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BWE's - Good or Bad for the Game?
Xssiv
Member UncommonPosts: 359
Coming into the second highly anticipated BWE still without a release date, is ArenaNet doing more harm than good for their game?
I think the knee-jerk reaction is to say that ArenaNet wants to ensure that the game is truly ready to go when they decide to launch which is certainly admirable but there's definitely a flip side in my opinion...
In theory, we've got at least one or two more BWE's prior to launch which begs the question, how much time will many players already have invested into the game before it actually goes live? Potentially quite a bit at this rate.
Let's face it, by the time the game launches, most people will have already experienced the bulk of content up to say level 25 or 30. In my opinion, this will make the first week or two of game play somewhat boring and uninspired turning what should be an amazing new game experience into a grind to get to the content we haven't seen yet.
Don't get me wrong, I appreciate any company that wants to make sure their game is polished prior to launch but this seems a little excessive to me especially since it's open to so many players at this point in the development process.
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Since I typically have to work 2/3 of every weekend, it largely becomes a non-issue for me.
1) We have 2 races we haven't even see yet, and all related zones.
2) The players that basically pvp from level 1 won't care.
3) It's unlikely you will have seen EVERY DE option (both pass and fail, and their resulting branches), as well as the numerous branches of personal story quests, for every current race and profession. I say unlikely because I suppose someone that spends every waking second might manage it if we have enough of these.
4) This is true of ANY game in beta. I played City of Heroes from its first closed beta phase or so onward..lemme tell you, that was a LOT of time between beta 1 and launch. I'd pretty much seen it all by then. I still bought the game, played it, loved it.
Personally I've been avoiding areas I plan on playing in when the game launches. This has been made easier because Asura and Sylvari are not available yet. So I just have to avoid Charr starting area. I eventually will have a character of each race but I figure by the time I get around to my Human and Norn characters I'll have forgotten most of those areas and/or post launch content updates will have occurred.
I'm very thankful that they are working out all the server issues ahead of time, nothing is worse after launch than not being able to play.
Its very good for the game...
At this rate the BWE's keep everyone hungry for more, while adding more and more followers because everyone is enthousiastic. people would sell their mothers and give a kidney away for free to be able to play this game at all.
Arenanets marketing strategy is as good as allways, unless theyll keep continueing this rate for 6 more months.
Best MMO experiences : EQ(PvE), DAoC(PvP), WoW(total package) LOTRO (worldfeel) GW2 (Artstyle and animations and worlddesign) SWTOR (Story immersion) TSW (story) ESO (character advancement)
Bah, nonsense. Now, thanks to the BWE's, when the game goes live I'll be able to slow down a bit mentally and not rush about like a fat kid in a candy store five minutes to closing. I'll still (since I've been planning on an Asuran mesmer for years now) have that "new zone smell", but I'll be able to pause a bit, see the events through chains, take some time to gather and craft, cook a bit, just wander about... all without the clock of Damocles hanging over my head ready to slice the beta off from me. The BWE's are showing me how to play... when we go live is when I truly will do so.
Oderint, dum metuant.
Ill probably stop questing and go pvp a bit.
Let me speak in food terms. BWE's are appetizers. After playing the beta some, I'm freakin starving for the main course.
Hmm, I'm pretty much the opposite. I think BWE's are much too shallow and short to really test a game properly or to get as much valuable community feedback as possible.
My brand new bloggity blog.
I've been primarily PvP'ing, since this is the only MMORPG that allows it so early on and that is the best way to avoid all the spoilers. Those that are PvE'ing their arse off, in all the available zones, will only have themselves to blame, when those 1st 30 or so levels are stale.
In general I would say: Beta's are generally bad.
For this game: Beta's seem to be used for EXACTLY what Beta's USED to be used for.
http://www.arena.net/blog/the-big-beta-weekend-preview
Just look at all those fixes/repairs/changes they made because of PLAYERS in the first BWE.
BWE's are like a sip of water in a desert. I think it's not enough but it gets a pretty rough idea. I think with BWE2, with people retaining their levels from BWE1, will be able to further checkout stuff.
Personally, I'm not running the game on anything I'm going to play at launch. I used BWE1 to test my desktop (after my laptop died untimely). BWE2, will be used to ensure my new laptop is set-up, prepared, and good to go. I may participate in some guild WvW so we get the mechanics down but the story/exploration can wait until launch.
P.S. I think that's why ANET isn't launching the Asura/Sylvari for BWE either.
Although having more stress testing time done is better, you GW 2 folks just need them to have a good internal group of testers. I do wonder how shit gets thru some games internal testers though. Something like auto save on Fallout 3, then in the next game of Fallout Vegas.
On the subject of beta showing off too much....that is why I have never tried to PL thru content during the couple of betas I have checked out. To me it ruins the surprise of playing the final product.
Folks that just fuck around in starter areas shouldnt have a problem. The majority of game will be fresh to them.
Asking Devs to make AAA sandbox titles is like trying to get fine dining on a McDonalds dollar menu budget.
I am doing the same thing. I am playing only Humans in the BWEs since I don't plan as playing one in live. Actually, I plan on playing as a Sylvari (so it's a non-issue for me anyhow).
More on-topic:
The BWEs are good for the game. ANet has a bigger pool of people playing the game with a lot more variation on hardware setups. They also get a better look at what launch day could potentially look like, scaled down a bit possibly. Not to mention putting things into the hands of the masses usually means something will break, best to fix it now.
