. I think its funny that some of you think that they aren't getting money out of this deal. You are stupid. I really hate to say that, being positive most of the time, but you are. They ARE making money off this... not directly, but its being given to them by fileplanet due to some pre arranged agreement.
Ok, now if you could so kind as to tell me the winner of next wednesdays 17:05 at Ascot I would be greatful
Why exactly would Fileplanet pay Funcom money and not the other way round? Funcom went to Fileplanet requesting a service, service being the distribution of massive load of data for the open beta test. If Funcom went to anybody else, they would be expected to give money to the data distributor, not the other way round. If Fileplanet feels that they are mitigating some costs by the advertisement and possible temporary increase to subscription numbers, then they would probably cut down on whatever they requested Funcom to pay them.
If anything, a good deal from Funcom's side would mean paying nothing for the distribution and handling of the massive amount of data. In any other case, they would have to pay somebody (either outsiders or their own employs & equipment) to achieve the same result.
People actually believing that Fileplanet is paying Funcom sounds a bit far fetched.
I don't pay to play a beta. I don't care who gets the money. I only pay for a finished product.
But waiting another month isn't going to kill anyone so complaining about not getting to play the game early isn't justified.
What is justified is the worry that other developers (not Funcom) could look at this and figure that there are people out there still willing to pay to play a beta. They might think that rather than letting Fileplanet get the money, they can get it instead. The outcry from this will make those future developers think twice about it.
I agree that Funcom should have called this something like the 'Fileplanet Member Only Special Trial' or something. With the limited content, it really sounds more like a marketing thing than part of their actual development cycle and that's fine, they just needed to be more clear about it.
Did anyone notice the FC rep worrying about 'customer service' if they used a torrent? In a beta you don't have customers, you have TESTERS. Customers have a right to complain about bugs, but if testers are not ready for bugs, lag and all the rest then they shouldn't be signing up for a beta-test, even at this late date.
That's just another sign that this is really a marketing gimmick. There's nothing wrong with that and most people expect it from companies but Funcom should have been clear this was really a free trial for Fileplanet Members.
Am I the only one that thought that was nothing but pure SPIN throughout that interview?
The fact remains that you must pay someone to do someone else's work for them, that makes no sense at all to me as a beta tester. AoC has lost my business because of this, and I would go to say I'm certainly not the only one that feels this way. In fact I would go as far to say their player base has been cut in half because of this move...only one little word would have made a big difference.
Am I the only one that thought that was nothing but pure SPIN throughout that interview? The fact remains that you must pay someone to do someone else's work for them, that makes no sense at all to me as a beta tester. AoC has lost my business because of this, and I would go to say I'm certainly not the only one that feels this way. In fact I would go as far to say their player base has been cut in half because of this move...only one little word would have made a big difference.
-Ethnine--Phorsoth-
LOL yeah right ! You made me laugh good there, half player base wont play because it's a pain to get int the beta.....
To answer the original question, would have been simplier to just send key via email to those who register themself for the beta. I don't remember how long ago i registred for the beta, never ever got any invite from Funcom, only the newsletters from time to time.
A bunch of lame excuses from Funcom. Paying to beta test is retarded. I call shenanigans.
It is true that you are indirectly paying to beta test, but you aren't paying Funcom. You are paying Fileplanet for membership, which you could use for other downloads.
In other words:
Funcom is not getting your money. They deferred the capital costs to Fileplanet; in exchange, presumably Fileplanet gets more members. Funcom does not profit from beta testers in this arrangement.
It still may suck that we have to pay money to get a chance at OB but Funcom isn't charging us that fee.
I think they would have been far better off putting a couple double-sided dvds in a sleeve and sell them in stores for $5. I didn't mind paying $5 to try out LotR and if you buy the game you get your money back...
You can only get up to level 13 what do they expect you to accomplish? All they will do is continue to work on the game and milk the fanbois with the Fileplanet subscription.
OK a few things in that interview/press statement really bother me. And no I'm not a basement dwelling fast food employee, nor do I have unreasonable expectations of wanting a free beta, etc etc. But I do have a good deal of experience in the business world, enough to note a few statements that really really raise red flags for me.
[quote]“running the Age of Conan beta is and will remain an expense, as it should be for us as developers. The focus for us when running a beta is to get invaluable feedback from as many testers as needed, helping us to get ready for launch, not to make money on it”. [/q]
Make money on? Sorry but in one breath he states that they expect the beta test to be an expense. But they mechanism they choose to use is pushing a huge amount of that expense off on the beta testers themselves, not on the producer.
they went with Fileplanet, not because they would make money on the deal, but rather because it would minimize Funcoms costs for managing the Beta test. Fileplanet assumes all of the infrastructure, networking, distribution and marketing costs for the Beta. Instead of billing the producer, they cost is instead passed to the testers via making it exclusive to Fileplanets premium service. In turn Fileplanet sees a surge in paid annual subscriptions (full year payable at subscription) without having to guarantee that the payee will even get one of the 50k Beta keys in play.
Sorry on any level it just seems smarmy, and bad business practice.
This one also bothers me'
[quote] In terms of the decision to go with Fileplanet as the distributor of the beta keys rather than either going through a free access website or distributing it themselves, Tharaldsen told us that while they very much wanted to offer an open beta, it was crucial for Funcom to be able to “focus on the game, the closed beta and the launch, and not on the infrastructure related to the Fileplanet Open beta.” He went on to tell us that download speed was a consideration in the decision. After all, the client itself is a hefty 13Gb in size.[/quote]
Ummm? Sorry but as others have pointed out. If you can't handle 50k users downloading the complete client at this stage of the game, you are NOT ready for prime time. Funcom already has a huge problem in this area. While AO eventually evolved into a deep stable and compelling game. It was nearly killed at release because of massive infrastructure issues. The Beta is to test the network capabilities, infrastructure, and to season the networking staff, as it is to test the internal game elements. Failure to properly test the infrastructure means a repeat of AO. the earlier stress test did not inspire confidence in the companies readiness to handle the load. Outsourcing the beta Client distribution and management does not improve this.
