Well, before I go to sleep, here is a small dev insight post on the first day of beta. It was not as chaotic as the previous beta, which I'm really glad about, but it was still a chaos, but a wonderful kind of chaos... at least for me.
As you know, today, open beta of Necronia was launched. The client can be downloaded from our website and you can register an account for free and help us test out the server and find as many bugs as possible in order for us to fix them.
Recap
As it always is with things like this, open beta came in like a hurricane, both with positive and negative things. Immediately after being released, the server peaked at around 105~ online players, which is more than enough to thoroughly test the content and test out the server. We're couldn't be more happier with the turn-out. However, not long after was this joy killed when the massive amounts of players started causing the server to lag profusely due to an amount of non-optimized scripts these characters are operating on.
Needless to say, we were mentally prepared for such for such a dramatic twist of events, but it did come to us as a slight disappointment, only due to the fact that we knew this would not sit well with those who are trying out the game for the first time. Not long after that, we discovered that a bunch of NPCs suddenly got broken as well. You can imagine the stress of the developers when everything that worked perfectly just breaks apart in front of their eyes due to reasons unknown.
(Our reaction when nothing works but it worked 5 mins ago)
However, even through all of this, many of you decided to stay and give it a shot, which we are very thankful for, and some time later into the evening, the bug with the NPCs was identified and fixed. So, this leaves us with only 1 crucial bug, which is to fix the performance of the server and make it stop lagging so hard when so many people are online.
Fixing The Lag and NPCs
It's not an understatement to say that we will do everything we can to get to the bottom of an issue when we find it, and fix it. However, fixing things does take time, especially if the source of the problem is hiding behind thick layers of smaller problems and things that are not visible to the eye at first sight. As we have already removed the first critical issue, the broken NPCs, this leaves us with only one more critical thing to fix, which is the lag, and we will hunt it down relentlessly until you are able to normally test on the beta server.
As stated above, the issue is not with the connection speed provided by our host, but with our game's engine that currently may be causing the lag for a various range of reasons. Tarjei stated that he will be on the case as soon as he gets back from work tomorrow, so it is to be expected that we'll have this fixed sooner or later. An hour, 5 hours, a day, or three days, we can not estimate how long it will take due to the unknown depth of the problem, but one thing is for sure - we will fix it, do not panic.
(Our face when we find the source of a bug)
Something You Need To Know
Some people have called us out for the fact that these 2 issues listed above happened our our open beta launch. We'd like you to know that this is in fact a test server, and we never had the opportunity to test with so many players at once, so there was absolutely no way to know this would happen until it did. And we are glad for it, because now we know that there is a problem and we can work on fixing it. For those of you who feel that we're deliberately, or with our "incompetence", stripping you of fun you somehow feel entitled to on an open beta, we have to say that this was completely expected to happen and should be happening now on the open beta, because that's literally what open betas are held for. This is nothing new, this is nothing surprising.
If you felt like everything would be flawless and dandy on the very moment we ran, you must not have a lot of experience with open betas. But that is not an issue. The issue is the hostility projected towards our team. We are here and hosting this for you, and the entire purpose of the open beta is to make the game bugless so you can have fun and play it later on the official release. If you don't feel like participating in this event that will help us complete the game, then there is no reason for you to be joining in the first place. If you however, want to help us, then stick with us and we will work hard to address your issues, fix the bugs you report and hear out your feedback. That's how we always rolled and how we always will roll as a team.
[The Dawn of Joy] Event
I'd like to take this opportunity to announce that we will not launch the christmas event until the issue with the lag is resolved. We want you to experience this in a lagless, fun way, instead of making it a stressful experience. Testing a server can be rough for a player, and fixing the bugs can be even rougher for us developers, but during the time of the event, we want to relax, and we want you to relax and have some fun before the tireless bug-hunting grind resumes.
I personally feel that this is a right decision, which will, as well, give you some time to adapt to the server and gain some levels to participate in the event easier.
Upcoming Events
Once the event is over, we will be removing the possibility to switch your class. So make sure to pick wisely, and stick to your decision. We will also be implementing a pair of new features including Personal Statuses, Avatars, Ingame MCTS Shop, Farming, Rifts, and a bit later Pets, and more, which will be fun, and will need testing as well. We hope you stick around to try out these features as well.
And of course, we would love to hear your opinion on Necronia and your first impression (needless to say, everyone feels shitty about the lags and the initial problems, but putting the lags aside, what else do you draw from the experience?), so head onto our forum and let us know what you think of Necronia so far, and will you be staying to continue your journey as a tester.
----- Update:
Oddly enough, without any changes, the ping
kind of stabilized now on its own, I'm pinging 60-90 with 59 players online. Anything above 65 players was awful though.