I to am one who is wodering what's the hold up with dropping the Nda i wonder if they have something to hide? I had my eyes on this game for some time now i even started building a new rig for this game water cooled of course . I also wonder if they do push it back well it really make a difference in the game really no mmo that i played to date every had a truely fawled launch NONE OF THEM including WOW. Will this game be the next best mmo out there or the next VG only time will tell for sure since the NDA is still up.
FFxi Retired Coh/Cov Retired Guild Wars/Retired WOW/(11-23-04/1-6-07) VSOH/ retired AOC/retired that was fast Waiting 4 DCUO ,and FFXIV
I don't see a compelling reason for them to drop the NDA before open beta. FACT: people WILL fixate on negative aspects. Hell, people will fixate on what the THINK are negative aspects. So from their point of view wth would they drop the NDA before they are ready for everyone to see it AS IT WILL BE RELEASED?
For the hype? I think they got all they want. AoC is one of the most anticipated mmos out there. They've shown us plenty of eye candy to wet our appetites. Chances are they won't tell all until OB or release. I'm okay with that. Say what you want. Chances are that if you're even slightly interested you'll pick it up at or around release. for the rest they'll wait for the cheers of ZOMG!!11!! or the howls of WTF!!!11!!! before they make the final call.
Ok first off just want to say that I am strongly looking forward to AOC release, however Im a bit concerned. We are now a week into april, leaving only 7 weeks till AOC launch, and the NDA is still up and there is no open beta yet. NDA's are usually dropped between 4 and 8 weeks from release, and the farther out the NDA is dropped can be used to determine the confidence the devs have in their game. For instance, wow dropped their NDA 8 weeks prior to release, while not a fan of WoW, they did have a good product and werent afraid to let the beta testers speak. On the other hand we have Tabula Rasa which bombed once its NDA was breeched, and was cited as one of the things leading to its failure (I disagree, think bad game design led to its failure but thats another topic). Regardless, Im concerned that Funcom hasnt released the NDA yet, and Open beta doesnt seem to be around the corner. I dont think AoC is going to be awful, but if these two things arent taken care of in the next week or so we are most likely looking at a push back sadly... and I really hope thats not the case.
Quite simply, don't use WoW as an example in MMOs...they do things differently and get different results. I don't remember a single game that dropped its NDA before open beta, and we aren't at AoC open beta yet. On top of that, Open Beta is one of the reasons games have been failing. Open Beta tests 1 thing, while compromising the game to all those in it. It tests server load, while giving all those people a chance to see the unfinished game and tear it apart, removing the newness factor for all those open beta testers.
Really, you can circumvent a lot of open beta's needs by load testing with bots. If a company is confident in their product's ability to handle the user load, I would prefer them to keep open beta to a minimum and as short as possible. There is no reason to let tons of people in early. That's what Tabula Rasa did, and it led to the game's downfall. I got bored with TR before it was ready for me to test. Everything I bugged, they could have bugged themselves. They let Beta testers in too early, then let even more open beta testers in too early.
Launching with the NDA up and the Open Beta down will only cause unhappy players to be even more irate.
It's a completely different age for MMOs than when AO launched and if Funcom does not adapt then they will fail and fail big.
One of the things that has changed since AO is the internet itself. Customers now have a place to vent their frustrations on a global scale rather than just local. Meaning that when AO launched people couldn't flood the message boards to warn others not to buy the game.
These days lots of hype is a bad thing, especially for MMOs. The more you build something up the farther it can fall.
Today is 2008 , not 2003. It is not acceptable to keep NDA just until or after the game launches. Especially after the Vanguard. Also it is not acceptable not to have Open Beta , or at least Open Trial.
It's unacceptable because you say so? C'mon, that's ridiculous. They don't have to drop the NDA before the game launches and they don't need an open beta. If you're any sort of rational consumer, you'll wait for the reviews to come in (from players and professionals) before running out to get it yourself.
Open betas and NDA drops dont kill games... bad games kill themselves. Tabula rasa died because it was a poor design that didnt appeal to many.
