Think the game will get released this quarter?

zylaxx · January 2013

I find it a bit strange the Devs have been so silent about the plans for the game since last year at all the con's it was said to be released by end of 2012. End of the year came and went and then the plans were changed to Quarter 1 2013 but so far not a peep. I am begining to think this wont get released till Quarter 3 at the earliest.

On a side note, anyone know of any fun 3rd person action games that are fun to tide me over? GW2 just isn't cutting it for me any more.

galvayra · January 2013

Not a chance, needs a month or two of closed beta then a month or two of open beta, we don't even know the schedule , all we know that alpha is in progress and in case no one said this officially , you didn't hear it from me.

Like i said in an older thread a while ago i expect this to be released in July on my birthday. Also on another side note , i had fun once, it was awful. I don't know what to play either, i bide my time with pokemon and every once in a while Planetside 2 or Dota 2

Waiting on beta keys to this and Card hunter

ironykx · January 2013

Seen some people on twitter stating they received an alpha key so the chances are no, not this quarter. But don't despair, we're getting close to release....

gillrmn · January 2013

Maybe. Lets hold our pants tight and keep our ears hooked. An announcement on beta date might be coming anytime.

neowolfen · January 2013

No expectations means no disappointments only pleasant surprises

stormdrag0n · January 2013

It depends on how well the F&F alpha testers did their job and how well Cryptic listened to them. I remember the GW1 beta's, people were shocked that they just didn't go ahead and release the game, because we couldn't find anything and Anet told us "No this isn't polished we will tell you when we have enough feedback" The result was a pretty much bug free release, considering Cryptics past two games...they may be shooting for that.

gillrmn · January 2013

stormdrag0n wrote: »

It depends on how well the F&F alpha testers did their job and how well Cryptic listened to them. I remember the GW1 beta's, people were shocked that they just didn't go ahead and release the game, because we couldn't find anything and Anet told us "No this isn't polished we will tell you when we have enough feedback" The result was a pretty much bug free release, considering Cryptics past two games...they may be shooting for that.

I would say it all depends on budget. Devs won't feed us a bugged sandwich if they have enough money.

PWE gave them money after the reviews brought more attention for this game than raiderz, so they thought it was no longer dark horse but AAA game giving NW more money.

So I think expecting a good game should be justified - not perfect game, but better than many games which don't have enough budget left to delay the release for testing.

kheldryn · January 2013

zylaxx wrote: »

I find it a bit strange the Devs have been so silent about the plans for the game since last year at all the con's it was said to be released by end of 2012. End of the year came and went and then the plans were changed to Quarter 1 2013 but so far not a peep. I am begining to think this wont get released till Quarter 3 at the earliest.

On a side note, anyone know of any fun 3rd person action games that are fun to tide me over? GW2 just isn't cutting it for me any more.

Would be nice to see it in the 1st Quarter, but no. I doubt we'll be that fortunate, 2nd or 3rd at earliest I'd think with 4th being most likely.

Personally I still find Star Wars the Old Republic diverting. It is FTP now (Though I'm about to resub) and is quite fun to play. The voiced dialogue really makes it fun (Even if you're limited to Human and Zabrak as a FTP {You can purchase and unlock the other races in the Cartel Market} its still fun to play). If you haven't tried it I suggest it. Be warned, The space combat isn't that great. But the rest of the game was nicely done IMO.

ranncore · January 2013

I would say highly unlikely. That would have to assume that alpha testing ends basically next week, and that closed beta and open beta are each only about a month long. Which I guess isn't really all that far fetched.

I'm playing Path of Exiles and loving it.

ambisinisterr · January 2013

Let's say I wish it was but I doubt it will...and a large part of me doesn't want it to be.

Like others I want a long Beta Stage, 2 months at least on Closed Beta and at least a month in open, and IMO that is still a damn short amount of time.
As I said on another thread, in MMO's "launch" is more of a formal term which says they believe the game is basically bug free. Most major changes will take place no later than the Closed Beta stage and for the game to truly be shaped by that feedback there needs to be a some-what long period of testing.

