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Elemental Alpha: Invites going out

By Frogboy on August 4, 2009 3:48:15 PM from JoeUser Forums JoeUser Forums

Frogboy

Chief Executive Officer
Join Date 03/2001
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We’ve picked a tiny handful of the pre-order group to become alpha testers based on how many other betas they’ve participated in, forum karma, and a number of other criteria.

Those of you not in the alpha, fear not, you’re not missing very much. The beta is scheduled to come out around PAX (Penny Arcade Expo).

Be forewarned, we plan to close the beta shortly after PAX and it will remain closed for some months. Those who want to get the beta can pre-order the game.

I am leaning towards beta 1 being only cloth map in order to let beta testers have more input on the game mechanics (fewer assets to change if we accept a suggestion).

There will be an Alpha tour later this week (possibly tomorrow). Stay tuned.

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Reply #101
landisaurus
Join Date 06/2008
+154
August 6, 2009 3:02:59 AM from Elemental Forums Elemental Forums

I like the bear spraying white struff from the object he now holds between his legs.   *THUMBS UP!*

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Reply #102
SaberCherry
Join Date 03/2009
+5
August 6, 2009 4:07:56 AM from Elemental Forums Elemental Forums

Quoting piderman,
reply 13

I don't understand this line, what does "closed" mean? Not able to play, no new people?

Don't worry.  A closed alpha is one where they abduct the participants in black helicopters and lock them in the testing dungeon, tossing in food and patches now and then.  It smells rather bad since it's right below the programming dungeon, which is not locked, since the programmers never leave anyway.

To prove this...  nobody who is actually in the alpha will announce the fact...  because they have already been enclosed by the alpha event horizon.  As the alpha decays they will be reemitted as beta particles.

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Reply #103
Darkodinplus
Join Date 03/2006
+20
August 6, 2009 4:25:03 AM from Elemental Forums Elemental Forums

Quoting Istari,
reply 9
As Brad would say, Stardock betas are explicitly designed NOT to be fun in order to ensure the final release IS fun for the beta testers. The alpha will be more like torture.

For some people pain is their pleasure. I'm not one of them mind you but still there are a lot of strange people out there.

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Reply #104
Tridus
Join Date 03/2008
+76
August 6, 2009 6:09:19 AM from Elemental Forums Elemental Forums

Quoting katabroc,
reply 20
Do you guys think Stardock will tell us how they chose that few 100 people? 

Brad did, in another journal. They chosen 24 people deliberately (based on previous involvement with alphas, forum participation, the quality of bribe presented), and did a lottery of all pre-orders for the rest of the slots with extra chances for other recent Stardock games you own.

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Reply #105
Spartan
Join Date 03/2006
+171
August 6, 2009 6:28:26 AM from Elemental Forums Elemental Forums

Quoting Ron Lugge,
reply 1

Coming from you, that photo does not seem so innocent..........
Oh, come on, it's not like it's got a massive phallicly shaped object resting between it's legs...

Wait...  SPARTAN!

That was my first thought. Maybe i am just a perv(ect) as Aahz would say.Isn't that pervert?

What?

Double meanings and cryptic messages are a sign of true intelligence and of course a twisted mind! You guys should focus on why you see what you see than what I wanted it to imply.

 

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Reply #106
Annatar11
Join Date 11/2006
+527
August 6, 2009 8:02:59 AM from Elemental Forums Elemental Forums

So has Annatar...

I never posted too much on the Elemental boards, mostly just responses to journals

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Reply #107
Fishbreath
Join Date 02/2007
+7
August 6, 2009 8:32:38 AM from Elemental Forums Elemental Forums

As the alpha decays they will be reemitted as beta particles.

Awesome pun.

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Reply #108
Zaisha
Join Date 03/2008
+5
August 6, 2009 8:44:06 AM from Elemental Forums Elemental Forums

Quoting Annatar11,
reply 7

So has Annatar...


I never posted too much on the Elemental boards, mostly just responses to journals

Lies! He's just trying to cover up the fact he's hogging the Alpha to himself!

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Reply #109
Ragnar1
Join Date 01/2005
+3
August 6, 2009 9:50:56 AM from Elemental Forums Elemental Forums

Quoting Zaisha,
reply 15



Quoting Ron Lugge,
reply 2

Also, I doubt there is anything in the NDA banning you from lying to deny being selected


The NDA probably doesn't prevent you from lying, no... but honesty and honor does



What are these strange and incomprehensable concepts you speak of?




Quoting Istari,
reply 9
As Brad would say, Stardock betas are explicitly designed NOT to be fun in order to ensure the final release IS fun for the beta testers. The alpha will be more like torture.



