Tribes: Ascend
Crispy
Jaded GD Join Date: 2004-08-22 Member: 30793Members, Constellation
Jaded GD Join Date: 2004-08-22 Member: 30793Members, Constellation
<div class="IPBDescription">Tribes is back, and free to play</div>Okay, it's not back <i>yet</i>, but it was playable at QuakeCon.
<a href="http://tribesascend.com/" target="_blank">http://tribesascend.com/</a>
<b>Official Trailer</b>
<center><object width="450" height="356"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/_nJTY5avDRk"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/_nJTY5avDRk" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="450" height="356"></embed></object></center>
<b>QuakeCon footage</b>
<center><object width="450" height="356"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/js-OMdy8uRE"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/js-OMdy8uRE" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="450" height="356"></embed></object></center>
<a href="http://tribesascend.com/" target="_blank">http://tribesascend.com/</a>
<b>Official Trailer</b>
<center><object width="450" height="356"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/_nJTY5avDRk"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/_nJTY5avDRk" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="450" height="356"></embed></object></center>
<b>QuakeCon footage</b>
<center><object width="450" height="356"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/js-OMdy8uRE"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/js-OMdy8uRE" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="450" height="356"></embed></object></center>
Comments
Not in public please!
Not sure what to think of Tribes: Ascend, reminds me of UT2k4 in a way, I never really played Tribes myself.
--Scythe--
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uq5a_2UKW2w" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uq5a_2UKW2w</a>
I hate free to play, it's always either play crappily or pay out the nose. Just charge money for the game.
I will be very surprised if that is the case, that is how free to play works, if you could win without paying nobody would pay for it.
- Nothing you can buy there gives you advantages ingame.
- There is nothing you have to buy to stay/be/get competitive.
- Everything you do buy stays forever. (except xp booster ofc)
*** only mentioned because you have to rebuy the crap in bf:heroes every few days if my eyes see right***
I got a few friends that didnt pay a single $ on league of legends... but most invested around 30-60$ since thats how much a regular game would cost (just that you rarly buy games that stay so much fun for as long as LoL does)
Might have changed since then though, I guess.
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->they explain in the forums their reasoning for f2p, basically they don't have the funds to advertise a AAA title that is the first proper series reboot in a decade. Letting people play for free is <u>demoing it to kids</u> who don't know the tribes series, and then you <u>buy loadouts</u> if you like it. <u>Loadouts are earnable in-game at a slower pace</u> so it's not pay to win, but buying them is basically just buying the game and supporting hi-rez<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->You realize the "Two weapon limit" isn't actually free to grab weapons, right? The "Pay" part of the game is buying loadouts, <u>there's no mix and match pick your weapons and armor</u>, everything is premade loadouts you have to buy outside of a few free ones from the start.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->(I think the first quote was more correct when it comes to "having to buy")
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->they seriously have a ###### ski button<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->shazbot confirmed for Tribes: Ascend<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Also, I hate free to play as well.
--Scythe--
Also this part "<i>they explain in the forums their reasoning for f2p, basically they don't have the funds to advertise a AAA title</i>" who is going to believe that crap plenty of games have done alright with little advertisement without having to stoop to micro-transactions.
I was mildly excited for this but not anymore.
Do you have examples from similarly sized studios? If you consider print alone "little advertisement", that'd run up tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars on a single publication. Hi-Rez is a relatively tiny studio that's only released a single game which besides that are self funded and don't have a big publisher to back them.
Its a small studio that both developed and published section 8 prejudice itself and its done quite well so it should be a pretty good example plus a lot of other games on XBLA/PSN (especially some of the more recent additions) some of which have done relatively well with small dev teams and very minimal ad campaign.
I'm sure you could include mindcraft if you wanted and probably some games on steam.
Lets be realistically here the tribes franchise still carries some weight (or we wouldn't be talking about it now) compared to a lot of new franchises so I'm puzzled as to why they would not be able to successfully obtain an investment especially considering its also slated for microsofts XBLA.
Also Hi-Rez developed Global agenda and Smite(?) two other F2P titles both on steam that I've seen a fair bit of advertising for on sites like IGN and escapist so where are you getting a single game from ?
