I believe someone said its 60 cent a user to download , the fee to goes to bandwith , staff and a fee to paid to the game developer for letting them use the content. I dont see the problem , Open Beta = Open Public , thier is new barrier for you joining Fileplanet access, and downloading the client , but a fee of 7.00 for 30 gig client. Someone has to pay for it , even with Ad support on Fileplanet , they need to make money off you folks. Also they arent doing this for age protection , Funcom has no age protection on Conan , they wont even submit thier name to things like Net Nanny , and certain senators have visted the game , deem it excessive obscene + easily to access. (which is the same sentate who stired up Priest Online anti violence groups) No , I think this ok , you all have to understand its a business , they got development cost and need sometime to make those up , to show investors they got a market big enough to begin an expansion and figure how the size of thier live team. Someone has to pony up for beta and bandwith. Me? I m active member Fileplanet for few years now , I normally pay a yearly sub for me and my brother to use it. It comes out to be 3.00 or so a month , I get prime slots in beta (sometimes make good money selling beta codes to people)
What you need to realize is that this "bandwidth and server costs" is just maketing spin.
Other games with millions of players (wow, perfect world,... - that's way more than 50k isn't it ?) are letting you download their clients, even game patches, with bittorent. This is peer to peer download if you don't know what it is. Direct download is years old technelogy, today we are in 2008.
I have no problem with paying if things are clear straight up front. What I don't like is being scammed with makteting spin.
To me this sounds much more like "we are not sure about our game, let's cash in on the hype for as long as it lasts...".
One thing is defenitely clear for me after this, I am not pre-ordering. I'll rather wait for the reviews or even better, a game trial.
I made Fileplanet sub only for the AOC beta. I pay 15 $ everymonth for my EQ2 sub, I can afford a little more this month, is not a big problem for me. I feel sorry for the people that actually can't afford it and they may want to do it. I want a taste before taking a decission and Ill have it this way. Im not sure how good the game will be so I prefer paying 9 $ for a taste if I dont like it than 50 $ for a game I may not like.
I may be paying for a beta, but in my side, Im paying for a taste.
I repeat, it doesn't cost to be a member of Fileplanet, only if you want to sign up for the subscription. I do see you have to subscribe to download Conan open beta, and I agree that should be free, but for a fast download it may be worth the cost to be able to try out the game to see if you would like it. There are three other sites to download from to check to see if they charge.
And, you won't get the full download because you can't get past level 13, meaning a small island.
Typical , doing so called pseudo open betas through fp.Its just a proof to what Ive been hearing from friends testing the game that its crap.Im definitely not going to buy another mmorpg in dark this time as well
I really can't blame people anymore for not wanting to buy a game until they see how well it does after release. I've been sorry a few times myself. I like to be a beta tester, it decides for me. I was in Tabula Rasa beta and decided not to buy the game when the devs took all the fun out of it. I and other testers all told them they were wrong, but since when do devs listen. Anyway, I will be preordering Conan.
As much as I hate to have to pay to play open beta , 8 bucks isnt much. It outweighs my alternatives at this point. For the love of god (crom) , I could not win any damn contest .
I spot a trend here/ Open Beta - pay to get in Early entry - pay to get in
I wonder what other micro transactions are waiting for us? Although if it is a true "open" beta the NDA will be lifyed on May 1st and if it really that bad people will be able to post on here.If the NDA is still in place then it isn't open at all.
Just to clarify, the early entry fee is $5 and nets you 10 extra days paid in-game. I understood their reasoning on this, mainly because they need to rent a server farm to let the thousands of people download early on the 13/14th. So paying $5 upfront wasn't a big deal to me (and shouldn't be to others) because you're still getting time for the game.
As far as the open beta issue, that's still a bunch of garbage. And yes, I'm concerned that they might wind up going RMT at some point. They don't seem to have any issues changing the rules halfway through.
