Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!

Are "Head Starts" a "Get out of Jail" card for a terrible launch?

2

Comments

  • Agricola1Agricola1 Member UncommonPosts: 4,977
    Originally posted by Theocritus
    Originally posted by Piiritus
    Head start is same as launch no matter how fanbois try to spin it. MMO companies offer head start as a bonus for pre-ordering the game and it should be playable at once. So rocky head start = rocky launch.

        Yet gamers will still fork over whatever amount they ask to get in early.....

     

    It's all about the race to get your name on the sever you want with your clan, or the myth that you'll get some kind of leg up on the newbies at the "real launch".

    "Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience"

    CS Lewis

  • VhalnVhaln Member Posts: 3,159
    Originally posted by VooDoo_Papa

    Every MMO has them and if things go to the crapper the first day of pre-launch its brushed off as "the game hasnt released yet".

     

     

    No, I think the "get out of jail free" card is the "every MMO has them" part.  Except, I'd change it a bit to, almost every popular MMO has them.  Still, I figure launching these things must be crazy difficult with how often it goes wrong, no matter how prepared they seem to be.

     

    That said.. I've been playing much of today, without a single hitch.  Got a bit of a late start though, not sure if the terrible part is over, I've just been lucky so far, or what.

    When I want a single-player story, I'll play a single-player game. When I play an MMO, I want a massively multiplayer world.

  • itgrowlsitgrowls Member Posts: 2,951
    Originally posted by VooDoo_Papa

    Every MMO has them and if things go to the crapper the first day of pre-launch its brushed off as "the game hasnt released yet".

     

     

    LOL nope i've seen posts about GW2 that say, they've had such massive last minute ordering that the numbers they thought they were having on headstart doesn't come close. the number of players far exceeds that of the figures projected. So yeah.

    But it's been a lauch, the five minutes i've spent looking at threads like this. I salute you mods for having to deal with these threads while the rest of us who usually issue reports to you about these threads, enjoy the game. Here's to you mods of mmorpg.com. :)

  • statrickstatrick Member UncommonPosts: 13
    i haven't had any problems really, took about 20 mins to long in this mourning but after that everything has been fine.

    Game is allot of fun not half as bad as the starwars launch imo. i couldn't get in for a few days if i recall correctly.

    you monkeys need to chiil the f out.a month from now you won't even remember this day. it will have zero impact on the game
  • RebelScum99RebelScum99 Member Posts: 1,090
    Originally posted by itgrowls
    Originally posted by VooDoo_Papa

    Every MMO has them and if things go to the crapper the first day of pre-launch its brushed off as "the game hasnt released yet".

     

     

    LOL nope i've seen posts about GW2 that say, they've had such massive last minute ordering that the numbers they thought they were having on headstart doesn't come close. the number of players far exceeds that of the figures projected. So yeah.

    But it's been a lauch, the five minutes i've spent looking at threads like this. I salute you mods for having to deal with these threads while the rest of us who usually issue reports to you about these threads, enjoy the game. Here's to you mods of mmorpg.com. :)

    image

  • LeetheLeethe Member UncommonPosts: 893
    The servers were down 3-4 hours for headstart. How does that constitute a bad launch?

    There is NO miracle patch.

    95% of what you see in beta won't change by launch.

    Hope is not a stategy.
    ______________________________
    "This kind of topic is like one of those little cartoon boxes held up by a stick on a string, with a piece of meat under it. In other words, bait."

  • niceguy3978niceguy3978 Member UncommonPosts: 2,051
    Originally posted by GrumpyCharr
    No, but you can prepare with stress tests but when you have literally thousands of people make a whim decision to buy the game at zero hour and get way more traffic than you expected - it's hard to adjust right away.

    I thought they stopped giving 3 day headstart access a couple of days ago.  So, this shouldn't have been an issue.

    I could have sworn one of their ads last weekend said to hurry and order because the 3 day headstart offer was ending.  Maybe it is just my old age.

  • SpectralHunterSpectralHunter Member UncommonPosts: 455
    Originally posted by Leethe
    The servers were down 3-4 hours for headstart. How does that constitute a bad launch?

