Darkfall Dev Journal #25: Philosophy

In the latest edition of his periodic developer journals here on WarCry, Darkfall Associate Producer Tasos Flambouras talks about his company's philosophy on a range of issues, including: announcing a release date, the beta testing process and playtesting. He also reacts to some of the reaction to his last journal.

We prefer to do our testing this way so by the time we get to the playtesting, we'll have as close to the actual game as possible. We would like to let the playtesting carry on for a while uninterrupted just like the actual game would be instead of allowing access for a few days here and there. That's the best way to decide if the game is fun, something you really can't have an opinion on when it's not near-complete. In the playtesting phase, we're not looking for testers, we're looking for players, the same way most people enter a beta: to try out and play the game rather than help the developer with quality assurance.

Read more after the leap.

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It's good to see Tasos reacting in such a civilized manner to the recent responses his last journal have caused to surface, I hope this does indeed defuse the AoC VS DF bomb a bit.

i still really wish they'd fire up fraps every month or so just to capture some in-game footage of these internal playtesters. nothing edited, just some honest gameplay footage.

yea
i guess we just have to see at this point but why didnt you .. give us a itme fram for beta

I can see why they don't set a date, they're afraid they'll miss it. They don't want to give out videos because they don't like to give a wrong impression of their game, not to mention they don't want to show too much of the game because they don't want to reveal the game to the players, they don't want to show some secret areas or w/e.

Pure class.

Well, there is a reason why beta testers aren't allowed to leak any information, especially not in the form of videos, and I bet you can imagine the stuff the devs would shoot if they used fraps would be much more delicate than that

don't want to give out videos because they don't like to give a wrong impression of their game

How the hell does giving out videos give a wrong impression? Considering every other game in existence gives out videos of theirs?

http://www.mortalonline.com

Darkfall might as well pack up and go home.. It's over for Darkfall.. It's been over for a long time.. but this just really brings it home..

They missed the boat BIG TIME..

teedle:
http://www.mortalonline.com

Darkfall might as well pack up and go home..

It's funny you believe them and not darkfall when they've shown us way less than DF has. They only say they're releasing in summer 2009, so their theoretical date is more than a year away while DF needs a lot less than a year.

If anything I feel sorry for those mortalonline guys, they're the second company to get how MMO's should be, but they'll probably be fishing behind the net

You're now even more officially a troll, seriously, if you think us pathetic for supporting a game, how pathetic are you if the only thing you seem to do is troll posts about a game you don't care about.

It's funny you believe them and not darkfall when they've shown us way less than DF has.

They are using a $300,000 Proven development platform... That gives them tons of cedibility alone.

They also haven't made any bullshit promises for the last 7 years.

And once again.. this dev journal is about as useless as 90% of all the others. Why do they even do these?

"Oh we can't give out videos of our game because... well.. I don't fucken know why.. because we're a bunch of noodles.."

teedle:
They are using a $300,000 Engine development platform... That gives them tons of cedibility alone.

They also haven't made any bullshit promises for 7 years..

And once again.. this dev journal is about as useless as 90% of everyone ever made..

DF has never made any bullshit promises, beta was never promised, nor was release, it's always been the community hyping things like "internal test date" and "clan beta registration" up to mean "beta nowww!!!!!!".

And so when one guy on the intertubes tells you they have an expensive engine you believe them, but when other people tell you they've taken a huge loan for the game you don't?

Your stubbornness knows no bounds.

beta was never promised, nor was release

Release date was promised for 2003.. and there was a beta date in 2005.. and several others that were hinted at..

And so when one guy on the intertubes tells you they have an expensive engine you believe them

What are you blabbering about? They have Epic linked under partners.. they have a trailer that is obviously using Unreal Tech..

That release date/beta was set by Razorwax, obviously it doesn't count anymore when they get absorbed, scrap the game and decide to rework it with a bigger scale. I'm still waiting to see any shitty promise by aventurine.

teedle and yamisniper - As much fun as watching you two have the same argument and call each other names everytime there is a Darkfall news item is... How about you two agree to disagree and stop talking to each other?

I never talk to him.. I make my VALID points than people proceed to talk at me with their usual fanboi BS.

SHOW ME CREDIBILITY.. WHERE'S THE CREDIBILITY??????

how about you ban this dipshit lep? hes over at mmorpg spouting almost the same crap. and thats spaming to me

teedle:
I never talk to him.. I make my VALID points than people proceed to talk at me with their usual fanboi BS.

SHOW ME CREDIBILITY.. WHERE'S THE CREDIBILITY?????????

And you're entitled to your opinion, as is he. I don't care if you guys have an actual debate, but when it gets down to "GTFO N00b" you're wasting space on the internet and that is hard to do. ;)

Banning is no fun. Both of you just stop talking specifically to each other, since that seems to be 9/10ths of the spam in this thread and a few dozen others.

...seriously, stop.

