Make A Permanent APB BETA 2.1 Server

[Debbie 3]

Hello LO team and all APB's community!

 

I was thinking about the scenario that is getting more serious as the time passes, the APB population is decreasing a lot. It is so sad to see.

I'm an almost everyday player, but there are days that I want so much to play and there is simply almost no one to play, and I'm not talking about late hours, I'm talking about the middle of the day, and we are in a quarentine. 

 

My suggestion would be to leave a permanent APB 2.1 BETA server online for us to play.

 

Why am I suggesting this?

I really believe that people are so bored of the current APB because all of its problems and mainly there is nothing really new to do ingame for years. For example, I (aswell as many "old" players) have already a criminal and an enforcer character at level 255 for years (more than 3 in my case), and almost all weapons of the game.

We need something to motivate us to play, and there is almost nothing in the current APB that can do it.  On the contrary, it is making more and more people give up it and go play another game.

 

Even with the unfinished and with probably still many problems, the past BETA test servers attracted so many people to play on. That being said, leaving a server for us "APB enthusiasts" would be something to motivate us to play it at least a little;

 

The Pros and Cons about this in my point o view:
 

Pros:

- Something different to try and get to know more the new changes, many APB players didn't have the opportunity to play on the past BETA test servers;

- More constant feedback since it would be like a 24/7 test server to collect and analyze data;

- Enjoy the new beautiful graphics of the new BETA(for those who have a PC that can enjoy it);

- Improve the gameplay of the people that noticed performances improvement with the new engine;

... more things that I can't think of right now ...

 

 

Cons:

- Handle the complaints/feedback of the problems of a still work-in-progress that APB 2.1 BETA is;

- Maintain the infraestructure needed to keep online this new server alongside the default one;

- All the players' progresses and achviements would not count;

- Make it more difficult to play for the people that had problems with the new engine(based on the last BETA feedbacks);

- Decrease even more the live APB population;

... more things that people will probably point out in the comments ...
 

If you can please leave your comment below with your Pros and Cons about this, and what you think we could do to help increase APB population and make the game more enjoyable for the ones that like it and still insist want to play.

Edited August 27, 2020 by Debbie
more cons

[LilyRain 671]

There are games out there with test-servers open to the public. APB doing the same would be nice on paper. While having more players play the BETA than a small team that is SPCTs theoretically means more chances of finding bugs, the latest BETA was hiccing up more than Live, as if it was losing packets without losing packets. Regardless of the reason for it (servers/engine), the combination of APB 2.1 and servers that was open to public testing is just not ready yet. Perhaps on a later build down the road.

 

There is also one massive-con to consider:

Having a test-server open 24/7 means Live-population would sink even more.. WAY more. APB is not a new game and a lot of players are already max-ranked with nothing to progress further till the upcoming Contacts are released. Open the test-server 24/7 and those who need to progress will get even more of a difficult time to progress, especially those needing Waterfront on Jericho.

 

Although not intentional, this move will simply kill even more players as the new engine will definitely take more time to go Live than those people quitting.

[vsb 6171]

2 minutes ago, Debbie said:

Why am I suggesting this?

I really believe that people are so bored of the current APB because all of its problems and mainly there is nothing really new to do ingame for years.

2.1 isnt really anything new either since much of the work towards the engine upgrade is intended to fix things behind the scenes - people might come back for it but without the new content release schedule and important fixes should come with/after the full beta release, i think a lot of those same people would quickly leave again

 

its also worth noting that the 2.1 betas so far have only included asylum and social, so the appeal is even narrower 

[Amayii 398]

This thread has been moved to the Game Suggestions section of our forums.

 

~@mayii

[rooq 175]

Absolutely no.

And I am saying after having beta tested the new engine for almost a year now.

 

1. The APB community is not remotely mature enough to comprehend and accept what alpha/beta means. There are patches where the game soft locks, reaches sub 30 fps or is barely playable for other reasons. If you want a playable game that's additional development time for each patch where the developers have to make it "playerbase friendly" - because if they don't there will be an outcry on the forums exclaiming that the world is ending.

 

2. There is no new content. APB 2.1 is current APB on a new engine. That's it. There will be new content down the line but to my knowledge that will not happen until far after the launch.

 

3. There is already constant feedback. That's why the SPCT exists. Concentrated testing when necessary without the community upkeep angle.

 

This is a case where the famous words apply:

"You think you do, but you don't"

 

 

I am absolutely sure that testing will gradually open up more and more as we get closer to release - but for now this is the best way to handle things.