us working together. Finally, to those who spent a lot of time in the comment section of this document: Once it went to the whole team, you folks did a really great job as well, and I appreciate it. I also want to thank those folks who spent a lot of time on what I wrote before the document went to the whole team, suggesting, commenting, questioning, filling in gaps, etc. I just want to say thank you to all the people at CSE who read the document. After all, nobody is perfect, right? Thank You to CSE! We talk, exchange ideas, disagree, argue, and-almost all the time-it is done professionally and respectfully. This is what I said to the team after we finished our work on the document. I wanted to show you folks as much of the “official” document as I could without editing. Overview of Beta 1 Features, Systems, and more!
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