It doesn't make any rational sense to me to rush production in order to "release" the game in the first quarter or even the second quarter. I'd rather see them aim to have Open Beta no later than July or so and say to heck with the "release."

iamtruthseeker · January 2013

Remember, the game was delayed for stated additional funds to polish further and add PvP to the game at launch. PvP was planned early 2013, and the delay was moved to that release window. It's very VERY likely this game will be out before mid 2013 but how soon before mid 2013 I can't say exactly, both from an NDA and personal estimate level. Even if I could, I'd not want to as people could take my opinion due to this little title under my ID and then say"but TS said..." Even with "disclaimers" people "selectively read" at times and discretion (even at times self-censorship) is necessary.

From the now "exposed" Alpha I can say that it's not something just started last week, but it's not been going on a year either (remember NDA) and is a stage past the F&F and Pre-Alpha. But while feedback is collected and (IMHO brilliantly) responded to both in word and in development action, it's not likely at ALL to end this next week and have Beta announced.

Considering the contest mentioned for US alpha keys, that would make it a very poor contest indeed!

If you've ever done testing (and I do mean testing) before, then you would know it's Alpha and not a marketing ploy; that's as far as I or anybody can really say without further details being approved, sorry!

Oh, and also a PoE player, come join the game there when they go open beta or see if you can snag a key before CB ends and they wipe their characters!

mettiidore · January 2013

Well they said they were expecting to release in early 2013, I dunno if they were knowingly bull******* just to get the hype up or they really think they're going to release in within the first or second quarter when they're just doing alpha now

ranncore · January 2013

I think they said early 2013 before they decided to implement PvP before launch, which is a good thing. The more you delay the introduction of PvP the more problems you are going to have with it.
As much as I like PvP if it's implemented last minute only as an afterthought it's going to be a nightmare.
I'm looking at you, Path of Exile.

tinyish · January 2013

They repeated over and over the dates that they thought it would come out. And as it got closer to that date and looked like they might not make it then they repeated it less and less. And then when they missed it then they named the new vague date of "Early 2013" and haven't seemed to make a point of repeating it at all, which means they aren't likely sure of that. If they were going to release it within the next 2.5 months then you'd think they'd have picked a release date already and be trying to hype up the game a whole lot more.

As it stands now they haven't even announced a beta start date. There's no chance that it'll release in Q1.

ironykx · January 2013

As per the recent contest on NW France and Deutsch facebook page and the recent post on this forum regarding the alpha keys, Q1 2013 will be very *very* hard to reach. Keep in mind that we don't know wich Alpha stage the game is currently in too. Closed beta maybe just around the corner, but still. My hopes are for Q2 or even Q3 2013. All depends on the devs and their quality expectations for the launch. Still at least we're not help in the dark like the last couple of months. It is nice to see some action on the forums.

pboar2006 · January 2013

I am hoping for a sooner then later release but I also would like the majority of bugs to be squashed. Im sure PVP and the Foundry have been the major emphasis of bug testing recently, but honestly I have no idea.

Alphas and Betas have changed alot recently going from actually testing the game to being big marking jobs to draw more and more people to the game. I do hope for some in depth bug reporting to be done in both Alpha and Beta and if I get a chance to get into Alpha I know a main focus will be on trying to break the game and submitting reports on how it happened.

The more we all come together and test the better of an experience we will all have in Neverwinter and beyond.

maddmister · January 2013

Like I posted several times earlier, consider ourselves lucky if it gets released in Q2...Q1 is out of the question. Webpage isn't even 1/4 done yet and in the video posted on youtube showing a dev at work, no one commented on what he was working on, female character facial customization. Does that sound like something devs would be working on on a game soon to be released? Thats usually one of the first few things that gets done after the basics are done. I am with amisniserr on this I would want to see a polished game say in Q3 than an incomplete and buggy game in Q1/2. I have played numerous games rushed to release (as have all of us gamers) and would rather just have a complete game from the start.

elewyndyl · January 2013

No. You know Haswell CPU should be available even in Europe late 2013. I am honestly uncertain what glorious moment will I experience first.... play Neverwinter MMO fully released(not talking about BETA) or with a super desktop that uses Intel haswell CPU.

There is really not much difference between Sandybridge and IVY bridge CPU in performance. Mark my words and prediction when Haswell CPU is released we have a crystal clear performance winner though it will not be huge performance increase.

