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Spiral Knights!

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  • Yozora
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    Yozora polycounter lvl 11
    nitzmoff wrote: »
    If you're the party leader you can kick people by clicking on their icon on the top left.

    We're also thinking about a vote kick system, but those kinds of things can get ugly.

    I see... I guess the afk guy was the leader then since no one could figure out how to kick :p

    I like that energy thing, keeps it casual for me because I don't like the idea of buying energy with money or gold :p

    My name on there is Yozora by the way.
  • Slum
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    Slum polycounter lvl 18
    The art in this game is sooo freaking awesome. I absolutely love it. So far I've played about 10 minutes, and it looks phenomenal. Really inspiring :)
  • ceebee
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    ceebee polycounter lvl 14
    nitzmoff wrote: »
    If you're the party leader you can kick people by clicking on their icon on the top left.

    We're also thinking about a vote kick system, but those kinds of things can get ugly.

    I think as long as it spawns whoever was kicked at the same depth/location but now alone would be cool. Don't want vote kicking to get griefy and wasting people's energy when they hop in a public party and the party decides they don't want them there 10 seconds in.
  • nitzmoff
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    nitzmoff polycounter lvl 18
    Yep, anyone who is kicked from a party simply sees their teammates vanish, leaving them in the level exactly as it was before.

    There's a lot of nice little touches in the game like that, including duplicating money and health items collected in a dungeon for each party member. It's all about not worrying about a system and just enjoying the game.
  • flaagan
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    flaagan polycounter lvl 18
    I go by Flaagan on there, add me. :)
    I'll probably jump on in the next week or so.
  • divi
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    divi polycounter lvl 12
    if anyone wants to have Polycount under their name just drop trens or me a mail and we'll invite you.
  • Resident4t
    So is the game not open to the general public yet?
  • Vrav
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    Vrav polycounter lvl 11
    This game is incredible. (: I love how it works.

    The art is awesome and I'm really just impressed / hooked overall. It's hard, too!
  • Blaizer
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    Blaizer polycounter
    i installed it through the web installer, but there isn't a uninstall, damn, too lame cuz i dislike the game (not graphics). With too many free and better games, the overall is meh.. i ended easily bored after 2 parties with some dudes.
  • Justin Meisse
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    Justin Meisse polycounter lvl 19
    This game is genius - I'm playing as Jusjus

    I've been doing better in combat since switching my bindings to:
    left click = attack
    right click = defend
  • bbob
    Loving it, especially the art..
  • Vrav
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    Vrav polycounter lvl 11
    This game is genius - I'm playing as Jusjus

    I've been doing better in combat since switching my bindings to:
    left click = attack
    right click = defend
    Yeah! I play in a weird way, too. I use the analog stick on my gamepad to move, and the mouse to aim/attack.

    My favourite part about the game is the monster behaviours. Once you learn them, even if it's hard, it's still possible to maintain the upper hand. The action this creates is what makes it fun for me.
  • slipsius
    seriously.... making this playable at work is NOT fair....

    didnt play long (yet), but i plan on it.


    how is this game free? I never understand how games can be free.....

    my knights name is punish
  • nitzmoff
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    nitzmoff polycounter lvl 18
    Slipsius - Everything in the game can be experienced for free. The secondary currency in the game, energy, is given to you every day and allows you to perform a slew of things such as traveling through the world, crafting, powering turrets, etc. We give you 100 units a day, but you can buy more with real money. However, we also allow you to exchange the in-game currency that you earn in dungeons for energy. So like I said, you can always play for free if someone is selling.

    Really thrilled you guys dig it. So far the reception has been great. Makes me think we did something right here :)

    If you can, play with a 360 gamepad! It's plug and play and plays great.
  • Vrav
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    Vrav polycounter lvl 11
    slipsius wrote: »
    how is this game free? I never understand how games can be free.....
    I paid $10 for 3000 energy, and will probably pay more in the future. It's just fun! And feels worth it, since the game's so quality.

    nitz: you guys did tons of things right. :D
  • Josh_Singh
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    Josh_Singh polycounter lvl 18
    Just got on this and it's fantastic! GREAT ART STYLE. I am a huge fan already. Still trying to figure out the whole collect gems and make your own level deal, but it's a blast. My Knights name is Knightman.
    Great Stuff Nitzmoff.
  • slipsius
    Played a bit more at lunch (and past my lunch. lol). im definitely liking it. i havent played much though. just got to haven and stopped

    couple questions. someone mentioned energy. I havent noticed that yet? whats it for? is it the money you use? or what? where would i find how much i have.

    from the looks of it, so far, buying items isnt worth it? like, armour and such? or maybe the starter town just sucked. probably that. i have around 1000 money (whats the term for money? the crown things), but nothing to spend it on?

    and, is it just 1 class with attack and defend? no special attacks or anything? just curious.

    cheers

    oh ya. i joined the polycount guild. if i see someone online, how do i talk to them? same as other games? /g?
  • rumblesushi
    Very nice, especially for a webgame. Looks good, and is easy to get into.

