Aerrevan CB

Soooooo... noticed this on the front page...search didn't show any new topics....
Did anyone get into to alpha/earlier beta testing? it looks...interesting.

Let us discuss;
http://aerrevan.com/
http://aerrevan.com/images/index_02.jpg

"Classless Characters
In Aerrevan, your player does not have a defined class. Instead, your actions and preferred skills dictate your characters strengths and weaknesses. Want to make an archer mage that wears full plate armor? Go ahead! If you use your character this way, it will become stronger in its own unique way, ensuring a balanced gameplay experience no matter how you choose to play."

I'd post more screens, but they are all of the world, no gameplay/character screens.

I personally think it sounds intriguing.
Little worried about class identification...since everyone will be wearing non class-specific armors.

Is there a monthly fee to play the game?

Yes, Aerrevan will require a monthly subscription to play. The exact cost will be announced at a later date.

from the quality of the site, my personal thought is that this is just another bad game from some guys that have gotten a little bit further then the 2d "mmorpg's" top view all the same games. but after seeing some pics of the environment it looks like the builders at least know how to create an interesting environment, little amount of flat surfaces and so on.
just too bad the person who drew the top banner did a really crappy job. a good banner does a lot to a site.

ill give this game a try before settling my mind on anything since there is about no videos or anything that i could find in my 2min search that could give me a vague opinion.

will be interesting to see how this one turns out.

I have a feeling they try to make a sandboxish MMO and even if it turns out crap, its a good thing in general.

Also a game being P2P is a Good thing and not a disadvantage (especially if they price correctly based on the overall quality of the game).

Agreed, there needs to be more sandbox MMO's on the market, if they are taking it towards that direction it would be a interesting game. There is so much potential in those type of games IF they are done correctly, generally it feels like those type of games have gotten a bad reputation on the market so far becouse of games like Darkfall and Mortal Online, and I do hope this isn't going to be another of those games who just promise amazing sandbox features and then fails completely on every other aspect of the game.

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Originally Posted by Scoped

Agreed, there needs to be more sandbox MMO's on the market

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and not made by indie companies charging exorbitant fees.

Yeah that banner is pretty bleak lol

I personally love sandbox, but as you said scoped, we've yet to see a true success.
Two big reasons are bad publishing, and they seem to lack a good introduction into gameplay.

And I know it's to be P2P BUT I figured it would peak interests, especially if they end up having a big CB
oh, and cinder, I love your new title...or at least I haven't seen it yet xP

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Originally Posted by cinderboy

and not made by indie companies charging exorbitant fees.

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Indie companies are fine. Look at Xsyon they are are only charging $39.99 for the game with two game months and other stuff, and thats a preorder ;).

However you are right about Darkfall and Mortal online both charging way too much...

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Dynamic NPC Conversation
In Aerrevan, NPCs are intelligent beings. You can talk to characters by typing text the same way you would communicate with other human players. NPCs are able to understand the english language and respond in meaningful and incredibly immersive ways that bring the player into the game like never before. This kind of dynamic NPC interaction has never before been implemented in a large scale MMO environment, and we are very excited to explore the possibilities this system will provide us with in the development process.

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I found this on their website for the game and I find it hilarious that something they copied from EQ has "never been seen before." Nothing like idiot indie developers to fail so hard on something that comes from the basis of their industry.

that web page trying to mislead you only look at there landscape when they dont have any video on there combat system.

I was in the Alpha.

If the official release is ANYTHING like the Alpha... don't get excited, guys.

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Originally Posted by Bryan

I was in the Alpha.

If the official release is ANYTHING like the Alpha... don't get excited, guys.

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:)

Any details?

Hi, this is Sean Oosterveen (Zetto) the project manager of Aerrevan. I thought it might be a good idea to answer some questions here as Bryan as well as any other alpha tester is bound under NDA.

Firstly, we will be releasing screenshots with characters, etc as well as video of gameplay soon as we get nearer to our beta testing phase. At GDC we had a number of ingame videos showing the combat system at work, its all there. We are almost done redesigning all of our avatar models, so we will probably release a ton of ingame shots at that time.

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I was in the Alpha.

If the official release is ANYTHING like the Alpha... don't get excited, guys.