Good! I am glad you have to shell out $15 for a FP membership. I did it for the Battlefield Bad Company Beta and so I don't have to do it again. I'll be good for Betas for a year. This weeds out the 10 year olds who are already throwing fits about a monthly subscription to play the game. If beta isn't worth $15 wait for the damn game to come out.
Since they decided to severly limit open beta, and on top of that make it where you need a paid sub for fileplanet spells bad business practice. Umm Vanguard sucked Rhino testes but I recall them having a open and free beta (limited to I think 50,000 keys but more were given out over time) through fileplanet thought you did not have to be a paid member of fileplanet and the game sucked ass. I don't get how Funcom has such a next gen and terrific product yet they are severly limiting who can try it out. To me it spells out "This game blows chunks". I kind of figured with all of the hype, too much hype leads to bad products.
Fileplanet requires a credit card to pay, thus you must either be 18+ or sucker your parent into forking over their credit card.
It's just a way to make sure that the people who are in the open beta are either 18 or have their parent's permission to use the credit card.
If you want a cheaper way to try out the game, put $5 down on a pre-order, get the code for early access, and you'll have 10 days for $5 and won't be limited to how high you can level.
Yes it's annoying, especially since it's an "open beta." But they need to cover their asses so that parents can't win a lawsuit against FC if their 13 year old child manages to get a key (this way, if the kid does get a key, it's the parent's fault for letting them use the credit card).
having to have a paid account on FP has nothing to do with funcom looking for age verification, they couldn't care less if you are 40 or 10. It's all a scam to get money, nothing else.
The vast majority of people moaning about not having a free open beta don't even wanna 'test' anything, they just want a free trial given to them for nothing. Lets be clear, this is not an automatic right as many seem to believe.
There is no, I repeat no, entitlement to trying a pre release trial before buying a game, especially if the dev is sure they have a quality product on their hand. If the game is strong, the pre orders going well, and the media onside, they simply don't need to give anything away. If you do not want to pay to get a little look, then by all means wait until it has been released, read some reviews, talk to your friends, and then buy the frikin game if you still want to.
In other words, do what 90% of other gamers do when they buy a new game.
Nothing is forcing you you sub to FP to play this game, and clearly nothing demands you do so to enjoy the game to it's fullest. Why shouldnt Funcom make a return on the millions, time, and care they have invested in their product?
If you don't want to participate, then just don't.
This whole mentality that you moaners are somehow genetically ordained to get something for nothing is beyond me.
AoC is 18+. Fileplanet requires a credit card to pay, thus you must either be 18+ or sucker your parent into forking over their credit card. It's just a way to make sure that the people who are in the open beta are either 18 or have their parent's permission to use the credit card. If you want a cheaper way to try out the game, put $5 down on a pre-order, get the code for early access, and you'll have 10 days for $5 and won't be limited to how high you can level. Yes it's annoying, especially since it's an "open beta." But they need to cover their asses so that parents can't win a lawsuit against FC if their 13 year old child manages to get a key (this way, if the kid does get a key, it's the parent's fault for letting them use the credit card).
Really? Explain Gamespot. 15k keys. I'm under 18, I got one. They're not going to get sued for a crappy reason like this. It's called marketing, and it is clear that is the only purpose of this.
__________________________________________________ In memory of Laura "Taera" Genender. Passed away on Aug/13/08 - Rest In Peace; you will not be forgotten
Really? Explain Gamespot. 15k keys. I'm under 18, I got one. They're not going to get sued for a crappy reason like this. It's called marketing, and it is clear that is the only purpose of this.
Wha? Gamespot is not FilePlanet. Gamespot isn't the one giving out 15K key. And yes they can get sued if they don't have something in place that prevents children from playing/testing a game that's rated M. Maybe you should stop playing games if you're so lost in fantasy that you can't tell it from reality.
Really? Explain Gamespot. 15k keys. I'm under 18, I got one. They're not going to get sued for a crappy reason like this. It's called marketing, and it is clear that is the only purpose of this.