    What size team do you have and how long did it take you guys to build?
  • Remmers
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    Remmers polycounter lvl 7
    Highly addictive game, played about 16 hours now almost reaching Tier3!
    Fell in love with the art style and the simplicity of the gameplay

    "Worst" is my characters name :P
  • nitzmoff
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    nitzmoff polycounter lvl 18
    slipsius - Energy is the secondary currency you can buy with real money or trade with other players using crowns. But we give you 100 free energy (mist energy) every day.

    rumblesushi - The game took about 3.5 years to make from concept to ship. The team started out as just two people, myself and our tech lead and has slowly grown to our current core team of 7 people (very small team size for an mmo).

    I'm very proud of what we could do with that size.
  • divi
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    divi polycounter lvl 12
    and its absolutely awesome :D
    wish i had more time to play. totally falling behind on energy prices q.q :X
  • PatrickL
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    PatrickL polycounter lvl 9
    I'm reviving this thread because I have a serious bone to pick with this game.

    Spiral Knights is probably the best examples I have ever seen of a great MMORPG that makes it hard to have fun. It is literately one of the most refreshing concepts I have seen in a long time bogged down by some of the most classic MMORPG faults. And that's a damn shame, in my opinion.

    Don't get me wrong, I love MMORPGs. I've got 3000+ hours into grindfests like City of Heroes, so I'm not saying it's a bad game. I just think it's settling for mediocrity when it could be a truly outstanding and unique game.
  • MatthewS
    You going to leave it at that or are you going to elaborate?

    Also my name in game is ragnarokxx
  • Ged
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    Ged interpolator
    PatrickL wrote: »
    I'm reviving this thread because I have a serious bone to pick with this game.

    Spiral Knights is probably the best examples I have ever seen of a great MMORPG that makes it hard to have fun. It is literately one of the most refreshing concepts I have seen in a long time bogged down by some of the most classic MMORPG faults. And that's a damn shame, in my opinion.

    Don't get me wrong, I love MMORPGs. I've got 3000+ hours into grindfests like City of Heroes, so I'm not saying it's a bad game. I just think it's settling for mediocrity when it could be a truly outstanding and unique game.

    any constructive criticism? what are these faults? as someone who doesnt play mmos much and hasnt played spiral knights what should I be looking out for?
  • PatrickL
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    PatrickL polycounter lvl 9
    In a nutshell, repetitive combat and a poor F2P business model.

    The combat is pretty fun, if a little button mashy. It just gets so repetitive so quickly. It's not even the "grinding" that I have a problem with here. Your first challenge is a jelly. The next is two jellys. The next is three jellys. After that is three jellys and a skeleton. And then three jellys and two skeletons. Repeat till you find yourself fighting 12 or so skeletons on a tiny square platform. The game seems content just increasing the number of enemies you fight at once, rather than introducing mechanics that require you to think on your feet. Difficulty comes through the sheer number of bad guys bouncing around on the same platform as you, and no so much the actual combat.

    In their defense though, I believe I fought a boss that held up a shield and could only be hit from one side, which was kinda cool, except that hacking away at him all the same seemed to work just fine for my team. I would imagine/hope there are more of these types of bosses the longer you play, but that's exactly what I mean by 'classic MMORPG faults'. Why is it okay for MMORPGs to fill the early content with boring, repetitive stuff? If the game would introduce more interesting enemies quicker, rather than just throwing more of the same skeletons and jellys at me, I'd probably be playing it right now.

    Another way they could go about improving the combat is to remove it. The game includes hints of puzzle solving in some of the stages, and absolutely none in others. I think pure co-op puzzle solving stages would be incredibly fun in this game!

    The other big issue I've noticed a lot of people have with the game (not myself, to be honest) is the F2P model. Energy limits you to playing so much per day. Not really a big deal, probably even a 'healthy' limitation for some. But it screws you. Quick. If I recall correctly, you get up to ~100 energy points to play with per day, and it costs ~800 to even start a Guild. And something like ~500 to craft a single item. Now, I won't claim to understand the true worth to these values because I haven't played enough of the game just yet, but I do understand that you can buy these energy points straight from the store. Any time a F2P game requires something you can simply purchase with money, the non-paying players will feel screwed.

    Personally, I think the correct approach would have items in the store that increase the rate at which you gain Energy points naturally through playing the game. Say, 5$ to get twice as many. Or 8$ to get three times as many. That way even paying players are earning their points the same way as the free players.

    I would have to say most of the negative comments I see about this game concern the Energy currency. It's clearly pushing potential players away as it is now, and in my mind that translates to 'the F2P model is broken'. Even though I personally think it's alright, it could definitely be improved.

