Tribes Ascend Closed Beta

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http://www.hirezstudios.com/hirezwp/?p=912

During this initial beta phase, Tribes: Ascend players will experience 4 multiplayer maps, 2 game-modes and 3 vehicles as they progress thru 12 playable classes in fast-paced, high-flying online multiplayer matches of up to 32 people.

Hi-Rez Studios will continue to increase the number of beta participants through the end of this year in preparation for a general game release in Q1 of 2012.
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http://www.tribesascend.com/

I assume you register to apply, although it isn't very clear.
 
Yes you must register to apply. You'll get a confirmation email stating you've registered and will be added for consideration.

If you get in you'll get an email "beta kit" with instructions on how to download the beta. I really REALLY fucking hope I get in , I live around 10 minutes from this development studio and would love to be able to go there and help out the beta internally.
 
I'm just getting "that playername is already in use" for names that I KNOW are not taken.. like xxSgtMeowensteinXx
 
I am super excited about this. I have been wanting something like this for a really long time.
 
I signed up. Hope the game is good.

Is the 32 players only for the beta, or will the full game support more(64 for example)?
 
I'm excited, but seems too late with all the freaking cool games that will take over my life coming out within the next 6 months! This will need to be a must have game if I'm going to fork the cash for it. The older games were good no doubt, but it's been years now ...
 
Just wondering what everyone's is playing this on...i have a 8600GT that is going to be replaced soon I think...it struggles at 19x12
 
HiRez is one of the only studios I've seen that does "Free2Play" RIGHT. Much like Global Agenda (aside from the whole Eyefinity thing, I really found it a great game and it only has gotten better), Tribes is going to be FREE to play and you can unlock everything in game. However, for a one time fee you can upgrade to a VIP account and get likes 2x experience/money etc... everything, and then there will be recurring "boosters" you can buy that double your XP/money everything else on top of the VIP level. There's also "credits" you can buy directly, or win in-game.

Right now they have a VIP special package which will give you 1. Closed Beta Access - characters/experience will be retained into retail. 2. Permanent VIP status, as mentioned above 3. and 3000 Credits (which is like $20 or more, purchased separately), PLUS 4. a free 1-month booster that you can activate whenever you want (that turns your 2x goodies into 4x more or less, for a month), all for $29.

There's a NDA on Closed Beta itself so I can't go into the gameplay too much but you really won't be sorry I don't think - its WELL worth the VIP package I've found.
 
Xaeos said:
HiRez is one of the only studios I've seen that does "Free2Play" RIGHT. Much like Global Agenda (aside from the whole Eyefinity thing, I really found it a great game and it only has gotten better), Tribes is going to be FREE to play and you can unlock everything in game. However, for a one time fee you can upgrade to a VIP account and get likes 2x experience/money etc... everything, and then there will be recurring "boosters" you can buy that double your XP/money everything else on top of the VIP level. There's also "credits" you can buy directly, or win in-game.

Right now they have a VIP special package which will give you 1. Closed Beta Access - characters/experience will be retained into retail. 2. Permanent VIP status, as mentioned above 3. and 3000 Credits (which is like $20 or more, purchased separately), PLUS 4. a free 1-month booster that you can activate whenever you want (that turns your 2x goodies into 4x more or less, for a month), all for $29.

There's a NDA on Closed Beta itself so I can't go into the gameplay too much but you really won't be sorry I don't think - its WELL worth the VIP package I've found.
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Ahh ok, sounds like the elite status for Global Agenda. Ill try the game and if I like it will buy it.
 
I'm in the beta, and while it has a few problems that need to be resolved, the gameplay is solid and it really does feel like the original Tribes. My main gripe is not being able to pick and choose my own loadout, and a lack of character customization. The jetpack mechanics are great though, and its a nice break from all the realistic modern FPS games. If you played Tribes 1 or 2 back in the day, you will like this.
 
Nope, classes are locked in and you have to buy each one for real $, or grind a looong time to unlock it. Everyone is talking about this on their official forums, hopefully the devs will listen and change it. I understand that they gotta make their money somehow, but there's gotta be a compromise somewhere.
 
Got in to the beta yesterday. Played for about 4 hours straight. Really loving it so far, never played any of the previous Tribes. Yeah you don't get much money that goes towards the loadouts each match and they are expensive, hopefully that gets changed. Experience on the other hand seems fine so far.
 
Preordering gets you a beta key. Once your in, you can get 3 extra keys to give to your friends.
 