Wha? Gamespot is not FilePlanet. Gamespot isn't the one giving out 15K key. And yes they can get sued if they don't have something in place that prevents children from playing/testing a game that's rated M. Maybe you should stop playing games if you're so lost in fantasy that you can't tell it from reality.
Wha? You missed my point. If Gamespot is giving out 15k keys for people to try out the game (without being subscribed to Gamespot), than why can't Fileplanet do the same. Also, what makes you possibly think that just because you pay means you are above the age of 18? PLEASE, they clearly have members under the age of 18, and they probably know it to. It's called marketing, ever heard of it? Probably not, mabye you have to crawl out from under the rock you live underr.
__________________________________________________ In memory of Laura "Taera" Genender. Passed away on Aug/13/08 - Rest In Peace; you will not be forgotten
Bad decision FC Elitist way to piss the fan base. "Yes there is open beta , but you have to pay for it"
Well , how about this. I will not pay for open beta. And i will not buy your game until you give me a way to try it - without paying for it.
A free demo is good but not an entitlement, there is always game reviews - though often not impartial enough.
I suppose if you wait six months or more you may get a free demo for ten days or so.
To be honest the downloads for AoC have taken so long with hindsight i would of just waited for the game to come out and risked it - this is one game I do not think will disappoint.
Wha? You missed my point. If Gamespot is giving out 15k keys for people to try out the game (without being subscribed to Gamespot), than why can't Fileplanet do the same. Also, what makes you possibly think that just because you pay means you are above the age of 18? PLEASE, they clearly have members under the age of 18, and they probably know it to. It's called marketing, ever heard of it? Probably not, mabye you have to crawl out from under the rock you live underr.
Kiddo, no where in the announcement does it say that any of those 50K keys are going to gamespot. It says they're involved somehow, but there is no mention of signing up for the beta on any other site aside from FilePlanet. Next time, try reading the actual article. Oh, and try to learn how to type and spell.
I was a member of the technical beta last week (April 13th) and already have the client and can get updates even though I am unable to loggin, as I was only allowed to test for a few hours that day. So what about my case? I already have the client and it presumably will be the final client. So do I need to pay for the client that I have already gotten for free? I think not. Yes, for me to play in the open beta I have to pay to download a client I already have. It is not about the download, but about putting more value into the kinds of people that come into the open beta. People who come into the open beta having paid something will be a different kinds of player than someone who just pops in. By the way, the client is fairly large so there is obvious concern about downloading it.
Wha? You missed my point. If Gamespot is giving out 15k keys for people to try out the game (without being subscribed to Gamespot), than why can't Fileplanet do the same. Also, what makes you possibly think that just because you pay means you are above the age of 18? PLEASE, they clearly have members under the age of 18, and they probably know it to. It's called marketing, ever heard of it? Probably not, mabye you have to crawl out from under the rock you live underr.
Kiddo, no where in the announcement does it say that any of those 50K keys are going to gamespot. It says they're involved somehow, but there is no mention of signing up for the beta on any other site aside from FilePlanet. Next time, try reading the actual article. Oh, and try to learn how to type and spell.
...Let me say this slowly.............
If Gamespot gave out 15k keys to people who were not paying members, than why can't Fileplant do the same?
I even highlighted it in red up there to show that I have already said this. Nowehere in my post did I say Gamespot was giving out the 50k keys.
There ya go kiddo
__________________________________________________ In memory of Laura "Taera" Genender. Passed away on Aug/13/08 - Rest In Peace; you will not be forgotten
Most posters seem to be missing that there are three other sites besides Fileplanet where you can register for a key. It seems they would rather gripe about Fp than check that out.
Most posters seem to be missing that there are three other sites besides Fileplanet where you can register for a key. It seems they would rather gripe about Fp than check that out.
The download is at Fileplanet though.
__________________________________________________ In memory of Laura "Taera" Genender. Passed away on Aug/13/08 - Rest In Peace; you will not be forgotten
Comments
What you need to realize is that this "bandwidth and server costs" is just maketing spin.
