I find all this doom and gloom funny and a bit sad.
First, this is not the first beta to shut down for a period of time. LOTRO did it a couple times (not for as long a period - generally for a couple of weeks) and, if I recall correctly, we experienced the same thing in WoW.
In many ways it is a much better way of doing things. Run the beta for awhile compiling data and suggestions. As the beta runs you fix small things, improve the interface etc but you leave the big things like system overhauls for later. Once you are comfortable with having the data you need you shut it down and start implementing the big changes and adding major content patches. You then take the time to do internal testing on the new systems to make sure everything is working as intended before releasing the new stuff to the public for testing.
As for the short notice - there is no reason to give any more notice than they did. LOTRO generally game about a week's notice. More than likely they had a general time frame but not an exact date for this. There were probably certain testing milestones they wanted achieved before shutting down and they could not be certain when those milestones would be reached exactly.
The sky is not falling. The game is not being aborted. I've beta and alpha tested a bunch of games and this is hardly the most peculiar thing to have happened.
what I'm thinking, not being in Beta and all... is that maybe they already have tested the living crud out of the greenskin/dwarf and empire/chaos racial pairings, so they feel comfortable with stopping testing on them at this time.
they haven't got the elves and dark elves to the point where they can beta test, so instead of keeping the beta test servers up and running (which requires resources and staff effort etc.) they shut 'em down to really focus really hard on finishing up the Elves and Dark elves, then will open the servers back up in two months to allow testing of the final racial pairing
To avoid breaking the NDA I will just say that in my opinion the above statement is not true.
Yeah i can second that.People need to stop the gloom and doom as everything is going very nicely indeed.People say they want a top game and when E A Mythic do something to make sure it is a top game they go into the doom and gloom mode?
Me and you both are fortunate to know the juggernaut of a game coming early next year and no other game will even come close IMO.
Relax and take it easy because WAR is just round the corner.
WAR IS COMING
Ghost Squad
Let me explain the current situation.
Many players at this point are lost. WoW is not an option and all other MMO's currently out are not up to par of being playable or any sort of long period of time; I am talking months here. So we have all of our hopes and dreams placed into our "new" mmo of choice. Some pick WAR, others AOC, etc. We want a damn game to play that offers progression and a multiplayer environment but nothing is out right now.
So keeping that in mind here is the situation. It is the end of class and the teacher has forgotten to give out homework. You are counting the seconds until the bell rings and suddenly with 5 minutes to spare someone mentions tit and in your head you go "Son of a Bitch!". On top of that class might be extended another 5minutes. Those minutes seem like hours. It isn't the end of the world but it is like getting kicked in the jubbblies.
Guess what? I have almost been waiting for 1year for a HALF DECENT PvP mmo to come out. I check this site every day and each week if not nightly my friends and I discuss the current mmo's, games coming out, and new information released. Any announcement that may have an affect on WARs release will irk me in such a way that if you asked me face to face you might walk away with a blade in your face. I want something to play god dammit. Give me Greenskins vs Dwarves ONLY and I would be freaking happy grinding away the days until full release. Release a demo of a scenario and I could maybe survive but right now I am chomping at the bit.
Greetings...i understand your frustration i really do but its not the end its the beginning. Waiting for your favorite game to come out is a pain and perhaps it easy for me to say because i have had a taster of things to come.
Would you really want a half finish game where people can really complain about lack of content and so on? You know that saying "all good things come to those who wait" well its a true saying and time moves fast so before you know it the beta will be back up with triple the amount of tester to test the new content.
I cannot stress enough that EA Mythic are doing a good thing here and are not prepare to waste this golden opportunity to bring a top mmorpg to the gaming world.
Remember DnL or is Vanguard still fresh in your memory to know what happens when you don't get it right the first time round.
Have a little patience...hmm that reminds me of a song i know.
Patience has never been my virtue and probably never will be.
Don't get me wrong. I think it will be an awesome game when it comes out. However, waiting is a bitch especially when you have been waiting for a year already for something to keep your mind off of real life and have a place to have some fun with a few friends. By all means it probably is a smart decision on their end. On my end though I see the game not coming out on schedule and the prospect of further waiting makes me want to kill something.
Nothing I have seen from Mythic's statements imply this was unexpected to them even if it came as a suprirse to us.
Mythic has either earned your trust with their coverage of WAR delivering on what they say they will so far (PvP, High/Dark Elves etc) or you just don't believe anything they say anyway.
When they actually announce a delay in the game, then I will be worried. They could have delayed announcing closing the beta a couple of days until after the MMORPG.COM Q&A session if this was as disastrous as some think. Now they know they'll have to answer a lot of questions about this, but instead they announce it right before. They must be pretty confident they can field those questions.