[quote] Speaking of content, I asked Tharaldsen to address the growing concern that only allowing Fileplanet beta players to progress to level 13 indicates a lack of faith or more serious problems in the game beyond that point and that the company is trying to hide it until launch.
“We have nothing to hide,” he answered, “in fact, I have heard from so many testers that the game gets even better as you move beyond Tortage.”
While Tharaldsen tells us that the reason for the level 13 cap has nothing to do with the quality of the game beyond that point, the decision was indeed carefully planned beforehand. He told us though that it was a question of story rather than a question of quality that prompted the cap.
“We have made an MMO with a very different production approach than most of our competitors, including putting more money and time into story than you have seen before. Stories are about emotions and experiences, and we want as many as possible to have a great emotional journey when we launch.”
“We have therefore found a point in the game which will allow you to get a deep taste of the game, allow you to: play solo, group and multiplayer, test all of our classes, all the interface, emotes and other aspects of the game. It doesn’t take you days to get to this point, true. It was never intended to, but it will give you a fantastic overview of what to expect (perhaps even with a couple of surprises, we shall see;). At the same time, we get to stress test what we need to stress test, giving us both automated and personal feedback, and enough time to fix any stress issues popping up. The testing of content for higher levels is happening on different servers, also with tens of thousands of people involved, and this will go on until launch.”
[/quote]
now this one may be legit... you never know. But it can just as easily be a load of unadultered bullcrap.
Sorry but those who fail to remember history are doomed to repeat it. For those that remember the abomination that was Asherons Call 2, you might remember that the initial level 1-20 Human lands were in fact a well developed and fleshed out area, and did seem to indicate a fun game. It wasn't until you hit the later areas that the stench of doom began to sink in, and the total unreadiness of the product became apparent. Almost all MMORPG's launch with reasonably well fleshed out starter areas and lower levels. but these arent stand alone games that you expect to be playing for a month or two. the typical player will be spending the vast majority of their time beyond that level 13, and if they can get their easily in Beta, they will be beyond it inside of a month in retail release. So 99% of the content that the players will actually be playing at launch will be completely untested under load. (Hmmm sounds more and more like AC2)
I am not saying that AoC will be a bad game. It may be fantastic. All I say is that recent interview, based on some of their actions regarding the Open Beta have raised some red flags in my mind (and hopefully others as well). Personally I will wait and let others do the Beta testing, probably through a few weeks of release, before I even consider laying out money on this one.
Luckily I will be travelling for business during the month of June and will let others finish the beta test for me as well. I have to admit, though, I wish I could pay $6 to each of the 'stop whining' geniuses on MMORPG.com to get them to just shut up. It was never about the money, it was about the way they treated their potential customers. Why is that such a nebulous concept to grasp?
A bunch of lame excuses from Funcom. Paying to beta test is retarded. I call shenanigans.
It is true that you are indirectly paying to beta test, but you aren't paying Funcom. You are paying Fileplanet for membership, which you could use for other downloads.
In other words:
Funcom is not getting your money. They deferred the capital costs to Fileplanet; in exchange, presumably Fileplanet gets more members. Funcom does not profit from beta testers in this arrangement.
It still may suck that we have to pay money to get a chance at OB but Funcom isn't charging us that fee.
It doesn't matter who I'm paying. I am paying someone to beta test a game.
__________________________________________________ In memory of Laura "Taera" Genender. Passed away on Aug/13/08 - Rest In Peace; you will not be forgotten
I feel for the guy, his team is busting there humps and the lard ass idiots that live in their Mom's basement and could not get a job beyond Pizza Hut actually are given the credibility to question them. That's why I would never dream of game design as a career. Enterprise software designers work less hours make more money, and when they are called into question, it is from a professional...not some mouth breathing fry cook with no life. Said it many times. Love games hate most gamers.
And idiotic "fanboism" is the primary reason MMO companies conduct themselves the way they do. That article a testament to the opinion (by the company) that a fanbase is full of amoeba brained morons (and do their best to prove it) who will believe just about anything. Certainly, they’ll jump to the rescue when any doubt is shown by anyone with a thought process. Because their “game gods” and “second coming” of a game can’t do wrong. Such pathetic denial when anything is remotely questioned. Even to come out with the most retarded arguments ever to grace the Internet.
Only ones so distorted in reality, and head so far in an orifice can possibly behave as such. And they are among the top major detractions of any game they so religiously embrace. Just as bad (if not worse) than any “whiner”. The best thing for this industry would be for this remnant to be done away with.
A bunch of lame excuses from Funcom. Paying to beta test is retarded. I call shenanigans.
Paying to beta test?.... Do you even grasp the stupidity that is emulating out of your mouth? lol I call a broke ass mofo right here.
Why should YOU be allowed to play one of the most anticipated MMoRPG's of the year for free. Let alone 2 weeks of play right before launch? Your bitching about 5 bucks when the game will cost you 60 let alone the 15 every month...
Yeah anyone who thinks like Samuraisword makes me question general common sense in people.
Pretty sad to hate on Funcom and Fileplanet with the multitude of entertainment and service they provide. I'll say it twice people are stupid, heaven forbid they might actually THINK!!!!
A bunch of lame excuses from Funcom. Paying to beta test is retarded. I call shenanigans.
Paying to beta test?.... Do you even grasp the stupidity that is emulating out of your mouth? lol I call a broke ass mofo right here.
