Alpha Report nº 9 & 10

Olá a todos...


Inicialmente cumpre explicar o motivo de em um único post inserir o report 9 e 10.
Nos últimos dias, não houve mais nenhum relato de bug ou problemas no servidor. A razão disso pode ser o fato de o servidor estar completamente sem erros ou pelo fato de o servidor estar completamente vazio.


É difícil nesse momento descobrir exatamente o que acontece, os alpha testers que seriam responsáveis pelo andamento e saúde do servidor, parecem simplesmente terem desaparecido, perdido o interesse ou sei lá...


A intenção inicial era de lança o servidor no dia 9 de abril em seu estágio beta. No entanto isso não será possível. Com a ausência dos alpha testers serei obrigado e revisar todos os demais scripts que não passaram por nenhum relato de problemas.


Fora isso, ainda existem os demais trabalhos no aperfeiçoamento gráfico e UI do jogo.


Não obstante, há algumas semanas foi enviado para TODOS os alpha testers um survey, onde poucos testers responderam. Infelizmente terei que usar essa pequena quantidade de feedback para aperfeiçoar o servidor para um futuro beta test.


Entendam que não estou dizendo que os alpha testers não ajudaram em nada. Pelo contrário, graças aos Alpha Testers, muitas quests puderam ser revisadas e consertadas, bem como alguns problemas na mecânica do jogo.
O único problema dos alpha testers foi o de terem perdido o foco de ser um alpha tester, ou terem desanimado, não dá para saber ao certo.


Survey


Sobre o survey, o que foi possível acarear é o que segue:


1 - How do you spend most of your time in Experience RO?

Battle - 75%

Quests - 25%

Socializing - 0%

Other - 0%

Much as we expected, the vast majority of players (75%) are spending most of their play time engaged in battle-oriented content, with quest activities coming in second (25%). I cannot help but be concerned over the 0% result for socializing. This leads me to believe that in its current state, the game is lacking group-oriented goals and means of communication. Rest assured we will be addressing this issue together with the battle system.


2 - What is your biggest expectation for the newly restructured version for Beta?
An overhaul to fundamental gameplay aspects - 75% 
An accelerated version update schedule - 0% 
Shaman and Dark Knight available - 25%
More quests - 0%

An overhaul to fundamental gameplay aspects got 75% while Shaman and Dark Knight got 25%. This result was a total surprise for me. It made me review the rush in launch Shaman and Dark Knight.
An overhaul to fundamental aspects of gameplay was by far and away the most common response. But an accelerated version update schedule and increased player communication are certainly not to be discounted. The responses to these questions have left quite an impression on us, and we will continue to be making numerous improvements to these areas in accordance with your continued feedback.


3 - Which of the following issues you would like to see addressed first?
The quests - 100% 
Server response times - 0%
Maps - 0%
Lack of in-game content - 0%
Other - 0%

Looking further, it seems that the type of content most strongly desired is quests and miniquests, accounting for about 100% of the responses. My initial reaction was to interpret this as players stating that they want more adventures in Nyx! More Zeny, Experience Points and loot! ^^


4 - Which of the following would you like to see implemented first?
More story-based quests/mini-quests - 50%
More notorious monsters (MVP) - 0%
More levequests (including new varieties) - 50%
Player vs. player content (PvP) - 0%
Large-scale player vs. environment content (PvE) - 0%
Expanded tutorials - 0%
Other - 0%


In line with this, I believe that significant changes to the battle system are necessary to create a style of combat that lends itself to the enjoyment of quests and miniquests. Following that logic one step further, it is equally necessary to bring about significant changes to the user interface to create a UI that lends itself to the enjoyment of the battle system. After all, there is no point in making through improvements to battle if the response and usability of the interface isn't capable of conveying those improvements to players.


In line with the above results, we will be bringing quests and miniquests to Nyx at the beginning of the Beta. Along with this, all of the changes being worked on during the end of last year and the beginning of this year to improve the games playability and user-friendliness will also be released around the same time.


