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What did SOE stand to gain from lifting their NDA?
eeargy
Member Posts: 300
Up until SOE lifted the Everquest 2 NDA, speculation was rife that they had something to hide, fuelled largely by their reputation and by disgruntled beta testers breaking the NDA to voice their concerns.
It's quite obvious by now that those concerns are very real and have been well substantiated, not just on this forum but all over the internet.
With the typical response from SOE being "It's in beta. It'll all be fixed by release", I'm left wondering what SOE stood to gain from removing the proverbial gags from the mouths of their beta testers.
Scanning these forums, it's clear that the games reputation has been hurt. A good number of reasonable, intelligent and rational people are now cautious about EQ2, and many others have simply given up on it.
Surely it would have made more sense to keep the NDA in place until retail when the nefarious issues have been resolved? (Assuming they're resolved by retail, of course)
Note: Please refrain from replying with "OMFG!!!1 WTF DO YOU NO? WOW FANBOI!!!!!!!1!!!!SHIFT11111CTRLALTDEL!!!!!11" as such posts don't come across as entirely constructive and this thread has nothing to do with WoW.
Comments
They probably thought that enough of the beta testers were enjoying the game to post positive experiences on the web. I myself am in the beta and only play it once a week or so after the new patches just to see if it's gotten any better. I will say that they are improving it. I will also say that I don't think it's the game itself that has made the beta test unpleasant for me so far, so much as the other player in the beta. Even playing a healer it has been difficult to find groups. Many of the quests in the game require a group to complete. I find this very frustrating.
But back to the NDA lift. I expect they believed they would get some free advertising out of it, via the beta testers hyping the game.
EQ, xegony, Odingar - lvl 65 cleric
Yeah, I'd do Betty....
But I'd be thinking about Wilma.
I'm actually one of those that gave up on it.. I figured that EQ2 doesn't bring anything really new to the genre, its just more variety of the same. Voiceovers remind me of when I played Elder Scrolls and was so annoyed by hearing the same thing for the hundredth time that turned off my speakers for the whole game.
As of their NDA I honestly didnt even know they had lifted it.. Its obvious that most of the beta testers are EQ fanboys and will make great propaganda.. Dont think it was a great move from SOE though cause there are a lot of dissappointments as well.
If you ask me I dont think EQ2's greatest competitor is WOW at all.. In my opinion it's Guild Wars.. no monthly fee, nothing to hide (open beta events + really loose nda), fast action with outcome REALLY based on skill instead of items carried.. Too bad Im not an alpha tester for it but at least I will get to play it 2 days every month until release.. thats defenitely a company proud of their work.
You Sir !
You have very well articulated my view as well.
I have to agree with the original poster.
I think SOE figured on getting some free positive press from letting the testers talk about the game. They werent expecting all the negative reviews because as usual SOE is out of touch with the people actually playing the game.
ROLEPLAYERS UNITE!!!!!
Critical thinking is a desire to seek, patience to doubt, fondness to meditate, slowness to assert, readiness to consider, carefulness to dispose and set in order; and hatred for every kind of imposture.
I couldn't agree more - there's a real sleeping giant.
For what it offers, and with no monthly fee, Guild Wars will be a massive success. From what I've seen (E3 test) it perfectly bridges the gap between the FPS and MMORPG genres.
I'm not going to defend EQ2 here, because, quite frankly, I am one of the cautious ones after hearing the reviews out there.
But I am so sick of hearing how the next game is going to be so much better than this one. If it's not Guild Wars, it's Dark and Light or Wish or D&D Online, where lacking facts are filled in with idealizations and dreams then made out to be a superior product. Like a glorious messiah just waiting around the bend to satisfy your every MMOG desire.
Bash EQ2 and WoW if you want, but man am I tired of hearing this...
I'm just curious as to Rhoklaws motivation to reply to all these threads that present EQ2 in a negative light?
Does it cause you distress to find that people don't like the game, or that they feel it is lacking in certain areas? Are you a shareholder with a financial stake in the box sales of EQ2? What's the story here? If they distress you so much, why are you reading them, let alone replying?
And regardless of the origin of this need, calling people raving lunatics, and labeling them all WoW fans, while it might provide some entertainment, and possibly make you feel better, does nothing to bolster your side of the arguement, particularly if the person in question made a post that was more than just EQ2 sux!!!! I like pie!
Thanks for your vitriolic, bitter comments. It seems the only way people can defend EQ2 is by telling those who criticize it to just go to hell.
I have as much right as you do to post on this forum, and I made a point of requesting that people refrain from doing exactly what you've just done - trashing my opinion because I like WoW. I repeat, this has nothing to do with WoW.