Why should YOU be allowed to play one of the most anticipated MMoRPG's of the year for free. Let alone 2 weeks of play right before launch? Your bitching about 5 bucks when the game will cost you 60 let alone the 15 every month...
Yeah anyone who thinks like Samuraisword makes me question general common sense in people.
Pretty sad to hate on Funcom and Fileplanet with the multitude of entertainment and service they provide. I'll say it twice people are stupid, heaven forbid they might actually THINK!!!!
The stupidity of your words is known asFanboism.
people pre order a game that they don`t even know in which state it will be released + you are willing to pay 5$ to a third party to beta test till level 13 in a game which has 80 levels.Man you either blind or a .
In the land of Predators,the lion does not fear the jackals...
A bunch of lame excuses from Funcom. Paying to beta test is retarded. I call shenanigans.
It is true that you are indirectly paying to beta test, but you aren't paying Funcom. You are paying Fileplanet for membership, which you could use for other downloads.
In other words:
Funcom is not getting your money. They deferred the capital costs to Fileplanet; in exchange, presumably Fileplanet gets more members. Funcom does not profit from beta testers in this arrangement.
It still may suck that we have to pay money to get a chance at OB but Funcom isn't charging us that fee.
It doesn't matter who I'm paying. I am paying someone to beta test a game.
Which is the issue here. You're paying to do a job that other people are getting paid to do. This isn't a trial of the game, after all. Its a beta test, meaning you are supposed to be finding bugs and helping them finish the game for release. Its a job, albeit a more enjoyable one. That fact does nothing to remove the OTHER fact that people out there are getting paid to do what you are paying to do.
Its no surprise to me there was a backlash. Betas aren't supposed to be about playing the game...when you start thinking about the fact that you are paying THEM to work for THEM, its kinda silly.
AmazingAveryAge of Conan AdvocateMemberUncommonPosts: 7,188
Originally posted by Ngeldu5t
Originally posted by hellmutt
Originally posted by Samuraisword
A bunch of lame excuses from Funcom. Paying to beta test is retarded. I call shenanigans.
Paying to beta test?.... Do you even grasp the stupidity that is emulating out of your mouth? lol I call a broke ass mofo right here.
Why should YOU be allowed to play one of the most anticipated MMoRPG's of the year for free. Let alone 2 weeks of play right before launch? Your bitching about 5 bucks when the game will cost you 60 let alone the 15 every month...
Yeah anyone who thinks like Samuraisword makes me question general common sense in people.
Pretty sad to hate on Funcom and Fileplanet with the multitude of entertainment and service they provide. I'll say it twice people are stupid, heaven forbid they might actually THINK!!!!
The stupidity of your words is known asFanboism.
people pre order a game that they don`t even know in which state it will be released + you are willing to pay 5$ to a third party to beta test till level 13 in a game which has 80 levels.Man you either blind or a .
Its safe to assume quite a few people do have a good idea what the game is like, from the PVP weekend.
But I can see your someone who likes to go out to dinner sample all the food and leave without paying.
Fileplanet sub covers the Starter Course. How many starter courses have you had before at restaurants that you have never had before? Or even the same food just done differently at different restaurants..
If you like a starter you usually eat on, if you have such a terrible experience you leave asap or finish up and never come back.
Not to mention buy the collectors edition (1, five course meal) and you get 5 free buddy keys (5 free starter courses) to give out.
But you know most people these days want everything free and to sample in entirety. Most commonly known as the 'piss and moan club'...
You know what ruined the beta experience? All these crap asian free to play mmo's that advertise all over this site in beta key giveaways. Its impossibly easy for someone to get into one of these beta's, just gives the wrong impression on so many levels to people new to the genre.
Your assumption that people are paying to beta test is flawed in two accounts.
95% of the people (I'm generous) that usually participate in any beta, would never get a professional beta tester job, being totally under-qualified and most often, totally unprofessional. Therefore, the random Joe that claims that he should be paid to beta test, is at least hilarious. On the other hand, I don't agree with a customer forced to pay to beta test. But that is not the case here, noone is forced. This is not the buggy released version that you have to pay in order to play. You can steer away from the whole deal and problem is solved.
But I don't believe that the Fileplanet deal is a real (active) beta.
Funcom is offering a marketing spin. Yes, yes, they call it "open beta" and all. I call it free early preview and I'm closer to the truth. If it was a real beta (as in people expected to report problems as opposed to just monitor activity via debug code), I'm sure they would have probably handled it on their own. As they have already done so far, quite successfully I might add. So, those in a hurry, those that are unsure and curious, those with a Fileplanet membership and those that have $5 to burn, get to try and get a key and preview the game. And that's about it.
It's a good business deal overall. Funcom gets to pay nothing for bandwith and infrastructure distribution, while Fileplanet service gets some advertisement and some temporary subscriptions.
Lets start worrying about what actually matters, and that's the gameplay. Anything before the final release is of little consequence. We get to pay and play the released version, so that's the one that needs to be good, fun and not buggy.
95% of the people (I'm generous) that usually participate in any beta, would never get a professional beta tester job, being totally under-qualified and most often, totally unprofessional. Therefore, the random Joe that claims that he should be paid to beta test, is at least hilarious. On the other hand, I don't agree with a customer forced to pay to beta test. But that is not the case here, noone is forced. This is not the buggy released version that you have to pay in order to play. You can steer away from the whole deal and problem is solved.
