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August 1 Exactly three months before release: Where's the beta?

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Comments

  • FE|TachyonFE|Tachyon Member UncommonPosts: 652
    Originally posted by Apraxis


     
    Originally posted by siresper


     
    Originally posted by silverlobo


    If I remember right Anarchy Online had a 1-2 week open beta. I'm pretty sure FunCom believed the AO beta was 2 weeks to long at that so I dont so them making that same mistake twice.
    I will be surprised if this game makes its October 30th date, and will be even more surprised if they have a open beta that lasts more then a week.

     

    Yes, Funcom regrets the open beta of Anarchy Online, because it gave the public  the chance to see if there were problems with the game before launch time. This cut into the release sales numbers a bit, due to the people who were going to buy but held back, concerned that the problems wouldn't be fixed for a while.

    Unfortunately, times were different back then, people were willing to put up with a lot more. I was one of them, and even though I knew the state of the game since I had come in during the middle of beta, I still believed the company deserved a chance, and I believed everything they said about their willingness to fix the problems. As did many others.

    Then as those that were there at the time know, the company strung people along for months, cashing in on that monthly fee while chanting 'we are working on the problems, fixes to come soon!'. Well at 3 months of no real changes I gave up and cancelled, I would no longer pay to play a beta.

    Yes.. they have learned greatly from AO. This time, they won't let people know about the problems until they already have your money in hand. This time, they have an army of fanboys willing to blindly follow and put down anyone that hints at wanting proof or knowing the TRUE state of the game.

    Kudos to you fanboys... you serve your master well.

    Hrhr.. yeah, AO was a desaster.. but on the other side, DAoC had almost 2 month open beta, and it was a huge success from the start on. The point is quite simple, if the game is well made, and ready for release, open beta is the best way marketing a game, and to advertise it. If it is not ready to release, and full of bugs, you will scare away the testers and it will hurt your game. But then the game was already doomed from the very beginning, and they shouldnt start the open beta.. to begin with.

     

    But well, is a mmorpg just for box sales, or is it not much more for loyal paying subscribers over years? How much cost a game? 50$? Three month of playing and you got the 50$ from subscription fee.

    So i really hope, that Funcom dont think what you said here, because it is plain stupid.. nothing more.

    About all the beta talk.. well, to be honest i am a little bit worried that no full closed beta 3 month for release is started. But on the other side, i really do not know how much they have tested internally or with their friends and family beta, and how much they can test with it.

    They have a big staff, and 1000 testers is more than enough for a server, which maximum can hold 2500?, especially if they are full time testers or the most of them, so it can be enough. We will see it, how it turns out at 30. Oct... and yes, i will only buy it, after i played it by myself, or at least heard something from it, from ppl i trust.

    But anyways, all the talk prelaunch isnt worth a peny.. from doomsayer or fanbois.

    NONSENSE.  WOW had a GREAT launch,  and in Beta Most of the Classes weren't done.  Warlocks didnt have any Talents.   Get informed.  WOW had an very much less then perfect Beta,  Lag, Connection problems,  The fact that more then HALF the classes were unfinished.   However It was sold out in almost every store.

  • sekirasekira Member UncommonPosts: 76

    Originally posted by QBorg


    Exactly three months before release: Where's the beta?
    Discuss.

    Your #1 mistake... assuming they'll meet the launch date. They won't... they never do. MMORPGS always get delayed, especially in today's age when a polished and bug free game is required for the game to be successful...

    Beta will take twice as long as they think... 3 months from now? Try 6. This game will be out in early 08 at the earliest.

  • FE|TachyonFE|Tachyon Member UncommonPosts: 652

    Originally posted by sekira


     
    Originally posted by QBorg


    Exactly three months before release: Where's the beta?
    Discuss.

     

    Your #1 mistake... assuming they'll meet the launch date. They won't... they never do. MMORPGS always get delayed, especially in today's age when a polished and bug free game is required for the game to be successful...

    Beta will take twice as long as they think... 3 months from now? Try 6. This game will be out in early 08 at the earliest.

    FLAWED.

     

    Lets look back.  Funcom has never issued a release date, but PUSHED back the Estimated release date 3 times.   WHY NOW, would they give it a date, if it wasn't obtainable?  Beta will be short.  It will be open for certain hours,  It will not be a no holds bard DEMO like most of  us here are wishing.   As much as I'd like it to be.