Reread this whole thread, then see who was the first to be unreasonable and fly off the handle. Then try posting again, and this time stay on topic. At your age, you should know ad hominem attacks serve only to highlight the fact that you're unable to be constructive.
I'm not criticizing EQ2 at all - there's plenty of that elsewhere. I'm genuinely interested to hear opinions on why SOE would make such a seemingly ill-advised move, but you have nothing to bring to the table but desperate insults. Please, share your opinion instead.
It's interesting that you should choose to invoke an argumentum ad misericordiam (or "I pity you, therefore you're wrong"), but again, all you're actually doing nothing is blindly attacking someone you've never met over the internet.
So do you have an opinion on the topic of discussion or are insults your only arsenal?
I agree completely. why cant you guys just shut it, at least admit that it will be a pretty good game, even if its not great, and then go support whatever game it is that you want to support. Go to that forum and priase it for whatever it does better than eq2. Quit whining, im sick of it too.
Personally I'm not willing to listen to the different gushing reviews or bashing them. Cause like with all things, people have different taste and opinions. They always have. Some reviews I've read people complain but some of it shapes up to it isn't enough like EQLive, others people seemed to have a negative opinion of things before they even tried it. Then there are those that praise the game and try to make it out as the next best man made thing next to ducktape and the others. There has to be a middle ground and really the only way I see a person is going to get a real feel for the game is to play it themselves and I can't wait to do that.
Also this isn't just with EQ2. I've read the official forums for WoW from time to time. It doesn't get all the praises that some would like to make people think not is it perfect either. It as well has its fair share of problem which I'm sure EQ2 will have, just as I think Guild Wars will have, Vanguard will have, etc. Was SOE hiding something, don't think so cause if they were they would have still had the NDA in place. I think they have gained a lot from lifting the NDA. First they have given all those that were looking forward to the game a real look at what things will be like, dispell any false assumptions about the game, really show how different it is and will be from EQ1. This was going to have a negative affect as well. I never doubted it that but I don't think it did more harm then good. While those expecting something else might be disappointed there are also those that thought it was going to be closer to EQ1 or something bad that might have been surprised for the better and may not be more interested in EQ2. So while they might have lost some fan interest they also might have gain fan interest at the same time.
I wonder though, are the things that have disappointed some people, non-beta testers and even some testers based on the assumptions and expectations made by these people before the NDA dropped or based on the actual items that were said before the NDA dropped? Meaning that people might have had something completely different pictured before learning about how things actually are or before actually playing it themselves? Just wondering is all.
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EQ2 Qeynos Guild- http://www.imperium-arcanum.com
If you don't like the fact that people have differing opinions coupled with a right to discuss them perhaps you should "shut it" instead. If you want to read nothing but adulation for EQ2, go to the official forums (although having said that, even those are rapidly filling up with criticism from beta testers).
eeargy, Effect has a point
If you search my posts (even before I was staff) I probably made about 6 posts of why I didn't like WoW. However, if I do a search for you with keywords "eeargy" "EQ", I will get quite a few hits and the majority of them are against the game.
Quite frankly, I have no adament opinion against you for not liking the game (doesn't matter to me as a person). However (as a moderator), you do tend to put down this game a lot. I think what people are saying is, they're sorta tired of seeing you put down the game time after time. They get the point you don't like EQ...there's no need to "rub it in" as it where.
On a side note, Ive been in EQ beta and WoW beta and I liked both. However, the EQ2 beta bashing is largely unfounded because I sure as heck cannot find the many problems people has mentioned. The only thing I found that was bad is the lag situation in Commonlands and Antonica (sp) zones.
People who have to create conspiracy and hate threads to further a cause lacks in intellectual comprehension of diversity.
And I bet you've done it! Go on... Admit it!
Dude, if my criticism of EQ2 strengthens peoples opinion on it, I'm glad. Surely that's what discussion forums are for. If it weakens their opinion, I'm still glad. If your opinion gets hurt by some random guy on the internet, maybe it wasn't that strong an opinion in the first place.
Anyway I'm not here to piss people off (that's just a free bonus) and I purposely didn't bring my opinion into this particular thread because I'm genuinely interested to know what SOE were thinking when they lifted their NDA. Hell I even asked people not mention the dreaded WoW!
lol...it's a Gryphon?!?
People who have to create conspiracy and hate threads to further a cause lacks in intellectual comprehension of diversity.
Of course I don't expect anyone to believe anything - humans are usually unabashed liars - but I would suggest that a persistently recurring theme in my posts is that I'm brutally honest and pride myself on holding this ideal very highly.
Since this topic has no hope whatsoever of getting back on topic though, there's something I need to clear up. Have you played either EQ2 or WoW?
"...who ever said during SWG beta "SOE made a game. And it was good." should be sent to "Fear factor" and fed some horse sh**." - Neochrome
lol, honestly, I didn't. But it's all good.....