Before I begin, I don't really care about this matter. But I'm going to shoot anyway. You DO have to pay, because there is no other option. It IS a beta test, because thats what they are doing. Its not just a trial of the game...and not all betas are full of bugs. The most ideal beta is one where you are using the players to swarm the world en masse, to catch the little things that detract from it...and to bring to light any bugs which appear under server strain. WoW's loot bug had a lot to do with that, as I recall. Regardless, its a testing phase that the consumer must pay for. I don't agree that anyone should get paid to beta games...by the time they reach open beta all the actual WORK work has been done. They shouldn't have to pay though...thats a hair dirty since the players are providing a useful (and free) service to the company. But I don't believe that the Fileplanet deal is a real (active) beta. Funcom is offering a marketing spin. Yes, yes, they call it "open beta" and all. I call it free early preview and I'm closer to the truth. If it was a real beta (as in people expected to report problems as opposed to just monitor activity via debug code), I'm sure they would have probably handled it on their own. As they have already done so far, quite successfully I might add. So, those in a hurry, those that are unsure and curious, those with a Fileplanet membership and those that have $5 to burn, get to try and get a key and preview the game. And that's about it.
It's a good business deal overall. Funcom gets to pay nothing for bandwith and infrastructure distribution, while Fileplanet service gets some advertisement and some temporary subscriptions. They already have the bandwidth. Its an MMO company, you don't purchase the internet connections you need a week before release. You have them set up and ready WELL in advance to ensure things are running properly for the massive load at launch. As many have said, even a torrent would help for distribution (and torrents work well enough for WoW...which is approaching the filesize presented here) and do a great deal for offsetting the load. The fact is, the load isn't really the issue anyway. Neither is distribution. Smaller companies have managed this, I see no reason they could not as well. Its spin, plain and simple. While I don't personally care about it, I also see no reason to cloud the matter. Lets start worrying about what actually matters, and that's the gameplay. Anything before the final release is of little consequence. We get to pay and play the released version, so that's the one that needs to be good, fun and not buggy. Moment of truth, I care more about gameplay myself. But I'm also forced to accept that a company's business choices tend to be repeated. This is already one choice which does not favor the player...and instead favors the company. Its on a matter that is very small. I would rather not think of what could entail should such direction be shown to a matter which is NOT small. Again, this isn't a trial, its a beta. The players are doing the company a free service. Even if it WAS a trial, its not much of one if they are charging in any form. The fact is that it isn't one though, and that its just plain disrespectful of the free help they are getting to place the potential 'helpers' in a position where they must pay for the honor.
And all of this text from me, mostly, just to say that I understand why people are mad. I don't care, but I understand. I agree with why they are mad, and think they have every right to be. I don't pay to work, even if the work is enjoyable and easy. If anything, I expect to get paid for my time. In MMO betas, that payment comes in the form of free time with the game. I'm one of the ones who goes to MANY betas, and posts anything I find in order to help them improve the game. I actively make sure I look for things, and help find the bugs. I sometimes really enjoy my time with the game in doing so, and feel that the free (and early) moments I have in it are payment enough.
You should not be so aggressive against those that are upset about it. Their position is fair, and it doesn't matter how many companies are choosing this route. I've seen many around here suggest that the paid beta helps keep the "free trial" players out. I think that this is wrong, and that it also keeps out the MOST serious beta testers...as they are not going to want to pay someone to do the work those guys really do. Some of the most serious testers out there really go out of their way to document things they find and make suggestions. If anything, this whole "paid beta" thing is encouraging the trial players by creating a situation where the beta really IS nothing more than a trial.
Because who really wants to pay good money to wade through bug soaked crap? AoC's beta may not be that way...but that certainly isn't what most of us assume the average beta is. We all assume that a beta NEEDS players all over the place to find things because the starting team wasn't large enough to cover all the ground or strain the code enough. With that in mind, the most serious testers are gonna stay away in order to avoid paying to work.
Why exactly would Fileplanet pay Funcom money and not the other way round? Funcom went to Fileplanet requesting a service, service being the distribution of massive load of data for the open beta test. If Funcom went to anybody else, they would be expected to give money to the data distributor, not the other way round. If Fileplanet feels that they are mitigating some costs by the advertisement and possible temporary increase to subscription numbers, then they would probably cut down on whatever they requested Funcom to pay them. If anything, a good deal from Funcom's side would mean paying nothing for the distribution and handling of the massive amount of data. In any other case, they would have to pay somebody (either outsiders or their own employs & equipment) to achieve the same result. People actually believing that Fileplanet is paying Funcom sounds a bit far fetched.
Hi, Welcome to the world of the internet.
This is how the internet works : Company / Site A, using an incentive or advert gets one of their viewers to buy a product from Website / Company B. In return, Website B pays Website A a percentage of this sale.
Anyone can do this. For the "general public" (i.e not a large company or site) it is known as an "Affiliate Scheme" and Fileplanet (to use this example) pay up to $9 per new subscriber to the site that send them over.
Now, lets consider the size of Age of Conan and the amount of interest in the "Open Beta" and also how quickly the keys were snapped up. Imagine for a moment that at a conservative estimate 20,000 people bought a $5 membership for Fileplanet to get into the beta. A standard "Affiliate Scheme" payback for this would be $1 per new $5 membership paid to Funcom. So, Funcom would then have just earnt $20,000.
Now, expand that a little bit to higher signups, remembering that they (Funcom) are anticipating close to 600,000 people buying the game at launch. Remember, they may only have 50,000 keys, but 10 times that number may sign up for the chance to get them.
However, Funcom being a very popular company, the chances are they would have a prior deal in place. For example, "We estimate we will bring you at least 30,000 new signups, and have your Fileplanet advert seen by another million as the news of the beta leaks throughout the internet, therefore if you pay us $40,000 for having exclusive access to the beta keys". This would not be a huge leap (and is what most large game companies / websites would do). (Although if I worked for Funcom's PR I would have asked for alot more for this kind of access).
So, to sum up, Yes, Funcom will be doing quite well out of the beta, but... probably not huge amounts in the scheme of things (600,000 box sales... $50 each = alot of money).
Although for Fileplanet, they stand to make quite a lot out of this (alot more than Funcom) - 20,000 signups, $5 per signup = $100,000 of new business.
