Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Open Beta Date Discovered
westonc
Member Posts: 10
I just think I have discovered the date of the launch of WoW Open Beta. Around the time of the announcement of the open beta signups it said that more information will come out in the coming days. It has been weeks since that announcement and many wonder what happened? I reviewed the blizzard blue posts which basically said that the open beta announcment will occur with a press release and is out of the hands of the developers.
So, again, what happened to the open beta signups and why wasn't the information posted soon? Well ponder what happened around this same time......yes that is it folks a release date shuffle of a popular competitor, namely EQ2. I am sure since the release date for EQ2 was bumped up that Blizzard noticed a rare opportunity to allow people to play WoW, arguably a more polished game, for free at the same time as EQ2's release. They wanted to release WoW at the same time as EQ2, then they saw that either they couldn't and WoW needed more polish in their eyes or that a free relatively more polished mmorpg against a buggy retail-priced one is a good marketing idea. That is also why they will never confirm a wipe in addition to the testing decline prediction said by one of the blue posts. They want all the people to play Open Beta to distract from EQ2.
I discovered this by reading an IGN preview about the Beta Test stating that it would last 2-3 weeks according to the devs. Now notice with me here......Nov 8 = EQ2.....+ 14 days(2 weeks of open beta) = Nov 22.......which has been the speculated WoW release date. It seems to all fit and make sense. Look for the Open Beta Signups 3-5 days before Nov 8th, a 2 week open beta period followed by a Nov 22nd release date. Perfect timing for before thanksgiving, which is near one of the most important shopping days in America, the day after Thanksgiving, Black Friday.
Comments
Why is it called "Black Friday?" But that's beside the point. That post has some thought to it. That would be very smart for Blizzard to do. Since they think the game isn't ready for release just yet, then that would be the best thing to do rather than release an "unfinished" game and try to compete with another game.
It is called "Black Friday" because well it is on friday and all the stores are jammed with people looking for hot deals which are typically offered only on that day. I am talking extreme deals. It is "black" in reference to Black Tuesday when the stock market crashed in 1929.
back in 1869, the Grant administration tried to bring the country out of turmoil shortly after the U.S. Civil War. They did this buy bringing Gold out from Fort Knox and tried to sell it based on it's worth pound per pound.
This move would have either brought the U.S. out of a slump or make it worse. To make a long story short, it made it worse; thus the phrase "Black Friday" was coined. Since then, every financial disaster that had happened usually happened on a Friday (end of Business week) so many events adopted that name as well.
Today, people call the Friday after Thanksgiving Black Friday because it is based upon the same principles: Get your product out there and sell as many as you can or your company is going to sink. For many companies, Black Friday up to Christmas Eve usually yields over 30% of their entire year profits.
Their marketing techniques can either break them or make them on Black Friday. Many businesses had declared Bankruptcy in the past simply because Black Friday was their only hope left and they took the gamble and mass produced items only for their profits to slump.
Also, in a more "modern" and comical fashion, Black Friday is labled as Black Friday simply because of the hell that every retail employee will face during that day.
People who have to create conspiracy and hate threads to further a cause lacks in intellectual comprehension of diversity.
I hate these posts.
I declare the next topic on the release date should look like this:
Topic: Open Beta Date
Subject: Open beta will begin <insert date here>
This is like guessing who's going to be presiden in 2012. We'll find out when we get there.
Stop kicking this dead horse.
________________________
http://www.clanlaw.tk
________________________
Two atoms walk out of a bar. The first exclaims, "Damn, I forgot my electrons." The other replies, "You sure?". The first explains, "Yea, I'm positive."
I doubt they will have open beta on Nov. 8th.. by then alot of people would have already bought EQ2.
Most people don't check the site everyday, so a Nov. 5th, a few days before EQ2's release would be more logical IMO. Maybe Nov. 6th, then 14 days of OB, and 2 days to prepare for retail. :P
----------------------------------
"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."
-- Ken Olson, chairman of Digital Equipment Corp, 1977
----------------------------------
"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."