Funcom also has a rather shaky past, hanging on till the last second on the NDA will make many who are on the fence about buying the game think twice. If your game is good, show it, that way the word gets out and you have a huge launch.
Keep your nda, and people wait for word of mouth which takes a few weeks, granted you can still have a good launch, but if the game is good... wouldnt you want folks to see it and be chomping at the bit?
Open beta and NDA co-release, Im fine with, my only point is NDA is a barrier to hide behind, and you only need to hide... if you have something to hide. Its not my company, its not my game, Im just talking theory here.
Funcom is welcome to do as they wish, Im just giving my thoughts. Again... this isnt ANTI funcom or ANTI AoC.
Open betas and NDA drops dont kill games... bad games kill themselves. Tabula rasa died because it was a poor design that didnt appeal to many. Funcom also has a rather shaky past, hanging on till the last second on the NDA will make many who are on the fence about buying the game think twice. If your game is good, show it, that way the word gets out and you have a huge launch. Keep your nda, and people wait for word of mouth which takes a few weeks, granted you can still have a good launch, but if the game is good... wouldnt you want folks to see it and be chomping at the bit? Open beta and NDA co-release, Im fine with, my only point is NDA is a barrier to hide behind, and you only need to hide... if you have something to hide. Its not my company, its not my game, Im just talking theory here. Funcom is welcome to do as they wish, Im just giving my thoughts. Again... this isnt ANTI funcom or ANTI AoC.
I buy them even if there complete and utter trash. I have a large MMO collection on my wall, many have been added to the shelf what's another. /shrug
guess it is my geek collection of crapware.
"The King and the Pawn return to the same box at the end of the game"
Not saying the game will be bad or good but one thing that has saved me many a dollar is that I never pre order a game unless I am in the beta and am sure it is worth it. All games look good on paper and in our imaginations but very few deliver.
I would rather have MMO companies offer free 10 day playtime instead of having open betas. The rush of new players who do not know how to play the game they are supposed to STRESS TEST and start to complain about everything that is not familiar or is done differently than in games they previously played. It is better to have a community already before offering freebies to young people who seldom have longer attention span than my 4 year old cousin. I think MMO companies should do the stress test quite differently.
[quote]Funcom also has a rather shaky past, hanging on till the last second on the NDA will make many who are on the fence about buying the game think twice. If your game is good, show it, that way the word gets out and you have a huge launch.[/ quote]
Anarcy Online is a good example of MMO that had a rocky start (probably one of the worst I participated in) and still managed to pull a good game. The reason we have already seen delays is most likely because Funcom is listening to feedback from various testers.
I do not believe launch itself is that important. If the game is good, people will play it. If it sucks, people start looking elsewhere. This has happened to many many MMOs in the past. I am also happy if AoC becomes a niche game like EVE that attracts certain type of players instead of mass market success like WoW which has caused Blizzard to compromise in too many already working areas of the game due to their relentless need to appeal for the lowest common dominator, but naturally from a business point this is very smart.
I am not expecting AoC to be the greatest thing since sliced bread, but I hope it will offer something new to MMO genre, but I am not expecting the gameplay to be groundbreaking. However, mature and low-fantasy atmosphere already offers me something that is not in the market currently albeit I still would prefer a sci-fi setting without fantasy elements.
"The person who experiences greatness must have a feeling for the myth he is in."
Everyone that wants AOC to succeed can deny it all they want, but the TS is correct. AOC needs to put some confidence in the potential playerbase and put out their open beta, lift their NDA and start showing the public what they really have instead of all of the talk and videos of the newbie island of tortage.
I have a strong feeling that if they opened up a beta right now, a hurricane of negative reviews would sweep across all of the major MMO channels, and it would bomb harder than Tabula Rasa or Vanguard.
Infact, with as little information, footage and hardcore proof of a solid game this close to launch, I wouldn't at all be surprised if there's a pushback again, at least another 2 months.