And this my friend, to answer your question, is why Fileplanet would pay Funcom to host the beta.
"When people don't know much about something, they tend to fill in the blanks the way they want them to be filled in. They are almost always disappointed." - Will Wright
Very true Gishgeron and that what exactly makes me mad.Most of the time the opening areas are polished.What need to be tested is what lies beyond,these areas should be under stress because it`s what gonna happened when we will flood the game.If a game company is not confident enough to let his future player base stress test his content 2 weeks before launch to me it means that the game might be buggy as hell or is missing some content at mid/high levels and they don`t want bad reviews about their game thus hoping to fix things during the next 4 months after launch.I wonder if they would have been acting like that if Warhammer was about to be released a month after AoC.
In the land of Predators,the lion does not fear the jackals...
First one is that a portion of the people that will enter the beta are already Fileplanet members. Thus, Fileplanet gains nothing additional from them. On the other hand, some people have probably singned up for Fileplanet membership with the hope that they might get in the OB, but didn't make it. Those two groups are unknown to us, but can make a difference in the perceived Fileplanet profit.
The second is that you assume that Fileplanet will distribute the retail version (maybe I'm reading what you say incorrectly). This is not going to happen as EIDOS has exclusive publishing rights. What might happen is that Fileplanet may get to distribute future standalone patches, in the same manner LOTRO is doing.
The third is ... well, related to the way they distribute keys. How will Fileplanet distinguish players that joined the service for the beta from players that joined the service for the general merits of it? Fileplanet paying Funcom for the added income from additional subscriptions implies that the distinction is very clear and verifiable by Funcom.
I'm still not convinced that Funcom is getting anything out of this deal in terms of funds.
So according to this logic, LOTRO is a flop because it didn't allow unrestricted access in OB? I would expect grindfests without a story to allow unrestricted access. But lately it seems that the games with a strong backstory seem to want to prevent players from spoiling all the surprises.
This is not the first game that has level restrictions, nor will it be the last. The game might be unpolished after the starting areas, but the level restriction is not a direct indication of such a thing. It just raises concerns.
"So, why not just go with a free Torrent download?
“To that I can only say we were one of the first gaming companies to start Torrent distribution a few years ago with Anarchy Online, and of course we know a lot about Torrents, but setting up this for such an event would have served to make us lose focus right before launch. It would not have helped any of us, and running Torrents are about a lot more than just letting the world do it themselves. It needs a lot of work to get it right, and ensure good speed and a smooth customer experience."
I dont know what they are talking about....The torrents are already set up, if you are in the Real Beta you can DL directly or grab a torrent for the client. I find that whole interview very funny indeed.
Comments
Ok, now if you could so kind as to tell me the winner of next wednesdays 17:05 at Ascot I would be greatful
If not.. shut up.
Why exactly would Fileplanet pay Funcom money and not the other way round? Funcom went to Fileplanet requesting a service, service being the distribution of massive load of data for the open beta test. If Funcom went to anybody else, they would be expected to give money to the data distributor, not the other way round. If Fileplanet feels that they are mitigating some costs by the advertisement and possible temporary increase to subscription numbers, then they would probably cut down on whatever they requested Funcom to pay them.
If anything, a good deal from Funcom's side would mean paying nothing for the distribution and handling of the massive amount of data. In any other case, they would have to pay somebody (either outsiders or their own employs & equipment) to achieve the same result.
People actually believing that Fileplanet is paying Funcom sounds a bit far fetched.
I don't pay to play a beta. I don't care who gets the money. I only pay for a finished product.
But waiting another month isn't going to kill anyone so complaining about not getting to play the game early isn't justified.
What is justified is the worry that other developers (not Funcom) could look at this and figure that there are people out there still willing to pay to play a beta. They might think that rather than letting Fileplanet get the money, they can get it instead. The outcry from this will make those future developers think twice about it.
I agree that Funcom should have called this something like the 'Fileplanet Member Only Special Trial' or something. With the limited content, it really sounds more like a marketing thing than part of their actual development cycle and that's fine, they just needed to be more clear about it.
Did anyone notice the FC rep worrying about 'customer service' if they used a torrent? In a beta you don't have customers, you have TESTERS. Customers have a right to complain about bugs, but if testers are not ready for bugs, lag and all the rest then they shouldn't be signing up for a beta-test, even at this late date.
That's just another sign that this is really a marketing gimmick. There's nothing wrong with that and most people expect it from companies but Funcom should have been clear this was really a free trial for Fileplanet Members.
Am I the only one that thought that was nothing but pure SPIN throughout that interview?
The fact remains that you must pay someone to do someone else's work for them, that makes no sense at all to me as a beta tester. AoC has lost my business because of this, and I would go to say I'm certainly not the only one that feels this way. In fact I would go as far to say their player base has been cut in half because of this move...only one little word would have made a big difference.
-Ethnine--Phorsoth-
hehe
LOL yeah right ! You made me laugh good there, half player base wont play because it's a pain to get int the beta.....
To answer the original question, would have been simplier to just send key via email to those who register themself for the beta. I don't remember how long ago i registred for the beta, never ever got any invite from Funcom, only the newsletters from time to time.
I thought I'd also add that it's not really an "open beta" when the majority of the keys they give out ARE to FP which sucks balls
"Life is not judged by the breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."
In other words:
Funcom is not getting your money. They deferred the capital costs to Fileplanet; in exchange, presumably Fileplanet gets more members. Funcom does not profit from beta testers in this arrangement.
It still may suck that we have to pay money to get a chance at OB but Funcom isn't charging us that fee.
I think they would have been far better off putting a couple double-sided dvds in a sleeve and sell them in stores for $5. I didn't mind paying $5 to try out LotR and if you buy the game you get your money back...