Well im tired seeng the same crpa spouted by him and a few others When they dont have any proof what so ever

yamisniper:
Well im tired seeng the same crpa spouted by him and a few others When they dont have any proof what so ever

That's fine, attack the merits, ignore the person posting. If you want to argue until you both lose a finger about the merits of Darkfall, I don't mind (and I mean the merits, not attacking Darkfall by calling it names or saying just how great it is at random, but specific things you like/dislike about it). I am just sick of you two calling each other names in the process. Sound fair?

the problem is most of teedle post are out right calling taso full of shit thats nto really fair is it?

yamisniper:
the problem is most of teedle post are out right calling taso full of shit thats nto really fair is it?

It might not meet a journalistic standard, no, but it's a forum and people are allowed to disagree. Otherwise, this would be an awfully boring forum, now wouldn't it? :P

the problem is most of teedle post are out right calling taso full of shit

That's what Warcry did 2 weeks ago.. Maybe you should bring it up them instead?

there is nothing to disagree about tho its a striaght forward journal he either lieing or not lieing. my sources tell me he isnt

teedle:
That's what Warcry did 2 weeks ago.. Maybe you should bring it up them instead?

WarCry didn't. A columnist did. That's like saying CNN doesn't believe in Global Warming because they publish Glenn Beck.

the problem is most of teedle post are out right calling taso full of shit thats nto really fair is it?[/quote]

That's what Warcry did 2 weeks ago.. Maybe you should bring it up them instead?[/quote]
no they didnt that was An AOC fan not warcry

But they didn't mind giving the platform for it now did they? ;>)

teedle:
but they didn't mind giving the platform for it now did they? ;)

That's why they call it editorial. If he writes an article saying the sky is in fact lime green and makes a halfway readable case, all the power to him.

I like your Monkey Avatar.. He entertains me... more than listening to yamisniper try to speak.

Ok have fun. I'am out of here. ;o)

good

Thank you teedle - You all may now resume previously begun discussions of the article at hand.

teedle:

Ok have fun. I'am out of here. ;o)

You could of just say you had nothing to say anymore since lepidus's right, that was kind of a subtile way to say it tought.

Good update, wanted more. :<

You know what would be really nice? Some sort of percentage completion of Darkfall. Could you please give us a rough percentage of how much you've tested already? You said its on a pyramid scheme, so you must be progressing up the levels; that can be a percentage, or any other way you phrase completion process.
If you could go like we're 65% complete til beta one weak, then 67% the next week, or even go back %'s it would be nice to see progress. I think thats all the people want.

Even if they gave a percentage, it wouldn't matter. Testing could mean that they'd have to go over another section of the game if they need to change something in another area. Tasos and the devs seem committed to getting the bugs out and turning beta over to us to play and test, not turn the beta over to us to shut the community up while they add the remaining content like other game companies do. They are committed to giving us a finished product to test, and for that, the devs deserve a commendation.

So many people are completely dead set against Darkfall releasing that no amount of proof will sway them, at least, not until Tasos wacks them over the head with a boxed set or provides a digital distribution link. The simple truth is, Aventurine has done nothing that other companies haven't do a thousand times before. Strangely enough, all the underhanded stunts that other companies pull on their fanbase all seems to go out the window when we start talking Darkfall. Once you put Darkfall into a conversation, every big name studio and project (and their respective developers) instantly turn into saints. Makes me sick, because even the biggest studio misses deadlines, but if Darkfall misses a deadline (even one that was never made official), the game is vaporware instantly. Maybe next time AOC delays, I should go tell all the fans that it's "never coming out" and "the devs have been feeding us BS for years". Sounds pretty dumb? Happens here daily...

Another good journal from Tasos, these are always a welcome read on a Friday evening. Keep up the good work Aventurine!

Can we start a Teedle Banning poll?

If I make it 3 pages long, spell-check it, proof read it, and add a few screenies of what his face might look like after seeing his blocked IP, can I post? Maybe as an editorial/poll for the Bannage of one Teedle Troll??

What if I say PLZ?

c'mon.... plz?

So many people are completely dead set against Darkfall releasing

No one cares if this game comes out or not dude besides the people who feel like playing it. This game barely has a following compared to the big mainstream MMORPG's..

Makes me sick, because even the biggest studio misses deadlines, but if Darkfall misses a deadline (even one that was never made official), the game is vaporware instantly.

You know why? cause those big studios don't have anything to prove.. Aventurine hasn't made 1 single product yet.

There's no reason at all that they can't show gameplay videos.. It's just a commen thing to do when you're building a game.. There's a real reason why they don't.. and it's not just "because".

I think this is a big investment scam.. They are just sitting around taking money from wherever they are getting it from and developing just barely enough stuff..

It happened with the Phantom Game console system , perpetual entertainment , and lots of other stuff.

no amount of proof will sway them, at least, not until Tasos wacks them over the head with a boxed set or provides a digital distribution link.

or they could just do somethin simple like record a video showing all the gameplay they say they have? It's a real simple thing to do and gives all the proof anyone needs.. But you can only do that if you really have the stuff to record..

They say they have it... but they never show it. So 2+2 = they probably don't have it.