Everyone that wants AOC to succeed can deny it all they want, but the TS is correct. AOC needs to put some confidence in the potential playerbase and put out their open beta, lift their NDA and start showing the public what they really have instead of all of the talk and videos of the newbie island of tortage. I don't think open beta has ANYTHING to do with their confidence in the game or the potential playerbase. It's not a free "try before you buy". In fact it has nothing to do with any of that. It's a final stage of testing. nothing more. A test of the server load and a last minute check for game breaking bugs. I have a strong feeling that if they opened up a beta right now, a hurricane of negative reviews would sweep across all of the major MMO channels, and it would bomb harder than Tabula Rasa or Vanguard. You may be right. but why don't we try something different? oh i don't know, How about we wait and see? hmm? THEN we can call it crappy with FACTS! THis way we don't sound like.....well you get the idea. Infact, with as little information, footage and hardcore proof of a solid game this close to launch, I wouldn't at all be surprised if there's a pushback again, at least another 2 months. If the game isn't ready they they BETTER push it back. Better a late release than a junk release. People are extremely picky. no one wants to put up with game that's not finished at release.
Im sorry, but all these threads are getting annoying.
People cry and whine that no new MMorpgs have come out in some time, that there is nothing out worth playing, that the industry is dry and stail...etc etc etc
Then a game actually threatens to come out and people whine and cry more....
Obviously, we all want as complete a game as possible at release. But the fact is this release WILL have problems. Most releases do. If the game is worth playing, and the devs work through the problems people will endure the issues and enjoy the game.
Vanguard was a terrible game and had a terrible release. I know a bunch of posters who claim that Vanguards release "killed the game" yet I know nobody will admit individually that they left because of the bad release. Everyone I know left because the game stunk.
So let AoC come out in peace please. Maybe it will bea good game and maybe it wont. Only time will tell. But all these speculative posts do nothing but feed trolls.
I cant quote about half a dozen game mechanics from AoC that might not generally be new or innovative, but have essentially been copied by other games due out. The game director said on Norweigan TV that beta will be by invite only (open beta) and that it might start around May 1st and run for 2 weeks or so. There might be a special beta weekend before this though coming up soon.
what does the open in open beta mean if it's invite only? surely an invite-only open beta is inherently contradictory.
Open betas and NDA drops dont kill games... bad games kill themselves. Tabula rasa died because it was a poor design that didnt appeal to many.
Agree
+ And poor gameplay.
couldn't agree more... the flipside is people will play the game if it's a good game, open beta or no open beta
AmazingAveryAge of Conan AdvocateMemberUncommonPosts: 7,188
Originally posted by markyturnip
Originally posted by AmazingAvery
I cant quote about half a dozen game mechanics from AoC that might not generally be new or innovative, but have essentially been copied by other games due out. The game director said on Norweigan TV that beta will be by invite only (open beta) and that it might start around May 1st and run for 2 weeks or so. There might be a special beta weekend before this though coming up soon.
what does the open in open beta mean if it's invite only? surely an invite-only open beta is inherently contradictory.
Depending on the agreement in place for the period known as Invite only Open beta, there 'Might' not be an NDA in place. What the agreement to sign is we will have to wait and see. Its the same principle that warhammer online are doing. So it might be Open as in Open to talk during this time (argreement permitting) but not neccessarily Open as in anyone can download the client and play. I have a Sneaky feeling we will find out 4 weeks from today ( just a feeling!)
I cant quote about half a dozen game mechanics from AoC that might not generally be new or innovative, but have essentially been copied by other games due out. The game director said on Norweigan TV that beta will be by invite only (open beta) and that it might start around May 1st and run for 2 weeks or so. There might be a special beta weekend before this though coming up soon.
what does the open in open beta mean if it's invite only? surely an invite-only open beta is inherently contradictory.
Depending on the agreement in place for the period known as Invite only Open beta, there 'Might' not be an NDA in place. What the agreement to sign is we will have to wait and see. Its the same principle that warhammer online are doing. So it might be Open as in Open to talk during this time (argreement permitting) but not neccessarily Open as in anyone can download the client and play. I have a Sneaky feeling we will find out 4 weeks from today ( just a feeling!)
