"Copious" APB to-do list being addressed

By Robert Purchese Published 13 July, 2010

RTW: We were preoccupied with launch.

Bravely, Realtime Worlds has called for you to submit a "hit list" of APB features you think need urgent attention. Because now, finally, the developer can do something about them.

"Over the last number of months, through the closed beta and KTTC, we've collected a huge number of issues, complaints, suggestions and requests covering all aspects of the game," wrote Realtime's Neil Castle on the APB website.

"Because of the focus of getting the game stable and going through the process of launch, many of these (especially the ones requiring significant changes) may appear to have fallen through the cracks.

"But they didn't," he added, "they've been sitting in our rather copious 'to do' list, waiting for us to have the time to begin to address them properly.

Castle said Realtime's goal is to "grow APB into the game that its players want it to be", which is why your comments, polls and ideas matter.

"This is your chance to help us prioritise our development efforts to tackle the issues that most concern you," he stressed, "or add the features that you most want."

Some of the issues Castle and team are already looking at are cheaters, vehicle handling, combat, matchmaking, camping, missions and a 'newbie' ruleset.

Realtime Worlds' crime MMO APB was released earlier this month. Surprisingly, from a studio made by the creator of GTA and responsible for Crackdown, the game fell short, with APB eventually earning 6/10 on Eurogamer.

Game creator Dave Jones said there were "a lot misconceptions" about what the game would be and "huge expectations" on APB being, in essence, Grand Theft Auto Online. He had plenty more to tell Eurogamer, too.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (32) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • jonbwfc #1 2 years ago

    yes, we all had the 'misconception' it would be finished before you asked people to pay for it.

  • dwalker109 #2 2 years ago

    Guess everybody's still playing it wrong...

  • sarcasmoidosis #3 2 years ago

    It's odd that a big part of those changes are things that he said were "ok" and that people "don't get".

    Like vehicle handling? I guess it wasn't all latency and poor rigs, huh?

  • Distributor #4 2 years ago

    Still in Beta..... It truly is rubbish.

  • Bahumet #5 2 years ago

    We didn't pay for this game just to end up as bloody play-testers!

  • DreadedWalrus #6 2 years ago

    Some of the issues Castle and team are already looking at are cheaters, vehicle handling, combat, matchmaking, camping, missions and a 'newbie' ruleset.

    They're looking at the issues of vehicle handling, combat, matchmaking, and missions?

    Well, at least they got the basics solid in time for release, in an open-world, mission-based MMO with vehicles.

  • NimbusTLD #7 2 years ago

    ie we fucked up.

  • LR100 #8 2 years ago

    So you had a list of things you knew needed fixing, but you were too busy with arranging the release of the game to fix them? Disgraceful.

  • Distributor #9 2 years ago

    AND to come on EG to give an interview about how people just get it the wrong way!?!?!?!?!? What a total dick :)

  • makeamazing #10 2 years ago

    I dont agree with releasing an MMO in a beta state, but i think we should just calm down alittle before slating him, this is the unfortunate truth of releasing MMOs these days :( they take too long to develop and its not easy making changes to them before launch.

  • curtlikesmeat #11 2 years ago

    How many failed MMOs will it take before shareholders realise that you never recover from a bad release. It's all very well pressuring studios to release but the way things are at the moment you just get stomped by WoW, Eve or any of the other quite well polished existing games (are there any others?!).

  • darkmorgado #12 2 years ago

    @curtislikesmeat

    LOTRO? I didn't like it personally (not a fan of Tolkien and I found the interface fiddly) but apparently it's doing very well.

    I think Conan is starting to pick up too now. And EQ2 must still be making a profit because it's still operating...

  • darkmorgado #13 2 years ago

    @makeamazing

    People aren't slating him just because of what he says here.

    They are slating him because he had the arrogance to say that all the complaints about the very issues he is now admitting need fixing were due to people not playing the game properly.

  • CaptainQuint #14 2 years ago

    Due to the nature of 'fixing' these things and the vast amount of work it involves, I'd imagine it won't be worth taking another look at APB till this time next year, at the earliest.

  • bdc #15 2 years ago

    Should have done this before you launched it you idiot developers.

  • Distributor #16 2 years ago

    And what is this preoccupied shait? Shouldnt the guys be preoccupied by actually coding the game and sniffing out the bugs and game breaking elements instead of......launching a game that clearly wasnt finished?

  • Macdory #17 2 years ago

    Shame they didn't listen to the beta testers 6 months + ago ...