  • catafractcatafract Member Posts: 91

    Originally posted by FE|Tachyon

    Originally posted by Apraxis


     
    Originally posted by siresper


     
    Originally posted by silverlobo


    If I remember right Anarchy Online had a 1-2 week open beta. I'm pretty sure FunCom believed the AO beta was 2 weeks to long at that so I dont so them making that same mistake twice.
    I will be surprised if this game makes its October 30th date, and will be even more surprised if they have a open beta that lasts more then a week.

     

    Yes, Funcom regrets the open beta of Anarchy Online, because it gave the public  the chance to see if there were problems with the game before launch time. This cut into the release sales numbers a bit, due to the people who were going to buy but held back, concerned that the problems wouldn't be fixed for a while.

    Unfortunately, times were different back then, people were willing to put up with a lot more. I was one of them, and even though I knew the state of the game since I had come in during the middle of beta, I still believed the company deserved a chance, and I believed everything they said about their willingness to fix the problems. As did many others.

    Then as those that were there at the time know, the company strung people along for months, cashing in on that monthly fee while chanting 'we are working on the problems, fixes to come soon!'. Well at 3 months of no real changes I gave up and cancelled, I would no longer pay to play a beta.

    Yes.. they have learned greatly from AO. This time, they won't let people know about the problems until they already have your money in hand. This time, they have an army of fanboys willing to blindly follow and put down anyone that hints at wanting proof or knowing the TRUE state of the game.

    Kudos to you fanboys... you serve your master well.

    Hrhr.. yeah, AO was a desaster.. but on the other side, DAoC had almost 2 month open beta, and it was a huge success from the start on. The point is quite simple, if the game is well made, and ready for release, open beta is the best way marketing a game, and to advertise it. If it is not ready to release, and full of bugs, you will scare away the testers and it will hurt your game. But then the game was already doomed from the very beginning, and they shouldnt start the open beta.. to begin with.

     

    But well, is a mmorpg just for box sales, or is it not much more for loyal paying subscribers over years? How much cost a game? 50$? Three month of playing and you got the 50$ from subscription fee.

    So i really hope, that Funcom dont think what you said here, because it is plain stupid.. nothing more.

    About all the beta talk.. well, to be honest i am a little bit worried that no full closed beta 3 month for release is started. But on the other side, i really do not know how much they have tested internally or with their friends and family beta, and how much they can test with it.

    They have a big staff, and 1000 testers is more than enough for a server, which maximum can hold 2500?, especially if they are full time testers or the most of them, so it can be enough. We will see it, how it turns out at 30. Oct... and yes, i will only buy it, after i played it by myself, or at least heard something from it, from ppl i trust.

    But anyways, all the talk prelaunch isnt worth a peny.. from doomsayer or fanbois.

    NONSENSE.  WOW had a GREAT launch,  and in Beta Most of the Classes weren't done.  Warlocks didnt have any Talents.   Get informed.  WOW had an very much less then perfect Beta,  Lag, Connection problems,  The fact that more then HALF the classes were unfinished.   However It was sold out in almost every store.

    People already new blizzard from starcraft ,warcraft 1,2 ,diablo ,and finaly from warcraft 3 and hero arena so blizzard had already a good name on the market ,so when she introduced world of warcraft a lot of people tried it ,also had very successfull marketing .

    Blizzard brought in mmo community alot of people that didnt new what online games was until then and wow was their first mmo .

    Also wow was so easy to play for everyone and this way had so many people (remember that i am not judging game just saying facts)

    If beta was like you said it wasnt a problem cause they didnt new where to look for beta feedback or they didnt care or worse they didnt new what beta is.

    I dont think that funcom has same prespective and AO wasnt  successfull although i am sure they will have very good marketing strategy .

    I hope aoc will be huge success and i will be playing it for long time .Waitting for this months footage .

  • TenebrosoTenebroso Member Posts: 262
    Originally posted by QBorg


    Games with long (>3 months) mass beta programs: WoW, LoTR, WAR
    Games with short (<1 month) betas: DDO, Auto Assault, Archlord
    Anyone see a pattern here? You just need a big beta program to make a great game. Besides I'm dying to try out my new PC and play AOC lol.