5 - What do you find most appealing about EXPERIENCE - Chronicles of Ragnarök?
World & lore - 50%
Graphics - 0%
Gameplay - 0%
Cutscenes & Cinematics - 0%
Sound & Music - 50%
Online services - 0%
Other - 0%


I'm personally of the opinion that the two most popular responses, music and the game world, are the main attraction for EXPERIENCE RO. I also believe that the number of players who chose the game world option is a strong reason for the aforementioned demand for additional quests and miniquests.


6 - Which of the following would you like to see implemented into the Experience Site?
Posts by the development and operations teams - 0%
More in-depth Q&A posts - 0%
More in-depth play guides - 100%
More features for individual and linkshell/company pages - 0%
Other - 0%


I'm very grateful for the fact that More in-depth play guides was the number one response to this question. I do think the forum itself isn't enough anymore. In addition, we will begin a reformulation into the website. If all goes well, the site should be up and ready for public use sometime in early May. I hope you are all looking forward to the site as much as you are the changes to the game!


7 - Would you welcome changes to EXPERIENCE that would drastically alter the rules already set in Ragnarok Online?
Yes - 100%
No - 0%


As for the results, 100% of players answered in the affirmative. This is something that will be in the forefront of my mind when making decisions concerning future updates to the game. I promise to do everything in my power to address as many of the players' demands and desires as I can.


8 - How difficult was to donwload the Alpha Client?
Easy - (1 hour or less) - 50%
Medium - (2 hours to 4 hours) - 50%
Hard - (4 hours to 8 hours) - 0%
Impossible - (More than 8 hours) - 0%


I'm so relieve that nobody said Impossible. ^_^
It shows that the client size is affortable for most of the players. What we can try todo is find a better host with better download speed.


9 - The minimum computer requirements were affordable?
True - 100%
False - 0%


I had sure about this one. The minimum requeriments if compared with most of new games today, aren't hard to reach at all.


10 - Have you found problems to install the game?
Yes - 0%
No - 100%


It's a good sign. On the first alpha, we got few problems with client install. I'm glad to be able to fix all this for the second release.




Thank you again to all those players who took the time to complete our poll. I hope that I've been able to appease those of you thinking, "Come on, Chaos Give us some specifics!" (Sorry, the fact that I haven't up until now is probably more a personality issue than anything else...^^;) Below is a list of changes and additions, some of them already underway, that will be introduced to the game in future version updates. And for those of you who might have been wondering, this list is by no means comprehensive.

Category	Planned	Current Tasks	Future Tasks
Quests	Tutorials for new players	Planning and implementation of tutorial quests	Introduction of additional quests
	Quests revolving around the danger facing Nyx	Planning and implementation of quests	Introduction of additional quests
	Public company quests	Planning of public companies and related quests in Arsinoé, Grand Pulse, and Rune Midgard	Introduction of additional quests

Category	Planned	Current Tasks	Future Tasks
UI	Improvements to the log	Revision of text colors by message type Brighter system messages for easier reading	-
	Increased usability of maps	Examination of increased refresh rates for more responsive maps	Implementation of changes Subsequent increase in the number of points and icons pictured on maps
	Improvements on UI graphics	Changes to notification windows	Changes on all windows images

Currently, the above changes, together with other adjustments and additions, comprise about 30% of what we currently have planned. There is still quite a lot to be done, especially when considering that more things will be added to the list. These posts that I will be making will continue to contain a list of planned changes, as well as updates on their current status.

Items on the above list will be removed once implemented, with dated notifications being given in separate posts. Changes that have been newly planned or are currently undergoing testing will be added as they arise.

As I mentioned previously in the poll analysis, examination and planning of changes to the battle system, and related changes to the quest system, are proceeding at a very rapid rate, as we would like to implement them as soon as possible. In particular, I would very much like to continue incorporating player feedback into the adjustments being made to the claiming/engaging system, and finalize it it the near future.

Also, please look forward to further news regarding the public company system (not the official name...), as I will be releasing more details on it soon!

I realize that this is already a lot of text, but I'm already looking forward to writing my next letter! Until then!

Agaian, thank you very much for all effort made by the Alpha Testers, nothing of this was possible without the help you all, my dear friends had made...
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!! ^^

Thanks for your visit and please comment. ^_^