You can only get up to level 13 what do they expect you to accomplish? All they will do is continue to work on the game and milk the fanbois with the Fileplanet subscription.
OK a few things in that interview/press statement really bother me. And no I'm not a basement dwelling fast food employee, nor do I have unreasonable expectations of wanting a free beta, etc etc. But I do have a good deal of experience in the business world, enough to note a few statements that really really raise red flags for me.
[quote]“running the Age of Conan beta is and will remain an expense, as it should be for us as developers. The focus for us when running a beta is to get invaluable feedback from as many testers as needed, helping us to get ready for launch, not to make money on it”. [/q]
Make money on? Sorry but in one breath he states that they expect the beta test to be an expense. But they mechanism they choose to use is pushing a huge amount of that expense off on the beta testers themselves, not on the producer.
they went with Fileplanet, not because they would make money on the deal, but rather because it would minimize Funcoms costs for managing the Beta test. Fileplanet assumes all of the infrastructure, networking, distribution and marketing costs for the Beta. Instead of billing the producer, they cost is instead passed to the testers via making it exclusive to Fileplanets premium service. In turn Fileplanet sees a surge in paid annual subscriptions (full year payable at subscription) without having to guarantee that the payee will even get one of the 50k Beta keys in play.
Sorry on any level it just seems smarmy, and bad business practice.
This one also bothers me'
[quote] In terms of the decision to go with Fileplanet as the distributor of the beta keys rather than either going through a free access website or distributing it themselves, Tharaldsen told us that while they very much wanted to offer an open beta, it was crucial for Funcom to be able to “focus on the game, the closed beta and the launch, and not on the infrastructure related to the Fileplanet Open beta.” He went on to tell us that download speed was a consideration in the decision. After all, the client itself is a hefty 13Gb in size.[/quote]
Ummm? Sorry but as others have pointed out. If you can't handle 50k users downloading the complete client at this stage of the game, you are NOT ready for prime time. Funcom already has a huge problem in this area. While AO eventually evolved into a deep stable and compelling game. It was nearly killed at release because of massive infrastructure issues. The Beta is to test the network capabilities, infrastructure, and to season the networking staff, as it is to test the internal game elements. Failure to properly test the infrastructure means a repeat of AO. the earlier stress test did not inspire confidence in the companies readiness to handle the load. Outsourcing the beta Client distribution and management does not improve this.
[quote] Speaking of content, I asked Tharaldsen to address the growing concern that only allowing Fileplanet beta players to progress to level 13 indicates a lack of faith or more serious problems in the game beyond that point and that the company is trying to hide it until launch.
“We have nothing to hide,” he answered, “in fact, I have heard from so many testers that the game gets even better as you move beyond Tortage.”
While Tharaldsen tells us that the reason for the level 13 cap has nothing to do with the quality of the game beyond that point, the decision was indeed carefully planned beforehand. He told us though that it was a question of story rather than a question of quality that prompted the cap.
“We have made an MMO with a very different production approach than most of our competitors, including putting more money and time into story than you have seen before. Stories are about emotions and experiences, and we want as many as possible to have a great emotional journey when we launch.”
“We have therefore found a point in the game which will allow you to get a deep taste of the game, allow you to: play solo, group and multiplayer, test all of our classes, all the interface, emotes and other aspects of the game. It doesn’t take you days to get to this point, true. It was never intended to, but it will give you a fantastic overview of what to expect (perhaps even with a couple of surprises, we shall see;). At the same time, we get to stress test what we need to stress test, giving us both automated and personal feedback, and enough time to fix any stress issues popping up. The testing of content for higher levels is happening on different servers, also with tens of thousands of people involved, and this will go on until launch.”
[/quote]
now this one may be legit... you never know. But it can just as easily be a load of unadultered bullcrap.
Sorry but those who fail to remember history are doomed to repeat it. For those that remember the abomination that was Asherons Call 2, you might remember that the initial level 1-20 Human lands were in fact a well developed and fleshed out area, and did seem to indicate a fun game. It wasn't until you hit the later areas that the stench of doom began to sink in, and the total unreadiness of the product became apparent. Almost all MMORPG's launch with reasonably well fleshed out starter areas and lower levels. but these arent stand alone games that you expect to be playing for a month or two. the typical player will be spending the vast majority of their time beyond that level 13, and if they can get their easily in Beta, they will be beyond it inside of a month in retail release. So 99% of the content that the players will actually be playing at launch will be completely untested under load. (Hmmm sounds more and more like AC2)
I am not saying that AoC will be a bad game. It may be fantastic. All I say is that recent interview, based on some of their actions regarding the Open Beta have raised some red flags in my mind (and hopefully others as well). Personally I will wait and let others do the Beta testing, probably through a few weeks of release, before I even consider laying out money on this one.
Luckily I will be travelling for business during the month of June and will let others finish the beta test for me as well. I have to admit, though, I wish I could pay $6 to each of the 'stop whining' geniuses on MMORPG.com to get them to just shut up. It was never about the money, it was about the way they treated their potential customers. Why is that such a nebulous concept to grasp?
In other words:
Funcom is not getting your money. They deferred the capital costs to Fileplanet; in exchange, presumably Fileplanet gets more members. Funcom does not profit from beta testers in this arrangement.
It still may suck that we have to pay money to get a chance at OB but Funcom isn't charging us that fee.
It doesn't matter who I'm paying. I am paying someone to beta test a game.
__________________________________________________
In memory of Laura "Taera" Genender. Passed away on Aug/13/08 - Rest In Peace; you will not be forgotten
And idiotic "fanboism" is the primary reason MMO companies conduct themselves the way they do. That article a testament to the opinion (by the company) that a fanbase is full of amoeba brained morons (and do their best to prove it) who will believe just about anything. Certainly, they’ll jump to the rescue when any doubt is shown by anyone with a thought process. Because their “game gods” and “second coming” of a game can’t do wrong. Such pathetic denial when anything is remotely questioned. Even to come out with the most retarded arguments ever to grace the Internet.