    LOL.....thats true....i hope AOC can break that. If not, i will be playing my PS3 a LOT 

  • CoirCoir Member Posts: 97

    WoW did not have a "GREAT launch". Wow was full of server instability from population. But worse then that there were issues regarding access to the item server resulting in huge amounts of loot lag. Not just locks but many classes entered live a pale shade of what they should've been. WoW hit launch due to the fact that it'd come a time to get the game out. Content was missing, spawn rates hadn't been addressed and to this day there are still basic errors ie typos in quests that have been 'bugged' repeatedly since Beta 2.

    The cleanest and best launch I have seen to date was with CoH's. No account issues, no lag issues, no stability errors and characters worked as they were supposed to. Even if some where overpowered a little :p

     

    To say WoW had a great launch says one of two things. You've never seen a good launch or you're a fanboi.

     

    And yes I still play WoW, still have 2 accts and still raid. So no it's not a random bash post.

  • ZippyZippy Member, Newbie CommonPosts: 1,412
    Originally posted by QBorg


    Exactly three months before release: Where's the beta?
    Discuss.

    This game is not comiong out in 3 months,  Maybe it will release in 2008 but I would be very surprised if it is released within the next 12 months.

  • ThaneBThaneB Member Posts: 131

    Funcom will definitely release the game within 12 months man. With all the new innovative mmos nobody is going to wait just for one MMO to be released. If they delay the game once again it will probably be released between Q1-Q2 2008. If it's not delayed it will be released around november, december, and maybe even october.

    You can't say that civilization don't advance, however, for in every war they kill you in a new way.
    -Will Rogers

  • random11random11 Member UncommonPosts: 765

    You guys keep forgetting, that this is a dx10, vista, nvidia showcase title. It is not only Funcom working on the game, don't be fooled, MS and Nvidia people are working at it as we speak. And money that big doesn't fool around. Also they recently gained another 30 mill investment, which in part will be spent on AoC, I presume. I wouldn't give 30 mill, without seeing a working, good version of the game. Also this 30 mill is a private investor, meaning it will be affected by the stock market. I wouldn't put 30 mill in if: 1. The game would suck or 2. if it got delayed (resulting in around 5-8% share price drop).

  • ApraxisApraxis Member UncommonPosts: 1,518

    Originally posted by FE|Tachyon

    Originally posted by Apraxis


     
    Originally posted by siresper


     
    Originally posted by silverlobo


    If I remember right Anarchy Online had a 1-2 week open beta. I'm pretty sure FunCom believed the AO beta was 2 weeks to long at that so I dont so them making that same mistake twice.
    I will be surprised if this game makes its October 30th date, and will be even more surprised if they have a open beta that lasts more then a week.

     

    Yes, Funcom regrets the open beta of Anarchy Online, because it gave the public  the chance to see if there were problems with the game before launch time. This cut into the release sales numbers a bit, due to the people who were going to buy but held back, concerned that the problems wouldn't be fixed for a while.

    Unfortunately, times were different back then, people were willing to put up with a lot more. I was one of them, and even though I knew the state of the game since I had come in during the middle of beta, I still believed the company deserved a chance, and I believed everything they said about their willingness to fix the problems. As did many others.

    Then as those that were there at the time know, the company strung people along for months, cashing in on that monthly fee while chanting 'we are working on the problems, fixes to come soon!'. Well at 3 months of no real changes I gave up and cancelled, I would no longer pay to play a beta.

    Yes.. they have learned greatly from AO. This time, they won't let people know about the problems until they already have your money in hand. This time, they have an army of fanboys willing to blindly follow and put down anyone that hints at wanting proof or knowing the TRUE state of the game.

    Kudos to you fanboys... you serve your master well.

    Hrhr.. yeah, AO was a desaster.. but on the other side, DAoC had almost 2 month open beta, and it was a huge success from the start on. The point is quite simple, if the game is well made, and ready for release, open beta is the best way marketing a game, and to advertise it. If it is not ready to release, and full of bugs, you will scare away the testers and it will hurt your game. But then the game was already doomed from the very beginning, and they shouldnt start the open beta.. to begin with.