Other games with millions of players (wow, perfect world,... - that's way more than 50k isn't it ?) are letting you download their clients, even game patches, with bittorent. This is peer to peer download if you don't know what it is. Direct download is years old technelogy, today we are in 2008.
I have no problem with paying if things are clear straight up front. What I don't like is being scammed with makteting spin.
To me this sounds much more like "we are not sure about our game, let's cash in on the hype for as long as it lasts...".
One thing is defenitely clear for me after this, I am not pre-ordering. I'll rather wait for the reviews or even better, a game trial.
I made Fileplanet sub only for the AOC beta. I pay 15 $ everymonth for my EQ2 sub, I can afford a little more this month, is not a big problem for me. I feel sorry for the people that actually can't afford it and they may want to do it. I want a taste before taking a decission and Ill have it this way. Im not sure how good the game will be so I prefer paying 9 $ for a taste if I dont like it than 50 $ for a game I may not like.
I may be paying for a beta, but in my side, Im paying for a taste.
I repeat, it doesn't cost to be a member of Fileplanet, only if you want to sign up for the subscription. I do see you have to subscribe to download Conan open beta, and I agree that should be free, but for a fast download it may be worth the cost to be able to try out the game to see if you would like it. There are three other sites to download from to check to see if they charge.
And, you won't get the full download because you can't get past level 13, meaning a small island.
Typical , doing so called pseudo open betas through fp.Its just a proof to what Ive been hearing from friends testing the game that its crap.Im definitely not going to buy another mmorpg in dark this time as well
I really can't blame people anymore for not wanting to buy a game until they see how well it does after release. I've been sorry a few times myself. I like to be a beta tester, it decides for me. I was in Tabula Rasa beta and decided not to buy the game when the devs took all the fun out of it. I and other testers all told them they were wrong, but since when do devs listen. Anyway, I will be preordering Conan.
/bleh
As much as I hate to have to pay to play open beta , 8 bucks isnt much. It outweighs my alternatives at this point. For the love of god (crom) , I could not win any damn contest
.
As far as the open beta issue, that's still a bunch of garbage. And yes, I'm concerned that they might wind up going RMT at some point. They don't seem to have any issues changing the rules halfway through.
Good! I am glad you have to shell out $15 for a FP membership. I did it for the Battlefield Bad Company Beta and so I don't have to do it again. I'll be good for Betas for a year. This weeds out the 10 year olds who are already throwing fits about a monthly subscription to play the game. If beta isn't worth $15 wait for the damn game to come out.
I'm not dishing out cash for nothing until I play the trial. I'm not making the same stupid mistake I did with Vanguard and its hype.
Since they decided to severly limit open beta, and on top of that make it where you need a paid sub for fileplanet spells bad business practice. Umm Vanguard sucked Rhino testes but I recall them having a open and free beta (limited to I think 50,000 keys but more were given out over time) through fileplanet thought you did not have to be a paid member of fileplanet and the game sucked ass. I don't get how Funcom has such a next gen and terrific product yet they are severly limiting who can try it out. To me it spells out "This game blows chunks". I kind of figured with all of the hype, too much hype leads to bad products.
AoC is 18+.
Fileplanet requires a credit card to pay, thus you must either be 18+ or sucker your parent into forking over their credit card.
It's just a way to make sure that the people who are in the open beta are either 18 or have their parent's permission to use the credit card.
If you want a cheaper way to try out the game, put $5 down on a pre-order, get the code for early access, and you'll have 10 days for $5 and won't be limited to how high you can level.
Yes it's annoying, especially since it's an "open beta." But they need to cover their asses so that parents can't win a lawsuit against FC if their 13 year old child manages to get a key (this way, if the kid does get a key, it's the parent's fault for letting them use the credit card).
having to have a paid account on FP has nothing to do with funcom looking for age verification, they couldn't care less if you are 40 or 10. It's all a scam to get money, nothing else.
