By now, you know the drill. We're in QA for the next few days, and our beta release will happen some time on the 24th. Hopefully in the morning, with emergency bug fixes in the afternoon.
The newsletter will go out, and I will tweet as soon as the beta is released, and invite codes will be sent shortly after that for people who have signed up for the beta since the morning of May 3rd.
Anyone who has signed up for the beta will get an invite code. If you've signed up prior to May 3rd, contact me via Email from the Email address you used to sign up and I'll try to find your invite code. If you signed up AFTER May 3rd, I will not look up your invite code until after May 25th. Please check your spam folder if your newsletter or invite code don't arrive by the 26th.
PLEASE READ THE NEWSLETTERS! We have vital information in them about things we need you to test (new features, bug fixes), and have notes of things you need to pay attention to.
On the schedule for next week's release:
- Change your armatar on ag3; this will NOT change your armatar here on AG2, and changing any details about your account here at AG2 will likely overwrite your armatar change at AG3.
- A new threaded Inbox system. This might mean that we need to wipe all existing Inbox messages. Boo hoo, it's beta, get over it. If I have some free time, I'll see if I can import the old messages into the new mailbox setup but it's not a priority for me.
- privacy setting updates... check the list when beta gets released to make sure you understand how they work.
... oh yeah, and a little thing we like to call:
Enable public commenting on profile pages
... if your privacy settings allow it.
We have other stuff up our sleeve, too. Stay tuned.
- various links on the site will now go to placeholder text; this stuff is mostly cosmetic
This might mean that we need to wipe all existing Inbox messages. Boo hoo, it's beta, get over it.
But Ian, what about our first beta messages together? Which were also my first inbox messages ever? Wait...they aren't there anymore for some reason. Well, go ahead! Disregard everyone else's pleas--destroy them!
Unkown? Wow such a cool name! Best one ever! LOL how about mace? Or morning star for a spiced one. It is an old club like thing here is the wiki link[url=http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mace_(club)] . Sounds good to me we already had battle axe .
But armatar? Hay any new ones I wonder? Some beta only ones? And lots more! Well I truss I should try to get this phone to work on the beta site and see my self around. OK of to do that LOL!
Do you know how many more releases there will be until it's open beta?
Nope.
Wow such a cool name! Best one ever! LOL
Larry has moved on from swords to blunt objects. I won't know the code name until probably Monday when we start putting the newsletter together.
Will armatars be unlocked based on how much Reputation you have when AG3 comes out?
No, I believe it's going to be somewhat free-for-all. I think Phil has been grouping the armatars according to their previous point levels, but since we're not tracking points on AG3 yet, I think you'll be able to set whichever armatar you want.
The Reputation system will likely be implemented after AG3 launches... it's going to be a pretty big project which will need LOTS of testing since we're looking at so much math for how to calculate it, etc.
Cormyn is mean to newbies!!!
Am not! Well, okay, sometimes maybe. But it's not (always) intentional.
To clarify, the armatar use will be free-for-all for the duration of beta. Once AG3 launches, I'm sure we'll have restrictions in place, and everyone who doesn't meet the necessary restriction will have the armatar reset.
The Reputation system will likely be implemented after AG3 launches... it's going to be a pretty big project which will need LOTS of testing since we're looking at so much math for how to calculate it, etc.
Is there anything I could do to help out with this project?
Like other areas of Armor Games, like gameshare's "fun factor", the actual math involved in calculating reputation will not be disclosed, that way users can't abuse it. We're looking into some pretty complex math algorithms though, but that's as much as we're going to say about it.
The release is out, we're doing final testing, but we're having trouble with our Email provider, so the newsletter and beta invites aren't going out until later.
Here's a recap of what's in today's release:
Our 13th beta release, codenamed Club, is released today, and has some exciting new features and important bug fixes to check out. Some highlights include the ability to change your Armatar , new Public Message feature and a completely reworked private messaging system. Please help us out by giving these new features a try and let us know if you find any issues. We look forward to your feedback.
New Features: - Armatars! With our previous release you could browse Armatars. You now can browse and change your Armatar. All "legacy" AG2 Armatars have been imported and are available to our beta users for selection. We have also started creating some game-specific Armatars which are exclusive to AG3. Changing your armatar may take a few minutes to fully update. Armatar changes made on AG3 beta are only visible to users on AG3 beta.
- New Private Message Inbox is here! We took a simpler approach to the Inbox, rebuilt it, and now it's faster, more efficient, shows a threaded history of the messages, and is much, much easier to use. Please note that your previous private messages are currently unavailable with this release.
- New Public Profile Messages. You can now leave a public message on their profile page, provided they allow it in their privacy settings. Do you like their new armatar choice, or want to congratulate them on beating your high score? Now you can. Public messages will show up in the recipients activity stream.
Bug Fixes: - The Public feed is now showing everything we intend it to. - We fixed some "resence" bugs. Be sure to double check your privacy settings the next time you log in. - We have significantly sped up the armatar browsing window.
Notes: - Coming soon: An "All" category. You've asked for it, and we're delivering. Soon you'll be able to browse all games, regardless of category. (action, adventure, arcade, etc.) - The seasonal armatars are not active on AG3 yet. We'll import those into a collection and their appropriate series names in a future release. You'll also be able to see which armatars are used more than others, so if you want to find that rarely-used image to stand out in the crowd, it'll be much easier! - Keep in mind that changing anything on your profile on AG2 will reset your AG3 armatar to match AG2