As a fanatical Master of Magic fan I would like to lodge a protest against the cloth map alpha, based on the screenshots we've already seen. Clearly you are focussing far too much on graphics. Dammit, if 640x480 was good enough then it's good enough now! Also, I am demanding you insert more bugs, so the release version can match that of MoM.

I remember that one MOM bug where if you used a certain flying demon to attack in tactical combat -> crash to desktop every time.  I wasn't up to speed on patches and such, so I remember just avoiding using those guys or if I fought them, I would skip tactical as a work around.

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Reply #110
Zaisha
Join Date 03/2008
+5
August 6, 2009 10:57:07 AM from Elemental Forums Elemental Forums

Quoting Ragnar1,
reply 10

I remember that one MOM bug where if you used a certain flying demon to attack in tactical combat -> crash to desktop every time.  I wasn't up to speed on patches and such, so I remember just avoiding using those guys or if I fought them, I would skip tactical as a work around.

The one I remember most was that any magic-immune unit was immune to the attacks of all magical creatures as well. One unit of High Men Paladins (cavalry unit, higher up the race tech tree, but reachable quite early) would single-handedly wipe out almost any node. 8 Fire Dragons? No problem! They had some pretty powerful other advantages too, such as Strike First and good stats. One maxed out stack (8 units IIRC) would take out a rivalling empire if you went scorched earth. And that was without stacking buff spells on them.

Before that was fixed it made High Men the "exploit or exterminate" race for me. Took them long enough to get it done too.

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Reply #111
Sammual
Join Date 09/2004
+12
August 6, 2009 11:09:15 AM from Elemental Forums Elemental Forums

Quoting SaberCherry,
reply 3

Don't worry.  A closed alpha is one where they abduct the participants in black helicopters and lock them in the testing dungeon, tossing in food and patches now and then.  It smells rather bad since it's right below the programming dungeon, which is not locked, since the programmers never leave anyway.

To prove this...  nobody who is actually in the alpha will announce the fact...  because they have already been enclosed by the alpha event horizon.  As the alpha decays they will be reemitted as beta particles.

Great pun. 

Sammual

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Reply #112
GW Swicord
Join Date 10/2003
+159
August 6, 2009 11:11:48 AM from Elemental Forums Elemental Forums

Quoting Scoutdog,
reply 23
... I've noticed that GW Swicord has drastically declined his posting recenrly..... make of that what you will.......

I drop in an out irregularly on account of a weird excuse for a work life and the occasional need to not even see a keyboard for a day or three. Plus, I like to watch, and when something like the alpha buzz gets the boards hopping, it's fun to just see what other old hands have to say to the new folks.

And to be clear, I'm an old son of the New South and have a quite overdeveloped sense of honor (I've gotten in mild trouble in the workplace because I couldn't stand being instructed to lie to customers). If I was under the alpha NDA, I would not talk about it at all. But I'm not under that NDA, and the fact that its there consoles me a bit about not winning one of the lottery slots. I've worked under NDAs for 10 years or more, but no one I care about has the least interest in the stuff those agreements cover, so I've never been remotely tempted to cheat. If I'd gotten in the alpha, I'm pretty sure the worst torture for me would be keeping my fingers under control while trying to post the occasional bit around here. (Yes, I'm 'kinky' enough to like mucking about with half-finished software.)

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Reply #113
NTJedi
Join Date 03/2006
+38
August 6, 2009 11:35:51 AM from Elemental Forums Elemental Forums

 

Wow, of all the postings only one individual posted a cheer for being in the Alpha.

 

I wonder what would happen if after 10 days only 85 of the 100 selected show up to participate.  Would Stardock keep it at 85 participating in the Alpha  or  allow a few others?    I guess I'm just trying to be optimistic.

 

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Reply #114
Scoutdog
Join Date 07/2008
+193
August 6, 2009 11:36:48 AM from Elemental Forums Elemental Forums

And to be clear, I'm an old son of the New South and have a quite overdeveloped sense of honor (I've gotten in mild trouble in the workplace because I couldn't stand being instructed to lie to customers). If I was under the alpha NDA, I would not talk about it at all.
Except, of course, you could be lying........ but better not get into headache territory right now.....

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Reply #115
Annatar11
Join Date 11/2006
+527
August 6, 2009 12:01:28 PM from Elemental Forums Elemental Forums

Wow, of all the postings only one individual posted a cheer for being in the Alpha.

I didn't actually see anyone post that they were in.. who're you talking about?

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Reply #116
Aesir Rising
Join Date 12/2006
+31
August 6, 2009 12:22:46 PM from Elemental Forums Elemental Forums

Quoting Annatar11,
reply 116

I didn't actually see anyone post that they were in.. who're you talking about?