Since they are allowing us to play our toons from the previous weekend during this BWE, I almost wonder if they aren't going to allow us to keep our BWE toons come live. Seems like an interesting way of thanking those who were part of the BWEs/Pre-Purchased, and additionally keeping more folks out of various start zones (maybe) come launch. Although, the 3 day headstart should have a similar affect.
I call this a bullshot, the BWE is mostly used as a hying tool and free advertisement for a great games. Good stuff doesn't need a salesman to sell. Just people talking about it is enough to sell ti.
There was so much internal testing, that the BWE hardly matters for testing and ballancing purposes.
Best MMO experiences : EQ(PvE), DAoC(PvP), WoW(total package) LOTRO (worldfeel) GW2 (Artstyle and animations and worlddesign) SWTOR (Story immersion) TSW (story) ESO (character advancement)
Yeah, I can see this being a problem for folks who ONLY plan to PvE. But the WvW will be the hook that should keep players interested for awhile if it's done correctly.
I personally find them great, but a lil annoying since I know this character will get wiped. Just release the dang thing already...
Uhh... what?
I'm not talking about major changes. I'm talking about stuff a closed group cannot dictate. For example, Chat Bubbles. Who the hell cares about chat bubbles? Apparently a big enough group to get its inclusion in the game.
The minimap. Resizing/redesigning. I know when I'm closed beta testing, that's generally not something I'm working on helping. When I'm closed beta testing, I'm working on findings bugs, issues, CTD's, and reproducing them.
YES, right now it's building hype. And you can't deny it's effectiveness of this event.
But you can't really deny that testing shows all without the inclusion of massively. There have been a couple of games recently that released gamebreaking PATCHES that tested fine through their QA. A simple PTS would have solved that issue.
Also, I think that it also helps them assess initial demand. I think that it allows them to plan their servers a little better than just doing one OB on one weekend that doesn't give a general idea of pop-over-time.
Don't worry... This is the last BWE before the headstart...
Former xFire user... I only wanted a game tracker and messenger, not a screenshot taker, video recording, broadcasting piece of bloatware.
Well it looks like they used the information from the last BWE and stress test to tweek and add things that the players want/need and to add hthe hardware needed to ensure a smooth experience. Now they are going to test some of those additions and see if the hardware they added was enough. Seems like it's doing them good.
My theme song.
Well ArenaNet does sell thye beta accounts so they dont realy care if you continue playing when you allredy bought the game since there is no monthly fee. Might be a problem for us customers´???
It's been good for the game.
They gathered enough data from BWE1 to realize some big changes needed to be made to their server structure and connectivity, which they resolved by the stress test. Also doubling the number of servers was most likely a calculated decision based on some pretty valuable metrics they were able to take away from the bwe rather than just a random arbitrary move.
They implemented a lot of features requested on the official forums and increased the functionality of other systems based on feedback, sure a lot of that could have come post launch, but it certainly puts the game in a stronger position by having them in place for launch, and certainly doesn't hurt the game.
They've made way too many changes and tweaks to not see the value of the large scale betas.
Whether individuals feel it's all just a publicity stunt or not, it's clear ArenaNet certainly took a large amount of feedback into consideration and acted on it, it appears they would feel the larger tests have been valuable to them.
Nobody is forcing us to play, we could aswell ignore the BWE's and wait for the launch, if the feeling is as you describe. I know i'll have a ton of unseen content from the getgo at launch, as i'll be playing either asura or sylvari (haven't quite made up my mind yet), so i don't mind exhausting the human areas in BWE's
Then don't paticipate in the BWEs.
MMO's have had betas that lasted for weeks and months, somehow claiming that a few open weekends are harmful is, sorry, ridiculous.
This may not be the the game for the op to play if they consider getting a character past 25 or 30 a grind ...try playing a game like Rift after it's Beta where each character had to go the exact same route over and over and over again
Considering the extremely positive feedback that beta week end players propagate all over the Internet, yes, those week ends are definitely very good for the game.
And when you see the list of changes made since last week end, you also realize they are useful to enhance the game, and that ANet definitely listens to the "beta testers".
Respect, walk
Are you talkin' to me? Are you talkin' to me?
- PANTERA at HELLFEST 2023
The "knee jerk response" isn't "knee-jerk", it's accurate and has been the clearly stated process since well before beta testing began. Each BWE has the potential to be the one that clears them for a release date, assuming few issues arise and feedback is good.
As far as access to content, it's an MMO that people will be expecting to play for months or years. The equivalent of a week or two of total access before launch isn't going to spoil a solid MMO with plenty of content.
I've already gotten 45 Hours /played time between BWE1 and the 7 hour Stress Test and I feel like I've only scratched the surface of the game play available in the BWE client. What isn't in the BWE clients dwarfs what's in it, so do I worry that I'll burn up content before launch? Absolutely not. Do I worry I'll be bored by launch? Absolutely not. (Believe me, even games I like usually don't get more than a total of 20 hours out of me during all of beta. I'm so immersed in GW2 and enjoy the game so much, I just want to play as much as possible. It's not a chore, nor does it feel pointless with a beta character that will just be wiped. It's fun and I'm playing it to have fun).
Want to know more about GW2 and why there is so much buzz? Start here: Guild Wars 2 Mass Info for the Uninitiated