Free keys,

T1090-BEB3E-811A4-045B6-22585
T1489-D1286-DB414-E5A85-21FC1
T1E6A-572AD-C7344-CEB9C-DCD21

First come first serve.
 
Used one key, I had another key earlier, I gave it to my best friend instead, cause he was recovering from surgery.

Thank you Psych0

Edit: I used that 3rd key he had listed.
 
Etherea1 said:
Nope, classes are locked in and you have to buy each one for real $, or grind a looong time to unlock it. Everyone is talking about this on their official forums, hopefully the devs will listen and change it. I understand that they gotta make their money somehow, but there's gotta be a compromise somewhere.
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It seems like a problem to me, the forums are littered with complaints about the fact that people are grinding kills and basically not playing like a team but playing like it's death match in order to get the unlocks.

Expecting people to grind ridiculous amounts to unlock that content for free doesn't mitigate the Pay2Win status of the game, either the game is fair when played for free or it's not fair and currently it's not fair, so if you want to be serious about competing you'll need to pay something in.

I don't have a problem with paying for a good game but I'd just rather they have a buy up front option and then you get everything all current content unlocked immediately and all future content, otherwise it becomes an exercise of bleeding the paying customers dry.

My personal prediction is that in trying to cater for Pay2Win and also cater for the current generation of casuals, they'll make a game that straddles the pro/newb divide and ultimately appeal no neither side and be a failure. Personally I hope they go the pro route, but it will never happen, not enough money in it.
 
PrincessFrosty said:
It seems like a problem to me, the forums are littered with complaints about the fact that people are grinding kills and basically not playing like a team but playing like it's death match in order to get the unlocks.

Expecting people to grind ridiculous amounts to unlock that content for free doesn't mitigate the Pay2Win status of the game, either the game is fair when played for free or it's not fair and currently it's not fair, so if you want to be serious about competing you'll need to pay something in.

I don't have a problem with paying for a good game but I'd just rather they have a buy up front option and then you get everything all current content unlocked immediately and all future content, otherwise it becomes an exercise of bleeding the paying customers dry.

My personal prediction is that in trying to cater for Pay2Win and also cater for the current generation of casuals, they'll make a game that straddles the pro/newb divide and ultimately appeal no neither side and be a failure. Personally I hope they go the pro route, but it will never happen, not enough money in it.
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I seriously don't get your thought process. How is it pay2win? It's not like the two free classes are bad. You have to have something that people will want to spend money on...not everyone is willing to pay for new skins =\

Also keep in mind the 'private' servers aren't in yet, so I'm not sure what kind of teamwork you are expecting from an automatic queuing matchmaking system in the first place
 
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It's Pay2Win because if you pay money in to the game you unlock more powerful stuff(?)

I know not everyone is going to buy skins which is why I think F2P is fundamentally unsustainable for these kind of competitive games, TF2 is a classic example, it was hardly hardcore to begin with but since the hats it's just become a mess.

If you want to go F2P then it more or less has to be a casual game and that's what this will become I forsee, I'm sure it will maintain some level of pro players but I don't see it having the same appeal as something like the original Tribes 1/2.

When it launches it will be easy enough to see for yourself though since you can jump right in, certainly don't take my word for it, and I'm sure there's plenty of changes to come yet so it might improve.
 
I ran a Tribes 1 OGL team and attended one of the tournament / conventions back in 2000. I love Tribes and I still play with a lot of people I met back then.

I have a different take on the new game - I think they nailed the feel of the game in terms of skiing and combat and I don't have an issue with purchasing the classes.

I have a minor issue with the lack of loadout flexibility, but as much flexibility as Tribes 1 allowed, most of the time people were running one of 3 or maybe 4 loudouts.

My major issue is that the unlock system creates perverse incentives and ruins the way the game is played. The most obvious example is that when you kill an enemy flag runner, in the old days you would often leave your flag on the ground for a little bit to let your capper get in place - but now that you get 500 points for returning the flag, any tactical considerations go right out the window.

So here is my rundown:

1. Generators seem pointless. In other Tribes games, you need a working generator and inventory system to access advanced gear. A major tactic is to keep your enemy "naked" by depriving them of their inventory systems. Since you can now spawn in any class you own, the generators are almost inconsequential except to keep turrets working and to give you more ammo (but old school players just suicide to reload)

2. Fewer gadgets and useful items. You used to carry both hand grenades AND mines as well as a laser pointer and beacons. Beacons were amazing as they let you mark spots on the map as well as provide a firing solution for artillery. Edit: Apparently you have a laser pointer if you hit L - I have the game installed on an SSD and it loads so fast I never see that first screen for more than half a second. Anyone know if you can mortar with it? I am guessing that you can't.