I'm in full support of the WAR team in having to do what they feel is best for the creation of a good product. I wish I was able to play in Beta currently, but I understand that they have their own agenda. I'm just going to have to spend a lot of time in Halo 3 till then:)
Comments
I find all this doom and gloom funny and a bit sad.
First, this is not the first beta to shut down for a period of time. LOTRO did it a couple times (not for as long a period - generally for a couple of weeks) and, if I recall correctly, we experienced the same thing in WoW.
In many ways it is a much better way of doing things. Run the beta for awhile compiling data and suggestions. As the beta runs you fix small things, improve the interface etc but you leave the big things like system overhauls for later. Once you are comfortable with having the data you need you shut it down and start implementing the big changes and adding major content patches. You then take the time to do internal testing on the new systems to make sure everything is working as intended before releasing the new stuff to the public for testing.
As for the short notice - there is no reason to give any more notice than they did. LOTRO generally game about a week's notice. More than likely they had a general time frame but not an exact date for this. There were probably certain testing milestones they wanted achieved before shutting down and they could not be certain when those milestones would be reached exactly.
The sky is not falling. The game is not being aborted. I've beta and alpha tested a bunch of games and this is hardly the most peculiar thing to have happened.
To avoid breaking the NDA I will just say that in my opinion the above statement is not true.
Yeah i can second that.People need to stop the gloom and doom as everything is going very nicely indeed.People say they want a top game and when E A Mythic do something to make sure it is a top game they go into the doom and gloom mode?Me and you both are fortunate to know the juggernaut of a game coming early next year and no other game will even come close IMO.
Relax and take it easy because WAR is just round the corner.
WAR IS COMING
Ghost Squad
Let me explain the current situation.Many players at this point are lost. WoW is not an option and all other MMO's currently out are not up to par of being playable or any sort of long period of time; I am talking months here. So we have all of our hopes and dreams placed into our "new" mmo of choice. Some pick WAR, others AOC, etc. We want a damn game to play that offers progression and a multiplayer environment but nothing is out right now.
So keeping that in mind here is the situation. It is the end of class and the teacher has forgotten to give out homework. You are counting the seconds until the bell rings and suddenly with 5 minutes to spare someone mentions tit and in your head you go "Son of a Bitch!". On top of that class might be extended another 5minutes. Those minutes seem like hours. It isn't the end of the world but it is like getting kicked in the jubbblies.
Guess what? I have almost been waiting for 1year for a HALF DECENT PvP mmo to come out. I check this site every day and each week if not nightly my friends and I discuss the current mmo's, games coming out, and new information released. Any announcement that may have an affect on WARs release will irk me in such a way that if you asked me face to face you might walk away with a blade in your face. I want something to play god dammit. Give me Greenskins vs Dwarves ONLY and I would be freaking happy grinding away the days until full release. Release a demo of a scenario and I could maybe survive but right now I am chomping at the bit.
Greetings...i understand your frustration i really do but its not the end its the beginning. Waiting for your favorite game to come out is a pain and perhaps it easy for me to say because i have had a taster of things to come.Would you really want a half finish game where people can really complain about lack of content and so on? You know that saying "all good things come to those who wait" well its a true saying and time moves fast so before you know it the beta will be back up with triple the amount of tester to test the new content.
I cannot stress enough that EA Mythic are doing a good thing here and are not prepare to waste this golden opportunity to bring a top mmorpg to the gaming world.
Remember DnL or is Vanguard still fresh in your memory to know what happens when you don't get it right the first time round.
Have a little patience...hmm that reminds me of a song i know.
WAR IS COMING
Ghost Squad
Patience has never been my virtue and probably never will be.
Don't get me wrong. I think it will be an awesome game when it comes out. However, waiting is a bitch especially when you have been waiting for a year already for something to keep your mind off of real life and have a place to have some fun with a few friends. By all means it probably is a smart decision on their end. On my end though I see the game not coming out on schedule and the prospect of further waiting makes me want to kill something.
Nothing I have seen from Mythic's statements imply this was unexpected to them even if it came as a suprirse to us.
Mythic has either earned your trust with their coverage of WAR delivering on what they say they will so far (PvP, High/Dark Elves etc) or you just don't believe anything they say anyway.
When they actually announce a delay in the game, then I will be worried. They could have delayed announcing closing the beta a couple of days until after the MMORPG.COM Q&A session if this was as disastrous as some think. Now they know they'll have to answer a lot of questions about this, but instead they announce it right before. They must be pretty confident they can field those questions.
I'm in full support of the WAR team in having to do what they feel is best for the creation of a good product. I wish I was able to play in Beta currently, but I understand that they have their own agenda. I'm just going to have to spend a lot of time in Halo 3 till then:)
Well, turns out it's time for the Guild Beta. Who would've thought?