There’s only about one week left before Alganon launches on December 1 (rescheduled from an earlier expected Halloween release), and beta players may have noticed that they have been taking the servers down more frequently to implement features and fixes in preparation for the official launch. Anyone playing over the last week has probably noticed combat lag and enemies not respawning as they should, but the company reports that the most recent patch has taken a large stride towards correcting them (if not fixed them altogether). The servers should now be smooth and you can again aim your weapons in confidence (or terror).

A newly-upgraded billing system has also been unleashed, allowing players to purchase the game from MyAlganon again, and includes the ability for international customers to join in. To assist these new international friends on their quest, they’ve included international keyboard and 10-key support to the game.

Quest has taken to heart the comments that the beta community has provided, and addresses several of them here.

Beta Player: Isn’t Alganon just another rip-off WoW clone?

Quest: It’s absolutely no secret that Alganon is a game made by gamers and with gamers in mind. That being said, we see what gamers want and what they’re asking for, and we are creating a game that will hopefully do just that. World of Warcraft is a fantastic MMO with many great features, as are a great many others still played by online gamers, and it would be fighting against the very nature of this community not to consider and include as many of the wonderful ideas and features that we’ve come to love and wish for in a single game as we can. In fact, interestingly enough when given a chance to privately talk in game to GMs the majority of players giving negative feedback weren’t all that upset about bugs or problems in the game, but the fact that the game has similar features to others they play. When asked why they were upset by including some of their favorite features in the game, many were left wondering this themselves. We aren’t trying to take another game and change it – we’re just making a game with as many asked-for features as we can fit in.

Beta Player: Why was the initial launch date moved back a month to December 1st?

Quest: The choice to keep the initial launch date or move it back a month wasn’t an easy one. We are more eager than anyone to get the game out to the community, but the very foundation of our game is based on and around that same community. We listened to their feedback and weighed our options carefully, and in the end decided that releasing Alganon on December 1st was the best thing to do for everyone involved. We were relieved by the large wave of support on this decision from our beta community, as they were the main advocates of that extra time needed to bring Alganon to the level of quality we will hit at launch.

Beta Player: There have been issues with the game and beta is drawing to a close (server issues/client issues/lag), how are you addressing them?

Quest: We’re the first to admit the later stages of our beta have been rocky for players. As content was tweaked and added, problems arose with our connection between players and the server, causing a sizable portion of our player base to experience frequent disconnects from the game and, for the less fortunate, the inability to log into the game at all. Frame rate slowdown was also something that reared its head as we adjusted how the game communicated on several levels. We have since fixed nearly all of these issues and are indebted to our loyal and steady players for both their help and patience. Oftentimes players tend to adopt the view of a closed beta as a chance to see the full game in action before it hits the shelves instead of the opportunity to help shape a game before it’s released. Our community is second to none, and this was definitely illustrated during those trying times. We are working very hard to make you the best game possible, as you, our players, deserve no less than our best.

Beta Player: What is the goal for Alganon? Why are you making this game?

Quest: We’re making a game for gamers. Plain and simple. QOL was founded to create a game, where many others are created purely to make money. This aspect is very near and dear to our hearts. We’re here to make a game for people to play WITH us, not just to pay us to play it. If we were focused on making money, there are often easier ways to do it than making an MMO, which traditionally is a gamble. We are 100% driven to creating something that can grow along with (and more so, with the help of) our community, and this driving force is one thing that makes Alganon such a wonderful opportunity for players and developers alike.

Alganon is not trying to take down “the big ones”, nor is it trying to reinvent the wheel. The current mainstream MMO isn’t broken; what Alganon does is take many beloved and asked-for features and add a new assortment to them, whether it be a new spin on an old mechanic or new ones altogether. Basically we’re trying to weave in the best of everything we can think of. Immensely popular MMOs (such as World of Warcraft) have given players years of enjoyment, but the same players that love them are also seeing them wear thin. Infrequent expansions can only add so much before you are back to the same thing again. Where Alganon shines is the ability for us to offer something that feels familiar while still delivering a game with fresh features and a uniquely community-driven world.