It's definitely not an open beta if its invite only. It might be a "less closed beta", but its not open.
And Funcom better learn from SWG and Vanguard and drop the NDA soon. Those who keep it up till release are hiding something, and it isn't trade secrets. The game excites me, but I am leery of Funcom after AO's release. Sure they MIGHT have learned something from it, but seeing how all the other came companies don't, Funcom might not have as well. Or at least, not enough.
I'm not really to up on this game. i'll try it when it comes out and if i like it great.... but since WHEN did it become manditory for a company to let you try their product before you buy it. 99% of mmo's have a free 30days and there's your trial. Buy a console game; MOST don't have demo's. You buy a game or other product (movie, food, book what have you) and if you don't like it ah crap you wasted 50 or so dollars. Beta's were never meant to be anything but tests and or stress events for the company making the game. It has become common place for some people to think "well if you don't let me try your product i'm not buying it". Well thats fine good day. if there is no open beta, buy, the game play for FREE for 30 days (sure more time than you get with console games ANYWAY) and decide then. If they have an open beta and you get a key then even better it's an even FREE'er demo, but it is in no way a right as much as it is a priveladge with some games. What i'm trying to get at is we shouldn't feel we are owed a beta 80% of video games don't have open beta's and i realise that 80% of them don't have monthly fees but thats what the 30free days or for thats 720 game hours name me a another game genre in which you can get that much play time for 50$
heh I beg to differ on ye ole 360 I wont buy a game til I download the demo, and they have demos for just about any new game.
Today is 2008 , not 2003. It is not acceptable to keep NDA just until or after the game launches. Especially after the Vanguard. Also it is not acceptable not to have Open Beta , or at least Open Trial.
It's unacceptable because you say so? C'mon, that's ridiculous. They don't have to drop the NDA before the game launches and they don't need an open beta. If you're any sort of rational consumer, you'll wait for the reviews to come in (from players and professionals) before running out to get it yourself.
what people are missing here is that this is a business. And anyone can tell you that a business needs its customers. If said business doesnt give its customers what they want, the business will fail.
I dont know what sort of twisted reality we live in where this doesnt apply to AoC, it seems to me the attitude here is that theyre giving us the "priveledge" of playing their game. When in reality, they need to be smooching each potential customers butt. Thats just common sense, give the customer what they want on their terms, and youll have a happy customer. Treat a customer like they owe you something instead of vice versa well, we'll all see the end result if thats the route were headed.
p.s on a side note, I thought the burger king ads where they were giving people hamburgers from other companies was a great analogy for this genre as well. If we log into AoC expecting a whopper, and all we end up with is another ho hum big mac, well, there will be blood.
Well every game does things a bit different. Tabula Rasa did keep the NDA up for a long time but it also let anyone that pre-ordered into the beta. That's basically an open beta cause you can always cancel your pre-order but technically it was still closed beta. Of course no one payed any attention to the NDA and everyone sounded the alarm that the game was trash.
Any MMO that comes out now and doesn't give you some way to try the game is either screwing up big time on marketing or the game sucks and they want you to drop 50 bucks to find out so they can get back some of the millions they spent on it. Vanguard should have never been released at all imo. They put that game out knowing it had no chance of making money, but the alternative was to cancel the 200k pre-orders they had.
30 days free playing a game that doesn't run for shit is not going to make anyone feel better about wasting 50 bucks. I always used to download demos of single player pc games when i played them and console games you can always rent or even go to your local game store and try out new games. Not to mention MMO's you cant resell or trade in for anything either so it really is a waste of 50 bucks if the game is shit. The bottom drawer of my desk is a MMO graveyard that I really don't want to add to.