    EDIT: And I'm 100% sure the developers have seen this suggestion a hundred times, but the game could stand to use some classes as well. And if not classes, at least some variation between players. It currently seems like you have to choose where to invest your Energy. So one guy might have spent all his on a good gun or a good sword, while another guy has good armor or good bombs... But I'm fairly sure you can improve all of these things equally given you have the required Energy. (Or required funds to just buy it from the store.) So definitely something to help solve the cookie-cutter player characters would go a long way in my eyes.
  • nitzmoff
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    nitzmoff polycounter lvl 18
    You can experience everything the game has to offer for free. Those crowns you've been collecting in dungeons can be exchanged for energy via the exchange (click the energy module in the bottom right corner of your screen).

    Many players are entirely self-sufficient this way.
  • PatrickL
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    PatrickL polycounter lvl 9
    nitzmoff wrote: »
    You can experience everything the game has to offer for free. Those crowns you've been collecting in dungeons can be exchanged for energy via the exchange (click the energy module in the bottom right corner of your screen).

    Many players are entirely self-sufficient this way.

    I've been told as much, and I think that's pretty darn cool. It'd be great if F2P games like LOTRO could say as much. But that doesn't really address the issue that the F2P model in this game is a huge turn off to a lot of players. It still leaves you feeling cheated when dropping a couple bucks could save you the work of running several dungeons.

    I think with a smarter model, you could attract players rather than turn them off from the game, and actually make more money.
  • acarr
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    acarr polycounter lvl 6
    The fog in this game makes my framerate drop like a rock.
  • Two Listen
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    Two Listen polycount sponsor
    PatrickL wrote: »
    Explanation of bone to pick.

    You know this might sound weird, maybe I'm just looking for something different, but all the things you said you didn't like about the game made me really excited to get back into this.

    I don't want to be presented with complexity right off the bat in a F2P game like this. Especially one that looks so neat. I want to take my time, relax, run around and watch the grass wiggle while I get used to my controls. So far I've only played about 20 minutes of the game a fair while ago, I didn't want to go too far as I wanted to run through it with my wife, but the little I did play was cute and relaxing.

    It was actually really refreshing, not just because of the art style but because I went into it knowing I wasn't paying anything, and because I knew that would result in some limits here and there - consequently, I didn't have to get too invested in or serious about it. And honestly, if they'd done a whole lot more with it, I'd think it to be worth paying for from the get go rather than have it be F2P. But then it probably wouldn't have gotten near the widespread publicity and amount of people playing it, at least not so soon.

    I don't know, maybe I was just looking for, and expecting something different? Personally I don't even put this game in the same category as other MMOs, it doesn't feel like other online RPGs, and so I kinda feel the 'mistakes' it made were done under a different light with a different goal in mind.
  • Rai
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    Rai polycounter lvl 15
    nitzmoff wrote: »
    You can experience everything the game has to offer for free. Those crowns you've been collecting in dungeons can be exchanged for energy via the exchange (click the energy module in the bottom right corner of your screen).

    Many players are entirely self-sufficient this way.

    It sounds a tad redundant, seeing as how you need to use energy to join a dungeon, to collect crowns to exchange for energy and repeat.

    Can you cover the costs of your next dungeon this way? Is it any extra? Crafting takes far too much energy to be able to do anything within your days worth of energy.

    I feel myself grooving into the need to purchase energy the further I get and the more the game demands each situation to use energy.

    I did play quite a bit in Beta, but my friends weren't willing to pay to enjoy the full potential of the game, so they ended up quitting and quickly forgetting about it within just a few short days.

    Unfortunately the F2P model is a bit more demanding than others and caters more to casual gamers.

    Though, I do enjoy the game's basic mechanics, however should include more Zelda-esque features, instead of slowly mending into a hack and slash.
  • Baddcog
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    Baddcog polycounter lvl 9
    Well, it's hard to complain about a free game. So I won't.

    Played all weekend and found it pretty fun. May be a bit limited with bosses and whatnot, would be cool to see more added in the future.

    I gotta say I love the graphics, a lot of really cool touches everywhere. The models and textures are awesome. Got me thinking about doing some similar characters.

    After playing for quite awhile I decided to go ahead and buy the starter pack. I think I enjoyed (will enjoy) it enough to justify $20.
  • nitzmoff
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    nitzmoff polycounter lvl 18
    Thanks Baddcog! Every bit helps!
  • Stinger88
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    Stinger88 polycounter
    Finally got round to playing this a bit last "knight" :P

    I love it so far, played as far a getting to the clockworks thingy. Although it took me a while to figure out what I needed to do to enter the clockworks. I think the game could maybe do with a mission waypoint marker or something. Also can the map be viewed on a larger scale than just the mini map. I like the look of the auction thing. Will figure that out when I have something to sell or buy.

    Anyhoo, I think my GF will like this as well. She doesn't like using keys for anything and it looks like everything can be done with the mouse, bit like diablo, so it has a nice feel of being casual but you can step it up a gear by becoming a ninja with keys. So we'll give it a proper go tonight.

    Is there a polycount clan/guild/group?

    My name in game: Rickystinger
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