Its a scam to help another site make money of which funcom probably get a cut of the take for supplying more fileplanet customers.
I am so bored of free loading whingers.
The vast majority of people moaning about not having a free open beta don't even wanna 'test' anything, they just want a free trial given to them for nothing. Lets be clear, this is not an automatic right as many seem to believe.
There is no, I repeat no, entitlement to trying a pre release trial before buying a game, especially if the dev is sure they have a quality product on their hand. If the game is strong, the pre orders going well, and the media onside, they simply don't need to give anything away. If you do not want to pay to get a little look, then by all means wait until it has been released, read some reviews, talk to your friends, and then buy the frikin game if you still want to.
In other words, do what 90% of other gamers do when they buy a new game.
Nothing is forcing you you sub to FP to play this game, and clearly nothing demands you do so to enjoy the game to it's fullest. Why shouldnt Funcom make a return on the millions, time, and care they have invested in their product?
If you don't want to participate, then just don't.
This whole mentality that you moaners are somehow genetically ordained to get something for nothing is beyond me.
__________________________________________________
In memory of Laura "Taera" Genender. Passed away on Aug/13/08 - Rest In Peace; you will not be forgotten
Sigh... i hate you fileplanet... i hate you so much.
Wha? You missed my point. If Gamespot is giving out 15k keys for people to try out the game (without being subscribed to Gamespot), than why can't Fileplanet do the same. Also, what makes you possibly think that just because you pay means you are above the age of 18? PLEASE, they clearly have members under the age of 18, and they probably know it to. It's called marketing, ever heard of it? Probably not, mabye you have to crawl out from under the rock you live underr.
__________________________________________________
In memory of Laura "Taera" Genender. Passed away on Aug/13/08 - Rest In Peace; you will not be forgotten
I suppose if you wait six months or more you may get a free demo for ten days or so.
To be honest the downloads for AoC have taken so long with hindsight i would of just waited for the game to come out and risked it - this is one game I do not think will disappoint.
Regards
Chrimwinster
Kiddo, no where in the announcement does it say that any of those 50K keys are going to gamespot. It says they're involved somehow, but there is no mention of signing up for the beta on any other site aside from FilePlanet. Next time, try reading the actual article. Oh, and try to learn how to type and spell.
I was a member of the technical beta last week (April 13th) and already have the client and can get updates even though I am unable to loggin, as I was only allowed to test for a few hours that day. So what about my case? I already have the client and it presumably will be the final client. So do I need to pay for the client that I have already gotten for free? I think not. Yes, for me to play in the open beta I have to pay to download a client I already have. It is not about the download, but about putting more value into the kinds of people that come into the open beta. People who come into the open beta having paid something will be a different kinds of player than someone who just pops in. By the way, the client is fairly large so there is obvious concern about downloading it.
Kiddo, no where in the announcement does it say that any of those 50K keys are going to gamespot. It says they're involved somehow, but there is no mention of signing up for the beta on any other site aside from FilePlanet. Next time, try reading the actual article. Oh, and try to learn how to type and spell.
...Let me say this slowly.............
If Gamespot gave out 15k keys to people who were not paying members, than why can't Fileplant do the same?
I even highlighted it in red up there to show that I have already said this. Nowehere in my post did I say Gamespot was giving out the 50k keys.
There ya go kiddo
__________________________________________________
In memory of Laura "Taera" Genender. Passed away on Aug/13/08 - Rest In Peace; you will not be forgotten
Most posters seem to be missing that there are three other sites besides Fileplanet where you can register for a key. It seems they would rather gripe about Fp than check that out.
The download is at Fileplanet though.
__________________________________________________
In memory of Laura "Taera" Genender. Passed away on Aug/13/08 - Rest In Peace; you will not be forgotten
I heard 1-20 is a polished game.. but over that it's awful. I can see why there is a level cap of 13!