    In regards to down time I don't think Anet is doing too bad.  The issues with guilds though is pretty serious because guild leaders can't see their guild, can't invite and some members who were invited no longer sees their guild. There are also reports of the AH having issues. Those two things are pretty serious issues that will result in a very bad launch if not fixed quickly. 

  • saluksaluk Member Posts: 325

    Head start is launch. Massive failure is way overstating it. Massive failure would be a majority of people not able to play. Other than a rocky first couple hours, none of my friends or myself have had issues. It's rocky, not a massive failure or egg-on-face lol. But judge the launch by head start.

    In the long run it doesn't really matter. WoW had a terrible launch, it's still going great. SWToRs fairly smooth launch and the game went downhill fast. The big difference between GW2 and SWTor launch, is GW2 is letting people play in a very buggy version while queuing for the real server, while in SWTor you got to wait 3 hours or more to get in. (At least I did). I don't know which method I would prefer for launch, long term and if it can be fixed, I like the overflow better.

  • IcewhiteIcewhite Member Posts: 6,403
    Originally posted by itgrowls

    But it's been a lauch, the five minutes i've spent looking at threads like this. I salute you mods for having to deal with these threads while the rest of us who usually issue reports to you about these threads, enjoy the game. Here's to you mods of mmorpg.com. :)

    They have to get through the weekend first.  You know what happens around here, in the wee hours of weekend morns.

    Self-medicate with large doses of Ethyl Alcohol, you poor mod types.

    Self-pity imprisons us in the walls of our own self-absorption. The whole world shrinks down to the size of our problem, and the more we dwell on it, the smaller we are and the larger the problem seems to grow.

  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,507
    It's all much ado about nothing.  People who particularly care if a game runs well don't play it near launch, anyway.
  • Creslin321Creslin321 Member Posts: 5,359
    My viewpoint...if I can buy a game and then immediately play that game unconditionally, then that game has launched.

    Are you team Azeroth, team Tyria, or team Jacob?

  • AkulasAkulas Member RarePosts: 3,029

    the game hasnt released yet

     

    Usually the best time to play a game is a month or so after it releases when they get things sorted out. Otherwise why complain.

    This isn't a signature, you just think it is.

  • RaysheRayshe Member UncommonPosts: 1,279

    Id say the only acceptable thing the game could have in a head start is lag. So long as it is Lag from too many players, That is just a unexpected Volume.

     

    as for bugs, if they aren't out within the first month and a half, then it becomes problematic.

    Because i can.
    I'm Hopeful For Every Game, Until the Fan Boys Attack My Games. Then the Knives Come Out.
    Logic every gamers worst enemy.

  • DookzDookz Member UncommonPosts: 562
    Give it a month. That's what critics will say anyway before making fair judgements to the game. Right?

    Playing now: Cities: Skyline / Ori and the Blind Forest / Banished

  • YakkinYakkin Member Posts: 919
    Originally posted by Dookz
    Give it a month. That's what critics will say anyway before making fair judgements to the game. Right?

    Well, it makes sense in an MMO, since everything will have calmed down, and you would have explored more of the content available.

  • HealthyGamerHealthyGamer Member Posts: 25
    Originally posted by Grimm666

    I tend to see Head Starts as a way to stagger the gaming populace so they don't all hit the server at the same time. Of course, it would be better to do an actual stagger (like SWToR did), but then you of course get complaints from people who had to wait a horrid 3-5 extra days to play a video game.

    This.

  • Spartan212Spartan212 Member Posts: 55
    Originally posted by darkhalf357x
    Originally posted by VooDoo_Papa

    Every MMO has them and if things go to the crapper the first day of pre-launch its brushed off as "the game hasnt released yet".

     

     

    Its not a get out of jail free card.  ANet has to own up to this massive failure.  Of all the things I would expect to go wrong, a complete network failure is not one of them.  But at the same time I need the details of what actually happened.  As a Systems Architect there are many aspects of a failure that you dont have control over.  Did the links fail?  Are they over-saturated?  Or is it just simple server overload that wasn't predicted properly?  I can excuse the former but not the latter.