....I still can;t believe that thing Ive been riding was a gryphon.....are you guys sure?
People who have to create conspiracy and hate threads to further a cause lacks in intellectual comprehension of diversity.
Whats the big deal anyway? Myself I am probably going to be dropping a hundred bucks and buying both. Maybe I am one of the luckier ones here financially but 50 bucks is not my life's savings or anything. Anyone who takes anyones word about anything on a internet forum is a fool. I bet I can Google up some posts where someone saw Elvis piloting a UFO through the Bermuda triangle. So if you want to be a sheep and let someone else make up for you that's fine, myself I am sick of the my dad can beat up your dad crap.
I miss DAoC
Wow. You went a lot more in depth than I expected. Well let me say I really appreciate you taking the time to discuss this, and I totally understand your concerns about the community. The Blizzard WoW boards are full of snotty teenagers (which wouldn't really bother me, but for the fact that it reminds me I'm no longer one myself). The beta boards seem a notch or two up on the maturity ladder though but even having said that, I'm sure I'll be making full use of the /ignore feature.
You seem like a decent guy, despite my initial impressions (sorry about the "mind of a retarded child" comment in that other thread
). I guess we can all change our opinions. 
"...who ever said during SWG beta "SOE made a game. And it was good." should be sent to "Fear factor" and fed some horse sh**." - Neochrome
Amen!
Its 50 bucks. Not a big deal. If it is, you probably shouldn't be playing games that have a monthly fee. If its cause you are young, mow a few more lawns, or work an extra shift at the McDs or where ever.
Buy it, play it, make up your own mind. Thats true freedom! The only voice you should be listening to is your own when it comes to making the choice to play or not. Don't worry about your money going to to SOE if you are a bit concerned about them. Retail sales of this game are NOT going to make up for the investment they put into it. If everyone playes and leaves cause it sucks, then they will still be looking at a financial nightmare. If you hate SOE and would never play a game from them, then what are you doing here? Go have fun somewhere instead of feeding your hate, that can't be good for you.
One last thing, as for not getting that "feeling" that you got from EQ1. I think the reason its so hard to capture that for any length of time in ANY MMORPG since then is because it was pretty much the first of its kind. I know Ulitma Online was out before, but they were drastically different. Small inovations are not enough to recapture that excitement. It trully requires a large change to bring back that feeling. EQ2 probably, from what I have read/heard, just didn't go that far. So don't expect that "feeling" to be there for long. I think you will be dissapointed. It's kind of like getting laid, you always remember your first, reagardless of the thousands that come after!
Hope that last statement does't get me deleted, it's a good analogy and I think I made some good points here.
Everything born must die. All that is, will come to ruin. This is the essence of Doom. So sayeth the Doomsayer.
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Everything born must die. All that is, will come to ruin. This is the essence of Doom. So sayeth the Doomsayer.
Wow. You went a lot more in depth than I expected. Well let me say I really appreciate you taking the time to discuss this, and I totally understand your concerns about the community. The Blizzard WoW boards are full of snotty teenagers (which wouldn't really bother me, but for the fact that it reminds me I'm no longer one myself). The beta boards seem a notch or two up on the maturity ladder though but even having said that, I'm sure I'll be making full use of the /ignore feature.
You seem like a decent guy, despite my initial impressions (sorry about the "mind of a retarded child" comment in that other thread
). I guess we can all change our opinions. 
"...who ever said during SWG beta "SOE made a game. And it was good." should be sent to "Fear factor" and fed some horse sh**." - Neochrome
THAT IS WHAT I LIKE TO SEE!!! Admiting that you were wrong about someone is a great feature indeed.
Similar to what Rhoklaw said. The big factor in why i am not playing WoW is because of the comunity. But it is not because i think WoW will have a lot of kids, it is because fy favorite MMO and my longest played MMO is EverQuest. And playing the stress test in WoW showed me that people are different there. I like playing with the people that i played with in EQ. Its that attitude i like. And honestly, if EQ2 is not as good as it is right now where i am in the game i will most likley go back to EQ live. I like the people in the game and right now in Beta most of the applicants have played EQ live so its fun.
Playing: Vanguard SoH
Played: EQ, Planetside, SWG, WoW, EQ2
I miss DAoC
Not an incredibly smart move, as you know as much about the people you'll meet in EQ2 or WoW or any other game as anyone else does. ie: Nothing at all.
There'll be all kinds of people in the WoW community, and there'll be all kinds of people in the EQ2 community. This is a given. Both games aim for the broadest demographic possible, and so they'll both attract all kinds of people. The only factor that will actually matter will be which one you personally enjoy playing more (because of the actual game design) and if you haven't tried one of them, you could be missing out.