     

    But well, is a mmorpg just for box sales, or is it not much more for loyal paying subscribers over years? How much cost a game? 50$? Three month of playing and you got the 50$ from subscription fee.

    So i really hope, that Funcom dont think what you said here, because it is plain stupid.. nothing more.

    About all the beta talk.. well, to be honest i am a little bit worried that no full closed beta 3 month for release is started. But on the other side, i really do not know how much they have tested internally or with their friends and family beta, and how much they can test with it.

    They have a big staff, and 1000 testers is more than enough for a server, which maximum can hold 2500?, especially if they are full time testers or the most of them, so it can be enough. We will see it, how it turns out at 30. Oct... and yes, i will only buy it, after i played it by myself, or at least heard something from it, from ppl i trust.

    But anyways, all the talk prelaunch isnt worth a peny.. from doomsayer or fanbois.

    NONSENSE.  WOW had a GREAT launch,  and in Beta Most of the Classes weren't done.  Warlocks didnt have any Talents.   Get informed.  WOW had an very much less then perfect Beta,  Lag, Connection problems,  The fact that more then HALF the classes were unfinished.   However It was sold out in almost every store.

    First of all.. i never said anything about WoW. And second.. i played the WoW open beta, and it was polished, and at release state. And it was also like with DAoC a huge marketing move from Blizzard. They even sold PreOrders, to get into the OpenBeta, and a lot of ppl preordered it because of that.

     

    So i really do not know about what you are talking here?

  • RanlawlRanlawl Member Posts: 126

    Open beta doesnt really matter, it attracts the wrong people,  those who want a free game and try to find out how to level the fastest and dont spend time finding bugs. The game has been in closed beta for some time and even more invitations went out not too long ago.

    This is just another doomsayer thread by an anti-AoC person. the thread post 300,000 playing WAR beta  is proof of this (even though it is an innacurate statement, they are signed up, not playing.

  • The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • RomulisRomulis Member Posts: 17

    Originally posted by random11


     
    Originally posted by siresper


    Betas are for games ready to be played. AoC isn't.
    Isn't that true? Hahaha!

     

     

    One word : VG

    lol.. just because they "Release" the game doesn't mean the beta has ended. Look at SWG, even with multiple expansions, I would still consider it in beta with all the changes made to it.

    "It is my nature", said the Scorpion to the Frog

  • KordeshKordesh Member Posts: 1,715
    Originally posted by QBorg


    Games with long (>3 months) mass beta programs: WoW, LoTR, WAR
    Games with short (<1 month) betas: DDO, Auto Assault, Archlord
    Anyone see a pattern here? You just need a big beta program to make a great game. Besides I'm dying to try out my new PC and play AOC lol.

    That's a very poor formula

    Bans a perma, but so are sigs in necro posts.

    EAT ME MMORPG.com!

  • ZerofunZerofun Member Posts: 25

    If you have seen the latest video of charter creation, early game play and such it looks to me like its further along than any of the funcom videos show. .. more so than VG at launch (much smoother looking).  Before I saw that video i thought that we woudl have to wait  until next year but that video gave me hope that the game is very close to beta and may make the oct launch.

    God i hope so .. im starving for some non suck, mmo action.

  • BaselineBaseline Member Posts: 503

    Originally posted by Zerofun


    If you have seen the latest video of charter creation, early game play and such it looks to me like its further along than any of the funcom videos show. .. more so than VG at launch (much smoother looking).  Before I saw that video i thought that we woudl have to wait  until next year but that video gave me hope that the game is very close to beta and may make the oct launch.
    God i hope so .. im starving for some non suck, mmo action.

    Link!

  • ZerofunZerofun Member Posts: 25

    Originally posted by Baseline


     
    Originally posted by Zerofun


    If you have seen the latest video of charter creation, early game play and such it looks to me like its further along than any of the funcom videos show. .. more so than VG at launch (much smoother looking).  Before I saw that video i thought that we woudl have to wait  until next year but that video gave me hope that the game is very close to beta and may make the oct launch.
    God i hope so .. im starving for some non suck, mmo action.

     

    Link!

    Erling Fraps AoC July 2007 Demonologist/Combat

    found at http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/thread/142412

    second post down .. great set of links.