    Though this is pre-launch ANet has egg on its face (big time) and I wouldnt be surprised if they offered something as an apology.

    Bigger question is can they stabalize their environment to support the near historic load.  I can only see this getting worst come the 28th when everybody and their mother can join.

    Hyperbole much?  "Massive Failure"?  "Complete network failure"?  I've been playing since the servers opened up.  Is it perfect?  Nope.  Is it a "massive failure"?  Not even close

     

  • QuirhidQuirhid Member UncommonPosts: 6,230
    Originally posted by Spartan212
    Originally posted by darkhalf357x
    Originally posted by VooDoo_Papa

    Every MMO has them and if things go to the crapper the first day of pre-launch its brushed off as "the game hasnt released yet".

     

     

    Its not a get out of jail free card.  ANet has to own up to this massive failure.  Of all the things I would expect to go wrong, a complete network failure is not one of them.  But at the same time I need the details of what actually happened.  As a Systems Architect there are many aspects of a failure that you dont have control over.  Did the links fail?  Are they over-saturated?  Or is it just simple server overload that wasn't predicted properly?  I can excuse the former but not the latter.

    Though this is pre-launch ANet has egg on its face (big time) and I wouldnt be surprised if they offered something as an apology.

    Bigger question is can they stabalize their environment to support the near historic load.  I can only see this getting worst come the 28th when everybody and their mother can join.

    Hyperbole much?  "Massive Failure"?  "Complete network failure"?  I've been playing since the servers opened up.  Is it perfect?  Nope.  Is it a "massive failure"?  Not even close

     

    I agree. To my knowledge, log-in servers were offline for a time when the official pre-launch started (I had played the game since the servers went up a few hours earlier: neener, neener). Everything works fine, overflow areas are undestandable. What's the problem?

    I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been -Wayne Gretzky

  • PurutzilPurutzil Member UncommonPosts: 3,048

    No they aren't. When you release it and characters are being kept, that is release. Just cause you like a game and your a fanboy, doesn't change that fact for your particular game compared to another one.

    /thread.

    Though to note, launches WILL have problems, so don't expect perfection either. There are some expectations of problems.

  • SysFailSysFail Member Posts: 375
    I can understand how games with open worlds and no instances can have problems with server loads, but games that are heavily instanced really shouldn't be having the same problems. 
  • VhalnVhaln Member Posts: 3,159
    Originally posted by SysFail
    I can understand how games with open worlds and no instances can have problems with server loads, but games that are heavily instanced really shouldn't be having the same problems. 

     

    GW2 is one of the least instanced MMOs I've played in a long time...

    When I want a single-player story, I'll play a single-player game. When I play an MMO, I want a massively multiplayer world.

  • CalmOceansCalmOceans Member UncommonPosts: 2,437

    Headstarts have a commercial reason.

    Someone needs to figure out what it is, I'm sure many developers know why.

    My opinion is that they use it to avoid bad press from the masses, and to make people feel like they have to buy it or will be behind and to get pre-orders in I just realised.

  • VolkonVolkon Member UncommonPosts: 3,748
    I'm as big of a fanboy as you get wrt GW2 and I consider it launched personally. That being said, has it been all that terrible? There was a few hours downtime as North America awoke and hit it like a sledgehammer, the trading post is down for whatever reasons and I've found a couple bugs after considerable time spent playing this weekend (one was an NPC that was supposed to be an escort/delivery based event, but he really didn't want to go...) , but that's been it really. Once the game came back up from that downtime it's been incredibly smooth, as it was when it launched. Not a flawless launch by any means, but hardly "terrible".

    Oderint, dum metuant.

  • PonicoPonico Member UncommonPosts: 650

    Head Start is just a way to make sure that not everyone logs into the game at the same time. It also ensures that people pay the full intended price. Most people that are excited about a game will pre-purchase or order. A fair bunch will buy during the first few weeks and many many people will wait that 3 month price drop. 

    Day 1 on an MMO is always quite exciting. 

    image

Sign In or Register to comment.