3. What happened to firing solutions and artillery? You used to be able to use beacons or a laser to give anyone with a mortar or grenade launcher a reticle on their HUD with a low and high firing arc to hit a specific target. The new mortar is a joke - it has about 15% of the range and no way to use it precisely.

4. The shared sensor network in Tribes 1 was genius and has yet to be replicated. All we can do in T:A is "spot" someone and render a temporary, static marker - it's worthless and almost insulting. However, you can ALWAYS see the people with the flag on your HUD, but there is no range information - at all. You can't tell if the marker is over the hill or 3 hills away. Used to be that if I saw an enemy, my team could then see his marker and we could also place way points (in addition to the beacons, etc) to the enemy base, fire base, home, etc.

5. Weapons. In Tribes 1/2, the armors could carry 3,4 and 5 weapons. That's heresy in todays gaming climate, but even the bastard child named Vengeance let you carry 3 per class. Now we have 2? It's actually worse than that because of the loss of accessory weapons. A fully loaded Heavy was a force of nature - they had the mortar to ruin your base as well as enough extra guns that they were not helpless in the field.

As much as they got right in terms of the movement and combat, it's incredibly disappointing that they scaled the overall game back as much as they did. It's like going to a Thanksgiving Dinner where they have baked the best Turkey you have ever tasted, but didn't bother to make anything else.

Edit:

And while I'm at it, let me say that the most annoying thing I see in terms of things that bug me constantly is that you personally case an amazing and highly detailed shadow but none of your opponents do until you are within 5 meters of them. Because the ground is so smooth and flat, it's almost impossible to judge where someone is going to hit the ground without a shadow - it seriously messes with your perception. With everything else turning out as it did, I can't help but be cynical and think that they removed the shadows to make it harder to kill people - and not run off potential paying customers.
 
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PrincessFrosty said:
It's Pay2Win because if you pay money in to the game you unlock more powerful stuff(?)

I know not everyone is going to buy skins which is why I think F2P is fundamentally unsustainable for these kind of competitive games, TF2 is a classic example, it was hardly hardcore to begin with but since the hats it's just become a mess.

If you want to go F2P then it more or less has to be a casual game and that's what this will become I forsee, I'm sure it will maintain some level of pro players but I don't see it having the same appeal as something like the original Tribes 1/2.

When it launches it will be easy enough to see for yourself though since you can jump right in, certainly don't take my word for it, and I'm sure there's plenty of changes to come yet so it might improve.
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I'm in it...
Really, the only 'more powerful stuff' you unlock is through xp in the class trees, and you still have to earn the experience for that even if it's accelerated with the purchasable boosters. Saying that the locked classes are more powerful is somewhat arbitrary as I think the ranger(free) is one of the better classes.

I imagine when it goes live is that the clans will probably just have their own private servers, which aren't implemented yet, but are on the 'join' screen.
 
DoubleTap said:
As much as they got right in terms of the movement and combat, it's incredibly disappointing that they scaled the overall game back as much as they did. It's like going to a Thanksgiving Dinner where they have baked the best Turkey you have ever tasted, but didn't bother to make anything else.
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All that stuff is what I worried about most when I heard it would be free to play. Part of the what I loved about Tribes was being able to run our own server and mod it, remote in and see who was on etc etc. We ran renegades for awhile and a whole lot of shifter. Not being able to do that and not having all those extras is a real bummer.
 
I have been playing a little bit. Its fun but yea having player shadows would make it much easier to judge when someone was getting close to ground.
 
Lame, it sounds like every other game now-days, being scaled back, simplified, or "made accessible" as they like putting it.
 
Seelenlos said:
Should watch the WTF video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1HCnrU3FT8
He goes thru and explains the pay options.

I agree with his sentiments. Having an extra grenade is not going to help you if you already suck at the game. It will be an advantage but not what I would consider Pay2Win.
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I've noticed that they are making changes pretty consistently with player feedback.
For example, the skiing speed limit was removed a while ago and today they added an option to shrink the size of the weapons to expose more of the screen, which was one of the complaints in the video above.

They also added a team deathmatch mode, which will hopefully lower the amount of people just goofing off for kills in ctf.

Patch Notes
 
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