Smite is still in development making Hi-Rez's number of released titles a total of one. It doesn't even have a store page yet.
Smaller indie digitally distributed games aren't a good comparison. The demographic willing to play a multiplayer FPS is a pretty small venn diagram overlap of those who are looking for something like Braid or Terraria. Their success is also contingent on it having an active community since it's multiplayer only. Shattered Horizon is another multiplayer only shooter that went on Steam sale recently, broke top 100 most played for a bit, and then immediately died off into obscurity. Meanwhile a F2P shooter like WarInc that doesn't even hold up quality wise in comparison is constantly in the top 100.
While TimeGate has a close amount of employees, they have a much larger catalog of released games with the FEAR expansions in particular likely securing them a much more stable financial backing. Section 8: Prejudice is a GFWL game ontop of being on Steam so it had the benefit of having exposure on both services. I've also heard anecdotally that a GFWL perk is subsidized to free advertising.
Despair, my friends. Despair until there is nothing left but loss and apathy!
As for the game itself, I haven't got the foggiest idea. I somehow managed to miss most of the tribes era, so I really haven't got a clue on what's cool, what's missing and what's new. I definitely welcome any game involving jetpacks rather than killstreak rewards though.
To be fair just because they have a larger catalog doesn't mean they're any better funded it means they would have had some level of support for the FEAR expansions (which aren't even full games after all) but not much else. Add on top that the first section 8 bombed pretty bad when it came out so I'd assume that their funds where low enough to force them to release S-8 Prejudice digitally rather than another full retail release and if you look around it had nowhere near the same ad presence as the first yet it has still seen success.
It looks to me that they're going with the F2P model simply because it worked for global agenda so would be less hassle than a full retail release irregardless of it suiting the game or not.
When I remember back to the day's I played tribes 2 and I would have switched classes/load-outs quite a lot depending on what needed done so the thought of being stuck with limited default load-outs to grind through just doesn't appeal to me.
Tribes what, Tribes 2?
Changing skiing to simply holding the spacebar vs. Starsiege 'madly mash your keyboard to pieces' is exactly what needed to happen. It's a good analogy for bunnyhopping - you get your skill-based movement without the inane keyboard judo. See, "skill-based" in terms of skiing is plotting your trajectory a dozen jumps ahead of time, timing your jetpack for maximum use, and memorizing the best ski routes - it was never 'I'm more skilled than you because I can smash my spacebar'. Likewise, bunnyhopping's skill is supposed to derive from timing your jumps, plotting your route, and making sure you can move in a constant stream - not the ridiculous aim left strafe right +3jump -3jump script idiocy.
When Tribes 2 changed it to holding the spacebar, they focused on what was important, the actual in-game aspect.
Now, my more important concern about this game is "WTF is up with the Shrike"? The Shrike was always supposed to be for anti-vehicle use, which is why the bolts never had splash damage - it was difficult as hell to kill someone by shooting them, you were better off smearing them with the bumper, this guy gets into a Shrike and kills like 9 dudes who can't even fight back.
Personally I'm fine with the "free to play" - as long as purchasing everything in-game doesn't actually cost more than the whole game itself would (£30-35). I don't really see the grounds for complaining about it - if it wasn't free to play, you'd have to pay for the whole game and get the whole shebang so you have nothing to lose.
It's got the simplicity of Quake deathmatch, but where as Quake had a massive skill cap and developed that metagame (where memerising item timers and the rest of it became as important as the twich aim?) I don't think Tribes: Ascend has got that depth.
There's really not a lot to the skiing mechanic which was the only thing that seperated it from other capture the flag FPS games.
(Oh one of my bug-bearers that I was pleasantly surprised about: the hit registration is very good)
I can't speak to the tactical stuff, sensors et al, or the vehicles, but the moment-to-moment combat is spot-goddamned-on.
--Scythe--
P.S. I nailed two people in midair in my first ever game.
P.P.S.S. I have a beta key to give away, first person to post a picture of an alpacka gets it.
<img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Alpaka_33444.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
To the Tribes: Ascend beta?
Refrigerator
Transform into a Renga!
I am really not sure why.
As I finish this
I am left wondering why
puzl asked for this
Or this refrigerator
that I do not know?