    I was really excited about APB, until I played the beta and realised they were not going to fix jack that is ...

  • kaya08 #18 2 years ago

    In a years time when this begins to start looking like a vaguely decent game the community will be virtually non-existant.
    MMO's with no one playing them are basically bad single player games with a sub.

    You'd think AoC would have thought developers / publishers a lesson

  • the_sas_man #19 2 years ago

    This smacks of total incompetency. You first say we are playing it wrong. Then you say people had misconceptions. Now you are basically saying "yeah, we fucked up. We don't know where to start or how to start. But rather than lead this project, let's make our poor paying beta testers decide for us what we should do next".

    How about YOU tell us what's wrong and YOU tell us what you are fixing. No lie, I, and many of you reading this will be sacked for this level of incompetence. What a total idiot.

  • makeamazing #20 2 years ago

    They are slating him because he had the arrogance to say that all the complaints about the very issues he is now admitting need fixing were due to people not playing the game properly.

    @Darkmondo... and what did you expect him to say... oh yes the game is rubbish, no one should buy it, and we really should just sack everyone, we should hold off releasing it.. etc etc. As i said in my other post (which has lots of negs for saying i agree it shouldnt have been released in that state), I do agree 100% that they should have released a product with so many issues.

    BUT I believe MMO development to be a very difficult business to be in, and it takes a hell of a lot of investment and work, which is above and beyond normal products. Do i think this is understood by some section of gamers, no, do i think its understood properly by businesses yet, no.

    This isnt the first and wont be the last mmo to have issues. I guess what i was trying to say is, people should be cautious with any MMO, and also not listen to PR so much.
    Edited by 1 at 13/07/10 @ 20:08

  • darkmorgado #21 2 years ago

    @makeamazing

    No, but something along the lines of "we take all criticism on board and will always be looking at ways that we can improve the playing experience for our customers."

    Other than "they're playing it wrong."

  • bemaniac #22 2 years ago

    Positive comment:

    I enjoy this game as it is and just wish it ran a little smoother on my 4870x2 and i7 930 setup.
    I know i dont have an nvidia card but i have trust in RTW to come good on the ATI driver issues as when it runs smoother it'll be a fine game for me to play and i'm one of the lovers of the top up your hours casual quick blast community.

  • Distributor #23 2 years ago

    EG, get this Neil Castle in for another interview? ;)

  • darkmorgado #24 2 years ago

    @Distributor

    Exactly. Let's see him explain his sudden about-turn.

    "Do you now acknowledge that there are issues with the game that need to be resolved?"
    "We acknowledge that all developers should listen to the feedback they receive. It helps us to make better games."
    "So why did you say in our previous interview that your customers, who paid money for the game and are continuing to do so, were playing it wrong?"
    "That isn't what I meant."
    "Oh? How else could it have been taken?"
    "We... erm... we overestimated the intelligence of some of our players. It's clear to us now that we need to take into account that some players don't have the necessary skill to learn how to play the game as we originally intended."
    "So your customers are stupid?"
    "Erm... erm... no comment."

  • Zoink #25 2 years ago

    This game is shit. You would have to pay me headteacher-levels-of-renumeration to play it.

  • LR100 #26 2 years ago

    @Zoink - How about the monthly rent of a Somalian asylum seeker levels of renumeration, just to annoy the Daily Mail some more? ;)

  • Orosco #27 2 years ago

    @bemaniac
    I am enjoying the game too. I got used to the driving and now I'm having a blast. I just escaped from a Enforcer in a taxicab, he was driving a Mustang type car. It was a riot, though he was a little pissed. Still, racing thru the city, dodging the chaos caused by others, is pretty cool. I like it.

  • Sunyavadin #28 2 years ago

    Good to see Ruffian got all their best devs.

  • JamieR #29 2 years ago

    Add the ability for europeans to play the north americans is what is needed

  • hiddenranbir #30 2 years ago

    Vehicle handling is on the list? But I thought it was perfect, it was said so in that defensive article!

    I thought the payment plan would have been like the superior company, ArenaNet, did with Guild Wars. I'm also surprised no MMO has yet to have the powerful streaming as you play technology put into the game so the game client can be light weight and allow you to get in the game without having to wait hours for initial install.
    Edited by 1 at 13/07/10 @ 22:55

  • sarcasmoidosis #31 2 years ago

    Warhammer and WoW have streaming clients for sure.

  • kiroquai #32 2 years ago

    I was utterly convinced that I read the strapline on the main page as 'we were preoccupied by lunch'.