I’m confused. Why are there two Guns of Icarus games?

Guns of Icarus Online is our original game, released back in 2012. It is an online-only team-based PVP (player-vs-player) game in which players join the crews of multiplayer-controlled steampunk airships and have huge battles in the sky, from two-on-two skirmishes right up to epic four-a-side battles. Guns of Icarus Alliance is our new game that’s only been out for a month! It was originally intended to be an expansion for the base game, pitched initially as an “adventure mode” that would introduce PVE (player-vs-environment) missions for players who weren’t interested in PVP. Early in development it became clear that our vision was much bigger than a humble expansion pack, so Alliance eventually became a new stand-alone game.

So has Alliance completely replaced Online?

Yes and no. Online still exists as a stand-alone game of pure PVP, but it is closely tied to Alliance. Players in both games can talk to each other, and in-game assets purchases and all Steam achievements are shared across both games. Online is still available to buy on Steam at a greatly discounted price. However, anybody who buys Alliance gets Online free and can play all of the content from both games in a single package. Alliance offers the complete Guns of Icarus experience, including both PVP battles, PVE missions, and the dynamic online world that ties it all together. For those with no interest in PVE, Online will still be there to offer awesome PVP goodness.

Does this mean Online is a dead product?

Nope, Online is still a living game with a large install base and an active player population. We won’t lie to you: Alliance is our new baby and we’re definitely focusing most of our attention on it, but a huge amount of content for this new game will be fed back into the original. We are always coming up with new content, including mysterious new factions armed with their own unique airships, weapons, and upgrades. Many additions to Alliance will also expand Online, so even if you are only playing PVP and have no interest in new political powers invading the world, any ships and equipment brought into the game by these new factions will also be made available to you. Even better, you can join a faction and have an impact on the game world just by playing PVP, without spending a single cent upgrading to Alliance. Essentially, even if you don’t buy Alliance, its existence will keep making Online bigger and better for our loyal players.

Is this some kind of scam or ripoff to squeeze more money out of your players?

Not at all. Anyone who is enjoying the original PVP action of Guns of Icarus Online can carry on enjoying it as long as they want to without sending us a single cent. We aren’t forcing anyone to buy anything they don’t want to, so if you’re happy with Online as it is, please keep on enjoying it. Guns of Icarus Alliance was an enormous project that took us over three years to complete. This is not a map pack or a handful of new mission types: this is an entirely new way to play the game. We have added a dynamic and ever-changing online world that reacts to players’ victories and defeats, a living story that is being written week by week according to events in the game, an extremely complex AI system that makes the entire PVE experience possible, and so much more. It is a much bigger project than Online ever was. We feel like we are charging a fair price for Alliance, and we have also sweetened the deal for existing players by offering a discounted price to upgrade until May 30th. We also offered some heavily-discounted pre-order deals during the development process, and players who got on board during the Kickstarter in 2013 also got a very good deal. If you still think we’re ripping our players off then there probably isn’t anything else we could say to change your mind. Sorry we couldn’t convince you!

I backed Alliance during the Kickstarter or pre-ordered it. Where’s my copy?

If you one of the awesome people who supported the development of Alliance before release and registered your Steam ID with us, you should already have access to play Alliance. Visit the Alliance store page and you should see a notification saying “Guns of Icarus Alliance is already in your Steam library” and a “play now” button. If you don’t see this message, then something has gone wrong. We’re sorry! Please email feedback@musegames.com and we’ll get it fixed for you ASAP!

[ 2017-05-10 18:28:08 CET ] [ Original post ]