Well every game does things a bit different. Tabula Rasa did keep the NDA up for a long time but it also let anyone that pre-ordered into the beta. That's basically an open beta cause you can always cancel your pre-order but technically it was still closed beta. Of course no one payed any attention to the NDA and everyone sounded the alarm that the game was trash. Any MMO that comes out now and doesn't give you some way to try the game is either screwing up big time on marketing or the game sucks and they want you to drop 50 bucks to find out so they can get back some of the millions they spent on it. Vanguard should have never been released at all imo. They put that game out knowing it had no chance of making money, but the alternative was to cancel the 200k pre-orders they had. 30 days free playing a game that doesn't run for shit is not going to make anyone feel better about wasting 50 bucks. I always used to download demos of single player pc games when i played them and console games you can always rent or even go to your local game store and try out new games. Not to mention MMO's you cant resell or trade in for anything either so it really is a waste of 50 bucks if the game is shit. The bottom drawer of my desk is a MMO graveyard that I really don't want to add to.
Hilarious my MMO graveyard drawer is the second one down, you know why? because there have been so many crappy MMO releases since 2000 that my back hurt from reaching for the bottom drawer.
i think this might be a lot of sour grapes because some people hav nt got into the beta . i am .i ve seen it so i know its not a vanguard or a tabuala rasa . it does run on 1 gb ram and on a mid range video card ( although i d personally suggest you d upgrade the ram as i m about to do ) . nuff said
Comments
I to am one who is wodering what's the hold up with dropping the Nda i wonder if they have something to hide? I had my eyes on this game for some time now i even started building a new rig for this game water cooled of course
. I also wonder if they do push it back well it really make a difference in the game really no mmo that i played to date every had a truely fawled launch NONE OF THEM including WOW. Will this game be the next best mmo out there or the next VG only time will tell for sure since the NDA is still up.
FFxi Retired
Coh/Cov Retired
Guild Wars/Retired
WOW/(11-23-04/1-6-07)
VSOH/ retired
AOC/retired that was fast
Waiting 4 DCUO ,and FFXIV
I don't see a compelling reason for them to drop the NDA before open beta. FACT: people WILL fixate on negative aspects. Hell, people will fixate on what the THINK are negative aspects.
So from their point of view wth would they drop the NDA before they are ready for everyone to see it AS IT WILL BE RELEASED?
For the hype? I think they got all they want. AoC is one of the most anticipated mmos out there. They've shown us plenty of eye candy to wet our appetites. Chances are they won't tell all until OB or release. I'm okay with that. Say what you want. Chances are that if you're even slightly interested you'll pick it up at or around release. for the rest they'll wait for the cheers of ZOMG!!11!! or the howls of WTF!!!11!!! before they make the final call.
I figure either AoC or WAR will be a ZOMG!!11!!
We're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad.
Really, you can circumvent a lot of open beta's needs by load testing with bots. If a company is confident in their product's ability to handle the user load, I would prefer them to keep open beta to a minimum and as short as possible. There is no reason to let tons of people in early. That's what Tabula Rasa did, and it led to the game's downfall. I got bored with TR before it was ready for me to test. Everything I bugged, they could have bugged themselves. They let Beta testers in too early, then let even more open beta testers in too early.
Launching with the NDA up and the Open Beta down will only cause unhappy players to be even more irate.
It's a completely different age for MMOs than when AO launched and if Funcom does not adapt then they will fail and fail big.
One of the things that has changed since AO is the internet itself. Customers now have a place to vent their frustrations on a global scale rather than just local. Meaning that when AO launched people couldn't flood the message boards to warn others not to buy the game.
These days lots of hype is a bad thing, especially for MMOs. The more you build something up the farther it can fall.
is anyone else worried about the "click" to attack? you got 50 people in the same area all doing the same, wouldnt that cause for more lag?
Open betas and NDA drops dont kill games... bad games kill themselves. Tabula rasa died because it was a poor design that didnt appeal to many.
Funcom also has a rather shaky past, hanging on till the last second on the NDA will make many who are on the fence about buying the game think twice. If your game is good, show it, that way the word gets out and you have a huge launch.
Keep your nda, and people wait for word of mouth which takes a few weeks, granted you can still have a good launch, but if the game is good... wouldnt you want folks to see it and be chomping at the bit?