-- Ken Olson, chairman of Digital Equipment Corp, 1977
I think the thinking is sound but it is just that...thinking. Hope your wrong so that it startes sooner. :P
"Feel free to hate me, but hate me for the right reasons."
"Your still ignorant if you believe the first thing you see when the blindfold is removed."
"Be smart enough to know I'm smarter than you."
Too bad it releases November 9th
but if i this is true i imagine signups november 1st and have 7 days to D/L
Desolation
"Stare at the Sun im bored..."
Desolation
"Stare at the Sun im bored..."
EverQuest II to Ship on November 8, 2004
SONY ONLINE ENTERTAINMENTS EVERQUEST® II SHIPPING NOVEMBER 8th
-The 800-Pound Gorilla of Online Gaming Is Ready to Play -
SAN DIEGO, CA October 25, 2004 Sony Online Entertainment Inc. (SOE), a worldwide leader in massively multiplayer online (MMO) gaming, today announced that EverQuest II is scheduled to simultaneously ship to North American and European retail stores on November 8, 2004. EverQuest II is the highly-anticipated follow-up to Sony Online Entertainments original EverQuest, the most successful and longest-running 3D MMO role-playing game in North America.
Games Played:DoAC, EQ, CoH, Lineage 2, Planetside, and Shadowbane.
Games Playing:None:(
Waiting For:WoW, EQII
I get ure meaning
On release day for EQ2... or 3 days before the release all the swathers will be faced with....
"Do i pay 50 bucks for EQ2 or there is this nice filplanet download of open beta for WoW"
I know id go for WoW
.
Then again im a beta tester :P. I hope Europe beta doesnt end when Open beta America starts :P.
As that would leave a good 2 months without WoW for me
.
Id say that WoW signups begin next monday on : 1St Nov.
3 week Open Beta. Gives people plenty of time to get in and test the game and get hooked before EQ2 releases. Its all about tactics really game releasing.
Beta Tested: Lineage 2, Ryzom, City of Heroes, RYL, World Of Warcraft European
Truly Loved: World of Warcraft
Beta Tested: Lineage 2, Ryzom, City of Heroes, RYL, EverQuest 2 World Of Warcraft European
Truly Loved: World of Warcraft
They simply have no choice but to start open beta before EQ2 releases. The earlier the better - I'm sure quite a few EQ2 fans will at least try WoW if given the chance to try it for free. Some may even decide that WoW is more their cup of tea. My bet is they will start it shortly after the next big patch is pushed. They would be facing a huge loss of revenue to SoE if they delay it any longer.
-pooka
wow, great job!
I hope your right it would be a smart idea
And BTW in 2012 Nimrod will be president!
I think the decision is not in Blizzard's hands, but in the publishers, VU. VU is very crafty at this marketing thing. I think you may be onto something.
Yeah, I'd do Betty....
But I'd be thinking about Wilma.
When I worked at wal-mart.... The day after thanksgiving is a day to be feared...... a line started to form at 5am. By the time the store opened at 7... the line was two blocks long. And last year it was raining!!
"love how they make an announcement saying open beta will be coming soon, then turn around and say it won't be here for a while.. its like poetry, only it sucks.. " -About Blizzard and their concept of 'soon'
Realmreaver formally of EQ, SWG, FFXI and WoW.
Malis/Pirotess of PSO.
Some named of Diablo 1 and 2
Grendel Kinguard of GW.
November 1st for signups would be great,then give three days for thousands to register and download the client. Then November 4th have everyone crash the servers and if they get addicted, well ya know.
Wrong. It's true that the vast majority of gamers don't read forums like this. They don't know nearly as much about these two titles as we do. But when FilePlanet, Gamespot, and every gaming news site out there send out millions of e-mails, and it becomes page 1 news for gaming sites, people will download the open beta and try it even if they haven't been following the development of EITHER game. To them, it's a free game to play. Some will enjoy it, and become paying customers when it releases. This is Blizzard's last chance to take a stab at SoE's potential customers - anyone who is still undecided could go either way. OB is their chance to tip the scales.