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The official release will be nothing like alpha. The point of alpha testing is to ensure the integrity of the core engine and networking platform. Considering the extent of the server testing before alpha was limited to the development team and simulated connections, of course it had issues. By the end of the alpha test everything was running very smoothly. I strongly believe that previous alpha testers will be very impressed by the progress we have made since that time both in regards to content and features.

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I like the "learn new skills/spells by using skills/spells" but a little worried if it'll be like ol' PSU, where I'm going to have to grind FOREVER to achieve a skill level...

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One of our goals with the beta test is to ensure that the skill system is balanced and that the need to grind is as minimal as possible without making the skill system too quick or easy. Ultimately it will be up to the testers to let us know what they think of the system and we will act accordingly.

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I personally love sandbox, but as you said scoped, we've yet to see a true success.
Two big reasons are bad publishing, and they seem to lack a good introduction into gameplay.

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We like to think that Aerrevan can fill the niche of people looking for a game like this. Aerrevan has been designed to be the sort of game we have always wanted to play, but nobody seems to be able to make. Will Aerrevan be the next big thing in sandbox style MMOs? Only time will tell. The best thing you can do is sign up for beta and find out for yourself!

I hope this helps to clear up some questions. Ill try to visit this thread again to answer any more questions that come up if I can. I get very busy as im sure you can imagine!

Until next time,
Sean Oosterveen
Project Manager - Aerrevan
www.aerrevan.com

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Zetto

Hi, this is Sean Oosterveen (Zetto) the project manager of Aerrevan. I thought it might be a good idea to answer some questions here as Bryan as well as any other alpha tester is bound under NDA.

Firstly, we will be releasing screenshots with characters, etc as well as video of gameplay soon as we get nearer to our beta testing phase. At GDC we had a number of ingame videos showing the combat system at work, its all there. We are almost done redesigning all of our avatar models, so we will probably release a ton of ingame shots at that time.



The official release will be nothing like alpha. The point of alpha testing is to ensure the integrity of the core engine and networking platform. Considering the extent of the server testing before alpha was limited to the development team and simulated connections, of course it had issues. By the end of the alpha test everything was running very smoothly. I strongly believe that previous alpha testers will be very impressed by the progress we have made since that time both in regards to content and features.



One of our goals with the beta test is to ensure that the skill system is balanced and that the need to grind is as minimal as possible without making the skill system too quick or easy. Ultimately it will be up to the testers to let us know what they think of the system and we will act accordingly.



We like to think that Aerrevan can fill the niche of people looking for a game like this. Aerrevan has been designed to be the sort of game we have always wanted to play, but nobody seems to be able to make. Will Aerrevan be the next big thing in sandbox style MMOs? Only time will tell. The best thing you can do is sign up for beta and find out for yourself!

I hope this helps to clear up some questions. Ill try to visit this thread again to answer any more questions that come up if I can. I get very busy as im sure you can imagine!

Until next time,
Sean Oosterveen
Project Manager - Aerrevan
www.aerrevan.com

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Good to see a manager/executive who isn't just like LOL DON'T BASHES MY GAAM IZ GUD.

Looking forward to the videos and such, I plan on being a stealthy 2 handed sword user with access to AoE bombs.
Sounds ridiculous I know, I'll probably have to work hard for it, BUT, it should be fun haha.

"Your Aerrevan Beta Testing Application has been accepted."

I'll check it out

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Originally Posted by Zetto

We like to think that Aerrevan can fill the niche of people looking for a game like this. Aerrevan has been designed to be the sort of game we have always wanted to play, but nobody seems to be able to make. Will Aerrevan be the next big thing in sandbox style MMOs? Only time will tell. The best thing you can do is sign up for beta and find out for yourself!

I hope this helps to clear up some questions. Ill try to visit this thread again to answer any more questions that come up if I can. I get very busy as im sure you can imagine!

Until next time,
Sean Oosterveen
Project Manager - Aerrevan
www.aerrevan.com

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The main issue with most sandbox mmo's so far in my book have been the poor introduction to how the interface works, too few games these days actually takes their time to fine tune it with a good tutorial. Is this something you plan to have aviable later on? I can say from experience that rather then the monthly costs what made me not even bother with Mortal Online for example were that you were thrown straight into a huge sandbox mmo, with not as much as a hint to how the interface worked, even less what buttons that would bring up what ingame.

Apart from that I would like to say thank you for coming here and answearing some of our questions, it's nice to see a manager/executive that are willing to take a few minutes of their time to interact with potentional future players.