  • BaselineBaseline Member Posts: 503

    That does look pretty good!

  • random11random11 Member UncommonPosts: 765

    Look, guys, just because doom sayers are running about in abundance, does not mean they are right. Sure, there has been no dev contact since E3, and E3 was not what we expected, but the fact is ... these guys are on vacation. They are coming back soon.

     

    Furthermore, they released a shit load of video content, just none about PvP. That time shall come, though. And as someone who has followed the info since early 2006, I can say, that with every new video O can see them tweaking the game engine and the works, and it's heading in an overall good direction.

     

    Lot of people are frustrated, cause they don't get to demo the game for free for 6 months. Well, sucks for you, game companies finally realised what blood sucking leeches beta testers can be!

     

    Btw, Baseline, are you playing DDO EU? Cause your name is familiar (I am Radical - if that rings a bell)

  • toadkillertoadkiller Member Posts: 148

    You have to take into account the 47 weeks of vacation that folks in many EU countries seem to get between personal time , sick , vacation and so on -

     

    It's to be expected for some delays to happen

  • FE|TachyonFE|Tachyon Member UncommonPosts: 652

    Originally posted by Apraxis


     
    Originally posted by FE|Tachyon

    Originally posted by Apraxis


     
    Originally posted by siresper


     
    Originally posted by silverlobo


    If I remember right Anarchy Online had a 1-2 week open beta. I'm pretty sure FunCom believed the AO beta was 2 weeks to long at that so I dont so them making that same mistake twice.
    I will be surprised if this game makes its October 30th date, and will be even more surprised if they have a open beta that lasts more then a week.

     

    Yes, Funcom regrets the open beta of Anarchy Online, because it gave the public  the chance to see if there were problems with the game before launch time. This cut into the release sales numbers a bit, due to the people who were going to buy but held back, concerned that the problems wouldn't be fixed for a while.

    Unfortunately, times were different back then, people were willing to put up with a lot more. I was one of them, and even though I knew the state of the game since I had come in during the middle of beta, I still believed the company deserved a chance, and I believed everything they said about their willingness to fix the problems. As did many others.

    Then as those that were there at the time know, the company strung people along for months, cashing in on that monthly fee while chanting 'we are working on the problems, fixes to come soon!'. Well at 3 months of no real changes I gave up and cancelled, I would no longer pay to play a beta.

    Yes.. they have learned greatly from AO. This time, they won't let people know about the problems until they already have your money in hand. This time, they have an army of fanboys willing to blindly follow and put down anyone that hints at wanting proof or knowing the TRUE state of the game.

    Kudos to you fanboys... you serve your master well.

    Hrhr.. yeah, AO was a desaster.. but on the other side, DAoC had almost 2 month open beta, and it was a huge success from the start on. The point is quite simple, if the game is well made, and ready for release, open beta is the best way marketing a game, and to advertise it. If it is not ready to release, and full of bugs, you will scare away the testers and it will hurt your game. But then the game was already doomed from the very beginning, and they shouldnt start the open beta.. to begin with.

     

    But well, is a mmorpg just for box sales, or is it not much more for loyal paying subscribers over years? How much cost a game? 50$? Three month of playing and you got the 50$ from subscription fee.

    So i really hope, that Funcom dont think what you said here, because it is plain stupid.. nothing more.

    About all the beta talk.. well, to be honest i am a little bit worried that no full closed beta 3 month for release is started. But on the other side, i really do not know how much they have tested internally or with their friends and family beta, and how much they can test with it.

    They have a big staff, and 1000 testers is more than enough for a server, which maximum can hold 2500?, especially if they are full time testers or the most of them, so it can be enough. We will see it, how it turns out at 30. Oct... and yes, i will only buy it, after i played it by myself, or at least heard something from it, from ppl i trust.

    But anyways, all the talk prelaunch isnt worth a peny.. from doomsayer or fanbois.

    NONSENSE.  WOW had a GREAT launch,  and in Beta Most of the Classes weren't done.  Warlocks didnt have any Talents.   Get informed.  WOW had an very much less then perfect Beta,  Lag, Connection problems,  The fact that more then HALF the classes were unfinished.   However It was sold out in almost every store.