Only ones so distorted in reality, and head so far in an orifice can possibly behave as such. And they are among the top major detractions of any game they so religiously embrace. Just as bad (if not worse) than any “whiner”. The best thing for this industry would be for this remnant to be done away with.
Paying to beta test?.... Do you even grasp the stupidity that is emulating out of your mouth? lol I call a broke ass mofo right here.
Why should YOU be allowed to play one of the most anticipated MMoRPG's of the year for free. Let alone 2 weeks of play right before launch? Your bitching about 5 bucks when the game will cost you 60 let alone the 15 every month...
Yeah anyone who thinks like Samuraisword makes me question general common sense in people.
Pretty sad to hate on Funcom and Fileplanet with the multitude of entertainment and service they provide. I'll say it twice people are stupid, heaven forbid they might actually THINK!!!!
Paying to beta test?.... Do you even grasp the stupidity that is emulating out of your mouth? lol I call a broke ass mofo right here.
Why should YOU be allowed to play one of the most anticipated MMoRPG's of the year for free. Let alone 2 weeks of play right before launch? Your bitching about 5 bucks when the game will cost you 60 let alone the 15 every month...
Yeah anyone who thinks like Samuraisword makes me question general common sense in people.
Pretty sad to hate on Funcom and Fileplanet with the multitude of entertainment and service they provide. I'll say it twice people are stupid, heaven forbid they might actually THINK!!!!
The stupidity of your words is known as Fanboism.
people pre order a game that they don`t even know in which state it will be released + you are willing to pay 5$ to a third party to beta test till level 13 in a game which has 80 levels.Man you either blind or a
.
In the land of Predators,the lion does not fear the jackals...
In other words:
Funcom is not getting your money. They deferred the capital costs to Fileplanet; in exchange, presumably Fileplanet gets more members. Funcom does not profit from beta testers in this arrangement.
It still may suck that we have to pay money to get a chance at OB but Funcom isn't charging us that fee.
It doesn't matter who I'm paying. I am paying someone to beta test a game.
Which is the issue here. You're paying to do a job that other people are getting paid to do. This isn't a trial of the game, after all. Its a beta test, meaning you are supposed to be finding bugs and helping them finish the game for release. Its a job, albeit a more enjoyable one. That fact does nothing to remove the OTHER fact that people out there are getting paid to do what you are paying to do.
Its no surprise to me there was a backlash. Betas aren't supposed to be about playing the game...when you start thinking about the fact that you are paying THEM to work for THEM, its kinda silly.
Paying to beta test?.... Do you even grasp the stupidity that is emulating out of your mouth? lol I call a broke ass mofo right here.
Why should YOU be allowed to play one of the most anticipated MMoRPG's of the year for free. Let alone 2 weeks of play right before launch? Your bitching about 5 bucks when the game will cost you 60 let alone the 15 every month...
Yeah anyone who thinks like Samuraisword makes me question general common sense in people.
Pretty sad to hate on Funcom and Fileplanet with the multitude of entertainment and service they provide. I'll say it twice people are stupid, heaven forbid they might actually THINK!!!!
The stupidity of your words is known as Fanboism.
people pre order a game that they don`t even know in which state it will be released + you are willing to pay 5$ to a third party to beta test till level 13 in a game which has 80 levels.Man you either blind or a
.
Its safe to assume quite a few people do have a good idea what the game is like, from the PVP weekend.
But I can see your someone who likes to go out to dinner sample all the food and leave without paying.
Fileplanet sub covers the Starter Course. How many starter courses have you had before at restaurants that you have never had before? Or even the same food just done differently at different restaurants..
If you like a starter you usually eat on, if you have such a terrible experience you leave asap or finish up and never come back.
Not to mention buy the collectors edition (1, five course meal) and you get 5 free buddy keys (5 free starter courses) to give out.
But you know most people these days want everything free and to sample in entirety. Most commonly known as the 'piss and moan club'...
You know what ruined the beta experience? All these crap asian free to play mmo's that advertise all over this site in beta key giveaways. Its impossibly easy for someone to get into one of these beta's, just gives the wrong impression on so many levels to people new to the genre.
To Gishgeron:
Your assumption that people are paying to beta test is flawed in two accounts.
95% of the people (I'm generous) that usually participate in any beta, would never get a professional beta tester job, being totally under-qualified and most often, totally unprofessional. Therefore, the random Joe that claims that he should be paid to beta test, is at least hilarious. On the other hand, I don't agree with a customer forced to pay to beta test. But that is not the case here, noone is forced. This is not the buggy released version that you have to pay in order to play. You can steer away from the whole deal and problem is solved.
But I don't believe that the Fileplanet deal is a real (active) beta.
Funcom is offering a marketing spin. Yes, yes, they call it "open beta" and all. I call it free early preview and I'm closer to the truth. If it was a real beta (as in people expected to report problems as opposed to just monitor activity via debug code), I'm sure they would have probably handled it on their own. As they have already done so far, quite successfully I might add. So, those in a hurry, those that are unsure and curious, those with a Fileplanet membership and those that have $5 to burn, get to try and get a key and preview the game. And that's about it.
It's a good business deal overall. Funcom gets to pay nothing for bandwith and infrastructure distribution, while Fileplanet service gets some advertisement and some temporary subscriptions.
Lets start worrying about what actually matters, and that's the gameplay. Anything before the final release is of little consequence. We get to pay and play the released version, so that's the one that needs to be good, fun and not buggy.