Don't worry you don't need super computer for this game, but I want to buy a computer that last for a very long time.

crashoddity · January 2013

I'm guessing it will still be in the first half of this year, and probably sooner rather than later. People shouldn't make assumptions about the NW beta process... it appears to be a different beast than we are used to dealing with in other games. In other words, I think this alpha might be a lot closer to beta level quality than an alpha.

noobfreak2 · January 2013

Having been part of alpha and beta testing of some recent AAA mmo's it is true that the open beta is generally a marketting ploy in which the servers are stress tested.. however with the plan for only 1 server I cant see what the benefit of not going full release as soon as they can handle it.

That is to say if the game is ready to ship..

Closed beta can be long, but can also be short, the REAL impact is the choice of testers and the quality of the testing.. giving out alpha and beta keys willy nilly will only reduce the quality of the testing. That can be seen in the plans to phase in beta keys, which will be more appropriate to stress test, rather than functionality test.

crashoddity · January 2013

noobfreak2 wrote: »

Having been part of alpha and beta testing of some recent AAA mmo's it is true that the open beta is generally a marketting ploy in which the servers are stress tested.. however with the plan for only 1 server I cant see what the benefit of not going full release as soon as they can handle it.

That is to say if the game is ready to ship..

Closed beta can be long, but can also be short, the REAL impact is the choice of testers and the quality of the testing.. giving out alpha and beta keys willy nilly will only reduce the quality of the testing. That can be seen in the plans to phase in beta keys, which will be more appropriate to stress test, rather than functionality test.

Exactly. It's the quality of the testing, not the quantity of time tested that matters.

gillrmn · January 2013

noobfreak2 wrote: »

Having been part of alpha and beta testing of some recent AAA mmo's it is true that the open beta is generally a marketting ploy in which the servers are stress tested.. ...

*blows a whistle*
Putting speculations to test, I want to make you all aware that I asked the devs directly (and luckily got an answer) in which they confirmed that beta will not just be a stress test but actual beta in which tester will have a chance to shape up the game.
*blows the whistle*
Continue.

noobfreak2 · January 2013

I extended the sentence somewhat after that.. Stating I cant see the benefit of an open beta for anything but stress test..

I speak of an open Beta, which is the short period before release which allows final tweaks and the ability to reset characters (within reason) to which the general public can register and play. If the general public could be trusted to completely read the known bugs thread, and check forums completely for similar bugs and issues, before creating threads for every bug or issue they have.. Then there wouldn't be the need for any closed testing at all..

Closed beta may shape the game.. but only a fool would expect this to apply to the open beta.. Other than outstanding or essential spotted bugs, issues or improvements that would be picked up equally after release..

The phasing of beta access is the direct evidence of this process.. otherwise why not give out keys all at once?

I doubt it will be released this quarter.. but if its not this year... then it may as well be never.. but then.. it could then be released on next gen consoles too

would that be worth waiting for?

gillrmn · January 2013

Let me also specify about some stages what they do as there is some confusion:-

Pre alpha:
Unit test. Each developer takes his/her part and test it. So if I work on animations, I will borrow a simple skeleton from modelling department and test out all my animations on different basic models.

Meeting:
The requirements are reviewed in context of deadline - ok this looks almost ready, lets include this. This will surely make it in time. etc.etc.etc.

Alpha:
It has been decided what all needs to be there by deadline. So now we have an idea what all will be there in game.
Bare skeleton of everything - they start with "safe mode" and keep adding things hoping they work. They don't really care about small bugs but as long as it works it is fine. It looks very little like a finished product. Ideas, suggestions are most important, bugs are secondary.

Close beta:
Finding bugs, exploits and stuff. It is a box which works but with many holes. The testing should be quick and efficient. No need to be very through as open beta remains - just be sure to be extra careful about game breaking bugs.

Open beta:
WIth 80% of the holes which anyone could find in two-three runs, now is the time to find elusive bugs - those which come from wierd kind of lay and wierd kind of configurations - the one which have one in a million chance of occurrence. This is where very good, patient and through testing is required.

Stress test:
After open beta, it is time to check servers. Now they put the game on actual servers, earlier they were testing code, now they test server and any bottlenecks in the flow.