    First of all.. i never said anything about WoW. And second.. i played the WoW open beta, and it was polished, and at release state. And it was also like with DAoC a huge marketing move from Blizzard. They even sold PreOrders, to get into the OpenBeta, and a lot of ppl preordered it because of that.

     

     

    So i really do not know about what you are talking here?

    Are you crazy?? WOW FINISHED?? Open Beta, Warlocks didn't even have talents,  Only like 4 classes had their Talents in.  I don't see how you can call that polished.   The servers were down and up constantly the first few days.  Most people rerolled on a new server 3-4 weeks after launch because the original servers were too overpopulated to be stable.   I know 3 guilds from my starting server that all bailed at the same time, to find a more stable server.  That's not pollished, thats unprepaired.

  • catafractcatafract Member Posts: 91

    Wow isnt subject for discussion in this forum .Although litle referance dont mind .

    Anyone knows any game that didnt had open beta and had good launch?Although aoc might have a very sort one in order to launch at given date.

     

     

  • RanlawlRanlawl Member Posts: 126
    Originally posted by Remali

    Originally posted by Ranlawl


    Open beta doesnt really matter, it attracts the wrong people,  those who want a free game and try to find out how to level the fastest and dont spend time finding bugs. The game has been in closed beta for some time and even more invitations went out not too long ago.
    This is just another doomsayer thread by an anti-AoC person. the thread post 300,000 playing WAR beta  is proof of this (even though it is an innacurate statement, they are signed up, not playing.



    Nobody is asking for the open beta.The problem is the closed beta hasnt started yet the technical stage which they are now doesnt test any of the gameplay features of the game.Im also worried why the techical beta is taking so long to complete it shouldnt have taken more than a couple of months.I think they are pushing the gameplay beta back because the game is not even ready to be tested and /or they are afraid of beta leaks.



    they and finishing up F&F now and will be sending out the other beta invites wihtin the week, so they arent behind schedule, they just arent doing any large scale publicity beta testing yet, Plus they also have the german and dragon con where people will play, some people are worried, im not at all though

  • HengistHengist Member RarePosts: 1,315


    Originally posted by Ranlawl
    Originally posted by Remali
    Originally posted by Ranlawl Open beta doesnt really matter, it attracts the wrong people,  those who want a free game and try to find out how to level the fastest and dont spend time finding bugs. The game has been in closed beta for some time and even more invitations went out not too long ago.
    This is just another doomsayer thread by an anti-AoC person. the thread post 300,000 playing WAR beta  is proof of this (even though it is an innacurate statement, they are signed up, not playing.

    Nobody is asking for the open beta.The problem is the closed beta hasnt started yet the technical stage which they are now doesnt test any of the gameplay features of the game.Im also worried why the techical beta is taking so long to complete it shouldnt have taken more than a couple of months.I think they are pushing the gameplay beta back because the game is not even ready to be tested and /or they are afraid of beta leaks.


    they and finishing up F&F now and will be sending out the other beta invites wihtin the week, so they arent behind schedule, they just arent doing any large scale publicity beta testing yet, Plus they also have the german and dragon con where people will play, some people are worried, im not at all though



    No...actually, they are currently in Technical Beta, and have been for a few months, next step after this is General Beta, and prior to tech beta was F&F which began back in Sept. 06.

  • AmazingAveryAmazingAvery Age of Conan AdvocateMember UncommonPosts: 7,188

    Originally posted by Baikal


     
     
    No...actually, they are currently in Technical Beta, and have been for a few months, next step after this is General Beta, and prior to tech beta was F&F which began back in Sept. 06.
    Quite right! Been Technial Beta for about 4 months? and before that their own closed Beta since September 2006

    If I remember right didn't Lord of the Rings Online (most noteworthy I.P mmorpg last out) issue its Open Beta about 1 month before going live? Oh yes it was - March 30th 2007 my Bday, before releasing end of April, now I remember! Yes thats right, they had a few stress tests where lots of people were involved for a weekend here and there and then before a few months of closed Beta but I didn't see huge amount on my server though.

    So, to the OP whats the problem again?

    Oh.....Your impatient because AoC is gonna rock the mmorpg with innovation?! and introduce the genre to a new I.P 75 yrs old. Nice!



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