And all of this text from me, mostly, just to say that I understand why people are mad. I don't care, but I understand. I agree with why they are mad, and think they have every right to be. I don't pay to work, even if the work is enjoyable and easy. If anything, I expect to get paid for my time. In MMO betas, that payment comes in the form of free time with the game. I'm one of the ones who goes to MANY betas, and posts anything I find in order to help them improve the game. I actively make sure I look for things, and help find the bugs. I sometimes really enjoy my time with the game in doing so, and feel that the free (and early) moments I have in it are payment enough.
You should not be so aggressive against those that are upset about it. Their position is fair, and it doesn't matter how many companies are choosing this route. I've seen many around here suggest that the paid beta helps keep the "free trial" players out. I think that this is wrong, and that it also keeps out the MOST serious beta testers...as they are not going to want to pay someone to do the work those guys really do. Some of the most serious testers out there really go out of their way to document things they find and make suggestions. If anything, this whole "paid beta" thing is encouraging the trial players by creating a situation where the beta really IS nothing more than a trial.
Because who really wants to pay good money to wade through bug soaked crap? AoC's beta may not be that way...but that certainly isn't what most of us assume the average beta is. We all assume that a beta NEEDS players all over the place to find things because the starting team wasn't large enough to cover all the ground or strain the code enough. With that in mind, the most serious testers are gonna stay away in order to avoid paying to work.
... which in the end makes the whole deal just a trial. I agree with you though.
Hi, Welcome to the world of the internet.
This is how the internet works : Company / Site A, using an incentive or advert gets one of their viewers to buy a product from Website / Company B. In return, Website B pays Website A a percentage of this sale.
Anyone can do this. For the "general public" (i.e not a large company or site) it is known as an "Affiliate Scheme" and Fileplanet (to use this example) pay up to $9 per new subscriber to the site that send them over.
Now, lets consider the size of Age of Conan and the amount of interest in the "Open Beta" and also how quickly the keys were snapped up. Imagine for a moment that at a conservative estimate 20,000 people bought a $5 membership for Fileplanet to get into the beta. A standard "Affiliate Scheme" payback for this would be $1 per new $5 membership paid to Funcom. So, Funcom would then have just earnt $20,000.
Now, expand that a little bit to higher signups, remembering that they (Funcom) are anticipating close to 600,000 people buying the game at launch. Remember, they may only have 50,000 keys, but 10 times that number may sign up for the chance to get them.
However, Funcom being a very popular company, the chances are they would have a prior deal in place. For example, "We estimate we will bring you at least 30,000 new signups, and have your Fileplanet advert seen by another million as the news of the beta leaks throughout the internet, therefore if you pay us $40,000 for having exclusive access to the beta keys". This would not be a huge leap (and is what most large game companies / websites would do). (Although if I worked for Funcom's PR I would have asked for alot more for this kind of access).
So, to sum up, Yes, Funcom will be doing quite well out of the beta, but... probably not huge amounts in the scheme of things (600,000 box sales... $50 each = alot of money).
Although for Fileplanet, they stand to make quite a lot out of this (alot more than Funcom) - 20,000 signups, $5 per signup = $100,000 of new business.
And this my friend, to answer your question, is why Fileplanet would pay Funcom to host the beta.
"When people don't know much about something, they tend to fill in the blanks the way they want them to be filled in. They are almost always disappointed." - Will Wright
Very true Gishgeron and that what exactly makes me mad.Most of the time the opening areas are polished.What need to be tested is what lies beyond,these areas should be under stress because it`s what gonna happened when we will flood the game.If a game company is not confident enough to let his future player base stress test his content 2 weeks before launch to me it means that the game might be buggy as hell or is missing some content at mid/high levels and they don`t want bad reviews about their game thus hoping to fix things during the next 4 months after launch.I wonder if they would have been acting like that if Warhammer was about to be released a month after AoC.
In the land of Predators,the lion does not fear the jackals...
To jayanti:
You're disregarding two points though.
First one is that a portion of the people that will enter the beta are already Fileplanet members. Thus, Fileplanet gains nothing additional from them. On the other hand, some people have probably singned up for Fileplanet membership with the hope that they might get in the OB, but didn't make it. Those two groups are unknown to us, but can make a difference in the perceived Fileplanet profit.
The second is that you assume that Fileplanet will distribute the retail version (maybe I'm reading what you say incorrectly). This is not going to happen as EIDOS has exclusive publishing rights. What might happen is that Fileplanet may get to distribute future standalone patches, in the same manner LOTRO is doing.
The third is ... well, related to the way they distribute keys. How will Fileplanet distinguish players that joined the service for the beta from players that joined the service for the general merits of it? Fileplanet paying Funcom for the added income from additional subscriptions implies that the distinction is very clear and verifiable by Funcom.
I'm still not convinced that Funcom is getting anything out of this deal in terms of funds.
To Ngeldu5t:
So according to this logic, LOTRO is a flop because it didn't allow unrestricted access in OB? I would expect grindfests without a story to allow unrestricted access. But lately it seems that the games with a strong backstory seem to want to prevent players from spoiling all the surprises.
This is not the first game that has level restrictions, nor will it be the last. The game might be unpolished after the starting areas, but the level restriction is not a direct indication of such a thing. It just raises concerns.
"So, why not just go with a free Torrent download?
“To that I can only say we were one of the first gaming companies to start Torrent distribution a few years ago with Anarchy Online, and of course we know a lot about Torrents, but setting up this for such an event would have served to make us lose focus right before launch. It would not have helped any of us, and running Torrents are about a lot more than just letting the world do it themselves. It needs a lot of work to get it right, and ensure good speed and a smooth customer experience."
I dont know what they are talking about....The torrents are already set up, if you are in the Real Beta you can DL directly or grab a torrent for the client. I find that whole interview very funny indeed.