Open beta and NDA co-release, Im fine with, my only point is NDA is a barrier to hide behind, and you only need to hide... if you have something to hide. Its not my company, its not my game, Im just talking theory here.
Funcom is welcome to do as they wish, Im just giving my thoughts. Again... this isnt ANTI funcom or ANTI AoC.
I buy them even if there complete and utter trash. I have a large MMO collection on my wall, many have been added to the shelf what's another. /shrug
guess it is my geek collection of crapware.
Not saying the game will be bad or good but one thing that has saved me many a dollar is that I never pre order a game unless I am in the beta and am sure it is worth it. All games look good on paper and in our imaginations but very few deliver.
I miss DAoC
I would rather have MMO companies offer free 10 day playtime instead of having open betas. The rush of new players who do not know how to play the game they are supposed to STRESS TEST and start to complain about everything that is not familiar or is done differently than in games they previously played. It is better to have a community already before offering freebies to young people who seldom have longer attention span than my 4 year old cousin. I think MMO companies should do the stress test quite differently.
[quote]Funcom also has a rather shaky past, hanging on till the last second on the NDA will make many who are on the fence about buying the game think twice. If your game is good, show it, that way the word gets out and you have a huge launch.[/ quote]
Anarcy Online is a good example of MMO that had a rocky start (probably one of the worst I participated in) and still managed to pull a good game. The reason we have already seen delays is most likely because Funcom is listening to feedback from various testers.
I do not believe launch itself is that important. If the game is good, people will play it. If it sucks, people start looking elsewhere. This has happened to many many MMOs in the past. I am also happy if AoC becomes a niche game like EVE that attracts certain type of players instead of mass market success like WoW which has caused Blizzard to compromise in too many already working areas of the game due to their relentless need to appeal for the lowest common dominator, but naturally from a business point this is very smart.
I am not expecting AoC to be the greatest thing since sliced bread, but I hope it will offer something new to MMO genre, but I am not expecting the gameplay to be groundbreaking. However, mature and low-fantasy atmosphere already offers me something that is not in the market currently albeit I still would prefer a sci-fi setting without fantasy elements.
"The person who experiences greatness must have a feeling for the myth he is in."
Everyone that wants AOC to succeed can deny it all they want, but the TS is correct. AOC needs to put some confidence in the potential playerbase and put out their open beta, lift their NDA and start showing the public what they really have instead of all of the talk and videos of the newbie island of tortage.
I have a strong feeling that if they opened up a beta right now, a hurricane of negative reviews would sweep across all of the major MMO channels, and it would bomb harder than Tabula Rasa or Vanguard.
Infact, with as little information, footage and hardcore proof of a solid game this close to launch, I wouldn't at all be surprised if there's a pushback again, at least another 2 months.
Agree
+ And poor gameplay.
As we get closer and closer to launch it will be interesting to see how they do the NDA and Open Beta.
Im just curious if they do push back how long they will wait to tell us
We're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad.
Im sorry, but all these threads are getting annoying.
People cry and whine that no new MMorpgs have come out in some time, that there is nothing out worth playing, that the industry is dry and stail...etc etc etc
Then a game actually threatens to come out and people whine and cry more....
Obviously, we all want as complete a game as possible at release. But the fact is this release WILL have problems. Most releases do. If the game is worth playing, and the devs work through the problems people will endure the issues and enjoy the game.
Vanguard was a terrible game and had a terrible release. I know a bunch of posters who claim that Vanguards release "killed the game" yet I know nobody will admit individually that they left because of the bad release. Everyone I know left because the game stunk.
So let AoC come out in peace please. Maybe it will bea good game and maybe it wont. Only time will tell. But all these speculative posts do nothing but feed trolls.
what does the open in open beta mean if it's invite only? surely an invite-only open beta is inherently contradictory.
Agree
couldn't agree more... the flipside is people will play the game if it's a good game, open beta or no open beta+ And poor gameplay.
what does the open in open beta mean if it's invite only? surely an invite-only open beta is inherently contradictory.
