Open Beta!!!

#1 Posted by Aviont (20 posts) -

Come join open beta! Game is fun and Skiing is about the most awesome thing ever.

*note: I had issues with Nvidia graphics driver 295.51 (game would crash before it got to log in screen) and updated to new beta drivers 295.73 and issue has been fixed. Found this fix on their official forums.

#2 Posted by kindgineer (2458 posts) -

I just fucking found this on mmofront and nearly jumped out my seat. I am so excited it's downloading right now :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

#3 Posted by Hitchenson (4682 posts) -

Don't grab the flag if you're going less than 180 sonics, let Pathfinders cap. Just sayin', it's so good, enjoy.

#4 Edited by Evilmetal (468 posts) -

I don't like the free to play aspect of the game.  If you want to unlock a class you need so many experience points (XP). So for example, there are some classes (for example) worth 18,000 XP or 280 GP.  GP is  their gold points (GP) currency to buy the locked classes and weapons. GP are acquired by spending real money.  There are weapons that are like 100,000 XP or 780 GP. 
Let me tell you.... a  few times I was in a round playing as a technician, it was a freakin' mad house... enemies all over the place, I was repairing shit left and right; I was putting up sentries... racking up kills... repairing sensors... guns... mad house, fuckin' mad house I tell you... and at the end... at the end of this madness, I got a few hundred points of XP, like 300-400.   And it's not a madhouse all of the time. This was a rare case and I remember how I played, I felt, hard and at the end it's like you don't get anywhere near to access new tools.
(my experiences are from capture the flag only) 

You can do the calculations yourself to see on average how long it will take to unlock a 100,000 XP weapon. Rounds are about 15 minutes. I don't know if there is a statistics page showing play time and so on and so far, but I'd estimate that I average 300 points a game maybe 400. I don't go for flags, I do defense.
The game revolves around you upgrading things to improve your guy so that you can counter enemy attacks.  So the reduced points told me they didn't want me to 'get ahead' without paying. Even if I played like awesome.   At the end of every round, your XP earned are shown. It also shows how many XP you could have earned if you were a paying member.  So they want to hit home that it is in your interest to pay. They have a bar graph showing your pathetic free-non-paid XP earned, and they show how many XP you could have earned had you paid.
I remember playing the demo of Tribes back in the day, and I could play the sniper class and other classes and it felt fun. Everyone had the same tools available. With the free to play aspect, if you paid you get access to better tools. If you don't pay.... you won't have a fair shot. If they said, 'pay $50 and you unlock everything'  it would be something to consider. But the sneakiness of the free to play model is that you don't have an 'end' to paying. Customers can perpetually pay and pay. I don't like that. The developers play on gamers' emotions (from being 'pwnd' or wanting to get an edge on others) to pull the trigger and make purchases. That's low class. They should just say "here's our world class game, buy it, get access to all the tools, and have a blast!".
When you play a game like CS or 1942/BF2 everyone has the same available tools, and the idea is how do you use these tools to win.  In Tribes Ascend...  you start off with a dude with one wooden leg and crutches and you gotta sit down and draw mental diagrams to figure out how to beat some guy with a metal exoskeleton and a mini-gun....    is it really worth the time? 
I don't think this game, and free to play games in general, are worth your time if you are not going to drop some money (like they want you to). Getting aggravated because some dude bought a tool and you didn't, is just not worth it and it's part of the business model; to get angry and make an emotion purchase, which lack logic.   
Even though I'm not paying and won't pay for the game, I gave the other gamers an "AI" of sorts.... an ADVANCED AI, if I may say so myself.  Many developers speak of hiring advanced AI programmers from Harvard and MIT and so on and so forth... well... what better gaming AI than a human being?  So  I was giving that "paying person" and non paying person, entertainment (target practice) for even less than slave labor wages. I have an advanced AI... dynamic path selection.... aggressive or defensive play styles...  works in teams with other, less advanced AI... etc.   If my wooden leg beat the crap out of some dude, he could have been inclined to make an emotional purchase to bust me up. I provided target practice and potentially gave the developers a paying customer. What did I get? access to play the game... keep wooden leg, upgrade a crutch.

#5 Posted by ajamafalous (11563 posts) -
@Evilmetal: Honestly man, it sounds like Free to Play games just aren't for you. 
If they didn't inconvenience you in some way for playing for free, there'd be no reason for anyone to pay them. If you're able to look past that then you get a free (or relatively inexpensive) game; if not then you should just steer clear.
#6 Edited by CheapPoison (708 posts) -

I really like the game.. but i am sure the free to play will kill it. It is so buy for power it's.. I don't know but. I can't invest into this game.

So what i want to say is that Evilmetal opinion it pretty much mine. Sad really.

#7 Posted by Jerusahat (139 posts) -

You get a flat 1200 xp bonus for your first win of the day. If you spend $5, you'll get a permanent 50% xp VIP bonus. Boosters aren't worth the money (compared to buying GP) unless you play over an hour a day for 30 days straight, so don't let that "wasted xp" bar get to you.

Classes are cheap to unlock. Even if you only play 15-30 mins a day, you'll be able to unlock one for free in 10 days. Guns are expensive, and the only one I feel is mandatory is the soldier's spinfusor.

Btw, you can get 250 GP for free by "liking" on Facebook right now.

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