Reply 97 in this topic wishes good cheer for those selected.  I'm pretty sure that's what was being referred to.

http://forums.elementalgame.com/360786/get;2327749

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Reply #117
Spartan
Join Date 03/2006
+171
August 6, 2009 12:26:42 PM from Elemental Forums Elemental Forums

Quoting Annatar11,
reply 116

Wow, of all the postings only one individual posted a cheer for being in the Alpha.
I didn't actually see anyone post that they were in.. who're you talking about?

I think he was referring to my "congrats" post to those that were selected.

On a side note, I must admit I'm a little - OK, monumentally heartbroken I was not one of the lucky ones. I guess in the end I did not have "all the right stuff".

Anyway, I'm truly happy for those that were selected. Lets hope they really have all the right stuff!

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Reply #118
astrath
Join Date 04/2006
+28
August 6, 2009 12:30:31 PM from Elemental Forums Elemental Forums

I lack karma.  Maybe because I very rarely post anything useful.

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Reply #119
Jonny5446
Join Date 11/2008
+21
August 6, 2009 12:52:12 PM from Elemental Forums Elemental Forums

I've got to say i'm pretty shocked that Landi, Spartan, Luckmann, GW and Pigeonx2 aren't in.. I mean you can call a RNG selection fair.. but how fair is it that their unceasing and constantly top quality contribution to the forums have gone overlooked? Is there any doubt that they would have busted their behinds to be as productive as humanly possible in the alpha given how much time they've already spent generating ideas for the game? Personally it strikes me as a bit of a missed opportunity and if I'd been running the selection process I would have made those picks (and maybe more to those I didn't mention ) while using the RNG to fill out the roster. I guess in the longterm we'll all be playing the beta soon enough anyway but I can't help thinking that it would have been a nice gesture to the incipient community to ensure their presence... but yeah, tickle me surprised!

Edit: Obviously if they ARE in the alpha and the NDA precludes them from saying so then my post can be disregarded... however my experience with this sort of thing is that usually people can say they're selected.. just not divulge any actual information about what they're testing. Also Spartan and GW have explicitly said they're not in... are you calling them liars?! Well are you?! Cos if you are we're gonna have a problem!!! ... ahem, just saying

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Reply #120
NTJedi
Join Date 03/2006
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August 6, 2009 1:22:08 PM from Elemental Forums Elemental Forums

Quoting Annatar11,
reply 116


I didn't actually see anyone post that they were in.. who're you talking about?

 

It was  Sarudak on page 2... 

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Reply #121
Aesir Rising
Join Date 12/2006
+31
August 6, 2009 1:30:34 PM from Elemental Forums Elemental Forums

Quoting NTJedi,
reply 121


It was  Sarudak on page 2... 

 

Looked like a cheer for the top post, announcing the start of alpha.  That's how I read it.

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Reply #122
Sammual
Join Date 09/2004
+12
August 6, 2009 4:12:20 PM from Elemental Forums Elemental Forums

A lot of the names I was shure were shoe in's for the Alpha have stated that they are not in it.  I wonder who DID get invites.

Sammual

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Reply #123
timbur
Join Date 12/2001
+7
August 6, 2009 7:18:12 PM from Elemental Forums Elemental Forums

Re: MOM bugs: My most memorable bug was the one where, once you finished playing, if you ran any DOS commands afterwards, your hard drive FAT would be scrambled due to them messing with the COMMAND.COM.  I ended up creating a new partition just for SimTex games, named "SIMTEX_SUX".  (Still, I did buy all their games!)

Also, correct me if I'm wrong, please, but didn't MOM run in 320x200?

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Reply #124
SaberCherry
Join Date 03/2009
+5
August 6, 2009 9:40:05 PM from Elemental Forums Elemental Forums

Quoting timbur,
reply 123

Also, correct me if I'm wrong, please, but didn't MOM run in 320x200?

320x240, I think, along with XCOM.  Certainly not 640x480.  When I first played it on a 19" monitor, I thought it was Tetris for a second.

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Reply #125
Chadeo
Join Date 03/2006
+1
August 6, 2009 11:34:47 PM from Elemental Forums Elemental Forums

Am I the only one who was excited to see an email from stardock for the split second it took me to realize it was just the weekend impulse buys? Oh well I have never gotten into any kind of closed alpha/beta so I was not expecting my luck to change this time.

 

I will be going to PAX again this year and I am very excited. Last year I was too nervous to actually talk to anyone at the Stardock booth, I just watched some games of Demigod from a distance. This year I will at least be sure to actually play Elemental, and I might even try to talk to someone!

 

So all of you Alpha testers get busy tracking down those bugs and gameplay issues, you only have a few weeks before those of us in the Beta will be breathing down your neck!

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