-pooka
I can see why Blizzard would want to have the OB on or around the same time as the release for EQII, but I have an issue with this strategy. If I play the beta, yes it will be free, and yes I will get to test the game. But then I'll have to watch my character get wiped and start again. Or I can purchase EQII and just play. When WoW comes out I will have already have two weeks of character development done. Granted, that's not much, but I tend to play a LOT of a new game right when it comes out.
I want to try WoW, and the OB is a great way to do it. But I'm also going to buy EQ2. And when character wipe time comes along with WoW, unless the game is extraordinarily better, I'm going to stick with my already started EQII character, and thus with EQII. Maybe this is a minority view, or maybe it's just my view, but I don't like having to start over again if I don't have to.
Ok so you are going to buy EQII. So then don't bother with WoW then you will not have a decision to make and will not have wasted money on EQII. Or wait to try WoW before you buy EQII. That way you decide before spending your hard earned money. (assumption that it is hard earned) As for starting over why should testers get anything more than to try the game out?
I want to try WoW. Not so much because I'm not sure which game I want to play, but because I want to try it. WoW looks really good, as does EQII. My main reason to go to EQII is because of my friends. I know you can make friends online, but I find it a LOT of fun to play MMORPGs with several people in the same room. I know, I know, I'm sure there are a whole lot of people thinking I'm crazy, but try it sometime. It's actually really interesting. I'm looking forward to the WoW OB though, even if it's weeks after EQII is released. And I'm still going to play it too. Just for the sheer sake of seeing what I'm missing out on.
I am following this logic and it makes sense.
Right now, i am split in decision to buy EQ2 or to wait for WoW. If by nov 8 I c no WoW OB, then I will most definitely buy EQ2. If i buy EQ2, then I will most definitely play it till the end of my free month (unless i hate it so bad that i drop it after a couple of days). If I play EQ2 for a month, that meanst i dont buy WoW ( unless WoW comes out 1 month later then EQ2). If I play EQ2 for a month and WoW comes out right when my EQ2 subscription is about to expire, I will have a dilemma, continue with EQ2 or buy WoW? Unless I totally hate EQ2 I would probably continue.
So you see, WoW would loose a lot if they let EQ2 get a headstart. WoW would win a lot if they get a headstart, even if its OB. Since OB doesnt cost anything, MOST people will get it, even if just to see how it looks/plays. Chances are, some of those people will like this gam so much, they will play OB to the end and buy WoW when it is released. The rest wont like it and switch to EQ2 or just switch to some other game.
The alternative:
If WoW waits with OB, EQ2 is being released on Nov 8. Most if not all EQ fans buy it because they like EQ and becuase there is no real alternative at the moment. A lot of people who ont care about WoW or EQ2 buy EQ2 simply because it is first on market. Some WoW fans buy EQ2 beacuse they are tired of waiting for WoW. So, when WoW has OB, not too many people are being tempted to switch becuase they played EQ2 a little and they like it or simply becuase they dont want their money go to waste and at least finish their free month.
Still, all above is just simple logic. It makes sense (at least to me). However, I do not know what factors influence OB or release date so this is just a simple speculation. The only fact that I can say is tru 99.99% is this: If I see no WoW OB before nov 9, Im buying EQ2...and then who knows what happens...
Cheers
"The only thing that is better then a bottle of beer is a bottle of beer full of beer" - old Gnomish proverb
I am the type of player where I like to do everything and anything from time to time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodomor - pre-WW2 genocide.
"The only thing that is better then a bottle of beer is a bottle of beer full of beer" - old Gnomish proverb
I am the type of player where I like to do everything and anything from time to time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodomor - pre-WW2 genocide.
why cant it start already?
Im going crazy i cant even play GW!!!! What am i going to do?
Ill just eat some food cya.
playing:eq(on&off)
Waiting for: WoW & EQ2
WoW: 33 Orc Hunter(Fulangwang)
Member of The Unholy Legion
"The true meaning to REBEL is Revenge Every Battle Every Lost" -Dustin G.
"The true meaning to REBEL is Revenge Every Battle Every Lost" -Dustin G.
AXIS http://www.axispvp.com/main