Release:
Now is the time to get paid for it. Support and maintenance takes cares of bugs from now on.

aeroth001 · January 2013

neowolfen wrote: »

No expectations means no disappointments only pleasant surprises

Hahahaha! This sums up the atmosphere around this game and totaly made my day. Thank you >:D<

lolwutruevendoin · January 2013

The fact that they're starting a more open alpha is a good sign. It means the development is mostly completed and it's almost all bug fixes until launch. Anyway my guess for release/open beta is late march. Hopefully they will try to keep on track to the early 2013 launch, with a closed beta in mid/late February. I know i'm not going to get an alpha key so gonna try and hope for a Beta next month.

crashoddity · January 2013

gillrmn wrote: »

*blows a whistle*
Putting speculations to test, I want to make you all aware that I asked the devs directly (and luckily got an answer) in which they confirmed that beta will not just be a stress test but actual beta in which tester will have a chance to shape up the game.
*blows the whistle*
Continue.

That's awesome, I hope that ends up being true! It appears from the outside that alpha is more for feedback and beta will be for stress testing and marketing. It's all semantics anyway though. As long as the testers are sending in feedback and the game is being improved because of it, we have nothing to worry about.

ambisinisterr · January 2013

Think of the game as harder to change the closer it gets to launch.

Imagine you're building a house. After you set the foundation that is locked in, it gets exponentially harder to alter the foundation after you build the first floor. Then after you set the first floor the second floor will always be limited by the first and the first is limited by the foundation.
So the longer the game is in development the harder it is to alter the earliest work.

Closed Beta will be more than simply stress testing but I can't say how much will be subject to change in Open Beta.

phasetran9 · January 2013

Still patiently waiting, wondering when the emails will go out, I picked up a NwN - will send an invite with the purchase of Torchlight 2.

I worry I am getting two old for these twitchy games lol

iamtruthseeker · January 2013

ranncore wrote: »

I think they said early 2013 before they decided to implement PvP before launch, which is a good thing. The more you delay the introduction of PvP the more problems you are going to have with it.
As much as I like PvP if it's implemented last minute only as an afterthought it's going to be a nightmare.
I'm looking at you, Path of Exile.

No they delayed it to early 2013 around mid August 2012.; For both polish and to have PvP at launch both. Remember early 2013 not Q1 or Q2 BTW folks.

tinyish wrote: »

They repeated over and over the dates that they thought it would come out. And as it got closer to that date and looked like they might not make it then they repeated it less and less. And then when they missed it then they named the new vague date of "Early 2013" and haven't seemed to make a point of repeating it at all, which means they aren't likely sure of that. If they were going to release it within the next 2.5 months then you'd think they'd have picked a release date already and be trying to hype up the game a whole lot more.

As it stands now they haven't even announced a beta start date. There's no chance that it'll release in Q1.

See previous reply above. They never said Q1 anyway. If anybody truly knew this and disagreed, I expect to have seen your posts then on this, not griping just now. If you did, then thanks for your consistent feedback!

ironykx wrote: »

As per the recent contest on NW France and Deutsch facebook page and the recent post on this forum regarding the alpha keys, Q1 2013 will be very *very* hard to reach. Keep in mind that we don't know wich Alpha stage the game is currently in too. Closed beta maybe just around the corner, but still. My hopes are for Q2 or even Q3 2013. All depends on the devs and their quality expectations for the launch. Still at least we're not help in the dark like the last couple of months. It is nice to see some action on the forums.

Again, NOT Q1 2013, early 2013, which they mentioned the release date for PvP even before the delay of all game for better implementation. But yes, we all approve of the ramping up now.

pboar2006 wrote: »

I am hoping for a sooner then later release but I also would like the majority of bugs to be squashed. Im sure PVP and the Foundry have been the major emphasis of bug testing recently, but honestly I have no idea.

Alphas and Betas have changed alot recently going from actually testing the game to being big marking jobs to draw more and more people to the game. I do hope for some in depth bug reporting to be done in both Alpha and Beta and if I get a chance to get into Alpha I know a main focus will be on trying to break the game and submitting reports on how it happened.

The more we all come together and test the better of an experience we will all have in Neverwinter and beyond.

Well...your assumptions are just that.