Depending on the agreement in place for the period known as Invite only Open beta, there 'Might' not be an NDA in place. What the agreement to sign is we will have to wait and see. Its the same principle that warhammer online are doing. So it might be Open as in Open to talk during this time (argreement permitting) but not neccessarily Open as in anyone can download the client and play. I have a Sneaky feeling we will find out 4 weeks from today ( just a feeling!)
what does the open in open beta mean if it's invite only? surely an invite-only open beta is inherently contradictory.
Depending on the agreement in place for the period known as Invite only Open beta, there 'Might' not be an NDA in place. What the agreement to sign is we will have to wait and see. Its the same principle that warhammer online are doing. So it might be Open as in Open to talk during this time (argreement permitting) but not neccessarily Open as in anyone can download the client and play. I have a Sneaky feeling we will find out 4 weeks from today ( just a feeling!)
It's definitely not an open beta if its invite only. It might be a "less closed beta", but its not open.
And Funcom better learn from SWG and Vanguard and drop the NDA soon. Those who keep it up till release are hiding something, and it isn't trade secrets. The game excites me, but I am leery of Funcom after AO's release. Sure they MIGHT have learned something from it, but seeing how all the other came companies don't, Funcom might not have as well. Or at least, not enough.
heh I beg to differ on ye ole 360 I wont buy a game til I download the demo, and they have demos for just about any new game.
It's unacceptable because you say so? C'mon, that's ridiculous. They don't have to drop the NDA before the game launches and they don't need an open beta. If you're any sort of rational consumer, you'll wait for the reviews to come in (from players and professionals) before running out to get it yourself.what people are missing here is that this is a business. And anyone can tell you that a business needs its customers. If said business doesnt give its customers what they want, the business will fail.
I dont know what sort of twisted reality we live in where this doesnt apply to AoC, it seems to me the attitude here is that theyre giving us the "priveledge" of playing their game. When in reality, they need to be smooching each potential customers butt. Thats just common sense, give the customer what they want on their terms, and youll have a happy customer. Treat a customer like they owe you something instead of vice versa well, we'll all see the end result if thats the route were headed.
p.s on a side note, I thought the burger king ads where they were giving people hamburgers from other companies was a great analogy for this genre as well. If we log into AoC expecting a whopper, and all we end up with is another ho hum big mac, well, there will be blood.
Well every game does things a bit different. Tabula Rasa did keep the NDA up for a long time but it also let anyone that pre-ordered into the beta. That's basically an open beta cause you can always cancel your pre-order but technically it was still closed beta. Of course no one payed any attention to the NDA and everyone sounded the alarm that the game was trash.
Any MMO that comes out now and doesn't give you some way to try the game is either screwing up big time on marketing or the game sucks and they want you to drop 50 bucks to find out so they can get back some of the millions they spent on it. Vanguard should have never been released at all imo. They put that game out knowing it had no chance of making money, but the alternative was to cancel the 200k pre-orders they had.
30 days free playing a game that doesn't run for shit is not going to make anyone feel better about wasting 50 bucks. I always used to download demos of single player pc games when i played them and console games you can always rent or even go to your local game store and try out new games. Not to mention MMO's you cant resell or trade in for anything either so it really is a waste of 50 bucks if the game is shit. The bottom drawer of my desk is a MMO graveyard that I really don't want to add to.
Hilarious my MMO graveyard drawer is the second one down, you know why? because there have been so many crappy MMO releases since 2000 that my back hurt from reaching for the bottom drawer.
If it were going to be "ready" then they would not still be hiding behind an NDA.
It will have a lot of problems but they will likely fix them after retail, only when everyone is screaming in their face.
Otherwise, there would be no NDA now
i think this might be a lot of sour grapes because some people hav nt got into the beta . i am .i ve seen it so i know its not a vanguard or a tabuala rasa . it does run on 1 gb ram and on a mid range video card ( although i d personally suggest you d upgrade the ram as i m about to do ) . nuff said