War for the Atlas: Xbox One Timeline

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This is also why its better to earn currency by killing monsters rather then being a jerk on ah

Cant be bothered with the AH in its current form tbh.

So we keep currency only?

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Shamefaced wrote:

So we keep currency only?

No. You start with nothing but the clothes on your back. Could be MTX clothes if you bought any ;)

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Chris wrote:

Hi guys,

I wanted to provide some clarity on upcoming dates regarding the release of War for the Atlas on Xbox One!

As you know, we're releasing the PC version on December 8 (US time). We're trying to nail down an exact date for the Xbox One version. It's likely to be around a week after the PC release. We'll let you know as soon as we know the date.

The new Abyss league launches on Xbox One alongside the War for the Atlas expansion. We plan to end the Harbinger league on Xbox One at the same time (i.e. it lasts right up until deployment, then it ends, we migrate characters, and launch the new expansion and league together).

The War for the Atlas supporter packs will be available for purchase when the expansion launches. At this time, the Harbinger and Oriath ones will be removed from sale. The Abyss packs will launch soon after release.

Sorry for the lack of communication around this so far. We'll let you know as soon as there's more information.

By the way, I'm also working on answering a bunch of frequently-asked community questions about the Xbox version (touching on trade, guilds, pvp, etc) and expect to post that next week.

Have supporter pack upgrade been made available or will that not be deployed in time to be used on harbinger supporter pack?

Hi Chris,

Let me quickly say from the onset that I greatly appreciate that there is an adequate response to our concerns. I must say however that I'm surprised that GGG doesnt see the bad precedent it sets that the new update and league comes to Xbox a week (or possibly more) later than PC. IMO this is a huge mistake. Making an entire population wait a week for something that is already being enjoyed by your PC population is simply unprofessional. I could write an entire essay why this is the case but you all are of high enough intellect that I will spare everyone from breaking down this complaint.

I am saddened that I am about to interject Diablo and Blizzard but it's appropriate in this case. I came over from that player base, and because I have a back channel I am aware of the effort they put in to making sure the Xbox population wasn't ever expected to concede upfront and outright that we were a secondary priority.

If this is not seen as a mistake by the staff of GGG, I strongly suggest that you to take a more critical look. Beginning to understand how important it is to release to our community as close in time as possible to your PC community is going to be paramount to your success on console going forward.

Thank you for listening and thanks for a great game!

Ken
GT:pbfloyd2112

My perspective as a PC player is that I didn't buy a console; I didn't buy into a walled garden where game updates need to go through certification, and I don't appreciate developers delaying updates on the PC to sync them with console releases. That's enforcing a drawback from a system I don't own onto me for no reason. It's not about somebody being a primary or secondary priority - and with respect, that's relying on an emotional argument rather than reason.

Microsoft are responsible for the Xbox One having a certification process, and you are responsible for their policies affecting you. I don't think their policies being artificially enforced on even more players is the answer - and certainly from where I'm sitting, that's what you're asking for. If you dislike the requirement of certification, Microsoft are the company to contact.

I'm a Linux nerd. Path of Exile doesn't have a Linux client, so to play the game I rely on third-party software called WINE. This does not offer performance comparable to a native client. There is always the risk that an update to the game will introduce compatibility issues until the WINE developers manage to fix them. When this happens, I do not ask GGG to pull the patch and diminish the experience of other people because the choices I made for myself have consequences. I accept that this is my responsibility, and in particularly frustrating moments I reflect on whether Linux was the right choice for me (I maintain that it was, and continues to be).

So please understand that it is not my intention to be antagonistic - I'm not speaking of a platform's drawbacks as some hypothetical thing I can't relate to. If GGG can finish content updates in time to get them through the certification process on time for the release date, I'd be in favour of that. If patches get approved sooner than expected, I would not object to them being pushed live on the XB1 immediately while the people playing the PC version wait for the scheduled release date. I believe in fairness, and fairness works both ways or it doesn't work at all.

But if it comes down to content not being finished in sufficient time, and the certification process having an impact on when an update will go live, I have to insist that only those who made a conscious decision to buy into a platform with that process be affected. It is not okay to insist that other players be needlessly impacted just so those who brought it upon themselves feel better about the situation. You are responsible for your purchasing decisions. I am not.

The fact that you write off my primary and secondary arguments as an emotional one but then interject your own paragraph in relation to fairness struck me as a bit funny. Not to mention that you chose to write a several paragraph argument to a post that very obviously was not directed to you or the pc player base. You unknowingly expose that you find my arguement to be a powerful one and are hoping to stand in the way of my communication with GGG.

GGG's ability to release both simultaneously can be corrected with no more than a staffing buff. Enough said.

EDIT:

I realized in hindsight I was probably too dismissive of your comments. First of all let me completely agree that the pc platform is a preferable one. Im somewhat of a newcomer to gaming and it's just by chance that I began on an Xbox. I very likely could see myself migrating if it keeps my interest.

That being said I do understand business and I want GGG to be successful. I believe this game to be truly inspired. The amount of time and thought that has gone into the skill and support gems alone blows my mind. I therefore realize the money to be gained by making both platforms happy simultaneously. If I think I have any understanding of GGG based on POE it is that they do not compromise. They have made a very deep and layered game as a startup and have done it at a level that is at the very least biting at the heels of the big boys in the industry. An industry that is a billions of dollars one.

Do you know how many Xbox players are going to think about releases coming out a week prior on another platform in the esoteric way you explain? Probably somewhere in the area of .001%. Do you know how much of a difference you would experience or be aware of as a pc player if GGG decided this would become a priority? About the same.

If GGG dumbed down the game on both platforms to make their existence on console easier this would be different, but I have a feeling that you have nothing to worry about in this regard with GGG.

Think of what they will be able to produce in the future with PC and console money. I know I'm looking forward to it.

Cheers, Ken
GT:pbfloyd2112

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Pbfloyd2112 wrote:

Hi Chris,

Let me quickly say from the onset that I greatly appreciate that there is an adequate response to our concerns. I must say however that I'm surprised that GGG doesnt see the bad precedent it sets that the new update and league comes to Xbox a week (or possibly more) later than PC. IMO this is a huge mistake. Making an entire population wait a week for something that is already being enjoyed by your PC population is simply unprofessional. I could write an entire essay why this is the case but you all are of high enough intellect that I will spare everyone from breaking down this complaint.

I am saddened that I am about to interject Diablo and Blizzard but it's appropriate in this case. I came over from that player base, and because I have a back channel I am aware of the effort they put in to making sure the Xbox population wasn't ever expected to concede upfront and outright that we were a secondary priority.

I'm not sure how many of these free to play cross platform games you've played, but patch parity within a week is almost magic. Plains of Eidolon was like a month behind on console for Warframe, and let's not even talk about version disparity in World of Tanks.

About the only one I've seen that has day and date updates is War Thunder and that's because they have shared servers for the PC and PS4 versions.

I mean it only took, what two years for D3 to get seasons on console at all....

Nicely written floyd, logic only because you are imagine yourself being on the other side aswell on your own, suprisingly rare stuff.

The overall mainproblem here seems to be the fact that ggg always have to spam hotfix after the expansion relise.
Thats a good reason enough to wait a week or so before they send the game filé to microsoft.
With that said i think that ggg should relise xbox at the same time, and let xbox players play two weeks, and then give us a bigger hotfix.

Next league without updates to AH will be pointless and players amount going to be minimum.