Originally Posted by crypticmapolis
We intend to have a long, multi-stage beta process that will test many aspects of the game. Cryptic has always valued player input, and PWE has given us the time and resources to execute the beta cycle we've always wanted to do. I should also note that the Foundry will have a similar, but somewhat separate beta cycle.

It's certainly not going to be a last-minute marketing-only beta.

Many things are tested, not just bugs and breaking games. Play balance, appearance, loads, retweaking or even redoing classes and monsters, healing, etc. It's not just marketing, and those who lack the ability to properly give adequate feedback wouldn't do well, at this point, whether test, marketing, etc. So no, really not a big preview in the least if others were wondering after reading the reply there.

maddmister wrote: »

Like I posted several times earlier, consider ourselves lucky if it gets released in Q2...Q1 is out of the question. Webpage isn't even 1/4 done yet and in the video posted on youtube showing a dev at work, no one commented on what he was working on, female character facial customization. Does that sound like something devs would be working on on a game soon to be released? Thats usually one of the first few things that gets done after the basics are done. I am with amisniserr on this I would want to see a polished game say in Q3 than an incomplete and buggy game in Q1/2. I have played numerous games rushed to release (as have all of us gamers) and would rather just have a complete game from the start.

All I can say is you don't see the forest when all yous saw is a few trees. While I'm not saying it's release ready, it's a LOT more polished than you might think. You also say "Webpage isn't even 1/4 done yet" yet don't don't link it or detail if you mean here or elsewhere, fail to comment on the social media options, and fail to show a successful example if so. Again, detail constructive criticism so if you want changes those in charge can actually WORK on those ideas. Just saying it's not ready doesn't help.

noobfreak2 wrote: »

Having been part of alpha and beta testing of some recent AAA mmo's it is true that the open beta is generally a marketting ploy in which the servers are stress tested.. however with the plan for only 1 server I cant see what the benefit of not going full release as soon as they can handle it.

That is to say if the game is ready to ship..

Closed beta can be long, but can also be short, the REAL impact is the choice of testers and the quality of the testing.. giving out alpha and beta keys willy nilly will only reduce the quality of the testing. That can be seen in the plans to phase in beta keys, which will be more appropriate to stress test, rather than functionality test.

gillrmn wrote: »

Let me also specify about some stages what they do as there is some confusion:-

Pre alpha:
Unit test. Each developer takes his/her part and test it. So if I work on animations, I will borrow a simple skeleton from modelling department and test out all my animations on different basic models.

Meeting:
The requirements are reviewed in context of deadline - ok this looks almost ready, lets include this. This will surely make it in time. etc.etc.etc.

Alpha:
It has been decided what all needs to be there by deadline. So now we have an idea what all will be there in game.
Bare skeleton of everything - they start with "safe mode" and keep adding things hoping they work. They don't really care about small bugs but as long as it works it is fine. It looks very little like a finished product. Ideas, suggestions are most important, bugs are secondary.

Close beta:
Finding bugs, exploits and stuff. It is a box which works but with many holes. The testing should be quick and efficient. No need to be very through as open beta remains - just be sure to be extra careful about game breaking bugs.

Open beta:
WIth 80% of the holes which anyone could find in two-three runs, now is the time to find elusive bugs - those which come from wierd kind of lay and wierd kind of configurations - the one which have one in a million chance of occurrence. This is where very good, patient and through testing is required.

Stress test:
After open beta, it is time to check servers. Now they put the game on actual servers, earlier they were testing code, now they test server and any bottlenecks in the flow.

Release:
Now is the time to get paid for it. Support and maintenance takes cares of bugs from now on.

Gilrmn's listing stages is pretty good. NDA means I can't detail actual specifics though. But it's not just a marketing ploy indeed!

ambisinisterr wrote: »

Think of the game as harder to change the closer it gets to launch.

Imagine you're building a house. After you set the foundation that is locked in, it gets exponentially harder to alter the foundation after you build the first floor. Then after you set the first floor the second floor will always be limited by the first and the first is limited by the foundation.
So the longer the game is in development the harder it is to alter the earliest work.

Closed Beta will be more than simply stress testing but I can't say how much will be subject to change in Open Beta.

Bingo!

merketh · January 2013

While I would want Q1 for personal reasons ( i really have time now to play) the adage, "when its ready" is better in the long run.

Think the game will get released this quarter?

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